GE14 is undoubtedly the most crucial election to go down in Malaysian history.
After a very long night thanks to the delay in results, it was apparent which party is the rakyat’s favourite:
Source: Mkini
The election sees Najib Razak’s fall from ‘grace’ as Barisan National which has led the country for 60 years (since Malaysia’s independence might I add) loss its favour to the opposition in Najib’s very own hands. Yes, that defeat was a pretty humiliating one. The once very powerful coalition got on a fast decline in popularity in recent years.
It comes to no surprise that Najib Razak who’s known to be laden with scandals would be defeated – in fact, a majority of Malaysians rejoiced that he’s now stripped of his power.
Source: Twitter
Too add salt to wound, during the final GE14 address, the live telecast between Najib and Dr M saw a vast difference in turn ups online:
Najib 13.5k vs Dr M 176.2k
Screengrab of Najib’s live final GE14 address broadcast
Screengrab of Dr M’s live final GE14 address broadcast
Final video figures stand at an approximate 200k views for Najib’s live broadcast vs Dr M’s 2.1 million! I think it’s pretty clear who the people’s favourite is.
Dr M who used to be a prominent figure in BN and a mentor to Najib abandoned the coalition in 2016. He said he was “embarrassed” to be associated with a party “that is seen as supporting corruption”.
According to the Election Commission over 76% of the 14.3 million eligible voters in the country turned out to cast their ballots. Figures showed that the previous GE had a higher turn out at 85% – though most of us can see why as GE14 was held abruptly and smack right in the middle of the week!
In wake of BN’s defeat, Dr Mahathir, chairperson of Pakatan Harapan will be set to become the world’s oldest leader at the age of 92! Dr Mahathir who has led Malaysia for 22 years previously has time and time again mentioned that he feels that its his duty to ‘save’ Malaysia.
In his final speech before GE14, he was quoted as saying,
“This is my last contribution in the fight for the country that I love”
“Yes, I would love to rest, but many have approached me and have asked me to do something to stop the disrepair happening in the country.
“Groups after groups of people came to see me, desperate to see something done to save our beloved country. How could I possibly let them down?”
Now that the people’s choice is heard, let’s all welcome the dawn of a new day… the beginning of a new era for Malaysia!
Also read: 9 Things to Take Away From Mahathir’s Final Speech Before GE14 Polling Day