GE-13: Keep waiting

According to the original plan, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wished to hold the 13th general election in March or April this year. However, the plan was held back by various problems and even former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad advised that they should delay calling the election.

Dr Mahathir said that the BN has sufficient time to win more votes from groups, particularly the Chinese community. He said that he was confident Najib would probably secure a simple majority in Parliament, instead of the two-thirds control lost in the 2008 general election if the 13th election was held today.

According to an assessment, it is almost impossible for the BN to win back the two-thirds majority and thus, it should be considered as an accomplished mission if they can achieve the targets of not doing worse than the 2008 general election and winning back Selangor.

Since the BN needs more votes to keep the federal power, the BN government has introduced other people-friendly plans, in addition to giving out money. The government introduced the Skim Amanah Rakyat (Sara) 1Malaysia, which guarantees a return on investment of 12% per annum over five years; and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will channel RM1.5 billion to the Federal Territories Foundation as part of a special funding scheme to help eligible buyers purchase public housing units in the city.

Umno leaders have taken alternative measures to gain support instead of relying only on transformation plans as the plans lack direct political effects. Therefore, the pace of the transformation plans has been slowed down.

British business magazine The Economist recently criticised that Najib's reforms have not only offended Umno conservatives but as well failed to impress swing voters.

However, Umno cannot overly please the grassroots and Malay enterprises who rely on government projects, or take the radical chauvinist line to please kampung and conservative Malays. At the same time, Umno needs non-Malay votes. Particularly, in some constituencies where the ruling and alternative coalitions are equally strong, Chinese and Indian voters will play the role of "kingmaker".

Taking a multi-faceted strategy, however, has brought some problems, including the lack of direction and focus.

In addition to various transformation plans, the BN also introduced various programmes, including the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M), 1Malaysia Shop (KR1M), 1Malaysia Public Housing (PR1MA), and 1Malaysia Unit Trust. There are indeed many benefits offered but too confusing to digest.

Reform programmes need much concentration and more resources to achieve, but too many programmes have distracted attention.

If the people think that the government is vacillating in reforms, Najib will then find it difficult to win swing votes.

Another disadvantage is, many cases are unresolved. Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is back to work after taking leaves for three weeks, but the National Feedlot (NFC) scandal remains unsolved.

The Court of Appeal has recently granted leave to Teoh Beng Hock's brother Teoh Meng Kee to seek a review of the coroner's open verdict on the late political aide's death, but the three Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers involved have not been charged yet. It is believed that the case will remain unsolved even when the next general election is held.

In addition, the Jalan Sultan Ismail controversy, the rare-earth procession plant issue, the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) infighting and the split of the Sabah BN component parties should be solved before the election is held or they might evolve into a big problem.

The BN hopes to hold the next general election as soon as possible, particularly when they have almost finished distributing the RM500 BR1M aid. However, there are still too many problems to be solved and therefore, they have no choice but to keep waiting for a good timing.

-Sin Chew Daily