INTERVIEW | It is within the realm of possibility for Bersatu to become a multiracial party, says Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong.

He said this is because multicultural politics has become mainstream following the 14th general election, and even race-based parties within the BN coalition are considering opening their membership to citizens of other races.

He said forming Bersatu as a race-based party was a “tactical necessity” when it was founded on Sept 16, 2016, but the situation now is different.

“If two weeks later, Bersatu thinks it can accept some non-Malay members, it wouldn't be a big problem. But at the time (when it was founded), strategically it couldn't be done. Now the pressure isn't there.

“Likewise, when we decided to use the PKR flag (to contest in the election), why? Because it is the most pragmatic move. If we used the DAP flag we're doomed. There is no need to fight.

“So, to turn defeat into victory we need to outmanoeuvre them (BN) strategically. If we had danced to our opponent's tune, we're dead. We'd have to outmanoeuvre them, and now looking back it was the right decision.

“Now you don't have Utusan Malaysia, TV3 giving pressure (by stoking racial sentiments). Now the whole political scenario is different,” he told Malaysiakini during an interview on Tuesday.

He was asked whether Bersatu is still relevant as a race-based party, and whether DAP would act as a counterbalance to that.

Full membership in Bersatu is currently open to bumiputeras only, but non-bumiputeras can still join as affiliate members. Affiliate members may not contest in party elections, but can still appointed to party posts.

Despite this, Liew pointed out that Bersatu had won seats with ethnically-mixed constituencies such as Tanjung Piai and Simpang Renggam, and even defeated Chinese candidates from MCA and Gerakan to win those seats.

“Wouldn’t they (Bersatu) think in the future that: I want to be able to represent non-Malays, because the constituencies that I had won have many non-Malays?

“The whole environment is now different, so you can think about all kinds of possibilities. Of course these things are not going to happen immediately, but reality on the ground is that (Simpang Rengam MP) Maszlee Malik can’t just represent Malays.

"If he did, he couldn’t have won. He had the support of many Chinese, many Indians, and half the Malays,” said the Johor DAP chief.

Separate identities

Liew hopes that in the future, Malaysians can keep their cultural and political identities separate, thereby identifying themselves culturally by their respective ethnicities, but politically as Malaysians.

Likewise, he hopes that people can accept Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a prime minister for all Malaysians and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng as finance minister for all Malaysians, and not just perceive them as representatives of their respective races.

To think politically in racial terms is a dead end, he said, because it also forces opponents to do the same and perpetuates a vicious cycle.

“Now on TV people are talking about a new era for Malaysia, a new Malaysia. Everybody is talking about a new Malaysia but what is a new Malaysia? What does it entail?

“A new Malaysia is where culturally I can be different, but politically I am a citizen,” said Liew, who is also the chairperson of the board of trustees of the DAP-linked think tank Research for Social Advancement.

Reforming BN

As for BN, Liew claimed that MCA and MIC’s race-based model had been irrelevant since 2004, but the parties had been given a lifeline by relying on Umno for support. The situation will not turn around if MCA and MIC continue on the same path, especially now that Umno has lost federal power.

He added that if BN continued to be led by its chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and deputy chairperson Hishammuddin Hussein, it would not be able to compete against Pakatan Harapan.

This is because they would not be able to disassociate themselves from former Umno chairperson Najib Abdul Razak, who had been tainted by the 1MDB scandal and was the target of much dissent at the ballot box.

He said being able to reform and distance itself from Najib is a precondition for BN to become relevant again.

To do so, BN would have to look further down its ranks for leadership – all the way to BN youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and his peers, at least.

In addition, he said BN would have to find ways to participate in multicultural politics, and rid itself of party warlords in order to allow younger leaders to rise up through the party ranks.

He said it is ironic that DAP had only fielded seven Malay candidates who are below 40 years old, but even this outnumbered the number of young Malay candidates fielded by Umno.

Liew speculated that another alternative scenario, if BN continues to be led by Zahid and Hishammuddin and remains irrelevant, would involve Khairy leaving the coalition to build a new opposition party.

“If BN doesn’t distance themselves from Najib, they won’t have to contest in the next election. But as a political analyst, I must caution that just because BN has become irrelevant doesn’t mean that a third force wouldn’t rise to replace it. This is what we need to look out for,” he said.

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