Political commentators have almost unanimously spelled out doom for Malaysia’s stumbling Pakatan Rakyat government from the three by-elections the coalition has lost since it took power from the Barisan Nasional a year ago. But although the results in the federal constituency of Cameron Highlands and the state constituencies of Semenyih in Selangor and the more recent Rantau in Negeri Sembilan haven’t been great for a so-called reform government, Pakatan arguably had little or no chance of winning two of the three constituencies. Cameron Highlands and Rantau can be considered traditionally safe Barisan Nasional seats. In fact, Pakatan actually very slightly increased its vote percentage in Cameron Highlands and Rantau.