LETTER | Chuck the reforms and start transforming Malaysia

LETTER | PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar’s recent by-election win in Kemaman by a handsome majority has sent shockwaves throughout the country, defeating BN’s Raja Affandi Raja Noor and increasing PAS’ votes margin by more than 10,000 votes.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad predicts that Umno will be buried in the 16th general election (GE16) following PAS’ landslide victory, signifying a further erosion of support for the party, due to its unholy collaboration with DAP.

He goes on with the same old rhetoric that Umno will only survive if it separates from DAP and returns to the struggle for race, country, and religion.

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin went on to claim that PAS’ win in the by-election signalled public disapproval of BN and Pakatan Harapan working together.

Meanwhile, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan claims the federal government has failed to gain the support and trust of the people “even after a year in power”.

He also hinted that the Umno president should take the blame and step down.

Joining the bandwagon, Umno supreme council member Isham Jalil implored the party to come out of its state of denial, admit defeat and take concrete steps to reinvent itself, saying via a Facebook video that the people aren’t foolish.

MCA vice-president Tan Teik Cheng is the latest to call on BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to wake up and accept that Malay’s support for the coalition continues to decline.

Umno’s calamity

Meanwhile, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan says the party still has a long way to go in recapturing the Malay vote, stressing that Umno has to be resilient, regroup its strategy and work ethic if it wants to regain the trust of the Malay community.

Mohamad admitted that while the results showed Umno’s failure in “resonating” with young voters, who continue to distance themselves from the party, but the party will not surrender and will redouble its effort to win them over, without deviating from its moderate stance, as It is an important stronghold for a multicultural and multi-religious Malaysia.”

Political dinosaur

Most pundits think that Umno has lost the plot and is already a lost cause, just like all the other BN component parties, namely MCA, MIC and Gerakan who were severely punished by the electorate, causing it to lose much of their power.

It would be a matter of time before Umno bows out.

BN is a political dinosaur in the eyes of the electorate, and Umno only survived for so long due to its sizeable but waning supporters.

In 2018, BN lost power mainly due to the power of the Internet, news and social media which was mainly employed by the then-opposition.

PAS took notice and learnt fast. They too started to employ the same internet tools on social media networks like Facebook and TikTok to put forward their simple yet convincing message to the younger generation while Umno was still licking its wounds.

That resulted in a lot of MP seats making PAS the largest political party.

One of the main reasons why many of the younger generation remain pro-opposition is that they have been disappointed one too many times by Umno, BN and Harapan.

The resonance towards the coalition government has simply disappeared.

Creatures of habit

In the past, Umno was propped up by the older generation of Malays who faithfully supported the party. But this generation has come and gone. Some have left this world while others are simply too old or weary to care or return to the ballot box.

Meanwhile, the undecided younger generation believes that it cannot be a mistake to cast their vote for a party that purports to protect Islam at its forefront. So of course PAS and its extension PN, seemed a wee better bet.

After all, a strong healthy opposition is needed to balance and keep the country in check.

People who traditionally voted for BN or the opposition would continue to do so out of habit. Expecting the younger generation who has embraced the opposition to break this habit and vote otherwise would be a momentous task for Umno, BN and Harapan.

Transforming Malaysia

Currently, the Madani government has to put up with “MPs playing politics”, openly quarrelling and jumping around like frogs, raising racial tensions, and plotting Sheraton Moves to overthrow the current administration, instead of ruling the country.

Therefore, the coalition government needs to close ranks and start administrating the country in an orderly, fashionable and honest manner.

Restoring meritocracy to allow everyone to compete on an equal level will uplift the country’s image and morale instead of giving out endless crutches to prop them up.

Maybe Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should stop entertaining the opposition’s antics and speed up the much-needed reforms, modernise the country in the spirit of Madani, and steer the country towards a more moderate path.

Abolishing corruption, outlawing racial and religious discrimination, implementing Stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education curricula in schools and referring back to the election manifesto would be a start.

Regaining the people’s trust

The clock is ticking for the Madani government to stop taking the people for granted to speed up transformation and steer the country to the 21st century so that we can compete with the rest of the world.

This may be the surest way for the Madani government to shore up undivided support instead of aping the opposition by putting more religious restrictions and offering passports to heaven, currently espoused by the opposition.

This transformation may get the attention of the younger generation to open their eyes and impress upon them to put their trust in the coalition government.

The only way to impress the younger generation is through strategic changes, encouraging the younger generation of Malays to be more open-minded, allowing them more freedom to make their own decisions and mix more with the non-Malays, instead of forcing them to stay within the boundaries of the status quo.

It is a known fact that despite the majority of Malays voting opposition, the coalition government still emerged as the clear winner, so it needs to move on and rule instead of squabbling with the opposition or trying to justify itself.

It is also a known fact that the non-Malays will continue to support the Madani government despite their disappointments and indifferences.

This is a mighty plus point, but if the government continues to avoid the constitutional rights of the non-Malays, they too will also shy away from the ballot box.

Remember, the younger generation will be tomorrow’s leaders. If the disappointment continues and if they lose their complete trust in the government, this administration is not going to last for very long before it rides into the sunset.

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