The fiery rhetoric and tactics of Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh in the national flag controversy could end up killing Barisan Nasional and damaging Pakatan Harapan, says a former MCA vice-president.
Ti Lian Ker said Akmal’s theatrics would not win more Malay votes for Umno, but instead would alienate BN‘s traditional Chinese and Indian supporters.
“If Umno does nothing or continues to back Akmal, the damage will not stop at MCA or MIC. Umno will effectively kill BN and will also damage Pakatan Harapan if they are seen to be together. This is why DAP is attempting to dissociate itself from Akmal’s theatrics,” he said.
He said Akmal’s tactics were “textbook Umno”, especially in the post-Tunku Abdul Rahman era.
The best way for Umno members to make themselves relevant, especially in communal politics, had been to use the non-Malays as a “punching bag”, a tactic that made for great optics in the past when there was more reliance on Umno.
Akmal’s latest antics, such as condescendingly describing a hardware shop owner as an “apek”, played right into the Malay supremacy narrative, a strategy adopted by past Umno leaders.
However, such tactics may backfire now, especially with a more progressive and well-informed crowd. Voters these days were more sophisticated and would look past such theatrics, apart from being jaded by such stunts.
“Demonising the Chinese as the bogeyman or making the community the punching bag is no longer as effective as before,” the former deputy unity minister told FMT.
Ti said such tactics are also counterproductive, having proven to be detrimental to Barisan Nasional in failing to draw the targeted voters and chasing away the coalition’s traditional supporters.
He said Akmal’s theatrics would not win them more Malay votes, but instead would alienate BN‘s traditional Chinese and Indian supporters.
“As it is, the Chinese and Indian voters backing MCA and MIC are frustrated with Umno for seemingly giving Akmal carte blanche,” he said, referring to Akmal’s party colleagues like Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi, defending his actions.
Ti, who recently told Malaysiakini that Akmal’s PAS counterparts seemed more rational in their response to the flag blunder, said it would be impossible for BN components to undo the damage if Umno fails to rein in Akmal.
He said there were already rumblings on the ground about voting for PAS in protest against the unity government in which BN and PH are partners. He claimed there had been previous talk about boycotting the elections altogether.
Such sentiment was unprecedented, he said.
Ti said it was time for BN to revert to the inclusive and multicultural politics of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country’s first prime minister.
