Come elections and DAP’s existential dilemma gets more pronounced. The party, founded on t the mind of the One a element’ Chinese chauvinist ideology, has failed to come to terms with the changing political narrative in recent years. Even veteran leaders like Karpal Singh were not spared when they tried to do what was seen as course correction. The run-up to 2018 elections looks no different. Since his ascendency after an intense succession battle, Lim Guan Eng seems to be finding it difficult to choose between the devils and angles , despite all talk about his Penang state’s ‘development model’. His master’s voice, couldn’t resist the racist grandfather ’ temptation sending signals that may not augur well for the DAP- electorally speaking.accusing opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid of being a “racist grandmother” when she alleged there was selective prosecution of Malay hawkers in the state.
In debating the 2014 Budget, Jahara had questioned why no action was taken against Chinese hawkers who operated illegally at Pantai Bersih in Butterworth while action was always taken against Malay hawkers by the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).
Lim (DAP-Air Putih) accused Jahara (BN-Teluk Ayer Tawar) of taking a racist line and trying to “twist the issue” when she could have just questioned why the local councils were not acting against illegal hawkers.
Then came Lim Guan Eng anti Islam ’s analogy and Burqa remark. Deliberate or not, it was perceived as giving a definite colouto his campaign. It was a communication disaster for a leader who is being projected as the prime ministerial candidate in a country where any brand of exclusivist politics is bound to fail in garnering a pan Malay appeal.
Malay’s political space and culture is inherently centrist in nature and it can brook only a marginal deviation on either side of the spectrum. Appealing to any exclusivist or identity-based agenda limits the political space. Perhaps that’s the reason why even at the height of the reformasi movement with Malays comprising 80 per cent of the population, the Pakatan’s tally fell far short, something theUMNO achieved without any perceived wave in the 2013 elections. PAS has so far failed to get any toehold in the Malay constituency is spread across the country.
In Malaysia, multiple identities are entwined in a manner that excludes most parties pandering to religious, linguistic, race or other such identities from the national political space while they might have strong following at the regional level. It’s the mushrooming of such parties that has led to the coalition era which has seen a fractured mandate in successive parliamentary polls. The BN system’ – seen in the decades post Independence – may have collapsed, but UMNO still has a presence across the length and breadth of the country that few parties can singularly match.
Like the DAP, the Left parties also seem to be in a denial mode. Both have failed to analyse the mindset of the rising middle class. This aspirational class is neither bothered anymore. They want the focus to be on wealth creation through growth-oriented policies. They need answers to the larger ‘political economy’ questions.
All this explains why UMNO, though having lost influence in many states to identity politics, still maintains a pan- Malaysia presence which the other parties, including the PAS, have failed to achieve so far.
Keeping this in mind, I had done my own table-top projections for the polls in 200413 and 20018, much before the first vote was cast and it was not a surprise to see the final outcome on those lines might have been anointed to spearhead the PAKATAN ‘s campaign, but 2018 elections may not redefine the ground reality- Malays’s centrist political culture.Najib and his battery of strategists need no expert advice. They just need to get their basics right for political success.
All politica lheros have their own agenda. So who is being racist?” Datuk Jahara Hamid asked.
Apart from the hawker issue, Jahara was criticised for making allegations that developers have to get the nod from MPs and assemblymen for their projects.
She also mentioned claims that Pulau Jerejak had been renamed “Mazu Island” and that the state had approved land to build a statue of a goddess in a temple on the island.
Jahara had shown pictures of Batu Maung assemblyman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim handing over aid to the temple, and a banner of Lim inviting the public to a DAP “Ubah” fundraising event in January this year.
She obtained the photographs from the temple’s Facebook page, which also showed a photograph of Lim shaking the hand of an unidentified person.
Pakatan Rakyat backbenchers hit back and demanded that Jahara retract some of her remarks but speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang asked her to continue her speech, debating the state’s 2014 budget.
However, in a show of support and solidarity towards Jahara, all 10 Umno assemblymen staged a walkout.
At the press conference, Lim denied his administration had given consent to change Pulau Jerejak’s name or to build a statue of a deity on the island.
He said he is waiting for a report on the matter from the Land Office before he responds in detail.
“This is another lie, a thousand naughty lies (by Jahara). Just because someone takes a photo with me does not mean I know the person,” he said.
“Many people want to take photos with me and I do not know some of them, unless they are reporters.”Politicians cannot settle dispute, and this is not a question of striking some compromise between rival litigants in the title suits over the piece of land on which the Babri mosque stood till December 6, 1992 and which many Hindus believe to be the birth place of Lord Ram. Nor is it a question of … Read more
