Ijok : To Close To Call

KUALA SELANGOR, April 27 (Bernama) -- With only hours to go before voters cast their votes in the Ijok by-election, there are still no clear signs as to who will win the contest.
Both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the parties contesting the seat, are confident that their candidates will be the winner when the results are announced tomorrow night.
On paper the BN appears to have the edge in retaining the seat just as it did in the past four by-elections since the general election in 2004 -- Kuala Berang (Terenganu), Pengkalan Pasir (Kelantan), Batu Talam (Pahang) and the latest two weeks ago in Machap, Melaka but the PKR, which is being supported by PAS and the DAP, is giving the BN its worse fight since.
All because this will probably the last by-election before a general election is called.
To ensure its continued survival, the PKR, which adopted "Change Begins in Ijok" as its slogan, mounted a "do-or-die" mission in the nine-day campaigning period in Ijok with a no-holds barred campaign bringing up national issues and making personal attacks against BN leaders.
Using every available opportunity, be the stage big or small, the PKR went on the offensive and brought up the issues of the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, corruption, payment of commissions in national defence equipment procurements, abuse of power and also engaged in campaigns with racial and religious undertones, just as it did in the Lunas by-election in 2000, which it won.
Led by its advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim this time, the party felt that the same tactics would work for a victory in the constituency where Malays make up almost 51 per cent of the 12,272 electorate.
The BN has fielded a non-Malay candidate, K.Parthiban, 38, the Tanjung Karang MIC secretary to contest in the Malay-majority seat while the PKR nominated Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, a former corporate figure whom the party claimed had done a lot for the Malays when he headed Permodalan Nasional Berhad.
Although receiving a lot of flak from the BN for engaging in "dirty politics" including from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the PKR was unfazed and appeared to be bent on winning at whatever cost.
"We have no choice but to win, it is the only way to raise our morale and spirit (PKR's) if we intend to continue the fight up to the upcoming general election," said Khalid in one of his political ceramahs with supporters.
BN, particularly Umno, is feeling the pressure placed by the PKR as the coalition had to explain the rationale in fielding a non-Malay candidate.
The Malays were hoping for a Malay candidate this time around because since 1990, all the BN candidates for the constituency had come from the MIC, including the late Datuk K. Sivalingam, who was the incumbent, who had failed to understand the feelings and aspiration of the Malays in Ijok, who are mostly of Javanese origin.
Umno is aware that any protest vote by the Malays could nullify all the efforts put in by the BN to retain the seat and this would have a negative impact on the ruling party.
As such, Umno leaders led by its deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and assisted by Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo had, since nomination day on April 19, set up camp in the three Malay "black" areas namely Kampung Ijok, Jaya Setia and Bukit Badong where the majority of the residents are inclined towards the opposition based on the result of the 2004 general election.
The Umno machinery in Ijok was constantly feeling the strain because apart from the attacks from outsiders, the party was also facing attacks from within the constituency.
However, the `sudden' appearance of the Prime Minister who had spent about two hours to meet the voters from the various races had somewhat pacified the Malays who had been urged to be rational and accept the concept of power-sharing between the races adopted by the BN.
"There's no problem in terms of support. No one is disputing (the BN candidate) because of the BN tradition of power sharing," the Prime Minister said, which was greeted with loud applause from those who were present.
Ijok is among the three seats allocated to the MIC which make up five percent of the total of 56 seats in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly which is monopolised by Umno.
Describing the Prime Minister's visit as "a shot in the arm", Najib expressed confidence that the BN will retain Ijok.
"The Prime Minister's visit certainly gave us the needed inspiration and boosted our confidence of retaining the seat. Insya-Allah (God willing) we will win again this time," he said.
The PKR, however, were not giving up and were resorting to allegations of phantom voters being present and were threatening to detain and prevent individuals whom they suspect to be phantom voters.
However, the threat was being monitored by the 1,500 police personnel deployed to maintain order at the polling stations.
Based on the scenario in Ijok, the deciding factor will be the fence sitters from among the 12,272 voters in Ijok.