MALAYSIANS have been threatening to kick out Umno since 1999, but the former ruling party seemed incapable of understanding the desire for a more inclusive, clean and hope-filled country.

Every election since 1999 has seen the Umno-led Barisan Nasional’s (BN) vote share drop‎ as the electorate grew increasingly frustrated with endemic corruption, poor governance, lack of economic opportunities and the wanton disregard of the rule of law.

But, both the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak governments failed to respond to the call for reform, pandering instead to the right-wing forces in Umno that wanted the status quo.

In short, it was only a matter of time before Umno/BN faced the wrath of voters.

Universiti Malaya political economy lecturer Professor Edmund Terence Gomez said the writing had been on the wall since the 1999 polls.

“Umno had been told since 1999 that Malaysians wanted change, but despite attempts by Abdullah and Najib, it didn’t happen.

“Abdullah adopted the reformasi agenda and won big in 2004, but he did not do anything after that. Similarly, when Najib took over, he promised change and an end to race-based politics by introducing the 1Malaysia concept.

“But under pressure, he went far right and targeted the Malay vote using government-linked companies. After that, he abused GLCs for his own interest, and voters punished the party for it,” said Gomez, who has written several books about GLCs and Umno.

In the 2004 elections, then prime minister Abdullah led the party to its biggest victory by winning 198 out of the then 219 federal seats. BN winning 63.85% of the popular vote translated to 90.41% of seats.

In the 2008 polls, BN won 51.39% (-12.46%) of the popular vote to bag 140 of the 222 federal seats. BN’s popular vote again declined in 2013 to 47.38% (-4.01%), winning 133 seats.

In the 14th general election, BN’s share of the popular vote plummeted to 33.8% (-13.58%), winning 79 federal seats.

Pakatan Harapan, contesting under the PKR logo, won 45.56% of the popular vote for 113 seats, while its Sabah ally, Parti Warisan Sabah, won 2.32% of the popular vote to win eight seats.

Gagasan Sejahtera, led by PAS, which got 17% of the popular vote, picked up 18 seats.

Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research director Ibrahim Suffian said BN’s defeat was also hastened by the Dr Mahathir Mohamad factor.

“After 2008, Najib tried to move to middle ground when he launched the 1Malaysia campaign and the New Economic Model, but he faced internal pressure from the more conservative portion of the party.

“Part of this pressure came from Dr Mahathir and Malay rights group Perkasa, which did not want to cater to non-Malay interests.”

Ironically, Dr Mahathir campaigned on a more inclusive platform in GE14 and assured Malaysians that if they desired to save the country, they should give their votes to PH.

He and PH promised to tackle corruption, improve the wellbeing of ordinary Malaysians, promote the rule of law, and check the downward slide towards mediocrity.

Little wonder that Malaysians voted them into Putrajaya – PH is giving Malaysians what they have been clamouring for with a louder voice since 1999. – May 28, 2018.