KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today warned Barisan Nasional of further loss of popular support and then denounced Pakatan Rakyat as a three-headed monster.
Addressing Youth delegates gathered here in the traditional prelude to the annual Umno general assembly, he said Umno could no longer rely on Malay votes alone and called on all parties within BN to work hard for non-Malay support.
“Fifty seats currently held by BN are in grave danger,” he said, calling on Umno to dispel “the illusion that we can win without the non-Bumiputera support”.
Turning to Pakatan Rakyat in a later part of his speech, he said the opposition coalition had shown that it was “not fit to govern”.
“The opposition pact is only good at making empty promises, but 30 months have passed since the 2008 general election and their promises are already falling flat on their faces.”
He likened Pakatan to the mythical three-headed creature Cerberus because its member parties could not agree with one another.
“DAP cannot have the same aspirations as PAS and the latter is wavering in its Islamic state ambition.
“DAP itself cannot get Malay votes due to its chauvinistic nature.
“As for PKR, it continues to be rocked by internal crises due to lust for power. Chairs are being flung, phantom voters even appearing on the voters' list and democracy is killed as the highest positions go to one family uncontested.”
He said “any semblance of unity” in Pakatan was a mere act to ensure that the “flimsy bond between them” did not break altogether.
“The opposition coalition is in crisis and is fraying. It lacks ability in governing the states it is controlling. Simply put, it is not fit to govern.”
Scathing attack
Despite the scathing attack on the opposition, some pundits at the assembly commented that Khairy appeared more earnest in his call on Umno to tone down its communal rhetoric and to accept the reality that the split in Malay votes is not likely to be healed any time soon.
“In modern history, save for the opposition to the Malayan Union and the fight for independence, the Malays are often divided, especially by political beliefs and ideology,” he told his audience.
“In many areas, the Malay political split is such that 50% are on one side and 50% on the other.”
He called on Umno to sympathise with the non-Malays.
“When they are referred to as 'pendatang' or told to return to China or India, how would they feel?” he asked.
“What of the feelings of the poor non-Malay student denied a government scholarship despite achieving outstanding results?
“When we fail to understand and appreciate the feelings of other races, the barriers that separate us become even higher and thicker.”
However, he conceded that the responsibility for getting non-Bumiputera support for BN lay mostly on the shoulders of other parties in the coalition.
“Whatever weaknesses they have must be overcome immediately and the responsibilities entrusted upon them must be vigorously carried out,” he said.
“Moreover, with the concept of 1Malaysia being our collective compass, Malaysians want to see a BN that can practise the values of camaraderie, justice and fairness.”
