Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Unfair media access: PR should boycott polls
- Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – Hindraf under Star symbol and flag in Malaya!
- The EC Must Address These Doubts
| Unfair media access: PR should boycott polls Posted: 13 Apr 2013 03:28 PM PDT
Pakatan Rakyat has an important case to make to Malaysia and the world by standing firm and refusing to go to the elections without equal media access. Although the media in Malaysia does not primarily decide the outcome of elections, its role in influencing the decision-making process of the electorate is crucial and needs to take place on a level playing field. Lim Teck Ghee, FMT Even before the dust has set on the fixing of the polling date, the Barisan Nasional had already begun the hijacking of the elections. With the apparent connivance of the Election Commission (EC) – the pit bull ensuring BN's electoral victory for the past 12 general elections – they have imposed a 10-minute slot for Pakatan Rakyat parties to explain their polls manifesto over the official media. According to Rais Yatim, the Information, Communications and Culture caretaker minister, the short time offered to Pakatan will be more than enough to showcase their pledges. Although an attempt has been made by the EC at damage control over the government's ludicrous but at the same time deadly serious intent – it has explained that the opposition had misunderstood the offer which was intended to be serial and not one-time – the objective of the government is clear. This is to use its monopoly of the official (and much of the unofficial print) media to ensure a BN election victory by seeing to it that the public – especially rural and Malay voters – will hear only the good side and promises of the BN and to downplay, ignore or demonize the Pakatan side. Quite rightly, the Pakatan has snubbed the offer in response, calling it a "joke" and a mockery of press freedom. In fact, media manipulation has been one of the cornerstones of the BN's remarkable record of cheating and trickery in the elections over the past 50 years. So it is not surprising that the BN and its partner in electoral crime, the EC, will want the racket to continue. And it will continue until the strongest possible stand is made against it. Although the media in Malaysia does not primarily decide the outcome of elections, its role in influencing the decision-making process of the electorate is crucial and needs to take place on a level playing field. Free and fair access to media should be what our electorate deserves, not media coverage which is saturated by BN propaganda and political advertisement overkill. What is puzzling for now is the timidity of the opposition response. Although leaders from the opposition pact have maintained that they want equal media access in the mainstream media and television stations controlled by the government (RTM)) or by companies that are closely linked to the BN (the New Straits Times, The Star, Utusan Malaysia, etc), they appear to have forgotten or decided not to draw a line in the sand on this No.1 game changer. Surely the opposition must be aware that any decision to limit them to anything less than equal time over official media for the elections will make a mockery of the democratic process. Boycott the elections Although Pakatan parties have rightly rejected the offer, they need to go further and to insist on equal time as a precondition for participation in the elections or else they will boycott it. Such a stand is not as extreme as it may appear.
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| Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – Hindraf under Star symbol and flag in Malaya! Posted: 13 Apr 2013 02:47 PM PDT
Joe Fernandez It's confirmed! Hindraf Makkal Sakthi will be fielding candidates in Malaya under the Borneo-based State Reform Party's (Star) symbol and flag in the forthcoming 13th General Election on May 5. Star is a national party. Star chairman Jeffrey Kitingan, in a text message a little while ago said: "Let Hindraf be a big surprise." Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy in a text message confirmed: "We are still finalizing the list." Star Secretary Guandee Kohoi confirmed in a text message: "We agreed to it. Letter of authorization to use symbol with me. We only need full name as per IC." This is the culmination of a process which began quite some time ago to get the ten percent who are Christians in Malaysia on board with Hindraf as 3rd Force allies. At present, the Christians in Malaya don't have any political vehicle. Star has answered that need. There are many Sabahans and Sarawakians in Malaya.
When Waytha was still in involuntary political asylum in London, I casually suggested to him and Jeffrey that Hindraf field candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya to help forge 3rd Force unity in Parliament. That was well before Waytha re-filed the Hindraf class action suit in London in early July last year. Incidentally, I am not a member of Hindraf or Star. Neither am I a self-appointed Advisor to anyone. I am more for embedded reporting, albeit with a difference. It's not about scooping anyone. There's a difference between merely following the news and watching history on the one hand and giving a Hearing to All. First, a little more digression. The fact that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) approved Hindraf last month after earlier lifting the ban on the unregistered organisation is beside the point. The ROS himself said that Hindraf could apply for registration after the ban was ended. Hindraf still remains an NGO. It's not a political party. Obviously, the Barisan Nasional (BN) hopes that Hindraf would be a BN-friendly NGO. Hence, no doubt the approval. However, Hindraf's support for anyone would not be free. The registration of Hindraf was filed at the same time as the appeal for the ban on it to be lifted. Nothing was done discreetly, according to a text message a while ago from Waytha. Supporters of former Legal Advisor and co-Founder P. Uthayakumar in PKR – the man himself is not involved -- were also at the same time trying to hijack ownership of the NGO. Away from that little digression, I felt that no useful purpose would be served by Waytha continuing to stay in London once the suit had been re-filed.
No mystery in Waythamoorthy's return to Malaysia He was worried that his return would be seen as a sellout to the BN, the same worry plaguing Royal Fugitive Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin who had met up with Waytha to exchange notes. The latter had put me in Skype contact with Petra. Initially, Waytha did not know what to say about the Star proposal. I suggested subsequently that he head a Star chapter in Malaya, an idea which came from Jeffrey. Waytha appeared to agree somewhat and I even mentioned this in a story on his return from political exile. No one followed up the story as the media on both sides of the political divide, especially the Opposition, is anti-3rd Force. Waytha himself, before the Star idea came up, toyed with the idea of standing on a Dap ticket, or even a Pas ticket. He was also for meeting Nurul Izzah and her mother Wan Azizah in Singapore to discuss patching up between Hindraf and PKR. However, doing business with PKR was difficult since relations between Anwar and Hindraf were strained to the breaking point after the former tried to discredit the NGO as a racist organisation and kept claiming that it had nothing to do with the makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil -- wave which unleashed the political tsunami of Sat 8 Mar, 2008. Anwar had shamelessly jumped on the Hindraf bandwagon but now he was like the lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama. The people did not vote for PR in 2008. They voted against BN. Waytha decided to return via Singapore without his Malaysian passport. He had a UN Travel Document issued to him, as a political exile, by the British Government. He could travel to any country in the world except Malaysia and should he infringe the condition, his political asylum status would be immediately revoked.
People of Borneo should get a proper hearing in Parliament The Malaysian High Commission in Singapore quickly re-issued a Malaysian passport to Waytha as otherwise he would have to be deported, as is the norm in Government agreements with carrier airlines, and this would have been politically and diplomatically embarrassing to both Singapore and Malaysia especially if Waytha refused to leave the city state and made repeated attempts to enter his country. The British Government and the UN would then enter the picture. Waytha's idea was to cross over from Singapore to Johore on foot. He was prepared to be arrested and charged with terrorism, sedition and treason as the Government had earlier indicated. Jeffrey was initially hesitant about Hindraf fielding candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya. He feared that Star crossing the South China Sea to Malaya may perhaps contradict his own battle cry that Malayan parties should keep out of Borneo. Hence, we have Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo, a Star version of a one-to-one fight in Sabah. (Kepayan Star Chief Phillip Among, a young Turk, is the Architect of the Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo theme. He sold me the idea one day over tea at McDonald's in Kota Kinabalu. I wrote about it, to gather public feedback, even before Jeffrey entered the picture and quickly endorsed it. Star is a young Turk party.) I pointed out to Jeffrey that under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, and related constitutional documents on Malaysia, Malaya was supposed to have one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. Given the present 222 seats in Parliament, that means no more than 147 seats. Malaya has 165 seats in Parliament. This is a theft of 18 seats which should be with Borneo, a heinous crime against the people, the result of the Registrar of Societies, the Election Commission and the Attorney General looking the other way to diminish the voice of the people in Parliament. By the same token, there's no reason why Borneo cannot have the same one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. In order to achieve this, a Borneo-based national party or coalition would have to field candidates under its symbol and flag in Malaya. It's not tit-for-tat! It should not be tit for tat!
Nur Misuari can't help Anwar against Star/Usno in Sabah east coast It's not possible for Borneo to achieve the same maximum in Parliament given its paltry 57 seats including Labuan. Even if Malaya had not stolen the 18 seats, Borneo would have only 75 seats in Parliament, far short of the 147 seats. Jeffrey was finally sold on the idea of Hindraf using the Star symbol and flag in Malaya. Also, the mood in his party was, Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – a variation of Caretaker Unelected Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's infamous Lu Tolong Gua, Gua Tolong Lu declaration in Sibu during a parliamentary by-election -- given the stubborn refusal of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to make way for local parties in Sabah. Anwar is being politically suicidal in Sabah. Although he may not have been a party to placing illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls, he certainly knew about it, did nothing to stop the treasonous activities, and now wants to benefit from it, as he did when he headed Sabah Umno. He wants to ensure that Muslim, whether local or illegal, political domination of Sabah continues so that he can "inherit" the system in tact through cross-overs en bloc. This is why he's having problems with his own Sabah PKR leaders who are up in arms against his nefarious plans in their country. Anwar is pledged towards continued disunity among the Orang Asal, including the Muslim, in Sabah and Sarawak. If possible, he wants to see the political destruction of the mainly Christian Orang Asal in Sabah and Sarawak in pursuit of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political domination and supremacy). His attempts to get Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari to throw a spanner in the Star-United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) alliance has not worked. Usno, now protem after deregistration, was founded by legendary Suluk Chief Mustapha Harun, a previous Governor and then Chief Minister of Sabah. Nur Misuari pledged he could do more than what Anwar wants according to Sabah PKR sources now with Star, and either known or unknown to him (Anwar), was behind the Lahad Datu intrusion. His latest ploy has been to try and wreck the possibility of a truce between Star and Sapp.
Anwar should make way for the sake of greater Opposition Unity If Hindraf and Star maintain their position that the former fields candidates under the latter's symbol and flag in Malaya, it will be a whole new ball game. Some will say that it will be BN that would benefit. The jury is still out on the issue. We need to watch where Hindraf will be fielding candidates and then work out the possible trends that could emerge. It will be prudent if both BN and PR can give way to Star/Hindraf in Malaya instead of continuing to promote their political mandores. Both should accept the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) if the Hindraf Blueprint proper sticks in their throats. The Ministry can implement the Hindraf Blueprint. Ideally, Indians should put off the inevitable destruction of Umno/BN, and help maintain the status quo in Malaya for now except for removing MIC from the scene and making place for Hindraf/Star. Indians have more than an axe to grind with Umno/BN for the 56 years of internal colonisation they suffered under the ruling coalition's bangsa, agama, negara (race, religion, country) policy of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political dominance and supremacy), a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, Political Islam, terrorism, militancy, "ethnic cleansing", and the caste system to prevent upward social mobility among the 45 per cent non-Malay minorities. It would not be in the interest of Indians to see the destruction of PR. The PR is needed to destroy Umno/BN, if not now, later. In any case, the writing is on the wall for Umno/BN after 56 years. Its days are numbered. BN, outside Umno, is likely to be history this time in Malaya. If there's going to greater opposition unity, come the 13th GE, Anwar has to step aside and let Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng, Chua Jui Meng, Hadi Awang, Nik Aziz and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have a greater say. Anwar has become a divisive figure, partly the result of Azmin Ali & Co, on both sides of the South China Sea. He cannot continue to take Azmin's side against his own wife, the party president, and his daughter Nurul Izzah. It's the party president who should run the party, not the de facto whatever by using the fig leaf of being the Opposition Leader in Parliament.
Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner in Sarawak If the Opposition in Malaya and Sabah fails to measure up to public expectations, come the 13th GE, blame it on Anwar for not being able to rise to the occasion. His political impotence would be complete. In Sarawak, the people have put the Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner for the moment, given the destruction of local political parties by the Taib regime. They are banking on PR to help bring about a change of government in their country. However, PR component parties in Sarawak would have to incorporate locally and be autonomous and independent of Malaya, or they risk Jeffery entering the picture again in that nation to haunt them all over again.
Joe Fernandez is a graduate mature student of law and an educationist, among others, who loves to write especially Submissions for Clients wishing to Act in Person. He also tutors at local institutions. He feels compelled, as a semi-retired journalist, to put pen to paper -- or rather the fingers to the computer keyboard -- whenever something doesn't quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview) or to give a Hearing to All. He shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, northern Sarawak and the watershed region in Borneo where three nations meet. He's half-way through a semi-autobiographical travelogue, A World with a View.
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| The EC Must Address These Doubts Posted: 13 Apr 2013 02:34 PM PDT
Kee Thuan Chye While announcing the date for the 13th general election, the Election Commission (EC) also said that it would make the event "the best" ever held. In pledging this, its chairman, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, reiterated what he had said on Feb 5. But somehow the pledge rings hollow. Many Malaysians have lost too much confidence in the EC to believe that it will be, in Abdul Aziz's words, "transparent" and that it "will not help any party to win". Its actions and pronouncements have too often indicated the contrary. Besides that, NGOs that have engaged with the EC know how frustrating the experience can be. The latter is notorious for not replying to pressing questions concerning the electoral process or improper conduct at elections. Its dismissal of Bersih's demands for electoral reform compelled the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections to take its cause to the streets in July 2011. The EC is also noted for its apparently cavalier attitude towards calls for cleaning the electoral roll. Instead of getting down to the task of doing it, it has been giving excuses – even though a Merdeka Centre survey in April 2012 revealed that 92% of Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia want the roll cleaned. The biggest joke, made in April 2012, was Abdul Aziz's declaration that the Malaysian electoral roll was "the cleanest in the world". He said there were only 42,000 dubious voters out of the 12.6 million registered, which works out to a mere 0.3%. But political scientist Ong Kian Ming had a radically different figure to present. Ong said an analysis conducted under one of his projects showed that the number of dubious voters was 3.3 million. Apart from dubious voters, missing names and other anomalies have reportedly been found in the constituencies of Klang MP Charles Santiago and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, both from Pakatan Rakyat. But when they both requested the EC to look into the matter, it did not respond accordingly. Both were forced to go to the High Court. However, Section 9A of the Elections Act denies the courts jurisdiction in regard to the electoral roll, so their cases were thrown out. More distressing for Izzah is the sudden spike in the number of postal voters there. By the end of 2011, it had gone up by an unusual 1,400% from 2008. And since postal votes are known to favour the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, their increased presence could be a bane to the PKR vice-president. As for the total number of voters in Lembah Pantai, there has been, according to Izzah, a phenomenal increase of 15,000. While some are newly registered voters, many more appear to have been transferred there, for reasons known only to the EC. With the general election coming up on May 5, what happens now to the discrepancies in the electoral roll? Do Malaysians go to the polls with doubt in their minds about whether the process might be compromised and phantom voting might influence the outcome unfairly?
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