BN leaders have often been accused of resorting to telling half-truths and even outright lies to obtain support from the rakyat or populace. A quick run through of speeches made at various ceramahs or rallies reveal that the 2 most notorious one-liners favoured by the BN are,
(1)when speaking to the Malays: the DAP is making full use of PAS; and
(2) when speaking to the Chinese: PAS is making use of the DAP.
Singing different tunes to different audiences, it does appear to be a complex web of lies and deceit. The coalition appears to be trying to woo support from the Malays and Chinese by firstly, using race and religion to split them, and then herding the two racially segregated groups towards UMNO and MCA.
But such a complex modus operandi is unlikely to be sustainable. Sooner or later, it will be found out and rejected without mercy by voters.
If the rakyat compared notes, they will see the statements from the BN components are actually diametrically opposing. Straightaway, that shatters the BN's other platform - unity.
How to unify the country when the rulers actively seek to divide? No wonder then that polarization has widened in the past 54 years under BN rule.
Weaning the Malays from PAS and addicting the Chinese to MCA
By telling the Malays that DAP is using PAS, UMNO is also hoping to wean Malay support away from PAS. It is also to show that only they can champion the cause of the Malays. How can PAS defend the Malays when it is subservient to a supposedly Chinese-chauvinist party? This is the UMNO trump card.
Make no mistake, such tactics can spark rising feelings of anger amongst the Malays. Race-championing and emoting are powerful tools especially to the rural people. They are easily deceived into thinking that the Chinese are really bullying the Malays. Look at DAP, it is intimidating PAS - this is the belief that UMNO is hoping to inculcate amongst the Malay community.
On the other hand, MCA is also trying to woo the Chinese by painting a frightening picture of PAS. Don't brush this off likely. What the MCA has done and is doing is just as bad as UMNO and should be punished just as severely.
Ask those in the know and they will freely tell you, MCA leaders think nothing of saying things like this - if PAS comes to power, the first thing the party will do is to "potong" or circumcise everyone, even the non-Muslims.
Which Chinese guy would agree to vote for PAS then, let alone the other races? Also, for those who have girlfriends like MCA president Chua Soi Lek, watch out! Zina or adultery is punishable by stoning death under hudud law, which PAS wants to implement.
Simple lines to beguile the innocent
Such are the simple lines and lies that both UMNO and MCA have peddled to their respective electorates over the past decades.
Sad to say that even now, to assume that Malaysians are educated enough not to be swayed may still be a fallacy. Chances are, the majority will cling to the past rather than trust in their own awakening judgement.
Meanwhile, both UMNO and MCA continue to try to deceive the Malays and the Chinese using their old, tried and tested ways. Many have described these as Machiavellian methods that ultimately show that for BN, the end justifies the means.
Recently at the Tenang by-election, Chua Soi Lek made his usual disparaging remarks on Islamic values and practices.
He belittled PAS candidate Normala Sudirman's refusal to shake hands with men during election walkabouts and complained that shops in PAS-ruled Kelantan were closed during Hari Raya last year. This inconvenienced the people and reflected the backwardness of Islamic-run states, he was reported as saying in the press.
UMNO listened and heard every word but did not even censure him for those comments that must have surely offended the Muslims. After all, Chua's remarks were unwarranted, and worse still, appears to have been made intentionally to insult and hurt.
It seems that in the pursuit of votes, nothing is sacred.
But can a coconut leaf cover an elephant
Although UMNO leaders have been criticising other Muslims in PAS, it hasn't stopped them from trying to 'hop into bed' with PAS now. Again, when it comes to political survival, UMNO appears willing to explain away all their past grievances.
In the name of Malay unity, it is now trying to pressure PAS into dumping DAP and PKR, and join BN instead.
However, the UMNO invitation is suspect as it could be just another ploy to shore up Malay support and put UMNO in a favourable light in the eyes of the community compared to PAS. UMNO will be seen as extending an olive branch to PAS, and if PAS continues to say "No", it will make the Islamist party seem churlish and disdainful of Malay unity.
Or so, the UMNO strategists hope. Because when asked, PAS strategists made mince meat of such "nonsense".
Khalid Samad, the PAS MP for Shah Alam, has likened the UMNO offer to "a lot of twisting and turning like a snake". BN leaders are not interested in telling people the truth but only thinking of how to deceive the gullible amongst the electorate, he slammed.
"Now UMNO and MCA are living in fear because we have broken the stranglehold of their lies," Khalid told Malaysia Chronicle.
"The more that BN leaders continue to double-speak, the more the lies will be unravelled. It will be like trying to cover an elephant with a coconut leaf."
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