LETTER | Don't know who to vote for?

LETTER | It is generally known that the majority of the voters are not inspired by the present coalitions of Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, and BN.

Those who voted for Harapan in the 14th general election are disgusted that their constitutional rights exercised on May 9, 2018, were trampled on by the games of despicable politicians who shift their allegiance for their own personal benefits in the last two years.

But this doesn’t mean we abdicate and run away from our responsibilities to vote just because of the downright unethical and despicable acts of the politicians.

We, as the voters, are partly responsible for how they behave and their despicable and unethical acts.

The politicians and the government would not have reached the level of despicability that they are at present if the rakyat and the voters were more discerning and more doggedly pursued and held them accountable for their corrupt acts throughout the years.

We are equally responsible for it as we turned a blind eye to the shenanigans reported.

Maybe the rakyat didn’t really feel the pinch as the stealing by the politicians does not impact them directly.

Or perhaps the wider implications and aftermath of the money stolen from the country is of no immediate concern to them, which possibly explains the disinterest in holding the politicians accountable.

Year after year, the report from the auditor-general revealed financial shenanigans in various ministries. And year after year, the financial shenanigans revealed increase in number and quantum. These are the ones revealed officially.

Rumour has it that those not revealed or covered in the scope of the audit by the auditor-general are easily 100 times more than those exposed.

Even then, the politicians and the government do not need to explain or justify these shenanigans when it was revealed.

Maybe for the first few weeks, murmurs of discontent will be heard in limited circles. These murmurs will slowly dissipate and disappear altogether after a month or two, keeping in line with the adage that the rakyat easily forgets. Life will return to normalcy and everyone will be busy with their daily chores one or two months after each revelation.

The rakyat voted, created, and allowed the politicians to get away with whatever ills afflicting the country presently. And then, we complain about these ills and now say we don’t know who to vote for in the coming general election.

Do the rakyat really honestly believe that there is an honest politician or an honest coalition that is doing it for the country and her people?

Except for those candidates from Muda, politicians in every one of the coalitions learned their trade and practised their craft under the aegis of the warlords in each of the political parties in the country.

To survive and rise up the ranks in each of their parties, they would have learned and perfected the art, the same tactics, and governance that brought the country to its present position, full of ills, standing at the doors for admission into the intensive care unit at any time.

One coalition has been ruling this country uninterrupted except for two years. Even their calls for the rakyat to vote for them this time is centred only on political stability.

There has been zero acknowledgment of the ills of the country that arose during the entire time the country was governed by them. Even the blind, deaf, and dumb are aware that they are the cause and source of the majority of the ills in the country, accumulated over the 60 years they governed the country.

Another coalition preaches their record of managing the country for the 17 months they led the government at the height of the pandemic. Again, even the blind, deaf, and dumb are aware of how they plundered, pilfered, and steered the country like a runaway train during those 17 months.

One of the partners in the coalition even boldly declared that if their coalition is voted in this time, they will legislate the bill which they have been salivating to pass for the last few years, the RUU355 that imposes harsher penalties on Muslims convicted of syariah offences.

Another coalition sleepwalked into their role as the government, not expecting to be voted in during the last general election, and was booted out, not by the people, but by their own while they were still jubilating at their surprise fortune of being voted in.

During that short period, like a boy being let loose suddenly in a toy shop, they grabbed every toy on display and tried rearranging them but in the process of doing so, destroyed some of the fragile toys that are on display.

In summary, if the rakyat decides to vote for a coalition that has been plundering the country of its resources to return to govern, be prepared for a further deterioration in the quality of life.

For sure, the country will have stability because people will be too scared to voice out their frustrations or challenge the status quo then.

If the voters decide to give the coalition that usurped the people’s mandate and took the country for a wild ride during the pandemic, be prepared for an aimless and long roller coaster ride for the next five years.

How about the coalition that obtained the voters’ mandate but was robbed of their role due to their own incompetence? Should they be judged for their two years when the other two coalitions and the politicians in them have been governing and mismanaging the country for 60 years?

A vote for this coalition is not experimenting. A vote for Muda to govern is experimenting.

Why not? Except for its president who is facing a corruption charge, the rest of the candidates in Muda have yet to go through the baptism of learning and perfecting the art of corrupted ways.

Maybe by the time those politicians from Muda learned the trade of the crafts - practising and perfecting the art of corrupted ways - the rakyat will experiment and try another group of politicians to govern this country.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.