DPM, elections are legitimate channel to topple leaders

I wonder if our Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, understood what the term ‘democratic election’ truly means, as he has once again complained about those plotting to topple him by making him lose in his parliamentary seat of Bagan Datoh.

That is the point, it is an election, a means by which people chose their leadership from several contestants, it is a system of contest, not a political erection to keep present leaders in power.

If the voters so choose, they can not elect him, or if they want to, they can keep him on.

But in any case, that is the whole point. An election is to give hopefuls a chance to contest, and voters the ability to make the choice,

After all, as the BN, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Zahid himself had said before, an election is the proper way to topple leaders.

And if they don’t want to listen to popular protest via expressed dissent in the media or on social media, or exhibited via streets demonstrations, they should at least abide by the fact that elections are where the rakyat can pick and choose, and candidates campaign to oust incumbents from power

Of course opponents would plan to contest and want to unseat him. That is the whole point of an election. What is the big deal? It is not a conspiracy, it is democracy.

Indeed it is a sign of a healthy democracy that they are those who seek to contest against those in power. If Zahid or the BN is saying that urging change by other means is not allowed, and continue looking sideways at attempts to unseat them via democratic elections, then we can only assume that they are not democratic.

One may even go as far as saying that they seek to stay in perpetual power in a country they want to mold into a one party state. But wait... then again that is the system by which Communist China, which Najib and the BN are so chummy now with, is administered.

So other than cyberspace monitoring systems, construction, defence and way of doing business, is Zahid and Najib seeking to emulate their present loh pan China, politically, too?

However, they probably wouldn’t want to emulate Chinese corruption prevention methods. In China they shoot those who are corrupt, and maybe even those who take too much foreign donations.

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HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.