May 7, 2013- Najib Tun Razak must be congratulated for setting a new record. He is en route to becoming the first Malaysian prime minister to helm the nation for two consecutive terms without a mandate.
During his first term, he became the prime minister by default after his predecessor was arm-twisted into relinquishing his post in the aftermath of Barisan Nasional’s worst ever electoral setback in 2008.
Najib has now returned to the top post following an even bigger debacle in Sunday’s general election, the nation’s thirteenth.
His arch-nemesis Anwar Ibrahim, however, had obtained the people’s mandate with Pakatan Rakyat securing 50.3% of the votes cast compared to 46.8% for BN.
Numerous opposition candidates also scored landslide victories.
But Najib still became prime minister since gerrymandering and a tainted electoral roll allowed BN to capture more parliament seats than the opposition bloc.
Marred with allegations of fraud
Furthermore, from the moment parliament was dissolved, this election had been marred with allegations of fraud and manipulation.
And despite inking the Election Integrity Pledge, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) pointed out that the prime minister failed to observe it.
TI-M stated that on April 8, Najib expanded the 1Malaysia Privilege Card to 725,009 civil service retirees. On April 9, the BN chief announced the construction of a RM400 million complex in Perak.
And on April 18, he asked civil servants to help him win the election when launching an affordable housing project exclusively for Putrajaya residents.
The indelible ink fiasco and power outages, on the other hand, had left a dark and indelible blotch on the Election Commission’s far from enviable reputation.
And in the aftermath of the polls, videos have surfaced on cash being given in return for votes and foreigners nabbed at polling stations.
In Lembah Pantai, the constituents should be given a round of applause for having stood their ground to ensure that Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, romped home victorious again.
These issues would prove to be a double-edged sword for Najib since those who once had reservations about Anwar and Pakatan are also fuming.
BN components come closer to the grave
The election also witnessed the opposition hauling more parliament seats, and in the process slaughtering several big names. Pakatan also made significant inroads in BN’s so-called fortresses of Johor and Sabah.
The voters had also pushed BN component parties MCA, MIC and Gerakan closer to the grave, with all three faring even worse than their 2008 electoral outing.
Chinese voters had sent a loud and clear reminder to MCA of its irrelevance to the community, and its president Dr Chua Soi Lek vowed that the party would not take up Cabinet positions.
Even Chua’s son Tee Yong just managed to scrape through in Labis, which observers said could be interpreted as a referendum on the former’s leadership as well.
Following Najib’s poor choice of words in attributing BN’s losses to a “Chinese tsunami”, speculation is rife that the Umno-led coalition would exact subtle revenge.
Meanwhile, voters also rejected BN’s Perkasa allies Zulkifli Noordin and Ibrahim Ali in Shah Alam and Pasir Mas respectively.
Zulkifili became infamous for belittling the Hindu religion and for calling the Chinese and Indians illegal immigrants, while Ibrahim had mooted the torching of bibles with the word Allah.
Their defeats in Malay-majority seats would effectively silence Perkasa, which claims to be the defender of Malay rights. It is also a slap for the movement’s patron, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
As expected, Gerakan was wiped out in Penang and the red-faced state BN chief from Gerakan had tendered his resignation.
On the MIC front, its president G Palanivel clinched a meaningless victory in Cameron Highlands with a razor-thin majority.
If the votes garnered by DAP’s M Manogaran and the independents are combined, it would show that more constituents had voted against Palanivel.
The MIC president had opted for the hill as it was considered a safe bet, and in the process sent the incumbent, MIC vice-president SK Devamany, on a date with doom in Sungai Siput.
Despite having pumped millions into the constituency, one observer mocked Palanivel for having turned a safe seat into an unsafe seat with his presence.
Prior to the elections, there were those who believed that Sungai Siput would fall because the voters there would opt for a well-connected MP with deep pockets as opposed to the socialist, Dr Michael Jeyakumar, who defeated former MIC president S Samy Vellu in 2008.
Furthermore, this time around, Samy Vellu was appointed as the BN coordinator for the seat, which he held for close to three decades.
However, the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader vanquished both Samy Vellu and Devamany to retain his seat.
So while Najib might have won the election, the BN chairman had lost the moral authority to govern this nation for the next five years.
