Beware of voter fury, warns economist

 

Malaysians are grappling with rising food prices.

PETALING JAYA: The government risks a backlash of anger from voters if it calls an election during an inflationary cycle, an economist has warned.

Benedict Weerasena of Bait Al-Amanah said voters might see the government as having failed to address the issue of rising food prices.

Various factors have caused a surge in food prices in the country. At the same time, speculation is rife that the general election will be called well before September next year, when it is due.

Weerasena said rising prices would affect voter sentiment. “Over the past decades, spikes in prices, especially in food and fuel, have resulted in voter fury over the government’s failure to address them,” he told FMT.

Benedict Weerasena.

He said the current inflationary pressures were “a global phenomenon” and were due to prolonged supply-related disruptions and geopolitical tensions.

Governments would “face the brunt of voter fury” if elections were held, he said.

Another economist, Goh Lim Thye of Universiti Malaya, said elections held during crises had generally not worked out in favour of serving policymakers.

He pointed out that Australia’s inflation rate was at 5.1% when elections were held last month, resulting in that country’s first change of government in nine years.

He also said current contentious issues would be “left hanging” if there was a power transition.

Goh Lim Thye.

“The transition will be problematic because existing policymakers will no longer be in their ministries,” he said. “This will lead to a blame game instead of rectification of the issues.”

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a press interview last Tuesday that GE15 would have to be pushed back due to the rising cost of living.

However, at the Barisan Nasional Convention on Wednesday, he said he would not delay dissolving Parliament “for even one second” once the coalition was ready.

Ismail’s resistance to GE15 during the current inflationary cycle was lauded by Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz, who was quoted yesterday as saying that politicians pushing for early polls were “politically selfish”. - FMT