Attacking Election System, Desperate Psychological Game Of Opposition

  As polling day draws closer, the country's election system is being attacked with numerous issues from such old ones as the phantom voters to the latest on the indelible ink being removed, but they are merely a desperate game of the opposition to gain support.

Former leaders, political analysts, Umno veterans and academicians contacted by Bernama concurred that the attacks aimed to give the picture that Malaysia's election system is unfair and that the opposition are being abused to gain the sympathy of Malaysians as well as the international community.

The president of the Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said that the sympathy was being used as a weapon for the opposition to condone violent acts and launch 'street politics' when they lose the 13th general election (GE13).

"What they are doing now is nothing more than to seize power and thay want the people and international community to support them. This is the propaganda machine of the opposition in spreading slanders and creating doubts to influence the people," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Last Monday, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim claimed that the opposition's intelligence found that the Barisan Nasional (BN) had brought in outside voters, particularly from Sabah using aircraft.

A day later, the issue on the use of the indelible ink was played up by opposition provocations from two vice-presidents of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) namely Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar who claimed that the ink could be easily washed off.

Abdul Aziz feared that the ploy by the opposition could jeopardise national security and create a negative perception among the foreign community on Malaysia, and these two possibilities could affect the wellbeing of the people and the national economy.

The people should realise that if the opposition were to lose in GE13, it would be due to the internal conflicts between the parties in the opposition coalition to grab power, and not due to the election system in the country.

Political analyst, Prof Datuk Dr Zainal Kling said the sympathy gained from the political game adopted by the opposition was also used as a tool to incite hatred against the BN which they claimed to be conspiring with the Election Commission (EC), in order to gain sympathy for the opposition.

"They gave the picture that the EC is unfair, they played this up even before the election period and spread it abroad," said Dr Zainal who holds the Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba Chair, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.

Umno Veterans secretary, Datuk Mustapha Yaakub said it was evident that the attack was a game by the opposition when they were dissatisfied on the changes in the election system, most of which, ironically, were suggested by the opposition themselves.

He said that he had received reports from BN members who had received SMS stating that the BN purportedly provided rewards of RM1,000 each to fence-sitters and PAS members to vote for the BN, which was also a slander employed by the opposition in their psychological game.