First things first, Muhyiddin and Dr M...

A name change for the opposition coalition will not do much to help swing votes, but a series of ceramah in places especially the rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak, will make the difference.

Malaysians will vote for candidates who represent change, and change is what the Malaysian society has been groaning for. From the business tycoons whose businesses had been raided by taxmen to the ordinary men on the street whose livelihood is badly affected by the cut in subsidies and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the wind of change continues to blow across the country.

Malaysia is now undergoing ‘birth pangs’. Until there is a change in government in Putrajaya, we will not be able to see much hope in the country. We have become a nation of ‘kleptocrats’ in the eyes of the world. Where can we hide our faces?

Ceramah and name change

People will vote based on their aspirations to see a change in government, not because the opposition has adopted nice names like Barisan Alternatif, Pakatan Rakyat and now Pakatan Harapan.

If former deputy prime minister MuhyiddinYasin’s suggestion is given any consideration, it will add yet a new name to the list. It will be Barisan Rakyat. Why Barisan Rakyat, why not Harapan Rakyat? Why not Maju Rakyat? Or, Kekuasaan Rakyat (People Power)?

There is no point talking belaboring the name change from Pakatan Harapan to Barisan Rakyat, just because Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has decided to join the opposition coalition. Its participation is welcomed and it adds to the equation. However, what is more important now is to preach to the unconverted.

Nothing matters other than reaching the rural Malays and both Sabah and Sarawak voters who will deliver the final blow to the ruling coalition, once they are awakened.

With due respect, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also suggested a common logo to represent the new coalition.

Without belittling the idea, during the last general election, even without a common logo, Pakatan Rakyat received more than 50 percent of the votes.

It proves one point. People are more interested in saving this nation from going down the wrong path than to have wonderful names that could not take over Putrajaya.

Both Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin have a lot of groundwork to do to win over the rural Malays in West Malaysia. I hope that they will focus on winning over the rural folk while our brothers and sisters in Sabah and Sarawak continue to work on the ground and deliver the parliamentary seats.

While I am also in favour of a common logo since the last general election, do we dare say that it will boost the majority vote by even 10 percent just because of a change of name and a new logo? To me, these are secondary.

If there is a logo that has already been registered, use it. If not, forget about it for now. Focus on speaking to the new voters, the rural Malays and East Malaysians.

Most of us living in urban cities are already feeling the heat from the rise in the cost of living under the current regime. Except for some turncoats, most of us have already decided who to vote for, even if we do not turn up for the ceramah.

What we need to do is to convince the new voters that Pakatan Harapan needs to be given a chance to run the country, just as we have seen that they are doing a good job in both Penang and Selangor.

Reading the situation

PAS president Abdul HadiAwang is in my opinion the main reason for the dissolution of Pakatan Rakyat. The late Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat was a more charismatic leader compared to the apparently lacklustre Hadi.

The faces of PAS in the last two general elections were people like Mohamad Sabu (or Mat Sabu) and Khalid Samad. These former leaders in the so-called Erdogan faction in PAS have since former Amanah. We have Amanah in the equation.

Based on the latest news, PAS and Umno are likely to face another split. PAS seemingly has two factions, one led by Hadi and the other comprising those who are faithful to deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man. Based on some insider’s information, Umno, too, has allegedly two factions, Team A and Team B. Team A is loyal to Najib, while Team B is loyal to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

We know little about the two factions in Umno, but PAS will definitely be facing another crisis soon. Most of Tuan Ibrahim’s loyalists are disgruntled with Hadi and while Tuan Ibrahim’s faction wanted to work with Bersatu, Hadi’s supporters are totally against it.

In fact, recently Tuan Ibrahim’s statement urging the government to reduce the GST rate, clearly shows that the GST is eating into the disposable income of most PAS members.

Tuan Ibrahim should not have asked for a reduction in the GST rate, which Najib can do prior to the coming general election and revise it further upwards after the election. In my opinion, the GST should be abolished altogether. This should be part of Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto. It is hitting the economy badly, as people have had to tighten their belts since their disposable income has been reduced substantially with the rising cost of living.

If you read in between the lines, you can see now that even Barisan Nasional leaders apparently realise that our economy is badly hit because of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. While a lot of fluff has been kicked up over China’s and Saudi Arabia’s ‘investments’, the economy is not as robust as before.

We know it is a lot of fluff because Saudi Arabia is seemingly in the financial doldrums themselves and the king himself had to travel to this part of the world to sell part of Saudi Aramco’s shares. Meanwhile, we know that projects like the East Coast Rail Line costing RM55 billion is unlikely to attract any major investors as public transportation has never been a lucrative business.

Most Malaysians are more well-informed these days, such that it is no longer easy for Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders to allegedly tell ‘lies’ any longer. If the economy is doing well, we will all know it, but associations representing the small and medium scale businesses are telling us that sales had dropped by 50 percent last year. Most of us do window shopping these days just to get away from the heat outside.

It is for this reason that people like Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan tries to blame the opposition for the country’s poor economic performance.

As we have seen of late, Sarawakians are now voicing their concerns over the amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. It does not matter whether it will be passed in the parliament or not, they have already seen how the present government under Najib Abdul Razak is handling such an important matter in parliament.

Even MIC president Dr S Subramaniam and MCA president Liow Tiong Lai are claiming that they are either ‘in the dark’ over Act 355 or that it was not even discussed with them at the cabinet level. In short, Umno is seemingly taking their own strides without even considering the other non-Muslim component parties.

I agree with Malaysiakini comment writer Terence Netto that objections by Sarawakians may derail the government’s takeover of Hadi’s Act 355. That is the only way for Najib to withdraw his push for the amendments to Act 355.

He may have won a battle by causing a split in the opposition, but he has lost the war when Sarawakians now see his true colours and his determination to push for the PAS agenda.

At the same time, non-Muslims who are watching the developments on what is happening in the country now realise that the PAS faction pushing for Act 355 is in fact confined only to a certain group under Hadi. In short, people in Amanah can still be trusted the way we trusted PAS in the past, when the party was helmed by people like Mat Sabu.

Ask me who I will vote for in the coming general election between the PAS incumbent, an Umno candidate and an Amanah candidate? As a non-Muslim, I would give my vote to the Amanah candidate. My Muslim friends will be split between the three candidates but those who are now with Bersatu or Amanah will certainly not cast a vote for the Umno candidate. That is for sure!

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. -Mkini