{"id":599,"date":"2009-07-15T00:26:42","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T16:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buletinonline.net\/v7\/index.php\/2009\/07\/manek-urai-pas-barely-scrape-past-full-bn-might\/"},"modified":"2009-07-15T00:26:42","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T16:26:42","slug":"manek-urai-pas-barely-scrape-past-full-bn-might","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/manek-urai-pas-barely-scrape-past-full-bn-might\/","title":{"rendered":"Manek Urai: PAS barely scrape past full BN might"},"content":{"rendered":"

MANEK URAI, July 14 \u2014 Despite throwing everything including the kitchen sink at PAS, Umno\/Barisan Nasional (BN) still came up short in today\u2019s Manek Urai by-election.<\/font> <\/p>\n

From the get-go there were many things in BN\u2019s favour.<\/font><\/p>\n

PAS was wracked by infighting between the so-called Erdogans who were backed by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the ulama faction of party president Hadi Awang. <\/font><\/p>\n

The signs became even more favourable last week when the independent Merdeka Centre poll showed that Datuk Seri Najib Razak now had a 65 per cent approval rating as prime minister.<\/font><\/p>\n

A recent change in Umno leadership in Kelantan, from Annuar Musa to Mustapa Mohamad \u2013 also suggested a rejuvenated state machinery.<\/font><\/p>\n

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties appeared to be also distracted by their own very public disagreements \u2013 from pig abattoirs in Kedah to the PAS flirtation with Umno.<\/font><\/p>\n

The PR icon Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also facing his sodomy charge in court.<\/font><\/p>\n

But perhaps the clear lesson to be learned in this by-election is reserved for PR and PAS.<\/font><\/p>\n

And that is in today\u2019s fluid political landscape, no party can waltz into a by-election expecting an easy win.<\/font><\/p>\n

As late as 4pm today, before voting had even closed, PAS officials were already declaring a big win for the party.<\/font><\/p>\n

A 2,000 vote majority was claimed.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Newly-elected PAS state assemblyman Mohd Fauzi Abdullah (aka Abe Uji) being hoisted up in jubilance just outside the tallying centre in Kuala Krai. – Picture by Danny Lim<\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the end the margin was a mere 65 votes.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Another lesson to be drawn from the tiny majority is the fact that if PR wants to be taken seriously as a real alternative to BN, it will have to come up soon with a common platform and policies.<\/font><\/p>\n

The recent squabbling has had an effect on how voters perceive the federal opposition alliance.<\/font><\/p>\n

Umno and BN under Najib is no longer the same as Umno and BN under Tun Abdullah Badawi.<\/font><\/p>\n

PR leaders will have to learn not to walk with the kind of swagger they had been displaying in previous by-elections.<\/font><\/p>\n

In this round BN picked a fight with a Kelantan icon \u2013 Nik Aziz \u2013 and lost.<\/font><\/p>\n

Calling him names and disparaging him during the campaign only led to a higher turnout of more than 1,300 outstation voters.<\/font><\/p>\n

There is little doubt that the outstation votes saved the day for PAS.<\/font><\/p>\n

But just as BN received a bloody nose in last year\u2019s general elections, PAS and PR also got a bruising and escaped by the skin of their teeth. – MalaysianInsider
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MANEK URAI, July 14 \u2014 Despite throwing everything including the kitchen sink at PAS, Umno\/Barisan Nasional (BN) still came up short in today\u2019s Manek Urai by-election. From the get-go there were many things in BN\u2019s favour. PAS was wracked by infighting between the so-called Erdogans who were backed by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}