Voting For The Future

(I had submitted this piece to the Malay Mail for my column on 26th August 2008. The management decided that it was better "held over" in "deference to our journalistic tenet that Opinion pieces are edited solely on form, never on content" (as appeared in the print version, p 15). I wish to express my gratitude to the editors for taking a stand that circumstances necessitated - it appears that the Home Ministry has been overly sensitive over media reporting on matters pertaining to Anwar Ibrahim - in the way they did. It underscores the point I attempt to make in my comment)


On March 8th, Malaysians voted in rejection of political hegemony and the arbitrariness and excess that it had allowed for.

In voting as they did, Malaysians were not only expressing their frustration at the glaring absence of a plan of action that would allow for sustainable development, they had begun to tentatively reach out for a viable alternative, one that would simply promise, not even guarantee, the possibility of hope for all. A denial of a two-thirds majority came to be seen as a good step in the right direction while accommodating the fear - of the unknown, of stepping out of comfort zones, of the possibilities – that many felt at the prospect of a change of government. It may have been that some hoped that through this the Barisan Nasional would once again remember that it existed to serve the people and not for the people to serve it.

For a while, it did seem as if there was a possibility that things might change for the better. A fledgling two-party system seemed to have taken root, a state of affairs that led to an acknowledgment by the Barisan leadership, no matter how tentative or begrudging, of the people having expressed their disappointment with things as they were and their desire for change. In a blur of post-election frenzy, we heard much of what was going to be done and the reforms that were going to be introduced, all aimed at making Malaysia the better place it ought to have been for all.

It seems however that there was insufficient political will to follow through. Instead of seeing concrete measures being taken to transform rhetoric into reality, we were soon hearing familiar political counter-spin against the now significantly more entrenched and influential opposition. As exemplified by the Shabery Chik-Anwar Ibrahim debate, the Barisan took to making personal attacks against the Pakatan Rakyat rather than constructively engaging on a policy level. This, and jaded tactical plays on race, religion and sodomy, have not done much to assist the Barisan in shoring up seriously faltering levels of confidence.

It would seem that the Barisan had learnt nothing. In avoiding constructive engagement on policy issues, it failed to seize the opportunity to show that it had a better grasp of what this country needed, and the way forward, than the Pakatan. This was a fatal error fueling further speculation that the Barisan had very little left to offer. In the time since March 8th, many a Malaysian has been struck by how they had made themselves captives to their electoral choices - it will be some four to five years before the next election, a significant period in which the state of the nation may worsen inexorably – and have come to the conclusion that radical change is the only option left.

That Anwar Ibrahim has become the face of that change is not surprising. In the pluralism he espouses, many see a shift from a divisive race-relations policy that has gravely weakened the nation as well as the supposed target community of affirmative action. A shift to the meritocracy inherent in pluralism would allow for a restoring to power of the primary organs of state and the resurrection of a true democracy, the only surefire way of healing the country. This is a transition that his supporters see as being made possible by the team of Pakatan leaders who in standing by him also block the path to absolute power.

For all of this, Anwar Ibrahim is the man of the hour to many, not just for having aided in forging the Pakatan but for having the moral courage to say what it is this nation needs for it to survive. To them, a vote for him tomorrow is a vote for a better tomorrow. But, what if Anwar Ibrahim loses? As unlikely an event that may be, we must be prepared for all eventualities, whatever their cause. Does the transformation process stop?

I would like to think that it would not.

For if Anwar Ibrahim is the face of change, then we are the force underlying that change. Our families, our children, all those who want a better and more just nation; all of us.

We started reaching out for democracy long before March 8th. We took it from the British by diplomacy. Had we needed to, we would have taken it by force for freedom has always been our birthright and democracy its guardian. By coincidence of otherwise, Anwar Ibrahim has come to serve the will of Malaysians in their quest for truer and more just governance; they do not serve him.

So, what if he fails, today or at some more distant point in time? Then another, and another, and another after that, will take his place to become the face of that change that Malaysians want. The genie is out of the bottle, Malaysians want their democracy back. They recognize in a way they never have before that compromising on ideals is not an option if this nation is to be all that it can be.

A shot at a united and strong Malaysia lies within grasp and the journey to it begins today. On March 8th, we voted in admonishment. Today our brothers and sisters in Permatang Pauh vote for the future.

MIS