'Mission burn house down' - deputy defence minister on opposition realignment

Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong likened the possible marriage between Umno and PAS, as well as MCA and MIC divorcing Umno, to a military strategy.

“How to read this realignment? I call it 'scorched earth policy/movement strategy',” he tweeted this afternoon.

According to Liew, this would translate into a two-pronged attack on Pakatan Harapan.

“The mission is to tear Harapan apart and burn the house down through a flank attack,” he added.

He explained this would see Umno and PAS launching salvos on the Malay front, whereas MCA and MIC will be targetting the non-Malay front.

Liew described this as “racial uprising movements”.

The Umno-PAS electoral alliance has proven successful in the last two by-elections in Cameron Highlands and Semenyih where BN candidates won the lion's share of Malay votes.

Umno and PAS' narrative is that the Harapan government has failed to safeguard the interests of the Malays and Islam.

However, the race and religious rhetoric has irked Umno's BN allies MCA and MIC.

On Monday, MCA and MIC presidents Wee Ka Siong and SA Vigneswaran suggested both parties would move on and explore a new alliance.

The two demanded a BN supreme council meeting to be called as soon as possible to discuss the fate of the coalition.

From an electoral standpoint, Umno does not consider MCA and MIC as powerful allies given their lack of support among the Chinese and Indian communities.

Following the last general election, MCA is left with a single parliament seat, whereas MIC, which won two, is also left with one after its Cameron Highlands incumbent C Sivarraajh was disqualified.