Dr Mahathir is politically correct

Umno knows it needs the Malays to support the party. Umno knows the Malays are split three ways. Umno knows the Chinese are no longer split. So Umno needs to talk about how to unite the Malays behind the party just like how the Chinese are united behind the opposition.

HO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

What Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said is politically-correct — if we wish to just look at what he said from the political perspective and ignore whether it is also morally-correct, legally-correct, racially-correct, and so on.

Do we doubt that the urban population and the non-Malay population no longer support Barisan Nasional?

Do we doubt that the only reason Barisan Nasional is still in power is mainly because of the rural voters in West Malaysia plus those from Sabah and Sarawak?

Do we doubt that the only reason Barisan Nasional is still in power is because of Umno and the political parties from Sabah and Sarawak?

Do we doubt that Barisan Nasional is still in power because of the wide variance between urban seats and rural seats and that if the seats had a variation of just plus-minus 30% then Barisan Nasional would no longer be in power?

Do we doubt that if a law were passed where seat variances must be within plus-minus 30% then the number of urban seats would increase while the number of rural seats would not and, therefore, Barisan Nasional would no longer be in power?

Do we doubt that if votes and not seats decide the government then Barisan Nasional would not be in power because it garnered less than 50% of the votes but more than 50% of the seats?

Do we doubt that at one time the Malays were divided into three (Umno, PAS and Semangat 46 — and later PKR when Semangat 46 closed down) and the Chinese were also divided into three (DAP, MCA and Gerakan), but now the Chinese are no longer divided into three (since MCA and Gerakan are now non-entities) while the Malays are still divided into three?

No, we do not doubt all that. And neither does Dr Mahathir. So Dr Mahathir realises that as long as the Malays remain divided into three while the Chinese are united under the opposition, then Barisan Nasional may not be in power for much longer unless they can ensure that Sabah and Sarawak remain a Barisan Nasional stronghold. Any small shift in Sabah and Sarawak and Barisan Nasional is finished.

And with the Allah, Hudud and Bible issues, there is a real danger that there may be a shift in Sabah and Sarawak and even a small shift will hurt Barisan Nasional, no need for a Tsunami in Sabah and Sarawak.

Hence what Dr Mahathir said is a political reality. Everyone is aware of this scenario. So what do you do about it? Being aware about it is one thing. The question is what course of action do you now take?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s strategy is to try to win back the support of the Chinese. And to do that he will need to make some drastic changes, launch major reforms, and introduce more liberalisation into government policies.

Dr Mahathir, however, feels this will be doing too little, too late, and will not have the desired affect. Whatever the government may do and say will not help win back Chinese support. The better strategy, according to Dr Mahathir, is to work on the basis that the Chinese will never swing back to the government. Hence Umno needs to move forward on the basis that they have to totally write-off Chinese support.

Okay, if this is the strategy — totally write-off Chinese support — then what will Umno need to do to make sure that Barisan Nasional remains in power? Well, then Umno has to bank totally on Malay support and the course of action is to try to win back Malay support and not allow the Malays to remain split three ways and, just like the Chinese, unite under one umbrella.

Is this a plan? Will that plan bear fruit? Maybe and maybe not, but at least it is a plan against the backdrop of what Dr Mahathir views as no plan from Najib.

So, as far as Dr Mahathir is concerned, this is the political strategy that Umno must adopt to remain in power. And the strategy is: since the Chinese are united against Umno then the only way Barisan Nasional can offset this is for the Malays to unite under Umno.

Does this sound racial? No, not as far as Dr Mahathir is concerned. If it is not racial to ask the Chinese to unite under ABU then it is also not racial to ask the Malays to unite to oppose ABU.

Even in America they talk about the Black vote, the Latino vote, the Jewish vote, the Irish vote, the Polish vote, the Catholic vote, the Bible-Belt vote, the Muslim vote, etc. And they come out with strategies on how to win the votes of these various ethnicities and religious groupings — nothing racial about that at all, that is the reality of American politics.

So, in Malaysia, you also talk about the Malay vote, the Chinese vote, the Indian vote, the Sabah and Sarawak natives vote, the Muslim vote, the Christian vote, the Hindu vote, and so on. This, too, is the reality of Malaysian politics.

Hindraf says if the government does not listen to them then Barisan Nasional is going to lose the Indian and/or Hindu vote. The Chinese educationists say that if the government does not listen to them then Barisan Nasional is going to lose even more Chinese votes. So Perkasa and ISMA say if the government ignores them then Umno is not going to win back the Malay vote.

That is the political reality. To win votes you must make the Malays, Chinese, Indians, natives of East Malaysia, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., happy. And this is exactly what the politicians are saying, Dr Mahathir included.

So what Dr Mahathir said is politically correct. Whether we want to consider what he said as racial is another matter. But since Malaysia’s politics is very race-based — which no one can deny — then there is no avoiding talking about race when you talk about the voters, just like in America.

Umno knows it needs the Malays to support the party. Umno knows the Malays are split three ways. Umno knows the Chinese are no longer split. So Umno needs to talk about how to unite the Malays behind the party just like how the Chinese are united behind the opposition.

So, what is so racial about that? That is the political reality. Should Umno be prohibited from talking about the political reality just because it involves the Malays?

Back in the late 1980s, all the way up to the 2008 general election, for about 20 years, we said that the Chinese have to unite under the opposition if we want to see Barisan Nasional ousted. At that time everyone agreed that this is the political reality and no one said that that is a racist statement. We can say it and it is not racial. But when Umno says the same thing it becomes racial.

Instead of screaming about what Umno is saying, we should instead focus on how to convince the Malays that it is safe for the Malays to continue supporting the opposition. Thus far, the things we are saying and doing just convinces the Malays that what Umno is saying is correct. Hence if the Malays go back to Umno is it Umno’s fault or our fault?

Sleep on that for a day or two.