Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his team seem to have drawn a clear line with Malay rights group Perkasa.
But how about Umno?
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin have condemned Perkasa earlier and Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor has also said last week that Perkasa has affected the support of non-Malay for the BN, and Umno does not support Perkasa.
If you think it is still not clear enough, Adnan has even claimed that Umno is going to contest for the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat in the next general election to challenge its MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who is the Perkasa president.
Ibrahim was elected the MP for Pasir Mas in the March 2008 general election, contesting with a PAS ticket. He, however, has now turned vigorously against PAS which had helped him win the seat, after Umno dumped him.
Ibrahim had set up Perkasa and claimed to have received support from Umno. The words and practices of Perkasa are similar to the Umno right-wing faction.
His strategy worked and he has inspired some leaders of the Malay community, stirred sensitive sentiments, strengthened conservative and radical ideas and grabbed the headline with racist statements.
The Umno right-wing is also happy to have him performing the role for it.
Ibrahim and the Umno right-wing are using each other to get what they want.
The Umno right-wing uses Ibrahim to pressure Najib while Ibrahim uses the Umno right-wing to expand influence. He also hopes to contest for the parliamentary seat under the Umno banner in the next general election and march into the mainstream of Umno.
Everything is proceeding smoothly, but there are two unresolved problems.
First, Ibrahim and Perkasa have caused discrepancy in the BN. The non-Malay communities have big reservation about Perkasa. As a result, the MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other BN component parties from Sabah and Sarawak are pressuring the BN and Umno leadership to keep a distance from Perkasa.
Meanwhile, the liberals and progressives in the Malay community also dislike Perkasa. This has indirectly driven them closer to PAS and the PKR.
Secondly, the amendment of some unreasonable policies in the New Economic Policy (NEP) has been included in the reform agenda of Najib. Also, liberal policies, which are opposed by Perkasa, has been gradually implemented.
The criticisms against Perkasa by Nazri, Khairy and Adnan, as well as Najib's emphasis in reform through international media such as the Times magazine and the CNBC Asia, have shown the intention of Najib and his team to get rid of Perkasa.
However, other Umno dignitaries, including some key figures, have yet to make clear their stands so far.
On the contrary, the Utusan Malaysia has published articles supportive of Ibrahim and Perkasa while criticizing some reforms made within the party.
It is a very unusual situation for an Umno newspaper to actually take such an opposing stand. Surely there must be a strong force behind the scene.
All signs point to a brewing power struggle within Umno.
Sin Chew Daily
Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa - down but not out yet
Once riding high, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali is now fumbling for support. Hence, the nonstop and rather nonsensical tirade against those Umno and BN leaders who have given him and his ultra-Malay rights group the boot.
So far, only former Umno president and Perkasa patron Mahathir Mohamad has spoken up for Perkasa. Mahathir has even warned Umno it might suffer further loss of popularity with the Malay voters if it cut its ties with Perkasa.
But Mahathir himself is a spent force, done in by his own racism and the slew of revelations that are starting to pour in about his corruption in the various mega and privatization deals hammered out during his 22 years in power.
Najib waits to see which way the wind blows
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| Ibrahim alarmed many with his drama |
Despite the noisy break-up announced by Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan and cheered by Cabinet ministers such as Nazri Aziz, Koh Tsu Koon, and MCA leaders, Najib himself has kept mum.
But very telling is that the Umno-owned Utusan newspaper has supported Perkasa, even though its top editors were hand-picked by Najib.
“Yes, it is the typical two-faced politics of Umno. Some say Najib is being cautious. I think that is too kind a word. It is not caution, it is outright unprincipled, two-timing misrepresentation. If the Malay response is resounding they want Perkasa, Najib will be first to turn around, no doubt helped by Utusan,” Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin told Malaysia Chronicle.
“In such a case, the ones who will look like the real fools will be Tsu Koon and Soi Lek and the other non-Malay BN leaders for getting all excited over what is nothing more than another big bluff. Fortunately for them, there hasn’t been much response. Few Malays care about Ibrahim Ali and his nonsense but it is not just Perkasa that has faded but also Umno.”
Keeping a conspicuously low-profile is Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who has avoided a direct comment on Perkasa, saying that the “bigger picture” was more important.
| Muhyiddin - burnt his bridges |
Since becoming the deputy premier, Muhyiddin has aligned himself to Mahathir rather than Najib. He has publicly criticized the PM's multi-racial 1Malaysia plan, earning himself a reputation for being a racist with his infamous “I’m Malay first”comments.
“Muhyiddin is also groping in the dark but it may be too late for him. He was silly to align himself so directly with Mahathir. You see, Mahathir can get away with all the racist comments because he is retired but Muhyiddin is not,” Gopeng MP Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.
“How can you be DPM of the entire country when you only consider the interests of the Malays to the point that you openly admit you put their interests first and foremost? How can the other races trust him for fair play and justice - he won’t bother. That is the message he has given.”
Meanwhile, in a sign that the “sympathy” response from the Malays has not been as much as what he had hoped to elicit, Ibrahim Ali has himself changed tack.
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| Nizar - Umno wayang kulit |
“I have made the decision, I will co-operate with candidates who understand our stand including non-Malay candidates. I don’t care about race - only those who understand the Federal Constitution, who is of good character, has integrity, fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and ready to face the 13th general election,” Malaysian Insiderreported Ibrahim as saying.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders ridiculed his inconsistency.
"He is talking nonsense. Perkasa has from day one been a political weapon for Umno, so how can it not be interested in politics? When Umno needs its services later on, Perkasa will suddenly be rehabilitated. Until then - to stay alive - Ibrahim Ali needs publicity. It will be one silly stunt after another," predicted Nizar.
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Ibrahim Ali had his open house for Hari Raya at the Pasir Mas Railway Station. He is a freight train that runs over UMNO's gravy train or anything that stands in its path. . Ibrahim Ali is offering Malays an inexhaustible resource- emotional comfort while UMNO hasn't got enough gravy to distribute around anymore.
There is one BIG problem. The top man is sending ambiguous messages. He has asked his lieutenants to speak against what Perkasa stands for. He has asked his people to distance themselves and UMNO from Perkasa. He has even toyed with the idea, supplied by his pandering dogs of apple polishers no doubt, of setting up rival NGOs to smother the fire of Perkasa.
Problem: if he has done so, then it behooves him to give unqualified and absolute support to his people by saying clearly what he thinks of Perkasa. Instead we see him pussyfooting by saying we are not at war with Perkasa. They are fighting for Malay interests which we are also doing. But we are asking them to allow us to fight it our way….alamak….
UMNO is asking Perkasa's approval? If we can't give unequivocal and undivided support to our troops, then don't say anything against Perkasa. We will look even more stupid in the near future, if we were to later bend over to ask Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa to support us. And I predict we will do so in future.
On the other hand there is a silver lining too. So far only the so so smooth operator the UMNO secgen and UMNO's own Wyatt Earp Nazri Aziz have come with guns blazing. UMNO's Ketua Pemuda has fought battles with Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa very early on and has not also received unequivocal support from other senior UMNO leaders.
I repeat- if we are not willing to state clearly where we stand on this issue, don't say anything. The UMNO president is circumspect about this too. He is walking gingerly. I'll let others use harsher terms.
There is only one way to settle the issue UMNO has with Perkasa. The latter is no political party. It is an NGO, led by the political demagogue Ibrahim Ali. It has been able to get under the skin of UMNO and causing paranoia among UMNO people.
The solution is to call a snap election. That is the way to settle the issue. The main problem with UMNO as I see it, is the inability of the UMNO leadership to prevail over Perkasa with an alternative story to tell Malays, UMNO people and ultimately the Malaysian rakyat. The inability is telling on the quality of our leadership. Let me be more direct- our leadership is stupid, scared or doesn't know what's happening. Therefore it cannot give answers to the message Perkasa is bringing.
What is it that UMNO can offer that distinguishes itself from NGO Perkasa? UMNO can provide Malay leadership as opposed to Perkasa which is providing Malay supremacist agendas. Leadership is responsibility. Supremacist ideas are reckless.
What UMNO hasn't done is to argue that its providing leadership. Why hasn't it done that? Because most of its members and sadly most of its leadership are not bright people. I don't mean not bright in the sense of being a stupid or dullard but not bright as in the inability to articulate a compelling and reasoned agenda. So we end up with a situation, where the majority of the not so bright UMNO leadership and the likewise majority UMNO members, while frothing in the mouth shouting support for Dato Najib are actually leaning towards the simple but emotionally attractive political recipe of Perkasa.
Here is the reason why I say the UMNO leadership is not so bright. The arguments for Malay leadership is indirect and requires reasoned and well thought out analysis. It is an indirect argument. The argument for Malay supremacy is emotional and primal and is also direct. Between the rational and emotional sides of the human brain, the emotional side is more developed. Ibrahim Ali has found an emotional niche while the UMNO leadership either through its stupidity, cowardice and ignorance cannot overcome that emotional assault.
I find parallels of the above in Milton Friedman's introduction to FA Hayeks'The Road to Serfdom.
Surely that is one answer to the perennial mystery of why collectivism, with its demonstrated record of producing tyranny and misery is so widely regarded as superior to individualism, with its demonstrated record of producing freedom and plenty. The argument for collectivism is simple if false; it's an immediate emotional argument. The argument for individualism is subtle and sophisticated; it is an indirect argument.
Hence the equivalent of dropping an emotional atomic bomb that can decimate the messages of Ibrahim Ali's Perkasa is to have a snap election. That would be the mother of all emotional arguments. Malays are spiked up for a general elections, so let's give them one to deliver the blow to Perkasa.
Yes, Dato Najib should call for a snap election. If only to remove all the deadwood in his cabinet. This is to allow him build a new team from scratch. He needs to have a team who shares his vision and which is able to enthuse articulate and implement his vision.
At the moment, his cabinet is full of court jesters and clowns. His party? So many not bright people.
What he needs to do now, is to cross the names in the cabinet who he thinks are no longer useful or functional. Those who don't understand much less articulate what 1 Malaysia is all about. Those who don't enthuse about the NEM. Those blatantly implicated in corruption and abuse of power. those lazy bums who are mentally challenged.
This should be almost all the names he has in the cabinet especially those from UMNO.
Because none of his cabinet members can counter argue what Perkasa is bringing on the plate to the table. The way to counter PERKASA is not to belittle it as an organization of has beens, or by saying Ibrahim Ali is a froggie. Dato Najib should replace the UMNO secgen and leave out Nazri Aziz in a future cabinet. IFF UMNO is still in control, that is.
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