Defiant Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal appears to be undaunted by Perikatan Nasional’s embarrassing loss in the recent by-election in Kuala Kubu Baharu, Selangor.
Commenting on the analysis by the Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), the outspoken Machang MP had posted on social media that the results of the by-election had actually “exposed” some very encouraging findings, amongst them was the trend that those in the 18-40 age group had overwhelmingly voted for PN, while PH-BN was favoured more by those aged 41 and above. Note: The study did not seem to indicate the demographic breakdown by ethnicity.
Wan Fayhsal also stressed that despite the low turnout of voters amongst the younger segment, PN still managed to capture a lion’s share of their votes; he added that if they were to come out in full force, especially in the next general election, then the signs are really good for his coalition to be victorious.
Meanwhile, although the PN deputy youth leader appeared confident of his coalition's prospects in the next general election, he did concede somewhat gingerly about having to lose some “lopsided, unfair battles”, such as the most recent one, in order to win the Greater War!
Incidentally, Wan Fayhsal’s optimism was also shared by PAS’ young women’s wing leader Mardhiyyah Johari who seemed quick to point out that the voting trend amongst the younger generation in the recent KKB by-election was similar to the one observed in GE15 - when PN came tantalisingly close to forming the federal government!
Furthermore, Mardhiyyah had also commented somewhat sarcastically that even the younger generation in KKB did not vote for the “young” candidate from DAP, instead opting for the PN candidate!
According to her, this was a clear sign of their dissatisfaction with the Madani government, adding that the younger voters aged 40 and below were not easily swayed by the “candies” dished out by the unity government which purportedly smacked of bribes!
Not surprisingly, her PN colleague Wan Fayhsal also appeared to fully agree with her; moreover, it was also pretty clear that he was not going to take the KKB by-election defeat lying down. Instead, he slammed PM Anwar's unity government for practising “pork barrel politics” which he declared was haram to all - except the Madani government to whom it was “halal!”
Incidentally, the said phrase is often used when government politicians or parties spend huge amounts of money in their local voting districts to encourage voters to re-elect them so that the money allocated will benefit the lives of the local constituents.
Evidently, Wan Fayhsal was still mad with the unity government for its earlier promise of RM5.2 million for the development of Kuala Kubu Baharu and the pledge for housing for Indian plantation workers there, as well as the much-publicised generous pay hike for civil servants - all of which he had crudely alluded to as being PH’s “politik tong (najis) babi” and considered haram!
However, doesn’t the politics of hate, often characterised by hitting out at opponents with insults and uncomplimentary name-calling, often fail, as was proven in the recent by-election? Neither is it guaranteed to win votes by constantly reminding the public about the spiralling cost of living in the country and the state of the economy - yet, clueless as to how to help them.
Meanwhile, on the issue of young voters, isn’t over-dependence on them by any party a risky affair as it can backfire because given their tender age this cohort may tend to be impatient, and demanding and may not be averse to switching their political allegiance any time?
As for the opposition leaders, especially the younger ones who are mostly well-educated and savvy, shouldn't they be offering concrete policy proposals and creative solutions to the nation’s socio-economic problems, instead of engaging in endless polemic and complaining about all that is haram in the country?
After all, in the unfettered “madhouse” that is Malaysian politics, is it not common for what is haram today to be labelled “halal” tomorrow?
Information Source: Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Facebook and Malaysiakini
JK Joseph 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!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
