Bagan Pinang Election: Serving UMNO members or serving the people

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Sep 30, 2009

By Dr. Rafick

1. It is official. Bernama TV and the various online news reported that Isa Samad will represent BN in the Bagan Pinang upcoming election. It was a very difficult choice for UMNO leadership as they have to weigh the various factors involved. This include public perception, ending the by election losing streak, the stability of Negeri Sembilan BN government, Mahathir views and UMNO/BN seriousness in portraying the reformed image.

2. This morning, the online news splash the news of banners that was placed at several places where UMNO members claims that they will boycott the election if Isa was not chosen. Despite the denial of UMNO Teluk Kemang in putting up the banner, it is quite clear that it was put up at the 11th hour after Muhyuddin said that there is another candidate that UMNO Teluk Kemang had overlooked. It is obvious that the banner was put up in a timely manner to pressurized UMNO national leadership.

3. I believe the biggest factor that led to the decision to choose Isa, is the fear that BN will lose again for the 8th time. BN need a win badly too boost its degrading image. Despite the advantage of having about 4000 odd postal votes, it appears that UMNO/BN is still worried that they will lose if Isa is not chosen

4. I am not sure how many people appreciate the argument put forward by Mahathir on why Isa should not be chosen or he should abstained voluntarily. In my opinion, Mahathir is telling UMNO that they should listen to the people aspirations. They should not listen to UMNO members in Teluk Kemang.

5. Since the last General Election, people expectation has change dramatically. The people want transparency. They want a personality that is clean and trustworthy. Isa samad is popular but he carries the burden of being involved in money politics. He carries the scar of being “corrupted”.UMNO has chose to neglect the wave of expectation of the ordinary people.

6. I believe prior to the recent general election, UMNO can easily win any seat even if put a donkey as a candidate but after the 12th GE, UMNO needs to be choosy in selecting a candidate. Isa samad may be popular in UMNO because of his “generosity” but it does not mean that he is popular among the rakyat. This time around I believe the rakyat, will look at the background, character and the moral values of the candidate. It appears that UMNO is short of clean candidates and this is not a good sign.

7. I believe at the state level, UMNO has overlooked the current MB(Dato Mohamed Hassan) factor whose position would be indirectly threatened if Isa Samad wins. Mohamed Hassan and his people would not sit on the sideline and let the inevitable to happen. I would not be surprised if sensitive and explosive private information about Isa Samad will appears on the blog sphere as well as on the MSM.