“People are voting out of fear, not because they like or have faith in a candidate.”
- PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan
Whenever anonymous online supposedly progressive Bangsa Malaysians mock PSM candidates and say they will lose their deposit, the joke is on them.
You see, the money PSM candidates scrape together for their candidates comes from people who have faith in that candidate.
They understand that if voted in, the PSM candidate would do what they have been doing all along, as mere members or supporters of PSM, which is working for the rakyat.
In other words, money is well spent.
Whenever I have used my platform to endorse PSM, it is because I know that if more people voted for PSM, the political landscape of this country would be different.
No, it would not be some “socialist” failed state, but rather it would be a country where the disenfranchised majority and minority would have their voices heard.
Class-based narrative
The disenfranchised majority would not be narcotised by race and religion because the discourse defined through the ballot box would be a class-based narrative, which is something the mainstream political establishment is deathly afraid of.
The minority meanwhile would be protected because class by definition trumps race and religion. This is why all these Malay uber alles types want PKR/Umno and Perikatan Nasional to be the only choices for the Malays.
A young Malay PSM activist called me and asked why I thought people like incumbent Kota Anggerik assemblyperson Mohd Najwan Halimi mocked PSM as he did.
Well, the answer is simple. Najwan is deathly afraid that more Malays would support PSM. If a healthy Malay demographic supported PSM, this would spell the end of the race-based politics that the mainstream establishment traffic in.
Keep in mind what retiring PSM chief Mohd Nasir Hashim said when I interviewed him in 2019 and asked him why PSM was much admired but never won elections:
“Initially, we would channel the plight of the rakyat through existing friendly political parties, but they would only take it up if it jived with their political agenda. That was one of the reasons why we decided to participate in elections.
“It merely means that we have to work harder to expose the hypocrisy of political leaders and create a situation conducive to a change of mindset.
“This will take longer when the so-called ‘progressives’ continue to flirt with race and religion for short-term gains.”
Muda in the picture
I have to admit. Muda hooking up with PSM does sound strange.
Here we have an urban-based political party which relies on the kind of “progressive rhetoric” that does not resonate with the on-the-ground reality that PSM and people who vote for PSM deal with.
The sight of Dr Micheal Jeyakumar who has spent his personal and political life defining an alternative narrative to mainstream politics, sitting with a young politician who is the definition of mainstream politics, is jarring.
Muda needs to highlight issues facing young people in Malaysia.
Still, as the rise of young leaders worldwide has demonstrated, youth issues are part of more significant community concerns that voters who reject old leaders want their young leaders to address.
These more significant community concerns are the bread and butter of a party like PSM.
More importantly, these young leaders have to also reject the morally and intellectually bankrupt political strategies that have resulted in this country going down the path of failed statehood.
The best way to deal with those marginalised groups who seem cut off from mainstream oppositional politics would be to make an alliance with a political party like PSM.
Deficiencies in the system
Grand national narratives do not get any traction with the voting groups that PSM engages with. It is a whole other world.
It is this way because the Umno hegemon set it up this way, and the mainstream political establishment never had a genuine agenda to bridge this world and mainstream oppositional politics.
While the mainstream political coalitions are busy finding easily identifiable “enemies”, what PSM identifies are deficiencies in the system and misguided policies that essentially encourage the working-class Malay base to vote against their long-term interests.
Muda’s rhetoric has been sterling but unfortunately, they seem to want to head in the direction of the majority of political parties in this country.
Until now that is. I have to admit, Muda is an incredibly tech-savvy party and no doubt they understand the kind of reception PSM gets during election season.
Muda president, the young Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman also understands the kind of politics that PSM preaches, which is why it is surprising that with all this, he and Muda decide to hitch their wagon with PSM.
Talking about a shared vision, Syed Saddiq should keep in mind what the man he was sitting beside said in a forum entitled New Malaysia back in 2019.
He said -”If you stop affirmative action for the rich Malays, even the poor Malays would accept it.”
From reportage - the former Sungai Siput MP also said that if policies are focused on the B40 community, regardless of race, the Malays would still benefit the most as they make up most of the lower-income group.
Syed Saddiq said - “I look forward to working with our friends in PSM to win. If we win or lose, I hope we can work together beyond the elections too.”
And this is an important point. PSM is in it for the long haul. Their candidates understand they may lose their deposits in this election. But this is not merely about winning elections.
This is about genuine reform. If Syed Saddiq and Muda are genuinely interested in the long game, hooking up with PSM could be the birth of a new kind of politics that Muda wishes to see.
A pact that opens opportunities
This is not only an opportunity for Muda but also an opportunity for PSM.
I have no idea what kind of pact PSM and Muda have after the election but PSM always had messaging issues.
Muda has demonstrated that for a young party, it has garnered a percentage of votes that PSM never managed to do.
Their messaging, especially using social media, does seem to resonate. PSM could benefit from the kind of exposure that Muda offers using social media to highlight issues that PSM has been attempting to garner support for.
Discouraged by mainstream politics? Do you feel your vote doesn’t matter? Do you genuinely believe mainstream parties in this country have monopolised the political terrain without benefit to the rakyat for too long?
Then I suggest you vote for the PSM and Muda candidate if you are lucky enough to have that choice. This would be the ideal time and maybe the last chance to start a new kind of politics in this country.
Who knows if luck is on the side of Malaysians who want genuine reform by democratising the political terrain, maybe red could be the new black. - 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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