Najib's hollow victory

Barisan Nasional has very little to celebrate tonight, with a narrow win of 1,725 votes in Hulu Selangor. The meagre 3.5 % per cent majority is far from the major change of tide that BN had hoped for. It is definitely nowhere near the 6,000 vote KPI Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin set for BN earlier today. It is also clear from the results that BN only managed to garner a portion of the 6,000 majority votes that had supported BN in all the three state constituencies of Hulu Selangor in the 2008 general election.

The small majority of 1,725 votes is a far cry from the 14,483 majority BN won in 2004. It is clear that with Pakatan Rakyat taking 23,272 votes, BN have not managed to reduce the support for Pakatan Rakyat at all.

In the last eight days, BN spared nothing and used its entire arsenal of funds, manpower and dirty tactics to campaign in Hulu Selangor. This has been one of the dirtiest by-elections in recent history and we have never seen so many frogs (PKR defections) raining down in Malaysia during a by-election.

Prime Minister Najib himself spent the last three days going from house to house, shop to shop and through the markets of Hulu Selangor to personally fish for votes – traditionally, a highly unusual practice for a PM. Millions have been spent and hundreds of millions more promised in the event of a BN win. All the BN big guns were camped out in Hulu Selangor and a systematic smear campaign to character-assassinate PKR candidate, Zaid Ibrahim, as a drinker and a gambler was carried out.

Anwar Ibrahim also received the brunt of BN's malicious personal attacks in their nightly ceramahs, with Najib and other UMNO leaders demonising him as a sexual deviant, a power-crazed madman and a traitor to the Malays.

Notwithstanding the relentless personal attacks, Zaid Ibrahim polled 23,272 votes (46% of the total votes), which is in fact slightly higher than the 23,177 votes won by PKR in the 2008 general election. The BN smear campaign to character assassinate Zaid Ibrahim and Anwar Ibrahim clearly backfired.

Under the circumstances, Pakatan Rakyat and their supporters should be inspired by the high number of votes it received as a clear message of the rakyat's aspirations to establish a viable two coalition (party) system in Malaysia brought on by the spirit of the 2008 general elections.