Changing political culture starts with voters, says analyst
PETALING JAYA: A politician’s call for a reshaping of Malaysian political culture has prompted an analyst to remark that voters have as big a role to play as politicians in bringing about the needed changes.
How a politician conducts himself is often dictated by what he believes his base wants, according to Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore institute of International Affairs.
He was commenting on a statement Pandikar Amin Mulia made during an online forum on Tuesday. The former Dewan Rakyat speaker said true reforms could not be achieved until there was a shift away from the treatment of politics as a zero-sum game in which there must always be winners and losers.
Oh said he agreed that such a reshaping of political culture was needed.
“Politicians are just a reflection of what we want. It’s our own perception and culture as voters that politicians take advantage of,” he told FMT.
“So, if we as voters would like to see more consensual politics, somehow we need to make it known to the politicians.”
However, Oh also said institutional changes to minimise the current fixation on winning could be tricky.
He said reforms might be needed to boost bipartisan cooperation but carrying out the reforms would require bipartisan cooperation to begin with.
“It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation,” he added.
Former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer Azmi Hassan said the current political culture had been perpetuated for too long, with politicians in power treating the opposition as enemies.
“Maybe, to some degree, this is the fault of the opposition. They often tend to criticise rather than try to help improve policies,” he said.
Azmi said voters would have to display their desire for integrity, good conduct and cooperation and so, too, must the media.
“The media is critical in displaying the public’s displeasure towards the current culture, where ideologies can be changed on a whim,” he said. - FMT
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