Remember to head to the polling station this Saturday, November 19. The democracy of our young nation needs the participation of all!

After more than ten days of aggressive campaigning, we are now only hours away from the 15th general election, as Malaysians are prepared to cast their votes on November 19 Saturday to decide who should run this country over the next five years.

We have seen delicate changes in the country’s political climate in just two short weeks. Survey results show that BN is not as invincible as many might have thought, and PN is definitely not something we should ignore, while PH is said to be in the lead for the time being!

But in the midst of all the commotion, poll results may not be 100% accurate and things can still change in the last hours before the votes are actually counted.

This election is going to be a particularly crucial one. The notorious Sheraton Move that erupted in February 2020 sank the nation into a state of utter chaos, despair and protracted instability until PH and Ismail’s administration signed an MoU on transformation and political stability.

Having witnessed such turbulence, Malaysians in general look to the 15th general election as a terminator of all this mess, so that political stability could be restored and our ailing economy restarted.

This election is touted to be the most chaotic in the country’s history with close to a thousand individuals representing various political camps and parties and an unusually huge number of independent candidates vying for the seats. Nevertheless, it is basically a hard-fought battle among the Big Three – BN, PH and PN.

With these three major camps fighting among themselves to win over the voters, we will have to be very prudent in marking our ballot papers before dropping them into the box. We must pick the most competent government that will put the country back on the right track of growth in tackling the challenges lying before us.

Compared to 2018, public response seems to be lukewarm this time, sparking earlier predictions of low voter turnout..

However, after so many ceramahs and intense campaigning by contesting candidates, the temperature begins to pick up, as ceramahs these past few days were packed to the brim.

For instance, a massive ceramah in Gombak by Anwar Ibrahim saw an astounding attendance of nearly three thousand, while the public event down south in Johor featuring PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin was fully packed. Caretaker PM Ismail Sabri’s popularity among the people was also reaffirmed at the many events he attended of late.

We cannot deny that this year’s election has had a very slow start, but has picked up heat as the big day draws nearer and nearer.

Just as many felt the voter turnout could be pathetically low because of widely perceived political apathy among the voters, an impressive 94.72% turnout was chalked for early military and police voters, with a total of 212,961 votes cast!

This shows that this year’s election is not going to be as “cold” as many would have believed!

Caretaker PM Ismail has announced Nov 18 and 19 as special public holidays to make it easy for people who have to travel outstation to cast their votes. Such a move is expected to significantly boost the voter turnout.

On Thursday, the TBS terminal in Bandar Tasik Selatan saw an unusual crowd as people started to head home to exercise their citizen’s rights.

It looks like many Malaysians have now come to realize the importance of this election and are prepared to head to their respective polling stations tomorrow.

We have gone through three whole years of political mess with three different prime ministers from different camps coming and going. It is now time for us to decisively end this mess, especially with the global economic prospect still bleak in the midst of ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

We badly need a strong government that can focus on fixing the country’s many problems, and we cannot afford to see another political turmoil and waste another three more years!

Contesting political camps have unveiled their election manifestos, and it is now our duty to rationally inspect these manifestos and make a prudent decision to pick a new leadership for the next five years.

In any democratic system, the citizens are the bosses of the country. It is our right to use the ballot papers in our hands to pick the right representatives and government. If we don’t value this right, the destiny of this country will then be decided by the others who cast their votes.

The citizens of a country should be stakeholders and decision-makers of this country. So, please don’t waste your ballot paper and become a supporter of Parti Aku Malas Undi or PAMU ((I’m Lazy To Vote Party).

Although we can freely decide whether or not to vote in an election, do bear in mind that voting is also a citizen’s duty.

The country’s development needs the participation of each and every one of us irrespective of our political affiliation.

Remember to head to the polling station this Saturday, November 19. The democracy of our young nation needs the participation of all!