BN convention to set stage for snap polls
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) will sharpen its swords at a key convention today as it moves into what is seen as its final stages of preparation for the 13th general election, expected to be held early next year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will lead BN leaders to tie up loose ends and further strengthen the once-fractured links between component parties in the discussions at the closed-door meet in Wisma MCA here.
Today is the first time the 13 coalition partners in BN are coming together in a convention since the ruling pact suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat in Election 2008, particularly in the Malay peninsula. The allies last met in 2001.
As such, the outcome of today’s meeting will be crucial in charting BN’s election strategies in the months ahead and in ensuring that the coalition maintains a strong footing before it enters into its toughest battle yet.
In the next polls, BN will be not only be facing a more discerning electorate but also its foes in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), considered its strongest opposition yet in the country’s political history.
Themed “1 People, 1 Nation, 1 Vision”, the convention will see the top BN leadership force blinkers on all member parties and, with its unity agenda as its propeller, seek to place them on a single pathway to electoral victory. It also the prime minister’s move to seek his own mandate with an emphatic win and a possible two-thirds parliamentary majority.
Over the past few months, Najib has moved from damage-control to strike-mode and is believed today to have finally hoisted the broken BN of 2008 back on its feet.
Leaders across the political divide here have agreed that the ruling coalition is presently on its best footing yet to face snap polls, further bolstered by reports of the continuous infighting within its enemies’ ranks and a gradual economic recovery.
In recent interviews with The Malaysian Insider, politicians have cautiously expressed optimism in BN’s standing with the electorate, particularly with the Indian and Malay communities.
While they admitted that recapturing DAP’s stronghold of Penang would be a Herculean feat for now, they also expressed confidence in BN wresting the wealthy state of Selangor, Kedah and even loosening PAS’s grasp over Kelantan despite its two-decade rule.
Najib has also earned praise from the critical Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the nation’s longest-serving premier, who described the present administration as a “vast improvement” over the previous rule under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In a recent Bloomberg interview, Dr Mahathir had also predicted that while BN would likely fail to regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority, it may recapture several states currently held by PR.
PR presently holds on to four states — Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan. It had lost Perak to BN during last year’s infamous power grab.
Political leaders, both from BN and PR, have also agreed that the Indian community, which had abandoned the ruling coalition in Election 2008, was now returning to their fold.
