Nazri attacks Umno, MCA, even DPM but is he speaking for PM?

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Outspoken Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz raised eyebrows when he took to task several Cabinet colleagues more senior than himself over the Umno-MCA row but pundits said unless he was speaking for his biggest boss – PM Najib Razak – it was just more hot gas from a struggling BN coalition.

“It is about time Najib broke his silence on this fight, which has become a bit personal especially the insults coming from from Perkasa, which everyone knows is a branch of Umno’s,” PKR vice president Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.

“In particular, we are disappointed in the way Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin rushed to attack MCA for stepping on Malay rights but completely turns a blind eye when a school principal in Johor said the Indians were like dogs and the Chinese should go back to China.”

What sort of message is BN trying to send

Of late, racial and religious rows have erupted with increasing frequency as Umno leaders searched for ways and means to contain their arch rivals from Pakatan Rakyat. Sweet overtures have been made over and over again to PAS and each time the Islamist party has flatly rejected any form of connection, dashing Umno's hopes for an easy solution to stay in power.

Ruthless methods were also used to roil PKR and DAP with defections and trumped-up corruption charges, but these have largely backfired, especially after over-zealous scheming resulted in the death of a Selangor political aide last year.

The latest Umno-MCA squabble over Bumiputera quotas has gotten so intense it sparked fears that Najib might launch another crackdown on the opposition, similar to the 1987 Operasi Lalang, where 117 dissidents were arrested and many opposition leaders jailed under the Internal Security Act. Twenty-three years ago, Najib was the Umno Youth chief and he had played a key role in the swoop.

On Thursday, Nazri appeared to be offering an olive branch to a Malaysian public, fed up with the endless racial polemics that typify the BN parties especially Umno. Business leaders and academicians have even stepped out of their comfort zone to urge Najib to put an end to public slugfest between Muhyiddin, Perkasa and MCA president Chua Soi Lek.

“I realise now why there is so little respect for politicians - because they say one thing and then they do another. I do not blame all of you if you have no respect for politicians. Sadly, I belong to this group,” Nazri told a press conference on Thursday.

“How are we going to convince the people that we stand together under the 1 Malaysia concept when we fight each other in public? I certainly do not condone this and I think it is not good for the BN. In public, you say we are 1Malaysia and then you say we are the BN and we have a spirit of our own and then later, you show that that you are quarrelling. What message are you giving to the public?”

Everyday that Najib dithers is a day lost for Malaysia

1Malaysia is Najib’s prized platform announced when he took power in April last year. According to the Government Transformation Programme approved by the Cabinet and published in December 2009, 1Malaysia is defined as a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second.

Nonetheless, pundits say Najib will have to do better than passing messages through Nazri if he wants to be taken seriously by the public.

"Everyday that he dithers is a day lost for Malaysia. But I don't think he will be able to come out from his shell," a political analyst who asked not to be named told Malaysia Chronicle..

"His enemies - and I am talking about the ones in Umno not Pakatan - are just too powerful. All he can do is just hold on until the next general elections, and after that, depending on whether Mahathir is still around or not, God help Malaysia."