Umno’s plan for a grand coalition of Malay political parties, billed as Rumah Bangsa, effectively ends the national hope of a Bangsa Malaysia.
By Parkaran Kutty
A nation is always defined by its political dynamics and citizens unite or divide according to their political affiliations eventually. With this in mind, politicians introduce a new national concept with a tagline each time a new government comes into power.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s aim of all Malaysians coming under the “Bangsa Malaysia” tent in his Vision 2020 concept launched in 1991 fizzled out. Interestingly, he was in his second term as prime minister during the deadline but it was almost forgotten.
In fact, the racial and religious divide was at its worst during this period. The dichotomy between the races became more defined. The battle for Malay supremacy heightened.
His successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not focus much on race. Instead, he wanted to develop human capital, something that was not sexy enough to capture the people’s imagination.
In came Najib Razak after that with his 1Malaysia concept. Besides all leaders wearing the IMalaysia badges or pins, no major changes to unity took place. Nobody even remembers what Muhyiddin Yassin’s government pushed for.
When Ismail Sabri replaced him, he brought in his Keluarga Malaysia. It did not last, just like his government.
We are now in the midst of Anwar Ibrahim’s Madani concept. We read and hear the word every day, but nothing has changed. Corruption is worsening while racial and religious bigotry surfaces every now and then.
Frankly, all these taglines had no major impact on Malaysians. Many did not take these catchphrases seriously. Life for Malaysians was the same, generally.
But what Najib’s father Tun Razak Hussein did after Barisan Nasional’s predecessor Alliance suffered major losses in the 1969 election had a lasting impact on the nation. The racial riots that followed as a result of political differences tore the nation apart then.
Razak was not obsessed with uniting all Malay-Muslim based parties alone as he had the vision of uniting Malaysians. So he fornmed Barisan Nasional, bringing most of the ipposition parties under one tent for stability and prosperity.
This happened in 1974, when he was the prime minister of a wounded nation. He concocted a politically brilliant plan to bring in the Chinese-based Gerakan party, which was ruling Penang but an opposition party at the federal level, and the Islamic party PAS which won in Kelantan.
He also included the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which had a strong presence in Perak. However, the DAP chose to stay out. This move kept the Chinese-dominated multi-racial party in the opposition for the next 54 years.
This tactical move, coming after the painful riots, and the Razak-initiated New Economic Policy ensured the coalition was in power for more than five decades.
This is what I call a visionary leader who created an acceptable situation after serious losses suffered by all Malaysians at that time. But 62 years later, a much weakened Umno has come up with a plan that is opposite to the one Najib’s father envisioned.
It is planning a massive grand coalition to bring all Malay parties together under one house - the Rumah Bangsa. It emphasises a unifying political framework to bring together fragmented Malay political forces.
This initiative signifies that Umno is the central home for the nation, aiming to unite Malays once again while safeguarding the interests of the other communities. Umno is free to do this and has every rhyme and reason to move forward with this idea.
But there is a downside to this. What happens to the non-Malays? Do they then start setting up Rumah India or Rumah Cina or Rumah Kadazun or Rumah Iban? What about its major non-Malay partners MCA and MIC?
To put it into perspective, this measure obviously stems from the massive electoral losses Umno suffered in Malay-majority seats in the last two elections. While supporting Anwar Ibrahim to be part of the Madani government, the weak party now wants to lead Rumah Bangsa.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says the coalition will not form a backdoor government to replace Anwar. (Umno stays with unity govt | The Star) But is there a guarantee? These are mere words, they come cheap.
I view this is a grand design to prepare for the next general election. Umno hopes to double the 26 seats it has now and position itself as the leading partner in the coalition and claim the prime minister’s post. With this move, the new coalition will divorce DAP.
As usual, the Sabah and Sarawak coalitions will choose whoever has the majority. This appears to be a cunning way of making sure DAP will not be part of the federal government because it won’t be needed.
The grand coalition may even enjoy a two-third majority after GE16. Even the PKR, which led the PH despite DAP having more MPs, may align itself with the coalition that has the majority to survive.
When this happens, Malaysian politics goes back several decades when DAP was the sole opposition party for a period, comprising nearly all non-Malay MPs.
This will be a new beginning for the next chapter of Malaysia which will shift towards a near all-Malay government with a non-Malay opposition, with schism so wide that it will end the dreams of some citizens for a Bangsa Malaysia nation.
Parkaran Kutty (parkarank@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
