By Melissa Chi
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 04, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders scorned Umno’s latest strategy to portray DAP as the dominant party in the opposition pact as an attempt to incite a power struggle among the three political allies.

“They say that PAS is being used by DAP, this is the strategy they use among the Malays, Muslim. With the Chinese, they say that PAS is using the Chinese. “They have used that for some time now but people know that even in terms of figures and numbers, DAP is stronger but we work collectively,” PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali told The Malaysian Insider over the phone yesterday.

DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang pointed out that Malays will continue to be the majority population in the country but Umno is creating the fear that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, and anti-ruler.

He reiterated his support of the constitutional monarchy.

“Nobody has undermined the Malay rulers. It is Umno and Umno leaders themselves,” he said, adding that BN leaders are contradicting themselves in their attacks against PR.

“In Barisan Nasional, it is very obvious that Umno is the hegemon and now they say that DAP is the dominant party. What has Chua Soi Lek been saying? MCA has been saying? That DAP is the puppet to PKR, to PAS, that the rights of the Chinese would be completely lost (in our hands).

“Now you have Umno saying the rights of the Malays will be completely lost. Who is lying?” he said.

Attacks against the opposition party have served as a focal point for this year’s Umno assembly, with delegates accusing DAP leaders of marginalising Malays in PR states, and challenging the sanctity of Islam as the country’s “official religion”.

While some have dismissed renewed attacks against DAP as mere “Pakatan bashing,” some Umno leaders have insisted that DAP poses a “real threat” to Malays, and that a future with DAP in power would spell disaster for the community.

Umno minister, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin admitted yesterday his party viewed DAP as its biggest threat in the next general election, but he confidently predicted that PKR and PAS could be beaten.

He reasoned that this was why delegates had focused their attacks on DAP when speaking about PR throughout the Umno annual general assembly so far.

PKR Vice-President Chua Tian Chang, said the strategy used during the general assembly this week is not new that Umno is “creating fear among Malays and is finding a target which allows them to continue their racist discourse”.

“Playing this game is bad for the society and if we continue to prolong this sort of racial polarisation, creating fear among the Chinese against Islam and Islamic party and create fear among Malays against Chinese-based parties.

“The same tone used against DAP is directed to Gerakan and MCA as well if you listen to the speeches by delegates,” he said.

The Batu MP said the continuous use of racial politics will have a negative impact to the society.

“It’s very sad that all these years, Umno has not gone beyond this narrow racial discourse in the national assembly and we have seen it year in and year out. Nothing has changed,” he said.

Lim said Umno is a threat to the Malaysian “unity, it comes from Umno creating racial and religious animosity, mistrust, hate and antagonism”. He pointed out that if PR has an increase in votes, it is not the Malay who will lose power, but rather the “Umno and Umno Puteras”.

“Overall, the whole Umno assembly, the speeches, by the president, the deputy president and the delegates, we can sense that they are worried that this is probably their last Umno general assembly as the party in power and that’s why they have resorted to very desperate politics of fear and to create scare among the Malays,” the Ipoh Timor MP said.