BN's PSS tactics played a part in Kimanis win
ANALYSIS | BN's Mohamad Alamin has bagged the Kimanis by-election by a comfortable majority of around 2,029 votes, significantly larger than the 156-vote margin secured by Anifah Amin in the now-voided vote for the seat in the 14th general election in 2018.
Despite holding the reins of the state government, Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal was unable to propel Warisan's Karim Bujang to victory.
Saudara Anwar Ibrahim should spend his spare time visiting each and every town/ village in each state alternatively to cover the length and breadth of the country with the local PKR, BERSATU, DAP and AMANAH chiefs to explain to all what Harapan is about and recruit many many more members everywhere.
Ultimately it boils down to the report card. What have Harapan achieved that BN didn’t? What is the difference then and now? Answer: probably worse off now than before. Big projects were rescheduled or stopped. These affected the life of the people with no alternative. All things being equal, it comes down to the personalities. Anifah is a local warlord whose family is well known in the area. Lots of people are connected to them one way or the other. His voters therefore stayed put and did not swing to Harapan. On the other hand, PSS managed to scare the daylight out of non-Muslim Bumiputras, and some had swung to BN as protest votes. That was how BN candidate managed to win. The campaigners: (1) Najib - Harapan underestimate his pulling power in the election. In Sabah and Sarawak, he is more popular than Mahathir and Anwar (the two are no different) who are hated for the damage and neglect they did to the states. People have long memory. Najib, on the other hand, looks more like a saint in comparison, despite his Rosmah (you know what I mean). He visited them more often than the two combined, and had given more development as well. He is seen as urbane, modern outlook with his UK trained credential, unlike the race and religious fixation of Mahathir and Anwar. The latter are liabilities in the states. (2) Shafie is not a game changer in Kimanis. He comes from Lahad Datu and perceived to be sympathetic to the illegals in Sabah who share the same ethnicity with him. He would be deemed as the last person to solve the illegal immigrants problem. (3) The Kitinggan brothers have lost their credibility but they could get the locals sympathy remembering that they both had suffered in the hands of Mahathir, politically and even physically (Jeffery was jailed and he was never the same again). (4) What can Harapan offer the locals that BN didn’t? That’s the winning question. Answer: Nothing of value, in fact they are perceived as liars, being useless, promising what they cannot or don’t want to deliver. The people are kings and their judgment is in the ballot boxes.
The fear factor is gone. A new people’s politics are taking hold. The voters rejected BN2.0 like policies from Warisan and Harapan.
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