BN-PH govt could be more than marriage of convenience

 

Outside of Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the collaboration between Barisan Nasional (BN), primarily Umno, and Pakatan Harapan took everyone by surprise. Few pundits could have imagined such a possibility until well after the recent general election.

Politically, such a coalition was an impossibility. All sides had painted themselves into a corner.

Both Umno and PH saw each other as mortal enemies. The Umno rank and file was convinced by Zahid that there would be “No Anwar, no DAP”, while PH went all out to paint Zahid as the leader of the evil “court cluster”, who should never be allowed to govern.

It took a royal intervention to make it happen, with many now calling the unity government “Kerajaan YDPA” (Yang di-Pertuan Agong).

Yet many pundits are predicting this “Kerajaan YDPA” will be short-lived because of the lack of trust, treachery, conflicting policies and disagreements.

However, a senior PH politician told me over the weekend that the Umno-PH collaboration is much more than just a marriage of convenience. There are qualities, strengths, competencies and resources that could potentially make this political collaboration a long-lasting and enduring one.

Those from both sides, who previously stereotyped the other as undesirable, are finding out that their preconceptions have been wrong. There are many mutual concerns they share, and these people can do business with each other and run an administration.

There are synergies between Umno and PH that are potentially very positive.

This may enable a new paradigm of politics within at least peninsular Malaysia. The relationship, if not for altruistic reasons, could potentially keep them in power for many more elections to come.

Umno and PH may find themselves natural allies.

Strategic electoral benefit

The Umno-PH relationship enables both sides to reach segments of the electorate both parties never dreamed would be possible.

PH, through the patronage of Umno, can now reach into the Malay heartlands. How successful this can be will depend upon Umno repairing its tattered brand. Umno must rekindle its trust with the electorate. This is the only way it can win back the loss of many traditional seats to Perikatan Nasional (PN) in GE15.

With Umno’s support, Amanah has a better opportunity to reach out to some of the most religiously conservative within the Malay heartlands. This will depend on whether Amanah can disseminate a counter-ideology to PAS.

Amanah, which is a splinter party formed by former PAS leaders and members, must go back to the old PAS rhetoric, where the slogan “PAS for all” was centrepiece to its electoral ideology. This time, however, Amanah would have the grassroots resources of the Umno machinery.

Umno can now reach out and engage the urban areas, too. Standing beside DAP and PKR can throw a completely different light upon Umno, especially in areas where it had been very weak.

Of course, these strategic campaign plans would have to go through fierce bargaining, where all parties will have to give and take in the selection of candidates. Parties will have to give up seats in areas they see as traditionally theirs, in order to achieve a much bigger vision. This is much easier said than done.

Umno can go back to its historical roots

Umno wasn’t always a political party based upon the Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) ideology. Tunku Abdul Rahman’s vision of Malaysia was a Malaysia all citizens could be proud of sharing.

It was only in the early 1970s that a young Turk in Umno, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and his colleagues pushed the Ketuanan Melayu ideology, after the launching of the New Economic Policy, or NEP.

There are many within Umno who envisage the first prime minister’s vision for Malaysia. It’s now up to Umno to revise its outlook, taking into account the history and heritage of the party. There are many within the Malay establishment and professional class who share these ideals.

Reforming Umno from within without a cathartic shock would have been impossible. The shock from Umno’s latest election defeat needs to be projected onto the party, in order for reform to take place.

Umno members are moderate Muslims

There are no jihadists within Umno, and the concept at the core of PAS, an Islamic state, actually scares many Umno members. Most of the older generation grew up with a “Nusantara” form of Islam.

Islam Hadhari did have some appeal, but went away with the fall of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, at the hands of Mahathir. Some even see the “Arabisation” of Malay culture as undesirable to their rich cultural identity of “adat Melayu”.

Umno can potentially become the saviour of Malaysia from any potential “green wave”. This would be an important role and contribution in repairing the nation.

In effect, the unity government is primarily a Malay-Muslim dominated administration.

All claims by PN about Malays losing control of their own country to Jews, Christians, communists, or whatever will disappear over the next couple of years, provided the unity government can reassure the voters in the Malay heartlands that it is looking after its interests.

The first test of the above hypothesis I have put forward will be the coming state elections, due before September 2023. If the unity government can demonstrate maturity, there is a lot to gain electorally. The unity government is lucky to have Sarawak’s Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as a campaign role model. They know how to win elections.

There is hope Malaysia could be on a path to multiculturalism. - FMT

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