Antics of some politicians seen as threat to well-being of the people

PETALING JAYA: As a snap election looms in Malacca, a feeling of disgust has gripped the people of Malaysia. Election fatigue and a health crisis combine to make the thought of going to the polls during these times a bad idea, a political analyst told theSun.

State elections will be especially disastrous now as the country is still fighting the
Covid-19 pandemic, said Universiti Teknoloji Malaysia geostrategist Dr Azmi Hassan.

Azmi said the people are putting the blame squarely on the four state assemblymen who withdrew their support for Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali, leaving the Barisan Nasional-Perikatan Nasional alliance without a majority.

However, he said a Recall Bill would not make a difference in the case of Malacca because the four assemblymen have not crossed over to another party.

“They have only withdrawn their support for the chief minister,” he pointed out.

The Malacca government fell when the four – Datuk Seri Idris Haron (Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas) and Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu) – announced on Monday that they no longer supported Sulaiman.

Idris and Nor Azman are Umno members, while Nor Effandi is with Bersatu and Norhizam is an independent.

Their withdrawal has left the BN-PN alliance with 12 seats in the 28-seat state assembly.

Azmi said even the top leadership in Umno has felt that there is election and political fatigue.

He noted that while Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi expressed support for a snap election earlier, he made a U-turn within 24 hours.

“Umno has come to realise that they will be blamed. The infighting among warlords in the party has caused the people to suffer.”

Azmi said Idris’s statement that he was doing it “for the benefit of the people” only shows that he has lost touch with what the people want.

“Idris has a big ego. He thinks people will believe what he says. These politicians don’t realise that the people are not stupid,” he added.

Azmi said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should declare an Emergency to stop the polls. “Otherwise, Sarawak will also want to proceed with (a state) election.”

The current term of the Sarawak legislative assembly ended early this year, but elections have been postponed to enable the state to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysian Council of Professors senior fellow Dr Jeniri Amir said the antics of some politicians have pushed the people to a breaking point.

He said the politicians are more interested in gaining power than the well-being of the people.

“They should be working towards overcoming the economic problems and the pandemic, not fighting for power, especially with their own party colleagues,” he said.

Jeniri said these politicians seem to be ignoring the advice of the King to place emphasis on political stability.

“The people should know what to do with such politicians,” he added.

He agreed that an emergency would be a way to stop the state from staging an election to protect the people.

But unlike Azmi, he feels it is best to go ahead with the polls given that it would be an acid test for all political parties.

“It will also give the people a chance to express their views on what they think of politicians behaving like this,” he said.

Jeniri said the Recall Bill is a way to stop political instability as it will deter politicians from party hopping because they may end up losing their seat.

He said the Bill should apply to all those who have the intention of causing political instability, whether by jumping ship or pulling support from the government.

“Today, we are seeing how immature our politicians are. They don’t seem to care about the people,” he added.