Absurd to have ‘warring’ parties running the nation

It’s mind boggling how some voices on social media come up with easy solutions towards achieving a utopia in Malaysia, while ignoring the political dynamics of the parties that are near impossible to blend.

K. Parkaran, Free Malaysia Today

I’m not sure if those commentators are here in Malaysia, although if they are watching from afar, nestled comfortably abroad, they would probably not write half the things they do.

Obviously, you need to mix around with all kinds of Malaysians at home to actually understand what the nation needs politically.

I read one suggestion that the opposition, minus Perikatan Nasional, combining forces as being the only way of defeating Barisan Nasional, based on the 63% combined popular votes received by all the parties that stood against BN at the recent Johor state elections.

This argument is too simplistic in an electorate that is rather complex with so much bigotry, extremism, political treachery, backstabbing, vote-buying, and the obvious double-speak practised by our politicians every day.

The political animosity among the aged leaders who call the shots in some of these parties appears to be beyond repair. Even if differences are patched up, it is for a very short period and they won’t last, and surely such a solution is not the answer to the nation’s current ills.

Malaysians are confused as to the kind of politicking that is shaping the nation. Take the state elections in Johor and Melaka, where an atrocious level of hostility surfaced among the three main parties in the federal government.

The fight between Umno on one side and Bersatu and PAS on the other saw the leaders lashing out at each other like cats and dogs, hurling insults like there was no tomorrow. The way Bersatu and PAS leaders described Umno made it sound like the party had no moral authority to be in any government.

There were no holds barred, too, in Umno’s retaliatory attack on Bersatu leaders.

Yet, once they are back in Putrajaya, the leaders of these bitterly warring parties sit in the same Cabinet telling us Malaysians how to run our lives.

Can Malaysians trust or depend on this bunch of political coalitions to make decisions that will be good for our futures, which will take Malaysians out of the political rut we are in? On a personal note, my eternal optimism has taken quite a beating from these political shenanigans.

In any organisation, one needs good leaders who respect each other to steer it to greater heights. Yes, we must agree to disagree but to sit with the very group that you call thieves and liars to make decisions that will affect every Malaysian is most unacceptable.

We cannot depend on the opposition too, as we see it as a bunch of opportunists trying to cobble up a group just to be in power but with no clear direction on how and where to take the nation. It’s obvious that they themselves don’t have a clue on how to save the nation.

I can bet you these opposition leaders are so preoccupied with handling their own futures that they do not seem to be interested in coming together for the next general election.

Look at what they did despite the mauling in the Melaka elections.

If this wasn’t bad enough, more political parties are being formed in the name of fighting for specific causes. Obviously, all they want is to be relevant by winning a few seats and throwing their weight behind whoever needs them to form the government. In the process, they hope to get some government positions in return for their support.

What we have now on one hand is a case of warring parties in the federal government in a marriage of convenience just to hang on to power in the name of race and religion. Investors are not blind, they know how the political and economic stability is affected by incompetent leaders.

And on the opposition front, we have leaders who do not seem to be accepting the reality that the people are losing faith in their ability to govern and keep their promises. They appear to be lost in a political wilderness.

The average Malaysian is the loser eventually and it is the voters who have brought about such a pathetic situation. Has democracy failed to work in Malaysia? In Johor, 41% of the votes cast resulted in one party obtaining 71% of the 56 seats. So, too, in Melaka, where BN only won 38% of the popular vote but took 75% of the 28 seats.

All said and done, it is absurd for openly warring factions to be in charge of the country, revealing a greed for power at the expense of the citizens.