Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:42 PM PST Anwar Ibrahim has remained in the country to face his charges and defend his name. Not RPK. This alone doesn't make RPK any more eligible to criticise Anwar. By TAY TIAN YAN Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) is back in the scene. Although he fails to move the mountains this time, he has nevertheless managed to create some small talks in town. Interviewed by the Sunday editions of pro-Umno Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and New Straits Times, RPK hit out straight at Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan, and instantly became the media star of the day. He said a homosexual could not become Malaysia's prime minister, adding that he was 90% sure the guy in Datuk T's video was Anwar Ibrahim. Coincidentally, a verdict on Anwar's sodomy case will be delivered in a matter of days, while the general election is around the corner. The fact that RPK was interviewed by these three newspapers in Singapore gave the whole matter an accentuated dramatic twist. Many Pakatan supporters and members of the public have long lost their faith in RPK, who on the eve of Sarawak's state election last April appeared on TV3 and talked of many things that contravened the principles he earlier cherished. He was defending his own acts and clarifying some things at that time, including the statutory declaration in relation to Altantuya's murder which he said he made under misguidance. That could have been an attempt to deliver himself out of the trouble. For a dissident, that was something pathetic, but from the point of a person in exile, his behaviour was nevertheless understandable. That said, his latest remarks only served to entrench the damage already done to him. By slamming Anwar and the opposition pact, it was evident RPK indeed had his own agenda, especially with the verdict of the sodomy trial just days away. He said "he was told" that the Selangor state government was as corrupt as its predecessor, although he fell short of providing any evidence to back his claim. There are two ways one can explain RPK's bizzare behaviour. 1. He hates Anwar Ibrahim more than anyone else, like a wrestler who would run into the ring and throw out his fists blindly in hope of bringing down his opponent. 2. He wants to come back to this country so much that he would change his old stand in a bid to clear his name and get accepted once again. Because of the statutory declaration he made with regard to the Altantuya murder, he was summoned by the court but failed to show up. He later left the country in self exile and this won him approval from many sympathisers. Anwar Ibrahim has remained in the country to face his charges and defend his name. Not RPK. This alone doesn't make RPK any more eligible to criticise Anwar.
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| No southern comfort for opposition Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:22 AM PST Pakatan Rakyat will come up against a resolute BN in its dream to win more Johor seats in the next polls Syed Nadzri, NST A GENERAL election battle royale could be shaping up in the unlikeliest of places as an overconfident parliamentary opposition alliance prepares an all out assault for power on a resolute Barisan Nasional lying in wait. Johor, the birthplace of Umno and BN's Fort Knox, has for all these years, always been too predictable when it comes to elections. The ruling party never conceded significant losses as to make a dent in its armour. But the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-Pas-DAP troika, which call themselves Pakatan Rakyat, reckon they can change all that when the 13th general election is held probably within the next few weeks, a wild dream as far as BN and the neutrals are concerned. The dubious desire is said to have been driven in part by the lust for wealth from Johor's huge economic progress as well as the thought that they could do a Selangor on the southern state. Johor offers 26 parliamentary seats, all but one being held by BN. And of the 56 state seats, only six are non-BN. Still, there is an air of confidence, misplaced or otherwise, permeating the air for Pakatan, spearheaded by Johor PKR chief Datuk Chua Jui Meng, the former health minister. Johor Baru was picked as the venue for the PKR annual congress a few weeks ago, an indication of where the state lies in the order of importance for the party. It is understood that Pakatan, for all the internal squabbles underneath, is pushing ahead with strategies to realise its dream, one of which is to identify big names among the three parties, even from outside the state, to contest in Johor. By doing this, the grouping, especially DAP, thinks it can increase its chances. The game plan: put in the ordinary and less famous candidates in Perak, Penang and Selangor where "they can surely win regardless" and field the big names in Johor to capture new seats, possibly to brighten up hope for a power grab on Putrajaya. To the neutrals, it is hard to imagine whether this would work, knowing the psyche of the people of Johor. They are, and have never been, supportive of parties other than Umno-BN, let alone candidates parachuted in from outside the state. Even in the last general election, when sentiment for the ruling party was said to be low, the most the voters did was to protest through spoilt votes. Indeed, Johor recorded the highest number with 28,709 spoilt votes for parliamentary seats and 25,455 for state seats then. For this reason, BN seems to be quite unperturbed by Pakatan's intended show of force in Johor. To the ruling party, the DAP-Pakatan strategy takes for granted that the Chinese voters are all for them. But the fact is, BN has its fair share of support from this community as well, as evident from the Tenang by-election last year, where BN secured almost 30 per cent of the Chinese votes. A BN source said: "We have done our survey and performance test in voting centres. "BN will be on safe ground because we found that, at the moment, we can get 25 per cent to 30 per cent of Chinese votes, enough to improve on the 2008 performance." The survey, according to him, also revealed that BN could lose up to six parliamentary seats and 15 state seats, if the Chinese support dipped to below 20 per cent. "This is not likely to happen because Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, MCA leaders and several non-governmental organisations have been working tirelessly and keeping their ears close to the ground to measure support." Pakatan is being rocked by internal bickering but this has not exactly stopped its audacious plan to grab seats in Johor to add to its national tally, and possibly even hustle up the wealth Johor could bring. I was most amazed to see the progress in Johor Baru when I came by two weeks ago, my first visit after several years. The state capital has transformed into a bustling metropolis and I couldn't even recognise some of the localities, despite having lived in the city for a few years 20 years ago. There were new buildings everywhere and the roads and highways looped around in every corner. The best part is that, unlike in the Klang Valley, most of the new highways are toll-free. Of course, there is also the Iskandar economic region, which will prove to be something else. The senseless incident where pig heads were thrown into a mosque in Taman Desa Jaya may just signal the start of a big political battle that is looming on the horizon. |
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