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Posted: 17 Sep 2012 07:11 PM PDT

Loyalists are dismissing speculation that cracks are showing between Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin amid warnings of a 'bigger tsunami'.

Teoh El Sen, FMT

Several BN leaders dismissed speculations of a rift between Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, but a former Umno-minister warned that the ruling coalition is "in for a bigger surprise" come general election.

Earlier this month, FMT reported that Umno had been put on "high alert" with the friction between the party's top two leaders reaching a "worrying level".

Though both leaders dismissed such talks as fabrications by their rivals, sources claimed otherwise: that allies close to both Najib and Muhyiddin were reportedly scrambling to manage the situation.

Speculations were fuelled by the recent distribution of posters calling for Muhyiddin to succeed Najib as prime minister in the former's home state of Johor. The party's Johor chapter had denied publishing the posters.

Further "proof" of disunity was seen in the contradicting stands on several key policies like the expansion of vernacular education and a review of the amendment to the Evidence Act (Section 114A).

There were also allegations made by the opposition that the leaked official documents on the RM1.8 billion Ampang LRT line extension project scandal involving a company allegedly linked to Najib were provided by Muhyiddin's men to incriminate the prime minister.

Yesterday, PAS leader Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin claimed that the infighting in Umno had gotten worse, with not only Muhyiddin, but Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah all eyeing to take over Najib's position as Umno president before the 13th general election.

He said the three Umno leaders feared that the party might disintegrate and BN would lose the coming general election if Najib continued to lead.

'All is not well in Umno'

Commenting on this, veteran Umno leader Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzil refused to be drawn into the debate over the alleged tiff, claiming ignorance over the matter.

But he predicted that in next general election, "Umno would be in greater danger than in 2008… they are in for a big shock, a greater surprise."

"Eventhough the mainstream media is giving such a bright picture, my own experience shows that all is not well," he said.

Abdul Kadir said that Umno was a "very tired party" and Najib could keep harping about how members should work harder, but it won't work.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people who have joined the party in the last few years, have joined it because that is the place for them to make money.

"This is the place to find business opportunities and so on. That is the number one criterion. Unlike in the good old days, where Umno was a place to give, not a place to ask," he said.

"The values are gone. No one would do anything unless if they are paid. Everything moves with money," he added.

Kadir said that the deterioration, which began around the last 10 years, was now "at its peak".

Asked if he had anything to back his view, he replied: "This is based on personal experience. I've been there 56 years, I could see the changing of values. I've had a first-hand experience, watching things change."

Another former Cabinet minister, Zainuddin Maidin, dismissed the alleged rift.

Before cutting the line, the former information minister and editor said: "I'm not going to comment on this nonsense thing. You all are creating something out of nothing. Nonsense… nonsene…"

Former Selangor menteri besar Mohamed Khir Toyo said that he personally knew that Najib and Muhyiddin were on good terms.

"I know them very well, and I contact them regularly; as far as I'm concerned, there is definitely no such thing as a rift, as they are working along fine together," said the Sungai Panjang assemblyman.

"This is opposition propaganda to weaken Umno. I think they know their priorities is to win the next general election and to strengthen Umno and BN. They've learnt a lot since the last election, and I don't think they'll make the same mistakes," he said.

An insider told FMT that Najib and Muhyiddin's apparent contradictory statements were not as bad as reports painted them to be.

"So far, there is no indication that they are going after each other. Now, this so-called contradictory statements on the Evidence Act… Najib didn't tell Muhyiddin what they wanted to talk about but if you look at it, seriously, they were of the same mind," said the source.

"People were talking about it. And Najib, as a statesman, he had to put up something rational, telling people they are working on it," he said.

The source added that Muhyiddin stating that the election date should be this year also did not signify anything.

"That is normal, people say what they want about the dates, but the final say is with Najib. You ask anybody [in BN] now, they want the election sooner, but the prime minister has to bear accountability for the results," he said.

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‘Time to teach BN a lesson in Sabah’

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:56 PM PDT

SAPP wants the people of Sabah to rise up against BN and Umno to demand the reinstatement of the original terms of the Malaysia Agreement.

Joseph Bingkasan, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Frustrated with the current scenario, the Sabah-based political party led by former chief minister Yong Teck Lee wants to reinstate the original terms of the 20-point Malaysia Agreement inked in 1963.

The party argued that the people of Sabah had lost their political autonomy through the presence of Kuala Lumpur-based parties, in particular Barisan Nasional-Umno and now Pakatan Rakyat.

Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), which filed for registration on Jan 20, 1994 and was approved by the registrar the following day, would be fielding candidates in more than half of the state's 60 constituencies and most of the 25 parliamentary seats.

The party, a BN component member until it pulled out on Sept 17, 2008, now has two MPs and two members in the State Legislative Assembly.

"Sabah has suffered enough and this coming election is an appropriate window of opportunity for the people to make a change by giving SAPP the mandate to helm the state government and more voice in Parliament," said the party's Liawan vice-chairman Joseph Lakai.

Lakai, who is also a member of the Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis (PIPPA), was speaking at a Malaysia Day gathering of supporters from four villagers – Dangulad, Ria, Taurid Taud and Liawan – in Keningau yesterday.

Lakai, touted to be SAPP's candidate for Liawan, told the gathering that Sabah had already come to its 49 years of independence and 49 years of formation of the federation of Malaysia.

He recounted how in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation of Malaysia and became a fully independent nation.

"Singapore has now become the richest country in Southeast Asia and the sixth richest country in Asia while Sabah has become the poorest state in Malaysia with major problems," he said.

Racial and religious polarisation

Lakai pointed out that Sabah had to tolerate 37 years of regressive educational system and had to sacrifice three generations of global competitiveness in the name of nationhood.

"Yet, racial and religious polarisation in Malaysia today is worse than the early days of independence," he added.

He also said that after 49 years of centralised economic and financial mismanagement, the national debt totalled RM490 billion.

It was a debt created to develop Malaya, which Sabah and Sarawak now must share to pay, he said.

He added that in the interest of nationhood and protecting the national shipping industry, the cabotage policy was introduced in 1980. Sabah had to suffer 32 years of discrimination and disenfranchisement, and as a result, Sabah has the highest cost of living in Malaysia.

According to him, after 49 years with Malaysia, Sabah has the worst health system and the highest incidence of vector diseases such as TB and malaria, in addition to suffering from the lack of specialist doctors and nurses, and insufficient medical facilities and infrastructure.

He said Sabah has the highest mortality of 13 per 1,000 live births compared with 8.1 for the nation.

"Fourteen years after Tenaga National Bhd [TNB] took over power generation and distribution in Sabah, the state still suffers the highest interruption (2,600 minutes) of electricity supply in Malaysia compared to the lowest interruption (33 minutes) in the peninsula; as a result of this, Sabah could not industrialise and [could not] encourage investments opportunities," he added.

Lakai said Sabah, despite being the main producer of palm oil and petroleum in Malaysia, also had the highest poverty rate in the country and insufficient basic needs. Sabah and Sarawak had only 9,000km of sealed roads compared with 31,40km in the peninsula.

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BN’s final sweetener to swing votes

Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:45 PM PDT

Following one blunder after another in the past nine months, BN now has a final chance to get things right by offering sufficient goodies in the budget.

In the event the general election is called before March 2013, the Selangor polls will then become the focal point in Malaysia. A BN victory in the 13th general election will probably give Pakatan a chance to prove its theory that the election was "stolen" from the opposition and that the latter would stand a better chance of winning in Selangor and retain the state.

Amir Ali, FMT

The Barisan National has been facing an uphill battle against Pakatan Rakyat since the beginning of the year.

A closer look at the nine months (from January to September) will show how tough the fight has been for the government, which has been making lots of mistakes. The actions of the BN leaders, their comments and their refusal to listen to the people indicate troubled times ahead for the ruling coalition.

In January, PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim witnessed a landmark victory in his Sodomy ll case when the judge swiftly dismissed it after months of non-stop Anwar bashing.

Anwar said he was shocked that the verdict was read in just a minute and that the case was thrown out while he had prepared his tooth brush and toothpaste for a long haul in jail.

"What a waste of public money and court time the entire case was," he said at a rally in Selangor.

And this was to be the beginning of a long list of setbacks that would plague the BN. One wonders how will the ruling coalition recover from these debacles. The Sodomy II case was a political mistake that did not have the same effect on Anwar as the first.

The first on the list of blunders is the bashing of the Bersih 3.0 participants that has tarnished the image of the government.

In April this year, thousands of Malaysians descended on the streets to urge the government to carry out changes to the electoral laws and the way elections are being held in the country.

The peaceful march of the protesters was disrupted by the heavy-handed security forces, who used tear gas, batons and at times physical force to try disperse a mammoth crowd.

There is no way this bashing of the people would have done BN any good.

Ceramahs interrupted

The near physical attacks by the BN against Anwar, his daughter Nurul Izzah and other PKR members is another BN blunder.

Pakatan leaders have also been verbally abused, stones were thrown into Pakatan ceramahs and BN rallies (or anti-Anwar rallies) were staged next to Pakatan gatherings.

And yet the ruling coalition cries foul and says the culture of rallies, demonstrations and disrespect shown towards the prime minister by some youth are "not part of the Malaysian culture".

But are ugly "buttock dances", blockading of opposition convoys by hardcore pro-government elements and throwing red paints on opposition vehicles part of the "Malaysian culture"?

Is it possible that the coalition in power is finding it tough to handle Anwar and his well-organised campaigns?

There were also the attacks on PKR's campaign tour bus. It appears that the idea of using a bus to campaign is making BN jittery.

The attacks on the bus showed the ugly side of BN supporters, be they Perkasa members or otherwise.

By its acts, BN will certainly not come out looking like the "good guys" in the eyes of the undecided group of voters in the country.

The water fiasco

Then there is the water row with the Selangor state government. This dispute, which has been going on for the past few months, is unlikely to end any time soon. A group of people, who must surely be BN supporters, have even sued the Selangor state government over this issue.

This suit, which was publicised in the local press and the BN-controlled media, definitely works to the advantage of Pakatan.

If there are people in the country who did not know that water was free in Selangor, now they do know, thanks to the much-publicised suit.

The statement by Pakatan that it will not hold election in Selangor at the same time as the national election if it was held in November also puts BN in a difficult situation.

BN argues that Pakatan will be wasting public money by holding the state polls at a different date, but it misses the point.

Pakatan is telling the public and the ruling BN coalition that it can decide by itself when to hold the Selangor polls and that it will do so no matter when the 13th general election is called.

Indications are that Pakatan would want the Selangor polls to be held after March next year, that is, after finishing its five-year mandate.

Besides, if Pakatan were to take over Putrajaya in the national polls and organise the Selangor election after it has installed itself as the new government, chances are it will win big in Selangor.

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Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Selasa, 18 September 2012

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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