WHAT AILS BN/UMNO IN KUALA TRENGGANU BY-ELECTION?

The voters in Kuala Trengganu has decided. Once again, it is not money and promises that the voters wants. Clearly, in this instant it is about the person........his good personality traits. And to be associated with PAS is what draws the voters to elect Abdul Wahid Endut as their representative.

The fear that the Chinese voters would vote for the 'opposite side' is no longer the issue. One must understand that the Trengganu Chinese are not the Chinese that we see in Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh. Just talk to any Trengganu Chinese, and you will at once noticed that the language they speak is no different from a Trengganu Malay. For a person visiting Trengganu for the first time, it is difficult to differentiate between a Trengganu Malay and a Trengganu Chinese. There is a distinct similarity between the two races; not only in their spoken language, but also in character. The same can also be said for the two races in Kelantan where 'racial assimilation' is so obvious.

The BN candidate Datuk Wan Farid Ahmad who was promised a ministerial post, had he won, is now a 'jobless person'. However, being closely associated to the top party heirachy, getting another vocation is not too difficult. There are many GLC's where Wan Farid can be slotted in, and to savour the benefits that comes along with it. Or he can be a consultant for the Ministry of Education.

I suppose BN and UMNO in particular will have another round of post mortem, to identify their weaknesses and failures during the KT by-election. Post mortems are of little meaning if it is meant to be kept merely as records, and I presume BN's lost in KT is partly the result of UMNO's failure to heed the lessons of the Permatang Pauh disastrous outing. The failures are too obvious.......and UMNO knows it too well.

Now, what will BN/UMNO say of Najib? He is indeed a badly wounded person. And to place blame wholly upon him may not be just and fair. Blame must also be apportioned to others, particularly the UMNO leadership in Trengganu. Didn't we hear that Idris Jusoh has yet to overcome his disappointment at not being appointed the Menteri Besar? I am told that there is still an animosity hovering between the current MB and Idris Jusoh. Could this be a reason for BN/UMNO lost in the by-election? And where was Idris Jusoh when Najib gave a press conference following the defeat of UMNO? Isn't he UMNO's Ketua Perhubungan Negeri? I think, had UMNO won, he would be the first person to sit besides Najib.

This is what ails UMNO.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Posted at 10.00 am Jan 18, 2009