Aug 23 — PAS veteran leader Mustafa Ali said prior to the 13^th general elections, the party had proposed Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as Pakatan Rakyat’s candidate for prime minister, allowing Ku Li to be the PM for two to three years before Anwar Ibrahim would take over.

You might ask: What difference did that make?

At least PAS believed this would bring about very different election outcome.

Mustafa explained that PAS was well aware before the GE that Chinese Malaysians would vote for Pakatan, but they were not sure how the Malays would vote.

If Ku Li was made the candidate for prime minister, the Malay votes would be increased by an estimate of 3-5 per cent, and that would boot Pakatan’s winning chances.

PKR and DAP nevertheless did not quite agree to PAS’ viewpoint. As a matter of fact, PKR was strongly against such a notion, as the party had put Anwar as the one and only choice for PM.

A recent survey by Merdeka Center showed that as many as 62.5 per cent of Malays supported BN in the 2013 elections, with Pakatan’s support rate at a relatively pale 38.2 per cent.

In other words, PKR and PAS had not been able to secure the support of majority of Malay voters, and Umno remained the predominant force in the Malay community.

Even as most Chinese Malaysians wanted to see Anwar become the country’s prime minister, the Malay society did not see things quite the same way.

As a matter of fact, anyone with some Malay friends should be able to tell that Anwar’s support rate is not that promising in the Malay community.

So, from the election perspectives, it was strategic consideration for PAS to bring out Ku Li, who was said to have also accepted such arrangement.

As an elite member in the Malay politics and Umno veteran, Ku Li still maintains an amicable relationship with the traditional Malay society. And as a sidelined leader cum dissident, he also wins the recognition and sympathy of the opposition camp.

Sure enough it was just an anticipation. No one could tell whether Ku Li would actually perk up Pakatan’s support rate by an additional 3 per cent among Malay voters, but even then there was no guarantee Pakatan would therefore win the elections.

From Mahathir’s time to Najib’s, Ku Li has on several occasions been seen as an alternative choice for the country’s premiership. This show not only his special position in politics but also the oddity of Malaysian politics.

First and foremost, we need to admit the fact that Malays remain the largest ethnic group in the country, its population ratio rising steadily over the years. Secondly, Malay nationalism and Islamic thinking continue to dominate the political beliefs of the Malays. Thirdly, so long as the above two prerequisites remain, Umno will continue to reign supreme in the Malay society, especially among the more conservative rural communities.

The Malay society is reluctant to alienate itself from conventionality, and will therefore not forsake Umno. It doesn’t therefore matter how fiercely non-Malays and urban voters oppose to it, Umno will continue to hold the reins of government.

When over 60 per cent of Malays are still supporting Umno, there is actually nothing much the opposition could do to reverse such a political ecosystem.

There is no way the opposition should expect the Malay society to sever itself from the traditional. If they really want to win the support and acceptance of majority of Malays, they will have to do it progressively in a way that will not affect the interests of the Malay society, their feelings, and their traditional ways of doing things.

PAS’ proposal was some sort of mild transition, in which Ku Li could act as a bridge. Ideally he could act a s mediator to close the gap between the past and the future of the Malays while cushioning any excessive tremor that might come from such a transition of power.

That exactly was what Anwar and Hadi failed to deliver.

Or should I say, Ku Li is like an imaginary key that would open up the closed political door of the Malays. He will always remain an alternative candidate for PM for as long as he lives, but it is also much more likely that he will remain just that, a key that is never used.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.