Fate of Malays hanging in the balance

Utusan Malaysia claims the split in Malay votes has contributed to the Chinese wielding more political clout.

K Pragalath, FMT

The fate of the Malays is hanging in the balance because of disunity that can be traced from the political tsunami of the 2008 general election, a Malay daily columnist said.

Zaini Hassan wrote in Utusan Malaysia that the present generation of Malays are also not appreciative of the contributions of the people in the past.

He quoted former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said that “many are ignorant of the fact that they are in a dangerous position. They are supporting notions of disunity”.

Zaini cited the results of the 12th general election where Barisan Nasional only won 140 of the 222 parliamentary seats. At the state level, BN captured 307 out of 505 state seats.

“The Malays from my observation have gone their separate ways under labels such as the Umno Malays, PAS Malays, PKR Malays, DAP Malays, Liberal Malays, fence-sitting Malays and NGO Malays with their own agenda,” he wrote.

He said that the split among the Malays had resulted in the Chinese gaining power through the DAP.

The DAP under the Pakatan Rakyat banner controls Penang and has a large political influence in Perak, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur, he claimed.

Under the present circumstances, Zaini also sees the possibility of Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, and Johor falling into the hands of the DAP.

But he said the Malays can stop the DAP charge by closing ranks when they head for the ballot box on May 5.