A subliminal message is normally defined as anything that sends you a message without your knowledge of it, usually picked up on by your subconscious mind.

It would not be too far-fetched to say or suggest that Malaysia is in a dire need of a new ‘hero’ or a leader. Let us forget about the political parties for a moment. Let’s just focus on a leader.

Whilst it is true that the leader of Malaysia is essentially based on its political landscape which in turn is based on the political party or components or coalition that has majority seats in Parliament, we seem to have overlooked the need for a strong and trustworthy leader of the country. A party president is not necessarily a strong leader of a nation.

There is this one question that need to be answered now: If the opposition were to secure enough Parliamentary seats come 2018 to form a federal government, who then from the opposition would be the prime minister?

In my mind, if that answer is not clear now in 2016, how am I to be convinced that there is a strong alternative government come 2018? As voters and as lay people, and most of us are, we are not that deeply rooted to politics or aware of the machinery in politics.

Those days, when I was young, I remember there was a strong leader called Dr Mahathir Mohamad (now Tun Mahathir). He sort of kept everything in check. It was a no-brainer who was going to be the prime minister when he was around because the elections and the campaign surrounding it were essentially revolving around Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Yes, there was his then-party called Umno and component parties called MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc, but the lay people voted or wanted to vote for Dr Mahathir Mohamad. If they couldn’t vote for him, they wanted to vote for some party that was linked to him, hence the importance of the ‘dacing’ sign.

It has always been that way.

Today in 2016, Malaysia has gone one full circle and is now back in the hunt for that new strong leader. It is for that reason the opposition should, beginning from, like immediately, decide who would be the prime minister from their coalition and campaign around the country introducing that ‘new’ prime minister.

Should they decide and start campaigning immediately, a subliminal message would be sent out to Malaysians that there is a new leader vying for the position of prime minister and people would inevitably be curious. Automatically the opposition would be perceived as a strong alternative government. That itself is a good start.

The approach of ‘let’s win then decide who would be prime minister’ by the opposition, in my humble opinion, does not seem to capture that confidence of the lay people.

Yes, it is true that there is a growing number of people who are more exposed to alternative news material nowadays that have endorsed and understood the opposition’s stand and policies. But what about the ordinary folks in the rural areas? They, too, are looking for a leader who stands for all that is good and just. Party policies, in my opinion, would not mean anything to them. Why? It’s simply because they would just follow what the leader says.

Very crucial reason

It is for this very crucial reason that many, many countries around the world vote for their leader. Yes, they do belong to a political party but unconsciously people are voting for their leader, or who they want to be their leader. It is a basic human characteristic. The recently concluded US presidential elections showed just that. It was reported that Democrats who voted for Barack Obama now voted for Republican Donald Trump. So much for the party.

It is sad that when there is an alternative strong leader that may have the chance of leading the country, somehow he is stopped in his tracks.

Malaysia may be plagued with electoral boundary issues, electoral roll issues, postal votes issues, however, maybe, just maybe, if an identifiable candidate from the opposition can stand up today with the backing of his or her coalition, and say without any hesitation “I am campaigning to be the prime minister in 2018”, that, in my humble opinion, would create waves.

Yes, it is true that we do not literally vote for a prime minister at the end of the day, but when there is that strong leader present and real, we would subconsciously vote for that person, or, in our case, any political party linked to him or her.

PUTHAN PERUMAL is an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.