COMMENT | Nit-picking as GE15 drive warms up

COMMENT | With nasty weather looming over the horizon, the new reality of current electoral campaigning no longer sounds like “vote for me” or “vote for us”.

Instead, as the campaign for the 15th general election (GE15) warms up, it has taken the stance of “don’t vote for him” and “don’t vote for them”, where strategies are becoming disparagingly nit-picking.

It’s mostly about eliciting emotions and working up distress with the intention to humiliate the opponent.

Missing is the motivation and inspiration to draw out the voting crowd; not counting the gung-ho reaction to an opponent’s dare by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that “we will walk in the flood waters to get to the ballot box”.

So, we have it. The GE15 has been fast-tracked to this year; nine months before the current Parliament reaches its full term in July 2023.

The Election Commission has decided on Nov 19 as the polling day for GE15. Like it or not, we are approaching the monsoon season; which the weather department has forecast will bring along strong winds, heavy rain and large-scale flooding.

While some areas are already getting bits of all that, the worst is feared to come from next month (November) and would continue right up to March next year.

Undi18

Malaysia changed its constitution in 2019 to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 and register voters automatically.

This added 5.8 million new voters - of whom 1.2 million are 18 to 20-year-olds - enlarging the electorate to about 21 million.

Popularly known as the Undi18 Act, it augments well with the Anti-Hopping Act which prohibits elected legislative members from changing parties.

Now that this has been accepted by our MPs, we can expect our politicians to be better behaved, disciplined and hopefully, more pragmatic.

The two acts make the scope of Malaysian politics better defined to give voters their rightful worth aside from the voters themselves giving renewed respect to their politicians.

READ MORE: First time voter? Check out our GE15 guide

Also, those seeking power cannot just patronise people they perceive as simple-minded, weak and who would agree to do their bidding for even the most paltry rewards.

Those days are about over.

Politics in Malaysia has been a giddy rollercoaster ride over the past four years. Self-seeking thrills, unexpected twists and turns, predictable ups and downs.

It’s all there - exciting for some; disconcerting to others. In the end, we will get what we deserve.

Supply Bill

The biggest prank was, of course, the tabling of the Supply 2023 Bill; which came just about a week before the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.

The MPs find it a waste of time while preparing for the hazardous season, to discuss and debate the bill; which is essentially about government expenditure and gains next year.

Many are wondering why the bill, better known as Budget 2023, was tabled in the first place when a national election is just around the corner.

To be fair, it is not a government decision as being made to be in social media discussions.

The prerogative to get the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to give his royal consent for the dissolution of Parliament had rested squarely on caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

It is not a bad budget as it sets the tone for Malaysia to be among the Top 10 competitive countries in the world by 2025.

But it all came to nought when Parliament was dissolved.

Notwithstanding that the budget does not bind the ensuing government, the new bloc of MPs could start their term by re-tabling the bill; meaning, doing again the whole process, starting with the first reading.

Political shenanigans

Days before Ismail Sabri had his audience with the king to dissolve Parliament, he had said that by virtue of his office he had the prerogative to make his own decision, including when the country should go to the polls.

Certainly, the premier knew what are the things that are not okay with his Keluarga Malaysia, including the rage and ruins that could come with the monsoons.

And, of course, he could not be oblivious to the slide of the ringgit that had resulted in rising costs of food and sundry goods.

He could also not ignore the threat of Covid-19 that had refused to go away.

He could use these and other reasonable grounds to keep the GE15 on its rightful track, but he decided otherwise. Ismail Sabri had also enough people to trust his decisions.

Yet, he did not seek anybody’s advice; though his opponents and netizens believe he was deciding at the behest of his Keluarga Umno.

Rather, he reportedly told the king his hybrid cabinet was split and, on occasions, had shown hostility towards his leadership.

The palace then issued a statement saying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had no choice but to go along with the dissolution of Parliament because His Majesty finds the politics in the country worrying.

Hopefully, the political shenanigans that had bugged the country over the past four years will stop when the next-elected government seriously strive to reach out to their voters and ratepayers.

At the end of it all, it is Malaysians who deserve better. I hope the voters are aware that they are the ones who should call the shots in the country, not the 222 MPs.

For that to happen, they must vote wisely on Nov 19.

FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is a veteran Sarawak editor and heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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