Where it should have had any relevance – in the Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan, for instance – it was banned by the National Front. Instead, PAS's use of Islam was highlighted, it was Pak Lah's son-in-law, whose knowledge of Islam is far less than that of a 12-year-old boy in a madrasah in the constituency, who decided how to use Islam to defeat PAS. But this is par for the course. Policies are forced on the people by default, usually the National Front does not want any discussion of it, the opposition will argue one way, the others would argue the other way, but the National Front will keep quiet, and do as it likes. That is how it has acted in the past, and thinks if it worked then, it should now. But it does not. The National Front's policies are challenged by the people, and that includes UMNO members. There is now an opposition within UMNO, where its leaders especially those in the government, adopt a police more attuned to Washington than Kuala Lumpur.

But it is not only the recent petrol price that has landed Pak Lah in trouble. In the recent byelection of Pengkalen Pasir in Kelantan, no mention of Islam Hadhari, allegedly his speciality, was allowed. UMNO campaigners could not say why it should be followed in Malaysia and not Islam, which PAS espouses and is the country's official religion. No one has explained what it stands for, UMNO leaders talk of it as being an Islam suited for modern times. But there is no discussion, even by UMNO leaders, because it is a political concept and not a religion as Islam is. It was concocted by the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, – and Pak Lah recently published a book on it – to attack PAS. It is drummed into Malaysian minds that they should follow Islam Hadhari over Islam. But Islam Hadhari is anything but a religion. Malaysians are not allowed to discuss it, except laudatorily. One does follow Islam Hadhari as one follows Islam. Otherwise why was Islam Hadhari excluded from Pengkalen Pasir?

The National Front goverment in Sabah headed by Dato' Musa Aman of UMNO is, to the Sabahan, a colonial government, and Kuala Lumpur a colonial capital. No explanation it is not by West Malaysian National Front politicians will change that. So Mr Khairy, as a colonial representative, is irrelevant, and his denials are for the benefit of West Malaysians, not Sabahans. What UMNO leaders from West Malaysia say in Sabah is often published in West Malaysian newspapers but not in Sabah. West Malaysians as a rule read of opposition doings only when UMNO leaders rebut or refute. In the Pengkalen Pasir byelection, in Kelantan, in December 2005, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim drew large crowds, but it was dismissed, and unreported, although a National Front, usually UMNO, rebuttal by UMNO often was. The National Front looks over its shoulders to see what the opposition – usually PAS and Dato' Seri Anwar – is thinking or doing, before it makes its move. When it does not, as in the passing of Islamic bills in Parliament or allowing the religious affairs department to bury a non-Muslim as a Muslim, all hell breaks loose.

It is the fear that the non-Malays, the non-Muslims, and the women – who form more voters that worry the National Front. It had refused to listen to the people who elected them to power, knowing it had the votes on its side. The National Front won Pengkalen Pasir but PAS had more votes than it collected last year. Despite the National Front's great effort and money to win it, all it showed was a pointer to the future. If PAS continues to gain more votes in future elections, it will be a matter of time before the National Front becomes an opposition party. This is assuming the non-Malay, the non-Muslim and the women are on its side. If these voters desert it as they threaten, it would be sooner. The National Front is Islamic, and is in power today because of the non-Muslims. Now the Muslim women are in revolt. If they join hands and vote against the National Front throughout the country in an election, the National Front would be in trouble.

He gives contracts long promised as compensation for land seized, but it is given in secret for, otherwise, his son or son-in-law or daughter would have their own candidates. In the byelections in Kelantan, three UMNO state assemblymen may have to vacate their seats on account of illness, he is in a dilemma: his son-in-law is regarded as too intelligent for his own good, and he is joined by a former cabinet minister, UMNO chief, who is hated in Kelantan. If both are active in the byelections, PAS has a better than even chance in the byelections. After all it was the postal ballots that saved UMNO there. But if Mr Khairy is not involved in the runup to the byelections, UMNO's star would necessarily fall. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the MP for Gua Musang, is, whether the leadership in the centre likes it or not, the man who could defeat PAS in the state. But in a public speech recently he was supportive of PAS. He is older than Pak Lah, and would never become prime minister. But he is still a figure whose support is essential. In the Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan, he did not take part. There were attempts to move against him as a candidate in Gua Musang, but the opposition to that proposal from UMNO, and what could happen in the constituency, kept him as MP for the constituency.

Today, what Mr Khairy says goes in Pak Lah's administration. His only office in government was as his political secretary a few years ago. He is involved in high flying companies because he is Pak Lah's son-in-law. ECM Libra is one such. He does not have any experience after his studies. He got a PPE (philosophy, politics, economics) at Oxford, and LL.M from the London School of Economics. (In Malaysia, he would be a philospher, politician, economist, international lawyer as his father-in-law is a Islamic scholar because he has a degree in Islam from the University of Malaya!) He tried his best to stand for elections to Parliament from Rembau, from whence he came, but was not allowed to. The opposition to him was too strong there. He made a mess in Pengkalen Pasir, for UMNO could have won with a larger majority there in the byelection had he stayed away. UMNO had already lost votes for insisting on Dato' Annuar Musa, who is hated in the state, as the UMNO chief. Kelantan could have three more byelections, as UMNO state assemblymen may have to vacate their seats. If PAS wins any one of the seats, UMNO would be in the state assembly what it was before Pengakalen Pasir.

THE KHAIRY CHRONICLES, now in its 23rd part in Malaysia Today, has become uncomfortable to the young man. Who writes it is not known, Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, editor and the driving force behind it, will not say. But it contains many bullets that UMNO enemies of Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of the Prime Minister, use with damaging accuracy. Mr Khairy has come from nowhere, married Pak Lah's daughter, and runs the Malaysian government: Pak Lah depends on him, over tried and tested civil servants, who are forced to follow what Mr Khairy decides. As more damaging information comes to light, not only the Khairy Chronicles, they are picked up by his UMNO enemies, who distribute photostats of the original and Malay translation in their balliwicks. The Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan was not, in Mr Khairy's view, a byelection with PAS, although it was also that, but between his friends and enemies in UMNO. He is a young man in a hurry. He operates behind the scenes, puts his supporters in front. But he is now forced into the open. He does not like it.

These people have forgotten or ignored their past. The deputy prime minister, Dato' Najib Tun Razak, was shocked at the poverty in Pengkalen Pasir during the byelection. But it is no worse than Pekan, the royal capital of Pahang, and the name of his constituency. It proves only that he does not visit his constituency often. I visited Pekan in the 1970s, following his father, Tun Razak, to the poor villages, and was shocked at what I saw. The officials tried to say the poverty in the constituency has increased, but it had not. I often travelled with the advance party, and saw poverty there unvarnished of civil service dressing up. But the poverty in Pekan is no worse than in Pengkalen Pasir. But Dato' Najib, who was once elected from Pekan with a narrow margin that he was known for a while as 'Minister 59', the number being his majority after a general elections and after five recounts.

The UMNO leadership is in shambles, bought to that position by a man who bought his way to the top. He is said to be a political and business genius. Dross becomes gold whenever he touches it. So he attracts UMNO members who hope to make a profit, in politics and/or business. His drumbeaters in the Malaysian press, who cannot ignore the prime minister's son-in-law, tells Malaysians he is a figure to be reckoned with. The Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan was described as Khairy's triumph. But he should remember what happened to that other UMNO's rising star, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In Kelantan, it has had a tough ride. PAS won the first general election in 1959 and lost it in 1978, when UMNO forced it down in demonstrations. PAS won it again in 1990 and has held it since. The National Front issues threats it would not honour if it is in PAS's position, in the states or in parliament, and it promises what it will not honour once the election or byelection is over. It made promises galore in the recent byelection in Pengkalen Pasir, which it won, but it has ignored the promises made in the other constitutuencies in Kelantan it won in the general election last year. But it believes it can do this because people have short memories, it demonises the other political parties, which it publicises in the newspapers it control, in reality all the mainstream newspapers, and therefore the whole country. People are sheep at the best of times, and lap it up, often blamining the opposition for not rebutting the National Front's political moves. But the opposition is not allowed to own its own newspapers. Many have tried, but the government view is that what is not in the National Front's interests is not allowed. The opposition parties are allowed their organs which they can sell only to their members. And so most Malaysians have not seen or heard of them.

It was not. The Opposition was not interested; PAS had not objection, and the DAP was not interested. So it was left to 19 BN women senators to oppose it. That they opposed meant that the National Front lost even when the bill was passed. It had not expected the opposition so late in the day. The National Front had long introduced laws in both Houses of Parliament without discussing it with those affected. It had a two-thirds majority in each of both houses, and it could have its way. So, why bother to get the views of those who did not vote. After all, when elections are held, the voters would forget its high handedness in parliament and the state assemblies, and would rush to vote them in with a huge majority. But the people of Kelantan has seen though that the National Front has had a tough time being elected. It promises what the people want if they would vote for it, as happened in an irrelevant byelection in Pengkalen Pasir. It insisted PAS had to resign if it won the seat. It did not have to, and it would not. But the National Front went to town demanding that it do. Ordinary Malaysians, usually not in Kelantan, thought they should, because the National Front's view took hold through the news media. One need not add that the National Front controls the media in this country.

Given the mood, and the relevations, UMNO cannot afford another election in that constituency. It would lose it. The days are gone when the Election Commission and UMNO could decide that the election result would be. This byelection was important for the hidden money spent - about RM100,000 per vote, but Malaysian electoral laws that is allowed so long as it is unofficial, which it is - and the promise to give the state a university if it won. This is like the election in Sabah in 1994 when among the promises made was 394 kilometres of railway. It won that election, but not one kilomtre of railway has been laid in the past 11 years, nor will it ever. But would a university be built in Kelantan, as it promised in Pengkalen Pasir? It would have to set aside money for the university. Gone are the days when National Front promises are made in elections and byelections, with no intention of honouring it. The hidden Malay Dominance policy in force since early 1970, and which has governed elections since, only meant that the National Front, particularly UMNO, must win at any cost, especially if the candidate was an important UMNO leader. It does not work as the National Front thought it would any more,

THE ELECTION IN PENGALEN Pasir was important for UMNO that it had its leaders virtually staying in the constituency for the campaigning. The deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, for instance, was there virtually every day of the runup to the polls. The first reason is easily discernible: he did not want the Prime Minister's son-law and UMNO Youth deputy leader, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, steal a march over him in the Prime Ministerial stakes. The other reason, unmentioned, is that the voters took askance to the presence of the MCA President, Dato' Ong Kah Ting, the Gerakan President, Dato' Seri Lim Kheng Yaik, the MIC President, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, even the former MCA President, Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik. During the campaign, the newspapers which supported each of them were talking of how they brought in the Chinese and Indian votes in the constituency. But the reality is that the non-Malay communities did not want them. But the National Front is a multiracial coalition, and it would be disastrous if the non-Malay constituencies did not not support them. Dato' Seri Najib was also in constituency to make sure of the non-Malay vote. This is not how it was portrayed. The Star, for instance, reported how the Chinese came out to vote because of the efforts of the MCA past and present MCA presidents. The Chinese and Indian voters in Pengkalen Pasir believed the UMNO deputy president more they believed their own leaders.

MORE POSTAL VOTES WERE cast in the Pengkalen Pasir state byelection than allowed. The Election Commission not only accepts this as normal, it is aggressively defends it. PAS is consulting its legal advisers. The National Front, and UMNO, has stopped crowing about their 'success' and gone into hibernation, its propaganda repeating the untruth but its officials are concerned. If a fresh byelection is not called, Malaysia will follow the dictatorships which produce 99 per cent victories. This byelection is flawed. A fresh byelection should be called. But the chairman of the Election Commission, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, is sure the byelection went well, but did it go well because the National Front won, or because all the Election Commission staff were in the constituency? How can Malaysia say it is a democracy, when it cannot conduct a byelection properly in an insignificant state constituency? The National Front tried too hard to win, and brought in more people to vote than allowed. It does not matter it happened in postal votes. The fact is it happened. The Election Commission is wrong, should have declared the byelection invalid and ordered fresh byelections. The National Front had to win, because the political future of the UMNO Youth deputy leader, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, was at stake. It was dubbed "Khairy's election". He set the National Front aim: A victory by 700 and less than 500 votes for the former UMNO leader turned independent, Datuk Ibrahim Ali. A re-byelection in Pengkalen Pasir could go to PAS, and that will be worse for him than having lost to PAS first time. But the Election Commission will see to it it does not happen.

THE NATIONAL FRONT, OR rather UMNO, has won the Kelantan state constituency seat of Pengkalen Pasir. The National Front publicity machine is ecstatic about it, but UMNO does not think it a victory. They see it not as a gladitorial contest between UMNO and PAS but as between Khairy Jamaluddin and Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak to see who would have the inside track to be Prime Minister after Khairy's father-in-law, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The 140-vote win is neither here nor there. There were 160 votes spoilt, surprisingly the same number as postal votes. This is dubbed in UMNO as "Khairy's election". And Khairy Jamaluddin had set the tone: UMNO would get a 700 vote majority, and Dato' Ibrahim Ali, a former UMNO leader who has been expelled and stood as an independent, would get less than 500 votes. Khairy Jamaluddin could only deliver the second of his promises. Dato' Ibrahim Ali lost 1,100 votes less than he received in 2004. UMNO brought in 3,800 votes from elsewhere who were registered to vote in the constituence. Pemuda UMNO and Puteri UMNO said they were in control of the 2,000 new voters. UMNO should have got at least 6,900 vote majority, nearly ten times more than it had predicted, but got less than the postal votes. The efficient National Front propaganda machine has called it a victory, nevertheless, and the newspapers reported it as such and how the PAS state government in Kelantan is dithering because of it.

So when videoclip of the nude Chinese woman doing the ear squat is made public, the Malay tried to divert attention by asking if there would have been such a fuss if the woman had been an Indonesian. But is that the issue, or that the police take the law into their own hands, and harass the foreigner? The policy is wrong. It is best the government comes clean. But that is now how it operates. It will waffle for as long as it can, it will blame the victim of falling into the police hands, it will do no anything to pin the problem on the victim. It has two problem on its hands now, the nude Chinese woman doing the ear squat, and the byelection in Pengkalen Pasir. The government says the woman is at fault, and in Pengkalen Pasir, PAS is at fault even when the National Front is wrong. It does in Pengkalen Pasir what it would not do in state constituerncies it won in 2004. It has promised the earth if PAS could be removed from government. It does not believe in its supporters in the constituency because of the presence of more workers from outside then there are voters. But it cannot in this byelections.

It is a fact that tourists from Asia and Africa are harassed. That to officialdom does not matter since the citizen in this country is also harassed. The nude 'ear squats' by women is not new. Police use it regularly to harass non-Caucasian tourists, and those it perceives are the enemy of government. Whatever the authorities say, it does exist. Malaysians and tourists have stepped forward to say they have been victims in the past. The authorities admit the police does it. It has set up a commission of inquiry, but they have refused to have on it opposition MPs, those who have a contrary view, and it comes after a royal commission of inquiry which showed the police could not be trusted. It had denied until it said in its report that the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Anwar Ibrahim, had been beaten to a pulp by the then Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor. The present crisis is not discussed in Parliament. It wants to resolve it in such a way it is exculpated. The authorities' attitude is that it is alone against the world. They have in the past harassed the public and they had taken courage that the public had kept quiet. The public is only to elect in the National Front so that it could harrass or sideline them. That is evident in Pengkalen Pasir, where two receipts are distributed to show the BN Bilek Gerakan (operations centre). This has not been denied, but it is investigating who bought the drinks which is giving the National Front a bad name. A small version of that happens in Kuala Lumpur about Chinese tourists not visiting Malaysia!

THE NATIONAL FRONT SET the pace for the byelection in Pengkalen Pasir state assembly byelection in Kelantan. It can because it owns the media. PAS has fallen into a trap. But it is the National Front through UMNO that is fighting tooth and nail to wrest the seat which it had lost in the general election by a mere 65 votes. The byelection is caused by the death of the PAS state assemblyman. The main problem for UMNO is that its man is Dato' Annuar Musa, head of the state UMNO party. He has many minuses to his credit, which is why the byelection is conducted by UMNO bigwigs from elsewhere in the country. He is at loggerheads with other UMNO wannabe leaders, including a federal former minister, Dato' Mustapha Mohamed. The UMNO emenense grise in the state, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, is not involved in this byelection, but the independent, Dato' Ibrahim Ali, can depend on that man's spport and supporters. They do not want the UMNO candidate to win in Pengkalen Pasir at least so that Dato' Annuar Musa's star will fall. During a former federal election, the PAS leader was given a photograph which would have killed Dato' Annuar as a politician. But Dato' Nik Aziz sent a message to him to close the doors when he undulged in what the photographs showed. The old man has never raised the incident on the hustings, but he had reduced UMNO to an also ran by his actions. I asked him about it when I heard it, and his only reply was we were young once! And he has never raised it in public. But UMNO would not have been magnanimous.

The Malaysian cabinet instructed the home minister, Dato' Azmi Khaled, to explain the Malaysian position to China on November 30, but the Chinese government was not told beforehand. The Chinese ambassador in Malaysia, Mr Wang Chung, who is in the top rung of Chinese diplomats, went to Putrajaya on Tuesday (29 November) to say that the visit is off until the Malaysian government convinces China that this manhandling will not happen again, told what his government would do that day in Beijing. Dato' Azmi Khalid reacted by going on a tirade on newspapers carrying "negative stories". But he should know that megaphone diplomacy is out in a sennsitive matter as this. In that press conference, he admitted that some of the "negative stories" came from government departments. But local newspapers did not have to carry them; but the newspapers here would have taken the cue from Bernama. If they did not, the government press officers would harass them. The Malaysian government use the newspapers as its ragsheets. PAS is given short shrift in the newspapers in the byelection in Pengkalen Pasir, while the National Front is not. The deputy UMNO youth chief is shown painting a house in Pengkalen Pasir, to tell Malaysians it should vote, but he would disappear from the area should UMNO win or lose that election. But UMNO is busy in an opposition constituency before an election. That is of course no said.

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