A flurry of pro-BN politicals ads has appeared in the media

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the anointed successor of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, officially declared the dissolution of the Malaysian parliament on 4 March 2004, paving the way for what promises to be an electoral contest that will be fought tooth and nail especially by the Barisan Nasional (BN).

For Abdullah, this general election is vital, as he needs to seek a fresh mandate from the Malaysian electorate. He is still perceived as someone who merely took over the baton from someone else who had been running an extremely long race. Abdullah also needs to consolidate his position in Umno where he is seeking to be president in his own right. For all intents and purposes, he needs to boost his credentials before he can confidently preside over the coming Umno general assembly and the all-important party elections.

All this means that Abdullah needs not only to garner votes that would return the incumbent BN into Parliament by at least a two-thirds majority but also to wean some Malay voters from Umno’s political foe, Pas, and, to a limited extent, Keadilan. And given the uncertainty until now over Malay votes in certain mixed constituencies, he needs to seriously woo the Chinese voters and, to a lesser degree, the Indians.

Leaning on the media

It is against this political backdrop that the mainstream media operate in the run-up to the 11th general election. The incumbent BN would, as was the case in the last few general elections, lean on these media in its battle to win the hearts and minds of the electorate. The signs were already there even prior to the dissolution of the Parliament. The mainstream press as well as TV stations have generally painted the ruling BN in the most positive light possible.

For instance, the media went to town with the latest figures from Bank Negara that indicated an improved economy, a development that the media ferociously attributed to the so-called adept handling of the economy by the BN government. This is certainly part and parcel of the politics of ‘developmentalism’ that the BN has been waging in the recent past.

It is therefore unsurprising that the media have already highlighted development projects in various states, especially those under BN rule. At the same time, a number of the ordinary people have been interviewed by the media not only to elicit their happiness over material comforts but also their gratitude to the government.

This is of course not enough. The Ministers of the caretaker government are likely to personally go down to the ground (turun padang in Malay) to display their care and concern for the ordinary folk. Predictably, you will see on TV or pictures in the papers images of some ministers mingling with people they would normally stay away from, such as the Orang Asal, the children of the poor, the ethnic minorities, and the people of the interiors in Sabah and Sarawak.

Hoodwinking the people

Congratulatory messages in the form of advertisements from groups and individuals in the private sector double up as political promotion for the BN and its leaders.

As if this isn’t enough, ministers, under the glare of the media spotlight, will tell all and sundry that they’re giving development goodies to, say, the rural folks who probably have all these years been complaining about the dilapidated clinics, unsafe bridges and untarred roads. As a finishing touch, new carpets will grace the old floors of the old community mosques. Kids will have spanking new bicycles to go to school with, and their farming fathers will have a new supply of pesticides and fertilisers.

In towns, the TV and still cameras will zoom in on ruling politicians who show concern over clogged drains and uncut undergrowth behind a housing estate. In fact, a minister may well officiate a relatively new market that has been in operation for the past few months. New low-cost housing for the poor will be promised to neglected people. The notion of a ‘caretaker government’ will be thrown out of the window.

This is of course part of the political, and media, strategy to reinforce the ‘feel good’ factor among the voters: the economy is doing well and the government has the money to relentlessly pursue material development.

Contrasting images

All this of course pales in comparison with the images displayed of the general conditions of people living in Pas-ruled Kelantan and Terengganu. Such images of the pathetic conditions of the poor Malay in some parts of these two states will be juxtaposed with ones showing relatively better-off people in other states of the peninsula. The media would see to it that this harsh ‘social reality’ gets the attention of all concerned Malaysians.

The BN would be portrayed as a political party bent on trying to help these ‘unfortunate’ people in the northeastern states of the peninsula. But, the people there, so goes the explicit or implicit argument circulating in the media, will need to help themselves by restoring the BN to power.

RTM, apart from the other media, will painstakingly focus on the ‘problematic’ states of Kelantan and Terengganu. So-called TV documentaries and news reports will emphasize the ‘economic backwardness’ of these two states. In addition, they will highlight Pas’ problematic approach to cultural activities especially of the non-Muslims and also exploit to the hilt Pas’ controversial notion of an ‘Islamic State’.

This concern for the welfare of all Malaysians irrespective of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds is, we’re told, the concern of the prime minister and his BN government. Which is why the emphasis on ‘we are all Malaysians’ and ‘work with, not for, me’ has been highlighted in the media. It is also another BN way of saying that there isn’t any political or ideological gap between the BN and the ordinary rakyat. This reminds us of an ill-informed contention made by a senior editor of an establishment daily: the people are the government and the government is the people. Here the media are expected to play a crucial role in pushing this line, at least during the election campaign period.

In this regard, it’s highly likely that the mainstream dailies will run editorials, articles and letters to editors that paint the BN as a coalition that has the ordinary people close to its collective heart.

Demonising the opposition

This is of course not to deny the fact that there are BN policies and actions that have raised the general living standard of Malaysians. What we’re saying here is that there are also certain government policies and actions that have created hardship especially among the underclasses. Certain mega projects, for instance, do not seem to have the interests of ordinary Malaysians at heart.

As in the past, the ruling BN has the tendency – and this receives much uncritical attention from the mainstream media – to emphasise the promise of material progress. This emphasis reaches the point of frightening voters that this political and economic bliss will go bust if they vote for the Opposition.

In other words, BN leaders often warn Malaysians that they risk throwing away ethnic harmony, material prosperity and national security if they vote for the Opposition. This is precisely a mirror image of the promise allegedly made by Pas to the Malay voters that they’d go to heaven if it were voted into power. But the Election Commission (EC), one would reckon, would not dare reprimand the incumbent BN as well.

While there may be coverage of the Opposition in the mainstream media that can be considered fair, such instances are few and far between. The rest of the time, the media will indulge in demonising the Opposition and its leaders and magnifying the bickering between certain opposition parties.

Monumental task

In other words, gaining meaningful access to the mainstream media would be a monumental task for the Opposition. This is why it is preposterous of the EC to suggest that the election campaign period be further reduced to eight days only. The Opposition is faced with a Herculean task of unfairly competing with the advantages that incumbency provides the BN, including the unethical use of government machinery such as RTM and the Information Department. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that, given the great political and financial handicap, it takes a longer time and more effort on the part of the Opposition to put their messages across to the country.

RTM may try to be cynical – if not mischievous – again, as in the past, when it offered radio airtime to the Opposition in the wee hours of the morning. An outsider might be forgiven for thinking that the Information Ministry believes that there are indeed many different time zones in the country so that a time to sleep in one zone is a time to listen to the radio in another.

Surprises in store

Congratulatory messages in the form of advertisements from groups and individuals in the private sector double up as political promotion for the BN and its leaders. Apart from this, you will see huge political advertisements in the mainstream media taken out by BN component parties.

Not to forget, there may be more surprises in store for the Malaysian electorate as we draw closer to the polling day. The media may reveal the latest waves of defection of ‘important individuals’ in favour of the incumbent BN. Or, for that matter, they may go to town with news of, say, a few more ‘big fish’ being caught for corruption as a way of showing that the BN party means business when it comes to fighting graft.

If the past performance of the mainstream media in previous general elections is unashamedly repeated - and repeated this time with greater gusto - the media are once again likely to make a spectacle of themselves.

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