The Barisan Nasional and mainstream papers have highlighted the extraordinary win by BN candidate Oui Ah Lan in the Indera Kayangan by-election last Saturday and how it came about because of the development-orientated BN, reliable BN, trustworthy BN, etc. and, on the other end of the spectrum, the bankrupt opposition, the Taliban-like opposition, the one-cause opposition etc.

On the other hand, the alternative news media highlighted that the opposition's defeat was due to lack of money and manpower, wrong strategy, etc. and, on the other end, owing to the money politics of BN as well as their samseng and misuse of the government machinery, etc.

What I see, is that the alternative candidate lost and the simple reason for it is because the voters have yet to see the alternative that they want.

The alternative has a long way to go. Till today we are still talking about the BN government and the opposition. When are we going to stop this and see BA as an opponent of the BN?

As long as the alternative parties cannot project themselves, they will not go far and will have to be content to remain as opposition parties and win a few seats here and there, courtesy of the diehard alternative voters.

The present alternative parties have a long way to go. Along the way they must first have the will to compromise and come up with policies that are acceptable to voters. The present voters can be categorised into four main groups:

1) The diehard BN supporters who see the party as the only viable one to govern the country despite the prevalent cronyism, nepotism and corruption.

2) The diehard alternative supporters, who, come what may, will vote against BN because they feel that the nation is not getting the best and they deserve better.

3) The fence-sitters. These voters are waiting for the alternative to wake up and offer an alternative. If the alternative has nothing to offer they are ready once again to vote for the devil they know (BN) rather than the one they don't (BA).

4) The couldn't-care-less non-voters who may or may not have registered as voters. To them it does not matter who wins as life goes on and they do not want to be involved in changing the status quo.

The third group is the most important one. It is this group that determines who wins. So the alternative must, in the little time left before the next general election, come out with viable and acceptable policies, actions, etc. to win the hearts and minds of the third group.

In this period preceding the next election, the alternative elected representatives and those who intend to be candidates in the next election should make sure that the BN representatives live up to their previous election promises, such as what is happening in Subang/USJ and Indera Kayangan.

Often after the election, the elected representative goes missing only to turn up when the next election nears. So use the remaining time to come out and meet us, the voters, find out what we want and tell us what you have to offer.

You cannot simply expect us to be voting blindly.

With the Internet and almost all alternative parties having their own websites, getting feedback is not difficult, what is important is to take note of what the voters are saying and take the required actions.

So here we are, the voters, waiting to be won.