COMMENT | Muhyiddin’s gift to Harapan

COMMENT | Muhyiddin Yassin’s attempts at damage control after the boo-boo he committed in warning Malay Muslims about a Jewish-Christian plot to Christianise them are not likely to succeed.

Not only that, his mistake will redound to the advantage of Pakatan Harapan in its efforts to woo a reluctant Gabongan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the strongest in the state.

GPS, likeliest winner of the most parliamentary seats up for grabs in Sarawak, is disinclined to support the Anwar Ibrahim-led Harapan.

Opinion surveys predict that Harapan will garner the highest number of seats but will be without a simple majority.

That will require Harapan to woo GPS, expected to win anything from 18 to 24 seats out of a total of 31 in Sarawak, to join it in forming a federal government.

Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), largest component of GPS, is loath to affiliate with Harapan in a federal government that includes DAP.

This is because of what DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng said in 2019, when he was Harapan’s finance minister, in the course of a warning about the imminence of bankruptcy for Sarawak under GPS’s stewardship.

That comment has stuck in GPS’s craw, particularly PBB’s.

Other components of GPS are not as reluctant as PBB to link up with Harapan in a federal government should the latter emerge with the highest number of seats on the peninsula.

This is because of their uneasiness at cohabitation with PAS in the Perikatan Nasional-led government that assumed federal reins after the Sheraton Move deposed the Harapan government in late February 2020.

Poll surveys claim that PN will benefit from the eclipse of BN that is predicted as likely to happen in GE15.

Muhyiddin’s gaffe in Pagoh on Thursday will exacerbate the unease of the Christian sympathising components of GPS and make them more amenable to Harapan’s overtures.

No apology

The Council of Christian Churches in Sarawak, which draws strong support from these parties, was quick to denounce Muhyiddin’s allusion to an alleged Jewish-Christian plot to Christianise Malay Muslims.

This denunciation dovetailed nicely with the condemnation their counterpart council on the peninsula issued in the immediate wake of Muhyiddin’s remarks in Pagoh on Thursday.

A day later Muhyiddin strove to extricate himself from the controversy by saying that his references to the alleged Jewish-Christian plot to Christianise Malay Muslims took only one and a half minutes of a 55-minute speech.

He said his remarks were taken out of context with the fact they took so little time an indication of their trifling nature rather than importance.

Usually, these ex-post facto extenuations are lame and serve to accentuate the hurt more than mollify the offended.

A simple apology is preferable but politicians are loath to apologise, especially on matters of race and religion.

Muhyiddin’s declaration more than a decade ago when he was deputy prime minister to Najib Abdul Razak that he was “Malay first” and Malaysian later had placed him in the forefront of a rabid sector.

Retreat from this position is unthinkable which is why instead of apologising for his remarks at the PN rally in Pagoh, he chose to say that they were taken out of context.

It’s a copout which will only fan the controversy he has sparked, invite suspicion of his motives, and decimate his standing as a contender for the office of PM of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Harapan’s path to an accommodation with GPS is eased by the unexpected gift of incendiary remarks by a politician whose “Malay first” pose had paved the way to the current contretemps.

It’s boon to Harapan given what pollsters say about the outcome of tomorrow’s ballot. They should make all the running with it.

TERENCE NETTO is a journalist with half a century's experience.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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