If you are stupid enough not to know the difference between the devil and the angel, you quickly find the devil! This is what happens to most people in democracies just after elections!
– Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish playwright, novelist and thinker
When it came time for the 15th general election (GE15) to be announced, millions of Malaysians waited in anticipation.
It was a harrowing wait. I was in my hometown in Miri on election night as I returned home to cast my vote on polling day.
It was already 8 pm on that Saturday, the results were not out. Many seats were still having the ballots counted and re-counted.
The primetime slot on television was 8 pm and that’s when the news would be on air. We thought the results would be announced there and then. We thought we would go to sleep knowing which party would be the federal government. We were wrong.
Millions more went into a state of anxiety and some amount of trepidation when the clock neared midnight. It should have been settled then – the election results and who is going to Putrajaya, but it hasn’t.
What I remember the most was the Sarawak-based coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) seat tally being shown in a live infographic on TV as well as on news portals.
I think millions of Malaysians there and then realised the kingmaker power of Sarawak. Nobody had the numbers alone, and whoever wanted to be government, they needed the endorsement of GPS.
Another prolonged political crisis ensued after GE15. It was like deja vu, it seems like this thing keeps repeating by itself.
In the end, long time arch enemies Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) made the decision to work together, putting their numbers together. Alongside them was the Borneo bloc and other parties. This was enough, and the crisis ended.
It is now eight months that these two former nemesis are together. In the past two weeks, they worked side by side, BN supporters cheering for PH candidates and vice versa. Today (Saturday) is the day that this cooperation is put to the test.
The voters of Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan will be going to the ballot boxes to decide their new state governments.
The first three states are controlled by Pakatan Harapan (PH), while the other three are controlled by Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Penang and Selangor are considered as PH strongholds since the great swing in the 12th general election (GE12) in 2008 when BN lost two-thirds majority in Parliament. Negeri Sembilan was only conquered 10 years later during the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.
Kelantan was firmly in Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s (PAS) grip since 1990 and that doesn’t appear to change anytime soon. Terengganu was first won by PAS in 1999, only for BN to reclaim it in 2004. It fell to PAS once again in 2018.
PAS then took control of Kedah in 2020 after the change in federal government of February that year. PAS is considered a backbone of PN.
For PH, it has been campaigning hard to retain Selangor and to reclaim Kedah, the latter won by Pakatan in 2018.
Penang seems to be a safe deposit with Democratic Action Party (DAP) having a commanding influence in the state, the only threat is infighting among its own members.
The prospects of retaining Negeri Sembilan for PH only seems to be boosted with the presence of BN, which still has grassroot support in the state.
However, putting any sort of fight at all in Kelantan and Terengganu seems like a lost cause for PH as the more conservative population in Malaysia’s East Coast is leaning heavily towards Perikatan.
In Kedah, Pakatan sees a chance in toppling the state government led by trailblazer PAS Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Sanusi Md Nor who has been at the receiving end of political attacks by PH heavyweights but Sanusi appears to have shrugged it off, owing to his popularity with the locals.
The big question that needs answering though is whether the results of these six state elections will have any bearing on the federal government.
Constitutionally no, this isn’t a contest for parliamentary seats. The federal government is formed by MPs.
But there’s this argument that if BN-PH does not display a good showing during this outing, it will get the other partners in the unity federal government thinking about the future of their collaboration.
Of course, there’s little chance of political parties and individuals who are throwing their support behind this government to change horses midstream, but then again, we know better.
Definitely, there’s anticipation and expectations for BN-PH. Today is a litmus test for their cooperation and how they are received by the electorate. They are the ones to watch.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
