After dropping out from the race for the Kajang by-election, former de-facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim today said Kajang voters should vote for BN to stop the ruling party from going further to the "extreme right".

Warning that BN losing with a bigger margin would push Umno to the right, the former PKR leader said he hopes for BN to receive "more votes than it did in 2013".

"This means the voters, particularly the young, still want the ruling coalition’s power-sharing arrangement which has kept the country moving along since independence," he said a blog posting today.

"A vote by the Malays in Kajang for MCA means the Malays still want to have moderate Chinese as their political friends," Zaid said.

"If the BN fares badly in Kajang it also means that Umno will be moving to the extreme right, a position we have not seen before.

"The consequences will be hard to comprehend for now," he warned.

Zaid originally joined the race as an independent claiming he wanted to prevent opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the original PKR candidate, from becoming the new Selangor menteri besar should the latter win.

When Anwar was disqualified as a candidate following his Sodomy conviction at the Court of Appeal last week, Zaid promptly back out of the contest.

"I hope the Chinese will not be led to believe that the country will continue to be stable and peaceful regardless of Malaysiakini and the likes doing their daily routine of mocking government officials, judges and Umno leaders with impunity," he added.

'Chinese stop mocking Malays'

Zaid said the "attacks" on MAS for their handling of the MH370 crisis showed how "arrogant" the government critics are, and also said that this resembles the "hatred" they have towards a "Malay-led government".

He said the Chinese in Kajang can cool the temperatures of the political and ethnic tensions in the country by voting for BN.

"They can have their say in what kind of Malay leaders they want. They must know that the country will be ruled largely by Malays for many more years to come," he said.

"The Malay political leadership must be amongst those who can show certain flexibility and are 'practical' in the implementation of policies.

"The Chinese must stop mocking these Malay leaders," he added.

Zaid went on to say that while the Chinese might be "excited" about what Anwar and DAP has to offer, a game of "political agitation" will lead Malays to "retaliate" in a way that would harm "everyone".

"Their (DAP) effort to galvanise the non-Muslim vote has only alienated the Malays and the Muslims further and closer to the extreme right.

"They are good at brinkmanship politics but this is dangerous for the country," he said.

Familiar BN tune

Zaid also said the Malay leaders currently leading the country are "largely moderate" and are capable of addressing the social conflicts the country is facing.

"Like so many Malaysians I too want the government to change policies and improve on many aspects of governance.

"The difference between wanting change in policies and wanting changes in political power, however, are significant. The people need to reflect on this," he said.

"No matter how unhappy some of us are with the leaders we have, the country has been fairly prosperous and peaceful. It’s easy to criticise and ridicule but to govern well takes a lot more," he added.

Zaid further predicted that the voter turnout for Kajang would be low due to election fatigue and that a victory for current PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail would be "hollow".