It’s going to be a lightning poll campaign this time - eight days in all, the shortest in Malaysian history. But whatever it is, the result is a foregone conclusion.

Indeed, the going will be tough for the opposition. Even in good times, it would require a superhuman effort to deny the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition its much vaunted two-thirds majority, let alone to dislodge it from power.

And we are not talking about new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ‘feel good’ factor, the back-on-track economy and the three Ms in the government’s disposal - money, machinery and the media.

Thank to the Election Commission (EC), the rules are heavily stacked against the opposition even before the starter gun is fired.