Electoral politics and the quest for long-term change

Aug 21, 2014

By Anil Netto
After what has happened in Selangor, some might be feeling disillusioned with politics and politicians as tools for bringing about change.

The shenanigans over the Menteri Besar crisis has left many wringing their hands in despair, especially among those who voted for change. Elsewhere, the established order — a single coalition since independence, crony capitalism and money politics — seems to be so entrenched.

In the last general election, the country came close to achieving political change but it was not to be, despite securing 51 per cent of the popular votes. For many, it was a case of so near and yet so far.

The longed for hope for a cleaner, more just administration, minus the crony and other vested interests dictating policy, seems to have receded further — just as a mirage does the closer we approach it. And like a mirage, the hope for change seems to remain just beyond our grasp. Or is that really the case? There is no denying that Malaysians today are more aware of what is going on, about how corruption is bleeding our country. They also know racism when they see it.

Political change that results in a two-coalition system can bring about much needed immediate change by providing checks and balances in government at the three levels: federal, state and local. If there is political will, institutions of government and the civil service may be given more independence. The political landscape opens up with a two-coalition system and it may create a new energy and dynamism in which other ideas and greater awareness can blossom.

But it is also important to realise the limitations of electoral politics in bringing about lasting change. The real potential for change in our society lies not so much in the actual political change achieved and promises that can then be fulfilled. It lies in changing the mindset and value system that underpins the national consciousness.

The hardest battle we can fight is to change the collective mindsets and the way we view the people around us, our collective values. It is not impossible though. There was a time when a majority of people supported the ISA or detention without trial. Today, the reverse is true. But it took much awareness raising.

Which values are currently holding sway in the national discourse — justice, peace, compassion, inclusiveness, reverence for the environment? Or is it greed, arrogance and aggression, survival of the fittest, exclusivist tendencies and environmental exploitation and destruction?

As it stands, the political landscape is skewed towards the interests of the elites and Big Business, whose vision and policies may not be in the best interests of the vast majority of people. This is unlikely to change immediately no matter which party captures power.

In other words, we should not place ALL our eggs, our hopes for change in society, in the basket of electoral politics, as important an avenue as it is. The danger in doing so is that we underestimate or ignore other long-term ways of bringing about change.

The risk inherent in electoral politics is that the vast majority of people might think their commitment to bring about change should begin the moment an election campaign kicks off and end the minute they cast their ballots on polling day.

Not so. Instead, each of us should feel empowered and act as agents of change wherever we are.

We need only look at the time of Jesus. He did not seem so interested in kicking out the Romans from their occupation of Palestine, which was weighed down by the evil of imperialism back then.

This is not to say he accepted the evil. Jesus may have realised that his time was limited, and if say, the Romans had been ousted from the land during his ministry, would things really have changed in the long run?

Sure, liberation and the freedom from arbitrary detention, torture and execution are sweet and everyone deserves to live without fear. But wouldn’t it also be true that the ouster of the Romans would eventually have resulted in a new regime under local elites who might have been every bit as oppressive while the people continued to live under a backward value system.

Thus early on, Jesus worked for change among ordinary people, from the bottom up. He was operating on a much longer time-scale. He knew the Roman Empire wouldn’t last long as it was built on the illusory foundation of military power and brute force.

Jesus empowered the people he met and told them to be the salt of the earth and let their light shine.

He showed them how to reach out to the strangers and foreigners (the Good Samaritan and the woman at the well) and people with whom ordinary people would not want to be associated (his encounters with tax collectors and prostitute).

e encouraged people to share their bread and fish with the community and showed how miracles could be achieved if only they shared what they had. No one needed to go hungry.

The kingdom he was advocating was to be built on love, compassion, justice (righteousness), faith and hope. It was one where the interests of the poor would be placed at the forefront of the discourse.

So let us not be too disappointed by electoral politics, important as it is. Yes, we need to improve the system and elect the right people into government. But we should also recognise its limitations in the long-term quest for real change.

The real possibility for hope lies in the empowering of the people, perhaps through participatory democracy at all levels and the empowerment of communities at the local level, to establish and entrench certain noble values in society.

What are some of these values in our time: the right to a clean government, social policies that ensure that the weak and vulnerable are taken care of, reverence for the environment, a commitment to reduce, if not wipe out, poverty.

And more relevant today, is a commitment to ensure that the income and wealth of the nation is shared fairly and not concentrated in the hands of a small minority. And so the commitment to bringing about greater justice, inclusiveness and accountability in society is an ongoing one that all of us have to participate in. It is too important to leave to the politicians.

Besides, the journey itself is what matters. Each moment of working for change, reaching out to the Other (whether to migrant workers, refugees, persons of other faiths or orientations) is to be celebrated.