Emergence of the new kingmakers

The phenomenal 'finding' of the 13th GE is the emergence of the Dayak and KadazandusunMurut-based parties as the real "kingmakers".

COMMENT

As soon as Najib Tun Razak, announced in the wee hours of May 6, 2013 that Barisan Nasional had won and he would form the government, he had set in motion the third tsunami.

The fraudulent results of the 13th general election held on May 5, 2013 could precipitate many diverse dimensional consequences.

Though BN won 133 seats and Pakatan Rakyat 89, both coalitions and the voters know that the BN victory was made possible through fraudulent means.

As such the validity of the results is questionable. It then nullifies BN’s victory, the legality of the formation of the BN government, the credibility of Umno and the Election Commission.

The people’s responses to such unlawful tactics have set in motion a powerful third tsunami which has elicited different responses from the BN component parties and BN-friendly analysts and individuals.

All the BN coalition parties in peninsular Malaysia were severely punished by the people.

Umno though winning 88 seats (nine seats more than from the 2008 polls) could have lost about 20 more seats to PAS and PKR if not for the shenanigans of the Election Commission.

Gone are the heyday of Umno’s power and ego.

MCA which was originally the second biggest party in the country is now a shadow of itself.

The party won seven out of the 37 parliamentary seats contested while Gerakan only grabbed one out of the 11 allocated constituencies. MIC garnered four from a total of nine seats contested.

The fraudulent tactics have eroded further the credibility of Umno, not so much of the other BN components.

Rise of Pakatan

Both MCA and Gerakan took a bold step in the right direction. They shunned cabinet posts.

Their leaders are ashamed that big brother Umno had stolen away somebody’s victory.

In all fairness, BN does not deserve the victory. Victory must be earned in a fair and clean election in order to be recognized and honoured.

So MCA did the right thing to allow Umno to paddle through and face the consequences of its own action.

After all, the dirty tactics were the work of Umno alone. In fact the other BN component parties should emulate MCA and Gerakan instead of serving their own self- interests.

On the opposition front both PAS and PKR have risen to challenge Umno for Malay political dominance.

PAS and PKR could have increased their total parliamentary wins from 51 to more than 70 seats and could have taken control of the states of Perak and Terengganu had it not been for the dirty schemes of Umno and the Election Commission.

Since the 2008 GE there has been no turning back for the two Pakatan partners.

In the May 5 general election, the third Pakatan partner DAP obtained the biggest slice of the Pakatan gains by scoring a total of 38 parliamentary seats. It maintained its hold on Penang.

DAP has now replaced MCA as the main representative of the Chinese community in the country.

Both PKR and DAP have made inroads in Sarawak and Sabah bagging nine parliamentary seats from only two in the 2008 GE.

Borneo native parties

The phenomenal outcome of the 13th GE is the emergence of the Dayak and KadazandusunMurut-based parties as the kingmaker.

The two bumiputera races have been sidelined for so long by Umno and PBB.

The GE results are very much in favour of the political parties of the two races irrespective of whether BN or Pakatan won.

Dissecting the GE13 wins, the combined BN Dayak and KDM groups garnered 23 seats in the GE13.

Sarawak BN’s PRS, SPDP, SUPP and Pesaka (the Dayak wing of PBB) secured 15 seats collectively. While in Sabah, the BN pact of PBS, Upko and PBRS scored a total tally of eight parliamentary seats.

Hence they have the power to decide who should form the government.

If they decide to pull out of BN, and crossover to Pakatan, BN would be left with 110 seats.

A crossover by these Dayak and KDM MPs will give Pakatan 112 seats (89 +23 seats), thereby giving giving Pakatan a simple majority.

If they wish to remain in BN they should demand for political and economic structural changes in Sarawak and Sabah, meaning some heads would have to roll.

For now the Borneo parties, if they have any dignity at all, should emulate MCA and Gerakan and refrain from accepting any posts.

They should not be a part of Umno’s fraudulent plot to govern.

Furthermore Pakatan has promised better terms for Sarawak and Sabah namely the increase in oil royalty from 5% to 20% .