Damn the New Voters

A terse letter, written on 11 November 1999, about being disenfranchised from the Malaysian general election. Needless to say, it was not published.


The Malaysian Parliament was dissolved today to pave way for a general election to be held before the end of the year. It is generally acknowledged that the timing of the election before January 2000 is crucial - 650,000 new voters will join the electoral rolls in January 2000, who are unlikely to vote for Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition led by Dr. Mahathir, Malaysia's longest serving premier.

It is a sad reflection of Malaysian democracy, which is meant to embrace the inclusive concept of universal suffrage, that an election date is chosen precisely because of the number of voters that it would exclude. 650,000 voters to be precise - more than 3% of the total population and an even larger percentage of people who are eligible to vote.

Whereas voter turnout and voter registration is seen by most countries as an indicator of the mandate achieved by the winning side, it is a shame to see that this is not really a consideration at all in the context of Malaysian elections. Who cares about mandates? Who cares about getting ground-level feedback on your policies? Damn the new voters - just so long as we win!

I happen to be one of these voters who will not make the electoral roll for this election. I feel disenfranchised and frustrated at not being able to state my approval or otherwise of the present government. Whoever forms the next government, they will not have the mandate of these 650,000 voters. Don't blame these voters if they happen not to respect the results of the election.