DAP wishes for the demise of UMNO

On August 30, 2023, a party member of the United Malays National Organisation UMNO Supreme Council, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, made a statement that DAP must abandon its “Malaysian Malaysia” agenda and its secular vision to regain Malay support for UMNO. For Nur Jazlan, this is the major issue currently facing UMNO. The Malays reject UMNO because they do not like DAP.

Perhaps this is also a concern for other members of UMNO.

On the same day, RSN Rayer, a Member of Parliament from the Democratic Action Party DAP representing Jelutong, stated that Nur Jazlan had misunderstood and wrongly portrayed the issue, asserting that there was no problem with the “Malaysian Malaysia” and secular policies of DAP. The problem, according to Rayer, lies with Nur Jazlan’s lack of understanding of DAP’s goals.

Three days later, on September 2, 2023, DAP’s Secretary-General, Anthony Loke, stated that DAP would not abandon its “Malaysian Malaysia” policy and the secular nature that forms the core of its ideology. According to Loke, this policy is what enables DAP to receive 98% of support from the Chinese community. DAP is a Chinese party.

On the same day, UMNO President Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi said that what Nur Jazlan had said was his personal opinion, not the party’s stance. End of the story. Close the book.

What conclusions can we draw from this episode?

1. In just three days, UMNO lost to DAP on an issue that has been the party’s cornerstone since its establishment in 1946. Remember, UMNO was founded to champion Malay rights against the British colonial policy of equalizing the rights of all inhabitants of Malaya, but “Malaysian Malaysia” is seen as a continuation of colonial policies.
2. Zahid, who is also UMNO party President and Chairman of the Barisan Nasional (BN), yielded to Loke. UMNO’s presence in the government has proven incapable of defending Malay rights. It’s merely a decorative vase. The Deputy Prime Minister lost to the Minister of Transport.
3. Most notably, DAP doesn’t care if UMNO loses Malay support. It’s pointless for UMNO to be a Malay party if it cannot secure Malay support. UMNO will die, and DAP doesn’t care if it does. DAP only needs UMNO for now to secure a two-thirds majority for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. With that, DAP can realize its dream of amending the Federal Constitution to increase seats dominated by DAP in the 16th General Election (GE16).
4. When this happens, DAP won’t need UMNO anymore. Let UMNO die. In fact, for DAP, it’s better if UMNO dies because that has been DAP’s goal from the beginning.

Marzuki Mohamad is the former chief private secretary to the 8th Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Original post in Bahasa Melayu.