As expected, Umno and PAS stumble in their search for the Holy Grail of Malay unity. Umno seeks it to have the deserting Malay ground return to its leadership. PAS wants it to settle old scores. 

Both want to keep out the third Malay-based political party, the National Justice Party or Keadilan, but the talks, when - if - held, would make sense only if they resolve the fate of the eminence grise, jailed former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim. 

The Malay cultural mood demands addressing the hurt done to Anwar. Umno, so long as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is in office, cannot do that without losing collective ground; and PAS, too, if it does not insist upon it. Umno called for the talks, PAS would not accept unless official restrictions on its movements in the party and in the two states it controls are removed. Both, it appears, sought creative reasons to postpone it. 

Why did negotiations stall? Umno broke the secrecy both demanded in the run-up to the talks. PAS pulled away, and had to be coaxed back. But PAS imposed four conditions, which included permission for its political organ, Harakah, to be published eight times a month instead of twice, and Kuala Lumpur's denial of oil royalties due to PAS-controlled Terengganu state. 

So, when yesterday the PAS central committee called off the talks, due today, both Umno and PAS did not even have a common ground for talks to begin. The beneficiary is Keadilan. Umno does not consider it a Malay party and PAS is worried that should Anwar be released, its ground could be cut from under it if he then leads Keadilan or, if as some have it, returns to Umno. 

Umno is unhappy with either option. Umno leaders would not want him snapping at their heels, if not unseat them in an open contest. He still has much support amongst the members, and the current divisional leaders could well reflect this. 

But Umno must resolve the Anwar imbroglio for its own well-being. PAS gained ground when the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government mishandled Anwar's dismissal, arrest, assault and imprisonment. But it looks at Keadilan's growth with trepidation. 

Gathering storm 

Malaysian newspapers do not report these as it should, but the Keadilan demonstrations against the government have spread to outside Selangor and the Federal Territory. The Kulim gathering last week of 500 in the magistrate's court is but a taste of what is to come. 

On Saturday, four water cannons had to be brought in to control a gathering band of supporters outside the Dang Wangi police station to lodge a report against the former attorney-general and now a federal court judge, Mohtar Abdullah. We are told that a crowd of 1,000 were on hand, but the figure was understated. 

The federal government is besieged. The police overreact. It has but lost all modicum of fair play. The law is enforced arbitrarily, opposition complaints of corruption in high places are routinely ignored. Police swoop on small traders who sell VCDs of an Australian television programme on Anwar's trial. More arrests are made, not just of opposition political party supporters but of interest groups, like those objecting to the relocation of the Chinese school in Damansara. 

BN and Umno grasp at straws to return to lead the Malays. But Umno positions itself in Malay quicksand that nothing seems to turn out right. It alienates important groups in Malaysian society, worsening it with its frustrated anger. It looks upon its critics as it would an enemy. PAS cottons on with much effect: In Kedah recently a few hundred Umno members publicly embraced PAS. The posters openly attacked the prime minister. The police stepped in to prevent it. And Umno lost further ground. 

On the defensive 

It need not have. But Umno leaders are defensive. They bide their own counsel, unwilling to draw attention to themselves as the few who do miscalculate and lose ground. Mahathir himself now admits that Malay Unity which once was split between Umno and PAS is now divided four ways - Keadilan and the Umno-strengthened Malay Action Front making a late but decisive entrance. Now even Umno and PAS cannot meet. There might be a desire in Umno and PAS to keep talking, but those lower down would rather not. 

The huge sigh of relief in the Chinese and Indian communities at this latest development reflects another side of the coin. Malay unity talks to counter rising Chinese fears of being marginalised could have worked even a decade earlier, but it cannot now. These talks can only be held from strength. As in 1969. Umno does not speak from strength now. PAS understands this only too well. 

But it cannot have these talks either without being damned for not resolving the Malay hurt over Anwar Ibrahim. Indeed, neither PAS nor Umno can afford to have the talks now without damning themselves. So, the talks would not take place for a while.