The Malaysian Insight

NAJIB Razak or Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Recent sins of the country’s sixth prime minister or past sins of the country’s long-serving fourth prime minister.

TN50 or Vision 2020.

It appears that the 14th general election is shaping up to be a referendum on the political master and his former protege‎.

While Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan are working feverishly on their respective election manifestos, and Umno wants to focus on love of country and nostalgia to win votes, pundits and politicians say that it will finally come down to whom the voters trust: Najib or Mahathir.

As a result, PH have been sharpening their knives against Najib and hoisting Dr Mahathir’s economic management credentials. The opposition believe that the rising cost of living is Najib’s Achilles heel. 

On the other side of the political divide, Umno and BN believe that Dr Mahathir’s dismal record of challenging his successors in Umno, patchy report card on fighting corruption ‎and propensity to attack Islamic religious figures will hurt him at the polls.

Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya’s (UM) social-cultural department, said studies conducted last year in several states showed that an increasing number of people were dissatisfied with the rising cost of living.

“There are respondents who say all they can do is to bear it, and there is no avenue to complain. Only during GE will they (get to) lodge their ‘complaints’ .

“This shows that GE14 will be a referendum on Najib’s administration,” Awang Azman told The Malaysian Insight.

He said that while issues like 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Felda will have a small affect on support for the government, issues such as the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) and the subsequent increase in prices of goods and services will be the biggest source of discontentment.

And the target of their discontent will likely be the face of the government.

PH strategist Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said when all democratic avenues, such as through Parliament, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers, police and judiciary, can no longer be depended on to punish the “kleptocrats” behind the 1MDB scandal, the election will be the final shot at justice.

“So, PH will ask the people of Malaysia to use GE14 as a referendum on Najib and Umno’s rule over the last 60 years.

“This is because there’s no other way to end the hardships caused by the failures of Najib’s administration,” said the director of strategy for Amanah.

The former Kuala Selangor MP said GE14 is the perfect platform for Malaysians to unseat Najib and end Umno’s 60-year rule.

The people vs Najib?

DAP strategist Liew Chin Tong said: “PH needs to convince dissatisfied Malaysians that change will give them a better life.”

Awang Azman of UM said the fact that Dr Mahathir is leading the opposition charge also posed a great threat to BN.

“This is because Dr Mahathir is being painted as an elderly statesman willing to go to the ground to fight a power he deems as corrupt.

He said Umno and BN should not take the Dr Mahathir factor lightly, as the former prime minister had served for 22 years and was capable of threatening their support base.

Mahathir’s 22 years in power is also a weak point that BN is confident of capitalising on. That is why the likes of Najib and his ministers, like Salleh Said Keruak and Abdul Rahman Dahlan, have increasingly been training their guns on the former PM.

They have tried to portray him as a PM who enabled wrongdoing and corruption to flourish. On the Malay ground, Umno officials and the mainstream media have painted Dr Mahathir as a traitor to the Malays.

The people vs Dr Mahathir?

Director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (Kita) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, said GE14 is also a referendum towards “past Umno leaders who desire a return to power”.

“1MDB and Felda are issues for city and middle-class rural folk, who may be vocal and have many views but  they may not have as much clout as the majority of voters (the working class rural voter).

“Dr Mahathir himself is under attack in PH, especially from grassroots supporters who are unhappy with his past ‘political sins’,” he told the Malaysian Insight.

“How is he going to be a threat to BN if he himself is hanging from a brittle branch?” – January 27, 2018.