Gerakan wading back into race, religious issues, says analyst

Gerakan wading back into race, religious issues, says analyst

PETALING JAYA: A political analyst says Gerakan appears to have backtracked from its endeavour to move away from issues surrounding race and religion, after a senior party leader attacked DAP for not opposing the government’s Islamic and Malay agendas.

Lau Zhe Wei of the International Islamic University Malaysia said Gerakan seemed sincere in wanting to set a new political narrative, but that its goal was impractical.

“Like it or not, Gerakan is still riding on old political narratives based on racial sentiments. Although Gerakan wants to prove to everyone that it can escape from identity politics, that position does not reflect reality,” he told FMT.

He also said regardless of the narratives Gerakan chooses to focus on, the party’s struggle to win over the non-Malay vote will likely continue.

Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said Gerakan was under pressure to win over the support of non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, and the easiest way to do this was to vilify DAP.

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However, he said Gerakan should reflect more deeply on why it struggles to attract non-Malay voters, unlike DAP, which continues to retain its support despite working with Umno.

“Gerakan should try going up against PAS even though they are allies in Perikatan Nasional in the same way that DAP and Umno frequently clash despite being partners in the unity government,” said Azmi.

Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong was recently reported by Oriental Daily as having accused DAP of compromising its integrity for the sake of power in the federal government.

He said DAP would have opposed the government’s Islamic and Malay agendas if it was still in the opposition, but stays silent now because it is in the federal government.

Last month, Gerakan president Dominic Lau announced his party’s desire to shift its focus away from race and religious issues towards “universal concerns”.