Din Merican in Phnom Penh
The Malaysian Insider
April 8, 2009
The momentum that Malaysia’s new Premier Najib Razak had hoped to create came to an abrupt halt last night, after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suffered two heavy defeats in three by-elections.
At both Bukit Gantang in Perak and Bukit Selambau in Kedah, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) increased its majorities over the BN. The only silver lining for a dismal night for the BN was the fact that it easily retained control of its stronghold of Batang Ai in Sarawak, in effect meaning that the opposition had failed to live up to its boast to make inroads into East Malaysia.
The results, which some have painted as a referendum on Datuk Seri Najib’s rule, came just four days after he was sworn in as the country’s sixth premier. They indicated that the BN has not been able to woo back voters in the peninsula after its huge losses in the 2008 general election.
Najib’s charm offensive in the run-up to the polls also appeared to have had little effect on voters. He had talked about reforms and multi-racialism, released 13 people detained under the Internal Security Act, and also lifted the ban on two opposition papers. Najib denied that these were election ploys. In any case, voters did not buy them.
BN’s most significant defeat was in Bukit Gantang. In the general election in March 2008, the opposition won with a majority of 1,566. Yesterday, it almost doubled its winning margin to 2,789, sweeping former Perak menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin into parliament. It was a moral victory for the man who used to lead the PR state government, until four of its assemblymen defected and the BN capitalised on it by seizing power – a move that triggered much unhappiness among Malaysians.
PR had lobbied for the state assembly to be dissolved and fresh polls held in the wake of the saga, but this was rejected by the Perak sultan. With fireworks lighting up the sky after his victory, Nizar said that he plans to return to the sultan to request a dissolution again, to “stabilise the political situation in Perak”.
BN’s Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Kadir, in his response to the poll result, however told Agence France-Presse that the ruling coalition had to “work harder”. He claimed that Malay votes in Bukit Gantang had increased for his coalition but that support from the Chinese, comprising 27 per cent of the federal parliamentary constituency, “fell sharply”.
In Bukit Selambau, in Kedah, PR’s S. Manikumar garnered 12,632 votes, beating BN’s S. Ganesan who polled 10,229 votes. The majority of 2,403 was slightly higher than the 2,362 polled by the opposition in March last year. The presence of a record 13 independents, who garnered 1,326 votes between them, did not figure much in the final outcome. The loss for BN’s candidate from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) dealt another blow to the constituent party, whose candidates were heavily defeated at last year’s national polls.
BN’s only victory yesterday came in Sarawak, where its candidate Malcolm Mussen won comfortably by a majority of 1,854 votes, polling 3,907 votes against Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Jawah Gerang’s 2,053 votes. The figure was more than double the 806-vote majority BN got in the last state elections, and appeared to quash opposition Anwar Ibrahim’s claims that the opposition had made inroads into the BN-dominated regions of East Malaysia.
Dr P. Sivamurugan, senior lecturer of the Social Science Studies Centre at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said the results suggest a long hard road ahead for Najib to win back voters. “It is a clear signal that BN has to overhaul itself. They are saying they will change and help the people. But it has not been translated into action,” he said. – The Straits Times
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
Quoted from Dorai Dubai: “The role of our new PM is not as easy as we think. Firstly, Najib must clear the camouflage on the Altantuya case either by hook or by crook. Solve it now and immediately.
Secondly, to garner the Indian support, the remaining Hindraf leaders to be released immediately.
Thirdly, the three ‘BN friendly’ independents in Perak should vacate theirs seats and request for a by-election. Najib should accept the fact that the Perak government doesn’t belong to BN yet.
Fourthly, please get rid of all racist ministers who always fan racist sentiments against the non- bumis like Syed Hamid, Zaid Hamidi, Khairy and Nazri.
Pick some of them who have a good track record like Shahrir, Mustafa Mohamed, Tajol Rosli and some others. Uncle Samy and Auntie Rafidah should stay away from politics and do some charity work.
Finally, please, please don’t keep Mahathir around you. He is not an asset, he is a liability. Why do you need a baggage like Mahathir with you? ”
Yes Mr Razak, come clean , whiter than white is required of you.
Members of the political opposition should not allow themselves to be overcome by arrogance. Damaged goods though many UMNO leaders may be, they are still capable of delivering a fatal blow to the hopes of many Malaysians who want to see a totally new beginning in national politics, and who want to sever the ties it has to racial politics.
Voters tend to vote for the opposite party during by-elections but would then deliver the same votes to the incumbent party during general elections.
That’s a general rule for all elections and not just in Malaysia between BN and the opposition, nor does it having anything to do with the peculiarities of each case. It could be in Timbuktu and would still be true.
The beef that many Malaysians have against PR is that it does not have what it takes to make the transition to a different kind of politics i.e. one that has no ties to racial politics. Many of the PKR leaders, for example, are former UMNO leaders who have an axe to grind and the fact remains there is little binding the coalition members together other than the need to dislodge UMNO-BN from power so they could take over. PAS for example remains a strange bedfellow, a partner likely to refuse to consummate the marriage of convenience when the time comes.
Expecting Najib to ask the Sultan of Perak to dissolve the state assembly is like expecting Najib to do the “Limbo Rock”.
This one did it! Seeing is believing.
I like the title of this article. Despite losing two and wining one by election, the rejection is by the ‘rakyat’ total. One can only conclude that Batang Ai is not ‘the rakyat’ and only where it sided the opposition then it is the voice of the rakyat. Sooner or later people will get tired with this kind of blanket propaganda that was once only used the the BN. PR is slowly turning into one.