Of Malaysia’s Upcoming General Elections
Finally, after months of speculation, Raja Petra of Malaysia-Today was proven right again in his uncanny predictions and Malaysians are going into an election on the 8th of March. As usual, the chickeny BN headed by PM Abdullah has made a mockery out of democracy by announcing only a 13-day campaigning period. PM Abdullah has also showed that despite all of his party’s bravado talk, they are actually still worried about Anwar Ibrahim’s participation in the elections and hence the reason for Abdullah calling the election a month before Anwar is eligible to contest in it. Pathetic. I mean, even though I’m an Opposition supporter, after his Ijok by-election defeat, if I were the PM I would have tried putting the nails in his coffin by calling for the election in April. Instead, Abdullah chickened out. Does BN know something about the voters’ mood that I don’t?
My predictions for this election is that it is the Opposition’s wet dream. Without a doubt, DAP will have its best results in recent memory. Not sure whether it can top its record best haul since gerrymandering has reduced many of its former strongholds of old. But I’m sure it will still get its best result in its past 4 GE performances. I think it will rout Gerakan in Penang for the parliamentary seats, and hopefully make some inroads in state seats (which Penangites have always been reluctant to give to Oppositions for fear of not getting any funds and infrastructure in their areas). DAP should also do well in the urban seats of Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Perak. But there’s no pretending that DAP is concentrating all its resources on Penang, and as a former Penangite I damn well hope it will oust Gerakan out from the two houses.
PAS will basically just do what it did in 1999, in that it would try to increase its majority in Kelantan and reclaim Terengganu. I don’t think it would be able to expand into Kedah though, despite what their head honcho has stated. PAS will serve as a great reminder to BN that it doesn’t have a monopoly on all the states and all the Malay vote. So keep it up PAS.
But ultimately, both DAP and PAS are only serving as flank attacks for the Opposition Front against BN. The most important thrust falls on PKR to execute. PKR HAS to take on as many UMNO Malay-majority seats as it can afford, and WIN them. Seize BN’s heartlands, this is the only way towards power. There are no other alternatives. PKR aims to help DAP seize Penang by concentrating on Seberang Prai while DAP work on the island proper. The same partnership seems to be materialising between those two parties in Sabah, with PKR acting as the senior partner in that state instead. I say instead of PAS, PKR should be the party to try and take Kedah, since Kedah is a more multiracial and multireligious state compared to Kelantan or Terrenganu. PKR should concentrate on making inroads on all mixed states such as Kedah, Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka, and for God’s sake, JOHOR! Wtf is wrong with those damn stupid Johoreans man?? I’ve lived in Johor for 7 years, and I could not believe that no seats have EVER been lost to the Opposition before 2004! And in 04 that was only because the BN candidate disqualified himself due to a technicality. Even when considering racial/religious divide politics, it was and still is inconceivable to me how seats like Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi, Muar, Batu Pahat, etc is not being attempted by DAP or PKR. These seats are so Chinese-orientated they make Penang look like an Anglo state. Chinese-educated Chinese there makes the overwhelming majority in those seats. I should know since as a national-ed guy I was more of an endangered species in my JB high school than the white rhino. But since Johor as a whole is still more Malay-dominated, I feel this state is perfect for PKR to work on, instead of PAS.
Let’s all hope BN gets a good hiding soon. And make BN lose their 2/3rd’s majority. Onwards Opposition!
