The Aftermath

Its been a week already since last weekends shocker, and the drama is only just unfolding. There are already calls for the PM to quit and take full responsibility for BN's poor outing and all doesn't seem well for UMNO. They are putting up a united front in public but then I'm sure theres more to it behind closed doors. Its been made public today that Mukhriz Mahathir , UMNO Youth's number 2 has written a letter to the PM asking him to resign. I'm sure it will be very interesting to watch how this unravels. When an entity suffers a bad fall such as in the case of BN it must pick itself up very fast in order to minimize damage and get back on track, it must consolidate its position and support base and get back on the game. In this case however that doesn't seem to be the case, theres still no genuine willingness to change and to accept the realities down from the grassroot levels. And on top of that they are acting like sore losers, especially with todays demonstration in Georgetown and yesterdays press conference by Penang UMNO calling upon all mega projects in the state be canceled. These actions accomplish nothing but to imply that they are out for revenge against the people who voted them out of office, to intimidate their opponents and just create further ill will among the different communities in the state.

The BN government has always made it clear it does not condone street protests, but then why the double standards? why weren't anyone arrested? and how come the mainstream media i.e. TV3 gave it prominent coverage in its news bulletins? This to me just implies that this gathering was given its blessings by the higher ups in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The people were chalenged to voice their unhappiness through the ballot, which they did and now their being intimidated and called traitors for it.... amazing eh? But a squabling UMNO in the short run may not be good for the country but in the long run plus with last weekends shocker to boot will only weaken it and further tarnish its reputation among the electorate and that I believe is good news for those who would like to see a new government at Putrajaya in 5 years time.

As for the opposition parties who have finally come to a consensus on a new Perak state government, the near fallout of this matter was avoidable and it could have been handled better. Yeah they may have won, but they must have and win the peoples confidence when their forming a new government... but in this case theres nothing to be proud of and their antics weren't exactly inspiring to the people they are about to govern. But nonetheless these are a group of people who didn't even expect to be in this position a week ago, and clearly their having trouble adjusting to their new circumstances. I only hope that this is just teething pains and in time it will be overcome. The fact of the matter is that the opposition have a golden chance to prove to the country that they are a credible government in waiting, and the way the 5 states are run will be closely watched by all and as such they can afford no cock ups at this stage of the game. Now its time to change the rhetoric into action, you miss your chance don't expect to get it back again anytime soon. Off course the likes of Lim Kit Siang should also learn the subtleties of diplomacy instead of just calling for boycotts and creating a PR nightmare for all the concerned parties. Now that they're in government now they should learn that there are better ways of doing things instead of shooting oneself on the foot.

Both parties have lots of growing up to do, come next elections its either the opposition thats cast into oblivion or the BN, and its now a fight for survival and I see it will be tough and full of drama till the bitter end. The opposition front can afford no cock ups now and the BN must now reinvent itself to appeal to the current electorate..both are tall orders and we'll just have to wait and see.