'Spring cleaning' in Putrajaya among rumours as PR eyes victory

Apr 29: Rumours have been circulating that a 'cleaning up drive' is underway in the top echelons of power, following a growing belief that Pakatan Rakyat will be forming the Federal government after this weekend's polls.

It has been reported earlier that the National Council of Professors Malaysia (MPN), which assumes an advisory role on Federal government policies, will convene an extraordinary meeting in Putrajaya to discuss the latest developments.

For several days now, analysts and pollsters have been reporting a growing trend of voters preparing to ditch Barisan Nasional. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Putrajaya itself, where 'underdog' PAS candidate Husam Musa's programmes have been attracting mammoth crowds, forcing UMNO to bring its strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad into direct campaigning. Days before nomination day, BN's Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had boasted that Husam would lose by two-thirds majority.

And a survey released by University of Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections pointing towards a PR victory has roused the ire of BN leaders including its chairman Najib Razak.

Seasoned political analyst Ahmad Lutfi Othman, who is also chief editor of PAS organ Harakah, has recently a source from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, on the extraordinary meeting by MPN.

Lutfi said the meeting was being called in the wake of "worries that a BN fall from power is imminent", he wrote in the BM edition of the Harakahdaily news portal.

"Apparently there were many such meetings taking place in Putrajaya to discuss the subject," he added.


Cleaning up?

Meantime, a text message is making rounds claiming that the Prime Minister's Office is undergoing a 'spring cleaning' exercise in anticipation of a PR victory.

Harakahdaily has not been able to verify the claim, but judging from recent experience, such rumours cannot be easily dismissed as hearsay.

Similar 'spring cleaning' by outgoing BN state governments had been reported in 2008 hours before election results confirming PR's victory in Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah, where it was claimed that documents on shady land deals had been destroyed before the new PR government was sworn-in.

Related:
Latest UM survey shows Anwar, PR ahead of Najib, BN