Unhappy Ansari suffers third fall
November 04, 2010
Ansari (centre) waiting for the result of the by-election, which he lost, at the counting centre in Sandakan tonight, November 4, 2010. — Picture by Jack Ooi
BATU SAPI, Nov 4 – After having endured two nasty tumbles last week, PKR’s Ansari Abdullah suffered his third fall tonight when he was beaten to first place by political newbie Datin Linda Tsen Thau Lin in the Batu Sapi by-election here.
He had earlier plunged twice into seawater during his campaign trails when a jetty collapsed on Api-Api Island and a wooden walkway gave way in Kampung Gas.
The 56-year-old veteran politician, who has never won in an election before, was quick to lash out at the results tonight, expressing disgust that he had lost to “bribery and threats”.
Despite coming in second in the three-way battle with Tsen and Sabah Progressive Party’s (SAPP) Datuk Yong Teck Lee, Ansari was anything but satisfied and scolded the media for asking if he was happy with the results.
“How can I be happy with the results? How can I be happy? You must be crazy. Nobody is happy to lose in an election.
“Don’t ask stupid questions,” he charged when cornered by the press for his response at the Sandakan Community Hall here tonight.
Ansari, however, said he was not surprised with the results of today’s polls, pointing out that he had predicted it to the media from the beginning.
“I have been telling the media from Day One that Pakatan Rakyat will not finish third. I told you but you did not believe me... we might lose but not in third place,” he said.
He claimed, however, that the fight had not been fairly won, once again referring to the Barisan Nasional’s practice of dishing out goodies to win votes.
“In the past few days, we have seen thousands of zinc, thousands of bags of rice and millions of ringgit being distributed.
“That, my friend, is how the BN wins an election. Everything has been downloaded on YouTube, reports have been made and, as usual, nothing will be done,” he said.
Asked if PKR’s second placing was a signal that the party was gaining popularity in east Malaysia, Ansari strongly denied the perception.
“What signal? We lost to bribery and threat. No signal. The signal is that democracy is dead in Malaysia but bribery and corruption are rampant. That is the signal.
“We will show you thousands of pictures. Zinc being carried 24 hours a day, gunny sacks of rice, money being distributed, all uploaded on YouTube, the evidence is there but I can assure you that the Election Commission and the police will not take any action,” he said.
Ansari also said he was “ashamed” of his “Sabah brothers” for being so easily bought by simple gifts of zinc sheets and daily amenities.
“As a Sabahan I am ashamed that my Sabahan brothers can be bought. This is not a fair election. This is corruption of the highest degree,” he said.
Ansari, however, noted that his victory over the SAPP, a Sabah-based opposition party, showed that the best way to fight the BN was with the backing of a national-based opposition pact like PR.
“It shows that whether you have problems in Sabah or in Malaysia, the only way to resolve these problems is by doing it through a national party and that is the message given by the voters.
“You cannot do it through a local party,” he said.
Yong, the SAPP president and a former Sabah chief minister, had throughout the campaign period been expounding on his Sabah-for-Sabahans concept, hoping to woo voters by catering to the local sentiment to reject west Malaysian politics.
Ansari hoped today’s by-election results would be a lesson to all future opposition political aspirants.
“As I said before, it is one on one or nothing. I hope now everybody regains their senses,” he said.
Before the by-election, both SAPP and PR were at loggerheads over who should field a candidate in the contest.
SAPP refused to back down and give in to PR’s suggestion that it join the pact and campaign as one entity and this eventually led to the three-way battle.
Analysts had criticised the move as detrimental to both opposition parties as the three-way entry would likely split the opposition vote in Batu Sapi.
Asked if he considered his loss tonight as a setback in his political career, Ansari, who has contested numerous times in previous general elections, said: “Me? I am not important. Haji Ansari is a nobody. What is important is PR and the people. I am just a small fish in a big ocean.”
He brushed aside questions on whether he would seek to contest again in future elections, pointing out that it was not his decision but that of his party leaders.
“I do not decide, the party decides. Politics does not mean becoming a candidate or losing in an election. The fight and the struggle go on. Not everybody can be a candidate,” he said.
Ansari took second place tonight behind Tsen of BN’s Parti Bersatu Sabah who sailed to an easy win when she polled 9,773 votes and scored a 6,359-vote majority.
Ansari and Yong polled 3,414 and 2,031 votes each respectively.
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