Voters’ fears can be manipulated

The Star:

Voters’ fears can be manipulated


By PHILIP GOLINGAI
IT'S JUST POLITICS


Sunday, 13 Aug 2023


ONE takeaway from the elections that took place yesterday in six Peninsular states – Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor, and Terengganu – is that it is now confirmed that Perikatan Nasional is the new bogeyman for most non-Malays.

They fear that if Pakatan Harapan-held states such as Selangor fall, they will become like Kelantan, which is governed by PAS, the backbone of Opposition bloc Perikatan.



Less than nine months ago, the bogeyman of the Pakatan crowd was Umno. Back then, they hated Umno’s perceived kleptocracy. Now, most of them are mute about the fact that Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi is a Deputy Prime Minister.

Here’s how a PKR leader explained why those against corruption would still vote for Pakatan in the six state polls even though it is in bed with alleged kleptocrats.

“They believe that [Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim] should be given the chance to be prime minister. They believe that embracing Zahid and Umno is a necessary evil for Anwar to be PM,” he said.

“They also fear the green wave. They think their way of life will change if Perikatan takes over, say, the Selangor government.”

Now, many non-Malays fear PAS and Bersatu’s perceived conservative agenda. They fear the green wave that swept states during the 15th General Election (GE15) in November. They see it as the rise of conservatism in the country.

They might be wrong about that. It is arguable whether PAS and Bersatu won more seats than Umno mainly because 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues swayed the voters.

One explanation of Perikatan’s big win (out of its 74 seats, 72 are Malay-majority constituencies) in GE15 is that the Malay community, just like the non-Malay community, rejected Umno’s perceived corruption.

Umno’s popularity also dipped as it was a fractured party then, with president Ahmad Zahid not fielding a handful of party warlords.

Umno was also weak as it did not have a clear leader – most voters in GE15 were not convinced that Umno vice president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob would remain prime minister if Barisan Nasional won. They had a sneaky feeling that Ahmad Zahid would wrest the post from Ismail Sabri.

I believe Bersatu and PAS are to be blamed for spooking the non-Malays.

PAS Padang Terap MP Nurul Amin Hamid called on the government to “control” the organising of concerts by foreign artists, such as Korean pop group Blackpink, as it was causing “a bit of unease” among Muslims. All the Perikatan-held states – Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu – also stopped issuing licences for gaming outlets.

The Kota Baru City Council fined a non-Muslim business owner for wearing “indecent” clothing, ie shorts, in her place of business. The deputy chairman of Bersatu’s legal and Constitution bureau Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif called that move misguided and unlawful and liable to create mistrust among Malaysians. But her comment was not enough to mitigate the damage, and distrust of PAS sticks in the mind of most progressive Malaysians.

Such statements and actions by Perikatan have “triggered” non-Malays to vote for Pakatan-Barisan. A friend flew back to Malaysia from Singapore to vote so that she could “stop the green wave”. She sent me an article entitled “Public segregation of opposite sex in Aceh” in Indonesia, on Telegram with the message: “Coming soon to your state. Vote wisely.”

Who you vote for is secret. But I know who she voted for yesterday.

Triggering fear: Pakatan supporters see the PAS-led Perikatan Nasional Opposition bloc as the new bogeyman. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star


The fear, especially of PAS, seems quite hypocritical. When PAS was in bed with PKR and DAP, the non-Malays did not fear it. Some even mockingly said, “Hudud, bring it on”, as they trusted PAS. None was worried that Selangor would turn into Kelantan when PAS was in the Pakatan-led state government.

Guess who coined the phrase “PAS for all”? It was Pakatan Rakyat (the forerunner of Pakatan Harapan).

The Pakatan crowd, especially DAP supporters, sang Teresa Teng’s hit song, The Moon Represents My Heart – the moon, in this context, referring to the symbol on the green PAS flag.

If you ask them why the change of heart over PAS now, they would probably say they were in love with the Islamist party led by the late Tan Sri Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and not the one headed by current party president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.

It is just like how some Pakatan supporters see Umno differently now. They say this is now an Umno led by Ahmad Zahid, who is against corruption and is fighting against the politics of 3R.

Malaysian politics is fluid. Today’s bogeyman might be PAS. Tomorrow, it might be another party.

The voters’ fear and hate can be manipulated all too easily.