It will be Malay tsunami next, Utusan warns Umno

'Útusan Malaysia' accused Chinese voters of deserting Barisan Nasional in the May elections.PAS and PKR will change their strategies to garner more support from Malays and Bumiputeras to create a "Malay tsunami" in the next general election, columnist Awang Selamat said today.

After the "Chinese tsunami" in the 13th General Election, as described by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Awang predicted the outcome of the 14th polls would revolve around the Malay votes.

"Umno will have a fierce fight on their hands from PAS and PKR in order to win support from the Malay majority. PAS and PKR are set to change their game plan," Awang said in his Sunday column in “Utusan Malaysia”.

"The Umno supreme council needs to be humble as they will have nobody to blame but themselves if the party fails to retain Putrajaya in the next polls."

The party's mouthpiece, “Utusan Malaysia”, reminded the supreme council members not to focus on their personal ambitions to the extent of forgetting Umno's fundamental principles.

Awang, the pseudonym for the newspaper's collective editorial team, said the supreme council members would be held responsible if Umno failed to defend its political position in the next general election.

"Be wary, while Umno is strong, it is not invincible. Everyone must take up the struggle and fight for Umno to be supported, especially by Malays and Bumiputeras," Awang said.

Following the 13th General Election, Umno president Najib blamed Pakatan for the Chinese tsunami, saying they had preyed on racial sentiments to win the votes from Malaysia's second biggest ethnic group.

“Utusan Malaysia” also followed Najib's lead in blaming the Chinese voters, coming out with the front-page headline of "Apa lagi Cina mau?" (What more do the Chinese want?).

In the May polls, Barisan Nasional won 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats, losing seven seats to Pakatan compared with the 2008 polls.

Barisan also lost the popular vote, securing 47% compared with the opposition's 51%.