The surprising thing about yesterday’s Permatang Pasir by-election isn’t PAS retaining the seat or its scale of victory
The surprising thing was Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Rohaizat Othman’s disappointment at the lack of Chinese votes for him.
“I am saddened by the fact that the Chinese community here have failed to fulfill their vows of support.,” Rohaizat said when results were announced, adding they failed to understand BN’s concept of development.
Despite being portrayed as a hardline Islamist party, PAS won in all Chinese dominated areas in the seat — Sama Gagah, Cross Street and Permatang Pauh — thumping Umno with clear majorities.
Rohaizat and his Umno colleagues should not be surprised that the Chinese are not voting for them. They belong to a party that has ratcheted racialist rhetoric over the past few months, focusing on the Malay vote bank over all others.
The Umno-dominated BN remains a shell of an idea with other component parties in the Malay peninsula fraying with internal strife and unable to put a stout defence of a coalition that gives lip-service to the 1 Malaysia mantra of chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
BN’s campaigning materials depicted had PAS as an extremist group; focusing on Chinese-sensitive issues like the pig abattoir closure in Kedah and beer sales in Selangor to regain much of the lost Chinese votes that went to Pakatan Rakyat in last year’s general election
On the other hand, they have painted PAS as a puppet of the DAP, which rules Penang with PKR, asking the Malays to unite under Umno — be it directly or obliquely through its media — to fight off unreasonable claims by other citizens of the country.
Such schizophrenia has even led the Umno-controlled Utusan Malaysia to finally bring out the knives and start the finger-pointing today with columnist Noraini Abdul Razak blaming the loss on a lack of new ideas and strategies and failure to learn lessons from past defeats.
Her recriminations came too late for Umno although she noted what analysts have been saying, that the Malay party shot itself in the foot with a scandal-hit candidate and had no strategies to win over an electorate that is stubbornly pro-opposition.
Yes, Umno stuck to the trite and tested, using strategies and rhetoric that has led to six straight defeats in peninsular Malaysia since Election 2008. Its only win was in keeping Batang Ai and sitting out of a sure defeat in Penanti.
All that has just proven the Malay vote is split and Umno will have to win the non-Malay vote to succeed in any further by-elections, be it alone or with its allies within the Barisan Nasional. Painting its political rivals as anti-Islam, puppets or hardline Islamist parties will not do it any good or allow it to take away the Chinese and other non-Malay votes.
There must be substance and sincerity in its campaigning otherwise Malaysians will continue to disregard it and vote for its rivals.
Promises of development will not do it anymore, as most of the by-elections have proved.
As Utusan’s Noraini puts it eloquently, this is Umno’s last chance to learn. Umno has to learn its lessons and put it to good use if its to gain support from the non-Malays.
Otherwise, Malaysia will see more racialist rhetoric and Rohaizats out there losing it for Umno.
MI
26/08/09
The surprising thing was Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Rohaizat Othman’s disappointment at the lack of Chinese votes for him.
“I am saddened by the fact that the Chinese community here have failed to fulfill their vows of support.,” Rohaizat said when results were announced, adding they failed to understand BN’s concept of development.
Despite being portrayed as a hardline Islamist party, PAS won in all Chinese dominated areas in the seat — Sama Gagah, Cross Street and Permatang Pauh — thumping Umno with clear majorities.
Rohaizat and his Umno colleagues should not be surprised that the Chinese are not voting for them. They belong to a party that has ratcheted racialist rhetoric over the past few months, focusing on the Malay vote bank over all others.
The Umno-dominated BN remains a shell of an idea with other component parties in the Malay peninsula fraying with internal strife and unable to put a stout defence of a coalition that gives lip-service to the 1 Malaysia mantra of chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
BN’s campaigning materials depicted had PAS as an extremist group; focusing on Chinese-sensitive issues like the pig abattoir closure in Kedah and beer sales in Selangor to regain much of the lost Chinese votes that went to Pakatan Rakyat in last year’s general election
On the other hand, they have painted PAS as a puppet of the DAP, which rules Penang with PKR, asking the Malays to unite under Umno — be it directly or obliquely through its media — to fight off unreasonable claims by other citizens of the country.
Such schizophrenia has even led the Umno-controlled Utusan Malaysia to finally bring out the knives and start the finger-pointing today with columnist Noraini Abdul Razak blaming the loss on a lack of new ideas and strategies and failure to learn lessons from past defeats.
Her recriminations came too late for Umno although she noted what analysts have been saying, that the Malay party shot itself in the foot with a scandal-hit candidate and had no strategies to win over an electorate that is stubbornly pro-opposition.
Yes, Umno stuck to the trite and tested, using strategies and rhetoric that has led to six straight defeats in peninsular Malaysia since Election 2008. Its only win was in keeping Batang Ai and sitting out of a sure defeat in Penanti.
All that has just proven the Malay vote is split and Umno will have to win the non-Malay vote to succeed in any further by-elections, be it alone or with its allies within the Barisan Nasional. Painting its political rivals as anti-Islam, puppets or hardline Islamist parties will not do it any good or allow it to take away the Chinese and other non-Malay votes.
There must be substance and sincerity in its campaigning otherwise Malaysians will continue to disregard it and vote for its rivals.
Promises of development will not do it anymore, as most of the by-elections have proved.
As Utusan’s Noraini puts it eloquently, this is Umno’s last chance to learn. Umno has to learn its lessons and put it to good use if its to gain support from the non-Malays.
Otherwise, Malaysia will see more racialist rhetoric and Rohaizats out there losing it for Umno.
MI
26/08/09
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