Umno MPs shrug off Perkasa despite leadership volte-face
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — Several Umno leaders have claimed that the party was not bowing to Perkasa’s demands, despite recent top party leaders making an about-turn and refusing to alienate the Malay rights group.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak said last Friday that Umno was not in conflict with any non-governmental organisation despite the recent move by party leaders to distance it from Perkasa.
Shortly after that, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that he had never asked party members to sever ties with Perkasa, denying an earlier statement where he was reported to have said that the country’s largest Malay party will not back Perkasa in the next general election and that the right-wing group was corroding the party’s non-Malay support.
Umno leaders now stress that the party was “actually” moving away from Perkasa, claiming that although Najib did not speak out against Perkasa, the proof was that the Prime Minister’s policies were “inclusive” and the federal government’s current key policies were “merit-based” and geared towards “economic liberalisation”.
“Actions speak louder than words. Umno is not, I repeat, Umno is not bowing down to Perkasa’s demands in action. In action, the Prime Minister is actually moving away from Perkasa. The various policies introduced by the current administration, through the 1 Malaysia concept, in terms of economic liberalisation, a move towards a merit-based system. These are all and everything that Perkasa is against.
“Umno, BN we are not giving them (Perkasa) what they want,” said Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
The Umno politician told The Malaysian Insider that the reason why Najib, who is Umno president, did not direct the party to alienate Perkasa was because he did not want to “discriminate” against any party or NGO.
“Najib is being inclusive…in actions there is no backtracking. Umno is not backtracking. In statements yes, because he (Najib) is being inclusive, he does not want to discriminate against any party or organisation,” said Nur Jazlan.
The UDA chairman said that Tengku Adnan’s recent “backtracking” did not mean that Umno was succumbing to Perkasa’s demands.
“How much ground has Perkasa made? Even though they may have made leaders ‘correct’ their statements, it is not reflected in the actions of the present government. Perkasa is still not getting what they want. In actions, we are not listening to them.
“Perkasa, (Datuk) Ibrahim Ali are not important, but they are made important because the way our leaders and the media have responded to their statements,” added Nur Jazlan.
Najib reiterated his stand over the weekend that his administration would continue affirmative action but would redefine the policies to make it fairer, more transparent and market-friendly.
Perkasa, however, has lobbied against attempts by the Najib administration to implement more inclusive economic reforms in a bid to increase the country’s competitiveness that has suffered because of affirmative action policies.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah echoed Najib’s stand on Perkasa, saying that it did not matter whether Perkasa supported Umno or did not agree with Umno on issues concerning Malay rights.
“I am not rejecting Perkasa, but to my mind Umno has to change its ways of arguing the Malay agenda, it needs to figure out a new way. I have nothing against them, but Perkasa represents an old framework of arguing about Malay rights…Perkasa represents an old way of thinking, and we in Umno need to chart out a new approach. If Perkasa supports us, it’s okay. If they do not, it’s okay too,” said Saifuddin.
The Deputy Higher Education Minister told The Malaysian Insider that Umno should view the Malay rights pressure group as a “challenge”, and that the party needed to come out with a “new political language” when addressing issues concerning Malay rights, in a way that was acceptable to non-Malays, in essence not being racist or supremacist.
“The Umno leadership at all levels must try comprehend what the Prime Minister has in mind when he sort of created 1 Malaysia and to me Perkasa is a challenge to Umno. In terms of articulating the Malay agenda, we need some freshness, a new approach and perspective. We can continue fighting for the Malay cause, but we need to do it in the context of the 21st century,” said Saifuddin.
