Opposition gets more negative space; DAP wants to sue media

For the first time in five days, articles about the opposition parties on 20 February exceeded those about the BN, but not for a good reason. Opposition parties continued to be the subject of criticism in Utusan Malaysia on 20 February while, in contrast, the BN was favourably portrayed almost as if it had abilities of magical proportions. A front-page snippet illustrated how this happened: “Naib presiden Pas, Mohamad Sabu mengelak untuk bertanding di kerusi Parlimen Kuala Terengganu kerana bimbangkan kekuatan luar biasa Umno di negeri itu.”

News, articles and letters critical of opposition parties Pas, DAP and PKR took up 70 per cent of a total of 30 items concerning the parties. In contrast, there were 18 items on the BN, with 16 of them revolving around the issue of candidacy.

Pas bore the brunt of the criticism due to the its president Hadi Awang's statement yesterday approving public assemblies as part of the democratic process. Eight news items quoting Umno officials and members of public, two editorials and one reader's letter condemned Hadi's stand and denounced it as a convenient move to secure votes. Other aspects of Pas were criticised in six more articles including its promise to establish a welfare state, its party supporters' alleged unruly behaviour in trying to prevent the Kuala Terengganu local council from taking down party flags, and its acceptance of Ibrahim Ali, the former Umno division chief who defected. If in the previous day's reports, the party was criticised for ignoring the feelings of its veteran members by accepting Ibrahim, today Pas was said to have done Umno a favour by alienating its own members.

The DAP was next with the issue of Fong Po Kuan's withdrawal from the election taking up three news items and two articles in the editorials. The DAP leadership was said to have sparked the “crisis” due to their clinging to power. The writer of the editorial also expected the DAP to be wiped out in Penang.

The paper also featured on top of page 6 an interview with S Nallakaruppan, a former PKR ally, who delivered a stinging criticism of the party.

Other than these less-than-friendly articles on the opposition, there were nine other short items between two and four paragraphs each. This included a two-para report on the DAP's intention to sue the papers whose reports on the Fong Po Kuan issue were seen as defamatory. The rest were mostly on who will be contesting.

The editorial section did not steer away from talking about BN candidacy, which was already the focus in the news section. One article reminded the BN to take young voters into account in nominating candidates. Another has been the daily feature on BN successes in developing the economy of various states and districts. The two stood as the minority among their five other counterparts in discrediting the opposition.