Why can’t Umno be like Pakatan?

Raja Sara Petra

If I were asked what’s the one good thing about Pakatan Harapan, I would probably say the one good thing about Pakatan Harapan is they are more loyal to the party than to the candidate. How often have we heard Pakatan Harapan leaders say never mind whether you put a tunggul kayu or beruk as the calon, the supporters will still vote Pakatan Harapan? Of course, while that is good to a certain extent, it can be bad if taken to the extreme. But Umno and Barisan Nasional, unfortunately, are at the other end of that extreme.

That is why people like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin Yassin, and many other ex-Umno leaders, are acceptable to the Pakatan Harapan supporters in spite of what they said and did in the past. You would expect that ex-Umno leaders who used to be the mortal enemies of the opposition would be shunned forever and treated as pariahs. But the Pakatan Harapan supporters are quick to allow bygones to be bygones as long as you are opposed to Umno and Barisan Nasional. In one minute, devils can become angels if you support the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan.

On the opposite end of the scale, Umno and Barisan Nasional supporters are not so accommodating. They sometimes refuse to support the party and would even sabotage the party if their choice of candidate is not fielded. The opposition works on the basis of blind loyalty, which is bad. The Umno and Barisan Nasional supporters, however, work on the basis of no loyalty unless it is my choice of candidate. And this was why in the last two general elections a number of seats were lost to the opposition, and which is why we may be seeing the same thing in GE14 as well.