“Umno is playing an extremely dangerous race game and is stoking the sentiments of the nationalist Malays. And there are many nationalist Malays still around, as the Permatang Pauh by-election has proven,” he wrote.
“Umno’s nationwide campaign since 8 March 2008 is brilliant, though dangerous. Umno is saying that the Malays have lost political power. Umno is saying that 8 March 2008 was a repeat of 11 May 1969. And the solution to this problem must be the same as the 13 May 1969 ‘solution’, says Umno. This has not only worried the non-Malays but even the Malays as well. And some of these Malays include the Rulers or the Raja-raja Melayu,” he added.
“Therefore, Umno still has a strong following. There are many who still want Ketuanan Melayu to remain. Sure, they are no longer the majority. They have now been reduced to a minority. But the numbers are still significant, nevertheless. And these are the people the opposition has to win over.” Raja Petra conceded.
This analysis by the Malaysia Today editor is not far from the one WorldFutures carried out a month ago entitled Anwar Ibrahim's Game Plan that fell apart in which we said the Umno had regrouped and was strong enough to fend off an opposition plan for take over of power in Malaysia.
The analysis also indicates that for Anwar to be Prime Minister he needs to win over the Malay nationalists. However, we believe that it is a hard ball game for him since he will have to play to their tune, which will sound like a racist strategy for the non-Malay/Muslims that supported Anwar's loose coalition of 3 parties in March 08.
“But it is not easy to win them over when prejudice, suspicion and distrust cloud their thinking,” said Raja Petra of the Malay nationalists. It is nevertheless their legitimate views that make them stick to the Umno and this must be accepted altogether.
For Anwar to win them over, he will need to 'legitimately' accept the Malay nationalism that he has never embraced in his long political career.
“The non-Malays do not like to hear this. It sounds too much like racism. Many Malays do not like it as well. But this is the reality of Malaysian politics that continues to haunt us,” Raja Petra said.
He added bluntly that “Politics, in Malaysia, is about race and religion. And no Malaysian can escape that. And this is why the 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament should not cross over yet, not if it is going to be 30 non-Malay Members of Parliament. It should only happen if the 30 are half Malay and half non-Malay. Then Umno will be silenced. Umno can no longer claim that the Malays have lost political power. Umno can no longer suggest that we are now seeing a repeat of May 1969. And Umno can’t propose that they need a May 1969 ‘solution’ to solve the ‘problem’. “
He believes now that the cross-over of the 30 or so non-Malay MP's from the government benches in the Parliament should not be done unless there is a significant Malay group that would follow them or the 30 MP's would be divided into 15 Malays and 15 non-Malays in order to quell any attempts by the Umno to galvanize Malay nationalists into believing they are losing their political power in the country.
By all means though, a PR government will definitely mean the death of Malay Nationalism and this will be against the very beliefs of Tun Mahathir Mohamad the surviving Malay nationalist leader who is deadly opposed to Anwar Ibrahim's bid for power.
WORLDFUTURE. Info
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