“No one man can terrorise a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.”

- Edward R Murrow

COMMENT | The statements made by Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu regarding his battles with the DAP in Perak are neither provocative nor unexpected. Faizal is a figurehead for Bersatu’s supremacy in Perak, and just another talking point of Malay supremacy in Harapan.

I have no idea how Faizal can “clarify” his statement because his statement is obvious in its banality. The menteri besar was merely saying what was on the mind of the far right, Bersatu and those voters who threw in their lot with Bersatu hoping that Harapan would become the neo-Barisan Nasional and Bersatu the new Umno.

DAP politics in Perak is treacherous enough, without the added machinations of federal level proxies whose agenda is to further entrench Bersatu’s hegemonic agenda in the state. This should not be surprising to the rakyat, and it certainly should not be surprising to the DAP.

Bersatu is all alone in Perak. It does not have the numbers to exhibit the kind of raw political power that Malay power structures are used to. The menteri besar has to rely on “partners” to carry out policies favourable to the Malay community, which makes Bersatu’s claim that it is the sole protector of Malay rights and Islam suspect...