How will Umno and DAP justify their existence?
What happens now once DAP and Umno share the same bed? How does DAP continue to get the support of the non-Malays based on it is defending the non-Malays against Umno and how does Umno continue to get the support of the Malays based on it is defending the Malays against DAP?
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Umno has imploded before. In 1951. In 1969. In 1981. In 1987. In 1998. In 2006. In 2015. And now, 2021.
In four of those eight occasions, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was behind the crisis (1969, 1981, 2006 and 2015). In 1951, it was Onn Jaafar who triggered the crisis. In the 1987 crisis, it was Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who triggered it while the 1998 crisis was triggered by Anwar Ibrahim.
Is Dr Mahathir’s hidden hand in this 2021 political crisis as well?
It is ironical that Dr Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh and Anwar are also involved in this 2021 crisis as well.
This has always been the story of Umno — the story of internal power struggles. But then Umno is not alone. PAS, PKR, DAP, MCA, MIC, USNO, PPBS, Gerakan, etc., have all also seen internal crises and power struggles.
In fact, each time PAS suffers an internal crisis, a new party is born — Berjasa, Hamim, and Amanah. PAS itself is a result of an internal crisis in Umno back in 1951 between the Secularists and the Islamists.
The non-Malays support DAP because Umno is a threat to the non-Malays
But this 2021 political crisis is unique. This crisis is being triggered by the proposed marriage between Umno and DAP. Hence the crisis is going to affect both sides of the political divide.
Umno and DAP have always sort of “complemented” one another. Umno campaigns and wins Malay support on the platform that DAP is a threat to the Malays, Bahasa Malaysia, Islam, the Raja-Raja Melayu, the NEP, etc.
DAP, on the other hand, campaigns and wins non-Malay support on the platform that Umno is a threat to the non-Malays, vernacular schools, Christianity, mother-tongue education, equality, etc., and is a racist, extremist, kleptocratic, and undemocratic party that abuses its power and is corrupt.
Malays support Umno because of the threat from DAP
Because of this, DAP wins more than 90% support from the non-Malays while Umno, until 2018, monopolises the Malay heartland (of course, having to “share the market” with PAS).
So how does DAP and Umno now justify their existence? DAP exists because of Umno while Umno exists because of DAP. They complement each other. If there is no DAP, then the Malays do not need Umno, while if there is no Umno, the non-Malays do not need DAP.
What happens now once DAP and Umno share the same bed? How does DAP continue to get the support of the non-Malays based on it is defending the non-Malays against Umno and how does Umno continue to get the support of the Malays based on it is defending the Malays against DAP?
