After its general election fright, Barisan Nasional’s first ploy was to stand and fight. But instead of successfully counter-attacking by cleaning up its act and enacting the reforms the prime minister keeps promising, it fought as dirty as ever.

It hit Anwar Ibrahim with a new sodomy charge, blocking Malaysia-Today.net, threatened to throw the immensely-popular Raja Petra Kamarudin into jail, and then employed race and money as weapons in the Permatang Puah by-election