COMMENTS: Last month the Barisan Nasional (BN) Supreme Council decided to set up a BN political lab next month dedicated to make recommendations on changes that need to be done to the coalition.
The BN Chairman who is also the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said that lab will see if the changes involve structure, branding or BN policies or all three.
Baed on Najib’s statement, the coalition which was founded in 1983 is seen as experiencing distinct upheaval.
The idea of setting up the lab is also seen as the culmination of dissatisfaction of a huge part of the 13 BN component parties against Umno’s domination all this time in office.
MCA and Gerakan are the largest group of BN components that refuse to join Najib’s cabinet after the 13th General Election.
As a reaction from MCA and Gerakan’s actions, there have been suggestions for BN to be a single party. The single party would mean that all 13 component parties will be under one constitutional party. Currently, each party has their own constitution and are just grouping under the BN name.
The fundamental question that should be asked is why MCA and Gerakan were so brave to take the path of cynically protesting against Najib and his leadership?
For Umno, MCA’s action was welcomed because many of the positions in the cabinet will be swept up by Umno candidates.
Indeed, based on history, Umno only has good relations if it benefits them. PAS went through this bitter experience.
Now, MCA and several other component parties are experiencing ‘relish’ from Umno’s action.
Prior to this, MCA and several other parties representing the Chinese community were assets in BN’s victory in every election. However, now the Chinese community has made Pakatan Rakyat the political direction and their rejection because MCA is linked to Umno.
The GE-13 results which witnessed nearly 90 percent of the Chinese community rejecting BN as the answer to MCA’s action.
Corruption, cronyism and abuse of power among the leaders as well as Umno’s action to use racial sentiments, religion and a thug-like actions caused the Chinese community to be afraid, hurt and left out.
Imagine, the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was once revered by the Chinese community dared to make a racist statement with intention to save Umno from losing in the GE-13. The ironic thing is the ‘latent trait’ of current Umno leaders who are struggling in current political survival.
Corruption and cronyism within UMNO has also marginalised the Chinese community in terms of distribution of the country’s economic wealth even though they are a group of tenacious entrepreneurs.
In simple politics, captivating the hearts of the people is not too chronic. People just want to be looked with the attentiveness of the government about their fate.
Corruption, cronyism, abuse of power and racism are the people’s real enemy against the government.
A concerned government means that the government’s efforts to reduce the burden of the people as much as possible in addition to a transparent and fair management of the redistribution of the country’s wealth.
Umno-BN failed to discharge this trust. That is why in the GE-13 results, Umno-BN only recorded 47 percent of the popular vote.
Umno Not Democratic
Although BN’s formation is now 40 years old, in this time period however, BN has continued to defend a racist political platform. While the pattern of world politics and internal politics is going through a new political era that is based on justice.
Umno-BN is more pressed when they witnessed the Pakatan Rakyat’s new politics which is increasingly gaining the attention of people of all races, especially the Chinese community. The basis of this success is because of the multi-racial politics that ignores racist policies.
PKR comprises of various races, DAP is also comprised of people from all ethnicities and PAS has opened honorary membership to non-Muslims through the PAS supporters club are examples of new politics that breaks apart BN’s racial politics style.
The new PR coalition which is now only ten-years-old and which has earned 51 percent of the popular vote during the GE-13 has certainly shook-up the 40-year-old BN establishment.
Umno seemed trapped when they spoke to defend the Malay community’s rights because this would graze the feelings of the Chinese, Indian and other races.
This is similar with MCA and MIC leaders who talk about defending the rights of their respective races which will cause anger to Umno Malays. The scenario of this dilemma may not end as long as all racial political policies are not rid of.
Umno coward attitude and its fear of its own shadow makes the party seem out of date. The effort to not fight for Presidency and Deputy Presidency at the Umno party elections later this year proves that the obsolete party has lost its democratic face.
Therefore, how then can Najib and Umno be capable of solving the post-mortem which has been decided by the BN political Laboratory? Seeing that Najib’s credentials to lead Umno is based on Umno’s cowardice policy which is based on a 30 percent support quota to challenge the President’s position?
Umno Lab to Blame MCA and Gerakan
Whatever it is, Umno has been in power for over 56 years. Various policies and mottoes have been used to re-brand Umno and BN. However, all have failed. Billions of ringgit have been use to re-brand Umno leaders.
The Look East Policy during Mahathir’s era has turned into Hadhari Islam from the time of Tun Abdullah and now Najib’s 1Malaysia branding era. All these are just illusions to shroud the eyes of the people while cronies and siblings rake in wealth.
This month, the BN political laboratory will begin its work. Of course this lab will be led by Umno leaders…and what is more exciting is that this lab is meant to cover-up the issue of Najib’s weakness of failing to provide better performance for Umno-BN in the 13th General Election.
Then the lab results will place blame on MCA and Gerakan which were unable to make the Chinese community support BN. That is Umno and the Umno way since then, now and forever.
