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COMMENT | Democracy cannot just be limited to elections, but to deny the critical importance of elections in the overall democratic exercise is just futile.

The call to abstain in elections is a legitimate one. It is one’s democratic right anyway. However, while that choice is legitimate, it translates into the disproportionate empowerment of the ruling BN government.

Oh Ei Sun, an adjunct senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, has suggested that protest votes merely privilege the establishment. “(By) not voting in a not yet two-party electoral system, they are essentially ensuring the victory by the ruling party, which has more wherewithal to organise mass voters turnouts in their favour,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Here are several reasons why we must make a choice in this coming general election to either vote for BN, Pakatan Harapan or even PAS.

1. The ruling government has a solid indoctrinated voter base

In contrast to the opposition coalition, BN has a strong grip over the mainstream media, education and state apparatus to promote the perverted agendas of BN.

These agendas have been indoctrinated into us, from an education curriculum which overly emphasises Umno’s role in liberating Malaysia from the British to the state-funded BN engagement programs which come with goodies and handouts.

It is a known fact that every primetime news programme will focus on shaming and badmouthing the opposition party while blindly praising the BN government. This power monopoly zombifies the minds of voters in BN’s favour, thus solidifying their voter base which is often ringfenced by race & religion.

2. BN’s ability to mobilise voters

While MACC issued a strong statement that travel allowances are considered to be a form of bribery, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low said otherwise. Low stated that as long as we did not make it an obligation to vote for BN, it is not a form of bribery.

Having a minister issue a statement contrary to the body in charge of supervising corruption in our country is worrying and troublesome. This is also a clear indication that BN has a greater incentive and the financial strength to carry out such tactics.

According to personal testimonies from former Umno chiefs who are now in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), it is alleged the ketua bahagian (division chief) usually vets the people they want to ferry to voting booths. It clearly shows that this is not an open offer to everyone.

But ultimately, your abstinence won’t stop BN from ferrying these supporters into the voting booth by using cash handouts disguised as “transportation allowance”. The BN candidates will allocate a large sum of money to get their voters out while the opposition is unable to do so due to financial constraints. Again, the strategy will end in agony.

3. BN’s well-financed party machinery

Not only can BN mobilise voters, they also have strong machinery behind them to back them up. All the levels within BN are well-funded, from the federal level to state level to division down until branch. This gives them the ability to recruit and pay workers during the election.

These people, in return, are able to spend time and money going door-to-door to spread messages to people out there about BN. This again goes back to point one as it helps the creation of new indoctrinated fans of BN.

It does not stop there. BN also regularly uses federal agencies to achieve their political goals. They’ll allegedly get staff from federal agencies to go door-to-door seeking ways to help the voters out. Suddenly, governments servants and agencies are converted into BN’s election machinery. Not voting for any party here means another 10 years of Najib Abdul Razak as our prime minister.

4. Big turnouts can swing elections

Changes and miracles happen when people go to the ballot box in huge numbers. This can be clearly seen when 58.2 percent of Americans came down to vote in the 2008 US presidential election, which was a record high since 1972. The outcome of the election led to Barack Obama being elected as the first African-American president.

On the other hand, the 2010 midterm election with a turnout of 40.9 percent led to the US Congress being dominated by Republicans, a party with strong conservative roots. This is a clear sign that change can only happen if people go to the polls in big numbers to ensure that they vote for a party.

Even the historic comeback of the UK’s Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn was only possible as a quarter of a million people, majority of them people under the age of 25 registered to vote at the last minute, creating a surprise as early polls show that the Conservative Party’s Theresa May was leading by far.

5. Abstaining is not an effective protest vote in Malaysia

Abstaining from voting can only be an effective tool in countries that either practice a minimal voting attendance like Australia or countries that include “none of the above” on their ballots.

In those situations, not voting gives a clear indication that they disagree and this grievance will be given attention as there is a strong message behind it. In Malaysia, such mechanisms simply do not apply.

Like it or not, we need to act rationally and within the means of how we can change the outcome of votes. You might think your one vote doesn’t matter in an area that has the incumbent winning by a majority of 13,000 for example.

However, if your decision starts becoming a spillover effect, it causes mayhem. Low voter turnout has never changed the outcome of how the ruling government behaves in Malaysia. It is simply a fruitless exercise.

In conclusion, Malaysians simply need to go down and vote. Winston Churchill once said, “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”.

We have little choices but we need to make those choices count. Exercise your vote, pick either one of the parties in the election, be that force of change.


SYED SADDIQ SYED ABDUL RAHMAN is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief.

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

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