PH’s failures vindicate us, say #UndiRosak activists

PETALING JAYA: Random voices predicting the defeat of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the next general election have brought comfort to activists associated with a movement that called for the spoiling of votes in last year’s polls.

Two of the #UndiRosak activists, Maryam Lee and Hafidz Baharom, told FMT they now felt vindicated by chatter on social media and elsewhere on the likelihood of PH turning out to be a one-term government because of its failure to fulfil many of its promises.

They also claimed many people who were against their campaign had recently told them privately that they now believed #UndiRosak was right all along.

In the days before the election, the group was often denounced as being irresponsible for working against democracy. The detractors included politicians from both PH and Barisan Nasional.

Lee was in fact sexually harassed and threatened with physical harm.

Hafidz recalled a forum during which he said PH was not ready to form a government.

“But people still believed in PH and voted for it,” he said. “And now they have to deal with the fact that it is brittle at best when it comes to being a government.”

Speaking of the people who were now acknowledging that #UndiRosak was right, he said they would mainly complain about the cost of living and the government’s missteps on various issues.

He noted that spoilt votes in recent by-elections had been quite sizeable, but he said the coming Sarawak state election would provide a surer way of gauging the trend.

“But the next general election will be the one to watch to assess #UndiRosak,” he added.

With the voting age now reduced to 18, Hafidz expects a change in voting patterns.

“But in what way, I’m not sure,” he said. -FMT