GOMBAK: Identity politics is here to stay and will dominate the 15th General Election (GE15), said former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He believed that identity politics would always exist and that GE15 would be centred around it especially with the Umno-PAS pact.
“I don’t think it (identity politics) will change very much in our lifetime,” said Khairy at the ‘Post GE-14 By-Elections: Implications for GE15’ seminar.
In GE15, the Umno-PAS cooperation which was crystallised after a series of by-elections following GE14, will determine the “flavour” of the GE15.
“It will be a general election centred around identity politics.
“That’s another thing that Pakatan Harapan has to confront, not just issues like the rising cost of living but also the rise of the Malay-Muslim bloc which they’re struggling to tackle,” he said.
The seminar held at the International Islamic University Malaysia also had Bersatu chief strategist Datuk Dr Rais Hussin and Danesh Prakash Chacko of electoral reform group Tindak Malaysia as fellow speakers.
Khairy said the decision by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to set up Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia after leaving Umno showed that he had the same thought.“He set up a party that was just like Umno. It reflected his thinking that it was how politics was still being viewed by a majority of Malaysians,” said Khairy.
Identity politics was not a feature unique to Malaysia because other countries voted along racial lines too, although they do not practise race-based parties, he added.
Khairy also believed that the post-GE14 by-elections will not affect the outcome for GE15.
“The psychology of a general election is extremely different from by-elections, which are extremely localised affairs with local issues.
“A general election is not just a moment in time like a by-election, a general election is the aggregate of all your feelings for the past five years,” he said.
Rais, who was among those who drafted Pakatan’s GE14 manifesto, said identity politics would remain for at least the next two general elections.
Malaysia had gotten a bit further away from identity politics in GE14 but the new Umno-PAS cooperation had posed a challenge, he said.
“With Umno and PAS coming together, it will be nothing but identity politics.
“I like the centrist approach and we would like to have it but it doesn’t look like it for the next two general elections,” said Rais.
Race, religion and royalty were “the three Rs” that would be big factors in GE15, he said.
On whether the post-GE14 by-elections would be an indicator for GE15, Rais said it could be if Pakatan does not step up to the plate.
Danesh, a mapping adviser for Tindak Malaysia, also believes that by-elections were not indicators of the next general election results.
“This is because by-elections only cover certain areas.
“There is still four years to go and that’s a long time in politics,” he said.
He believed that identity politics would always exist and that GE15 would be centred around it especially with the Umno-PAS pact.
“I don’t think it (identity politics) will change very much in our lifetime,” said Khairy at the ‘Post GE-14 By-Elections: Implications for GE15’ seminar.
In GE15, the Umno-PAS cooperation which was crystallised after a series of by-elections following GE14, will determine the “flavour” of the GE15.
“It will be a general election centred around identity politics.
“That’s another thing that Pakatan Harapan has to confront, not just issues like the rising cost of living but also the rise of the Malay-Muslim bloc which they’re struggling to tackle,” he said.
The seminar held at the International Islamic University Malaysia also had Bersatu chief strategist Datuk Dr Rais Hussin and Danesh Prakash Chacko of electoral reform group Tindak Malaysia as fellow speakers.
Khairy said the decision by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to set up Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia after leaving Umno showed that he had the same thought.“He set up a party that was just like Umno. It reflected his thinking that it was how politics was still being viewed by a majority of Malaysians,” said Khairy.
Identity politics was not a feature unique to Malaysia because other countries voted along racial lines too, although they do not practise race-based parties, he added.
Khairy also believed that the post-GE14 by-elections will not affect the outcome for GE15.
“The psychology of a general election is extremely different from by-elections, which are extremely localised affairs with local issues.
“A general election is not just a moment in time like a by-election, a general election is the aggregate of all your feelings for the past five years,” he said.
Rais, who was among those who drafted Pakatan’s GE14 manifesto, said identity politics would remain for at least the next two general elections.
Malaysia had gotten a bit further away from identity politics in GE14 but the new Umno-PAS cooperation had posed a challenge, he said.
“With Umno and PAS coming together, it will be nothing but identity politics.
“I like the centrist approach and we would like to have it but it doesn’t look like it for the next two general elections,” said Rais.
Race, religion and royalty were “the three Rs” that would be big factors in GE15, he said.
On whether the post-GE14 by-elections would be an indicator for GE15, Rais said it could be if Pakatan does not step up to the plate.
Danesh, a mapping adviser for Tindak Malaysia, also believes that by-elections were not indicators of the next general election results.
“This is because by-elections only cover certain areas.
“There is still four years to go and that’s a long time in politics,” he said.
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