Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno needed to take heed of the needs of non-Malays. The thing is: he was not saying that in a MCA or Gerakan assembly but at an Umno Sungai Besar divisional meeting.
Ideologically, Umno has an obligation to the Malays, but not to the non-Malays.
Umno’s motto is even more forthright, that the party is struggling for the interests of the race, religion and nation (demi bangsa, agama dan negara).
On the realistic front, Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) were dumped by almost all the Chinese voters during the 2008 and 2013 general elections.
The election results have since steered many Umno politicians away from the Chinese, some giving up hope on them while others leaning decisively towards the racist and religious path.
Such a right turn by Umno has triggered an even bigger backlash in the country’s Chinese community. The interest of Chinese Malaysians are sidelined in many developments, and allocations and infrastructure projects for the community have been withheld.
Similarly, some policy changes have been observed in the federal administration. Hadi’s private bill has been given a chance and JPA scholarships have been suspended. The recognition of the UEC certificate, meanwhile, is still nowhere in sight.
The hawks in Umno are putting more pressure, calling for collaboration with PAS in order to rule by securing the support of the majority of Malays alone.
Once this strategy is put into practice, the existence of MCA and Gerakan will no longer be of any significance to Umno, and rendering them less potent in checking Umno while BN is inching towards a total collapse.
By that time the country may be implementing a Malay-only agenda, advancing steadily towards a more accentuated racist and religious path.
The Sarawak election in May has somehow held back such a shift. Sarawak’s ethnic structure does not allow the state to go the racist or religious way, and its Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s political style has an apparent hint of moderation and tolerance.
As the Federal Government cannot afford to part with Sarawak, it will have to adapt to the needs of the people there. After BN won by a landslide in Sarawak, managing to recapture some of the Chinese-majority seats, Umno leaders came to realise that they could no longer set their sights on the Malays only and risk abandoning non-Malay votes.
The unexpected return of Chinese votes to BN in the subsequent by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, allowing BN to win big in the two constituencies, has opened up the eyes of Umno politicians to the reality that no matter how close they go with PAS, at the end of the day they still have to face off in the election wars.
Umno is a pragmatic party, and whichever way that will help it retain the administration will be the ultimate option.
Can we interpret Zahid’s call for Umno to take care of non-Malays’ needs at the Sungai Besar divisional meeting as a hint of the party’s policy turnaround?
From the election point of view, striving for the return of some non-Malay votes, coupled with the confusion still reigning on the opposition side, can sort of assure a few more seats in favour of the ruling coalition. And this is way easier than colluding with PAS and perhaps giving up some seats to the latter.
Of course, even a turnaround on the part of Umno will not guarantee non-Malay support. Chinese voters are generally still very resistant to Umno, and a few sweet words cannot do the magic of reversing their minds.
That said, non-Malays must also come to terms with the cruel political reality that no matter how much they abhor Umno and BN, without the coordination of the mainstream Malay community there is no way to change the destiny of an uninterrupted BN administration and all-powerful Umno.
Whether Umno needs non-Malays more or vice versa to a large extent depends on how Umno goes from this moment on and how non-Malays will respond.
Tay Tian Yan writes for Sin Chew Daily.
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