We should have learned many lessons over the last three years since the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018 and the Sabah snap polls in September last year.
A large portion of that time had Malaysians dealing with the threat of Covid-19 and a laggard economy. Worse, we had been subjected to an endless spell of a political pandemic.
Our politicians need only to turn around and look at the coffins being carried to the burial grounds and crematoriums and the people’s skimpy dinner tables to understand the hard times the dreadful virus and straggling economy had brought to the lives and livelihood of the rakyat.
Tomorrow it will be D-Day for Malacca and not surprisingly but most unfortunately, the politicians appear none the wiser.
To political onlookers, an in-house squabble seems a frivolous excuse for the whole assembly to be disbanded and new polls held, which Elections Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Ghani Salleh projected would cost ratepayers some RM46 million. What a waste of public funds!
That would cover the opening of 248 stations involving the more than 495,000 voters in Malacca, the appointment of returning officers and their assistants as well as assignment of task forces, representing the police, local authorities and agents of candidates.
The EC is targeting a 70 percent voter turnout on Nov 20 but, really, for an election that carries no sense of purpose for the electorate, would they risk life and livelihood to line up at the polling stations amid the dreaded coronavirus still lurking in unseen nooks and corners?
The EC is being generous in its estimate, it will not be surprising if just 50 percent or less of the electorate turns up.
Three-ring circus
It’s like a three-ring circus out there, with neither of the major coalition groups - BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan - appearing to have any clue as to what their Keluarga Malaysia mission is in the upcoming state polls.
The flippant election had been ignited by a political crisis that analysts described as ‘self-inflicted’ and plainly due to the inability of politicians to resolve internal issues behind closed doors.
There was no attempt to deliberate issues that arose in any diplomatic way like the way that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong tactfully resolved the power vacuum when the Harapan government collapsed in late February 2020 following the sudden resignation of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Or the time his successor, Muhyiddin Yassin, was forced to step down when Umno pulled the rug under him and quit the ruling PN coalition.
Well, at least some Umno people stayed back, allowing the king to step in again and appoint the party’s vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob to fill Muhyiddin’s vacant slot.
Hopefully, it all stops there, at least until the next general election - scheduled to be held by mid-2023 - when we would have a clearer inkling of whether we would see a new prime minister helming the country.
Next CM
Likewise, who would be the chief minister after the Malacca polls are over?
It had all started with a failed coup attempt by four assemblypersons from the government bench.
However, the quartet was outmanoeuvred by incumbent chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali, who sought an audience with Governor Mohd Ali Rustam on the same day the rabble-rousers withdrew their support for his government.
In quick successions, the state assembly was dissolved and a decision was made by the EC for fresh polls to be held on Nov 20 to fill all the 28 seats of the august House.
It was a shocking move although the people could see there had been too many destabilising developments within the state government.
Needless to say, the people of Malacca, which had just entered Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan in efforts to control the virus, was stupefied by the elections-to-come on account of a small band of vengeful lawmakers attempting to remove their chief minister.
It seems so frivolous that a state-wide election had to be called just because of some petty disappointments that neither the disgruntled politicians nor the chief minister could take to the discussion table to resolve.
So far, the people had not heard anything to appease them that the election is being done for their good although, as the campaign moved along, there had been much rhetoric about principles, equity, solidarity and accountability.
The voters, however, hear them only as back-biting, bad mouthing and caustic brickbats.
To Malaccans, here’s honest feedback from an outsider.
From what we have witnessed since nomination day, with the top guns of Bersatu, Umno and PAS snapping at each other, there is only one logical and sensible conclusion.
Nothing will change for the better in Malacca if the same quarrelsome players are still in control after the elections. And they will be.
PN and BN will not be able to work together, yet they are allies at the federal level. What does that tell you? Simple – they will continue to whack each other at the local level in Malacca. Such a government, if elected by Malaccans on Nov 20, will not be stable.
Should Harapan emerge victorious, there will also be no peace if the majority is a slim one. The BN/PN/PAS team in the opposition will not allow Harapan a quiet and peaceful reign. That is almost a guarantee. Expect trouble and a rowdy opposition in the state assembly.
So, what should the people of Malacca do? Simple, don’t expect any changes for the better when you know that you are still being surrounded by the same political parasites and leeches.
That way, at least you will be less disappointed and disillusioned. Not expecting anything and hoping for nothing will give you less stress.
You heard it from me - never trust politicians these days. Chances are they do not even trust themselves! - Mkini
FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is the author of “Hijack in Malaysia: The Fall of Pakatan Harapan”. Obtain autographed copies from sirsiah@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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