Bukit Gantang voters speak out loud
The reality is that BN failed to get the required number of Chinese votes to make up the figures while at the same time losing the Malay votes due to factionism in the Bukit Gantang Umno division.
By ZAINAL EPI, The Malay Mail
BARISAN Nasional (BN) fought hard. Having gone in as underdog, the party tried its best to wrest the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat which it lost in last year’s general election.
Its traditional rival, Pas, received better response, not just the from the Malays but specifically, the
Chinese electorate.
On paper, BN had everything before going into battle ― a good candidate, good track record, a new leadership and the power to loosen up a few issues that were seen as an obstacle to victory, which it tackled by lifting the ban on Harakah and Suara Keadilan and releasing two Hindraf leaders.
They knew the battle would be fierce, but the battlefield isn’t alien to BN. Bukit Gantang was, after all, its stronghold, having won it the past five general elections with thumping majorities — until last year’s political tsunami.
So, what went wrong? Like the 1987 John Irvin movie Hamburger Hill, where American and North Vietnamese soldiers battled for control of Ap Bia Mountain during the Vietnam war, the daily count
after nomination on March 29 and polling on April 6 was also similar.
One day, BN led by a few hundred votes, the next Pas, also by few hundred. BN was confident, so was Pas and both were in good spirits going into the final stretch.
BN’s only problem, claimed observers, were the Chinese votes, which made up 29 per cent of the
total 55,300-odd voters.
The reality is that BN failed to get the required number of Chinese votes to make up the figures while at the same time losing the Malay votes due to factionism in the Bukit Gantang Umno division.
Regardless of whether the blame lies with MCA or Gerakan, which held the Kuala Sepetang State seat before losing it in last year’s general election, the stark reality is that Pas candidate Datuk Seri Muhammad Nizar Jamaluddin had already forged a strong bond with the Chinese electorate during his 11-month tenure as Perak Menteri Besar.
True, at the last minute, the Chinese votes did swing in BN’s favour but it was ultimately insufficient.
The Malay votes which BN had counted on to balance the loss, simply did not materialise.
Such issues aside, the general sentiment is that Pas’ victory reflected the electorates’ feelings concerning the Perak MB issue; more specifically, that they felt they should be given the right to choose their State government.
Call it a referendum or even the cliched “voice of the people”, it is simply the reflection of Perakians’ opinion, via the voting slips in Bukit Gantang.
As Nizar said following his victory: “This is a signal that the rakyat want their right to choose the State government. They want the State Assembly to be dissolved and a fresh State election be held.
They want the judiciary to be free of external influences,” he said.
Right or wrong, love it or loathe it, Nizar could be right. After all, BN did everything within its right to win, but didn’t. Internal problems aside, the real problem is still out there – dealing with the expression of the hearts and minds of the people.
