Why I will vote anyway

I can’t pretend I like the way the opposition is shaping up and where they are headed. That they are in shambles is obvious enough but importantly so is the ruling BN, especially the way they are running the country and quickly submerging us into the depths of despair and discontentment.

Perhaps we must learn not to expect too much from the opposition - given the way politics has been in this country of ours from the time of independence, any change is not going to be orderly, well-thought-out and organised.

Order and a semblance of the right things being done will only probably happen as a result of wrenching change followed by extreme entropy where things are likely to be in chaos for long periods before the desired kind of stability for most of the rakyat is reached.

I suppose one has to be realistic at the pace of and how change takes place, especially when bribery and corruption have been around for so long.

But still, I felt terribly let down by the opposition. Here are three prime examples. First, I was bitterly disappointed that they could not work out a way to keep PAS in the opposition coalition. What chance in hell do they have of winning the election now when almost all Malay-majority seats will face three-cornered fights?

Even DAP should not sit smugly back and think they are safe because they are likely to get much fewer Malay votes now as the Umno-PAS axis gets louder and louder for Malay rights to be exercised in the face of perceived non-Malay attempts to deny Malays their entitlement. That could make a difference in marginal seats.

Whichever way you work the numbers, that’s going to be hugely negative for the opposition, as I explained in detail here.

And so who did the opposition turn to after they ditched PAS in favour of Amanah? That was my second disappointment - Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was responsible for much of the problems that Malaysia faces now, directly as a result of his long 22-year reign at the top until 2003.

This man, who put opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim into jail, is now the opposition leader and will become prime minister if Harapan wins. He has said, of course, that he will step down once Anwar is able to take over from him but things can change.

Power gets to the head and the past has shown that it does for him. Can we really trust him to peaceably and willingly hand over to Anwar? Or will there be political machinations after that?

Is Harapan so bereft of leaders that they have to resort to someone with a terribly tainted past and who directly contributed to many of the ills of the country to shore up their leadership acumen?

Was it so bad that they had to throw out their sense of morality and ethics? What does it say about Harapan itself?

Slope to perdition

On to the third disappointment where the Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng faces allegations over the Penang tunnel project. While there is untruth being purveyed, not all allegations are without basis.

And then there is the older issue of that bungalow which Lim (photo) purchased for below its market value. For a person of Lim’s stature to make these kinds of decisions which reek of suspicion is rather disappointing to say the least.

Yes, some of us had very high expectations from the opposition but it turns out that they were not up to what we wanted from them. But does that mean that we throw up our hands in despair, and well spoil our votes, like the “undi rosak” people want us to?

No, that would be abdicating your right to vote and thereby foregoing your chance to make a difference - however small or minute - in the outcome of the elections.

Do we basically hand over government on a platter to kleptocrats - those in power who have allowed billions upon billions of ringgit to be stolen from 1MDB, the largest case of kleptocracy anywhere in the world?

To keep themselves in power they manipulated laws and the judicial system to make themselves immune to prosecution. The current system of checks and balances has shown itself to be deficient in terms of bringing them to account. Only a change of government will.

The nation is going down a slippery slope to perdition from which it will soon be unable to climb up as corruption and plain thievery runs rampant through the system as evidenced already by billions lost in other organisations such as Felda, on top of 1MDB.

The country is pawned to foreigners, particularly China, through projects such as the extremely nonviable RM55 billion East Coast Rail Project. Everyone, even the Malays, suffer under this government.

This government did not even get most of the popular vote in the last elections, staying in power through a system which gives far greater weight to rural voters. Earlier governments had whittled away checks and balances through repeated changes to the constitution.

Now, they don’t have a two-thirds majority to change the constitution - but imagine what these unscrupulous people would do if they have the power to do that.

What further tragedy would befall our country? Do we give up our right to make a decision at this pivotal time in the nation’s history?

Yes, there is considerable uncertainty. Even if the opposition wins, the eventual outcome is uncertain. But then change is fraught with uncertainty and if for that reason one chooses certainty it could well mean the demise of our country as we have known it. The devil you know is not necessarily better.

So I will decide with my eyes wide open and cast my vote anyway.

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P GUNASEGARAM says it’s better to have voted and lost than never to have voted at all. Email: t.p.guna@gmail.com.- Mkini