Aftermath

Okay, today it is clear that I want to write about politics. Most of my prediction in my previous post was accurate, except for Terengganu. I said it would be too close to call. The actual result? A complete washout. PH and BN is totally shut out of Terengganu. It's all a PN show. Whatever seats they had? That's gone. PN made inroads into Selangor and Penang as predicted. Negeri Sembilan is status quo, while Kedah, Kelantan and as aforementioned Terengganu remains with Perikatan (or in truth PAS).

The news, blogs, social media will be talking of this incessantly, where UMNO continues to be eroded losing their influence with the voters. What are the factors? Zahid alone? Still about Najib? How impeccable PN's machinery was? Low voter turnout? A split between the Malays and non-Malays?

As a voter, a taxpayer and someone that's used to work with and for PM4, PM5, PM6, PM7, PM9 and now PM10 I am used to clear actions and directions. I am sure my fellow citizens are the same as well. Yet, the same cannot be said with PM10's government. The narrative is not clear cut as it's a Unity Government's narrative. It cannot be PH or BN or GPS. It needs to encompass all of them.

At the same time too, any affirmative action needs to include everyone's views and opinions. It may not be part of the structure or process, but such consultation definitely exists. Therefore, actions cannot be implemented and be put in place at a whim. Covid-19 and the Movement Control Order have altered the landscape forever. What works pre-Covid, no longer works post-Covid. To secure the supply of vaccines, to spur the economy, to provide cushions to businesses and individuals, the government had to borrow. Borrowing with very little coming in put a major dent on the nation's coffers. In fact, Covid ground our economy to a halt for over 2 years. Nothing much was leaving our shores, while businesses suffered reduced income and losses during that time. The end results. Lower tax collection for the Inland Revenue Board. In addition to that just a few years earlier the tax system was changed from GST to SST, resulting in further lower collections.

This is what I call quadruple whammy - Covid-19, Movement Control Order, lower income, economy grinding to a halt, lower tax and revenue for the government. List actually goes on.

Having strange bedfellows indulging in incestuous relations bent on killing each other jostling to run the government just didn't help matters. With BN losing and DSN out of the way it created a vacuum that no one could fill. They think they can but ultimately not. Case in point, BN lost in 2018, now it's 2023, we have yet to have a clear roadmap or blueprint how we can get the nation on to a firmer footing.

Whatever that was achieved during the time of DSN was just undone and dismantled. Instead of building on the strength they decided to find fault in everything and dismantled whatever good that was done. This is an inherent weakness in Malaysia, Malaysians, especially Malays. They cannot admit that their predecessor did well and all they have to do is to continue and strengthen the good work done. Instead, every single one of them believe they need to have their own narrative, their own slogan, their own concepts thus abandoning whatever gains achieved while they start from square one. The examples are many and do not need to be repeated here.

With whatever good undone and increase in external debt, how do we tackle the rising costs of living, the low salary packages, the weak ringgit, the huge dependency on imports, increased prices of necessities, increased operating costs, lower domestic production for agriculture. While foreign direct investments continue, investor confidence has weakened.

The people, the nation, the economy, the government desperately need a stable government. An administration that lasts a full term. For 5 years we never had that. We changed Prime Ministers 4 times in 5 years, that's not stability. But the former bedfellows are bent on forcing yet another change of the Prime Minister pointing every flaw they can think of. Everybody wants to inherit a weak economy, a weak government. It just beggars belief.

Now the nation looks like this: Kelantan - PN, Terengganu - PN, Perlis - PN, Kedah - PN, Pahang - PHBN, Perak - PHBN, Melaka - BN, Negeri Sembilan - PHBN, Penang - PHBN, Selangor - PHBN, Johor - BN, Sabah - GRS and Sarawak - GPS. PN has captured north Peninsula Malaysia except for Penang, central to the south and East Malaysia is all under the Unity Government. How the nation's wealth will be distributed from now on I am just not sure. While the narrative says that there will be equal distribution, political reality will have an impact.

Exciting days lie ahead. For me? There's a change of the leadership in Kelantan. It's back to square one and with that situation may have changed. Have a good week everyone.