COMMENT | The only thing Ong Kian Ming’s two articles – about Umno being in a dilemma and at the same time being a threat to Perikatan Nasional (PN) – managed to do was point out that Umno was still a formidable force in Malaysian politics and the political parties which were in a dilemma were PKR and DAP, not to mention how Bersatu posed an ongoing threat to Harapan.

In fact, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan's retort to Ong’s pieces is a clear articulation of realpolitik but more importantly, a message to the Umno base of a vision of what a democratically elected Malay uber alles would look like, unlike this backdoor government. That’s the game plan for Umno and PAS and the non-Malay satellite parties which orbit this mainstream Malay power structure.

What is Harapan’s game plan?

It is pointless talking about Umno's dilemma and how it is a threat to PN when the real dilemma of Harapan is that it cannot even decide who is leading the opposition. You want to talk about threats? Well, how about the threat Dr Mahathir Mohammad (photo) is to Harapan? How about the threat that Bersatu poses to Harapan?

How about the dilemma Harapan always had, when it said it was a secular-leaning, multi-racial coalition, which had to bend over backwards to include Bersatu, which we were told was needed to secure the Malay vote? Post-election political operatives were bending over backwards not to offend Mahathir, except for a few brave souls, while the rest spun and sometimes even lied that all was well in the house that Harapan built. Even now, the thought of the DAP leading the opposition sends shivers down the spines of political operatives – which is funny, for who knew they had spines – and there is all this deep discussion as to who leads the opposition.