NOVEMBER 2 — Candidates matter in a high-stake election as this. And every constituency is as important as the next. Will the voters ‘paddle ‘all the way to the voting booths as in GE15 to vote for a candidate who was not the best fielded?

As it is, voters are not at all enthusiastic over an ill-timed election where leaders have turned a blind spot towards flood catastrophes, emerging Covid variants as well as the public wastage of money during an economic downturn.

The 14th Parliament was only due to expire on July 16, 2023, five years after the first meeting of the first session of the first Parliament meeting in June 2018.

There will be a high level of apathy spreading among voters, with "why vote if they are not the best” attitude. How can youths confidently cast their ballot, when the best candidates are not there?

Party leaders have the sole power of endorsing candidates based on performance and popularity indices. Competing egos, jaded and repetitive political infighting has made it "challenging” to inspire young voters who have huge weight in the coming elections.

Party leaders have not read the pulse of the people and there is a big disconnect between voters and our mainstream political parties. Candidates matter in a high-stake election as this. And every constituency is as important as the next.

The question came even starker in the light of dropping of good candidates Charles Santiago and Ong Kian Ming, who were recruited to infuse professionalism into DAP, and Sivarasa Rasiah, the former MP of Sungai Buloh.

Sivarasa is a Pakatan Rakyat (PKR) stalwart who has been part of the party since it was known as Parti Keadilan Nasional, before its merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 2003.

Why break something that is working fine, and then break it and try to re-fix it?

While Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has a great record of being conscientiously on the ground, it was a shame that Pakatan Harapan (PH) had not used the huge PSM support base in Sungai Siput and worked with them.

We have lost good national leaders who will be peoples’ voice in Parliament.

People are not going to "settle for anything” in their choice of candidates. They are impatient, uncompromising, and don’t want anything but the best, leave alone the lesser of the evils!

In 2018, we saw a momentum that had built up since 2015 with a high voter turnout percentage. When the country went to the polls in GE14, the choices were clear. The coalitions were distinct, parties were not in "marriages” with others in different coalitions, and the blocs in Parliament could be easily distinguished.

This is not about the fresh exciting wave that people were excited about. Neither is this a continuation of that Wave. Instead, it is a reflection of the political churn thereafter.

The leaders we voted for in GE 14 did not follow the script. All narratives were unapologetically re-written, after serial party hopping. The last thing voters want is open-deck buses of MPs back and forth the Palace to parade the magical 112 numbers.

The lines, in Parliament, had become blurred with members of Parliament (MPs) crossing from one coalition to another, while the government of the day was at the mercy of members who gave it a Parliamentary majority.

Politicians who desert their party, find it difficult to find lateral entry to a similar position in another party. Many start a new party. Today, the parties can be shuffled often like a pack of cards, with members who have hopped from one party to another.

Based on the information from the Registrar of Societies, there were 69 political parties registered in the country as of October 5, including Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.

No one can say accurately that the people will give a strong mandate to any one coalition to form the next government. Youths have been sensitised by the anti-corruption movement and have a very different outlook and expectation from their government.

Parties must promise to overhaul their structures, mind-sets and methods to adapt to a new world.

In any case, voters should empower themselves as kingmakers. We are the ones who will decide on the fate of the parties. Leaders cannot take our precious vote for granted.

It is now for the electorate to look for a captain to lead us against the current issues mainly that have stopped our ship from leaving the shore.

They are likely to make tough, sensible voting choices based on candidates in their respective constituencies rather than on post-election mathematical equations.

The hate factor plays a bigger role than the hope fact in GE14 and the Rakyat may close one eye on the lesser evil and vote.

Singapore chose the fourth Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, a PhD holder from Harvard University, through a tedious filtering process based mostly on his performance, character and integrity.

It is our turn to choose the best candidate based on who we can count on — one who promises jobs and not handouts, a meritocratic education, and enough merit to turn ourselves away from this devastating economic situation.

Listen to candidates’ campaign speeches. Vote for a person who can be a national leader beyond ethnicities and communal politics, and who will be the face of what we represent, and who we are.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.