Perikatan Nasional And Bersatu Better Wake Up

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The Air Kuning By Election has proven once again that Pas is not the right partner for parti Bersatu as well as the Perikatan Nasional. The Pas candidate lost and the Umno candidate who won increased the winning majority by a wider margin. The UMNO fellow got over 11,000 votes whereas the Pas candidate secured just over 6,000 votes - a thumping majority of over 5,000 votes, twice the majority from the previous elections.
To say that Umno is a strong party would be incorrect. The people are fed up with Pas, especially in a mixed constituency. Again Pas played up the race card to exploit 'non-issues'  like pig farms. 
The campaign rhetoric was straight 1950s or 1960s rural style nitpicking. Although I am no fan of the other side I must say that the lesser of two evils carried the day in Air Kuning. I am glad the Pas lost.
Bersatu should really rethink its association with Pas. Pas is going to be a burden that will pull down Bersatu. Did you know that in 1969 the Pas (or Pan Malaysian Islamic Party PMIP) and the DAP had electoral pacts? Pas fielded Malay candidates to split the Malay vote while the DAP fielded a Chinese candidate against the MCA candidate in that constituency. And the DAP would field a Chinese candidate to split the Chinese vote while the Pas would field a Malay candidate against the UMNO candidate in that constituency. Their common enemy at that time was UMNO and the BN (Alliance).

Perhaps Bersatu should consider an electoral pact with Pas instead of a full blown alliance. Going at this pace it looks like Bersatu and the PN are going to be history. 
Bersatu really needs to buck up and become more relevant in their politics. Instead of trying to be an Umno 2.0 and regurgitate all the failed 'ketuanan' policies which not only do not work but which got Umno knocked down in 2008, 2013 and got them kicked out in 2018 and 2022 the Bersatu folks really have to sit down and present a truly Malaysian policy that favours all Malaysians - regardless of race. 
I was disappointed that Bersatu did not speak up over that recent Indian temple issue. There is something called fairness and justice which resonates with all decent human beings. Or it always resonates with that decent part of a human being - even those humans who may not be as decent. There is always some hati perut and belas kasihan in all humans. You have to reach out into that decency. Then you may bring out the best in people. Always try to bring out the best in the people.
We need brave thinking to improve the economic future of the country - which is not headed in the right direction at all. The future looks alright for substantial numbers of people and at the same time the future looks disastrous for large numbers of other people. And this is the result of 55 years of disastrous economic policy making.  
So it is actually a great time to be a political party because when the system is so screwed up, all you need is some duct tape (plaster), hammer and nails and you can do a wonderful repair job of the country. But if you can only think like a tikus then you are going to make the labu even worse. Tikus perosak labu.
This is where I see the Bersatu boys missing the point completely. They like the labu but they also want to continue the tikus policies.  It wont work brader.
A few days back I heard a teacher say that in her school in KL, about 30% of the Form 1 students effectively cannot read and write - in Malay or English. Cannot spell, cannot string sentences together, cannot read at normal speeds. What about the remaining 70%? Have you seen those vulgar commercials that pop up on YouTube? Sekali sapu akan terpacakkk. Or 'saya letih sebab suami saya'.  I dont think they are in the 30% category.
There are really more serious issues at stake than pig farms at Air Kuning.

This is yesterday's Dow Jones. It is climbing back up. 


 
Talk is the Chinese and the Americans will compromise on the tariffs issue. They have to. Once the gajah-gajah besar can sort things out  among themselves do you think they are going to call Indonesia and Vietnam back for 'negotiations'? Think again. Do you think they will call Malaysia ? Jangan bergurau tau. 

There are much larger issues at stake. Our future is at stake. Bersatu better buck up. The people are waiting for real change. The voters will appreciate real change.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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