Najib, Anwar leadership key to respective side’s electoral victory
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — The leadership styles of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are seen as the clincher for undecided and first—time voters in the next general elections.
Despite speculation of a snap election to be held as early as March, the coalition on both sides have been unable to offer thorough, convincing reasons for Malaysians to give either bloc a decisive victory.
While PR has been criticised for internal party squabbles and having lost its Elections 2008 momentum, BN is also finding it difficult to shed its age-old perception of corruption. And voters
remain sceptical of BN’s reform plans.
Analysts and politicians, however, remain convinced that in order to gauge the overall effectiveness of BN and PR, it would ultimately mean deciding which coalition leader was better at leading his party — Najib or Anwar.
“Sociological factors are important,” Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) political scientist Professor Shamsul Adabi Mamat told The Malaysian Insider. “Voters will vote for whichever
coalition that can offer them security and a future.
“They will pick, choose something concrete, something that is real, and not gamble with something that is hazy or unclear. They will pick a coalition leader that is performing, not the one who is constantly on the defence.”
Shamsul said the main factor towards determining voter support was how effective the coalitions could “generate” voter’s loyalty.
“Loyalty is determined by a coalition’s reform agenda as well as long-term development plans,” said the university lecturer. “I feel that Barisan Nasional is ahead in this as it has made significant headway in the recent Umno general assembly, as well as with the introduction of the BN direct membership.
“This will strengthen loyalty of many component party members towards BN, and in turn make the federal coalition seem more stable compared to Pakatan Rakyat.
“Despite hiccups in the past, Umno is seen as looking more focused in moving forward — the win in Galas was because of Umno’s strength.
“Voters are smart, savvy. They can see beyond political talk and gimmicks. The PKR direct elections proved that they are not as strong as they would like to think. And Anwar’s leadership is in serious
question, seeing as there been many criticisms against his handling of the fracas that was the PKR elections.”
PR, particularly PKR and Anwar, have come under severe attack in its failure to introduce the country’s first direct elections to party positions. The PKR party elections has been mired in corruption claims, and have resulted in notable leader Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s abrupt but expected departure from the opposition party.
Polls analyst Ibrahim Suffian believes that voters have now become more “demanding” and are “less easy to manipulate” compared with past elections. Voters now have greater access to information.
“We are heading into elections where voters are not fully confident of PR, but on the other hand many also feel that the government is moving too slowly on reform plans,” said Ibrahim, director of the Merdeka Centre.
“Although BN feels that they have generated a ‘feel good’ factor by doling out goodies, they have to ask themselves the question — how much of the country’s economy is actually trickling down to the man on the street?” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider.
He also pointed out that despite BN’s “slow” move towards reform, PR had failed to capitalise on the situation.
“Pakatan Rakyat has also not been able to shake off its image of its poor, rancorous position,” he said. “They are still struggling to overcome negative perception, at a time where voters demand a strong alternative government from the opposition.”
But he also pointed out that many of BN’s promises thus far have been “rehashes” of existing policies, and that voters were aware of how BN had yet to effectively solve corruption and the high costs of living.
“People are basically gauging to look at benefits they can gain from,” said Ibrahim. “Although the government has realised its flaws, in terms of public service, integrity is still wanting.
“Voters are already aware of promises of government. It is the same ones from the past that have been repackaged. Issues like corruption, high costs of living, wastage of public funds in the name of grandiose projects might still cause a voter backlash.
“Even though voters are aware of BN’s efforts towards reform, they are also mindful of the federal coalition’s track record of unfulfilled promises in the past.”
Umno MP Datuk Mohamed Nur Jazlan echoed Shamsul’s arguments, saying that ultimately, voters needed to “choose a leader that they could trust”.
“At this point of time, surveys show that confidence towards Najib is at an all-time high,” he said. “Pakatan, unfortunately, does not have that same sense of leadership in the form of Anwar.
“The attacks against BN has always been about corruption, and delay in effective policies. In a situation where we are looking at both coalitions with strengths and weaknesses, we must see its leadership to make an informed decision.
“The mess in PKR is not an indicator towards Anwar’s leadership. He has yet to lead his coalition and they are still divided, whereas Najib is fast fixing whatever cracks there are in BN.”
