State Elections – How Alliance With Mahathir Will Backfire On Opposition Perikatan Nasional

State Elections – How Alliance With Mahathir Will Backfire On Opposition Perikatan Nasional



Opposition Perikatan Nasional has less than 5% support from non-Muslim voters namely ethnic Chinese and Indians. Like it or not, some corrupt Chinese (especially MCA hardcore supporters) will still vote for the racist bigot Bersatu and religious extremist PAS due to hatred and jealousy against rival Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP).



Since the 2008 General Election, DAP’s lion’s share of the Chinese vote bank has been consistently increasing to the current 95%. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), once considered the protector of ethnic Chinese, has been rejected by the community it claims to represent, so much so it won only 2 parliamentary seats. Even then it had to depend on Malays to win.



Unless DAP becomes a lapdog like MCA, the Chinese will definitely vote for DAP come rain or shine. The community had given 60 years to MCA, only to be betrayed as its leaders spent time enriching families and cronies rather than defending the rights of the ethnic Chinese. In retaliation, they voted for DAP, the same way Indian did after betrayed by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).



This is why Perikatan Nasional, comprising Bersatu (Malaysian United Indigenous Party) and PAS (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia), has given up on winning the Chinese votes. And this is also why “munafiq” (hypocrite) Mahathir Mohamad launched yet another dubious initiative together with rival Perikatan Nasional – glorified as “Malay Proclamation” under the pretext of Malay-unity.



Once called “recalcitrant” by former Australian PM Paul Keating, Mahathir was his usual mischievous when he said on Tuesday (June 6) that he will not be contesting in the upcoming state elections as he is “already old” and “senile”. Of course, the 97-year-old man was playing reverse psychology game in his crusade to put his son – Mukhriz – back on track to become a prime minister.



Mahathir, desperate to protect his legacy and families’ interest, thought his recent “Malay Proclamation” could spark the flame of Malay anger, the same way he used “Malay Dignity Congress” in Oct 2019 to provoke the Malays. The initial plan was to get PAS and Bersatu organized a rally to incite racial riots – a plot to destabilize and eventually topple Anwar-led unity government.



However, Bersatu president Muhyiddin, who has been slapped with 7 charges of corruption and money laundering, did not attend Mahathir’s gathering. Muhyiddin’s party accounts have been frozen and seized. Only the idiotic Abdul Hadi Awang, president of Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS – Parti Islam Se-Malaysia), joined Mahathir in order to solicit political fund from him.



Former two-time Prime Minister Mahathir wants to piggyback on both Muhyiddin and Hadi to revive his appeal among the Malay community. The pathetic old man will do anything, including sucking up to Muhyiddin, his former trusted lieutenant who had betrayed and ousted him as prime minister in March 2020 and even sacked Mahathir from the party (Bersatu) he founded.



Obviously, the proclamation is an anti-non-Malays movement. It’s Mahathir’s platform to rally Malay voters based on racist hatred, xenophobia, Malay supremacy and all forms of bigotry. However, Mahathir should never repeat the same trick twice. In fact, he had used the trick too many times – first through UMNO (22 years), followed by the Malay Dignity Congress (Oct 2019) and now the Malay Proclamation.



The proclamation expressed the fear of the Malays losing political and economic power to the ethnic minorities, especially the Chinese. Yet, Mahathir could not explain why the Malay community whom he was supposed to nurture during his 22 years iron-fist rule (1981-2003) has remained uncompetitive, backward and generally poor. It was actually an admission of his failure to uplift the living standards of the Malays.



He was also unable to explain how the Malays allegedly lost political power when all the past and present premiers have been of Malay ethnicity. No Chinese, let alone Indian, has ever become a prime minister. While he lazily blames Malay poverty on past Malay leaders, he conveniently forgets that he was one of them. And he thought he could fool all the Malays all the time.



Mahathir certainly cannot explain how his family members and cronies have become mega billionaires – owning private jets, yacht, mansions, super cars, offshore accounts and whatnot – while the ordinary Malays lost their alleged economic power. Unless Mahathir is willing to donate half of his wealth to the Malays, as suggested by PM Anwar, he has lost his legitimacy to defend Malay rights.



Hilariously, during the Malay Dignity Congress in 2019, the Malay community was shocked, angered and disgusted. After mocking the minorities Chinese and Indian as foreigners (bangsa asing), he happily belittled and insulted the Malays – calling the community lazy, liar, cheats, dishonest and whatnot. The question why Malay dignity was lost under the corrupt Mahathir regime went unanswered.




But the 2019 gathering would come to haunt Mahathir and his followers in 2023. The congress organizer, Zainal Kling, said the natives of Sabah, Sarawak and the indigenous Orang Asli are not entitled to the same rights as the Malays. So, when Mahathir pulled the same stunt again with his Malay Proclamation in May 2023, Sarawak Malays said they were not interested.



Half the battle was lost without GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) on board. It was already bad when former backdoor PM Muhyiddin spread fake news that Christians were working with “Jews to Christianise” Malaysia during the Nov 2022 election campaign. It becomes worse when Mahathir and Hadi – two iconic racist bigots and religious extremist – joined forces today.



Why didn’t Muhyiddin, like his buddy Hadi, join Mahathir’s whining, moaning and bitching in the Malay Proclamation? Power-hungry Muhyiddin saw Mahathir as a competitor and an untrustworthy partner. In the Nov 2022 General Election, Mahathir lost not only the Langkawi parliamentary seat, supposedly his stronghold, but had also lost his deposit – an incredible humiliation.



If Mahathir really needs Muhyiddin, the old man has to crawl and beg for help. After all, not only Mahathir-led Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition lost all the 121 parliamentary seats it contested in the 15th national polls, his own son – Mukhriz – was among 369 parliamentary candidates who lost their deposits after obtaining less than one-eighth of the total number of votes.



But you can bet your last penny that Mahathir would have no problem begging Muhyiddin for an alliance. Mahathir had shamelessly done it before when for the first time in 18 years, he met jailed de facto Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in 2016 and shook the hands of his former deputy whom he sacked in 1998. As funny as it may sound, Mahathir is now ready to shake the hands of Muhyiddin, the man who sacked him in 2020.



Still, Mahathir will do more harm than good to Perikatan Nasional. The people of Langkawi had sent a message to Mahathir that he has passed his expiry date. How could the Malays make a U-turn just because he is now with Muhyiddin and Hadi? Crucially, what value propositions can the senile old man bring to the table that would change the Malays’ perception of him?



Both Mahathir and Muhyiddin are alpha male in the animal kingdom. Who will lead the new alliance? Mahathir has basically lost everything whilst Muhyiddin is the Perikatan Nasional chairman. Overall, the opposition won 74 parliamentary seats – PAS’ 43 and Bersatu’s 31. Mahathir and his son have ZERO seats. Hadi’s cooperation with Mahathir means Muhyiddin would lose his dominant figure.



The fact that Mahathir lost his own Langkawi safe seat suggests that he is so toxic that even the Malays wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. This is the primary reason why Muhyiddin, despite having expressed his support for Malay Proclamation, is still reluctant to be seen sitting together with Mahathir. The two traitors are recipe for disaster in the coming six state elections.



Besides, if Bersatu and PAS could win all the Malay-majority seats on their own, exactly why should they surrender some to Mahathir, which was the real reason behind the senile old man’s Malay Proclamation in the first place? To make matters worse, Mahathir has started attacking the Malay Rulers, instigating the Malays that they cannot rely on the monarch to protect them.



It was absolutely disgraceful for Hadi to hug and kiss Mahathir after what the former dictator had done in the 1985 Memali bloody incident. Not only dozens of PAS followers were slaughtered like a pig, Mahathir had instead blamed Hadi as the cause of the tragedy. Heck, Mahathir had even mocked and ridiculed the victims of Memali as “mati katak” (died in vain like frogs).



Heck, when Mahathir was formerly the prime minister and UMNO president, he terminated petroleum royalty payments to PAS-led Terengganu for resources extracted within the state, even though its economic development is among the lowest in Malaysia. PAS supporters still remember the evil man who oppressed the Islamic party, hence they might protest over PAS president Hadi’s latest cooperation with Mahathir.



In truth, Mahathir has nothing to lose. Hadi, however, foolishly swallows the hook, line and sinker when he signed the Malay Proclamation without Muhyiddin. The Bersatu president appears trapped and betrayed by the PAS president’s move. Disappointed and disillusioned supporters of Perikatan Nasional will start questioning Muhyiddin’s ability to champion Malay issues after Mahathir stole the thunder.