PAS and Bersatu should not take it personally
The problem is Umno, PAS and Bersatu are fishing in the same pond. So one man’s gain would be another man’s loss. And that is why there has to be only one tiger on the mountain, not three. PAS and Bersatu must not take this personally. This is politics, that’s all. I would do the same if I want to be numero uno.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
If you have not watched Lokman Noor Adam’s video on Facebook two days ago then you should (it’s titled ‘KENAPA JOHOR PERLU DIADAKAN PRN SEGERA’ https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-UNK_GK0T-GK1C&ref=watch_permalink&v=314303863972171).
Basically, Lokman explains why a snap state election should be held in Johor — and what he says makes a lot of sense and I would have to agree with him.
The gist of what Lokman says in his normal long-winded and go round-and-round way is: Umno-Barisan Nasional is currently at its strongest and by holding the election now all the other parties can be wiped out (PKR, DAP, PAS and Bersatu included and in particular) like what happened in Melaka and Sarawak.
All the other Umno people who have given their opinion on the way forward for Umno say the same thing: which is Umno must reclaim the dominant position in Malaysian politics and not share the stage with anyone (especially with other Malay-Muslim parties) so that Umno can once again have political hegemony.
There is nothing wrong with that aspiration because politics is about being the top dog and not merely running in a pack with no one as top dog. When you are weak, you need to seek the safety of the pack. But when you become strong, you must stake your claim as the top dog and bring all the others under your domination.
And opportunity knocks but once. If you do not grab the opportunity when it comes, it will go away and may never come back again. So strike while the other is hot, as the proverb goes.
PAS, on the other hand, knows it is futile to aspire for the top dog position. All it wants is Malay-Muslim unity (a.k.a. safety of the pack). And that is why it wants a coalition of Umno-PAS-Bersatu. But that would mean the three parties have to share the cake.
But the cake is too small to share with so many parties. The cake they will be sharing would be just in West Malaysia whereas Umno-BN cannot dominate East Malaysia. Even worse would be that Umno would have to share the Malay-Muslim portion of the cake and not the entire cake.
So, sharing the Malay-Muslim portion of the cake does not serve Umno well. Umno needs the entire Malay-Muslim portion of the cake and form an alliance with those who own the non-Malay-non-Muslim portion of the cake so that BN can have two-thirds or more of the cake.
Hence Umno-BN needs to wipe out not just DAP and PKR but PAS and Bersatu as well. Then do a deal with the parties that own Sabah and Sarawak and control not just all the states but parliament as well.
This is actually a brilliant strategy and very workable from where I sit. From the point of view of Umno and Umno’s future, it is crucial they become top dog again where they control 50% of parliament with BN and BN-friendly parties controlling two-thirds (and the same in the state assemblies as well).
The problem is Umno, PAS and Bersatu are fishing in the same pond. So one man’s gain would be another man’s loss. And that is why there has to be only one tiger on the mountain, not three. PAS and Bersatu must not take this personally. This is politics, that’s all. I would do the same if I want to be numero uno.
