Manek Urai by-election benefits BN
While both PAS and Umno are still struck by the outcome of the polls, PAS should be wondering why Umno gained much ground despite running a lacklustre campaign.
Written by Sharon Tan, The Edge
PAS may hide behind Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's words that "even one vote is still a win" but there's no running away from the fact that Umno/Barisan Nasional had knocked the wind out of the party in Manek Urai, a traditional PAS stronghold.
While both PAS and Umno are still struck by the outcome of the polls, PAS should be wondering why Umno gained much ground despite running a lacklustre campaign.
At the outset, the instruction from Umno's leadership was merely to narrow the margin, recognising that it would be difficult to penetrate a constituency that had faithfully supported PAS. And it was clear that the Umno campaign lacked its usual vigour, devoid of fleeting visits and programmes by its top leaders.
According to sources, even RTM was told not to go all out in this campaign, hence little airtime was dedicated to the by-election.
Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who was given the operations director role, was the most visible Umno leader, alongside party information chief Ahmad Maslan as deputy for the campaign. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the only other Umno leader to devote some time to Manek Urai, amid his hectic schedule.
While PAS accused Umno of using the old campaign strategy of offering development, one cannot deny that development for this sleepy hollow could have helped sway support to Umno. Besides offering to turn it into an "agropolitan" hub, Umno also promised to adopt Manek Urai as an anak emas ("golden child") of the government if it wins.
A new and bigger bridge would connect Manek Urai Baru and Manek Urai Lama in place of the existing one-vehicle-wide bridge, a practical solution too good for the residents to ignore. Umno's victory at the Pengakalan Pasir by-election in 2005 was often trumpeted, and it distributed its report card which showed that the federal government poured in RM24 million to carry out the projects it had promised.The "feel good" factor from the goodies announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak may not have had an impact on the local people but it could have swayed out-of-town voters.
PAS' narrow victory, however, came as no surprise to Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli. At the start of the campaign period, he had said that PAS faced a tough challenge and expected a smaller margin of victory.
"Unlike the general election where the focus is diluted, in a by-election the focus is concentrated," said Dr Hatta.The unity talks issue was a thorn in its flesh as party leaders continued to emit mixed signals. It swung from "no talks" to "talks are dead" to "talks on Islam and Malay matters only".
Meanwhile, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin consistently claimed in ceramah that PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa was sincere in wanting to hold talks, but was blocked by its spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
Nasharudin's absence from the campaign gave rise to various speculation. It did not help matters when he admitted there was a decision to stop him from going to Manek Urai, but later said his absence had been due to health reasons. For the voters, it would have appeared all was not well in PAS.
The much-revered Nik Aziz campaigned tirelessly. At almost every ceramah, he would tell the audience to take whatever goodies Umno dished out to them but only to vote PAS.
So could it be that voters have understood that one cannot have it both ways? Certainly, PAS' narrow victory had many people asking if his influence was waning.
Manek Urai voters, particularly the younger generation, should not be faulted for wanting development and employment opportunities. PAS' campaign centred around values, unity and Islam, and it nearly paid the full price of ignoring development issues.
The result of the Manek Urai by-election has not changed the balance of power in the state assembly, but the party needs to be objective in its assessment of the constituency. The continued tension between the liberals and conservatives could be read as symptomatic of the party's lack of clarity about its way forward.
