Remember the 1990 general election? It was a time when former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tyrannical rule was severely tested at the ballot box.

Prior to that, the man who had promised us Bersih, Cekap and Amanah went on to sack judges who disagreed with him, and put behind bars more than 100 individuals who challenged his authority. Umno was split down the middle, and the economy was struggling its way out of recession.

For the first time since 1969, the opposition front managed to put up a united front - in the form of Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah and Gagasan Rakyat - against the ruling coalition. Like now, their public rallies were well-attended, exceeding those of BN, and there were clear signs that both Malays and non-Malays were ready to teach Mahathir a lesson, denying him a two-thirds majority in Parliament at the minimum.

tengku razaleigh hamzah interview with malaysiakini 3 Alas, despite having won many small battles, the opposition pact lost the war eventually, all because Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ( right ), the de facto leader, had donned a Kadazan tengkolok allegedly with a Christian cross just two days before polling.

The Umno-controlled media cashed in on the blunder and portrayed Tengku Razaleigh as a traitor to the Malays and Islam, which represented a game-changer that turned the entire campaign of the opposition front upside down.

The outcome was a let-down of the first magnitude, with BN holding its badly needed two-thirds majority and ushering in more than a decade of more oppressive rule under Mahathir. The opposition pact all but collapsed.

One more election later, Tengku Razaleigh ended his stint in the political wilderness and rejoined BN. My last check was that he is still seeking re-election in Gua Musang on the Umno ticket. So much for his ‘reformist’ rhetoric over the past few years.

No doubt, the momentum for change this time around is far greater than that in 1990. Most importantly, the three opposition parties have built on their success in March 2008, having gained a firm foothold in national politics through the four states that they control.

Are we confident?

Pakatan Rakyat is indeed forcing BN to be on the defensive in an unprecedented manner, and the groundswell of anti-BN sentiment seems unstoppable. However, are we so confident that we will soon be seeing the back of Umno in less than two weeks from now?

Pakatan’s strength lies in its mutual understanding and solidarity forged through years of fighting the brutal regime together. The beauty of the alternative front is that the component parties are equal, with respect for each other’s core agenda. The tested formula of seeking a consensus and leaving aside differences has gone down well with their respective supporters.

Everything looked fine from the nomination day onwards, until earlier this week when their highly focused election campaign got side-tracked by the never-ending Islamic state issue.

Why now?

NONE Why did PAS deputy spiritual leader Haron Din ( left ) suddenly come out with the statement that PAS would seek to implement hudud law, only to be rebuked by Karpal Singh of DAP? Wasn’t it the Pakatan consensus that they should concentrate on other policy issues, ranging from reforming the police force to introducing retributive justice? Didn’t PAS agree to emphasise on ‘Negara Kebajikan’ instead of ‘Negara Islam’?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for transparency and it would be hugely beneficial to all for there to be a public discourse on whether or not the time is ripe for an Islamic state. I remain rather intrigued to know the actual content of the version as proposed by PAS, and how that would bring it into conflict with DAP which has argued vigorously for a Malaysian Malaysia.

But I am also a realist, cognisant of the fact that elections in this country are not fought on a level playing field, and that the odds are against any attempt to end Umno’s hegemony.

The mainstream media are baying for blood and will not hesitate to resort to the most despicable tactics possible the moment the hudud and Islamic state issues are raised in public. Alternative messages would be distorted beyond recognition in this milieu of mendacity and trickery.

Human society is multifaceted and we must not be so naive to think enlightenment is at hand with the advent of Facebook , Twitter and other social network sites. Making inroads into Umno’s strongholds in Johor, Pahang and Malacca remains a daunting task. Don’t forget, much of America became susceptible to George W Bush’s fear tactics in 2004 although the country is supposedly better informed and educated in general.

'Scaremongering garbage'

Already, Tay Tian Yan of the Sin Chew Daily has been producing scaremongering garbage with warnings over an Islamic state. Clumsily but persistently, he is building a case around PAS’ ultimate objective of theocracy. What he has purposely overlooked is that, while PAS may propose hudud, it can be easily frustrated by PKR and DAP because a two-thirds majority is needed for any constitutional amendment.

How does one expect PAS to go it alone when it is contesting only 73 of the 222 parliamentary seats, most of them against Umno? Would one be so innocent as to think that the corruption-ridden and scandalous Umno would vote for hudud? Quite simply, it is a tortuous process that cannot be properly articulated in a 1,000-word column.

Like MCA which churns out sickening anti-Islamic adverts in the Chinese newspapers on a daily basis, Tay is banking on his readers’ perceived lack of intelligence.

NONE One has given up hopes on MCA president Chua Soi Lek ( left ) who seems proud of having exposed his naked body to the whole world, but for an ostensibly well-educated and erudite ‘senior’ journalist to stoop so low is utterly distasteful. Apparently, Tay had received from Najib Abdul Razak an award as ‘the best Chinese-language journalist’ last year.

Hence, the task now is to get rid of Umno so that we can pave the way for a paradigm shift in Malaysia. Should the ruling coalition fall and Pakatan come to power, there must be every effort to restore public integrity and media freedom.

Only then will the Malaysian electorate be given a fair opportunity to hear PAS out on hudud and more. Until then, it is just a red herring but with the potential of dismantling the opposition pact.

Pakatan parties must therefore tread very carefully and set their priorities right, making sure that the cart is not leading the horse. As I wrote last week, GE13 is theirs to lose and Malaysia simply cannot afford a re-run of 1990.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.