Leader

NST Leader: Political thermometer

There is no question that the 14th General Election was a revolution in Malaysia's political history.

In one fell swoop, 59 years of a particular politics was swept away by an ascendant coalition of opposition parties in 2018.

Would the nation twirl in similar delight in the 15th General Election (GE15)? Hard to tell, but the national disgust that bound together people of all political persuasions appears to be missing. The gathering storm just isn't there.

What is there though is political apathy. This despite 6.2 million new voters being registered, a fair number of whom are aged between 18 and 30.

Some are not even aware where they are voting. The fault is not theirs alone. Political parties must be blamed for infesting the people with political indifference.

They talk of change, yet remain the same. An introspective journey would have helped. But they are not going there.

Perhaps they are worried to "discover" how little they have done that is right.

Admittedly, it is a daunting journey, but it must be taken to right all the wrongs. But sadly, politics is the art of appearance.

Seeming always trumps being. And so they give us a sprinkling of young faces and call it the shape of new things to come. To the 6.2 million voters, it is the same old same old.

And there is the antics of politicians. Some seem to think that since they hold some positions of power or have been fielded umpteen times, they deserve to be nominated again.

Has it occurred to the parties to ask their constituents if they deserve to be nominated? No, it is for the head honcho to decide. Yet they all say they have changed. Some politicians even boycott the party for not nominating them in GE15. Are these the kind of lawmakers we deserve? We should be ashamed of having such politicians.

The antics of the states mustn't be discounted either. Bafflingly, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan have decided not to dissolve their state assemblies.

This means going to the polls twice in the six states. Once for GE15 and again for state elections.

Money, time and energy times two is never good for the coffers of the nation nor the purse of the people. They should never put politics before people.

In the estimate of the Election Commission, the government has to fork out an extra RM700 million for the six state elections. Add this to the GE15's cost of RM1.1 billion, you get the size of the red ink to the bottom line of the national coffers.

Political antics don't just cause political apathy, it comes with a high price tag, too. Be that as it may, we urge the close to 22 million voters to turn up in full force to make a wise choice.

Five years is too long to right a wrong.

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