Forming government with support of only one race not possible, says Muhyiddin

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin says the survival of political coalitions rests on the wisdom of leaders to gain the trust of his or her own race, while at the same time, forge true understanding between the leaders of different races. – The Malaysian Insider pic, September 22, 2015.No single party can form the government by depending solely on the support of one race, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said, at a time when Malaysia is facing increasing racial and religious challenges.

The former deputy prime minister said this despite most political parties in the country being race-based.

"Any political party which aspires to form the government must be able to garner broad-based support from all races.

"The electoral system discourages political parties from pursuing extreme racial and religious interests. It incentivises the moderates and punishes the extremists," he said in his speech at the International Peace Conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina yesterday.

The content of his speech was also uploaded on his Facebook page.

Muhyiddin, who was axed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a Cabinet reshuffle two months ago, said because the electoral system incentivises the moderates, Malaysian political parties have over time moderated their position on matters concerning racial and religious interests.

He said those that questioned the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, do so at their own perils, losing the majority support of the electorates.

"Likewise, political parties that undermine the legitimate interests of the other races will risk losing significant percentage of votes in elections and will fail to form the federal government.

"In the end, most political parties become more compliant to the constitutional framework that seeks to balance racial interests, and in so doing promote racial harmony, political stability and national unity," he said.

The Umno deputy president said the survival of political coalitions and the maintenance of political stability rests on the wisdom of leaders to gain the trust of his or her own race, while at the same time, forge true understanding between the leaders of different races.

He said they had to agree to share political power, to concede on certain things and sometimes to withstand mounting pressures from their own community, for the greater good of maintaining racial harmony and political stability.

"They had to emerge as a coalition of the moderates whose primary concern is not only to safeguard the interests of one particular race, but also to respect the legitimate interests of all races," he added.

Muhyiddin conceded that creating and maintaining racial harmony in an ethnically divided society was not easy.

In the early days of Malaysia's independence, he said there were suspicion and prejudices among the different ethnic communities, and some observers were even pesimistic about Malaysia's future as a multi-racial country.

However, previous leaders were determined to prove the naysayers wrong, he said, and focused their efforts towards building trust and fostering national unity.

Race and religious relations have frayed further after the 13th general election in 2013 with Barisan Nasional blaming its heavier losses on the minority Chinese voters, and more recently, fuelled by Malay-Muslim groups that are seeking more puritanical Islamic laws across Malaysia.

Relations between Muslims and Christians are also fragile since the ban on the use of the word "Allah" by Catholic weekly Herald and the seizure of Malay-language bibles last year.

Critics have also accused Najib of pandering more to conservative views in his party, Umno, so as to remain in power.

The heightened racial religious tensions is the very antithesis of the united and diverse ideals surrounding the formation of Malaysia 52 years ago, added the critics.

- TMI