SO, what did the political parties learn from the Johor elections yesterday?

Well, from an observer’s point of view, it’s very simple. Barisan Nasional (BN) did not win over the majority of Johor voters and certainly has nothing to shout about.

The fact here is that the opposition messed things up among themselves.

Had the opposition remained as one front, they would have made a clean sweep.

The rationale is simple. There were 2,597,742 registered voters in Johor, of which, only 1,426,573 came out to vote.

From this, a total 599,753 supported BN, while a total 826,820 rejected BN.

The best part – a whopping 1,171,169 voters did not come out to cast their votes.

So, only 54.92% out to vote, while 45.08% remained at home.

Therefore, it is baseless to say that BN won the elections. All they won was a majority of split votes.

Back to the drawing board. Firstly, Anwar Ibrahim has to hand over the leadership to someone else. Next, all the other parties need to be a united front.

This includes new players like Parti Bangsa Malaysia and Muda.

There are credible leaders here which cannot shine unless they become part of one strong force.

It is ridiculous to say the Chinese have returned to MCA and the Indians to MIC. As an Indian, this is utter nonsense.

No credible, honest Indian would ever support MIC. They just rode on BN’s waves and won.

There is still hope for a better Malaysia, but what needs to be done now is for all the other parties to get together.

Bersatu, PKR, PH, Warisan, PBM, Muda, etc. must all become one strong formidable force.

Put all differences aside, sit down and reach a common ground, right from the start.

If Pejuang is part of the equation, it must be without Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Otherwise, the voters are going to reject the opposition again.

Time for those like Dr M and Anwar to take a back seat. If young, credible leaders step up and the opposition get together, BN can easily be booted out again.

And from the start, decide on a prime ministerial candidate, which could well even be a woman. – March 13, 2022.

* K. Anandakumar 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.