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Wan Azizah told to make way for Azmin
Chua thanks Najib for respecting MCA's wish
Red Bean Army hard at work spreading rumors
Haris: Street rally will go on
‘Racial polarisation no surprise’
Dayaks bitter over cabinet choices
Analysts: Umno-heavy Cabinet reflects Najib’s party polls focus, could affect reforms
BN urged to improve cyber strategy
In the Malay Press: Anwar should step down, says Umno leaders
Najib Cabinet Rewards Base as Chinese Sidelined: Southeast Asia
Hindraf's Waythamoorthy joins Najib's cabinet line-up

Posted: 16 May 2013 04:18 AM PDT

(Malaysian Digest) - A former aide to PKR women's wing chief Zuraida Kamaruddin, Mohd Fareez Kamal Intidzam, has urged Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail not to defend the party presidency and make way for deputy president Azmin Ali.

"The PKR machinery in Selangor headed by Azmin has managed to retain the state with a bigger majority in this general election. Following Azmin's strong showing, Dr Wan Azizah should not seek re-election in the coming party polls," he said in a statement yesterday.

Fareez also called on Dr Wan Azizah to openly admit her "failures" and to acknowledge Azmin's great leadership as the Selangor PKR chairman.

"Even though Azmin is only the deputy president, he managed to win both the parliamentary and state seats he contested in the recent polls. Also, he was able to lead the PKR machinery in Selangor to win a two-thirds majority in the state assembly," he said.

Fareez said on the other hand, Dr Wan Azizah proved to be a failure as PKR president after announcing that she would not contest in the general election.

"She is a liability to PKR and she should stop humiliating the party. It is shameful for any political organisation in the world if its president does not hold a parliamentary or state seat."

Fareez added that Dr Wan Azizah was no longer relevant in the current political scenario as she could not win the hearts and minds of the youth who supported PKR.

Fareez said instead, PKR needed a "complete leader" like Azmin to become the next president who could map out a new direction for the party.

"The perception that the party is led by a dynasty should be quashed once and for all. Failing which, PKR will be frowned upon by other countries as it will be regarded as a party that is nepotistic in nature."

He, therefore, urged every PKR member, including the party's top echelon, to give their full support to Azmin to become the new party president in the coming elections.

Chua thanks Najib for respecting MCA's wish

Posted: 15 May 2013 03:40 PM PDT

(NST) - MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yesterday thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for respecting the party's wish not to be included in the new cabinet line-up following its dismal performance in the recent polls.

Dr Chua had conveyed the message in a Twitter posting after Najib announced the new cabinet.

"MCA did not submit any name for cabinet post. We thank the PM for respecting the MCA resolution passed in AGM (annual general meeting) for not accepting any government posts," tweeted Chua.

"The most challenging part is to reach out to all races for greater unity in order to counter the divisive politics of the PR (opposition coalition)," he added.

Dr Chua also congratulated the newly appointed ministers and deputy ministers, whom he believed would bring new input to the cabinet.

MCA won only seven out of the 37 parliamentary seats and 11 of the 90 state seats it contested nationwide in the 13th General Election.

Red Bean Army hard at work spreading rumors

Posted: 15 May 2013 03:23 PM PDT

(Malaysian Digest) - The 'Red Bean Army', a group of cybertroopers believed to be funded by DAP has been hard at work spreading rumors on the internet alleging the government has increased the prices of basic goods like petrol, cooking oil, cooking gas, sugar and flour in a bid to further fuel the public's anger towards the ruling government.

According to a few online blogs, the rumors were spread mainly on social networking sites, namely Facebook and Twitter and has made many internet users angry at Barisan Nasional (BN) making them believe the Opposition coalition (Pakatan Rakyat) would have been a better option in ruling the federal government.

Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, today reported that blog owner tunfaisal revealed several blatant lies spread by the Opposition; the first one regarding the increase of sugar price.

However some shops supporting Pakatan may have taken to increasing prices on their own.

Two other lies according to him, which was also made by PAS deputy Secretary-General, Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi is the claim that cooking gas is now up RM2 to RM30, and that the price of Gardenia breads has also gone up.

Syed Azman was found to have spread the rumor on cooking gas price increase via his Twitter account which was later retweeted by Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"Gullible members of the public will believe all this and be manipulated in the process."

"That is why we should not support liars, because when they lie and we share, like and retweet their lies, we are merely helping them to spread the rumors and indirectly we too become responsible in duping the public," the blog owner said via http://tunfaisal.blogspot.com last Saturday.

This picture showing a price hike of the White Gardenia bread is untrue; according to Gardenia the tag on the left is from a different Gardenia product, sliced Sandwich Bun (Burger bun). Pic: Gardenia's Blog

Meanwhile, another blog, The Flying Kick, claims that several shops have taken to increasing prices after the recent 13th general election (GE13) in an attempt to sabotage the ruling government.

"Malaysia is now faced with a wave of rumors and untruths. It is believed that Anwar is behind this. DAP is helping him from behind by providing the means to do so," the blog mentioned.

Because of these rumors, Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd has had to issue a statement refuting the price increase.

This act by the Opposition is seen as their means of strengthening their earlier claims that the government will begin increasing the prices of basic goods after GE13.

Haris: Street rally will go on

Posted: 15 May 2013 03:07 PM PDT

It does not hinge on Pakatan Rakyat's support, says ABU's Haris Ibrahim.

Alyaa Azhar, FMT

Anything But Umno (ABU) spokesperson Haris Ibrahim said that a street rally against the Barisan Nasional federal government will go on with or without Pakatan Rakyat's support.

When asked if he will call off the rally following Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's objection to it, he said: "This is not Pakatan Rakyat's initiative, rather, it is the rakyat's initiative."

"The rally is not hinged on Pakatan's support. The latest announcement by Anwar yesterday that Pakatan does not condone streets rallis has no bearing on our initiative," he said.

Haris, however, said that no date has been set for the street rally.

Social activist Hishamuddin Rais echoed Haris' view by saying that the decision to go on with the street rally will be taken by the rakyat and not Pakatan Rakyat.

Haris told a forum on Monday that pro-Pakatan NGOs would topple the BN federal government through massive street rallies in protest of irregularities during the 13th general election.

"We will take to the streets and take over Putrajaya. If we really want to overthrow them, there is no other way. Democracy does not work.

"The people cannot wait anymore. We don't want to wait another five years. We will take the streets," he said.

Police to take preventive steps

Pakatan, however, said that it does not condone overthrowing Barisan Nasional through mass street demonstrations.

"The proposal has never been submitted to us, it has never been discussed by Pakatan. Those are the views of some NGOs," said Anwar yesterday.

DAP chairman Karpal Singh said his party too, rejected the call for street protests to overthrow the BN government.

While he commended Haris for opposing violent demonstrations, Karpal warned that a street protest may cause unrest if it was not handled properly.

Police on the other hand, have warned against holding a street rally and said they will take preventive measures ahead of the event.

Outgoing Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said the statements by the organisers on the rallies were dangerous and provocative.

"Nobody should try to change the government through undemocratic means.

"It must be done only through democratic means. Let the people make their choice through the voting system," he said.

‘Racial polarisation no surprise’

Posted: 15 May 2013 02:31 PM PDT

It has been with us a long while and we should admit that it is a potent factor in Malaysian politics, says Chandra Muzzafar.

Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT

Political analysts are not surprised with the country's distinct racial polarisation following the results of the recent 13th general election (GE13).

Political scientist Chandra Muzzafar said that there has always been "a certain degree of polarisation" throughout history, however, in Malaysa, this was made more distinct in GE13.

"Ethnic consciousness has always been strong in society so it should not surprise us. People sometimes attribute to political parties based on ethnicity," he said.

"It has been with us a long while and we should admit that it is a potent factor in Malaysian politics," he added.

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) associate professor James Gomez said the re-emergence of racial polarisation "shows that Malaysia is unable to evolve politics into a more policy-centered approach".

"There was a positive indication in the run up to the election where different parties put out their manifestos which were very much policy-centered," he said.

"But soon it degenerated from a policy-centered approach and now after all the race-based talks, we have lost the plot. It has just gotten worse," he added.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) associate professor Andrew Aeria agreed that racial polarisation "certainly exists within Malaysian society".

He accused ruling Barisan Nasion of making it worse by "not making much effort in closing the ethnic and religious divides".

"Fanning ethnic supremacist positions has only made ethnic/religious relations worse," he said. "In contrast, Pakatan Rakyat has achieved much more in closing this ethnic and religious divide."

Aeria further described Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as a "lame-duck, wishy-washy PM" who "continues to pander and appease the racist fringes of Umno and BN".

"The racism that has emerged post-GE13 is reprehensible," he said.

Anwar has been giving false hopes

Chandra believed "false perceptions" that the Chinese were "marginalised" by Umno-BN played a key factor in determining the Chinese vote.

"These are all false perceptions that have become widespread. It was effectively built up, especially after the 2008 general election when DAP did well," he said.

Chandra pointed out that the Chinese dominated the upper strata of the Malaysian economy and those at the bottom were mostly of other races.

He added that in terms of politics, "Chinese participation is quite remarkable".

READ MORE HERE

Dayaks bitter over cabinet choices

Posted: 15 May 2013 02:25 PM PDT

The Sabah Kadazandusun Murut Welfare and Education Association however described "as historic" the appointment of three full ministers from the community.

(FMT) - KUCHING: The much anticipated "stronger" representations by Sarawak's loyal Dayak community in the new federal cabinet turned out to be a major disappointment.

In fact local Dayak majority parties Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Democratic Party (SPDP) have questioned the rationale behind Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's decision to handover a large chunk of cabinet positions to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

A SPDP insider in a text message even went so far as to ask if Najib had hoped to mask the fact that he had fewer peninsular-based Umno members on his cabinet compared to before.

"Look at the (cabinet) list, PBB/Sabah 'Malays' all over place," read the message.

Sarawak Barisan Nasional pact comprising PBB, PRS, SPDP and Chinese-majority Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP) delivered 25 of 31 parliamentary seats to Najib's push for a new term in office in the 13th general election.

Sabah BN comprising Umno, MCA, Gerakan, LDP, Upko, PBS and PBRS gave federal BN 22 seats.

But yesterday's announcement of cabinet positions showed he had little regard especially for his Dayak-majority party partners – PRS and SPDP, who fought hard battles and delivered 100%.

Collectively PRS and SPDP delivered to Najib 10 parliamentary seats. Of the 11 Sarawak ministers appointed, seven were from PBB.

Among them were four full ministers – Douglas Uggah Embas, Fadillah Yusof, Rohani Abdul Karim, Nancy Shukri, and three deputies, Dr James Dawos Mamit, Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, and Alexander Nanta Linggi.

Said a deeply disappointed PRS president James Masing last night: "Something is wrong somewhere.

"Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu was given four ministers (57%), PRS one minister (33%), SUPP (100%), while SPDP has zero%.

"Where is the fairness?"

Salang declines, Entulu reluctant

Masing said Najib's cabinet had not rewarded winners and loyalists as could be seen in PRS's and SPDP's allocations.

"Politics normally is not kind to the losers, but (Najib must) reward those who win, " he added.

He said PRS's ministerial appointments did not commensurate with the party's contribution to BN's win.

PRS, which won all the six seats it contested, had expected to be rewarded with one full minister and two deputy ministers and so did SPDP which delivered all four parlaimentary constituencies.

But instead Najib promoted the PRS' former rural and regional development deputy minister Joseph Entulu to a minister in the Prime Minister's Department and retained Julau MP Joseph Salang Gandum as the deputy minister of tourism.

But Salang, who had served nine years as a deputy minister, has declined the cabinet post.

According to sources close to Salang, putting him in the tourism ministry would not help empower the rural Dayak community.

Previously Salang was the deputy minister of information and communications and culture, and during his tenure had worked hard to ensure better internet accessibility in rural Sarawak.

Entulu on his part is a "reluctant" minister.

According to Masing, he had to persuade Entulu to accept the position, adding that he had failed in his bid to get Salang to stay.

Said Masing: "The allocations doen't make sense. Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) won one seat, yet it is given one full minister. I can't understand the promotion of Richard Riot. The party won one out of seven seats it contested.

"That is 100% accommodation to a party which performed badly in the recently concluded general election. Why?

"While Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) has 100% delivery yet it got zero appointment, " he said.

Posted: 15 May 2013 02:02 PM PDT

"Well definitely he is seeking re-election this year and that will be reflected in his Umno Cabinet line-up. You can see him strategising for re-election but how is he to do that leaves a question mark because most of them are just old-timers," he said, adding that the names announced have been in government for a very long time, even if not at Putrajaya's highest decision-making level."

By Amin Iskandar, Debra Chong and Syed Jaymal Zahiid, TMI

Umno's domination of the 2013 Cabinet shows Datuk Seri Najib Razak's desire to shore up his personal support ahead of party polls but at the expense of the prime minister's national reform measures, several observers say.

While the pundits hold grave reservations over the large number of veterans in the 32-man Cabinet, they said Najib deserves a chance to prove he can deliver on his promised government and economic transformation agenda once he has secured his party presidency.

The Umno president had cast 17 of his party colleagues in ministerial positions when naming members of his Cabinet yesterday. Of the line-up, most were old government hands being switched around or promoted with the exception of new faces Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Universiti Putra Malaysia political scientist Prof Jayum A. Jawan was sceptical about the changes that Najib could make with what the don branded a "conservative" Cabinet.

"I don't see a real power-sharing here. The positions of power are all held by Umno like Finance, Home Affairs and Defence," he said.

Like the other pundits, Jayum viewed Khairy's inclusion as a positive step towards getting youth support, but noted the move was unlikely to be sufficient to parry a possible challenge in the party polls.

"Some people in Umno are already saying that Najib would not see a smooth re-election and that there are some people that will likely challenge him," he said.

But such an Umno-studded cast was "clever", according to William Case, a professor in Asian and International Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

"My take is that while many critics are dismissing the Cabinet as made up most of old hacks, I see it as more mixed, possibly in clever ways, as it includes Najib's personal supporters, reformers, and nativists," he told The Malaysian Insider in an emailed response yesterday.

There has been speculation that Najib, 59, is likely to face a challenge to his presidency from within Umno in the party ballot due this year for failing to return BN's two-thirds supermajority in the May 5 general election despite improving the Malay party's number of federal seats to 88.

READ MORE HERE

BN urged to improve cyber strategy

Posted: 15 May 2013 01:25 PM PDT

An academic says the ruling coalition is still lagging in the perception war.

Athi Shankar, FMT

Barisan Nasional needs to beef up its cyber team to beat Pakatan Rakyat in the game of shaping public opinion, a political analyst has suggested.

Sivamurugan Pandian, an associate professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said social media proved to be the decisive battleground in the campaign for the 13th general election, adding that Pakatan had the upper hand.

"BN surely lagged behind in social media like portal mails, tweets, Facebook, blogs and YouTube," he said.

He cautioned BN against overdependence on the conventional mainstream media and warned that it would face big problems in the next election if it failed to improve on its social media networking and strategies.

"It's time for BN to learn to battle out in social media," he said.

He acknowledged that BN had improved in its cyber strategies since the 2008 election, but not well enough to beat Pakatan in the game.

"BN needs to be more on the offensive," he said.

To illustrate the skill of Pakatan cyber troopers, he cited their treatment of the controversy surrounding Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin, who was BN's defeated candidate for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

He said those troopers effectively played up an old video recording of Zulkifli insulting Indians and Hindus in a religious discourse.

He noted that the video was already online when Zulkifli was still a PKR member but the troopers had skilfully used it to create the impression that BN was in the habit on nurturing racism.

Consequently, he added, the Zulkifli factor was a major cause of BN's loss of Indian votes in Selangor and other urban areas.

Posted: 15 May 2013 01:04 PM PDT

by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, fz.com

In Sinar Harian today, Umno leaders called on Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fulfil his promise of leaving politics if he failed to win Putrajaya in the 13th general election.

Former Umno Masjid Tanah member of parliament, Datuk Abu Seman Yusop, told the Malay daily that Anwar was still dreaming of becoming the prime minister and was willing to do anything to realise that goal.

"He (Anwar) had previously said he will step down if he fails to win but until now he is still the leader of Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

"He should actually fulfil his promise but I see what he is doing today is more due to his personal interest than the rakyat's," he said.

Abu Seman said Anwar is purposely creating discord in the society because he cannot accept that he failed to win the federal government.

Abu Seman stressed Anwar must stop making allegations of election fraud and must instead provide concrete evidence supporting his claims.

Puteri Umno chief and Papar MP, Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin, added Anwar must accept the voice of the majority.

She also accused PR of hypocrisy and questioned why the Federal Opposition was willing to accept the decision in states that they won.

The poll done by The Edge

"PR is seen practicing selective democracy when they refused to accept the decision on the federal government but are willing to accept the decision on seats they won and quickly form their state governments," she said.

Rosnah said PR leaders must take responsibility for anything that happens from the street demonstrations, adding that their actions will cause national disunity.

Utusan Malaysia also reported that Anwar's political career should have ended following GE13.

Former PKR youth information bureau secretary, Nordin Ahmad, told Utusan said the national polls have shown that the public want Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over Anwar.

Posted: 15 May 2013 12:20 PM PDT

(Bloomberg) - "The Cabinet reflects a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO," said Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. "I don't see any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in this cabinet."

Prime Minister Najib Razak stocked his Cabinet with party stalwarts, after the ruling coalition's biggest ethnic Chinese partner said it wouldn't accept ministerial posts following its poor election showing.

Najib tapped leaders of his ruling United Malays Nasional Organisation for key positions before party polls later this year that will determine whether he stays on as prime minister. He also gave posts to the heads of Malaysia's biggest bank, a corruption watchdog and a Hindu rights group. Two of the new line-up are Chinese, compared with more than a dozen previously.

"The Cabinet reflects a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO," said Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. "I don't see any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in this cabinet."

Najib's coalition retained power in the May 5 election even after losing a majority of the popular vote for the first time since 1969, which the prime minister attributed to a loss of support from Chinese voters. Besides an ethnic divide, his administration faces a weakening economy, with Malaysia's growth slowing to less than 5 percent for the first in seven quarters.

"The recovery in terms of exports is quite weak" and will be determined by a growth rebound in developed markets, Ho Woei Chen, a Singapore-based economist at United Overseas Bank Ltd., said yesterday, before the release of economic data. "But consumption, investments will remain strong in Malaysia."

GDP Misses

Gross domestic product rose 4.1 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, after a revised 6.5 percent gain in the previous quarter, the central bank said yesterday. That's lower than all 22 estimates in a Bloomberg Newssurvey. The monetary authority kept its full-year growth forecast at as much as 6 percent.

The ringgit slipped 0.4 percent before the GDP data was released. It has risen about 3.8 percent in the past 12 months, the fourth-best performer among the 11 most actively traded Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index has gained more than 14 percent and closed 0.3 percent lower yesterday.

Najib's coalition won 133 seats, topping the 89 seats claimed by Anwar Ibrahim's three-party opposition, which captured 51 percent of the popular vote. Anwar has said he'll challenge about 30 seats, enough to swing the result, and has held rallies in different states after the election.

MCA Vote

Ethnic Chinese parties in the government won nine seats compared with 23 in the 2008 election. Chua Soi Lek, president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, said on on May 6 the party wouldn't take up its allotment of Cabinet posts.

Najib said he has reserved the transport minister's position for the party in case it changes its mind when it meets to select a new leader.

"We are a balanced cabinet and the transport ministry will be given to MCA once they have decided," Najib said in Putrajaya, the country's administrative capital.

Hindraf's Waythamoorthy joins Najib's cabinet line-up

Posted: 15 May 2013 12:12 PM PDT

(Bernama) - Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman P. Waythamoorthy has been appointed to join the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The surprise appointment of the 47-year-old lawyer is expected to bring a new wave of hope to improve the livelihood of the Indian community, following a memorandum with the Barisan Nasional (BN).

On April 18, Hindraf and BN signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with six key points, aimed at bringing poor Indians into the mainstream of the country's development.

In return, the movement - which was influential in swinging Indian votes to the opposition in 2008 - said it would tell the Indian community to vote for BN in the 13th General Election.

The Kelantan-born Waythamoorthy left Malaysia three days after the historic Hindraf rally of Nov 25, 2007, which resulted in the detention of several activists under the Internal Security Act.

The arrests took place on Dec 13, the same year.

Meanwhile, Waythamoorthy when contacted by Bernama expressed surprise by the appointment, claiming that he was not aware of the appointment until a friend called him.

"I am now in India and I only came to know about the appointment through my friend who called me in Chennai, India. Once I return from India, I will call a press conference," he said, refusing to comment on his appointment.

He is expected to return on Saturday.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Khamis, 16 Mei 2013