Politics has always been ugly to me, and yet I accept that as a fact of life.
— Billy Graham, Evangelist
The battle lines are now drawn and it is clear that politics in Malacca is ugly, particularly at this point in time.
Let me be honest and state that I know very little about Malacca politics because I have not paid much attention to it, until now. And I am still reading, listening and learning.
In politics, nothing is certain, so never assume that everything is okay in Malacca just because it is a small state. Politics is just as fierce in Malacca as it is on the national stage. The current crisis is proof enough.
So, expect the state election to be dirty and messy from now till polling day on Nov 20, at least. Chances are it will drag on if there is no outright winner.
A hung legislative assembly after Nov 20 will turn the winning reps into ‘commodities’ for buying and selling. With only 28 assembly seats, a simple majority of 15 is enough to form the government in this Malaysia’s second smallest state.
No one should be surprised at the multi-cornered contests in each of the 28 seats. Nomination day on Nov 8 saw a total of 112 candidates filing in for an opportunity to be among the 28 YBs to be elected on Nov 20.
This is up from 85 candidates contesting state seats in Malacca during the 2018 general election.
In total, BN, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan fielded 28 candidates each. Former MP Ibrahim Ali’s Putra party also fielded five candidates while Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional fielded one.
The remaining 22 are independent candidates.
There will be three-cornered fights in 11 seats, four-way contests in nine, five-cornered battles in five and six-way fights in three.
The contests are particularly intense in the Malay constituencies where allies in power at federal level are vying for the same seats.
The deep-rooted differences among the leaders in PN/BN are now brought into the open. Umno, Bersatu and PAS, which are involved in formal ties, are now going their own way, or so it seems in Malacca.
These three parties are involved in the tussle for most of the Malay-majority seats.
In the early part of the campaign, we have heard the fierce salvos from Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
There is clearly no love lost between the top two leaders of Bersatu and Umno. Expect the differences and animosity to spill over to the local level in Malacca.
It has and this is part of the ugliness of politics in Malacca that we are witnessing today.
Statements from Umno, Bersatu and PAS leaders relating to the election in Malacca are so very confusing. All of them have claimed, one time or another, that they were fighting for their race and religion but why were they contesting against each other?
Umno, in particular, was in no mood for niceties with Zahid calling Bersatu leaders “hypocrites” in one instance. Well, what kind of political allies do we see in the country today?
Is it any wonder that the political situation is so fluid and unstable today? If politics is already so ugly in tiny Malacca, what do we expect to see at national level? More spite, more animosity, more hatred and more ugliness, I suppose, come GE15.
A national news portal has described the contests in Malacca as the clash of titans but I have to disagree because most of the candidates, despite their seniority in age and experience, do not deserve to be called “titans”. Their childish behaviour and public spat have rendered them unworthy of the term of respect.
I totally concur with Amanah MP Mahfuz Omar when he blamed the federal government for causing more political instability, as BN and PN prepare to clash against each other in multi-cornered fights in the Malacca polls.
Mahfuz said in Parliament on Monday that Pakatan Harapan had been willing to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the federal government to ensure political stability.
However, members of the federal government — which he described as being in disarray — are now facing off among themselves in the Malacca snap polls, he said.
And that is very shameful indeed!
On Harapan side, almost everyone who dislike political frogs and traitors have expressed their disapproval of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s decision to field two former Umno deserters on Harapan tickets.
The Harapan chairman will have a difficult time explaining his decision when the elections are over, never mind whether the ‘deserters’ win or lose come Nov 20.
They say that Anwar will never be prime minister. Perhaps, this is one reason why. Anwar keeps changing his mind and is not seen as a firm and decisive leader.
To a very unhappy DAP side, the politics in Malacca today must be ugly too.
To them, it was Anwar who made it ugly. Fielding known traitors and turncoats on Harapan tickets is an ugly decision.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
