Is PR losing momentum

I was reading this on the net and found it interesting. Anyway it is a forum that was recently held in Penang (you can read it here). The forum seeks to answer the question: “Will BN or PR win if the general election were to be held today?”
The speaker Ibrahim Suffian (from Merdeka Research Centre) was of the opinion, that BN will win back its 2/3 majority based on the surveys done by Merdeka Research Centre (if you are interested in the surveys, check out their website here).
Now I am not going to rehash Suffian’s argument and the surveys which his outfit did on this topic. Neither am I interested in nitpicking the methodology which the survey used.
What I am interested in is trying to answer this question “Is PR losing momentum?” By now the answer should be obvious … yes they are.
Looking at it objectively, I’ll say that PR faces a couple of problems. Firstly, the key players – PKR, DAP and PAS – have yet to work out a common political platform – much less formalize the loose alliance into an official coalition - that can convince voters of their ability to offer an alternative to BN.
Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be a leader to lead the current loose alliance. No doubt, Anwar is the de facto leader but so far he does not seem to be able to influence the direction of each party. Consider for example, the current leadership tussle within PKR and the blow up within the Selangor state government with PAS pulling one direction and the others another. All which lead to public perception that all is not well within the leadership of PR. Anwar’s hiatus from the public glare only added to this perception.
Now after saying this, I want to add that BN is not doing all that well. The current crisis within UMNO’s coalition partners is not helping its cause but the strength of BN has always been a single party, i.e. UMNO who exercises overall leadership within the coalition, which ensures BN marches to the tune the piper played. This leadership advantage together with the natural advantages of the incumbency gives BN the edge in any election.
But of course, there is no such thing as a determined outcome, much less after March 8. So does it mean that BN will win back support to regain its traditional 2/3 majority in the Parliament?
I will answer this question in my next posting. For those who are interested in an opinion that is different from Suffian (see this blog posting).