Political 'toddler' Bersatu flexing weak muscles

Hardly a year old, Bersatu is already baring its fangs and stretching its tentacles in a frantic bid to consolidate political power.

The puny party of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faces a bleak future at every turn of the wheel and, hence, its priority is to prolong its stay in Putrajaya.

To pursue this objective, Bersatu is pulling out all the old dirty tricks in the hat. After all, Muhyiddin is deeply schooled in the black art of Umno politics and surely knows how to use such dark tactics to great effect.

The story is all-too-familiar: go after the dissenters, dig out all the dirt about them, exploit their weaknesses, corner them and hold them to "ransom". They can "buy" their freedom by rejoining the Muhyiddin camp or end up with their rice bowls broken.

These "rebels" will be tormented no end until they buckle under tremendous pressure. Should they give in to these blandishments? If they succumb, they can enjoy all the tasty fruits in Muhyiddin's political garden of Eden.

If they resist, they have only their conscience and principles to give them the energy, courage and determination to shoulder on.

The Muhyiddin regime is also not sparing the politicians in the opposition ranks. They are seen as more dangerous political animals, considering that they hold the balance of power and could frustrate Bersatu's goals, ambitions and dreams.

The line of attack

The line of attack is the well-tried strategy: use the instruments of state power to intimidate, harass, investigate and even drag the opponents to court on some spurious charges. It is just like the bad, old days of Umno when political opponents were always at the receiving end of bullying tactics.

Then comes the next victim - the Fourth Estate. Whether it is a democracy, dictatorship, or communism, the mass media has always been the favourite whipping boy of political masters, largely because the pen is mightier than the sword.

Politicians - be they prime ministers, presidents or ministers - go into spasms of rage when they read articles critical of their conduct or their policies. They cannot tolerate journalists who dare to expose the ugly side of the official narrative. The words that flow out from the pens could make or unmake the political career of a leader, or even lead to the downfall of a government.

Autocratic rulers would bundle off journalists to eternal oblivion without trial. But in a democracy, rulers would put up a civilised front by upholding the due process of the law.

So, the journalists would be duly hauled up to court and the verdict would invariably go against them, although in the court of public opinion, they are as clean as a whistle. They are doing their job to tell the truth and not to gloss over wrongdoings or curry favour the establishment.

A political toddler with a long journey ahead

Muhyiddin's campaign to crack down on his opponents and critics might backfire because the more he pursues his aggressive agenda, the more he antagonises the people.

A policy of reprisals would not make Muhyiddin a people's champion but would sway public opinion against him.

Bersatu, a political toddler, has a long journey ahead. It cannot transform itself into a formidable coalition overnight by arrogating to itself the power to rule the country without a proper mandate.

The backbone of Bersatu in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is weak. It moves and acts only on sufferance. It leans heavily on the crutches supplied by its bigger avaricious partners, all of whom want to reshape the country according to their skewed political doctrine.

As long as the legitimacy of Bersatu is called into question, all attempts - covert, overt, or subtle - at suppressing dissent and criticism are pointless. The biggest challenge Muhyiddin faces is not defeating all his political foes but whether he can "stand well to the test of high office".

So far, in these few months, he has displayed the arrogance of power instead of recognising the feebleness and hopelessness of his political position.

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PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist. - Mkini