No Big Deal, BN Government Can Go It Alone !

The Barisan Nasional (BN) government has the capacity to continue administering the country even without the formation of the proposed unity government, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said .

The prime minister said the BN government was strong and had the capability to implement its development programmes.

As such, the question of the BN government being weak so much so that there was a need for a unity government did not arise.

He said the government had merely responded positively to a proposal by PAS for a unity government.

Meanwhile, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said PAS will hold talks on the “unity government” with Umno only if DAP and PKR are included in the process.

He said PAS would not leave its Pakatan Rakyat allies behind as it was un-Islamic to break a promise.

“If the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) wants to hold talks on government unity with PAS, he must include DAP and PKR.

“Otherwise, there will be no talks,’’

Umno vice president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal wants PAS to forget about the past and look to the country’s future.

He believes that Malay unity will bring stability to the country’s economy and political scene, and also benefit other communities in the country.

“Who does not want a stable political scene? I think everyone wants a more stable country and government. We have seen a lot of countries that have descended into chaos. Iran is a good example, where there are many casualties. Do we want to be like them? It will lead to situations like that if we do not take any action,” he said.

Shafie stressed that the unity talks is not just for PAS and Umno but for the sake of the Malay community.

“We must unite. We have seen how Malays are disunited,” he added.

That's the two Malay political parties battling each other to convince us that each is better than the other in advancing the “Malay agenda.”.

In a clumsy if not desperate attempt for new moves they concocted a “vision” for a “unity” government based on the two parties! Left unstated is the question: Unity for what and against whom?

Umno and PAS are so used to fighting each other that they have forgotten what it is they are fighting for.

Following the Barisan election rout of March 8, 2008, the fear that the coalition, specifically Umno, would lose power at the national level was palpable.

This desperation led misguided souls in Umno to seek those in PAS who had been longing for power. This quest for a “unity government” was nothing more than Umno securing an insurance policy for its continuing hold on power; for PAS, it was a seductive teasing on the taste of power.

It is ironic that the pursuit of a “unity government” resulted only in sowing distrust within the existing coalitions. In pursuing PAS, Umno succeeded only in straining relations with its long-time Barisan partners. PAS meanwhile managed only to poison its still frail Pakatan Rakyat coalition with PKR and DAP. Worse, as we are now seeing, it also threatens the unity of PAS.

The proponents for this “unity government” have obviously not done their due diligence or any downstream analysis. Those Umno warlords would not take kindly to sharing their bounty with their new kopiah-clad upstart colleagues. Far from “purifying” Umno, PAS would end up being just as corrupt as Umno.

This “unity government” scheme is nothing more than a crude and greedy power-grab by the Umno and PAS pair.

So far PAS wants Malays not to learn English and to ban Sisters in Islam. Well, that is an advancement of sorts; at least they are not harping on hudud. As for Umno leaders, they cannot even decide whether to continue teaching science and mathematics in English.

Malay leaders should not be deluding the masses with half-baked ideas of “Malay unity.” These leaders succeed only in deluding themselves.