— Sakmongkol AK47 The Malaysian Insider Jun 07, 2012
JUNE 7 — The reasonable Malay doesn’t ride the Clapham Omnibus. He gets around on the LRT or the successor to Sri Jaya buses. He travels in his beat-up Proton. But he reads in between the lines. He knows the BS from the mainstream media. The reasonable Malay now reads Harakah, Roket and PKR news.
Why does the PM and Umno president procrastinate in naming an election date? He’s enjoying a good personal rating. Umno is flushed with cash. He says he feels like meeting HRH the Yang di-Pertuan Agong immediately on seeing the “huge crowd” assembled at Stadium Bukit Jalil. I hope he didn’t ask the minister of misinformation to do a headcount for that occasion. Are all lawyers bad at counting or is it Rais alone?
So why does he not name a date? He is the longest-serving PM without his own mandate. And if we were to go by the logic of the ex-MIC leader who says he will contest against Palanivel, then, Najib can also be described as an illegal government leader. Yes, he actually said that because Palanivel had the MIC presidentship handed to him and not ELECTED, so Palanivel is an illegal party president. He says he has support from thousands and thousands of MIC members just like the Umno president.
The Umno president should be wary with the numbers given by Rais who seems to have been infected with the Indian Numberititis disease. I mean no disrespect to Malaysian Indians; but think about this. Assume there are three million Malaysian Indians — MIC says it has 1.5 million members, PPP says it has 800,000, IPF says it has 900,000; Nala says he has 600,000 in his pocket. Either the Malaysian Indian is a member of all these parties simultaneously or the political parties count those Malaysian Indians not born yet. Rais has been infected by Indian Numberititis. It’s a horrible judgment-clouding disease that causes hallucinating euphoria.
The main reason is not because he fears the feedback from the ground. He has been receiving padded and curry-flavoured reports saying all is well. The minister of misinformation downplayed the opposition’s chances consistently by 30per cent so as to doctor a favourable report pleasing to the ears of the party president.
The real reason he delays and delays, huffs and puffs is because he fears revolt in Umno. The incumbents insist they are winnable. Would anyone dare replace warlord Tajudin Rahman, for example?
In all divisions he is facing potential revolt. Even if he pays the incumbents lots of money (Umno has tons of it), the people supporting the replaced incumbents will sabotage Umno. More so the incumbents who feel they are winnable but are humiliated because they are not chosen. The eager beavers who thought they would be chosen but sidelined will muster whatever they can to sabotage Umno. This is the only reason why the Umno president is delaying the election date.
Will the one million-plus Umno members, who have gone from the Dark Side to the Bright Side, come back? Maybe five per cent. That still leaves more than one million Umno members who will vote for Pakatan Rakyat.
The Umno president-cum-BN chairman goes to Sarawak to plead for an extended lifeline. The people of Sarawak are not easily fooled any longer. Taib Mahmud is an old but wizened geezer, keen and sharp to the deceptive manoeuvres of Najib. Wasn’t Najib the Umno president who repeatedly humiliated Taib Mahmud, asking him to retire quickly? The president of a party who wasn’t able to get a 100 per cent winning record in 2008 talking down to a president of another party who got 100 per cent achievement record? That’s why Taib Mahmud sent word through an emissary, saying we shall see who leaves office first.
Najib can’t win over the reasonable Malay. The reasonable Malay is the person riding the LRT or the successor to Bas Sri Jaya. He reads in between the lines and is able to sieve through all the BS parlayed by Ustazah Ummi Hafilda, Ezam Mat Nor, Zulkifli Nordin, Hasan Aqidah and swami Nala. The reasonable Malay knows that in Utusan Malaysia, only the notification of the solat times and the 4D and Toto results are true.
The reasonable Malay is not easily blinded by the fetished sense of patriotism hawked around by Perkasa or to mouth-foaming gesticulations of Hidup Melayu by any of the Umno leaders.
Because the reasonable Malay knows it’s all much thunder but no rainfall. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com
* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).