Over half of Chinese voters hope for PH to be ruling govt
He said the move by Umno portraying Najib as a victim has landed the MCA in a catch-22 situation.
(Sinar Daily) – Political researcher Wong Chin Huat said from the perspective of the Chinese ethnic group, diversification is unnecessary in the election.
He said recently, the Chinese community heard the suggestion of diversification so that there would be a Chinese representative in the government if Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the election.
The objective, he said was to convince some PH supporters to vote for BN instead.
Such saying disregards the possibility of a hung Parliament which will lead to a joint government.
“The joint government will have representatives from Sabah and Sarawak. In West Malaysia, the coalition which wins the most number of seats will lead.
“This will depend on whether BN, PH or Perikatan Nasional (PN) win in the election,” Wong said in a special interview.
He said if BN was to lead in the joint government, PH was likely to be the second in line.
Even if all MCA candidates were to lose in the election, the joint government was not short of Chinese ministers, Wong added.
“If PH is the leader in the joint government, then one does not have to worry about Chinese representation.
“From the Chinese community point of view, diversification is not needed here,” he said.
He said to PH supporters, the move of diluting votes was seen as an attempt to reduce PH’s credentials as the leader in the joint government.
“Why shoot oneself in the foot?,” he said.
He added that to voters who believed that there were fundamental differences between political parties, citing the interest of an ethnic group to sell the idea of “vote for good candidates instead of the party” was deceiving.
On the voting pattern of Chinese voters in the coming election, Wong said election results in Melaka and Johor state elections indicated that majority of the Chinese voters supported PH and only a small number returned to BN.
However, he said the number of voters not voting was on the sharp rise mainly caused by close to 30 per cent of voters who were passive were made eligible by automatic registration.
“Two other factors are that the Covid-19 pandemic and other restrictions have cooled Malaysians’ zeal to vote and lastly the change of government caused by the Sheraton Move led to voters feeling pessimistic about election,” he said.
The imprisonment of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, he said would help to convince some pessimistic PH supporters and first-time voters to vote.
He said the move by Umno portraying Najib as a victim has landed the MCA in a catch-22 situation.
“Unless Umno gives up Najib, MCA will definitely be a casualty in the election,” he added.
He said upon the request of Chinese voters, based on observation, more than half of the Chinese voters were still hoping that PH would be the ruling government after going through the Sheraton Move, change of government, Covid-19 pandemic and Najib’s imprisonment.
However, the ratio of Chinese voters hoping PH to rule was lower than the 2018 election, he said.
Meanwhile, current affairs commentator Tang Ah Chai said the Sheraton Move has tarnished voters’ perception on politicians especially on their integrity and pledges.
He said voters were suspicious whether politicians were exercising their power for the public or for self-interests.
Good governance, fair policy, comprehensive system, corrupt-free society, economic development and allocation of resources were important for Chinese voters, Tang said.
He said the issue of granting Chinese and other ethnic groups fair rights could only be resolved by institutionalising their rights.
“Chinese voters believe that Malaysia is on track for steady growth if the government is fair to all Malaysians in its policy and implements good governance with a comprehensive mechanism which is free from corruption.
“They hope to witness fair allocation of resources, especially allocation for all streams of schools when tabling the budget in the Dewan Rakyat.
“Talents are groomed where intervention attributed to racial and religious factors are minimised,” he said.
On the election manifesto, Tang suggested candidates to list the long-term and short-term plans and elaborate on the political ideology.
He said after going through series of defections, voters would want to hear from candidates and the political parties the reason they deserved the voters’ support.
