Unleashing every trick, Najib fights tooth and nail for the Malay vote

Things are heating up and rightly so, for BN to remain in power; it is not the Chinese vote that matters but rather the Malay vote. Why? The Chinese swing away from BN is pretty constant and getting wider, thus it does not make much difference whether the Chinese vote or not for BN. However, BN will require only a 5% swing in Malay vote to regain its two-thirds majority in Parliament and this is Prime Minister Najib Razak’s battle ground for GE13.

Not surprising, with the 13th General Election expected in November, two classice Malay issues have been raked up by Najib and Umno. The first involves Communists and the Bukit Kepong incident where UMNO tried to rally the Malays behind it by accusing PAS of having sold its 'Malayness' because it acknowledged the existence of pre-Independence fighters such Mat Indera whom UMNO accused of being pro-Communist.

The second is the ongoing hudud law issue. A segment in the sprawling Syaria law system, there is no fear of hudud impinging the rights of the non-Malays. But UMNO has purposely fired up the issue to make PAS look like a bunch of Islamist extremists to the non-Malays, and backward and non-progressive in thinking to the Malays.

Are the Malays nothing without UMNO?

Given such political opportunism, it is now clear that Najib's “1 Malaysia” slogan is not a rallying cry for Malaysians to be united and patriotic but rather a call to vote BN.

The nightmare of GE12 in 2008 is still haunting UMNO and BN but rather than evaluating their mistakes, UMNO and BN took aim at the voters themselves. The aftermath of the Sarawak state elections show how much BN is willing to threaten in order to get the Chinese vote back to BN. Instead of looking at where they had gone wrong, BN continued to insinuate that without BN Chinese representatives in Parliament, the Chinese will be left behind in terms of development and government help.

But this is not only discriminatory, it reeks of malice. How low can a ruling government go than to marginalise people according to racial lines?

The push to gain the Malay vote has always been on Najib’s mind. In February 2011, when speaking at a UiTM event, Najib openly requested students and alumni to remember the good deeds of the BN government in nurturing them to become successful citizens. Bear in mind the UiTM alumni alone is estimated to number close to 500,000 and these are predominantly Malay. This is an insult to everyday Malaysians who strive to better their lives through hard-work and due diligence.

Is Najib implying that without BN, the Malays are handicapped when it comes to advancing their educational standing? Is it that the Malays are nothing without BN or UMNO?

Two-timing

Then in April 2011, UMNO’s mouth-piece Utusan Malaysia posted the front page call for “1 Malay, 1 Bumi” which totally contradicted the “1 Malaysia” call by Najib Razak. It is contradictory to Najib’s public call, but bear in mind, Utusan Malaysia would not do anything without the consent of his media advisors as it is owned by UMNO and the president of UMNO is Najib.

So, it does appear that Najib is two-timing the country, saying one thing to the Malays and another to the non-Malays. Not surprisingly, he has not been unable to do much for either group since taking over the PM's chair in April 2009.

The politics of the day is all a game to win votes, that extra 5% swing in Malay votes that will return the two-thirds majority in BN’s favor and secures UMNO’s dominance in Malaysian politics.

The sudden rush to declare Malaysia will not implement Hudud law seems to contradict UMNO’s own support for Hudud in principle as stated by DPM Muhyiddin Yassin. Indeed, as Najib tries to portray himself as a moderate prime minister, toeing the middle line, the UMNO that he leads is consistently veering right.

Radically exclusive to Malay interests

UMNO today is becoming radically exclusive to Malays and Malay rights, and downright unfriendly towards its on-Malay partners in BN.

The recent rush to screen cast the prime minister as a ‘cool’ and 'community-at-heart' politician can also be viewed as a means to shore up support from amongst middle Malaysia, the majority of whom had been horrified at the government’s handling of the July 9 Bersih rally.

A number of educated and intellectual Malays cannot understand BN and UMNO’s allegic fear towards calls for reforms to the election process. It is right and well, that a democratic country would constantly strive to improve the method of electing parliamentarians. Only in continual evaluation and reforming of flawed systems can a nation be truly a “world class democracy”.

The fear of free and fair elections will only mean that UMNO is afraid to lose its grip on government, hence the allergy to any notion of reforms.

It is high time Malaysians and Malays in particular wake up and understand that their importance to BN and UMNO is merely for their vote. The people are mere numbers and statistical figures in their game to stay in power.

And by remaining in power, the current establishment can continue to plunder and grab everything Malaysians have worked for in Malaysia.

Malaysia Chronicle