What ails rural Malay voters?

 

From Arshad Raji

It’s the Malay voters who will finally decide which political party wins the election and forms the government.

This is the widely held view among Malaysians who agree that the Malays – predominantly the rural folk – are the weakest and the easiest to be enticed with cash and goodies dished out at their doorsteps to secure the Malay vote for contesting candidates in the general election.

Further, racial and religious sentiments are also being played up by Malay and Islamic-based political parties to raise the sentiment of hatred or dislike for candidates from multiracial political parties.

The fact is this has been the usual trend of soliciting the rural Malay vote at almost every election.

Corruption, abuse of power and false promises by leaders of Malay and Islamic-dominant political parties are conveniently whitewashed with cash and goodie handouts to the unsuspecting rural populace.

The inertia of leaders of the Malay and Islamic political parties when it comes to condemning corruption and abuse of power has mired this nation in the worst economic and political situation ever.

We can recall an Islamic party leader saying “corruption does not fall under the hudud law”. In another, separate statement, he said “non-Muslims and non-Bumiputeras are the most involved in corruption”.

Are not such statements racist and most divisive, to say the least?

When former prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to a 12-year jail term for corruption recently, instead of supporting the highest court’s final decision, leaders of a party berated the court sentence, labelling it as politically motivated and claiming that Najib was a victim of injustice.

It took almost four years to conclude this high-profile court case and the trial had gone through various steps of the judicial process, yet leaders of the political party are still not satisfied and demand a royal pardon; a demand that is not only incredulous but undermines the justice system of the nation.

Now, the nation awaits GE15.

Most Malaysians see the decision to prematurely call for the general election as a move to satisfy certain clusters of political leaders and those who are facing an uphill battle in court.

GE15 has been called despite knowing very well about the prevailing weather patterns, and that the impending Northeast monsoon is likely to affect voter turnout.

Patriot wants to know who will take the blame should the effect of the monsoon be serious enough to curtail voter turnout.

Patriot fears that unsavoury leaders will be appointed to ministerial positions should a certain party win GE15. It is not far-fetched or mere speculation to fear that such an outcome will surely drag the nation and its people further down the cesspit of a disastrous socio-political landscape.

What will the state of our beloved nation be post GE15 should a known and corrupt political party win GE15?

All patriotic, concerned and informed Malaysians must contribute their efforts in ensuring such legitimate concerns and fears are communicated to the unsuspecting and easily pleased rural Malay folk.

Let us do our fair share for the love of the nation, its people and King. - FMT

Arshad Raji is a retired brigadier-general and the president of Patriot.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.