Bersatu : The party of the Malay rejects?
PN has been trying to topple the unity government almost from the day it was formed, but though it is Bersatu’s Muhyiddin that is the commander in chief of PN, it is actually PAS that is fighting all of PN’s battles in the frontlines.
Nehru Sathiamoorthy
Umno is the sacred party of the Malay. It is going through some hard times now, what with its former leader Najib being in jail and its current leader Zahid Hamidi undermining it from within, but regardless of the deplorable state that it is in at present, at some point, when the conditions are right, it will make a a come back again. No matter how long it remains in a comatose stage, UMNO will never die. After the straits of Malacca, Raja Raja Melayu, adat and Bahasa Melayu and Agama Islam, UMNO is the fifth and most recent symbol of the Malay identity. No matter how disappointed the Malays are with Umno, they will never wash their hands on Umno, because Umno adalah parti keramat orang Melayu.
Pas represents Islam, which is a key facet of the Malay identity. In the post-World War 2 era, the Islamic factor has become arguably the most important aspect of the Malay identity. As long as the Malay identity is intricately entangled and intertwined with the Islamic identity, Pas also has a secure foothold in the Malay psyche. As long as the Malays exist and Islam is a key factor of their identity, Pas also takkan hilang di dunia.
PKR is the party of Malays who are unsatisfied with their current identity. It is in other words, the party of Malays who want to change or be different from who they currently are. Officially, PKR is a multiracial party but for the purpose of my thesis here, I am going to categorise PKR as a Malay party. Whichever Malay that seeks for the Malays to be something more or something different from who they are now, PKR is their party. The reason that no one understands what PKR means when it uses the term “reformasi”, is because the term “reformasi” is likely just a word that PKR uses to describe its desire to not be who it currently is. PKR doesn’t know who it wants to be, it just knows that it doesn’t want to be who it is – that is why no one in PKR can understand what PKR means by reformasi, although we are all aware that PKR is serious and genuine about its desire for “reformasi”. When the desire to change is strong in the Malays, PKR will also be strong. When the Malays would rather be the same and not change, PKR will be weaker. But regardless of whether it is weak or strong, PKR will always remain, because change is the only constant in this world, and PKR represents the Malay desire for change.
For the reason stated above, wherever Malay politics is talked about, PKR, together with UMNO and PAS, will always have a seat at the table.
Bersatu however, might not have a seat, because despite being a Malay party, it is a party that serves no function, meaning or purpose for the Malays. (I know Bersatu claims that it is a multiracial party, but for the interest and purpose of my thesis here, like PKR, I am going to categorize Bersatu as a Malay party).
On paper, Bersatu might be one of the biggest Malay parties around. In the 2022 general elections, it won 31 seats, which is equal to that of PKR, the ruling Malay party in the country. After Pas, Bersatu ties with PKR as the most powerful Malay party in the country. Bersatu currently has more seats in the parliament than Umno, the grand old party of the Malays.
However, despite its strength on paper, Bersatu is actually very weak, because it is has no reason for existing.
If I were to define it, I would actually define Bersatu as the party of Malay drifters and rejects. Whichever Malay that cannot fit in UMNO, PAS or PKR, will congregate in Bersatu, with the hope that drifters and rejects though they may be, if enough of them coagulate as one unit, they can make their presence felt in either UMNO, PAS or PKR.
Of all the major Malay parties in the country, Bersatu is the only one that cannot stand on its own. Bersatu can only stand if it is propped up by either UMNO, PAS or PKR, but no matter how useful or loyal Bersatu tries to be towards the major 3 Malay parties, they will always suspect Bersatu’s intention and end up betraying it. This is although Bersatu is a party of drifters and rejects, it is also ironically, a party that has a high opinion of itself and a great ambition.
After winning the 2018 elections with Bersatu, PKR was the first Malay party to realise that Bersatu has a high opinion of itself despite being a bottom of the barrel party. They realised it when Bersatu, then under Mahathir, refused to hand over the Prime Minister’s post to PKR, although Bersatu was supposed to only warm the seat for PKR.
When they realised it, PKR attempted to oust Bersatu from power, but before PKR could do it, Bersatu had played PKR out with the Sheraton Move.
After playing out PKR, Bersatu formed the Perikatan Nasional (PN) with UMNO and PAS to rule Malaysia but then Umno, like PKR before it, also realised, that despite being a party of drifters and rejects, Bersatu thinks very highly of itself. It thinks so highly of itself, that between Pas, Umno and itself, it believes that it is the party that should be treated like the “elder brother.”
Noticing Bersatu’s appetite and ambition, Umno also decided to oust Bersatu, by toppling Muhyiddin, Bersatu’s president and the 8th prime minister of Malaysia, most likely because it got tired of making Bersatu more powerful at its expense.
In the 2022 elections, Bersatu teamed up with PAS and came within a hairbreadth of conquering Putrajaya, but by the end of 2023, cracks have also started to appear between Bersatu and Pas.
The problem that PAS has with Bersatu is likely due to the same reason that Bersatu had a problem with PKR and UMNO before it. The problem is that despite being a party of losers and rejects, Bersatu thinks very highly of itself and has great ambitions.
Although it is Pas that is propping Bersatu up, Bersatu still sees itself as the leading party in Perikatan Nasional. Although PAS is the biggest single party in the parliament, and despite the fact that Bersatu is almost entirely dependent on Pas, Bersatu still believes that if PN ever manages to wrest Putrajaya, it will still be Bersatu’s president, not anyone from Pas, that has the right to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
PN has been trying to topple the unity government almost from the day it was formed, but though it is Bersatu’s Muhyiddin that is the commander in chief of PN, it is actually PAS that is fighting all of PN’s battles in the frontlines.
Even non-PN personalities like Mahathir and Daim are fighting harder for PN than Bersatu, the party that expect to be given the Prime Minister’s seat if PN wins.
Not only is Bersatu not helping PN win, Bersatu is such a loser party, that it is even making it difficult for PN to take over Putrajaya.
In the aftermath of the 2022 elections, PN could have formed the government, but Bersatu dropped the ball.
In the aftermath of the 6 state elections in August 12 of last year, it was clear that the Malays were still by and large behind PN, but Bersatu again failed to capitalize on this momentum, to do anything significant to wrest Putrajaya from Anwar.
To make matters worse, as if determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, today, 6 of Bersatu’s MP’s, or nearly 20 percent of the lawmakers that Bersatu has, have pledged their support for Anwar, and made it nearly impossible for PN to takeover Putrajaya.
Bersatu’s repeated failures has frustrated Pas, its partner in PN, to the point that Pas has started to offer its own candidates as a potential PM. In its entire history of existence, Pas has never offered its candidates as the calon PM, so you can imagine how deep Pas’s frustration and disappointment with Bersatu has to be, for it to start to uncharacteristically offer a calon PM.
Despite that, Bersatu is still insisting to Pas that it is the “elder brother” party in PN, that should be given the PM seat if PN manages to take Putrajaya.
Its insistence is likely the reason why Muhyiddin’s relationship with Hadi has become extremely frosty today.
Currently, Bersatu has amended its constitutions, to demand that its 6 rogue lawmakers who are supporting Anwar, to recant their support for Anwar.
I think its drastic move to amend its constitution to force its rogue lawmakers to return back to its fold is a last-ditch measure to save the high opinion that Bersatu has for itself.
If Bersatu manages to bring its rogue lawmakers back, I think Pas will relent, and resign itself to giving the PM post to Bersatu, if PN ever wins Putrajaya, even if it sees Bersatu as a party of losers.
If Bersatu fails to bring its lawmakers back even after taking such a drastic step, I am utterly convinced that Bersatu will have to drop the high opinion it has of itself, and play the role of Pas’s sidekick in PN.
If that were to happen, can PN drop the high opinion of itself and survive?
Well, lets look at Amanah, the humble sidekick party in PH.
To drop its opinion of itself and survive, Bersatu has to become what Amanah is to PH for PN.
To do that, it has to install a president that is not as ambitious as Muhyiddin, Hamzah or Azmin. Instead, it should probably just settle with someone like Azumu, who can be expected to lead Bersatu in the same humble manner that Mat Sabu leads Amanah.
Also, 31 MPs is too much for a party that cannot have a high opinion of itself. If Bersatu is to survive as the sidekick of Pas in PN, in will probably have to drop its numbers of MPs to around 8, which is the number of MPs that Amanah has.
