“IT’S NOT a daydream. The veteran DAP politician is a very strategic person. He doesn’t talk nonsense.”
Such was the justification of political scientist Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad who backed retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang’s statement which is based on the Federal Constitution “as factually and realistically correct” that non-Malays can be a Malaysian Prime Minister (PM).
“That’s why Kit Siang’s Malaysian Dream is no joke,” the Bersatu member and former principal private secretary to eighth premier Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin penned on his Facebook page.
“I believe by this time, DAP has made arrangements for GE16 (16th General Election). With the re-delineation of electoral boundaries scheduled for 2026, DAP’s current 40 parliamentary constituencies can be doubled. With the current support trend, DAP will surely win in these (new) areas.”
Added Marzuki: “Additionally, with the advantage of power as a member of the ruling coalition, gerrymandering can also be done to increase the ratio of Malay to non-Malay areas to 60:40. The Malays may still be a majority in these areas but the composition of Malay voters is now reduced to 60%.”
With the strong trend of Chinese voters supporting DAP and its allied parties (eg PKR and Amanah), Pakatan Harapan (PH) only needs 20% of Malay support to win in the afore-mentioned areas.
“20% of Malay support will be provided by UMNO,” reckoned the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-slant political observer.
“UMNO will not contest in these areas because these are considered multi-racial areas. These areas will be fiercely contested between Amanah and PKR as a multi-racial party. This is Amanah’s opportunity to expand its wings. It is too crowded for UMNO to stake its claim on these seats.”
On the contrary, Marzuki expects UMNO to compete in areas with Malay majority of over 70%.
“With the current trend of Malay voter support not in UMNO’s favour, the party will lose in these areas,” he envisages. “Even if PH-BN wins in GE16, UMNO will be the smallest party in the government while DAP will be the largest party.”
So, what’s Marzuki’s final verdict?
“I don’t want to say that by that time, a non-Malay will become PM. Maybe not yet. Whatever the outcome is, man proposes, God disposes,” he suggested. “What I want to say is that the political reality has changed, hence Kit Siang is no longer daydreaming. The veteran DAP politician is telling the truth.” – Dec 19, 2023
