At loggerheads over Perkasa

Insight by JOCELINE TAN

The politics surrounding Perkasa claimed several big-name casualties recently. But love it or hate it, the ultra-Malay NGO is here to stay, for now at least.

THE last time Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Khairy Jamaluddin came face to face was at a forum on racial politics.

The fiery Perkasa leader and the flamboyant Umno Youth chief had strong opinions about each other but there was also banter, laughter and the usual male-bonding hugs and slaps.

That was two months ago. Since then, their exchanges have been anything but friendly.

The wall between the two has gone up even higher with Ibrahim going strong on his ultra Malay views and Khairy condemning Perkasa’s views as racist politics. In between, there have been some pretty childish name-calling such as “jaguh kampung”, “confused boy”, “no brains” and even “crazy”.

But the politics resulting from issues raised by Perkasa has escalated from name-calling to calls to resign.

Penawar, an association of former Umno wakil rakyat, has met the Prime Minister and demanded that Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor resign as party secretary-general for saying that Umno wants nothing to do with Perkasa.

Tengku Adnan had claimed that those in Perkasa were not wanted in Umno and the party would challenge Ibrahim in Pasir Mas in the next election.

Malay politics can be like a ring of fire. One needs some finesse to leap through the ring without getting burnt and it looks like poor Tengku Adnan has been singed by the flames.

But Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz may have set himself on fire with his open letter to the country’s leading Malay newspaper. The widely-read columnist Awang Selamat of Mingguan Malaysia last week had slammed his anti-Perkasa views.

Nazri, in turn, thrashed the columnist in the open letter where he signed off with a stinging shot, “And yes, I am Malaysian first and Malay next. Does any bigot have a problem with that?” Ouch!

Their clash of words has been the talk of Malay political circles. Most of his Umno friends are not surprised and there has been a deluge of support for Nazri on the Internet,

Nazri is an alpha male who is not afraid of confrontation and of saying it like it is. Some claimed he is on his final political leg and wants to go in a great ball of fire. DAP’s Tony Pua wrote on Facebook that he wants to be friends with Nazri, Lim Kit Siang has praised him and PKR has invited him to be a member.

“Nazri is on thin ice here,” said Umno politician Dr Faizal Tajuddin from Pasir Salak.

Barisan Nasional, said Faizal, is a multi-racial coalition but Umno is a Malay-based party and will flounder if it ignores a Malay interest group like Perkasa. There is no need to be overly apologetic about voicing what the Malays want, hence Umno’s careful handling of the NGO.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would not have come this far had he not understood the throb of the Malay pulse.

The country has grown phenomenally and the political landscape has shifted. But certain things are slow to follow and Malay sentiment about their rights and privileges is one of them.

Najib cannot afford to condemn or ignore this current ground. He could end up a one-term Prime Minister like his immediate predecessor if he does that, and opinion in his party is quite overwhelming for Perkasa.

At the same time, he knows that Perkasa’s views go against the grain of the non-Malay opinion out there.

Barisan component parties MCA and Gerakan see Perkasa as a racist and outdated voice and refuse to stomach it.

Perkasa is the Malay road bump on the highway to Najib’s 1Malaysia dream.

Najib’s statement earlier this week will not please everyone. Some see it as expediency, the way DAP and PAS have decided to put the thorny Islamic state issue on the back-burner while they set their sights on Putrajaya.

But it does show that Najib is not going to cave in to any particular group and that he has assessed the situation and will act to the best interest of his party and coalition.

And he put it well. His administration does not believe in being at loggerheads with any NGO, and as far as Umno is concerned, Perkasa is like any other NGO out there whose views are not always in agreement with that of the Government.

Strong stand

What matters, he said, is that it is his government – and not these groups – that makes the decisions. He stressed that the strength of his government is based not on extreme attitudes but on moderate and responsible policies.

“That was a very strong statement, the clearest so far on where Umno is regarding Perkasa,” said publisher Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

A clearer position on Perkasa, said Kadir, will also put an end to certain Umno personalities trying to interpret Umno’s stand. Or seeming to speak on Najib’s behalf.

Said an Umno insider: “Some of these few people have put the PM in a spot. They have allowed our members to think that the PM asked them to say it. I met many Umno members during the Hari Raya open houses; they were upset with Umno. They think these few Umno leaders were speaking at the behest of the leadership.

“The PM is very clear on what he wants to achieve. He wants to revitalise national unity but people are trying to hijack his idea into something else. He is looking at unity based on the Constitution and Rukun Negara and which does not infringe on anybody’s rights. It’s certainly not Malaysian Malaysia ala the DAP.”

Perkasa probably does not have 300,000 members as claimed. But it definitely has the ears of more than 300,000 Malays, including that of some successful and educated Malay professionals.

“I didn’t care two hoots when I first heard of Perkasa, I thought it was a political gimmick and Ibrahim Ali was looking for a new lease of life. But he has taken up issues I feel strongly about,” said Zainur Rijal Abu Bakar, a syariah lawyer who handles quite high-profile cases.

People like ex-Abim president Yusri Mohamed have been drawn to what Perkasa stands for even though he cannot stomach Ibrahim for his personality and baggage.

“Not everyone is comfortable to be 100% with Perkasa. But for Malay leaders to go against Perkasa when the issues it raises are valid, then something is very wrong there,” said Yusri.

Even Professor Aziz Bari, the well-known law lecturer at the International Islamic University, acknowledged that Perkasa is more than just Ibrahim.

“It has become a batch of ideas, It’s actually taking over the role of Umno. I think the Malays are sending a warning to Umno,” said Aziz.

On the more political side, those in Umno are curious about the real objectives of the Umno leaders who went on the warpath against Perkasa.

Nazri, most people agreed, was being his usual maverick self.

In the case of Khairy and Tengku Adnan, it is less clear where they are coming from. Their KPI on race relations is not exactly outstanding. Khairy was still waving the keris amid Malay rhetoric up to a few years ago.

Some say Khairy is trying to stay on the Prime Minister’s radar screen by walking the 1Malaysia talk. They say this is the real Khairy – diplomat’s son, born abroad, educated in private schools, product of Oxford and a liberal at heart.

Others say his real target was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has lent his clout to Perkasa. There is no love lost between the two men and Khairy knows that as long as the former Premier is around, he is unlikely to get a government post.

Then again, this is politics and Khairy does have the right to play it as he sees fit.

His main problem is that his actions in the last few months seem divorced from his role as Umno Youth chief. He is seen as articulating the minority view in Umno and not that of the majority in his Youth wing.

As it is, some are calling him the minority leader of Umno Youth and his deputy Datuk Razali Ibrahim has taken a stand contrary to his on Perkasa. They say he and MCA Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong are BFF – best friends forever.

And as Ibrahim pointed out: “When I hit out at him, did any Umno Youth people defend him? None, no one.”

Khairy may have painted himself into a corner in taking on Perkasa while Ibrahim is beginning to resemble one of those gravity dolls that spring upright no matter how many times it is pushed down.

Perkasa was controversial from the word go but few had imagined the havoc it would cause.

Ibrahim will claim the title of most controversial man of 2010.

Perkasa will continue to be disliked and condemned by the non-Malays and Ibrahim will continue to be his controversial self, rubbing a segment of the population up the wrong way with his abrasive style.

As they say, that’s politics.