For Dr M, losing Ijok is but one state seat

Dr M has spoken again, and this time he is giving tacit approval to the people of Ijok to vote "wisely" to teach the government a lesson. Below the Malaysiakini report:

Send signal to the 'rotten' government
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz
Apr 26, 07 10:53am Adjust font size:

The Ijok state seat by-election this Saturday is the right time for the voters to shatter the government’s propaganda that all is well, said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

While he did not outrightly called on the 12,000-odd Ijok voters not to back the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, he nevertheless urged them to vote wisely this Saturday.

“If you don’t think (about) what you are doing, you don’t use your vote intelligently, then of course, you are to be blamed,” he told malaysiakini yesterday.

“Unless you send a signal to the government that, ‘Look, if you don’t behave yourself, you may not get my vote at the next election,’ then the government will say, ‘You see? The people are voting for us. We are doing well,’ he said.

He added that if the Ijok voters got swayed by the by-election goodies in the form of new development in the state constituency, they will only have themselves to blame if a ‘rotten’ government is voted in.

“If you vote (BN) because you get a lot of money or because you get a lot of projects, you may get a rotten government which uses money in order to buy your vote,” said Mahathir...

(for rest of article, please click here)

Of course, Dr M never talk about something without a reason behind it. So far in his attacks against the incompetencies of the Abdullah administration, the effect has so far only reverberated throughout the cyber world. Blogs and websites have been the main channel where a lot of similar dissatisfaction are being articulated, and spread. Such widespread discontent (albeit within cyberspace) is, in a way, validating Dr M's belief and message that Malaysians are increasingly getting frustrated and disillusioned with the current administration, and support for Pak Lah is reducing by the day.

However, since internet penetration is still pretty low in Malaysia, the present administration could always argue that Dr M is sorely mistaken and his attacks on them will only serve to strengthen the people's support of the government. The effect on the ground outside of cyberspace is still pretty much uncertain. We really do not know if the widespread discontent among netizens are flowing down to the normal Malaysian on the street and kampung. With this in mind, one would believe that in Dr M's mind, perhaps a real life lesson for the Abdullah administration in the form of voters rejecting BN in Ijok will vindicate his attacks and accusation. After all, BN losing Ijok in the immediate bigger scheme of things is but just one state seat with no impact to the BN's current control of the state of Selangor.

Raising the spectre of developmental politics on the scale of what is being seen in Ijok as corruption and vote buying, and asking Ijok folks not to be bought could be a signal that he is still sore from the fact that umno members were easily bought with a mere RM200 to not vote for him as a delegate. Regardless, especially after putting aside the fact that he used such tactics as well when he was PM, his reminder and warning on such corruption is timely and Malaysians should realize how such corruption is ultimately damaging to the nation's eocnomy and growth.

Of course, looking further into the future, perhaps Ijok turning to PKR would also signal hope that Malaysians are willing and able to give a new brand of politics, that of multi-culturalism, a chance to hopefully change their lives for the better. However, that really remains to be seen. The General Election result would be a much better gauge if that trend would gather momentum, or it will die a premature death. Perhaps Ijok voters could show the rest of Malaysia that maybe it is time to think out of the current political box we're forced into by BN, and pave the way forward. I may be day dreaming, but hey, plenty of great things that have happened started with somebody dreaming of the possibilities.

To see Malaysiakini's recorded interview with Dr M, click here. Malaysiakini TV is free.