A forum at the University of Malaya was told that the government's numerous cash handouts under such programmes as Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) and 1Malaysia Book Vouchers had failed to generate enough 'feel-good' factor for prime minister Najib Razak to call for the next general election.
For political analyst Mohd Sayuti Omar, the BR1M payments did not bring any advantage to Barisan Nasional.
“My personal experience in Kelantan, when I asked the villagers, don’t they want to hold a thanksgiving ceremony for receiving BR1M? They said they did, but a ceremony to pray for (PAS Murshidul Am) Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz to continue lead Kelantan,” he told the forum.
Sayuti said Najib must call the elections in order to salvage whatever positive impact from the BN government’s one-off payments.
He also opined that the RM15,000 windfall announced recently for Felda settlers could not swing any votes to BN.
Concurring with Sayuti, PAS election director Dr Hatta Ramli said the windfall for Felda settlers would hurt the other 12 million voters who received no such good news.
“The people are watching. 12 million non-Felda voters will ‘feel’ something,” said the Kuala Krai member of parliament.
Meanwhile, National Felda Settlers’ Children Association (ANAK) chairman Mazlan Aliman said Najib's dilemma was like being between a rock and a hard place.
“On one side the people’s support for BN is not strong, on the other, the BN faces shortage of funds for election campaign,” he said.
“Hence the urgency for them to go ahead listing Felda Global Venture Holding (FGVH), in spite of strong resistance, to fund their war chest."
Yesterday, PKR cited a report by consultants Boston Consulting Group which showed that 65 percent in Felda's management were not confident of the listing plan.
-Harakahdaily
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