“The Malay electorate will say they (the Malay government) have failed, so the opposition must make that an issue,”
– Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas
Pakatan Harapan should never play the race card, which is exactly what former attorney-general Tommy Thomas is advising Harapan to do.
Do not get me wrong, if there was a tactical advantage for Harapan to play the race card if they had the bona fides to do so, then this would be good advice.
The “ketuanan” state's casus belli for its political war has always been about race and religion, and they have been very successful at it, to the extent that our political landscape is defined by it.
Before the election, which saw former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad return to power, who for years was a hate figure in the oppositional Weltanschauung, Harapan political operatives were claiming that Mahathir was needed to bring in the rural Malay votes.
Hence, it is not as if the race card is anathema in oppositional politics. The problem is the opposition is bad at it.
Harapan is supposed to be a multi-racial coalition. Its non-Malay base has always struggled with the realpolitik of governing and this has translated into the putrid Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid.
The DAP, for instance, always accused the MCA of being running dogs, but when in power, they kowtowed to the Malay power structures and lectured the base about the reality of governing.
Prominent oppositional figures chastised anyone from the fold who was critical of the status quo and allowed Mahathir and Harapan to steer the ship and not cause a ruckus.
Raduan Che Rose of the National Professor's Council (MPN) said: "Painting the government of the day as a government dominated by a certain race is very inaccurate because the government is backed by various races, represented by MCA, MIC and parties representing other communities of Sabah and Sarawak.”
The statement is complete horse manure because even the late Samy Vellu said that all roads, when it came to policy, lead back to Umno.
When Harapan was in power, Mahathir shamelessly claimed that then-finance minister Lim Guan Eng had no real power and every decision he (Guan Eng) made had to get his approval.
He added that more was given to the Malays but nobody could talk about it because this would anger the non-Malay base.
So, this idea of having non-Malay representation means consensus is bunkum. Non-Malay representation - and I know this is hard to grasp more often than not - is merely a fig leaf.
And that is why counting non-Malay numbers in any "Malay" government means bupkis.
If you think about this issue in a rational way, Malaysia has always been governed by a “Malay government”. When Harapan took over, albeit briefly, this did not change.
Indeed, so sycophantic were the non-Malay political operatives to Malay personalities (which strangely did not include PKR president Anwar Ibrahim), they made the MCA and MIC look like race gladiators.
And when the base, not non-Malay political operatives, mind you, demanded a little bit of egalitarianism, Anwar retreated to his “don’t spook the Malays” narrative, Rafizi Ramli fretted over hyper liberals and the DAP devoured its own, who were clamouring for a newer Malaysia.
Meanwhile, all these Malay uber alles political operatives who are screaming because Thomas dares to bell the cat, are extremely comfortable talking about how Malay unity trumps everything in this country.
They are demonising the DAP for being associated with Thomas. Malay political operatives can talk about race ad nauseam, but non-Malays who talk about race are demonised as being racist, ignorant and bigoted.
So, when Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, who is actually one of the better political operatives around, wonders why someone like Zaid Ibrahim is linking Thomas’s statement to the DAP, well it is obvious, right?
Thomas made this statement with luminaries from the opposition, including Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang. Thomas is closely aligned with Harapan, and so, you can bet that the Malay uber alles crowd is going to latch on to this. Why give your opponent ammunition?
Who is the Malay electorate? The swing vote that Harapan got because of Mahathir? The electorate who are voting for Bersatu and PAS? The same electorate which PKR is desperately attempting to court and always has to be mindful of, less the party appears to be stooges for DAP?
Do you think any of them are going to see a failure of a “Malay” government as a big motivator to switch to Harapan?
Is the Malay electorate the ones who believe that Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik was right when he said that it is better to vote for corrupt Muslim leaders than honest non-Muslim leaders?
Or are they the young Malays who seem to favour Bersatu over Umno? Is the Malay electorate the people who believe that the non-Malays have already too much in this country and they need a government which looks after their interests? Will they switch to Harapan?
So, how exactly is the DAP, for instance, going to make this an issue? Will its secretary-general Anthony Loke have to talk about the failures of a Malay government when he shares the stage with Anwar?
Is he going to indulge in the kind of stereotyping that anonymous cretins share on social media about this “Malay” government because that is the first thing Malay uber alles types are going to draw attention to?
And who is the target audience here? Is Muda going to have to go on about the failures of a “Malay” government when their leader had demonised the DAP before, but now, the party wants him in the “big tent”?
More importantly, since race and religion are not mutually exclusive in this country, is Amanah going to have to talk about how this “Malay” government has failed not only in terms of the economy but also say something about how this government has failed them in the religious spheres as well?
And we are aware of Harapan's track record when it comes to religion during their reign.
The Malay uber alles cartels want you to fight on their terrain. They do this because it not only advances their cause but also makes people think of the good old days when there was political, economic and social stability and not the reality that things were going down the crapper.
This is about offering an alternative and someone like Rafizi - and he is not alone - understands why it is important for the Malay polity to have an alternative but also the reality that without a clear alternative, highlighting failed strategies is useless.
What we are talking about here is winning the hearts and minds of people who are feeling the failed leadership of the political class and this includes Harapan.
If you are going to remind the Malay electorate that the government has failed, all you are doing is reminding them that they need Malay leadership which will ensure their success.
In other words, could Harapan be that "Malay" government for the people who think that this particular "Malay" government has failed them? This is not a winning strategy for them or Malaysia.
This remains the state of play. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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