The political consequences of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic

Thus far, Khairy Jamaluddin has done a good job at rebutting the fake news and false allegations from the anti-government elements in Umno and Pakatan Harapan. But more needs to be done. The Prime Minister needs to talk to the rakyat more often. Even a short daily session is better than a long weekly press conference. Malaysians need to know the Prime Minister is in the driver’s seat and is concerned about people’s lives and livelihoods.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This was what The Guardian, UK, said:

Covid-19 drives 50% of students in UK to become more political. The NUS survey also finds 63% did not believe government acting in their best interests.

More than half of university students (52%) have become more politicised as a result of the pandemic, a survey suggests, as grassroot rent strike groups continue to gain support from undergraduates over the festive period.

The poll, conducted by the National Union of Students (NUS), also found that almost two-thirds (63%) of the 4,193 respondents did not believe the government was acting in their best interests.

The Independent, UK, reported:

‘Generation Covid’ – the pandemic has made young people like me more political. My community is at the heart of one of the worst-hit areas in the country for Covid-19 – and it’s been hard on us. The pandemic has even made me want to fight for devolution for Yorkshire.

VOXEU said:

The Covid-19 pandemic has had major political consequences. The balancing act of curbing the spread of the virus and re-opening the economy has been a particularly high-profile challenge for policymakers in recent months. This column explores the political costs of (mis)managing the pandemic. The findings suggest that governments are punished in terms of political approval when Covid-19 infections accelerate, particularly in the absence of effective lockdown measures. Economic indicators, in contrast, do not appear to be strong predictor of political approval rates during this crisis.

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All over the world, the young are very unhappy with their governments regarding the way the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is being managed — not only regarding people’s lives but regarding people’s livelihoods as well.

Many countries were initially at a loss as to how to manage the pandemic. It was something no government had experienced before this, and it took a while to go through the learning curve. This was made worse when information was confusing and contradictory.

Malaysia is now going through what other countries went through a year ago. The West learned the hard way and now most countries are trying to bring life back to normal by relaxing some of the rules. Will this trigger another wave of infections? It is not known yet, but the situation will need to be monitored and the new (relaxed) rules may be reversed if the situation turns negative.

In Malaysia, the anti-government elements in Umno and Pakatan Harapan are exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic — and the effect of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods — and are turning the whole matter into a political issue.

The “Kerajaan Pintu Belakang” campaign is already stale or basi. That campaign was meant for ousting the government through a vote-of-no-confidence in Parliament last year. The current campaign is “Kerajaan Gagal” — and they hope this can build up enough momentum to oust the government when the Emergency ends in August.

Basically, the “Kerajaan Gagal” campaign is centred around the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The anti-government elements in Umno and Pakatan Harapan are alleging that the government is badly managing the crisis at the cost of people’s lives and livelihoods.

Pakatan Harapan is also alleging that “Good Samaritans” from all over Malaysia are offering millions of free Covid-19 vaccines, which the government rejected. And this, says Pakatan Harapan, is because of an under-the-table arrangement where the monopoly for the supply of vaccines is given to one company.

The government has denied all these allegations, of course. But most Malaysians prefer to believe the anti-government propaganda — even if the government were able to prove what it says. This has always been the Malaysian psyche who never allow the truth to get in the way of a sensational story.

Thus far, Khairy Jamaluddin has done a good job at rebutting the fake news and false allegations from the anti-government elements in Umno and Pakatan Harapan. But more needs to be done. The Prime Minister needs to talk to the rakyat more often. Even a short daily session is better than a long weekly press conference. Malaysians need to know the Prime Minister is in the driver’s seat and is concerned about people’s lives and livelihood.