Taxi drivers, coffee shop gossips and WhatsApp messages are beginning to question their well-being under the Anwar government.

Some are now saying they were better off under the Muhyiddin government which lasted only 17 months between March 2020 and August 2021.

This is certainly not because Muhyiddin Yassin was a great prime minister. There are still many unanswered questions about what went on during the Covid emergency.

Muhyiddin himself is subject to criminal charges over abuse of power and corruption over that period.

The growing sentiment that times were better under Muhyiddin than Anwar is based in a perceptive opinion that people were financially better off during the Muhyiddin government.

This is partially true. People are feeling the loss of their purchasing power now compared to the Muhyiddin times.

There is a dramatic increase in relative poverty, as corporations are making bumper profits.

The cost of living is rising, particularly with staples like food. Electricity costs are increasing, and the recent Bank Negara interest rate hike is straining family budgets and small businesses even more.

While people are suffering, the Anwar administration’s self-pronounced crusade against corruption hasn’t won much support from the people. In fact, the skeptics are seeing it as political persecution of Pakatan Harapan’s opponents.

Raids on shops selling rainbow-colored Swatches, the return of the “Allah” controversy and more political appointees to GLCs are signaling to many that the Madani government, now a term of ridicule, is no different from governments before it.

The appointment of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi –who is still facing charges of corruption — as deputy prime minister of the “unity government” appears hypocritical to many.

The Zahid issue hangs on the legs of the Madani Albatross.

The greatest failing of the Anwar government is not any of the above.

The greatest failure of the government is the failure to address the pending economic crisis that appears like a dark cloud on the horizon for Malaysia.

Exports are falling. Expect domestic demand to be hit hard during the second and third quarters.

The government has shown no empathy for those whose incomes are shrinking from a collapsing ringgit, inflation and stagnant wages.

The fact that so many families are just struggling to survive is treated too lightly by members of the cabinet who are just enjoying the attention and perks of office.

Today, public debt in Malaysia stands at RM1.08 trillion, or 60.4 percent of GDP.

The first Madani budget has added to the nation’s woes by introducing a massive RM94.6 billion budget deficit.

There is a lot of waste in expenditure, and the budget is not just adding to the debt problem, but probably fanning inflation as well.

The ringgit has fallen back to 1998 levels at RM4.603 to the dollar, far beyond the RM3.80 peg Mahathir set in 1998.

This warrants immediate action which will mean BNM raising interest rates once again, causing even more suffering to the people.

Youth unemployment now stands at 11.76 percent. How can the Madani coalition expect their vote in the coming state elections if they are suffering?

The Madani government strategists must realize that they are not fighting PN or the “green wave,” but its own shadow of failure that people are worse off now than before.

The big issue facing the government’s credibility is that many Malaysians feel that the poor are being left behind.

This is the Madani government’s Achilles heel that could be bitten hard in the coming state elections.

The psychology behind the feelings of the rakyat was that they didn’t feel like this under Muhyiddin.

The perception people were better off under Muhyiddin will become a major factor in the coming state elections.

No one in the Madani government has told the people how the government is going to solve their problems. This is going to cost the popularity of the government to the point that it could become unstable, as some politicians begin to feel they are on a losing ship.

Muhyiddin and his Perikatan Nasional coalition don’t have to do anything to win. People vote out governments; they don’t vote in new governments.

The lack of empathy towards the rakyat from the Madani government has re-established the credibility of Bersatu by default. Thus, potentially Bersatu and its partner PAS will take out most Umno seats in the coming state elections.

PN will fill the void of an ailing UMNO. The more seats UMNO are allocated, the more candidates will lose.

The Madani government strategists must realize that they are not fighting PN. They are not fighting a “green wave.” The Madani government is actually fighting against its own shadow of failure that people are worse off now than before.

This potentially puts Selangor, the jewel in Pakatan’s crown, at risk.

The Madani government must radically change its strategy, otherwise the rakyat will more firmly believe the perception that they were better off under Muhyiddin, and vote accordingly.

(Murray Hunter has been involved in Asia-Pacific business for the last 40 years as an entrepreneur, consultant, academic and researcher. He was an associate professor at Universiti Malaysia Perlis.)