IT is no secret that the next General Election is coming. The feel-good factor seemingly laid down by the barrage of elating news (in the form of rankings, trade figures, global acclaim, and some self-celebration) serves as one of the best telltale signs.

In this period, what is most interesting for me as an observer is not the drama elicited by the fighting within and between political parties, but how are they reaching out to the public.

While Malaysia does not rank very high in democratic indices, our political parties are still, in some ways, democratic. To win elections, they still say and do what they think the public wants.

This results in a range of populist measures offered, from cash handouts to flaring ethnoreligious rhetoric, the latter being a result of how Malaysia is trapped in a vicious cycle with ‘deftly’ delineated electoral constituencies further augmenting an already fragmented social sphere.

That being said, any successful populist, whose ranks include President Trump now, will first have to command a profound understanding of his/her audience.

Therefore, how political parties position themselves is not only reflective of the party’s internal dynamics, strategy and ideological leanings but could potentially be an X-ray vision of the Malaysian society (or at least segments of it).

Interestingly, a cursory examination reveals that there are three different themes with regards to how political parties are positing themselves for the upcoming elections.

Wait For it, There’s the Future

Let’s begin with the governing coalition, BN. Apart from the usual religiously infused race-baiting, one can see that much of the focus is on the future. The package marketed to Malaysians is that they are now en route to greatness and Prime Minister Najib Razak’s strategy thus far will bear fruit in the future.

These incoming fruits include the many communicative infrastructures built around the country (e.g. highways, rails, public transport), a world-class education system, and affordable housing.  There is also the Malaysian Indian Blueprint, which is a 10-year plan for the realisation of many targets (e.g. civil service participation, higher education enrollment) to empower the Indian community.

BN parties in Sabah and Sarawak is also banking on the future to rally support; although in this case the future projected is one where both states would achieve greater autonomy and resource allocation vis-à-vis West Malaysia.

Above all, the most salient rollout of BN’s ‘forward looking’ platform is the National Transformation 2050 (TN2050), a 30-year plan currently in its opinion-gathering phase across universities in the country in a manner that clearly emulates the town hall meeting model introduced by President Obama through his Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).

Tactically speaking, the plan is sensible considering Malaysia is in its last bout of being a youthful country, and the young, typically shorn of traditional political allegiances, need to be captured outside of the framework of traditional outreach methods, such as ceramahs.

That is why the project is delegated to the charismatic Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin. The young, with much to gain (or lose) in the future, requires a vision to hold onto; something TN2050, albeit a vacuous item thus far, aspires to create.

Nevertheless, such strong focus on future-gazing might be an attempt to mask something else – a present deemed unsatisfactory.

Go For it, Change the Present

Little needs to be said with regards to the manifold problems Malaysia currently faces, some tied to a weak global economy that is seeing disruptive changes, some scandals arguably of certain leader’s own making.

And it is this present Pakatan Harapan’s siege of Putrajaya is built around. Their efforts of outreach, be it towards the young or the senior, the Felda hinterlands or the urban areas, all carry the same message that the present BN leadership is, if not solely, responsible for the dismal economic conditions the people are suffering from.

The issues picked are those immediately relatable to the wider public, ranging from a weak ringgit to high inflation, and to youth unemployment.

Therefore, it is no surprise that the Goods and Services Taxes (GST), 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and the ill-fated listing of Felda are Harapan’s hot-button issues. After all, these are measures, or mishaps, that are under the direct control of the government. Taxes can be imposed, or not; 1MDB can be started, or not; FELDA can be listed, or not.

While these are undoubtedly effective pressure points, Harapan’s narrow focus on the present also belies the coalition’s uncertainties about the future. Ambiguity about its Prime Minister candidate as well as recent disagreements about the GST will dent the confidence of voters with regards to the quadri-partite coalition’s future, if they do form the next government, that is.

And that’s a big ‘if’ given three-corner fights with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is almost unavoidable now.

Don’t Bother, There’s the Timeless

PAS’s strategy thus far is to woo supporters through its indefatigable pursuit of stronger Syariah laws in the country; a project that resulted in a ‘will they, won’t they’ alliance with Umno in advancing the private members bill commonly known as RUU355.

In the face of BN and Harapan’s multi-front enticement strategy, PAS appears to be running with a tight-knitted strategy focusing on the imposition (or eventual imposition) of Hudud laws in the states (or nation) it governs.

Empowering Islam, done in PAS’s own interpretation, of course, is presented as the cure-all to the problems Malaysia faced.

The strength (or weakness, depending on one’s perspective) of PAS’s discourse is that it has a timeless element. Unlike the aforementioned strategies which sought to magnify a crystal ball vision of a better tomorrow or soot-tinted view of the unpleasant present, PAS simply need to assert, and reassert its essentialist Good, that is Islam.

Therefore, its promises can span from Malaysia finally enjoy the ‘Islamic’ governance it deserves in the future through PAS’s struggles, and the undoing of the past by claiming Malaysian laws are de facto bad by virtue of being made under “colonial shell”.

Without the need to go into the particularities to defend anything, be it its decision to be cozy with its former archrival, Umno, or its utopian vision of an Islamic State, the party can afford to simplify its message by channeling everything back to its leaders who wears a cloak of infallibility by claiming to speak for Islam, sidelining any inconsistencies in the process.

That is why current issues such as 1MDB were downplayed in the recent Muktamar while the preservation of the ‘Muslimness’ of the government took centre stage.

What does this mean for Malaysia?

It’s not difficult to see the three themes between the parties do overlap in some way. Harapan’s impatience with the present is seen in BN’s actively marketing of the future, and PAS’s herald of Islam being the solution is gradually taken up in Umno’s continued promise of a more Islamic future.

If the parties were to be trusted, such overlapping indicates that the Malaysian electorate does have some common aspirations (and anger) and can be convinced to swing both ways. Yet, at the same time, the radically different epistemologies employed also pointed to the level of polarisation in the public.

The fact that some parties can speak, knowing they are under the scrutiny of the media, as if the rest of the multicultural public doesn’t exist, reveals that their calculations bleakly informs them of the non-availability of a common appeal, if not the pointlessness in seeking one.

But potentially speaking, that’s not the worst part. That would be when all of these parties, old or new, have no inkling about what Malaysians want or their trust to achieve them, for present and future. – May 3, 2017.

* A Forensic Science-Asian Studies hybrid, Nicholas Chan is interested in how authority is shaped, exercised, and more importantly, resisted in Southeast Asia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.