PR rout in Bagan Pinang by-election – PR must go back to drawing board
Lim Kit Siang
Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad’s victory in the Bagan Pinang by-election was not unexpected, as in the by-election, Isa the candidate bulked larger than Barisan Nasional the party.
This is the cause for the comment that BN can win the battle in Bagan Pinang by-election but will lose the war in the country in the next general elections, for Isa’s victory despite his record of Umno money politics would be a clear and unmistakable message that Umno/BN could not be redeemed or reformed to play any meaningful role to cleanse the country of deep-rooted corruption.
What was unexpected was Isa’s 8,013-vote and thumping majority of 5,435 votes sweeping all the eight voting streams – the result of gross abuses of power, money politics as well as the postal ballot chicanery.
The rout suffered by Pakatan Rakyat in Bagan Pinang by-election should destroy the myth entertained by any quarter that Pakatan Rakyat is embarked on a invincible path to victory in the next general elections whether national or state.
