The Machap by-election is now over. It is sad to realise that the BN has been able to win election after election not only on its own strength but also aided by a disintegrated and divisive opposition.

Foremost in the minds of most Malays when considering the DAP as a viable party would be the May 13, 1969 incident. It evokes dreadful memories of the DAP for the Malays. It is this factor that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad invoked to maximum benefit during the 1999 elections.

While the PAS-DAP cooperation was widely cited as the main factor for the pathetic DAP performance in 1999, the reality was that the Chinese were scared of a repeat of the 1969 incident if they were to vote for the DAP. Such is the stain on the DAP that it bemuses me to this day that the DAP continues to be oblivious of this apparent fact.

It could be true that DAP has shed its chauvinistic Chinese image it portrayed in those days but it has not been able to shed the stigma of the 1969 incident. It is also true that the BN had also worked overtime to maintain this image of the DAP in the minds of Malays.

PAS is at the other extreme, appealing little to the Chinese and Indians despite their recent approach to appease these races. It does not take a rocket scientist to acknowledge that such overtures are viewed with grave suspicion what more with the recent Muslim-non-Muslim problems cropping up.

It would be fair for the electorate to assume that it has little or no plausible alternative. Yes, quite a sizable majority are crying for change but the petty politics of the opposition has fallen squarely into the hands of the BN to its advantage, of course. While the electorate is fed up with the arrogance and widespread corruption plaguing the BN fold, what the opposition has to offer cannot be a substantial reason to change the status quo.

Why should the electorate place their confidence in a fractured opposition that cannot forge a common front and instead gets 'marriages of convenience' to fish for votes? The PAS-Semangat 46 pact and the PAS-Keadilan pact are but clear examples of why the electorate cannot trust such 'marriages of convenience'.

It is heartening to realise that Anwar Ibrahim had taken a possibly plausible route. This is from a man who has delved into very racial and divisive politics, both in and out of the government. In forming a multi-racial party, he seems to be on track except that support for him seems to be diluted by the other opposition players like DAP and PAS.

The opposition should prove that it means business and dissolve its existing structure of divisive politics. They are not helping towards the journey of unseating the BN.. All the parties should put their heads together to come up with one single party. If you cannot let go off your egos to invest in a better future for Malaysians, then you have no right to ask us, the electorate, to believe in such an elusive kingdom and vote for you.

The elusiveness had lasted very long because of your - the opposition's - own folly. Such a folly is making its rounds in Machap now where the DAP seems to be oblivious of the sentiments of the Malays. Or is it daydreaming that the Chinese votes in the constituency are a blank cheque for its success?