I refer to Malaysiakini report Anwar: BN will play dirty in Manik Urai .

The hot battle for the souls and minds of the majority of Malay voters in Manik Urai in the coming by-election is worth watching to see the direction of our political scene after more than one year passing since the last historical polls.

After losing one by-election after another except for one in Sarawak, BN needs to pull in all its resources to put a stop to their political opponent’s growth of strength, they who seem to be invincible as the people’s support for them remains unabated.

But the Manek Urai by-election is a different kettle of fish altogether. Although the constituency can be considered a PAS stronghold, the fallout from the so-called unity talks have made the party split into two camps. W

When solidarity among party members is spilt, Umno might take advantage of the situation to entice fence-sitters to vote for their candidate in the upcoming by-election.

Mustapa Mohammad Nor, the present chief of Kelantan Umno, maintains a humble lifestyle and clean life which might win over the voters to Umno. This with the promise of development in that area which seems lacking basic infrastructures and where a majority of the Malay voters seems to live in abject poverty.

The BN should not make a mistake of attacking the menteri besar of Kelantan whose is a saintly figure in that state. The people are spellbound by his leadership styles and the more BN attacks Tok Guru, the more popular he becomes to the local voters there.

The Kelantanese are proud people who would rather live in poverty rather than seeing their state natural resources being raped by their political leaders. BN has failed since the 90s to win over Kelantan as the people there rather prefer PAS.

As usual Umno will play up in the mainstream media on how Kelantan seems to be lacking in development and good infrastructure when compared to other states controlled by BN. But if funds for development purposes are being held up by federal government as a form of ‘punishment’ for voters who voted for the opposition, how do you expect these states to develop?

Considering that Kelantan is under PAS rule , it is Umno candidate who is the underdog to win the seat from PAS and one cannot be to sure that PAS will retain the seat.

The young voters, unlike their elders, are hungry for development and want to earn a decent living to uplift them from their state of poverty.

If the present Kelantan government cannot fulfill their wishes of better lives, they might vote the other way in the coming by-election.

On the other side of the spectrum, PAS uses religious sentiments to win the Malay voters and since their leaders are hardly involved in corrupt practices and abuse of power, the Islamic party seems to be getting stronger by the day. During the last general elections, even non-Malay voters voted for them.

A referendum of sorts will be seen in the coming by-election. If PAS manages to retain this state seat, it will be another step by the opposition front in their march towards forming the next federal government come the next polls.

If Umno somehow manages to wrest the seat from their arch rival PAS , it might be the beginning of the party’s resurrection among Malay voters who ditched them in droves during the last polls.

For the majority of the common people, it does not really matter who wins Manek Urai. Win or lose, it won’t change the political equation in this country. People would rather have our leaders looking into the sorry state of our economy which has caused a lot of hardships for the common people.

One year after the last general elections, voters feel cheated as their lives are not getting better as politicians on both side of the aisle seem to be more interested in politicking rather than addressing our nation’s woes.

Really, does it matter who wins in the coming by-election?