The contentious Nenggiri by-election may be done and dusted with the Umno/BN candidate upsetting the apple cart with a resounding victory over his PN rival; however, one reason attributed to the unlikely triumph was said to be the nationalist party's controversial decision to bar its coalition partner DAP, perceived by the Malays as a “Chinese party", from campaigning!
For the record, Mohd Azmawi Fikri, the Kelantan UMNO Youth chief garnered 9,091 votes to beat Mohd Rizwadi Ismail of Perikatan Nasional, who obtained 5,739 votes, with the margin of victory being an impressive 3,352 votes.
While issues that touches on “3R” (race, religion and royalty) are effectively banned in by-election campaigns, the truth on the ground is that, many times the topic is just irresistible to some politicians.
In fact, in the run up to the Nenggiri polls, opposition PN MP Radzi Jidin was in the spotlight after a typically fiery outburst posted on the “X” platform drew the attention of a rival party strongman - Umno’s former Batu Pahat MP Puad Zarkashi.
For context, while addressing voters on the election campaign trail, Radzi had mocked Umno for allegedly concealing its “marriage” to DAP; moreover, he seemed to have insinuated that Umno had banned the latter's presence in the constituency as it may prove to be embarrassing to the Malay party!
The firebrand Putrajaya MP who was once a senior minister in Muhyiddin Yassin’s cabinet then went on to cite the recently concluded by-election in Sungai Bakap, Penang which PN had won with a thumping majority; he claimed that the result was a clear indicator that the people had rejected the ruling government, and especially the BN-DAP “relationship.”
Radzi also ridiculed Umno for being a somewhat powerless party within the ruling coalition by virtue of holding only limited seats, adding that the Madani government was actually dominated by DAP which commanded the most seats; hence, that may have been another reason why the nationalist party was very anxious to keep its so-called marriage to the latter a secret.
Meanwhile, hitting back at the Kelantan-born PN stalwart, the equally outspoken Umno politician Puad Zarkashi pointed out that Umno had never entered into a “matrimony” with DAP, and that it had merely cooperated with PH to form a government after the last general elections in 2022 - following a “hung” parliament.
Not mincing words, the vocal Rengit state assemblyman then “schooled” Radzi that Umno was not part of PH and that it was actually a member of BN.
Puad also gave a “history lesson” to the PN strongman, who ironically was a former education minister, by reminding him that it was his PN parties that were “married” to DAP at one time with PAS joining the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in 2008; while Radzi’s own party Bersatu became officially “hitched” to PH in 2017.
Of course, with DAP being a “bedmate” in both the coalitions, the Umno leader went on to ask Radzi pointedly: so are you still “playing dumb” as to who actually was “married” to the former?
To rub salt into the wound, Puad, who is also the Johor state assembly speaker, then slammed Radzi for being silent when his party boss Muhyiddin had “shut down” Parliament and declared a state of emergency in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the thing is, by taunting Umno for “hiding” its relationship with the non-Malay DAP, wasn't PN also guilty of doing the same by keeping Gerakan (another predominantly Non-Malay party) away from the campaign spotlight?
Recently, during the Nenggiri by-election, PN leaders were seen at the “forefront” of the march to the nomination center - but where was Gerakan?
It would appear that for as long as political parties catering for those from a specific religion or race are deemed to be legal in this country, racial politics aka “identity politics” will continue to plague and wreak havoc on interracial harmony here - and continue to be the biggest stumbling block to national unity.
In fact, the recent verbal spat between the two prominent Malay parties may have actually demonstrated that "racial factors" still continue to be influential in the country’s politics.
Ironically, it may even be a crucial underlying factor in winning and losing elections, as may be inferred from the Nenggiri polls; only that perhaps, this time around, the opposition coalition, which is often accused of indulging in toxic racial politics, may have been tactically outdone by its “more experienced” nemesis.
Information source: FMT, Focus Malaysia, Sinar Harian and Radzi Jidin “X”
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