DAP-PAKATAN: A Choice Between Corrupt UMNO And Bersatu-PAS Talibans

finance-twitter:

A Choice Between Corrupt UMNO And Bersatu-PAS Talibans – Should Pakatan Harapan, Especially DAP, Work With UMNO?

Democratic Action Party (DAP) is again being grilled by its own supporters if it was wise to work with arch rival United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in the formation of a new state government in Perak. Exactly how could DAP even consider working with a political party as corrupt as UMNO? If you still have such a mindset after March coup, chances are you can’t survive basic office politics.

First of all, it was not DAP alone who worked hand-in-glove with UMNO to overthrow the useless good for nothing traitor former Perak Chief Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu. It was the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition, which consists of DAP (16 assemblymen), People’s Justice Party (PKR: 3) and National Trust Party (Amanah: 5), who had agreed to boot Faizal.

Secondly, it’s not official yet that Pakatan, let alone DAP, will form a new Perak state government with UMNO. There’s still a possibility that the now-collapsed Perikatan Nasional state government will continue to rule Perak without Pakatan’s participation. It depends whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin has the balls to declare war on UMNO rebels or surrender Perak with tail between legs.

Third point – even if there is to be a new loose alliance of Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional, which was previously unimaginable, it may be a temporary solution until the next election. Besides, DAP must not necessarily join the unity government to get what it wants. UMNO can be the front line along with PKR and Amanah while DAP stays behind the scene, for now.

Fourth point – like DAP who may face grassroots backlash, UMNO too will suffer its own criticism – even at a greater impact – from Malay supporters if both bitter enemies work together. If DAP and UMNO were to shake hands, they would have carefully considered all the pros and cons. Besides, if it was such a horrible plan, Muhyiddin would not have had rushed to Johor to save the state.

Yes, instead of letting DAP and UMNO self-destruct working together, the panicked prime minister rushed to the southern state to control and calm his boys. PM Muhyiddin was terrified that Johor will collapse like Perak after rumours spread like wildfire that his own party – Johor Bersatu (PPBM) – might retaliate against Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad, who is from UMNO.

If cooperation between Pakatan Harapan and UMNO is a bad plan in the first place, Muhyiddin should have given an order to his 12 assemblymen in Johor to vote down the state’s budget, effectively brings down the UMNO-led government. Like Perak, UMNO Johor will then have no choice but to propose an alliance with PKR-DAP-Amanah. But Muhyiddin didn’t do that.

As the premier fought tooth and nail to prevent his own angry boys from trying to overthrow UMNO state government in Johor, the state chief minister unexpectedly declares that opposition Pakatan Harapan is a “strategic partner” – not an enemy. Heck, Chief Minister Hasni had even announced a one-off RM50,000 funding for all assemblymen, including those from the Opposition.

The additional RM50,000 from the Johor government came after the State Budget 2021 saw an allocation for all members of the state legislative assembly tripled from RM50,000 to RM150,000, bringing the total amount to RM200,000. The equal allocation suggests that UMNO Johor is competing with Bersatu Johor to win the support of Pakatan Harapan, especially Chinese-based DAP.

Fifth point – working with UMNO at the state level (Perak) does not mean DAP, and Pakatan Harapan for that matter, will definitely work with Barisan Nasional at the federal level. Instead of a “big bang”, Perak could be the “test bed” to experiment the feasibility and to test water of a new alliance. It carries very small risk as anyone can walk away without triggering a collapse of the federal government.

It’s true that UMNO President Zahid Hamidi may be using DAP in Perak to blackmail or extract some selfish concessions from the backdoor PM Muhyiddin, the same way Zahid had played and misled Anwar Ibrahim into believing he could become the next prime minister. But if PKR president Anwar can work with crooks like Zahid and Najib, why can’t DAP try something on a smaller scale.

As the opposition, Pakatan Harapan has nothing to lose but everything to gain in disrupting the existing Perikatan Nasional coalition comprising Bersatu, UMNO and PAS. To understand whether it was a dumb idea in the first place to rub shoulders and work with UMNO, perhaps it’s best to go back to 2008, when the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) was formed.

The Pakatan Rakyat coalition was formed as the successor to Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front), which was disbanded after the 2004 general election. Pakatan Rakyat, comprised the People’s Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), became the strongest opposition that truly gave then-ruling Barisan Nasional government a run for its money.

In the 2008 General Election, Pakatan Rakyat won 82 parliamentary seats. In the 2013 General Election, the same coalition did slightly better by winning 89 seats. Pakatan Rakyat, however, disintegrated in 2015 after the death of Nik Abdul Aziz, the respected spiritual leader of PAS. Under the new leadership of Hadi Awang, PAS became incredibly extreme, radical, racist and corrupt.

The sensitive issue of “hudud” was deliberately used by Hadi Awang to provoke ally DAP, forcing DAP to tell PAS to leave the coalition while at the same time PAS told DAP to quit instead. DAP declared the coalition “dead” on 16 June 2015, citing the inability of the rest of the alliance to work with PAS, after PAS congress passed the motion to sever ties with DAP without debate.

Subsequently, it was revealed by whistleblower Sarawak Report that PAS president Hadi Awang had been bribed with RM90 million by then-PM Najib Razak to quit the Pakatan Rakyat. In the 2018 General Election, PAS conspired with UMNO to create three-cornered contests which ultimately backfired. The mighty Barisan Nasional regime finally collapsed after 61 years in power.

Even though Pakatan Harapan (formed in 2015 as the successor to Pakatan Rakyat) won stunningly in the May 2018 General Election, it lost power after just 22 months due to betrayal and treachery of a fellow component member – Bersatu (PPBM). Bersatu president Muhyiddin had plotted with enemies UMNO and PAS to overthrow Pakatan Harapan government.

Pakatan Rakyat had been working with PAS for years, only to be betrayed by Hadi Awang for a mere RM90 million bribe. Similarly, Pakatan Harapan had also been working with Bersatu for years, only to be betrayed by power-hungry Muhyiddin Yassin, and Mahathir Mohamad to a certain extent. Essentially, Pakatan had been betrayed twice by two Malay-Muslim parties.

That would leave UMNO as the third and last Malay-Muslim party which PKR-DAP-Amanah has not worked with. Sure, UMNO is corrupt to the core. But at least, UMNO openly – even proudly – admit to being corrupt. But is Bersatu or PAS any better than UMNO? Not only Bersatu, a splinter group of UMNO, is equally corrupt, it has embarked on a more dangerous route than corruption – extremism and radicalization.

For the sake of power, PM Muhyiddin was willing to please extremists and radicals in PAS. Promising to fight “moderate” Sunni Muslim teachings, which forms the basis of the country’s 1957 Independence Constitution and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, the prime minister had announced on Nov 28 that he will destroy secularism and liberalism. Such pledge mirrors that of ISIS terrorists.

Under Muhyiddin’s administration, the liquor sale has since been banned at convenience stores, sundry and grocery shops along with Chinese medicine shops. Muhyiddin did not even care to consult non-Muslim minorities. Days ago, even a “non-halal” section of Jaya Grocer outlet in Eco Grandeur, Puncak Alam, was forced to close for selling alcohol in the store.

A PAS lawmaker today (Dec 7) asked in Parliament why “Jawi script” writing is not introduced at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) level – suggesting that after the controversial Khat Jawi in primary school, the extremists could push Muhyiddin to force the teaching of the Arabic script to all secondary schools throughout the nation if they win the next 15th general election.

Kedah, under a new chief minister from PAS, has unilaterally demolished a Hindu temple in the state. Even the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), despite being part of the federal government, could not stop the little Napoleon. When Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi was criticised, he arrogantly mocked and insulted all Indian leaders – calling them “drunk on toddy”.

Muhyiddin’s own minister, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, has proposed to close down all SJKC vernacular schools. Should DAP ignore UMNO, leaving the party alone and in the process, allowing the radicalised Bersatu-PAS terrorise the minorities with bans on alcohol, vernacular schools (and perhaps pork or festivities soon)?

Last year (March 2019), UMNO warlord Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that the UMNO-PAS alliance under Muafakat Nasional will never lead to Malaysia being run like the Taliban in Afghanistan. But can he say the same thing now that the PAS extremists are on the loose, having found new ally PM Muhyiddin, and ready to turn the country into a Taliban state?

By opening a door for UMNO, Pakatan Harapan is trying to stop its enemy from being held a hostage by a bigger enemy – PAS-Bersatu Talibans – who will not think twice about plunging the country into Islamic radicalization and extremism. While UMNO cannot be trusted, it’s worth to note that the opposition can always withdraw its support in Perak to topple it if things go south.

Instead of allowing PAS to continue its role as the kingmaker in the Perikatan Nasional, why not inject PKR-DAP-Amanah as the new kingmaker in the equation by offering an option to UMNO? Isn’t this part of a divide-and-conquer strategy? The idea of working with UMNO may sound absurd – even screams naivety – but like it or not, the ethnic Malay is the majority.

If Pakatan Harapan can work with former PM Mahathir, why can’t the opposition work with UMNO, a party that possess grassroots and machinery hundreds times more powerful than Bersatu (Mahathir’s former party). Get real, to win the Malay vote bank, PKR-DAP-Amanah needs a genuine Malay nationalist party. And UMNO is the only one left. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

More importantly, a possible UMNO-DAP alliance could tone down the rhetoric of racism. However, even if UMNO and Pakatan Harapan can use Perak as the test bed to gradually build a new platform for something bigger, DAP must get ready to clarify to its supporters about what they plan to do with crooks like Najib Razak and Zahid Hamidi.