LETTER | In a typical Malay TV drama, the ending of its first episode doesn’t conclude its whole story.

Likewise, in politics, the future of any political party is not decided by its first victory or defeat.

If local politics were a 100-chapter novel, the recent victory of BN in the Cameron Highlands by-election is just a page turner to its GE14 prequel.

The defeat of the freshly-cobbled Pakatan Harapan in the by-election is actually a sign — it’s either BN’s supports are expanding; or the government is silently losing the gained applauses.

Even it was just a by-election, the downsized BN has at least proved to us that they can retain the parliamentary seat with bigger majority.

In every victory and loss, there are factors, regardless of their weight, that turned it into reality.

To me, factors such as choice of candidate play the heaviest role in winning any post-GE election.

Based on the Cameron Highland by-election, we can learn that the people’s votes are not reflected by the influential government of today.

In the US, Donald Trump was elected in its last presidential election because of the people’s demand. Majority of Americans wanted a fresh change in the US political landscape, which they balloted a non-political

figure to be their new president succeeding Barrack Obama. They finally made it.

But are Americans happier after the Trump’s winning?

I think not. According to day-to-day news that I actively read, most of them are not happy about living in the Trump era. They become irate against Trump’s “political philosophies” that bring nothing but

severities to the nation.

The Harapan government has to delve a lesson from the US political scenario.

Today, we are being prime-ministered by a well-experienced politician who used to entrust the current Port Dickson MP to deputise him as a prime minister in the late 90s.

We chose him and his new political brand to refresh this nation with greater economic outputs that can serve the people with secured survivals.

Harapan was not voted to just sweetly talk “fictional promises”.

Every one of us wants the government to be stable and credible in rebuilding this nation to be politically and economically sustainable. That will lead us to be respectable globally.

Plus, a credible opposition is also needed in consistently producing alternative solutions to any of the government’s weak policy.

Democracy without fit oppositions is like a cat without its fur.

Any by-election can’t be underestimated. Instead, it must be treated as an important stage for both Harapan and BN to test the people’s favouritism in their “political marketing”.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.