PERLIS mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said voting in elections is about deciding the lesser of the two evils; it’s not about who is good, it’s about who is less bad.

Asri’s pronouncements is nothing new but it shows disdain and contempt for both sides of the political divide from a prominent religious figure.

Choosing who is less bad is what precisely gave birth to the “#Undi Rosak” movement. Reality has sunk in among the young voters – whoever wins the election, they will be getting one of the two evils.

Malaysians are now paying the price of political supremacy sown by our leaders which began six decades ago. The evils Asri mentioned has now manifested into an uncontrollable handful of people who holds the nation’s future at ransom, and at the expense of the general populace. The ransom of “I will only do for you if you do (vote) for me”.

Choosing the lesser evil is reminiscent of the 2016 US elections. Voters had to choose between two unpopular candidates, Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. The “more” evil won in the lowest turnout in two decades.

In an article in the Washington Enquirer, May 12, 2016, senior political analyst Timothy P. Carney wrote, “Thankfully, good men and women are free, when confronted with two evils, to choose neither”.

But choosing neither won’t solve any problems – all it does is to aggravate the situation and prolong the nation’s woes.

Calls for spoilt votes by disgruntled young and disillusioned voters occur everywhere around the world. It’s not unique to Malaysia.

In the UK 2015 elections there was a campaign “Vote or Vote none”. The biggest winner in 2015 was an invisible silence. A third of registered voters didn’t vote (nearly 16 million).  One person drew a picture of a penis on the ballot paper to express his dissatisfaction and his vote was counted as valid by the returning officer. The Conservative government was re-elected with the support of less than a quarter of registered voters.

In neighbouring country Singapore, voting is mandatory for all Singaporeans aged 21 and older. An Institute of Policy Studies Research (2015) by Jeremy Ho in Singapore revealed deliberate voters spoilage is regarded by many as a legitimate way to express unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

Spoilt votes occurred on an average of 2.3% of all votes over the course of Singapore’s general elections from 1972 to the recent 2015 election. The figures in percentage may be small, but when you are talking about 47,315 thousand out of 2,304,331 million voters in 2015, that’s a huge number of people turning in spoilt votes. The percentage of spoilt votes has remained relatively constant, and there seems to be a quantitative increase in the number of Singaporeans spoiling their vote. 

Singapore has similar history and racial make-up as Malaysia. It has been ruled by a single party PAP since it broke away from Malaysia in 1965. Being in power too long without a break can cause acute myopia and create an elitist group of people ruling over the population rather than managing the population.

This has happened in Singapore as well as Malaysia.

While Umno has created their own privileged and elitist society, Singapore has created the Lee dynasty, and the current Prime Minister’s wife is CEO of Temasek Group, the nation’s sovereign fund. The recent Lee’s family feud has opened up a pandora box of all sorts and gave us a deeper insight of how Singapore is ruled by an elite group of people.

In Malaysia, the opposition should take full blame for their failure to parade a new line-up of leaders who could tip the balance in their favour. Instead, we got a nonagenarian ex- Prime Minister designate and the wife of a jailed reformasi leader as his deputy. It would have been wiser to make them advisers and give a new generation of new leaders a chance to lead the country.

Malaysia is champion in the recycling of political leaders. Apart from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, there are many others. It’s a real pity that we recycle politicians and not things that can save the environment. In another four years from now, bent over leaders with walking sticks or in wheel chairs may be a common sight. Our political leaders just do not know when it’s time to quit.

Take for example former Umno vice-president Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad who was suspended six years from the party after the disciplinary board found him guilty of money politics in 2005. With a tainted past, he was appointed as the Chairman of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV). He resigned in June 17, 2007, amid allegations of corruption and violation of corporate governance.

During his time, FGV saw its shares decline 60%, affecting thousands of Felda settlers and putting them further in debt. The government doesn’t seem to have enough of the damaged caused by Mohd. Isa and made him acting SPAD Chairman. These kind of insensitivity and senseless decisions riles a lot of people.

If we look at Trudeau of Canada and Macron of France, the people of these two nations voted in young, vibrant and energetic leaders to replace the old. The young brought new ideas and diversity to the table and renewed people’s faith that there is such a thing as a government for the people and by the people.

Malaysians are feeling dejected and disillusioned with the leadership of the country for quite some time now. BN has been given ample time since GE13 to right the wrong but it’s hard to change when you can do the same things repeatedly and get away with it with impunity.

Corruption and government excesses will weigh heavily on voters’ minds, including religious freedom and racial harmony. The opposition’s failure to give a new generation of leaders the opportunity to lead meant that there is nothing to differentiate them from the current regime and its failures.

Looking at the UK 2015 election results, spoilt votes or low voter turnout will only favour the incumbent government. The same will happen in GE14 if the young and disillusioned do not partake in the election process.

What the younger voters should do is to start something like a Green Party movement, a third force, as the alternative and cast their votes. Spoilt votes does not help build a nation, it’s an exercise of futility.

Voting third party candidates on a unified banner or platform will be a breath of fresh air for our country. You may not form the government now, but you can be the voice in parliament or even kingmaker in the case of hung parliament.

It’s something for the “#Undi Rosak” movement to think about. – February 7, 2018.

* Joe Samad has wide experience working for international companies and government GLC. He is interested in new technology applications in a shared economy and issues affecting the nation,  sharing his worldview across various media platforms.

* 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.