The Weaker The Government Is The Better For The Raja Raja Melayu

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Political hegemony and big brother politics are a thing of the past. Malaysia is never going to see that era again. What lies ahead is fragmented politics and Malaysians divided by race, religion, and personal interests. Politicians will be fighting for survival. And that will keep these politicians off the backs of the Raja-Raja Melayu. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
In 1982, Umno and Barisan Nasional were very strong. During the 1982 general election, Barisan Nasional won 60.54% of the votes. Umno won 45.45% of the parliament seats while Barisan Nasional won 85.71%. All the states, Penang included, went to Barisan Nasional. DAP won only nine parliament seats and PAS won five.
That was when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad decided to turn Malaysia into a republic. The BN government launched their attacks on the Raja-Raja Melayu through the mainstream media. They organised nationwide anti-monarchy gatherings and demonstrations (called SEMARAK). The entire Umno and Barisan Nasional supported Dr Mahathir in his effort to abolish Malaysia’s constitutional monarchy — even the Chinese from MCA and Gerakan (Lim Keng Yaik personally attacked the late Sultan of Pahang). Only PAS stood behind the Raja-Raja Melayu.
This taught the Raja-Raja Melayu one very important lesson. And that is when the government is too strong, like in 1982, the Raja-Raja Melayu are in danger. Umno and politicians from whichever political party would not need the Raja-Raja Melayu if they are strong. They only need the Raja-Raja Melayu when they are weak.
Hence the government of the day (whichever government it may be) must not be too strong. The government has to be weak and divided. If the government is too strong, then they will begin to have visions (Wawasan 2020, as Dr Mahathir would say) to abolish the monarchy and turn Malaysia into a republic.
Umno is no longer the big brother of Malaysian politics. In fact, DAP is stronger than Umno in terms of support and seats (DAP has more than 95% Chinese support). According to Umno and Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional does not even have 50% support in parliament, which means it is a minority government.
Whether that is true or not does not matter one bit to me. What matters is that Umno and Barisan Nasional are no longer like they were in 1982 when they decided to abolish the monarchy and turn Malaysia into a republic. Even the government of the day is no longer strong like it was in 1982. And that works in favour of the Raja-Raja Melayu.
Political hegemony and big brother politics are a thing of the past. Malaysia is never going to see that era again. What lies ahead is fragmented politics and Malaysians divided by race, religion, and personal interests. Politicians will be fighting for survival. And that will keep these politicians off the backs of the Raja-Raja Melayu.
 

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