KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) said today its goal in politics is to bring change rather than trap itself in what it called as “neo-feudalisitic” culture, in a retort to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Ahmad Kamal.

Muda vice-president Zaidel Baharuddin said fanning the flames of race and religion to cultivate a siege mentality among Malay voters will only favour the elites, following the deputy national unity minister’s claim that the majority will reject a liberal opposition.

“If Wan Fayhsal and his party think that the best way for Perikatan National and Bersatu to outdo Umno is by outdoing them on the feudalistic identity politics, I wish them all the luck,” he said in a statement.

“But in the end, what differs Muda and what Wan Fayhsal is describing is that our goal in politics is to bring change; rather than get ourselves trapped in the neo-feudalistic culture, we think it is high time that we have a new deal in Malaysia.

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“Because more often than not, this siege and the need to protect the Malays and religion card is often used as a smokescreen to keep the elite few in power,” he added.

Zaidel also questioned Wan Fayhsal’s remark when Bersatu has in the past years not only lost the prime minister post, but also some Cabinet positions, control over Kedah, Perak and Johor, and was kicked out of Selangor and the previous Melaka state governments since leaving PH.

He further stressed that Muda is not interested in the pursuit of power, and its goals in politics is to strive for a better future for the public.

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“While the original Bumiputera policies have noble and sensible origins, of late, they are being used to enrich and empower a selected few Bumiputeras at the expense of the rest,” said Zaidel.

Zaidel’s remarks were a response to Wan Fayhsal who was quoted in The Vibes claiming that Malays would shun a “full-blown” liberal PH, as the community allegedly still need a “protector” who affirms its neo-feudal and tribal mentality.

The remark has also been slammed by PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, who said these stereotypical claims of Malays being weak and in need of a protector like Umno will only backfire on Bersatu.