Pakatan to win with 118 seats?

The EC is BN's last bastion to cling to power and the only way to curb its shenanigans is for the rakyat to come out in droves to monitor vote tallying

COMMENT

A neutral Chinese political analyst who is a friend of this columnist has informed that it is possible for Pakatan Rakyat to win the 13th general election by 118 seats, with BN getting 104. The total number of parliamentary seats is 222.

However, he also cautioned that hooligans may disrupt the general election campaign or the vote-counting process, thereby making it possible for the Election Commission (EC) to annul the polls results.

Certainly, anything can happen in the current political scenario and therefore the rakyat are encouraged to come out in full force to vote besides volunteering their time to monitor the election process, to prevent foreign workers from voting and also to prevent extra ballot boxes from being brought in to sabotage the results.

The situation here is such that the rakyat must work hard to usher in the change that they want. Indications are already at hand that Pakatan has enough support to win the 13th general election and the figure of 118 seats had already factored in the phantom/dubious/foreign voters.

However, the EC is Barisan Nasional’s last bastion in its attempt to hold on to power and the only way to curb the EC’s shenanigans is to come out in droves on the night the results are being tallied.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has in fact already lost the general election, in a manner of speaking, and that is why he does not seem to have the sense of urgency to hold the polls.

“The rakyat have to be prepared to face any eventuality. Najib has even now lost much of the Indian support,” said M Manogaran, DAP’s Teluk Intan MP.

“Perhaps all this is happening because people are just fed up of BN. The RM500 cash aid can only sustain most of the urban poor for one month but what about the rest of the 11 months?” asked Manogaran.

DAP blogger Aspan Alias opined that there are people who are still contented with getting chicken curry without the chicken meat because the chicken curry still has the chicken meat’s flavour.

In BN’s desperation to stay in power, all sorts of tactics will be used. So do not be surprised if your name is missing from the electoral roll on polling day.

Klang MP, DAP’s Charles Santiago, has already pointed out that 5,000 names have disappeared from the electoral roll in his constituency.

BN has lost Malay/Indian support

This simply means that BN will do anything and everything in order to stay in power. After its victory at the polls, you can be sure that the price of fuel will go up, GST (goods and services tax) will be imposed and the cost of living will shoot up drastically.

Reports from all the grassroots who are friends of this columnist now show that BN has lost much of the Malay and Indian support although still holding on strong in Sabah and Sarawak due to the lack of information in those areas.

Many of those who do the groundwork surveys told this columnist that people are now curious and want to see what the new federal government is like.

Therefore Umno leaders these days sing the old tune of Malay supremacy by saying that if Umno falls, the Malays will fall, too, while at the same time conveniently forgetting to mention that PAS is also Malay.

The battle is on for the Malay vote. It is BN’s practice to divide and rule.

“But we in Pakatan practise unite and rule,” said DAP’s Ipoh Timur MP, Lim Kit Siang, at a recent ceramah in Pahang earlier this month.

Therefore although hopes of the urban folk are high that a new government will soon come into power, the resistance from BN and its allies is still very strong. And what is worst is that BN has roped in the EC to do its bidding.

And EC is flexing its muscles and proving to be the biggest stumbling block to Pakatan’s bid to win the general election. Indeed, the EC is BN’s last bastion and it will make full use of the EC to block Pakatan’s road to Putrajaya.

Yes, the EC is BN’s most powerful and formidable weapon. Not even BR1M can rival the power of the EC when it comes to hindering Pakatan.

The only way to subdue a little the powers of the EC is for the rakyat to be at the counting centres when the polls results are being tallied. This will hinder EC’s efforts to indulge in any dubious tactics. The mass presence of the rakyat may also strike fear into the hearts of the EC officers.

“The rakyat must be present on the night the election results are announced. It is time to usher in the government we truly want, a new government that can institute change for the betterment of everyone. It is of no use to stick to the old government which is set in its corrupted and crooked ways,” added Manogaran.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.