Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election: Protest vote or boycott?

“If you’re angry, don’t boycott. Show your anger towards Umno by voting for the Muda candidate.”

- Hannah Yeoh during a campaign speech in Tanjong Karang, Selangor, when Muda and Pakatan Harapan were in an electoral pact, November 2022.

Two years ago, when Hannah Yeoh was stumping for Muda in the run-up to the 15th general election (GE15), she told Umno voters in Tanjong Karang not to boycott the election after their six-term MP Noh Omar was dropped by the party.

She advised them not to waste their votes but rather to vote for Pakatan Harapan to turn something negative into a positive.

Of course, the reason why she told voters dissatisfied with what Umno had done in switching candidates was craven, in that she was hoping to exploit their dissatisfaction, not in policy, but rather personality, which is the major problem with politics here and everywhere else.

So, my question is, what about the voters of the upcoming Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election? Who do they vote for if they are angry with Harapan? Would voting for Perikatan Nasional turn their anger into something positive? Would continuing to vote for a coalition they are angry with be positive or merely enable the coalition?

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh

Apparently, there is a movement to galvanise the Indian vote to boycott the election. Yeoh’s response is not to attempt to entice Indians to vote for Harapan but rather just to ignore “negative” voices.

Meanwhile, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming announced that the government plans to allocate RM5.21 million to upgrade public infrastructure facilities under the supervision of the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council (MPHS) and the Chinese New Village Project in Kuala Kubu Baharu.

I guess targeted voter strategies are perfectly Bangsa Malaysian but only for a specific ethnic group.

Never mind that when BN pulled this horse manure back in the day and when Bersih and other pressure groups raised a hue and cry, Harapan jumped on the bandwagon. But now, of course, Harapan and its supporters contort themselves attempting to justify such strategies and vilifying the pressure groups they once supported.

This is the problem with this unity government. What it has effectively managed to do is neutralise government watchdogs which would make them even more ineffective when this country reaches theocratic status.

This by-election is the perfect example of why we desperately need third-party candidates. For decades, what the legacy parties have done, as they do all over the world, is demonise and isolate third-party candidates. Partisan politics demands allegiance which should be unquestioning.

Voter anger and apathy

This is not really an “Indian issue”. The Indians in Kuala Kubu Baharu are just being used by political operatives to further whatever agendas they think best serve the Indian community but in reality, just serve themselves.

The focus should be that this Harapan government is squandering the opportunity for reform and that the establishment parties are merely attempting to replicate strategies that have failed this country.

In politics, anger is something that can be dealt with, with the appropriate realignment of policy and agenda. What is worse, and which could eventually destroy Harapan, is apathy. This is the real danger facing Harapan.

What some folks are pissed off at is how the Harapan government is not only sliding back into BN-era practices but the people who want reform are made to look as if they are the problem.

Harapan is always blaming the past government for every single thing going wrong in this country while colluding with the forces that are bringing this country to its knees. Harapan’s problems are self-inflicted.

How do voters exercise their democratic rights when all available options are detrimental to the country? How do voters hold their elected representatives accountable?

You see DAP becoming the running dog it accused MCA of being and you understand that if you are non-Malay, your vote means very little to the coalition you support because they are too busy fulfilling the expectations of those who did not vote for them.

You get sick and tired of going on social media and reading anonymous partisan trolls who mock and vilify those who are trying to get Harapan to do the right thing. You are disgusted by rather dumb excuses like “Rome wasn’t built in a day” when the house of cards is slowly tumbling down.

You fear that your vote would eventually be the path to a theocracy because you assumed that the party you voted for would be the bulwark against such an encroachment.

You are worried that Harapan is taking you for granted. Harapan political operatives will smugly assume that, especially if you are non-Malay, you do not have a choice.

Unpalatable options

Once the base starts realising that a change in a government does not mean a change in policy, people will stop participating in the process. What are people dissatisfied with Harapan regardless of their ethnicity supposed to do?

I sincerely hope there will be third-party candidates in this by-election and not just candidates who are proxies for the establishment.

But what if there are no independent candidates to vote for and the choice is between PN and Harapan? Then you have to make a choice of voting for PN or staying at home to make a point to Harapan.

Both are unpalatable options because one is a continuation of the transgressive religious policies that a certain section of the polity is resisting while the other merely doubles the voting power of those supporting PN.

Maybe this is the real lesson, that in a democracy, the rakyat need genuine options and it is the agenda of mainstream parties to limit those options.

A point still needs to be made though. - Mkini

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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.