The P036 Kuala Terengganu by-election post-mortem

In the aftermath of the Parliamentary by-election in Kuala Terengganu yesterday, I'm sure many political analysts and experts will be offering their analysis, opinion or post-mortem on the election. While I'm no political expert myself, I do have my own opinion to offer on the by-election.

What BN did wrong:

Like always, they used the mainstream media (TV, radio, papers) to churn out government propaganda and demonize Pakatan Rakyat. While this might work in the 70s or the 80s, people nowadays doesn't buy those crap anymore. They have the Internet and numerous other new media to choose from and they can make their own mind themselves thank you.

Scare tactics also have no place post 0308. UMNO through their running dog MCA tried to scare off the non-muslims (especially the chinese voters) about Hudud which is a non-issue in the first place. Even if Hudud ever get implemented on federal level it won't involve non-muslims so what's all the fuss about? Besides, Lim Guang Eng and other PR leaders came to the consensus a few days before the election that every decision they make in the future will require approval from all 3 parties involved (PKR, PAS, DAP) or they will be no go. It's as simple as that.

Harassment and intimidation by using the police force. 8000 police personnel for one by-election? They'd be better off catching real crooks if you ask me. The authorities also gave the Opposition a hard time during the campaigning period by coming up with 1001 excuse for not issuing permits to them and even gone as far as stopping PR campaigners from going round with a large TV mounted on a truck. The locals didn't feel too comfortable with so many police presences and they especially frown those big wig federal leaders who came with their blacked out, big shiny cars complete with police escort causing unnecessary traffic jams for the locals.

Wan Farid is simply the wrong candidate with so much baggage and negative perception. People say he's involved with the police shooting civilians incident in Batu Burok. Rumours has it his brother pocketed millions of the oil royalty money through projects such as the monsoon cup. Let's not even go about Wan Mokhtar, the former Terengganu Menteri Besar. People see Wan Farid as Abdullah's man and a victory for him is seen as a victory for Pak Lah. And the perception that he's snobbish and arrogant didn't help either.

Anwar's character assasination by Ezam totally backfired for UMNO. So what if he tried to make peace with TDM? That's like 10 years ago, ancient news already. It seems they accepted his return to UMNO just to badmouth Anwar. I think he should totally stop campaigning for UMNO in any election, period. He's a liablity rather than an asset.

Rampant bribery and corruption. RM 70 million worth of contract in lucky draw fashion to class F contractors? RM 12 million for the chinese community? RM 3 million for KT Chung Hwa Wei Sin (C) school? Why now? Why only during an election? Progress and development is the responsibility of the ruling government for all the people regardless of their political affiliation. And I thought we're in for a recession this year? And yet the BN government is splurging and spending hundred of millions for Kuala Terengganu alone like there's no tomorrow. The rest of the country not important meh? And hello, MACC what are you doing about this? Makan gaji buta ke?

RM300 to RM1000 for vote buying. Only this time the BN goons gets a little bit smarter. They require proof before they hand out the money. So the people thought, why bother.

Disunity and factions in UMNO Terengganu. There's the current MB Ahmad Said camp who's out to prove that he's the head honcho in the state right now. Then there's the former MB Idris Jusoh camp whose out to sabotage the Ahmad Said camp. Also although there's numerous UMNO leaders from all over the country down there in KT seemingly in show of support for the candidate when the reality is they're down there campaigning for the March's UMNO elections. You think they actually care about the KT by-election? It's every men for themselves. MCA meanwhile is a totally lost cause. They can't even see their top two leaders working together or see eye to eye so how the hell can they convince the chinese people to vote for BN? That said, BN's showering of love and care for the chinese had somewhat backfired for the malay votes. While the chinese could sometimes be the kingmaker they forget the malays is still the majority in this by-election.


What PR did right:

Pakatan Rakyat's focus and show of unity for the KT by-election. Isn't it heart-warming to see Teresa Kok campaigning for the PAS candidate, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz speaking at a DAP function and other PR leaders working together in spite of their differences? Yes they may have their differences but at least they're prepared to sit together and find an amicable solution unlike those component parties in BN who has no say on whatever and always pressed under UMNO's thumb. Okay maybe Karpal Singh is a little bit paranoid about Hudud but I won't worry too much about him. I mean he's ancient already and I'm praying that he'll step down or retire sooner or later and give way to somebody more sensible in DAP. (No offence unlce but you're like the sore thumb sticking out in Pakatan Rakyat).

The BN camp was elated at first when they heard PAS announced him as candidate. They say he's an easy nut to crack that he's a nobody and the KT by-election is a done deal. Oh how wrong they were. PAS couldn't field a more suitable candidate than Hj Abdul Wahid Endot. With his squeaky clean image and impeccable record as 5 terms state assemblyman, the BN camp had hard time trying to find his achille's heel. And yes we all know there exist the Erdogan and the Ulamak faction in PAS but unlike their UMNO counterparts, the people in PAS set aside their differences and work together as a team from the grassroots level up to the top leaders towards a common goal, to win the KT by-election. And while BN members worship tenders and money, PAS people actually have a God to worship and fear to.

We all know that most prominent Bloggers (RPK, Haris Ibrahim, Bernard Khoo) are all on the Opposition bench. They've been working tirelessly whether at home or up in KT canvassing votes for Pakatan Rakyat since day 1. RPK himself is immensely popular with the locals and also the outsiders who returned to vote and you can say he contributed a lot for the PR cause. Also studies have shown that 60% of young voters aged between 21 and 39 years old are IT savvy and Internet literate and have an inclination to support the Opposition cause. They certainly didn't buy all those BS spewed by the media every day.

Terengganu MCA did a lousy job canvassing the chinese vote in KT. Time and again they've used the age old Hudud scare tactic which has become a non-issue in this election. The chines have settled in Terengganu for over 200 years and yet they're still living on TOL land which requires renewal every year. The MCA tried to intimidate them by playing on this TOL renewal issue but obviously it didn't work this time. They know that the Perak government is giving away permanent land titles for the chinese there and how the federal government (read BN) is trying their very best to frustrate the move.

Pakatan Rakyat campaigners would not hesitate to voluntarily fork out their own money, resources, time and energy for their cause unlike those in BN who wouldn't move an inch without being paid first or at least being promised rewards for their effort. Is it any wonder that which party succeeded at the end of the day?

The Anwar factor still plays a major role in the KT by-election. The Opposition leader is hugely popular among the locals, leading to packed ceramahs wherever he goes. Despite his failure to make 16 September a reality, his ideas still sells and people still looks up to him as a national leader, a worthy alternative against BN.

While BN splurges money and rewards or propagate hate and fear, their PR counterpart spreads the message of love and equality. Anwar once said ""Anak Melayu, anak saya. Anak Cina, anak saya. Anak India, anak saya. Anak Iban, anak saya. Anak Kadazan, anak saya" while Tuan Guru Nik Aziz famously quote that we are all sons of Adam therefore we are all equals.

Maybe Malaysians simply don't want Najib as their next premier? With all his (and Rosmah's) excess baggage and questionable dealings? PAS victory as a vote of no confidence for him? Enough said.



Shortly after the result of the KT by-election was known last night, you can hear Najib saying that the rakyat had send BN another message and they will do a post mortem on this result and find ways to attend to the people's wish? Well look no further dude, I've listed them all here for you. But knowing UMNO like they do, they'll probably blame it on everybody else except for themselves. Argh, no point really. BN and UMNO had reached their expiry date on March last year. There's no room for raced-based politics. No place for fear-mongering and intimidation no more. The political tsunami of 803 is going still going strong. If PR keeps this up, there's a huge possibility that they can win the next Sarawak state elections (not so far now) and kick out BN for good. The people has spoken and the message is loud and clear, they wanted change.