By R. Nadeswaran
Foremost on the minds of Malaysians as polling day approaches is – who will win the elections and which coalition will form the government?
At least a dozen pollsters have made predictions, some with scientific surveys and others dependent on straw polls. But if not for anything but laughs, the answer is all four major parties – if their claims in the media are anything to go by.
According to the Merdeka Center survey unveiled earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan was slightly ahead of BN in voters’ preference in the 15th general election (GE15).
The survey showed that 26 percent of respondents preferred Harapan over BN’s 24, followed by Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) 13 percent.
Four percent refused to answer the survey question while two percent said they would back Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) or other parties.
But who believes this survey and others? Party leaders and candidates claim they know better.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has scoffed at such findings, perhaps because the forecasts do not favour his party and the truth always hurts.
PN’s Azmin Ali, supposedly the most despised man in Malaysian politics and a big name associated with the Sheraton Move in 2020 had a different view, with his confidence oozing – even predicting a two-thirds majority for his coalition.
“We are confident that PN will get a number of seats positive enough for us to form a government. Of course, we aim higher, but at least 112.
“(To get a two-thirds majority) we will have to work hard during the campaign’s last week. There is nothing impossible because voters today are very mature,” Azmin was quoted as saying.
Harapan too has lofty ambitions – confident of winning more than 90 parliamentary seats, with its deputy president Rafizi Ramli claiming it was in the best position to win seats, especially in their strongholds of Penang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
With its eyes on Perak, Rafizi said Harapan could take the state and the coalition would defend a majority of its seats in Johor and Malacca.
As for BN, there’s a contradiction of sorts. Caretaker Prime Minister and Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the priority is to win the election, not consider possible merger partners or even a political alignment to form the new government.
But if everyone is confident in forming the government, who is going to end up in the opposition?
But signs indicate that deals (read: horse trading) will be made – the indications are already there.
Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan is confident that BN will win 112 of the 178 seats it is contesting in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. However, such confidence came with a rejoinder.
Maslan said: “On top of winning, we are confident Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) will be with us because we are the only coalition that is not contesting against it in Sarawak.”
Not to be outdone, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan declared that PN may work with BN to form the government. He opined that BN would most likely accept such cooperation, meaning that a Malay-Muslim government is in the making.
This was immediately poo-pooed by PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin who retorted that Takiyuddin does not have the authority to hold discussions with BN about forming the government.
He maintained that PN was contesting in GE15 to form the government on its own, without having to work with BN or Harapan.
So, the idea of forming pacts between arch-enemies is being bandied about. We will certainly see warring personalities hugging each other and saying we are together “demi bangsa dan agama” (for race and religion.)
The famous line, “Let us put the past behind us and work towards achieving our goals of having a united Malaysia” – will be repeated.
Then all talk about inclusivity and treating all Malaysians as equal and even the “Keluarga Malaysia” advocated by Ismail Sabri would be reduced to not worth even the paper it is printed on.
When needing to occupy the seat of power, stranger things have happened in Malaysia. More than a decade ago, the winning candidates in the Sabah state election were enticed to a house where they were locked up to avoid any contact with “outsiders”.
A sure way of preventing anyone from being lured by money and posts to change party allegiance and loyalty. But all these will come with sweeteners too.
It will be the “frog season” again and let us not forget Muhyiddin’s infamous offer of cabinet posts and directorships in government-linked companies (GLC) when crafting the Sheraton Move.
Everyone loves to be associated with the winner. Lunches and dinners are being hosted by business people to show that they have the ears of those who are likely to win.
Other personalities (including journalists and editors) who had been mouthpieces and die-hard supporters of one party are hedging their bets, posting photographs of themselves with other party leaders on social media.
Over the past fortnight, political parties and some of their candidates have delivered enough. If you thought these enlightened and humoured us, it would be a wrong assumption.
Like a drama being played out by the political parties, each had its characteristics. They all had the elements – heartbreak, anger, tears, harsh words, infighting, backstabbing, money, enticement and above all, treachery.
With just two more days before the nation goes to the polls, there will be more but the greatest show will commence just after midnight on Saturday, when principal actors and even the extras will be in their element.
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