Ramasamy: New alliance to oppose Tun M’s Malay unity umbrella lacks legitimacy, leadership

A NEW alliance called the Malaysian Community Welfare Movement (GKUM) has been formed to oppose the umbrella concept of Malay unity advanced by twice former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

GKUM under the leadership of socio-political activist Amidi Abdul Mannan seeks to oppose Dr Mahathir’s umbrella concept by arguing that it was the latter who divided the Malays while focusing its attention on what the Madani government has done to address Malay grievances.

In short, GKUM wants to drive home the point that the umbrella concept of uniting the Malays is a political endeavour on the part of Dr Mahathir and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) opposition to drive a wedge between the present government and the Malays.

One would expect a pro-government alliance to oppose the Malay unity umbrella concept to be led by a well-known national personality with the backing of powerful political parties.

Unfortunately, GKUM seems to be headed by a relatively unknown individual and NGOs without Malay or non-Malay support.

Dr Mahathir might be blamed for disuniting the Malays during his terms as the prime minister (PM) but the fact remains that he has more traction in the Malay community alongside PN political parties.

PMX Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is no match for Dr Mahathir or PN leaders when it comes to getting Malay support.

Invoking the concept of national unity might be a nebulous thing without the support of ethnic groups in the country.

One might disagree with Dr Mahathir about the real intentions behind the formation of the Malay unity umbrella but the fact that it has traction with the Malays cannot be discounted.

Furthermore, if the PN opposition floats the idea of national consensus incorporating the Chinese and Indians, then such a broad concern might find traction among the non-Malays in the country.

The present PH-led coalition might have parliamentary majority with the inclusion of coalition parties from Sabah and Sarawak but its support among the Malays is low with signs of further erosion.

Unclear direction

Rather than parroting the propaganda of the government, GKUM should instead ascertain the real grievances of the Malays, Chinese and Indians as far as Peninsula Malaysia is concerned.

The recent by-elections in the country illustrate that the non-Malays, Chinese and Indian are frustrated with the Madani government.

Low voter turnout seems to indicate the disillusionment of non-Malays with the Madani government. Anwar’s political rhetoric seems not to have convinced that he is the best leader of the country.

Amidi and his groups of supporters might have other intentions in forming the pro-government alliance other than opposing the Malay unity umbrella framework advocated by Mahathir.

At the moment it is difficult to predict the real intentions of GKUM other than the fact it wants to curry favour with the Madani government because the new alliance lacks the leadership, the legitimacy and political clout to re-engineer and render the Malay unity concept null and void.

Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of 

 - Focus Malaysia.