Najib fails to read the ground right

Looks like the dismal show of support received by ruling coalition Barisan Nasional has failed to teach the party a thing or two about ‘eating the humble pie’.

Instead, BN has unleashed its fury against its rival, the Pakatan Rakyat pact, accusing the latter of misleading the rakyat into thinking that BN’s dominant arm Umno is a racist party out to sabotage the welfare of the non-Malays.

Not only that, BN chief and prime minister Najib Tun Razak says the opposition Pakatan pact is full of lies and excuses.

That the opposition leaders’ refused to accept the results of the 13th general election (GE13) which supposedly favoured BN was the greatest hypocrisy, Najib claims.

“If the electoral system was tainted, hit by fraud, why have the swearing-in in Penang and Kelantan, and engage in a tussle (as to who should be sworn-in as menteri besar) in Selangor? Why accept (the results) in Permatang Pauh, Gelang Patah?

“The same system is used at the state and parliamentary levels. If the results benefited them, (they) accepted the results. If they were in BN’s favour, they objected them. This is the greatest hypocrisy,” Najib declared at Umno’s 67th anniversary celebration on May 11.

Questioning the veracity of the general election results and assuming responsibility over a constituency are two different matters but it appears that Najib is the least enlightened about this.

The ‘indelible’ fact is that the rakyat have lost trust in BN and its leadership and it is this issue that Najib has to deal with, minus his unwarranted rhetoric outbursts.

The truth is that racism, corruption, abuse of power and national funds, nepotism and cronyism are all hallmarks of the BN leadership, one which the rakyat has had enough of.

Also, Najib’s refusal to tackle the issue of racism brought on by his own people had earned him the voters’ backlash. Contrary to his claim that Umno is not a racist party, how was it that a racist-to-the-core candidate Zulkifli Noordin was fielded by Najib in the 13th general election?

Was Najib until then ignorant or indifferent towards the racist antics of Zulkfli, who was contesting the Shah Alam parliamentary seat?

Lending support to an individual who took pleasure in insulting and humiliating the beliefs of the other races was certainly not the mark of a responsible leader or who one claims he is there for Malaysians of all races.

BN has lost the rakyat’s support because of its own doing. Post-2008 after assuming the country’s leadership from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, there was ample opportunity for Najib to take the necessary steps to strengthen national unity and camaraderie among Malaysians.

But Najib did no such thing. Instead, ‘reminders’ after ‘reminders’ were given to the non-Malays to recognise the Malay rights and privileges as espoused by Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

Najib failed the rakyat, not Anwar

The ongoing verbal war between Najib and Pakatan advisor Anwar Ibrahim is of no benefit to anyone. While the latter still harbours hope of someday making it to Putrajaya, Najib however had the chance to make a difference and bring about the much needed change but chose not to do so.

Two years ago when 5,000 Bibles were seized by the Customs authorities for violating a ban on non-Muslim texts using the word ‘Allah’, what was Najib’s reaction?

Forging kinship between Malaysians of diverse faiths was never Najib’s priority, despite the fact that he and Pope Benedict XV1 had met to foster diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Vatican City.

Until now, the BN or rather Umno approach has been that of subjugating the non-Malays into silently accepting their lot without challenging the status quo.

It was because of Najib’s refusal to improve matters that Islamic scholars like Mohd Sani Badron took it upon himself to caution the Christians that the use of “Allah” for God had to stop because it may cause Islamic anger.

What about the fact that a 400-year-old Latin-Malay dictionary bears proof that from the beginning the word “Allah” was used to define God in the Bible in local languages.

So to paint the Pakatan as the villain is not going to improve the situation for Najib – BN lost because its leader was too busy ‘calculating’ his moves to ensure victory in the 13th general election.

BN continues to remain snobbish

There is no telling when and if ever BN is going to change for better; having failed to secure a parliamentary two-thirds in the recent general election, Najib quickly placed blame of BN’s defeat on DAP’s racist policies.

However, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who is also Penang chief minister said Najib’s attack on DAP was to hide BN’s failure to wipe out corruption, cronyism and abuse of power as the primary causes.

“Can Najib show proof what are the DAP’s racist policies? It is to mask the fact that Umno was now the most racist party in the world,” Lim the Bagan MP had said.

Lim said even the African National Party that advocated apartheid against the majority blacks in South Africa had been disbanded.

He countered that it was not DAP but Umno that was going about selling lies as was done by Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz who lied that Chinese voters were misled that the Malay – Bumiputera special privileges and position of Islam as the official religion would be abolished if Pakatan had won.

But Lim says that was never the case with the Pakatan allies – DAP, PAS and PKR – none had advocated the abolishment of the special position of Malays or Islam nor was it mentioned in Pakatan’s manifesto.

Nazri’s lie, says Lim, was not only dangerous but also provoked racial tensions.

For how long more does Najib and his band of coterie intend to act vindictive and use lies to manipulate the rakyat into disbanding all faith in Pakatan, who in a mere five years succeeded in making their way into the people’s hearts?

Just why have the rakyat taken a liking to Pakatan is for Najib to find out, if he is serious about doing things the right way that is.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.