Identity politics to the fore as Malaysia comes to grip with election fever

Vol 2 No 27 | August 2022

Wonder among wonder, as your Editor, Jamari Mohtar, reminisces that the DAP is fond of pointing an accusing finger at Malay political parties for whipping up identity politics to gain power, but it seems as Malaysia comes to grip with an election fever, we see identity politics being played up by the DAP.

Parliament turned four on July 16 and ‘tis the season for election fever! But no worries, this fever won’t lead to a deadly one unlike some other fevers, which could be a harbinger of deadly diseases such as Covid-19 or monkey pox.
How long would this season last? It depends on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakop on when he wants to have an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to advise the King to dissolve Parliament.
In Malaysia, on the average a general election (GE) was usually held anytime after four years have elapsed from the first sitting of the parliament that was held soon after the previous GE (See Table 1 below).
Since the first session of the current 14th parliament began on July 16, 2018, parliament turned four on July 16 this year and GE 15 can be called at anytime once parliament has been dissolved.

With the looming GE 15 that could take place at anytime from now, it is understandable that political parties are earnestly preparing for it, leading rather quite early to this phenomenon of an election fever.
They should and must prepare themselves even before this election fever in ensuring their election machineries are well oiled, party members and activists are well taken care of and united solidly behind their leaders, and coming out with an excellent and realistic campaign manifesto that champions the welfare and interest of the rakyat in this difficult time.
The price of unpreparedness at its worst is in being consigned to the status of the opposition forever and ever, and at best in being a kingmaker.
Although it is very, very early days to decide on which party or coalition will carry the day, it looks like BN with its lynchpin Umno would win.
But almost all analysts have opined the days when a party or coalition would win with a handsome majority (not necessarily a two-thirds majority) are over.
So even if BN wins, it would be likely a precarious majority, which means politicians of all hues must learn the art/science of making compromises after the GE so as to prevent instability to the country.
And if you have to make compromises after the GE because of this tenuous majority, then all politicians must watch their mouth during this election fever especially during campaigning.
Loose cannon politicians with their mud-slinging statements, either explicit or subtle during this time would make it very difficult to arrive at compromises after the GE.
BN, which has ruled the country uninterruptedly for some 60 years, was brought down by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in GE 14.
But PH was unable to match BN’s record of longevity in ruling the country, at least for one term (five years) and lasted only for 22 months in power.
PH leaders and its rank and file seem to blame this pathetic performance on the traitors (pengkhianat) among them who are now in the government.

They even go to the extent of accusing Umno, PAS and other coalition parties in the government as traitors for “stealing” the mandate of the people in the famous Sheraton move, which they allege belong to them.
Such is the sad story of PH which two years after the Sheraton move, it still cannot move on and come to term with its loss of power, and is obsessed with accusing others as traitors, backdoor government, failed government, etc., in its further obsession to rule the country, come what may.
Obsession seems to be a major disease in PH – obsession with becoming a PM, obsession with the mandate of the people, and obsession with labelling others as traitor, backdoor, etc.
They should do some soul searching and asked themselves why do they have such “first-class traitors” in their midst in the first place, and why their sojourn to power was a brief one.
Surely when there are traitors in your midst then all the blame cannot just go to the traitors alone because it takes two, or more than two to tango.
And perhaps their path to a brief sojourn in power could be explained in that in their desperate attempt to bring down BN in GE14, their manifesto promised everything on the moon!
Contrast this with BN manifesto all these years before GE 14. It may not be as excellent as the PH manifesto in 2018 but the acid test lies in its attempt to implement it as much as possible while in power.
That perhaps lies one of the secrets of BN’s longevity in power.

With the expiry on July 31 of one element of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability between the government and PH i.e. the part that pledged avoiding triggering a GE prematurely before July, the stage is set for the dissolution of parliament to make way for GE 15.
But even before the expiry date has been reached, most political parties have already upped the ante by organising road shows and making statements that reflect an earnest and intense preparation for a GE.
This has contributed to an atmosphere of election fever. DAP is the most hardworking, using every available platform including even parliament and the social media to its maximum advantage.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok drew flak from many Malaysians for making a mountain out of a molehill over the question of the Malays’ preponderance in the civil service.
It all started innocently as a question in Parliament when she asked for a breakdown of the racial composition of the civil service and if the government has any plan to make it more representative of the “Keluarga Malaysia” concept promoted by PM Ismail.
Teresa had a field day when on July 20 she made a statement based on Special functions minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s written reply, alleging, inter alia, that race-based policy in recruitment and promotion has made many talents reluctant to apply to join the civil service.
It turned out as pointed out by her opponent in GE14, Chan Quin Er, Malays are in preponderance simply because more Malays applied to join the civil service as compared to the Chinese or Indians.
Why blame the government for the low intake of Chinese when they are not interested to apply for a job in the civil service, asked Quin Er.
Strange that the opposition will always say all Malay political parties especially those in the government are whipping up identity politics to gain power.
Here then is a clear example of a DAP MP scoring point by playing up identity politics, perhaps because she and her party leaders could sense already that they will be trounced in GE15.
Not that identity politics is necessarily bad: it’s just natural for one to help his or her community first, as long as the assistance given is not at the expense of the other communities.
Hence, Teresa should not give silly excuses blaming race-based policy, lack of promotion and opportunity for career advancement, and low salary structure for the small numbers of Chinese in the civil service, because these apply to all applicants including the Malays.
If there are many Chinese in the civil service who experience a lack of promotion, there are many more Malays experiencing this in the civil service. Similarly, if there are some Chinese earning a low salary in the civil service, we can find many more Malays having a low salary in the civil service.
Blame instead on her sloppy research for coming up with such superficial and racist conclusions.

The Minister has other important jobs to do, so don’t waste his time in spoon-feeding her with data. As an MP, she is paid quite a hefty allowance/salary, so she should not be lazy with her research.
If she had done her research properly, she didn’t even have to ask this question in Parliament.
Perhaps the time has come for the government to also consider cutting the allowance/salaries of MPs other than just the salary of minister only so that they will always be thorough, careful and on their feet in making any statement instead of being a loose cannon.
By the way, Quin Er’s research has been viral. (Link to watch her video).
We may have heard of the quotable quote on statistics: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics” attributed to Mark Twain. But what I like most is the quote by Fletcher Knebel: “Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.”
The quote is hinting at arriving (concluding) at something with no concrete substance as the aim of statistics, and to wit, we are all indeed “smoked” by Teresa’s conclusion on the data provided by Latiff.
Perhaps Health Minister, KJ should also take note because this involves “smoking” of the wrong kind, which will affect the political health of the country.
There is also a subtle hint of identity politics when DAP publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching (an MP and a former deputy minister) urged former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak to explain why he, in his capacity as then finance minister, resorted to giving favourable treatment to the main contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) for the project to build littoral combat ships (LCS) for the navy.
And the rejoinder from Najib in a Facebook post: “It’s because BNS belongs to the Armed Forces Pension Fund (LTAT), which belongs to every Malaysian military personnel. And I accept that LTAT is my ‘crony’ as our military and the rakyat are my ‘cronies’.”
“Besides, I wanted LTAT to reap good profits so that it could offer dividends and bonuses as high as 10% to its contributors unlike the paltry rate between 2% and 3% disbursed during PH’s time.
“And BNS is the only company in Malaysia that has its own dockyard fully equipped to acquire, build and surrender such ships to the Royal Malaysia Navy.
“So if not LTAT, who do we give the project to? Vincent Tan? The company involved in Penang undersea tunnel project or purchase it straight from other countries?” he asked.

Apart from the reasons above, the Pekan MP said he wanted local talents to get jobs in the process, with local suppliers getting business opportunities and diversifying the nation’s capabilities.
The question that Teo should ask is why did it take a long time for the authorities to discover the irregular practices of some officials in the LTAT and BNS that led to the LCS controversy and NOT why LTAT was given the contract.
Hence, there is a subtle hint of identity politics here when every Malaysians know about the preponderance of the Malays in the military. Again as pointed out by Quin Er in her response to Teresa, this could be the result of the relatively small number of non- Malays applying for a job in the civil service.
And as many analysts have pointed out the RM9 billion LCS controversy could scuttle BN at the next GE, as public anger over the 1MDB scandal did in 2018, unless BN manages the issue properly.
Political analyst Awang Azman Pawi for, instance, noted that the LCS scandal was being used as a “political weapon” with opposition parties PKR, Amanah and DAP attacking Umno leaders over the issue.
And the timing that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament led by a DAP member, Wong Kah Woh in releasing the report on the LCS scandal is too good to be true to call it a coincidence, right smack at the height of an election fever.
The PAC began its probe into the procurement of the ships in 2020 and had called several officials to testify before it.
The issue was first raised in the 2019 Auditor-General’s Report, with the PAC calling former defence minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several former senior officials to testify.
The question is why does it take too long for the PAC to conclude its findings after two years of starting the probe, and why it conveniently then released the report at the height of an election fever?
Since releasing it later would be worse, especially just before parliament is dissolved, it should have been released either earlier this year or at most in June when the MoU between the government and the PH calling for election not to be held before July was still in place and the element of stability is still there.
If we don’t want to impute politicking on the part of Wong, then the inability of the PAC committee to produce and release the report earlier is just a matter of sheer inefficiency and a matter of not knowing its priorities, and hence my call of cutting the allowance/salaries of MPs in this trying time is justified.
I’m not a fan of Najib Razak and the problem he faces with the 1MDB scandal is his alone, and thus it is his problem alone in facing the music at the courtroom.
But just because he was convicted on the SRC case, it doesn’t mean he is also guilty of decisions he made as the PM/Finance Minister on all other issues.
This bestial vindictive mentality on the part of the opposition PH when it was in power has resulted in many stupid decisions on their part to get back at the previous administration for instance in the Sulu claims saga.
At the end of the day, only those who have committed or masterminded a wrongdoing should face the wrath of the law, and vindictive attempts at witch-hunting the alleged wrongdoers should be put to a stop unless there is solid evidence to the contrary.

Read more on the speculation for an early general election and the accompanying election fever:
Malaysians Crown King And Restore Parliament
Multiple factors in play as Malaysia PM Ismail Sabri mulls general election timing: Analysts
Malaysia’s Election Commission says ready for GE15, cost estimated to be RM1 billion: Report
Malaysia remains likely to call early general election, says Fitch Solutions
Malaysia Election Likely in 2022, Ruling Alliance Head Says

Those BN/Umno members calling for GE 15 to be held soon or at least within this year, especially its President Ahmad Zahid, should hear the sobering assessment of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakop on this.
In his speech at the Wanita BN convention on August 14, Ismail called for a mood survey on the ground, not just among BN members but also all potential voters, to be conducted by Wanita BN to assess the mood on the ground for the coming polls.
“We cannot go to war in the dark. We don’t know our strengths. How do we get voters on polling day if we don’t have this survey?” he said, adding that the coalition could not just rely on support from Barisan members only.
“Barisan’s membership is only about 30%. The rest are not with us and there are some who may be on the fence,” he said, adding that the coalition would not come out victorious in the next GE simply by relying on the votes of its members.
Even some members and supporters of any political parties are hedging their bets because of the difficulty of predicting with a certain degree of confidence on which party/coalition will win in GE 15.
While Ismail Sabri said he had received various studies, he would only rely on the findings of the survey by Wanita BN.
“Let’s not be too excited by a mood survey involving our members only because, of course, they are our supporters,” he said, adding that many leaders had claimed in the past that they could win simply by basing their prediction on their members’ support, but they eventually lost.
“This is why I am depending on Wanita BN to do an accurate survey of non-party members, including the youth who have yet to decide,” he said.
Ismail Sabri is spot-on on this. At the end of the day what matters is the votes of all registered valid voters, and not just the votes of registered valid Umno/BN members, which according to the PM is only about 30% of the total valid voters.
The remaining 70% comprises registered valid voters of the opposition members and the rakyat at large, majority of who are either fence sitters or haven’t made up their mind on which parties/coalitions they would support.
Describing the coming polls as “a tough one”, he said BN should not underestimate the opposition bloc, which might already be planning its steps to return to power.
“I would like to stress that we cannot look down on our opponents, who possibly may have drafted their plans to reconquer Putrajaya. We are facing an uphill battle,” he added.
He said it was important for the coalition’s Wanita machinery to be strengthened and to form new strategies to face the challenging political scenario, as new political fronts might take shape to challenge Barisan in the polls and that there had been repeated attacks on the government.

“The attack on the government today is an attack on the Barisan leadership. Therefore, it is our responsibility to explain the real issues,” he said.
On this, he is not 100% correct because the attack on the government today is actually an attack on the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by him – an Umno PM – as the bulk of support for him comes from PN, with Umno/BN comprising only 42 MPs out of 117 in the governing coalition.
So all parties in the governing coalition should chip in, in explaining the real issues whenever the government is attacked by the opposition and their supporters including non governmental organisations.
Now that many analysts have opined that the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) scandal may be a non-issue in GE15, the opposition should just put to rest the issue rather than using it for scoring point.
After all, the PM has announced a forensic report would be declassified, with a probe ordered. This has taken the wind out of the issue.
Given that there is no indication when the GE15 will be held, it could also become a non-issue by the time the elections come around.
Even the protest by some groups on Aug 14 is unlikely to sway the voters. At worst, the controversy has only caused a slight dent in Barisan’s popularity, said Dr Azmi Hassan, senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research.
“The current Barisan scapegoat is Datuk Seri Najib Razak, but he does not hold any position except as MP. Hence, it will not affect the political landscape.”
He said Ismail Sabri’s call for a probe showed the government, now without Najib, would take action against those guilty.
Moreover, the proposal to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the construction of the LCS project for the navy will be presented to the Cabinet on Aug 17, according to Senior Minister (Security) and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, when winding up the debate on the motion related to the issue in the Dewan Negara.
Saying he would present the matter himself to get Cabinet approval, Hisham added: “This is my responsibility to present the matter to the Cabinet on Wednesday and I will do it. The Cabinet also needs to present (the proposal to set up the RCI) to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said.
He said this in his reply to several members of the Dewan Negara on Aug 16, who urged the government to establish an RCI to investigate the LCS project to examine all aspects so that no guilty party escapes prosecution.

Hisham also said that based on the Cabinet’s decision in April, the Defence Ministry would continue the LCS project for the benefit of the Navy.
The idea for an RCI was first proposed by PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to look into the alleged mishandling of the LCS project.
In a statement posted on PN’s Facebook on Aug 9, the former PM said the scandal involving losses worth billions had also hampered the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) ability to manage the country’s waters.
“Although the kleptocratic BN rule had ended during the 14th general election, the country is still haunted by the relics of its depravity.
“The expose by the former RMN chief Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Jaafar on his objection to the acquisition of this project through several letters sent to the defence minister at the time has really surprised us.”
“This objection was, however, ignored by the minister. For the record, the minister at the time is the current Umno president and BN chairman,” he said.
Since then most parties including the DAP has supported Muyhiddin’s call for a RCI.
Now, the million-dollar question: When will GE 15 be held?
PM Ismail Sabri has reportedly said he will not hesitate to ask for Parliament to be dissolved if a mood survey by Wanita BN provides some assurance that the coalition has a chance of victory in the GE.
There are two scenarios here: Firstly, if it takes Wanita BN to complete the survey in four months taking into account it is a massive survey involving respondents who are not members of Umno/BN, then the PM will receive the findings of the survey only in January, ruling out GE 15 to be held this year.
The second scenario is despite the odds, Wanita BN manage to complete the survey in two months, then there will be two sub-scenarios, as Ismail will get the findings in November.
The first sub-scenario pertains to Ismail getting the feel that the findings provides some assurance that BN has a good chance of victory. He will then ask for Parliament to be dissolved in November and GE15 could be held either in November or December.
But if he doesn’t get that comfy feeling from the findings that BN would win and that it would be an uphill battle for BN, then the second sub-scenario will kick in whereby GE 15 would be held next year.

Read more on Wanita BN convention, identity politics, non Malays in the civil service, the Littoral Combat Ship scandal and when GE 15 would be held:

PM: It depends on the mood survey

90% of civil servants Bumiputeras, no quota involved, says minister

Make civil service racially balanced to reflect spirit of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ – Teresa Kok

Cuepacs slams Seputeh MP over criticism of racial imbalance in civil service

Susulan kenyataan Ahli Parlimen Seputeh, Teresa Kok berkaitan isu ketidakseimbangan kaum dalam komposisi perjawatan awam

250-page report on LCS scandal out today

Opposition hoping ship scandal will torpedo BN, say analysts

LCS scandal may be a non-issue in GE15, say analysts

Perikatan Nasional calls for RCI to look into LCS project scandal

Umno Youth adds to growing calls for RCI on LCS scandal

Open Letter to Hishammuddin: 10 Reasons why we need a RCI into LCS scandal

LCS scandal: Will there be an RCI? — Hafiz Hassan

LCS scandal: Hisham will suggest RCI to cabinet tomorrow

Parliament turned four on July 16 and ‘tis the season for election fever! But how long would this season last? It depends on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakop on when he wants to have an audience with the Yang diPertuan Agong to advise the King to dissolve Parliament.

In Malaysia, on the average a general election (GE) was usually held anytime after four years have elapsed from the first sitting of the parliament that was held soon after the previous GE (See Table 1 below).

Since the first session of the current 14th parliament began on July 16, 2018, parliament turned four on July 16 this year and GE 15 can be called at anytime once parliament has been dissolved.

If it is not dissolved by July 16 next year, then Parliament will automatically dissolve itself on July 16, 2023 to make way for GE15, which must be held within 60 days i.e. by September 16 2023.

With the looming GE 15 that could take place at anytime from now, it is understandable that political parties are earnestly preparing for it, leading rather quite early to this phenomenon of an election fever.

They should and must prepare themselves even before this election fever in ensuring their election machineries are well oiled, party members and activists are well taken care of and united solidly behind their leaders, and coming out with an excellent and realistic campaign manifesto that champions the welfare and interest of the rakyat in this difficult time.

The price of unpreparedness at its worst is in being consigned to the status of the opposition forever and ever, and at best in being a kingmaker.

Although it is very, very early days to decide on which party or coalition will carry the day, it looks like BN with its lynchpin Umno would win.

But almost all analysts have opined the days when a party or coalition would win with a handsome majority (not necessarily a two-thirds majority) are over.

So even if BN wins, it would be likely a precarious majority, which means politicians of all hues must learn the art/science of making compromises after the GE so as to prevent instability to the country.

And if you have to make compromises after the GE because of this tenuous majority, then all politicians must watch their mouth during this election fever especially during campaigning.

Loose cannon politicians with their mud-slinging statements, either explicit or subtle during this time would make it very difficult to arrive at compromises after the GE.

With the expiry on July 31 of one element of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability between the government and PH i.e. the part that pledged avoiding triggering a GE prematurely before July, the stage is set for the dissolution of parliament to make way for GE 15.

But even before the expiry date has been reached, most political parties have already upped the ante by organising road shows and events, and making statements that reflect an earnest and intense preparation for a GE.

This has contributed to an atmosphere of election fever. DAP is the most hardworking, using every available platform including even parliament and the social media to its maximum advantage.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok drew flak from many Malaysians for making a mountain out of a molehill over the question of the Malays’ preponderance in the civil service.

Teresa had a field day when on July 20 she made a statement based on Special functions minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s written reply, alleging, inter alia, that race-based policy in recruitment and promotion has made many talents reluctant to apply to join the civil service.

It turned out as pointed out by her opponent in GE14, Chan Quin Er, Malays are in preponderance simply because more Malays applied to join the civil service as compared to the Chinese or Indians.

Why blame the government for the low intake of Chinese when they are not interested to apply for a job in the civil service, asked Quin Er.

Strange that the opposition will always say all Malay political parties especially those in the government are whipping up identity politics to gain power.

Here then is a clear example of a DAP MP scoring point by playing up identity politics, perhaps because she and her party leaders could sense already that they will be trounced in GE15.

Not that identity politics is necessarily bad: it’s just natural for one to help his or her community first, as long as the assistance given is not at the expense of the other communities.

Hence, Teresa should not give silly excuses blaming race-based policy, lack of promotion and opportunity for career advancement, and low salary structure for the small numbers of Chinese in the civil service, because these apply to all applicants including the Malays.

If there are many Chinese in the civil service who experience a lack of promotion, there are many more Malays experiencing this in the civil service. Similarly, if there are some Chinese earning a low salary in the civil service, we can find many more Malays having a low salary in the civil service.

Blame instead on her sloppy research for coming up with such superficial and racist conclusions.

Perhaps the time has come for the government to also consider cutting the allowance/salaries of MPs other than just the salary of minister only so that they will always be thorough, careful and on their feet in making any statement instead of being a loose cannon.

There is also a subtle hint of identity politics when DAP publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching (an MP and a former deputy minister) urged former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak to explain why he, in his capacity as then finance minister, resorted to giving favourable treatment to the main contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) for the project to build littoral combat ships (LCS) for the navy.

And the rejoinder from Najib in a Facebook post: “It’s because BNS belongs to the Armed Forces Pension Fund (LTAT), which belongs to every Malaysian military personnel. And I accept that LTAT is my ‘crony’ as our military and the rakyat are my ‘cronies’.”

“Besides, I wanted LTAT to reap good profits so that it could offer dividends and bonuses as high as 10% to its contributors unlike the paltry rate between 2% and 3% disbursed during PH’s time.

“And BNS is the only company in Malaysia that has its own dockyard fully equipped to acquire, build and surrender such ships to the Royal Malaysia Navy.

“So if not LTAT, who do we give the project to? Vincent Tan? The company involved in Penang undersea tunnel project or purchase it straight from other countries?” he asked.

The question that Teo should ask is why did it take a long time for the authorities to discover the irregular practices of some officials in the LTAT and BNS that led to the LCS controversy and NOT why LTAT was given the contract.

Hence, there is a subtle hint of identity politics here when every Malaysians know about the preponderance of the Malays in the military. Again as pointed out by Quin Er in her response to Teresa, this could be the result of the relatively small number of non- Malays applying for a job in the civil service.

Regards,

Jamari Mohtar

Editor, Let’s Talk!

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