The opposition’s witty game changer?

It appears there is a huge gap between Pakatan's ability to manipulate to its advantage the situation and BN's obvious disparage limitations in that aspect.

COMMENT

The opposition has grown witty and is toying around with the Barisan Nasional in a strategic game changing battle that is slowly drowning the ruling coalition, which clearly shows the limits of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Pakatan Rakyat has played BN on both Anwar Ibrahim’s poser over Perak and Chua Jui Meng’s sudden disappearing act, to the extent that both personalities must be rolling with laughter over their breakthrough strategies.

This is how far the innocence of BN has been tested – or rather the ludicrous manner in which BN tends to believe everything Pakatan is doing and saying.

Anwar’s taunting of BN that he will be a candidate in Perak had kept BN breathless for days, only to see the government being dealt an April Fool’s type of blowout and this is what happened too with the sudden return of Chua on the scene with a powerful press conference.

But then, there is also the taunting of BN with the Gelang Patah challenge by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang to stand as the opposition candidate in the BN stronghold.

The backing out response by Ghani Othman, to the challenge from Umno for him to drown Kit Siang in Gelang Patah showed how ill-prepared BN is to play around with the witty opposition.

Who is really in control of BN’s image and of its psychological nerve center? It appears there is a huge gap between Pakatan’s ability to manipulate (to its advantage) the situation and BN’s obvious disparage limitations in that aspect.

BN seen as the underdog

At this very point of time, BN is seen as the underdog going into an election with a disadvantage that it never thought would be possible but is very real and latent in its face because it is getting played out far too often by the opposition’s strategic game ball.

In the strategy basket of BN there is the battle of the oriflames (banners etc) winding the street corners, above the roofs and hanging on the poles, and it is supposed to show that BN is in control of the kawasan.

Yet, we do not see much of the BN tents in the areas where we see a flourish of BN’s collateral in the streets of Ampang, Cheras and Pandan.

What is seen is a sudden popping up of PKR tents with banners portraying the candidates of the areas, and this gives a certain indication of who is really in control of the territory.

On the ground, BN is playing a game of deceit, painting people in its colours and even forcing people to have BN flags flying on their gates and walls but the sentiment is not in favour of BN in the cities mentioned above as it sits clearly in the hands of Pakatan.

The question, as posed in the title of the article, is which is the game changer in the run-up to the polls?

Be my guest, since all elements played by Pakatan so far has shattered the confidence of BN right from the start of the official electoral campaign.

KL-based Amir Ali works for an Indonesian NGO called the Warisan Melayu Riau, which is based in Bengkalis, Riau.