IT was revealed that the both of you met with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz to discuss bipartisanship support for the government before it was announced by the prime minister several days ago, to seek an inclusive approach in connecting the ruling coalition with the opposition and a willingness to engage in new political arrangements essential for ameliorating divisions.

Tony, you argued that this could be the only opportunity to do it for if the PM does have strong mandate, he would not be obliged to even consider it.

Before the both of you push this thought further, I wish to bring you back to 1997, the year in which several events took place. They reshaped and led the country and its present leadership to where we are now.

In 1997, following the Asian financial crisis, the then deputy prime minister, who is now the opposition leader, called for reforms to root out corruption, cronyism, nepotism and abuse of power, which led to a fallout between him and the PM at the time and his sacking.

His call and eventual sacking created substantial awareness among Malaysians, activists, civil society groups with the existing opposition parties gaining additional traction. Syed Husin Ali, one of the founding members of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), was quoted to have asked Malaysians whether we want a society where there is concentration of power and abuse while appealing for more space for democracy and justice, while concurrently calling on the then PM to resign voluntarily.

The PM then pulled some strategic moves, calling for the general election on November, 29, 1999, five months before the expiry of its five-year term and one month after he announced Budget 2000. He capitalised on the feel-good factor of a growth budget and the exclusion of 680,000 new voters, who by virtue of them registering after July 1, 1999 were not eligible to vote in the general election as under election laws, new voters are eligible to vote only after their registrations are completed six months prior to an election.

Airtime for opposition parties on RTM, previously allowed albeit for a very short period during the campaigning period, was also cut off completely and accessible only to the ruling coalition.

As the Malay community was divided following the sacking of the DPM, the PM courted Chinese votes, at that time comprising 24% of the total votes, by inviting the prime minister of China to visit Malaysia one week before polling day. During the visit, the Chinese PM endorsed Malaysia’s policies and our PM’s achievements, an act apparently that resulted in a significant shift of Chinese votes towards the ruling party.

Since the 1999 general election, the country’s political elites have remained dominant, unable to adjust or accept new alliances, determined to both hold on to and win power. Political contests have become zero-sum games while the country continued to serve as a vehicle for elite patronage, even plunder.

May 2018 was just a blip contributed in large part by a vengeful former leader on a crusade against the then incumbent PM.

After losing ground in 2018, these elites returned to polarising rhetoric and mobilising to secure their bases. When elites won public support that resulted in the formation of the present government, enduring divisions hampered cooperation in office, fueled public anger and distrust among their core supporters, and ultimately led to the political instability that the country is witnessing today.

The grip of elite families and the configuration involving warlords in Malaysian politics ensured the road to leadership of the country remained within their grip.

Despite the political fragmentation, parties in the present coalition were formed based on marriage of convenience. As can be seen in the current stalemate, officeholders are drawn to political survival rather than policy solutions to address the country’s challenges. The passing and implementation of an anti-hopping law will be a suicide for some of the parties in the present coalition, making it a non-starter to begin with.

At this present time where political cynicism is at an all-time high, you can’t fault the rakyat for doubting promises made by any politician, more so the present leadership of which the majority of the rakyat did not endorse at the ballot box in 2018. Not that the rakyat have faith in the coalition government they endorsed in 2018 as they too managed to implement few of the policies in their manifesto.

The public is not stupid. We understand that there need to be compromises to get things done. We also understand that if circumstances change, you may need to change your position with them.

The public, however, get confused and disenchanted when politicians use the exact opposite argument from one day to the next.

It is projected that once the country reaches the herd immunity threshold in September 2021, all sectors of the economy would be reopened. In tandem, businesses will be resumed and some may go on a hiring spree as what countries in Europe are experiencing now. Unemployment numbers will drop. Exports will pick up again and projected to grow as demand rises across the world.

With a compromise found where the PM gets to keep his job and borrowing from the playbook in 1999, he will call for a general election way before July 2022, which constitutionally is the last date for the present government term, riding on the country’s resurging economy and the people’s relief that life can go back to normal, albeit a new normal.

Again borrowing from the general election playbook in 1999, if a general election is to be held inside a six-month time frame, it would be constitutionally impossible for laws to be passed to allow under-18 voters to vote in next general election within this short period.

When the country’s economy is performing, history will repeat itself where Malaysians in general, would once again vote the ruling government for the sake of stability and sustainability, thus thwarting the suggested dream of a sweet revenge as envisaged by you, Tony.

Regardless of whether such an opportunity will arise again in the future, so long the elites have yet to complete their fight for power, dreams of reform will just remain as wet dreams. – August 16, 2021.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.