Are we at the dawn of a new politics?
Mohammad Abdul Hamid, Malay Mail Online
If anything, Malaysians must have grown tired with the state of affairs of the country be it rising cost of living, fuel price hike, expensive housing, depreciating ringgit, divisive politics, incompetent government and divided opposition.
Globally or locally, the economic outlook does not look very good. While our economy has not deteriorated to the same level as Greece, with 1Malaysia Development Berhad and MARA scandals, the sentiment for Malaysia is anything but gloomy.
Lest we forget, a few years ago, one of our ministers once warned that Malaysia could be bankrupt if subsidies are not removed. From the way things are going, it is unrealistic to think that our county is unlikely to be in that position in the foreseeable future, not necessarily due to subsidies alone though.
With Pakatan Rakyat “ceased to function formally”, it is as good as collapsed, DS Anwar Ibrahim ageing and in jail, Selangor state assembly at risk of dissolution, the hope for a strong and credible opposition is fast diminishing.
On the other hand, on both sides of the political divide, we have got political parties who have been around for many years but they are becoming increasingly irrelevant and out of touch with the masses.
The BN (previously Perikatan) has been entrusted to develop this nation since Independence. Credit should be given to BN when it is due, no matter how little one perceives the contributions they might have made.
In hindsight, one might argue that the majority of Malaysians are generally happy with what BN has done to the country from 1970 (post May 13th incident) up until the late nineties when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from the government. In short, we have close to 30 years of peace, development and prosperity. Let’s not touch the subject of fairness during that period, but the BN formulae in governing the nation must have worked really well.
To a significant extent, the PR (previously Barisan Alternatif) which portrayed itself as people friendly was thought to be a credible alternative to form the federal government, especially post-2008 election victory when it won five state governments.
However, after the last general election in 2013, as it failed to form the Federal Government, cracks start to appear in the coalition, much to the disappointment of its supporters.
And as the economy takes turn for the worst in 2014 and this year, no matter what the government on Fitch Ratings say, combined with a series of unfortunate events, we seems to be heading to a perfect storm.
Malaysians are a patience lot. Over the years, we have been very adaptable to changes and for many, life returns to normalcy within a short span of time. Perhaps life is not too bad, after all, despite increasing hardship, business is as usual for most people and we are still at peace.
While for those who are struggling, they could just well drift along. What happen on national politics does not bother them. Life was hard before, and now it is getting harder.
Making ends meet is already a struggle, so let alone worrying about the state of affairs of the country.
Don’t forget, for some of our fellow brethren, having the time and means to understand what’s happening is a luxury.
Then, there are those who do not have access to a wide range of information, so what they know is only based on what was fed through whatever communication tools and media outlets accessible to them.
So what do we do, and who do we turn to?
It is time for Malaysians to prepare and embrace for a new era, a different Malaysia where majority of the citizens play an active part to form a wave to heal the nation.
This can be an uphill task but we must think big and be an agent of change. Ground rules and a framework that can be embraced by as many people in this nation shall be developed, and these shall be based on the founding principles of this nation, such as the Federal Constitution and Rukunegara.
This new “politics” must be inclusive and principal-centered. Yet, it must be open and flexible enough to cater for the diversity that we have in this country. This citizen “politics” can be in the form of a loose coalition initially but can later transform into a more solid form.
Existing political parties must be engaged, but for this to work, they must abide by the rules and cannot be allowed to act like a big brother. Similarly, as many as public figures, non-governmental organizations and non-governmental individuals should be engaged and involved.
With this arrangement, everyone can play a role in an area she or he is comfortable with, within their capacity, be it social work, politics, youth development, education, environment etc. This means that each of us will get more involved to set the direction of the country.
Considering all the damages that have been done, be in the economy, race relations, education etc., it is highly likely there will be a lot of things to undo to bring the country to the right track. We have got a lot of catch up to do to be on par with other countries so we have to stay very focused and not lose any more time. It is a struggle, and it will be a long journey.
Now, all these may sound too idealistic. Without sufficient resources or unifying figure, one can argue that it will not work, especially if we are of the view that the country is already deeply divided and the challenges would be gargantuan to overcome that it will have very little chance to survive.
The other option, obviously, is status quo with slight modifications.
A PAS splinter group may emerge which aligns itself to the PR and on the other side, a unity government may prevail. A new political landscape will appear but that may not necessarily change the old politics we have grown wary of. And life returns to “normalcy” again, and the cycle continues, another scandal unfolds and at the end, the people will always be on the losing end.
The development in the next few months would be very interesting to see.
As political forces are expected to realign, it is hoped that the will of the people will prevail.
