THE popularity of Perikatan Nasional in Sungai Bakap cannot be overstated.

Of course, the opposition coalition’s victory will routinely be played down by the coalition government to calm nerves and placate fears, but it is ignoring the many lessons of the by-election at its own peril.

The Malay voters came out in force to protest the ruling government.

This is particularly significant in an election that has little consequence for the state and federal administrations. The results will have little bearing on the two-thirds majority enjoyed by the Penang coalition government

If anything, the constituents would only see their problems doubled with a PN assemblyman. Without an effective voice within the administration, how would they solve their water and infrastructural woes?

PN will not be able to offer a solutions but only take credit for applying political pressure.

As unfair as it is, such is our winner-takes-all system, which the voters are familiar with thanks to decades of Barisan Nasional conditioning.

So why did they vote for PN?

The government’s Islamic credentials have taken a beating, thanks to the Blackrock-MAHB controversy.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli’s threat of a petrol price hike following the removal of the the diesel sibsidy turned an economic sword of Damocles into a political dagger to fall on.

As unstable as PN is, it has established itself as the new Umno and the voice and conscience of the Malay-Muslim voter.

That they are doing this without the benefit of government machinery, institutions or resources should terrify the coalition government.

Meanwhile, the non-Malay voters failed to show up, maybe because they don’t see the need to.

Perhaps they thought that an additional seat would only make the government more arrogant. Perhaps they thought the state government already has a comfortable majority.

Either way, this “secure” vote bank cannot be taken for granted.

The government has made little to no effort to engage this group, unlike the second Dr Mahathir administration, which gave the Chinese and Indians more political power, representation and funding. The apportionment was sizeable and highly visible.

These are practical expectations from a pragmatic voter base, which has tolerated plenty, including the relatively big tasks of forgiving and working with parties who just months ago were their enemies.

The administration’s storyline of gratitude will not hold for much longer. Successive Malaysia Plans have taught the average non-Bumiputra resilience and independence, and their outright, blunt and successive rejection of MCA demonstrates their belief that they are not beholden to government assistance, so attempting to take that mantle would be counterproductive and foolhardy.

If it wasn’t before, it is evident now that Pakatan Harapan-BN are dealing with two sides of an electorate that do not subscribe to the traditional ideas of punishment and reward and therefore aren’t afraid to trade political expediency for hardship to punish their leaders.

Perhaps it would be wiser then, to spend the next 18 months  communicating effectively with its support base rather than pandering to the segment that obviously does not appreciate it. – July 11, 2024.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.