There is currently a debate on the Third Force among well known bloggers like Raja Petra, Masterwordsmith, and journalists like Terence Netto, who took the trouble to find out how the term came about in our local political scene.
In my simplistic mind, voters as a group is The Boss who decides who rule this country. Each of us eligible voters has One Vote and it is the sole decision of the voter as to which candidate or party to vote for. Every major party will try and influence him or her, but ultimately, he or she decides whether to put the 'X' at the box of choice, or even to deliberately spoil it out of disgust.
At best, each major party or coalition (BN or PR) can try to influence the decision of The Voter. Often, despite promises and/or actual monetary benefits, the final result of each election can be beyond the expectations of those who tried, because we are dealing with individuals with a mind of his or her own, who can be fickle minded until the last moment. There are those who gave the impression they are supporters of a party but always voted the other. There are diehard or hardcore supporters who would vote for only one party, regardless of who stand in the constituency. In other words, we are talking about variables and unlimited combinations of variables which could affect the result of an election.
The debate in cyberspace and mainstream English or Malay media are read and commented by only those who are interested enough in politics. Many refused to read on anything political while others' attention span does not go further than the headlines. For eg. having read about the 90% Chinese enrolment in Chinese schools, you can imagine a large portion of the Chinese population not reading about the debate unless and until the Chinese newspapers carry them. Even then, how many would be interested? The large number of eligible persons who did not register as voters show there are still those who are not bothered at all. Some do not even know who is the PM!
So the debate on the Third Force could just be something academic without much influence on the voting pattern, except where it enforces a three-cornered contest which might put some voters in a dilemma on either side of the main political divide.
The reasons why some people are unhappy with the two main coalitions include unfair jostles for power within a party, poor choice of candidates for elections, promises unfulfilled, and so on. We have yet to attain the level of a two-party system found in Britain or USA, so it seems premature to think in terms of a Third Force, or by whatever name it is called.
In our local politics, the people are keen on either coalition for reasons best known to themselves, and any third or more candidates seem to upset their simple equation. On the other hand, you can have the best candidate based on your party's criteria, but if the voters do not like his face, or your own party members bear a grudge against him, he may be unelected. We have not even considered the effects of manipulation by institutions acting as agents for the incumbents. So, are we ready for the Third Force?
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