The Barisan can no longer assume it will easily retain its twothirds parliamentary majority, the threshold for amending theconstitution. The only other time the Barisan lost its two thirds majority wasin the 1969 general election. But within days of the polls, ethnicunrest erupted in Kuala Lumpur leaving scores dead in the infamousMay 13 incident, which political observers blamed on disgruntledpoliticians. The riots led to emergency rule and left a deep scarin the nation's psyche. The opposition often counters that it has no reason to createtrouble if it performs better than expected.
Some analysts believethe only real threat is from agents provocateur out to discreditthe opposition.
One area that has alot of interest is the media and the second is the actualpolling,'' says Gabriel. The media have often been manipulated to serve the rulingcoalition's interest in the run-up to polls, say observers. The media have not only been one-sided, they have also beenused as a tool by the parties in power to put down the oppositionparties,'' says social activist Gan Kong Hwee. Voter registration has always been controversial. The electioncommission dropped a bombshell recently when it announced that650,000 Malaysians, most of them below 35, who registered asvoters with the commission in April and early May would not beeligible to vote this year.