Nazri's Perkasa damage-control unconvincing, where is Najib?

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders dismissed remarks from Umno minister Nazri Aziz that his party did not support or recognize ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa as “political posturing”, pointing out that such words could only carry weight if they came from Prime Minister Najib Razak.

“It is very strange and also very telling that till now despite the string of racist and extreme comments from Perkasa, Najib has kept silent,” PKR vice-president Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.

“The obvious inference is he is afraid. The PM is scared because he can't afford to make political missteps. The word in town is that, because of his personal scandals, his position in Umno is now quite tenuous. That is why Nazri was sent to do the job of testing the waters. But the problem for most Malaysians is - who is Nazri? Is he the head of BN or the president of Umno? Why should they accept his words?”

Too indecisive

Perkasa itself is complex. According to its founder Ibrahim Ali, its reason for being is to fight for Malay rights. Yet Ibrahim himself is a politician, the MP for Pasir Mas. Perkasa’s patron is also none other than feisty former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

That Perkasa has so far echoed the racial rhetoric favored by Mahathir whenever he was in a political corner has not gone unnoticed. That Mahathir may be the mastermind charting Perkasa’s direction and also hiding behind its NGO façade to scheme for political influence in Umno is not doubted either.

But where is Najib on this? Pundits say the fact that Mahathir is his mentor and he is Mahathir’s protégé does not at all mean that their political allegiance to each other is cast in stone. Unlike Mahathir, Najib is like most other leaders in that he blows with the wind.

“He wants to come out from Mahathir’s shadow, but he doesn’t want to antagonize him. He wants to develop Malaysia based on 1Malaysia but is afraid to be tough with his own community. So this is Najib's problem in a nutshell and also why the nation cannot move forward - too much indecision, uncertainty and flip-flops at the very highest level,” PAS chairman of national unity Mujahid Yusof Rawa told Malaysia Chronicle.

On Tuesday, the outspoken Nazri said Umno was against any form of racism and that Perkasa’s ideals did not fit the Najib administration’s focus on plurality and unity.

“We should get rid of Perkasa. Why do I say that? Because Perkasa is not in line with Datuk Seri Najib 1Malaysia concept,” Nazri was reported as saying in The Malaysian Insider. “We against any form of racism and Perkasa certainly doesn’t belong or is supported by Umno.”

A little too little, a little too late

Nonetheless, it may be a little too little, a little too late to reverse the tide of racism and extremism that Perkasa has swept in since it was formed early this year. Short of a government ban or a purge within Umno of members aligned to the Perkasa cause, the NGO is unlikely to be scathed or see its support whittled down by Nazri’s comments.

A recent call for a Chinese Perkasa by MCA vice president Donald Lim to counter Ibrahim's Malay Perkasa highlighted the danger that extremism and overt racism could wreak in Malaysia’s multi-racial society. There is now anticipation that some Indian politicians may soon call for an Indian Perkasa.

"If Najib doesn't signal to his BN components he does not approve of this regression into extreme communal politics, then it shows he has given up. He cannot make headway against the Pakatan's inclusive stand. 1Malaysia is kaput and it is back to a free-for-all brawl among the different racial groups," PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Yet like many others, Tian suspects Najib’s ambivalence may be rooted in dark motives and the PM may be playing a political chess game of his own.

"Perhaps, it is the only way that Najib can think of for Umno to rally the Malays and stave off a Pakatan challenge in the next general election," Tian said.