Chin Tong has it all wrong about PN’s limitations

 

From Kassim Abdul Samad

Allow me to provide a rebuttal to the letter from Liew Chin Tong on how Saturday’s elections in six states have exposed Perikatan Nasional’s limitations.

First, he talked about the end of mid-term changes of government. With the elections in six states done and dusted, Liew does not expect a ‘Sheraton Move 2.0’ to take place. But the way he’s referred to it is as though a political coup with MPs switching sides is a domain exclusive to PN.

Lest he forget, it was Anwar Ibrahim who claimed “I have the numbers” in the run-up to Sept 16, 2008 in an attempt to topple then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Surely Liew knows this, as he’d just been elected MP for Bukit Bendera.

In September 2020, Anwar pulled the same stunt with his “strong, formidable, convincing majority” following the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister. At the time, Anwar and Pakatan Harapan’s other leaders expressed a willingness to work with Umno’s court cluster.

And let’s not forget how Anwar triggered the defections of Parti Bersatu Sabah state assemblymen to overthrow the legitimately elected Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1994.

Anwar’s veneer

Liew should stop pretending that beneath Anwar’s “democrat” veneer, there isn’t a sinister, power-hungry opportunist who’d stop at nothing to win and retain power, even to the point of subjugating democratic processes.

Liew should stop smearing PN about political “frogs” when Anwar has always been at the top of this game for decades.

Secondly, Liew talked about the limitations of PN leveraging anger solely among the Malays – whatever that means. The surge in support for PN since the 2022 general election is attributed to the electorate’s distrust of PH in dealing with public welfare, especially after both PH and Barisan Nasional went against their word and joined forces to satiate their respective lusts for power.

Politics aside, the current unity government has failed to address many key bread-and-butter issues confronting the public, such as the rising cost of living. These are issues that affect all Malaysians, not just the Malay community.

The low voter turnout on Saturday, including among Chinese voters, is indicative of the electorate’s frustration with the current government.

Stagnant PH

And since Liew brought up the issue of community support, perhaps he should remember that PH, anchored by the Chinese-dominated DAP in terms of MPs and state legislators, has barely made headway since the 2018 general election. The only exception perhaps is Kota Lama in Kelantan which was won by an Amanah representative on Saturday.

In other words, the DAP-dominated PH is clinging to its diminishing fixed-deposit seats despite a rapidly-changing national demography that works against the coalition’s interests. Good luck in two or three general elections from now.

Liew’s third assertion, that Saturday’s elections signal the end of the era of Muhyiddin, Abdul Hadi Awang and Azmin Ali, is nonsensical.

Last I checked, Bersatu and PAS, especially the latter, made significant gains on Saturday. Azmin, too, defied the odds and claimed victory in a supposedly PH urban stronghold in Selangor.

Kon Yeow v Guan Eng

How is it that these people have outlived their usefulness? Perhaps Liew is conflating PH dynamics with that of PN’s. As we know, the knives were out and trained on outgoing chief minister Chow Kon Yeow in Penang, despite DAP’s electoral success on Saturday.

How else would you explain the speed with which Chow was sworn in for another term as chief minister, barely hours after winning? And why was party stalwart Lim Guan Eng noticeably absent from the gathering on Saturday night, where Chow announced PH’s victory in the state?

Clearly, Chow was trying to stave off a coup from his predecessor. That’s DAP for you, trying to kick out a winner – a concept alien in organisations whose leaders are not power-crazy.

Liew also claimed the era of three-cornered fights is over unless PN implodes.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with multi-cornered fights: it only makes democracy all the more vibrant.

Umno implosion

Unless Liew is afraid that parties like Muda will split votes with PH, as happend in Sungai Kandis, Selangor, this weekend, what is he so worried about? In democracy, the more the merrier. Is Liew, like Anwar, also a faux democrat?

Secondly, if there’s going to be an implosion, it would be within PH-BN, not PN. As we know, the PN partnership is already very strong, while the PH-BN alliance is kept together by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s desperation to avoid jail and nothing more.

As it stands, Umno fared disastrously on Saturday and supporters including former Cabinet minister Idris Jusoh have already called for Zahid’s resignation. There’s a limit to the patience of Umno grassroot members as they see their party being rejected due to one man.

If I were Liew, I would instead brace for an internal revolt in Umno, which would have severe consequences for the longevity of the unity government. - FMT

Kassim Abdul Samad is an FMT reader.

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