The recent revolution in the North African country of Tunisia has already made its way into the hustings of the Tenang by-election.

tenang by election 220111 anwar speech 03 Highlighted by the Pakatan Rakyat camp, they drew parallels between the Malaysian political scenario to one of post-revolution Tunisia.

“Look at (President Zine Abidine Ben Ali) in Tunisia last year. The people were mad at him and yet they were shot. The leaders had to hop onto a plane and flee, him with his wife.

“The people did not hate Ben Ali, but they hated his wife who was corrupt, arrogant and rich. People hated Ben Ali’s wife more than they hate him,” said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

tenang by election 220111 anwar speech 01 In thinly-veiled references to the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s wife, it was enough to prompt the ceramah audience in the Labis town to chant “Rosmah, Rosmah”, referring to the flamboyant personality at times cited - erroneously - as the country’s ‘First Lady’.

At the same ceramah yesterday night, PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu was more unforgiving towards Rosmah.

“Why do we criticise Rosmah? It’s because she wastes public funds and interferes in public policy,” he said.

Parallels with the Jasmine revolution

The rebellion in the former French colony first sparked off when a young unemployed university graduate immolated himself over constant harassment from the authorities over his fruit cart in December.

tenang by election 220111 anwar speech crowd It later triggered waves of protest, an unusual sight for a nation gripped by unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech and poverty. Just several months ago, Tunisia was also shocked by a Wikileak document which had exposed the president’s wife’s lavish lifestyle.

The series of demonstrations, coupled by the refusal of the armed forces and the police to shoot protestors, finally culminated in the ousting of Ben Ali, who stepped down and fled Tunisia last week after 23 years in power.

tenang by election 220111 anwar speech 02 It was Anwar’s first time in Tenang since nominations, starting his campaign trail first with a dinner with the Indian community, followed by the ceramah in the Labis town as well as ceramahs in Kampung Sawah Baru and Felda Tenang.

Despite the talk that the three Felda settlements in Tenang are traditional Umno strongholds, it did not stop the locals from turning up in droves to listen to Anwar and the other Pakatan leaders.

The ceramah in Felda Tenang in particular managed to draw a mainly local crowd of 250.

The functions also attracted voters from other surrounding constituencies such as Batu Pahat and Segamat.

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