Sarawak,Malaysia;Friday.
When the Former Finance Minister, Daim Zainuddin, who is still close to the government, warned that the stae of Penang, Selangor and Kedah will be one ‘hot area’ for the ruling National Front during the next election, not many people are surprised.
In the annals of Malaysia’s National Election, the three states are always hard to win. The voters in Kedah can be fickle and do not mind switching over to the opposition if the ruling party does not deliver. So does the voters in Penang.
However, Penang is always a case basket. In the State Legislative Council, the party with the most seat is UMNO or the United Malay National Organisation. Yet the Chief Minister does not come from that party.
Both Gerakan and Umno are members of the ruling coalition, that is the National Front. Gerakan is mostly Chinese-based and UMNO is Malay-based. In the make-up of the State Legislative Council, Gerakan is only the second most represented party.
This put the Penang Malays in a queasy mood most of the time. By right, the Chief Minister should come from UMNO and not Gerakan. However, for the past twelve years the Chief Minister has been from Gerakan.
Thr ruling National Front in Malaysia is composed of fourteen different parties with a very varied ideology. Nevertherless, in the name of peace and harmony they managed to come together and decide on all issues albeit based on consensus.
The Malays of Penang have always complained that many decision taken by the State government did not benefit them. In fact some decisions taken by the Gerakan-led state cabinet are interpreted as having negative effect on them.
To make matters worse, the opposition Democratic Action Party [DAP] have always regarded their outing in the state of Penang a good one.
No wonder the state of Penang is still one hot area for all concerned.
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