GEORGE TOWN – Social media has been feeding voters with an overdose of politics for the past five years, so much that it has caused political fatigue to creep in during the campaign period of the upcoming six-state elections, affecting attendance at rallies.
Responding to an apparent subdued setting in numerous gatherings, with the exception of occasional crowds at mega rallies in the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, a Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) academician has acknowledged that there is fatigue among the voters.
Even during nomination time, there were smaller than usual crowds marching with the candidates to the centres.
“We must understand that since 2018, politics have come to a boil and social media is feeding the frenzy, even to an extent of spreading unverified content and distorting facts,” said Assoc Prof Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk here.
The director of the USM's Centre for Policy Research and International Studies said that this is the main contributing factor to why turnout at many events were likely subdued.
Even political parties are making an apparent transition by shifting more resources online from physical presence, with limited party banners and flags adorning the streets here.
Perhaps as the 14-day campaign period progresses, more momentum will emerge, especially when national leaders from both sides of the equation come to campaign, said Azeem in an interview.
For him, unrelenting social media has been described as the main cause for the campaign mood in six states appearing indifferent compared to previous electoral contests.
“Also, the political instability where the country endured four prime ministers within the space of five years, has given rise to why voters are fatigued,” he said.
In 2018, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed led Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to its victory in the 14th general election before internal bickering saw Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin claiming the post after defections of several MPs to his side.
Muhyiddin’s reign, however, only lasted less than a year, as he lost his majority in Parliament, forcing him to concede the post to Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
In November’s 15th general election, PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim won the post after he brokered a unity federal government with the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition with participation of ruling state coalitions from Sabah and Sarawak.
Less chatter, please
It seems that politicians are even more compelled to resort to carnival-like gatherings to lure crowds.
“We need to be careful, as the overload of politics on social media channels may diminish the significance of real politics, which is to elect capable leaders to take the country forward in this uncertain global environment,” Azeem said.
“We may only vote once every five years, but if you look at the social media chatter, it is a daily and almost non-stop chatter of politics.
“The likes of TikTok and Twitter (X) have laid siege to voters, who are fed a constant stream of content.”
It may be excessive to their liking, so many, particularly the young, have decided to tune out, he said.
Azeem said that a number of voters have moved on, as they have many issues on their mind rather such as “bread and butter” than who should be the next “YBs” (elected representatives).
Regardless of who is in government, individuals and parties need to take cognisance of the triple crises lingering in the world today: from climate change to the global economic downturn and in Malaysia, an intense politicking rate, which has led to four prime ministers in five years, Azeem cautioned.
He also called on mainstream media to strengthen its ability to compete against social media, urging more effort to be put into producing credible and trustworthy content to counter the high level of fake news that tends to be disseminated on social media. – The Vibes, August 1, 2023
