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BN lost 5 states and two third Majority – Badawi resigns?



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Mar 09 2008
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Something was obviously troubling the Election Commission chairman Abdul Rashid during the much awaited announcement from him early this morning. The lenses of camera were zooming on him but he was not ready. At one point the visibly upset Abdul Rashid was seen angrily showing finger signs to someone at the back of the camera (his staffs?) not to disturb him while he was going through some papers on hand before his speech. Maybe some top guns would like to ask for some “bonus phantom votes” to save their butts but the chairman obviously has none to spare.

Not after the opposition parties scored big, so big that the over 200,000 arm forces votes are insufficient to cushion and to some degree “save” Abdullah Badawi’s coalition top guns. Looking at example of how Teresa Kok (DAP candidate) won with over 30,000 majority, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you the 200,000 free vouchers are simply insufficient.

Election Commission chairman upsetWith sour and tired face as if he had just lost big in his bet on FIFA World Cup, Abdul Rashid quickly announced that his beloved Badawi’s Barisan Nasional (National Front) has won the simple majority to form the next government before making a quick exit. It was late and most journalists were tired and irritated but the Election Commission appeared to refuse to announce the official results, hinted something as big as tsunami was about to hit the National Front’s shore.

National Front losses BIG time

Yes, the arrogant BN (National Front) has lost five statesPenang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan (retains Kelantan actually). If the Federal Territory can be counted as a state, the opposition would have captured “six states”. The loss of Penang is particularly serious for Abdullah as it is his home state but the power of people is louder. The people are simply sick and tired of the forever rising inflation, mismanagement, crime rates and racial discord under Abdullah Badawi’s four year administration.

Malaysia Election Chart StateMalaysia Election Chart ParliamentThis is indeed a great victory to the oppositions (mainly PAS, the predominantly Chinese Democratic Action Party and the People’s Justice Party) due to the fact that despite backed by money, a docile media and the whole of the government machinery at their disposal, the much humble and handicapped (by funding) opposition managed to strike consensus of one-to-one fights in this 12th general election.

Malaysia Election Result ParliamentMalaysia Election Result StateMCA and Gerakan, two component parties of the ruling coalition party lost all their state seats when opposition DAP made a “clean sweep”, winning all seven parliamentary and 19 state seats that it contested in Penang. In declaring its victory, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it will form the next Penang state government in cooperation and coalition with PKR – “a government for all Malaysians embracing Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races,” stressing that it will not rule alone but together with PKR.

Oppositions’ victory a mark of new Landscape

The oppositions especially DAP is definitely surprise with its huge win this time, wiping the lame duck MCA speechless while literally sending Gerakan to extinction. DAP scored 100 percent victory in Penang, the same way MCA, Gerakan and MIC scored 100 percent defeat. Penangites were simply outrages with the previous administration and decided to vote with vengeance.

“We pledge that we will be fair, just and not discriminate against anyone. We pledge that we will assist those in need. We pledge that we will give equal opportunity to the talented people of Penang to prosper and develop Penang … We pledge that we will form a government of unity, united by our common love for democracy that respects basic human rights, political equality and socio-economic justice,” said Lim.

Badawi – father of both Victory & Defeat

In the spirit of “Malaysia Boleh” (Malaysia Can), Abdullah Badawi has indeed turns it into Badawi-Boleh when he goes down the history as the single Prime Minister who leads the coalition to both greatest victory (in 2004) as well as worst defeat (2008) within a span of only four years. He has shown people that he’s not a quality leader which the nation was looking for. In contrary he’s weak, indecisive and simply couldn’t understand the basic economy to drive the country in the right direction.

Badawi conference after defeatCould the result be any different if he follows through from his 2004 biggest election victory by implementing promises made? Most likely, but he simply didn’t have the nerve to call the shot by setting a good leadership. For example he should just ask (forcefully) Samy Vellu to retire peacefully and probably send the creator of “Zakaria Palace” to face justice. He should probably axe some of the expired politicians. Low quality people such as the former Information Minister should be sent packing. But he did nothing at all and he’s paying the price now.

Badawi’s government is haywire and disarray

Abdullah Badawi managed to squeeze through with razor-thin simple majority to form the government but he is as good as gone. If he indeed has awoken from his four years of honeymoon, he should know that his time is up and if he still has little dignity left he should resign and spend the rest of his life in Australia. Else he might end up with the same fate as the expired Samy Vellu who was booted out. I can’t imagine how he would address his 2,500 UMNO strong delegates come the next general assembly in August 2008.

As much as Badawi’s own UMNO is in a big mess, his buddy MIC is homeless. The top two leaders (President and Deputy) in MIC were virtually extinct, leaderless. Gerakan and PPP are facing the same problem – both presidents have been voted out by the power of people. MCA should thanks God that it survives this round of onslaught. Yes, the Ong brothers won their seats but I guess Ong Ka Chuan should just quit politic as he’s a liability since he never bring good luck to Ong Ka Ting. After lost in Batu Gajah in 2004 election, Ong Ka Chuan chickened out and seeked shelter in Tanjong Malim. He won but gains nothing as the opposition (DAP, PKR and PAS) captured the Perak state.

Opposition smart to adopt Blogs and Technology

Like it or not the internet generally and bloggers specifically have been giving free and great help to the oppositions, not to mention YouTube technology. Can you imagine the election result if the print and electronic media were to give fair coverage to oppositions? Jeff Ooi is on his way to become the first blogger to be sent to Parliament in the Malaysia history and I’m sure Raja Petra Kamarudin (the author of Malaysia-Today.net) could be sent the same way if he chose the same path as well. The IT-illiterate BN must be kicking themselves for belittling the bloggers. The power of blogs cannot be underestimate dude.

Wee Choo Keong wonThe result has shown once and for all that blogs and bloggers are a force to be reckoned with. You are only fooling yourself and digging your own graves by labeling bloggers as people who are jobless and have nothing better to do. Almost all opposition top guns have their own blogs while there’s almost zero from ruling coalition party. By engaging two way conversations oppositions automatically touching ground with grassroots voters virtually.

For example in the parliamentary seat of Wangsa Maju, opposition PKR’s Wee Choo Keong won by about 500 votes but I’m sure this great guy gotten hundreds of votes from the readers who read his blog else he could be slaughtered by the postal votes deployed against him.

BN to do analysis and post-mortem, what mortem?

Heck, if it’s not for the seats delivered from Sabah and Sarawak, BN or National Front could be seeing its last day in office. So get real and face the fact that the days of BN are numbered. Again it has proven that to put in the same people and party for over 50 years could only spell disaster due to complacent. Not only were the BN leaders arrogant, they chose to adopt denial syndrome which cost them their defeat this time. Too huge a majority breeds arrogance, mismanagement and corruption.

With more than two-third majority basically the BN could do anything under the sun without giving a damn to what you think. The main problem is the rampant corruption (too many scandals to quote) practiced by virtually the whole hierarchy within BN community. Even wonder why the Penang second bridge was not on their campaign agendas? And when you have a leader who knows nuts about the basic of economy but have a huge mouth for “foods”, there’s only so far you can go. Whether BN could be repaired is yet to be seen.

Oppositions to rule new states, exciting moment ahead

While the BN is in somber mode, the oppositions are careful not to go overboard with their preparation (and celebration) to take over some states for the first time. DAP’s Lim Guan Eng is sure to be appointed as new Chief Minister of Penang while PKR’s Abdul Khalid is likely to be sworn in as new Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Selangor. Kelantan remains where it is and the Kedah state would most likely be headed by PAS. The remaining tricky business will be Perak of which the Menteri Besar has not been identified yet.

While the federal government is poised to give hard-time and hold back allocation to the states won by the opposition, the task of administering Penang, Selangor and Perak should be a smooth sailing considering these states are revenue self-generation. The opposition is expected to perform well in these newly captured states’ administration in order to set a good example that they can actually manage them. In fact, they’re pressured to deliver excellent result to gain and maintain the voters’ confidence come the next general election.

Opposition cannot afford to lose focus as their goal is definitely to form the next country’s government in another 5 years. Whatever it is, the people power or “Makkal Sakthi” has spoken. It’s time for Abdullah Badawi to accept the reality that he’s no longer needed and should resign while there’s little dignity left.

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