Speeding up the game?

Enemy plotters are stepping up attacks on PAS and DAP to drive a wedge between them in time for the general election.

COMMENT

Certainly the 13th general election cannot be too far away. Just when there seems to be a lull in the political goings-on besides the usual Talam and the so-called water crisis stuff, PAS has again been rudely jolted with attacks from within its ranks.

PAS’ collaboration with DAP has again been brought into question by Nasharuddin Mat Isa, the Bachok MP from PAS.

Of late, this former PAS deputy president seems to be making statements not aligned with the party stand. He has questioned Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga’s leadership of Bersih and currently he is questioning PAS’ collaboration with DAP.

The latter point is certainly made with the aim of driving a wedge between DAP and PAS. Has he become a Trojan Horse?

Definitely he has plunged PAS into a dilemma. To sack him would be an extremely bad move as it would portray PAS as undemocratic and, worse still, of being a stooge of DAP. Thus the better move would be to just let him be.

It is not unusual for the enemy plotters to step up attacks on PAS and DAP at this point in time as they want to make sure that Pakatan Rakyat is sufficiently weak before the 13th general election is called and time is running out if they intend to call for the polls this year.

Besides Pakatan, the opposition parties in Sabah have yet to iron out a workable deal and are still very much in disarray. Thus the time is ripe to call for an election now with the budget’s goodies being dangled as a carrot to woo the electorate.

The economy is still not too bad and everything unpleasant is being kept beneath the surface. As the political situation is very fluid these days with events moving quickly, Barisan Nasional, which is in favour today due to the budget presentation last month, could be out of favour by March next year. Therefore it is best to capture the feel-good feeling fast.

Moreover, the application for the BR1M 2.0 cash aid will be opened for registration on Nov 1. This will whet the rakyat’s appetite in anticipation of the payout to be made in January and this means that the feel-good factor can be sustained till then.

After the cash is distributed and used up, people will be in the doldrums again. This is not unusual as RM500 is easily used up if one stays in the urban areas and there are many urban poor in KL.

After the cash aid has been utilised, BN has nothing more to dangle to the voters and the advantage will then switch to Pakatan. This shows that as long as the cash aid has yet to be disbursed, the advantage still belongs to BN.

A big national Deepavali-do is anticipated to be held on Nov 10 or 11 and all the Haj pilgrims will be back by the third week of November. This means that polling can be held on the last weekend of November.

BN’s ploy

Thus the attacks on PAS and DAP are timed in such a way so that there will be an implosion in Pakatan by early November. If Parliament is to be dissolved by end of October or thereabouts, PAS would be in difficulty as it needs time to explain the situation to its grassroots, especially those in the rural areas who need a lot of convincing to get them to stay with PAS.

It is clear then that BN is planning for November polls. But if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak suddenly has cold feet, then the polls will be held next year.

One has got to admit that right now, BN seems okay. It is Pakatan which seems to be having problems as there is a slight internal crisis in DAP Perak and PKR has got some small disagreement between Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s secretary Faekah Hussin and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. And now PAS with Nasharuddin’s contentious viewpoint.

All these factors added up together and hyped up by the mainstream media will certainly portray Pakatan in an unfavourable light among the electorate, especially the rural voters who have no access to alternative news.

Although Pakatan has strong support in the urban areas, in the rural areas there are many people of all races who still worship BN as these people’s minds are moulded daily by BN propaganda via the mainstream media.

Still, there are neutral political observers who opine that Pakatan may yet stand a chance of victory at the ballot box.

If not for the dubious electoral rolls, Pakatan can win easily. Thus the situation is in balance now. Therefore in order to be very sure of retaining Putrajaya, BN forces are now trying to create havoc within the Pakatan component parties by pitting PAS against DAP and DAP against PKR and what not.

It is up to the voters to see through BN’s ploys. Otherwise the saying that Malaysian voters are stupid is proven true beyond reasonable doubt.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist