The Odds, They are a-Changin’
As it looks, a few days past nomination day, the odds are changing to favour Pakatan, although at the time of the dissolution of Parliament, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) seemed to have the upper hand.
Kee Thuan Chye
The Opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat must be very careful between now and polling day not to make any colossal mistakes that could deny it victory at the 13th general election. I’m thinking of something about the same magnitude as or greater than the faux pas made by Tengku Razaleigh in wearing the Kadazan headgear with a cross on it on the eve of the 1990 general election.
As it looks, a few days past nomination day, the odds are changing to favour Pakatan, although at the time of the dissolution of Parliament, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) seemed to have the upper hand.
BN appears to be in trouble now with so many of its members having abandoned the coalition to stand as independents. Umno, the biggest component party, alone suffered the defiance of 61 mutineers. This is totally unprecedented and comes as a huge blow for the party of caretaker prime minister Najib Razak. It could well mean a loss of confidence in the party.
What’s more, BN must also be hurting from the defection of one of Umno’s stalwarts, Muhammad Muhammad Taib, to PAS. As a former menteri besarof Selangor, he will be influencing Malay voters to help Pakatan retain the government in Selangor, much to the chagrin of Najib, who has been gunning to get it back for BN.
Pakatan, too, is faced with the plight of members standing as independents. On top of that, after nominations were over, component parties PKR and PAS found themselves competing with each other over seven seats. This might have been due to lack of coordination, but whatever the reason, the matter has been resolved, with each party taking three seats.
The seventh, which concerns the Kota Damansara seat, is more tricky because the candidate standing on the PKR platform is from PSM, a socialist party that PAS finds itself at odds with ideologically.
On the whole, the picture that emerges of Pakatan is that PKR, PAS and its third partner, the DAP, have coalesced as a united force with the required team spirit. Reinforcing this could have been the threat to the DAP’s legitimacy to stand under its own symbol posed by a surprising letter sent by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) only two days before nomination day.
Thrown into a quandary, the DAP sought the help of its partners and was readily granted it, as both PKR and PAS offered to let it stand under their party symbols. In the end, it didn’t turn out to be necessary, but the bond between the grateful DAP and the other two parties appears to have been strengthened.
Read more at: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/elections/opinions-the-odds-they-are-a-changin%E2%80%99#page=0
