After Umno’s capitulation, here’s what Anwar must do

 

From Ibrahim M Ahmad

Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Anwar Ibrahim should be congratulated for surviving the six state elections over the weekend.

In the eyes of many, the elections went beyond the boundaries of each state, turning them into a referendum of his mandate to form and run the unity government at federal level.

Led by PAS, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) almost total domination of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, and its penetration into Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, cannot be denied.

Yet, those who have expressed shock and distress may be exaggerating its impact.

PH-BN still secured a two-thirds majority in both Negeri Sembilan (winning 31 of 36 seats) and Penang (29 of 40), and won 32 of the 56 seats on offer in Selangor. It is likely the results would have been similar if the elections were held simultaneously with GE 15.

In reality, Anwar has preserved the status quo.

While it would be foolish to dismiss outright the possibility that the present trend may see PAS in the seat of power in Putrajaya someday soon, PH-BN’s success in comfortably retaining the three states means that such fears can, at least for the time being, be put to rest.

The real story of the election is the capitulation of Umno, once the country’s pre-eminent Malay party.

Scoring a success rate of only 17.6% (19 wins, 89 losses), the party now ranks as the absolute worst performer among the five Malay and Malay-majority parties that contested the six state elections, well behind PAS (82.7%), Bersatu (49.4%), PKR (44.1%) and Amanah (25.8%).

Unable to depend on Umno in its present form, Anwar must now shoulder the responsibility of reshaping the Malay mindset independently of the fallen giant.

The prime minister must accept, however, that he cannot use the traditional narratives of race, religion and royalty to woo the Malay vote back to the side of his unity government. It has become abundantly clear that those narratives are now owned by PN.

Playing largely on the fears of the electorate, the opposition alliance has successfully shaped Malay minds, especially in the north, to believe that their rights and privileges cannot be protected by a unity coalition lacking a dominant and influential Malay party.

The power of incumbency, however, allows Anwar unrivalled resources to do the one thing PN politicians, despite all their lofty talk, cannot do: improve the lives of the Malays.

The prime minister has already set out a new Madani economic framework aimed at bolstering the economy. What he has yet to do is go into the specifics of how he intends to turn that vision into reality.

Realistically, that would be a full time job which Anwar, already struggling under the weight of his workload as prime minister and finance minister, cannot expect to do himself.

What he should do instead is appoint someone to execute his wide-ranging economic plan on his behalf.

The appointee must be able to identify clear economic goals, put in place a plan, devise specific strategies for its implementation and execute them.

Working under Anwar, the appointee would ideally operate as the de facto CEO of the finance ministry with the specific task of bringing the Madani economy blueprint to fruition.

Those plans must specifically incorporate measures that will significantly improve the lives of the Malays, especially those in the north.

Anwar will then be left to do what he does best. Apart from overseeing the implementation of his vision, he will have the pleasure of communicating the government’s plans for the community and updating them periodically on the progress of those plans in his own inimitable style.

That will put him in much better stead and entrench him in their hearts and minds as the better prospect for the Malays, including those in the north.

Without a doubt, a defined economic narrative was the silver bullet missing from the prime minister’s arsenal in the lead up to the recent six state elections.

Anwar and his unity coalition’s messaging rarely referred to economic factors, and failed to drive home the failure of the economies in each of the PAS-led states during campaigning.

Yet, decent jobs and better infrastructure, two things that come with economic growth, are what can lift the majority of Malays in the north out of poverty and improve their way of life.

The economy is also PN’s and PAS’s Achilles heel, as evidenced by the poor GDP performance of states under their control, and their leaders’ inability to articulate economic plans and address related issues.

Those inadequacies saw their candidates steer clear of such matters altogether when on the campaign trail.

In truth, there are very few standout contenders for the job within the unity coalition. The prime minister must identify his candidate carefully.

There is a lot of work to be done to eat into PAS’s apparent stranglehold on the Malay vote. Anwar must act now. - FMT

Ibrahim M Ahmad is an FMT reader.

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