COMMENT | 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.

COMMENT | 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?

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...