The demonisation of DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and the tactics of fear and hate to scare Malays into believing that they will lose political power if UMNO and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak are toppled from Federal power in the 14th General Election have been intensified recently.
I expect such politics of fear and hate to escalate in the coming weeks and months.
The reason is very simple and obvious – Najib and his UMNO propagandists believe and fear that UMNO and Barisan Nasional would be defeated in the next national general election.
A recent opinion poll had found that the popularity rating of Najib’s UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government had for the first time in UMNO history fallen below the 50% mark among Malay voters, plunging to as low as 30%.
What better way to save Najib and UMNO by the classic tactics of creating an imaginary enemy for the Malay community!
Hence the continued intensification and escalation of the campaign of fear and hate to scare Malay voters into believing that Malays will lose political power and Islam will come under grave threat if UMNO and Prime Minister Najib are defeated in the 14th General Election – never mind that rational Malays will find this proposition a most preposterous and outrageous one, as such a scenario will never come to pass in Malaysia.
There is no way that the Malays can lose political power in Malaysia and that the DAP or the Chinese will rule the country.
The demographic forces will see an increasing percentage of Malay population and decreasing percentage of Chinese population in Malaysia.
In 1970 Malaysia’s population comprised 44.32% Malays, 34.34% Chinese, 8.99% Indians, 11.89% non-Malay Bumiputeras, 0.67% others; but 40 years later in 2010, the percentage of Malays in the Malaysian population increased to 55.07%, Chinese reduced to 24.34%, Indians dropped to 7.35%, non-Malay Bumiputeras maintained at 11.94% and 1.3% others.
Furthermore, DAP is not a Chinese or non-Malay political party but a political party for all Malaysians, as we had Malay Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen in the various states throughout the party history – in fact, the very first by-elections contested by the DAP in sixties were UMNO strongholds like Kampong Baru in Selangor (where the UMNO candidate Razali Ali went on to become Selangor Mentri Besar in 1982), and Johor’s Tampoi State Assembly and Segamat Utara Parliamentry by-elections (where Tun Musa Hitam first won a seat in Parliament in the latter by-election and went on to become Deputy Prime Minister).
DAP is the first Pan-Malaysia political party, with branches and politically active in Sabah and Sarawak – before any other political party in the country. We have a Kadazan State Assemblyman in Sabah and hope to have a Dayak State Assemblyman elected in the Sarawak state general election expected to be held in March or April.
In fact, Najib and UMNO should have been toppled in the 13th General Election as UMNO only secured 47% of the popular vote, and the person who would have replaced Najib as the Prime Minister would not be a Chinese but Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
But the Malaysian electoral system was unfair and undemocratic, violating the democratic principle of “one man, one vote, one value”, for Najib secured 60% of the 222 parliamentary seats with 47% of popular vote, enabling him to be the first minority Prime Minister in the nation’s history.
It is very clear that whatever happens in the 14th General Election, whether Najib is toppled as Prime Minister and UMNO defeated in the contest for Federal power in Putrajaya, the Malays will continue to exercise political power in Malaysia as there is no way they will lose political power.
During the 13th general election, 52.63% of the voters were Malays, 29.68% Chinese, 7.31% Indians, 8.96% non-Malay Bumiputeras and 1.43% others.
Out of the 165 Parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, 114 are Malay majority seats representing some 70%, 22 Chinese majority seats (13%) and 29 mixed seats (17%). There is not a single Indian majority seat.
Can the Chinese voters, being majority voters in 22 parliamentary seats (representing some 13%) in Peninsular Malaysia, control the rest of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia as to cause the Malays to lose political power?
This is clearly a no-brainer but this is exactly the fear that Najib and the UMNO propagandists want to create among the Malay electorate, to panic them to close their eyes to the rampant corruption and widespread socio-economic injustices in the country to continue to vote for Najib and UMNO!
In its campaign of fear, lies and hate, UMNO propagandists also spread the falsehood that Parti Amanah Negara and PKR are mere agents or stooges of DAP – in particular that the Amanah President Mohamad Sabu is a puppet or tool of DAP.
This was exactly the lies that UMNO propagandists spread about the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang during the years of Pakatan Rakyat.
Was Hadi an agent, stooge or puppet of DAP in most of the seven years of Pakatan Rakyat’s existence from 2008 to 2015?
I have political differences with Hadi but the PAS President was never an agent, stooge or puppet of DAP – just as Mohamad Sabu is never an agent, stooge or puppet of DAP.
I am really shocked that there are some PAS propagandists who are adopting the UMNO tactics and campaign of lies, fear and hate “lock, stock and barrel” in their attempt to demonise Mohamad Sabu as a stooge or puppet of DAP, the very same tactics and campaign which UMNO propagandists had earlier used against Hadi in the days of Pakatan Rakyat in trying to depict Hadi as a stooge or puppet of DAP.
In fact, during the Pakatan Rakyat days, DAP was accused by MCA and Gerakan of being stooges or agents of PAS among the Chinese electorate. But the Chinese electorate did not buy such lies and falsehoods or the MCA would not have become a 7/11 party.
But UMNO propagandists seem to be more successful in demonising Hadi as a stooge or agent of DAP.
PAS propagandists should not adopt the tactics and campaign of lies and falsehoods against Amanah leaders which UMNO propagandists had used against Hadi and PAS leaders in the past.
It is such dirty and unprincipled politics which we should expose and clean up if democracy in Malaysia is to develop into a healthy and progressive political system in Malaysia.
(Speech at the launching of Pagoh Parti Amanah Negara branch and constituency office at Bukit Pasir, Pagoh on Monday, 25th January 2016 at 10 pm)