anwar won permatang pauh...what would be his next course of action? part 1

i received a message from a friend telling me anwar was leading in the vote count. i tuned in to awani astro and the commentator annouced that at press time, anwar was still leading the two other candidates. i stayed on to watch the election analysis and it was almost certain that based on the feedbacks given by on-site journalists, anwar had won the election with a bigger majority this time. at 10 p.m. something, the commentator announced the official results: anwar won with 31 000 or so votes; arif, 15 000 or so votes and the akim candidate a mere 92 votes. compared with the majority received by wan azizah on march 8 this year, anwar managed to increase the majority votes to 15 000 or so votes--to the surprise of political analysts across the country. the voter turnout was low at 65 per cent even though the star reported today that it was in fact more than 80 per cent.

what does this election result tell us? a lot. first, it tells us that anwar is still an influential figure and a force to be reckoned with in malaysian politics. the sodomy allegation launched against him did not diminish his reputation. even before the election, the merdeka centre did a survey about the sodomy allegation and found out that a considerable number (about more than 30 per cent) of those polled believed that the allegation was politically motivated. second, anwar's victory has brought him closer to the corridor of power. an insider told me that the change in government is imminent: it will happen even before 16 september this year. the only thing anwar has to do now is to convince some 30 or so bn mps to crossover. how willing are these mps--alleged to be mostly from sabah--to change party is everyone's guess. but a source told me that they are prepared to leave bn provided anwar can convince them that the "takeover"plan is not just an elusive dream. third, now that anwar is in parliament, the bn will continue with the passing of the controversial dna bill. this is the only way to get rid of anwar. when the bill is passed then anwar will have no choice but to give his dna sample failing which he will have to pay 10 000 ringgit or one year in prison. soon after taking oath, anwar did not waste time to criticise the bill. when the opposition demanded a special committee to look into the bill, the home minister syed hamid albar refused, resulting in the opposition walkout today. by convention, the bn will face no obstacle in passing the bill as it has the number to form the simple majority needed. anwar's hope now lies in the hands of bn mps who believe in his struggle and do not mind to leave the bn.