This is a reply to an opinion piece by Selayang MP William Leong titled, "Non Malay frustration, anger understandable, but…"
Fixed deposit is a banking term describing a savings account generally regarded as low-risk and safe, with dependable returns.
It is boring, dependable, and consistent - essentially a safety net. Having large enough savings in a fixed deposit allows you to venture into the risky business of the stock market, commodity trading, or, for those who yearn for high-risk, high-return excitement, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange speculation.
Fixed deposits are always there; they ensure that when hard times come, they will be the ones keeping the lights on, the water flowing, and food on the table.
While Leong’s writing makes logical sense, there is hardly any fallacy in his argument; it somehow feels disingenuous, or more aptly, hard to swallow.
Although he lays out coherent reasons as to why reforms are slow or certain promises are hard to keep, allow me to offer a slightly simpler explanation.
It’s not that the promises made to you, their core constituents, cannot be delivered, or that fulfilling them is painfully difficult. Perhaps the main reason this is happening is that you may be considered a fixed deposit voter.
Hardcore supporters
Fixed deposit voters are dependable, they won’t sway, they will always be there, and they form the unwavering support base of a political party.
They are the ones who buy a seat or a table at fundraising dinners come election time, and the folks who willingly hang party posters on their front gates.
However, when a political party is in power, reaping the dividends of its high-risk political coalition investments, the importance of a fixed deposit voter suddenly feels secondary.
Why? Because they now have other sources and new friends who can buy those dinner tables, sponsor their election machinery, and print their posters and banners.
We understand the reality of what we are facing. We are not naive; we know that you need a coalition to govern and that Pakatan Harapan didn’t win an outright majority.
Muda knows this all too well. While people may forget, our sole MP, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, submitted his statutory declaration in support of Harapan long before other cabinet members of the Madani coalition did.
We understood this fact and never questioned the logic behind the move.
Where are the reforms?
The real reason people are angry now, and why we left back then, is simply this - what did Harapan, and more importantly, Harapan voters, get out of this deal?
Fine, it’s a compromise, we get it. But out of this compromise, what institutional reforms were actually delivered?
The senior cabinet posts, the justification of discharge not amounting to acquittals (DNAA), the joint campaigning, the taxpayer funding exclusively given to government MPs, what does all of this amount to?
What Umno and BN got is pretty clear, and it seems they will get even more than they bargained for.
What happened to Syed Saddiq is also abundantly clear - how his constituency development funds were yanked because Muda decided that this coalition government needed to be held accountable for its promises.
What progressive policies or institutional reforms were introduced, and which regressive laws were repealed after all these years, when you had the power and the support of two-thirds of Dewan Rakyat members?
Either you are the worst dealmakers in history, or the deal was always about power and never about reforms, and that this sudden realisation of your ideals and your political struggles comes alongside the reasoning relating to power.
‘Green Wave’ bogeyman
Returning to the concept of the fixed deposit voter, a fixed deposit is only remembered when times are tough, when high-risk investments fail to pay off.
The assumption is that a fixed deposit voter will always come back, driven by pure, simple sentiment. For some right-wing Malay parties, it relies on racial fearmongering.
For others, harping on the "Green Wave" narrative seemed to work last time around. Ironically, those who harp on the lore are the same ones empowering the beneficiaries of that “Green Wave” coalition.
Don’t let them gaslight you with fear. Don’t listen to the voices telling you that you have no other choices, or those claiming they have the exclusive right to your causes and ideals.
There are options. Some people took the difficult road of accountability long before it was fashionable; people determined to win your support through action, ideas, and by consistently championing progressive policies.
Who you ultimately vote for is your right. All I ask is that the voters and, by extension, all of us, regardless of race or religion, not be a fixed deposit voter. - Mkini
RASHIFA ALJUNIED is the deputy treasurer and a central working committee member of Muda.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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