Politics in Malaysia is slowly but surely being transformed beyond race and religious ideology and sentiments. Despite the continuous onslaught by Umno propaganda that the opposition is DAP-dominated, large sections of educated and urban Malays are increasingly wary and do not trust the Umno-dominated government.

In 2016, Malaysians watched in disbelief how a past Umno president and deputy president, sat on the same side with their political adversaries from DAP, PKR and Amanah, while the present Umno president addressed a public rally together with a former foe, the PAS president.

Umno, today, is no longer the preferred choice of a large section of Malay youths. Will Umno’s race and religion brand of politics lose its political relevance if the government of the day fails to deliver on their promises and good governance? Only time will tell.

After the passing of Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Abdul Hadi Awang has purged the party of the latter’s ardent supporters who have now formed party Amanah. Since PAS contested against Umno in every election, the remaining PAS supporters are disillusioned with Hadi’s leadership and one group has joined hands with party Bersatu, and only a small group still remain loyal to Hadi’s version of PAS.

It can be observed that Hadi Awang’s rattling of the proverbial cage is shallow and lacks the numbers. Supporting the allegedly corrupted Umno and its president in the name of Islamic brotherhood does not bode well for Hadi and the Islamic party. The opposition coalition should expose Hadi’s bluff and focus on the issues at hand. The opposition coalition must transform into a government in waiting instead of fearing Hadi’s preposterous and benign blackmail.

The challenges and opportunities of Malaysian politics heightened in 2016 are set to continue into the New Year. The mother of all scandals, IMDB, got blown up in Singapore, the US, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. But in Malaysia it is all hunky-dory and business as usual.

China has capitalised on Umno’s poor public financial management of the country to make a strategic grip on seaports, major transportation system and key investment sectors like power generation and property development in Malaysia. 1MDB seem to be the perfect scandal that China was waiting for it to allegedly colonise Malaysia economically and through Malaysia, China will set the terms and conditions for the Asean economic agenda.

Malaysia’s ability to maintain its sovereignty and independence is doubtful. And we have to thank Umno for this conundrum.

The rural and kampong folk are preoccupied with the increases in prices of goods and services, withdrawal of subsidies and added to that, the wastage and leakage in government agencies is high on their minds. Umno has lost all its incumbent advantages and is now resorting to alleged racial gerrymandering of constituencies that have different population sizes that will favour the Umno/BN coalition.

Kampong folk’s pocket hit badly

The oil blessing which has turned into curse in the form of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the removal of various subsidies have hit the kampong folk’s pocket badly and they are slowly coming to realise the falsehood created by Umno. Felda folk are very unhappy with Felda Global Ventures’ (FGV) performance despite all the big but empty promises.

Government-linked companies (GLCs) receive government-backed guarantees when they take loans and national budget allocations. But their contribution back to the government is minimal. There are 47 listed GLCs. They comprise only 5 percent of the listed companies, but they account for 42 percent of the total market capitalisation. Fourteen of the GLCs are amongst the 30 FBMKLCI stocks.

Too much vested interest from Umno is a hindrance to these GLCs and are an albatross to greater performance and innovation, thus preventing new technologies from emerging.

This New Year, 2017, seem a promising year for the much delayed political change to finally take place. The BN government will allegedly deploy all kinds of deceitful and underhanded tactics to remain in power.

But time is running out on them. The younger Malays and second generation Felda settlers are seeing through the 1MDB, FGV, GST scandals as well as facing the huge pinch of the withdrawal of subsidies and realising that they deserve a better government that truly delivers.

When change is the mood and order of the day, the Indian Malaysian community should also join hands to bring about a more inclusive government. The MIC and their friends are too busy delivering pathetic handouts of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to realise that they are too little and too late. Let’s join all the Malaysians to bring about the much delayed and denied political change to our beloved country.

S RAMAKRISHNAN is a former senator.