MANEK URAI, July 14 — Despite throwing everything including the kitchen sink at PAS, Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) still came up short in today’s Manek Urai by-election.
From the get-go there were many things in BN’s favour.
PAS was wracked by infighting between the so-called Erdogans who were backed by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the ulama faction of party president Hadi Awang.
The signs became even more favourable last week when the independent Merdeka Centre poll showed that Datuk Seri Najib Razak now had a 65 per cent approval rating as prime minister.
A recent change in Umno leadership in Kelantan, from Annuar Musa to Mustapa Mohamad – also suggested a rejuvenated state machinery.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties appeared to be also distracted by their own very public disagreements – from pig abattoirs in Kedah to the PAS flirtation with Umno.
The PR icon Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also facing his sodomy charge in court.
But perhaps the clear lesson to be learned in this by-election is reserved for PR and PAS.
And that is in today’s fluid political landscape, no party can waltz into a by-election expecting an easy win.
As late as 4pm today, before voting had even closed, PAS officials were already declaring a big win for the party.
A 2,000 vote majority was claimed.
Newly-elected PAS state assemblyman Mohd Fauzi Abdullah (aka Abe Uji) being hoisted up in jubilance just outside the tallying centre in Kuala Krai. - Picture by Danny Lim
In the end the margin was a mere 65 votes.
Another lesson to be drawn from the tiny majority is the fact that if PR wants to be taken seriously as a real alternative to BN, it will have to come up soon with a common platform and policies.
The recent squabbling has had an effect on how voters perceive the federal opposition alliance.
Umno and BN under Najib is no longer the same as Umno and BN under Tun Abdullah Badawi.
PR leaders will have to learn not to walk with the kind of swagger they had been displaying in previous by-elections.
In this round BN picked a fight with a Kelantan icon – Nik Aziz – and lost.
Calling him names and disparaging him during the campaign only led to a higher turnout of more than 1,300 outstation voters.
There is little doubt that the outstation votes saved the day for PAS.
But just as BN received a bloody nose in last year’s general elections, PAS and PR also got a bruising and escaped by the skin of their teeth.
PAS has retained the Manek Urai state seat by a wafer-thin margin of 65, or 0.61 per cent of votes cast, despite earlier predictions of a thumping win for the Islamist party.
PAS polled 5,348 against Umno’s 5,283.
Last year the party defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) by 1,352 votes.
The close win showed PAS had just managed to fend off an onslaught from the BN and Umno machinery bent on taking full advantage of schisms in the Islamist party and among its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners.
Commenting on the narrow margin, Datuk Husam Musa accused BN of vote buying during the by-election campaign.
“I am very proud of the Manek Urai voters who have shown their strength in resisting BN’s offers,” he told reporters at the counting centre.
He claimed that money was distributed to the voters on the eve of polling day.
On PAS’s defeat in two polling districts – Manek Urai Baru and Lama – where BN has promised to build a new bridge to replace an old single lane bridge, Husam said: “Now BN has to build the bridge.”
He added that the result would not affect Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s leadership in the state.
PAS candidate Fauzi Abdullah said he would serve all his constituents equally.
Meanwhile Election Commission chief Tan Sri Aziz Yusof said there was no need for a recount despite the small margin.
“There was no recount, it can only be done if the margin is less than four per cent at the polling stream level, not the total,” Aziz told reporters.
He said BN was welcomed to challenge the results.
Tonight’s results will help strengthen Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s position in the Islamist party against rival factions who are keen on working more closely with Umno.
Umno had been hoping for a win today to give BN a boost by winning its first by-election in the peninsula since last year’s general elections.
Bolstered by a recent opinion poll showing an improved approval rating for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Umno had wanted to make the Manek Urai vote a major turning point in its quest to regain lost ground from a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wracked by major infighting.
Tonight’s win for PAS will give PR some breathing space as it attempts to consolidate after a month which saw the alliance partners openly squabbling with each other over various issues.
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