BN campaigns hard but reaps poor results

Malaysia - The ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, ran massive ad campaigns offline and online during the 13-day general elections campaign, but the messages seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as BN delivered its worst results since the first electoral in 1969.

Transparency International Malaysia estimates BN spent 7.68% of its budget of RM94.8 million on print ads (RM7.3 million). It also estimates that opposition parties, PKR, spent 0.07% of its budget RM36.8 million (RM0.03 million), DAP spent 0.57% of RM19.5 million (RM0.12 million), and PAS did not spend anything on print ads. The estimated advertisement cost is based on normal advertisement rates.

On the eve of polling day, The Sun carried the most Barisan Nasional (BN) ads - 14 pages or up 80% from earlier in the week, according to Media Monitors, a joint project by NGOs to monitor media independence.

The report also stated the New Straits Times and The Star increased the pages for BN ads by 77% and 71.4% respectively. And Utusan Malaysia, the Malay language broadsheet, carried five full pages on that day. Only The Sun published a one-page ad for the DAP, the opposition party.

The ad campaign throughout the election campaign period was supported by full-page messages, in colour, to highlight the achievements of several ministries and agencies, such as the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, EPF, Felda and Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

BN's tagline was 'Only One Choice'. Ads included messages on 'efficient public delivery system' and 'free education'. A full-page ad by MCA with a photograph of a Chinese JPA scholar in Cambridge University, had the caption, '2,300 non-Bumiputera students obtained full JPA scholarships to study overseas between 2000 and 2007. A marked increase compared to only 100 students before the year 2000.' MIC was also not to be left out - its ad carried a single line in bold font ‘Opposition has done nothing.'

Despite this campaign blitz, the BN coalition only won a simple majority as it suffered a reduced majority in several stronghold states and most of their seats to the opposition in key states - Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

Longest-serving MIC president and cabinet minister, Samy Vellu, as well as key MIC leaders, lost their seats. Majority urban Chinese seem to have snubbed BN too despite the prime minister's statement that there will be no Chinese representation in the cabinet if MCA and Gerakan fail to deliver seats. The MCA candidates failed to capture seats in Wilayah Persekutuan and Selangor.

Meanwhile, some key UMNO leaders were not spared and lost to first-timers from the opposition. Wanita UMNO number two and former minister for women, family and community development, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, lost to 27-year-old rookie politician, Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of PKR's defacto chief Anwar Ibrahim.

The internet and blogging had clearly worked in favour of opposition leaders who used it extensively to communicate their messages and expose misdeeds. For the first time ever, a member of DAP will become chief minister. Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of DAP, will be sworn in as Penang's new chief minister. Well-known blogger and first-time candidate of DAP, Jeff Ooi, was also voted in as member of parliament.