The Malaysian Insider April 11, 2013
APRIL 11 – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must not be feeling confident of a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in Gelang Patah.
The former BN chief wrote today that a Lim Kit Siang win in Gelang Patah will result in racial confrontation, arguing that Chinese-Malay economic partnership will be ruined.
“Kit Siang is going to bring about conflict and antagonism between the races, to wage the Chinese to dislike and hate the Malays,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his chedet.cc blog.
“When Kit Siang decided to contest in Chinese majority Gelang Patah it is because he wanted the Chinese there and in Johor to reject working together and sharing with the Malays.
“An unhealthy racial confrontation would replace Sino-Malay cooperation which has made Malaysia stable and prosperous.”
How ridiculous is this conjecture? That an opposition win will cause racial conflict.
Is this how to scare voters to support the BN? Through fear not respect or popularity.
Is this what Dr Mahathir has to fall back to get BN to win Gelang Patah, no matter whether MCA or Umno gets to stand there?
No one should use the race card or the threat of racial conflict to win an election. This is blackmail in its purest form.
More so Dr Mahathir. Wasn’t he who said he wants to build a Bangsa Malaysia but now fears losing Gelang Patah will undo his efforts.
Malaysians will do well to ignore such silly conjectures. Such threats and mindset belongs to the past.
Malaysia and Malaysians are now a lot more mature, perhaps even more than politicians, to think that an opposition victory in one like Gelang Patah will lead to any kind of racial conflict.