RACIALISM

By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at September 16, 2008

1. When the Barisan Nasional did very badly in the last general election many observers inside and outside the country claimed that the Malaysian people of all races have rejected race-based politics.
2. The remarkable increase in the opposition Members of Parliament is said to be due to their representing the alternative to the race-based politics of the BN. How they can ignore the entirely Malay PAS and the overwhelmingly Chinese DAP I do not know. These are race based parties.
3. If indeed the people as a whole reject race-based parties as represented by the component parties of the BN, then they would reject PAS and DAP. And we should see an improvement in race relations.
4. But is there any improvement in race relations?
5. I may be wrong and certainly the leader of the Government will say I am wrong, but what I see today is more extreme racialism raising its ugly head.
6. The latest is the case of Dato Ahmad Ismail.
7. The furore caused by him, a minor figure in UMNO, is out of proportion to the issue itself. But because of poor handling by the UMNO big guns it has become an issue that can split asunder the BN itself.
8. Now we have the MCA and Gerakan threatening to leave the BN.
9. We can appreciate the need of the Chinese parties to regain support of the Chinese by showing their strong stand against UMNO. But the only result of this would be the antagonism of the Malays against the Chinese. If this goes on, if the Gerakan and MCA leaves BN because of what Ahmad Ismail said, then who gains? Obviously the opposition Pakatan would gain. The choice for Gerakan and MCA is either to join the opposition or to degenerate into insignificant parties which can never aspire to win enough seats to form a Government. The end result will be victory for the opposition.
10. Do we really think the opposition with parties like PAS, an entirely Malay party with its Islamic State vision and DAP with its predominantly Chinese base and secular politics can form a good Government? The Pakatan is not a properly constructed coalition like the BN. It is just a collection of disparate parties which come together in order to win elections by not contesting against each other.
11. I know that PAS and the DAP are not happy with Johnny-come-lately Keadilan and its leader Anwar Ibrahim. They don't want to be subservient to Keadilan or to have Anwar as their Prime Minister. They don't want Keadilan playing the role of UMNO in the Pakatan.
12. The result will be chaos for this country. There would be racial tension which may turn ugly.
13. What I notice is the unwillingness of the disenchanted Chinese parties in the BN to name the real culprit. Privately the Chinese, like the Malays would condemn the leadership of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. But no one would openly say so. Instead as we can see UMNO is made the scapegoat.
14. Making UMNO the scapegoat is not going to improve race relations or improve the quality of the BN Government. Unless and until Dato Seri Abdullah is removed nothing that the Chinese parties and UMNO can do will help improve race relations or resuscitate the BN or improve the Government of the country.
15. I had said that instead of Dato Seri Najib apologising, UMNO should discipline Ahmad. His apology and its rejection by Gerakan simply angered the Malays. At the same time I don't think support for Gerakan and MCA would increase.
16. The BN leader should have called the parties concerned and persuade them not to use the race card. But the leader was too scared to face Ahmad Ismail one-to-one. Instead he resorted to the Internal Security Act (ISA) to prove that he is impartial. Now not only the Malays but the Chinese too will become more angry.
17. In my last article I have tried to reduce the anti-BN feeling. To me it is still a great coalition, still the best instituton in the multi-racial Malaysian politics.
18. The problem is incompetent leadership. You don't sink the ship because the captain is not handling it properly. You remove the captain.
19. I know the Chinese papers are calling me racist. I can deny it but they would not accept my denial. But good race relations in Malaysia is a must. Fighting between UMNO, MCA and Gerakan will only result in racial animosity and split BN. No one in the BN will gain.
20. UMNO, MCA and Gerakan leaders should try to heal the rift and help revive the BN.
21. However I must admit that this will be quite impossible if Abdullah still leads the BN and the Government. It is time that UMNO, MCA and Gerakan join together and force the resignation of Abdullah. Then and then only would we be able to revive the BN and perhaps restructure it. If not race relations will go from bad to worse and the whole country will suffer.