Most people don’t have that willingness to break bad habits. They have a lot of excuses and they talk like victims.
– Carlos Santana, American guitarist
It was not too long ago that a video of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Rafizi Ramli went viral during the campaigning period of the 15th general election (GE15).
That video was from 2016, where he answered queries on the strategies of Pakatan Harapan (PH) to dethrone the then all-powerful Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government.
There, he admitted that the task of PH as the main opposition was to “instigate” – meaning create a feeling of discontent by the people for the government of the day.
While he has drawn flak for his statement, that moment of clarity provided the insight needed as to how PH gained popularity and ultimately took over the federal government during the 14th general election (GE14).
The anger of Malaysians as well as the feeling of disenchantment was slowly built up by the opposition through their various approaches via social media. As many would know then, the mainstream media was under the tight grip of the government.
People, despite rejecting the narrative provided by PH saw some truth in the allegations that were made – the issues that were raised were issues of the people.
In seeking refuge from the attitude of the mainstream media which almost everyday would grill the opposition via various ways and means, they found comfort in reading and to some extent, sympathising with the plight of the opposition.
Public enemy number one during the run-up to the GE14 in 2018 was no other than former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The attacks made against him through the mainstream media have somewhat become the most powerful marketing tool for the nonagenarian.
His campaign then was that he was an elderly statesman who was disappointed in how the country turned out and came back from retirement to rectify things – against all odds.
This worked – along with the narrative that was propagated by the rest of the PH leaders. A formidable opponent in the shape of BN was defeated, to the surprise of many.
It raised the question, on how did a small-time operation ran by a group of opposition leaders and their allies was able to do the impossible.
PH assumed Putrajaya, but not for long, as cracks began to appear swiftly. The issue of the transition of power from Dr Mahathir to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The government then had two prime ministers in two years during a period of turmoil – blackmailing and horse trading have become the norm.
This ultimately resulted in GE15 to be called.
BN and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which wanted to capitalise on the momentum of the Johor state polls just a year before was confident that it could return to Putrajaya – this time on its own.
The public expectation then was that this election was theirs to lose – that couldn’t be further than the truth.
It ended up having to be content with winning a mere 30 seats of out 222 which was a performance that can be described as dismal.
How could this happen? I think that for UMNO and BN, sticking to their old ways of campaigning – being on the ground, attending to the grassroots, providing funds wherever necessary are not enough.
In terms of psychological warfare, it was unable to plant the seed among the voters on why it should be given the opportunity to return to power.
This is particularly among urban votes, whose votes tend to swing. These group are more critical and is more demanding of political parties.
That is why communication is key, particularly in reaching this set of voters which the traditional medium and method does not account for.
Narrative is everything now and effective dissemination of this, is of paramount importance.
Elections are no longer won by the grassroots, at least in urban areas given the wider access to other mediums are predominantly occupied by other political parties.
Campaigning methods have changed – we must take heed of this and have the ability within a split second to respond to public queries and be approachable in the virtual space.
That is the way of the future. The wind can now blow both ways, politically.
As dangerous as that is, the bigger danger is to stand motionless, be on the wrong side and get blown away.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
