Slow start, but now the knives are out

comments     Susan Loone     Published     Updated

ANALYSIS Thanks to the timid nature of all four candidates contesting the Permatang Pauh seat, this by-election which has now entered its fifth day, seemed to lack the ‘wow’ factor.

 

It looked like PKR's Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, 63, and BN's Suhaimi Sabudin who is much younger at 44, had nothing new or exciting to offer.

 

This is Azizah’s fourth time battling for the Parliament seat left vacant by her husband and PKR defacto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

 

Anwar is in prison for a sodomy conviction and has failed to obtain a royal pardon. He is serving a five-year jail term.

 

Another two virtually unknown contestants - PRM's Azman Shah Othman and Salleh Isahak - have yet to invite journalists on their campaign trail.

 

Campaigning officially ends on May 7, polling day, while early voting is on May 3.

 

Even before nomination day on Apr 25, BN has been harping on development like a broken record, while Pakatan has been flogging the dead horse of the goods and services tax (GST).

 

Gloves coming off

However there are signs that the gloves are coming off and since yesterday, a shift appears to have taken place.

 

BN, regarded as underdogs, have now gone on the attack with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, training his guns on Azizah's ability to be an MP again. 

 

Her loyalty to her husband is being questioned as to whether it’s an asset or a liability, her age is being compared to the much younger Suhaimi, and the favourite topic of whether she can juggle two constituencies keeps popping up.

 

BN is also magnifying complaints that she was never around much in her previous terms, from 1999 to July 31, 2008.

 

That was when she vacated her seat for Anwar to return to active politics. He then went on to lead Pakatan to win 52 percent of the popular vote in the 13th GE.

 

All these must be having a massive impact on Pakatan’s campaign judging by the speed at which Anwar has sent a letter to the voters, appealing for them to support Azizah.

 

If she started off her campaign by featuring herself as Anwar’s long suffering wife, now she has now to defend her ability to serve the 70,000 Permatang Pauh constituents.

 

On her campaign trail, she’s been explaining that she is a woman in her own right and can fight her own battles whether she is Anwar's wife or people's elected representative.

 

Her campaigners, too, have been side-tracked from their intense lobbying against the GST, to defend their candidate. 

 

However the recurring feud between Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and former premier DR Mahathir Mohammed seem to have taken the heat off them somewhat.

 

Mahathir’s visit to Penang tomorrow, where he would be speaking in Universiti Sains Malaysia has set tongues wagging if he would drop by Permatang Pauh.

 

Unity is big matter in Permatang Pauh for both BN and Pakatan.

 

PKR has to show a brave front although part of its machinery is fractured due to PAS Youth's boycott threat.

 

PAS Youth may have made a U-turn this morning to support PKR, but bad publicity over the latter’s non-support of president Abdul Hadi Awang’s private members bill on hudud in Parliament may result in the 3,000-odd PAS members in Permatang Pauh not casting their votes.

As of yesterday, there were no PAS flags flying high in the constituency.

 

The GST factor

BN too has been harping on the need for inter and intra party unity, hinting at a real problem of disunity between Najib and Mahathir’s factions.

 

Lucky for PKR though, the burden of the GST on ordinary folks cancels out much off all the other considerations.

 

Voters are heard saying that Pakatan is not perfect, but the GST is burning very big holes in their pockets.

 

Even the fear of hudud dims in comparison to the pain of having to pay the six percent GST every time one goes shopping.

 

Until now, PKR seem set to retain the seat, but may have to contend with a slashed majority from its previous 11, 721 votes in 2013 national polls.

 

With the possibility of a boycott from the 3,000 PAS members, and a no show from about 6,000 outstation voters, Azizah may have to be content with only a 2,000-odd majority.

 

That would be much to BN's delight. A reduced majority for Pakatan would be a pointer that the people have lost faith in Anwar which BN would accept as a consolation prize.



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