Backing the wrong horse?

I find it intriguing — and pretty amazing, actually — at the number of politicians who have jumped ship from Harapan and throw their lot with Muhyiddin and Azmin ad hoc coalition, called Perikatan.

This is a coalition with a majority of two. It's also a coalition of rivals. It will be a wonder if they can make it intact all the way to GE15. But even if they do, seat allocations will be a thorny issue, to say the least.

For the sake of discussion, let's just say they somehow managed to work out seat allocations so that whoever is the incumbent gets to defend their seat, it's highly unlikely that the frogs who jumped over will be elected.

Why? Because with a few exceptions, most people don't vote for personalities. They vote for the coalition they want to run the country. That's why when PAS was with Pakatan, even non-Malays voted for PAS. It's also why despite Bersatu being a Malay only party and Amanah being an Islamic party, non-Malays and non-Muslims were willing to vote for these parties. Because they were voting for Pakatan.

Do these turncoats actually think Harapan supporters who voted for them last time will still vote for them now that they are aligned with UMNO?

All these people who have jumped ship have shown their true colors and the voters will know who they are. The electorate will not be kind to them.

Although Dr M was more than happy to accept frogs the last time around, he's no longer in Harapan though he's with the Opposition. If Harapan wins, he can take all the frogs he wants — though he's be a fool to do so — but it wouldn't affect Harapan which, for the most part, are anti-hopping. Amanah had flirted with the idea of taking in frogs and PKR too. DAP has steadfastly been against it. But now, after all that's happened, I doubt any party in Harapan would accept frogs.

So, these politicians who have thrown their lot with Muhyiddin and gang, if Harapan comes back to power, they will either be out of a job, or if they somehow managed to win, will be in the Opposition bench for good.