OUR country’s political leaders are getting deeper into trouble, and they know it.

Recurring rows over cabinet positions, played out in public and based on promises made by the elites, continued to dominate the public discourse and waste precious time.

However, they are peripheral to the central issue that the country currently faces: tough and unapologetic decisions need to be made on living costs, unemployment, food security etc.

Traditionally, to cement their grip on public opinion, the big political parties relied on two pillars: identity and interest-based politics.

Political leaders still publicly deny the gradual meltdown of the country.

When Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob justified the withdrawal of subsidies by explaining it away that foreign labourers were also benefitting from them, it only serves to confirm that the present situation has pushed the political leaders further against the wall.

Their continued exploitation of state resources and assets to silence, bribe, or win over partisans through appointments to lucrative ministerial posts or high paying positions in boards of GLC is likely no longer possible.

The continued deterioration in the currency exchange rate, continued rise in food prices and the increase in OPR rates by Bank Negara is going to hurt and possibly anger the masses and the elites’ own popular base, a large chunk of which is employed by the public sector.

To make things worse, the imminent lifting of subsidies appears to be chaotic and unmitigated. Even if maintained, subsidies will only temporarily delay the inevitable.

Selfish political agenda may in fact favour this scenario. When the music stops — and it is already starting to fade out — most of the country’s political elites will be weakened and tainted by the collapse.

Some parties will emerge worse than others. The biggest losers will be the three coalitions at the heart of the present government formation inertia, Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

PKR, once lauded as the reformist in national politics together with its partners in the PH coalition, has failed to deliver on its promises.

The constant attempts by PH leaders to form by toxic alliances with notoriously corrupt politicians, sharing the spoils and engaging in unprincipled compromises have left the coalition severely lacking in ideas when the converging crises come knocking.

Internal feuds and party hopping did not help.

Despite their public display – for the benefit of the masses – the three coalitions seldom displayed a sense of urgency.

They continued to engage in idiotic rhetoric and draw racial red lines whenever political interests were at stake.

They constantly and consistently fell back on their reliance on identity politics in times of need or danger.

Today, leaderships in each of the coalition continued to blame the other for derailing government efforts.

Along the way, they have engaged in feuds, ranging from awkward televised debates to Twitter wars.

Time will tell, but this long, stubborn stand-off and reckless jostling for power while the country burns will likely prove costly to all three coalitions in terms of popularity and public opinion.

Other smaller political parties and those from East Malaysia have been keeping their heads down but they are equally complicit in the pile-up of events and policies, if the country were to go down.

The storm is unlikely to pass this time as politics has morphed from struggles to maximising influence, to deflective attempts at minimising personal losses and liabilities.

The rats are leaving the sinking ship, hoping that once the dust settles, they can hold on to part of its wreckage and convince the rakyat that they had nothing to do with its demise.

The path to recovery has now been frustratingly clear for more than a year, overshadowed by the struggle for survival and interest in self-preservation by a select few politicians and their cronies.

The delay and stalled attempts in bringing in foreign labour. Drained by uncertainty and rising prices, people’s defences are gradually caving.

Anger is transforming into despair and acceptance in anticipation of a long rocky socio-economic situation that lies ahead.

The greatest issue today lies in finding ways to alter the cost-benefit assessment of deadlocked politicians vying for relevance and survival.

In the absence of a solution, the door is open for new toxic leaders who, by virtue of their destructive behaviour, are most willing to take risks to get ahead.

With their strong personalities, these toxic leaders, generally, will mask their deliberate ill intentions in the short-term but have detrimental aftereffects on the country in the long run.

A toxic leader is a negative person who finds pleasure in turning every other thing and situation into something negative.

Such leaders are always finding ways to inflate the dark aspect of any situation or project, dragging down the morale and enthusiasm of everyone around them.

Assuming they are governing this country, they will leave the rakyat with feeling of helplessness and no opportunities for growth.

The paradox is that, while most people complain about toxic leaders, nonetheless, a greater part of the population almost always stay the course and permit them to hold sway in virtually all arenas of human endeavour.

There are no easy answers here. – July 7, 2022.

* 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.