“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.”

- Ta-Nehisi Coates, ‘Between the World and Me’

I do not know who “we” are but I am assuming there are some of us, Malaysians who understand that Barisan National and Pakatan Harapan are playing the race game and that ultimately the Malaysian polity will end up as some sort of cautionary tale in world geopolitics. This is not to say that the race game as an exercise in pragmatism will ultimately lead to our downfall but rather that both coalitions are playing the game abysmally.

William Leong’s piece on the seeds of defeat being sown in Pakatan Harapan was an interesting read because of its earnestness in delivering a political agenda and the hard truths wrapped in the “canggih” rhetoric of so-called centrist political factions the world over.

Here is the deal. Our colonial masters and political elites sowed the seed of defeat a long time ago. A pragmatic but more often apathetic electorate nourished the seeds. What were these seeds of defeat? The social contract, Article 153 and the numerous other social and legal arcana that academics point to but were ignored for reasons of economic gain and rapid development.

Malaysia ceased being a homeland for a certain section of the Malaysian polity and instead we were constantly reminded that we were foreigners, whose gratitude translated to sustaining another section of the polity. The dominant demographic. A demographic that was subject to social engineering and damaging propaganda.

The old PAS and the old DAP were offering up ideological alternatives to Barisan National that the voting public rejected for various reasons. I would argue that the DAP and PAS of old were more ideologically pure than they are now but that is a story for another time.

When Leong proclaims, “PKR leaders and representatives being members of a truly multiracial political party have proven their ability to reach out and attract votes from all ethnic groups besides their own…” this is problematic and symptomatic of the kind of unintentional doublespeak that the Bangsa Malaysia bromide produces.

The reality is that Malaysians have never had a problem voting across ethnic lines. And they have voted for race-based parties because they believed that their interests would be protected. The DAP has attracted ethnic groups besides their own and so has PAS. Indeed, the rise of PAS and its fracturing was the result of its close collaboration with the DAP.

In addition, this idea that voting across racial lines as some sort of evidence of burgeoning multiracial solidarity is complete bunkum. The real test is when people vote across ethnic and religious lines in support of ideologies that run counter to the interests of their communities and by this I mean egalitarian ideas that run afoul of constitutional sacred cows and social and religious dogma.

Seismic shift

Now, I have been critical of such an alliance and my misgivings have been proven correct. However, there was a time when cheerleading including my own, misguided as it was, was based on the belief that Pakatan was a cohesive political faction united on key issues facing the country despite the reality that in their own way, they were race-based collectives.

PKR was formed because of a seismic shift in Malay/Umno political terrain. This is why Umno is using every political weapon at its disposal to wage war against recalcitrant Malays. Remember when the then-home minister sagely said the government could not guarantee Anwar’s safety:

“This is why Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's reprehensible remark that the attacks on Anwar are part of the political risks that opposition parties here in Malaysia face and the Umno state won't guarantee his (Anwar's) safety not only doesn't go down well with the non-Malay communities but just reinvigorates the ‘maha firaun' narrative of PAS and reminds the non-Umnoputras how disenfranchised they really are from the mainstream.

“Footage from the various protests depicts a majority Malay community under attack from a majority Malay state security apparatus. So, while Hishammuddin may think he is scoring points with the right-wing faction of the Malay polity by waving his keris or sitting with cow-head seditionists, he is doing a great deal of damage to Umno's own racial credibility when he makes damning statements about how the security apparatus of this country cannot guarantee the safety of its citizens merely because they are political rivals.”

This is also why, Umno is busily courting PAS. The words of the shrewdest political operative - former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad - should be kept in mind, “You can’t have an alliance with two different thoughts. So this is not an alliance, this is political expediency. Whereas the BN and the Ikatan before, they were true allies. They believed in certain things and they came together because of that. But here PAS and Umno has nothing in common. But they came together because I will support you as you support me because I am in trouble.”

Mahathir may not know or care what Malaysians need but he is smart enough to know what they want, especially what Umno wants. So PKR repeating the same mistakes as DAP, in courting PAS, is evidence that political power and expediency is favoured over any other foundational ideologies that could change the country.

Anwar Ibrahim’s crusade acknowledged the importance of multiracialism as a strategic imperative and not an ideological one. Moreover, he is not alone in this. The DAP’s ascension is based on the on the reality that the Chinese community has shifted its affections from the MCA to the DAP. This is the reality when one is facing a monolithic government apparatus bent on self-preservation and using race and religion as tools of survival.

These days I have “A plague o' both your houses” attitude when it comes to the political infighting between PKR and DAP. I will not even bother talking about Amanah which I view as the love child between DAP and PAS.

If PKR truly wants to be multiracial, it should walk the talk instead of attempting to play the same games as Umno. And believe me, there are many people within the PKR who know exactly what to do, except like their brethren with Amanah and DAP, they are mocked as idealists who would not win any elections. This may very well be true but in the face of a rigged game, it is better not to play.

If Pakatan carries on with this infighting, continues pushing the Bangsa Malaysia kool aid and refusing to offer anything else but the latest round of Umno’s pecuniary scandals, we will not be saying welcome to Malaysia any more.

It will be welcome to Malaysiatan.

S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.