As expected, the mainstream media dooms PKR

As expected, the pliant and castrated mainstream media is painting a picture of gloom and doom for PKR and Anwar based on a simplistic reading of the Ijok by-election results. But then, what else can you expect from papers which are used more for spins than having intelligent (instead of insulting the intelligence) analysis of issues, or even basic fair reporting? Check out my previous post in this blog, as well as James Wong's analysis in Malaysiakini.

Below is a Straits Times (Singapore punya, not the NST) report on this matter:

30/04: Media paints bleak outlook for opposition
Category: General
Posted by: Raja Petra
CAROLYN HONG
The Straits Times

THE Barisan Nasional (BN) win in Ijok on Saturday was described by Malaysian media yesterday as a serious setback for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's party and a rejection of race politics.

In a front-page commentary in the New Sunday Times, its adviser Kalimullah Hassan said the result showed that the people of Ijok did not believe the wild promises of Datuk Seri Anwar.

'They were entertained by the skilful hand and vocal techniques of PKR and master magician Anwar Ibrahim,' Datuk Kalimullah, a close confidante of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, wrote.

PKR refers to Datuk Seri Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

The Star's political columnist Joceline Tan said the result showed that it was difficult for Datuk Seri Anwar to shake off his past.

'For every lump of mud he threw at the Barisan, bits of it flew back at him,' she wrote.

The mass-selling Mingguan Malaysia carried a headline on its front page yesterday speculating that this could be the end of PKR.

The report noted that the BN victory had dashed PKR's hopes of using Datuk Seri Anwar as a trump card in the next general election.

'Throughout the campaign, Anwar did not help the PKR candidate Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim much. Instead he was more interested in raising issues about himself, national matters, and slamming the country's leaders, especially Datuk Seri Najib Razak,' it said.

In his column, the Star's senior editor Wong Chun Wai noted that the win was also a victory of sorts for Deputy Prime Minister Najib, who was the main target of Datuk Seri Anwar's attacks.

In another commentary in the NST, writer Abdul Razak Ahmad wrote that the Chinese and Indian support for Barisan remains strong, and that some Malay ground lost in 2004 had been recaptured.

'As a mainly Malay but healthily multi-ethnic seat which is typical of up to 70 per cent of Parliament and state seats in the country, the outcome in Ijok will be handy as a rough gauge on how the national electorate will behave in coming elections,' he said.