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| Pakatan may lose Kedah with 6 per cent swing in Malay, Chinese votes: Survey Posted: 03 Apr 2013 04:04 PM PDT
A private survey shows that the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) could lose Kedah in the upcoming election with a mere six per cent swing in votes from the Malay and Chinese communities. A Kedah Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) leader said a possible reason for the dropin Chinese support was Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Razak's (above) ailing health, which he said had added to the perception of instability in the state government. Straits Times The opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) could lose Kedah in the upcoming election with a mere six per cent swing in votes from the Malay and Chinese communities, a private survey by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research has found. A Kedah Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) leader told The Malaysian Insider that a possible reason for the drop in Chinese support was Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Razak's ailing health, which he said had added to the perception of instability in the state government. The leader also noted that Malay support for opposition parties PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) during the 2008 general election had not been very strong to begin with, owing to the parties' slim victory in the country's rice-bowl state during the tumultuous polls. "For example, in the Tanjung Dawai state seat, we won by barely a hundred votes," the PAS leader said on condition of anonymity. He added that the trend of votes from the Chinese community in supporting Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates at state-level but backing PR at federal level appeared to suggest a serious lack of confidence in the Kedah PR leadership. Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian underlined three likely factors behind the loss of support for the Kedah PR government, including the RM500 (S$199) cash handouts under the Najib administration's Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) programme. "Secondly, there may be internal issues within the state government, such as its service delivery and thirdly, the new crop of candidates that Datuk Seri Najib Razak has proposed have begun to draw voters back into BN's fold," he said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider. The prime minister dissolved Parliament on Wednesday and several states followed suit while the Kedah MB said he would seek the state ruler's consent on Thursday. Elections are expected by the end of April. Datuk Seri Azizan has expressed confidence in PR's chances in Kedah despite the reported in-fighting among state PAS leaders that could topple the fledgling pact in the state. But PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu dismissed the independent pollster's findings, saying it would not hamper the Islamist party's efforts to keep Kedah in Election 2013. "I will go all out to help PAS and Pakatan recapture Kedah. Yes, I am aware of Merdeka Center's findings," he said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider. "We promise to improve on our weaknesses to ensure that we will get to rule for a second term," said the PAS leader, who is expected to contest in Kedah's Pendang parliamentary seat. In a recent interview with The Malaysian Insider, Datuk Seri Azizan expressed confidence in PR's chances in Kedah despite a recent prediction that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's influence and in-fighting among state PAS leaders could topple the fledgling pact in the state. Datuk Seri Azizan said voters should continue to support PR in Kedah because of several measures undertaken by his administration, including eliminating corruption and providing insurance coverage to all senior citizens, regardless of race. "There is no corruption in Kedah. If there is, just arrest them," he said. "I give aid to the rakyat without looking at their race. I use the Kifaalah system... all dead people, Malays, Chinese Indians, all get it," added the Sungai Limau assemblyman, referring to an insurance scheme for all senior citizens in Kedah that was first introduced by the Kelantan PAS government. "I give education, education assistance... I also introduced the Kedah agricultural agenda," he said. PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said recently that Datuk Seri Azizan will continue to lead Kedah PAS as its state commissioner in facing Election 2013 that must be held by late June. In Election 2008, the loose coalition of PAS, PKR and the DAP soared to a surprise victory in Kedah when it trounced BN, sweeping 22 of the state's 36-seat assembly. But two PKR representatives - Bakar Arang's Tan Wei Shu and Lunas' Mohd Radzhi Salleh - subsequently quit to become BN-friendly independents, citing their growing disillusionment with their party leadership. Their quit decision effectively narrowed the seat margin between BN and PR to a mere four. In May 2010, rumours began circulating that the state's PR-led government would lose its already tenuous control of the state assembly and even fall back into BN's hands due to more defections from PKR assemblymen. But in a mammoth ceramah on the night of May 22, all remaining 20 PR state assemblymen turned up to defy the rumours, declaring their allegiance to Datuk Seri Azizan's leadership. The PAS leadership has yet to officially indicate who will lead the party's campaign in Kedah for Election 2013. Politicians from the ruling BN and opposition PR will be fighting tooth and nail to wrest majority control over 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state seats in the coming polls, which analysts have said will a toss-up between both pacts. |
| Najib v Anwar: Showdown begins Posted: 03 Apr 2013 03:30 PM PDT
Najib's reforms, survival at stake; it may be Anwar's last shot at age 65 Financial services group Morgan Stanley said in a research note last month that while the broad economic thrusts of both PR and BN seek to stimulate domestic demand and increase foreign investment, PR's proposal has a more leftist slant. PR has a stronger focus on "equitable distribution and redistribution of resources away from corporates towards rakyat (people)", it said. Carolyn Hong, Straits Times At long last, the showdown begins. Malaysia's King dissolved the 12th Parliament with less than a month to go before Prime Minister Najib Razak's mandate ends. Within weeks, Datuk Seri Najib will be leading his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to face 13.3 million voters at the ballot box. He has to convince voters to give him a strong mandate to continue pushing the reforms that he has made a hallmark of his four-year administration. Just as importantly, he also needs strong support from voters to remain in control of his Umno party, which is headed for party polls this year. The outcome of this general election is as crucial politically for him as it is for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's opposition leader and his rival for the job of PM. This could be Mr Anwar's last shot at the role, as he is already 65 and helming a fragile coalition that needs a good electoral boost to hold together. Both have marshalled an impressive array of promises to woo the country's voters, about half of whom are below 40 years old. BN is banking on a 50-year track record of development and a slate of reforms, versus the opposition Pakatan Rakyat's (PR's) message of change and promises of good governance. Najib versus Anwar: How do their policies stack up? For Mr Najib, it has been four years of crafting the image of a reformist. He unveiled a systematic programme of reforms beginning in 2009, with improvements in public services like the police and schools, followed by economic reforms to double incomes to US$15,000 (S$18,600) by 2020, then political reforms such as repealing the law on preventive detention. He presented his final report card on March19, in which he said Malaysia was well on the way to becoming a high-income economy, as per capita income was now US$9,970. Mr Najib has sweetened all these with generous cash handouts since 2011, dishing out billions to households earning below RM3,000 (S$1,200) a month, students, taxi drivers, fishermen, mechanics and other low-income earners. Mr Anwar, on the other hand, is holding himself up as a figure of change from a corrupt government that has overstayed its welcome. PR has also come up with a detailed manifesto, which it says will better serve Malaysians while resuscitating the economy. Among its promises are free tertiary education, lower tax on cars and a review of Malaysia's income tax rates. The Selangor and Penang state governments, which it controls, have carried out their own mini version of handouts, such as shopping vouchers for the elderly and free water. These approaches are markedly different, says Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads the libertarian think-tank Ideas. BN's policies, such as its New Economic Model, are focused on wealth creation to meet challenges in a globalised world, while PR focuses more on wealth distribution. Financial services group Morgan Stanley said in a research note last month that while the broad economic thrusts of both PR and BN seek to stimulate domestic demand and increase foreign investment, PR's proposal has a more leftist slant. PR has a stronger focus on "equitable distribution and redistribution of resources away from corporates towards rakyat (people)", it said. It noted that PR is pushing for greater decentralisation of power from the federal government to the states, to create more balanced and autonomous economic development. Mr Najib's policies also continue to uphold affirmative action for Malays, while Mr Anwar has pledged to dismantle it for a needs-based policy. But if there are marked differences on paper, a different story emerges in implementation. While BN's policies focus on generating high income, it has veered towards a welfare state with its many cash handouts, said Mr Wan Saiful. The director of University Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections, Professor Mohd Redzuan Othman, notes that micro-targeting does work, for a short time. But in terms of Mr Najib's macro reforms, analysts say, he has been less successful. Despite anti-corruption promises, for example, the party has been riven by the cows-and-condo scandal which engulfed Umno women's chief Shahrizat Jalil. Her husband has been charged with using part of a RM200 million government soft loan given to their family company for cattle farming to buy luxury condos instead. As for PR, it has also dished out goodies like shopping vouchers for the elderly and free water in Selangor. But by and large, its energy has been focused on macro governance-related promises. The Selangor and Penang governments are implementing measures such as open tenders and a green policy, with some success. Both states have managed to slash expenditure to balance their bud-gets for the first time in years. |
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