The 11th hour faux pas by a PAS delegate has been picked up and highlighted with the usual hype and spin by the Barisan Nasional-controlled media and turned into a firestorm threatening to engulf Pakatan.
Selena Tay, FMT
It is very obvious that BN keeps creating issue after issue to finish off Pakatan while, at the same time, giving out cash to woo the rakyat.
The mainstream media is continuing to harp on the so-called disagreement among Pakatan Rakyat component parties over the choice of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.
This is done with the intention to create a perception among the public that Pakatan is constantly at loggerheads due to this issue and therefore unfit to govern.
PAS has been blamed as the main culprit in this matter because during the PAS muktamar (general assembly) in November last year, an overzealous PAS member had proposed that PAS president and Marang MP, Abdul Hadi Awang, be the prime minister should Pakatan succeed in gaining control of Putrajaya in the 13th general election.
The 11th hour faux pas by a PAS delegate has been picked up and highlighted with the usual hype and spin by the Barisan Nasional-controlled media and turned into a firestorm threatening to engulf Pakatan.
Pro-BN political analysts plus various individuals have also joined in the fray criticising Pakatan as failing to reach a consensus.
On Feb 26, a mainstream English daily has even reported that PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, popularly known as Mat Sabu, has refrained from openly endorsing Anwar. This is in contrast to the stand made by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who firmly endorses Anwar as the candidate to be the prime minister due to his good performance when he was the finance minister.
The same English daily also reported that there was talk that a compromise has been reached between PAS and DAP leaders for Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the long-time and current Gua Musang MP, to be considered as the prime minister-designate.
This report certainly paints DAP in a bad light, making it seem that while Guan Eng is openly endorsing Anwar, at the back of it, DAP leaders are secretly making deals to put in another candidate.
Thus BN’s media is now working overtime in attempting to portray DAP and PAS as going against PKR by stabbing PKR’s back.
This is done with the intention of causing Pakatan to be destroyed from within.
Media propaganda
A PKR strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, opined that the 13th general election will only be called once big cracks appear in Pakatan.
This is because fence-sitters will be influenced by what they perceive as Pakatan breaking up and therefore the best bet would be to stick to voting for BN which has been continuously portrayed as being firm, steady and united.
BN’s use of massive media propaganda is a factor that cannot be underestimated.
Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/03/02/bn-using-anwar-to-confuse-voters/#
