The 15th General Election is a watershed event in the electoral and political algorithm of Malaysia.
For the first time, there were more than 900 candidates comprising political parties and independents vying for parliamentary seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
The main contenders were Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional, Pejuang, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Parti Warisan Sabah.
It was also during GE15 that those aged 18 made their voting debut.
It was also in this general election that we saw political heavyweights bite the dust, among whom was former icon of Malaysian politics, two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who lost his deposit.
For the first time in our political history, we have a hung parliament, without any party attaining a simple majority of 112 seats.
Again, for the first time, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had to step in to break the impasse and broker a unity government.
The run-up to GE15 and its campaign period also surpassed previous outings, in terms of the fiery oratory that unleashed racist and bigoted religious rhetoric, angst, and hatred targeted towards certain segments of Malaysian society.
The racism and religious extremism stoked by certain leaders, especially against the DAP, reached dangerous levels.
The anti-DAP sentiments and the perception of Islam being under threat, as well as the undermining of Malay privileges and supremacy, were initially fomented by Umno as part of its strategy to stoke fear and apprehension among the rural Malays, and to instil in their minds, that Umno was their only saviour.
This was Umno’s propaganda to ensure a secure vote bank among the gullible, rural Malays.
To their multi-racial and multi-cultural audience, Umno played to the gallery – flaunting an attitude of tolerance and understanding of cultural and religious differences.
It is like a chameleon changing colour to blend in with its surroundings. This has been Umno’s modus operandi for the past 60 years.
Even before its 2018 defeat, Umno adopted a new approach of not only being ‘ultra-Malay’, but much more ‘religious’, in order to counter the influence of Pas.
After its defeat in 2018, Umno realigned with Pas in a ‘loose’ coalition called Muafakat Nasional, emulating Pas’ religious stance, with Malay Muslim imperatives.
DAP and other non-Malays and non-Muslims were targeted as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
Pas, throughout its history, has been ‘fickle’.
Except for a brief outing in the Umno-led government in the early years, it remained an opposition party until it conspired with Perikatan Nasional’s Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno in the ‘Sheraton Move’ that toppled the mandated Pakatan Harapan government.
Earlier on, in the new millennium, it was part of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition bloc, together with PKR and DAP, in which it sang endless praises of the DAP.
Once it left Pakatan Rakyat, it began attacking DAP, even calling it ‘kafir harbi’, which is the worst type of infidel.
Pas’ racist and religious bigotry became more intense after it joined Muhyiddin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s governments. It was more blatant, abusive even, during the run-up to GE15, when it sowed the seeds of hatred against non-Malays and non-Muslims.
All through the campaign period and the time leading up to it, the Malay and Malay-dominant parties fermented such venomous sentiments, that voting Pakatan Harapan and DAP would lead to the dominance of the DAP, which according to one seditious online preacher, would transform Malaysia into a communist state, thus threatening Islam and the existence of the Malays.
Muhyiddin, in a video that surfaced during the campaign period, had even accused the Christians and Jews of having an agenda to proselytise and colonise Malaysia as part of their diocese.
Why this intense hatred against the DAP by the exclusive Malay and Malay-majority parties, treating DAP as a plague? What have they done to the Malay polity to court such vehemence and angst?
DAP cannot be a threat to the status quo of the Malay Muslim dominance, for the Malays hold the reign of power at all levels of governance – from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, through all the government institutions, including the civil service and the security forces.
The real threat comes from the bigoted and racist Malays who use religion and racist sentiments to confuse and mislead the people to accede to their nefarious agenda of creating turmoil in order to grab power.
What is perplexing is that the Malay Muslim politicians and their followers are spewing venom on DAP and the Christian religion when Islamic covenants in the Quran guarantee protection for non-Muslim minority groups, safeguarding their physical wealth and the freedom to practice their own religion without coercion.
Another verse states that God made us into different tribes, so that we can learn and appreciate each other’s ways.
We cannot have such insidious and iniquitous politics in our plural, multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society.
It is hoped that the ascension of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, will bring about the much-needed change in the political algorithm, shun hatred, and emplace a mature political engagement that acknowledges the rights of every citizen, as enshrined in our Constitution.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13. Main image by Information Department of Malaysia.
