In the Johor by-elections, the ruling Umno party seemed to have discovered the ideal battle horse ahead of the Johor elections which are scheduled for Mar 12.
It is adamant that the Chinese-led DAP should not be allowed to participate in national politics, particularly in the run-up to the Johor state elections.
The DAP is running for seats in these elections on March 12 as part of the Pakatan Harapan opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim.
Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, head of the Sabah Barisan Nasional, said that the DAP only came to power (in 2018 in Johor as part of the PH coalition) via defamation and false promises. This entails a character assassination campaign against the BN.
According to him, the DAP’s true character was revealed only when it was granted a mandate in Johor in the last General Election, in which it not only failed but was “racist.”
Bung Mojtar said: “Provocation between the races in this country is increasing. Making the people divided and this stems from DAP and their members. The party played on various issues so as to provoke the anger of others.
“The Pakatan Harapan government (in Johor) at that time was led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. And so far I see him following the DAP trend of blaming others, others are robbers, others are liars, ”he said in a meeting in Sabah.”
Najib predicts DAP will lose
The former premier is not wasting any time to use his renewed political capital agains the DAP in areas of Johor where the Chinese are in the majority. Najib claims there is a shift in sentiment among Johor’s Chinese minority and hopes that this will translate into votes in the forthcoming state elections.
The Barisan Nasional adviser, a convicted criminal for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal, says he reached this conclusion about the Chinese vote based on the warm reception he received in the southern region of Johor in the last several days.
Najib stated that the sentiment in favour of BN candidates in the Johor polls contrasts sharply with the scenario that prevailed in the 14th General Election in 2018 in which the BN alliance lost both the state and federal administrations.
At a media conference a few days ago, he said: “I can see the support by the Chinese community is increasing and getting stronger. If you take a look at the warm welcome this morning, this is not something we witnessed before GE14.
Opposition parties were thrashed in Sarawak elections, which followed the Malacca polls.
DAP won seven seats in 2016, while Keadilan won three. However, in the 2021 elections the DAP won only two of the 24 seats it contested, while the Keadilan of Anwar Ibrahim lost all 28 contested seats.
In the Melaka election last year, DAP only won four out of eight seats it contested.
There is no doubt the DAP is on a slide and it is facing more attacks from the Umno and its allies while the opposition seems indefinitely divided.
The separation of the PH into three parties, with Dr Mahathir’s party competing separately while ex-Sports Minister Syed Saddiq’s MUDA party is also competing alone, has created even greater disagreement among opposition organisations.
Nevertheless, the future does not look bright for the DAP which had a chance to show its force when it came to power in 2018.
However, it appears that the party slid into certain rhetoric that landed it in severe difficulties, and it has been dogged by trouble since Mahathir’s resignation as prime minister of Malaysia.
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