Only one way to stop Hadi's 'Malay-Muslim-only cabinet' proposal

I read with earnest the remark by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang that Malaysian cabinet line-up should only consist of Malay-Muslims.

Those remarks are sure to invite the ire and displeasure of the other component parties in BN, mainly MCA and MIC, as those remarks blatantly undermine the role of non-Muslims in previous contributions to the country and future service to the nation.

It is my opinion, however, that the scenario envisioned by the PAS president could become a reality if non-Muslims ditch the other component parties representing their respective communities in BN.

Tom Stoppard’s quote, “It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting,” in essence explains what democracy is about. Many have failed to realise that democracy is merely a game of numbers at the end of the day. Nothing more, nothing less.

As such, if MCA, MIC and other parties in BN do not contribute the required amount of seats to complement the seats won by Umno in the coming election, the Malay party would consider other options when forming the next government. The other option here could be forming an alliance with PAS.

What Hadi said could develop into a stark reality if the non-Muslim parties in BN merely attack him and call him a racist. Instead, those parties should pull up their sleeves and work to ensure what Hadi aspires to doesn’t materialise.

Right now, the non-Umno leaders are in the news only for squabbles over seat allocation of seats and candidacy issues, although the best thing would be for them to explain the government policies to the public and build the BN brand. If such a trend persists, then what Hadi said will happen, and they would have no one to blame but themselves for allowing such a situation to occur.

Every ordinary Malaysian, especially those eligible to vote, should also take into account what Hadi said when voting in the future.

They ought to realise that only a BN spearheaded by Umno will safeguard the interest of the non-Muslims, and there is no better evidence to prove that than referring to BN’s 60-year-old reign of our country.

The easiest thing to do would be to criticise Hadi, but the impact of this on the electorate would be minimal. What Hadi said will get him the Malay votes he seeks.

Logically, how many non-Muslims would cast their vote for PAS in any election? Therefore, attacking Hadi is a futile political exercise and I stress here one more time, will have little bearing on the electoral result.

On a final note, what matters most is the fact that Hadi’s aspirations of having an “only Malay-Muslim” cabinet should never materialise.

And for those aspirations to not materialise, non-Muslim leaders in BN should double, triple their efforts to gain the support of their respective communities.-Mkini