BY NOW most Malaysians will be familiar with the acronym DNAA which stands for “discharge not amounting to an acquittal”.
Not that Malaysians are particularly familiar with complex legal language but rather it was a case of being astonished that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi having managed to secure a DNAA in relation to 47 counts of corruption related to Yayasan Akalbudi funds.
There was much furore with netizens pouring scorn on Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) supposed reformasi agenda while DAP WAS accused of being toothless “lapdogs” who have gone silent on their war against corruption.
Coming just days before the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections, many wondered if Zahid’s DNAA would have an impact on outcome of the polls. Would voters turn out in great numbers to express their dissatisfaction?
Despite heavy rain hampering voter turnout, PH managed to retain both seats with comfortable, albeit reduced majorities.
In his recent Keluar Sekejap podcast, former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ) lamented that the by-election results showed that the controversy had little impact on voter sentiment.
“Yes, Perikatan Nasional (PN) did increase their influence in the state, and PH-BN (Barisan Nasional) experienced a decrease in their majority in Pulai but in realpolitik, the nuances are not important,” justified the former health minister.
“The winner will get everything. Today, no one will talk about the nuances because the important thing is that PH-BN won.”
KJ further claimed that PH-BN can consider the victory an indication that the furore surrounding Zahid’s DNAA had come to a close. “In fact, the winner can write history and say that it’s business as usual. It has no effect on the voters,” reckoned KJ who was ousted from UMNO by Zahid earlier this year.
“If I were a strategist for Harapan-BN, I would do that. I would say that this is proof that the people don’t care and still support the coalition as well as the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.”
A waste PN fails to capitalise
On this note, KJ also criticised PN’s approach to campaigning, claiming that they did not have enough party members who could shift the narrative away from the 3R (race, religion and royalty) sentiments.
“PN does not have a lot of ‘goal scorers’ when it comes to issues that are not related to 3R. If it’s 3R-related, everyone from PN can be a ‘goal scorer’,” he opined, adding that PN had failed to capitalise enough on Zahid’s DNAA issue.
“If I were in their place, I would take advantage of the current situation (backlash against Zahid’s DNAA),” he suggested. “Not with a personal attack but by explaining why this issue is important and about the future of our country.”
If KJ’s observations are accurate, what does it say about Malaysians and their view on corruption and abuse of judicial process?
Have we indeed become so fatigued by the never-ending procession of corruption cases involving high profile figures that we have learned to accept that this is par-for-the-course?
Or was it a case of realpolitik taking precedence whereby voters decided that the primary issue was to put a stop to the endless 3R rhetoric. Did the non-Malay voters play kingmaker by deciding that Zahid’s trial was of less importance than being called pendatang by seasoned politicians?
The by-election results did raise serious issues about how Malaysians react to perceived acts of blatant miscarriages of justice. As KJ pointed out, Malaysians will probably forget about the matter “in three or four years” with public anger over this issue having subsided by then.
If his observations do pan out, then it is sad day for Malaysian democracy as the ballot box is of little use as legitimate protest against perceived abuse of power. – Sept 12, 2023
