Some things don’t change

 

From Terence Netto

The adage “the more things change the more they stay the same” must be one of the more dispiriting entries in the lexicon of human thought.

A 19th century French journalist is said to be the originator. His occupation must have spawned his scepticism that events, big ones especially, can usher impactful changes in the course of time.

Imagine if some muse were to cite this maxim to Pakatan Harapan celebrants as news trickled in about Barisan Nasional’s defeat in GE14 in the early hours of May 10, 2018.

Imagine, also, if it were quoted to women’s rights exponents in Afghanistan in early July when President Joe Biden optimistically dismissed the possibility of a Taliban takeover of the country following the imminent withdrawal of American military forces.

Imagine, too, the reaction if this saying were thrown at critics of Muhyiddin Yassin’s stewardship as prime minister when rumour mills hummed with word of his resignation in the days before he actually did quit on Aug 13.

The celebrants, exponents and critics in these situations must have thought their visions of the future were being mocked by pessimists or, at least, sceptics without an optimistic bone in their make-up.

Yet, in all three scenarios the above saying is pertinent as to what happened or is happening after the events transpired – government change in the first instance, regime change in the second, and prime ministerial change in the third.

No doubt hope springs external in all who want and strive for change, especially in situations regarded as intolerable. In politics, it appears the more we hope that events striven for would bring about change, the more things remain the same.

In the case of Barisan Nasional’s defeat in GE14, in the instance of the Taliban’s defeat and overthrow in 2001, and in the ejection of Muhyiddin as prime minister, there followed reasonable expectations that the events would bring about changes for the better.

Though the jury is still out in the case of Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s replacement of Muhyiddin as prime minister, what has happened in the years after Barisan Nasional’s defeat in 2018 and what is all too likely to happen in the case of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is that matters have regressed or are headed south.

This is depressing.

Hardly has Ismail got used to his new position as prime minister that people began looking to GE15, more with trepidation than expectation.

This is particularly so to those who voted for change at GE14 and who have seen how easily their hopes have been dashed, even reversed.

They dare not hope the morrow would bring a different result to their hopes.

Women in Afghanistan who enjoyed a modicum of empowerment after the Taliban’s overthrow in 2001 are now said to be fretting about their return to purdah, joblessness and no education.

The man who gave vent to that pessimistic saying at the start of this reflection strikes one as more seer than doomsayer.

One barometer of how things would go at, and after, GE15 is to see what changes in the line-up of principal leaders of the coalition for change, Pakatan Harapan.

No one reasonably hopes that change would come via the ruling coalition, whether it is called Perikatan Nasional or Barisan Nasional.

The latest word that Anwar Ibrahim, once the Pied Piper of political and economic reform and now the damaged trustee of its hopes, would again lead Pakatan Harapan at GE15 is not calculated to cheer the legions who still thirst for change despite what has happened in recent years.

This news suggests that some things just don’t change. - FMT

Terence Netto is a journalist and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.