BN's last-minute insidious attacks on democracy

As more and more signs point to the dissolution of Parliament this Friday, it is becoming abundantly clear that the government has saved its most insidious new laws for the very last minute.

Pushed through in the very last days of the very last parliamentary sitting were the Election Commission’s (EC’s) redelineation exercise and the Anti-Fake News Bill - the latter ironically being passed on April 2, the day after the biggest fake news day of the year.

It is deeply disappointing that PAS and Khalid Ibrahim voted in favour of these two bills, giving very little doubt as to what we can expect a vote for PAS to mean.

I believe the redelineation especially will be BN’s single biggest weapon in the coming general election.

Others have elucidated in much greater detail in Parliament how this redelineation favours BN, while Bersih has just highlighted its own findings of exactly how abusive this exercise is.

A particularly shocking point was the fact that a coalition can theoretically obtain a simple majority in Parliament and form the government by merely winning 16.5 percent of the popular vote.

This is an absurdity of Orwellian magnitude.

Ethnic manipulation tearing M'sia apart

The other aspect of the redelineation that I feel has deep implications, not just for the 14th general election but for the future of our nation, is gerrymandering along ethnic lines.

A graphic by the Washington Post illustrates how gerrymandering works quite effectively.

In the Malaysian context, what mostly happens is that electoral boundaries are redrawn so that communities that tend to vote one way are all clumped into one constituency, which the opposition will win by a big margin.

Through this exercise, neighbouring constituencies - which now have a reduced number of opposition supporters - are more likely to be won by the government, probably by small margins.

This constant manipulation of ethnic factors for political purposes has far reaching consequences for the social fabric of our nation, as politicians are incentivised to play more and more to ethnic sentiments in order to win their seats.

Fake 'fake news'

In order to further ensure victory, the government has elected to pass a wholly unnecessary Anti-Fake News Bill, jumping onto a global bandwagon - itself ironically built on a dependence on fake news.

I believe the primary short-term function of this bill is to put a chilling effect on the population, ahead of when election campaigns kick into highest gear.

By saving this for the last moment, the government is likely hoping to instill enough fear to prevent the high levels of online criticism it is wisely aware that it is going to face in the coming weeks.

It’s smart. While the brave people of publications like Malaysiakini take such risks in stride, very few people are enthusiastic about facing the hassle of prosecution, making writers everywhere think twice about every line they write.

We all share a commitment to the truth, and to combatting untruths, but I think now is the time to stand united in courage, and face down those who would censor us for their own odious purpose, in the guise of “upholding truth”.

Galvanising resistance

Perhaps one unintended outcome of this crackdown by the government will be the galvanisation of the population.

In a time where many have been tempted to spoil their vote, or not cast it at all (ideas they may have passed through more of our minds than we think) - this blatant cheating and oppression may galvanise hundreds and thousands of Malaysians to rethink their decisions.

Hopefully, the opposition will not take this as carte blanche to absolve their shortcomings.

If they intend to pose a real threat in the days to come, much work needs to be done.

To start with, it will probably be important for their prime minister-designate, of all people, to present a united front.

Sharing his internal disagreement and lack of conviction regarding his own party’s manifesto promises exemplifies the biggest problem Pakatan Harapan has been facing for a very long time - the image of a united front.

One should perhaps remind the said prime minister-designate that presenting such a united front will likely be more important than tolls or any single individual issue.

Ultimately, public awareness will go a long way in determining how badly these two new developments damage the country.

BN is banking on most of these changes not generating a great deal of public outcry, especially over the long term.

It’s a tried and true method, exploiting the electorate’s notoriously short memory for things that do not affect them in a visceral, here-and-now kind of way.

Whether or not they succeed, as always, depends on us.

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NATHANIEL TAN hopes those of you in Penang will consider attending a public forum on deaths in detention, organised by EDICT, on Saturday, April 7, at 7.30pm at the Penang Institute. -Mkini