LETTER | I can understand why calls to boycott the coming general elections or to spoil the ballot (#UndiRosak) are getting louder. There is a great deal of disillusionment with the principal actors in the contest.

However great the disillusionment, an electoral boycott or casting an undi rosak (spoilt vote) is at best a negative response. It does not address the root causes of the disillusionment. Neither will it help to bring about the political change that many of the advocates of this campaign yearn for. While the democratic process allows for such an expression of protest, it does very little
to strengthen the practice of democracy itself.

There is another avenue open to the protesters. They can harness their frustration and disappointment with GE14 by setting into motion a genuine, sincere interrogation of the major actors.

It is true that the interrogation of power - those ensconced in power and those seeking power - has been going on for a long while. But it has not reached that critical point that will tip the scale in favour of a fundamental change.

The lifeblood of democracy

There are many reasons for this. The attitude of the Malaysian citizenry as a whole to the interrogation of power itself is one of them. It is not widely appreciated that it is the constant, consistent interrogation of power that is the very lifeblood of a democracy.

If Malaysians realised this, there would have been a massive rejection of all those unscrupulous attempts to conceal and camouflage the 1MDB scandal. It is the shameful cover-up of one of the most disgraceful manipulations of public and private funds for selfish gains in recent times that has caused so much disillusionment with the BN leadership. 

The leadership’s lack of integrity is mirrored in other episodes too such as the Felda shenanigans. This is why a huge trust deficit has developed between Prime Minister Najib Razak, on the one hand, and the public, on the other.

For the protestors, it is not just a question of interrogating Najib. They are also unhappy with the selection of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Prime Minister if the coalition comes to power in GE14.

It is more than his mixed record as Prime Minister for 22 years that troubles them. It is his notorious u-turns in the last one year all performed in the name of ousting Najib that have caused even more disillusionment with the man.

His current embrace of DAP leader Lim Kit Siang whom he had long regarded as a racist and his endorsement of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who he once labelled as “morally unfit” to lead the nation reveal that Mahathir is a Machiavellian politician for whom the end justifies the means. 

Anwar’s selection as the Prime Minister in waiting, as the one who will assume the exalted position once he receives a royal pardon following his release from prison, has also not gone done well with some of the protesters.

They know that there is incontrovertible evidence from the two sodomy trials -- such as the testimony in court of the respected former Inspector-General of Police Hanif Omar - that cannot simply be swept under the carpet.

The sodomy taint and its implications for someone at the helm of a Muslim majority state aside, Anwar’s alleged involvement in money politics in the 1993 Umno party elections and in the 1994 Sabah state elections and his manipulation of ethnic sentiments as Minister of Education continue to raise questions about his integrity.

There is another actor in the electoral arena that has also added on to the disillusionment. This is PAS which is now even more blatant in brandishing its exclusive image in the name of Islam. In proposing that Muslims should only vote Muslims in a multi-religious society, PAS has become a divisive and retrogressive force. Such a party has no role in 21st-century politics.

By interrogating the leadership of BN, Harapan and PAS, the advocates of Boycott GE14 and #UndiRosak would be compelling them to defend their respective positions. If their defence is not convincing, one could adopt other measures.

The advocates of Boycott and #UndiRosak could petition the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry to examine 1MDB and its operations with the aim of revealing the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the Malaysian nation and the world at large.

If Harapan leaders Mahathir and Anwar are not able to provide a satisfactory explanation of their misdeeds, the Harapan coalition should be persuaded to ask them to step aside and new (and preferably younger) leaders with less baggage should be installed at the helm of the fledgling coalition.

Similarly, all those who want genuine change including the advocates of Boycott and #UndiRosak should appeal to the PAS rank and file to renounce its leadership’s obscurantist thinking and nurture an understanding of Islam that embodies its universal essence. 

If interrogation of leaders and their ideologies and actions - rather than boycott and #UndiRosak - becomes the established political culture, there is every possibility that Malaysia will mature into a just and harmonious society beyond the next elections.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.