Sharing a posting from Tun M's blog :-
1. There is a tendency these days to condemn the National Front as being effete and an obstacle to the modern concepts of a free democratic Government. The miserable performance of the Barisan Nasional in the March elections is attributed by foreign observers as evidence of a wind of change, as a rejection of race-based politics of the past.
2. They believe that the Malay, Chinese and Indian voters voted for a change to a more liberal regime.
3. I have explained in a previous article that the debacle suffered by the Barisan Nasional was due to the voters' disgust with the leadership of Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
4. Let us examine the course of Malaysian politics leading up to the 2008 debacle in order to appreciate what happened. For almost half a century the Alliance / Barisan Nasional Governments had had the full support of the peoples of all races. There were ups and downs but the Barisan Nasional would invariably win elections with a 2/3 majority in Parliament. Other than Kelantan, the states had always elected Barisan Nasional Governments. Sabah for a time was not with Barisan Nasional.
5. In 1999 Elections Malay support of the Barisan Nasional was eroded because of sympathy for Anwar Ibrahim. But the Chinese strongly backed the Barisan Nasional to give it its usual 2/3rd majority and opposition stalwarts like Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang, who had never been defeated before, lost their seats.
6. Had the trend been towards change and rejection of the Barisan Nasional the 2004 election would show this. But far from being rejected the Barisan Nasional swept through with its best ever result, getting 9/10th of the seats in Parliament, regaining Terengganu and almost capturing Kelantan.
7. All signs point to the total acceptance of the Barisan Nasional and the Governments it had formed. And why not? Had not the Barisan Nasional built this country until it has become the most developed of developing countries, conducted free elections, brought stability and unprecedented economic development and achieved a degree of racial harmony which is the model for many multiracial countries of the world.
8. It was not all smooth sailing of course. There were problems - political, economic, religious and social. But all these had not reduced support for the Barisan Nasional or affected the progress and stability of the country under BN Governments unduly.
9. Can anyone say that the Barisan Nasional had not provided good Governments in the country? Of course the opposition cannot be expected to say it. But foreign observers have all been astounded at the progress made by this tin and rubber country which had bloomed into a modern industrial country.
10. There were people who all along had criticised what they term as the lack of democracy in this country, the "controlled" press and electronic media, the ISA (Internal Security Act) and curbs on the open discussion of sensitive issues. But obviously these people were in the minority and had never been able to influence the voters into rejecting Barisan Nasional.
11. After the stunning victory of Barisan Nasional in 2004 why has it been clearly rejected in 2008? What happened between 2004 and 2008? Can it be that after almost 50 years of supporting race-based politics the voters have decided to reject it and opt for non-racial politics? Have the people in the kampong suddenly yearned for more liberalism? If so why did they give strong support to PAS, a race-religious party which is anything but liberal?
12. Maybe the ordinary Chinese are more sophisticated than the rural Malays. Maybe they have now rejected racial politics. But as far as can be made out the Chinese are upset over the economic situation. Even hawkers and small traders; the subcontractors, the retail shops owners are unhappy with the Government. They are however very cautious about criticising Dato Seri Abdullah but when pressed they admit that they wanted Abdullah out but dared not say it aloud for fear of being accused of rejecting Malay leadership. They also worry about their businesses being singled out for some unpleasant treatment like being investigated by the Inland Revenue Board.
13. So, unable to do anything else they cast their votes for the opposition. With that the Barisan Nasional, after getting the biggest number of Parliamentary seats in the history of the Alliance / Barisan Nasional went down and achieved the worst result in its history. Was this rejection of Barisan candidates due to the rejection of the Barisan Nasional coalition?
14. The votes that the opposition parties got were not due to a desire to replace the Barisan Nasional with the unstructured Pakatan Rakyat. They were protest votes. But is it protest against the Barisan Nasional party? Is it a rejection of race-based politics? I don't think so.
15. It is a protest against the poor leadership of the BN, rather than the BN itself. The people saw a BN leader who was indecisive, unable to deal with the increasing cost of living, flip-flopping, unable to stimulate the economy and above all is known for putting his family's interest above that of State. Everyone knows about the 4th Floor and the role of Khairy Jamaluddin's cronies in determining policies and deciding on the business activities of the country. People consider these arrogant young people as contributing to the poor performance of the Prime Minister.
16. The Barisan Nasional coalition is still the best political party in Malaysia. It gave due consideration to the problems of all the Malaysian parties and the races they represent. And there can be no denying that the BN had built the Malaysia that we see today.
17. It would be a pity if, as the Malay saying goes, "we burn the mosquito net because of one mosquito".
18. What needs to be done is to get rid of the mosquito but continue to use the net.
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