308 had marked a very important date in Malaysian political history. Although it seemed that many will think that the unexpected result was the main topic, it is not. More importantly it was to show that Malaysians overall as voters have matured. After 50 years, religion and race no longer play such important roles compared to other issues such as the economy, social well being and corruption when it comes to voting. Now Malay, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups vote as Malaysians. Finally and hopefully the usual tactic ‘Divide & Rule’ through race and religion that politicians play when it involves winning votes and gaining popularity is something in the pass. Let us all focus our energy onto how to have a healthy administration, a strong economy and a peaceful society. Easy said than done, that is for sure.
The big question mark here is that the voters are matured to choose but are the politicians from both sides are matured to accept the decision and act on it? It seems that both titans are yet to sober.
The individual parties for ruling party Barisan National are having leadership crisis. Prime Minister Badawi is facing a lot of pressure from within for his resignation. He has in return told his United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) that he had reach an agreement to hand over the premiership to his second man, Najib, in due time. The top two leaders from MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) had decided not to defend their posts in the upcoming party election, whereas Samy Vellu, president for the MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) insists that he will leave if his service is no longer needed although he had lost in the election, a position that he had won and held 8 consecutive terms?!?! Gerakan acting president Koh Tze Khoon did offer his resignation but was asked to stay back by some of his supporters. The stories just go on… The interesting issue here is that all leaders stayed back. Most of them have been in the political arena for maybe too long and they still opted to cling on despite the poor election results. This scenario is very unlikely in other countries. How is this possible? Would it be unwise to argue that the election result was a hint that they should have passed on the batons and let other potential leaders to have a run for it?
Probably this happens because there are too much at stake and the surprise election result gave little or no warning for them to properly plan out their exit from politics. So how do we conclude? The answer would be between a simple choice of being responsible or being selfish.
On the other hand, the opposition coalition, currently known as Pakatan, is facing another dilemma. They came into power by accident! To put it very simply, it is a case of getting pregnant before marriage. The best beings that the parties involved are the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Keadilan and PAS. DAP being the protector of Chinese well being and PAS always wanting to run Malaysia by the Islamic rule. The Keadilan party is currently led by former sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the mentor behind Pakatan. Keadilan is obviously squashed in between these two parties with initially different views but maintaining the balance of power. These three main opposition parties understand that one thing they have in common is to provide the public with an alternative choice to replace the existing government. However this is only possible if they team up as one. The election result has proved them right. So now that they are the strongest opposition in Malaysian political history and with a very high possibility to take over government, are they really ready to govern? If so, why are we yet to see a blueprint from them on how are they going to progress this country. Hopefully the excuse of taking over by accident will not be used again!
Obviously by now Pakatan should have a set of blueprint on how to run Malaysia if they take over power. There should be by now a shadow ministry line up so that the public are assured that their future is in good hands. So why are we not given the two most important answers? Is it because the parties are having different conclusions although showcasing as one? Well again the answer would be either being responsible or being selfish?
In short, we the public has clearly shown our maturity and voiced out our decision. Now all we need is for the politicians to wake up and understand our messages. We want a strong economy, peaceful society and a clean administration. Stop playing the outdated race and religion issues. It is not easy to let go nor is it simple to take up status and power. The most important thing to remember is that it is the people who voted the politicians in and all politicians are supposed to serve the people. It should never be the fact that politicians rein superiority over the people.
To all politicians, be responsible and drop the selfishness. Grow up!
