YOURSAY ‘The sooner Umno and BN recognise the real reasons why they lost, the better it is for them.'

your say Swipenter: Now we will have a near 100 percent cabinet and ministers coming only from Umno. For a long time, the non-Malays are prepared to face the consequences of what Umno is going to throw at them or take away from them. This is not something new. It has been happening since the early 1970s.

There is a huge difference between Umno and Malays. The non-Malays have shown that they are prepared and willing to vote Malays of integrity and intelligence into Parliament but not the corrupt, bigoted and racist Umno politicians.

Multi Racial: The sooner Umno and BN recognise the real reasons why they lost, the better it is for them. They then can prescribe the right reforms and it will certainly lead to better results in future.

But if they choose to behave the same way as they did in the 12th general election (GE12) such as looking for blame and focusing inwardly, then this probably the last time they have a chance to change because after GE14, Umno may suffer the same fate as MCA, Gerakan and MIC.

These three parties are irrelevant now and if they continue in their existing form, they will be completely wiped out. Umno, which has the power to change, should seriously look into merging all the coalition parties into a single multi-racial party. If they do that, racial politics will diminish.

The same should be done by Pakatan. DAP is not at their peak. But their victory is not about what they did but more so what BN did or did not do.

If BN did right, support for DAP will erode. Like Umno, DAP is in the position to call for a merger in Pakatan into a single multi-racial party. PKR, DAP, PCM, SAPP, Star will likely respond to it.

Maybe it's too early for PAS. So whichever group merges first will have the advantage. Not talking about race or religion as Umno and PAS did.

Allforchange: Commander S Thayaparan, sir, when all is said and done, if any political party is unable or refuses to ‘read' the voters, it would eventually die.

In politics, everything and everyone is dirty, people eventually look out for themselves, the question is who does it in a more honourable manner. Honourable means with the interest of the people in mind but nevertheless take what they need for themselves.

In the case of BN, people were never in their mind, they kept taking and taking till all Malaysians started bleeding badly economically, thus we, the people, sought after the only available alternative - Pakatan Rakyat.

The fall of BN in GE13 is not due to Pakatan's strength but BN's weakness.

Hang Babeuf: Exactly right, commander! Najib's words about the need for "national reconciliation" are very clever indeed. They are the work of a master spinner.

What is the "national reconciliation" of which Najib speaks? It is a continuing war against the old enemies of "racism" and "religious extremism".

Which really means that he intends to maintain after the election the onslaught of the election period against the DAP and PAS. "Racism" and "religious extremism" are "code words" for them. That is his kind of reconciliation.

But by speaking in that way, Najib gets credit and praise for promising (as if that were his real intention.) the exact opposite of what he in fact declares that he will do. Lidah bercabang!

Gen2: The Umno elites' strategy has been to maintain a 'hick' class of Malays who are incapable of intellectual thinking or questioning while they plunder the country's Treasury.

Even now, when one from the 'hick' class (Muhyiddin Yassin) does break into their class, they have double-crossed him by making their own deal - a Kedah MBship in exchange for protection from a tongue-lashing from the Maha Kingmaker.

Black Mamba: I know a good number of non-Malays who voted for PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar in Lembah Pantai but discarded another Malay, BN's candidate Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, who they perceived to be part of the corrupt regime BN.

In this scenario, can one label the Chinese as racist just because they prefer a cleaner candidate to represent them in their constituency?

Cala: As a marketer, Najib did badly in his efforts to sell his 13th general election as a product to certain segment of the society. Why?

He had over-packaged the product by promoting the 1Malaysia slogan which meant nothing. He oversold 1Malaysia as evidenced from the amount of campaign flags installed in every corner.

On the other hand, he knew very little about the market, the buyers of his product. By throwing lavish dinners, concerts that came with international artistes, etc, he thought that the market would be grateful.

Najib was a salesman, not a good marketer. There is hence a mismatch between perception and reality on the ground. If I were Najib, fire first the advisers of 1Malaysia. You should blame yourself and your advisers, not the market.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: I am a Malay and I must say that Commander (Rtd) Thayaparan have it spot on. It is in Umno's interests that the rural Malays remains backwards. This is to ensure that they will always remain subservient to Umno and hence will be a permanent Umno vote bank.

The question is for how long will this strategy work? It had been on a downward slide for Umno since 2004. The more the Malays progress, the more they will reject Umno. Time is not on their side.

Either Umno changes or they will be changed in the near future. They are no two ways about it. Being in denial is not the best way for Umno.

Anonymous #07443216: Najib, the answer to the question "Apa lagi Cina mahu?" is this: Resign, for you have cheated the rakyat of their votes through fraudulent means.

Amoker: I am still waiting for Hindraf to show its face and demand the RM21 billion per year that the minority PM had signed up for.

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