Malaysians will soon go to the polls again. The banners will be unfurled, the ceramah will multiply, the manifestos will be unveiled and all over this broad land, people will have to make a choice.

It is not an easy choice. The people in power have been holding the reins uninterrupted and are tightening their leash on the throne.

But the other side comprising disparate forces holding divergent views is making headway in the battle for the hearts and minds of the people.

But, alas! Doubts and uncertainties are the dominant threads running through the minds of the electorate.

To make matters worse, the dominant power, not used to crying in the political wilderness, is seen as preying on the fears of the populace to ensure power does not slip out of their hands.

We hear the siren calls from both sides, each promising a wealth of happiness and peace earthly as well as spiritually.

It is likely the vote will go to the old trusted faces if only out of fear of the unknown opponents. But a return to the status quo will only prolong the latent political unrest.

We have not tasted real stability in the sense that we have never experimented with changing of the guards. Therein lies the root cause of our fear the fear that if we switched sides we would be inviting unmitigated disaster.

But this scary fate consistently played up by the government in power need not be our lot come every

five years.

The only way to overcome our fears is to summon up our courage and take the plunge by voting in the other side.

Only then can we judge the capability of the opposition forces. If the other side turns out to be as able as the ruling power, then the people need not fear either side if either side rides back to power, we can be sure that stability will be the constant theme of our political life.