The Domino Effect on State Assemblies: First Melaka, Then Johor and What’s Next?

The Domino Effect on State Assemblies: First Melaka, Then Johor and What’s Next?
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright January 2022

One smart cookie who had nothing better to do and perhaps desiring some attention or out of boredom or for all the above reasons, speculated that state assemblies could fall like dominoes in a row.

One said that since it started with Melaka and was followed by Johor as a close second, other state assemblies would fall too, soon enough.

So, the bet was on! What state would be next?

Speculations were rife when some irresponsible Facebook user started uploading fake news of local assemblymen in Kedah had left their party and that the state would be the next to call for an election.

Those who believed in self-fulfilling prophesies claimed victory.

“I told you so”. But it was short-lived because official media quickly put an end to the rumours. Kedah was not a piece of some unfounded falling dominoes.

Neither was there any domino effect about to befall our state assemblies that could lead to disastrous consequences?

The Domino Effect is based on a “falling domino” principle where you set up a row of dominoes, then if you were to knock off the first, the last one would collapse leading to the beginning of the disintegration of a unit with tremendous consequences.

This was central to a geopolitical theory known as the Domino Theory which postulated that once a country fell under influence of communism, countries around it would follow suit falling like dominoes. This is what is termed as the Domino Effect

The theory was used in the 60s as a pretext to justify US military intervention during the Cold War to stop the spread of communism. For example, Vietnam.

Once Vietnam fell, communism would spread to other Southeast Asian countries. However, for some unknown reason, it did not happen. Neighbouring countries did not fall like dominoes to communism as speculated.

Here at home, there are state assemblies forecasted by some negative pundits to fall like dominoes too. They believed that triggered largely by what happened in Melaka, Johor called for a state election, fixed for 23rd March 2022 after the assembly was dissolved on 22nd January.

Lately, there were speculations that Kedah State Assembly could be next if Dominio Effect was indeed true to life.

However, we doubt this could happen because the circumstances in Kedah are different from Malaka and Johor. Barisan Nasional (BN) stated that there was no necessity to call for a state election in Kedah for the same reasons.

So there was no such thing as a cumulative effect that would result when one event, like a Melaka state election, would initiate a succession of similar events in other parts of the country. Those who believe in Domino Effect should just look to Vietnam since the downfall of Saigon in 1975. Nothing happened after Vietnam drove US troops out of the country. There was no widespread communism in neighbouring states. That was the flaw in the theory.

Neither is anything significant like a dissolution of the state assembly is happening in Kedah shortly.

So, stop speculating.

However, politics in Malaysia is dynamic. Circumstances may change quickly. It might not be state assemblies but it could be new alliances developing in the country that could trigger political events which might affect our lives. Stay tuned!

Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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