Is party polls behind MCA’s revamped GE13 slate?

By Jahabar Sadiq

The Malaysian Insider

April 16, 2013

ANALYSIS,
 April 16 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s move to drop two senior MCA leaders and put his own men is already causing waves in his party, but will it help Barisan Nasional (BN) in Election 2013 or just the party president in internal polls this year?

And are veterans like former party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat not viewed as a “winnable candidate” in his Pandan stronghold which is will be contested by PKR’s “expose man” Rafizi Ramli in the May 5 general election?

Ong’s former cohort, party vice-president Senator Gan Peng Siu, has also been omitted from the list announced by Dr Chua yesterday, leading credence to whispers that only the president’s men are contesting the national polls.

Another vice-president, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, is also not contesting the polls, but the controversial tourism minister said she has asked for the break although there were concerns that her performance has affected BN in the past few years.

“Basically, Chua Soi Lek is preparing for the MCA elections after the GE. Hence, he is dropping all contenders and their supporters,” an MCA source told The Malaysian Insider.

“It is all the president’s men for GE13,” he said, adding the candidates list will strengthen Dr Chua’s hand in the next party polls due this year rather than BN’s defence of Putrajaya.

Dr Chua won a bitter battle with Ong in a requisitioned 2010 party election and the next internal polls must be held within six months of the general election.

It is not known if both will contest in the next party presidential polls but having a victorious Ong could dampen Dr Chua’s chances of keeping the presidency, sources said.

Another source said the party needed selfless leaders but internecine party rivalry has dictated the list given to BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“It’s the same in other BN parties. Internal politics determines who is named for public office.

“It doesn’t matter if they win in GE13 as long as their team wins and controls MCA,” he said.

He pointed out Dr Chua had rather abandoned a few seats and “loaned” them to Umno and the MIC rather than put candidates and fight the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact.

“We named people for the Wangsa Maju and Gelang Patah seats but now Umno has taken them and we don’t make any noise. Chua is just focused on party polls, not GE13,” he added.

The MCA is contesting 37 federal seats and 90 state seats, three federal seats fewer than in Election 2008 in what critics say is proof of the party’s decline and shrinking influence over the Chinese vote in recent years.

The MCA divisions in Wangsa Maju and Gelang Patah have expressed anger and have closed their operations room over giving up the seats on fears they could lose due to unpopularity among the Chinese and Umno’s insistence that it stands a better chance of winning.

The smaller number of the MCA’s federal seats will affect its chances of winning at least 15 to equal the number it won in Election 2008. That will force Dr Chua to fulfil his promise of refusing Cabinet posts for not equalling the 2008 numbers.

However, it would seem the revamped candidates list with weaker personalities and reduced seats will have to take a backseat to Dr Chua’s ambition to keep a grip on the MCA in the near future.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 April 2013, 7:45 am and is filed under
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Najib’s zombie apocalypse

by
Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

11:51AM Apr 15, 2013

In keeping with the unhealthy obsession with cerita hantu (ghost stories) and the supernatural, which is displayed by the rakyat – especially the Malays – caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should be applauded for converting some Malaysians into zombies.

The living dead are characterised by their lack of self-awareness and the inability to think for themselves. Najib’s zombies may not crave human flesh, but they do feast on cash handouts and freebies. In the zombie culture, human brains are considered a delicacy. Perhaps Umno has seized on the rakyat’s minds as a means to spread their evil. They have mentally enslaved us and used this exploitation to satisfy their greed for material goods, and hunger for power.

Six decades ago, Malayans had to decide – either continue to be ruled by the British, or accept change and take charge of running the country. The operative word was change.

We had to manage the nation’s finances, defend the country and administer self-rule. It was no mean feat. Malayan brains, intellect, and toil made Malaya (later Malaysia), a success story. Change to self-rule required the combined effort of Malayans, and not just one particular section of the community.

Change took place in 1957. It can happen again in 2013.

Today, the word ‘change’ is anathema to our leaders. Our great-grandparents were more open-minded and embraced change more readily, but Najib and former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad are trying to deceive us when they say that change is not necessary.

Najib may have promised to deal with corruption after GE13, but why should we believe him? For years, we witnessed his failure to address problems in society. If he was worried about graft, why did he employ leaders who were corrupt? Najib appointed Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as chairperson of Felda despite objections from the public and criticism from Mahathir, who is no stranger to money politics.

In three weeks time, we go to the polls. What will happen then?

If we elect BN, aren’t we condoning a government which is corrupt, and which breaks the laws whenever it chooses? The corruption network involves people from the junior office boy to the PM. Those at the bottom make petty sums whilst those at the top amass huge rewards. There has been little enforcement despite plenty of evidence, but the complaints of the public have been completely ignored.

Restoring confidence in the gov’t?

If the opposition were to win GE13, what steps should they take to restore confidence in the government? Anwar has reiterated that he will not go on a witch-hunt; but he cannot ignore the rakyat’s desire for justice. Many lives have been crushed, families destroyed, livelihoods devastated and communities ravaged, because of corrupt BN leaders.

Many people have painful experiences to relate. The business deal of one acquaintance was scuppered by allegedly dodgy people in the Defence Ministry. After years of maintaining a good working relationship with his American and Taiwanese partners, millions of ringgits were lost when the ministry supposedly reneged on a deal.

Despite spending vast sums on engaging lawyers and waiting at the court’s pleasure, this man learnt – after a brief appearance in court – that his case had been dismissed. He lost everything.

In Malaysia, justice goes to the highest bidder. There are presumably several cases of miscarriages of justice like this in the country as well.

So, should a new government purge all officials and businesspeople connected with the previous BN regime? To what extent should this process be continued? Should the top brass and business cronies only be punished? Should the crony business be made to cease operations?

It is easier to deal with those at the top, whose personal gain and lust for power broke several laws. Their unexplained wealth can be traced, by the paper trail, to offshore bank accounts and overseas properties.

Will the more educated among us adopt a different approach to the cleansing ritual? Mahathir’s brand of politics left deep trenches in the minds of many Malaysians. How will the different sections of the community react to the purge post-GE13? How should we treat the junior civil servant, who in the old regime, took advantage of a crooked system?

Perhaps, the more obscure cases will be found in the private sector, where businesses helped prop up the Umno government in deals that enriched both corrupt politicians and businesspeople. How should the new regime resolve these cases? It would be naive to think that any government contract came without strings attached.

How should civil servants or businesspeople who denounced the corrupt practices of the old regime be dealt with in the new order? Should their positions be enhanced? What if their actions were entirely self-serving when they jumped ship?

How would you deal with the civil servants who refused to become involved in corrupt acts of the previous government? Do you promote them despite their lack of expertise and seniority? How would the new government deal with false accusations? How would they deal with politicians who are Trojan horses of frogs?

Not enough time, resources

After GE13, we cannot go after everyone whom we perceive to be corrupt because we do not have the time and resources to manage this laborious process.

Anger and resentment will simply build and this will feed into the rakyat’s racial and religious prejudices, as well as accentuate other insecurities.

To add to the problem, our judiciary and police force have been corrupted by Mahathir. We will have to find a system to maintain law and order in the transition from the old guard until a just and effective police force and judicial system is formed.

We certainly must recover the large sums, several of which are said to be in excess of RM40 billions which have been allegedly stolen by several BN ministers and tycoons acting in collusion with them.

Najib’s incessant refrains of “I help you, you help me” to the rakyat has created a zombie apocalypse in Malaysia. Therefore, radical change is necessary to reclaim our souls and save the nation.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 April 2013, 9:30 am and is filed under
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Who is the Leader, Who the Follower?

by
Kee Thuan Chye

MSN Malaysia

If voters fall for the promise of more BR1M, it will show they are willing bribe-takers, that they are people who are prone to being dependent.

To woo Indian voters, BN pledges RM500 million in seed funding towards raising the equity of the Indian community to at least 3 per cent. Pakatan, however, does not pander to any ethnic community, preferring to take a broad multi-racial approach in its plans for the country’s future without favouring any particular race. This augurs well for a better Malaysia and shows up once again BN’s attempt at blatant vote-buying.

On the whole, the BN manifesto is nothing new. As a veteran economist who has served in the civil service notes, it is structurally the same BN manifesto that has been used in past general elections for decades. It is superficial and short-term, particularly in its focus on cash handouts. He would have wanted BN to tackle the key issues of improving education, for instance, and removing the fixation on the NEP and the accompanying idea of Ketuanan Melayu. Both of these are comprehensively addressed in the Pakatan manifesto.

Moreover, BN’s promise of a 20 to 30 per cent gradual reduction in car prices is lifted, ironically enough, from Pakatan’s manifesto. And the increase in taxi permits being granted to individuals is another Pakatan-inspired promise. The difference is, Pakatan offers a better deal – it will abolish the current system of granting permits to selected companies and give these permits directly to all taxi drivers.

There are other ideas borrowed from Pakatan, including the uniformisation of the prices of essential items so that Sabahans and Sarawakians don’t have to pay more for them, and the giving of discounts to PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation) borrowers in response to Pakatan’s promise of totally writing off the loans. This goes to show that Pakatan is the one that is much more the mover while BN is the follower.

BN may say that it came up with these ideas on its own, but the fact that Pakatan unveiled its manifesto a few weeks earlier gives the impression that BN copied from the latter. More important to note is the other well-known fact that this is not the first time BN has adopted Pakatan’s ideas.

Even as early as last year, political observers had noted that the BN-led government was carrying out reforms that Pakatan had originally proposed, like the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Sedition Act; the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah; and the review of oil royalties.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), pointed out in August 2012 that the Government “should be the ones leading” because “copying is not really leadership”.

He added that “it shows that it’s good for a country to have a strong Opposition” because it was Pakatan’s pressuring that made BN copy its ideas, but that it was risky for BN to continue doing so.

“People may start questioning who is the real leader,” he said, and BN might “lose leadership status and become a follower”.

On election day, voters will have to decide whether they want in government a coalition that is the mover or the follower.

Meanwhile, Bersih, the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, has invited BN Chairman Najib Razak and Pakatan Leader Anwar Ibrahim to take part in a public forum to let the people hear which side has the better vision for the next five years. So far, Anwar has agreed to it, but Najib, as expected, is silent.

On previous occasions, Najib has turned down invitations to engage in public debates, saying that such debates were “not part of our culture”. It’s the same fallacious excuse given for street demonstrations.

Funnily enough, even when it comes to a simple thing as a public forum, Malaysians can see which side is quick to seize the initiative. Anwar is ready, but Najib is hesitant.

Which one is the leader and which one the follower?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 April 2013, 9:35 am and is filed under
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18-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: Invitation to Ghani Othman to a series of seven public debates in Gelang Patah on the importance of the 13th GE to Johore and Malaysia – the first one to be held before Nomination Day on April 20

A week ago, I challenged former and longest-serving Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who has become the most powerful person in UMNO/BN and the person whom the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak fears most, to a series of seven public debates on his 22 years as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This is because of the very clear and systematic attempt to revive Mahathirism, a campaign led by none other than Mahathir himself.

This series of seven public debates with Mahathir will cover an entire spectrum of achievements and failures, in fact national disasters, of the 22-year Mahathir premiership with its host of human rights violations, mega-financial scandals, rampant corruption, collapse of educational standards and the across-the-board subversion of independent national institutions like the judiciary, the police and the civil service in the country during the long night of the 22-year Mahathir premiership.

But Mahathir has declined the invitation to the series of seven public debates in Gelang Patah to examine his legacy and the baneful effect of Mahathirism on Malaysian nation-building although he has no qualms whatsoever to continue to pump racist poison, lies and falsehoods into the mainstream of Malaysian public discourse, including his seditious, inflammatory and baseless accusation against me for wanting to create a racial confrontation by contesting in Gelang Patah and his open call to the people of Johore to make Gelang Patah my “political graveyard”.

I now invite Datuk Ghani Othman, who is the BN candidate for Gelang Patah to a series of seven public debates in Gelang Patah on the importance of the 13th GE to Johore and Malaysia – the first one to be held before Nomination Day on April 20, for the following reasons:

Yesterday, I invited Ghani to join me in making Gelang Patah the model constituency of clean, free and fair elections out of 222 parliamentary and 505 state assembly constituencies in the country in the 13GE as it is expected to be dirtiest in election history in Malaysia, with two of us reaching a five-point accord as follows:

No personal attacks or character assassination, not only by the candidates, but their election teams and workers;

No playing the race or religion card, as the 13GE should be an occasion to promote and foster greater and closer race relations among the races to promote national unity, and not an occasion divide and polarise further the diverse races and religions in the country.

No politics of money or the use of money to buy votes, which is the root cause of the rampant corruption in Malaysia.

Commitment by both of us to condemn and dissociate ourselves from “dirty tricks” perpetrated in Gelang Patah, even by anonymous quarters.

Ghani and I should sign the Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge (EIP) with the establishment of a EIP Watchdog Commission in Gelang Patah constituted by Malaysians of impeccable character.

Today I issue a second invitation to Ghani to make Gelang Patah the model of public discourse and debate as well as the cynosure of the 13GE focussing on the importance of the 13GE to Johor and Malaysia, as well as to future generations.

This series of seven debates with Ghani can be a useful substitute of the proposed debate with Mahathir on the 22-year Mahathir premiership because:

(i) Ghani is the proxy of Mahathir in the agenda to “bury” me in Gelang Patah, with Ghani flying the standard for the revival of Mahathirism in Malaysia; and

(ii) Ghani will be a suitable candidate for a public debate on the 22-year Mahathir premiership because he is a creature of Mahathirism – first becoming a Senator in December 1984, elected to Parliament in 1986, serving respectively as Deputy Minister for the Ministries of Energy, Telecommunications and Pos as well as Finance from 1987 to 1993 and elevated to be Minister of Youth and Sports from 1993 – 1995. He was appointed by Mahathir to become Johor Mentri Besar in March 1995, serving four terms in this post.

Ghani owes not only the voters of Gelang Patah but also the people of Johore and Malaysia a clear exposition of his stand on Mahathir’s concept of Bangsa Malaysia and Vision 2020 as well as Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept – in particular whether he agrees with Najib or the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassinn on the 1Malaysia policy

Once Ghani agrees to a series of seven public debates on the importance of the 13GE to Johore and Malaysia, we can appoint our representatives to finalise the details about the date, place, time and topics for the public debate series. However, the first of the series of seven public debates should be held before Nomination Day on April 20.

I hope to get a reply from Ghani before my third invitation.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 12:01 pm and is filed under
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Azmi Sharom’s Amazing Analysis!

by Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 9:37 am and is filed under
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Blunt Facts about BN’s gerrymandering and the EC’s pandering

by Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 9:41 am and is filed under
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Call on Election Commission to convene an all-party roundtable conference for all political parties to forswear the politics of fear and blackmail in 13GE and to accept any peaceful and democratic change of government

I call the Election Commission to convene an all-party roundtable conference for all political parties to forswear the politics of fear and blackmail in the 13th General Elections and to accept any peaceful and democratic change of government, whether at the Federal or state level, if this is the verdict of the electorate.

This is most urgent and imperative for two reasons: firstly, the increasing incidents of the politics of fear, blackmail, gangsterism and violence in the run-up to the 13GE; secondly, the possibility that the 13GE will herald the first change of federal government in 56 years through the ballot box, namely the formation of a Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government in Putrajaya following the ousting of the Barisan Nasional Federal Government through the democratic process.

I have received information that the Bukit Aman and Defence Ministry intelligence do not rule out the defeat of Barisan Nasional in the 13GE. According to one Bukit Aman intelligence estimate, which I cannot verify whether it is from the police or not, the possible outcome of the 13GE for parliamentary elections is as follows:

State

PR

BN

Perlis

1

2

Kedah

13

2

Kelantan

13

1

Terengganu

4

4

Penang

12

1

Perak

18

6

Pahang

5

9

Selangor

20

2

Wilayah Per.

10

1

Putrajaya

0

1

Negri Sembilan

6

2

Melaka

2

4

Johor

12

14

Labuan

1

0

Sabah

12

13

Sarawak

16

15

Total

145

77

According to this estimate, PR will win 145 parliamentary seats compared to 77 for Barisan Nasional – or a majority of 68 seats.

This is well beyond my “dream” results for the Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE – which is PR winning 125 parliamentary seats or a majority of 28, distributed evenly among PKR with 45 seats and DAP and PAS each winning 40 seats.

With the possibility for the first time in more than five decades of Malaysian history of a democratic transition of power through the ballot box, the onus is both on the Election Commission and the police to ensure that a democratic transition of power will be a peaceful and orderly one.

I welcome the reminder by the former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan urging politicians to stop “putting fear in people” by making statements about possible racial tension or riots should there be a change in government in the general election.

Musa took issue at a forum on smooth and peaceful transition of power in Kuala Lumpur with recent statements by both Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Jalil and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Shahrizat had warned of
a repeat of the May 13
, 1969 racial riots during her policy speech at the Umno general assembly November last year, while Mahathir recently
wrote on his blog
 that I would attempt to drive a wedge between the Chinese and the Malays in my campaign for Gelang Patah.

“As leaders, they should advise the people to be calm in selecting a government of their choice,” said Musa, who has been vocal in his opinions since his retirement.

Musa said: “For me, (the statements) are almost like sedition (menghasut).”

Here is a case where a former Inspector-General of Police is of the view that a former Prime Minister had been guilty of sedition. But would the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail act independently and professionally to arrest and charge the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, for the offence of sedition in raising the spectre of racial conflict to scare the voters from freely exercising their constitutional right to vote.

I fully endorse Musa’s criticism of the police authorities for failing to act independently and professionally where the culprits come from UMNO and Barisan Nasional.

Musa argued that the enforcement system would need an overhaul should there be a change of government in the May 5 election.

The Pakatan Rakyat is fully committed to bring about such an enforcement of the police force, to ensure that the police could restore public confidence in their efficiency, professionalism and independence so that they could reduce crime and make the country and public places safe again for citizens, investors and tourists as well as establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commssion (IPCMC) to deal with public complaints of abuses of power and corruption against the police.

These two items will be among the top agendas of a new PR Federal Government after the 13GE.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 7:04 pm and is filed under
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17-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Najib’s T-Team of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is as “transformational” as his T-Cabinet in the past four years which have been dismissed as “half-past six” by Mahathir and “deadwood” by Daim

Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “T-Team” of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is as “transformational” as his T-Cabinet in the past four years which have been dismissed by Tun Dr. Mahathir as “half-past six” and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin as “deadwood”.

What is the Report Card for Najib’s Transformation Agenda in the past four years?

It is a report card of red marks and failures, especially in Najib’s signature  1Malaysia Policy and National Key Result Areas (NKRA) objectives particularly in fighting corruption, reducing crime, uplifting educational standards and spur economic growth to build a competitive, prosperous and progressive future.

The biggest Najib “T-failure” is of course  the utter hollowness and insincerity of Najib’s signature 1Malaysia policy to build a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as a Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.

Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had openly repudiated Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy from the very beginning, declaring that he is “Malay first, Malaysian second”.

As a result, in the past four years, neither the Najib Cabinet nor the UMNO/BN Supreme Councils had ever endorsed 1Malaysia Policy as the official Barisan Nasional Policy despite the fact that it continued to be  the keystone of Najib’s raft of transformation policies –  but relegated to be  the centerpiece of the Najib gimmicry of a host of 1Malaysia creations, ranging from 1Malaysia burgers to 1Malaysia Shopping Vouchers to the abortive Gangnam 1Malaysia Style which the South Korea superstar Psy refused to perform with Najib, Rosmah and Ng Yen Yen at the Barisan Nasional Penang Chinese New Year Open House on Feb. 11.

In fact, never once had Najib himself, as a result of the open rebellion to the 1Malaysia Policy led by his deputy prime minister, ever declared publicly that he regards himself as “Malaysian first, Malay second”, despite the fact that I had declared in Parliament in March 2010 that I regard myself as “Malaysian first, Chinese second”!

The failure and lack of political will of the Najib Cabinet and Government to fight corruption especially “grand corruption” was best illustrated at the Senai International Airport on Tuesday morning when the caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin flew into South Johore on a government Executive Jet – the RM200 million Airbus 319 – to castigate me for contesting in Gelang Patah.

This a clear violation of the Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) Election Integrity Pledge signed with such fanfare by Najib, ensconced by the Barisan Nasional leaders, but immediately violated almost daily even before the ink is dry.

Is the Chief Secretary prepared to immediately ground all official aircrafts, helicopters and government fleet of vehicles and to direct that they should only be used for official caretaker government purposes, and not abused for Barisan Nasional campaigning, as what Muhyiddin had done with the government Executive Jet on Tuesday, and make public a daily log of the use of all these official aircrafts, helicopters and government fleet of vehicles from the dissolution of Parliament on April 3?

Najib’s T-Team of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is actually even worse than Najib’s T-Cabinet as far as commitment to 1Malaysia and Najib’s transformation programme is concerned, and this is best symbolized by the Barisan Nasional candidature of Zulkifli Noordin for Shah Alam.

Selangor BN co-ordinator Mohd Zin Mohamed has described Zulkifli Noordin as a “transformational candidate” – when he had proved himself to ber a politician who had no qualms in attacking the other religions in the country or even to tell lies and falsehoods, for instance, that I had  provoked the May 13 riots in 1969 because I had led anti-Malay and anti-Islam victory processions in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on May 11, 12 and 13 when I was never in Kuala Lumpur during those three days.

Does all the moderate and progressive  leaders in UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sarawak and Sabah component parties of BN agree that Zulkifli is the model “transformational” candidate who should be the model for  all the 222 BN parliamentary candidates and 505 State Assembly candidates?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 April 2013, 1:06 pm and is filed under
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Battle royale brewing in Gelang Patah, Putrajaya hot seats

The Sun Daily

Posted on 17 April 2013

KUALA LUMPUR (April 17, 2013): As political parties tie up the loose ends to their candidate line-ups for the 13th general election on May 5, the political battle taking shape in hot seats — Gelang Patah, Putrajaya and Lembah Pantai — are being keenly watched.

Billed the “battle royale” or “clash of the Titans”, the tussle for Gelang Patah (broken bracelet) parliamentary seat is a battle between political bigwigs — Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang –who is out to create a “political tsunami” in Johor, an Umno bastion.

Kit Siang, a political veteran, was reported to have said in Penang recently that he would not withdraw from contesting in Gelang Patah as he wanted the “political tsunami” created in the 2008 general election to be felt nationwide.

Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, who heads the Political, Security and International Affairs Cluster of the National Council of Professors, says Ghani’s service track record as the menteri besar and the people’s elected representative is a “good benchmark” to gauge the “best choice” for the rapidly-developing suburban seat.

“Ghani is the supremo and the architect of Johor’s impressive progress. He is also very popular among the electorate vis-a-vis Kit Siang, a relatively newcomer to Johor’s political scene.

“By far and large, the voters, including the Chinese community, appreciate what Ghani has done for Johor. Ghani is instrumental in developing Nusajaya and the Iskandar Malaysia economic corridor, besides being the person very familiar with Johor’s “nooks and corners” as opposed to Kit Siang,” he told Bernama.

Nusajaya, the Johor state government’s new administrative centre, encompasses the Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters, medical hub and EduCity.

The BN’s Tan Ah Heng from MCA won the Gelang Patah seat in the 2008 general election by a comfortable 8,851-vote majority, trouncing Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) aspirant Zaliha Mustafa.

Mohamed Mustafa says Ghani’s prospects of retaining Gelang Patah for BN was bright albeit the keen tussle for the predominantly Chinese-majority seat. Fifty-four per cent of the electorate are Chinese.

He said it was unlikely for the voters to reject someone who had contributed immensely to Johor’s meteorise rise in mainstream development as compared to Kit Siang, the two-term Ipoh Timur member of parliament, who moved to Johor this time.

“Kit Siang is banking on Chinese votes and relying on his political ally, PAS, to deliver the Malay votes in Gelang Patah,” he said, admitting that the Gelang Patah clash was a “do-or-die” battle for the two heavyweights.

The Malays form 33 per cent of the electorate and 12 per cent Indians.

Another keenly-fought seat is the Putrajaya parliamentary seat where a fierce fight is taking shape between Umno and BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a two-term incumbent, and PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa.

Husam’s nomination has probably raised a few eyebrows on his real motive to move from a state seat in Kelantan to Putrajaya, the federal government’s administrative capital.

The speculation is that he has moved to Putrajaya “siphon off” civil servants’ votes on the presumption that he will be the prime minister should the opposition alliance succeed in its bid to make it to Putrajaya.

Universiti Sains Malaysia Social Science Studies lecturer Prof Ahmad Atory Hussein, who noted an element of parochialism in Husam’s move, believed it would not influence civil servants’ votes who would definitely rally behind the BN to support its transformation and development agenda, backed by the fact that Tengku Adnan has an excellent service track record.

“Definitely Husam’s victory chances are slim, more so he is not familiar with the voters than Tengku Adnan,” he added.

Another hot seat is the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency, which will see a tough fight between Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar; who is defending the urban seat against Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

Raja Nong Chik, throughout his term as a federal minister, has been working for the betterment of Lembah Pantai, including the development of Kampung Kerinchi’s four-storey flats and introducing special scheme for housebuyers under the National Economic Action Council’s People Housing and Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s Public Housing Programme.

He is also instrumental for the three Mass Rapid Transit lines and construction of the 1Malaysia Library Complex for the benefit of more than 20,000 residents in Lembah Pantai.

Meanwhile, the Shah Alam parliamentary seat that will be defended by the Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Khalid Samad against Perkasa vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin is also expected to be keenly followed.

Zulkifli’s candidacy, who has held the Kulim Bandar Baharu parliamentary seat for BN, surprised many. Zulkifli, who has a legal background and has championed many religious issues, is seen as a viable contender against Khalid, who has drawn much controversy in his handling of contentious issues such as the use of the word “Allah” by the Christians and failing to fulfil his promise to close liquor factories in Selangor. – Bernama

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 April 2013, 9:28 am and is filed under
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Why we must vote for change: An open letter

by
Dr Ariffin Omar

Aliran

In an open letter, Ariffin Omar lists down the numerous problems plaguing the country and urges Malaysians to vote for change.

We are now at the crossroads of our destiny. The 13th General Elections that is slated to be held on 5 May will decide once and for all what future we are going to bequeath to our children and grandchildren.

We have lived for more than half a century under a regime which practices the politics of ethnic discrimination. In its wake this politics of apartheid has brought about corruption, mismanagement, cronyism and nepotism on a scale not seen in many countries. I have been told that as many as 3m Malaysians have left this nation for other countries in despair. Can we afford such a loss?

The Barisan Nasional, which had its origins as the Alliance Party, which then comprised of the United Malays National Organization, the Malayan Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress, has brought this country to the brink of disaster.

In playing its racist politics on the false claims that the underdeveloped and underprivileged Malays needed government aid through the New Economic Policy, the BN has misused and abused this policy to enrich certain individuals in Umno including their cronies and hangers-on. The rights and privileges of non-Malays as guaranteed in the Malaysian Constitution have been ignored.

The BN has systematically destroyed the institutions of state. The judiciary has been emasculated and rendered subservient to the interests of the BN. Malaysians must know that hardly anyone now believes in the independence of the judiciary. Foreign investors investing in Malaysia have demanded the right to have any legal matters arising from their business disputes to be heard either in Singapore, London or even in Hong Kong. What is the value of our judiciary?

The civil service is nothing but a pliant tool of the BN. The percentage of non-Malays serving in the civil service is negligible. Why? The BN, in particular Umno, has been consistent in making sure that it is monopolised by Malays and thus ensure that the BN’s interests and corruption are protected. Even the police force and the army are not spared from the policy of mainly recruiting Malays into the services at the expense of non-Malays who are more than willing to serve. This BN government has failed to realise that the non-Malays played a crucial role in the emergency to crush the communist insurrection. Many non-Malays gave their lives to defeat the communists especially those who served in the Special Branch many of whom were Chinese and Indians. Dayak trackers from Sarawak were also used to hunt down the communists. Has the BN forgotten all this?

We must not forget how the institution of the monarchy was distorted and manipulated to suit the interest of the BN. The former PM Mahathir had removed the powers of the rulers which were enshrined in the Constitution and had transferred these powers to the executive. Therefore the rulers consent was no longer necessary for any bill to become law. All that was needed was for parliament to pass the Bill again and after a period of time, the Bill becomes law even without the signature or the consent of the rulers. Thus an important part of the process of checks and balances was removed.

Parliament itself has become a mere debating club without much power to oversee many important agencies and bodies and demand accountability. For example the Election Commission is not responsible to Parliament but to the PM. … Parliament cannot even demand accountability from the SPRM as it is not answerable to Parliament. Even Petronas is not under the purview of Parliament or responsible to Parliament but to the PM.

I am no great admirer of British colonial rule, but we cannot deny that in the field of education we inherited an educational system that was second to none in Asia. What is the standard of our educational system today? The DPM Muhyiddin has come out with an outlandish claim that our educational system is the best in this world. Well if that is the case why are the BN Ministers and Members of Parliament not sending their children to the local universities? From the very beginning they send their children to international schools and after that off to foreign universities where the language of education is in English. As for us we are forced to send our children to an educational system which has neither value nor merit. Are we surprised that none of our universities is listed in the world rankings while countries like Indonesia and Thailand, which were formerly regarded as below us, are now far ahead of us in educational standards? What has the government got to say about this?

In terms of unity we have never been so divided in our history. There seems to be a deliberate policy to set the Malays against the non-Malays by using almost every conceivable excuse to provoke suspicion and tension among the various ethnic communities in Malaysia. Issues like the ‘Allah issue’ are apparently invented to cause religious disharmony. Worse, there is latitude given to extremists to insult and denigrate other religions in Malaysia. The dragging-of-the-cow-head incident in K.L. and the remarks made by racist Malays and some Chinese converts against other religions and beliefs are given prominence. No action is taken against these individuals for making such seditious remarks. The BN claims that is part and parcel of freedom of speech as guaranteed in the Constitution. But the rights of other religions and beliefs that are also guaranteed in the Constitution are conveniently ignored.

The present government does not believe in unity because there has never been a consistent policy that promotes national unity. We have gone through the hollow slogans of ‘Bangsa Malaysia’, ‘Islam Hadari’ and now ‘1Malaysia’. Every new PM comes with a new slogan that is either devoid of meaning or has no substance. For example what is this 1Malaysia when even in the BN circles the idea of 1Malaysia is not practised? In the BN, Umno reigns supreme; the MCA, the Gerakan and the MIC are handmaidens to Umno.

Now on the eve of this historic general election we can see just how hollow the 1Malaysia concept is. Anyone can see how insignificant the MCA, the Gerakan and the MIC are in helping the BN to regain power. These parties face annihilation at the hands of the voters. Only Umno can still count on some measure of support. Any seat allocated to these parties will be a seat that will be wrested by the opposition. Thus Umno is in a mortal dilemma concerning what seats (if any) to give to these parties. If the 1Malaysia is an abject failure in the BN, how will it succeed in the country?

This government has no respect for law and order or even for basic human rights which we are all entitled to. As an example, when the Bersih rallies took place the BN saw it as a threat to law and order even though the rally was very peaceful. The BN authorised the police to act harshly against those participating in the Bersih rallies. They were beaten and gassed and had water cannons turned on them. Some were arrested and charged in court for attempting to overthrow the Government or wage war against the Agong. These protestors were only armed with mineral water bottles. When Malaysian territory in Sabah was invaded by armed intruders at Lahad Datu, the BN described these invaders as neither terrorists nor militants and attempted to negotiate a settlement. Only after these intruders ambushed and killed Malaysian police personnel did the government classify these intruders as terrorists. Why the discrepancy in the treatment of the Bersih protesters and the armed Filipino intruders?

Even more shocking are the innumerable deaths of those detained in police lock-ups. Many of these happen to be Indians. The causes of their deaths were never satisfactorily explained and calls for inquests and impartial postmortems are dismissed curtly by the authorities. The issue of unexplained deaths as in the case of Teoh Boon Hock and Ahmad Sarbani are also issues that need answers.

Can we continue with the same state of affairs for another 55 years? I doubt we can. Therefore, I appeal to you, my fellow Malaysians, to vote in the Pakatan Rakyat. Given our record in Penang and Selangor, we can take over Putrajaya and bring about much-needed changes for the better. For starters we will reduce the price of essential items that burden the people. We can and will be committed to tackling the issue of corruption. I admit that corruption can never be eliminated but at least we can minimise it as we have done in Penang.

We can improve the quality of education by ensuring that those appointed to work in the universities are suitably qualified and competent to teach. We will seriously take measures to improve the standard of education in Malaysian schools especially in Science and Mathematics. We will seriously look into providing cheap and efficient public transport for all Malaysians. Useless projects or industries will be scrapped. My hope is that we can dismantle Proton, which is a disaster to Malaysia. Even more important, we will dismantle monopolies that are being held by Umno cronies at the expenses of Malaysians. IPPs will be forced to lower rates while more affordable housing will be an important item in government planning.

Poverty, which is a bane in Malaysian society, will be tackled head-on not on the basis of race but on the basis of income levels and disparities. In this respect East Malaysia will be a priority area. At the same time marginalised groups such as the Indians as well as the Orang Asli will have their interests attended to.

Even more important, a sense of belonging to the nation will be inculcated among all Malaysians. We hope that through this we can remove the poison of racism and ethnic hostility fostered by the BN government all these 55 years. Citizens who were not given their legal documents as citizens will have this injustice redressed. At the same time, foreigners who were given citizenships for the sake of political expedience by the BN will have their citizenship revoked and they will be deported to their country of origin. It is important to stress that Malaysia belongs to Malaysians.

Last but not least, leaders of the BN involved in massive corruption and treachery to this nation of ours will be apprehended and put on trial. Those who committed injustices against the people will not be allowed to escape with their ill-gotten gains. We will ensure that corruption is tackled head on. The SPRM will be made to act as strictly as possible within the law and it should be answerable to Parliament. Similarly the Election Commission will be an independent body accountable and answerable to Parliament. It is also vital that Petronas, an important agency, be answerable and accountable to Parliament.

My fellow Malaysians, it is my hope that after reading this short appeal you will take the time to ponder on the all-important choice that you will have to make on 5 May 2013. Please remember, voting for the Pakatan Rakyat is not just merely voting for another party but it is voting for the future well-being of yourselves, your children and your grandchildren. Please do not gamble with the future of the coming generations. Vote wisely.

Dr Ariffin Omar, an Aliran member, is a senator and former president of Aliran.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 April 2013, 10:44 am and is filed under
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16-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: DAP use of PAS and PKR symbols in 13GE – a disaster in-the-making or a game changer that will propel Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya?

April 18, 2013 had been the most heart-rending day in my life, the day when the Registrar of Societies dispatched a letter to the DAP to knock out the Rocket symbol from the 13GE, with the Nomination Day less than 48 hours away, completely without any legal basis or plausible ground.

I was not the only one to shed tears yesterday as all over the country, many DAP stalwarts and supporters who are Malaysian patriots whose home and sole object of loyalty is Malaysia and do not know or recognize another country as their motherland, also cried at the injustice, oppression and iniquity of the ROS action , clearly at the behest of the political masters in UMNO/Barisan Nasional.

For 47 years, DAP had waged a patriotic, nationalistic but uphill battle to build a united, multiracial, just and democratic Malaysian nation with many leaders like Dr. Chen Man Hin, Ahmad Nor, P. Patto, Ibrahim Singgeh, Fadzlan Yahya, Peter Dason, Lau Dak Kee, Lim Cho Hock, V. David, Karpal Singh, Datuk Chian Heng Kai, Chan Kok Kit, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, Lim Guan Eng, Tan Kok Wai, Teresa Kok, paying a heavy personal price in their love, patriotism and loyalty to Malaysia, including losing their personal liberties enduring detention under the Internal Security Act, imprisonment and disqualification as MP and disenfranchisement of their civil rights such as the right to vote and to stand for elections for a period of time.

DAP leaders and supporters have a different vision for Malaysia from those of the UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders, (and the greatest difference is whether Malaysia should continue to practise the exclusive politics of race or should begin an inclusive politics for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region) but their love, loyalty and patriotism for Malaysia cannot be questioned, and it is a great test of the maturity of Malaysian nation-building and democracy whether there is room and space in the country’s political process for dissent and diversity of views without equating them with disloyalty, anti-national activities or even treason.

The ROS action, on the directive of the political masters in Putrajaya, to knock out the Rocket symbol from the 13GE is the most dastardly, oppressive, undemocratic and dishonourable acts of the 56-year Umno/Barisan Nasional rule, an act no Malay gentleman-political leaders like Dato’ Onn Jaffar, Tun Hussein Onn, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Ismail, Tun Razak would would have countenanced or be a party to as it runs against the very grain of civility and being a gentleman or Jun Zhi.

In fact, never before under the five previous Prime Ministers of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, even Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah, had any more devious and diabolical plot been hatched in utter disregard of the most rudimentary rules and principles of good and democratic governance than the disgraceful ROS gambit to knock out a long-established political party from freely and democratically participating in the general elections of the country by outlawing its symbol, the Rocket logo.

Clearly the RoS action is meant to be a blow to the solar plexus to completely knock out the DAP in the 13GE, a plot which had been hatched and refined by the RoS’ political masters in the past few months – explaining the rumours on the MCA/UMNO grapevine since the beginning of the year that the DAP would not be allowed to use the Rocket symbol in the 13GE!

Now, we have the MCA President shedding crocodile’s tears, asking that the DAP should be allowed to use the Rocket symbol in the 13GE. I will not be surprised if the MCA leadership is the main culprit behind the RoS decision, appealing for help from the UMNO “Big Brother” to give a fatal blow to DAP, in the same way that the MCA leadership had surrendered Gelang Patah seat to UMNO so that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Ghani Othman could be fielded to “kill” me in Gelang Patah.

In today’s press, there is a cacophony of contradictory reports quoting different government officials emitting different noises, from the DAP cannot use the Rocket symbol to the DAP can use the Rocket symbol.

One of the saddest legacies of 56 years of Umno/BN rule is that independent, neutral and professional institutions and government officers have lost public credibility, trust and confidence – as in the RoS letter two days before 13GE Nomination Day declaring that the government does not recognise the DAP’s CEC four months after their election.

Not recognising the DAP CEC can only mean “not recognising” the DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng and the collateral consequence of “not recognising” his authorisation of the use of Rocket symbol by the 53 parliamentary and 103 state assembly candidates.

The long decades of undemocratic, draconian and authoritarian Umno/BN rule have destroyed the efficiency, independence and professionalism of one of the best civil services in the world when the country achieved independence 56 years ago in 1957, resulting in the monstrous action by the RoS letter the DAP yesterday!

The refusal of the RoS to recognise the DAP CEC and consequent disallowance of the use of Rocket in the 13GE is the new and latest reason why there must be a change of government on May 5, so that a start could be made to restore the reputation, credibility and integrity of the Malaysian civil service as among the top best civil services in the world.

I thank the PKR and PAS leaders, in particular Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, PAS Secretary-genral Mustapha Ali and PKR Secrtary-General Saifuddin Nasution for their understanding, support and comradeship in coming to the assistance of DAP in our crisis because of the RoS action at the behest of the Umno/BN leadership.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders had sought to register the Pakatan Rakyat as a political coalition under the Societies Act but for more than three years we encountered seemingly insuperable obstacles, all emanating from the political masters in Putrajaya, refusing to register Pakatan Rakyat so that PR candidates of all the three political parties, DAP, PAS and PKR can use a common symbol.

Now the Societies Act and the Registrar of Societies have been suborned and undermined to serve the political interests of the powers-that-be in Umno/

BN.

I fully agree with Anwar that the RoS action is part of the “dirty tricks” lined up by UMNO/BN to cheat in the 13GE by making it impossible for the DAP to use the Rocket logo in the coming general eletions.

DAP leaders, candidates, members and supporters are not going to be deterred or demoralised to fight the great and good fight to achieve for the first time a political change at the federal level in the 13GE, even if we have to temporarily forgo the Rocket logo and to use the logos of PKR and PAS.

In fact, we are even more determined to translate our shock and sorrow into strength and power for change.

The Rocket symbol had stood tall in Malaysian politics in the past 47 years, standing for integrity, honesty, justice, the rule of law, good governance and Malaysian patriotism.

It will be sorely missed if the Rocket is not allowed to be used in the 13GE because the UMNO/BN government is too afraid of the DAP and on the appeal of MCA, prepared to break all principles of good and democratic governance to knock out the Rocket in the 13GE.

What is in store for the future with the DAP use of PAS and PKR symbols in the 13GE?

In the first place, my chances of winning Gelang Patah has plummetted further, from 50-50 before the announcement of Ghani Othman’s candidacy, to 45-55 with Ghanie’s candidacy and now 40-60 per cent with the ban on the Rocket symbol in the GE.

Can I catch up to go above 50% in the contest with Ghani Othman?

The second outcome to the DAP use of the PAS and PKR logo is either a disaster in-the-making for the DAP nation-wide or it will become a game changer in the 13GE that will propel Pakatan Rakyat all the way, from Gelang Patah to Putrajaya?

Only the counting of votes cast on May 5 will tell which outcome will happen.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 2:10 pm and is filed under
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DAP says will use PAS, PKR logos if RoS letter not revoked

By Boo Su-Lyn

The Malaysian Insider

April 18, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 – The DAP demanded the Registrar of Societies (ROS) today to retract its letter by tomorrow on not recognising the party’s office-bearers, failing which the opposition party would run under PKR and PAS logos in Election 2013.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that the Bernama report, which quoted ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman today as saying that the DAP could still use its Rocket symbol for the May 5 polls, was “not good enough”.

“The DAP CEC in its meeting tonight decided that RoS must revoke its letter not recognising the office-bearers in the CEC by 3pm tomorrow on Friday,” Lim told reporters at the DAP headquarters here today, referring to the party’s central executive committee.

“Failure to do so will result in the DAP directing its 53 parliamentary candidates and 103 state candidates throughout the country to contest in the next general elections under the PAS symbol in peninsular Malaysia and the PKR symbol in Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.

Lim lambasted the ROS’ move in issuing the letter dated April 17, 2013, just two days before nomination day, saying it intended to “kill off DAP’s electoral prospects by forcing all DAP candidates to be independent.”

The caretaker Penang chief minister also said it was “ridiculous” for the ROS to claim that the DAP did not send out proper notices on its national congress last December, resulting in 753 delegates not attending the December 15 meeting.

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, who was also at the press conference, said quietly: “I want to confess I shed tears.”

Kit Siang added that the DAP was worried about voters being confused with the party using PAS’ moon logo, but pointed out that they were “forced” into taking the risk.

The MCA has frequently warned Chinese voters against supporting Pakatan Rakyat (PR), claiming that PAS, an Islamist party, would implement hudud law in the multi-racial country.

The ROS ruling could scuttle the DAP’s plans to decimate MCA in the 13th general election, especially in the Chinese party’s stronghold of Johor, where Kit Siang will take on caretaker Johor mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in the Gelang Patah federal constituency.

Election 2013 is expected to be the country’s most heated election in recent times, with a solid opposition pact going all out to remove the BN government for the first time since independence.

Guan Eng said today that it was up to voters to decide if the ROS’ action was acceptable.

“If they feel this is completely disgraceful, they’ll show their anger at the ballot box. We want BN to feel the anger of not just our supporters, but also right-thinking Malaysians,” he said.

Guan Eng pointed out that the Election Commission (EC) was bound by the ROS letter, noting that DAP candidates needed to show EC officials on nomination day a letter of authority signed by the party’s secretary-general, authorising them to use the party’s logo.

“Many of our members shed tears. How do you explain to your voters?” he said.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 3:14 am and is filed under
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Moving past the issue of race

 — Ong Kar Jin (loyarburok)

The Malaysian Insider

April 18, 2013

APRIL 18 — Sixty-two years ago, Datuk Onn Jaafar took a bold political step forward and proposed that Umno open itself to members of other ethnicities. The United Malays National Organisation was to become the United Malayans National Organisation. Sadly, his vision was far ahead of his time and was rejected.

Since the inception of Malaya in 1957 and the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the political narrative of our country has been one of race. Campaigns, parties, social movements rely on appealing to ethnocentric sentiments to remain relevant.

Post-1969, this narrative hardened and played on fears of ethnic violence. To a large extent, it has reinforced barriers between Malaysians, and created a siege mentality of “us versus them”.

The issue of race has puzzled, haunted and fascinated me my entire life. As a child growing up in a Chinese vernacular school, I was shocked to see how some students treated Malays and Indians. “Babi”, “Keling” and other callous words were thrown about by children as young as 10.

All Malaysians have witnessed this kind of blatant racism, whether by eyewitness, hearsay or personal experience. And many of us are guilty of it. As a collective, we certainly are: stereotypes are perpetrated by parents complaining of racism while being guilty of it all the same, careless comments or dark thoughts in our heart of hearts, generalizing or signing off people based on their race. No one race can blame the other and absolve itself of its own complicity.

We cannot wash away our sins in these matters. Race-based political parties like Umno, MCA and MIC survive because of simple economics: where there is a demand, there will be a supply. These parties are both the cause and effect of our divisions: they are borne out of our own tendencies to divide ourselves and exploit them by emphasising how we are different.

Race-based parties imply that only Chinese can help Chinese best, only Malays will properly serve the interests of Malays, ad infinitum. By being explicitly race-based parties, they state they are their race first and Malaysian second.

The result has been a vicious cycle of spiralling communalism, of fear mongering and hate-inciting.

For perhaps the first time in the history of the nation, Malaysians have a viable alternative to race-based politics in Pakatan Rakyat. Admittedly, parties like the DAP and PAS are still dominated by Chinese and Malays respectively. However, the fundamental difference is that the DAP and PAS are at their heart parties based on ideology and not race.

In the past four years, we have seen a trend towards genuine multiracialism in these parties. The DAP has Dr Ariffin Omar as vice-chairman and Zairil Khir Johari as asstistant national publicity secretary. The PAS Supporters Club was founded by a Chinese, and the party is fielding three non-Muslim candidates for the coming election.

Now, I am not a diehard PR cybertrooper. I do not think PR is an angel, and I believe that even if it comes to power the rakyat should and must monitor the coalition ever so closely since power tends to corrupt. I am also acutely and painfully aware that in many campaigns these parties continue to capitalise on racial tensions.

But the main reason why I am supporting PR is because they represent a shift, however minor, away from racialism and towards nationalism. Names indeed have power, and not having a party constitution explicitly based on race paves the way for further racial integration down the road. And as such, I am also staunchly against any move to dilute PR’s policy, non-race based brand of politics by capitulating to Hindraf demands.

In the 1990s, Dr Mahathir Mohamad famously condemned the apartheid regime of South Africa as a form of racism, oppression and neo-colonialism.

Here’s what one of South Africa’s greatest fighters for equality had to say:

“In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights.” — Desmond Tutu

Come this General Election 2013, Malaysians have a chance to change the political narrative from one of race to one of policy.

To move beyond an archaic, apartheid-like system that emphasises distinctions instead of commonalities. To go past judging and governing a nation based on identity politics and move on to policy/ideology-based politics.

I urge all of you to seize this day. — loyarburok.com

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 7:55 am and is filed under
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RoS move pushing DAP to ditch rocket logo, affect Chinese votes

By Jahabar Sadiq

The Malaysian Insider

April 18, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 – The Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) decision not to recognise the DAP’s office bearers means one thing, no one can authorise its candidates to use the party’s recognisable Rocket logo and force them to run under allies PAS’s full moon or PKR’s eye logos.

This ruling is likely to affect DAP candidates’ chances in the 49 federal seats and slightly more than 100 state seats in the May 5 general elections as most of the contests are in Chinese-majority areas where the Rocket is popular but not the other logos.

“The RoS decisions means that no party officials is recognised as officials by the authorities. So, they can’t authorise the candidates to use party symbols,” a DAP official told The Malaysian Insider.

He said the party’s top officials are still discussing their options now although the Election Commission (EC) has said the Rocket logo can be used.

“We have to see the implications of this decision,” he added.

The party’s Rocket logo (picture) was ubiquitous in Election 2008, where it contested in 149 constituencies, including 47 parliamentary seats and won 28 parliamentary seats and 63 state seats.

Nineteen of the state seats was in Penang, where it formed the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government with PKR and PAS. The three parties have yet to formalise the pact and are using their respective logos in the coming polls.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar however believed that the DAP can still use the Rocket logo.

“Can use their logo because the problem with RoS is not a problem of deregistering the party. The only problem is that RoS did not recognise the CEC,” he told The Malaysian Insider over the phone.

“So the DAP leadership needs to meet with RoS whether today or tomorrow to resolve this problem and get an explanation as to which CEC list the RoS recognises,” he added.

An immediate beneficiary of the RoS move just two days before nomination day is Barisan Nasional’s (BN) component party MCA, which has felt the growing influence of DAP since Election 2008.

The Chinese party has “loaned” three federal seats to Umno as shrinking support from the community is seen as a risk to the ruling coalition in the May 5 general elections.

“MCA will go to town and say the Chinese vote is under threat from Islamic rule as DAP has kow-towed to PAS … if they can’t use the Rocket logo,” said a political analyst, who declined to be named.

“This will severely affect the DAP,” he added.

BN sources say that the coalition must at least win 25 per cent of the Chinese vote in Election 2013 or they could lose more seats than in Election 2008.

Most pundits believe BN can only muster 20 per cent of the Chinese votes in the coming polls. Some 13.3 million voters, including 5,200 abroad, are eligible to cast their ballots in the general elections.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 7:35 am and is filed under
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The story of Zul and Khalid

 — The Malaysian Insider

April 18, 2013

APRIL 18 — Oh dear, how the roles are being reversed?

The political party that gave us the voices of reason and moderation of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Dr Ismail is now succumbing to more shrill tones and providing cover for divisive characters.

And on the flip side, the political party that once struck fear in the hearts of non-Malays for its fire and brimstone tone and narrow world view is now being increasingly seen as the centrist party, home to some of the country’s most inclusive politicians.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Shah Alam, where incumbent Khalid Samad of PAS is pitted against Zulkifli Noordin of Barisan Nasional.

Nowhere is this change of scenario clearer than on the campaign trail from Masai in Johor to Baling in Kedah where PAS politicians talk about non-Muslims as brothers and not ungrateful, demanding Malaysians.

Nowhere was this more evident than when Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently played the race card and raised the possibility of racial clashes if Lim Kit Siang won in Gelang Patah, and PAS’s Mahfuz Omar offered Malaysians the protection of his party if violence erupted.

Not long ago, non-Malays looked to Umno for protection or at least comfort. Now, non-Malays have a warm, fuzzy feeling when Khalid Samad speaks.

Not hard to figure out the seismic change. One party has abdicated its centrist position and has been pulled to the right by the likes of Dr Mahathir, Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli, preferring to view issues through the prism of Malay nationalism and rights and unafraid to make provocative statements like burning the Bible.

PAS, on the other hand, while still a refuge to some jarring voices like Haron Din and Hadi Awang, has over the years understood the reality of this country: that more than anything, Malaysians do not want to be enemies with each other. All they want is to be treated as citizens with equal standing.

Khalid Samad understands this fact. And that is why he stood up to the Umno guys who paraded a cow’s head in Shah Alam in protest against the building of a Hindu temple. It is for this reason also that he has reached out to Christian communities in the constituency.

He sees it as a normal function of an elected representative: standing up for and serving ALL his constituents.

Way before Zulkifli insulted Hindus and Indians, he showed his true colours by storming a Bar Council forum on religious conversion.

The man has no respect for non-Muslims or for people who have different opinions than his. Yet, he is championed as BN’s transformative candidate.

How things have changed for Umno!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 7:45 am and is filed under
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Ubah The Partner-Sheep

by Allan CF Goh

Once there was a partnership,

Pledged to fight for people’s benefit.

Jointly, they steered the State-ship,

Gaining admiration to befit.

Theirs were once leaders who cared,

Who watched over the people’s real need.

Those ancient leaders who dared,

To stand up, speak the truth, as their creed.

Alas, they are now history;

This is the partnership’s sad story.

Now, there’s a new partnership,

Consisting of miserable bits.

They behave like many bleating sheep,

Keen only to find places to fit.

The partner-sheep just forage,

Pleading, dancing to their master’s word.

They do not possess courage,

All their public bleating has no worth.

This is the new partner-sheep,

That chorus ‘yes’ when they hear the beep.

We don’t need such pleading sheep,

To unite our nation’s self-made split.

We need honest leadership,

To make our State again brightly lit.

We need racial harmony,

To build a one-people, one-nation,

Sharing the same destiny,

United to a destination.

Let’s make all these come on stream,

To realize the great Malaysian dream.

Let them graze their bitter grain.

Vote out the ‘yes’ sheep to the meadow.

On a diet of dubious gain,

Hopeful they will, in time, be mellow.

Welcome back the true nation,

Free of foul, racist hegemony,

Free of those vile corruption.

Let’s build a nation of harmony.

Let us build on values true.

Make the Malaysian sky bright and blue.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 19 April 2013, 10:57 am and is filed under
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15-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – 13GE: A battle between the future as represented by PR and the past as represented by BN

The 13th General Elections has shaped up to be a historic battle for Malaysia at the crossroads.

It is a battle between the future as represented by Pakatan Rakyat and the past as represented  by Barisan Nasional.

All DAP leaders, members and supporters are relieved that today’s  Nomination Day went off smoothly as far as the DAP’s Rocket symbol is concerned, with 51 DAP parliamentary and 103 State Assembly candidates filing their nomination papers and being permitted to use the Rocket symbol during the 13GE polling day on May 5.

The crisis over the use of the Rocket symbol which erupted less than 48 hours before Nomination Day, which completely derailed the DAP’s final preparations for the 13GE in the last 48 hours to Nomination Day, should not have happened at all.

Clearly, political forces were at work behind  the Registrar of Societies’  letter refusing to recognise the DAP Central Executive Committee after the CEC had been elected for close to four months and over a complaint which had never been communicated to the DAP, whether internally by the so-called complainants or by the Registrar of Societies himself.

Be that as it may, there is always a silver lining to every crisis.

The crisis over the use of Rocket in the 13GE has highlighted the unity, cohesion and solidarity of Pakatan Rakyat five years after its formation.

The immediate willingness of PAS and PKR to allow DAP to use the PAS party symbol in Peninsular Malaysia  and the PKR symbol in Sabah and Sarawak is a powerful testimony of the increasing political commitment, bond and will which have developed in the past five years  among the DAP, PAS and PKR leaders to bring about far-reaching political changes on the basis of the Common Policy Framework and united political agendas announced by PR from time to time.

This is why, within 24 hours of the Rocket symbol crisis,  PAS Secretary-General Mustapha Ali had signed and delivered the authorisation letters for the use of all DAP parliamentary and state assembly candidates in Peninsular Malaysia to use the PAS logo and the PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail signed and delivered the authorisation letters for the use of DAP parliamentary and state assembly candidates in Sabah and Sarawak to use the PKR logo.

This is a powerful rebuttal to  the allegation that DAP, PKR and PAS do not want to register Pakatan Rakyat as a legal entity because we do not want to have a common symbol to be used in the general elections.

In actual fact, Pakatan Rakyat had been trying for more than three years to register the coalition as a legal entity and it is the Registrar of Societies, probably at the behest of its politial masters, who have been putting obstacles in the way of the registration of Pakatan Rakyat.

The Rocket symbol crisis in the 13GE is the best proof that PR parties want to have a common symbol.

In fact, the great unity, cohesion and solidarity shown by DAP, PAS and PKR in the Rocket symbol crisis shows that the day when the three parties can contest in elections in Malaysia, whether in general election or by-election, using a common symbol is close at hand.

With the nomination obstacles behind us, we must focus on  what the 13GE is all about, the issues and principles which must take foremost priority in the battle for the hearts and minds of the 13.3 million Malaysian voters.

The great battle of the 13GE is the battle between the future as represented by PR and the past as represented by BN.

The BN candidate for Gelang Patah, Datuk Ghani Othman is the longest-serving Mentri Besar of Johor – 18 years spanning four-terms.

I give him credit for the development and progress he has brought to Johor in his 18 years as Mentri Besar.

However, there can be no doubt that not only Johor but the whole of Malaysia is capable of even greater development and progress in the past 56 years if the human and natural resources in the country had been allowed to develop to their full potential.

A vote for BN in the 13GE on May 5 is a vote for the continuation for the policies of the past, which is limited and unable to exploit the full potentials available in the country, because of the practices of corruption, cronyism, injustices  and downright bad governance.

Pakatan Rakyat does not promise “more of the same as in the past” as is being done by BN but a totally new vision for Malaysia, where the people of Johor and Malaysia start anew by eradicating the  abuses, injustices, corruption and cronyism which have held back both Johor and Malaysia from the greatness they are capable of.

In the 15-day 13GE campaign, I will spell out why the 13GE is a battle between the future as represented by Pakatan Rakyat against the past as represented by Barisan Nasional.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 April 2013, 7:24 pm and is filed under
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DAP harassed and hounded unjustly

P Ramakrishnan on 19 April 2013

Aliran

Lim Kit Siang is rightly troubled that the DAP may not be able to contest in GE13 using the party logo – the rocket – because the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has issued a letter freezing the posts of all elected DAP leaders.

This sudden turn of events has very unfairly rendered the DAP secretary general incapable of issuing letters authorising selected DAP candidates to stand on the DAP platform using the party symbol.

This is clearly aimed at sabotaging DAP’s chances of scoring victories in the elections.

Malaysians would remember that just before this, the ROS had issued a letter to investigate the party elections and summoned two officials to appear before him two days before nomination day. Following outcries from various sources, he withdrew that letter stating that these officials can appear before him after the general elections.

Now two days before nomination day, he is at it again. He has once again issued a letter to the DAP not recognising the party’s elected designations. The intention is the same: to harass and hound the DAP just before the elections.

The DAP is bedevilled on many fronts. It has to contend with an Election Commission that is blatantly biased against the Opposition. The Commission is unable – or unwilling – to conduct free and fair elections. Its electoral rolls are padded with bogus voters that are intended to help the BN and put the Opposition at a disadvantaged position even before the elections.

We have a Registrar of Societies who is bent on putting the DAP in disarray. This is happening at a time when there are so many Umno branches that have not been registered with the ROS – but recognised by Umno and functioning as legitimate entities – without the ROS being riled up.

In 1988, the ROS rejected the application of Umno Malaysia submitted by Tunku and Tun Hussein Onn following Umno’s deregistration. But within three days, Mahathir’s Umno Baru was subsequently registered! The ROS is a partisan civil servant!

Not only that. Umno Baru eventually dropped the word ‘Baru’ and continues to pretend that it has an unbroken history of 67 years as of now. But in reality, the old Umno was buried in 1988 because of Mahathir. The Umno Baru of today is only 25 years old. But this deception was allowed because the ROS is beholden to Umno politics and the double standards treatment is the privilege accorded to Umno Baru.

The DAP has to contend with ridiculous lies and atrocious spin stories dished out daily by the mainstream media, radio and television to paint the Opposition as incapable, unintelligent and a diabolical bunch of politicians.

Now the Registrar has stopped recognising the elected positions of DAP leaders at the very last minute to cause confusion, create unnecessary difficulties and frustrate the will of the voting public. But unintelligently, he says that the DAP candidates can contest under their party’s symbol. To contest under the party symbol, the DAP secretary general has to issue letters of authorisation. How is it possible now?

When the party secretary general is not recognised as such, how can he issue such letters of authorisation?

Of course the secretary general’s letters cannot have any legitimacy following the ROS’ ruling that the party’s elected leaders are no longer recognised as such. This is a deliberate and calculated move to do the DAP in.

It is indeed a trap to snare the DAP. What happens when the letter is rejected as a bogus one on nomination day? It would leave the DAP candidates without a party and without a common symbol to stand under. Is this move meant to force the DAP candidates to contest as independents at the last minute? All these candidates will no longer be seen as DAP candidates.

They will have to stand under some incongruous symbols.

They will no longer be seen as a band of contestants belonging to a common party using a common symbol.

Malaysians are horrified and shocked beyond belief at the role played by this civil servant who is not capable of being neutral in carrying out his duties fairly and justly. He is being partisan – and openly so.

The DAP has the sympathies of all fair-minded Malaysians. They are revolted and outraged that at the eleventh hour a civil servant is attempting to throw a spanner in the works. Malaysians will not forgive the Barisan Nasional for this unscrupulous attempt to defeat the DAP even before the election takes place.

This is why a change of government is imperative and necessary. We must vote in a new government to put a stop to all these unethical activities and usher in a pro-rakyat government at the 13th general election.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 April 2013, 7:26 am and is filed under
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Latest – RoS on Rocket symbol in 13GE

RoS late last night sent letter by hand addressed to “Saudara Lim Guan Eng Setiausaha Agung Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP)” which among other things state:

“Pendaftar Pertubuhan juga tidak mempunyai apa-apa halangan untuk Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) menyertai Pilihanraya Umum ke 13 dengan menggunakan simbolnya.”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 April 2013, 7:02 am and is filed under
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Nomination Day!

by Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 April 2013, 6:13 pm and is filed under
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14 Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – My chances in Gelang Patah have risen as a result of use of Rocket symbol but still an adverse 45:55 in favour of Ghani

The 13GE has proved to be the most historic of all general elections in the nation’s history, chalking up several new records on Nomination Day yesterday in including:

No parliamentary or state seat returned unopposed – first time in history;

A total of 1,900 candidates contesting parliamentary and state seats, highest ever;

270 independents contesting, highest in history;

132 parliamentary and 320 state seats see straight fights;

90-multi-cornered fights for parliamentary seats and 185 for state seats;

A seven-cornered fight in a parliamentary and state state seat; and

There are 1,732 male and 168 female candidates contesting.

But the most historic dimension of the 13GE is that for the first time in the nation’s 56-year history, there could be a democratic transition of power with the establishment of a new Pakatan Rakyat federal government in Putrajaya, ending the 56-year rule of Umno/BN with Datuk Sdri Najib Razak as the last Umno/BN Prime Minister as predicted by the RAHMAN prophecy.

The first day of the 13GE has also highlighted certain political realities in Malaysian politics of 2013:

Firstly, the unchecked rise and rise of Tun Mahathir in the UMNO/BN power structure as to assume the position of the de facto UMNO/BN supreme leader, even more powerful than the caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

When Mahathir expressed his desire that the Perkasa Chief Ibrahim Ali be made an UMNO candidate, on the ground that “the country would be saved if there were more people like Ibrahim Ali”, Najib dared not disregard Mahathir’s writ and yet dared not officially endorse Ibrahim as an UMNO candidate.

Instead an unworthy and dishonourable stratagem was devised whereby the official UMNO candidate for Pasir Mas did not file his nomination papers, paving the way for a straight fight between Ibrahim and the PAS candidate – first time in UMNO history where the chosen UMNO candidate withdraws his candidacy on Nomination Day.

Equally shocking is the UMNO endorsement of Zulkifli Noordin as to name him an official BN candidate for Shah Alam, although Zulkifli is well-known as an unprincipled and unscrupulous politician who is the worst example of a gutter politician retailing lies and falsehoods to irresponsibly play the race and religion cards to incite communal distrust and hatred in the country.

Secondly, the total irrelevance of MCA and other component parties in BN, even worse than five years ago in 2008.

Dare the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek protest against the BN candidacy of Zulkifli Nordin as well as the dishonourable stratagem where BN’s candidate for Pasir Mas did not file his nomination papers to allow Ibrahim Ali to have a one-to-one fight against Pakatan Rakyat?

Is Chua prepared to tell Mahathir that the former premier was very wrong to declare publicly that Malaysia would be saved if there were more people like Ibrahim Ali, when the opposite is true, i.e. if there were more people like Ibrahim Ali, this country is doomed!

The past week has furnished spectacular examples of the virtual irrelevance of MCA in Malaysian politics, failing both to defend the interests of the Chinese in Malaysia as well as that of all Malaysians, which is why the country is plagued with so many problems from corruption, cronyism, gross abuses of power, violation of democracy and human rights, shocking decline in educational standards and the country’s international competitiveness, worsening racial and religious polarisation, etc.

The MCA surrender of its fortress, GelangPatah, to UMNO and the surrender of the ultimate right of the MCA President on who should be the MCA candidates in elections (succumbing to the new UMNO principle of “winnability” of a candidate even if it means the dropping of MCA President from the BN candidature list) is the last straw to break the camel’s back as far as the final irrelevance of MCA in the UMNO/BN scheme of things is concerned.

Yesterday, Mahathir was on the campaign trail in Kedah as the No. 1 UMNO campaigner in Malaysia (relegating Najib to second place) purportedly urging the people of Kedah to “Return to BN” when in actual fact, what the former Prime Minister meant was “Return to Mahathir”!

The 13GE has shaped up as a double referendum on the 22 years of Mahathir premiership from 1981 – 2003 and Najib’s four-year premiership on probation from 2009 – 2013.

The 13GE is a battle of the inclusive politics of the future based on Malaysian nationalism and patriotism for all Malaysians versus the communal politics of the past based on the British “divide and rule” formula, keeping the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans divided and separate, so that they are easy victims of the politics of lies, falsehoods and irresponsible playing of the race and religion cards. Pakatan Rakyat offers hope and the Malaysian Dream while Barisan Nasional stands for the politics of the past and “more of the same” of the rampant corruption, cronyism, uses of power, violation of human rights and lack of good governance.

Finally, my chances in Gelang Patah have risen as a result of use of Rocket symbol but it is still an adverse 45:55 in favour of Ghani.

Whether I can reverse the odds in the next 14 days of campaigning will only be known on Polling Day on May 5, but let me reiterate my invitation to Ghani to join me in making Gelang Patah an example for the whole country of clean, free and fair general elections in 13GE where there will be no lies and falsehoods, character-assassinations, money politics or playing of the race and religion cards to sow racial and religious distrust and hatred.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 April 2013, 3:37 pm and is filed under
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Crossing the lines – BN’s early strategic mistakes

Bridget Welsh
 | 1:35PM Apr 19, 2013

Malaysiakini

In assessing any electoral campaign, it is essential to review the assumptions and implications of different strategic moves.

Three decisions on the part of BN in the last two weeks are leading to tectonic shifts within the electorate, and thus strengthen the opposition’s position nationally.

These are:

The use of sex videos against PAS and possibly other opposition politicians.

The fielding of Perkasa leader Zulkifli Noordin in Shah Alam.

The action by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in not recognising DAP’s central executive committee (CEC).

The combined effect of these moves have strengthened the opposition coalition and negatively impact the BN’s position with the electorate in the lead up to the May 5 general election.

Let’s take each of these in turn:

1. Smut videos

Since 1999, the use of sex has become the mode of attack by BN. The list includes PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, MCA president Chua Soi Lek, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, and more recently, PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali, among others.

Sex videos have also played a role in the Umno polls, including against caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (left) himself. The aim is to use character assassination to tarnish reputations, and to do so through personal attacks.

Somehow, the incumbent government has in its mind, that by using sex, they can sway voters. This tactic raises some interesting questions: Why has the use of smut become the tool of attack by BN? Why does BN think this can work? And why do they continue to use this tactic when it is clearly not working?

The use of smut by BN reflects more on the party itself than the opposition. It fundamentally shows a lack of respect for the rules of decency, especially given than many of these videos are clearly constructed through technology rather than truth.

It also reveals what their own priorities are. Somehow, there is an assumption that the Malaysian electorate will be swayed by smut. This shows how BN conceives the priorities of the general public.

The evidence shows that the original Anwar sodomy attack backfired politically in 1999. Further questions have been raised through the media barrage and a second trial. Polls show that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians see the second trial and subsequent videos for what they are – shallow political ploys.

The conservative Malays they are targeting are offended by the use of smut. Many in the public do not think that these videos are credible. The now sub-contracted production of such sex tapes has led to diminishing returns that are clearly backfiring.

Nowhere was this clearer when the video allegedly portraying Mustafa Ali was released last week. Apparently, Najib’s Umno decided to go after one of the most powerful and respected senior leaders in PAS.

However, the impact has ironically led to a strengthening of resolve among the opposition to work together to form a new government. When a party is attacked, people naturally rally together. This has been the pattern for the opposition coalition since the Perak crisis.

BN’s use of smut has ultimately hurt itself as it highlights the use of unchecked personal attacks to hold onto power. Given that one of the BN’s party presidents has his own sex video that he has acknowledged as real, BN appears to be nothing but hypocritical.

Furthermore, they have misread the public by assuming that they can be swayed by base innuendo. Indeed, in terms of the electorate, smut is not a determinant of voting behaviour.

2. Fielding Zulkifli Noordin

Decisions matter, especially those that provoke incredulity. The announcement of lawyer Zulkifli Noordin as a candidate for Umno overshadows all the other candidates, including Najib himself.

While there are some talented names in the Umno list, they are being tainted by the appointment of a person who is perceived to be an ultra chauvinist, and who has openly attacked Hinduism and Christianity in a manner that had provoked public outrage.

The video evidence of Zulkifli disparaging the Hindu religion was already viral and has reached record circulations, especially among the Indian community which will be decisive in this election. The electorate is understandably asking whether the views of Zulkifli are those of Najib’s. He, after all, is the person who appointed the candidate who has openly shown disrespect towards many fellow Malaysians.

This tactic also raises questions: Does Najib endorse the views that are being advocated by Zulkifli (right)? Why is there so little respect for multicultural tolerance among the candidates in the BN list?

The views of the caretaker prime minister on the racial statements of Zulkifli have not been made clear. These are among the questions that Najib will now be pressured to answer as the video footage goes into outlying areas.

Politically, the use of race has long been a feature of Malaysian politics, but the content and tone of the Zulkifli remarks reflect a defensive (and offensive) anger and reactionary position on ethnic relations.

This election will be shaped by the ability of the winner to reach out across different communities. We have seen tactically the use of racial polarisation since Najib took office in 2009 in the different by-elections, but never has any premier, who is supposed to represent the entire country, opted for endorsing these views through the candidate selection.

This is backfiring, not only among non-Malays, but also among younger and more exposed Malays who do not need the crutch of racial fear and insecurity to be confident and proud of their achievements.

3. ROS’ harassment

The ROS letter to DAP yesterday brought out into the open the persistent use of government departments to threaten political parties, and it showcased underhanded tactics.

This practice has been common for years, especially in Sabah and Sarawak. Despite the ROS’ approval of Pakatan’s registration, it has been held up in the ministries for years. The ROS is being used for political aims, thus undermining its reputation and further undermining the credibility of the country’s institutions.

This tactic is perhaps the most blatant. Do they assume that people do not respect fair play? Do they think that Malaysians are willing to accept a process that is unfair?

The decision to deny the CEC of the DAP highlights BN’s tactical decision to use state power at the last minute to create disarray and sow confusion.

The decision foreshadows a possible deregistration and potential use of these legal administrative procedures to hold onto power. By going after DAP in such a manner, the BN underestimates the wishes of ordinary Malaysians for fair play and decency.

The impact has ironically brought in even more cooperation among the opposition, and the possibility of DAP now contesting under the banners of PAS and PKR has the potential to showcase a shared commitment. The opposition coalition emerged stronger from this move as it reflects confidence and trust in each other.

There is plenty of time for the political parties to communicate the decision to the electorate. Ironically, after bruising inter-party seat negotiations, the ROS action has moved the parties further together.

Losing the PR battle

Tactics are crucial in any campaign. Those that cross the line only undermine those who use them. BN’s moves of late illustrate that the choices they are making do not take into account of how they will be perceived on the ground.

Studies on dirty tactics vary. In this case, however, BN’s tactics are likely to go beyond what is acceptable. They seem to underestimate the sense of fair play among Malaysians. On many fronts, they appear to insult the intelligence of the electorate in the assumptions of how they will vote and why.

Malaysian politics have shown that sentiment is a powerful force, potentially more powerful than money or machinery. This has been crucial in close elections. It is the decisive force that pushes voters toward one side or another. In the battle for sentiment to date, the BN coalition has indeed miscalculated.

__

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She is travelling around Malaysia to provide her GE13 analyses exclusively to Malaysiakini. Bridget can be reached at
[email protected]
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                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 April 2013, 10:47 am and is filed under
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