100 days later, Malaysia remains stuck in Election 2013
Should we wait for these politicians to work out their leadership issues while we watch the clock wind down the 1,727 days left in the current mandate?
News Analysis by Jahabar Sadiq, Editor
Today, 100 days ago, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) won Election 2013 with 133 federal seats but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won nearly 51% of the popular vote.
But one would be forgiven to think that Malaysian politicians are still on the stump from the fervent politicking and one-upmanship going on between and inside the dominant political parties.
Umno is in election mode, so are PAS, PKR, MCA, MIC and Gerakan. The DAP is staring down the Registrar of Societies (RoS) over whether the last party polls is legal or otherwise.
Which begs the question, who is minding the country? Where is the 100-day plan of a new government?
Is the government mute or just morose that it lost the popular vote? Is the opposition sullen or just sore because it nearly won Putrajaya?
A 100 days after GE13, we live under a government unsure of its mandate and pandering to fringe voices that threaten to tear us apart and an opposition already auditioning for the next elections without working on bi-partisan solutions or shaping public policy.
A 100 days after the May 5 general elections, we are staring at a growing Muslim orthodoxy intolerant of Shiites, against Muslim beauty queens or those bathing dogs, and Buddhists meditating in a prayer room.
A 100 days after the polls, we are listening to the growing chorus of politicians and policemen who lament losing their security blanket of preventive laws rather than take the prime minister’s challenge of ensuring citizens and residents live peacefully and securely without selective persecution or judicial oversight.
A 100 days after casting our ballots, we still can’t trust the Election Commission to run any polls if they can’t even get the indelible ink right or that each person’s vote is equal to another.
