IPOH – Lack of funds and a more modest budget have resulted in sluggish Barisan Nasional (BN) election machinery this polling season.
Campaign materials such as flags and posters are conspicuously missing in some areas.
In seats where BN linchpin Umno is contesting, one can barely see the “dacing” (double pan balance scale) flags or logo representing the coalition flying next to those of rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Even Bagan Datuk, where Umno president and former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the incumbent, has not been spared the lacklustre efforts in the war of flags.
The only exception seems to be certain party strongholds such as Rembau in Negri Sembilan where the party’s number two, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, is contesting and Tapah in Perak, where word on the street is that incumbent Datuk Seri M. Saravanan is funding the war of flags to match his adversaries.
The reason behind this is simple. Umno, by extension BN, can no longer afford to be as lavish as before and had to slash its election budget – by a whopping 70%, which also raises the question on how well they are doing financially.
In Perak, several party insiders told The Vibes and its Bahasa Melayu sister portal Getaran that each parliamentary constituency is now receiving only RM1 million to RM1.2 million when they used to receive RM2.5 million to RM3 million.
“Usually, each division chief would receive RM3 million if the federal constituency has three state assembly seats and around RM2 million if it has two state assembly seats.
“This time around, we are only receiving RM1.2 million for parliamentary seats with three state assembly seats or just around RM1 million for those with two state assembly seats,” said one of the Umno men here who requested anonymity.
“In fact, we are worried about Tambun. Datuk Aminuddin (Md Hanafiah) has only received RM500,000 and he is taking on (PH chief and prime minister candidate) (Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) and Peja (Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu) who was the menteri besar.
“In Gua Musang, Ku Li (Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah), only received RM300,000. I know they think he’s rich and Gua Musang has been unassailable but you must not forget that there are thousands of young, first-time voters in the picture and we can’t gauge what they are going to do.”
Political rumours regarding Tambun has it that Zahid has practically sent Aminuddin as a sacrificial lamb to allow his former mentor Anwar a win, as many see that a straight fight between Faizal and Anwar will lead to a victory for Faizal.
Meanwhile, another source familiar with the party’s accounts confirmed that the electoral funds have been slashed drastically.
“Yes, the election budget has been slashed. I’m aware of Tambun… but I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the state,” said the source.
It seems that even caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s state in Pahang faces the same issues, although perhaps there is a silver lining for the Umno stalwarts there.
Party workers told The Vibes that they have just received the funds and the election materials to seriously start their offensive on the war of flags and banners but perhaps the damage to party morale has been done.
Unlike PH and PN whose volunteers are more than willing to invest their time, energy and effort to support and elevate their respective parties out of a sense of solidarity and passion, Umno “volunteers” are well known for refusing to work and downing tools if they are not paid.
Not only that, these “volunteers” are also known for their ferocious loyalty to their preferred leader or candidate – which was reflected when they tore down their own flags and banners in Perlis after it became known that Arau incumbent Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim was not nominated to contest.
Originally, Umno volunteers had the same selfless passion as their rivals where they would work without pay for the sake of the party.
However, as Umno became cash rich, it began giving a small token of appreciation in the form of cash to these volunteers – who were generally made up of their Pemuda and Puteri wings as well as the teenage children of party members.
In time, it became a culture – where these “volunteers” expected to be paid, which basically turned them into part-time party workers – adding to the party’s financial burden.
Ever since BN lost the 2018 general election, Umno’s fortunes have turned and their gravy train seems to have come to a stop, even though they retook Putrajaya after PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resigned last year.
And now, it seems that Umno is facing the same problem that its rivals faced when Umno was at the height of its power – lack of funds.
Unlike Umno, its opponents never lacked volunteers. – The Vibes, November 9, 2022
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