Dr Mr's Candidacy Strengthens Ringgit, KLSE Moves Up, Western Media, Wall Street Pick Up Scent.

Its been about a week since the announcement that Tun Dr Mahathir shall be  the Pakatan Harapan's candidate for Prime Minister.  Other than that initial hick up from Selangor PKR, the choice of Dr Mahathir has now begun to sunk in. The markets are reacting already.

Actually the market has already been speculating for a few weeks now that Dr Mahathir shall indeed be the PM candidate for the PH.

The Ringgit has been strengthening and the confirmation of Tun Dr Mahathir has only added more strength to the Ringgit. The Stock Market is also reacting positively to the news. 

The Western media and Wall Street (New York Times) have also picked up on the news.

The New York Times says :  "The announcement on Sunday by the four party Hope Alliance puts an end to squabbling over the thorny issue and is seen as a major show of unity ahead of polls that must be held by August but are widely expected in the second quarter"

This is exactly the point - "and is seen as a major show of unity ahead of polls " . Here is The Independent from the UK:

The markets are reacting positively.  I believe as we move closer to the Polls, the KLSE will move up even higher and the Ringgit will also strengthen.  The market expects the BN to lose the elections.

Something else is crystallising.  Hundreds of thousands if not millions of Malays who want to see Najib gone were uncertain about voting for a coalition without a leader they could trust. Anwar Ibrahim is out of the question and neither is Hadi Awang.  

The selection of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed puts to rest all these fears.  More than the required 2% (TWO PERCENT) swing in the Malay votes in favour of the PH is now a very realistic scenario.  I believe more than 2% of the Malay vote will swing away from UMNO/BN.

There are more surprises in store.  Happy Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai.