It is a win for the voters
BN only managed to get 35% of the Chinese voters, up from 10% in the last general election. This kind of voting trend is actually ideal in our multiracial, multireligious country.
Kong Len Wei, Chairman of MCA Youth Perak Young Professionals Bureau
The BN win in the last twin by-elections yesterday was expected. As the incumbent, it was a by-election for the BN to lose and for the opposition to make their mark. On their own, PAS and PAN was ineffective, getting voters from their respective religious fundamentalist groups or the urban chinese electorate. In a three corner contest, the outcome will usually favour BN. It is in ethnically mixed constituencies like Sg. Besar and Kuala Kangsar that the multiracial, multireligious platform like Barisan Nasional can shine. It was a collective effort, each component party playing their roles to ensure a favourable outcome.
By going against each other, PAN and PAS only got their basic hardcore votes and failed to convince many fence sitters of their cause. This situation now has left both PAS and PAN exposed as it is now a proven fact that PAS can only get their hardcore religious supporters and PAN’s power base comes from DAP supporters.
On the other hand, the support given to BN were not as fantastic as some made it to be. While we got a slim majority of Malay and Indian votes, BN only managed to get 35% of the Chinese voters, up from 10% in the last general election. This kind of voting trend is actually ideal in our multiracial, multireligious country. Regardless of the winner’s ethnicity, he can be sure that he cannot win the seat without the support of the other component parties. Each ethnic group either gave the winner a small majority or a slight loss in polling, ensuring the winner will continue to adequately address all of their problems fairly. The losing party, lagging not far behind, will continue to serve the constituency hopeful that one day it will be their turn.
In this situation, nobody will be left out and it definitely keep the winning MP honest for the rest of his term. We must avoid at all costs situations like in Seputeh where the incumbent won by a whopping 51,552 vote majority in a 88% Chinese seat or in PJ Utara where Tony Pua got a 44,672 vote majority. The voters of PJU, Seputeh and many more like them gave the incumbent MP such a comfortable win that they completely disregard minority ethnic groups in their constituency. They can comfortably win the seat with the support of one ethnic group comfortably. It is no surprise that voters there are most dissatisfied. The winners just continue to make silly parody videos and loser lost by such a large margin, they would have lost all hope of regaining the seat. Neither winner nor loser will provide any substantial form of service or representation in Parliament further compounding to their dissatisfaction and problems.
BN must also remember that we cannot be chauvinistic just to win Penang or Kelantan. As the ruling coalition in federal government, we need to able to balance the needs of everyone in the country including those in Sabah and Sarawak. By yesterday’s voting, the clear winners of the by-elections are the voters of Sg. Besar and Kuala Kangsar. Both Budiman and Datin Mastura will be sensitive to the needs of every ethnic group to maintain their incumbency and the losing parties will still continue to press on in the hopes of getting that slight swing to win the seats. The voters there will enjoy the best from both sides for the next two years.
