PAS for Bali

On the way to Ubud from Denpasar, for my much needed vacation, the above billboards caught my attention. My friend Asyraf and I laughed. Of course the billboard has a totally different meaning. It has nothing to do with PAS, the political party in Malaysia. And yes, it is also election period in Bali.

And I thought I could get away from elections related stuff.

While enjoying the scene on the way to Ubud, our driver, Made gave us a background of the elections in Bali. The young Made is also like Malaysian taxi drivers. Sometimes, you can get great political analysis from the taxi drivers.

I have covered 6 General Elections since 1990 and I think, like the taxi drivers, I can also “play the role” of a psephologist and give predictions on elections.

And now, I would like to forecast what will happen in the 14th General Election, 5 years from:

1. There will be no “rural voters’ or “urban voters”. It is already happening now. Access to information has made Malaysians a lot smarter than what people who are running for office gave them credit for.

2. Voters will demand and decide what political parties should have in their manifestos instead of manifestos being pushed by political parties to voters. There will be many very strong pressure groups.

3. Patronising politicians will not be tolerated.

4. Candidates must have youthful good looks and must be able to debate well and should be WEF/Davos material. If not, voters will reject them outright.

5. Voters will go for candidates, not parties.

6. Election goodies will no longer guarantee votes.

7. Women will dominate the election scene. They were sort of sidelined in GE 13. There are many talented and brilliant ones – but the existing structure of political parties will never push them to the surface.

8. Voters will reject “racist’ candidates.

9. The media must evolve or will totally be ignored by voters – move more towards the journalist end and less on the propagandist end.

10. Infrastructure and development issues will be less important. Human rights, environment and openness/transparent will be the priorities in the voter’s mind.

I have a lot more to add, but I can’t resist the pool and the beautiful things that Ubud is offering. And I need to double check my facts with many more taxi drivers too…

Enjoy the pictures below from Ubud.