We are now in election mode again. Various dates have been bandied about on when the 15th general election (GE15) will be held.
This is my take. I strongly believe that everything will be over by November, meaning GE15 will most likely be held in October. If you ask me why the October date, it’s just my gut feeling.
Two Sarawak politicians also believe that GE15 will be held this year.
De facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has indicated that the next general election is likely to be called only after the tabling of the federal budget in Parliament.
“I’m very confident of one thing, it is that the prime minister is waiting for the budget. Politicians will draft a good budget, and then they will table it. The best would be for the budget to be passed first before calling for the polls,” Wan Junaidi added.
The budget is normally tabled in October. However, Parliament has been dissolved while it was in session before. This was during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure as prime minister.
Then, Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Youth and Sports Abdul Karim Hamzah also believed that GE15 will be held in October or November this year.
“I dare say that GE15 will be held very soon. We are in August now. Maybe in another two or three months, people will have to vote again,” Karim said in a news report.
In the run-up to GE15, prospective candidates, like people seeking a house to rent, are looking at their chances of securing their seats to serve as people’s representatives.
Opportunity for elected politicians
Just like a rented house that gives space for people to live for a contractual period of time, the Dewan Rakyat and the State Legislative Assemblies present an opportunity for the elected politicians to gain power and influence for a period of five years.
Admittedly, some have overstayed while a few have had their tenure shortened; due to death or a change of heart by the party they serve.
Notwithstanding that, many politicians, on gaining a foothold as a wakil rakyat with the titular Yang Berhormat (YB), do not waste much time to work on their manifestos; which seldom end up on the people’s side.
Grateful to their party for being offered the chance to contest in the polls, rather than to the voters who gave them the victory, these politicians would suddenly find they have limited time to make the most out of their position and would choose personal and party's gains over people and country.
Certainly, democracy is of the people, by the people, but for the people - not quite often.
We can boast about democracy providing freedom of speech, but that is slowly fading away, with public dissent regularly being questioned and punished.
People protest for what they believe is their right, but these protests are met with a strong reaction from the government; namely, from those who were voted into office and chosen by the political bosses to head a ministry, some agency or government-linked companies.
While the electorate would come with a hoard of problems, there’s little their local YB would listen to - or act upon - in the whole five years of his term in his constituency and the legislature.
Worse, he begins to cultivate the thinking that the common people are ignorant, do not know better than he does and they have no idea what the government is doing for them.
Sure, the government has advisors and specialists to inform it of what’s happening around the globe and, yes, science and statistics are important in what the government decides.
Yet, these YBs forget that the government is also helmed by average people who are just as good as the people who voted them to be in office.
Our citizenry is well-informed enough about what’s happening on the ground; and they, not the experts, have the real input on what goes on where the masses stay, live, work, school and shop.
Democracy gives politicians a chance to taste power. But quite many of them give it a bad name; making the administration weak in taking care of the country and its citizens.
For those intending to be candidates when GE15 comes around, here’s a point to ponder: The common people are hardly impressed with most of the elected representatives at the moment.
They have so often seen how politicians bungle when they have to make important decisions; which do not have the rakyat’s best interest at heart.
Politicians, whatever their political colours, are seen to be entirely focused on increasing their own political power, fame, and fortune. The interests of their constituents come bottom of their priority list. This is not just heresy, but a fact.
No wonder, people who are highly productive, smart and dynamic generally do not seek to work as politicians. There are exceptions, but on average they would rather ply their trade outside the political field.
There are some good politicians. But it's like finding a ring in the desert.
Back to the characteristic behaviour of tenants in a rented home; they don't care much to maintain and take care of the house; they misuse the facilities, sometimes even abuse it.
At the end of the contract tenure, there are quite many damages to the property, some of them permanent. After all, it's not their own property. They are just temporary tenants and guardians; so, bang it!
On the other hand, the owner, on being returned the house, has to start all over again to keep the house clean, maintain it well and, if he has the means, bring in new furniture and household appliances.
By the same token, the rakyat, on getting a new representative in the legislative House, expects the YB to keep his constituency and the government free from corruption, not indulge in nasty behaviour towards citizens and think for the people's better future.
This nation we call our own is ours forever. So, let us choose to live here nicely for everyone’s comfort and security.
The people will love a wakil rakyat who cares.
Come GE15, check out the candidates in your constituency, vote wisely and make sure you know who you are voting for.
October is barely two months away. Get ready and vote in dedicated, disciplined, caring and selfless representatives. We need such politicians now, more than ever. - Mkini
FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is a veteran Sarawak editor and heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at 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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