news feature Airing the Memali incident on the state-owned RTM television station may have dented PAS image but at the grassroots level it could erode Barisan Nasionals chances of recapturing the Baling parliamentary seat in Kedah.

The ruling BN coalition lost Baling  where the controversial village of Memali is located  to PAS candidate and former Masjid Negara imam, Taib Azzamudden Mt Taib, in the 1999 general elections.

Taib polled 21,464 votes to beat BNs Bahadur Shah Omar with a majority of 1,394 votes.

Sources close to Umno in Baling told malaysiakini that villagers in Memali and those who live in surrounding areas have more-or-less forgotten the bloody clashes in 1985.

In the incident, a clash erupted between supporters of PAS leader Ibrahim Libya and security forces, killing fourteen civilians including Ibrahim and another four police personnel.

Footage of the clash has been aired in a 30-minute segment on RTM over the past few weeks, and this has elicited strong condemnations from PAS which claims the clip was an attempt to paint the party in a bad light.

Many of them (Memali villagers) have come to accept the incident as takdir (fate). In fact the residents, whether Umno or PAS supporters, have been living together in harmony. Some of the PAS members have even joined Umno, said one of the sources.

According to the sources, Umno was able to neutralise many PAS members in Baling after the Muslim-based party leaders failed to provide satisfactory answers to the controversy surrounding the donations collected for the Memali victims families.

Since then many PAS members had left the party to join Umno. In fact, a sizeable number of PAS supporters, especially in Kupang, have swung their support to us, said one of the sources.

Both Kupang and Bayu state seats made up the Baling parliamentary constituency, with Kupang going to PAS while Bayu was won by Umno in the 1999 general elections.

If we could reduce significantly PAS vote in Kupang, we are confident of recapturing Baling in the next general elections, he added.

Kupang is considered a traditional PAS stronghold and the area houses numerous madrasahs (religious schools).

Refreshing memories

However, the sources lamented that the recent airing of the Memali clip is refreshing dark memories of the past and this could affect Umnos chances.

The showing of Memalis video clip may rekindle the 1985 sentiment, said a source who declined to be named.

The sources, all of whom are close to Baling Umno leaders, also recalled a recent incident where a bus ferrying party supporters, who were on their way to attend a function officiated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in nearby Sik, was pelted with stones when it passed the Memali area.

It could be an isolated case, but for it to happen now is worrying us. Even some local Umno leaders and members are reluctant to talk about it now.

The most they will say is that whatever that is currently happening is between PAS and the government, it does not involve Baling Umno, said one.

The sources, when asked on BNs defeat in Baling during the 1999 general elections, attributed it to the choice of candidate.

It was not that the opposition was getting stronger. We believe it was due to the choice of BNs candidate who was from outside Baling, whereas PAS candidate Taib Azzamudden was a local, said one of them.

The sources added that the political situation in 1999 following the sacking of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim had also contributed to the defeat as some disheartened Umno members had voted for the opposition.

In the 1999 general election, PAS won eight of the 15 parliamentary seats and 12 state seats in Kedah, a state which the opposition hopes to wrest from BN in the next polls.

BN later lost the Lunas state seat in a by-election in 2000 to opposition Keadilan and was thus denied its two-thirds majority in the 36-seat state assembly.

Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the government will stop airing the Memali clip.