SO Perikatan Nasional (PN) has launched its war of nerves for the six state polls in August.
Its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, expressed confidence PN can win “nearly 20″ state seats to garner a simple majority in the 40-seat Penang state legislative assembly.
He further reminded Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai at the PN Convention in Penang that PN needed only 21 seats to garner a simple majority in Penang and asked Gerakan to get one more percent of the votes to win power in Penang State.
The Selangor PN liaison secretary Dr Afif Bahardin has expressed confidence that the coalition can capture Selangor due to “increasing support” from Selangor voters.
Earlier, PAS leaders have publicly stated that PN can form the Selangor state government, have 50-50 chance of forming the Negri Sembilan state government, can make gains in Penang, that Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government cannot win more than three state assembly seats in Kedah, and that PN will sweep all the state assembly seats in Kelantan and Terengganu.
The appetite of the PN leaders have grown bigger over time until they are confident that they will win all six states in the general elections in August.
But general elections are not decided by political leaders and propagandists but by the voters. There are three possible scenarios of the outcome of the six general elections in August, namely:
- First, PN sweeping all the six states in August, forming the state governments of Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu;
- Second, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan state governments run by the Pakatanb Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) coalition with Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu state governments run by PN (PN expected to lose not more than three seats in Kedah but sweeping all seats in Kelantan and Terengganu);
- Third, PH-BN capturing two-thirds majority in Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan, and making dents on PN in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu by winning more than three seats in Kedah and “breaking the egg” in Kelantan and Terengganu;
I am accused as a communist by PN when in the 1969 general elections, the communist wanted to me to lose in Bandar Melaka parliamentary election as they launched a campaign to boycott the 1969 general election.
I am accused of causing the May 13, 1969 racial riots but I was never in Kuala Lumpur during the racial riots as I flew to Kota Kinabalu on that day to help the Sabah independent candidates.
I criticised PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang for his lies, falsehood, fake news and hate speech which are prohibited by Islam but Hadi accused me of being anti-Islam and promoting Islamophobia.
I refused to endorse PN chairman Muhyiddin as PM-designate in 2016 but I was accused of being anti-Malay although the reason was because the PH PM-designate in 2016 was Anwar.
The six state polls in August will decide, among others, whether the voters believe in the lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech of PN leaders or whether the voters in the six states will vote for the future of Malaysia.
This will pave way for Malaysia to be world champions again and be the role model of the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony. – June 24, 2023
Veteran lawmaker and retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang was the former MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
