KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — This 15th general election (GE15) will be a pivotal one for Malaysians as the country is at a crossroads and voters have the opportunity to correct its course, said Syahredzan Johan, DAP’s candidate for the Bangi parliamentary seat.
The lawyer, who joined DAP a month before the last general election was held, told Malay Mail in an interview that voters will decide whether the country will be on “a path of no return” with kleptocrats and the corrupt holding positions of power.
“Do we want a monoethnic government made up of primarily one race with only token members in certain ministries?
“Or do we want a progressive multiracial coalition to govern Malaysia which is committed to institutional reforms while at the same time also having a Malay leadership at its core?” he said, adding that the first choice is likely to roll back all reforms that have been made up to now.
He called GE15 the country’s last chance to decide Malaysia’s future and that voters must ensure the country is steered back to the right path.
He said it is the democratic right of the voters to choose if they will spoil their vote or not vote at all, but this would allow other people to dictate who represents one’s constituency and makes up the ruling government.
“When there is an election and you are given the opportunity to vote, you are actually given the opportunity to determine who represents your voice in the highest decision-making legislative body in the country, which is the Parliament,” he said.
He said it allows the voter to determine who governs the country for the next five years adding that this results in voters being able to choose a path for the country to go down.
“If you do not vote, for example, you are actually allowing other people to determine who will be the voice of your constituency for the next five years,” he said.
Besides that, he provided advice for first-time and youth voters who feel that there are few choices and that all parties seemingly share ideologies, saying that it would be best to look at candidates and decide on the one that closely mirrors the voter’s own aspirations and expectations.
“There’s always a filtering process for you to make that sort of decision and at the end of the day, even though you might not see a candidate as being perfect, at the very least, you will find a candidate that shares the most values with you and you can choose that person to represent your voice in Parliament,” he said.
This is why he calls voting a democratic right that allows citizens to have a direct consequence on how the country is shaped for the next five years or even more, in certain circumstances, he explained.
Polling for GE15 is on November 19, while early voting is on November 15.
