Malaysia awoke today with news of a surprising showing from the Oppposition parties forming the People's Front, handing humiliating defeats to ruling National Front candidates. Despite garnering a simple majority in Parliament and thus the right to form the next Federal Government of Malaysia, losing control of key states in Peninsular Malaysia is surely a fatal blow to many political careers.

Two component parties of the National Front have already been devastated, namely Gerakan and MIC. Acting Gerakan President, Dato Dr Koh Tsu Koon has already stated his intention to take full responsibility for the loss and graciously step aside for a new leadership. Such admirable act is still missing from the MIC president, Dato Seri Samy Vellu, as he remains silent. The utter annihilation of MIC candidates have meant that MIC no longer holds any clout when it comes to the Indian community in Malaysia and may potentially lose representation in the new Federal Government.

In addition, the loss of two thirds majority in Parliament means that the Federal Government can no longer implement policies to its fancy but instead needing the approval of the Parliament. Breaking the two thirds majority in Parliament has always been the target of opposition parties to enable a better check and balance mechanism and thus ensuring that unnecessary policies are not bulldozed through Parliament.

E-campaigning and blogs are the way of the future. This modality of disseminating information can no longer be ignored. It has rivaled the effectiveness and popularity of the mainstream press and is expected to replace the more traditional print media in future. If the print media is to make itself relevant again, it must revert to unbiased reporting and remove itself from the grips of political parties. Blogs have also enabled many politicians to communicate with voters and thus making them more accessible. BN's failure to embrace this technology has stunted its influence on the growing cyber population.

With BN no longer controlling key states, it will be interesting to see how the Federal administration will interact with their State counterparts. Will much needed assistance be made less accessible in its efforts to demean their rival parties capacity in administering a State Government? However, isolating five key states will almost be close to impossible.

The opposition coalition or now known as the People's Front, may be a tricky one as well especially when it comes to the DAP and PAS. Bitter memories of the 1999 elections will surely be remembered by DAP when the Chinese voters deserted them when they hastily agreed to form a coalition with Islamist PAS. Penang and Selangor may not be such a big problem, however Perak will surely be highly controversial. With DAP winning the largest amount of seats among the People's Front, they should rightly be given the Chief Ministership in this predominantly Malay state. Thus, a Malay candidate is thought more suitable but the candidate currently in favour is from PAS. Will DAP endorse this candidate? Or will a PKR candidate be more appropriate with the condition that PAS agrees to secede control?

The People's Front has much to prove. This is their best chance at proving that they can run a Government more efficiently and transparently than their predecessors. How they fare in the next General Election may well be decided by their performances in these newly acquired states. A good showing may convince even more voters that the People's Front is ready to form the next Federal Government.

It is a bright day for Malaysia where the power of its people has prevailed. There is no politician that is invincible, be it the ruling party or the opposition. Any dictatorial mentality will no longer be tolerated by an increasingly discerning electorate.