Triumphant “Bossku effect” lifts PN’s hope on its very own “Abah wave”
Murray Hunter, Focus Malaysia
IF THERE is one thing that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be wary of in the unity government’s quest to clamp down on crooks that have drained the nation’s coffers, it is the “Bossku effect” that has portrayed now-incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a national hero rather than a villain.
To put such reality in the current context, charging more corrupt Perikatan Nasional (PN) key leaders before the state polls could backfire at best, instead of the common assumption that the effect would be greater in discrediting the entire PN coalition.
“We saw the ‘Bossku effect’ with Najib during past election campaigns. People came out to see him like an anti-hero. They were attracted to him as a curiosity, a politically persecuted man or a crook,” observed ‘expatriate’ political commentator Murray Hunter.
“However, whatever this attraction was, it seemed to translate into votes for UMNO in Johor last year. Muhyiddin and company may go to the campaign claiming political persecution. If they can capture this ‘Bossku effect’, the charges against Muhyiddin and company could politically backfire upon parties in the unity government.”
Hunter who is familiar with the Malaysian political scene further noted that this could be very much the case among many of the Malay communities, which may potentially play a major factor in the coming elections.
