GE13: ‘Third force will determine GE13 outcome’

(The Star) – Non-partisan voters will be instrumental in determining the outcome of the 13th general election (GE13), said social entrepreneur Anas Zubedy (pic).

The principal consultant and Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd founder said the “third force” had the power to decide which party got the two-thirds majority at GE13.

“We want less bickering and politicking, and we want work to be done with focus on developing the economy and cutting down on corruption,” he said in an interview with SwitchUp.tv’s GE13: Showdown programme, hosted by Anne Edwards.

Anas believed the last election had left a positive impact as the Barisan Nasional government, under Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak‘s leadership, had implemented many transformation programmes.

“At the same time, the Opposition coalition has had a chance to run a few states, which is good, as they get to know the realities of running a state,” he said.

However, Anas remained cautious on whether Malaysians had become more politically mature since the 2008 general election.

“A survey we did among young Malaysians last year revealed that many did not know what Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was about,” he said.

“Also, nearly 100% of the respondents quoted the Article inaccurately,” he said.

In a bid to help non-partisan voters understand how their votes could affect the GE13’s outcome, Anas highlighted five election outcome possibilities.

One was to hand Barisan a very strong mandate, allowing for governance the “China way”, where government projects were implemented with speed rather than the “India way” where every project was debated.

The second possibility was to hand the same mandate to Pakatan Rakyat, giving them a chance while expanding the talent pool of leadership beyond Barisan.

“Another is a hung parliament, after which the most influential person would be the Agong. We will leave it to his wisdom to create a new coalition,” said Anas.

The fourth was to give Pakatan a chance to lead but with a very slim majority, so that its leaders would “continuously be on their toes”.

The last possibility was to maintain the status quo, which meant that voters would give the current government another five years, suspending their judgement until the next general election.