DAP played Malay sentiment in Raub but we stood by MCA, says Zahid

DAP's victory in the Raub parliamentary constituency was due to the party playing with racial sentiments by fielding a Malay candidate, claimed Umno acting deputy president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He claimed that DAP had fed into the desire for a Malay MP amongst the local constituents, whereas BN wanted to honour the power sharing arrangement between its component parties.

“We know that DAP stoked the flames of racial sentiments. They observed that Malays in Raub want a Malay candidate; whereas we appreciate our partners from MCA, Gerakan, and other parties.

“Even when (MCA's) Ng Yen Yen was the MP, they had been observing this, hence they made the decision to field a Malay candidate on the DAP ticket, who used to be a local leader. Their aim was to split the Malays.

“Their theory was proven correct when a Malay candidate won because they were playing with the Malay’s sentiments,” he said during his officiating speech at the Raub Umno division delegates' meeting today, which was aired live on his Facebook fan page.

DAP had fielded Malay candidates in Raub during the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

During the 2008 election, DAP’s Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin was defeated by the MCA’s incumbent Ng by 2,752 votes.

In 2013, however, the former Umno leader and DAP candidate Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz defeated his MCA opponent by 2,814 votes.

Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the sentiment at the time was that people wanted Umno to contest in Raub, a seat traditionally contested by MCA.

However, Zahid said the Umno election machinery should abide by the decisions of the Pahang Umno chief Adnan Yaakob and Umno president Najib Abdul Razak.

He stressed that Umno should help BN retake Raub as well as capture its three states constituencies.

“We care about our partners in BN not because we expect something in return. We just want to ensure that we don’t forget BN’s contributions.

“We have placed non-Malay ministers in the cabinet and we have placed non-Malay exco members in state governments to make the power sharing (between BN component parties) real.

“God willing that the state leadership, the national leadership, and myself will ensure the commitment towards power sharing continues," he said.

'Umno not a guesthouse'

Earlier today, Zahid also officiated the Temerloh Umno division delegates' meeting.

In his officiation speech, Zahid said Umno was not a guest house where one could check-in and check-out willy-nilly, in an apparent reference to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“On Sept 26, 1969, he was sacked. He was kicked out of the house. This was during (then prime minister) Tunku Abdul Rahman’s time. After that when Abdul Razak (Hussein) was the landlord, on March 7, 1972, he came back into the house...

“After that, when (then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) became the head of the house, that person left the house again on May 19, 2008. When it is Najib’s time, on April 4, 2009, he came back inside. Then on February last year, he left yet again.

“The house of Umno is not a guesthouse. This is not the place to be checking in and out at will,” he said in Temerloh, and later made a similar statement in Raub.

Najib did not name Mahathir but the dates matched Mahathir entries to and exits from Umno.

Zahid said he will remain and continue Umno's fight, as he did when in 1999 despite a fallout with Mahathir at that time, who was the then Umno president. - Mkini