Malaysia’s Najib: Jump or be Pushed

by John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

Wednesday, 08 May 2013

Election aftermath could soon claim its real loser, the current PM

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, having been instrumental in driving his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from power in 2009 after a poor electoral performance, now may be poised to try to do the same thing to the current prime minister, Najib Tun Razak.

It may depend on whether Najib jumps or is pushed, however. The premier is said to be disillusioned and discouraged and may leave the premiership at the United Malays National Organization annual general meeting in October, handing over power to the current vice president Muhyiddin Yassin, sources say – if he lasts that long. Najib led the Barisan Nasional to its lowest vote total since independence at 46.66 percent of the popular vote to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition’s 50.1 percent, taking a diminished 133 seats in the parliament to Pakatan Rakyat’s 89 – amid allegations of voter irregularities that put the Barisan over the top.

“I am told that Najib will hand over to Muhyiddin in October,” a lawyer with close contacts to UMNO said. “The change may finally come but voluntarily between Najib and Muhyiddin. We’ll have to let it play it out some more.”

That could foreshadow months of instability inside the UMNO leadership as a weakened Najib hangs on to power in the face of a wing of the party that wants to double down on the policies that have led to diminished returns in the last two elections. Toppling him now for Muhyiddin could well lead to costly party rifts, as it did in 2009 with the Badawi faction of the party. A change would probably signal that UMNO will steer to the conservative right, counterintuitive to what the electorate appears to have been saying. It was UMNO moderates such as Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahrir Samad who profited in the election while Malay nationalists Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin were soundly defeated.

The Mahathir wing appears disdainful of Najib’s 1Malaysia strategy, which calls for an emphasis on ethnic harmony and national unity. If anything, the 87-year-old former prime minister, with his sponsorship of the Malay nationalist NGO Perkasa, appears to be reverting to his days as a Malay firebrand that got him kicked out of UMNO for several years before he was reinstated by Najib’s father, Tun Abdul Razak.

However, Mahathir, a source said, “campaigned hard for Najib and the Barisan Nasional. The Doc (Mahathir) let Najib do what he wanted pretty much. Najib led UMNO with his Economic Transformation Program, Government Transformation Program, etc. Now that the results weren’t good Najib has to take responsibility. Most importantly, I get the sense that Najib was completely devastated and doesn’t want the job anymore. Furthermore, Muhyiddin can fight fire with fire against DAP’s race campaign.”

It thus remains to be seen if Najib’s ETP and GTP programs, the cornerstone of his government policy, are at risk, emphasizing as they do competitive bidding instead of special privileges for ethnic Malays. Muhyiddin, although not as strident as other Malay nationalists, nonetheless is closer to Mahathir’s line of thinking than many are comfortable with.

Most observers say the Barisan, at Najib’s direction, veered between publicly conciliatory statements on race but used a de facto strategy that exacerbated what was already a growing divide between majority ethnic Malays, who make up 60.1 percent of the population, and the Chinese, who make up about 25 percent. The government basically abandoned the historic racial mix of ethnic Malay, Indian and Chinese parties that had ruled the country since independence for 56 years, attempting to use fear of Chinese dominance of the economy to drive rural ethnic Malays to the polls.

That may not be enough for the Mahathir wing. The source said that “We advised Najib against pandering to Chinese unreasonable requests. He bent over backwards to the Chinese where those resources could have gone to other rural or bumi constituencies. Now UMNO wants Najib to take responsibility.”

That’s certainly news to the Chinese. The Mahathir faction appears to be ignoring the fact that more ethnic Malays in Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Parti Islam se-Malaysia together voted with the ethnic Chinese for the Pakatan Rakyat coalition than voted for UMNO. It was votes from the non-Malay east Malaysian states that put UMNO over the top.

As in the electoral debacle of 2008, the hardliners in UMNO deny that the party needs reform, and failing to do so will probably drive more voters into the hands of the opposition. Najib during his term hasn’t been able to firmly steer UMNO into the directions he wanted to go. UMNO needs reform and there is no one in sight who can drive it. The biggest problem is that the party doesn’t want to reform itself. It is evident that Najib, under constant fire on corruption charges himself, over the last few years hasn’t been able to steer UMNO into the directions he wanted to go.

“The current elections showed the true meaning of the people’s power in putting the candidates they feel best in representing them in the parliament and despite of the systemic electoral fraud that happened, the people’s voice was still strong in sending a message,” said Lena Hendry, coordinator of the Malaysian Popular Communications Center for Human Rights, in a prepared release. “It is wrong the politicians from the current ruling government say that it was the Chinese who caused the tsunami as this is not true, as many seats also had winning or losses when the majority was of other communities.”

The country has “long passed the era where race and religion was the main weapon by politicians to get the support of people. People are focusing on bigger issues now which is plaguing the country such as corruption, abuse of power, transparency and many others and demanding answers from the leaders of the country. There is a new shift in national politics that redefines ethnic relations and go beyond it in Malaysia. The government must bear the responsibility to educate, reformulate and change society instead of reinforcing racial stereotype in politics. This must stop.”

Mahathir telegraphed his wing’s views in a press conference on May 7 to tell reporters he was shocked by the Barisan’s performance and laid the blame on “ungrateful” Chinese and “greedy” Malay voters.

“Most of the Chinese rejected the Malays’ hands of friendship … And that was what we call the ‘tsunami’,” Mahathir said, adding that “At the same time, we cannot deny Malays who have become greedy. They all want power without considering the means, if they needed to sell out their race they will sell it out.”

Although since the election Mahathir hasn’t publicly disclosed his rejection of Najib as party leader and premier, he has signaled his irritation by telling reporters that UMNO would have to decide whether Najib Razak should step down, questioning Najib’s strategists and saying their ideas may have contributed to BN’s poor performance.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 5:40 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Message from voters to BN — race card brings dwindling returns

By Leslie Lau

The Malaysian Insider

May 09, 2013

The Pakatan Rakyat rally in Petaling Jaya last night saw a very multiracial crowd. — Picture by Saw Siow MengMAY 9 — As if offended by all the post-election Chinese-bashing, a truly Malaysian crowd turned out last night at a stadium in Petaling Jaya to send a chilling message to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

The message was many ordinary Malaysians wanted an end to the race debate surrounding Sunday’s vote in Election 2013.

Instead of election fatigue many voters were galvanised by what they saw as unfair and dishonest polls as well as an attempt by BN to blame the Chinese.

Those who attended last night’s rally did not care about the police calling the gathering illegal.

And not all were loyal supporters of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, or card-carrying members of the three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties.

Chances are of course that they voted for PR parties.

But there were many young Malaysians and it was multiracial in nature.

This should serve as a warning to politicians that playing the race card is a strategy of diminishing returns.

An analysis of the votes has clearly shown that the votes for both BN and PR cut across racial lines.

If anything, analysts have said that an urban-rural divide had emerged, rather than any Malay-vs-Chinese trend.

The new reality is that PR parties now enjoy broad backing, with a bias from urban voters.

The opposition pact won the popular vote, securing just over 50 per cent of the popular votes on an anti-corruption platform while also pledging to focus less on race in wealth distribution.

BN won around 47 per cent of the vote but still emerged victorious, with strong backing from rural voters as well as from the less-developed areas of Sabah and Sarawak.

For the tens of thousands who packed the MBPJ Stadium last night and for all Malaysians, both BN and PR will have to work hard to win over more votes.

BN and Umno have made the job much tougher by blaming the Chinese for voting against a “Malay” government as has been argued by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his allies in Utusan Malaysia.

The narrative of Umno’s right-wing has so far has been predictable, and many Malaysians are finding it insulting.

From words like “Chinese tsunami” to headlines like “Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What more do the Chinese want?)”, Umno is only succeeding in entrenching whatever support PR parties already have.

Perhaps BN should be reminded that it won power on Sunday, notwithstanding the allegations of fraud.

Instead of looking for a bogeyman in Anwar or the Chinese voter, BN will be well-advised to listen.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 4:56 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib, Muhyiddin and Mahathir must each apologise for their irresponsible and unMalaysian remarks completely at variance with policies of 1Malaysia and Bangsa Malaysia if there is going to be genuine “national reconciliation” after 13GE

The most sensible, level-headed and statesmanlike statement completely in conformity with the policies of 1Malaysia and Bangsa Malaysia in the past three days since 13GE Polling Day came from former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah, who demanded a stop to all attempts at racialising Sunday’s polls by blaming a particular community for Barisan Nasional’s poor showing at the ballot boxes.

Abdullah said: “This is unfair and unhelpful”.

Guilty of such “unfair and unhelpful” statements were none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, who indulged in  irresponsible race-baiting and inflammatory incitements totally careless and reckless about the harm they are doing to race relations in the country.

For instance, immediately after the 13GE results were known on Sunday night, Najib talked about a “Chinese tsunami” when it was in fact a “Malaysian tsunami” caused by the  political uprising and awakening not only of the Chinese, but all other communities as well, whether Malays, Chinese, Kadazan-Dusun-Murut or Iban communities.

Najib’s “Chinese tsunami” statement was immediately supported by Muhyiddin who said it was “unhealthy in a multi-racial society like Malaysia” to allow one community supporting one side and another race supporting another as it would lead to “tension in inter-racial relations and political instability”.

This is a conclusion based on a total fallacy, for the 13GE has not led to a situation of “one community supporting one side and another race supporting another” as the 13GE was not a battle between the Chinese versus the Malays, but one multi-racial coalition against another i.e. Pakatan Rakyat versus Barisan Nasional.

Yes, the Barisan Nasional has lost significant Chinese voter support, but the Pakatan Rakyat comprising PKR, PAS and DAP is now more representative of all Malaysians as it has not only significant Chinese, Malay and Indian support, as well as of the KDM and Iban communities in Sabah and Sarawak.

It is sheer untruth and a cruel slander  to say that the 13GE is a “Chinese tsunami” when it is a “Malaysian tsunami” – which is why there is the blog “
This Little Malay Ripple That Joined the Tsunami
” by a Malay, Karina Bahrin who wrote to “Prime Minister and all in UMNO”:

“…I did not vote for you. And neither did a whole lot of other Malays, despite what you would like to think. Do the math. If 80% of the population voted, then surely, you cannot blame the erosion of your power on the Chinese minority. Or did you fail that subject too?

“I voted for the Opposition because as a Malay, I myself have had enough. Not because I necessarily like all the Opposition leaders, but frankly, I just like you lot less. Because despite all your rhetoric about the Opposition being a lying, conniving bunch, I have personally born witness and been on the receiving end of YOUR lies and policies that stoke racial and religious polarity. Not the Opposition’s.

“Because your government is the only one I have ever known since birth. And what I see and experience every day in my life is your creation.

“Yes, I am a recipient of your Bumiputera scholarship. I went to one of the world’s best schools. In my graduating class, there were less Malaysians than you could count on one hand. The truth is, I could have obtained my own scholarship from someone else in the world if I wanted to. And believe me, there are many times I wish I had taken that route, so that I can be relieved of the only burden of debt I feel towards you and your policies.

“After graduating from university, I chose to return home. Yes, I was apparently bonded to work for you for ten years, in repayment for the education you provided me. But instead, you chose to let me go. And I still remained here. Because this is my home.

“I could have chosen to work in one of the richest and most developed countries in the world, but I decided to remain in Malaysia.

“Over the last twenty years, I have never relied on favours or connections to get a job. It is against my principles. And I have done well. Believe me. I can get a job in corporate Asia if I want to. I used to have a job with one of the world’s largest companies, overseeing seven countries in the region. Bosses tried to entice me to leave – decamp to Singapore, Hong Kong and even Japan. But I still chose to stay here.

“In the last four years, I decided to leave corporate Malaysia, because the extent of the rot I saw within its walls were so bad that if I knew any more , I would have to migrate. You may find this hard to believe, but when us ordinary Malaysians are exposed to the incompetence of our policy-makers and leaders, appalled is an understatement. More than that, the arrogance (and worse, lack of sheer, basic intelligence) of many of those in power whom I have met, whether in the government,quasi-government or private sector crony companies, made me begin to believe that Malaysia was not capable of producing good leaders.”

She continued:

“So no, it is not just the Chinese who voted for the Opposition this time. Because you can count on at least THIS Melayu who did as well. Please stop insulting me and negating my role in your erosion of power. If you had any sense, you would realise this, and realise it quickly. And figure out how to win Malays like myself back.

“But my faith in the good of your kind unfortunately does not stretch that far. And today you reaffirmed my lack of confidence in you a thousand-fold.

“Keep insulting my fellow Malaysian Chinese. It will not bring me closer to you, because I do NOT count you as my people.

“The Malays I am part of are a people who have for generations lived shoulder-to-shoulder with other races, because we ourselves know our own history, and accept the fact that we are a race that is borne of a meld of many others. We are a race that has itself experimented with different brands of theology, are unafraid of adapting aspects of other cultures into our own and has NEVER thrived in isolation. Unlike Japan, we do not have a history of cultural, social or economic growth that does not coincide with an era of openness, cross-border trade or cultural assimilation, be it with or without force.

“If you are going to blame the Chinese for your losses, please,blame me too. And the rest of the Malaysians who did the same. We ALL did it. And yes, the entire classroom is standing up this time.”

This blog has given me new encouragement and hope that our common Malaysian Dream where Malaysians regardless of race are united in a common vision to build a great Malaysian nation where there is integrity, justice, freedom and dignity for all, is not a pipedream.

It has also exposed Mahathir’s allegations that I  have gone to Gelang Patah to contest in order to bring about a “racial confrontation” and to get the Chinese to hate the Malays as rantings of an irresponsible Political leader who is not reflective of the ordinary Malays, as represented by Karina Bahrin and by the voters in the 13GE, as DAP and PR, whether in Gelang Patah or elsewhere, have received increased support from Malay voters in our quest for UBAH  in Malaysian politics.

Najib, Muhyiddin and Mahathir must each apologise  for their irresponsible and unMalaysian remarks completely at variance with policies of 1Malaysia and Bangsa Malaysia if there is going be genuine “national reconciliation” after 13GE.

Mahathir alleged that the Chinese have rejected the hand of friendship offered by the Malays. This is utter garbage. The Chinese, as well as other Malaysians including Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, have rejected the hand of friendship offered by Mahathir, Najib and Muhyiddin because they represent the politics of the past, the politics of race, corruption, cronyism, abuses of power, injustices and lack of good governance.  The Chinese, as well as all other Malaysians, whether Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, accepted the hand of friendship of Anwar Ibrahim and Hadi Awang because they represent the politics of the future, of integrity, justice and freedom where there is an end of corruption, cronyism, abuses of power and all forms of exploitation and oppression.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 3:15 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
civil society/NGOs
,
Court
,
Elections
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib Tun Razak, Chua Soi Lek, Ali Rustam, M Saravanan and Dr Mahathir should stop racializing the 13th General Election results and focus instead on Revamping the Electoral System, starting with asking for the members of the Election Commission to resign

BN leaders should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to racialize the GE13 election results. This is thoroughly unbecoming of their status as national leaders and statesmen. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak continues to irresponsibly racialize the GE13 results when he refused to condemn the reprehensible and thoroughly disgusting headline of Utusan Malaysia yesterday on the 7th of May which read “Apa Lagi Cina Mahu?” (What more do the Chinese want?). Instead, his response which alluded that the Chinese papers were writing the same thing makes a mockery of his election night statement that he wanted to embark on a program of national reconciliation.

Dr Chua Soi Lek too has refused to apologize for making the remark that the country is now on a ‘two-race’ system. This is pure stupidity since 50 out of the 89 Pakatan MPs (or 56%) are non-Chinese (39 Malay, 10 Indian, 1 Kadazan).

Ali Rustam should also offer his profuse apologies to not just the Chinese voters in the constituency of Bukit Katil but also the Malay voters, who make up 53% of the voters in this constituency, and also the Indian voters, who make up 6% of the voters in this constituency for exercising their democratic right to choose their candidate of preference, which happens to be his opponent, Shamsul Iskandar, from PKR.

M Saravanan should also apologize for agreeing with Utusan Malaysia and with Ali Rustam by saying that the Chinese were ungrateful since I am sure that many of the 12743 voters who voted for his opponent (or 38% of the total vote) included Malay and Indian voters.

Do both of these leaders also mean to say that all those who voted against the BN, including almost half of the voters in the 95% majority state of Terengganu, are also ‘ungrateful’ voters?

The worst culprit of this race baiting is none other than Dr. Mahathir himself who continues to outdo his younger self in polarizing and dividing the country when he accused the Malaysian Chinese community of ‘rejecting the hand of friendship’ extended by the Malays.
This is an absolute lie and irresponsible accusation especially since Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan and Iban supporters of Pakatan Rakyat worked hand in hand in many of the mixed constituencies, without access to the ample funds available to the BN, all of them campaigning based on the Politics of Hope propagated by Pakatan Rakyat instead of the Politics of Fear propagated by Barisan Nasional.

Indeed, the fact that DAP was willing to use the logo of PAS to contest in the 13th GE received widespread support among both the membership and supporters of both parties showing that Pakatan is genuine about its intentions to bridge racial and religious divides compared to the BN.

Dr. M even goes to the extent of reimagining the ethnic composition of the state of Selangor by calling it a Chinese majority state when the statistics clearly show that the Malay voters form the largest group of voters (50%) in the state compared to the Chinese (34%), Indians (15%) and others (2%). Is Dr. Mahathir accusing anyone and everyone who voted against the BN in the 13th General Election of being Chinese?

I call upon all of the BN leaders named above to follow the lead of Saifuddin Abdullah, who lose in the Malay majority seat of Temerloh, but did not agree with the Utusan headlines and did not blame anyone for his defeat. They should follow his example of condemning the Utusan headline.

Finally, these leaders should instead look into the many problems which occurred during the 13th general election which have made Malaysia the center of negative attention in the global media. Serious allegations and reports have been made including the not so indelible indelible ink, the accusations of foreigners being bussed to certain polling stations, the accusations of many voters who were not registered but found themselves on the electoral roll and many others. The BN leaders should focus on issues pertaining to electoral reform, as proposed by Bersih 2.0 and supported Malaysians across the board regardless of race, religion, language and background.

(Media Conference Statement at DAP Hqrs on Wednesday 8.5.13 at 3 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 9:27 am and is filed under
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib’s hollow victory

by Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

May 6, 2013

It is widely believed that a happy and contented Singaporean is one who has achieved the 5Cs – cash, credit card, car, condominium and country club.

In neighbouring Malaysia, the victorious Umno Baru leader is defined by the 6Cs; corruption, chaos, cheating, cronyism, cowardice and concubine.

BN head Najib Abdul Razak injected many millions of ringgit into the country to secure a victory, and unleashed a violent campaign of ‘blood, sweat and tears’ to defend Putrajaya. In the end, he only managed a ‘win’ by a handful of seats.

For many Umno Baru leaders, the effort has been worthwhile because the alternative is a long spell behind bars.

Ironically, the worst damage inflicted on Najib and BN, was Najib’s own ‘1Malaysia’ slogan.

Malaysians are fairly reticent people and not known for outward displays of public-spiritedness, but yesterday, in the true spirit of ‘1Malaysia’, Malaysians of all races were united in defending their polling stations against foreign ‘phantom’ voters.

Members of the rakyat blocked the path of buses suspected of carrying Bangladesh and Burmese nationals to polling stations. Elsewhere, foreign-looking individuals at the polling centres had their identification papers scrutinised.

Outsiders are wrong to think that Malaysians are xenophobic. Malaysians were not targeting these foreigners as individuals; rather they were stopping an abuse of the voting system.

The rakyat’s apparent xenophobia must be blamed on Najib and the Election Commission (EC). The EC chairperson and deputy have obstinately refused to acknowledge voting irregularities and to complicate matters, Najib has allegedly bribed voters to secure a win.

He cannot be trusted to run his own bath but, in the last week, ran a rash of reforms, most of which were hurriedly plucked from Pakatan Rakyat’s manifesto. It is Najib’s self-inflicted wound which has given rise to our deep mistrust of institutions.

Despite the cries of fraud, the rakyat watched with incredulity when the EC went ahead with the announcement that BN had won.

What hope have Malaysians of a free and fair election if the leaders of the EC are biased and in denial? Shouldn’t they at least investigate the allegations of voting irregularities?  BN stole the votes of the rakyat and the future of the country.

Najib’s report card

Najib’s tenure was an unremarkable one. He was out of touch with the electorate and did not know how to engage with the rakyat. For someone who has not known real hardship in his life, he has yet to discover that money is not what consumes most people’s minds.

He is unable to understand that people are concerned about their families’ well-being; security, education, governance, justice and fair-mindedness.

Najib’s rule was fraught with disaster and U-turns. He failed to act to control extremist views within his own party and he firmly believed that churning out acronyms like ETP, BR1M and KR1M would resonate with the rakyat.

He refused to deal with corruption, injustice and racial intolerance. He chose to alienate the rakyat by underestimating their needs and by declining to engage with them.

Najib and Umno Baru should see if they can retain their popularity without flashing any money. When Umno Baru arranges a ceramah, it is alleged that the participants receive money, buses are used to transport them and food is provided.

Kelab Umno Baru meetings at overseas locations, operate with the same modus operandi. If Umno Baru stopped the food, transport and money handouts, would attendance at these events diminish?

Anyone who has attended a Pakatan event is aware that coaches are not laid on, no food is distributed and when the donation box is passed around, people give freely and generously. Money goes from the rakyat to its machinery, and not the other way round, as with Umno Baru events.

In the final days of campaigning, we looked on in bewilderment when Najib claimed that reducing petrol prices would only benefit the rich. Is he out of his mind? The poor cannot get by without a car; even a decrepit Proton held together with duct tape is better than nothing.

The greatest manipulator of all, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, wanted funds for his pet project, Proton, and billions of ringgit have been pumped into the Proton car industry, while he neglected the development of an efficient public transport system.

Today, car prices are artificially inflated and we waste our money on the Proton. Our suffering does not end there. We waste more money feeding Mahathir’s cronies, the toll operators.

If you talk to the graduates who went overseas to study, they will tell you that, when they were abroad, they moved around easily on public transport, but when they returned home to work, a car is needed for mobility.

Again Najib’s stupidity astounds us. When in Kuantan he said the public transport system was marvellous.

But has Najib tried to emulate the daily journey of a worker who lives in one part of KL but works across the city? The majority of Umno Baru leaders have the roads cleared by outriders and know nothing of our suffering.

Dubious victory

When Malaysians voted yesterday, they wanted a change for themselves, but more so for their children and future generations. They despise corrupt politicians, but they are also weary of the inappropriate behaviour of the children of these politicians.

Abdul Taib Mahmud’s daughter gave editors at a Sarawak newspaper a dressing down, making them sit for several hours while she raged on about a report which portrayed the chief minister in a negative light.

Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz’s son impersonated a member of royalty and then beat up a security guard who dared challenge his authority. Other ministers’ children get preferential treatment at school and their exam papers are isolated for lenient marking. Malaysians have no faith in the BN leadership, particularly, Umno Baru leaders.

By condoning cheating and promoting violence, Najib, Umno Baru and the EC chairperson and his deputy, have disgusted and humiliated the Malays, and betrayed all Malaysians. Umno Baru must not be allowed to get away with cheating, not this time, nor ever.

Our votes have been stolen and if we sit by and do nothing about this, Umno Baru will have us in their evil clutches forever. Cheating is the last straw and we must not sit idly by and give up.

We must demand that the wishes of the electorate be respected and the result of the electoral fraud be reversed, so that DAP, PAS and PKR can form the government that the people of Malaysia voted for.

If Najib is allowed to form a government despite ‘winning’ by fraudulent means, Umno Baru will stay in power by cheating for another 56 years.

Umno Baru would not have organised and perpetrated fraud on a massive scale if they had known that they would have the support of the rakyat to win GE13.

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 Thursday, 9 May 2013, 7:37 am and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Mariam Mokhtar
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Putting the record straight

R. Nadeswaran

The Sun Daily

8 May 2013

The outburst in cyberspace reflects the anger of ordinary Malaysians who view such audacious campaigns as insulting their intelligence.

On a similar note, will the same newspapers publish an advertisement paid for by well-minded citizens which reads: “Can you trust a party which is led by a crook?”

This question can only be answered by none other than owners of publishing houses who have accepted and consented to publish those questionable and code-breaking advertisements.

– R. Nadeswaran, The Sun, April 25

I am disappointed with him because when I was president of the 4As, I sided with him when he took on the issue of corruption in the outdoor advertising industry. At that time, I received death threats after speaking up against illegal billboards in the Klang Valley.

After a year, the situation has remained unchanged. However, he has moved on from his anti-corruption stand to talking about advertising, but his own newspaper has accepted and carried the same advertisement.

– Datuk Vincent Lee, The Star, May 3

IN most newspapers, editors tell reporters to “write for the readers in simple language that they understand”. Readers of this newspaper will attest that we make a conscious effort to get rid of bombastic and pompous language.

These two articles were published a week apart and in the interim on April 30, I wrote as follows: The fact is that although the management of theSun may not see an issue in the same light as the writer, it sees it as expressions of opinion. It may not necessarily reflect the stance of the newspaper. The publication of such articles does not mean that the newspaper endorses my views.

It was in plain and simple language that journalists have no control over newspaper operations and the final decision on content – advertising and editorial is left to the management.

Lee, considered an advertising doyen and currently the executive vice-chairman of The Star may not have understood the simple language used in my explanatory column or could have missed the same. I do not want to guess.

To put it bluntly and implicitly, while Lee decides what goes into The Star, as a columnist, I don’t have such powers.

I have always taken the stand that if you are able to “give”, you must have the gall and gumption to “receive”. No two ways about it and it is said that such an exercise must be done according to Queensberry Rules – not below the belt or getting personal.

Lee chose to attack my integrity as an anti-corruption crusader. To say that he was with me when we went on to clean up the outdoor advertising business in Petaling Jaya, which was plague-ridden and contaminated with back-handers and kick-backs, would be an understatement because he was stating the obvious.

Every right-thinking Malaysian would have supported efforts to get rid of the scourge of corruption which has pervaded our system.

However, to say that “nothing has changed” would be far from the truth. Thanks partly to Lee’s unstinting support, guidelines were drawn up. Over three years, the Petaling Jaya City Council has collected over RM15 million in revenue. This would have otherwise ended in someone’s pocket through innovative solutions such as “donation” to its sports club.

In the bad old days, one had to pay for licences and billboards were built on state land without a temporary occupation licence. All this has come to an end and there is a level playing field.

But the most telling part is that he is indicating that I have veered from corruption to advertising. As regular readers of theSun will know, I have written extensively on advertising and marketing – one of the many areas which I am familiar with. Writing on certain subjects is not exclusive to anyone and it is a fallacy to assume that one who writes on corruption cannot write on advertising.

Wasn’t it Lee the same person in his capacity as president of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) who invited me to share the same platform with Khairy Jamaluddin at an advertising seminar in 2007?

Was he not the president when the 4As bestowed on me the “Media Personality of the Year” in 2009?

This is no riposte to the unfair comments and innuendoes made but it is a matter of putting issues in perspective.

Since Lee has asserted that the advertisements are factual and statistics are official and that they comply with the Code of Advertising, it would certainly be wrong to dismiss them as hearsay.

In public interest and as a matter of principle, I have in my personal capacity sought a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority of Malaysia. It may be academic that the election is over, but a decision – whatever the outcome – will go towards a healthy advertising industry.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 8:00 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Elections
,
Media
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Vote-rigging helped BN win Putrajaya, Kit Siang tells rally

By Boo Su-Lyn

The Malaysian Insider

May 09, 2013

PETALING JAYA, May 9 — Barisan Nasional (BN) would not have retained federal power if Election 2013 was free and fair, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang told a mass rally of tens of thousands last night.

Some 50,000, dressed mostly in black, packed Stadium MBPJ in Kelana Jaya here to the rafters at Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) rally against electoral fraud, shouting “Ubah” (Change) and “Reformasi” (Reformation) throughout the night.

“BN has 133 seats. Minus 30, they’re left with 103. Does he still qualify to continue to be prime minister?” roared Lim, referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“No!” the multi-racial crowd yelled in response, as they sounded air horns and cheered.

In Lim’s prepared speech emailed earlier to the media yesterday, he noted “serious irregularities” in about 30 federal seats, including Labis, Tapah, Segamat and Bentong that BN had won.

BN saw its simple majority slashed to 133 federal seats in the 13th general election, just 21 seats above the 112 minimum seats required to form government. The hotly-contested polls have been tainted with claims of vote-buying, phantom voters and flawed indelible ink that rubbed off easily.

The smell of sweat and exhilaration filled the air as thousands thronged the stadium to protest against vote-rigging and the legitimacy of the BN government, just three days after Sunday’s polls.

Shouts of “SPR tipu!” (Election Commission cheated) and “Tumbang BN” (BN must fall) shook the stadium amid the constant blowing of air horns. Despite the crowd, thousands more struggled to enter the stadium until those squeezed at the entrance had to shout at incoming people to back off.

The roads surrounding Kelana Jaya were snarled with traffic, with many parking their cars along the LDP highway and walking to the stadium from the Kelana Jaya LRT station under a light shower.

Lim, who was dressed in black, also pointed out last night that BN lost the popular vote — the first time since 1969 that was then contested by BN’s predecessor, the Alliance Party.

“It’s a Malaysian tsunami,” said the Gelang Patah MP, refuting Najib’s claims that BN’s losses were caused by a “Chinese tsunami”.

“With the politics of the future, racial politics and corruption will be gone,” he added, rousing cheers and applause.

Some people carried “We are not racist” placards, as several Umno politicians and newspapers owned by the BN lynchpin continue to attack the Chinese as an “ungrateful” bunch.

Najib has insisted on a Chinese swing in Election 2013, dismissing analysts that noted an exodus of middle-class and urban voters from BN, instead of just wide-scale Chinese desertion.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also gave a speech at the rally, pledging to lead more gatherings in the country to protest against electoral fraud, starting with Penang this Saturday.

“Black symbolises the death of democracy in Malaysia. This Saturday, everyone is encouraged to wear black for the whole day,” said Anwar.

Black profile pictures have popped up on Facebook as Malaysians take to the social networking site to express their anger against reports of vote fraud in Election 2013.

National laureate Datuk A. Samad Said and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who is the co-chair of polls watchdog Bersih, also attended the rally, with the former reciting a poem titled “Tipu segala tipu” (Lie of all lies).

Broadcasting executive Zaki Hushin told The Malaysian Insider that he was at the rally for his children’s future.

“I don’t want to be deceived anymore. I’m angry at BN because they won through fraud,” said the 33-year-old.

Office administrator Sandy Au Yong similarly told The Malaysian Insider that she wanted a change of government as BN has maintained its grip on power since independence.

“It’s been 55 years already. Time to change,” said Au Yong, 40.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 12:35 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


What else do Chinese want?

by Allan CF Goh

This is my personal view, spoken out of my soul and conscience. Though I sincerely believe many intelligent and fair-minded Malaysians, including Malayans, Sabahans and Sarawakians, share the same sentiment, it remains my personal conviction.

Merdeka came in 1957, while I was still in an English medium school during the 50’s. Then life was very slow and simple. True values were the basis of one’s education and upbringing, cutting across the racial lines. Indian, Malay and Chinese classmates mixed around as fully accepted Malayans, without being aware of, or awkward about our different colours. We visited each other’s home, and sometimes ate the food offered, without hesitation. Some may recall, we even called each other “racist” names as endearment, in real friendship without malice. No offence was taken. I remember some Malay classmates even took Bible Knowledge in their Form 3 Examination, with the full blessing of their families. They still remain good, devout Muslims.

When merdeka arrived, all communities welcomed it with great hope and unity. Merdeka was pledged to all, without exception. Reading the Straits Times and Straits Echo in the school library (we could not afford our own newspapers at home) during breaks, we were constantly assured by the then Alliance leaders from UMNO, MCA and MIC, that all races would be treated equally.

However ‘special rights’ were necessary for the poor Malays to help them bridge the social and economic gap. Non-Malay citizens readily accepted this concept because it was never meant to be a racial weapon of deprivation. Senior politicians and civil servants often defined ‘special rights’ thus: All things being equal, the Malay candidate will be given preference to the government’s largesse. However the best candidate, be he/she a Malay, Chinese or Indian, will be chosen otherwise.

Then came May 13, a black day for all Malaysians. This nefarious event was engineered by some racist Malay politicians to establish Malay supremacy. ‘Special rights’ become Malay rights. Aids go to people with the best connection, not those with the greatest need. Rabid patronage becomes the order of the day; so is corruption.

What else do the Chinese want? I, for one, want a fair, just social system, where government support is given to those who most require help, be he/she a poor Indian, Malay, Chinese or Dusun/Kadazan. Aid should be predicated on the degree of poverty, and not any other extraneous consideration. I believe in a social system that can develop the potential of its citizens in full, without being turned into a racial dilemma.

What else do I want? I want an impeccable justice system where wronged citizens can seek redress and fairness from unconscionable actions of the powers that be. I believe in a justice true and absolute in its manifestation, free from any unwanted influence, free from any immorality.  I believe in a judiciary that is independent, that is supreme in fairness, so as to check and balance any wantonness from any party.

I believe in a citizenry that is based on loyalty and equality, sharing an equal place under the Malaysian sun, all pulling and pushing in the same direction to make the country the best. I believe in the Malaysian oneness, sharing the Malaysian responsibility, and dream of greatness.

There should never be any lesser Malaysians in this land, or any master race lording over an underclass.

Lastly, I want a government of the people, by the people, for the people. I want a government that is answerable to its citizens; not a government by ‘divine rights’. A good government is based on capability, integrity and morality, and not befuddled by racism and comunalism.

When the government is not performing to the citizens’ aspirations, we must have the absolute right to change it through a clean, untroubled election.

I, as a Chinese Malaysian, do not ask for more than these basic decencies of my government. These wants have nothing to do with race. These are just prerequisites of good governance.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, 8:22 am and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
Elections
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Election 2013 results expose Dr M’s decline as a force

BY
CLARA CHOOI AND MD IZWAN

The Malaysian Insider

May 09, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Election 2013 has laid bare the declining influence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a political force, an analysis of where and how he campaigned has shown.

The former prime minister campaigned incessantly but Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates whom he backed or shared his ideals – such as the controversial Zulkifli Noordin and Ibrahim Ali – all lost.

In Kedah – where his son Mukhriz is now Mentri Besar on the back of a BN victory – local politicians and observers have pointed out that voters gave PAS the boot because of poor governance by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party.

Brand Mahathir did not win Kedah for BN, but it was rather a case of PAS losing the state, one senior Umno politician in Kedah told The Malaysian Insider.

Dr Mahathir’s attempt at painting the battle for Gelang Patah in Johor as a Malay versus Chinese battle also failed miserably.

Many analysts and BN politicians have said that his incessant playing of the race card for the Election 2013 campaign saw support for him deplete.

“He still has his niche group of supporters in the Malays, they wouldn’t simply demonise leaders whom they feel have been there for them long enough.

Abdul Rahman said Mahathir is not the PM of the day. “But yes… at times, it may be true that his time is over. What he says, how he says it, may not have traction among the younger generation, in the urban areas. But let us not forget – he is not the PM of the day,” Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan told The Malaysian Insider.

But other leaders were not so kind, believing the 87-year-old Dr Mahathir should finally enjoy his retirement and stay out of current day politics where they say he is fast growing irrelevant.

They said that in the age of social media politics, Dr Mahathir’s influence is waning quickly as Malaysians prefer the more liberal, moderate and inclusive brand of politics brought by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Dr Mahathir’s strong support base among the traditional, older Malay voters would likely be insufficient to win the votes for Barisan Nasional (BN) again.

They said that it would be the fast-growing urban, middle-class and young voters who will soon form a larger part of the electorate.

And going by the vote trend of Election 2013, it is this key demographic that BN must win over if it wants to return with an even stronger mandate in the next general election.

“I hope by looking at the analysis of the elections, he will realise that his time is over,” said Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

“He should leave the administration of this country to the new generation of politicians led by Najib.

“He has had his time and he has done tremendous things but his day in politics is over. Before he destroys his legacy, perhaps it is time to leave gracefully,” he added.

Election 2013 saw Dr Mahathir backing right-wing Muslim hardliners like Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin but neither one emerged victor in their contest.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider recently, Shah Alam Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Nawawi M. Zin admitted that if Dr Mahathir had not campaigned in Shah Alam, BN may have earned more votes.

Rafidah agreed that the use of racism to win support should be rejected.“On the whole, in the cities, I feel Dr Mahathir’s influence is no longer relevant as the issues he brings and his opinions do not really suit with the current generation, especially with his backing of Perkasa.

“Perhaps BN has to review this,” he said.

While his foes in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) made sure their leaders worked hard to eschew racism while on the hustings, it was race that dominated nearly all of Dr Mahathir’s speeches over the stretch of the 15-day campaign period.

He repeatedly singled out his long-time parliamentary foe Lim Kit Siang for leaving his seat in Ipoh Timor to contest the Chinese-majority Gelang Patah seat in Johor, calling the DAP veteran an “extremist racist” for allegedly attempting to sway the Chinese to hate the Malays.

“I will say it out as vocal as possible. Lim Kit Siang is a racist. Lim Kit Siang is a racist. Lim Kit Siang is an extremist racist,” he had said during a ceramah in Shah Alam three days before polling day.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider recently, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, a veteran Umno leader who served under Dr Mahathir’s administration agreed that the use of racism to win support should be rejected.

Without singling out her ex-boss, the outspoken former Wanita Umno chief told The Malaysian Insider that racial diversity should be wielded as a strength and not a weapon to divide and rule.

“Gone are the days when we can become champions of a certain race. I never subscribe to it. We are Malaysians first and foremost.

“I am a Malaysian who happens to be Malay… but it is our Malaysian-ness that we carry proudly when we are out there,” she said.

Merdeka Center for Opinion Research director Ibrahim Suffian, however, noted that while Dr Mahathir’s methods had been rejected by the urban and middle-class electorate, the leader still commands a huge following among Umno’s traditional support base in rural, Malay Malaysia.

Wan Saiful insisted that Dr Mahathir should bow out from the political scene and make a graceful exit. But he agreed the influence was not as far-reaching as Umno and Dr Mahathir himself may have estimated, noting that many Malay voters in these exteriors had also swung to the opposition.

“Voters are more discerning. They reject this brand of ethnic chauvinism,” he observed.

But Ibrahim said Dr Mahathir still has much influence within Umno, the BN lynchpin, a point that fellow political analyst Wan Saiful agreed with.

“I agree… but he is influential among only Umno members and when it comes to an election, what you need to do is not just to pursuade your own side,” he pointed out.

Wan Saiful insisted that Dr Mahathir should bow out from the political scene and make a graceful exit, saying this was necessary for the former prime minister to ensure his legacy as Malaysia’s ‘father of modernisation” is not marred by mistakes he may make today.

“Najib is the PM of today and Dr Mahathir is of yesterday. Najib has sensed the need to move into a different direction and this is what he is doing,” he said.

Agreeing, Ibrahim reminded of the vast changes in the flow of information in today’s political landscape, saying this had largely affected the results of Election 2013 and Dr Mahathir’s influence.

“There is that challenge because Dr Mahathir is used to running a country when there was no social media and the population was more easily controlled and was smaller.

“Today, you have a much younger generation who live in times when information is free-flowing. The environment has changed and with it, many of our leaders must change too,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 3:28 am and is filed under
Elections
,
Johore
,
Mahathir
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


GE13 not a ‘Chinese tsunami’, says Merdeka Center

By Boo Su-Lyn

The Malaysian Insider

May 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Election 2013 was not simply a “Chinese tsunami” as it showed a major swing among the multiracial urban and middle-class electorate against Barisan Nasional (BN), independent pollster Merdeka Center said yesterday.

Sinar Harian Online reported Merdeka Center executive director Ibrahim Suffian today as saying that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s reading of the May 5 general election as a “Chinese tsunami” was inaccurate as urban Malays had also voted for Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“There were differences between the low-income and the middle-income areas, as well as between the urban and rural areas,” Ibrahim was quoted as saying.

Analysts have noted that BN’s historic losses in Election 2013 were the result of a middle-class and urban exodus from the coalition that further widened the urban-rural rift in the country.

In their preliminary reading of the vote trend, analysts pointed out that despite the increase in Chinese support for PR, the political tsunami had also swept with it a large number of Malays who form part of the country’s middle- to upper-class electorate.

Ibrahim was also quoted as saying today that several constituencies had shown marginal BN victories that reflected a tight competition between BN and PR.

BN lost the popular vote for the first time since 1969 when it was then the Alliance.

BN also bled an additional seven federal seats to PR in Sunday’s polls. BN and PR won 133 and 89 federal seats respectively.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 11:33 am and is filed under
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Ipoh Ceramah at Chin Woo Hall on 9th May 2013

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 1:42 pm and is filed under
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Kit Siang says would weigh coalition rule if BN embraces Pakatan manifesto

By Ida Lim

The Malaysian Insider

May 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 ― Pakatan Rakyat (PR) may consider working together with the Barisan Nasional (BN) to form a coalition government if the former’s election manifesto is endorsed by its rival, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today said.

Stressing that this proposal was merely his personal opinion, Lim said there would only be “basis for discussion” with BN if the ruling coalition “endorses” PR’s common policy framework and manifesto for the 13th general election.

“On that, we made it very clear, it’s my personal view, because this is something which can only be officially responded by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership,” said the veteran leader from DAP, one of three parties in the PR pact.

Think-tank ASLI had on Wednesday proposed a broad-based BN-PR coalition government, a suggestion that comes on the back of BN’s reduced support in the national polls on Sunday.

The BN won a weaker majority with only 133 federal seats after it ceded an additional seven seats to PR, failing to meet its stated aim of forming the federal government with a two-thirds parliamentary majority that needed a 148-seat win.

Lim also reiterated his stand yesterday that DAP would not join BN to replace MCA.

“I have not advocated or agreed that DAP should join BN to replace MCA,” he said firmly, having said that the party’s objectives is to fight for the interests of all ethnic groups in Malaysia.

Both MCA and DAP are widely regarded as Chinese-based parties, although the latter pointed out that it has a multiracial composition and its membership was not restricted by race.

Lim today again pressed the BN administration to give Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman a government post, following the four-term Johor mentri besar’s defeat in the Gelang Patah parliamentary contest.

When pitching his proposal to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, he said that Abdul Ghani was still able to contribute to the country.

“I would today suggest to Najib that he should be appointed as a senator, as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department to take the place of Nor Yakcop, to be able to contribute to economic planning and development of the country.”

Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop was in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) during Najib’s first term as the country’s prime minister.

“I hope this proposal by us will not be sabotaged by Umno leaders,” Lim said when saying that politicians across the political divide should come together for the nation’s benefit.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 6:16 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
MCA
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Parliamentary Reforms should be top agenda of 13th Parliament

Parliamentary reforms should be top agenda of the 13th Parliament.

Some proposals:

Firstly, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be given Ministerial status as a major commitment to promote and advance parliamentary democracy in Malaysia.

The allowance of the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be comparable to that of a Cabinet Minister together with all the perks and privileges, including being provided with an official car.

Even more important, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be provided with adequate staff to carry out his duties – at least two political secretaries, one private secretary and three research assistants.

The Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be accorded full respect in Parliament, whether in debates or question time, and should be fully consulted in the arrangement of parliamentary business.

Such elevation of the position and status of the Parliamentary Opposition Leader would be in keeping with democratic developments in the country, although we have still to mark the country’s first peaceful and democratic transition of power with the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition replacing the ruling Barisan Nasional  coalition in Putrajaya – because of the lack of a level playing field with clean, free and fair general elections.

The elevation of the position and status of the Parliamentary Opposition Leader in keeping with those of a normal democratic country, where alternation of power in every general election is taken as a routine exercise of the democratic rights of voters and not as a national catastrophe, is all the more pertinent as Malaysia has reached the stage where the Prime Minister of-the-day could well be the Parliamentary Opposition Leader tomorrow.

Secondly, all MPs, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, should be provided with proper research back-up of having research assistants as well as constituency officers so that MPs can become professional parliamentarians and effectively discharge their parliamentary duties.

There should be an immediate end to the politics of discrimination against Opposition MPs, who are denied the annual RM500,000 later raised to RM1 million development funds allocated to Barisan Nasional MPs for their constituencies.

Instead of such a RM500,000 to RM1 million  allocation annually for Barisan Nasional MPs, every MP should be allocated RM500,000 a year which must be used solely for the hiring of research assistants, constituency officers and operation of constituency offices. There must be the strictest audit to ensure that there is no abuse of these parliamentary allocations either for personal or other purposes. MPs who abuse or misuse these allocations should be disqualified and removed from Parliament.

Thirdly, it was often that the Ministerial benches were totally empty, with Ministers’ presence in Parliament the exception rather than the rule. This is most irresponsible and disgraceful.

Ministers should as a rule as in other Commonwealth Parliaments be required to attend Parliament to personally answer questions and to reply to speeches, unless they have to be out of the country.

Fourthly, there should be parliamentary reforms to give more time, opportunity and space for MPs to speak up and convey the aspirations, needs, fears and grievances of the people in the highest political forum in the land to make Parliament relevant to Malaysians.

In the past 30 years, Parliamentary Standing Orders had been amended many times, not to expand space for MPs, but to further curtail and emasculate parliamentary opportunities and space for MPs particularly from the Opposition to represent the voice of the people.

Parliamentary reforms should include the establishment specialist standing committees to allow MPs to specialise as well as having a greater say in the nation’s decision-making process.

Fifthly, there should be live telecast of parliamentary proceedings, which would throw a spotlight on MPs and allow the voters the opportunity to see for themselves whether their MPs are playing truant or conscientiously discharging their parliamentary duties to speak up in Parliament.

At present, there is surreptitious live telecast of parliamentary proceedings particularly by PAS online.

This is most disgraceful to Parliament, which should be telecasting live parliamentary proceedings in full.

Sixthly, appoint a Opposition MP to head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

In the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, it has been the tradition to choose the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from the Opposition since the creation of this committee 152 years ago in 1861.

However, in the Malaysian Parliament, we have the opposite tradition of choosing a government MP to head the Public Accounts Committee since the first general election 54 years ago in 1959!

This is the primary reason why the PAC in Malaysia had never been able to make the impact made by other PACs in the United Kingdom or other Parliaments which continued with the proper tradition of appointing an Opposition MP to head the PAC.

The PAC does not concern itself with policy but only in whether policy is carried out efficiently, effectively and economically. Its main functions are to see that public moneys are applied for the purposes prescribed by Parliament, that extravagance, waste and even corruption are minimised and that sound financial practices are encouraged in estimating and contracting, and in administration generally.

The PAC plays a very important role as a check-and-balance on government financial abuses, excesses and malpractices and its annual report should be an important event which all Malaysians look forward to – not only for Parliament but for the nation which is serious about good governance.

But in Malaysia, nobody has been bothered about the PAC reports – because without an Opposition to head it, the PAC cannot play its full and real role as the highest custodian of government public accountability.

One of the greatest challenges of the 13th Parliament is how the PAC can be restored to its full role as the highest custodian of government public accountability, and not continue to be toothless, obsolete and ineffective, producing outdated reports which interest nobody!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 3:37 pm and is filed under
Parliament
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Shock of my life when I woke up this morning and told that I am target of attacks on facebook for betraying the people, DAP and PR in wanting to form coalition government with BN

I got into Petaling Jaya at about 3 am this morning after the phenomenon of “ocean of black” both from the capacity and roaring  crowd at the thank-voters DAP Ipoh ceramah at Chin Woo Hall and the equally-matched crowd, both in numbers and commitment to vision for a new Malaysia,  outside Chin Woo last night.

But I woke up after a few hours of sleep to the shock of my life, as I was told that I have been the target of attacks on the social media, particularly facebook, for betraying the people, DAP and Pakatan Rakyat in wanting to form a coalition government with Barisan Nasional.

Because of prolonged lack of sleep, both during the 15-day 13GE election campaign as well as the four hectic days after Sunday’s Polling Day, it took me awhile to fully grasp what was happening – as I had  done nothing in the past four days since outcome of the 13GE results  to justify any notion that I had betrayed the people, DAP and PR in wanting to form a coalition government with Barisan Nasional.

This morning, hard-core DAP loyalists were first the target of attacks because of newspaper headlines quoting  me as  saying as if  I had agreed with the idea of forming a coalition government with BN – of wanting to replace MCA in BN!  As one DAP loyalists described his experience on fb, viz:

早上到巴剎,

一片罵聲,而且句句對準行動黨,

林吉祥更是慘被”PKHKC”,

嚇到,發生什麼事?

後來轉到小報攤,

看到星洲斗大的標題”林吉祥:可與國陣組聯合政府”,

驚嚇度爆燈,給人家玩到醬大?

不是吧!?不是吧!!

隔壁小食攤也是炮聲隆隆,

行動黨在這批老人家的心目中極速貶值,

一個看來是老林的支持者,

顯然剛剛才被修理,氣勢很弱的在講”亂寫的啦!”

回到家,

家裡兩老一見我就拿著報紙開炮,

好不容易重建形象的行動黨,

再次在我家淪陷.

我的諸位行動黨朋友,

這次你們不趕快拆掂它,真的會很夠力很夠力,

不信的話,去外面轉一圈收下風啦.

This is completely untrue, as whether at the press conference at DAP Hqrs yesterday afternoon or at the DAP ceramah in Ipoh last night, I totally rejected the idea of DAP joining the Barisan Nasional to replace MCA – as I made it very clear that the DAP never intended to replace MCA in Barisan Nasional as our objectives since our formation 47 years ago has always  been to fight for the rights and interests of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans and never just for the Chinese.

DAP leaders have sacrificed in the past 47 years, dragged to court, detained under the Internal Security Act, gone to jail not just for the Chinese but for the rights and interests of all Malaysians – and it is just unthinkable for anyone to think that all this  record of half-a-century championing the rights of all Malaysians regardless of race is to be  completely wiped out, with the DAP fighting only to replace MCA in the BN!

I notice the  response on fb expressing surprise that there could be such misperceptions, quoting what I had said at the Ipoh ceramah last night, dismissing in toto any idea of DAP joining  BN to replace MCA!

There was the second suggestion of Pakatan Rakyat forming a coalition government with Barisan Nasional – where I said that the response will have to come from the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council.

But my personal view is that it is only when Barisan Nasional is prepared to endorse the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework and the PR 13GE manifesto, to eradicate corruption, abuses of power, all forms of injustices and exploitation, that there is basis for consideration of such a proposition of a BN-PR coalition  government.

At the Ipoh rally, I specifically asked the crowd whether they would agree with my approach, and the answer was a thunderous “yes”.

I have a video recording of my speech in Ipoh. It has been uploaded on my blog and fb.

How then could there  be the widespread misperception on the social media that I support the DAP joining BN coalition government to replace MCA?

Apparently, the fault lies in the newspaper headlines in the Chinese press, mixing the two separate issues: firstly,  whether DAP will join BN to replace MCA; and secondly, the separate proposal of a BN-PR coalition government.

The Sin Chew front page headline for instance gives readers who read the first headline and not even the secondary headline or the news report the impression that I support the idea of DAP joining BN to replace MCA.

The first Sin Chew headline reads: “Lim Kit Siang: Can have coalition government with BN”.

The secondary headline reads: “Condition: Accept PR’s election manifesto”.

This should be a precious lesson to Sin Chew and all headline sub-editors that they have to be very careful to ensure that their primary headline do not give rise to false conclusions and misperceptions as they cannot assume that readers will read the contents or even the secondary headline.

In this particular instance, to avoid misunderstanding, both headlines should be primary headlines and not  separated into primary headline (in red) and secondary headline (in black).

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 3:43 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Media
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions

by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee

Finally the general election is over.  For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning.

Some conclusions are easy to arrive at.  Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of financial and other incentives to voters, the BN could not improve on its 2008 performance. Although it regained power in one state and has a comfortable majority at parliamentary level, its share of state and parliamentary seats has been substantially reduced. Had a fair election prevailed, it would have been consigned to the opposition benches. In fact BN lost the popular vote count by a substantial margin nation-wide.  In most if not all electoral systems found in the world, it would have been booted out of office.  In our case, it came dangerously close to it.

Barisan National:  Still in Denial Mode

Najib blamed the Chinese tsunami for the BN’s lack luster performance.  This was a knee jerk overreaction to the strong Chinese voter support given to the DAP and his disappointment with it.  It can also be read as an attempt to tap into Malay public sympathy ahead of the backlash expected from UMNO conservative forces anticipated to come together to demand his resignation for failing to deliver the highly publicised target of a two thirds majority for UMNO and the BN.

Other commentators including UMNO ones have noted that the UMNO and BN results point to rejection not just from Chinese but also from large segments of other voters, including Malays.

Efforts had been made by Najib to woo just about every racial segment of the population. In particular the Malay dominated rural, civil service and police and military constituencies were targeted with perks and handouts timed for the election. For several months leading up to voting day, government and Malay media had also given prominence to Dr. Mahathir and other conservative Malay leaders playing up Malay and Muslim insecurities and emphasizing  the importance of preserving Malay and Islamic dominance. Their objective was aimed clearly at bringing about the eclipse if not decimation of Dr. Mahathir’s nemesis, Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR and its multi-ethnic agenda of change, equality and reform.

That these failed to work was mainly due to demographic, occupation and spatial changes in the Malay population and widespread disapproval of the BN’s record of corruption, cronyism, and bad governance.  Attempts to stampede the majority Malays into rejecting the opposition through raising racial and religious sentiments were only partially successful with young, better educated and urbanized Malays joining their non-Malay counterparts in opting for change – even if it was for a relatively untried, little tested and potentially unstable new coalition.

It is telling that despite a massive media campaign touting the stability of the BN and demonizing the divisions of the opposition, the electorate in the urbanized states of Selangor, Penang and other urban areas preferred to vote for the deep blue sea rather than the familiar.

In the end, the tsunami was not a Chinese one but a Malaysian urban and middle class one with voters who were better informed considerably less influenced by the government and BN friendly mass media and less susceptible to subtle threats and not so subtle incentives, and opting to cast their vote against the BN.

Pakatan’s Dilemma

For the opposition, although they had their best result ever in winning the overall popular vote both at federal and state level and in making some inroads into formerly unassailable Barisan strongholds, Putrajaya was too far a reach this time.

Predictably, and with justification, PR has blamed electoral fraud and irregularities as the main reason for their failure to win power. Anwar Ibrahim, the PR leader has refused to accept the election results especially in closely contested constituencies and announced that a special investigative team from the three opposition parties will work with electoral reform group Bersih to gather information and proof that the election was neither free nor fair.

Even if proof of election fraud and irregularities is produced, there is no way the opposition or any other force can persuade the Election Commission to overturn the outcome of the election or order new elections. PR needs to reconcile itself to the fact that it went into the elections knowing and accepting of the obstacles the ruling party would deploy to stymie the opposition including possibly seeking to deny the handing over of power even if it was won fairly and squarely by the PR.

For PR to keep complaining about the way the election was stolen provides BN the justification to label them losers intent on inciting an Arab style spring mass revolt and bent on seizing power illegally. Better for them to take the high ground by accepting the outcome; and leave civil society groups to raise doubts about the legitimacy of the election results and to provide the evidence that can help pave the way to genuinely free and fair elections the next time round.

While the excoriation of the Electoral Commission and BN will not get the PR far in reversing the election results, critical analysis of their own shortcomings that have prevented Pakatan from securing a greater measure of popular support will be more useful in helping the opposition establish a basis for an overwhelming victory five years from now.  The concern that the PR offers a potentially fragile replacement government and is badly divided on the key issue of Islam’s role in the country’s socio-political system remains in many minds – even amongst staunch PR supporters – and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

The three parties comprising PR will also need to demonstrate that they have an inclusive political vision which can garner a larger measure of political support from Sabah and Sarawak’s natives. An important reason why BN has retained power has been the failure of the Peninsula tsunami to be replicated in East Malaysia in 2008 and now again in 2013.

Malaysia’s Growing Political Maturity

What should both sides –BN and PR – take away from the elections? Firstly, the limited success of the vote buying and racial chauvinism inciting campaign should lead both coalitions to rethink their post election strategies and policies.  The present and next generation of voters will be even more predominantly urban dwellers, better educated and politically informed. They will be less easily fooled by political rhetoric or bought over by handouts and promises of rewards – the latter is already viewed by many as akin to bribes which have an effect opposite to that intended.

Besides desiring fair and good governance, Malaysians crave for moderate and accommodative policies and will reject politicians and parties espousing racial and religious extremism. The clock may have been turned back by the irresponsible post election race baiting engaged in by Utusan Malaysia and Dr. Mahathir. But it cannot be turned back on the country’s growing political maturity and the changes for the better that this will bring.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 May 2013, 8:26 am and is filed under
Bersih
,
Elections
,
Lim Teck Ghee
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


BN is effectively a minority government

by
Tommy Thomas

Malaysiakini

8:26AM May 10, 2013

COMMENT In assessing the results of the long-awaited 13th general elections, it is imperative that one considers the actual conditions under which the elections were conducted.

Uninformed observers, particularly from overseas, assume that because Malaysia has a Westminister-style parliamentary democracy, our elections are conducted freely, fairly and in the spirit of fair play.

The reality is that our elections are never held as they are in mature democracies like the United Kingdom, India or Australia.

They are rather akin to another Commonwealth country, Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has been in power for some 33 years, and where the ruling party always wins because it thinks it has a divine right to rule, and will cheat to remain in power. Institutions intended to be independent and impartial have never acted independently and impartially.

First, the Election Commission (EC). It does not even give the semblance of being an independent umpire in a contest between two coalitions.

Instead, the EC has been most partisan, always favouring the ruling BN. Bridget Welsh, a well-respected and independent scholar,
highlighted
 in Malaysiakini, the impact of the increased numbers in the electoral roll which were out of line with historical patterns of voter registration.

As examples, she referred to the 21 percent increase in Bachok and 29 percent in Bukit Gantang. Apart from irregularities concerning early and postal voting of some 240,000 voters, double voting and phantom voting have also allegedly took place. Many others have already written about these flaws in the voting process.

Secondly, in appearing to uphold law and order, the police force had been equally partisan, and reportedly going to the extent of transporting and protecting newly-arrived ballot boxes which contained sufficient votes to tip the balance in favour of BN in closely contested seats.

When Malaysian voters attempted to ensure that nothing untoward like that would happen, the police brought in FRU trucks with heavily-armed police ready to intimidate civilians attempting to prevent abuse.

Thirdly, the mainstream media’s sole function has been to print lies and distortions while not giving any mention to any good point that Pakatan may have made.

Fourthly, the caretaker government gave out money and other gifts which, by any yardstick, would constitute bribes and electoral offences. Yet, nothing was done to stop them.

Finally, and perhaps the worst offence committed by BN, with total complicity by EC, was allowing foreigners to vote.

In every nation, only citizens enjoy the privilege of voting in national elections. It is part of nationhood and citizenship. Article 119 (1) of the federal constitution confines the right to vote to citizens, and they further have to comply with residential and registration requirements. Yet, foreigners were allowed to vote in the thousands.

A stolen election

The scandal involving planeloads arriving in Malaysia days before polling has not been credibly answered. One wonders whether any other ruling party in the world will go to the extent of what BN has done. Mugabe may have to copy BN in this trick. All those who participated in this unconstitutional and wholly unacceptable conduct are guilty of treachery and treason.

Most Malaysians knew that this election would be stolen. That is exactly what happened on Sunday, May 5 between 5pm when the polls closed and when the results were announced.

 The BN game-plan was to focus on about 30 parliamentary states. Winning them at all costs would ensure a return of power. Thus, they were not interested in Karpal Singh’s seat in Bukit Gelugor which he won by 42,000 votes or Seputeh where Teresa Kok increased her formidable majority to 61,000 seats.

Rather, the focus was on closely contested seats. In these seats, recounts were ordered, which invariably resulted in BN victories. The results were announced very late. There was always a break in the chain of evidence, that is, between the sealing of the ballot boxes after counting in the voting centres, and the subsequent recounts and final announcement of results seven or eight hours later.

With the benefit of hindsight, it becomes clear why in the last week before the elections when all the evidence suggested a surge for Pakatan, the Umno “war room” was confident of winning 140 to 150 seats: they had “insider information” about cheating. The evidence is slowly being uncovered and no doubt by the time these results are challenged in court in the coming weeks, the picture would be much clearer.

An analogy would be a 100-metre race where the BN runner is wearing the best track suit while the legs of his Pakatan rival tied together. The starter, the official at the tape, the track announcer and the final appeal tribunal are all BN-friendly. What would be the outcome of that race?

It is against these absolutely lop-sided voting conditions that one must at once congratulate the people of Malaysia for voting in such large numbers to ensure a magnificent performance by Pakatan against all odds.

Massive gerrymandering

Even when the results were officially announced by EC, there was discrepancy. The first announcements in the evening of May 5 placed the total national voter turnout at around the 80% mark. The EC subsequently announced on May 6 that it was at 84.84%, a significant increase.

Does the 4% increase represent phantom voters? Set out below is a table that has been compiled from election data published on the EC website.

On the assumption that the information provided by EC is reliable and trustworthy, the critical facts that emerge on our parliamentary elections are as follows:

1. Of the record-breaking voter turnout of 84.84% resulting in 11,257,147 votes being cast nationwide, Pakatan secured 50.85% while BN received 46.87%. Pakatan received 361,101 more votes than BN in the entire country.

2. Pakatan’s margin of victory is more impressive if one considers the result in peninsular Malaysia. Pakatan received 53.26% of the popular vote, while BN had 45.55%. Pakatan received 688,288 more votes than BN. Yet it won five seats less than BN for Parliament.

 3. Pakatan’s best performances were in Penang (67.77%), Kuala Lumpur (64.65%) and Selangor (59.36%). BN did best in Sarawak (58.26%), Perlis (55.39%) and Pahang (55.18%). The two seats in Putrajaya and Labuan have been disregarded for this purpose.

4. Kelantan and Terengganu are states in the Malay hinterland. Malay voters constitute at least 90% of the electorate in each state. BN secured 51.42% in Terengganu and 46.24% in Kelantan. 48.47% of the voters in Terengganu supported Pakatan, while 53.7% of Kelantan voted for Pakatan.

This is the best proof that BN was telling another of its big lies when it described Sunday’s result as a “Chinese tsunami”. The plain and obvious fact is Pakatan could not have received a total of 5.62 million votes nationwide if only the Chinese had supported them. Instead, substantial numbers of Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Dayaks voted for Pakatan.

5. Perak has an interesting story of its own. For the parliamentary seats, Pakatan received 54.48% of the votes while BN received 44.71%. Thus, Pakatan received 111,893 more votes than BN.

For the state elections, Pakatan also received 54.48% of the votes, while BN received 44.4%. The votes cast were 625,710 for Pakatan and 506,947 for BN. Hence, Pakatan had a wide margin of 118,763 state votes over BN.

Yet BN formed the state government winning 31 seats to Pakatan’s 28 seats. Only a combination of gerrymandering and outright cheating caused this massive imbalance.

On these facts, an objective case can be made that the BN federal government does not enjoy political legitimacy. It did not secure the mandate of the majority. It is a minority government insofar as public support is concerned.

It is only because of massive gerrymandering that BN has majority representation in the Dewan Rakyat, enabling it to form the federal government. If 25 to 30 of the results are declared void, and by-elections follow in a free and fair manner, the BN government may fall.

When the institutions which were intended to give sanctity to the voters in their once in a five-year opportunity to decide on their government failed disastrously, public confidence was shattered, both in the newly elected government, and in the institutions which allowed this to happen. This is Malaysia’s tragedy, and an awakening.

Two final comments

One needs more time to reflect upon Sunday’s events and their aftermath. Two comments can nonetheless be immediately be made.

In the second decade of the 21st century, it is difficult to believe that there are politicians in any part of the globe who question and insult the world’s great religions and the contents of the Holy Books, who call for such books to be burnt and for places of worship to be destroyed.

Those were the hallmarks of the Nazi regime in 1930s. The declaration of the Atlantic Charter of Four Freedoms (freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear), the establishment of the United Nations and the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, were intended to make these terrible deeds a thing of the past.

When Malaya obtained Merdeka in 1957, our federal constitution expressly stated that freedom of religion is an entrenched, inalienable and fundamental right.

Yet in the months leading up to last weekend’s elections, Umno’s propaganda tool, Utusan Malaysia gave such pronouncements by the likes of Ibrahim Ali wide and extensive publicity. They were also selected to run as candidates.

One hopes that with the decisive defeats of Perkasa leaders Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin, Umno will respect the will of the electorate and cease such abominable conduct. Umno must recognise that we are a moderate, tolerant people who accept plurality and diversity.

Secondly, the youth of Malaysia must not lose heart or give up hope. Those in the country must continue to engage in the reform movement. Wednesday night’s mammoth rally was dominated by youths of all races. The experience was exhilarating.

The Global Bersih campaign opened the eyes of many Malaysians abroad. Millions of them are active in the social media. Thousands of them returned home to vote. You are our best and the brightest. You have the world at your feet. Your talents, intelligence and industry are recognised worldwide. You must not give up on Malaysia.

Stay steadfast for Malaysia. We need you to defeat BN at the earliest opportunity.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 May 2013, 12:48 pm and is filed under
Bersih
,
Bridget Welsh
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Guan Eng: DAP has no interest in BN

Athi Shankar| May 10, 2013

Free Malaysia Today

Lim Guan Eng accuses Umno of trying to break up the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

GEORGE TOWN: DAP has no interest in joining Barisan Nasional for posts, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in a statement here today.

This is because, he said DAP struggled for principles and people-centric policies not positions and personal interests.

He claimed that BN was using underhand tactics to split up Pakatan Rakyat by inviting DAP to join the coalition.

He stressed DAP’s urgent priority of polls reform that respected the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” principle would not be undermined by such underhand tactics.

He claimed that Pakatan’s failure to wrest the federal government from BN despite garnering more popular votes demands urgent polls reforms.

He said Pakatan was willing to co-operate with BN to implement polls reform to reflect the unhappiness of majority Malaysians, who voted for change and yet discover that despite winning the popular votes, they could not vote out BN.

“Suggestion of DAP joining BN by one MCA MP and one racist ex-Umno minister is to undermine Pakatan’s campaign to seek polls reform.

“Clearly BN’s latest tactic is designed to split up Pakatan,” alleged Lim, also the Bagan MP and Air Putih assemblyman.

DAP recorded its biggest electoral gains in the just concluded 13th general election by winning 38 parliamentary and 107 state seats, besides retaining the Penang government.

The Chinese dominated DAP has emerged as the single biggest party after Umno with most elected representatives for this term.

Lim claimed that DAP could have joined BN in the last 40 years if the party wanted to.

However, he said DAP had refused to join BN and held steadfastly to its ideals, principles and policies of a fairer, freer and democratic Malaysia.

“DAP leaders had not only forgone the perks and privileges of high office, but sacrificed their personal liberties by being jailed and detained,” said Lim.

He insisted that any talks of co-operation must be done through Pakatan and not through individual parties.

Prior to calls for DAP to join BN, he recalled similar gestures were also offered to PAS to form an unity government.

He said all these were being done when Umno was demonising DAP and the Chinese community for daring to oppose and vote against BN.

“Malaysians are no longer stupid and will not allow BN to racialise national issues,” he claimed.

Yesterday Lim’s father, the Gelang Patah MP Kit Sing said the party leadership had not given thought to the proposal to join BN.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 May 2013, 7:42 am and is filed under
Bersih
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia’s Opposition not after an ‘Arab spring’ – DAP leader

ABC Radio Australia

10 May 2013, 21:47 AEST

Malaysia’s opposition is planning several political gatherings across the country this month, over last Sunday’s disputed national elections.

The protests could be the most provocative challenge to the Malaysian government in years.

Mr Lim Kit Siang, a veteran senior member of the DAP, a component of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat, told Asia Pacific that the Opposition is studying allegations of fraud in between twenty to thirty constituencies.

Mr Lim, who caused a political upset last Sunday by winning a seat in Johor state against the incumbent chief minister, says media reports of a ‘wave of protests’ are erroneous.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Lim Kit Siang, member of parliament for Gelang Patah, and senior member of the opposition Democratic Action Party

LIM: Well, we’re having ceramahs (meetings) in order to explain to the people the electoral fraud, as well as the latest political situation in the country. I had one last night for instance, a DAP ceramah. Of course people are angry and frustrated that the election process has been so unfair, not having a level playing field, that has deprived the country of a government that they wanted – which is a replacement of the present government and prime minister.

LAM: Are you concerned that such ongoing protests might lead to national instability?

LIM: Well, we definitely do not want an ‘Arab spring’ in the sense of having national incidents and all that. We want to continue to have peaceful and orderly process, where there can be public meetings to explain to the people the latest political developments in the country, including the electoral fraud.

LAM: Isn’t it time for all Malaysians now, to get together, after you’ve had these elections – to forward the progress of the country?

LIM: Yes, I agree there must be politics of national reconciliation, but an example must be set by the Prime Minister himself. He must adopt the language of reconciliation and not the language of national division, like his reference to the election result as a “Chinese tsunami”, the talk about the Chinese not being grateful – that is not the language of national reconciliation. Similarly, as far as the electoral fraud is concerned, I think that must be addressed – the problems arising from that, the distrust, the anger, arising from the people’s disappointment, cannot be ignored. But I do agree, this all must be done in a peaceful, orderly and democratic fashion, without allowing any irresponsible people to stir up trouble.

LAM: Radio Australia has spoken to several BN – UMNO voices, who all say, “Present the evidence of fraud, take it to the courts.” Why hasn’t the Opposition done this?

LIM: The results have not been gazetted even. The question, the process of challenging the election results can only begin when the results are gazetted. Our leaders and advisors are looking at a list of some twenty to thirty constituencies. And if these twenty to thirty constituencies are found to be results which are not credible, then of course it will mean that there’s a possibility that the prime minister will not have his majority, that he’s now working on.

LAM: As I understand it, any challenge in the court has to be done on a constituency by constituency, seat by seat basis. Is the Opposition prepared to do that?

LIM: Yes, our team of advisors are looking into it. They’re looking at studying the constituencies involved, some 20 to 30 of them and we are awaiting a report.

LAM: What do you say to Malaysians who feel they just want to get on with life, having had two years of (unofficial) election campaigning, that they just want to concentrate and focus on bread and butter issues now, to make money, to be prosperous, to get on with their lives?

LIM: Well, I think Malaysians should be allowed to do that. We shan’t do anything to frustrate Malaysians from getting on with their lives. But nonetheless, the question of legitimacy, the credibillity of the election results, that must also take its correct course.

LAM: And Lim Kit Siang, what do you make of reports in sections of the Malaysian media, that say that the Barisan Nasional is actively wooing the DAP – your party – to replace the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) in BN?

LIM: The DAP has no intention of replacing the MCA in BN, because the DAP has never been a party just for the sake of the Chinese – it’s a party for all Malaysians. And for the last forty-seven years, party leaders and activists have gone to jail, have been dragged through court, have been detained. Not just for the interest of the Chinese, but for all Malaysians – whether Malays, Indians, Chinese, Kadazans or Ibans. And we’re not going to allow all this to go to, not to replace the MCA.

LAM: And Mr Lim, congratulations on winning Gelang Patah from the Johor menteri besar (chief minister).

LIM: Thank you very much.

LAM: That was by a huge margin of 14-thousand votes, and Johor is an UMNO-BN stronghold as well. How do you read your victory in Gelang Patah? How do you account for it?

LIM: Well, I think it’s very significant and the reason why the UMNO leaders are so distraught over it, because they see the last UMNO state and in fact, the fortress of UMNO, the state where UMNO was founded, and in that connection, also where MCA was started, that it was beginning to come apart, it is no more a fixed deposit state. It’s now vulnerable to challenge from the Pakatan Rakyat – it means if Johor or UMNO goes, then of course, it also goes for the whole country as well.

LAM: But how do you account for your message resonating with the voters in Gelang Patah?

LIM: It was a message of hope – of a Malaysian dream, where all Malaysians regardless of race can come together to build a great nation, rather than to continue with 56 years of the politics of the past, based on race politics and corruption and abuse of power. That we can get the Chinese, Indians and even Malays to come together.

LAM: And finally, Mr Lim, the Pakatan Rakyat made more gains, significant gains in GE13. Will the opposition now seek to have the electoral boundaries redrawn, given that BN (is occupying 133 seats) really just got about 47 percent of the popular vote?

LIM: Well, under the Constitution, the electoral boundaries have to be redrawn, it’s actually between eight to ten years and the time is up. But we want it to be redrawn under democratic conditions, where there is really one man, one vote, one value. Not as of now, where for instance, you have one constituency, which is Putrajaya, having some 16-thousand votes, whereas in Kapar, we have 140-thousand, which is a one to nine ratio. And that is definitely not one man, one vote, and one value. And I think we want that to be embedded as one of the cardinal principles of the new constituency delineation process.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 May 2013, 7:20 am and is filed under
Elections
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.