Another day, another by-election BN will lose

Kasihan Barisan Nasional.
They are hoping to win a by-election in Peninsular Malaysia for the first time since March 2008.
They have lost six already (won one in remote Sarawak).
But the ones who passed away, or played games and stepped down, are always those from seats which were tough to win for Umno and BN.

Now, another State Assembly seat in Penang is vacant.
In Permatang Pauh (Anwar Ibrahim's stronghold) - the seat is Permatang Pasir, a PAS stronghold.

But Umno-BN has received a shot in the arm with the narrow results for Manek Urai.
And so, everyone will want to see whether the shenanigans in PAS (split between ulama and Erdogans, between wanting Umno or staying with Pakatan), and tensions in Penang (PAS vs DAP to a little extent, and certainly more open, PKR vs DAP) will also affect this seat.
If Umno loses this Permatang Pasir battle as expected, but gains more Malay votes, then that would surely be good enough for the Grand Ole Party.
Also, the Chinese voters are expected to stay firmly with PAS-Pakatan. Will they?
And the Indians, although only at 6 per cent, will they shift their vote?
Wow, many mind games can be played.

But amid the political games, let us not forget that someone's dear family member has passed away. Sometimes I think Malaysians are too ready to shout 'by-election!' rather than contemplate on a local leader just lost to his family and community.

From God we came, and unto Him is our return.
Al fatehah.


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Stats:

Total number of voters: 58,459.

March 2008, the late Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman won 11,004 votes while Umno candidate received 5,571. Majority, a huge 5,433 votes.

Racial breakdown (Malaysia ni kalau tak cakap pasal bangsa dan agama, macam tak sah):
Malays 69.4 per cent.
Chinese 24.5
Indians 6.0
Others 0.1.


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Pilihanraya kecil mesti diadakan dalam 60 hari.
Wah ini dah masuk Bulan Puasa!
Macam mana nak kempen waktu siang?
Dan macam mana nak kempen jika tak boleh burukkan orang lain, mengumpat, menghina, mengherdik, keluarkan poster palsu?

Dan nak senangkan cerita, jika Pakatan jadi pemerintah kelak, kenapa tak jadikan Permatang Pauh ni ibu negara baru?
Kita tutup KL dan Putrajaya?
Kita namakan semula tempat itu dengan nama Anwarjaya!
Amacam? Set?