Waiting in Penanti

A day after nomination day, I drove briefly into the Penanti state constituency. Election fever? Looked very far from it. The only hive of human activity was in Kubang Semang but even then, it was busy only with everyday life. Apart from the few Parti Keadilan Rakyat flags and buntings along this road, I wouldn't have known that a by-election was in the air.


It's even worse in the rural parts of this state constituency. No life at all. At most, a few flags here and there to break the monotony of the drive. Such is the state of affairs in Penanti after the Barisan Nasional refused to participate in this by-election. Time will tell whether it was the correct strategy for the BN but without their presence, I don't see how the temperature in Penanti can be raised beyond one or two degrees. There's no curiosity in the air, no excitement.


What issues are there? There is no moving target without the Barisan Nasional and the independent candidates are only pesky little mosquitoes. Not enough to provide even a reasonable diversion, in my opinion. So it looks a foregone conclusion that the PKR will win. But I hope they will still go all out to convince the people to come out and vote for them on Sunday or otherwise, it'll be a hollow victory and BN will come out smirking.