On Sunday, Umno Vice President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidihamidi said that development allocations should only be channeled to the constituency if the voters in Kajang gave their immediate mandate to BN candidate Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun to represent them.
“I think in the run up to the Kajang by election, there should be no development allocations given out, even for drains… if we win, then only give,” he said.
In all past by elections, BN has poured vast amounts of allocations in the hope of wooing voter support.
It was no different in last year’s Sungai Limau by election where among the allocations announced included an allocation of RM1.8mil to three Chinese schools and another RM200, 000 as start-up capital for the Sungai Limau Chinese Students Education Fund in aid of tertiary students
So why has Zahid sung a different tune now and has proposed a new practice?
The immediate thought that came to some people’s minds would be that probably BN realized that the pouring of funds would be a futile tactic to win voter support in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) strongholds.
But if one reads carefully the tone and contents of Zahid’s comments, one can easily see the arrogance he has displayed and the threat in his proposal.
He has said that BN has a good chance winning the by election as the voters, especially the Malays, had started supporting back after realising the Selangor government had failed to provide the infrastructure the residents needed.
So it is obvious that Zahid has not only become so confident of BN’s chances, he has become so arrogant and could even go further to issue a’ blackmail” by saying that there will only be allocations if Chew wins.
Will MCA President Liow Tiong Lai be courageous enough to publicly repudiate Zahid’s proposal?
In December 2012, Datuk Seri Najib Razak reminded BN component parties of the “four diseases” inflicting members that had grown complacent in their long reign, warning that these would fuel hatred and anger against the government if ignored.
The four “diseases” were delusion, amnesia, inertia and arrogance.
Time has proven that BN simply cannot change and UMNO leaders are still as arrogant as before.
I call on Kajang voters to reject BN’s politics of blackmail and to give their overwhelming support to PR candidate Datuk Seri Annuar Ibrahim so as to ensure a bigger majority for him than won by PKR in the 2013 general election.