by Zaid Ibrahim
May 14, 2013
I have never seen as many vile and seditious statements invading the public sphere as I have in this past week. We’ve had Utusan Malaysia provoking the Chinese for rejecting the Barisan Nasional and UMNO leaders labeling non-UMNO Malays as greedy and easily misled. An academic suggested the abolishment of vernacular schools to encourage unity among the races and an old “historian” said that the Chinese are not actually keen on unity. To cap it off, a retired Court of Appeal judge practically made a call for “restoring” Malay rights and dignity by whatever means.
I never realised that retired judges are also involved in part-time politics, although I believe this case to be a serious aberration. In the meantime, have we heard anything from the Prime Minister expressing regret for these statements? Perhaps a promise to take some action to stop this dangerous game of provocation? None whatsoever; in fact, he defended Utusan by saying Chinese newspapers are playing the same game.
Is this the kind of Prime Minister we want? Certainly not. I have been very patient with him, as have so many Malaysians. We have always given him extra room to breathe because we thought he was surrounded by the worse ultras in UMNO. We allowed him to dabble in “double speak” because we thought it was necessary for him to maintain his equilibrium as UMNO President. But enough is enough. This man has to go. He is afraid to do the right thing for the country. His 1Malaysia is a sham. I blame him for allowing this mad, racist frenzy to pander to UMNO delegates so he can retain power at the party elections at the end of the year.
His conduct is inexcusable. If he wants to deal with a challenge from his No 2, he need not appear to be more Malay than Muhyuddin. There is no need to unleash the keris and Utusan or to get all these half-baked Malay leaders to spout hate. His mentor Dr Mahathir has given him all the ammunition he needs. UMNO is the only political party in the world where a Supreme Council decision can override any provision in its own Constitution (hard to believe but it’s true). Even the Chinese Communist party does not have this provision. So all the Prime Minister has to do is get the Supreme Council to pass a resolution prohibiting any challenge to his position. With his men intact in the Supreme Council (both elected and appointed by him), there would be no contest for the party presidency. Even if this resolution is “flawed” it could not be challenged in court. Dr Mahathir has made sure of that. With the amendment to the Federal Constitution and the Societies Act, the Court no longer has any power of judicial review of decisions made by political societies.
So why engage in this song-and-dance that can irreparably damage racial and religious harmony in the country, when all you want is another five years at the helm? UMNO delegates are easily managed if their leader has the means to address their concerns. They are not terribly difficult to deal with. Just ask Dr Mahathir. So please, spare innocent Malaysians your UMNO gamesmanship—we want peace and harmony, not hate politics.