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KUALA LUMPUR – The trust deficit between Malaysians and their politicians has apparently widened, with another power struggle amid a worsening Covid-19 situation.
Residents are bracing for another round of restrictions as infections spike in the wake of recent state elections.
Several people, all masked, on Tuesday (October 13) carried a banner in Bahasa that read “Rakyat menderita. Politikus peduli apa?” (People are suffering. What do politicians care?) And he stood in front of six buildings and ministerial agencies of the federal government, moving from one place to another.
The group’s action, which was posted on the “Gerak Malaysia” citizen movement’s Twitter, follows the appearance of several banners in other parts of the country criticizing politicians for their role in the recent resurgence of infections.
One particularly vulgar – “Political F ***. 317 cases” – was found in Ipoh last week.
The spike in Covid-19 cases followed the Sabah state elections on September 26. In the run-up to the elections, politicians flocked to the state to campaign despite an outbreak in one of its detention centers. Some of these politicians, as well as residents of the state who returned home to vote, became infected when they returned to the mainland.
Malaysia’s Covid-19 numbers hit new highs repeatedly since the end of the Sabah elections, with 691 daily infections reported last week.
The growing number of cases prompted the federal government to impose partial closures and, since Wednesday, almost a third of the country’s population has been affected, in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Sabah.
Despite the worsening situation, political upheaval continued to affect the country, and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim aimed to become prime minister. He met with the king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, on Tuesday and claimed that he now has a majority in Parliament.
Shortly after the meeting, Umno, the largest party in the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition, threatened to withdraw, casting further doubt on the future of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Many Malaysians were already upset with politicians for pushing for the Sabah state vote, blaming the country’s leaders for the new restrictions or the so-called Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
The topics CMCO and Umno began to be trending on Twitter late on Tuesday, with the disgust quite evident.
“Thank you to the government for doing such a good job taking our lives so well,” posted a Twitter user by the username Steve Mak.
Another Twitter user, Aymn Hzwani, joked that people needed to remember how terrible the year has been for them.
“Not because of the pandemic but because of incompetence,” the user said.
Like many others, Twitter user Shareen Hakim’s ire was directed at Umno, saying, “Other than the stalwart Umno, who’s going to work or vote for Umno after this?”
Analysts agreed that people were more concerned about the pandemic than about politics.
“I think it’s not just mistrust, but also anger directed at politicians being blamed for the rise in Covid-19 cases, especially with the #KlusterMenteri (group of ministers) trend on social media. Many already feel that politicians are in their own political bubble and not in contact with the electorate, “BowerGroup Asia director Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani told The Straits Times.
Asrul Hadi said that people were more concerned about the pandemic and how the latest restrictions will affect their livelihoods.
“I think there is growing anger and disillusionment from some members of the public regarding the political shenanigans that are taking place. On social media, there is a general feeling of disapproval regarding what is happening (government instability, the taking of planned power of Anwar Ibrahim) and they generally want a government (whoever the prime minister is) to provide a clear path to deal with Covid-19, “said Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, senior associate at Vriens & Partners, a regulatory affairs consulting firm government and political risk.
Shazwan said there could be a very low turnout if Malaysia went to the polls early.
“Unlike Singapore, the Sabah election has shown how unprepared Malaysia is for an election in the Covid-19 era,” he said.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin previously hinted at an early election should PN win the Sabah poll.
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