For the past three weeks in his intensive electioneering campaign in Selangor and Perak in the build-up to an expected 13th General Election date in June, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been exuding increasing confidence of a sure win in the next general election, including taking back Selangor state government from Pakatan Rakyat.
Najib’s popularity has been on the rise, surging 10 points to 69 per cent following his role as Santa Claus with RM500 cash handouts to low-income earners and a slew of multi-million ringgit approvals and allocations in line with his “I help you, you help me” philosophy – but the Prime Minister’s high personal approval rating is not matched by the ruling coalition component parties.
Only last week, Najib said “strong winds are blowing towards Barisan Nasional”, public feedback “very encouraging” and people have been telling him that BN has regained public support since the 2008 polls.
The stage seems all set for 13GE in June.
But something very strange has happened in the past few days as if all the momentum for a June elections have suddenly faltered.
Has Najib’s confidence of a sure win in the 13th General Election in June this year been shattered by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s repeated gloomy warnings?
Mahathir delivered his latest warning to BN of “No easy wins ahead” yesterday, telling Barisan Nasional not to believe that it would enjoy any guaranteed electoral victories, saying Pakatan Rakyat is an opposition unlike those from his days as prime minister.
As Mahathir told Bernama Online:
“What is certain, it won’t be easy for BN to get two-thirds majority this time. The opposition now is not like that of the past, and the current situation is rather confusing.”
A day earlier, Mahathir had dropped another bombshell for UMNO to pulverise its sense of confidence when he admitted that UMNO does not have quality and talented leaders to form a capable government as “For decades, Umno has ‘not allowed’ the smart ones to join the party”.
Mahathir is now advocating that UMNO should field outsiders in the coming general election, put up “good candidates, whether they are UMNO members or not” and abandon the practice of only picking divisional leaders to contest.
With the evaporation of the earlier UMNO confidence of a sure win in the 13GE, even winning back Selangor and retaining Perak state governments, the stage seem to be set for Najib, on the eve of his third anniversary as Prime Minister, to do another “flip-flop” to push off the 13GE to a later date.
#1 by k1980 on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 1:28 pm
The Indon toyol has singled out five states which will be difficult for Barisan Nasional to win or retain in the next election. Seems he is packing his bags to migrate back to Madura.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/five-states-in-danger-for-bn-in-ge-says-khir-toyo/
#2 by k1980 on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 1:35 pm
//But something very strange has happened in the past few days as if all the momentum for a June elections have suddenly faltered.??
Looks like he is going to declare a state of emergency, rule by decree and postpone the 13GE to the year 3013…..
#3 by yhsiew on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 1:38 pm
Since many East Malaysians are Christians, UMNO’s “big win” in East Malaysia in GE13 is now questionable after they accused the Christians of converting Muslims to Christianity.
#4 by yhsiew on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 1:52 pm
The Internet is more pervasive today than when it was in 2008. Let us see how the Internet will affect the GE13 results.
#5 by Bigjoe on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 2:05 pm
I don’t buy any lack of confidence of winning the GE by anyone be it Najib. Mahathir or Toyol..
Its clear Najib has raised the war chest needed to ‘buy’ the GE given the spate of deals in recent months. THAT will guarantee the rural votes are in the bag for UMNO at the states of Sarawak and Sabah..
The urban votes however will be more difficult to buy and the result will depend on the cheating that they have undertaken.. The only thing that will reduce the cheating is real actual new voters who tend to be young and pro-opposition.
Hence really, Najib and everyone else is confident of winning the GE. Its a matter of wresting the other states that they are not sure even if they have already built-in cheating advantage..
#6 by SENGLANG on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 2:55 pm
There is nothing to confuse about. We are focus and we never forget that……
PKFZ is there,
NFC is there,
LYNAS is there,
MEX is there,
and many more and if BN is still there more like above will be there
Let be FOCUS, the enemies are CORRUPTION AND ABUSE OF POWER.
#7 by cseng on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 3:49 pm
Pls…. stop delaying the GE, the more BN drag this, the more BN (Barang Naik) after election.
Here 500, there millions, keep doing this for so long, how to cover after GE?
//For decades, Umno has ‘not allowed’ the smart ones to join the party//- mahathir.
Why Mahathir always in delimma?
#8 by dagen wanna "ABU" on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 3:59 pm
Dr mamak said that umno has for decades kept the smart ones out of the party. So that means he too is a culprit of the rot in umno.
#9 by monsterball on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 4:36 pm
If Najib has full confidence…he will not approve close to RM700 million distributed within 11 weeks…to win hearts and minds of voters.
I hope the receivers know the money belongs to Malaysians and not from UMNO b members…donating them.
So back to the system…take the money…smile and vote for change….so that the rouges and thieves will know…their stunts are out-dated.
Fooling Malaysians days are over.
#10 by sotong on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 4:46 pm
” current situation is rather confusing ” = informed, sophisticated and undecided.
#11 by Cinapek on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 5:08 pm
Political courage or the courage to stand up and be counted has never been Najib’s strong point. In the past he had always adopted a “roll with the wave” stance and avoided any situations where he has to make tough decisions.
Now with the buck stopping on his desk he is lost. There were signs that he would be calling GE13 soon. Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa has been unusually quiet, probably told to zip up their mouths to avoid antagonising the non Malays. FLOM has been keeping a very low profile and certainly avoided carrying Birkin bags. Lucrative projects were dished out to raise the war chest for the GE. Even the UMNO Youth chief was made Chairman of PUNB. Why? Most probably to garner Youth support for election campaigning. And Sharizat was retained in Wanita as Najib needs a strong support from Wanita to help in the GE13 campaign.
But NFC and a series of scandals rattled Najib. Then Dong Zong rally. And TDM is on his back. Knowing the wily old fox probably his warnings are deliberate attempts to goad Najib to take more extreme measures to ensure vistory.
#12 by Godfather on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 6:33 pm
What choice does Najib have in this matter ? If he calls for elections now, he will probably win by a wafer-thin majority, not the two-thirds that he craves. In that situation, Moo Hee Din and most of UMNO will move against him.
Najib needs to win big, and if he can’t win big now, he might as well let Rosie stay on in Putrajaya till the very end.
#13 by tak tahan on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 8:16 pm
If election is not held sooner than the last election mandate,our piggy bank will be fully used up(robbed) to finance political expenses ie building non-exist or half completed projects with incredible bloated price,creating something out of nothing to fleece rakyat like 1care 1kedai,1apasimilanchiau,giving grants away as if one’s father in this land owns automatic printing money machines,buying high-tech military defence with ‘sure must have’ big bom commission,keep spending to lift-up Rosie’s image in and outside the nation as Firt Lady Of Malaysia and ect ect.
#14 by monsterball on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 8:59 pm
In case UMNO b loses the 13th GE….Mahathir has already given the reasons why…blaming others.
#15 by Winston on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 9:09 pm
The next book Mamak will write will be entitled, “Mamak’s Dilemma”.
And it will be written in jail!
#16 by GodIsWatching on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 9:59 pm
One sometimes wonder whether all these surfacing expressions of concern by Daim and TDM regarding BN’s security in the various states are all part of a larger, calculated and systematic roll out of seemingly ‘humble’ opinions just before the perfect storm of fraud that UMNO BN will unleash in the coming GE 13 …
But then again … NAH … It is impossible for UMNO to ever think of such a clever and strategic plan, what more to execute it.
UMNO/BN R.I.P
#17 by tak tahan on Friday, 30 March 2012 - 10:03 pm
Ya,PR,do your part and we the rakyat will do ours till we bring Umno/BN down to its knees-begging for mercy while wee wee in their pants at the polling toll come GE13.Keep on exposing all the wrongdoing by Umno/BN to its final death to take back the power from the tyrant,racist,fascist,incompetent and corrupted powers-that-be and return it to the hand of the people power.Reveal more,and together we will work harder till we reached our goal-anything but Umno.
http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/48377-ex-serviceman-bn-losing-military-votes
#18 by boh-liao on Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 6:28 am
No lah, Y U simply sabo d CHEAT kor? He no fear MMK 1 lah
He got his stumpy loctor char bor as advisor n strategist, his popularity is climbing fast, n he is busy going round d country distributing $$$, like Santa U know
WALKING his talk: Gua kasih U, ingat U kasih gua in d next GE, OK!?
#19 by boh-liao on Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 8:10 am
Ah CHEAT kor no fear MMK but certainly BO HOOD 2 debate with AI
UmnoB/BN can’t bear 2 SEND out d CLOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIqx5_w-dnk&feature=related
#20 by boh-liao on Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 10:40 am
“Face me if U r a real fighter,” said AI, throwing d gauntlet once again 2 AhCHEATkor
#21 by tak tahan on Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 12:46 pm
Ah Cheat Kor where got hood.Sendiri punya stumpy siau chah boh pun tak boleh lawan leh.Malu lah,eiiiish! Better ask that loctor sia char boh fight ‘one to one’ with AI in a no-holds-barred ring.
#22 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 5:36 pm
Ah Jib Gor is not confident of “sure win”. Why else he keeps postponing GE until this late hour? Mahathir is right to say it is difficult to predict the results of the coming GE. He is merely certain that “it won’t be easy for BN to get two-thirds majority this time”. The last 308 tsunami has thrown BN camp to disarray. Subsequent by elections UMNO determines it’s hard for BN to recover non Malay particularly Chinese support. So faced with possible annihilation of MCA/Gerakan, UMNO decides that it has to go all out alone to get Malay votes, which it determines the decisive vote – even if it implies alienating in that process, even further Non malay votes, and more important Christian votes esp in the so-called fixed deposit states. The Question is whether Malay votes, even if increased, will increase the extent sufficient to set off the votes against by the others. The whole BN -up to now- is structured on fundamental premise that UMNO’s Malay votes alone are not sufficient to carry the day – hence the need for others in ruling coalition. Therefore it is now on unfamiliar territory here – going alone based on Malay votes – where opposite side has arisen to the occasion by reply of ‘ABU’! There are 2 million new voters, majority amongst whom the young, more attuned to alternative media/blogs & inclined against UMNO patronage/communal stance. One only need 10% swing votes to tilt PR the other way to PutraJaya. Even slightly short of that – with many states going to PR – is still unacceptable to UMNO/BN and is not an option for Ah Jib Gor in relation to his position as PM. I believe that he has reasonable cause to be concerned.
#23 by sheriff singh on Sunday, 1 April 2012 - 4:47 am
Mahathir’s real message is that UMNO and its leaders, especially Ah Jib Kaur, are incompetents and failures and are leading the country into ruin. Its current batch of ‘leaders’ are bottom of the barrel residues and no other better candidates, replacements or talents are available, Mahathir said.
A BN defeat or very poor performance at the coming polls is certain so it is better for the coalition to govern till its 5 years limit is up. No point leaving early, might as well enjoy the tenure to the maximum. They have reached the end of the road and a new tenant is taking over soon. So enjoy whatever little time that is left.
#24 by k1980 on Sunday, 1 April 2012 - 10:56 am
Ah Jib Kaur?!
A transgender from Khalistan Azad?
#25 by Loh on Sunday, 1 April 2012 - 11:01 am
///A day earlier, Mahathir had dropped another bombshell for UMNO to pulverise its sense of confidence when he admitted that UMNO does not have quality and talented leaders to form a capable government as “For decades, Umno has ‘not allowed’ the smart ones to join the party”.///–Kit
Mamakthir said that for decades UMNO has not allowed the smart ones to join the party; that includes the time when he was President.
UMNO was just practicing the philosophy which created NEP; jealousy was a right and culture to be promoted, and so the stronger person should be barred from the arena for competition. That was why university intake cannot be based on meritocracy, and race was a convenience criterion. In UMNO, they should have stopped Mamaks joining the party since UMNO is for Malays but they chose to block the smart ones. Obviously when UMNO is a vehicle to get rich rather than to serve the nation, less smart persons more share for them!