YOU reap what you sow, particularly in politics.

Malaysians in general have lost interest in being fully informed about politics, and even those who are interested tend to easily forget, provided sensitive issues such as race and religion, are not broached.

The issues plaguing Bersatu, for instance, are largely due to its own design.

The Muhyiddin Yassin administration was built on the heels of a spate of defections by Umno MPs to Bersatu, growing the party from a junior member of Pakatan Harapan to a force to be reckoned with.

Without the pull of Dr Mahathir Mohamad or his operators, the new prime minister had to consolidate his position, and MPs who crossed over were reported to have been appointed into administrative roles, ambassadors and such.

Voice recordings circulated alleging such plots to poach lawmakers, including the Machang MP, who was said to have had a discussion about contract distributions.

Even the anti-party hopping bill was amended to allow for exactly what is happening now: for MPs to vaguely “pledge support” for a prime minister without having to leave their party or cross the aisle.

In fact, the bill only made references to development funds.

The government’s near-absolute freedom to dispense funds wherever it sees fit, too, flies in the face of “no taxation without representation,” on which the institution of parliament is built.

Supply and demand agreements, as we had in the recent past, somehow ceased to be seen as a viable choice because of the narrow corner Perikatan Nasional has pushed itself into – by painting the present government as a DAP-controlled one, with DAP being just a euphemism for everything against the Malay-Muslim majority culture.

Had PN restrained itself just a little bit, it could have participated in the unity government without compromising its rallying cry and positioned itself on stronger footing, ready to face both BN and PH. Still, it has sowed so much hatred and mistrust that this position is now untenable, despite its attempts to backtrack from it.

For voters, too, “you reap what you sow” doesn’t seem to apply.

Like politicians, voters take a bet by choosing one party over the other - sometimes that party wins, and sometimes it doesn’t.

While the party that wins should be fair, voters in that bloc – community, geographical location, or political ideology - rightfully expect that group to be rewarded.

In the context of a Western country, a conservative government would mean a return to religious and family values, and a liberal one would mean a step away from this.

In the Malaysian context, we would not likely depart from a mainstream position on religion and race, and while the ideological poles can shift slightly to the left or right, as seen in the supermajority administration of PN, there wasn’t a push to clamp down on “liberal” activity.

Sometimes, people vote for the opposition simply because they want a firebrand in parliament.

In state elections, when people vote for “other side”, it could mean that they disagree with federal politics or values and wish to disassociate themselves from them. – November 15, 2023.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.