DEMEANING PIC OF ZAHID & CHANG YEOW APPEARS: NOTHING WILL CHANGE IN BN – MCA, MICA, GERAKAN WON’T DARE ANGER UMNO ANY FURTHER
A picture has been circulating on social media showing a demeaning act by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi petting the base of Gerakan Penang leader Teng Chang Yeow’s chin.
Teng is said to be undergoing tremendous pressure for Gerakan’s poor performance in the last two elections. He is taking the brunt now after leading the state’s machinery in both the 2008 and 2013 general elections.
What is interesting to me is that no one pinpointed the real campaigner, Jho Low, who had allegedly claimed to be the director of elections for Penang, or Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who should be the one taking full responsibility for BN’s overall poor performance in the last general election.
Why is Teng now made the scapegoat for Najib’s failure to garner the support of the Chinese voters in Malaysia despite spending millions on the campaign? If anything, his 1Malaysia has turned into an embarrassment with the ongoing expose on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scam.
The Zahid-Teng photograph, coupled with a master’s hand petting a dog’s neck, speaks volume to most urban voters. It is a symbol of uncouth arrogance not befitting the behaviour of someone who will be helming the nation.
Face it! “Umno’s lap dogs” are three words these days which best describe the existing unhealthy relationship between Umno and the three BN’s major component parties – Gerakan, MCA and MIC. Other small fry like Makkal Sakti and the People’s Progressive Party are waiting to be the next lap dogs.
Besides, under the leadership of Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS appears to be leaning towards Umno as its ‘little brother’ (adik bongsu) in the coming election.
Changing to a different tune
After the squabble between MCA’s Ti Lian Ker and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, Ti has suddenly changed to a different tune altogether. There is not even a squeak from him.
I thought I respected Ti for being bold enough to speak up as an MCA politician, but within Round 2, he is already thrown out of the ring. We can see through the entire irony although Ti is now suddenly blaming it on Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
I wonder, if Dr Mahathir had not stepped out of Umno, would Ti have the courage to blame it on the former prime minister. Would he then have blamed it on Anwar Ibrahim instead?
In fact, I wrote an article to support Ti’s arguments, saying that one major reason why 52 percent of the voters abandoned the BN is because of Umno’s dirty politics in the lead-up to the last general election.
Another writer, JD Lovrenciear, pointed out that Nazri’s challenge “to quit BN to prove it could win without Umno is not only an insult to every Chinese Malaysian who stood by the party in good times and bad these past five over decades, but also tests MCA to the hilt.”
Lovrenciear has hit the nail on the head. The Chinese community will now find it difficult to support both MCA and Gerakan, especially when Ti suddenly pulled back his punches.
Instead, it is now MCA Youth secretary-general, Leong Kim Soon who is going for the kill. Would Leong now be able to defeat Nazri without first convincing Najib that Nazri is useless as a cabinet minister and that MCA still plays an important role in BN?
Between Nazri and the entire Chinese-based party, who would Najib choose? Would he sack Nazri to appease MCA? This is highly unlikely as Najib also needs his lap dog to suppress MCA’s barking dogs and to bring them to submission.
In my opinion, Leong will just be another casualty in the on-going squabble between Umno and MCA leaders. If both MCA president and deputy president are not even sticking their necks out, why should Leong think he can survive the battle with the Titans?
Tough times for BN component parties
As events unfold, it is obvious that BN component parties will have a tough time in the coming general election.
With PAS coming into the fold, it is unlikely that Umno will share its current allocation of seats. Someone would have to sacrifice the seats for PAS, and it is either MCA, Gerakan or MIC.
It has already happened in the last general election, but I believe we are going to see more of it in the 14th general election.
Umno is already in a major crisis, with more members and grassroot leaders quitting the party. Currently, Umno leaders are laughing it over it, but if Mukhriz Mahathir’s words ring true, there will be more defections in Kedah.
Umno is also having to face major attacks on all fronts with the re-alignment of Pakatan Harapan and Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu. Most people in the urban cities, I believe, are willing to give Pakatan Harapan another go, provided that they start doing their ground work in the rural areas.
As Nurul Izzah Anwar put it in her interview with Beverley O’Connor of ABC, there is “the need to unseat the ruling coalition, there has to be straight fights.”
It is no longer cronyism and nepotism, but kleptocracy that Malaysians have to face. The whole world knows about it except certain individuals in the corridors of power. Former finance minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah has claimed that 1MDB has to pay some RM2.7 billion in interest for the RM42 billion loans taken by the state investment arm.
– M’kini
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Contributer : Malaysia Chronicle http://ift.tt/2cWi0Hz
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