Slow campaign: Calm before the storm?

The election mood seems sober and uncannily quiet. Most Kuala Lumpur voters appeared to be too preoccupied with their daily chores to be excited by the election campaign. But a few may attend the ceramah at night organised by political parties.

The constituencies around Kuala Lumpur have for the past three days seemed to offer little fanfare. This was despite the anticipation of a grand battle for the hearts and minds of voters in the days ahead.

Perhaps the urban voter has already made up his or her mind even before polling day. If so, what is the percentage of them having done so? And do banners and posters have a real effect on the decisions of voters as to who they will vote for on March 8?

Some residents even expressed surprise at the lack of a poster war unlike previous general elections. A drive around a few constituencies in the Klang valley showed only certain strategic spots - around operation centres, major road junctions, bridges and roundabouts - where banners and photos of candidates are seen strung up.

In Cheras, opposition DAP’s bright red logo appeared to stand out along a number of roads. In Bandar Tun Razak, most residential areas remain free of any Barisan Nasional paraphernalia except along the main road in Taman Connaught while in Pandan constituency, some PAS symbols and BN banners are visible along the road fronting the local council building, MPAJ.

BN machinery has the edge

A BN party worker who identified himself as Wong, offered a number of reasons contributing to the lack-luster campaign so far in this general election. One of the reasons for the slow start was probably due to the long campaigning period this time around - a total of 13 days.

“Also some parties, especially new candidates and those contesting in a new constituency, may face problems like logistics and recruitment of election workers. They too have to set up operations centres and it takes time,” Wong said.

Sim, 56, another party worker for a BN candidate in many previous elections, said he is working on a part-time basis in this campaign. He added that BN component parties have an edge over the opposition in the setting up of election operation centres.

“Various committees on electioneering logistics, recruitment of party workers and supply of banners and propaganda materials are better organised among BN candidates.

“For BN constituencies, supplies of banners (plastic posters of the prime minister) and propaganda paraphernalia are issued by the BN headquarters. They are then delivered to the component party headquarters, which in turn distribute them to the various BN operation centres.”

Posters may not matter much

The opposition parties need more time to get their act together in setting up campaign committees, printing candidate photos, preparing banners and various propaganda materials. Unlike the BN well-oiled machinery and plentiful resources, opposition candidates also face greater challenges in recruiting voluntary or part-time paid election workers.

And while most BN candidates operate out of their state-level and party-owned buildings, the opposition parties have to operate from makeshift tents as in the case of PKR in the Bandar Tun Razak constituency.

The lack of a poster war in some constituencies in the first few days of the electoral campaign is also probably because candidates are opting to “walk the ground” and meeting voters face-to-face.

However for the opposition, what they lack in logistical superiority is compensated by the “wealth” of issues and challenges against their BN opponents.

Although banners and electioneering informative pamphlets are important, the opposition is planning campaign rallies, concentrating on door-to-door visits and focusing on delivering the critical issues to as many voters as possible at day markets, ‘pasar malam’, coffee shops, dinner gatherings and smaller group dialogues engaging associations, NGOs and the business communities.

In short, most political parties may have realised that winning the poster war does not amount to much. This is just like another lesson learnt in recent elections - that the candidate attracting the largest crowd at political rallies may not see it being translated into votes.