I refer to Malaysiakini report on KJ’s election: Mahathir spews venom .

TDM, the number one critic of KJ once again took a swipe at him. Malaysiakini equated his condemnation to ‘spewing venom’. This time he directed his accusation to the collective body of Umno Youth members for electing Khairy despite the Umno disciplinary committee finding him of guilty for money politics.

But on the night he was elected as chief, Khairy in his acceptance speech said ‘They thought Khairy is over, but here I am despite all the odds.’ Yes, Khairy was correct; most of us thought Khairy did not have any chance of winning, but he proved us all wrong by winning convincingly.

Whether Khairy was involved in money politics or not we wouldn’t know and TDM’s allegation that Umno Youth bent over backwards for Khairy is not easy to believe either. However what we do know is Khairy had a big number of Umno Youth members against him outnumbering his own supporters.

Hence, his victory needs the use of the ‘Swot’ approach to analyse the process of the Umno Youth elections. This could help us establish the real contributory factors for his ultimate win which could also be a crucial lesson for PKR in the upcoming Bukit Selambau by-election.

Strength of opposition:

For anti-Khairy faction – Khairy won by a majority of 486 votes.

For Pakatan in Selambau – the nation knows of an anti-government mood and that the majority of voters favour the alternative choice of PR.

Weakness of opposition:

For anti-Khairy faction – The disunity factor among opponents. Mukhriz and Khir destroyed their opportunity to topple Khairy by refusing to work hand-in-hand and instead they chose to test their individual strength. This obviously became an advantage for Khairy.

For Pakatan in Selambau – The selfish attitude among opposition groups and PKR’s failure to convince the disappointed factions - especially the Indians - of their choice of candidate has resulted in the emergence of independent candidates.

If PKR fails to take measures, it might give BN an easy walkover victory. Such an incident would be very unfortunate to those groups such as Makkal Sakthi who ferociously fight the government for their rights and demands.

Opportunities for opposition:

For anti-Khairy faction - They had many favourable factors to defeat Khairy – KJ was found guilty of money politics just a few days before the election. He had many critics including TDM. Many top guns including Muhyiddin were against him. Unfortunately KJ’s contestants missed exploiting these opportunities.

For Pakatan in Selambau – Selambau is held by PKR. The majority of the voters there support the opposition and a crucial number of Indians have become ‘BN-haters’. Many recent incidents including the killing of six Indians by the police are very fresh in the people’s memory. All these could be advantageous to the opposition.

Threats for the opposition:

For anti-Khairy faction – Khairy was the incumbent deputy chief. He knew the loyalists who worked with him for 11 years. The PM is his father-in-law. He is privy to certain privileged information.

Also, Khairy played his role well, both as leader championing Malay rights and the ultra-Malay who has the intelligence and competence. Understandably, KJ’s opponents failed to overcome these factors.

For Pakatan in Selambau – PR’s inability to choose the most qualified and trustworthy candidate. The continuous ‘attacks’ by BN on PR has caused severe damage to PR’s image of stability and good governance.

More importantly, the new Umno and cabinet line up led by Najib may cause people to consider giving a second chance to BN.

As polling day for the by-election is inching closer, the underlying questions that remain unanswered are:

Will the people who oppose BN realise that their very divisiveness is a strength for BN?

Can’t they see that if a divided Umno Youth could bring victory to Khairy, could not also a divided opposition bring victory to BN?

Why is it so important that the candidate of your choice gets the opportunity and not others?

Can an independent who claims to represent one ethnic group with mere 9,000 voters convince the majority Malays and Chinese to vote him in?

Are you prepared to see Pakatan Rakyat losing to BN because of your own doing and selfishness?

It’s only hoped Khairy’s election serves as lesson in the upcoming by-election. Selambau folks, for heaven’s sake, please do not be detracted by few disgruntled individuals who fail to see the bigger picture.