By Syed Jaymal Zahiid | The Malaysian Insider
APRIL 26 — It was rather anticipated that Barisan Nasional would snatch the Hulu Selangor seat yesterday from right under Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) nose and without giving too much credit to the former, two factors contributed to this somewhat predestined outcome.
First, the notoriously poor and inefficient machinery. The second is the candidate factor itself.
PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim lost to MIC information chief P. Kamalananthan by a 1,725-vote majority. The former law minister garnered 23,272 votes while his opponent, a public relations practitioner whose qualifications were subject to tactical scrutiny by Zaid and Co, bagged 24,997 votes.
Yes, there were strong intrinsic statistical factors that led to Zaid’s loss as reflected by past voting patterns. After all, the sizeable constituency of 64,500 eligible voters has been opposition-proof up until the unpopular Datuk G. Palanivel, a four-term incumbent, was dethroned in Election 2008.
But let us not allow this factor give PKR the convenience of an excuse.
In politics, no fight is impossible to win. Did the opposition not prove this axiom right when boasting of its unprecedented success in Election 2008?
In his short and simple tweet, Klang DAP MP Charles Santiago noted that Pakatan (what he intended to say is PKR, I presume) had lost out to its rivals in the machinery battle. Now exclude the “money” and the “intimidation” part, without devaluing its merits, the veracity of the Santiago’s concise assessment on Pakatan’s defeat hit the bull’s eye.
Anyone on the ground throughout PR’s eight-day campaigning trail would, without a doubt, concur.
PKR’s Hulu Selangor election machinery was phenomenally hopeless. It was frayed, uninspiring, shoddy. Too many “egos” were involved. To be straightforward without revealing too much, there were “three” egos involved.
Ground reports and observation showed PKR’s machinery was slow to move. Complaints were ever loud of how campaign materials arrived only after the third day of campaigning.
They lacked co-ordination. The string-pullers on the ground were too busy busting and nurturing their local image as low-level leaders and instead of co-operating, they engaged in a popularity contest among themselves. The PKR machinery was divided into many camps. This paralysed them.
And it is no exaggeration to say that PKR campaigners were arrogant. They refused to work hand in hand with their PAS and DAP counterparts. If there was any collaboration at all, it was half-baked.
It may be of superficial value, but the fact that PKR and PAS had two polling stands erected just 10 metres from each other is testament to the lack of co-operation. To add insult to injury, PKR accused PAS of sabotage for its own weaknesses.
This proved to be fatal for Pakatan amid an uphill battle to win the Malay voters of Hulu Selangor, the majority of the electorate there. Their votes were pivotal for victory as proven by BN’s less than convincing triumph.
The only party that had made inroads in the Felda settlements, a known Umno fortress, is PAS and yet PKR had failed to use it to the fullest, preferring to be snobbish.
And what of the candidate? Zaid is not and will never be a Hulu Selangor guy.
Being local would have mattered but it would not help in influencing the by-election’s outcome. What would have mattered was Zaid’s manner when engaging the Malays. It was deplorable to say the least.
He lacked the “grassroots language”. When meeting the Malay voters, he did not walk but rode in his expensive four wheel-drive and stopped only briefly to shake their hands. Even that seemed half-hearted.
He did not ask them what their problems were, how their families were doing, have teh tarik with them, talk about their pets. All this may seem petty to the urban voters but to the rural folks, it matters.
Pakatan leaders may lament such an analysis is trivial and that a “national cause” beckons, leaving no space for petty emotions. But for the rural voters, they don’t care about the Westminster court system or Scorpene submarines.
What they want is a leader who can talk to them, to like what they like, someone who puts himself on par and not come out of nowhere and thinks he’s above them and start asking them for votes. If you cannot do this then what kind of leader are you.
One can’t help but think about the outcome in Hulu Selangor if Zaid had put his heart into charming the Malay voters; it could have made a major difference to the by-election’s result.
But not all is lost here. The silver lining of this defeat is that it will force PKR leaders to lower their heads, to realise that they have their heads too high up in the clouds of Putrajaya, that they have lost touch with the ground.
A bit of humility, PKR, goes a long way.
in other words Zaid would have been more suitable in a city seat rather than a rural constituency. Too sophisticated for the rural folks and he did not connect with them. I guess PKR should learn a few lessons from this exercise.
PKR campaigners were arrogant? Zaid’s aloofness in his expensive four wheel-drive compared to Kamalanathan? Or BN’s invincible machinery and pouring in RM100 million? Najib there personally? Resurgence of Ketuanan and Perkasa’s influence? Undoubtedly all these have a part to play in PR’s loss but they are likely not so significant or pivotal.
After all the swing vote of 5% of malay voters back to UMNO had been predicted by PR’s Perak MB Mohammad Nizar sometime back. And BN’s throwing money to buy-election is not new or the first time …It happens every time ; it also took place in 308! It has nothing to do with 1 Malaysia theme being attractive. for the Chinese voters were not attracted.
1725 votes majority or BN means that had there being a swing of 865 votes the other way for PR, Zaid would have won instead!
Had HINDRAF and HRP given whole hearted support to galvanise Indian votes for PR, that 865 votes or more would have gone to PR and Zaid would have won.
Instead HINDRAF and HRP who could influence Indian votes stayed neutral.
HINDRAF’s Founding member V.K. Regu said before the by election: that it decided against nominating/ supporting any side as both the main contesting parties have given assurances that the problems of the poor Indians
would be addressed. “Also, we are quite happy with the government’s 1Malaysia affirmative action on creating
equal opportunities for all,” he said.
“Besides, we feel the real battle is between BN and Pakatan and we do not want to get in the way, and split the votes.”
Representing 48 Indian based non-governmental organisations, Hindraf
wanted to make this point to PR: “To us Indian issues are paramount. To PR and DAP in particular, remember you disappoint us
on the ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, George Town issue..You have failed to protect Kampung Buah Pala, the only Tamil urban village left in Penang today which could have been a living cultural heritage. Now you pay the price. If our demands are not met – without our support, and Indian votes – you PR, especially DAP
cannot dream of winning the next General Election – and the proof is in Hulu Selangor
by election!…Hulu Selangor is to let us flex our muscle to show how we could tip the balance: so whether you are PR or BN take heed of our needs and demands if you know what’s good for you”.
PR lost because HINDRAF and HRP want to leverage on Indian issues and make a point to both BN & PR of their importance!
The so called neutral stance was bad enough. In the context of BN putting a MIC candidate, neutral in such a case means a vote for BN/MIC!
BN strategists read the situation accurately. they fielded an Indian candidate (Kamalanathan) from MIC instead of UMNO’s own Mike Tyson. BN accurately read that it was the Indian votes that would tip the balance on who won!
I think rural malays’re more homogeneous and not well expose to outside their circle from this modern world.Yet they’ve being inculcated by this umnoputras’s ketuanan melayu and islam factors from before.The overall social education system in malaysia had not been layed well from earlier foundation.Still can be said a shallow thinking society of bolehland.
///So why did PKR lose in Hulu Selangor?///
Because Najib had turned the by-election into a BUY-ELECTION.
Without the splashing of cash, Zaid would have won the election.
Important lesson here…appropriate candidate for the appropriate constituency. Otherwise be prepared to die..
Very true Uncle Lim.
As you were more involve with this by-election, I believe it is good take a note of what you are saying. This is the first analysis which nobody dares to say, the candidate itself is one of the factor why PKR lost.
Everybody is praising Zaid Ibrahim, but you got a point there. Compared to Zaid Ibrahim, the BN candidate of Kamalanathan is seen and portrayed as a humble and nice guy as early as the campaign begun. I agree with that, and for the egos you mention, you know more than me because I’m not really involved with the Pakatan campaign machinery. I’m just a bench-sitter.
Many of us r arm chair critics n C things in one dimension
We don’t know much compared 2 ppl on d ground
PR may hv many justified reasons 2 replace BN 2 lead d nation
But talk is cheap n talk must b translated into votes
UmnoB n BN r seasonal crooks dat know how 2 twist, cheat, bribe, buy, n scare voters 2 vote 4 them
PR got 2 reflect on their failures, improve on their cooperation as an entity
Otherwise, instead of victory in the next GE, PR may b voted out n become irrelevant
That’s not LKS message….’by master” writer.
LKS posted what a journalist from
“Malaysia Insider” had observed and he spoke out his opinions.
Lets hope he is right…but when you loose…there are always so much to talk about.
Anwar and Tian Chua are no fools. If that were happening…they can see them clearly too and rectify that immediately.
I think Zaid Ibrahim can take all sorts of criticisms….being an open minded person and in private business with his law firm….noted to be the most successful law firm in Malaysia…..the only one allowed to open an office in Australia too. Although he has resigned from all positions in his law firm…it is still his.
How can such a successful man did all those idiotic things.. put by Syed Jaymal Zahid?
Is there a hidden agenda to it?
Anyway …it’s over and lets look forward to Sibu.
Whatever the criticism, if it is not destructive but has even a morsel of truth or value-adding in it should be taken in the right spirit to bolster future campaigns.
What analysis we have here does not claim to be either exhaustive or the final version of truth. In any political melee, there is bound to be different perceptions depending on where one is standing and their vantage point whether it be a bird’s eye-view or that of rose-tinted spectacles.
So Syed, thaks for yr views. PKR will definitely strive to do beter the next time.
that’s why the government paid APCO RM70mil – to improve its tattered public image.
For the less sophisticated folks in the rural areas, if the candidate does not get his hands dirty doing the chores they do every day – for example in HS like helping the rubber tapper check the weight of the latex collected, it may be perceived that one REALLY cares about his daily problems.
In PR(public relations) it is the perception that is really important.
Let put it as simple as I can. PR did not lose. PKR did not lose. Zaid did not lose. The nation is the big loser and will pay for it.
It is too late. Najib has lost control of himself, UMNO, BN and the nation direction. We will all pay big time.
This writer from Insider writes as though he really knows what he is talking about – which is complete bullsh!t. Zaid was never complacent – he campaigned like he never campaigned before (under BN in Kelantan) but he could not swing the few hundred votes from the Felda settlers. BN had these locked up with monetary inducements that valued their land at a whopping RM160k per acre…and the state government could not do anything since Felda is a federal entity.
Then BN brought in the doom merchants Mamakthir and Ibrahim Katak, which spread the news that BN would be the only party which could protect the rights of the Malays through the NEM, whereas PR were seeking to kill the NEM/NEP. That was enough to swing a few hundred votes from the insecure Malays.
In my opinion, Zaid put up a good fight and to lose by 1,725 votes from a total of 50,000 votes is enough proof that we can push these thieves all the way. If it was the other way – that BN had scored a huge victory – then Najis would have called a snap election by now.
“If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.”
Did Altan get this warning too?
“If we get this submarine deal, you cannot come to Ampang to look for me. I won’t write a personal letter to approve the money and it won’t be transferred to your bank account. If you come, you’ll be c4ed.”
Dear Sir
We want Pakatan to win. I’m not sure if Pakatan has a central committee that lead all election campaign. It is time for Pakatan to form the committee. Also, you need to start campaigning now. I mean start campaigning at small town and kampung. Obama won because he have a strong grass root organization and he start campaigning earlier than John McCain. Lastly, don’t focus too much on ceramah. Ceramah crowd doesn’t gurantee votes!
A sinkhole so big that it could “swallow” several cars appeared on Jalan Universiti around 4.30pm yesterday – theStar
U know Y d sinkhole appeared? Ha, ha – a bad omen, after BN won in HS!
One thing I could not understand until today. You see, the selling point for BN is “money, development” and the selling point for PR is “hope and just society”. In the kampong, daily needs is a crucial issue, many could not care about “hope and just society”, they would not think for next generation if 2morow itself is an issue.
What I am saying is, ceramah to exposure unjust, ceramah to talk about hope is not going to work. Learn from MauZheDong, make the rural /farmer/workers have the sense of appreciation, attack their weakest chain, boost their pride and ego to fight money politic. MauZheDong garner support of all Chinese farmers to start off cultural revolution. He places farmers as second higher status after soldiers, and send all educated ppls to rural area to learn from farmers. But it destroy many generation after that.
I am not saying counter evil with evil, but there is a strategy to explore how to garner support at rural area, the weakest chain for PR, don’t worry much of urban area, the blogger are on autopilot now, PR is latest fashion, the young likes it. BN got money and we got hope, lets fight!
“First, the notoriously poor and inefficient machinery. The second is the candidate factor itself.”
Well, I still believe that if it had been a fair fight, PKR would still have won, despite its weaknesses. What Najib did is against what democracy is all about. Had PKR done the same thing and won, I bet EC would have charge them for election offences immediately. So much for EC’s neutrality.
In any case, I do agree that on hind sight, Zaid would have made a better candidate in an urban constituency but Dr. Halili is a no-no anywhere. He is just an opportunist. No one with principles will just hop over to his opponents just because they are not selected as a candidate. He may sulk, which is just natural, he may not cooperate, yes, but he will NEVER hope over. Just imagine what Dr. Halili would have said about UMNO if he had been selected to stand in Hulu Selangor and you will laugh till your teeth drop with your musings. Such hypocrisy!
The dilapidated 80-year old school will get RM 3 m, if Najib signs his letter, to construct new building even though the majority there prefer to keep it that way rather than to sell their soul.
Ibrahim Ali says that since the Chinese there won’t vote for BN, so BN government should not keep their promise. Ibrahim Ali would be consistent if he asked BN governmnet to return all the taxes collected from the Chinese because the governmnet cares not for Chinese and so the Chinese will have no duty to pay taxes. That applies to Indians too.
There is no way the FELDA settlers would ever vote for any other parties than the one which practised racist policy which settled them there in the first place. The talk about corruption and nepotism would not change their mind because they are the direct recipients of goodies from the racist government. Only if the children of the settlers would ever realise that with a non-racist government which did not depend on the protection of numerical strenth for their illegal pursuits would they enjoy a higher income and standard of living might there be a chance for a change. That is if the poison of PERKASA and Mamakthir had not conditioned their thought that they should be happy to suffer the low income status so long as the non-Malays suffer equally or maybe more.
Dear lyhmsia,
So do I wish PR to win almost every election, either Federal & by-election! Obama won into the White House not wholly attributed to early & strong campaigning. He won easily because most Americans were sick of Mr. Bushy’s wage for wars and disregard, or incompetent, in economic managements. Americans wanted to get Obama a trial with a totally brand new ethnic! After all, Obama is smart guy, too! Under Bushy Administration, many American companies went bankruptcy during his second term in the White House.
Technically, I do agree effective and strategic campaigns are one of winning factor. However, the political climates in our Bolehland are so corrupted where most voters could be bought off to vote BN. They are easily swindled and bought off with bunch of promises & cash, esp. those in rural and kampong folks. After the elections, even these folks realizations of enlisted BN/UMNO promises had been partially fulfilled, they still swung or hooked on BN/UMNO in the following elections.
Only recently, most of youngsters from the rural areas travel, study, work and live in the Cities, they experience and learn that BN/UMNO are the champion bullshit artists and bunch of suckers who suck off their money too! They begin to turn down BN/UMNO slowly. It is quite hard for our opposition parties to win election and form new government in our Bolehland where corruptions & cheats are enormous tactics deployed by BN/UMNO…
Conclusively, it is no way to compare our Bolehland with America (USA) where most Americans are damn assertive and liberal with maturity in their ways of thinkings and visions. Simply taking an example of legal stipulations of compulsory wearing safety helmets and safe belts in driving vehicles had been successfully challenged, fought furiously and won gloriously against the USA government in the Courts of Laws by the American public national wide. If you were to challenge against our BN/UMNO government; you would certainly end up in jails, beaten up and carry out of prisons as dead corpse without justices & etc…
Piss off bunch of suckers and mama-toppers in BN/UMNO. Our Bolehland can never achieve and enjoy as DEVELOPED Nation by 2020. It is just another form of rip-off and blur promise as to calm you down, and to buy your bodies and souls… BN/UMNO wants you keep dreaming with bunch of blur promises under its bunch of suckers and mama-toppers leading the nation, our Bolehland…
What ever it take PR still a lost to BN. But it is a wake call to all PR Leader. We might have a policy to offer to people but the implementation is not reaching to grass root. Our people is not working to promote what the state offfer to the people, To bad that all most of City councill officer does not done anything to promote state policy to offer to people. We need to act fast if we want to retain Selangor. If not we can said goof bye. Most of Cabang PKR need to be replace cause we can fix it anymore exp Hulu Selangor. I agree they are to arrogant and dollar sign people. We can’t keep this type of people anymore if we want to more forward. We need to restructure all and we need to be together as a PR not as standalone party.
Why 60-70% Indian behind BN this time compared to 40% in last GE?
Merely 800 votes from Indian voters will change the history of Hulu Selangor. This is 0.8% of Indian voters who casted their votes
Blame rural Indians stupid and influenced by money politics?
The truth is PKR and PR having denial syndrome.
If PR continues to ignore the real issues faced by Indians, you can say sayonana to Putrajaya forever.
Why 60-70% Indian behind BN this time compared to 40% in last GE?
===
I believe this statement is incorrect after I analyze some statistics of HS by-election.
Let the facts do the talking.
PR lost 5% Malay votes and PR gained 10% Chinese votes compared to GE12. This lose and and gain more or less is cancelled out.
So the king maker in the Hulu Selangor is Indian voters.
As I mentioned earlier, 800 votes will change the course of history in Hulu Selangor.
Who will bet with me that Jibby will pledge another RM3 million for a Chinese school in Sibu next month? And the macc will grin sheepishly and say that is not bribery
My earlier comments which are moderated for more than 48 hours and still continuing, postulate the cause of PKR loss in Hulu Selangor to withdrawal of HINDRAF & HRP support for PR (due to the Kampung Buah Pala issue that HINDRAF has a grouse against the PR Penang state Govt), which in turn swung the Indian votes to the BN’s side.
“Cause” in this context is anything the absence of which produces a certain effect (of say BN candidate) winning and the presence of which otherwise would have led to PR winning instead…
Zaid’s lack of common touch compared to his rival, even if true, ought to have only a marginal impact.
Further to what nkkhoo commented in # 22, it is generally acknowledged that the 12th general Election producing the political tsunami showed how HINDRAF had become a significant trigger for a major change in the course of the country since HINDRAF rally of the 25th of November.
In last Sunday By-election HINDRAF & HRP support for PKR/PR was absent! That’s the major difference. BN’s spending lots of money was not the difference: they spent like that in every by election and general election. In any case swing vote of 5% -10% of malay voters back to UMNO had been predicted by PR’s Perak MB Mohammad Nizar sometime back, esp now with Perkasa’s and other Malay NGOs agitation. (That’s probably discounted by PR!)
With 1725 votes majority on BN’s side BN would have lost had there being a swing of 865 – 1000 Indian votes the other way for PR that HINDRAF/HRP would have garnered if they had campaigned in support of PR’s Zaid instead of being indifferent as an Indian pressure group.
BN strategists read the situation accurately. they fielded an Indian candidate (Kamalanathan) from MIC instead of UMNO’s own Mike Tyson.
BN therefore accurately read that it was the Indian votes that would tip the balance on who won!
Repost – “Cause” in this context is anything the absence of which produces a certain effect (of say BN candidate) winning and the presence of which otherwise would have led to PR winning instead…
Zaid’s lack of common touch compared to his rival, even if true, ought to have only a marginal impact.
Further to what nkkhoo commented in # 22, it is generally acknowledged that the 12th general Election producing the political tsunami showed how HINDRAF had become a significant trigger for a major change in the course of the country since HINDRAF rally of the 25th of November.
In last Sunday By-election HINDRAF & HRP support for PKR/PR was absent! That’s the major difference. BN’s spending lots of money was not the difference: they spent like that in every by election and general election. In any case swing vote of 5% -10% of malay voters back to UMNO had been predicted by PR’s Perak MB Mohammad Nizar sometime back, esp now with Perkasa’s and other Malay NGOs agitation. (That’s probably discounted by PR!)
With 1725 votes majority on BN’s side BN would have lost had there being a swing of 865 – 1000 Indian votes the other way for PR that HINDRAF/HRP would have garnered if they had campaigned in support of PR’s Zaid instead of being indifferent as an Indian pressure group.
BN strategists read the situation accurately. they fielded an Indian candidate (Kamalanathan) from MIC instead of UMNO’s own Mike Tyson.
BN therefore accurately read that it was the Indian votes that would tip the balance on who won!
By the way am I being moderated here by reason of my mention of the grouse of HINDRAF regarding B P issue???
Let put it as simple as I can. PR did not lose. PKR did not lose. Zaid did not lose. The nation is the big loser and will pay for it.////bigjoe.
Frankly speaking in a competition sport or politic,a lost is a lost,and you cannot blame others or default the nation. I think it’s best the loser and his supporters accepted it and get away with it and should start thinking positively to looking forward to the next battle. In politic an initial lost is nothing,but a new beginning to be more positive and smarter to achieve future success. Remember Abraham Lincoln,who lost several times before he became the president of USA.
“Remember Abraham Lincoln,who lost several times before he became the president of USA.”, frankyapp
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong” Abraham Lincoln
PR, PR supporters, DSAI, Dato Zaid, LKS & etc…, we have another damn big-big fight coming up around 2012 or earlier… Yes, damn big!!
Human life is bound to “loose something and gain something; but we are going to win something big & glorious soon…”
Syed Jaymal Zahiid, I think you should consider changing your profession. You asked stupid question and you gave moronic answers. I wrote this piece one day before the Hulu Selangor by election, posted here in the earlier thread. Insider should engage me to write instead.
A hopeless nation
PR should have won Hulu Selangor effortlessly
But this is not to be
They have to fight like crazy
We the people are ignorant, stupid and greedy
Ask TBH’s parents and wife (and his child) where the justice is
Ask PKFZ who have taken all the money
We the stupid people only interested in small corrupted money
Never mind we could all help to build a nation we want to be
We have no sense of justice
We tolerate daylight and blatant robbery
Ask “latuk” hee hee hee where her principle is
Ask the two other katak where their conscience is
Ask who was the submarine commission intermediary
Ask why Atantuya’s death remains a misery
Ask why we have endless sodomy
Ask the administration of justice
Ask the performance of our police
Who has allowed all these?
Why is it that we can’t see?
We are stupid, may be
We are ignorant, also may be
We are spineless and have no sense of justice, also may be
We are greedy, definitely
So we deserve the BN government and let it be
Bury our heads in the sand we shall be
This article is BS. Zaid Ibrahim did work hard and was never complacent. Maybe the problem was that he probably couldn’t connect so well with rural voters. But then again, Zaid is but one man. How many chats and teh tariks can he have in a day with the people? Would that have made a significant difference? Where were the rest of the PR men that were supposed to work the ground?
Rural voters are not so interested in National issues and issues on corruption or that mongolian model or that man who jumped from the MACC office. Rural voters want to know what tangible benefits can you offer them.
And the sad part is, since Hulu Selangor was part of PR ruled Selangor, PR should have at least been able to show and offer something tangible to the voters. But it wasn’t able to.
The lack of progress in Selangor is frustrating to many PR supporters. Instead of being able to proudly point to the achievements of PR in Selangor, PR supporters have to instead come up with weak excuses for the Selangor govt. such as: it’s only 2 years, the state govt. can only do so much etc..
Contrast this to the Penang govt, that is able to boast an amazing turnaround of the finances of it Municipal Councils after just 2 years.
#19 nkkhoo,
I do not disagree with you totally but PR is for everyone true to its main principle of equalness and hope to its’s people of this nation.Race issue is not the main agenda.Everyone will get his/her bite if fair game is practiced.Let our generations to fight/grow in strenght in the real battle field to become a successful persons that with we can truely be proud of.Outside word would never look up on our nation success based on race rates/majority.Otherwise in their perception we’ll be like ketuanan melayu,china,india ect that help this poor certain community.A laughing stock,right?Correct me if i’m wrong,anyone?
MACC dare not even take actions against that 2 lame froggies from Perak and how can the rakyat expect them to take actions against Mr C4, ooppps..sorry the PM. If they do, they will all die standing, literally. The very first day it was created by that sleepy flip flop lame duck guy, it was doom for failure. With so so many obvious cases that involve corruptions and murder to name a few, they just dont have the guts or just turn a blind eye.
PKR lost, but no big deal. The voters of U. Selangor at least got milllions$$$$$$$$$ provided those rich rich politicians and their cronies kept their promises.
As a matter of fact, they should thank our great ZAID for those $millionssssssss.
PKR will bounce back much much stronger.
JUST WAIT N SEE.
You people from Pakatan Rakyat should know that Felda Oil Palm Plantation Settlers are the traditional hardcore supporters of Barisan Nasional since those settlers were being bestowed with a piece of agricultural land (about 10 acres or 8 acres each) by the Barisan Nasional Government in the past. Those Felda settlers are BN’s thanksgivers.
Since Pakatan Rakyat is controlling Selangor State Government now, why don’t the Selangor MB just raises the property tax or quit rent on the lands being held by Felda settlers? There is no point showing too much unfruitful mercy upon the stiff-necked settlers who will never appreciate the kindnesses of Pakatan Rakyat since their brains have already been poisoned by the goodies and candies being offered by Barisan Nasional. Therefore, it will be too wise to tax those ungrateful settlers more in order to amass some cash for distribution to the needies and landless people who live in abject poverty. So long as there is RM100 cash being distributed to each of those people who struggle in abject poverty, the wonderful grace of Pakatan Rakyat will be felt by the people.
Please don’t keep bogged down on the argument of money politics for there will be no politics which can go on without involving with some decision making on the government spending, be it the State Government Spending or the Federal Government Spending!
In the United States, the Supreme Court tries to suppress the scale of the money politics by limiting the amount of money which a particular election candidate can spend. Since Malaysia is still a prematured nation in terms of imposing checks-and-balances on money politics, it will be much more advisable for Pakatan Rakyat to live by the unwritten rules of money politics. If Pakatan Rakyat State Government refuses to show its grace to the potential voters even if it can afford to show grace, how do we expect Pakatan Rakyat candidate to win in any by-election or in the next General Election?