COMMENT | Umno’s dirty tricks return to haunt Zahid

“The sort of words a man says is the sort he hears in return.”

- Homer, The Iliad

COMMENT | I suppose in this period of détente, signalling Umno for mockery would be considered verboten, but who cares.

At Umno’s 77th-anniversary shindig, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi encouraged party members to counter the “toxic, racial" politics peddled by the "enemy".

Umno, which for decades stamped its imprimatur on any organisation or personality which demonised the DAP and opposition using racial and religious politics, is now attempting a reversal of its electoral fortunes by appealing to the centre of Malaysian politics.

All the toxic racial politics that PAS led PN are shovelling back at Umno and this unity government, are from the Umno’s playbook which served Zahid's party well for decades.

I would argue that there is nothing original in what PAS and PN are doing.

There is no innovative strategy beyond reaping the rewards of Umno’s decades of racial and religious corruption of every institution in this country.

Worried that “youths” are influenced by politics of hate perpetrated by the opposition? What do you think the religious industrial complex has been doing for years under the watchful gaze of Umno and then the timid reaction of Pakatan Harapan-controlled states and briefly the federal government?

People are miffed over PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s latest statement that ignorant Malays are being used by the DAP, especially when it comes to fielding candidates but this is not new.

Hadi just presents his toxic rants in religious drag but Umno played these kinds of dirty tricks for years.

In 2011, Zahid, who was then-defence minister, claimed that Umno had sniffed out a plan for the DAP to field Malay candidates in Perak because if they won, DAP could rule Perak by proxy through a Malay candidate.

He said: “This is because the Perak constitution forbids non-Malay from becoming menteri besar. For this reason, the DAP is planning to name a Malay candidate to contest a state seat so that eventually, a DAP menteri besar could be sworn in."

He also claimed that this nefarious plan was done without the knowledge of PAS and Amanah, adding - “I'd like to remind PAS and PKR not to become a mere tool of the DAP.”

So while Hadi, who frets that ignorant Malays would fall for the DAP’s ploy and encouraged them to have nothing to do with the DAP, back in the day Zahid was warning Malays of the same thing.

"We shouldn't remain complacent in the face of DAP's actions. I'd like to urge Malays not to associate themselves with the DAP, whether by becoming their candidates or partners under Pakatan Rakyat.”

Hadi has always been spooked – maybe because of Umno’s propaganda – that Malay DAP candidates are being used.

In claiming that Malay DAP political operatives are being used by the DAP, what Hadi is saying is that the only people who can use the Malays are other Malays.

Specifically, Malays who are part of the ketuanan system or ketuanan adjacent. Hadi’s atavistic version of Islam is predicated on the belief that non-Muslims can only be “pak turut” (followers).

And really all this horse manure about Malays losing power or the Chinese talking over the economy and this country, was all developed by Umno.

You only have to remember what Pejuang head Muhkriz Mahathir said when he was a big wig in Bersatu, when everyone wanted to overthrow Bossku (Najib Abdul Razak).

"Looking at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism and how Lim Kit Siang becoming prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear, and the mosques can no longer air the azan.

"I admit that I too have said such things, in front of a 100 percent Malay audience. Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret."

So when Dr Mahathir Mohamad goes on about the “Malay People Declaration” or whatever drivel he is peddling now, it is because there are issues he cannot deal with.

So what do all these Malay uber alles parties or coalitions stand for? If you ask the average PN supporter, he would mimic exactly what an average Umno supporter would say.

If you ask establishment types, you would get a different, nuanced answer which involves correcting the systemic imbalances when it comes to corruption, and homages to old alliance politics, which ironically Umno had a hand in destroying.

In times of political uncertainty in the Malay political establishment, we can rely on two dominant modes of propaganda and repression.

The first is to scapegoat the DAP for everything wrong with the country and the second, promote “Islamic” policies which would act as connective tissue between supremacist ideas and victimhood narratives.

The Umno people I speak to have only disdain for PAS. Back in the day, they had a modicum of fear and respect for the revered PAS leader, the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat, only because he reflected the kind of Islam that was foreign to Umno. At least publicly.

As someone who had “issues” with Nik Aziz and had publicly expressed them, it is important to keep in mind that PAS supporters and the leadership under him were steadfast in their narratives about a kleptocratic government, the high cost of living and the values of Islam in a Malaysia which was compromised.

Now, of course, under Hadi, all this has changed.

Hadi, after keeping his head down while in power with opposition in urban states and with PN briefly in the federal government, has come into his own.

Using Umno’s playbook but minus the fig leaf of non-Malay/Muslim participation, PAS believes it can reshape Malaysia into an Islamic state in the heart of Southeast Asia.

I sincerely hope that Zahid and Harapan have some new dirty tricks in dealing with PN because the latter has demonstrated that they use the former's dirty tricks better.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

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

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