LETTER | BN won despite corruption cases

LETTER | Is BN's Malacca victory just a drop of blue or a portent of things to come?

Many thought the Malacca state election was going to be a battle between Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan. And many too thought that the 1MDB saga and the other megabuck corruption cases in court will weigh down heavily on the voting outcome.

Some even espoused that the bitterness over the Harapan collapse will cut a deep wound.

But it is strange that many chose not to decipher a fact namely that the presence of BN flags literally drowned historic Malacca in the run-up to voting day.

Posthumously, some will take comfort under the statistical indicator that there was only a 60 percent voter turnout.

But the defining truth is the concluding fact that the BN victory in Malacca is no drop of blue in the sea of turmoil surrounding PN and Harapan.

If anything, it is a portent of things to come, come GE15.

It is time to rethink.

Why, despite three years of exposés of BN's failures and mega corruption cases, would the people give a two-thirds majority to BN?

Is there a serious disconnect between politicians, the government of the day, and the citizens?

Just before balloting day, many quarters held that this Malacca state election was hard to predict. But without the kind of election campaigns in pre-Covid times, the voters seemed to have already decided who they would vote for.

The short-lived Harapan government, the backdoor government of Sheraton-Move, the truce government of PN - all of these must have made a deeper impression on voters far away from the federal capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Who doesn't know there was a criminal convict pending appeal in the court of law canvassing for votes and appeared like a celebrated hero or 'Boss'?

Who does not know the rulers gave their blessing for PN to be the healing balm in a country deeply wounded politically?

But the votes went to BN!

Perhaps PN will now have to build bridges with Harapan and other smaller parties like Gerakan and myPPP quickly if it wants to be battle-ready for GE15.

If PN remains inert then it may be construed that it is part of a larger agenda to facilitate the return of the decades-old BN government.

If PN partners BN, it will be a windfall for Harapan provided Harapan works the ground starting now.

After all, Malaysian voters are predominantly not reformists and their 2018 experiment could not survive a full five-year term.

Believe me, this has nothing to do anymore about racial trends in voting patterns.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.