GE13: Advantage BN

While BN seems to be slightly ahead in this polls for now, the ground shifts fast during the campaign period.

PETALING JAYA: With just two days to go before nominations for the country’s 13th general election, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) seems to be ahead in the race, especially in terms of candidate selection and preparation for the polls.

The BN’s systematic approach in ironing out seat swaps among component parties, the early announcement of candidates, minimal back biting and the ability to drum-up support for the candidates have all led to the BN leading the fight.

Pakatan Rakyat, made up of PAS, PKR and DAP, cannot be faulted for this. The coalition officially formed after the 2008 general election has yet to put a system of picking candidates for the 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats up for grabs in this election.

Pakatan’s announcement of candidates is also unplanned and done in an ad-hoc basis compared to the BN, which announced its candidates in an orderly fashion. The BN announced its candidates at two levels. One announcement was made by the respective component parties while another was done by the respective state menteris besar.

The opposition pact meanwhile has been announcing candidates at press conferences, late night ceramahs and such. And even in doing so, the opposition has yet to decide on candidates for some “problematic” seats.

Seat squabbling is made public, which in turn erodes voter confidence in the opposition’s ability to rule the country for the next five years.

The problem is not only confined to picking of candidates.

Painting the town blue

BN has started hitting the ground even with two days to go before nomination. Their presence is felt through posters, banners and other election paraphernalia. They have basically painted the town blue — the colour of BN.

While the BN election machinery has started moving in low gear, the opposition pact has yet to crank up its engine.

Pundits and observers expect the Pakatan Rakyat election machinery to move into full gear upon the completion of the nomination process Saturday afternoon.

“This will happen provided they avoid sabotage by those who did not get seats. They will need to move as a team. Pakatan is not the opposition of 2008. Some leaders are making strategic moves to ensure his or her supporters get seats so it would be easier for them in party elections. The thinking and mindset of voters today is not the same as in 2008.

“But if your aim is to capture the federal government, this should not be case. They should have decided on the parliamentary candidates by now. Pakatan Rakyat had a clear five years unlike BN which underwent a leadership change in 2009.

“(BN chief and Prime Minister) Najib had only four years not only to steady the BN and its component parties but also introduce fresh and appealing programmes and policies for the country,” said an analyst who declined to be named.

Pakatan component parties too are not very compromising when it comes to seat swaps or even giving up a certain seat for the sake of the opposition pact.

“Nobody wants to give up…all three (PKR, DAP and PAS) are adamant on the seats they want to contest. We must have the give and take attitude practiced by BN component parties. That shows their maturity.

“They have been through so many elections together. We are just taking baby steps as a coalition,” an opposition party leader told FMT.

Another factor which has led to confusion in the opposition camp is meeting demands of warlords.

They, in some cases, demand that a certain candidate be placed in a particular seat. Opposition party leaders are unable to clampdown these warlords as any action against them, now, would lead to sabotage on the ground and result in loss of the seat.

While BN seems to be slightly ahead in this polls for now, the ground shifts fast during the campaign period.

Anything can happen in the two week period before 13.3 million eligible Malaysians go to the ballot box.