The green and yellow rally

In conjunction of Datuk Seri Najib Razak's third anniversary in office, the government is committed to create a good feeling. Unfortunately, political struggle is all about troubling the confronting party. Therefore, after a strong opposition in the Dewan Rakyat from Pakatan Rakyat MPs, Bersih announced the next day that the Bersih 3.0 rally would be held on April 28.

Later, it was announced that the Himpunan Hijau 3.0 would also be held on the same day, bringing an enormous pressure to the government.

Just like a tug of war, political parties need to pull the people to their sides in a political confrontation, regardless of how great the momentum of the other party. Otherwise, they must face the consequences of losing the game.

Najib has introduced the "1Malaysia" concept, Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) since he took over the office in April 2009. However, the BN found only after the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally that they have failed to attract swing voters. Therefore, they launched the electoral reform and set up the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reforms to meet the people's aspirations for democracy and fair elections.

Bersih thinks that the PSC report has shortcomings, namely over-reliance on the Electoral Commission (EC) to adopt the 22 recommendations, and the implementation period is too long. It believes that there will still be corruption practices in the 13th general election if the recommendations are not implemented before the election.

The BN must convince the people that there will be no corruption practices in the next general election after the electoral reform plan is proposed. If the people are convinced, it can then offset the call of Bersih.

The people's trust depends on the implementation of the reform plan. If they fail to implement the recommendations before the next general election, not even some of them, the BN's efforts of setting up the PSC would be wasted.

Similarly, the BN must prove that the refinery plant will not endanger the people's health, or there would be a similar enthusiastic scene of the Bersih 2.0 on April 28.

Participants of the April 28 rally are expected to be extremely ardent as it brings together two forces. The Pakatan Rakyat is also expected to mobilise its members on that day. It will be impossible to have the next general election in June if the April 28 rally brings a tremendous political effect.

To the BN, it is very difficult to fight for the support from swing and young voters for reasons, including the poor record over the past 50 years, administrative drawbacks and the lack of transparency.

That is also why the changes and transformation plans introduced by Najib are often less effective. Moreover, the BN is also facing discontentment and grievances accumulated over many years.

At the same time, a variety of issues are threatening the BN's prestige. For example, the irresolution in handling the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal also drew doubts to the authority's determination to reform.

Therefore, Najib needs to come up with a political commitment, accelerate the pace of reforms and strengthen execution. He has to gradually correct the people's prejudice within a limited of time, including transparently handle the rare-earth refinery plant issue and listen to public opinion.

Administrative drawbacks have been accumulated for over half a century and therefore, Najib has lots to do, but time is running.

Najib has showed his performance for the past three years. However, would the BN have another five years to continue the unfinished work?

The people are unpredictable and their performance in the coming two months might be crucial, including the approach to deal with the April 28 rally. They should learn a lesson from the July 9 rally.

-Sin Chew Daily