Why UMNO is worried about PAS' boycott of Batu Talam

Yesterday I posted PAS' WMD for UMNO wallahs which discussed PAS’ secret strategy in boycotting the Batu Talam by-election.

PAS, PKR and DAP have all complained about the ‘unnatural’ polling list which ‘naturally’ favours the ruling party UMNO. That claim has been indirectly supported by none other than the Election Commission Chairman, Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, who admitted to western news media the ‘supernatural’, that half a million dead are registered as voters.

Then PAS VP Husam Musa gave another wicked chop of his kapak kecil on the grasping hands of UMNO workers by saying the boycott would deny those UMNO gollums any extra income.

But how will this concern UMNO leadership then, because a PAS-PKR boycott means a free ride home in Batu Talam?

Well, everyone in Malaysia knows that UMNO is like a parking meter that runs only when it’s fed money. A money-deprived meter will soon show a nasty red flag, which is bad for the UMNO leadership. No money, no loyalty.

Of course if you don’t like the parking meter analogy, and prefer to continue with the ‘supernatural’ line, there’s the example of the Jinn in a Nescafé Bottle, on how one must feed the creature.

malaysiakini columnist and consultant in strategic think-tank, James Wong Wing On wrote that the boycott has caught the ruling party by surprise. UMNO is now strangely raving and ranting about anak-jantan-ness, the no-ball opposition denying voters the democratic right of choice.

“…denying voters the democratic right of choice …”? A bit rich of UMNO!

Wong said: “…now the opposition is attacked by the other side of the political divide for having decided not to field any candidate. The decision to boycott the Batu Talam by-election is made by PAS and supported by PKR and DAP.”

Apart from the joke about ‘democratic choice’, Wong said the UMNO’s accusation that the opposition decided to boycott the by-election is because PAS knows it would lose in the UMNO stronghold, and is afraid of demoralising its supporters.

But Wong pooh-poohed that argument away, because he asserted that PAS, PKR or DAP had all lost before in other by-elections without being demoralised. They are still around, even poor PKR.

He believed that the opposition’s strategy allows them to husband their limited resources for the coming big one, while exploiting the argument for electoral reforms to purge the irregularities in the system - a classic case of killing two birds with one 'stony' boycott.

Wong concluded that the opposition has succeeded in showing that the ruling coalition is ‘inconsistent’ or ‘self-contradictory’ in UMNO’s present cry for the opposition to participate in the Batu Talam by-election, when in the past UMNO had criticized opposition parties for fielding kucing kurap (mangy cat) candidates in the strongholds of the Barisan Nasional where there was no chance of winning at all.

But Wong didn’t answer something which he wrote, namely: “Opposition supporters now ask: if the ruling coalition does not like the opposition or considers it to be ‘obstructionist’ [in simply putting up poor quality candidates just for the sake of opposing], then why it is now being attacked for not contesting in the by-election and clearing the ‘obstacle’ for the BN to win without having to confront the ‘trouble-maker’?”

Wong merely stated that “the ruling coalition and its propaganda machinery are now caught in an obvious and serious contradiction by opposition’s strategists.”

Here’s where KTemoc steps in ;-)

The ‘true’ reason why UMNO is raving and ranting about the boycott is not so much about the opposition denying the voters ‘choice’ or being scared that its supporters would be demoralised by a loss. UMNO is always concerned about, guess who? yes, UMNO!

It is about UMNO being worried it cannot provide the much needed high morale of a ‘victory’ for its members, and the feel-good-look-good publicity for its 2008 image.

Both AAB himself and UMNO have been under enormous internal stress and seriously damaging publicity that they badly, very very badly and desperately, need an uplifting shot in their arm. A win in a boycotted Batu Talam by-election would be like tasting piss in a victory toast.

But, wait, maybe there’s hope yet.

UMNO might feel it necessary, nay, vital to put up an ‘independent’ (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) or a former PAS or former PKR bloke to contest? Remember, the red-eyed toyol can do lots of stuff! Besides, hooray, UMNO workers will be back at work.

Why, it’s like killing two birds with one ‘independent’ stone!

BERITA ... er ... BATU ... er .. I mean ... BARU

Walaupun PAS dan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) mengumumkan mereka memboikot pilihanraya kecil Batu Talam, tetapi Umno Bahagian Raub tetap membuat persiapan rapi ekoran bertambah kuatnya berita yang mengatakan ada calon bebas akan bertanding.

Ketua Puteri Umno Raub, Rosmiley Bontat berkata, pihaknya mendapat tahu ada bekas ahli jawatankuasa sebuah parti pembangkang di bahagian Raub yang ingin bertanding di atas tiket bebas.

“Berita itu semakin kuat diperkatakan sekarang di kalangan ahli Umno dan penduduk Batu Talam. Calon itu juga dikatakan sudah membuat persiapan menjelang hari penamaan calon Selasa depan,” katanya ketika dihubungi malaysiakini hari ini.