There is no doubt that the emergence of socio-political blogs and websites, now often referred to as the 'New Media', has played an indispensable role in altering the rules of political propagation in Malaysia, culminating in the March 8 general election results.

internet media and print media Since then, political players from both sides of the ideological divide have upped the ante in the Malaysian blogosphere, sparking an unprecedented spike in the number of socio-political websites in the past year.

With the Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang by-elections looming around the corner, the cyber war escalates another notch, and may well play a crucial role again in influencing the outcome of the elections.

The following are a handful of socio-political blogs dedicated to the two by-elections:

N 25 Bukit Selambau , a pro-Pakatan Rakyat blog. In addition to the blog staple of news articles, it provides a “Bukit Selambau photo gallery” as well as a map for the venue where the parties will be nominating their respective candidates.

A list of upcoming ceramahs by PR leaders in Bukit Selambau and commentaries on the by-election were found at PRK-Bukit Selambau .

How to register as voters via SMS

PRK-Bukit Selambau also gave instructions for readers to register as voters through SMS.

An unnamed individual attempted to conduct his own neutral, objective analyses of the chances of both BN and PR on his blog, Bkt Selambau .

BukitSelambau.net , a pro-BN blog, contained links to various Umno supporters as well as an online forum for visitors.

Bukit Gantang Bersatu , a pro-BN blog, was filled with emotionally-charged blog posts and hurled various malicious statements at Nizar Jamaluddin, the PAS candidate for Bukit Gantang.

PRK 059 , though still under construction, will serve as a comprehensive website for PAS’ election campaign in Bukit Gantang.

In addition to the latest news surrounding the election campaign, the website also featured a schedule of upcoming ceramahs by PAS, a map of Bukit Gantang, as well as a spreadsheet on the demographic makeup of Bukit Gantang.

Some individuals, striving to be as comprehensive as possible, have also started separate blogs for both by-elections.

For example, PRK-Bukit Gantang and BukitGantang.net are mirror sites of PRK-Bukit Selambau and Bukit Selambau.net respectively.

Parlimen 059 , a pro-PAS blog, has about 73 news articles so far and almost 30,000 hits within just three months of its formation.

The blog also features a photo slideshow of PAS’ election campaign in Bukit Gantang.

Malaysiakini will be providing LIVE coverage of the nominations tomorrow beginning at 8.30am.