Malaysiakini : Imagine a cocktail of mud, sewage, animal faeces, rubbish, rotting vegetation, perhaps dead animals, and whatever the contents of the drains have brought up, swirling around their ankles.

You hope and pray that you have no cuts and that you don't get an infection from waterborne germs and bacteria.

The smell is unbearable, but so is the sight that greets them. Pieces of furniture floating in the dark muddy waters. Soggy mattresses, wet books, soiled carpets, and electrical goods have to be binned. Dirty crockery can be cleaned, but little else can be salvaged. Treasured family photographs are forever lost.

In some homes, the tidemark on the walls of the house shows the floodwaters at their highest level. Some are inches from the ceiling. Almost everyone despairs the cost of replacing their most useful items, and whilst some politicians may say, "Just claim under the house insurance", many people will say, "What house insurance? In many parts of the country, people are too poor to consider this.”

If GE15 is held during the monsoon season, just imagine the chaos that can ensue. With extended rainfall causing flash flooding, or when rivers overflow their banks, does anyone think voting is uppermost in peoples' minds?

All their thoughts are on saving their families, houses, cars, businesses, and livestock. Their government may have told them to exercise their right to vote, but when it is a life-and-death situation, they will think only of themselves and their families. Voting is the last thing on their minds.

Umno-Baru's supreme council members want the average voter to think of themselves only, as Umno-Baru has an advantage with a low voter turnout.

With advance knowledge and preparations, Umno-Baru will have mobilised their hardcore supporters in readiness to vote, whatever the weather. They will probably have booked, or purchased, the sampans, the rubber dinghies, and heavy-duty trucks to ferry their supporters to the voting centres.

In GE14, senior citizens were given first place in the queue to reduce their waiting time. In GE15, will the voter, irrespective of his age, want to be exposed to the rain, or wade in floodwaters, and risk catching a chill, consequently developing pneumonia?

Despite the claims of various Umno-Baru politicians, GE15 is not about electing a more competent government, which will supposedly take care of the economy. It is about reclaiming the power to rule Malaysia, get rid of hard-fought-for reforms, and a chance to punish Umno-Baru's critics.

More importantly, it is an opportunity for some of the allegedly corrupt politicians, to wipe the slate clean, and overturn the charges of corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust, which some of them face. Why should the country be hijacked by the feckless and arrogant Umno-Baru president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who with a handful of his inner circle, only thinks of their self-interests?

Zahid flexed his muscles and banned the veteran Umno-Baru MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, and Alor Setar division chief Mohd Yusof Ismail. He sacked another fierce Umno-Baru critic, Zaharin Mohd Yasin.

Zahid will demand his pound of flesh and force Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to do his bidding. Will Ismail Sabri flounder, or will he stand his ground and ignore Zahid's bully-boy tactics?

Ismail Sabri is aware that he should focus on his priority, which is the well-being of the rakyat. We do not want to know about GE15. Most of us want to learn how the government will help the B40 group. We also require Ismail Sabri's proposals to ease our burden caused by the cost of living crisis.

Last December, the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) failed to respond swiftly to the flooding in Taman Sri Muda. Its leader Abdul Latiff Ahmad gave multiple excuses for his incompetence, as did the ministers, many of whom were on holiday overseas. They dragged their feet about returning home, to manage the worsening flood crisis.

In comparison, the armed forces responded admirably to rescue flood victims.

If Nadma and the various ministries failed to mobilise themselves for one localised flooding, how will they cope on a nationwide level, during the monsoon season? It would be highly irresponsible to ask them to work in tandem with a general election in full swing. The various state agencies will be too thinly spread on the ground.

Umno-Baru rarely takes responsibility for things going wrong, and they are good at passing the buck.

When lives are lost, and mental health issues escalate when people realise they face a grim future, who will the rakyat blame? Will they accuse Zahid? Will Zahid do a U-turn and blame Ismail Sabri for making a wrong judgement call? Or will Ismail Sabri pass the buck further up the pecking order?