• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

BN has lost the plot

By Deborah Loh

January 17, 2009


(From left) PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Abdul Wahid

PAS has wrested the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) by a 2,631-vote margin, with a greater swing in Malay Malaysian votes to the Islamist party.

PAS also swept the parliamentary votes in all four state constituencies in KT, winning in the Bandar seat by more than a 100-vote majority, according to early estimates. The seat, which is roughly 60% Malay Malaysian and 40% Chinese Malaysian, is the only one presently held by MCA in the state assembly.

The by-election result will be seen as a signal to the ruling BN that its lead party, Umno, has lost the trust of Malay Malaysians and has failed to regain the confidence of other Malaysians. In the 2008 election, PAS lost to the BN by 628 votes.

The result will be cited as evidence that the opposition’s wave of success in the March 2008 general election on the west coast was not accidental, a view that Umno’s hardcore have refused to accept.

PAS candidate Abdul Wahid Endut polled 32,883 votes against the BN’s Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh’s 30,252. Independent contender Azharudin Mamat @ Adam obtained 193 votes and lost his deposit.

The results were announced at 9.30pm by the Election Commission at the Kuala Terengganu indoor stadium, which was used as the vote-tallying centre. Shouts of “Allahu-akhbar!” erupted from a mammoth crowd of PAS supporters gathered outside the stadium, where the announcement was fed through loudspeakers.

Balance of power unchanged 

While PAS’s win returns Kuala Terengganu to the Islamist party for a second time since 1999, the result has no bearing on the balance of power in Parliament. PAS only increases the number of its seats to 23, and the Pakatan Rakyat’s tally now comes to 81. The BN now has 137, while other seats are held by Sabah Progresive Party (2), Parti Sosialis Malaysia (1) and independent Datuk Ibrahim Ali (1).


Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim (file pic)
However, the consequences go beyond seat numbers. The by-election is also more than a referendum on individuals like in-coming prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. While the statuses of these two leaders will be impacted, the poll points to larger changes on the national stage.

The results show that the people are voting for whichever party’s policies they find more relevant in a changed environment of economic recession and greater awareness of multiracial politics. This is especially so since the March 2008 general election ushered in a genuine two-party system in the country.

It indicates that the BN’s formula of relying on its development record and asking voters to “balas budi” is no longer accepted by the public.

It is still unclear just how many of the Chinese Malaysian votes went to PAS, but the fall of Bandar is a telling sign as it has the largest concentration of Chinese Malaysians voters in Kuala Terengganu.

Signal to Najib 


By-election can be seen as a signal to Najib that
some of Umno’s policies will not be tolerated
“It will signal to Najib that he has to do more when he becomes Umno president and prime minister. It may not be that people reject Umno totally, but that they can no longer tolerate its policies,” says political analyst Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff.

For PAS, the result shows that it has been able to increase Malay Malaysian support above a minimum of half the votes in Kuala Terengganu, where its core strength is only about 30%. In the March 2008, PAS won about 53% of the Malay Malaysian parliamentary vote, but this was overrun by Chinese Malaysian support for BN.

This time, PAS was helped by the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Chinese Malaysian areas, cementing further their ties under the Pakatan Rakyat banner.

“PAS will see that working with the DAP does not have to cost them Malay votes. The DAP will see that it is possible to work with PAS and not compromise its principles,” political analyst Ong Kian Ming notes.

Debunking the bogey image

The Pakatan Rakyat has put up a stronger multiracial front than the BN in this by-election campaign, and was thus able to debunk the Muslim extremist bogey image for PAS.

Implementation of hudud law became a non-issue in this by-election, despite the BN trying to drive it as a wedge between the DAP and PAS.


Abdul Wahid celebrates his victory

Though PAS won the by-election, it is a huge boost for Anwar, who will say that he has the backing of more Malay Malaysian voters.

The win will provide the Pakatan Rakyat with an extra gust of wind in its sails as it pursues the takeover of the federal government. More than that, it has gained credibility after having gone through the electoral process in Kuala Terengganu, as opposed to earlier attempts to form the government through defections.

As for the BN, whether Umno is humbled will be something to watch for when the coalition holds a special convention next month. The event aims to strengthen race relations and reform the coalition.

For now at least, the biggest loser is Wan Farid, the former deputy home minister and senator, who is now officially jobless. 

Also see: PAS victory in Kuala Terengganu

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Stories

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: anwar, barisan, by-election, constituency, Deborah Loh, ibrahim, independent, kt, Kuala Terengganu, multi-racial, Ong Kian Ming, pakatan, pas, rakyat, state, vote, wahid, Wakaf Mempelam, wan farid, win

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. weiyeng says

    January 17, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    Doubt Wan Farid will be jobless. He’ll be the next Executive Officer in some GLC in the near future.

  2. KW Mak says

    January 18, 2009 at 1:15 am

    Am sure there will not be enough GLC executive officer jobs to go around if this trend continues… :-p

  3. Andrew I says

    January 18, 2009 at 3:31 am

    The grateful card doesn’t seem to be working either. That about wraps it up. Maybe the Retiree has some new ideas. God knows he’s forever offering his 2 sen (literally) worth of opinions.

  4. datoseri says

    January 18, 2009 at 5:56 am

    Thank you for religiously reporting the happenings and progress in KT…and kudos to all alike in playing influential roles in effectively disseminating the truth to communities nation-wide!!

  5. Justin Ong says

    January 18, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Thank heavens for the internet. It has opened the eyes of Malaysians, closed for far too long by the obfuscation of the castrated local media.

    Sites like these are fast rendering the highly regulated, self-censoring print media irrelevant.

  6. Mr. Right says

    January 18, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    Najib campaigning for Pak Lah’s man. I don’t think that’s a recipe for success. Najib’s arrogant campaign style just doesn’t not suit kampong folks. Blackmailing voters on development is an old and lame tactic. Poor Pak Lah, his last report card red. And for Wan Farid, maybe he should now open a kepok losong stall at Pantai Batu Buruk.

  7. Chin Chow Hee says

    January 18, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Unless and until BN can collectively produce tangible results from:

    > its effort to dismantle all the institutionalised machineries of corruption
    > overhauling the country’s police force, including abolishing the ISA
    > completing positive/genuine overhaul of the judiciary
    > implementing an economic policy that takes care of all deserving citizens irrespective of race and religion, and above all
    > having total respect for the constitution,

    BN will definitely die a slow and natural death.

    They do not have genuine leaders. Instead, most, if not all of them, are fortune seekers who will not stop short of committing corruption under the sun while citizens languish in poverty.

  8. The_Observer says

    January 18, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    I am sure Wan Farid has sufficient reserves till his retirement. It was amusing that he wasn’t available to comment after his loss. I’d like to hear what he has to say.

    That being said…I can still imagine those same chanting crowds after the PAS win to be happily and passionately chanting in a racial pogrom. We have a long way to go in removing prejudices in our country and this win is one of many first steps.

  9. Tan says

    January 18, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    Congratulations to PAS in particular and Pakatan Rakyat in general for regaining the KT parliamentary seat from the BN. This shows that there is still a lot of unhappiness among Malaysian citizens towards BN policies and its implementation.

  10. hoch says

    January 18, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Should the people strike while the iron is hot or wait patiently for Sarawak snap elections and more by-elections to loosen Umno/BN’s grip?

  11. Thirumalai Rengasamy says

    January 18, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    The KT by-election victory for Pakatan Rakyat is a strong indication to the BN government to be more accountable in spending public money which is supposed to be for the people’s benefit and not to be spent on extravagant projects such as the Crystal Mosque and monsoon sports.

    Bribing the people of KT during the by-election still didn’t result in public support. Learn the message the rakyat is sending to you, BN.

  12. nkkhoo says

    January 19, 2009 at 6:22 am

    MCA and DAP leaders both claim that they won over Chinese voters.

    Who is lying?

    In absolute term, more KT Chinese voters supported BN in this KT by-election. Lim Guan Eng said in this by-election, slightly over 40% Chinese voted PAS compared to only 28% in the last general election.

    In statistical term, the shift in Chinese voting pattern is still significant. By numbers count, BN won, but in percentage shift, PAS won the game.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2023 The Nut Graph