This worked to the BA s advantage. So far we have examined some of the reasons for the BA s victory and the BN s defeat in Lunas. Now we shall try to analyse the significance of the Lunas verdict to Malaysian political development. One, the politics of developmentalism has lost its impact upon the electorate. The people now know that it is the responsibility of the government of the day to bring about development.
Development is the right of the people.
There is no reason for them to be grateful to the government for development projects which, in any case, are financed by the sweat of their brow. This is why desperate attempts by the BN government to surface roads and build latrines during the election campaign period were greeted with scorn and scepticism by the voters of Lunas. Two, Lunas also brought to the fore the whole question of leadership and governance. The reasons for focussing upon Mahathir may be different but the underlying concern is the same. In this regard, the Malay voters of Lunas have gone further than their Chinese compatriots.