I refer to Malaysiakini report Anwar braces for 'massive' vote-rigging .

The battle royale between the de facto leader of PKR, Anwar Ibrahim and the BN machinery at Permatang Pauh will be the ‘mother of all battles’ where for the first time in history, BN would be the underdog against their rival.

Most of the top guns under the BN banner will be there to support their candidate but Anwar has the edge as the people in that area have been voting for his wife for more than three terms and dislodging the PKR de facto leader will be an uphill battle.

Just like the Ijok by-election, the present deputy premier and the former deputy premier will repeat their ceramah performance and one will see a lot of dirt by both parties being thrown in order to win votes.

The ghost of the Mongolian gruesome murder case will be raised again from the grave so expect more mudslinging and the washing of dirty linen in public to happen again.

Vote-rigging and money politics will rear its ugly head again as BN cannot allow Anwar to win the seat uncontested because if the former deputy premier wins, he is a step closer to Putrajaya to claim his throne to become the next premier of this country.

Ezam Mohd Noor, a former blue-eyed boy of Anwar will be used fully by BN to run down his former mentor. The promise of developments will be made by the dozen by ministers but whether this will change the voters’ mind to vote for the BN candidate is yet to be seen.

After more than four months since the last general election, the people’s support for the opposition seems to have been increased if the reception for Anwar during his visit to the constituency is anything to go by.

Regardless of race and creed, a majority of them were there to give moral support to the de facto opposition leader.

Umno with at its internal problems seems to be weak as a majority of the Malays who supported them in the past are basically fed-up with all the graft and abuse of power by the ruling elite. It does not help further when the embattle premier is facing a credibility problem with a recent survey showing that Pak Lah is unpopular with the public at large.

Even with the impeding price reducation for fuel in September, it will not help the public much if the price of goods, food and transport does not reduce significantly when oil price is reduced due to market factors.

Anwar Ibrahim represents the future of this country. A lot of people expect him -if and when he is elected the premier minister of this country - to reform the government and put a stop to a lot of hanky-panky which caused public coffers to be depleted

But the sodomy charges hanging over his head might land him in jail if the authorities decide to charge him with criminal charges.

A lot of corrupt individuals who hold power in the government would like to see him in the slammer again as Anwar is a threat to their well-being if he ever becomes premier.

Whatever it is, the by-election is a boon for the locals of Permatang Pauh, as they will have new roads, drains and other public amenities courtesy of the government. Big guns from both sides will be there to drum up support for their candidates.

Let the show begins and may the best candidate win. Voters nowadays are nobody’s fools and the promise of developments may not win the votes like before.

This will be a watershed election as a defeat of on either side would mark a turning point for the direction of our local political scene.