I refer to the article Merit-based system politicised from the start: critics in which Prof P Ramasamy said, "In the first place, the government introduced this system in order to win support from the ethnic Malays, especially its youths, after a series of bashing by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad which resulted in the government losing its popularity among this group".

Instead of winning more votes in the next general election, this strategy may backfire against Barisan Nasional. In my opinion, Malay Malaysians would probably remain divided due to the Anwar Ibrahim fiasco.

The Chinese and Indian Malaysians, who mostly voted for BN in the last general election are now so angry and insulted by the so-called merit system, may now swing to the opposition parties.