UMNO or Barisan Nasional (BN) is basically telling the DAP to keep out of the Nenggiri state by-election in the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency of Kelantan. The by-election is fixed on Aug 17 (Saturday).
However, UMNO leaders – rather than being crude about it – are telling DAP that there is no necessity for the party to come to Nenggiri because of the rather minuscule presence of Chinese voters.
In the beginning, DAP had wanted to campaign on behalf of the Orang Asli voters and non-Malay voters.
However, when UMNO Gua Musang division chief Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was reported to have said that the DAP should stay out of the by-elections, the party leaders were taken aback.
For the DAP leaders, this was not the spirit of cooperation and camaraderie in the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led coalition.
Later, Tengku Razaleigh corrected his earlier statement by reasoning out that DAP’s presence was not necessary because of the very small number of Chinese in the electoral constituency of Nenggiri.
DAP’s a liability?
Recently, UMNO supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan reiterated the same argument by contending that while the DAP is welcome, it was not necessary.
Whatever was said about the presence of the DAP, UMNO leaders have made it clear that the party’s presence was not acceptable.
Since an UMNO candidate is contesting the seat, there are feelings among UMNO leaders that the presence of “Chinese” DAP might hurt their electoral chances of winning.
There is also a thinking that the visible presence of DAP Chinese leaders might make it difficult for UMNO especially in explaining their cooperation with the party in the PH-led coalition government.
In short, it is a common thinking that DAP’s presence might affect UMNO candidate’s chance of winning in the Nenggiri by-election.
The contest might be tight one especially with the PAS candidate. So, why take the chances of bringing in DAP that might potentially hurt UMNO’s campaign.
Moreover, DAP’s presence might provide the much-needed fodder for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate.
No Chinese party rebuttal
The message is loud and clear: UMNO or BN does not want DAP to be campaigning in the Nenggiri by-election.
Hopefully, DAP has got the message that it is not welcomed in Nenggiri. But then, no leader in DAP has emerged to refute the statements of UMNO national leaders.
DAP leaders should have responded by saying that the party is not a Chinese political party but one that professes to multi-racialism. Given this, the party should have been allowed to campaign on behalf of BN or the PH-led coalition.
However, DAP’s deafening silence on the matter goes to indicate that the party is indeed a Chinese party with sprinkling of Malays and Indians.
Since the main and principal targets of the opposition is MCA, then it is only fair that DAP’s claim to be multi-racial is just public facade. The party for all intents and purposes is a Chinese party.
Moreover, DAP’s opposition to MCA is well-known in the country. The principal struggle of the party was more to replace MCA in providing representation to the Chinese community than anything else.
Multi-racialism was just facade to obtain the support of Indians and to a limited extent Malays. UMNO’s rejection of DAP’s participation in the Nenggiri by-election confirms that the latter is a Chinese political party. – Aug 6, 2024
Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image credit: Zahid Hamidi/Facebook
