They are finally awake… but better late than never!

It took them three state elections to finally wake up.

But perhaps it is better late than never to wake up from endless sweet dreams (or rather a nightmare that forced them to wake up).

Even though the person who woke up is known to be the jokester but it is still better than being thought of as a thinker, a follower of Malek Bin Nabi who has failed to think of the country’s future.

It’s good that Mohamad Sabu or better known as Mat Sabu, posted a statement on his Facebook calling out his friends and allies who won the general elections that it would have a mere dream to win elections unless opposition parties unite to face Barisan Nasional (BN).

“I would like to remind all parties if we continue to be divided in facing BN, we can all go on a holiday together once GE15 is over,” he said, trying to hit the point home.

The reality is Mat Sabu has voiced out the need for all opposition parties to find a way solution to unite once more with a winning strategy in GE15.

Mat Sabu has accepted Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) defeat in the Johor polls, especially in multiracial areas that have been known to be their fort, he said it was due to lower voter turnout. But the question remains if PH had a strategy to woo voters to vote? This remains unclear despite the continuous excuses given on the lower turnout.

Secondly, the second reason for the loss was due to split votes among the opposition. “To me, Barisan’s strength did not improve but instead leveraged on the split within the opposition supporters,” he said.

Opposition leader and PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had as reminded all political parties to gather strengths as the nation gets ready for GE15. True. Awareness and realisation is a must but why is this only being acknowledged after voters had gone to the ballot box.

PH needs to realise that they only won 12 seats - 10 by DAP. PKR and Amanah only won one seat each.

How would they hide their embarrassment if their performance continues to slide at every election? Furthermore, Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Muda - who are still at their infancy stage, have performed better. PN won three seats - two by Bersatu and one by Pas - it shows it has a much stronger influence than PKR and Amanah in Malay-majority areas.

It is obvious that if PN can maintain their drive and hard work, they can takeover PKR’s spot and become BN/Umno’s biggest threat in Malay areas during GE15.

Based on all state elections that took place recently, one thing is certain - BN and Umno cannot be destroyed unless the opposition unites against BN.

Mat Sabu may be seen as a jester but this time around he is not doing any stand-up comedy, but stating the bare facts. Mat Sabu would have “ini bukan cubaan... ini betul -betul!” (This is not a test, this is for real).

* Rozaid Rahman is Sinar Karangkraf Group Exiditor-in-Chief.