Daim: BN lost votes due to wrong strategy, infighting

Daim said the prime minister’s advisers should be sacked for their wrong election strategy.KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Barisan Nasional (BN) lost votes in the May 5 polls because of the wrong strategy employed by coalition leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s advisers and party infighting, former Umno minister Tun Daim Zainuddin has said.

In the run-up to the general election, observers noted that Najib had banked on his personal popularity in his bid to help BN regain the two-thirds parliamentary majority it lost in 2008, which Daim said was the wrong approach.

“Really, you should ask BN. But in my opinion, it’s the wrong strategy. As I’ve said before, this is a parliamentary election, not a presidential election.

“The PM’s advisers should be sacked. If you associate a vote for BN as a vote for him, then BN’s poorer results reflect on him too,” Daim was quoted as saying in a transcript of his interview with local daily China Press, which was carried on veteran journalist Datuk Abdul Kadir Jasin’s blog today.

“I kept reminding them that those huge numbers at BN’s ceramahs do not translate into votes. You don’t try to fight his (Anwar’s) numbers with your even bigger numbers. Let Anwar be the entertainer (borrowing from the Financial Times). We are not entertainers, we don’t know how to sing, dance and tell jokes. It’s a serious business electing a government, so let’s leave this clown’s strategy alone and not play to his game.”

Daim also blamed BN’s failure to win a two-thirds majority on the misallocation of its resources in efforts to capture urban seats as well as Chinese-majority seats.

“If I know, then surely BN knows that the Chinese majority areas were gone. Why waste time and money? As a strategy, you should concentrate on those areas where you lost by slim majorities in 2008 and strengthen the seats you won in 2008. There was also the question of choice of candidates, and for example in Pandan, why be petty?

“Let’s recognise that nowhere in world is it easy to get a two-third majority. Urban voters everywhere in the world are anti-government. BN’s strength lies in the rural areas. Yet too much time and money were wasted in urban areas where the results were almost certain,” he said.

Daim was asked to comment on Penang, where a self-proclaimed non-political NGO, 1 Malaysia Penang Welfare Club, had spent heavily in providing free dinners and star-studded concerts in the weeks leading up to Polling Day. 

“These people are amateurs. They are silly people. They think they are clever and throw money around. Better give to charity. 

“Why BN allowed stupid events like these? People are insulted because they knew you thought they could be bought with money, concerts and dinners. So they came to relax, have free makan and be entertained. This is an election. It’s a serious matter. Let Anwar be the entertainer.”

In Penang, BN only won 10 state seats after its rival Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won a landslide victory by taking up the remaining 30 state seats there.

Why BN allowed stupid events like these? People are insulted because they knew you thought they could be bought with money, concerts and dinners. So they came to relax, have free makan and be entertained. This is an election. It’s a serious matter. Let Anwar be the entertainer. — Tun Daim Zainuddin

In response to another question, he said BN should have focused on addressing the issues close to the people’s hearts, listing them down as corruption, good governance, security, education, inflation, urban poor and young graduates.

“Government instead focused on giving handouts. You give dinner once, people thank you. Give them five times and they think you are trying to buy their votes,” he said.

Daim attributed BN’s poor showing in Selangor to infighting and sabotage, saying that this was caused by the coalition picking the wrong candidates for the polls contest.

BN won 12 of the 56 state seats in Selangor, fewer than its 2008 win of 20 seats, but kept its haul of five out of 22 federal seats there.

He also blamed the Selangor results on the coalition’s state election director Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed, who he claimed had ignored feedback on the ground by still giving Daim assurances of BN’s victory in seats there.

“I think Zin was a wrong choice. He was dropped from Cabinet by Najib because obviously he didn’t think much of his ability and then you then appoint him as Selangor Umno secretary. I don’t understand Najib’s logic,” Daim said, having pointed out that Sepang Umno Youth chief Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Ghazali had contested against Mohd Zin and that many divisional chiefs had allegedly campaigned against him.

“When you asked me at the last interview, I said there were problems of wrong candidates. Ketua Bahagians were not happy. Among Umno (members) sabotage was everywhere. I told Zin a list of state seats that were in trouble. Zin said yes a bit of problem but BN would win. In all those seats that were in my list, BN lost.

“With wrong candidates not going to the ground, ignoring divisional chiefs, not visiting your members and voters, sabotage, you couldn’t win,” Daim said.

Daim illustrated his point with how BN lost the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah’s Merbok parliamentary constituency, where there was allegedly a quarrel within BN over the candidate choice.

“They were still quarrelling about the state candidate, even when it’s one day before polling. I told them they were crazy. Just vote BN. Told them they had half a day left to campaign and go together and campaign and be seen to be united. 

“They lost by 500 votes because they closed their pondok panas by 4pm, confident that they had won. … but the Indians there have to quarrel even at the last minute about candidates and we lost. We are our own worst enemies.”