Umno-BN still in denial mode - Kit Siang

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno-BN coalition was still in denial mode despite having lost further ground in the May 5 general election.

"The focus on the red bean army is a great disservice to the whole Parliament. I hope they can move away from there. Then I hope there will be a greater recognition  of the meaning of the 13th general election," Kit Siang told reporters when asked if Parliament, the first sitting held after the ballot, was proceeding in fruitful manner.

"The denial complex is still there, denying that this is a demand for change particularly from the younger generation of people, that this is not a Chinese tsunami but a Malaysian tsunami. On top of that reconciliation is still very hollow, no follow-up or any sign there is any political will to walk the talk. Hopefully, the Prime Minister will come back and set a new tone."

"Ridiculous" issues and a lack of "legitimacy"

The 72-year-old Kit Siang had called a late-night press conference on Wednesday in a bid to burst a growing media bubble over the purported existence of a 'Red Bean Army' of cyber workers paid by his Democratic Action Party to attack the Umno-BN blogs and to create 'unrest' in the social media network.

Najib had flown off to Tanzania and London, where he is now, on a working visit soon after Parliament commenced. He is due to return before the House adjourns on July 18.

In the recently-concluded 13th general election, the Umno-BN had won 133 seats versus the Opposition's 89 but only managed to salvage 47% of the total votes. This discrepancy had led Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to demand the resignation of the Election Commission for allegedly abetting the Umno-BN in cheating voters and failing to stop blatant gerrymandering. Anwar has also called for re-elections in 30 seats.

However, the Umno-BN has defended the EC and responded by making similar claims, filing election petitions for just as many seats.

So far, Najib has tossed out the phrase 'national reconciliation' in several speeches made just before and soon after the election. However, he has never been clear or provided any detail as to what he meant by 'national reconciliation'.

Recently, the 60-year-old PM insisted that the Opposition accepted the results of the election before there could be any move towards reconciliation. His demand was slammed as being unreasonable and a ruse to bypass the Opposition's demand for a public investigation into the rather widespread evidence of vote-rigging and electoral fraud.

"The business of governing cannot be separated from the question of legitimacy. A government elected by the minority and conjured into office through myriad election irregularities will continue to struggle to establish its legitimacy," Rafizi Ramli, the PKR strategy director and MP for Pandan, had said.

"Thus it is that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration, stuck in such a political labyrinth, began to preach political reconciliation against a backdrop of unprecedented public protests that have now entered a second month. What exactly is the political reconciliation that Najib seeks?"

Rocky times ahead: Zero olive branch

However, despite the national curiosity as to how Najib and the Umno-BN could unite the country after the most divisive-ever general election, chances are Malaysians will never get to find out.

Najib has a track record for policy as well as political flip-flops. With the Umno party election due to be held later this year, it is more than likely that he will raise his guns and fire off more salvos at the Opposition, despite the latter's control of 51% of the national electorate.

This is why many political watchers believe Malaysia is headed for rockier times, politically and economically, in the months ahead until Najib is able to find a way to appease all the various factions and finally settle down to the business of governing the country.

Quite a large number of Malaysians also believe the politically-weak Najib might not even be able to achieve that or to offer any olive branch at all.

They expect another 5 years of political gamesmanship similar to the rowdy past 5 years, which were marred by racial and religious politicking with sex scandals and other absurd issues similar to the 'Red Bean Army' thrown in to deflect attention from Najib's inability to chart out forward-moving reforms.

Malaysia Chronicle