BN’s oversight
As a result, the party fanned up racial emotions in Permatang Pasir, calling Anwar a "traitor" and openly censuring Nik Aziz as being manipulated by DAP, all with a little help from Utusan Malaysia's usual inciting collaboration.
By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily
The dust has finally settled in Pematang Pasir.
What used to belong to BN, remains in BN's possession. And what used to belong to Pakatan Rakyat, remains Pakatan Rakyat's.
Whether the majority votes have been slashed is not to be judged by the absolute number, but the percentage!
PAS captured 66.4% of all ballots cast in the last general elections–not much different this time, at 65.5%.
Of course, Pakatan has won, clean and obvious enough.
BN fielded a lousy candidate, and that was the first step towards its flop.
A disbarred lawyer was named BN's candidate!
One of the prerequisites for an elected representative is integrity. If even this is lacking, what else can the candidate bank on to win the voters' mandate?
Perhaps that kind of antiquated mentality still exists within BN, that anyone fielded by BN will somehow be accepted by the voters. Otherwise, it could always mobilise its powerful campaign machine to see it through.
But that was in the past.
| "BN's campaign strategies and the party's overall political mindset need to be overhauled. It must never divide the Malaysian political ecosystem into race-oriented segments." |
Voters are getting increasingly matured. They know what to choose.
BN's second blunder was its misinterpretation of the message from the Manik Urai by-election.
IN Manik Urai, some of the Malay ballots have indeed flown back to BN, allowing the party to lose by only a very thin margin of 65 votes.
As a result, the party fanned up racial emotions in Permatang Pasir, calling Anwar a "traitor" and openly censuring Nik Aziz as being manipulated by DAP, all with a little help from Utusan Malaysia's usual inciting collaboration.
Surprisingly, this antic did not seem to produce the desired effects, and the majority of Malay voters remain unimpressed.
More than 60% of Malay voters continued to lean towards Pakatan.
To make things worse, the impact that this has created has only drawn the Chinese voters closer to Pakatan!
BN's campaign strategies and the party's overall political mindset need to be overhauled. It must never divide the Malaysian political ecosystem into race-oriented segments.
As for Pakatan, they need to address some of its real and present crises after securing this Merdeka bonanza.
Common understanding among the three parties must be consolidated and any misunderstanding has to be patched up.
Anwar's contributions must never be counted out in the opposition pact's convincing victory, and DAP's supportive campaigning has also given the PAS candidate a major push.
With this experience, perhaps the opposition pact should be able to see its future directions more clearly.
