Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Posted: 12 Dec 2011 12:39 PM PST How in the world did the prime minister arrive at the incredible verdict that God was pleased with Umno's track record? Vote opposition and the country will go up in smoke. Then came his punchline: God knows that the ruling party had been fair to all and that was why He had allowed it to stay in power. His line of reasoning boils down to one conclusion: he is the special one chosen to lead his people again. Free Malaysia Today In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, but one must be wrong. – Abraham Lincoln Maybe God appeared in his dream. Maybe God called him up one night and told him over the telepathic phone that he is the anointed one and that his party will continue to rule the country for another 54 years. Maybe God even whispered in his ears that if he called for a general election now, he will surely win hands down because God is on his side. The prime minister is showing all the signs of a desperate man clutching at a straw. He sees danger lurking in every corner. He is restless. He can never sleep in peace. His enemies are everywhere – and growing stronger. He is dead worried: if he loses power, his whole glittering world will come crushing down. He must hold on though his grip is loosening. The prospect of finding himself in the political wilderness for a long stretch is frightening. Hence, he is using every dirty tool avaliable to ensure people are scared witless and have no choice but to cast their lot for him. The prime minister chose an appropriate setting to bring home God's message. The audience fitted nicely into his game plan. The spectators are members of the Malaysia Islamic Missionary and Welfare Association (Pekida). Fighting for his political survival, he is counting on these warriors to lap up his political sermon and spread the word around with missionary zeal. The message is clear: Go forth and tell the Malays that only Umno can be their shield. Only Umno can defend Islam. Only Umno can give iron-clad guarantee that their special rights and positions will remain intact. Only Umno can defend the institution of monarchy and all things sacrosanct. You have no choice but to elect my government to another term. Vote opposition and the country will go up in smoke. Then came his punchline: God knows that the ruling party had been fair to all and that was why He had allowed it to stay in power. His line of reasoning boils down to one conclusion: he is the special one chosen to lead his people again. Does the prime minister know what God is thinking? How in the world did he arrive at the incredible verdict that the Omnipotent One was pleased with Umno's track record? How can he be so sure that the Almighty is always in Umno's camp? Is He an Umno member? The premier was not jesting when he invoked God's name in his fight for power. He was dead serious when he talked about this "divine revelation". The Pekida members probably swallowed the political icing in his message and could be counted upon to go all out to defend the Umno bastion. Simple kampung folks could also be relied upon to carry the Umno torch. But the prime minister's doomsday oration will cut no ice with all the other people who know what 54 years of Umno rule had done to the country.
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| ‘Warlord’ and ‘godfather’ choking DAP Posted: 12 Dec 2011 11:48 AM PST DAP is bogged down in a tit-for-tat battle between national chairman Karpal Singh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy, in which the ultimate loser would be the party itself. DAP is staring down a precipice, vis-a-vis Indian voter support, because Dr Ramasamy – although a "parachute candidate" at the last general election – is highly regarded in the Indian community as a daring academic who spoke out for injustice and took on the government and won. By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star THE feud in DAP between national chairman Karpal Singh and deputy secretary-general Dr P. Ramasamy could not have come at a worse time for the party. With a general election imminent and all parties busy preparing for the big battle ahead, DAP is supposed to be well-prepared. But it is suddenly bogged down in a tit-for-tat battle between the two men, in which the ultimate loser would be DAP itself. The threat to quit the party by Dr Ramasamy, who is Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, has put DAP in a fix, with one of his supporters declaring: "Let them (his opponents) get the Indian votes, if they can." DAP is staring down a precipice, vis-a-vis Indian voter support, because Dr Ramasamy – although a "parachute candidate" at the last general election – is highly regarded in the Indian community as a daring academic who spoke out for injustice and took on the government and won. Dr Ramasamy was a political science lecturer at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia for nearly 30 years and was on a year-to-year contract in his final years. The contract was not renewed in 2007. He left in a huff and joined DAP, where he had a long-standing personal relationship with adviser Lim Kit Siang. In 2008, he was fielded in the Prai state seat as well as in the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat, winning both. It was almost like a retirement gift for him. He went on to become a state executive councillor, DCM II and de facto Indian leader in DAP and Pakatan Rakyat. Karpal accused him of forgetting his roots and taking on the trappings of a "warlord", a dirty word in DAP that signals one is building personal power as against party power. The party grassroots had complained about how Dr Ramasamy dealt with matters, like the Hindu Endowment Board. The party's Indian affairs bureau, which he heads, also came in for criticism. The informal system of selecting candidates by the bureau was sidelined and Dr Ramasamy started choosing his own candidates. He is also alleged to have offered seats to many newcomers, as well as benefits to a small group of ex-MIC members, to the exclusion of long time DAP members. These benefits include datukship, medals and other rewards. And than there was the M. Manoharan affair, in which the Kota Alam Shah assemblyman was suspended for six months by the disciplinary committee for making disparaging remarks about the Jalur Gemilang. Dr Ramasamy, who disliked Manoharan for siding with Hindraf leader P. Uthayakumar, was said to have played a key role in the suspension. Manoharan and his wife went to see Karpal, who then used his influence to have the suspension lifted, signalling at once who was the leader with the clout. Dr Ramasamy's detractors – who include MPs and state assemblymen who constantly griped in private – said he rode roughshod over the DAP grassroots. The last straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was his statement in the Makkal Osai newspaper last week that four incumbents, including himself, and three women were sure candidates at the next election. That statement, although subsequently denied, was the cue that Dr Ramasamy's detractors were waiting for. They fell on it for all it was worth and the attack on Dr Ramasamy came out in the open. Karpal, who is Bukit Gelugor MP, had been out for Dr Ramasamy's blood for several years, until the feud exploded in the open over the ongoing warlord-godfather spat. Party secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was flabbergasted by the ferocity of Karpal's attack on Sunday. The chairman essentially questioned, who was this upstart Dr Ramasamy? After being an academic for 30 years, perhaps Dr Ramasamy is unsuited for the brutal world of politics. In his career as a politician, he made enemies at every turn with his many unguarded words and open associations. Friends turned foes and fair weather individuals, many ex-MIC people, gathered around him to the exclusion of party faithfuls. He did not have the political mind nor had he developed one in the short years he was in active politics. He negotiated the strange territory, ie DAP, like he had done as an academic, always speaking what comes to his mind.
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