Dr M resurrects DAP bogeyman to warn 'bored' Malays ahead of polls

 

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reverted to using DAP to sow fear in the Malay electorate ahead of the election for six states.

This is not new for the nonagenarian, who had vilified DAP along racial lines until a brief hiatus when he formed an alliance with Pakatan Harapan for the 2018 national polls.

Back then, the former premier, when speaking about his past accusations against DAP, stated that it was a common practice in politics.

“If we want to win, we must demonise the opponent. They also did the same to me,” he said.

Since parting ways with Harapan, and now backing Perikatan Nasional, whose chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin he once branded as a “traitor”, the 98-year-old politician has returned to his old playbook.

In his latest Facebook post, Mahathir claimed DAP wielded “enormous influence” in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government.

To arrive at this conclusion, the former premier, who was decimated in the last national polls, indulged in number crunching to suggest that the low turnout of Malay voters set the stage for this scenario.

“Before the 15th general election, there were rumours that Malays were bored of politics. True?

“Only 75 percent of Malay voters had cast their ballots. Does this mean 25 percent of Malays are bored (with politics)?

“However, 95 percent of Chinese voters cast their ballots. Does this mean the Chinese are not bored with the politics in Malaysia? Does this mean they are interested in politics? Why?” he asked.

Disgruntled Malay voters

Turning the clock to the 14th general election, Mahathir noted that DAP bagged an unprecedented 42 federal seats, which he attributed to support from disgruntled Malay voters.

“Malay voters from Bersatu who despised (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak gave their ballots to DAP,” said the former Bersatu chairperson.

On the same note, Mahathir noted that DAP still managed to win 40 seats in the last general election despite Bersatu no longer being part of the Harapan coalition.

“Why? Because 95 percent of the Chinese voted.

“The Chinese were not bored. The result - Harapan, which has more non-Malays, has 82 elected representatives.

“Whereas, the Malays, who form the majority in Malaysia, only have 73 elected representatives,” he said.

Mahathir, knowing that his arithmetic would be scrutinised, also added a caveat to state that the figure does not include the “Malays from PKR, Amanah and DAP”.

In his final analysis, the former premier said since DAP, with 40 seats, is the biggest political party in the government, it is “certain that it has great influence”.

When misleading narratives about the ethnic composition of the new government began to swirl after the last election, Malaysiakini did a fact check to show that the bulk of the MPs are bumiputera Muslim. - Mkini