Chinese 'Mentri Besar' sends a shiver down the spines of the Umno warlords

Based on Section 51 of the Selangor state constitution, the Menteri Besar or chief minister must be a Muslim Malay. Therefore to enable non-Malays to be the Menteri Besar, Prime Minister Najib Razak must amend this piece of legislation. To amend it, UMNO-BN must firstly win with enough majority in the Selangor state assembly.

Then, Najib must persuade and convince the Sultan of Selangor to endorse the amendment to become law, which the Sultan may not be that willing to do, although he can be persuaded if Najib unleashes sufficient goodies to the Palace. If the Sultan agrees, then it would be an easy victory for Najib, but let's examine what if the Sultan refuses to sanction such a plan.

Sultan may refuse

Many will argue that UMNO under former premier Mahathir Mohamad managed to persuade the Agong or King to sign landmark amendments to the Federal Constitution. But the Agong has nothing much to worry about because Malaysia does not belong to him. The Sultans on the other hand will not be so easily swayed to lose more of their sovereignty in their own states, more so when they now realize that the Agong was actually tricked and threatened by UMNO. Due to this, the royals lost their immunity to be above the law, which though we are not fans of Dr M, is actually a good development.

Moreover, to maintain the respect of the Malays since the community still looks up to the Sultans, the Rulers will surely try to prolong their 'shelf life' by going all out to 'protect' the Malays. It is not that difficult to imagine the Sultan of Selangor not consenting to amending the constitution. Najib will have to get help from the UMNO warlords to convince the Malays to pressure the Sultan into giving his consent, not mention parting with a huge chunk of national assets. Najib may figure Selangor is worth it because it is the key to prolonging his own shelf-life as the UMNO president, but by doing so, Najib will be asking for it!

The UMNO warlords are not likely to listen to Najib, although they may give him lip service. But whether or not he succeeds in wresting Selangor back from the Pakatan Rakyat, it is every man for himself. Once safely in power in the state assembly, they can be expected rush for the gold mine - cushy positions and access to corrupt deals! It is not impossible for Selangor warlords such as Noh Omar, Satim Diman, Khir Toyo, Muhammad Taib, and even wannabes like Hasan Ali, Ezam Mohd Nor or Anwar Shaari to suddenly wave the race card and insist on defending Malay pride and interests, once they have won on back of returning non-Malay support.

But for now, the Umno division chiefs will stay quiet as they know they need the non-Malays to win back Selangor. But make no mistake, news that former MCA president Ong Tee Keat may be earmarked for the post of the first-ever Chinese MB in Selangor has sent a shiver down their spines and already they are plotting their next direction - appeasing Najib, but at the same time, preparing to betray him at the drop of a hat!

A shiver down the spine of the Umno warlords

For sure, the UMNO warlords won't even dare talk to the Malays about amending the Selangor state constitution or they will be labelled as traitors. Even for any MIC candidate to win, it has to be in UMNO Malay majority areas. MCA also depends on the UMNO Malays as the Chinese voters are bound to vote for the Pakatan Rakyat. Thus, it is also not to the benefit of the MIC and the MCA to antagonize the Malays by making open demands for a Chinese or Indian MB.The entire BN can be expected to totter sideways like a crab until the polls are over and they can then let loose their steam.

This of course presumes the fact that the Malays will not tolerate a non-Malay chief minister. But is this really true?

Actually, Najib may be banking on the Malays in Selangor being more broad-minded. To be frank, change is coming - slowly but gradually to Malaysia, scarred though she may be after 55 hideous years of racial politics. Many modern Malays look at the Penang administration led by Lim Guan Eng and they are impressed. Many capable Malays have even become permanent residents in Singapore because they like the orderly system and high pay - the same as the Chinese and Indian Malaysians who work there. So below the color bar is actually a more fundamental commonality of interests and humanity.

So it is this the tug of war - and who has calculated the racial odds correctly - that will determine who wins the game. For sure, putting in a non-Malay MB would endear Najib and BN to the non-Malays. It may antagonize the Malays but Najib seems to feel they can be persuaded to accept this as part of a 'sacrifice' to get back Selangor. After all, you can be sure whether the MB is Malay or non-Malay, he or she will definitely have to answer to Putrajaya, he and his minions will tell them. Even the Sultan cannot ignore the might of the federal power.

Would you trust an UMNO warlord?

So the plan is crazy at one level and not so crazy at another. The problem arises when victory has been achieved. Can the Malay warlords in Umno be counted on to keep their word, or will they instigate daily trouble and riots - much like in Penang - so much so that Najib will have 'no choice' but to renege on his word to the non-Malay MB-designate - for example Tee Keat.

It is interesting to note that although BN or the Alliance as it was called then had won the election decades ago, the Malays in Penang were forced to let a non-Malay be the Chief Minister. And it was UMNO who insisted on this, despite having a slight majority over the Gerakan. Of course, this was just a scam by UMNO to ensure unrelenting support from the Chinese 'forever', and even then they had quietly assured the Malay community that although Gerakan was in charge, it was UMNO who called the shots.

So this is where the Najib camp probably drew its inspiration from. But Selangor is different from Penang; it is headed by a Sultan and not a Governor. And while many Malays hold scant or perfunctory respect for royalty in general, the Sultan is regarded as their last bastion of political power iin Malaysia.

Again, this is the 'theory' that is commonly sprung because the fear factor is still in play. The Sedition Act is used ruthlessly by UMNO to prevent the Malays from bringing the Sultans down from what is basically a man-made pedestal. If truly, Malays could decide for themselves without fear of retribution, it may no longer be accurate to claim that they hold the Sultans in awe.

Cracking and emptying the state's vault

So let us examine, if the Najib camp manages to circumvent the obstacles and Tee Keat gets to be MB, would Selangor be better ruled than it is now? Can Tee Keat, who was forced to quit his Transport Minister's post over the RM12.5bil PKFZ debacle, be able to justify his anti-corruption pledges to the people? Would this not be the same as asking, can the UMNO-BN rid itself of corruption? The answer, Tee Keat would know only too well.

The population of Selangor at over 5.3 million roughly comprises of Malays 2.7 million, Chinese 1.4 million, Indian 0.7 million, Others 0.2 million and non-citizens 0.3 million. Basically the Malays populate 50 percent of Selangor and are split down the line between PKR, PAS and UMNO.

But as long as UMNO with its trickery stays in power, Selangor Malays should know their children won't prosper because the nation's wealth would have evaporated due to incredible and unceasing corruption. Khir Toyo is just the tip of the iceberg. Mat Tyson was caught with a briefcase containing millions in cash at an Australian airport. The list goes on.

So as always, before race - regardless Malay or non-Malay - it is not the color of the skin of the Mentri Besar that counts. Tsu Koon could not do a good job in Chinese-dominant Penang because of UMNO-BN. Guan Eng can because of Pakatan Rakyat.

Same principle applies for Tee Keat, Noh Omar, Satim, Mat Tyson, Ezam and so forth, simply because they all hail from BN - a coalition that would surely be the first to crack the state's vault and empty it in no time!

Malaysia Chronicle