PRU 12 - The Unfortunate Fallout

It turn out to be an unfortunate fallout from PRU-12 resulting a polarized Dewan Rakyat with the 140 BN bench heavily Malay-Bumiputra dominated on one side and an evently mix race for the 82 seats of the OPPOSITION bench on the other.

The final tally of 14O for BARISAN comprising of UMNO,MCA,MIC, GERAKAN and Sabah and Sarawak Parties, with the OPPOSITION 82 seats comprising PKR, DAP and PAS. On the state level BARISAN NASIONAL garnered 307 seats, PKR 42 seats, DAP 71 seats, PAS 83 seats & Inde 2. BN lost control of 4 states and 1 Federal Territory to the OPPOSITION excluding Pas forever stronghold KELANTAN. Attempt by BN to wrestle Kelantan State Government, backfired.

According to political analysis BN won only 48.1% of popular vote in the peninsula, 51.2% if Sabah and Sarawak included. The Chinese support for the OPPOSITION estimated at 35% from 65%, representing 30% swing. The Indian was 47% down from 82% to 35% swing and for the Malays there was a 5% swing from 63% in 2004 election. This translate to a higher swing among the Chinese and Indian, and less among Malays.

PBU12 unexpected result reminded me of PBU 1969, which saw the ruling Alliance Party receiving major setback. It managed to retain simple Parliamentary Majority. It lost Penang to opposition The Gerakan Party, Kelantan to PMIP with Perak and Selangor on the brink of falling into the oppositions. 3 Alliance Ministers and 2 Parliamentary Secretaries lost. Shared of popularity (valid ) votes had dropped 9% since PBU 1964 to 49%. The Alliance faced the prospect of a vociferous opposition in the Parliament for the first time since Merdeka.

The unexpected swing of votes from the ruling BN party to the Opposition PKR,DAP & PAS on PBU12 stunned the nation. To justify this, the aftermath saw no exultant supporters of the PKR,DAP,PAS jubilant reactions, except a deep shock to the BN and its component parties ( especially in Semenanjung ).

Early reactions attributed to the fall outs, blamed compelecencies of BN political leaderships, political backbiting among BN component party members, and the replacing tested incumbent representatives with untested green horns ect. More so, MIC the 3rd largest BN component party was facing a back lashed from a newly Indian grouping The Hindref.

The scribe also believed that there is another unseen pertinent influence resulting on the unprecedented election result. One may say, that it was the ruling parties perceived might of the Mainstream Media and the onslaught of BN Campaign-Advertising Blitz on almost all major Print & The Electronic Communication Channels backfired. In retaliation the opposition powered the new emerging Alternative Media namely The Internet and other Telecommunication system.

The ruling party has been noted as having the upper hand on most in country mainstream media be it printed or electronics. Radio network was fully used to agitate people on Government Development Policies right from Pre Merdeka periods while film and the Television Media added sustainable realities to all. Come election time the ruling party ardently tighten their grip on most available print, broadcast and telecommunication system (public as well private) for sustainable future successes - not well received by most of the effluent and the intellectual groups. Rightly they advocated the freedom of speech. They argued that those mainstream medias as being controlled and serving the same master. Eventually it frustrate the rakyat at large.

The scribe is not a political pundit, neither a social analyst. The scribe is just an ordinary citizen, a keen observer on the country's state of affairs, especially its economic and social standings by regularly updating current knowledge through reading and follow the news regularly. We feel trilled to fathom the pulse of the nation through people mass reactions on issues -the feelings akin to solving word puzzles.

But to fathom mass human feelings is not just a game of solving crossword puzzle. We are dealing with human aptitude or mass media behavioral inclinations. For that, it is believed that authoritative reporting on matters pertaining to issues close to the masses rightly enhanced knowledge based society. Hence the pulse of the nation could immediately be gauged. And so, it is proper to acknowledge the forces of media for societal reforms. That's what we all believe in. But there is the other side of the media force. As the saying goes: mass media is a two-edged sword, with multi-pronged might. It builds as well destroys. On the other hand, 'Politics is the art of perception, real or imagined'. Wrong media slants would result to deceptions.

One can say, continuous positive reporting and promotional Media Blitz is a thumb up for the BN. Positive reportage for BN and 'bad press' for the opposing parties would garner bigger support for the ruling incumbents. But the opposition have done extremely well using the alternative media squashing all the 'bad press' and negative exposei of their leaders. They used Internet,Blogs and SMSes channels to reach the rakyat and to show they care. Ardently they proved that they can connect with the people at large and be a force to articulate their dissatisfaction. The alternative media works well with the younger generation, a large proportion of the voters. Its might spread like wild fire across the nation.

Political jibes (mostly informal and misleading) went well with the people during campaign process and right thought the election night and beyond - an escapism to the ardent followers hungry for revealing informations.

Believe you me, for the PRU12 political campaign, it was the revealings on mass perception of unreavel truths by the opositions that matters most.

"Wallahualam"