The Kimanis By-Election: Pakatan Harapan Never Learns

Raja Sara Petra

Up to the day before the by-election, the political pundits predicted that Barisan Nasional was going to get slaughtered or massacred in the Kimanis by-election. The result, however, shows that you never really know what the voters would do. Winning the minds and hearts of the voters is more complicated than most people think. It is not quite like predicting the weather.

One thing that many seem to forget is that elections or by-elections are a very localised affair. Voters do not care about the security situation in Iran or the power-struggle in Putrajaya. What happens at home is what matters most. If their house is flooded or their personal finances are tight, this will influence how they vote, not what happens in Iran or Putrajaya.

Pakatan Harapan tried to pay up “The MACC Tapes” hoping that this will give them a win in Kimanis. This did not happen. Instead, most people were disgusted with what they saw as cheap and immature politics, the normal Pakatan Harapan style of politics.

I would like to congratulate Umno and Barisan Nasional-Muafakat Nasional for a job well done. Puteri Umno fought tooth and nail against the backdrop that Barisan Nasional was the underdog destined to be slaughtered in Sabah and sent back to Kuala Lumpur in a coffin. As they say, man proposes but God disposes. Finally, the Will of Allah determines what happens.

Alhamdulillah and syabas to all. Now is the time to bow down in humility and sujud in syukur. Let us not display bongkak and takbur the way Pakatan Harapan would do. See you all the next by-election, whenever and wherever that may be.