Rafizi said on the campaign stump, “It’s very evident that PN has lost direction in this by-election campaign, as they are not focusing on issues that are more important to the residents of Sungai Bakap.

“These are local issues. It is also a testament to the ability and capability of each candidate to provide the best service to voters here..”

Now, of course, Rafizi after dissing PN, laments the low turnout of the non-Malay voters which just goes to show how out of touch the best and the brightest in PKR really are.

Harapan alienated its supporters

Harapan has been doing everything in its power to alienate its non-Malay base and screw over the progressive Malay element in Harapan. Non-Malay operatives have been bending over backwards attempting to project a benign face of Chinese influence in Harapan.

Admittedly, Anwar played the liberal, reformist and progressive Muslim when he was on the campaign stump and this elevated him to cult-like status amongst the non-Muslims.

However, after coming into power, either as a handmaiden to the old maverick or into his own, his obsession with securing the Malay vote has driven him and Harapan further right, which has been accepted by the non-Malay Harapan base but met with indifference by a majority of Malays.

To be fair to Anwar and his team, beyond the obvious pandering, the prime minister has been attempting some sort of class dialectic within the Malay community.

But the problem, as expressed by some PKR political operatives privately to me and more recently publicly by the United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai) pro tem chairperson P Ramasamy, is the mistake “... of reducing identity politics to material growth in the form of increased foreign investments and job creation”.

Of course, the Malay vote is important and Anwar and Harapan should be chasing it like they would any other vote, but the fact that the rural Malay vote is unequal makes Anwar’s pandering to the Malays and their rejection of him even more tragic or comical, depending on your point of view.

He has done everything from overseeing a religious conversion to lecturing a young Indian girl on the social contract to milking ethnic sacred cows but the majority community still does not buy what the Madani state is selling.

While all politics is local, what the federal government should be doing is ensuring the Harapan base that voted for them (even when they were losing, but managed to break Umno's two-thirds majority in one of their defeats) is satisfied with their performance.

Instead, what the federal government is doing is attempting to replicate BN-style politics for a base which has no use for it. A base which believed that the reign of Harapan would move them away from the race-based and religion-influenced politics of Umno-BN.

Demonisation of DAP

Non-Malay politicians tell me they have to walk on eggshells when it comes to certain issues. They tell me the demonisation of DAP seems to be working. Well, here’s the thing - if people are going to hate DAP, they are going to do it regardless of whether Malay uber alles coalition is in power or not.

The narrative that the majority of Malays hate the DAP has always been around, but the DAP has survived and even thrived. Instead, what the coalition government does is bend over backwards attacking the very demographic which could change the narrative and encourage a new paradigm of mainstream Malaysian politics.

Honestly, if Anwar carried out the reforms he promised and carried out these drastic subsidy cuts, voters regardless of ethnicity would be inclined to give this government a chance.

But the problem is, that Anwar attempts to have a crusade against corruption but has Umno in his pocket.

And he attempts these drastic subsidy cuts but leakages abound in organisations under the government’s control and of course, plays the race and religion card while attempting to court the non-Malay vote. People who vote for PN know exactly what they are getting and they are fine with that.

What this government has to understand is which side their bread is buttered.