Political branding just rhetoric

Political observers believe that the rakyat are now able to see past political rhetoric and are demanding 'responsible' candidates.

PETALING JAYA: An impending and critical 13th general election has spurred the country’s two political coalitions to start branding of candidates.

Barisan Nasional (BN) has hammered the word “winnable” over the heads of its future candidates with Umno president, Najib Tun Razak, defining them as those accepted by the new generation.

Pakatan Rakyat, having recovered from a series of blows, has promised to field “principled” candidates whom PKR president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, described as those who hold true to the principle of struggle and are not tempted by wealth.

But neither terminology has impressed political observers who unhesitatingly stripped both brandings down to their rhetorical basics .

Associate Professor of the Political Science School in Singapore Management University, Bridget Welsh, called it nothing more than politicking as well as an indication of the different broad orientations of both coalitions.

“One is driven to win at all costs and hold on to power while the other is trying to portray itself as the political high ground,” she noted. “The focus of both sides should not be on terminology but on efforts to select and groom strong candidates.”

“Malaysian voters are sceptical of both sides and are less interested in the talk than they are in the evidence and delivery of strong viable candidates who can improve governance and represent people well.”

Political analyst, Khoo Kay Peng, said should such candidates be found and fielded, they would be better pitched as “responsible” or “effective” rather than “winnable” or “principled”.

“Politics is not about winning but serving,” he said. “Right now, political parties are hard-pressed to come up with something new and convincing enough to garner solid public vote and support.”

Voters fed up

Khoo predicted that while each party was intent on creating its own formula, the reality was that both would zoom in on candidates with winnable qualities.

“Political power is gleaned through successful contests and in this context, principled candidates are not always the most popular ones on the ground,” he pointed out.

Farish Noor

Farish Noor, a senior fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, was frank in his assessment of the branding of political candidates.

He stated outright that at this stage many Malaysians are tired and fed up with the branding and the slogans fed to them by BN and Pakatan.

“Finding a candidate who can think of the rakyat, speak well and not resort to racist language would be the least that they can offer,” he said. “Though even then I’m not optimistic about either side’s chances.”