No amount of campaigning would have helped Bersatu in Tg Piai

LETTER| There are many factors that resulted in Pakatan Harapan’s defeat in the Tanjung Piai–by-election and among them would be the continued inability of Bersatu as a party that appeals to almost any voter, including Malays.

The move to stage the Malay Dignity Congress and continued refusal to extradite controversial preacher Zakir Naik are enough reasons for any sane Malaysian to reject their brand of politics. 

It is a shame that the party leadership prefer to act like ostriches burying their heads in the sand rather than taking their share of responsibility for the events of 16 November.

No one in Harapan would have expected the crushing 15,000 loss in Tanjung Piai – it even took Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over 25 hours to issue a public statement.

Those who hoped that Mahathir would admit weakness were no doubt disappointed. 

He not only refused to directly address the failures of his party, but he chose to “share” it with his coalition–blaming them for not supporting Bersatu in their time of need. 

Truth of the matter is that no amount of campaigning by DAP, PKR or Amanah would have helped Bersatu build their credibility with Chinese and Indian voters. 

No one really put much expectation for equality from a party that proudly boasted that non-Malays could only be honorary members.

While many were disappointed that their leaders insisted on lecturing voters in believing that they would fulfill the Harapan manifesto–they have crossed the line. 

Despite the widespread protests over the khat issue, Mahathir and Mazslee ignored these concerns and went ahead with it, albeit with a scaled-down version.

To add salt to injury, Bersatu pushed even further with their brand of racial politics by plotting with BN - placing Mahathir as the key speaker at the racist Malay Dignity Congress.

They even allowed Zakir Naik to enter Malaysian politics, and permitted him to insult Chinese and Indian Malaysians as “pendatang” (immigrants).

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq showed his "sincerity" as a “reformist” during this time, as he called for the deportation of Zakir Naik to gain credibility before inviting him for dinner and asking Malaysians to move on the very next day.  

The events of the past two months are than enough for anyone to see that Mahathir’s party is interested in only one thing: to preserve their power at all costs. 

This is not just an issue for national politics it seems.

In almost every state that Bersatu controls, we see how their gov't seem to take every opportunity to mismanage their states as much as they can.  

For example, Perak Menteri Besar Faizal Azumu showed a clear disdain towards his partners as he complains that he fights a “desperate battle” for the rights of the Malays against the DAP “hordes”.

He says this as he evicts Orang Asli from their ancestral lands, rewards 400ha of forest land without open tender to a RM2 company while criticising the public in their lack of inaction in tackling illegal logging in the state. 

In Johor, we see how constant interference by party leadership have led to a gov't that has Bersatu leaders such as Mazlan Bujang sniping at each other at every opportunity.

This despite having to rebuild their credibility after the disappointment that was Osman Sapian. 

If these actions of this party have unsettled the average Malaysian, what more our politicians in Parliament and cabinet. 

Sadly, despite their greater contributions to Malaysia Baru, they have been more than happy to be led by the nose by Mahathir. 

Given the results of last weekend’s by-election, one can see that their faith in  Mahathir was not rewarded. 

The voters of Tanjung Piai had made their grouses loud and clear to the Harapan government - we are confronted with a weakening ringgit, rising cost of living, a continuation of wasteful megaprojects (that Pakatan had campaigned against) and cuts in social services. 

This is not the Malaysia Baru that we voted for. So it’s time for Harapan to put Bersatu in its place and start delivering it.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.