IN the last general election,
Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) received strong public support. The Sheraton Move,
however, eroded public morale on the coalition after Parti Pribumi Bersatu
Malaysia (Bersatu) betrayed its coalition members and formed Perikatan Nasional
with UMNO and PAS.
Political instability followed
and coupled with COVID-19, the public have seemingly lost faith in their
elected leaders in the past two years. Making matters worse, Pakatan’s series
of gaffes following their ouster from Putrajaya eroded public trust on them as
well.
Pakatan’s attempts to reclaim
power were thwarted after UMNO employed several “correct” strategies. The
memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Government and Pakatan
have indeed brought some level of political stability to the country but it had
backfired tremendously on the Opposition’s credibility.
BN vs Pakatan
Last week, Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Ismail Sabri announced that he will accept UMNO supreme council’s decision
not to prolong the MOU beyond July 31. Some UMNO leaders even deflected the
blame on Pakatan for it!
Unfortunately, several Pakatan
leaders, despite being veterans, continue to fall for UMNO’s “mind
games”. They keep swallowing UMNO’s narrative and emphasised that the
agreement is between Pakatan and the current Government, led by the Prime
Minister.
It is ridiculous that Pakatan
missed the part where UMNO is part of the Government and it wields considerable
influence in the prime minister’s decisions! By deflecting the blame on
Pakatan, UMNO is actually testing their response before mooting strategies to
defeat the Opposition in the 15th General Election.
It is puzzling that even veteran
Opposition leaders are acting so naïve. To its credit, UMNO is being very
Machiavellian in its approach and it looks like they have taken time to study
Sun Tzu’s strategies to defeat their opponents.
Interestingly enough, former PKR
vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar recently stated that the Pakatan will not be
able to win the upcoming election and the coalition will not be able to win
back Putrajaya for at least one decade.
Unsurprisingly, several PKR
leaders jumped out to disagree with her assessment but from my observation, I
agree with Nurul Izzah’s prediction. Pakatan’s 22-months in power was nothing
short of a catastrophe and UMNO is “playing them out” even now.
So, what was Pakatan’s flaws in
their 22-months hold on Putrajaya? To begin with, they got too busy countering
UMNO’s attacks instead of instituting reforms and implementing the promises
made.
If you study Malaysian politics
since the 1960s, you will realise that it has always been centred on the 3R
(race, religion and royalty) strategy. UMNO has been using this narrative
effectively for decades to undermine its opponents.
And Pakatan, despite holding
Putrajaya, still fell for UMNO’s 3R strategy! Pakatan leaders could have used
the opportunity by instituting reforms in the Government such as strengthening
the independence of the judiciary, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
and the police.
They could have also taken the
time to at least, fulfil the pledges made in their own election manifesto which
surely would have endeared them to the voters.
We can all agree that Pakatan’s
reign was short-lived but voters see things differently. The public saw how
Pakatan was devoting too much attention to subjects that were inconsequential
to them. The public wants real change, not cosmetic reforms that have no
bearing on the country’s future.
The question now for Pakatan is
how to regain public’s trust. This should be the priority instead winning the
next general election. Besides, Pakatan leaders should realise that once public
trust is there, winning an election is a direct consequence of it.
So, it is no-brainer that Pakatan
should start endearing itself to the public again but how do it?
Address issue affecting the
people
Firstly, they must explore why
voters chose them in 2018. Why the people, who massively favoured them in 2018,
are now shunning them?
Subsequently, like or not, all
those Pakatan leaders who tried to endear themselves to UMNO and BN after the
Sheraton Move must go. Either they should take the back seats or retire
gracefully.
Thirdly, all those advisers and
strategists who encouraged Pakatan leadership to cooperate with UMNO must also
be dismissed. They should never be part of Pakatan’s future endeavours.
Another thing that Pakatan should
seriously pay attention to is the Undi18 voters. These massive
group of youngsters will decide on Pakatan and BN’s political fortunes sooner
than anyone thinks.
They are distinct from older
voters as these group of youths can see the difference between horse manure and
what is real…especially when it is coming out from a politician’s
mouth!
Younger generation of voters want
to hear real strategies and ideas especially when it comes to the country’s
well being such as rising unemployment, economic malaise, attracting
investments, crime-busting and others.
They also want Malaysia to have a
clear foreign policy that prioritises the country’s interest, instead of being
servile to any superpowers.
Just look at what is happening in
Sri Lanka, which has declared bankruptcy. The youths are the ones who
spearheaded the protests against their Government and calling for massive
reforms to take place.
The youngsters are unlikely to
depend on the older generations to guide them to face the new challenges facing
the world. These are the people who would rise in power later and influence the
direction a country is taking.
And this is the group Pakatan needs to endear itself to. They will decide on the coalition’s future and it would be wise for Pakatan’s leadership to provide them the platform to show their prowess, and groom them to become future leaders. — April 19, 2022.
Source:https://focusmalaysia.my/umno-digging-a-grave-for-pakatanwith-the-latter-providing-shovels-part-1/
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