The Johor state election is totally unnecessary, brought about needlessly by Umno to improve its standing in Johor and to test the waters for an early general election to consolidate its position at both the state and federal levels.
If indeed Umno wins big combined with the feel-good factor of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, (announced perhaps a bit prematurely by the PM on Tuesday – for example, no physical distancing for prayer activities), it would be a great time to call for general elections - a year before they are due.
The excuse that the Umno’s Johor menteri besar gave was that with the death of a state assemblyman, the majority of the BN/PN coalition had been reduced to one in the 56-seat state assembly - 28 versus 27.
But it was just two previously. History has shown us that party-hopping can turn even a solid majority into a minority. This is what happened to a democratically elected government at GE14 in 2018 and why Umno/BN is back in power at the federal level and in some states too.
The public should reject a return to power by BN/Umno/PN at the polls, starting with Johor. Umno together with the traitorous Bersatu and some even more traitorous key PKR members who crossed over to Bersatu engineered the fall of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
And Pejuang is a brainchild of the person most responsible for Harapan’s downfall who was somehow left out of the Sheraton Move but who conspired to set up a so-called unity government which was to have been headed by him, of course. There are three main traitors in this plot as I explained here.
The three groupings - Umno-BN, Bersatu and Pejuang - deserve to be totally rejected by the electorate for all the damage that they have already done to the country and the further damage they will do if they come to power again. Johor must deny them that avenue towards control.
Let’s take each trio in turn.
Umno has had a slow descent into major corruption and kleptocracy after the one who reigned for 22 years came to office as PM in 1981. The kleptocrat, after coming into power in 2009, took things to a new level, engineering the theft of billions in proceeds from 1MDB bonds issued with government guarantees as I explained here.
Do we really want these kleptocrats to be back at the top echelons of government? Some of them are advisers. Already the prosecution process for some of the Umno court cluster seems to be in shambles as these news reports indicate:
RM114m targeted in 1MDB-linked forfeiture suit returned to Najib and Umno
Court strikes out affidavit on 1MDB money trail in forfeiture suit
Court dismisses 1MDB-linked forfeiture suit against Najib, family
Court throws out RM192m 1MDB forfeiture suits against Umno, MCA
Govt withdraws bid to forfeit almost RM16m of Azeez's family assets
These are just a sampling. Imagine what would happen if these people are allowed full reign back in government and granted pardons before they have served their full sentences. What dire fate awaits this nation of ours then? This needs to be nipped in the bud that Johor has now become.
Bersatu’s head was the PM before Umno engineered his fall and put its man up there. But just look at what he did when he was PM for that short period of time. Among them, rewarding MPs for their support by putting rather incompetent people of dubious integrity and ability at the very top of government-linked companies, enterprises and boards. Is this what we want in government?
Pejuang is a has-been even before it started, a spent force whose leader has already announced that he won’t be contesting the next elections - best to let it die a natural death and move on. Its only purpose seems to be to split opposition votes further and even in that it is likely to be minuscule in terms of impact.
The main contest is between Umno-BN and Harapan - the rest are spoilers, including Muda, Warisan and Pejuang (see tables).
Note that Harapan is only contesting 50 seats, six short of the full complement because Harapan components DAP and Amanah thought it fit to allocate six seats to Muda, a mistake as I pointed out here.
That has not stopped Muda from contesting against PKR in one of the seats. In a fight which could be close, every seat matters and it is foolish of Harapan to make way for six seats to Muda. But still, Muda will be a far better choice than BN/PN/Pejuang if only because they are more likely to work with Harapan in government.
Sabah’s Warisan is merely trying luck in the peninsula and is likely to lose badly in all the seats it contests and withdraw into its shell in Sabah where it lost the last state elections. They could not win the state but yet have national ambitions.
I pick Harapan as the best choice for the state and the nation and fervently hope that Johoreans think so too. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research, is an independent writer and consultant.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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