Lessons to learn from India polls

For history not to repeat itself, the Barisan Nasional government can learn a thing or two from the India general lection.

COMMENT

K. Ramasegar

There are similarities between India and Malaysia as far as politics is concerned and a lesson to be learnt when the ruling Indian Congress Party was almost wiped out in the general election in the sub-continent.

The Indian Congress Party, which has been in power since independence in 1947, received a massive jolt when it slumped to its worst ever defeat brought on by years of corruption, mismanagement of the economy and scandals.

With inflation spiralling, cost of living going up and high unemployment, the voters who had been tolerating the Congress Party decided enough was enough.

Throughout the years, support for the Congress had been slipping and they only managed to form the federal government with the alliance of the regional parties.

With a weak coalition of parties, the Congress leaders were caught up in power struggles within themselves, and the health of the nation went down rapidly.

The Congress was too engrossed in party affairs and selfish personal gains thus failing to notice the discontentment growing on the ground.

Then came a man, Narendra Modi, to put a spanner in the works of another Congress victory in the recently concluded elections.

Narendra Modi of the Bhrathiya Janata Party (BJP) who became the chief minister of the state of Gujurat in the previous general election, set the ball rolling for the opposition.

He transformed Gujurat from a poor state to a thriving economy and set a benchmark for the other Indian states to follow.

The opposition found the son of a tea seller the most suitable candidate for prime minister with his transformation plan.

Indians mostly voted for Modi rather than the BJP. Modi promised to make the country a world economic power and reduce unemployment, bring foreign investment and wipe out corruption.

Malaysia is in the same situation now, with the Barisan Nasional, formerly the Alliance, in power since the Independence in 1957.

Initially, with the British system of government and education as well as a good economy and thanks to the high price of rubber those days, the country did quite well as racial politics and corruption was at its minimum.

The people supported the government which had a two-thirds majority. But absolute power corrupts absolutely and with a weak opposition, the leaders started to deviate from the path of good governance.

With the BN slowly losing ground to the opposition but still holding a two-thirds majority they failed to see the unhappiness on the ground.

All policies were bulldozed in a BN-majority Parliament with the opposition having little or no say at all.

When the opposition was starving for a leader, came former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim to galvanise the masses into a formidable force and they gained a lot of ground in the last two general elections.

But the similarities between India and Malaysia end here because the opposition coalition is having its own set of problems and they seem to be taking the people’s support for granted.

The Umno-led BN should learn from the Indian elections before it is too late and get rid of the ministers propagating racial politics and seeding hatred among the races.

It is all in the hands of the prime minister how he wants to brand himself. Be firm and get rid of troublemakers in Umno and the cabinet to gain the people’s support or be meek and play the racial card to stay as party leader and lose the next election.

The opposition, too, will be searching for answers why it lost the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election and how to regain support of the people.

During a debate at the height of campaigning in the Indian election, Modi was asked what he did for the Muslims, Christians and Hindus in Gujurat. He answered ‘nothing’ but added that he had done quite a lot for the people of Gujurat.

So when you do not differentiate between races and religions then you are on the right track and the opposition seems to be better at this game.

Barisan Nasional has a lot of catching up to do in this new political landscape to stay in power. The choice is your Mr Prime Minister.