Tun Daim: BN cannot do worse than 2008
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin predicted in an interview published today that Barisan Nasional will do better in a general election expected within the year as it cannot fare worse than it did in 2008.
In the interview with Utusan Malaysia, he added that the mood has changed in the past three years and “as long as the people know how to differentiate the wheat from the chaff (padi dengan sekam), I believe BN will remain in power.”
“Umno and BN will prevail. I don’t think BN can lose worse than it did in the 2008 election,” said Daim, who was twice appointed as finance minister when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.
Daim had predicted in late 2007 that Penang, Selangor and Kedah would join Kelantan as opposition-held after the 2008 election.
BN lost its customary two-thirds majority of Parliament in the landmark election and Daim’s prediction came through when BN ceded the four states and also Perak in what became known as a political tsunami.
He said that the public had voted for change in 2008 but have not seen this happen in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) held states in the past three years.
“It appears that all layers of society, whether the general public, politicians, administrators or businessmen, have felt the ‘benefit’ of the 2008 results,” he said.
Daim said that Kedah remained poor, the fortunes of Malays in Penang have not improved and Selangor has not seen any improvement.
“Time is the best medicine,” he said when asked if the political tsunami had receded.
He also said that the rhetoric and slogans of opposition parties during the 2008 campaign were “full of honey as if they had Aladdin’s magic lamp to improve the lives of voters in a blink of an eye,” referring to the mythical lamp that contained a genie that could grant wishes.
He said that these were empty promises and that since November 2010, BN has won all five by-elections by an improved majority showing that the public was now more positive towards the ruling coalition.
