I wish to clarify a Chinese news report today on my statement yesterday with the heading: “Kit Siang rules out polls before September”.
What I said was that until yesterday, I had completely ruled out the possibility of the next general election being held before August 31 as the hundreds of million of ringgit that will be splurged all over the country to celebrate our half-a-century of nationhood would have been planned with an eye to recreate the “feel good euphoria” which had been so successful in the 2004 general election to give the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi an unprecedented victory mandate of 91% of the parliamentary seats.]
I said there had been two schools of thought among the election strategists in Umno and Barisan Nasional — whether the next general election should be held next year before end of April when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim regains his civil right enfranchisement to stand for elective office or the latter part of this year.
However, as a result of the Machap and Ijok by-elections, there is a third school of thought in Umno and Barisan Nasional, favouring a general election before the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations on August 31.
It is to be seen as to which of these three schools of thought would win the ear of Abdullah, although there are increasing signs of early polls.
The next general election will be a crucial and critical one for Abdullah. It will also be a crucial and critical one for the DAP and the Opposition.
There had been diametrically opposite reactions to the Ijok by-election result, from the claim on the one hand that the Opposition, in particular Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Anwar Ibrahim are spent forces to the other extreme, that Abdullah and Barisan Nasional (BN) will be in big trouble in the next general election.
BN has no reason to exult over Ijok by-election result but it will be fatal error for anyone to harbour the notion that the next general election is “harvest” time for the Opposition.
The next general election is going to be a very tough and grueling test and challenge not only for the DAP, Opposition and Barisan Nasional, but also for 50-year democratic experiment in Malaysia.