The BolehJokes Opinion: What does Najib have to do to regain the support of Chinese and Indians?

This is a trying time for our new prime minister. The results in the 3 by-elections showed a lack of trust and support for his premiership. It shows that it is the direct rejection of Barisan Nasional as a whole and not towards Tun Abdullah Badawi's leadership. At the way it is going, an immediate or may I put it as a drastic change is needed to save BN from further downfall in the next general election. So he's in a make or break situation and a wrong decision will ensure that he goes down to history as the first BN chairman to lose the Government to the opposition.

The good news for Najib is, he will be better prepared for the challenges ahead unlike his predecessor, Tun Abdullah who was in a long honeymoon period after the massive victory in 2004 election and was caught unprepared by the heavy influence of Anwar's return to politic.

So what does Najib have to do to regain the confidence and support of the Chinese and Indians?

In my opinion, he will have to make some bold moves that will probably not go down too well with people in his own party. He will have to be really brave in doing so.

1. Remove the extremists in his party (mainly UMNO Youth members). Pump in new blood into the party and change their mentality to be more open and approachable to all races. Anwar will never allow any extremist to exist in Pakatan because this is his main political agenda. To build a complete Malaysia for Malaysian with no concern for the color of the skin. No matter this is just his political gimmick or it is really his ambition, this formula has worked successfully. This is why he was favored strongly by all. He will also have to encourage the Malay politicians to garner the support of other races. Ultimately, it is better to be loved and supported by all Malaysians rather than just being loved by all Malays.

2. Form BN into one. This will be very difficult as it will mean that the Chinese, Indians, Sabahan and Sarawakians will have to give up their high post in their respective parties and take a lesser role in a united BN. Let's look at PKR. The party comprises of Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races and their success gave a big hint that Malaysians want to be united. By keeping the same format as UMNO, MCA, MIC and others will not work anymore. Going back to the old way of Mahathir's style of administration will ensure further damages. If BN is not fully rejected now, it will be fully rejected in the future.

3. In perhaps the boldest move of all, he will have to select 2 deputies from other races following the same format as Lim Guan Eng in Penang. This will definitely be a jaw-dropping move and will almost certain to return a massive gain for BN. However, he will be in a catch-22 situation as it will definitely not go down too well with Muhyiddin and other Vice-Presidents of UMNO. Infact, it will definitely not go down too well with the extremists in his party. However, this will return the confidence to all Malaysians and prove to the nation that he is really firm in his forming of 1 race and 1 nation. The Malaysian nation. Whatever agenda that the Opposition may have, will not be able to match this. But the biggest headache will be selecting 2 capable deputies. In Ong Tee Keat, he has someone who is still strongly loved and supported by certain Chinese (especially the people in Cheras and Ampang) but Samy Vellu is highly despised by not only the Indians but almost every Malaysians. So who can he select?

Time is running out soon and these are the few ways of how BN can be saved. Question remained as to whether he is brave enough to make these bold moves.