OPINION | Tok Mat, Not Zahid, Will Be PM If BN Wins GE16

“Do you want Zahid Hamidi to be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia?” Tony Pua asked at a DAP fundraising dinner yesterday, before urging voters to support PH in GE16.

Did Tony's warning move the hearts and minds of the people?

Well, let me put it this way—even if their hearts and minds moved, I would bet a ringgit and thirty-five sen that they moved against Tony's warning rather than in tandem with it.

Why?

Because Tony telling us to vote for PH so that we don't get Zahid is akin to an incompetent employee telling us not to fire him because, as bad as he is, he is still the best that we have. What he says is insulting to us. It sounds as though PH believes that it has outwitted us after screwing us over, and now demands that we have to accept being screwed because, if we don't, we will be screwed even worse.

Voters will only listen to Tony's warning if they feel weak, desperate, dependent and vulnerable.

But voters today do not feel weak, desperate and vulnerable. Instead, they feel angry and aggressive. They are in the mood to punish politicians, not in the mood to listen to politicians dictate terms to them.

And we are also far from dependent. We are actually spoilt for choice. From Bersama to Wawasan to Bersatu, which is likely to split from PN and stand as a separate entity, a new party is offering itself to voters every couple of months. It is PH that needs voters more than voters need PH, so Tony should be mindful of that. Given PH's current position, the last thing it should do is send voters a "do as I say, or else" message, lest we take offence.

Secondly, if PH, like Tony, believes that Anwar and Zahid are two party leaders who are fundamentally opposed to one another, I would like to warn them that this view is almost certainly going to backfire.

Rather than seeing them as opponents, many voters see Zahid and Anwar as being as thick as thieves. If it comes to pass that Zahid replaces Anwar, rather than seeing it as a case of Hitler replacing Gandhi, what we will see is just as case of Mark Antony replacing Julius Caesar. In other words, the difference between Zahid and Anwar is not virtue, but magnitude. We may see Zahid as having less weight and charisma than Anwar, but in terms of virtue, they are cut from the same cloth.

Thirdly, if it comes to pass that the leader of BN will become our next Prime Minister, it will be Tok Mat, not Zahid, who will assume office.

If BN wins in Negeri Sembilan and then performs well again in the Melaka election, let it be on record that I predict Tok Mat's faction within BN will move to topple Zahid.

Considering all this, I truly believe PH needs to think twice about whether taking the "lesser of two evils" route is what will lead it to victory.

It should think twice because PH is no longer seen by many voters as the "lesser evil."

If PH believes that the "lesser evil" strategy automatically favours the side with fewer shortcomings and flaws, it is completely mistaken.

When both sides are seen as equally lacking in virtue, the lesser evil is often perceived to be the side that is stronger. PH is on a losing streak, while BN appears to be on a winning streak. That being the case, if PH asks voters to choose the lesser evil, it may actually move their hearts and minds in BN's favour.

Furthermore, voters don't even see PH as having lesser shortcoming or more virtues than BN.

The reason Tony might believe that PH is more virtuous, or has fewer vices than BN, may have more to do with narcissism than reality.

Under PH, even the MACC has faced allegations of corruption.

Half a dozen foreign football players were allegedly awarded citizenship through fraudulent means, yet until today the government has taken no visible action.

Ismail Sabri has, so far, not been convicted despite questions being raised over more than RM100 million in cash that investigators said was linked to the case.

Anwar's own political secretary shamsul Iskandar is currently standing trial for corruption.

And let us not even talk about the Prime Minister's former political secretary, Farhash, and how he has reportedly gone from being an ordinary person to a multimillionaire since PH became the government.

The list of PH flaws and shortcomings in the short three years that it has been in power is alarmingly long.

If PH wants to argue that voters should pick it because it is not as corrupt or as evil as the other parties , it will come across as weak rather than virtuous. Its inability to match the corruption of the previous regime, will be seen more as a sign of fear and timidity, rather than of moral restraint or integrity.

To add to that, PH may also come across as narcissistic for assuming too conveniently that it is good and virtuous , when in reality, it might just be too weak and timid to commit evil.

So, in conclusion, I seriously doubt that the "lesser evil" strategy will favour PH. Not only do I think it will fail to benefit PH, I believe it is far more likely to backfire and end up strengthening its opponents instead.

TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!

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