THE CICAK.com

The Malaysian general election is over, expect to see…

Photo by Tim Parkinson
By JOSHUA FOONG

It was havoc in theSun’s newsroom on Saturday. And I have a huge pie of thoughts to chew on. But for now I’ll take just a few bites, a few nibbles.

Look at our political landscape. There’s been a sea change, a tsunami if you may. A tidal wave bigger than the one in 1969.

But there’s no face off, no battle-royale. It’s not the end all but rather just the beginning.

It is neither a defeat nor victory for Barisan Nasional, even though the results was a huge - and “huge” is an understatement - upset, having lost two-thirds majority in the 222-member parliament. The same goes for the opposition. They may have swept Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kedah by surprise, but they still have a long way to go. And only time will tell whether they will get more seats in the next general election. Expect gridlock in parliament.

The results mirrored public opinion - many voters are unhappy with BN and want change. But the majority still want stability and would rather trust them.

My personal joy is that democracy has proven itself, even with such a defunct electoral system, the tide of Malaysian votes tallied and has spoken for itself.

Expect this:

Political repositioning
The various opposition parties would park themselves in negotiated and strategised spaces, Barisan would find avenues to recover and regain strength and various individuals would rise to power. It is still too early to make conclusions on who goes where and gets what.

Opposition to lay respective demands to one another
Technically, there is no official coalition. The opposition might have difficulties championing one cause with various parties that have different interests. The one thing that does unite them though is the fact that they are against BN.

But they have many different interests. It’s good to note that Hindraf is already putting pressure for its legal advisor M Manoharan to be appointed as a deputy MB in Selangor under the new state government to be formed by the opposition.

Stronger alternative media

Reuters reported that the Internet and alternative media were key factors that helped swing voters toward the opposition.

The mainstream media lacks integrity. And so many Malaysians turned to alternative media.

BN might even try to go grassroots and alternative, despite Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin bin Maidin being so critical about it when he was in office.

Heated UMNO, MIC and MCA AGMs

As BN continues to grapple with its loss, party delegates will be scrambling to understand what happened this election and compare it to the one in 2003. Watch UMNO and MIC.

State governments under opposition to be kept in check
Expect Barisan to be vocal in its criticism, as they have more experience.

As for the opposition, we might see more transparency. Take this for example: Khalid Ibrahim’s (aka MB Selangor) first task as Mentri Besar is to see if he can successfully introduce a freedom of information act to make the state more transparent and accountable to the people.

In order to do well in the next General Election, the opposition must do well governing Selangor and Penang.

BN already paved the infrastructure and economy. All the opposition needs to do is to prove that they are better in charge.

Remember, change IS good, but they ARE governing for the first time. On the Federal stage, they have to make their voices heard in parliament.

Barisan on the other hand, must bank on their credentials as experienced governors, recover quickly, especially for MCA and MIC, and to regain their strength, particularly when it come sto leadership. UMNO has to re-evaluate what they have as a collective and the BN coalition.

Hopefully, when both Barisan and the opposition rub it out in governance, we would be able to see the dividends of our votes and from there, make wiser decisions the next time around. By then, I’ll be old enough to join you at the polls.

But for now, my hope is that the sight of our nation remains linear as in every change sparks a glaring distraction that hinders the true essence of getting the job done well.

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JOSHUA FOONG is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

At 19, Joshua realised that he will never be a rockstar. So he went to pursue the second passion, journalism at a local private university. He’s currently interning at theSun. Visit his site.