Even though the general elections has ended for two weeks, but its effects are still continuing to be felt. Apart from the rumours that the East Malaysian BN MPs will switch to the opposition, the elections setback has also create uncertainty within the UMNO party elections.

In fact, political buying can't be practised regardless of the rumours. It is not ethical.

The opposition won the five states and it has proven that they can get the support from the people if they are willing to fight. They simply do not need to gain political power through the “back-door”. The ruling and opposition parties should now engage in healthy competition through normal channels and procedures. Then they can fight for victory in the next general elections.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the powers between the opposition and the BN are evenly matched. Even though the BN won 85 seat while the opposition won only 80 seats, but the opposition parties got 50.23% of the votes and the BN got only 49.65%.

If Kuala Lumpur considered as a state, the opposition has taken six states and can compete with the BN on equal terms. Meanwhile, the states taken by the opposition are very wealthy, in which they make up 60% of the total GDP of the whole country.

Before that, the BN can enjoy the political resources alone. However, the opposition can also share the resources in the future to expand their strength and the grass-root organisations. After this political breakthrough, many people have applied to join the opposition parties. It is very obvious in Peninsular Malaysia, where the fight between the ruling and opposition parties is very keen over the past few years.

The problem now is if the opposition will be able to extend their forces to East Malaysia. I believe that after the three major opposition parties consolidate itself in Penunsular Malaysia, they will certainly recruit members from Sabah and Sarawak in a bid to contain the central governance in the coming elections.

We do not want the BN to sink in morale and face infighting after the elections setback, while the opposition parties continue to work together to make good progress. It is because the situation will be one-sided and is not conducive to the development of democracy.

The opposition must be strong and the BN must change. By then, the political arena would present healthy competition. Could the BN change and get out of the trough? The UMNO, MCA and Gerakan party elections for this year are very crucial. If the party elections cause disunity, then PKR would have loopholes to exploit.

The future political stability will depend on several factors, including whether the BN and UMNO will be able to maintain unity, whether the economy will hold and whether UMNO has the innovative capacity.

A new political structure appears to be positive, but we will have to wait and see. (By LIM SUE GOAN/ Translated by LEE MEI NYEE/ Sin Chew Daily)