Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered a humiliating loss in the Johor state election, but one could say that the defeat was self-inflicted.

The Amanah and PKR component parties only won one seat each, down from nine and five respectively, whilst DAP won ten seats, down from 14 in 2018.

Umno-Baru/BN uses every machine in their arsenal to appeal and attract voters, but what of PH’s tactics?

From the beginning, PH was seen as a dysfunctional outfit. How could it fight off the challenge from Umno-Baru/BN if they were themselves disunited?

PKR is infamous for its infighting, whilst Amanah is like the invisible man: it’s out there, somewhere.

After several decades of brainwashing by Umno-Baru and PAS, DAP is seen as a party which is out to destroy the Malays and Muslims.

Why can’t the DAP enlist the help of Malay politicians in their coalition to start the new narrative or counter the negative branding by Umno-Baru and PAS?

In the Johor election, PH focused on personal attacks and said little about issues which affect the daily lives of the people of Johor.

Like elsewhere in Malaysia, jobs are a scarcity in Johor. The inability of businesses to operate as usual because of the coronavirus, and the inability for Singaporeans to patronise their businesses meant that companies have suffered huge losses.

People claim that Umno-Baru/BN was smart to focus on the bread-and-butter issues of Johoreans, but what many others do not realise is that whenever PH refers to 1MDB or corruption in other forms, it is also indirectly talking about bread-and-butter issues.

That is the problem we face in Malaysia. Many people must be spoon fed information in bite-sized portions.

Many are unable to read between the lines, process information or make logical and rational deductions from more complex issues.

Perhaps, this is a failure of our educations system.

The rot is too severe and PH may not be ready for GE15. It needs to rebrand itself and get ready for GE16.

Many Malaysians fail to realise that if money is siphoned because of corruption, it is their daily lives that will be affected.

There is less money available to help the people and provide necessary services.

When money is lost through corruption, investment in schools, good teachers, hospitals, doctors, nurses, infrastructure and other useful facilities are reduced.

PH could have used the corruption issues to illustrate how corrupt politicians deny people their rights.

The corrupt deplete the resources which would otherwise have been used to help people and raise their living standards.

They could have mentioned that the after effects or consequences of large-scale corruption like 1MDB will lower the living standards of the rakyat because there is less spare money to be used for the rakyat.

One very lame excuse used by PH for the loss in Johor was to say that they only needed another week of campaigning to achieve victory.

No! This will not help. They probably also repeated this same excuse when they lost Melaka, Sarawak and Sabah. All coalition parties were given the same time to prepare for the Johor election.

Whilst it may be true that Umno-Baru/BN had more funds at their disposal, PH seemed to lack direction. They failed to capture the hearts of the voters.

They could have been given another month or year to campaign, but it would hardly have made any difference.

PH have lost their sense of direction. They should return to the drawing board and create a new strategy.

They may not be ready for GE15, but they should be well prepared for GE16.

Around 97% of PH supporters believe the coalition is in a state of disarray and this does not inspire confidence in the people.

Anwar Ibrahim as Opposition Leader no longer exhibits a fighting spirit. He appears to be tired and refuses to admit that under his leadership, PH is fast declining.

Does the problem lie with PH’s political veterans? Are they unwilling to accept the views of the youths in their parties?

Perhaps political veterans don’t want to give way to younger politicians. It is possible the political veterans do not want to hear critical views from outside their parties, like from activists and other socio-political critics.

Perhaps this is the time to find better leaders if PH wants to remain relevant.

The process of finding younger, dynamic and creative leaders with new ideas should have been done after GE14.

There were allegations that some polling stations closed earlier than scheduled. Many voters who turned up after work were livid when they were denied from exercising their right to vote.

Why didn’t the independent election observers protest? Were they not present or did not know they could lodge a complaint?

In the past, other tactics included cutting the electrical supply to voting centres, swapping ballot boxes en route to the counting stations and spoiling the ballot papers. There were common practices. Weren’t the observers prepared for all of these tricks? Are we such a banana republic that these issues are still happening? Is Malaysia truly a lawless place?

The rot is too severe and PH may not be ready for GE15. It needs to rebrand itself and get ready for GE16.

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)