#PRU15
It certainly was an interesting day. Some of the items on my wish list were granted. Some we way off target. But on the whole, the results certainly fit the current political landscape. We got what we deserved.
After the excitement of first-time voters being able to exercise their new superpowers, reality sets in. A hung parliament was ultimately the fairest outcome. Several leaders in power needed purging, and they had their comeuppance. But for me, the biggest revelation was the power that one individual wielded. We are not talking about Zahid Hamidi or Anuar Ibrahim here. Not even Hadi Awang. It was Shahidan Kassim.
In casting him out of the ranks, Zahid Hamidi and UMNO/BN had sealed the fate of the election and created a juggernaut. Shahidan joined PAS and contested under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) banner. This empowered those who wanted an alternative to UMNO to a clear path by supporting PAS and PN. Even the Putrajaya seat, considered safe, saw a transition of power from Ku Nan to Radzi Jidin of PN.
As a result, although Pakatan Harapan (PH) reached its target of 80-plus seats, they did not expect PH to do this well. Hence PH’s path to form the government hit a stumbling block. The Borneo bloc suddenly had a larger bargaining power as they could ultimately determine who would form the government. Things just got complicated.
So, PH had to make more compromises to rule, while PN had less to lose in their negotiation with the rest as they did not expect to wield such power. The next few days would be crucial in deciding Malaysia’s fate for the next five years. Will Anuar finally prevail and achieve his ambition to be PM10?
Whatever happens, the gap between the secular and the conservatives will widen, and so will the gap between the rural and the urban, the rich and the poor. The country is facing plenty of obstacles in the coming months, with the global economic uncertainty and the nation's recovery as a whole post-COVID. We need leaders with vision and a stable government. This is more important than who is exactly in power. #PrayForMalaysia