The Aftermath of The 13th General Elections in Malaysia

Its been 5 days since  the elections were held and still the debate over who really won the elections has not died down. One thing is for sure, the landscape of the country will change after this and its anybody's guess what will come next. The lines has been drawn on the side of the Government and Opposition with the 'Old Order' supporters and 'New Order' followers facing a standoff.

But what is really new about the 'New Order'? It still consists of old guards such as Anwar Ibrahim, Nik Aziz, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh making up the gang of four. There aren't really fresh ideas coming from them besides the old libertarian views of democracy and civil liberties. Just look at the states that are in their control. Kelantan has not developed much eversince PAS took over the state but i won't be discussing Kelantan here as the state will forever be an enigma to analysts. Selangor has been declared a developed state so the issues there are different from the rest of Malaysia. Perhaps social welfare issues are more pertinent to the electorate, issues such as crime, welfare for the pensioners, environmental awareness will be the talking points.

Anyway, want i really want to discuss is the racial tension that has hit new highs eversince our Prime Minister highlighted it was a 'Chinese Tsunami'  that proved the undoing of Barisan Nasional in failing to get the two thirds majority to govern the country but govern it will, albeit with a reduced majority of 133 parliamentary seats. Why the dependance on the Chinese? It is not necessarily a dependance but a prerequisite for the Prime Minister to continue with the Government's program of 1Malaysia, an inclusive developmental program for all Malaysians irrespective of race. Does it represent a rejection of his policies? Depends on who you talk to some will say it is and some will say it is not.

We cannot run away from the fact that the Bumiputeras are still solidly behind the Barisan Nasional specifically UMNO as the majority ethnic group still believes in the policies being put in place to safeguard its interest but with the Chinese not at the table with Barisan, it is a predicament for the Government as Tun Mahathir has rightly said with Malaysia being a multiracial country, all has a stake in its future and the Chinese has essentially let others determine their path. Barisan Nasional clearly lost in the 'psywar' being waged by the opposition through cyberspace. Their bloggers seem to be able to influence the young voters especially with tales of scandals and misbehaviour of the ruling coalition which is either pure lies or half truths.

One thing is clear, our democracy has not matured yet to the level of the United Kingdom or the US but is that the kind of democracy which is suitable for our country? The so called ' Generation Y' cannot be blamed as it is their right to vote for whomever they please but the information being given to them is suspect. The blame is equal on both sides of the divide. Messages of racial sentiments, sex videos, vile and hate especially by bloggers and news media with an opposition/anti establishment slant appeals to this generation who grew up on playstation, MTV and free access to pornographic material who will always have a rebellious streak. We were all young once and we all had the desire to beat 'The Man'.

Before Reformasi and before the fallen angel called Anwar Ibrahim, i followed this man closely and saw him as next in line to the throne as they say. Anwar is definitely charismatic and has an aura of leadership that appeals to whoever that has attended his ceramahs. He has the hallmark of a leader and an orator second to none but his record in Government does not really reflect this. Some leaders were born to lead, some were shaped to lead and some are just rebel rousers who are great at creating chaos and confusion and unfortunately, Anwar is in this third category. He is in the mould of a person who only thrives in chaos, creating opportunities when there are confusion. Anwar is the ultimate chameleon par excellence and sadly he has generation y with him as his followers.  The only solution i see to defeat this man is to be just as good as him if not better at pulling the crowds, fight on the issues rather than the sentiments and give a credible alternative and a 'why should you pick me as your representative' message to them. In other words, the governing political parties should start thinking like the opposition. The new battle ground is cyber space and it is a war the Barisan Nasional has to win if it wants to retain Putrajaya in the next general election.