I refer to Malaysiakini report Nizar: Fresh state polls PM's best 'angpow' for Perak .

It is really wishful thinking on the part of the ousted menteri besar of Perak, Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, in asking our premier to give a good ‘angpow’ by having snap elections in the Silver State. Even with all the government agencies at the PM’s beck and call, the embattled prime minister still does not have the confidence that public support for his leadership is on the increase.

It will be suicidal for the premier to call for snap polls as the result might go against him. The court of public opinion in Perak is dead set against BN’s power grab regardless of whether the apex court has ruled that the court-appointed MB from Umno has the mandate to rule.

Whatever it is, all of us have to wait for Sarawak state election which is due this year before we can ever think about the next general election which should be held within the next three years. Knowing the Sarawakian mentality especially in the rural areas where basic infrastructures are in a dire straits, the premier’s recent visit to the Hornbill State where he promised money for development will surely sway the rural voters to vote for BN.

This regardless of how inept or corrupt the chief minister and his equally corrupt ministers have been since independence. While one would wish that Sarawakians would wake up from their slumber and kick out the old and tired faces in the next election, the reality on the ground seems to be different.

With the fragile opposition fronts in the state facing the well-oiled BN machinery with the backing of timber tycoons who have made billions raping timber resources with impunity, it will be a miracle for the opposition fronts in Sarawak to form the next state government.

Nizar Jamaluddin and his coalition partners need to work harder now to win the locals’ support if he wants to become MB of Perak again. The local people are resigned to the fact that no matter what, the Umno state government being headed by Zambry Abdul Kadir will still be there until the next polls.

But it does not mean that support for the BN state government is on the increase. Surely, if BN is confident of the people’s support, they would have called for snap polls by now. Their silence on this matter is telling.