Now, BN must keep its promise of a multiracial Johor

 

The Johor state elections are done and dusted and it would be pointless to debate whether it should have been held in the first place.

As most had analysed, the Umno-powered Barisan Nasional swept into power trouncing its opponents with a huge majority. Everyone should cease arguing about whether the victory was worth it or if it came at a huge cost; nothing can change the results.

There is also no point arguing about the low 55% turnout as this does happen during elections. The losers should instead go back to the drawing board to revise their strategies to keep themselves relevant in a rapidly changing political landscape.

The results obviously show that many of the voters have returned to the BN fold in this election for a variety of reasons. While the voters are dejected with the opposition parties for not putting up a solid front, the promises made by BN to ensure a multiracial government must have surely been a pull factor.

DAP managed to retain 10 of its seats, losing four to MCA. This obviously shows that a percentage of Chinese supporters have gone back to BN.

If you look at the campaign, Umno and BN leaders were harping on the need for a government that is representative of the multiracial makeup of Johor, where nearly 45% of the population are non-Malays. This was also among the thrusts of its manifesto.

Many non-Malays have been feeling a sense of deprivation of their rights and place in society mainly brought about by the PN-led government which used Malay supremacy to take control of the government in 2020.

In Johor, the promises were made by none other than BN’s menteri besar-designate Hasni Mohammad who promised to redress the racial composition in the Johor government if he was re-elected.

He actually said he was unhappy that most of the previous state executive councillors were Malays.

“That was not good. Johor is not like that. In Johor, the Malay community makes up about 56% of the population, with the Chinese and Indians making up the remainder. It’s very balanced,” he had said.

Brave words indeed but one can’t blame Malaysians if they balk at these pre-election promises based on past experiences. To be fair, Hasni and other state leaders appeared to be genuine this time.

With Umno making such a major promise openly, and seemingly not playing to the gallery, this was indeed sweet to the ears of Malaysians who were beginning to give up hope.

With four MCA and three MIC assemblymen voted in, Hasni has more than enough non-Malays to choose from to be in the executive council. But this will merely be cosmetic if he stops there. Redressing the racial balance should be at all levels, especially the non-political appointments.

Umno will surely make the state a better place for all if it appoints more competent non-Malays into its government-linked enterprises and the state civil service based on their merits. It must not be at the recommendation of any politician.

As most can remember, Pakatan Harapan came under severe attack for failing to keep many of its promises after it came to power in 2018, much to the anger of voters. The last straw was when Dr Mahathir Mohamad actually said PH had made the promises while not believing it would win.

With the push by a group for Malay supremacy after claiming the PH Cabinet had too many non-Malays, the failure of the coalition to keep its pledges became one of its biggest undoings.

After PN took over, it changed the tune saying Muhyiddin Yassin was the “Abah” for all Malaysians, irrespective of race or religion.

Then when Ismail Sabri Yaakob became the prime minister, his battle cry was Keluarga Malaysia, that everyone is part of a Malaysian family irrespective of their race or religion. Besides the use of the phrase in all government speeches, websites and billboards, no concrete actions were taken to show he meant it.

I don’t think it’s too much to ask for some sincerity from these politicians to embrace the non-Malays and make them feel wanted all the time, not just before elections.

BN and Umno had better remember that the electorate will punish them dearly if the manifesto or their promises are cast into the political dustbin.

If Johor BN proves to the nation that it can keep its promises, it may well work in BN’s favour at the general election, and convince more Malaysians to opt for stability. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.