āAlthough
the state governments are supposed to do this, they do not have the
capacity to bear the costs, so we had to top up,ā said then religious
affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
As the Airbnb fiasco in the
online world demonstrates for some Malaysians, discrimination is bad
when it happens to āusā but acceptable when it happens to āyouā.
We
are dealing with two kinds of voting bases here, the first that would
vote in race-based parties and the second which has no real commitment
to any kind of equality beyond mouthing the word āmeritocracyā as if it
is some kind of totem against a corrupt system in which all have
benefited from in some way.
There is no political apathy among voters. There is political apathy among the Harapan base.
Those
who believe that a Malay uber alles government is the shape of things
to come have an array of choices of race-based parties to choose from
and they have chipped away at Umnoās base.
This is why Umno/BN wants an election as soon as possible.
Meanwhile,
the non-Malays and progressive Malay polity have to contend with a PKR
which apparently canāt even hold a clean election; Amanah which finds
its religious credentials always challenged because it could not come up
with a religious narrative of its own; and the DAP, which has no
problem calling everyone else a running dog but displayed the same
traits or worse when it was in power.
It is really not about voter fatigue but the realisation across a swath of Harapan voters that change is not in the cards.
If
people who wanted to disrupt the system knew that the people they
elected would really disrupt the system, they would get off their
behinds and vote.
Things will never change?
Even Anwarās talk of traitors within Harapan is mendacious.
The
fact is that Harapan officials were telling us that there was nothing
to see in the lead-up to the Sheraton Move and that the press was making
things up.
And to blame the lack of reforms on this is pure gas lighting.
The kind of reforms that could be made, that should have been made, are not reforms that take decades.
They
are reforms that could be carried out, barring certain procedures and
other legislative arcana, almost immediately, if people were committed
and willing to make those changes.
You know, some folks say that things will never change in this country.
They are probably right. But just imagine if we had a coalition that was an alternative to BN politics, not a substitute.
The
fact is that the economic vagaries of the world are affecting Malaysia,
but the problem here is that a group of incompetent race and religious
obsessed meat heads are running the show which makes it worse.
I
wish Harapan leaders were deathly afraid of their supporters, like how
the GOP (Republican Party) in the US is afraid of its supporters.
Imagine the possibilities if Harapan actually had to fulfil their mandate, if not the base would not turn out to vote for them.
Hey, if the country is going to hell in a handbasket, we may as well enjoy the ride, right?
Have
you noticed that it is only Harapan supporters who want people to tell
them the solutions to problems whenever Harapan hacks are criticised?
The
Malay uber alles voting base knows exactly what they want. People who
vote for Umno and BN know exactly the kind of compromises they are
willing to put up with.
With the economy the way it is, Harapan should be winning this by a mile.
Add
to this, the Malay uber alles government is operating like drunken
teenagers behind the wheel, Harapan should be the clear choice for any
voter.
And yet Harapan has suffered in by-elections and state elections even though they are supposed to be the rational choice.
For some reason, the Harapan base and swing voters have no desire to get off their behinds and send a message to Umno/BN/PN.
Also,
the big tent is still in play, and PKRās head honcho seems to think the
recent revelations by Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman do him some
favour because Anwar gets the opportunity to say his strong and
formidable numbers fell through because he would not meddle in the court
cases.
I have no idea what would encourage voter turnout among
the Harapan base - but the big question is that if voter enthusiasm
would be encouraged by Anwarās departure from the political battlefield,
would he exit gracefully?
