Tsunami sweeps away Abdullah
SEEKING a fresh mandate 15 months before the end of his five-year term, Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took a gamble that cost him his job.
The wind of change that served him a huge mandate to rule in 2004 whirled into a political tsunami in the 12th general election.
Pak Lah was forced to step down and he handed over the premiership to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak on April 3, 2009.
This was the second elections, apart from the one in 1969, where Barisan Nasional lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Selangor, Penang, Kedah, and Perak also slipped out of Barisan’s hands and it failed to wrest Kelantan from PAS. However, Perak returned to Barisan following the defection of several Pakatan Rakyat assembly members in 2009.
Credit for the opposition’s feat went to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. After his release from prison in 2004, the former deputy Prime Minister got the opposition parties of different ideologies or ethnicity together for one-to-one fights with Barisan in most of the constituencies.
For the first time in opposition history, Anwar brought PAS, DAP and his Parti Keadilan Rakyat together under the Pakatan Rakyat umbrella.
The voters across ethnic lines voted against the inability of Pak Lah’s administration to deliver on the promises he made in 2004.
His “Mr Clean” image took a beating during the longer 13-day campaign period with the opposition parties using the cyber medium well.
Infighting within Umno and Barisan parties, coupled with the dropping of veterans in favour of younger candidates, gave the opposition parties an upper hand.
One major contributing factor to the Barisan defeat was the defection of Indian voters following the advent of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) whose demonstration on Nov 25, 2007, highlighted the plight of the Indians.
The use of indelible ink in the polls was mooted but the Election Commission scrapped it four days prior to voting day citing constitutional reasons for its cancellation.