The Supporters

Consider the post-election situation in Sabah. The ruling Barisan Nasional won convincingly. The supporters of the Opposition parties continued with their lives as if nothing has happened. If they are not satisfied with the decision of the majority, then they will have to wait for the next general election and hope that they can convince their peers to support the opposition. Some of them will grumble, of course. But, well, you know how it is when you are on the side of the minority.

Now consider the post-election situation in Penang. Barisan Nasional lost the election. Will their supporters stay calm and wait for the next election? Will they accept the decision of the majority?

Not a chance!

DAP should not dream of a peaceful administration. A major part of their administration will be focused on dealing with the bad losers. Rallies, riots, demonstrations—or however you want to call it—there will be plenty of those.

It would be quite interesting if Guan Eng can invoke the Internal Security Act. It seemed to work well to a certain extent against the HINDRAF demonstrators. After all, the similarity is there.

The Indians were convinced that they have been neglected for generations. It took them all those years to stage such a huge rally. The Penang Malays are now convinced that their rights are being undermined by the new state Government. It took them less than a week to stage a demonstration—and more demonstrations are yet to come.