YOURSAY | An Umno-DAP alliance was once unthinkable

YOURSAY | ‘DAP's leadership must, however, remain principled and be prepared to walk away.’

Nga explains why Harapan is mulling an alliance with Umno in Perak

Anon25: This cooperation between the country’s major Malay party and a major Chinese party (even though it claims to be multiracial and has Malay members) will be applauded by the people.

Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming's reasoning is excellent. DAP should join Umno to form the Perak government. This experiment may be a game-changer in Malaysian politics.

Pokok Assam assemblyperson Leow Thye Yih, the people respect your principles but politics is not rigid. It is fluid and has to be flexible.

This coalition could be the signal for the kind of politics and society we, Malaysians of all races across East and West Malaysia, always wanted - multiculturalism, freedom of religion, and the birth of a truly Malaysian nation.

MCA will feel threatened, of course. DAP must find a way of accommodating their members in some acceptable way. MIC has no choice but to dissolve and its members join DAP or PKR. That party has no traction anymore.

I have reason to believe that the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, will also support this idea. He is a Harvard graduate. The sultan has read extensively and is knowledgeable about politics and government. DAP should always be guided by his advice.

Straight Talk: Nga, you are bordering on naivety, but I congratulate you on your noble and admirable sentiments where you say that cooperation with Umno will be based on justice, good governance, and multiculturalism.

If you haven’t yet realised, these are alien concepts for Umno and not found in their manifesto or political culture.

I find it bizarre that after the constant berating and derision by Umno against the DAP and the demonisation of DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, you still hold the flawed view that DAP could be open to working with Umno.

Umno will backstab DAP in every opportunity they get, like they have been trying to do to Bersatu from day one. Cooperating with Umno will be at your peril.

Kawak: Those Malaysians who love this country and want to see a stable, united, and multiracial government should support an Umno-BN-Harapan coalition.

MCA and MIC can no longer support Umno to form a strong government like those early days of the Alliance Party under the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, and later under the late Abdul Razak Hussein as part of BN.

DAP can now play that role to represent non-Malays in the government. In the present political scenario, when Umno is seen to be weak, an opportunistic PAS has, in fact, exploited the situation to the fullest by using race and religion.

They are so obsessed to have a Malay-Muslim government to achieve their political agenda.

Tg Rambutan Wad 13 Inmate: @Kawak, you have my support. When Harapan was the government after GE14, what changes have they made for the betterment of the non-Malays?

We must accept that whichever coalition is the government; they will always prioritise the Malays. Mahathirism, extremism from PAS, and racism from Bersatu are the worst enemies for non-Malays.

If we want to fight and protect non-Malay rights as equal citizens in this country, why not fight from inside other than making hollow noises as the opposition?

YellowMarlin8834: Anyone notice that Umno looks more acceptable than Bersatu or PAS based on general comments made here?

The obvious reason is that during these past few months with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in charge, they are so dumb and poor in managing Malaysia and the Covid-19 pandemic that many feel this government should be trashed for good.

PAS is not qualified to sit in the government. Look at all the blunders created by them since day one of PN. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin buttered them up with many goodies just to hold on to power.

Honestly, he is not even qualified to be a “Malay-first” PM. Look at all the suffering caused by the pandemic due to him and his selfishness.

A continuing tie-up with PAS is suicidal for Umno as the non-Malays, especially the Chinese and Indians, are sick and tired of PAS’ mentality. Even educated Malays find that PAS' extremist views are dangerous for a multiracial Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Bersatu consists of opportunists, traitors, and frogs. How many of them jumped over from another party?

Before the next general election (GE15), it's wiser for Umno to have a unity state government rather than these bunch of traitors from PAS and Bersatu. When GE15 comes, if the partnership is not suitable, they can go their separate ways.

To continue staying with PAS and Bersatu during this pandemic is like moving towards a dead end. All the present government is good at is looking after themselves and not the rakyat!

Low Class Collie: Nga, no need to bullshit. Once DAP joins forces with Umno, all your voters will definitely desert you. As of now, we are very disappointed and unhappy with your performance since winning the election.

People like you, Anthony Loke, Liew Chin Tong, etc, should stop all this nonsense and rubbish talk. Didn’t Umno spit in your face and stated very clearly, they would not work with the devil, i.e. DAP?

We need politicians with gumption and who are not afraid to stand up for DAP. Now all of you have no balls and are just crazy to hang on to minister positions no matter how absurd and ridiculous you act. Stop making a fool of the Chinese. Have you no shame? Have you no pride?

Mishah: Many commentators have said they can accept Umno if they drop their leaders who are corrupt, practice meritocracy, and accept multiracialism. But that's just it, Umno never rejected corruption as a precondition for cooperating with DAP.

So if they rule Perak, there is nothing to stop them from indulging in corruption or practising racist politics because they never agreed to it in the first place. There is no Umno manifesto. What will happen is that Umno will continue its practices as it did for the past 60 years, and it will be DAP that will need to defend Umno and its practices among its DAP followers.

DAP and its blind followers are about to be played again. First opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, now DAP.

AnotherKomentar: These are hard truths DAP must face: Anwar's PKR doesn't command Malay support to form a government while Bersatu will not last beyond the next general election.

The Umno-PAS government is an unviable and unfeasible alliance that is detrimental to democracy and multicultural Malaysia.

A reforming Umno, however, provides political stability. People are tired of the incessant politics of the last few years, and the country needs to move on economically and socially in the post-Covid-19 world.

As much as the core supporters of Harapan and DAP dislike the hegemony, racism, and excesses of Umno, we will need to move beyond our preference and be pragmatic.

DAP's leadership must, however, remain principled, stay united with Harapan, and be prepared to walk away from any untenable compromise and political deals.

Cocomo: Narrow-minded DAP members/supporters should think logically in the interest of the nation. DAP should also be firm in ensuring that they are not made use of by Umno.

It must ensure that the coalition is not a typical BN set-up where Umno dominates others in the coalition as it did with MCA and MIC being nothing but subservient wallflowers.

Harapan, especially DAP, should be firm in their stand against corruption with corruption-tainted leaders being totally shut out of any position in the administration. A reformed Umno will be good for the nation and should stop the extremism of PAS.

ScarletPanda9731: As US president-elect Joe Biden said: “In the US, we may be Democrats and Republicans, but we are all Americans, we are not enemies.”

So, in the same vein, our nation may have many political parties, but we are all Malaysians and not enemies. Place the interests of the people first and serve them well. That is the only right way forward to make our people happy.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods, and most people are struggling to keep afloat. All of them need help. We cannot, and should not, look with a jaundiced eye. Have a clear vision for all the people. Justice and fairness for all.

Montana: The real enemies are poverty, corruption, injustice, and cronyism.

It takes courage on both sides to ignore the past and start a new journey (which could fail miserably and quickly). If they fail, vote them out and hold corrupt officials accountable. If they do a decent job, it could be a new beginning.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.