At first glance, they look like regular advertisements fluttering by the roadside. But take a closer look and their political intent becomes loud and clear.The biggest banner has a picture of Perak state assemblyman Osman Jailu — the man who defected a month ago, helping to topple the opposition-held government in Perak.
“Sekarang Aku Dah Kaya! (Now I am rich!)” it declares, hinting that he was paid by the Barisan Nasional to defect.
The banner hangs alongside one calling him a lanun (pirate), and a third one showing two keris stabbing the word “Democracy”. The keris is part of the Umno logo.
These banners are hung prominently along the road into Simpang, the main town in Perak's Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency — the scene of a by-election to be held on April 7 to fill the vacancy left after opposition MP Roslan Shaharum died last month.
It will, however, be more than just an ordinary by-election. It will take place amid one of the most turbulent times in Perak's history, after the BN toppled the Pakatan Rakyat government with the help of four defectors, including Osman.
The controversy is still raging, and the PR will keep fanning the flames in what has become a highly emotive issue.
With endless court cases — so many that it has become difficult to track — the matter is constantly kept alive in the public eye.
Both former Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin and newly appointed BN replacement Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir have taken each other to court.
Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court directed that Nizar's suit be heard in the apex court as it involves constitutional issues. No date has been fixed.
The BN, which is anxious to win back the Bukit Gantang seat, has been trying to swing the focus over to issues of economic development — its old standby to appeal to voters.
“It's economic issues that we have to focus on. Jobs. We hope that people will come to their senses,” Zambry told The Straits Times.
The BN's grassroots machinery has started going down to the ground to talk to the voters about these issues.
A local MIC leader, Y. Kanaiah, 68, said it would talk about issues such as land leases for Hindu temples, a community hall for the Indians, and lorry permits.
“The Pakatan government said it was giving out land leases but this was actually the effort of the BN over the last few years. These things don't take just 10 months to solve,” he said, referring to the Pakatan's short tenure from the general election last year.
Chinese community leaders who support the BN are taking the same message to the ground.
A Gerakan party leader, who did not want to be named, said the BN had resolved all the land lease problems of the Chinese communities in this constituency except for the fishing village of Kuala Sepetang. The 500 families there hold only temporary permits as they are on railway land.
“The thing is, we never publicise these things,” he said, pointing out that the BN had also resolved issues relating to basic infrastructure and Chinese schools there.
Loh Swee Eng, 49, who chairs the board of a Chinese school in Simpang, said the rural Chinese community's needs are different from those of the urban Chinese. They need services from an MP from their own community, he added.
The voter breakdown in the constituency is 63.5 per cent Malay, 27.1 per cent Chinese, and 9.1 per cent Indian.
Umno is convinced that fielding a local candidate will help. In the March 2008 general election, it fielded Azim Zabidi, a candidate from Kuala Lumpur, but the Umno grassroots rebelled and the party lost a seat that was once its stronghold.
It believes it has a good chance of winning back the seat if a local candidate is fielded, as the Malay sentiment is split. Some Malays are disconcerted by what they see as the opposition's attack on the monarchy.
As in Bukit Gantang, the BN hopes that the focus in Perak will soon shift to bread-and-butter issues rather than the sentiments that have kept the opposition going.
“The people, especially the Chinese, are pragmatic. They want a stable situation, and they won't like upheavals for long,” said Zambry, who acknowledged that the BN has to tackle outstanding issues like land leases.
This optimism may, however, not bear fruit in time for the by-election. Emotions are still running high.
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