2 theSun | MONDAY JANUARY 19 2009

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Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election

analysis by Zainon Ahmad of March 8 and the mood for

The candidate factor

newsdesk@thesundaily.com
THE assertion that the mood
that prevailed in Kedah, Penang,
Perak, Selangor and Kelantan last
March had finally caught up with
the voters of Kuala Terengganu is
probably true. It perhaps explains
why they changed their March 8
decision.
Kuala Terengganu, which
was narrowly won by the BN in
the last general election, now
belongs to PAS, a component of
the loose Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
coalition which includes PKR and
DAP. The 2,631-vote majority was
convincing enough.
With the win, PAS is now
stronger in Terengganu with two
parliamentary seats instead of
only Marang, won by party presi-
dent Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang
in the last general election. PAS
is also stronger in PR which now
has 83 seats. It now has 24 seats
to PKR’s 31 and DAP’s 28.
There may be another par-
liamentary by-election this year
and the question that is being
asked is whether the momentum
change can still be strong enough
to affect the result.
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak,
who led the BN defence of
Kuala Terengganu and who had
successfully led campaigning in
all the by-elections after the 2004
general election, does not think
so.
According to indications before
nomination day, both BN or Umno
and PAS, or at least their state
leaders, recognised the mood in
the people of Kuala Terengganu.
Local Umno leaders heeded the
mood but unfortunately for them
they were overruled.
PAS local leaders heeded the
mood which they assessed as not
being too strong to carry them
over completely but which they
decided could be bolstered by a
popular grassroots candidate.
They strategised and waited
until after the BN named its
candidate before springing their
surprise. Meanwhile, they floated
names of prominent PAS officials
as possibilities – red herrings,
some of them said.
Three days after BN named
What the
result
means
pg 4
Deputy Home Minister Senator
Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan
Salleh, also Kuala Terengganu
division leader, as candidate,
PAS announced that it was
fielding Wakaf Mempelam as-
semblyman Mohd Abdul Wahid
Endut.
In the end, candidates mat-
tered most in this constituency
where PAS had won three of
the four state wards in last
year’s general election. The
BN, through MCA, took Bandar
where the Chinese formed 36%
of the electorate, the biggest
in the overwhelmingly Malay
constituency.
The contest saw Wan Farid,
an electoral novice, versus bat-
tled-scarred but personable and
folksy five-term assemblyman
Wahid. Wahid was defeated in
Bandar, where the Chinese vot-
ers are, in his first bid for a seat
in 1986.
While Wahid was almost
always punctual for his meet-
ings with the rakyat, excusing
himself even if other PR big
guns were around at any of
them and cleverly blaming his
handlers for his daily crowded
schedules, Wan Farid was not
always able to desert his prime
minister, deputy prime minister,
and the mentri besar.
One function that was par-
ticularly embarrassing to him
and the BN was when he arrived
late for the “bubur asyura” mak-
ing function. The cooking was
over and the picture of him
stirring the bubur carried by
most newspapers was posed.
The people of Kuala Terengganu
knew that.
BN thought it was stealing a
march on PAS when it named
Wan Farid early.
He was already on his rounds
smiling and shaking hands but
talk about him being snooty
was also making the rounds and
people began to scrutinise his
every move.
But after nomination day,
PAS, backed by its PR partners,
went on the offensive and con-
ducted a coordinated campaign
to wrest the constituency from
BN. PR leader and PKR supremo
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim led
the charge.
With DAP leaders, especially
Lim Kit Siang and Teresa Kok,
concentrating their firepower
in Bandar where most of the
Chinese are and who were told
that Umno must be punished so
that it would institute reforms,
the BN was quickly put on the
defensive.
PR campaigners exploited
every issue and threw everything
– abuses, failures, allegations of
corruption and wild accusations
– at the BN which was forced
to respond as convincingly as
it could.
That Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh
was disallowed to continue
as mentri besar after March
8 was also played up and to it
was added the punchline “do
we want to allow those who
backed him at the federal level
to influence us?”
Even the late Datuk Razali
Ismail, the Kuala Terengganu MP
and deputy education minister
who died in November, was
championed by PAS and its
partners.
His family’s grief and hurt
were exploited to such an
extent that the government
had to honour him by naming
a school and a training institute
after him.
But the complaints and the
allegations, even after they were
responded to, did not stop.
Early indication on Saturday
that the BN was losing was
when it was reported that the
voter turnout was about 3%
lower than the 82.4 achieved
on March 8. It has long been
contended that a high voter
turnout of around 90% benefits
the BN.
Maybe the BN can blame the
main stream media for this as
from the word go they had been
making upbeat reports of the
coalition’s chances. They could
have influenced some of the
Malay BN supporters that it was
no longer necessary for them to
go to the polling stations.
In the end, fear of the BN
parties that the Chinese voters
were against them this time
was baseless as more Chinese
voted for the coalition than they
did last year. But if they feel
somewhat consoled by this,
they should count themselves
lucky as 30% of those Chinese
working outside Kuala Tereng-
ganu stayed away.
They are generally young
and therefore would have voted
for Wahid.
If the election is to be seen
as a referendum, it cannot be
just on Najib, but also a referen-
dum on Prime minister Datuk
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mentri
Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, the BN
and Umno as well.
Rather than being a referen-
dum, it is perhaps a signal to BN
and Umno that they may be able
to turn the tide if they undertake
a proper post-mortem of March
8 and to embark on the neces-
sary reforms.
The 2,631-vote majority that
PAS obtained is big enough.
The election could thus be an
endorsement of PAS’s attempt
to establish an Islamic admin-
istration in the state which was
cut short by its defeat in 2004.

Be gracious winners, chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the

PAS and PR told
KOTA BARU: PAS spiritual leader
Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat wants
his party and Pakatan Rakyat lead-
ers to be “gracious winners” and
not utter haughty remarks that
could hurt the feelings of the van-
quished in the Kuala Terengganu
by-election.
The Kelantan mentri besar said
any negative statement following
the victory would put the party in a
bad light. “Don’t hurt the feelings of
opponents because if they are hurt,
it will be difficult for us to convince
them of our struggle,” he said here.
– Bernama
Much to learn: Khairy
KUANTAN: Umno Youth vice-
BN’s Kuala Terengganu by-elec-
tion defeat to Pakatan Rakyat
should be looked at from various
angles and not just in terms of
the candidate’s loss.
The Rembau MP said all those
involved in the by-election proc-
ess should together shoulder
responsibility for the defeat and
not point fingers.
“In Umno and Barisan Nas-
ional, it must be a cohesive
responsibility shared by every-
one, as difficult as it might be,
because many factors contrib-
uted to the defeat.
“To just say that the defeat
was due to the candidate picked
by BN would be an easy conclu-
sion. If people blamed the can-
didate for the defeat and if that
was the only factor, then our job
would be much easier,” Khairy
told reporters here yesterday.
“What we have learnt from
defeat must be put to good
use by starting comprehensive
preparations early, studying the
current political scenario, and
reviewing the campaign and
local issues.” – Bernama
MDC to decide on
party registration
KUCHING: Pro tem committee
members of the yet-to-be-regis-
tered Malaysian Dayak Congress
(MDC) will decide soon whether
to make a fresh application to the
Registrar of Societies (ROS), its
information chief Joseph Tawie
said.
He said that alternatively, party
members – former Parti Bansa
Dayak Sarawak members who
remain without a party – could join
Parti Keadilan Rakyat or other par-
ties in the state.
“We (MDC) have received a
number of invitations to join the
Opposition, but have not responded
as we have yet to decide on the
next course of action,” Tawie said
yesterday.
The Home Ministry, in a letter
dated April 9, 2008, rejected the
MDC’s application to be registered
as a political party on the ground
that its registration could pose a
threat to security and public order.
The pro tem committee mem-
bers had appealed to the Home
Minister in August 2006 after the
MDC’s application to be registered,
submitted on May 6, 2004, was
rejected by the ROS on July 19,
2006. – Bernama