Mahathir pushing for violence if Umno loses?

Even as a recent debate brought together Keadilan strategy director Rafizi Ramli and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, which was deemed as the beginning of a new healthy and mature political culture, Malaysians were shocked by a sudden series of brutal actions against Pakatan Rakyat leaders and their programs.

While citizens are still vividly recalling the violent behavior of police in dispersing peaceful gatherers of the Bersih 3.0 rally for clean polls, talk of the 13th general election becoming the ugliest in history cannot be avoided.

The series of attacks

On May 24, at Pantai Dalam, the media reported stones and eggs being thrown at Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim while he was speaking, resulting in a senior citizen injured on the head. A 12-year-old child, Nurul Balqis also sustained injury when a stone about the size of a fist was hurled at her.

According to witnesses, the stone was thrown from the Umno side of the audience. A passionate slanderer, Ummi Hafilda Ali also spoke directly to the audience at the Pakatan Rakyat program, answering the issues raised by the Pakatan speakers who watched from close by.

On the same day, in Sayong Lembah, Kuala Kangsar, at a talk involving deposed Perak chief minister Nizar Jamaluddin, 11 cars was splashed with blue paint. "The paint was mostly splashed on the front light," Nizar told the press.

Then, the anti-Bersih group led by Sekinchan Fish Grill Restaurant owner, Jamal Yunus, continued with its extreme provocation and intrusion of privacy at the front of the Bersih co-chairman S Ambiga’s house after performing their deplorable “butt flexing exercises" on May 15.

In Malacca, stones and eggs were also flying in the tea party organized by PAS, where Ambiga was scheduled to attend. Two DAP assemblymen, Khoo Poay Tiong (Ayer Keroh) and Tey Kok Kiew (Bandar Hilir) reported that their vehicle tires had been punctured, side mirrors broken and the body badly dented thanks to an Umno group of aggressors, which actually included several elected representatives from Umno.

Will get worse when GE-13 nears

The series of disruption to the programs and opposition personalities is expected to continue and may even increase because it has been Umno’s culture for centuries (remember the era of the rugged Umno Youth), which is now due to the party's leadership’s desperate attempt to avoid "punishment from the people" in GE-13.

Personally, I thought how strange it was for UMNO-BN to choose confrontational approach to get through such a make-or-break moment as violence will only distance voters from the party.

Although they are trying to cover up their misdeeds, evidence suggests that all the attacks and malicious provocation were sponsored by UMNO (remember the series of disruptions since the GE 12 decision in March 2008, particularly in the states dominated by the Pakatan Rakyat, with the peak being the power grab of the Perak state government).

Without a doubt since GE13 is far more critical, all the contesting parties should think carefully and use the best approach to win the hearts and minds of voters rather than commit acts of aggression - not to mention behaving like violent gangs - which will only make people more angry and offended.

Why is Umno shooting itself in the foot

This Umno strategy is very unusual, right? When someone who should be using all his energy trying to soften the hearts of voters, he instead chooses tactics that can end up stabbing his own back!

Many would remember how the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, was continuously attacked including being presented with "dung cake" in conjunction with his ​​birthday not long ago.

"It’s nothing new, just look at the newspapers owned by Umno which shamelessly publish obscene and pornographic images just to smear the image of Pakatan Rakyat leaders. Umno-sponsored bloggers were hired, given special treatment by the government to be rude and disrespectful when making posts about the Pakatan, "said a friend, a lecturer in political science.

Umno appears impatient and will not tolerate defeat, let alone wait for its "time of death".

By comparison, over the years since the first general election, the opposition especially PAS has rejected violence or the use of a militant approach and physical threats - choosing instead to focus on perseverance and "muwajahah silmiyyah".

Evil provocation from Dr M

PAS leaders and activists have faced tough tests, including murder, imprisonment, exile, deprivation of citizenship and other forms of betrayal. Although soundly defeated at elections, even through fraud, PAS leaders and their respect for the democratic process have always been able to convince members to not go above the law.

So when former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tried to make another evil provocation through his blog, it was truly an irresponsible act and should therefore be condemned.

In his blog, Dr Mahathir claimed that if the Pakatan Rakyat lost the GE-13, they would organize a "violent demonstration" to reject the voters' decision. After that, the opposition would seek a new election which they would then manipulate.

"Bersih demonstrations and violence are only preparation to reject the results if the opposition loses the GE-13. Their defeat will follow violent demonstrations to reject the election results and a new government established, by the opposition party," he claimed.

We have lost before - many times!

Losing the GE-13 is not a big deal for the opposition. They have gone through defeat over and over again through the years.

History bears witness that the opposition had accepted defeat without chaos. The one who would panic and be engulfed by desperation when defeated is Umno. If Umno cannot get victory through rough means, it will try to buy MPs with bribes and corruption.

However, if GE-13 proves to be lame, filled with fraud and manipulation as reflected in the various conspiracies taking place these days, I would not rule out the possibility of a people's uprising up. And this time, more will be gathering than compared to Bersih 3.0.

Did Dr Mahathir assume that Umno-BN was ready to commit a "terrible crime" in the aftermath of the GE-13r? Or did he just imagine Umno causing chaos and violence if it loses its power at the federal level. Perhaps the instances of violence displayed so far are small-scale compared to the real one!

Translation by Huzainah A Rani, Malaysia Chrponicle

- Harakah