The Aftermath

All I could say when I heard the results was: WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Over and over again!

In summary, the BN was denied its 2/3 majority, PKR won 31 parliamentary seats (up from 1 in the last elections), DAP won 28 and PAS won 23. Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan all now belong to the "Opposition" . Total parliamentary seats: 222. BN : 137, Opp : 82, way more than the 70 it had aimed for!


The best parts:

- Samy Vellu lost! He had bragged that Dr Jeyakumar could contest him 25 times and he would still win. Now he is forced to eat his words!! Upon learning that he had lost, apparently he told some that he was leaving to take a shower and never came back. To reporters, he said "goodbye" and has never been seen since.

- Nurul Izzah won! I have nothing against Sharizat, but it's fantastic to see an intelligent young woman pull off a much-deserved win! Margin: almost 3000 votes.

- 49% of the popular vote was for anything but BN!


The spoilers:

- Khairy wins. The first reports had him winning by 100+ votes and so Chegu Bard asked for a recount. But in the end Khairy won by 5700 votes. However I read an interesting comment on one of the blogs today that it is good that Khairy won, so he can fight against Najib to become PM once the inevitable happens and Badawi steps down. While UMNO's internal combustion is an intriguing prospect, the thought that either one will be PM turns my stomach.

- My mother is out of a job. The earliest news from the polls was that Penang had fallen to the Opposition. Dr Koh lost by almost 10,000 votes, sealing his political demise. Apparently my mother didn't even have time to participate in the vote-count; by the time she got to the polling center the writing was already on the wall.


Other interesting points:

- Rumors abound that Mahathir had a hand in BN's massive loss. Badawi will now have to step down, having raised Mahathir's ire publicly since 2005, and Mahathir's favorite, Najib, will take over and restart the projects that were shelved by Badawi. Don't forget, the man ruled Malaysia for 22 years. He put in place the laws and machinery that suffocated the people's rights. It's not such a long shot that he still pulls the invisible strings even now.

- Teresa Kok won the Seputeh parliamentary seat by whupping Carol Chew's behind with a majority of almost 37,000 votes, the highest margin in these elections. Thanks for those sexist cartoons, Carol!

- Wan Azizah, Tian Chua, Sivarasa, Hannah Yeoh, Loh Gwo-Burne, Manoharan... all the famous PKR candidates won! LGB, start your BM lessons today! Wan Azizah won by 13,000, from 590 in the previous elections. Anwar should have no problems winning this seat in a by-election.

- My $50 contribution to these elections did not go to waste. Jeff Ooi won the Jelutong parliamentary seat (margin: 16,000), and Anwar Ibrahim won the hearts and minds of millions of Malaysians.


What's next?

- The BN is busy doing a post-mortem. Gerakan won 2 parliamentary seats, MIC 3, and MCA 15, down from 31. I wonder if Gerakan will now consider leaving the BN, seeing as how they've been the only ones who've dared to go against the BN line on occasion. Obviously, the non-Malays don't want to play racial politics anymore. UMNO did not lose big, showing they still have a large Malay following. Will it be Malay vs non-Malay in the next elections? I certainly hope not! But I wouldn't put it past UMNO to keep playing the race card.

- New Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim of PKR, announced that he would make radical changes: more transparency in viewing state documents, for example. He's on the right track: the ISA, UUCA, Printing & Publishing Act all need to be abolished and the EC completely revamped. But the biggest and most important change needs to be in the judicial system.

- In-coming Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng of DAP, immediately issued a statement to foreign businesses that he would foster a business-friendly environment, following reports of nerves in the economic sector. He will need to hire the best economic brains, perhaps even entice some overseas Malaysian financial experts back home. On a larger scale, I believe this new political landscape will be able to reverse the brain drain to some extent.

- For Penangites, it also means the end of the PGCC! The elitist development project must now be relegated to the archives. Many have been calling for the development of a "green lung" instead, a network of interconnected parks. I wouldn't mind seeing a man-made lake, a budget-friendly children's museum, and a dedicated theater/arts center included in the plans. And no more shopping malls!


It is certainly a new dawn in Malaysia. Let's see what morning brings.