All because of you, Najib
The failed candidacy of Zaid Ibrahim is a case in point. He is an outsider, a cosmopolitan candidate unsuitable for a rural constituency and as a Muslim who admitted to career-killing moral political baggage.
Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, The Malaysian Insider
The Barisan Nasional won the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat last Sunday.
The election victory was supposed to be a foregone conclusion as the constituency is nestled in the middle of the Umno rural heartland of southern Perak and northern Selangor where the party grassroots machinery is formidable and the Pakatan Rakyat branch network is sparse.
After all, the constituency was neglected by Pakatan since March 2008.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the diminishing lead partner in the Pakatan coalition mislead the public in Hulu Selangor by fielding the late Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad as he hid his terminal cancer illness from the people of Hulu Selangor when chosen to contest the seat.
This time, PKR decided to fool the voters of Hulu Selangor and offered change by fielding Datuk Zaid Ibrahim — a former Umno warlord, cabinet minister, millionaire and main beneficiary of Umno’s affirmative policy as a corporate lawyer.
The Pakatan government in Selangor had not done much in terms of service and development in Hulu Selangor since it was elected in March 2008.
Selangor is led by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, a political novice in running government and political campaigns and is rumoured to be aloof and treats his fellow politicians like staff in the companies he used to head courtesy of Umno’s affirmative policy.
Tan Sri Khalid’s weak leadership was compounded by the clear conflicts between the PKR and its coalition partners PAS and DAP in the spearheading the campaign machinery.
The fact that BN candidate P. Kamalanathan won did not surprise me. But his narrow majority of 1,725 votes has triggered my greatest fear.
There are a couple of conclusions that can be drawn from the election that has me concerned.
First, the election has revealed the weakness of the BN coalition partners and exposed their decimated grassroot capabilities.
They do not have strength on the ground and are totally dependent on the Umno machinery.
Thus their contribution to attract support from the non-Malay community was negligible.
Second, Umno can no longer depend on generational filial piety to guarantee unconditional support from the Malays.
The traditional chain of support generated from the grandfather demanding their sons and grandchildren support Umno to protect their interests has broken down.
