DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said today that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has again delayed widely speculated early polls, upon realising that his personal popularity cannot be converted into support for the BN.

"With Najib again agonising over when to dissolve Parliament to go for national polls, the country is now back to the guessing game, whether the 13th general election is still in June, or pushed to July, September or even later.

NONE "This reflects Najib's realisation that although he may have secured high personal polls, his personal popularity could not be translated into high voting support for Umno and the BN and the next general elections is a veritable 'do or die' battle for him, Umno and the BN," Kit Siang ( right ) said in a statement today.

This, he said, was despite Najib's "tough talk" during the Umno 66th anniversary rally at Bukit Jalil on May 11, claiming that it was bigger than the Bersih 3.0 protest.

"Najib has suffered another attack of hesitation and indecisiveness, as a result of the unprecedented support by Malaysians for fair, free and clean elections not only in various part of the country and by the Malaysian diaspora throughout the world but also by the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, gender and age who gathered peacefully in Kuala Lumpur for the Bersih 3.0 sit-in at Dataran Merdeka on April 28."

‘ Delays will benefit Pakatan'

Pointing out that there was a systematic attempt by the government to demonise Bersih such as the 30-minute documentary entitled "Bersih 3.0 itu Kotor" aired on TV1 last Sunday, Lim said the delays will allow time for Pakatan to expose "lies".

"Time is on Pakatan Rakyat's side, any further delay in elections will only provide more time and opportunity to debunk the Umno's and BN's campaign of lies, falsehoods and demonisation..." he said.

An example, he said, is the case of rural voters who depend on the mainstream media and are "easy victims" of the Bersih demonising campaign.

"But if general elections are not held in June or July, it means there will be more time for urban Malay youths to return to the villages to tell their parents and relatives the truth of what happened on April 28.

"When the truth about Bersih 3.0 is fully understood by voters in the rural areas, then the country will be ready for far-reaching changes in the next general election," he said.