Abstaining from voting will only empower BN
Abstaining from voting only effective in countries that practise a minimal voting attendance or include 'none of the above' in their ballot box.
COMMENT
By Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman
Democracy cannot be limited to elections, but to deny the critical importance of elections to the overall democratic exercise is just futile. The call to abstain from elections is a legitimate one. It is one’s democratic right, anyway. However, while that choice is legitimate, it translates into the disproportionate empowerment of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
Senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, Oh Ei Sun, suggests that protest votes merely privilege the establishment: “[By] not voting in a not yet two-party electoral system, they are essentially ensuring the victory by the ruling party, which has more wherewithal to organise mass voter turnouts in their favour.”
Here are several reasons why we must make a choice in this coming election to vote for BN, Pakatan Harapan or even PAS. Abstaining is the equivalent to empowering BN.
1. The ruling government has a solid indoctrinated voter base
In contrast to the opposition coalition, BN has a strong grip on the mainstream media, education and state apparatus to promote its perverted agendas. Since birth, these agendas have been indoctrinated into our systems, from an education curriculum which overly emphasises Umno’s role in liberating Malaysia from the British, to the state-funded BN engagement programmes which come with goodies and handouts.
It is a known fact that every prime time news channel will focus on shaming and bad mouthing opposition parties while blindly praising the BN government. This power monopoly zombifies the minds of voters in BN’s favour, thus solidifying its voter base which is often ring-fenced by race and religion.
2. BN’s ability to mobilise voters
While the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) issued a strong statement that travel allowances are considered a form of bribery, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low said otherwise.
Low said as long as we don’t make it an obligation for them to vote for BN, it is not a form of bribery.
Having a minister issue a statement contrary to the body in charge of combating corruption in our country is worrying. This is also a clear indication that BN has greater incentive and the financial strength to carry out such tactics.
According to personal testimonies by former Umno chiefs who are now in PPBM, the section leaders usually vet out the people they want to ferry to voting booths. It clearly shows that this is not an open offer to everyone. But ultimately, your abstinence won’t stop BN from ferrying these supporters to the voting booths by using cash handouts disguised as “transportation allowance”.
The BN candidates will allocate a large sum of money to get their voters out while the opposition is unable to do so due to financial constraints. Again, the strategy will end in agony.
3. BN’s well-financed party machinery
Not only can BN mobilise voters, it also has a strong machinery behind it to back it up. A strong arm from the federal level to the state level to “bahagian” up until “cawangan” – all the levels within BN are well funded.
This gives them the ability to recruit and pay workers during elections. These people in return are able to spend the time and money going door to door to spread messages to people out there about BN.
This again goes back to point one, as it helps the creation of new indoctrinated fans of BN. It does not stop there – BN also regularly uses federal agencies to achieve its political goals. It gets staff from Mara to KEMAS to go door to door, seeking ways to help the voters out. Suddenly, government servants and agencies are converted into BN’s election machinery.
Not voting for any party here means another 10 years of Najib Razak as our prime minister.
4. Big turnouts can swing elections
Changes and miracles happen when people go to the ballot box in huge numbers. This was clearly seen when 58.2% of Americans turned out to vote in the 2008 presidential election. A record high since 1972, the outcome of the election led to Barack Obama being the first African-American president.
Meanwhile, the 2010 midterm election, with a turnout of 40.9% led to congress being dominated by Republicans, a party with strong conservative roots. This is a clear sign that change can only happen if people turn out in big numbers to vote for a party.
Even the historic comeback of the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn was only possible after a quarter of a million people, the majority of them under the age of 25, registered to vote at the last minute, creating a surprise as early polls showed that Theresa May was leading by far.
5. Abstaining is not an effective protest vote in Malaysia
Abstaining from voting can only be an effective tool in countries that either practise a minimal voting attendance like Australia, or include “none of the above” in their ballot box.
In those situations, not voting gives a clear signal that people disagree. This grievance will be given attention as there is a strong message behind it. In Malaysia, such mechanisms simply don’t apply.
Like it or not, we need to act rationally and within the means of how we can change the outcome of votes. You might think your one vote doesn’t matter in an area that has the incumbent winning by a majority of 13,000, for example. However, if your decision starts becoming a spillover effect, it causes mayhem. A low turnout of voters never changed the outcome of how the ruling government behaves in Malaysia. It is simply a fruitless exercise.
In conclusion, Malaysians simply need to go down and vote. Winston Churchill once said, “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
We have few choices but we need to make those choices count. Exercise your vote, pick one of the parties in the election and be that force of change.
Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is PPBM Youth chief.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.
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