The aftermath of Lunas by-election has created a new dimension in Malaysian politics. During the by-election, Lunas voters were repeatedly told by BA campaigners that they were actually representing the whole country. And they rightly did so, giving BA candidate the small margin and the much sought-after victory.

To BA it was a moral booster and a strategic position for future undertakings. To BN it was supposed to be a time for retrospection. The fallout in Pemuda Umno with the "resignation drama" of its deputy head and his call for reforms seem to suggest such a mood taking form in Umno/BN. But unfortunately, things were seen differently by the Umno President.

To the master of expediency, the Lunas saga is to gain further political mileage within his own party. He needed to exploit the Suqiu issue to the fullest to draw continual support within his own party and the Malay community he is supposed to lead.

That is why he has reiterated his post-general elections stand on Suqiu. He has exploited Suqiu during the general election to get Chinese support, and now he is turning to the other side of the coin, using Suqiu again but for a different reason - to garner Malay support. That's realpolitik, Machiavellian style.

Prior to the general elections last year we were bombarded with warnings and admonitions that changing the government to Barisan Alternatif means disaster for the racial harmony and freedom we have enjoyed for decades. The Chinese majority bought the idea, but not the Malay majority.

It was racial sentiment and the quintessential fear of racial disruption and discrimination that brought the Chinese support to BN. During the elections the Malay majority were much more concerned about justice, corruption, hegemony and issues pertaining to good government - issues that make them depart from Umno and BN.

Instead of tackling these issues head-on, the Umno president seems to be choosing to continue with his racial politics, now targetting the Malays. By giving Suqiu the communist label he is invoking the primordial hatred of the Malays against the Chinese. He is very desperate to win back the Malay support. His time is running out and unlike his predecessor Tunku Abdul Rahman, he needs to exit gracefully leaving the Malays solidly behind him. Unfortunately, Suqiu is the scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb.

Post-Lunas will see a new dimension or a new twist of the old trick in Malaysian politics: cautious and clever exploitation of racial sentiments. Mahathir needs to find ways to dodge from the real issues haunting him: reform in Umno, unbridled corruption, a floundered justice system, and a malaise-stricken economy.

Foreign marauders or "kuasa asing" as the favourite phantom enemy have never appeared and are nowhere to be seen. Mahathir needed to create a new enemy to unite the Malays and attract the youth among them. In the Lunas aftermath he found one: it's the extremists, the communists!