KETEREH folk in Kelantan would vote differently in the next elections as they did not trust the current Barisan Nasional government, Bersatu division chief Dr Radzi Jidin said. 

The analyst said that people’s mistrust in BN is at an all-time high, especially with the scandals surrounding Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Radzi said if Najib is so confident about the people’s support, he would have called for the 14^th general election sooner.

He cites the 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s failures (1MDB) and the RM2.6 billion “donation” funnelled into the prime minister’s accounts as the biggest scandals surrounding the Najib administration.

“When people talk about trust deficit that means they do not trust BN. It means that the trust is still there but at a minimal level. 

“But trust is difficult. The trust deficit is high enough so much so that elections are not called for yet,” Radzi told The Malaysian Insight recently. 

The forensic accounting lecturer added that the depleting trust levels for BN was caused by Umno members themselves, when they shy away from commenting on national issues.

Voters are being swayed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is taking on Najib on the various issues in the country, he said.

“We cannot disregard Tun’s influence. He was in the party (Umno) for so long and he was PM for 22 years.”

The Kelantanese urged voters not to be tempted by the goodies offered during the election season. 

“I always tell voters, if BN gives you anything, take it. The people should understand that the aid given to them is from taxpayers’ money.”

Radzi, who has been on the ceramah circuit in Ketereh, said voters are smarter compared with previous elections and would vote wisely. 

This is based on the polling trends in the constituency, starting from 1999.

During the 1999 elections, Ketereh for the first time, picked PKR over Umno by 4,500 votes in the constituency called Peringat then.

In the 2004 elections, they returned to BN with a majority of 2,800 votes. But in the 2008 polls, PKR won it back by only 400 votes.

The elections in 2013 saw BN’s return by 1,000 votes. 

Radzi hoped that the progressive nature shown by the Kelantanese will set a trend for the whole country in the next elections. 

“In Australia, they have changed the prime minister in the span of 10 years, seven times.

“Indonesia is also progressive. People are used to the change. Once we have changed, the word ‘change’ does not become foreign any more.”

This would also lead to political parties fighting for voter support by suggesting policies that are beneficial to the people. 

“There has not been a change before but there now there’s the 1MDB scandal, the Felda issue… we have to change the government to improve.”  – February 5, 2018.