AT 30%, CHINESE VOTERS ARE KINGMAKERS AT SG BESAR & K KANGSAR WHEN MALAY VOTES ARE SPLIT 3 WAYS

Umar Mukhtar

At least that’s what Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) is praying for in the absence of apparent Malay support for this new party. It may even receive more non-Malay votes than Malay votes with the kind courtesy of godfather DAP. So, win or lose, PAN will have a hard time defending its Islamist credentials especially when it is obvious that those votes are not without cost.

Now that PAS will not be given a second glance by the non-Malays, it is hoping that voter anger at BN over 1MDB will give it a boost to make up for the lost non-Malay votes, which it got as a member of Pakatan Rakyat in PRU13.

Barisan Nasional needs only to remain as it was in PRU13 and to sound believable over the 1MDB controversy. It did not get the non-Malay support it was hoping for in PRU13. In fact, that explained its extra thin winning margins in the two constituencies.

For BN, 1MDB and its peripheral implications remains its Achilles heel. Now, thanks to opposition myopia, 1MDB will not figure that much in these by-elections compared to egoistic and parochial issues and the all-important question of whose dick is bigger than whose among the opposition parties. Losing the by-elections to BN is not a problem but don’t question their manhood!

As it is now, any PH party running is assured of at least 80% of Chinese votes. If PAN is running and it can get at least a respectable percentage of Malay votes, it is sure to win the by-elections. If it cannot even do that, just close shop and set up the Malay division of DAP and officially become Uncle Toms. DAP needs Malay MBs, so why not!

This talk about communal politics leaves a bad taste in the mouth. If it remains a decisive factor in our politics, it will be a long way to real integration. You cannot change your race but you can change your attitude to what really matters. Corruption matters. All in the opposition agree to that, so why don’t we let that unite us?

When I mentioned previously that these two by-elections should exclusively be on BN’s conduct surrounding the 1MDB scandal, there was uproar and panic amongst BN supporters. Because they know BN would lose over this matter. Because they want to campaign over scary things like ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ and all those bogeyman stuff.

So it’s up to the opposition to manoeuvre themselves to push BN to this quicksand pit. The opposition should dwell on things that unite them and not on their differences. Imagine opposition parties approaching the divisive subjects about who to run, etc., entering the meeting room with heads clear that BN must fall, and not whose dick is the biggest among them.

Granted that each party has its own agenda and it must necessarily differ from each other. But surely, in times like these when, in their own words, the nation’s credibility is at stake, they should be willing to sacrifice over just two by-elections. Now the three-way split of Malay votes is also benefitting the common enemy. I had thought that the opposition has what it takes to handle a complex matter like governing. Now I am not so sure!

Why the enthusiasm over Deklarasi Rakyat where Lim Kit Siang grovelled to his jailor, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and Hishamuddin Rais, the ISA detainee, was just tickled by Mahathir’s jokes and Mat Sabu in awe of Mahathir’s presence and Azmin fighting to sit next to him, if not just to unite in theory to unseat Prime Minister Najib Razak. But when it comes to more practical and down-to-earth matters, they balked as if their very existence is being challenged.

Mahathir predicts that BN will win in a three-cornered fight. If this old man turned out to be right, then we are at the mercy of idiots. Let us translate what he says to what he has proven to be capable of committing. In other words, if Mahathir is head of BN today he will endeavour to have a three-cornered fight. Maybe to the extent of making it ‘worthwhile’ for a weary party like PAS or still-broke party like PAN, or an Azmin’s PKR to deliver what he wants.

Cash is king, so reported Mahathir that the present head of BN Najib had said. And as can be seen, Najib is a good learner.