The seemingly strange choices of the UK and the US signify something more profound than a voter’s misjudgment at the ballot box. At the core of this populist revolt is the unleashing of bottled-up resentment for the abandonment of exemplary leadership.
Britain’s landmark referendum saw a 52-48 split in favor of Brexit, the fall of politicians in succession, and a new Prime Minister in Theresa May.[1]
In the US, nary a day goes by without Donald Trump hollering incendiary insults, and yet emerges he does as the Republican Presidential nominee.
Both ostensibly mature democracies – the UK and the US, are avidly expressing the conviction to break from status quo.[2][3]
Many have cited the Brexit revolt and the ascent of Trump as proof that democracy does not work as well as it should.
When the ruling class fails to address the people’s plight, there will be political backlash. The irony is that the ensuing outcome in actualising their anger, the electorate merely exacerbates their initial predicament.
The UK’s most populated working class in Blaenau Gwent, Wales boasts a stunning 62 percent in favor of leaving the European Union.[4] Yet, numerous studies have shown that opting out of the European Union will only further worsen the existing economic malaise of the working class. The UK government predicts that Britain’s exit will cause its economy to contract between 3.8 and 7.5 percent by 2030.[5]
In the United States, a sizeable proportion of Trump supporters are predominantly white, working class who lost their jobs to the booming automation in the manufacturing industry.
Trump in turn, promises to slash tax across all income levels. However, this magnanimous Trump led tax policy would increase national debt by nearly 80% of GDP by 2036 if no spending cuts were introduced.[6]
Indeed, who could be blamed for likening the average wage earner’s pledge to support Trump to shooting him or herself in the foot? A country’s debt ceiling spiralling out of control, will affect economic growth, inducing the tragic inevitability that is the retrenchment of workers and prohibitively high interest rates for consumers.
In Malaysia, our working class are also being bullied into the corner by harsh economic policies. According to the National Budget 2016 Sentiment Survey, most have lamented Malaysia’s rising costs of living as their foremost concern.[7] The goods and services tax (GST) is a regressive tax that eats away at the income of low-income earners disproportionately more than it does for high-income earners. All that is upon us – compounded by stagnating wages.[8]
When the status quo pressures other relevant stakeholders into a corner, caution is thrown to the wind when one has little to lose in the first place. Should the government fail to address this, the political backlash that may result in unfavorable social upheavals may take place. We need practical policies to uplift the masses from their economic plight and not rely on quick-fix solutions promised by demagogues – with disastrous consequences.
Secondly, demagogues falsely inflate the protective instinct veering towards jingoistic nationalism – trampling over the freedoms and rights predicated on inclusiveness.
In the run up to the EU referendum, some from the “Vote Leave” campaign relied intensively on anti-immigrant rhetoric, stoking racist and xenophobic fears. Tabloids cried out “Vote Leave: Murderers and terrorists from Turkey will head to UK”, as the Muslim-majority Turkey continues her bid to join the European Union.[9]
Additionally, staunch Brexit campaigner and former leader of the right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage has been castigated for inciting racial hatred. For featuring an anti-migrant poster headlining non-white migrants and refugees in long queues, Farage was reported to the police.[10]
Similarly, in the United States, Donald Trump catapulted to infamy for his totalitarian proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.[11] For his discriminatory proposal to build a 40-feet high wall between Mexico and the US, he also drew much public ire.[12] The rights of refugees and migrants are dismissed over unproven racist claims that they are predisposed to terrorism and crime. In fact, the American Immigration Council has found that at an incarceration rate of 1.6%, immigrants are less likely to be behind bars than their native-born counterparts at 3.3%.[13] Yet, Trump’s bigoted rhetoric has racked up the overwhelming support of the public.
For as long as some of our national political parties sing the same tune of racism, this trend does not bode well for Malaysia. Just recently, members of UMNO demonstrated outside the DAP headquarters. They had alleged that DAP Member of Parliament Nga Kor Ming had insulted Islam by posting a cartoon of children receiving Aidilfitri ‘duit raya’ cash packets that were akin to bribery.[14] However, despite Nga’s denial of ever uploading such a caricature,[15] the protesters hurled “hell money” – joss paper used by the Chinese as offerings to the deceased – at members of DAP. Going so far as to call for the DAP “to die”,[16] this rhetoric is inherently poisonous — seeking to divide Muslims from non-Muslims.
Be it at the UK, the US or Malaysia, these sentiments indicate a “rise in nativism” – a mix of nationalism with xenophobia and racism – over one’s own community.[17] Regardless, we must not tolerate parties that advocate bigotry. When one party is willfully aggressive and blatantly disrespectful towards innocent others, we lose the shared respect, patient negotiation, and mutual compromise that are needed to make politics a positive-sum game for everyone on either end of the ideological spectrum.
If nothing else, what transpired in the UK and the US has taught us a lesson — fall for the rise of demagogues and we will be left to languish in sweet nothings.
Mere hours after the vote for Brexit was affirmed, Nigel Farage disavowed ever pledging to channel the weekly commitment of £350 million to the EU to the country’s National Health Service despite being an impassioned supporter of the “Vote Leave” campaign.[18] Barely a week after that, Farage, who once postured himself as the know-it-all of a sovereign United Kingdom washed his hands off the disarray that Brexit has left his country in. Moments before sidling off into oblivion, he announced his resignation as leader of UKIP to the still-bewildered British population of 65 million. Farage simply cited the selfish, cop-out excuse that “I have got my country back, now I want my life back.”[19]
In the US, Trump had once wasted no time revelling in his own wealth, courting voters by claiming the moral high ground of honesty, for he is obligated to no one. Yet, after months of mocking his political opponents for being pawns of special interest, Trump has now done a one-eighty on his preaching on funding independence. He has since asserted that he will not be self-funding his campaign for the general elections, opening his arms to the special interests that he once decried.[20]
This phenomenon of broken promises by demagogues is only all too familiar in Malaysia. In 2012, Prime Minister Najib Razak had vowed to repeal the Sedition Act, only to fortify the already draconian act with more oppressive restrictions in 2015.[21] Additionally, contrary to the Federal Government’s 2013 promise to gradually reduce the price of intra-city tolls,[22] ask any Malaysian and he or she will only be able to cite hikes in toll fares.[23]
When systems of governance do not address the needs of the many, we must be prepared to face the populist revolt – which more often than not, lead to dangerous alternatives. The world faces tempestuous times as it is not just the UK and the US that has been veering far right, so are countries like France with Marine Le Pen’s bid for presidency and the Philippines under the stewardship of Robert Duterte. Before it’s too late, let us stop Malaysia from falling deeper into the trap of demagoguery. If status quo reigns supreme, people will start to disengage, and worse still — choose options that rifts the society further apart.
As a parliamentary democracy, Malaysia has much to learn and to be cautious of from the UK and US experience. Demagogues fashioned in populism should serve as lessons to opposition leaders so as to take stock, take action, and snap out of the perpetual internal rifts. We must lead by example by taking the first step in engaging our electorate, be it within or devoid of a formal opposition pact.As the electorate, we must remain vigilant. In the diversity that makes up democracy, a handful of views that are premised on hatred — promoting divisiveness rather than unity — can gather steam and hijack the mainstream agenda and wellbeing. There must never be a time where demagogues are welcomed.
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[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36615028
[2]http://townhall.com/columnists/dwwilber/2014/10/23/worlds-greatest-democracy-n1908908
[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/britsuff/reform/revision/1/
[4]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-referendum-how-the-results-compare-to-the-uks-educated-old-an/
[5]http://www.economist.com/news/latin-america/21697097-leaving-eu-would-come-heavy-cost-treasury-analysis-suggests-costs-brexit-would
[6] http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-donald-trumps-tax-plan/full
[7] http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1585275
[8] http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/04/workers-here-paid-4-7-times-less-than-spore-japan/
[9]http://www.itv.com/news/2016-05-22/vote-leave-murderers-and-terrorists-from-turkey-will-head-to-uk/
[10] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants
[11] http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/
[12]http://heavy.com/news/2016/05/donald-trump-wall-border-patrol-mexico-us-border-immigration-illegal-cost-what-will-republican-mexican-endorsement-critics-calderon-fox/
[13] http://immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/criminalization-immigration-united-states
[14]http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/police-reports-made-against-perak-mp-nga-kor-ming-over-aidilfitri-insult
[15]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=857452334358690&set=a.348846648552597.1073741826.100002817949043&type=3&theater
[16] http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/two-wrongs-dont-make-a-right-nazri-says-of-umnos-hell-money
[17] http://time.com/4381837/brexit-psychology/
[18]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-referendum-result-nigel-farage-nhs-pledge-disowns-350-million-pounds-a7099906.html
[19] https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/749924270818689024
[20]http://time.com/4373124/donald-trump-donors-super-pacs/ http://fortune.com/2016/05/05/trump-big-donors-super-pacs/
[21]https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2016/03/malaysia-end-unprecedented-crackdown-on-hundreds-of-critics-through-sedition-act/
[22] http://www.theheatmalaysia.com/POLITICS/Toll-hike-what-the-PM-did-wrong
[23] http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/toll-rates-to-increase-20-sen-to-rm3-at-four-highways
