There were many objections from Malaysians to having a general election during the monsoon season. Yet, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob opted to dissolve Parliament.
It came days after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong visited the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre to find out the preparedness of relevant agencies to face the Northeast Monsoon season.
It is fait accompli that an election is held within 60 days from the date Parliament is dissolved. Some may argue that Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi engineered the calling of GE15, facilitated by his party’s ‘poster boy’ Ismail Sabri.
The move was also given impetus by 12 of Ismail Sabri’s Cabinet ministers who sent a letter to the Agong, protesting that an election is held soon.
Ahmad Zahid claimed the election was for the rakyat’s benefit by returning the mandate to the people to vote in a stable government.
But, thus far, the ruling government has not proffered a manifesto with a credible agenda that could ensure the well-being of the rakyat with a respectable standard of living.
It has used the defunct budget, which is a red herring, as a ruse to entice the gullible to vote for Ismail Sabri’s party.
He said the budget would be implemented in total if he becomes the prime minister, thus the need to return Umno’s led Barisan Nasional (BN) to power.
While BN had ruled the nation for 60 years, it also fostered a culture of cronyism, nepotism and patronage, and carnage of corruption that served the elites of the government and the top echelon civil servants.
The people were duped into believing their salvation lies with Umno, who played the 3R sentiments of race, religion, and royalty.
And the spate of corruption charges levelled against the Umno leaders resulted in the conviction of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for corruption, while Ahmad Zahid, recently acquitted of 40 bribery charges linked to a visa scheme, still faces dozens of other charges.
A host of other Umno politicians implicated in corruption and malfeasance underscore the cancerous rot that has suffused this party that prioritised unbridled greed to accumulate illicit wealth at the expense of the people.
It sounds hypocritical when they promise to have a clean and honest government to serve the people.
In fact, almost all political parties have a track record of malfeasance and misfeasance, some worse than others.
But Umno-BN is at the top of this pile. Alongside it is Pas.
Pas is a party of no consequence on its own and is more of a parasite latching on to a strong host to be in power. It has a poor track record of governance.
Then there is Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who used religious sentiments to manipulate its members. He has also proven unworthy of his position as special envoy to the Middle East with ministerial status, earning a huge salary without doing any work.
Pas does not command enough parliamentary seats to form the federal government on its own, but with the current political scenario, it could team up with a dominant party like Umno to again be in power.
This was evident when it teamed up with Umno to form Muafakat Nasional, and at the same time, it wanted to be part of the Perikatan Nasional government.
Pas will sleep with anybody if it gets power. But Umno has seen its ruse and rejected any cooperation with Pas. But one will never know. These two parties may yet get together again.
The informed public knows which party has the credentials to run the country for the next five years.
They can sieve through the melee and cacophonic maelstrom of politicking that pretends to serve the people’s interest when they only serve themselves.
However, the uninformed public, which has become the focus of the political parties, is taken in by false promises and petty handouts.
They are unaware of the abuse of powers and shenanigans of political parties and their politicians that have kept them at the poverty level and caused them to remain ignorant.
Thus, they are easily conned into believing the promises of these political parties.
If the general populace abides by ethical and moral principles, they will reject corrupted and unethical politicians and their political parties. They would choose those that are honest and morally upright and with integrity and who are altruistic in serving the people.
For the sake of this nation and its people, it is the responsibility of every eligible citizen to cast his or her vote based on the credibility and integrity of the candidates and his/her party.
Voters must choose wisely so as not to jeopardise the future of their children and grandchildren.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13. Main image by Information Department Malaysia.
