By Karamjit Gill
There were moments in recent times when PKR and DAP shelved their differences and painted a picture of deception that all is well with PAS. They formed a loose bond with PAS despite being warned by well-wishers that it would be a disastrous move. Despite having differences in opinion, they held together only because of one reason – a common enemy.
The disagreements never disappeared; rather, they became prominent and resulted in turmoil within the opposition. This led to many of us thanking our lucky stars that the opposition did not take over Putrajaya in the last election.
Unfortunately, Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) is embarking on the same journey of a “relationship of convenience”. It has accepted Hindraf and the Minority Rights Action Party (Mira) as strategic partners for the upcoming election.
Mahathir’s admission that they are currently perceived as a Chinese and Malay party, thus the need to align with Hindraf and Mira, reminds us that he has not changed in his political approach. Prior to Mahathir’s venture into PH, DAP and PKR stood their ground as multiracial parties. Now, it is back to square one.
PPBM only boasts Malay members and is an exact replica of Umno. DAP is perceived as the opposite of MCA while Hindraf and Mira will fight for MIC’s vote bank. In the past, Mahathir formed Umno Baru. Is he trying to do a Barisan Nasional Baru now?
PPBM’s policy of being Malay-only to woo the Malay voters, and Lim Guan Eng’s mocking of MCA leaders standing in constituencies where non-Chinese are the majority seem to reaffirm BN’s claim that the opposition is even more racial.
Everyone knows that Najib Razak has been wooing Indians for years. Other then forming an independent Indian unit within the government and giving out millions in initiatives, he also allocates special funds for other ethnic sub groups like Telugus, Malayalees and Sikhs. He went as far as being the first prime minister to hold visits at Thaipusam every year.
Mahathir feels that he needs to replicate this, so he goes about forming an alliance with fringe players to represent Indians within PH, unsure if they have any grassroots Indian support or if even 10% of the Indian community knows of their existence.
These deceptive bonds with every organisation for the sake of toppling BN will spell disaster whether they win the election or not. One could argue that such action is a necessity in the attempt to topple BN. This also means an admission that tossing integrity and principles out the window to win is acceptable. If this is just another basket of rotten fruits, maybe it is best that we stick to the devil we know rather than the one we don’t.
What has happened to DAP and PKR’s principles of multi-ethnic members and policies? Mahathir was the propagator of racial division in Malaysia with his policy and politics for 22 years, which has been the bane of our existence. Now, PH and its supporters have given him the power to split the nation even more. The majority of the rakyat envision a change, which is far from what PH has to offer now.
Karamjit Gill is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.