ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR: Rivals up the ante as D-Day nears
Delegates are not excited by the avalanche of text messages and blog postings running down candidates vying for Umno posts, writes ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR
The New Straits Times
WITH the party elections less than two weeks away, for many Umno candidates it's time for a bit of PR — which in this case stands for either "public relations" or "perception repair".
And between the two, candidates entangled in the perception problem are finding it an uphill task amid intense campaigning by their opponents.
Along with the usual poison-pen letters, "positive" notes have been arriving in the mail at the homes of delegates, mostly in the "G7" category.
It is said that voting delegates holding posts at the divisional level — the "G6" — are less excited about the contents of poison-pen letters, text messages and blogs, as they have already aligned themselves to certain leaders.
The target of such letters is the G7 — those elected as voting candidates by their respective divisions — who are said to be more vulnerable, even demanding, as many are new faces.
One unsigned letter, speaking highly of one of the eight vice-presidential candidates, has an interesting title: "Mutiara Yang Sukar Di Terima", which loosely translates as "A Pearl Hard to Accept", implies that a serving minister has "friends" who are backstabbers.
His enemies, according to the letter, include those from his own division in Johor. An interesting excerpt reads: "Ketika xxx suka makan berkawan, tetapi kawan-kawannya jenis makan kawan… xxx sedar semua ini tetapi sebagai orang yang penuh pengetahuan agama, mana mungkin beliau bertindak balas, jauh sekali berdendam."
("[The candidate] likes to dine with friends, but his friends eat their friends… [he] knows this, but as a religious person he's not likely to react, much less take revenge.")
Another vice-presidential candidate was not so lucky. The vicious attacks on his performance as a cabinet member can be detrimental to his chances in the elections, worry his supporters.
Said the minister's aide: "There is one letter posted to delegates which is clearly out to undermine the candidate's chances in the elections and a possible reappointment in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's new cabinet."
Those engaged to do the public relations for candidates are also known to distribute photocopies of interviews appearing in local newspapers and magazines — some complete with translated versions for delegates' easy understanding. Some of these materials reach delegates through facsimile machines.
Summaries of candidates' statements and arguments while debating issues on television programmes like TV9's Debat and RTM's Dialog@1 also find their way into delegates' postboxes.
Getting the addresses of delegates has never been so easy. The Umno official website, www.umno-online.com, lists the addresses, contact numbers and identity card numbers of all delegates to the main assembly, as well as those of Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri.
In the past, candidates or their campaigners were fleeced into purchasing such information from certain enterprising individuals.
An Umno official said making this useful information freely available was to put a stop to such unhealthy seasonal business deals.
The pertinent question now is why candidates are still using the old ways of campaigning — relying on photocopiers, fax machines and the postal service — when messages can easily be transmitted through the Internet and cellphones?
"It's the full-fledged mass marketing of candidates, using all means available in the process of branding a political commodity," says analyst Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin.
While campaigning through the new media is a breeze, candidates realise that not all delegates pay much attention to the toxic stuff being circulated on blog sites and by cellphone; detailed explanations are made available through printed materials.
"SMS overkill," tersely says Datuk Hasim Suboh, a delegate from Perlis.
"Many are giving out my handphone number and I believe delegates like me are not excited to receive them any more."
Since a large proportion of such messages portray candidates as bad characters, Hashim says delegates have come to ignore them.
Che Johan Che Pa, a delegate from Pasir Mas, Kelantan, deletes such messages after glancing through them, because many contain allegations he says are baseless.
He says he has received several poison-pen letters but, having been a delegate to several party elections in the past, he does not think much of such messages.
Blog sites set up specifically to attack a particular candidate — to such an extent that the blogs openly name themselves "anti"-so-and-so — have put off visitors, including delegates, with their venomous attacks and often ridiculous claims.
On this last stretch of campaigning for the electoral party assembly, candidates who are under continuous attack need to adopt a "zero-mistake" strategy — perhaps by talking only when necessary.
But with several television stations introducing political talk shows in the run-up to the Umno elections, some candidates have little choice but to participate on air; staying away could well lead to accusations of not being "anak jantan" — "man enough" — to face their rivals in public.
For candidates who decide to appear on these televised panel discussions, keeping their cool is important in preventing personal attacks. The wrong choice of words, or losing their temper, could be fatal.
Past experience cautions that these telecasts often see candidates being provoked by other panellists, moderators, or even the audience.
As D-Day draws closer and the contests for votes intensify, delegates could be introduced to more innovative and interesting campaign tools in the final push by candidates wooing support.
