Permatang Pasir By-Election Post Mortem: The Truth Why BN Lost

‘Rohaizat didn’t tell us the past, says Umno division chief. ’ That is the heading on Page 12 in the New Straits Times on Aug 27.

Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid, the Pematang Pauh warlord, had blamed Rohaizat, the candidate for the recent Pematang Pasir by-election, for the defeat. He said Rohaizat should have been honest with the party leadership about his background and the issues surrounding his candidacy.

In that by-election, Rohaizat the BN candidate lost to PAS’ Mohd Salleh Man with a 4,551-vote majority.

Abdul Jalil also said: “If he had informed me (about all this), I would have objected to his candidacy…instead he chose to keep the truth to himself. He (Rohaizat) was not honest and has put Umno and BN in a bad light,” Abdul Jalil added.

The statement really amazes me. Who is Abdul Jalil to talk about honesty. He was the one who orchestrated the division’s meeting to nominate Rohaizat as the candidate. He was the one who suggested that only Rohaizat’s name should be submitted to the party leadership for consideration despite vehement objection by his committee members who had proposed three other names. In fact, the candidacy issue was put to vote due to the disagreement and Abdul Jalil’s lost, but he used other channel to insist the party to name Rohaizad as the candidate.

Jalil also claimed in the newspaper report that the division committee comprise 37 members including him, and that he had submitted 36 names for consideration, except himself.  I am speechless and flabbergasted by his statement.

When Rohaizat and BN lost badly in the by-election, Abdul Jalil resorted to finger pointing and blame game. The issue of Rohazat being struck off as member of the Bar Council over the misappropriation of RM140,000 had little bearing on the by-election.

The reason why BN lost badly is because of infighting in the division. His oppression against Datuk Arif Shah, his in capabilities to lead the division, his arrogance and acquisitiveness are among the factors that has caused Permatang Pauh out of BN reach and remains very elusive. What more when the constituency is the forte of PKR’s supremo Anwar Ibrahim.

Jalil even refused to reconcile with his own “enemies” in Umno when asked to do so by his committee members. They asked him to re-unite with former division chief Datuk Ahmad Saad, Datuk Pirdaus Ismail and Datuk Arif Shah for the sake of Malay unity and to ensure that the party remains relevant and is accepted by the Malays. The idea brought up by his comrades in the division during one of the division meetings was rebuffed and rejected outright by Abdul Jalil.  He is a man full of vengeance.

Abdul Jalil is a lazy division chief. He doesn’t go to the ground and find out the people’s problems. However, he will always be in the forefront when attending functions organised by other leaders or BN government agencies. He will claim credit for work done by other people.

There is no people-centric programme organised by Abdul Jalil except for some cooking classes and sewing lessons for the Wanita folks.

This is the truth why BN had lost badly in Permatang Pasir and not because of issues surrounding Rohaizad.  Jalil should stand in front of a mirror and ask if he is an honest even to himself.