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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2023
By calling itself a unity government, the current administrators are really fooling no-one but themselves, knowing full well that a big group of MPs are outside the coalition and the country is more divided than it has ever been.
Even within the governing coalition itself, an uneasy truce prevails between old foes forced by circumstances to coexist in a fragile coalition largely for convenience rather than for ideological convergence
Umno is forcing its members to jump into bed with its old nemesis, the DAP purely for political survival rather than for national aspirations.
Umno leaders realise that its grassroots long schooled not to trust DAP are now being advised, persuaded even cajoled to vote for the latter's candidates in forthcoming state elections driving a few retired members of the grand old party to question the sincerity of top office bearers.
At a recent heated discussion in a coffee shop, over the issue of "sleeping with the enemy", a few could hardly hold back their anger, thumping tables and cursing those who are forcing members to abandon their life long struggle.
They said they could not embrace their mortal enemy if it was fair for them to call political foes by such a term!
No matter what publicity stunts both sides put forward or millions of words are poured into social media pages daily, the rift between Umno and DAP may be difficult to mend. Superficially, they appear tranquil, but beneath all the niceties God only knows, if the coffee shop incident above could be taken as representative of what may be happening at the grassroots.
Anyway, for the sake of our nation we wished and hope that "warring" parties could bury the hatchet and do work together to heal the wounds and improve the economy so we can get on with our normal lives.
However, we know that these are wishful thinking. The rift is far from over. Not just between DAP and Umno but between PH and PN. These two coalitions are drawing poles apart as the state elections draw closer by the day.
Both sides of the divide know that the states of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu are more likely to go to the opposition while Penang will probably stay put with PH but what worries them are Negeri Sembilan and Selangor.
The latter state is PMX's PKR strong hold. If he lost that, he would lose his grip with serious political consequences.
Similarly, if PH lost Negeri Sembilan to PN, the whole country would likely be more divided.
What then is left for PMX to do with the country divided the way it is but to continue sleeping with the "enemy" irrespective of whom they may be just to stay in power.
Umno has already declared to work seriously with its former nemesis, and now a convenient partner to remain in office. But will this uneasy truce last? The division still exists.
By calling the PMX coalition a "unity government," it does not mean the country is united.
It's regrettable that we should pretend that it is a unity government that runs the country whle on the outside. There are still two big parties working to undermine its legitimacy.
Therefore, all things considered, in the words of Young Guan Jin, it is a real irony that we actually have a unity government.
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