Is Putrajaya in PH’s hands or will BN rig the election?

Malaysian sentiments to embark their journey to vote for the 15th General Election (GE15) is growing, especially those young minds hoping for a new Malaysia.

Voters are moving towards change, foreseeing ‘harapan’ in their new government.

It is pretty evident that Pakatan Harapan (PH) has got Putrajaya conquered based on the latest election prediction chart.

Back in 2018, during the 14th General Election (GE14), we saw PH coalition winning 121 parliamentary seats (PKR - 48, DAP - 42, Bersatu - 12, Amanah - 11 and Warisan - 8) coming into power while Barisan Nasional (BN) clinched only 60 seats (Umno - 57, MIC - 2, MCA -1).

Meanwhile, BN-friendly Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) obtained 19 seats, while Parti Islam Semalaysia (PAS-1), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star - 1) and three independent seats.

All of the above is based on the last election results, before the Sheraton Move took place.

The dirty Sheraton Move caused the political crisis in Malaysia to become messy and led to confusion after several frog-hopping Members of Parliament (MP) changed party support, leading to the loss of the parliament majority and the resignation of two Prime Ministers in less than 18 months.

The Sheraton Move in Feb 2020 saw the fall of the ruling PH coalition government and the resignation of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, replaced by Perikatan Nasional (PN) Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin before Covid-19 hits Malaysia and a new face from Umno, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri emerged into the scene.

This further escalates Malaysia’s political instability, which is very tortuous and messy, but what will be the choices of voters for election this time?

At the start of GE15 election campaign, some predicted a victory for BN in partnership with GPS and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

The predictions are now changing waves as BN is faltering in their campaign due to their inability to counter the onslaught of allegations by PH and PN.

To some, the concerns of Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pending graft charges in court are vital to consider before marking their ballots.

Voters may now be looking at alternative options, either PH or PN. There are also several other thoughts about BN rigging the election as well is taking place.

Back in 2013, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim initiated that the election was fraudulent following BN’s victory despite losing their popular votes, thereby gaining the mandate to lead Malaysia for another five years.

The first ‘blackout’ rally took place after the GE in 2013 in Kelana Jaya, expressing discontent with the election result held by various Malaysian opposition-friendly groups.

Senior professionals who have experienced voting for more than eight elections in Malaysia hope no more dirty tricks this time in GE15 to take place.

“Mysterious power blackouts during recounts, “Phantom” voters, electoral roll tampering are among what we have witnessed in the past.

“It was then we saw many Malaysian activists gearing up to battle the widespread cheating of what they fear the most – The dirtiest election in history,” said an anonymous professional.

A quick recap of the world’s oldest premier Dr Mahathir chronology shows that a power vacuum can also occur after a constitutional crisis in which large portions of the government resign or are removed, will create an unclear succession.

Dr Mahathir, who reigned as the PM for over 22 years during BN’s glory days, was seen to be back in his battle with intentions to oust former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak from the Malaysian government by joining hands with his rival Anwar in 2018.

Dr Mahathir entered GE in 2018 as the chairman of Bersatu, which was a member of PH coalition along with PKR, DAP and Amanah.

He later left Bersatu, founded Pejuang and formed Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), a coalition of Malay-based parties, NGOs, academics and professionals.

Now, what is this veteran politician doing? From Umno in BN to Bersatu for PH and now Pejuang for GTA?

A quick chat with a lawyer, Parameswari Subramaniam, 66, from Kuala Lumpur shows that many senior professionals are looking at the younger generation to lead the country.

“We need our young minds to think wisely before marking their ballots. We already know the sentiments of Malaysians right now and it is very obvious that PH has got Putrajaya in their hands.

“We don’t want any senior politicians to mislead the country and change history when they should be retired at home playing with great-grandchildren instead of joining the political game for a power struggle.

“We trust the young generation will make a wise decision this time for GE15 by doing the right thing and giving Anwar a chance in Putrajaya to move forward,” she said.

GPS and GRS also have the trump cards this time for GE15 to form a government, depending on which coalition they would like to join hands with, post-election.

With so many fragmented coalitions, who is most likely to win the GE15? Who will become Malaysia’s next prime minister? The answers to these questions are arguably the most difficult to answer in Malaysia’s history.

In my opinion, I think PH should form the majority with GPS and PN (if they are most likely to win a good number of seats).

We have experienced the BN-led government for over 60 years and now their key leaders have outstanding court cases, while we have also witnessed the PN-led failed government, which is no better than the BN government as it was just a BN replica.

We should try giving a chance to the PH-led government with Anwar as the PM and GPS as the DPM.

Let’s put a stop to Dr Mahathir's and BN government and strive for a change.

In God, we trust.