Madani government cannot save Umno

“So let’s fix our own problem before talking about the alliance with DAP. If there’s one thing I could say, it is that DAP has given us more ‘face’ than Malay voters.”

- as reported in the press

What the fall of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak demonstrated to the Malay polity was that they really did not need Umno to further racial and religious agendas.

PAS-led Perikatan Nasional is the logical conclusion of decades of Islamisation and racial brainwashing that created a polity who have abandoned such concepts as social contract and power sharing in favour of a theocratic state.

Umno did not lose support because of the DAP, because it was already haemorrhaging support before Umno hooked up with the DAP.

However, they continue losing support because they have now hooked up with DAP. This is the problem with racial politics. It always comes back to bite you on your behind.

When these race-based charlatans want to be saved from the treachery of their comrades, they run to DAP. As a political party, DAP has a strong stable base that has always acted as a foundation for these Malay uber alles types to cling on to power.

Indeed, this source who says the DAP gives Umno more face than Malay voters is perhaps a major reason why Umno is bleeding support from the Malay polity.

As one former Umno political operative who has opted out of the game related to me, the sight of Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi being embraced by DAP is shocking to “hardcore” Umno supporters.

Which do you think is more believable to an Umno voter? That Umno was wrong all those years to demonise DAP or that the Zahid-led Umno is trying to save his neck would betray the party’s struggle and form an alliance with DAP?

This is about how the elites in Umno continue to betray the grassroots, which is exactly the propaganda of PN.

She also said, that for years, the DAP and its supporters had demonised Umno voters, calling them out for supporting racists and kleptocrats and here was someone, who has not only said many “racist” things but also “freed” from corruption charges, being welcomed by DAP leaders who for years vilified Umno.

This political operative reminded me, that when Zahid reminded the Umno base to counter toxic divisive politics in their 77th bash, it was met with dismay from the grassroots.

All the toxic racial politics that PAS led PN are shovelling back at Umno and this unity government, are from the Umno’s playbook which served Zahid's party well for decades.

Now the perception is that Umno is too weak to stand on its own and has to go running for non-Malay support to keep them in power.

And despite the fact that DAP is on its hands and knees, the perception is that Umno leaders are beholden to DAP which basically means that the politics of “ketuanism” (supremacy) is in jeopardy, which is why Abdul Hadi Awang said that ignorant Malays are being used by the DAP.

A DAP leader said this - “…Umno was formed to protect the Malays, but over the years had benefited the elites and abandoned the majority of the community. And it’s coming to haunt them.”

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

There’s more to it than that. Forget about the message Zahid’s discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) says about the hypocritical nature of the Pakatan Harapan base.

What is more damaging is the message being sent to the civil service and security apparatuses.

What it says is that the elites in Umno can get a get-out-of-jail card and the plebeians in the civil and security services who are caught for corruption have to do time.

Where is the justice in this? Keep in mind that the civil and security services are dominated by the Malay polity and the messaging this sends to them is that anti-corruption policies are targeted at them and not the elites.

As I have argued before, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is right to play the class card. However, what this DNAA does is remind everyone how the elites have it differently in the Malay community, that the non-Malays will accept this as long as it gains them power and that the only form of justice for the Malay community is the likes of Hadi.

The PAS supremo has made so many inconsistent statements about corruption and Islam but controls the narrative when it comes to the religion in this country.

While the Harapan and the DAP base believe that they are propagandising a unity narrative with Umno, the reality is that PN leaders tell the Malays that they do not need to bend their knees to the non-Malays to achieve political power.

You have to understand that PN is a political insurgency against traditional power structures in this country.

PN supporters believe their leaders are speaking truth to power and the establishment knows that even if what political operatives from PN say is not true, they are speaking to power, to them.

And the more the majority believes what PN says, the less control the establishment has over a populace who understands that for decades, they have been taken for a ride.

What “reforms” could Umno undertake to reassert dominance? The fact is that there is no ideology beyond “ketuananism” that sustains race-based parties.

The reality is that Umno is getting far more out of this unity government than any other coalition member but this does not reassure the base.

PN’s political war is a war of attrition. They do not need to retake the federal government. In fact, they are gaining more mileage out of a floundering Madani than assuming the reins of power.

All they need to do is chip away at the Malay base of Harapan and they will succeed in the racial and religious narratives they are putting out there.

As always with “ketuanan” politics, the enemy is within. - Mkini

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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