By Mohsin Abdullah

When Pakatan Harapan won GE14, many, or should I say most non-Malays, expected a Malaysia Baru which is really baru. A complete overhaul. No more race- and religion-based policies. Total meritocracy. Some even expected non-Malays have a chance of becoming prime ministers if they meet the criteria. Nothing wrong in wanting all that, I would say.

But the reality is, that can never happen in this beloved country of ours. Any government which wants to be in power and stay in power here must look after the Malays. Hence, pro-Malay policies will continue. Malays are the majority. Without their support governments will fall.

And the Harapan government tried to cater to Malay needs. They did not make drastic changes and continued with policies already in practice. Non-Malays were not satisfied naturally, but Harapan did try to do some changes to balance things up, which many Malays were not too thrilled about, accusing Harapan to be subservient to non-Malays especially the Chinese. And it's a fact many of them were not happy when the Harapan government appointed non-Malays as finance minister, attorney general, etc.

So, when the Harapan government fell following Tun Mahathir Mohamad's resignation recently, a substantial number of Malays were happy that "they got their country back".

A friend, a non-Malay, texted me to say that on social media "Malays are celebrating with comments like their country and the Malay race are now free from non-Malay control." Just take a look at social media platforms and it's there for all to see.

It's no big secret, and in fact Mahathir also admitted, that many Malays perceived albeit wrongly that the predominantly Chinese DAP was the power behind the Harapan throne.

Now they see the incoming administration led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who has been appointed prime minister will "look after Malays' real good", hence the "celebration".

After all, the alliance which Muhyiddin belongs to is predominantly Malay-Muslim in the likes of Bersatu, Umno and PAS. Even the ex PKR members led by Datuk Seri Azmin Ali are mostly Malays, save for a few bumiputras from Sabah. In short, it is seen as a Ketuanan Melayu alliance, rightly or wrongly.

What does that mean to the non-Malays? There are concerns definitely, and it's not helping in allying non-Malay "fears" that Muhyiddin said not too long ago that he was "Malay first then Malaysian".

And it is not helping matters also that Umno and PAS have been fanning Malay-Islam rhetoric since BN lost GE14 in an effort to get Malay support.

The Muhyiddin administration will no doubt cater to the needs and demands of the Malay community. That is not a problem, but will they do that at the expense of the non-Malays?

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has called the government to be "fair to all people regardless of race, religion and political ideology" and should prioritize the agenda to revive the economy and improve the standard of education, among other things.

To Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. BN (Umno,MIC and MCA) will support Muhyiddin and "try our best people are safeguarded again". He did not elaborate what he meant by that.

As for Azmin Ali, he has promised to work towards forming a government based on the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara, committed towards a national agenda.

That should be assuring to non-Malays, in fact all Malaysians. But to be honest, such statements are expected. Nevertheless the country is now looking forward to the leaders of the new administration, or Perikatan Nasional as it is known, to live up to their word.

Perikatan Nasional insiders say what is important is that a new Malay- and Islam-based government has been set up.

MCA and MIC will have to play a big role in "checking" their Malay counterparts, that is if they are included in the new cabinet which I think they will simply because the new administration need to have a "balanced" Malaysian outlook.

But several analysts told the Malaysian Insight "non-Muslim voices will be minimally represented in the new Perikatan Nasional government and issues impacting the minorities will not matter in the Malay-Muslim dominated cabinet" and warned of "tough times ahead for non-Muslims".

This despite Muhyiddin proclaiming to the nation live on national television that he is "PM for all".

And then there are other concerns like the future of vernacular schools. What is the new government's stand on this? And what about the UEC which the Harapan government was studying for its recognition and had set up a special task force to look into it? And as a member of the media, I need to know the status of the Media Council as well.

What about freedom of expression, the right to peaceful protest, and the Harapan initiatives seen as not Malay-friendly? What are to become of them? 

And a big concern for Malaysians, non-Malays and Malays alike, is about the ongoing court cases against some of the new alliance leaders, particularly those from Umno.

Will they go on, or will the accused be let free? Now that Tan Sri Tommy Thomas has resigned, will the new AG be "as hard" in pursing the cases?

Recently Zahid's trial was postponed so that he could attend a meeting with Muhyiddin to discuss the formation of the cabinet. That triggered widespread perception that all the corruption charges he is facing would eventually be dropped. Zahid immediately stepped up to dismiss the perception and vowed to fight in court to clear his name.

As for the adjourned case, the prime minister's department issued a statement denying any meeting involving Zahid and the PM. The court wanted to cite Zahid for contempt but decided not to, accepting his "reasons" for asking the adjournment. That is also raising many an eyebrow.

A day earlier, Hadi was asked about the fate of Umno leaders facing criminal charges. He was also asked whether leaders facing charges should be appointed in the new cabinet.

He highlighted court cases against Harapan leaders that were dropped, saying "If we want to accuse leaders of having problems, Harapan leaders too had them and they were stopped in court. They were just let off." He did not mention any name but obviously was referring to Lim Guan Eng's bungalow case in Penang.

Don't ask me what Hadi meant. I'm no mind reader!

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)