I think it is beyond doubt for all right-thinking and voting Malaysian that our votes should go to the opposition(any party) to curb the hegemonic power of Umno and its cronies.

But don’t have too high expectations for the outcome of this election because the most DAP can win is probably 15 to 20 parliamentary seats out of the 222 seats. DAP only stands a good chance of winning at seats where the Chinese form more than 70% of the electorate. There are not many of these and there will be less in the future.

That is why DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and other heavyweights go for seats where the Chinese form even up to 80% of the electorate to be sure of winning. Unless the DAP can garner some meaningful portion of the Malay votes (which is unlikely given the present political landscape), there is not much hope for this party.

Even if the DAP were to win 25 seats in this election will it be able to expand further in future without a massive change of the local political landscape? I don’t think most Malayd are prepared to abandon Umno at this stage with the exception of those in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Of course, I hope PKR can win as many seats this time around but I am not too optimistic of its chances.

The real election will be the next one after this year’s when the level of corruption and other abuses of power which remained unchecked get worse and getting worse and the bulk of the Malays feel the impact of inflation and the heat or incompetent governance.

Indian votes are only pivotal where Malay votes are evenly split, so don’t expect too much of the Hindraf effect. Maybe a few seats (Sg Siput, Telok Intan, Kapar) will see a swing the other way but how many of such seats are there?

So my recommendation is that DAP and PKR merge to form one party in order to tackle any meaningful democratic election in the future. Kit Siang and others must sacrifice in order to achieve a real breakthrough in future election.

Just look at the result of Lian Chan of KMT and Soong of the New Party in Taiwan who made way for Ma Ying Giou to challenge the ruling party.

Happy voting Malaysians but more importantly, be prepared for the next round. However, I wish I am totally wrong in my prognosis of the coming elections result and that there will be a massive swing of Malay votes.