Don't use Covid as reason not to hold Malacca polls

“The only people truly bound by campaign promises are the voters who believe them.”

- Christopher Hitchens

This week, the government will decide if it wants to kick the can down the road when it comes to the issue of how people will vote, by possibly declaring an emergency in Malacca. 

All over the world, democracies or tyrannies are using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for policy shifts or the strengthening of autocratic rule.

The manure show, which is the dissolution of the Malacca state assembly, is merely another banal example of how this country is floating down the proverbial crapper, ever since the hegemonic model of Umno/BN rule was replaced by covens of political operatives who for various reasons cannot shelter under the shade of Umno rule.

When you have a political operative like Idris Haron claiming that to “… a certain extent, MCA is more chauvinist than the DAP,” you know the train has left for crazy town. 

Never mind that Pakatan Harapan is attempting to play the innocent in this fiasco, when in reality, like the Sheraton Move, everyone knew that the house was crumbling down, but nobody wanted to be the one who belled the cat.

Furthermore, all these admissions, of behind the scenes political hookups between supposed mortal rivals, should tell everything we need to know about mainstream politics in this country and how political operatives feed the base red meat while attempting to share power through backdoors means dressing it up as political stability.

All this talk of corruption and political malfeasances by desperate charlatans who claim that they have the best interests of the rakyat is indicative of how cynical these cretins are, because they know ultimately, whatever creature comes out of this mess, it would be one which plays by the rules created after decades of Umno/BN rule.

Of course, we get folks claiming that it is better to have an emergency declaration in Malacca because this serves two purposes. 

The first, factional power brokers can wheel and deal behind the scenes without oversight and the second and this perhaps, is the more important purpose, an emergency would mean that these disparate political parties would not have to test their electability prospects in a state election.

In the good old days of hegemonic rule, you would have the power of the federal government at your disposal for a state election. Everyone knew who the enemy was and everyone was more or less on the same page. 

Now, the federal government is weak, composed of the wreckage of the Sheraton Move and is in no position to decisively offer goodies for their state apparatus.

Indeed, with the motley crew operating in Putrajaya, the prospect of a state election where the viability of their individual parties would be tested would result in political shenanigans of epic ineptitude. 

We would have different groups attempting to use the federal government to prop up their candidates who would be competing against each other.

For the time being, everyone can brag about how important and how much grassroots support they have when nobody wants to roll the dice and test that proposition, especially when they do not have the federal machinery behind them. 

Safer environment for voters

When we have parties in the federal government claiming they would not work with each other, you know how deep the rabbit hole goes.

While the Health Ministry has claimed there are SOPs in place, they, like the rest of us, are waiting for the play from Putrajaya. But really, this idea that having an emergency is for the benefit of the rakyat is bunkum. 

The fact is, pandemic fatigue has set in and grown roots. While there are SOPs in place and the rakyat are generally following the rules, the reality is that folks are out and about and in many places, having a vaccine passport merely means that whoever you are waving it in front of most probably has no real interest in checking if you are vaccine compliant.

People voting in a controlled environment, where SOPs are strictly adhered to, means that for folks voting, it would be a safer environment, than where they are usually spending their time. Therefore, this idea, that suspending a democratic norm and right because of safety issues is pure horse manure.

Furthermore, nobody really knows what the folks of Malacca want. The best way to discover this would be an election. Voter turnout would be a strong indicator of what folks think of the current political disaster or what they think of this pandemic.

Indeed, the only safety issue would be during the various campaign stumps and this is only because political operatives do not give a damn about the rakyat or SOPs for that matter.

But that is the problem right here. The political establishment does not want to know what the rakyat really wants. They would prefer it if they can finesse deals without having to go through the democratic process and the pandemic gives them the perfect excuse to maintain power without actually having to be elected.

The Malacca fiasco could not have come at a worse time for this regime. While the country is opening up, the excuse for declaring an emergency becomes farcical. 

Even more so, considering that the Muhyiddin Yassin regime used the emergency card when it was terrified of losing power.

Could an election in Malacca lead to more instability when it comes to sharing power between disparate power groups? Yes, it could. 

But what it will definitely show, depending on turnout – who are the contenders and who are merely pretenders.

Nobody from Putrajaya or any party which claims to be a kingmaker wants to face that outcome. - Mkini

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - "Let justice be done though the heavens fall."

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.