POLITICAL parties are ramping up efforts to encourage Malaysians living abroad to return home to vote in the 14th general election, as they hope to counter the damage stemming from political fatigue and the #undirosak movement.

Last month, Election Commission (EC) chairman Mohamad Hashim Abdullah announced that postal voting registration for registered Malaysian voters residing abroad was now open. 

However, many Malaysians abroad had expressed a lack of faith in the integrity of the postal voting process.

Apart from Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah appealing to Malaysians abroad to make their votes count this coming election, which must be held by August, politicians from both Barisan Nasional and the opposition Pakatan Harapan have been reaching out to Malaysians overseas.

MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker said the party has been doing its bit to encourage Malaysians to return home to fulfil their responsibilities in the next general election, and to ensure a BN victory. 

“We will mobilise overseas MCA clubs to encourage Malaysians to fly home and perform their responsibility as Malaysians in choosing the government,” the MCA religious harmony bureau chairman said. 

MCA Youth chief Chong Sin Woon, meanwhile, said his party had never underestimated the support of Malaysians overseas. 

“Last year, we collaborated with the MCA club in New York, in the United States, to get more voters to return to Malaysia to vote,” said the deputy education minister. 

Diminished support

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said support from Malaysians living overseas during the last general election was crucial, contributing to the 51% of the popular vote Pakatan Rakyat (PR) received. 

PKR, PAS and DAP had been part of the now-defunct PR pact that split in 2015. PKR and DAP are now members of the new coalition, Pakatan Harapan, along with splinter parties Amanah and Bersatu. 

PAS is now with Ikatan, forming another pact called Gagasan Sejahtera. 

Nurul Izzah said support for PH compared with PR could have eroded since the 2013 polls, as many voters were disappointed by the breakup of PR and failure of the opposition to form the government.

“In 2013, the momentum and spirits were very high. But after the Pakatan Rakyat split, there were some who felt disappointed,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“It is our responsibility to remind them that 2018 is the decider to the success of the people’s voice in 2008,” said the PKR election director.

Bersatu strategic director Dr Rais Hussin also urged Malaysians overseas not to be disheartened by the results of the last polls.

“Effective social media campaigns will be launched to encourage Malaysians abroad to return home to vote and be part of the solution to rebuild Malaysia. 

“We call on Malaysians in every continent to return during GE14 and use their democratic rights to save Malaysia,” Rais told The Malaysian Insight. 

He said that although the cost of returning to Malaysia could be expensive, Malaysians would have to pay the ultimate price if the country was destroyed. 

“They have to choose either to keep the kleptocracy regime or install a new government that assures hopes and promises for better governance.

“If the kleptocracy regime is not removed through a democratic process, the country will go through a dark age for another five years because this kleptocracy regime will destroy the country,” he said, referring to BN.

Spoilt votes

Political analyst Wong Chin Huat said the spoilt vote campaign initiated by certain quarters could also decrease the number of Malaysians returning home to vote. 

“But this situation may change if PH responds constructively to address their dissatisfaction.

“For instance, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng made a smart move by interacting with the young people who started the spoilt vote campaign,” he said.

Wong, of the think tank Penang Institute, said the largest number of Malaysians living abroad was in Singapore, and that these people could influence election results, especially in states like Johor. 

“If they are keen to return to vote, they could make a big impact, particularly in Johor,” he said. 

On January 28, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamad said Malaysian voters living in Singapore were not expected to return in droves to vote in the next general election as they felt they had been cheated by the opposition in past polls. 

“They tried this in 2008 and 2013 due to the opposition’s propaganda but felt cheated as they could not change the government,” he said. 

However, Nurul Izzah said the message she has been sending to Malaysians – both at home and overseas – who felt “disappointed” with the opposition was that the power to change the direction of the country was truly in their hands.

She said that no one had expected that the opposition could win in five states – Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan – in the past, as well as deny BN its two-thirds majority in Parliament. 

“We were relying on the people’s momentum,” said the Lembah Pantai MP.

“And it gave us the chance to rule in Selangor and Penang, proving that the opposition can rule.

“When I was in Geneva last year, I met some groups of Malaysians. We discussed the importance of them remaining active, to be the catalysts for other Malaysians to come home to vote,” she said. 

The EC had revealed that in 2013, only 6,000 votes came from overseas voters.

According to a World Bank report in 2011, the number of skilled Malaysians living abroad rose 300% in the last two decades, with two out of every 10 Malaysians with tertiary education opting to leave for either Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries or neighbouring Singapore.

The World Bank estimated that 800,000 to 1.4 million Malaysians live abroad. – February 17, 2018.