On the lips of many but ‘Kerajaan Gagal’ won’t matter, says analyst

 

A ‘Kerajaan Gagal’ protest held in Batu Pahat, Johor, in May.

PETALING JAYA: The “KerajaanGagal” hashtag first emerged on social media as a frustrated response to the rise in Covid-19 cases during the Emergency but has become a “war cry” for government critics.

From Twitter to banners to graffiti and even statements by political parties, Kerajaan Gagal has remained a constant feature in the past months.

It follows announcements of lockdowns, record numbers of new infections and deaths, people taking part in festivities, stories of struggling Malaysians, reports of suicide and incidences of overzealous enforcement.

The issue has led to a number of social media polls on whether the government has failed.

This week, former prime minister Najib Razak’s poll saw 350,000 people responding. A whopping 78% (273,000) said the government had failed, against 22% (77,000) who said it had not.

Government leaders like federal territories minister Annuar Musa and special functions minister Redzuan Yusof have disputed the label, saying while there were challenges, the government had not failed.

Oh Ei Sun.

But regardless of how people feel about the government, one analyst says Kerajaan Gagal will not matter.

“This is a government that does not appear to take shame into account, so regardless of how people feel or how much pressure they are asserting, it is not likely to let go of power. We’re unlikely to see anyone resign like in other countries,” said Oh Ei Sun, a fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

“As for the impact during elections, we don’t even know when that will be. With the high number of Covid-19 cases, elections are unlikely.”

Oh said even without Kerajaan Gagal, Perikatan Nasional would stand little chance of winning.

For one, he said, the coalition’s lynchpin Bersatu won its seats in GE14 thanks to support from Pakatan Harapan supporters, a phenomenon that will not repeat itself.

On top of that, the next election will see Bersatu take on Umno, which had strong grassroots support and momentum it did not have in the last elections.

“Kerajaan Gagal is a convenient battle cry that is based on a factual statement, and while everyone is adopting it, it’s not going to give the opposition an advantage because PN did not have a lot of support to begin with,” he said.

Oh said last year’s Sabah election results could not be used as a barometer for PN’s support level because of the nature of Sabah politics, which centred more around personalities rather than parties.

He said while PN had “nothing to lose” over Kerajaan Gagal, it was PAS and Umno which risked losing out from its association with the present government.

“There is a lot of anger, particularly in the Malay community, over the handling of Covid-19 and the economy, as many are struggling. This has been manifested in the white flag campaign,” he said.

“So, for PAS and Umno, their continued association with the government does them more harm than good.” - FMT