Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Jeffrey’s STAR crumbling?
- With big lead in popularity, Najib heads for win in Umno battle
- PKR leaders miss main message from GE13 results
| Posted: 27 May 2013 01:36 PM PDT
Political observers claim STAR was on the back foot in the media propaganda wars adding that "discipline was low and decisions not always right". Luke Rintod, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Jeffrey Kitingan's State Reform Party (STAR) in Sabah is said to be on the verge of disintegrating after its dismal performance in the recently-concluded general election. Sources in the opposition party said many of its senior leaders are taking a vacation from active politics in a prelude to leaving the party altogether. In the May 5 polling, STAR only won one state seat in Bingkor through its Sabah chapter chairman, Jeffrey who also bidded for the Keningau parliamentary seat but lost to his brother, Joseph Pairin, who stood on a Barisan Nasional ticket. STAR had placed its candidates in a total of 70 parliamentary and state seats in Sabah. For parliamentary seats, except for Keningau and Pensiangan seats, all other STAR candidates lost their deposits, mostly finishing third behind either the BN or the peninsula-controlled Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance. The party's candidates also fared badly in state seats with majority losing their deposits too, some only garnering a few hundreds votes. Days after the election Jeffrey admitted he was surprised by the poor performance of his party in Sabah especially after the warm reception it got from the people when they held political campaigns. The more than 1,000 Borneo 'tea-parties' that the United Borneo Front (UBF), an NGO linked to STAR that took on the role of educating the people on Sabah's history seemed to have failed to get the message across as the final results from the ballot boxes show. The party's election manifesto, launched days before nomination, was trumpeted as among the best alternatives for Sabah with fresh initiatives, but failed to attract Sabahan voters to the party. Party insiders blame the delay in launching the manifesto as one reason the content of the "attractive" manifesto failed to reach the masses. It has since come to light that not many STAR manifesto booklets were able to be distributed to the people during the campaigning period, something that the party had failed to notice. But observers have always stated that STAR was on the back foot in the media propaganda wars.
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| With big lead in popularity, Najib heads for win in Umno battle Posted: 27 May 2013 01:13 PM PDT
Despite the BN's poorer overall electoral results, Najib's leadership had ensured Umno succeeded in netting a significant nine more seats in Election 2013, giving the Malay party a total of 88 in the Dewan Rakyat compared to 79 in Election 2008, the paper reported. (TMI) - Datuk Seri Najib Razak is likely to prevail in the upcoming contest for Umno's presidency because there is practically no one in the country who matches his stature and popularity at the moment, Singapore's Straits Times (ST) newspaper reported today. The newspaper said that the win will strengthen his position as prime minister and give him the power to carry out his "national reconciliation" after the divisive May 5 general election. In an analysis of the post-GE13 scenario, the Singapore daily pointed out that possible contenders for the party's top post could be his own deputy or one of the three vice-presidents. It could even come from an unknown Umno member who mounts a symbolic challenge just to embarrass him or to underline the unhappiness of some sections over his leadership, the daily noted. "Some say Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is unlikely to challenge his boss as he appears to be sticking to his role as a loyal deputy. But things may change if he feels he will get sidelined during Mr Najib's second term. Nonetheless, without the backing of (Tun) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), Tan Sri Muhyiddin can expect a very tough fight which could cost him his political career. "As for Dr Mahathir, he will remain in the background, now that his son Datuk Mukriz, the new Kedah Menteri Besar, is back on track in his political career." Despite the BN's poorer overall electoral results, Najib's leadership had ensured Umno succeeded in netting a significant nine more seats in Election 2013, giving the Malay party a total of 88 in the Dewan Rakyat compared to 79 in Election 2008, the paper reported. Although Dr Mahathir had said that Najib may be ousted in party polls, the 87-year-old's recent remarks to journalists in Tokyo signal that Najib's position is safe for now due to the "lack of an alternative". "Dr Mahathir's words imply that he is not inclined to do the same to Mr Najib. Other contenders will now have to think twice before making any move against Mr Najib in the party elections." Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/with-big-lead-in-popularity-najib-heads-for-win-in-umno-battle/
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| PKR leaders miss main message from GE13 results Posted: 27 May 2013 12:59 PM PDT
The grassroots leaders boldly admitted that the party's machinery was weak in rural areas and even gave suggestions to improve it but the national leaders preferred to focus on the "blatant acts of fraud" in GE13. Merely three weeks after the 13th general election, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) held its 9th national congress which was postponed from last year. Instead of using this opportunity for a little soul-searching to address its weaknesses in order to make further strides in the coming five years, the rhetoric and the message of its leaders – including president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution - clearly deferred from the message the grassroots delegates were trying to convey to their leaders. The grassroots leaders boldly admitted that the party's machinery was weak in rural areas and even gave suggestions to improve it but the national leaders preferred to focus on the "blatant acts of fraud" in GE13. The delegates, all fresh from the bruising election, stressed one message which became clearer within the two days: that the PKR central leadership needed to assist and support the branches and divisions if it expected PKR candidates to win in elections, especially in the rural areas. Speakers at the two-day congress last week also emphasised on the need to field more women candidates. One delegate from the women's wing spoke on the importance of building a proper network in Felda settlements in order to break Umno's hegemony there as the party is surprisingly not even known in some of the settlements. "They will ask you, what is PKR," she said. Feisty Pahang representative Murnie Hidayah from the Srikandi wing, who contested and lost the Paya Besar parliamentary seat, also spoke about lack of support from the party central leadership. "There are 10 Felda settlements in Paya Besar and we lost every single one of them. We have a central bureau for Felda and another for women's support so why can't the central party play a bigger role in ensuring the victory of the women candidates?" she asked during discussions by the women's wing. Many delegates stated that the women were left high and dry with hardly any support to go all out during the election. PKR's Youth wing emphasised the importance of creating a solid machinery to penetrate the rural areas, stressing that youths, especially women, in rural areas were not aware of Pakatan Rakyat's messages. PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin was unabashed in his speech, saying Pakatan also needed to address the competition within the coalition, as exhibited by the seven seats both PKR and PAS had vied for in the election. He also stressed a grassroots-based marketing of the party, relying on youth members to convey the much-needed messages and policies of Pakatan to the rural electorate. Selangor representative Najwan Halimi said that PKR needed to fend for its own and build the strength of its own machinery rather than relying on the machinery of other parties namely PAS. Another delegate who really struck a chord was Sarawak representative Joshua Jabeng, who plainly said the only way for PKR to penetrate rural areas in Sarawak is to be creative in its approach in order to break the money-politics promoted by Barisan Nasional, which has kept village heads subservient to the ruling coalition. All this hard-hitting messages and keen analysis of PKR's performance in the May 5 polls was lost on its top leaders. Read more at: http://fz.com/content/pkr-leaders-miss-main-message-ge13-results#ixzz2UYZC23KY
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