Pengkalan Pasir by-election: Here come the propagandists for the BN...

Unsurprisingly, public and media attention has focussed on the 6 Dec by-election in Pengkalan Pasir, Kelantan, following the sudden death of a PAS state assembly member recently.

The political temperature has risen in this PAS heartland – mainly because, in the 2004 general election, the PAS candidate for this constituency won by a slim majority. As if this isn’t enough, the ruling PAS-led government in Kelantan has only a wafer-thin majority in the State Assembly; thus, a BN win in this by-election may loosen the grip of the PAS administration in the state and create turmoil within PAS itself.

So you might have expected the local media to be a bit curious as to how PAS is going to stave off this UMNO-BN challenge on its home turf. Well, think again - your curiosity (about PAS’ electoral preparations) is unlikely to be whetted by the mainstream press, especially the English and Malay language dailies. By and large, the coverage levitates in favour of the BN and its political interests with the opposition given only token coverage.

True to form, The Star yesterday focused on the electoral campaigns of the various BN component parties and their wings. Putera UMNO and UMNO Youth, for example, are already gearing up for this battle royale.

Already, newspaper readers are told that the Prime Minister’s son-in-law, who is the UMNO Youth deputy chief, has begun pumping flesh with the locals - including the elderly, whom the ‘Who’s Who’ in politics would, one would suspect, try to avoid under normal circumstances.

Today's Star, however, has a report on the thoughts of Pas politicians regarding the Kelantan State Assembly - but will this willingness to give the "other side" a chance to be heard continue as the by-election draws closer?

For when it comes to elections, whether the general election or a by-election, experience tells us whatever semblance of fairplay that remains in the mainstream media tends to get thrown to the wind – because the media have no qualms about being an active part of the BN election campaign machinery. In short, they tend to become even more entrenched in their role of propagandists for the BN during election time.