Manek Urai – A lesson for all parties

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Jul 15, 2009

By Dr. Rafick

1. It is official; PAS won MU with a majority of 65 votes. Not much but that is enough to clinch the title of a winner. What is important here is that the voters are split right down in the middle. In a Malay dominated territory, the Malays are split into almost two equal halves.

2. The result of this by election is important. If it is extrapolated generally across the nation, it would mean that the entire Malays population is divided. The ethnic Chinese and the Indians basically will decide the final swing of the votes. If a general election is called tomorrow, it would means that BN will lose badly.

3. Looking at the campaigning that took place in MU, it appears that BN or UMNO did not do the campaigns but the campaign was actually conducted by the Federal Government. The media machinery of the government played a significant role. Literally, the entire Cabinet and the ministries went down to campaign. The government even promised the people of MU a new bridge. That shows the level of desperation in the BN camp. Racial sentiment and fear tactics was also strongly played by BN. They even had to resort seeking Lee Kuan Yew help in campaigning. Maybe this is the precursor to stronger relationship between Malaysia and Singapore.

4. For the PAS supporters they must be wondering what went wrong. It does not take a genius to figure it out. The promised of the bridge, the gifts in the forms of bicycle, school bags and various other goodies for the poor came from the welfare departments which only surfaced during elections had their impact. I guess the sweetest deal being financial incentives that was provided by some friendly parties to UMNO. Reports surfaces that people were being given between RM50 to RM300 for their support. Only God knows the truth.

5. To a certain extent, PAS is equally responsible for their decreasing support. Their internal bickering between the various factions and their splitting views of their Unity Government probably contributed to the decreasing margin. With 87% turnout, PAS inability to secure only 65 votes shows that there is something seriously wrong with their election machinery.