Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
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| Political heat to rise further Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:42 PM PDT
In the months leading up to the 13th general election, mud-slinging, allegations and all sorts of political brick-brats will be thrown about. S Retnanathan, FMT After more than a month of lull due to the fasting month and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the country's political temperature is expected to rise further as political parties go, presumably, into the last lap before the 13th general election. Both sides of the political divide are expected to crank up their engines in an effort to woo voters, especially fence-sitters, before registered Malaysians go to the ballots to pick 222 members of parliament and and 505 state assemblymen. The Sarawak state election for 71 seats was held in April, 2011 and would not be held simultaneously with the general election. Political parties, be it the ruling Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat – a coalition made up of PAS, DAP and PKR – are expected to up the tempo to win the hearts and minds of voters and signs are abound that they would use the next few months to run down each other and prove that they can or should govern the nation for the next five years. Prime Minister and BN chief Najib Tun Razak has yet to make any significant announcement on the date of the crucial election although political pundits had began the guessing game on the date of the polls since late last year. The ruling BN won 140 parliamentary seats at the last election while the opposition mustered 82 seats. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had said just before the fasting month that Pakatan is poised to form the next federal government, winning more than 100 seats. Whether this prediction would come true depends on this last lap. Najib has until March next year to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh polls. "He now has two options. Go for full term or dissolve Parliament after tabling the 2013 Budget. If he does the latter, then we are looking at October or November election. If he misses this, then election would be next year," a BN component party head told FMT. Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, is expected to table the 2013 Budget late next month in Parliament. Many are expecting him to use the budget to bolster support for the ruling coalition. "The budget would be a sweetener. It would be a people's budget. I am certain he would give out incentives, subsidies and such. He would also announce one or two drastic measures to bolster support. It would be good for the people. "Although the opposition would criticise this move as campaigning, it is Najib's right as prime minister. It has happened before during the time of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He tabled the budget and subsequently called for election. We think Najib would take the same route," said the leader, who declined to be named. It would also be interesting to see if the opposition-ruled states would dissolve their State Legislative Assemblies when Najib dissolves Parliament before March next year. Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor are in the hands of the opposition. Pakatan had said that it would follow the federal dissolution if BN decides to call for polls after September this year and this is more likely to happen. Although BN has been on the receiving end – and in some cases back-peddling – on issues brought up by the opposition, it has begun firing against Pakatan, targeting mismanagement of states ruled by the opposition. Starting from Kedah, the BN claimed that the state was lagging in development and the bickering among Pakatan partners is a cause for concern. The PAS-led government in the northern state is also unstable after rebels in the party, who are also state assemblymen, openly asked Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak to step down. The BN is also firing salvos against the Kelantan PAS-led government, complaining of slow development and the lack of proper basic amenities. Over in Penang, the state government spearheaded by DAP is also under fire for various allegations of mismanagement. So far, DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been on top of things, deflecting a barrage of criticisms thrown against the state government. Selangor, the state led by PKR's Khalid Ibrahim, is reeling from revelations of mismanagement in the state government-owned Talam Corporation. The problem with Pakatan-ruled states is that there is no concerted effort to deflect criticisms. "The state organs are not utilised to the fullest due to politics. They should answer all issues brought up. They should not push them under the carpet or just blame the previous BN-led state governments. They should stand up and defend themselves. So far only Penang is doing it but in doing so, it blames the former state government for almost everything," a political observer noted. While Pakatan had made inroads into Sabah by enticing two BN MPs to jump ship last month, it is very unlikely to create a huge dent on BN in the land below the wind.
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| Not a sweet dream but a nightmare Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:36 PM PDT
When BN took over the state government in 1994, it promised a new Sabah within 100 days, but 18 years later, Sabah is the poorest state in the country. Raymond Tombung, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Barisan Nasional's "Janji DiTepati" slogan won't sell in Sabah, claims opposition State Reform Party deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun. "There's just too long a list of unfulfilled promises by BN. I could list it out and it will fill a book. But for now I can list seven reasons why the slogan will be rejected," he said. Topping Jambun's list is Sabah's security within Malaysia. He said when Sabah was invited to join in the formation of Malaysia, the rationale bandied about at that time was the supposed threat from the Philippines, which had been claiming Sabah, and the threat by Sukarno's Konfrontasi to "Ganyang Malaysia" before the cockerel crowed on the dawn of Sept 16, 1963. "The fear at that time was that without Malaysia, Sabah would be invaded and colonised by Indonesia. "But strangely history has shown that these threats didn't go far as proven by the fact that Brunei not only survived but prospered. "And when we became part of the federation, we didn't really get the security that we were promised. "Ironically, it was the Filipinos and Indonesians who actually invaded Sabah, not as military forces, but as illegal immigrants. All the security forces of Malaysia – the army, the border police, the immigration officials – couldn't or wouldn't stop them! "Where was the promise to guarantee us security?" he asked. Not an equal-partner nation Next on the list was the peninsula's promise not to "colonise" Sabah. "(Former chief minister) Donald (Fuad) Stephens' biggest worry was that Sabah would escape from the clutches of British colonialisation and fall into being a colony of Malaya. "But Tunku Abdul Rahman made a promise [to him] that Sabah and Sarawak would not become the 12th and 13th states of Malaya. "But now this is what had happened. We are now unitary states instead of being independent, equal-partner nations in the federation as was originally understood. "The promise not to colonise Sabah was flagrantly broken," Jambun said. The third reason Jambun pointed out was the federal government's non-compliance with the terms of the Malaysia Agreement signed in 1963. He said there was no compliance by the federal government on the five constitutional documents and/or constitutional conventions (the Federal Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement, the 20 Points, the IGC Report, and the Oath Stone) which formed the basis for Sabah and Sarawak's equal partnership as nations in Malaysia. (The Oath Stone was erected in Keningau town to acknowledge Sabah's acceptance of joining the federation.) The fourth point was that no proper constitution was drafted or passed. "What we have is actually the constitution of the federation of Malaya amended to become what is now the 'Federal Constitution', which is the real reason why it is not called the 'Malaysian Constitution.' "When they came up with the decision to use the Malayan constitution as the basis for the [Federal] Constitution we have now, there was already a hidden agenda. "We were played out from even before the start of Malaysia," Jambun said. Rights denied "The 20-Point Agreement has many points which promised certain rights and autonomy for Sabah. "These have now been taken away, eroded or simply denied, often without any proper legal process. "That's why we no longer have freedom not to have any official religion, no longer have the right to arrange our own education system, to determine our own immigration rules and to retain the collection of our own taxes and use the money in accordance with our own economic plans. "The 20-Point Agreement in fact is a list of not only broken promises but a list of rights and autonomy which were taken away unceremoniously," Jambun said. The sixth reason, he added, was that Sabah was not consulted when the decision was made to expel Singapore from Malaysia.
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| Will SNAP ‘succeed’ SPDP in BN? Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:31 PM PDT
Sarawak National Party has written to BN chairman Najib Tun Razak to enquire about its membership. Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: If Sarawak National Party (SNAP) leaders chose to return the party to the Barisan Nasional fold, then it must be prepared to face the wrath of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) who have threatened to resign enmass in protest. A senior SNAP leader, who delined to be named, told FMT that if SNAP president Stanley Jugol went ahead with his plans, then there will be 'war' within the party. "If Jugol insists in joining BN, then many of us will resign from the party… There is no point in returning to the fold of Barisan Nasional. "Firstly, they will bully you and treat you even worse than a dog. "Secondly, SNAP is not likely to be allocated a seat to contest in the next general election if they join BN," he said. The leader was commenting on reports that SNAP is studying the possibility of rejoining BN. Jugol had reportedly said that SNAP was "mostly likely" to rejoin the BN instead of Pakatan Rakyat, which it had unsuccessfully engaged with last year. Asked to elaborate on SNAP's intention, Jugol admitted that he had written a letter to the chairman of the Barisan Nasional to find out the status of SNAP membership with BN. He said that it was vital to know if SNAP's status was still intact following the deregistration of the party in 2002 and the ensuing court cases which later rejected the decision of the Registrar of Societies to deregister the party. Jugol reasoned that SNAP has never been expelled from BN nor did it quit the coalition. Collective decision According to Jugol, the answer from the BN chairman is important, because if the membership was still intact, then SNAP should be invited to attend BN functions and meetings. "So far there is no reply from the BN chairman. "But it is wrong to say that SNAP insists in rejoining, because the power of acceptance is with BN. "Suppose BN rejects our application, then we feel 'malu'. What we want to find out is whether we are still with BN. That is all," he said. And if the membership was no longer there, then the party would consider as one of its options to apply rejoining the BN. "This is one of the options which we have discussed in our central executive committee (CEC) meeting last month," he said. The other options are to maintain its status quo as an independent opposition party or apply to join Pakatan Rakyat (PR). "There is nothing definite yet. We are still studying the options," Jugol said. On the threats of resignation by some CEC members, Jugol said that whether the party would rejoining BN or align itself with Pakatan Rakyat, it would be discussed with the CEC members. "All of us will decide what to do. It will be a collective decision," he added. SNAP was given a new 'life' by the Court of Appeal in June 2010 after it was deregistered in November 2002 following a serious leadership tussle. The tussle then was between a group led by the president James Wong and secretary-general Justine Jinggut, and another led by deputy president Peter Tinggom and by vice-president William Mawan Ikom (now president of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party). After SNAP was deregistered, its position and role in the BN was taken over by the SPDP. SPDP was registered soon after SNAP was declared illegal by the ROS.
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