This is it. Today is the 5th of May, 2013. Millions of Malaysians are coming out to vote in the 13th General Election (GE13) this very morning. Each and every vote - including the earlier votes - is a choice for the candidate, party or coalition, which then determines who will form the next government for the country. This is considered a watershed moment for the country.
For the first time in history, the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat - namely the PKR, PAS and DAP - is said to have a fair chance of toppling the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) government. Will BN win with a convincing two-thirds super majority, that is, at least 148 parliamentary seats out of the total 222 in Dewan Rakyat? Or will BN simply retain its simple majority, either with slightly more seats or even less? Will the opposition pact really achieve its dream to take over Putrajaya by obtaining the minimum requirement of 112 seats to overtake BN, and form the federal government for the very first time? There is also the possibility, though slim, of a hung parliament. This is where either independents will have to decide on how the next Parliament is formed, or elections will be recalled.
Backtrack to five years ago, in the last 2008 election, BN recorded its worst ever performance when it lost its long held two-thirds majority in Parliament on March 8. BN also lost four states--namely Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor-- to the opposition parties which then became known as Pakatan. While BN later wrested back Perak in a coup involving defectors, the massive losses forced BN to recoup itself under a new captain, Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Ever since he took office in April 3, 2009, Najib has put BN has been on election mode, determined to regain control of the lost states and its bruised pride. When Parliment was dissolved on April 3 after a protracted delay, both coalitions have already in a the past few years escalated their campaigning to the climax of last night.
The media blitz from both sides have been defeaning, with the mainstream media mainly on one side and the alternative often helping in providing clarity to the discerning voter. The social media has been tapped by both BN and Pakatan. The online campaigns often overtake the real world campaign on the level of ferocity alone. Sex videos and allegations abound. Already there has been cases of hacking and attacks on news portals that does not bode well for fairplay. The political advertisements, in its various forms, also made its appearance felt, to varying effect.
Political violence, with discovered bombs and explosives and fights have all occured during this entire period. Some fear of riots spilling over from the violence after today but many feel that Malaysians are mature enough to avoid another May 13.
The end of the official 15-day campaign period finished at 11.59pm last night. There was to be no more campaign noise today as voters we given one last night to make up their minds. With the stakes for both BN and Pakatan this high, this "mother of all elections" was already described as one that was going to be the most historic.
On nomination day itself, the record number of some 1,900 candidates going in for the Parliamentary seats and 505 state assembly seats, 270 of those were independent candidates, and number of multi corner fights and that no seats which were won uncontested are all historic.
So far, both parties have expressed confidence in winning the GE13.
On one end of the ring, we have incumbent BN. This election, if won by BN, will give a true mandate to Datuk Seri Najib Razak to continue to helm the nation while at the same time gives a stamp of approval for his transformation programmes, the trademark of his administration.
In his attempt to herald in a new BN, Najib has introduced a line-up consisting of 1/3 new faces as his candidates for Dewan Rakyat. His is the team of transformers in his transformation plan. Najib is hoping for a strong mandate and is optimistic of a resounding 2/3 win for BN, a confidence shared by his BN colleagues.
At the other end of the ring, there is Pakatan which hopes that they can put an end the BN era of control over power since merdeka (independence). Theirs is a continuation of the calls for reform, Reformasi. PKR, DAP and Pas certainly believe that this time around, shouts of "Ubah" will translate into a change of government and their being able to steer the course of the country's future. Never before has the opposition pact exuded such confidence when its leaders speak on stage in their ceramahs of the days after forming government.
Put the hopes of BN and Pakatan aside, an election is more often about the people, the voters. One of the most talked about aspect is the record number of more than two million new voters who will be coming out for the first time. They are regarded as the fence sitters who will make a huge impact on the outcome of this election.
What will their voice, together with the others, including the much-neglected women and disabled voters, sound like? All eyes will be on the Opposition-held states of Selangor, Penang, Kedah, and Kelantan, where BN has already campaigned for its own brand of "Ubah". Can BN retake these states with enough state seats?
Perak and Negeri Sembilan are also states where Pakatan is putting up a big fight to claim as their own. No less important are the seats in Sabah and Sarawak, where each Parliamentary seat the Opposition gains is another seat closer to their goal. Down south, in the BN stronghold of Johor, a fierce intrusion strongly led by the DAP will also be a focal point. How many seats will BN have to relingquish at their own homebase? Will the Tsunami of 2008 return in a bigger wave to sweep away BN's own blue wave?
Analysts believe that this competition is neck-to-neck and Merdeka Centre in its latest survey also found that both BN and Pakatan has only a one percent difference in support. The pollster found that 46 seats could go either way. The Pusat Kajian Demokrasi dan Pilihan Raya Universiti Malaya (UMCEDEL) in their groundwork concluded that Pakatan Rakyat is slightly ahead of BN. The study by Universiti Utara Malaysia jointly conducted by the Majlis Profesor Negara gave a clear 55 percent lead to BN in terms of support compared to the 41 by Pakatan.
One thing is certain, regardless of the results of this election, Malaysia will never be the same. Even if the Opposition's hopes of a "new Malaysia" is dashed, the political scenario will have to change as older leaders will need to pave way to younger leaders.
Also, the result of this GE13 is not based on confidence of politicians or campaigns or predictions but the votes of Malaysian voters who will cast their ballots today.
When all the ballot counting is over tonight, all of the rhetoric and analysis will just be a footnote. It will no longer be important. What is important is the voice of the nation, the voters who have made their choice. Today is D-Day for Malaysia. Let D stand for true democracy, where the voices of the people will be heard, not just freely and fairly, but loud and clear. Regardless of the outcome, let all Malaysians continue to build a better Malaysia after the political storm is over.
For the first time in history, the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat - namely the PKR, PAS and DAP - is said to have a fair chance of toppling the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) government. Will BN win with a convincing two-thirds super majority, that is, at least 148 parliamentary seats out of the total 222 in Dewan Rakyat? Or will BN simply retain its simple majority, either with slightly more seats or even less? Will the opposition pact really achieve its dream to take over Putrajaya by obtaining the minimum requirement of 112 seats to overtake BN, and form the federal government for the very first time? There is also the possibility, though slim, of a hung parliament. This is where either independents will have to decide on how the next Parliament is formed, or elections will be recalled.
Backtrack to five years ago, in the last 2008 election, BN recorded its worst ever performance when it lost its long held two-thirds majority in Parliament on March 8. BN also lost four states--namely Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor-- to the opposition parties which then became known as Pakatan. While BN later wrested back Perak in a coup involving defectors, the massive losses forced BN to recoup itself under a new captain, Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Ever since he took office in April 3, 2009, Najib has put BN has been on election mode, determined to regain control of the lost states and its bruised pride. When Parliment was dissolved on April 3 after a protracted delay, both coalitions have already in a the past few years escalated their campaigning to the climax of last night.
The media blitz from both sides have been defeaning, with the mainstream media mainly on one side and the alternative often helping in providing clarity to the discerning voter. The social media has been tapped by both BN and Pakatan. The online campaigns often overtake the real world campaign on the level of ferocity alone. Sex videos and allegations abound. Already there has been cases of hacking and attacks on news portals that does not bode well for fairplay. The political advertisements, in its various forms, also made its appearance felt, to varying effect.
Political violence, with discovered bombs and explosives and fights have all occured during this entire period. Some fear of riots spilling over from the violence after today but many feel that Malaysians are mature enough to avoid another May 13.
The end of the official 15-day campaign period finished at 11.59pm last night. There was to be no more campaign noise today as voters we given one last night to make up their minds. With the stakes for both BN and Pakatan this high, this "mother of all elections" was already described as one that was going to be the most historic.
On nomination day itself, the record number of some 1,900 candidates going in for the Parliamentary seats and 505 state assembly seats, 270 of those were independent candidates, and number of multi corner fights and that no seats which were won uncontested are all historic.
So far, both parties have expressed confidence in winning the GE13.
On one end of the ring, we have incumbent BN. This election, if won by BN, will give a true mandate to Datuk Seri Najib Razak to continue to helm the nation while at the same time gives a stamp of approval for his transformation programmes, the trademark of his administration.
In his attempt to herald in a new BN, Najib has introduced a line-up consisting of 1/3 new faces as his candidates for Dewan Rakyat. His is the team of transformers in his transformation plan. Najib is hoping for a strong mandate and is optimistic of a resounding 2/3 win for BN, a confidence shared by his BN colleagues.
At the other end of the ring, there is Pakatan which hopes that they can put an end the BN era of control over power since merdeka (independence). Theirs is a continuation of the calls for reform, Reformasi. PKR, DAP and Pas certainly believe that this time around, shouts of "Ubah" will translate into a change of government and their being able to steer the course of the country's future. Never before has the opposition pact exuded such confidence when its leaders speak on stage in their ceramahs of the days after forming government.
Put the hopes of BN and Pakatan aside, an election is more often about the people, the voters. One of the most talked about aspect is the record number of more than two million new voters who will be coming out for the first time. They are regarded as the fence sitters who will make a huge impact on the outcome of this election.
What will their voice, together with the others, including the much-neglected women and disabled voters, sound like? All eyes will be on the Opposition-held states of Selangor, Penang, Kedah, and Kelantan, where BN has already campaigned for its own brand of "Ubah". Can BN retake these states with enough state seats?
Perak and Negeri Sembilan are also states where Pakatan is putting up a big fight to claim as their own. No less important are the seats in Sabah and Sarawak, where each Parliamentary seat the Opposition gains is another seat closer to their goal. Down south, in the BN stronghold of Johor, a fierce intrusion strongly led by the DAP will also be a focal point. How many seats will BN have to relingquish at their own homebase? Will the Tsunami of 2008 return in a bigger wave to sweep away BN's own blue wave?
Analysts believe that this competition is neck-to-neck and Merdeka Centre in its latest survey also found that both BN and Pakatan has only a one percent difference in support. The pollster found that 46 seats could go either way. The Pusat Kajian Demokrasi dan Pilihan Raya Universiti Malaya (UMCEDEL) in their groundwork concluded that Pakatan Rakyat is slightly ahead of BN. The study by Universiti Utara Malaysia jointly conducted by the Majlis Profesor Negara gave a clear 55 percent lead to BN in terms of support compared to the 41 by Pakatan.
One thing is certain, regardless of the results of this election, Malaysia will never be the same. Even if the Opposition's hopes of a "new Malaysia" is dashed, the political scenario will have to change as older leaders will need to pave way to younger leaders.
Also, the result of this GE13 is not based on confidence of politicians or campaigns or predictions but the votes of Malaysian voters who will cast their ballots today.
When all the ballot counting is over tonight, all of the rhetoric and analysis will just be a footnote. It will no longer be important. What is important is the voice of the nation, the voters who have made their choice. Today is D-Day for Malaysia. Let D stand for true democracy, where the voices of the people will be heard, not just freely and fairly, but loud and clear. Regardless of the outcome, let all Malaysians continue to build a better Malaysia after the political storm is over.
