“If individuals do not occupy their legitimate position, then it will be occupied by a god or a king or a coalition of interest groups. If citizens do not exercise the powers conferred by their legitimacy, others will do so.”
- John Ralston Saul, ‘The Unconscious Civilisation’
The short answer is yes.
What prompted this article was a late-night call from a political operative who in a Trumpian diatribe, went on a rant that if Umno-BN won this election, it would still be an illegitimate government.
As someone who has claimed that the current government post-Sheraton Move is an “illegal government”, I am not gun shy in my polemics (I have never claimed that what I do is anything else) but preempting an electoral loss by claiming the winner is an illegal government is just ludicrous and frankly undemocratic.
This would mean that the only time Malaysia will have a legitimate government is if the opposition won. If that is not out of the Trump-fascist playbook, I do not know what is.
Umno holding the election now is a political strategy, and while morally repugnant, it is not incumbent on Umno or any ruling coalition to hold an election when it is convenient for their political rivals or for the people for that matter.
The dangerous game Umno is playing is that this may incur a backlash which they may have not anticipated, and if this happens, it would be a boon for Pakatan Harapan.
Similarly, certain states not holding elections is also a political strategy, which makes it difficult, if Umno wins the federal government, to exercise hegemonic control and access to the gravy train (which certain states are).
Dirty political tricks while reprehensible are part of the democratic process. So too is gerrymandering, disproportionate weightage of votes and the numerous other policy legerdemain meant to restrict the democratic process. This happens in all democracies in most parts of the world.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed that holding the election during the monsoon season amounts to voter suppression. Now that is a bit of a stretch, especially considering the base which is most affected by the flooding is the Umno vote banks, and yes, those who have been hoodwinked most by successive Malay uber alles governments.
I could point you to many other issues which affect the voting patterns of numerous communities here in Malaysia, and nobody really does anything about it because when you win, it becomes about holding on to power.
Even when it comes to the moral repugnancy of race-based parties, the reality is that there are very few examples of non-race-based parties in Malaysia.
The DAP claiming to be a non-race-based party is ludicrous because they may be so in theory but in practice, it is a different story. This is why you will see partisans talking about DAP strongholds along ethnic and urban lines, instead of relying on common-ground policies that everyone supports.
Racial and religious policies
This is why a normally intelligent operative like Syahredzan Johan (who is criminally wasted in the position he is in) resorts to a dissonant statement like this when discussing the supposedly multiracial foundation of the DAP - “In the Johor state election, we fielded Marina Ibrahim in Chinese-majority Skudai. So, this is nothing new” - at the same time saying this - “This is a clear indication that we want to explore new areas and demographics, and not just focus on our traditional support base.”
This is why the rural Malay vote is the holy grail of oppositional politics and also why someone like PSM chairperson Dr Michael Jeyakumar is pilloried when he makes politically incorrect statements about race and class and prescribes a more nuanced view of politics when it comes to determining electoral strategy.
This is why the dissonance in the voting demographic of the non-Malay community when Malay political operatives are allowed to use and indeed encouraged to play the race card to secure votes, while the non-Malay have to talk about "inclusivity" when the reality is the people they vote for will maintain racial and religious policies and candidates who want to break out this box are accused of being spoilers or proxies for the establishment.
Partisans zealously guarding political turf is also why democracy suffers.
If you are the kind who reads, you would understand that political scientists, philosophers, activists and various other personalities (throughout the ages) who have an interest in this sort of thing, broadly define “legitimacy” as a government/governance which displays these three broad characteristics - fairness, voice (voting, etc) and predictability.
Do not get too caught up in the term fairness – as in treating all citizens equally – because if you did, there would be many who would argue that affirmative action policies for minorities run foul of this rule.
Furthermore, predictability of application would mean that justice and legal systems in most democratic countries would be illegitimate because money and privilege very often determine outcomes.
You know, how people say for 60 years Umno-BN destroyed this country but the reality is for a good chunk of those 60 years, Umno-BN was enjoying the majority support of the voting polity. So any questions of legitimacy when it comes to morally repugnant political parties are moot.
Indeed the people worst affected by the supremacist policies of successive Umno-BN governments and an opposition that carried on with such programmes were the majority Malays and through a sustained programme of Islamisation and nationalism and reactionary discrimination in the private sector has resulted in a balkanisation of voting polities.
It is this balkanisation of voting demographics which further narratives of legitimacy and illegitimacy. Indeed, this is what causes more problems in the way we deal with others as Malaysians.
And if oppositional politics operatives really believed that the system was so compromised, why are they even going along with the process?
So yes, when the dust settles, we should accept the results and if you believe this country needs to change, carry on with the struggle.
I’ll leave you with Anwar’s clarion call to vote:
We don’t give up, either. We don’t give up, ever.
Are you worried about the price of goods? Then vote!
Are you worried about finding a good job? Then vote!
Are you worried about floods? Then vote!
You want better schools that prepare your children for the future. Vote!
Do you want better healthcare and more doctors? Vote!
I'm going to hold you to that, if you win. This is what a responsible voter does. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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