Some would say that there is no difference. What matters is that Anwar Ibrahim won the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat with a resounding majority. And since elections are a zero sum gam, the Umno candidate lost the seat with an abysmal minority of votes. Either way you slice it Anwar wins.
Not true. If Anwar won the seat because the electorate supported his policies and his leadership, then he has a legitimate claim to being the rightful future Prime Minister of Malaysia. The victory would be an endorsement of the man and his politics.
However, if Anwar won because the voters hated the Umno leadership so much that they wanted to punish them with a humiliating defeat then Anwar’s victory has to be looked at in a different light because what the by-election means is that merely the electorate does not want Umno, or at least the Umno led by Badawi and Najib, to govern them. But just as not wanting one thing does not necessarily translate into wanting its opposite, the electorate’s rejection of Umno cannot then be interpreted to mean an endorsement of Anwar’s leadership and policies.
So which is it?
Answering this one question may change the game for Anwar’s bid for the country leadership.
Unspun 
Sorry, but I don’t get it.
Anwar won. It does not matter why he won, the fact is he won and will be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. The Malaysian government MPs have shown time and again that they are motivated mainly by money. As soon as they see that their future lies in jumping ship to PKR enough of them will do it to force a change in government.
The real question is whether conditions will be better under the PKR. Judging from the multi-racial PKR supporters in Permatang Pauh – forget the speeches, just look at the photos – I believe they will be better.
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Sir: Was appalled to read in today’s Star online that all 21 ISP’s in Malaysia have been ordered to shut access to M-T. Suddenly the gov’t has reneged on its promise not to police the internet. Certainly does not bode well for freedom of expression…
Is this the first salvo fired since Anwar’s return to legitimate politics? Retribution for M-T since it has ‘helped’ Anwar to win, or specifically, ‘seditiously’ causing the Rakyat to lose faith in BN? BTW, the sedition case hasn’t gone to court yet so how can M-T be considered guilty?
To answer your Q, Sir, the majority is greater this time, and judging from the hordes of outsiders pouring into PP to give moral support… well, I think it speaks for itself.
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