It seems like the blue wave in Kedah is coming closer towards sinking PAS. Actually, this is not something shocking because PAS’ victory back in 2008 was not because people of Kedah do support PAS, it was because they wanted to ‘teach UMNO a lesson’. The ‘lesson’ given was really worth it because Dato’ Seri Najib’s leadership today is sincere in implementing transformation.
UMNO Kedah has been suffering internal issues for too long. According to rakyat of Kedah, UMNO Kedah somehow acted like they were kings, They ignored any advice or criticizing as if nothing can bring them down. Thus, rakyat taught them a lesson by giving their vote to PAS.
Being in a single term with PAS is enough to show how the party are not able to do anything at all. If all these while Malays praise those who has religious background, able to provide khutbah, memorizes the Quran and speaks Arabic well, as a person who deserves to be a leader, only now they realize that such perception is wrong.
Knowledge in religion might develop a good person, but it does not guarantee that the person would be a good leader. A good person and a good leader are two very different things. To be a good leader, one has to understand economy, finance, history as well as management.
Not having the knowledge on any of those, that is why we see how Kedah Chief Minister, Dato’ Seri Azizan Razak seem ‘lost’ in leading his state. He lost control of everything even from the very beginning.
He was cheated and manipulated by people around him. He fail to understand financial reports, and even to find solution for every issue. He took pride over the fact that he is just a farmer’s child and that he knows about logging and farming, however, he has no idea on how to manage those two things.
In the end, forests are cleared without even considering about catchment area in the state. It might have brought instant income for the state, but those would be gone instantly as well. Especially when the state could not afford to generate any more income, debts increased as well as wasting money.
Other than his bad performance, Azizan also do not have any charisma nor can he have any dialogue, handle investors, or even his own colleagues. In short, he somewhat reflect himself as a Village Chief instead of a Chief Minister.
If rakyat wishes to have a religious figure to lead, without even considering the qualification in other fields, this is what happens. What worse, even in terms of religion Azizan could not provide any change other than the usage of jawi writings at signboards. Other than that, Kedah today appears to be a lot ‘less-Islam’ that it was before, during BN’s era, with all the growing numbers of night clubs and what not. Not just that, halal certificates are also approved without following the procedures which has been set because the responsible party has not held any meeting for years.
Azizan will be going against his own cousin, and he realizes his own weaknesses. All he can do is just take care of his ego, he kept on acting as if he will win. Fact is, he is just as nervous as Pakatan Rakyat and PAS. He knows that he might not be able to rule Kedah for another term without destroying the state.
It is not impossible that Azizan secretly hope that he would lose. That is why, it is not surprising is he is said to be busy clearing up his office, getting ready to leave.
With this, there should be no reason for BN Kedah to lose. Whether we realize this or not, the change has begun even back during the nomination of candidates. Thus, PR’s ‘Ubah’ (Change) slogan is no longer relevant.
