A tale of two lost chances
The Sun (18/8/09): About a week ago, there was a stir in the corridors of the Penang State Assembly when the maverick and popular PAS vice-president Mohammad Sabu showed up to have tea with state leaders during a break.
It was enough to drum up a buzz that Mat Sabu, as he is better known, a former cell-mate of Lim Guan Eng during detention under the ISA, would be the PAS candidate for the Permatang Pasir state by-election.
The speculation fanned on till the very last moment before PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang eventually announced the party’s choice last Friday night. And it turned out instead to be Penang PAS commissioner Salleh Man.
With due respect to the soft-spoken and affable Salleh, who droned monotonously through his acceptance speech, it appeared to be a golden chance lost for PAS and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.
A source said Mat Sabu was the main choice in view of the fact that he hailed from Penang, and currently holds a director's post in the Penang Water Supply Corporation. His close friendship with Lim is also an open secret. If elected, he would quite likely have been given strong administrative roles in the state, perhaps even an executive councillor's post.
However, for reasons best known to him, Mat Sabu, a stirring orator who can play the heartstrings of the masses, turned down the offer.
Meanwhile, on the Barisan Nasional (BN)'s corner, the selection of Rohaizat Othman, the Permatang Pauh Umno secretary, has now proven to be a major public relations disaster.
Even as the Umno leadership stood squarely behind him in face of revelations that he was disbarred last year by the Malaysian Bar Council, it emerged that Rohaizat was, in fact, charged – in his personal capacity - for questionable involvement in his client's money.
This contradicted his explanation in an emergency state Umno meeting last Friday, two days before nomination, that the disbarment was brought about by the actions of his former partner in his legal firm.
With both sides probably rueing lost opportunities for stronger candidates, the campaign will now rely on the general political standings of the parties.
If anything, the Permatang Pasir by-election will be watched as a barometer of the popularities the PR and BN currently have in the country. This is particularly so after PAS scrapped through in the Manek Urai by-election last month to wrest back the seat with a wafer-thin margin of only 65 votes.
For the BN, the astonishingly slim defeat was a morale booster, and an affirmation that new federal policies trumped by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak were having impact on votes.
The BN wants to desperately arrest the sequence of by-election losses in peninsular Malaysia since the last general election. The coalition had prior to this encountered successive defeats in Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang, Penanti and of course Manek Urai.
Indeed, Umno and its BN allies have been planning an arsenal of strategies to extol their strengths while discrediting the PR in the eyes of the electorates. High on the agenda were the reported broken promises of the PR leaders that partially contributed to the Kampung Buah Pala eviction fiasco in Penang.
The BN also insists that only it can bring about development of infrastructure and a level of funding that PR can hardly produce.
Furthermore, the PR has shown signs of cracking under the weight of internal squabbles between DAP, PAS and PKR in Selangor and Penang.
"They sleep on one pillow, but have different dreams," says Umno deputy president and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
For the PR, there is deep urgency to ensure victory. Permatang Pasir, after all, is a bastion of PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's support base, as it falls within his Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency. A loss here would be humiliating.
PAS is also appealing to local folks in view of the fact the Permatang Pasir constituency is the sole assembly seat in Penang now held by the party.
And the party will ride on ground sentiment towards the passing away of former assemblyman Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman whose demise due to a cardiac failure on Aug 31 for this by-election. Hamdan was into his third term as assemblyman here.
Ironically, it was Mat Sabu who gave a rousing speech to a gathering of villagers and supporters during a rally when the PAS candidate was announced.
Had Mat Sabu agreed to run, it would have electrified the PAS campaign trail. Had another candidate, less mired in controversy besides Rohaizat been chosen, the BN would have had stronger chance of gaining public confidence.
Barring any new controversies or juicy exposes from either side, Permatang Pasir promises to be a rather ordinary affair, as far as the candidates are concerned. And it may well be rued in years to come as a by-election of two lost chances.
It was enough to drum up a buzz that Mat Sabu, as he is better known, a former cell-mate of Lim Guan Eng during detention under the ISA, would be the PAS candidate for the Permatang Pasir state by-election.
The speculation fanned on till the very last moment before PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang eventually announced the party’s choice last Friday night. And it turned out instead to be Penang PAS commissioner Salleh Man.
With due respect to the soft-spoken and affable Salleh, who droned monotonously through his acceptance speech, it appeared to be a golden chance lost for PAS and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.
A source said Mat Sabu was the main choice in view of the fact that he hailed from Penang, and currently holds a director's post in the Penang Water Supply Corporation. His close friendship with Lim is also an open secret. If elected, he would quite likely have been given strong administrative roles in the state, perhaps even an executive councillor's post.
Meanwhile, on the Barisan Nasional (BN)'s corner, the selection of Rohaizat Othman, the Permatang Pauh Umno secretary, has now proven to be a major public relations disaster.
Even as the Umno leadership stood squarely behind him in face of revelations that he was disbarred last year by the Malaysian Bar Council, it emerged that Rohaizat was, in fact, charged – in his personal capacity - for questionable involvement in his client's money.
This contradicted his explanation in an emergency state Umno meeting last Friday, two days before nomination, that the disbarment was brought about by the actions of his former partner in his legal firm.
With both sides probably rueing lost opportunities for stronger candidates, the campaign will now rely on the general political standings of the parties.
If anything, the Permatang Pasir by-election will be watched as a barometer of the popularities the PR and BN currently have in the country. This is particularly so after PAS scrapped through in the Manek Urai by-election last month to wrest back the seat with a wafer-thin margin of only 65 votes.
For the BN, the astonishingly slim defeat was a morale booster, and an affirmation that new federal policies trumped by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak were having impact on votes.
The BN wants to desperately arrest the sequence of by-election losses in peninsular Malaysia since the last general election. The coalition had prior to this encountered successive defeats in Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang, Penanti and of course Manek Urai.
Indeed, Umno and its BN allies have been planning an arsenal of strategies to extol their strengths while discrediting the PR in the eyes of the electorates. High on the agenda were the reported broken promises of the PR leaders that partially contributed to the Kampung Buah Pala eviction fiasco in Penang.
The BN also insists that only it can bring about development of infrastructure and a level of funding that PR can hardly produce.
Furthermore, the PR has shown signs of cracking under the weight of internal squabbles between DAP, PAS and PKR in Selangor and Penang.
"They sleep on one pillow, but have different dreams," says Umno deputy president and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
For the PR, there is deep urgency to ensure victory. Permatang Pasir, after all, is a bastion of PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's support base, as it falls within his Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency. A loss here would be humiliating.
PAS is also appealing to local folks in view of the fact the Permatang Pasir constituency is the sole assembly seat in Penang now held by the party.
And the party will ride on ground sentiment towards the passing away of former assemblyman Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman whose demise due to a cardiac failure on Aug 31 for this by-election. Hamdan was into his third term as assemblyman here.
Ironically, it was Mat Sabu who gave a rousing speech to a gathering of villagers and supporters during a rally when the PAS candidate was announced.
Had Mat Sabu agreed to run, it would have electrified the PAS campaign trail. Had another candidate, less mired in controversy besides Rohaizat been chosen, the BN would have had stronger chance of gaining public confidence.
Barring any new controversies or juicy exposes from either side, Permatang Pasir promises to be a rather ordinary affair, as far as the candidates are concerned. And it may well be rued in years to come as a by-election of two lost chances.
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