Five issues to consider for GE15

One way of determining which way to vote in a systematic manner is to list down important issues dear to your heart and then look at which coalition is most likely to help you advance that issue and vote for the party in that coalition. List your issues in order of preference and weigh them if you want.

The three coalitions likely to succeed are Umno Baru/BN, PN (Bersatu and PAS), and Pakatan Harapan. Their respective leaders are Umno’s Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Bersatu’s Muhyiddin Yassin, and PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim.

These are the people who are likely to become prime ministers if their coalition becomes the dominant one or at least the ones who will call the shots behind the scenes. So it is irrelevant if Ismail Sabri Yaakob becomes PM if Umno/BN dominate because the one who will call the shots is Zahid.

Remember, however, that Peninsular Malaysia results alone won’t determine the final outcome. To illustrate, assume Harapan wins the most seats in the peninsula and overall. But unless they have a clear majority, whether they form the government or not will depend on alliances they may make in Sabah and Sarawak, and the peninsula.

But that does not negate the fact that if all individuals make an informed choice, the most likely outcome will be one that benefits all of us most, despite the existing weaknesses and deficiencies in our political parties and systems.

Here’s my list of five, those that are close to me. You may agree with some, you may not with others. If you don’t, simply add your own favourite ones and do your own analysis.

1. Who will fight corruption most?

This is an easy one. Zahid is facing numerous serious corruption charges in court. He is an ardent supporter of former corrupt PM and convict Najib Abdul Razak, the one most responsible for perhaps over RM40 billion or more in losses at 1MDB.

If you are thinking of PN as an alternative, think of Muhyiddin’s betrayal of Harapan and his subsequent appointment of nearly every government MP without positions, many utterly incompetent, to important positions at government-linked companies and bodies. If you need one more, recall Muhyiddin’s emergency to stay in power.

Harapan has made fighting corruption one of its cornerstone policies, their leaders have a much cleaner record, and are not bound up inextricably with corruption the way Umno/BN and PN are. Harapan has my vote here.

2. Who is better for the economy?

While Harapan has made some economic blunders during their short term in government from 2018 to 2020, remember that a lot of it is due to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the interim PM who did not want to step down and who jettisoned the manifesto that Harapan came to power with.

Umno/BN suffers from a pathological condition of syphoning projects to cronies and Umno-linked businessmen and ditto for PN which is of the same mould. They are not likely to get past patronage and outright corruption, which is a huge necessity to get economic growth going in a good and fair manner.

Under Harapan, growth is likely to be equitable and there is a hope of a separation between economic well-being for all versus compartmentalising the economy according to race and religion which is what BN and PN have done all this while.

If Malays fear that their economic power will be undermined under Harapan, they only have to look at the track record and how Umno has made some fabulously rich at the expense of the bulk of Malays and bumiputeras to whom not enough benefits flow.

My vote goes to Harapan.

3. Who will provide better education for the masses?

One has to just look at how the education system has deteriorated over the decades to answer this question. Umno politicians blithely send their children and other loved ones to private schools here and overseas where the medium of instruction is English while preaching the need for national integration via national schools.

They have resisted calls from a majority of Malays to improve the standard of English in national schools which have fallen on deaf ears. In fact, Muhyiddin reverted the teaching of science and maths in English to Malay. This reversed the policy introduced by Mahathir previously towards the end of his first term which finished in 2003.

They have allowed the national education system to rot and contributed to the destruction of all that was good in our old education system, allowing education to be politicised and religious elements to dominate in education.

We can’t depend on BN or PN to improve the education system. My vote is for Harapan here.

4. Who will improve social cohesiveness and equity?

An imperative for social cohesiveness is for everyone to feel equal under the law as well as in practice. This cannot be done by the use of emotive words such as “pendatang” and “kafir” and emotional outbursts by immature, useless politicians who can only stay in power by invoking racial, religious and language hatred. BN and PN abound with such opportunistic politicians.

This is the practice of Umno and PN post-May 13, 1969. Voting for them will only increase the racial and religious divide and widen the gap. Harapan’s promise of inclusiveness while at the same time taking into account relative disparities among races and social groups is much more palatable and workable in the longer term for the benefit of all communities.

It goes back to the original tenets of the New Economic Policy which holds its two key elements to be the elimination of poverty irrespective of race and the eventual elimination of race with economic function. This effectively means equal opportunities for all in all economic spheres.

My vote goes for Harapan.

5. Finally, who will be best for Malaysia?

If Harapan is going to be the one to take us forward in the earlier four considerations, then surely it must follow that they, all major factors considered, are the best ones to lead the country and the ones most likely to be able to unite everyone for common good.

For me, it is Harapan all the way. It is not because I dearly love them although there is much to like about their stated policies and the quality of their overall leadership compared to BN and PN. It is because we have no other better choice.

It is because if the options of BN and PN come to power in this land of ours, there is no telling to what depths of corruption we will descend and a distinct probability that this country will go to the dogs and be destroyed in the process.

The economy may be ruined, the education system may be irreparably harmed, and the population hopelessly divided. Our only hope out of this pit of despair at this point in time, is well, pardon the poor pun, Harapan.

In this election, it is the party that counts. If we want Harapan to win and win big to have enough say in the formation of the coalition that will rule, we must vote for every Harapan candidate in every place they stand.

If there is a tsunami against Umno/PN, then this time Harapan’s chances are much improved and there is little likelihood that traitors in high places will betray them like they did the last time - think Mahathir, think Muhyiddin, think Azmin Ali. There is only one unambiguous candidate for PM.

Of course, if your assessment of the situation is different from mine, after a considered evaluation of all the facts, possible outcomes and your priority considerations, you must do so and vote accordingly. That’s what democracy is all about.

Oh, on that thorny subject of democracy, who were the ones who destroyed the results of GE14? I rest my case. - Mkini

---

P GUNASEGARAM, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research, is an independent writer and analyst.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.