The Malaysian Insight

AN arrogant Barisan Nasional went into GE14 on a flawed assumption: that Malaysians would forever feel indebted to the coalition and would return it to power, Johari Abdul Ghani said.

But people change and what might have been true at a particular time did not hold true on May 9, said the former second finance minister.

He also conceded that Dr Mahathir Mohamad was effective in getting voters to think about key integrity and corruption issues. 

Johari said BN wrongly believed that all said and done, Malaysians would still remember that it was because of BN policies that the Malaysian economy had grown from RM4 billion to RM1.3 trillion.

Instead, the voters were focused on the rising cost of living, the goods and services tax (GST) and a slew of other issues raised by Dr Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan.

Johari said Dr Mahathir was especially effective in hammering home the message on corruption and integrity. Night after night he stayed on the topic, noted the former Titiwangsa MP.

“He brought up issues that touched on the BN leadership’s integrity and it struck a chord with the youth,” said Johari.

Johari lost his Titiwangsa seat by more than 4,000 votes to Rina Harun, a political novice from Bersatu.

The racial composition of the constituency was 72% Malays, 17% Chinese, 9% Indian and 2% others. There were 61,598 registered voters in the constituency.

The fact that the Malay voters had also turned against BN was not lost on him. BN/Umno not only lost Putrajaya but control of several state legislatures, including Johor and Malacca.

So what’s next for the corporate figure turned politician?

For a start, he is eyeing one of the three vice-presidencies in Umno, believing it will give him a platform to start repairing the “broken” party.

Like other Umno politicians, Johari said he had raised many issues affecting Malaysia and Umno at Supreme Council meetings.

Asked if he, as second finance minister, had brought up the issue of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Johari said: “let the current government handle it”.

Johari said now was the time for Umno members to reflect on what they could do for the party.

“I will defend the Titiwangsa Umno division chief’s post and at the national level, I am thinking of going for one of the three vice-presidencies.”

What change would he like to see in the party?

““The practice of stifling debate in the party in the name of consensus should end.

“We should encourage debate and encourage election of party leaders at every level.” – May 30, 2018.