JANUARY 24 — In a normal meeting, members with voting rights who are present are allowed to vote yea, or nay, or to abstain when a decision is to be made. Minutes of the meeting will record who agreed, who disagreed, and who refused to vote either way.

In elections in normal democracies, assuming that there are 2 sides contesting the seat, the voter can either vote for party A, or party B, or not vote, or (accidentally or purposely) spoil his vote by incorrectly marking the ballot paper. These are the 4 possibilities. The results will show how many votes party A and B respectively receive, and, more importantly, the number of spoilt votes, and percentage of voter turnout. Everyone is accounted for.

Of late, there have been rumblings that there may be a sizeable portion of the electorate who will either not vote or who will purposely spoil their votes during the 14th General Election of Malaysia (GE14), which will happen later this year. And this has caused much consternation in certain parties.

I won’t beat around the bush. From what I read, and from my very limited view, the side getting particularly upset are the supporters of Pakatan Harapan (formerly Pakatan Rakyat). Their general criticisms range from, “you are being selfish,” to “you are being stupid,” to “you have been bought.” And, to my surprise, this even comes from very intelligent people.

Why am I surprised? Because there is apparently an assumption from Pakatan Harapan supporters that people who voted for them in the past (specifically in the last two general elections, in 2008 and in 2013) are somehow “obligated” to vote for them again in 2018, as if it was a debt to be paid.

It is troubling that this feeling of entitlement (of continued support at the polls) by PH supporters has in turn led many of them to denigrate those who have openly said that by either not voting, or purposely spoiling votes; that that is indeed a valid expression of their democratic right. This attitude by PH supporters harkens to the infamous, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us,” line.

This attitude is wrong. Politics is about the people, the rakyat, choosing between two or more candidates, or two or more parties (if we look at it in the larger context). Splitting the vote (voting for party A for the parliament seat and for party B for the state seat) has been the norm for many voters in previous elections. That move was never criticised at all. In fact, people call that move smart — akin to hedging one’s bets by keeping politicians in check.

Perhaps it is time for PH supporters to do some introspection and ask themselves why PH sympathisers may want to not vote or to purposely spoil their vote this time around. Maybe it is for the simple reason that people don’t like PH that much anymore. Ever thought of that?

So what do you do when people don’t like you? Do you insult them, or do you try to understand them, to court them, and then try to get them to vote for you? Because throwing temper tantrums will not make people like you, that’s for sure.

One final grace in this final paragraph for the PH supporters: Ever thought that this vocal #UndiRosak movement is trying to tell you to buck up before it’s too late? Elections haven’t been called yet. The problem has been identified for you. You can either close your eyes and ears and go, “La-la-la,” or you can fix yourselves and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get some people still voting for you when GE14 comes along.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.