Attention Non-Partisan and Undecided Voters!

You and I, we are powerful.

Our decision will decide who will and who will not be heading to Putrajaya this coming election. We are the kingmakers. We are the Third Force.

Who are we?

We are those who are not aligned to any political parties. Or even if we have a preferred political party, our votes for them are CONDITIONAL! According to some, we are about 30 – 40 % of the total voter count. Meaning, we are the third block; BN, PR and us – The Third Force!

This is not unique to Malaysia. Even in the USA, a nation that boasts a more mature two-party system, the independents represent the largest bloc, 40% in 2012. Democrats only had 31% while Republicans, 27%. It was them who put Obama up for a second term.

The season voters among us probably would have had the experience of voting both for BN and the opposition in the past. Perhaps, historically some of us may have even chosen not to vote - as a form of protest. Our votes and actions depend on the candidates, political situation, and political equation during a particular election.

We are in effect, the most thinking of all the voters. We cannot be bought. We are not easily hood-winked by any side of the political divide, any maverick politician.  Political spin irritates and hypocrisy infuriates us. We want truth, if truth frustrates BN it does not matter to us. If truth frustrates PR, it also does not matter to us. We vote with conscience and because of that, we do not follow anyone blindly. We are the voice of reason; we are the conscience of the nation.

In this coming election, we can choose many paths, but I will confine my discussion to the following five possibilities.

1. We give BN a very strong mandate, like before 2008, far more than the 2/3rd majority – We want a strong government with less politicking. We choose stability and want to focus on the economy. We prefer the ‘China’ way rather than the ‘India’ one where in China projects and government plans could be implemented with greater speed, while in India they need to go through debates over debates. We want to give PM Najib an open track to finish what he has planned out through his ETP and GTP. But we expect the government to go down hard on corruption or else in GE14 we will kick them out.

2. We give instead a very strong mandate to PR – We want a complete overhaul to the system. We want to give PR a chance to implement their promises as per Buku Jingga.  We are open to the possibility and try out DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia. We are also ready to the possibility of turning the country into an ‘Islamic State’ ala PAS ‘Welfare State’ through the amending of the federal constitution - making Shariah the supreme law. We want to restart, reboot. Anything but what we have today. We want to expand our talent pool for leadership outside BN – be they from DAP, PAS or PKR. We feel that Anwar or Hadi can be a good alternative Prime Minister to Najib. We are willing to allow PR to iron out their leadership issues once in power – even if it will cause us some uncertainties. No matter, we expect the new government to go down hard on corruption or else we kick them out in GE14.

3. We allow a hung parliament – This would mean we want to create a new playing field via a new coalition effectively initiating the demise of both BN and PR. We want to leave it to the wisdom of the YDP Agong in formulating a new coalition to bring order, peace, stability, development (minus corruption), and new politics. This would also mean we have also budgeted and acceptted the fact that there may be many attempts to buy over froggies from both sides of the political divide – since both BN and PR are not for anti-frogging law.

4. We reverse the current equation – we give PR the lead but keep it at below 2/3rd majority. This would mean we would like to give PR a chance to proof their case but at the same time we do not want to give them too much power and keep them on their toes at most times. We are ready to go through what we have gone through the last five years; political schisms, tit for tat politics, etc but perhaps at higher intensity. It would be payback time for BN to organise strings of ‘tunjuk perasaan’ to policies, projects and ideas proposed by the PR government. We expect PR to allow freedom of expression as like what they have demanded from BN all this while. We want to allow democracy takes it cause.

5. We keep as per status quo – If we were to choose to do this, what it really means is that we are giving both BN and PR a second chance to correct and proof themselves. We want PR to focus on the states that they are governing and do a good job at it. We do not want another senseless 916 campaign to topple a legitimate government. We do not want to hear anymore blame game since the last term the states were under their care. We want real action, real results not another round of accusing the other side. At the same time we expect BN to fulfil their promises. We want BN to clean up. We do not want old faces that are no longer relevant. We do not want ministers and officials who use their office and the rakyat’s money to fatten up their own family members and cronies. We expect transparency and accountability from both BN and PR ruled governments. We decide what to do next at GE14 based on their performance the next 5 years.

Like me, I have strong convictions that many amongst us have yet to make our decision. We have perhaps just about one more month to decide. Our decision will chart the nation’s future. We are The Third Force.

YOU AND I, WE ARE POWERFUL!

Anas Zubedy

Kuala Lumpur

Note : This is part of the NO FREE RIDES Campaign. For info click here