Respect voters’ intelligence

Syed Umar Ariff, NST

Let us be frank here. Some of our politicos’ statements do not spur the advancement of society’s intelligence; it is as if they prefer to sport greasy mullets rather than putting on thinking caps. It is akin to delving into a mind of asininity, wherein lies the danger of dragging the uninformed to a similar realm of utter shallowness.

Recently, we saw them blaming voters for not giving enough support to Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) to win in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections. Opposition leaders were saying that the people were confused as to which party they should pick because Pas, too, is an opposition party.

Yeah, right. Now let us take a breather, to among others, regain our composure before the absolute puerility of the argument, which is chiefly held by PAN president Mohamad Sabu. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that Mat Sabu was right and the people were confused due to a perceived ground sentiment that PAN was no different from Pas. And this is despite the torrent of news items on PAN and Pas’s muktamar since last year.

Now, judging from such a predicament, it seems PAN has a severe problem with its advertising and marketing department. In other words, within the same context, if John fails to sell his brand of toothpaste to Jane, whose fault is that?

The voters have spoken. They made their choice based on their perception and conviction. The electorate has matured and has the right to pick any representative with convincing leadership skills. Democracy is a fair game. Only fools, or sore losers in this instance, would try to point fingers away from themselves and blame others for their own folly.

Mat Sabu knew that PAN was not equipped to cross swords with experienced hands. He did what was necessary to prove PAN’s political legitimacy against Pas — DAP was the best choice in handling campaign rounds, particularly in the Chinese-majority areas.

PAN’s lack of machinery was mitigated by an army of DAP canvassers, to an extent that the fledgling PAN did not know what was going on in several programmes. A case in point is the alleged seditious billboards. PAN knew next to nothing about DAP’s plans. PAN’s communications director Khalid Samad claimed that it was just a minor miscommunication.

But there were six billboards — clearly, PAN was not responsible for the campaign material, let alone taking a management role. It is likely that DAP had failed to understand local sentiments, especially during the Ramadan month.

The serenity of Sungai Besar, for example, was an obvious hint that such an aggressive drive is not needed to send your message to the masses, as seen during the Tenang by-election in 2011. In that light, if Mat Sabu is playing the blame game, is DAP not the one at fault for PAN’s loss? Has he no respect for the voters’ intelligence?

As of now, despite DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s open concession of defeat, his father Lim Kit Siang is still rummaging through what is left of the opposition pact’s dignity to mock Barisan Nasional. Recently, the DAP adviser mocked BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s gratitude to Allah for BN’s victory.

Now, that is again, childish and insensitive of a supposed “statesman” who clearly does not understand the Muslim sentiment when it comes to Islam. His statement, which was posted on his blog, is divisive as it concerns religious respect in a multicultural society. Perhaps, Kit Siang was simply out of ammunition in launching salvos against his rivals.

What Kit Siang said can be construed as an affront to Islam and Muslims. Maybe, before spewing vitriol against his political rivals, Kit Siang should have taken a step back and foreseen the repercussions of his words. As an adept seer, due to his knack for reading the political scene, Kit Siang should be the better man. He should not have let anger take hold of himself.

Perhaps, he should try fasting to understand the merits of the Islamic religious obligation. Let us hope that in the future, such politicians will be more constructive in shaping the people’s political maturity.