Pakatan scoffs at BN's slogan change

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 14 - Barisan Nasional's (BN) decision to become more aggressive in its campaign for the Kuala Terengganu seat just four days before the polling day has begun to attract attention, but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) officials described it as a sign the ruling coalition was trailing in the race. New posters with the words 'Pas Kluk Klek' have been put up across town here, in an effort to label the PR component member a 'flip-flop' party.

BN election director Datuk Seri Najib Razak had kicked off the more aggressive campaign on Monday night by saying Pas was a party which changed its colours to suit the politics of the day, in an indication that its original tagline of Cakna Rakyat, which means to care for the people, had failed to fire up the imagination of voters here. According to an Umno official, the new campaign theme has always been part of the plan, and he denied the change meant the party has failed in convincing the Kuala Terengganu voters. 'We have already planned to only be offensive in the last four days before polling,' he told The Malaysian Insider.

Pas research centre head Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad said BN's original Cakna Rakyat theme Mesra Rakyat was a mistake in the first place, as BN was later forced to defend the character of its candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh, who was accused of being arrogant by his critics.

'You can see on the billboards, posters of the candidate and the Menteri Besar, to show how close they are to the people. They were forced to do it because of the perception on Wan Farid,' said the Kuala Selangor MP. 'Maybe they realize that they are trailing, they believe they need another tagline, but this time it is not about their strength or the candidate's,' said Dzulkifli. But he said that demonizing Pas would not work. 'Whether the method is going to work or not, they are taking a very big risk. Obviously they are targeting the Malay voters, as we have covered the Chinese voters,' he told The Malaysian Insider.

PKR strategist Saifuddin Nasution said the changing of message shows that something was not right in BN's campaign. 'We are already in the second half, and Pas is still consistent with the message of change, so the issue of Pas being a flip-flop party does not arise. The party is much clearer and organized in planning for the election,' Said the Machang MP.

Even before the campaigning period started, Pas leaders had started attacking BN for its failure to fairly distribute wealth from the oil royalty and for extravagant projects such as the annual Monsoon Cup yachting race and the construction of the multi-million ringgit Crystal Mosque and the Islamic Civilizational Park. 'In any campaign when you are forced to be defensive it shows that you are in trouble,' Saifuddin told The Malaysian Insider.

‘Do or die’ over dinner

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 14 –Two nights ago, a simple beach restaurant overflowed with more than 1,000 Chinese town folk turning up to hear Malaysia’s opposition firebrands speak. They paid RM10 each for dinner, and collectively dropped another RM3,000 into the donation box.

This was the third dinner organised by the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) as it woos voters for opposition candidate Abdul Wahid Endut from Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). He is up against Umno’s Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh and an independent in the by-election to be held on Saturday. It was called after Umno MP Razali Ismail died.

It is not just the DAP that is holding dinners. The other opposition partner, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), held one last week, and will be holding another in the next few days. Its leader Anwar Ibrahim is the star attraction. The Barisan Nasional (BN) is doing the same, with dinners for several hundred people at a time hosted by VIPs like Deputy Premier Najib Razak. Dinners have become a nightly staple of the campaign as the battle narrows to a fight for the Chinese vote. The Chinese, who comprise 11 per cent of the 80,229 voters, prefer dinners to rallies in open fields.

Anecdotal evidence and an independent survey suggest that the Chinese vote has swung. Their enthusiastic turnouts at opposition events and donation boxes that fill up fast are the telltale signs. Independent pollster Merdeka Centre’s survey over the last few days shows that the Malay vote is split, with just about 8 per cent undecided. The Chinese, however, are tilting slightly towards the opposition. Just 10 months ago, in the March general election, 65 per cent of the Chinese in Kuala Terengganu voted for BN.

Political analyst Ong Kian Ming’s analysis shows that even a 5 per cent drop in Chinese support, along with an expected lower turnout, will erase the BN’s tight 628-vote majority from that election. Three out of four Chinese said a vote against the BN would send a signal that it has to be fairer to the minorities. More Chinese felt that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, the coalition formed by PAS, DAP and PKR, could take care of their interests better than the BN.

As for the Malays, about 60 per cent thought the BN would serve them better, but they disagreed with the Umno line that Malay power is threatened by the non-Malays. Almost three-quarters said the threat comes from corrupt Malay leaders, according to the survey. These findings, and the fact that the opposition is still able to capitalise on old grouses, suggest that the BN has not progressed since March last year. Indeed, it may have even slipped further.

“Nothing has changed. This is a continuation of the sentiments before the general election,’ said a Malay businessman with close ties to the Umno elite, who had been in Kuala Terengganu for almost a week.

Racial issues and corruption were the two biggest issues in Kuala Terengganu. A few days ago, leaflets were handed out in the Chinese market to remind voters of controversies like the arrest of a Chinese press reporter for reporting an Umno leader’s statement that the Chinese were immigrants. An opposition banner claimed that Umno had become more extreme. The opposition is also harping on the oil royalties that were withheld from the state when PAS won in 1999. BN wrested Terengganu back in 2004, but reinstated the royalties only recently. Umno was also accused of using the billions for lavish projects like the Crystal Mosque and Monsoon Cup yacht race. The government is left on the defensive.

Datuk Seri Najib told Indian voters on Monday that Umno had never supported extremist policies. He said: “Please do not allow two or three incidents that have been blown out of proportion to undo all the years of close cooperation that have existed between us.”

Umno is beginning to fight back, with a banner and leaflets screaming “Pas Kluk Klek” – “flip-flop” in a local dialect. Umno points out that Pas is teaming up with its one-time enemy DAP, putting hudud, or the Islamic penal code, on the back-burner, and relaxing its ban against women in politics. But, the “Kluk Klek” campaign may have come too late to turn the tide.

Observers note that the sentiment is unlikely to change significantly, but much depends on the ability of both sides to get their supporters out to vote. Minister of International Trade and Industry Muhyiddin Yassin said: “Sentiments are important but it’s the numbers that count.” – The Straits Times

Tense times for Umno in Terengganu

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 – For weeks, Barisan Nasional (BN) top guns campaigning in the north-eastern Terengganu state have gone to great lengths to stress that the by-election of a parliamentary constituency there this weekend should not be used as a referendum on public support for the government.

But judging by the millions of dollars in government funding and man-hours expended by the BN politicians led by Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak at a time when Malaysia is facing its most serious economic crisis, the folk of Kuala Terengganu cannot be blamed for thinking that their vote this Saturday carries serious national ramifications.

Datuk Seri Najib admitted as much at a closed-door briefing with several editors from the country’s mainstream news organisations recently when he described the by-election of the Kuala Terengganu constituency, which fell vacant after the death of the BN representative in late November, as a battleground to blunt the opposition’s momentum which has been on the uptrend since the national elections last March.

And BN politicians privately concede that defeat in the Terengganu state capital could result in more electoral setbacks in the future, particularly in Sarawak which must hold its state legislative elections in the next 12 months.

The opposition led by an alliance headed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has set its guns on making inroads in Sarawak and neighbouring Sabah in East Malaysia, because the two states hold a huge sway over the national power equation.

The BN now holds a 29-seat majority in the 222-member Lower House, which many analysts consider to be wafer-thin by Malaysian standards, particularly because the East Malaysian parties delivered 42 parliamentary seats to the ruling coalition government.

Serious setbacks in Sarawak at the state elections could precipitate defections from the BN to the Anwar-led opposition coalition in the national Parliament.

More immediately, the Kuala Terengganu by-election will have a major impact on the political prestige of Najib and the top leaders of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which is still struggling to regain its footing after the March national election.

The Kuala Terengganu by-election represents the first test for Umno since the drubbing the party and the BN received in the Permatang Pauh by-election which saw the return of Datuk Seri Anwar to Parliament and his appointment as head of the opposition alliance.

In the post-mortem of the Permatang Pauh electoral contest, Umno leaders reasoned that the ruling coalition’s poor showing was largely due to public rejection of the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who is also Umno president.

The anti-Abdullah forces, led by International Trade Minister and Johor Umno strongman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, argued that Datuk Seri Abdullah needed to speed up the handover of the country’s leadership if Umno was to regain its appeal among the country’s politically dominant Malay community.

The gambit worked, and last November, Abdullah declared that he would step down this March and hand over power to Najib, who has received popular endorsement from the party’s rank and file to take over the leadership of Umno and the BN.

But the mood in Kuala Terengganu suggests that the much-touted power transition has not done enough to remedy the growing public disenchantment towards the government. The BN candidate from Umno had won the seat by a narrow majority in the March elections. But the odds are now against the government candidate, Datuk Wan Farid Wan Salleh.

The Chinese, who make up roughly 11 per cent of the constituents in the parliamentary seat, appear to be in an anti-establishment mood. Sentiment on the Malay ground, particularly among the civil servants and the younger voters, is also lukewarm, at best, towards the government candidate.

Some Umno officials privately argue that Wan Farid’s candidacy was not widely welcomed in the party because of his close association with Prime Minister Abdullah and that, in turn, has hurt the government campaign. But many local politicians in Terengganu say that Umno’s troubles run deeper than the choice of a candidate. The party is wracked by infighting ahead of its own internal elections in March and many of the politicians campaigning in the Kuala Terengganu by-election are in the field to boost their own respective profiles, they say.

That is why a slim victory for Umno, or worse yet a defeat, would only signal the party’s growing disconnect with the public and its failure to carry out internal reforms to renew its appeal among voters. Outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah should not be used as a convenient excuse for defeat. – The Straits Times

Najib calls Pas a flip-flop party

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 13 - After struggling to get its message across to the largely Malay electorate in the Kuala Terengganu by-election, the Barisan Nasional (BN) has gone on the offensive against Pas, with Datuk Seri Najib Razak calling the Islamists a 'flip-flop party.' In a clear indication that BN will go on the offensive in the home stretch of the campaign, the Umno deputy president told a gathering of party supporters late last night that Pas failed as administrators in the state when it ruled for one term between 1999 and 2004.

He accused Pas of constantly changing its colours to suit the politics of the day, pointing out that the Islamists were bending over backwards to accommodate its secular partners DAP over the hudud issue. 'Pas kluk klek,' he told supporters, using the local Terengganu dialect term for 'flip-flop.' During the rally, the BN campaign also presented a slide show of newspaper clippings to show what BN deemed the 'failings' of the previous Pas government.

The Malaysian Insider understands the more aggressive approach was deemed necessary to counter the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) campaign which has put BN on the defensive in recent days. BN has even been forced to defend its candidate's character. Najib's speech last night signalled a much more focussed approach to the campaign by targetting Pas rather than the entire PR alliance.

The by-election which was called following the death of Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali Ismail, is crucial for Najib as it is widely seen as a referendum on his leadership. BN's Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh is running against Wakaf Mempelam assemblyman Abdul Wahid Endut of Pas and an independent Azharudin Adam.

Last night's rally, aimed at reminding the voters on Pas's alleged failure when ruling Terengganu was attended by about 2,000 people.

'In Kuala Terengganu we will close Pas's chances of ruling the country, because we still remember,' said Najib in ending his 15 minutes speech, referring to Pas's labelling of Umno as infidels previously.

Throughout the campaign since nomination day Jan 6, BN campaigners have been labelling Pas a puppet of the Chinese-majority party DAP, as the party that ruled Terengganu from 1999 to 2004 has toned down its stand on the implementation of Islamic law.

Pas was also attacked throughout the campaign by party workers for awarding freehold land titles to residents in hundreds of villagers in Perak and for appointing a DAP rep Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham as the state executive councillor for land, a post traditionally held by the Menteri Besar.

In final stretch, BN campaign still plagued by problems

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 12 - With only five days left before polling day, the Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign has yet to reach its peak, while party workers are still finding it difficult to gauge the support of voters in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

BN candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh is still fighting off the perception, mainly from within his own party Umno, that he is elitist, even as the BN campaign appear ever more defensive in the home stretch of the contest for the mainly-Malay constituency.

The Malaysian Insider understands that in most polling districts, BN was still unable to gauge the people's sentiment while the party machinery has been stop-start with no clear theme in the campaign. Some observers have attributed the poor performance of the party machinery to the internal bickering in the party, as some state party leaders are worried that a victory in Kuala Terengganu could be translated as an endorsement of Datuk Ahmad Said's leadership, whose appointment as Menteri Besar last year caused a stir in the party.

There are 38 polling districts in the Kuala Terengganu constituency and the campaign machinery in each district is jointly headed by the local branch chiefs, a division from the state and a national leader assigned by the party headquarters. But a Terengganu state assemblyman said that the failure to judge the voters inclination in each polling districts one week after nomination did not mean that the party machinery has not been functioning. Jabi assemblyman Ramlan Ali however admitted that there were still minor problem in the machinery work.

'Like in the polling districts of Durian Burong, where I am overseeing, they projected victory with the margin of 56 votes, but based on my assessment we are still trailing, as I doubt all the outstation voters who returned during the last election will come back this time,' said Ramlan, adding that last year, BN won in the area of 1,838 voters by 21 votes. He added that different methodologies rather than inefficiency has resulted in the discrepancy.

But a dysfunctional campaign machinery is not the only problem faced by the Malay nationalist party, as its candidate Wan Farid has been fighting the perception that he is an elitist that cannot relate to the largely rural people of Kuala Terengganu. Interestingly, the personal attacks against him are not coming from Pas or its candidate, Wakaf Mempelam assemblyman Abdul Wahid Endut, but from Umno, a fact that has been admitted to by the president Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi. Yesterday at a campaign stop Wan Farid once again had to defend himself, denying the rumour that he cannot converse in the local dialect.

'Some people said I cannot speak the Terengganu dialect and how can I be the Kuala Terengganu MP. I studied in Terengganu and I opened a legal firm in Terengganu,' Wan Farid told reporters.
The former political secretary to Abdullah is also battling the view that the election is a referendum on Datuk Seri Najib Razak's leadership, who is slated to take over the government by March, preferring to believe the election is about the people of Kuala Terengganu, in an effort to show that he is a people friendly leader.

'I am not unique, this is just like any other by-election,' said Wan Farid when met recently.

Strong boost for PR but victory not guaranteed

By Debra Chong (Malaysia Insider)

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 12 – There was an impossibly large crowd gathered at the Ocean Restaurant near the Grand Continental Hotel here last night. They had been pouring in since 7pm for the dinner ceramah organised to rally support for five-term Pas assemblyman Abdul Wahid Endut who is looking to upgrade to a federal seat in the Kuala Terengganu by-election on Saturday.

They packed the room, roughly the size of two shoplots, leaving the restaurant’s waiters hardly any space to breathe, let alone move. Yet, more continued to stream in. And even when it was obvious the restaurant had no more room, they continued to press against the glass windows from the outside, seemingly unbothered by the stench coming from the open drains and blowing in from the sea, barely 100 metres from the shop.

On the sea side, others scrambled over the wooden railings and generally squeezed themselves into any free space to follow the proceedings of the night. After all, the ceramah featured a star-studded cast of speakers. There was the president of PKR, the Selangor Menteri Besar, the country’s most famous anti-government blogger from Malaysia Today and the Chief Minister of Penang.

The speakers arrived separately, but the crowd whistled, cheered and clapped loudly enough to bring the roof down each time one of them arrived or took to the stage or finished their speeches. They roared in agreement when Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the former Opposition Leader, called on them to cross the “ping pong ball” on the ballot paper come polling day.

They gave the Pas candidate a standing ovation even though he spoke about the same things as he had at the rally in Chinatown the night before. And when he introduced his wife and son, the response was even more thunderous.

When Lim took to the microphone, a male voice from the crowd shouted in Mandarin: “I love you!”

A startled Lim recovered quickly enough to quip: “I love you too!”, sending the crowd into a bigger frenzy.

It was possibly the warmest welcome the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) front has received from the local Chinese community since the start of the campaign. And they donated close to RM3,500 to the DAP last night. One might be inclined to think the alternative front have safely got the Chinese votes in their pockets. From the turnout and the volume, the local Chinese appear to be sending a strong signal.

But in the women’s toilet later, one middle-aged woman was overheard asking another woman: “So, what did you think?”

The other replied: “I just wanted to hear what they have to say. I already know what to do on the day.”

A Malay boat builder on nearby Pulau Duyong had told The Malaysian Insider earlier: “Terengganu people tend to keep things in their heart. But they will tell all at the ballot box.”

Checkmate!

Checkmate!

Monday, 12 January 2009 07:27

Raja Petra Kamarudin

For the last week since Nomination Day, the government-owned mass media has been playing up the non-issue of Islamic laws or Hudud. Khairy Jamaluddin, the Prime Minister’s son-in-law, has been going around proudly telling his Umno Youth audience all over Kuala Terengganu that it was he who very cleverly trapped Husam Musa into making his (Husam’s) booboo statement on Hudud.The Star, the New Straits Times, TV3, and any organ that may reach the Chinese audience, have been mobilised to challenge DAP and PKR on its stand on Hudud.

They very carefully did not make any mention of Umno’s stand, though, lest the 89% Malay voters in Kuala Terengganu get an impression that Umno is hostile towards Islam. To undertake this ‘hatchet job’, Umno uses MCA, its running dog, while Umno keeps a deafening silence on the issue.Yesterday, PAS, DAP and PKR made history by agreeing that any policy decision must be made through consensus. A simple majority is not enough.

All three -- PAS, DAP and PKR -- have to agree on whatever policy matters. Even if there were one dissenting voice, this would mean the policy would not be accepted. It must be all three or nothing at all. And this will include matters related to Islam and whatever comes with Islam, Islamic laws or Hudud included.Pakatan Rakyat has turned the tables on Barisan Nasional. It is now checkmate.

The only issue that Barisan Nasional has in which to use against Pakatan Rakyat in the Kuala Terengganu by-election is Husam’s slip-of-the-lips. The Pakatan Rakyat candidate, Wahid Endut, is spotless. He has no baggage, unlike the Barisan Nasional candidate, Wan Farid Wan Salleh. So, in the absence of any tangible issues, the Hudud issue is the only thing they can use, however frivolous it may be.It appeared like Barisan Nasional may have hit a home run on the issue.

Some Chinese were beginning to believe the media spin and were asking what Pakatan Rakyat’s stand on the issue is. The number of doubters may be small. But in an election where a mere few hundred votes will determine the winner, every vote counts.

Then, yesterday, Pakatan Rakyat’s historic agreement that a consensus is required before any policy decisions can be made was reached. And, last night, in the Ocean Restaurant overlooking the South China Sea, in front of almost 1,000 ecstatic and applauding local Chinese voters, the Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, announced the agreement reached between the three partners of Pakatan Rakyat.Pakatan Rakyat has practically killed the issue of Hudud, not only for the Kuala Terengganu by-election but forever.

Now that the issue has been buried, what is Barisan Nasional’s next move? There are only five more days till Polling Day. Can Barisan Nasional pull a rabbit out of the hat at this late stage of the campaign? Let’s wait and see. In the meantime, Malaysia Today too has a last Scud missile to fire at the Barisan Nasional candidate. But we shall wait to see what they do before we fire it.

Malaysia Today reporting from Ground Zero on the battlefield of Kuala Terengganu. Till we speak again, take care and stay tuned.