The 14th General Election is just two days away when on 9th May 2018 the rakyat of Malaysia will be casting their votes and make their choices on the ballot papers.
Which coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Harapan, will be the government of Malaysia for the next five years will be decided on that evening of 9th May.
Of course, each legitimate voter will be very excited to pen down their choice and at the same time praying hard for their politician and party to be the winner.
Walking down the roads of every city and town, even in the suburbs and highways, you can see beautiful multi-coloured flags flapping overheads and huge eye-catching billboards of nominated candidates as if we are on a big celebration.
However, the streets decorated with green, blue and red-blue flags do not denote a celebration or festival here, but a battle for parliamentary seats.
Each flag symbolizes a different ideology and propaganda. The Islamic party, the PAS green flag with a big white moon in the middle stands for more Sharia law in Malaysia; Barisan Nasional dark blue flag with a white balance stands for justice and stability, as for the Pakatan Harapan light blue and red flag with a big eye in the middle stands for democracy and reformation.
People right now are just confused which flag to vote for on the 9th May.
A taxi driver, who gave me (MWN reporter) a ride through Jalan Tun Razak, said:”It is more than a war for the throne”.
“The battle and war of words and ideologies have just begun between the ruling party Barisan Nasional (BN) and the Opposition Pakatan Harapan.
“Only the winners on the 9th May will keep their flags on,” he added.
This is the toughest general election in Malaysia’s history, as it is said, “the losers may end up in jail, as the candidates either from the ruling party or the opposition party are allegedly accused of corruption and malpractices.
The Prime Minister Najib Razak and many officials in his cabinet are accused of malpractices in 1MDB.
DAP and PKR leaders are also allegedly accused of many wrongdoings such as buying lands below market price and sodomy offences.
These days all minds and eyes are on the election. Who to vote for, and who will be the winner?
Some eyes are now turning to the Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir, who is now the chairman of the opposition party, as he is calling for “save Malaysia” and vowing to defeat Najib Razak, though critics say that he himself abused power when he was Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years.
Some eyes are also giving attention to the Prime Minister Najib’s huge manifesto that promises more development, infrastructures and more projects, though he is still accused of “syphoning” money from the 1MDB fund.
The opposition is banking on 1MDB allegations, and GST implementation to undermine Najib’s credibility.
Najib denied all allegations and was cleared up of any wrongdoing by Malaysian Attorney General. However, some parties did not believe him and their perceptions remained unchanged.
An Analyst said 1MDB allegation would not shake Najib Razak or BN party as long as it has no strong proofs.
There are also eyes turning to Dr Wan Azizah the wife of PKR party, Anwar Ibrahim, who is calling for reformation and change. However, with Anwar Ibrahim serving five years in prison for sodomy may undermine her credibility especially among Muslim Malays.
On the other hand, some voters said, for them whichever party that becomes the government of Malaysia will not change their lifestyle, work and income.
A salesperson said,”I will still be a salesperson in this shop and my income will be paid by the company.
The taxi driver said, “I don’t really bother which party will be in power. The most important thing is… I can still continue to earn a living as a taxi driver.”
Commenting on BN government that is led by Najib Razak, a lecturer, in his 40’s, said, “it is not easy to bring down Najib Razak as he is a strong leader with many supporters particularly from the upper class and rural areas.
“The oppositions have tried to bring him down soon after the 13th General Election but until today he is still in power.”
An ardent supporter of UMNO, well known as Din, openly said he will not vote for UMNO this time as he did not like the way PM Najib handles the 1MDB Fund issues.
A friend of Din, who was angry for his 360-degree U-turn, replied loudly:”I think he (Din) is the biggest betrayer of the party. He has received many benefits when he was a member of UMNO. He has bought a house and a land at cheap prices and received many other benefits.”
Din answered: “If Tun Mahathir as the former President of UMNO can change his mind towards UMNO, why not me? This is a democratic country isn’t it?”
In another occasion, a housewife asked MWN reporters which party to choose in the 14th GE.
As neutral journalists, we told the housewife to choose the best party that suits her and family. Read and analyze the BN and PH election’s manifestos and decide. Everybody’s vote is a secret.
The most interesting and exciting moments of the current situation in Malaysia is that…if you talk to BN supporters they will predict BN will still win the general election while PH supporters predict that BN will lose badly and become the opposition party. Whatever the situation, just wait for the election results on 9th May 2018!
But be sure that, your vote will only help the nation to develop, not your politician to just stay or grab power.
– MalaysiaWorldNews 9 (MWN)
