DAP's Stalingrad

I guess everyone knows by now about the shocking BN victory in Teluk Intan.

I had wanted to write about it last night but was too busy with work.

Ya, sometimes I work on Saturday nights too.

Well, no one expected a "dead party" as DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang arrogantly described Gerakan could dealt such a killer punch.

TS Muhyiddin Yassin who led the BN machinery was not there while Perak MB DS Zambery Abdul Kadir only reached Teluk Intan from Ipoh about 11pm after he heard about Mah Siew Keong's win.

They had been briefed a day earlier by BN intelligence operatives that the coalition  was going to lose. After all DAP had a cushion of over 7,000 majority votes from the general election last year.

My sources who was in the BN's close door meeting on Friday at the Teluk Intan Rest House said Muhyiddin had pleaded for BN workers to keep on pushing for support especially from among the Chinese community but was told that there were only so much that can be done.

That night DAP ceramah in the middle of Teluk Intan town was packed with party's supporters. Pro-Pakatan websites estimated the crowd at 10,000. Despite Perak's mourning period, the atmosphere was festive as reported by my journalist friend there, again complete with the blowing of vuvuzela.

Intelligence reports at noon yesterday as polling was ongoing also indicated that the best BN could hope for was to reduce DAP's majority from over 7,000 to 2,000 votes.

But in the end, Teluk Intan could end up being the Stalingrad of DAP.

(Note: Battle of Stalingrad is the turning point of Second World War where the Nazi forces were crushed)

This is only the second time in memory that a contested seat changed hands in a by-election, the other being Kuala Terengganu in 2008.

The perception that DAP is invincible in a constituency where Chinese made up the biggest block of voters had been shattered.

Teluk Intan's over 60,000 constituent consist of 42 per cent Chinese, 38 per cent Malays and 19 per cent Indians.

DAP and it's allies send their top guns to campaign in Teluk Intan almost every night for the past two weeks but suffered such an embarrassing defeat.

I thought of why it happened and came out with 10 main reasons:

1. DAP was arrogantly over confident. They took their opponent Mah as a president of a dead party.

2. DAP's candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud failed to impress the Malay constituent she was supposed to win over for her Chinese dominated party.

3. The local Chinese were pissed off that Kit Siang and his son thought they would swallow everything that DAP dished out at them, including Dyana.

4. Local DAP leaders had sabotaged their own party after Dyana who is an outsider was chosen over them as candidate.

5. Local DAP election workers were not happy with the way party leaders from Penang, Selangor and Johor took over the running of the campaign. The outsider DAP leaders include Ong Kiang Meng, Tony Pua, and Teoh Nie Ching.

6. Mah and the local Gerakan people went all out for a win despite the odds being stack against them winning.

7. The local Umno guys did their job well to support Gerakan. Mah is one of the nicest Gerakan leaders and this helped with inter-party relations. Other component parties could had done better but since Mah didn't complain, I would not want to elaborate on that.

8. BN did well by pushing hard to win the crucial 19 per cent Indian votes. DAP had concentrated on Chinese and Malay votes and that had prove costly for them.

9. Young Chinese outstation voters supporting Pakatan who were crucial in securing a DAP victory last year did not come back to vote in large number.

10. BN wins because Annie supports it. Hahahaha....just kidding.

Okay guys. Have a good Sunday. Cheers.