The central issues highlighted in the Lunas by-election campaign like the Suqiu controversy and the Vision School were not only unresolved, there were new issues like the Damansara Chinese primary school and new developments on the Vision School concept which deepened rather than allayed public concerns about the justice of the national education system and nation-building process. Furthermore, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad made a most outrageous statement which should have become the paramount issue in the Indera Kayangan by-election.
The Prime Minister’s declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic State at the Gerakan annual delegates conference on September 29, 2001 - three months before the by-election - should have been the most important issue against the Barisan Nasional in the by-election, turning it into a test case to defend the 45-year fundamental constitutional principle and nation-building cornerstone of Malaysia as a democratic, secular and multi-religious Malaysia.
The DAP would have used Mahathir’s declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state as the foremost campaign issue in the Indera Kayangan by-election, summoning the voters to reject Mahathir’s declaration and to stoutly defend the 45-year Merdeka “social contract” solemnly agreed to by the three communities before 1957 that Malaysia should forever remain a secular and not an Islamic state.
However, such a campaign line must be able to rebut the Barisan Nasional’s propaganda onslaught, supported by the nightly 90-second political propaganda footage camouflaged as prime-time news painting the Barisan Alternative as representing Taliban Malaysia, by calling on the voters to take a clear stand for a democratic, secular and multi-religious state and reject an Islamic state, whether ala-UMNO or ala-PAS.
Such a campaign line, however, would not be welcomed by PAS as well as Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) in the Indera Kayangan by-election and this was the reason why DAP did not assist in the by-election campaign although we wanted the Opposition to win against the Barisan Nasional in the by-election.
Another obstacle that would have to be overcome if the Lunas phenomenon was to be replicated in Indera Kayangan was the 911 terror card of the Barisan Nasional which exploited the fears of the voters as a result of the terrors and horrors of the September 11 holocaust in New York and Washington, bringing to the fore the people’s concerns for stability, security, law and order. The PKN strategists however conducted the Indera Kayangan by-election campaign as if the September 11 terrorist mass murders never happened as they disagreed that 911 was an issue at all in the by-election.
In the event, the Indera Kayangan landslide victory of the Barisan Nasional is a setback for the battle to defend the 45-year fundamental constitutional principle of Malaysia as a democratic, secular and multi-religious Malaysia as it is being trumpetted as a popular endorsement of Mahathir’s declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state.
The next general elections most likely in 2003 in the next 18 months will be a “Battle Royale” for the very soul of Malaysia, which will set the mould of Malaysian nation-building for decades and even generations to come - as it will decide whether Malaysia is to preserve and sustain its 45-year Social Contract enshrined in the fundamental constitutional principle and nation-building cornerstone as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation or jettison it and embark on the road to reshape Malaysia as an Islamic state, whether ala-UMNO or ala-PAS.
Come polling day in the next general elections, the Barisan Nasional would want to dragoon Malaysian voters to believe that their votes are important to decide two critical issues in the country - to ensure that the September 11 terror events cannot happen in Malaysia by giving greater support to Mahathir and the Barisan Nasional and to reject PAS’ Islamic State in favour of UMNO’s Islamic State.
Both are false choices. The greatest challenge facing DAP in the
next 18 months is how to make Malaysian voters realise that these
are false issues and options and reach a national consensus on two important
points:
(24/1/2002)