Harapan Should Not Run A Negative Campaign

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“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”
- James Branch Cabell
At this moment, everyone is talking about how the opposition should cooperate with each other to win against Umno-BN, and all this does for the ordinary folks who are struggling is reinforce apathy and create a toxic environment which sustains partisans bases and does nothing to encourage undecided voters to come out and cast their ballots.
When Pakatan Harapan – which to me is the only opposition – finally gets its act together, it should not run a negative campaign.
This is not a referendum on kleptocrats or whatever red meat sustains the base. This should be about inspiring young voters and fence sitters who want some form of economic and political stability.
This is what Umno-BN is selling them. Stability. All these handouts that some people mock in reality mean something for people who are struggling, especially those who have been taught by the state to have large families because demographics is destiny.
If the Malay uber alles establishment has the 3Rs – race, religion and royalty – Harapan should make this about the 2Es – the economy and the environment.
What the recent floods and the abysmal response to them have demonstrated is that environmental issues have an in-your-face effect on voters and it is not some nebulous issue for future generations.
The environment and the economy are not mutually exclusive and this is the perfect time to capitalise on issues affecting the rakyat using the 2Es.
Using the 2Es, Harapan if they win and whoever they choose to align themselves with post-GE, could institute a whole slew of institutional reforms under the agenda that nearly everyone could agree with because it has such a major impact on their daily lives.
Furthermore, each state is different. One of the problems I have with Harapan choosing not to simultaneously hold state elections is the idea that each individual state and hence the political establishment of those states understand what its state needs and requires. All politics is local and is a truism for a reason.
While I disagree with what Charles Santiago is doing with his court case, he is the kind of candidate who understands his constituents and is doing the people's work which is his mandate.
Candidates parachuted into areas with the belief that "vote for the party and not the candidate" is dogma, may be in for a surprise.
Harapan should tailor its message according to the needs of the peoples of individual states, instead of shoehorning a grand national narrative that does not resonate on a state level.
This means not having needless infighting with division heads about what they are doing. Yes, there should be a national narrative that everyone agrees with, but there should be room to manoeuvre when it comes to the idiosyncrasies of individual states.
We are heading into an election during a period of great economic, social, and most importantly environmental uncertainty. Young voters which include young parents depending on where they live are finding it extremely difficult to cope in this country while the political elites have it all.
Issues of religion and race
People are susceptible to all manner of nationalistic and honestly racist propaganda made worse by decades of indoctrination by the establishment and opposition which had hoped to sustain power using the same methods.
Former premier Dr Mahathir MohamadHowever, remember this, Harapan did not need Dr Mahathir Mahathir to break Umno’s two-thirds majority and to capture economically viable states. They are sure as hell that they do not need the ketuanan ideology to hang on to power in those states.
And if you remember those heady days, Pakatan Rakyat's messaging was one of optimism and change and they were going up against an Umno establishment which was stronger and more agile when it came to not only political messaging but also dirty tricks.
People never thought that anyone would vote for PKR or that the DAP who for decades was out in the cold would gain traction. In those days, there was not the rancid partisan bickering that is amplified through social media and Harapan was more willing to leverage optimism than partisanship to gain votes.
Umno-BN and the rest of the Malay crowd want this to be a negative campaign. They want to dissuade people from voting. They want to fire up issues of religion and race because they cannot stand on their record.
They also want to make this about how Harapan’s twenty-two months at the helm was a complete disaster and they understand that the stupid partisan deflection of blaming everything on Mahathir does them a lot of good.
Only the most zealous partisans would get out to vote to make a point.
Otherwise, people need to be inspired to get out to vote. People need to believe that their vote would make a difference in the way they live. Or they may just decide that voting for what they know is less risky than voting for the unknown, especially in these trying times.
This is not about empty feel-good messaging. This should be about the economy and issues such as flood mitigation, healthcare and subsidies for the people who need it.
The messaging should not be about how the old governments, whoever they are, have failed the rakyat but rather how a vote for Harapan could improve their lives.
Not running a negative campaign is also a strategic move. Why?
Because nobody has a leg to stand on when it comes to governing, but Umno-BN has a track record of running the country with stability – and yes, people forget the plundering when their lives are good – and this makes it easier for them to sell the stability message to people who are sick and tired of the shenanigans of the political elites.
Running a positive campaign needs discipline. It means not succumbing to the urge to throw red meat at the base. It means staying on message when your political opponents throw manure on you and utilising social media as a means to transmit your message instead of transmitting toxicity.
It also means having candidates who understand the constituencies they are running in and not merely relying on party affiliation and partisanship to save their political behinds.
And if you cannot have those candidates, you better make sure your candidates understand what their constituents need before going off on some federal narrative which means very little to them.
I am an outlier when it comes to voting in this election. I believe that the majority of the voting polity which does not agree with the direction this country is going just waiting for a coalition to entice them to come out to vote despite the floods.
All they need is a coalition which they believe listens to them. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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