Quake in your shoes, Najib Razak: Even Daim is worried about GE-13

Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, whom critics say is gaining an undeserving reputation for being a seer in politics, definitely wants to “influence” at least to a certain extent how the 13th General Election results should read.

The stakes are huge for him personally and, among others, his once bosom pal and former premier Mahathir Mohamad. The two men must be very worried indeed to offer so many hints to Prime Minister Najib Razak on what to do, as well as to try and influence voters on how to vote!

It’s not for nothing that Daim is known as a shrewd operator. However, he underestimates the voters if he thinks that they continue to be as gullible as ever.

Not just the Chinese, but the Malays too want change

The “influence” theory debunks the claim by his admirers that he predicted the 2008 GE results, apparently in a little-known Chinese paper somewhere. Yet, few can recall this feat by this man of mystery who traces his humble origins to a little Buddhist village across the border in Thailand.

Daim’s comfort zone apparently lies in Umno almost conceding what has since been lost, retaining what can be kept, grab a little more if possible and thereby still come out on top. No new gains acknowledged for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the opposition alliance.

Daim reluctantly acknowledges the well-known Chinese opposition to Umno but, at the same time, conveniently fails to mention that the 1.4 million Federal civil service is by and large even more against the ruling party than in 2008.

That’s as close to wishful thinking and living on hope as one can possibly get while maintaining the fiction of being a seer of sorts. There are so many contradictions here that it’s unbelievable that anyone would take this man seriously. If only we could all be that lucky to have our cake and eat it too!

Quiet on MIC

This time, there are even more specific “predictions” from Daim. He almost confirms not surprisingly the status quo in Peninsular Malaysia, casts doubt vaguely on the situation in Sabah and Sarawak for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), and wonders rather naively whether the MCA and Gerakan will survive the onslaught this time if “voting along racial lines takes place”. The last point refers to the fact that Umno is thinking out aloud of doing what PKR and Pas did in 2008 i.e. contest in all Malay-majority seats in line with its newly-found fascination with a winnable candidates strategy.

It’s interesting that Daim doesn’t mention the MIC at all. The party will probably be handed, if at all, just the miserable number of seats it won the last time. The radical thinking in Umno is that MIC should stay out of the polls this time and satisfy themselves with senate positions and appointments to government bodies, GLCs and ambassadorial positions.

Penang and Kelantan

Daim expects PR to retain Penang and Kelantan. In fact, one doesn’t need to be a prophet to make such a statement.

The Chinese in Penang, for example, are not particularly happy with the Democratic Action Party (Dap) but they understand that the party being new to the job needs more time to get its act together. One-term administrations, like the Obama Administration in the US, can seldom meet the high expectations churned up among voters. Moreover, the people in Penang see no options and shudder to think of the alternative in a return to BN rule.

In Kelantan, no one has yet starved to death despite the state not being under BN rule for over two decades. True, that Kelantan is the 3rd poorest state in Malaysia – the poorest being Sabah and the 2nd poorest Sarawak – but that’s a legacy from Umno rule. To add insult to injury, Umno has refused to give the state royalty from its oil and gas reserves, and now it’s a case of too little too late. Yet, Umno continues to promise the sun and the moon and all the stars in between to the voters there.

Sabah and Sarawak

In Sabah and Sarawak, the BN will never be able to repeat its performance of 2008 when the two states unknowingly saved the ruling party’s hold on Putrajaya.

Local seers, not as well-known as Daim, think that just 19 parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak will determine who will seize the reins of power in Putrajaya. Of these 19 seats, it’s said that 10 are already in the bag for PR through Dap.

Selangor and Kedah

Daim is dead wrong when he sees the situation as 50 : 50 in Selangor and Kedah. These two states don’t need Umno’s oft-repeated mantra on the politics of development, which many regard as an euphemism for the politics of raiding the Public Treasury. Neither do they need the politics of patronage nor the politics of corruption. No amount of emphasis in repeating the mantra on bangsa, agama, negara, the three sacred Umno cows, will save the party in the two states. Its fate is sealed for the foreseeable future.

To digress a little, it speaks volumes when Selangor like neighbouring Thailand can declare a minimum wage of RM 1,500 per month, but still below the living wage of RM 2,000 per month. Umno cannot even do what lowly neighbouring Thailand has done and is still toying with a figure between RM 700 per month and something below RM 1, 000 per month.

Refusing to share the cake, and Perak

Instead, it’s frantically throwing cold water on the Opposition’s minimum wage deal through its discredited politics of distraction and disruption. By refusing to endorse the idea that the cake must be shared, Umno wants the working population to be beholden to its dependency syndrome for its political benefits but no longer so.

Daim is indulging in wishful thinking again when he holds out the remote possibility that Umno may against all odds retain Perak which it stole from the opposition, in cahoots with the Sultan, police and Judiciary, in a defiance of the popular will. The voters in Perak eagerly await the opportunity to punish Umno at the forthcoming polls and this time in no uncertain terms.

If many people recall, to debunk Daim the seer, the opposition alliance themselves were shell-shocked and in disbelief for over a week by the sheer scale of their victory at the 12th GE. This time full victory is more than possible, with Selangor and Penng the best evidence that they can govern and govern much better than the BN has ever done in 55 years.

Malaysia Chronicle