If only Najib is around to help Anwar

Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi has dismissed Dr Mahathir's Malay proclamation as just a gimmick.

Puad, whose statements were published almost daily by news portals these days is the new main frontman of Umno.

Just cringy, if you ask me.

I know that many Umno people in Batu Pahat feel the same about the guy.

What to do, Umno has now been reduced to that.

Anyway, the news portals are doing all they could to discredit the Malay proclamation.

Here's another similar story posted today,

Malay unity a myth, Mahathir caused disunity, says ex-MP

Nice. That's coming from the son of the late Tun Dr Ismail.

Malays should never be allowed to unite ever again.

The last time they did was actually in 1946 and as many DAP people have said, the country then suffered under Umno's rule for decades.

Malaysia was as bad as Zimbabwe because of that, they said.

Fortunately, the non-Malays have over the past decade been united under DAP to overthrow the evil Umno and transformed it into a nice little junior partner of the ruling Pakatan Harapan.

Well, now this business of uniting the Malays had been taken over primarily by Pas, which is scarier because of its Islamist ideology.

Its main sidekick, Pribumi Bersatu is made up of the more radical Malay nationalists who were kicked out of  Umno.

They made quite a lot of inroad in the Malay-dominated states in the last general election and expected to repeat the performance in the coming state polls.

It was feared that they may even gain ground in the less dominated Malay states such as Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

It's now paramount for Anwar and gang to stop these Malay Islamists.

How?

I'm not really sure, actually.

Definitely not by letting loose irritating characters like Puad to criticise Dr Mahathir, Pas, Pribumi Bersatu and their gang.

That would only make more Malays wanting to side with them.

I think it would be a better move for Anwar to let Umno improve its standing among the Malays so that it could win back its support base to neutralise Pas and Pribumi Bersatu.

Get more credible Umno leaders like Mat Hasan and Jo Ghani to be the faces of the party instead of someone like Puad.

Too bad that Najib is still in jail. Otherwise, he'll make another good spokesperson for the party. to win back Malays' support.

Yes, I know the guy was convicted for corruption but the truth is that Malaysians don't really care about such things.

Really.

Anwar was convicted for sodomy, yet after he was given royal pardon, he went on to become the PM.

Malaysia is perhaps the only country ever to have a PM with such a conviction.

Well, Najib is still highly popular among especially the Malays despite his conviction for corruption.

For many, it was political prosecution, the same as it was with Anwar's sodomy conviction.

Despite 1MDB, Najib's administration was arguably the best that the country has had since Dr Mahathir's first stint as PM.

So, if Najib is available and he goes campaigning around for Umno, in support of Anwar and the gang, then many Malays will not go over to the other side.

Perhaps Pakatan people who oppose a royal pardon for Najib should reconsider.

After all, it's not as if Najib will become a PM again.

Having Najib around is not such a bad thing for Pakatan people compared to Malays being united under Pas and its gang.

Oh, by the way, I think Anwar turning around the country's economy for the better would help too.

Unfortunately, no sign of that yet.

Pas is going all out to unite the Malays

Hadi and the other Pas leaders have apparently signed Dr Mahathir's Malay proclamation last night.

This was obviously part of preparations to unite the Malays for the coming state elections.

Dr Mahathir's influence may no longer be the same among the Malays but the significance of Pas supporting his initiative for a united Malays should not be dismissed.

Looks like the handsome old man, despite his advanced age, will be campaigning for Perikatan over the next few months.

He may to a certain extent sway some undecided Malays to vote for that coalition.

Well, Pas is now not shying away from having even its long-time foe Dr Mahathir on its side.

The outcome of the state elections may not change anything in Putrajaya but Perikatan's possible successes may put a lot of pressure on the Anwar's administration.

This is particularly so if the Malays overwhelmingly vote for Perikatan.

Penang, which has slightly more Chinese and Indian voters compared to Malays would probably be the only safe state for Pakatan.

Based on the outcome of GE15, an overwhelming victory for Perikatan could happen in the Malay-dominated states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.

What would be more worrying for Anwar and his allies would be the outcome of the polls in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Being currently just an arm-chair observer, I can't tell whether the so-called green wave has gain or lose momentum over the past half a year since GE15, but I can sense that the situation is still worrying for Pakatan.

Anwar would be relying heavily on Umno to stem the tide but the once dominant Malay-based party is currently at its weakest point following the devastating losses in GE15 and subsequent internal purges.

Many Malays now regard Umno as being just a junior partner in the Pakatan-led government and this may lead them to shift their support for the Pas-driven Perikatan. 

The Anwar's administration will definitely be in danger if Negeri Sembilan and even more importantly Selangor fall to Perikatan because of the possible Malay tsunami, 

Pakatan will be reduced to only DAP-dominated Penang. while Umno-led BN, which now controls Perak, Pahang, Melaka and Johor may reconsider its position for fear of losing those holdings.

Sarawak and Sabah will as usual follow which ever side that could offer them the best deal.

On the positive note though, Anwar and his allies could take comfort on the fact that Perikatan has not been very vocal on Malay and Islamic issues since GE15 as compared to how Umno and Pas were relentless in exploiting them after GE14.

This was probably due to Pakatan's success in preventing Perikatan from exploiting such issues.

DAP in particular had done well in shutting up its extremist elements, who were very vocal after GE14.

Fo instance, the BJP/LTTE wannabes within its ranks have been relatively quiet, which is a good thing.

Alhamdulillah. No more beating up a fireman to death this time.

I think they also fear that Pas and its allies will ride on the majority Malay votes to take over the whole thing and once in power go after them.

Hopefully those extremists will continue to shut up after the state elections.