| Chinese Votes Did Make an Impact Posted: 13 May 2013 12:40 PM PDT 11 out of the 22 swing parliament seats that PR won from BN are Chinese majority seats (largest voting bloc). Whereas all 15 swing seats that BN won from PR are Malay majority seats. Paraman Subramaniam In the recently concluded General Elections, the total numbers of eligible Chinese voters were 3.94 million. In Penang they constitute 53.3% of total voters and in Kuala Lumpur 52.2% of the total voters are of Chinese origin. Even though by population the Chinese constitute about 22.56% of the total population in Malaysia but by the number of voters their strength is 29.68% of the total 13.3 million voters in Malaysia. There are also many mixed seats where Chinese voters are present in significant numbers and the way the electoral boundaries are drawn they allow the Chinese voters to be quite influential. The EC states that 84.84% of the total number of registered voters had cast their vote on the 5th of May. This would mean that we can assume at least 3.4 million Chinese votes were cast. It goes without saying that the majority of Chinese voters are pro Pakatan Rakyat. What no one knows is the actual total percentage of Chinese votes that went to PR. Considering the number of Chinese supporters that did outnumber all other races at most PR's ceramahs nationwide, many suspect anywhere between 75% to 95% of the Chinese may have voted for PR in the recent GE. It was also reported that a huge number of Malaysians based in Singapore (mainly Chinese) had returned to cast their vote causing a massive traffic jam at the causeway. If the numbers were at least 85% then it would mean that more than half of PR's popular votes amounting to 5.6 million would have consisted of mainly Chinese votes. After deducting the Indian votes as well as the Sabah/Sarawak votes that went for PR, this would leave the Malay votes in PR quite a minority. A conservative estimate could give PR only attracting 40% of the Malay votes in total. Even though they may have received a considerable amount of new, young urban Malay votes, at the same time PR had lost a lot of their traditional Malay voters that they had in the 2008 GE. If PR had amassed at the very least 45% of the total Malay vote then they would have easily won the elections. In the 4 predominantly Malay majority states Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Trengganu, BN lost an average 0.8% of the popular vote versus PR having gained an average 0.53% of the popular vote when compared with the 12th GE. The overall increase of 2.9 million new voters (28% increase) could have contributed to this. The net difference of total votes between BN and PR in these 4 states in the recent elections is a mere 9149 votes in favour of PR, however it must be noted that Kedah itself has more than 160,000 registered Chinese voters. 
In the table above, the 23 parliamentary seats have a total average of 26% Chinese voters which may have affected the percentage increase in PR support. Even Anwar Ibrahim acknowledged recently in the Penang rally that at least half of PR's votes consisted of Chinese voters. "There is only 25 percent Chinese voters and Pakatan obtained 51.4 percent of the popular vote, what happened to the remaining 26 percent?" he queried. (N/p Chinese votes are however not 25% but almost 30%). PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had also particularly singled out the Chinese in his expression of gratitude for the tens of Parliament and state seats that PR had won due to their support. No such thanks were accorded to any other race. PAS had only won 29% of the parliament seats that it had contested and PKR did marginally better by winning 30% of the seats that it had contested. It was the Chinese dominant DAP that had won 38 out of the 51 seats that it had contested to give it a 75% win margin. When compared to 2008 GE results, PKR suffered a drop of 3.2% in parliament seats, BN a 5% drop and PAS an 8.7% drop. DAP however enjoyed a 35.7% improvement in parliament seats won in 2013 as compared to the 12th GE. Coincidentally the 2 states that Chinese voters form the majority, Penang and KL, are the only states that PR enjoyed more than 60% of the popular votes. It gets even more interesting when the swing seats are analysed. There were 15 swing seats that BN had won from PR as opposed to PR who had won 22 swing parliament seats from BN, from GE 12 to GE 13. 11 out of the 22 swing parliament seats that PR won from BN are Chinese majority seats (largest voting bloc). Whereas all 15 swing seats that BN won from PR are Malay majority seats. The swing seats (22) that PR won from BN had an average of 42.73% Chinese voters. On the other hand the swing seats that BN won from PR (15) had an average of only 11.8% Chinese voters. The swing parliament seats that PR had won from BN in Peninsular Malaysia (15) had average 56.73% Malay voters as versus 79.34% of Malay voters present in the 15 parliament swing seats that BN had won from PR. States that PR won more than 50% of popular votes: Kelantan, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Federal Territory. These states together consist of 45% of the total population of Malaysia as well as form only 14% of the total area of Malaysia. States that BN won more than 50% of popular votes: Perlis, Kedah, Trengganu, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. These states together consist of 55% of the total population of Malaysia as well as form 86% of the total area of Malaysia. It must be stressed here that the Chinese community did not vote along racial lines but they did appear to vote in one direction in favour of PR as the Indians did in 2008. One could safely say for instance any Malay PAS candidate could have easily won in a predominantly Chinese majority area however the same could not be said that a DAP Chinese candidate could have stood and won in any traditional PAS heartland constituency. The reason the Chinese swung overwhelmingly in favour of PR was in the hope that a change could champion their interests in meritocracy and equality as well as reduce corruption. PR did not receive support from the Indian community at levels that they had enjoyed in the 12th GE. BN escaped defeat because of the general pullback from PR of the Malays and Indian voters as well as help from their traditional vote bank in East Malaysia.
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| THE ILLUSION OF RECONCILIATION - Why are Najib’s initiatives bound to fail? Posted: 13 May 2013 12:21 PM PDT 
How do we trust the one calling for reconciliation if he is wielding his weapon? What are the probabilities that he is sincere when he has got a weapon in his hand? Michael Zechariah Getting straight to the point, Najib's post GE13 national reconciliation initiatives will miss the point unless …. Reconciliation will not happen if BN's machinery perpetually engage in bashing up and humiliating the voters (ie. Malaysians who did not vote for them) by calling them (amongst others); - Ungrateful
- Traitors
- Trouble makers
- Threat to national security
- Racist
- Insane
- Stupid
All this is done through pro-BN newspapers, the Internet and TV talk shows where the host and their guests never seem to tone down their attacks on the Malaysian citizens who exercised their constitutional rights and voted for Pakatan Rakyat. Their comments do not reflect one iota of reconciliation. Is Najib talking to himself? Does anyone in his own camp listen to him? Reconciliation initiatives will be doomed if Najib doesn't put in place Laws like the Race Relations Act. This Act must cover race relations within the current progressive Malaysian context. It must be made unlawful to make any racially motivated derogatory remark to any Malaysian citizen. This amongst others include Keling pariah, Cina babi, Melayu bodoh etc. It must be unlawful even when such derogatory remarks are made in Parliament. Khairy Jamaludin is talking about 'trust deficit'. He is an intelligent guy among a bunch of non-thinkers. Let us get straight to the brutal truth. The whole lot of reconciliation talk or whatever Najib's initiative in the next 4 to 5 years, is going to be in the hope that BN stays in power after GE14. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the tricky one. How is Najib is going to radically change BN when the curse of BN as it is today is that it is synonymous with corruption, racism and abuse of power? As the number of Malaysians who want the demise of BN is on the increase day by day, how on earth is Najib going to radically change BN other than to just let it die and give people what they want? Dissolve BN. Call it something else if you have to although no guarantee that it will make a great difference. What is a National line up anyway when the people don't see or connect with the so-called line up that 'supposedly' represents and reflects their aspirations? The curse of the BN brand is so severe that even the sight of it has become obnoxious to many Malaysians. Reconciliation will not happen if BN has a different set of definition for corruption, racism and abuse of power. Reconciliation will not happen if Najib's ministers continue to see the funds allocated to their ministries and states as their yearly inheritance bestowed upon them by virtue of their post and as their entitlement for dissipation. Reconciliation will not happen when BN's boss, UMNO, still threatens other races with a weapon (keris) and declare bloodshed if they lose even through democratic process. Can anybody imagine if every race in Malaysia wield their traditional weapon at their gatherings and declare some bloodshed to uphold their sovereignty as people? No matter how symbolic their gesture could be, it can only be seen as sending 'the other guys' some kind of warning. How do we trust the one calling for reconciliation if he is wielding his weapon? What are the probabilities that he is sincere when he has got a weapon in his hand? Reconciliation will not happen when racist NGOs enjoy the patronage of BN heavyweights both past and present. Reconciliation will not happen when BN condones seditious remarks by their camp. Reconciliation will not happen if Najib has another boss who dictates to him. Reconciliation will not happen if only Najib is talking about it but the folks in his camp are doing the opposite. Reconciliation will not happen if BN politicians constantly scold Malaysians who did not vote for them as irrational. Reconciliation will not happen if pro-BN media and news readers continue to make disrespectful references to people in Pakatan states and insult their intelligence. Reconciliation will not happen if the people are not being engaged and only selected so-called pro-BN pundits are called to give their 10 cents' worth. Why bother calling those folks who can't think beyond protecting BN's image even if it makes them look like bloody fools? How can they think outside their mental conditioning and help the reconciliation initiatives? These folks only piss people off further. Finally, what national reconciliation is Najib talking about anyway? The mother of all myths is about to be busted. The myth to be busted once and for all is that anything to do with BN has got to do with the nation as a whole, the reason they are called the national line up or the Barisan Nasional - so, if BN loses, the nation loses. This is not only a myth but a stupid one. This myth is busted. End of story. Najib's strategist, if you are reading this, please come up with something new. Good luck. So at the end of the day, Najib's reconciliation initiatives are actually to reconcile BN with the voting public who did not vote for it. Nothing more, nothing less. The number of votes Pakatan garnered in GE13 reflects the unity among the people of various races. They are not trying to create enemies with anyone. They united for a common cause. They are not paid to attend any gathering. Reconciliation of race relations has been happening in Malaysia for more than 10 years now. It was BN who was too blind to see it. It is clear now that BN did not learn that most Malaysians are mature and are beyond race and religion when they voted Jacklyn Victor, Daniel Lee and Suki Low to win singing competitions at the national level. Sigh! Who's version of reconciliation initiatives will actually take off eventually? As usual when Najib says one thing, Mahathir will interpret his version from somewhere else. The non-thinking cabinet ministers will be launching their version and interpretation. Najib's post GE13 national reconciliation initiatives will remain an illusion and will miss the point unless … his camp stops insulting the intelligence of all thinking Malaysians. Michael Zechariah is a former law lecturer and a corporate professional who currently runs a training firm which specializes in helping governments transform their agencies to more effectively deliver policies aimed at nation building. |
| We must go on Posted: 13 May 2013 12:11 PM PDT 
After letting them bash the non-Malays at their whims and fancies, during the election BN has the cheek to expect the non-Malays to vote BN. Lembu Susu I appeal to both sides of the political divide to accept the result of the election and move on in this country. The rakyat is very, very tired of the polemics of politics. Though I agree that the election process was not entirely clean and fair, it was also not entirely dirty or rigged (though in some places there were video evidence). Of course BN must take full responsibility (being the ruling government) and must have the will to tidy the whole electoral process; if not, they will face the wrath of the rakyat at the next election, and this time round, the rakyat will not be so forgiving. Though PR won more seats than in the past, it must not be construed that they won because of the Chinese voters and thus making it a racial issue. Yes, it can be said that more Chinese voted for the Opposition, but they voted the Opposition irrespective of the race of the Opposition's candidate. To most Chinese, it has nothing to do with race, but national issues that BN has failed to resolve. Just because they did not vote for BN does not make them racists. Race has nothing to do with the reason why they voted for the Opposition. In fact, most Malaysians were disgusted with the whole governance and management of the country by BN. We have become a laughing stock to the world, but yet BN can be foolishly proud. Through the many years in power, BN has become cocky, arrogant, corrupted to the core, and racist, and there were no evidence that they will change or reform. Just look at the candidates that they had selected as 'winnable candidates': Isa Samad, Tengku Adnan, Shahidan Kassim, Ali Rustam, Raja Nong Chik, and the list can go on and on. These people were tainted and has a record of corruption, and yet Najib fielded them for the election. It was clear that Najib is not serious about tackling racial disharmony. Just look at Utusan, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin, and Dr Mahathir. They had been spewing out racist remarks with impunity, hurting the non-Malays and dividing the country. Najib never took any action against any of them, and was quiet. After letting them bash the non-Malays at their whims and fancies, during the election BN has the cheek to expect the non-Malays to vote BN. Ridiculous? It does not make sense. And anything wrong, blame it on the Opposition; better still the non-Malays. And now because BN has lost more seats, will they 'punish' the Chinese for voting the Opposition? Has BN forgotten that it was the Chinese voters who helped keep BN in power during the 1999 elections? (The Malays were divided because of the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim.) Malaysia cannot go on with this mode. If for the next 5 years BN continues with this mode, it will drive the rakyat further away from them. We are Malaysians irrespective of race or religion and must be treated equally. Can the leaders see beyond race and religion? Can they embrace every Malaysian to be Malaysians without looking at their race or religion? You cannot address the disparity in socio-economics by mistreating other races. Yes, I agree that the leaders must come up with plans and policies to help upgrade the economy of those who are poor and backward, but this must be done irrespective of race. Malaysia has lost many years because they had done away with meritocracy. How can Malaysia ever compete economically, if we continue to provide crutches within their own commuity? It will bring Malaysia backward and 'punish' the well-deserving. Yes, we must provide a system that can uplift the community who are backward, but it must not be done at the expense of meritocracy. Malaysia must not be trapped by racism. We must grow out of it.
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| BN’s reduced wins put spotlight on ‘war room’ strategists Posted: 13 May 2013 12:05 PM PDT 
File photo of BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak announcing Zulkifli (right) as the BN candidate for Shah Alam in the recent general election, a strategy which backfired on the coalition. (TMI) - "They were spending money on local newspapers with shrinking circulation and TV stations that did not appeal to the young. What a waste of time and money" Questions are being asked about Barisan Nasional's (BN) "war room" strategists whose plans with a substantial budget did not appear to stop the ruling coalition from losing more federal and state seats in the May 5 general election. The BN war room was tasked with selecting the candidates and advising various strategies to win the polls. It counts Rompin MP Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis, PWTC chairman Datuk Seri Dr Alies Anor Abdul, Petronas director Omar Mustapha Ong, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, party information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan and former minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh as among its members. "It was just a crapshoot. Their ideas didn't work and their white list predictions were wrong," a senior Umno divisional leader told The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity. The war room had stuck to its prediction of BN winning between 145 and 150 federal seats and also getting back Selangor in Election 2013 although some senior BN leaders were privately doubtful of the figures. And by noon on Polling Day, the war room had issued its "white list" of 118 federal seats it was sure to win, but some like Pasir Mas, Shah Alam and Lembah Pantai were lost, which some Umno divisional leaders said reflected the disconnect between the leadership and the ground. Poster boy of Umno's insensitivities The Malaysian Insider also learnt that Jamaluddin was behind BN putting Perkasa vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin as their direct Shah Alam candidate despite his controversial remarks that offended Indians about their Hindu faith. It was understood that Jamaluddin felt that Zulkifli's candidacy would not be too much trouble as the latter had already apologised to the Indians for his remarks which he claimed were made when in PAS. But sources said the strategist did not consider that Zulkifli would become the poster boy of Umno's disregard for sensitivities of non-Malays.  Raja Nong Chik lost in Lembah Pantai despite devoting his Federal Territory Ministry resources on the city constituency."The most galling thing is they put Shah Alam on the white list because they thought the Malay majority there would support Zulkifli. How wrong they were," said an Umno source, commenting on the strategy that backfired.
"There are conservatives with a big 'C' and there are conservatives with a small 'c'. The strategists just did a desktop analysis but did not figure that there are new voters apart from substantial number of Chinese and Indians there," he added. He explained that the desktop analysis done by the war room contributed to the belief that BN would do well and even get back its two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008. "You can't assume that a Malay majority seat will go back to you or think that you can share the Chinese and Indian votes and later predict you win big nationally and Putrajaya," said the source. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bns-reduced-wins-put-spotlight-on-war-room-strategists/ |
| Many laud idea of merging BN coalition parties Posted: 13 May 2013 12:03 PM PDT 
(The Star) - "We are no longer attractive to voters. We are still seen as archaic and out of touch but the changes we bring must not be merely superficial. Just changing Barisan's name is not enough. The rakyat are looking for substantial change" The idea of ending race-based politics by merging Umno, the MCA and MIC as part of Malaysia's reconciliation effort after the general election should be explored by Barisan Nasional, said Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin (pic). Khairy, also the Umno Youth chief, said Barisan should explore all possibilities, including the merging as part of reconciliation efforts to make the coalition more relevant post-GE13. "No idea is bad at the moment. We need a comprehensive analysis of the election results. Then, we should see what is the best way to reform Barisan," he said, adding that Barisan could not continue to make changes in its present form. "We are no longer attractive to voters. We are still seen as archaic and out of touch but the changes we bring must not be merely superficial. Just changing Barisan's name is not enough. The rakyat are looking for substantial change," he said yesterday. It was reported that Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had suggested for the ruling coalition to merge into a single party as part of its re-branding exercise to make itself relevant to all Malaysians. The Putrajaya MP had said that Barisan was currently studying all possibilities to rebrand and make significant changes. However, when contacted, Tengku Adnan declined to elaborate on the matter. MCA vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said the merging was a good idea as it could reduce infighting among the component parties within Barisan as well as being a suitable move for a multi-racial country like Malaysia. Welcoming the call for an end to race-based politics, MIC secretary-general Datuk S. Murugesan described it as a positive step for Barisan. "The Opposition has often accused us of having superficial ties and this will stop them from calling us racist," he said. Umno supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah also agreed, saying that he was "an advocate of direct membership of Barisan while the component parties can continue with what they have been doing". He said the rationale was that many people, especially middle ground youths, students, and educated professional, did not like race-based politics. |
| New faces from Sabah, S' wak expected to fill Chinese representatives in Cabinet Posted: 13 May 2013 12:01 PM PDT 
(Bernama) - NEW faces from Sabah and Sarawak have been speculated will fill vacancies following the decision by Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, MCA and Gerakan not to accept any posts in the Cabinet. The decision by MCA and Gerakan, which are the biggest Chinese parties in BN, were on the basis of 'respecting the decision of voters, after they performed poorly in the 13th general election (GE13) on May 5. Among the names mentioned to be appointed as ministers to represent the community is Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) deputy president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, 52, who is Bintulu Member of Parliament and ex-chairman of the BN Backbenchers Club. Tiong, a holder of a Masters degree in business administration and political science from the Royal Ireland Institute of Business and Technology, is an entreprenuer in property development, construction and timber industry for the past 20 years. Other than Tiong, two members of Parliament from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), namely Datin Linda Tsen Thau Lin, 57, (Batu Sapi) and Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching @ Mary Yap Ken Jin, 62, (Tawau) are also speculated will be new faces in the Cabinet. Linda Tsen, PBS Wanita deputy chief first won in the Batu Sapi by-election on Nov 4, 2010 following the death of her husband Datuk Edmond Chong Ket Wah in a road mishap, and was a professional musician from the United Kingdom Trinity College of Music and Fellowship at the London College of Music. Meanwhile, Mary Yap, who contested for the first time in GE13, was a former super principal who held the JUSA post before retiring in 2007. Mary Yap, who has a Masters in Education from Leeds University, United Kingdom, was also a senior consultant at Institute Aminuddin Baki and was on the advisory panel to the Education Minister for cluster schools. Other than the three Members of Parliament, several Members of Parliament from Umno were also mentioned. Among them is Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique, 51, the Tenggara Member of Parliament who is said will fill the post of Women, Family and Community Development Minister following her four terms experience as Johor's Family Development, Women's Affairs and Health Committee chairman. Halimah, a former teacher, who contested in the Tenggara Parliamentary seat for the first time in 2008, is also seen as among the aggressive Members of Parliament. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, 37, and his Information chief Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merizan, 41, are also said will be among the new faces in the Cabinet this time. Khairy, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd chairman, who won the Rembau parliamentary seat in GE13, holds a Masters degree in "Legal and Political Theory" from University College London while Reezal Merican, who was the political secretary to former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, made his election debut in GE13. Also said to be in the running are three former menteris besar. They are Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, 62, (Perlis), Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, 53, (Kedah)and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, 58, (Terengganu). Former Cabinet members expected to make a comeback are Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis, 61, and Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, 64. |
| A dangerous result Posted: 13 May 2013 11:57 AM PDT 
(The Economist) - Malaysian politics seems near breakdown AT FIRST sight, the general election in Malaysia on May 5th, the closest-fought since independence in 1957, looks encouraging. A lively campaign inspired a remarkable turnout of 85% of the country's 13.3m voters. The government's victory seems recognition of Malaysia's solid economic performance and of the progressive reforms introduced by Najib Razak, the prime minister. He has repealed some oppressive, colonial-era laws. He has even begun to dismantle the affirmative-action policies favouring the ethnic-Malay majority over Chinese Malaysians (about a quarter of the population) and Indians (8%). Those policies are at the root of the corruption and cronyism poisoning Malaysian society. Look again, however, and Malaysian politics seems near breakdown (see article). The opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim alleges electoral fraud and has refused to accept the result. Whether that is true or not, it is certain that the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, has huge inbuilt advantages. Gerrymandered constituencies meant that with less than 47% of the popular vote, its worst-ever electoral performance, it still won 60% of the 222 parliamentary seats. The state has dispensed cash handouts and other goodies, while much of the civil service works as a party-political tool, and the election commission has long brushed aside allegations of malfeasance. Add in an obsequious mainstream media, and it is rather remarkable that so many Barisan Nasional campaigners still felt the need to resort to blatant vote-buying. All of this gives rise to two dangers. The first is of a loss of faith in the political process itself. Mr Najib argues that, in a parliamentary system, it is not the popular vote that matters. But in any system it is time to redraw boundaries when distortions have reached this level (something for others, such as Britain and Japan, to note). And Mr Najib owes it to Malaysians who backed the opposition—more than half of the electorate—to investigate the alleged frauds. The second danger is of a rekindling of the ethnic animosities that led to bloody rioting in the 1960s. Read more at: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21577390-after-tainted-election-victory-najib-razak-needs-show-his-reformist-mettle-dangerous |
| BN is effectively a minority government Posted: 13 May 2013 11:52 AM PDT 
Most Malaysians knew that this election would be stolen. That is exactly what happened on Sunday, May 5 between 5pm when the polls closed and when the results were announced. Tommy Thomas In assessing the results of the long-awaited 13th general elections, it is imperative that one considers the actual conditions under which the elections were conducted. Uninformed observers, particularly from overseas, assume that because Malaysia has a Westminister-style parliamentary democracy, our elections are conducted freely, fairly and in the spirit of fair play. The reality is that our elections are never held as they are in mature democracies like the United Kingdom, India or Australia. They are rather akin to another Commonwealth country, Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has been in power for some 33 years, and where the ruling party always wins because it thinks it has a divine right to rule, and will cheat to remain in power. Institutions intended to be independent and impartial have never acted independently and impartially.  First, the Election Commission (EC). It does not even give the semblance of being an independent umpire in a contest between two coalitions.
Instead, the EC has been most partisan, always favouring the ruling BN. Bridget Welsh, a well-respected and independent scholar, highlighted in Malaysiakini, the impact of the increased numbers in the electoral roll which were out of line with historical patterns of voter registration. As examples, she referred to the 21 percent increase in Bachok and 29 percent in Bukit Gantang. Apart from irregularities concerning early and postal voting of some 240,000 voters, double voting and phantom voting have also allegedly took place. Many others have already written about these flaws in the voting process. Secondly, in appearing to uphold law and order, the police force had been equally partisan, and reportedly going to the extent of transporting and protecting newly-arrived ballot boxes which contained sufficient votes to tip the balance in favour of BN in closely contested seats. When Malaysian voters attempted to ensure that nothing untoward like that would happen, the police brought in FRU trucks with heavily-armed police ready to intimidate civilians attempting to prevent abuse. Thirdly, the mainstream media's sole function has been to print lies and distortions while not giving any mention to any good point that Pakatan may have made. Fourthly, the caretaker government gave out money and other gifts which, by any yardstick, would constitute bribes and electoral offences. Yet, nothing was done to stop them. Finally, and perhaps the worst offence committed by BN, with total complicity by EC, was allowing foreigners to vote. In every nation, only citizens enjoy the privilege of voting in national elections. It is part of nationhood and citizenship. Article 119 (1) of the federal constitution confines the right to vote to citizens, and they further have to comply with residential and registration requirements. Yet, foreigners were allowed to vote in the thousands. A stolen election The scandal involving planeloads arriving in Malaysia days before polling has not been credibly answered. One wonders whether any other ruling party in the world will go to the extent of what BN has done. Mugabe may have to copy BN in this trick. All those who participated in this unconstitutional and wholly unacceptable conduct are guilty of treachery and treason. Most Malaysians knew that this election would be stolen. That is exactly what happened on Sunday, May 5 between 5pm when the polls closed and when the results were announced.  The BN game-plan was to focus on about 30 parliamentary states. Winning them at all costs would ensure a return of power. Thus, they were not interested in Karpal Singh's seat in Bukit Gelugor which he won by 42,000 votes or Seputeh where Teresa Kok increased her formidable majority to 61,000 seats.
Rather, the focus was on closely contested seats. In these seats, recounts were ordered, which invariably resulted in BN victories. The results were announced very late. There was always a break in the chain of evidence, that is, between the sealing of the ballot boxes after counting in the voting centres, and the subsequent recounts and final announcement of results seven or eight hours later. With the benefit of hindsight, it becomes clear why in the last week before the elections when all the evidence suggested a surge for Pakatan, the Umno "war room" was confident of winning 140 to 150 seats: they had "insider information" about cheating. The evidence is slowly being uncovered and no doubt by the time these results are challenged in court in the coming weeks, the picture would be much clearer. Read more at: http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/45508/ |
| Defeated SAPP “did the right thing” Posted: 13 May 2013 11:49 AM PDT 
(FMT) - Did SAPP leaders misread the general electorates' mood for general overhaul in state and national level politics? Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee is adamant that his party did the right thing in not hooking up with national opposition front, Pakatan Rakyat. SAPP was wiped out in the 13th General Elections. Yong rejected any blame for his party's demolition which observers put down to misreading the general mood for a complete overhaul of state and national politics by SAPP's top leadership. Stung by Demokrasi Sabah (Desah) chairman Simon Simon's comments that the State Reform Party (STAR) and SAPP had turned their guns on themselves, Yong denied his party adopted a misguided approach in the election Sipaun, a respected former Suhakam (Malaysian Human Rights Commission) commissioner and retired Sabah state secretary had argued that the two local opposition parties had scuppered chances of a better showing in the election by going their own way and splitting the opposition vote. By rejecting the one-on-one approach promoted by Desah, Sipaun said that the Jeffrrey Kitingan-led STAR and SAPP had not only dented the opposition's chances of unseating the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition but had also shot themselves in the foot. Overall, SAPP got well below 40,000 votes combined in the parliamentary and state constituencies where it put up candidates. But Yong, who has never admitted to any mistake in his long career in politics, categorised Sipaun's post-election analysis as unfair to the two parties. He contended that Sipaun had lost sight of such real and more pressing issues like bribery, faulty electoral procedures, tainted electoral rolls, postal votes, vicious lies and lack of resources in his analysis. Yong said his party was also at the receiving end of "vicious lies" by both Umno and DAP and the disorganised nature of the national opposition front had forced SAPP and STAR "to fight this very tough battle on our own". "SAPP was wiped out, as predicted by Sipaun, but SAPP retains our honour, our pride and our dignity as Sabahans who refused to be a "kerbau dicucuk hidung" (buffalo that is being led by its nose). "Sabahans with honour will (live to) fight another day," he said. Read more at: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/14/defeated-sapp-did-the-right-thing/ |
| ‘Strip Anwar’s citizenship’ Posted: 12 May 2013 08:02 PM PDT 
Former Penang DCM Fairuz Khairuddin, now with Umno, wants a motion to be tabled in parliament to make Anwar stateless for causing chaos in the country. (FMT) - PKR's former deputy chief minister in Penang, Fairuz Khairuddin, today called for Anwar Ibrahim's citizenship to be stripped if the latter continues to cause chaos in the country. Fairuz, a former close aide of Anwar, was quoted by Umno-Online today as saying that Anwar was a threat to the security of the nation following his mass rallies nationwide to protest against alleged electoral fraud. "If Anwar continues to instigate the people to break and challenge the sovereignty of the country's laws, the implication of which will be chaos, then a motion to strip him of his citizenship must be tabled in parliament," Fairuz was quoted in the Umno mouthpiece. Fairuz also suggested that Malaysia's security and peace can be guaranteed without Anwar. Fairuz was appointed as the Penang DCM 1 after the 2008 general election but he soon quit his post and party, citing personal issues. He then joined Umno in 2010. Fairuz today said that a motion must be brought in the parliament to strip off Anwar's citizenship if the latter "continues to break the laws by provoking and acting in seditious manner". He added that MPs must be brave to table such a motion as Anwar's acts are detrimental to the safety and security of Malaysia. "If Anwar continues to instigate the people to break the law which can lead to chaos and unrest, the motion to strip his citizenship must be tabled. "This will ensure that the nation's peace, safety and secutiry are protected…I am convinced Anwar will not stop instigating the people from breaking the law," he added. Fairuz said Anwar was using the people to create unrest as a result of his unhappiness in being unable to form a Pakatan Rakyat government. "He is using the people as his puppets to protest in the streets," he said. He urged the people to reject Anwar and his political agenda. "I am confident that Anwar will not stop until his ambition to become the prime minister is achieved," said Fairuz. READ MORE HERE |
| In the aftermath of May 5th (part 10) Posted: 12 May 2013 07:23 PM PDT 
Out of the 89 parliamentary seats that Pakatan Rakyat won, 53 are non-Malay/Muslim seats while only 36 can be said to be Malay/Muslim-majority seats. Umno, however, won 88 seats just by itself (almost the same as for DAP, PKR and PAS combined). Then there were another 12 non-Malay/Muslim seats with 33 from the native areas in East Malaysia. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Okay, let's say Pakatan Rakyat won or wins the general election. Then let's say Pakatan Rakyat does what it promises to do: it cancels the citizenship of 1.5 million 'illegal' citizens, mostly from East Malaysia, and kicks these people out of the country. Then Pakatan Rakyat ends the gerrymandering and, like some countries, passes a law so that the variance between seats is, say, within plus-minus 20%. Can this be done? Unfortunately it can't. Currently, Sabah and Sarawak control 25% of the seats in Parliament even though it has about 19-20% of the population of Malaysia. And if you cancel the citizenship of one million or 1.5 million citizens, it would be even less than 20%, maybe just 15-16%. However, they will still control 25% of the seats in Parliament. Hence, due to the agreement, it would be impossible to implement the plus-minus 20% variance between seats since, if you do this, you will then create more seats in West Malaysia and thus you will have to correspondingly increase the number of seats in East Malaysia to ensure that you maintain their 25% share of the seats. And this would make it worse. The variance, because of East Malaysia, would get wider and you actually increase more seats in Barisan Nasional's 'fixed deposit' region. For every three seats you increase in West Malaysia, you need to increase one more seat in East Malaysia. What will happen in the end is: the seats will be divided into three categories. For the urban areas the seats may be, say, 80,000-120,000 voters (roughly 20% or so variance calculated on 100,000 voters per seat). For the semi-urban areas they may be 50,000-79,000 voters (roughly 20% or so variance calculated on 65,000 voters per seat). And for the rural areas they may be 30,000-49,000 voters (roughly 20% or so variance calculated on 40,000 voters per seat). And after you redraw the election boundaries and increase the number of seats, you will end up creating more seats in the rural areas and East Malaysia, which can only work to Barisan Nasional's favour. Furthermore, you need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to do this and you are never going to see a two-thirds majority for either Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakayat for a long time to come. The days of two-thirds majorities are gone. But will Pakatan Rakyat support whatever proposal is tabled by Barisan Nasional? Certainly not, because whatever proposal Barisan Nasional tables will certainly be in its favour. And vice versa for Pakatan Rakyat if it happens to be in power: because whatever proposal Pakatan Rakyat tables will also be in its favour. And that would mean Pakatan Rakyat's supporters would all be lumped in the urban and semi-urban areas while Barisan Nasional's supporters would be spread out in the rural areas and in East Malaysia. And this would also mean that Barisan Nasional could still stay in power with less than 50% of the popular votes while Pakatan Rakyat cannot get into power even with 55% of the popular votes. Now, what was the strategy for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat in the recent general election on Sunday, 5th May 2013? I am not sure what Pakatan Rakyat's strategy was but I think it was mainly to get the crowd. And this they did. Barisan Nasional, however, had a more devious strategy (devious only if you look at it through the eyes of an opposition supporter but clever if through the eyes of Machiavelli). Barisan Nasional's strategy was to turn Pakatan Rakyat into a Chinese-dominated coalition and Barisan Nasional into a Malay-dominated opposition. And this they did. Out of the 89 parliamentary seats that Pakatan Rakyat won, 53 are non-Malay/Muslim seats while only 36 can be said to be Malay/Muslim-majority seats. Umno, however, won 88 seats just by itself (almost the same as for DAP, PKR and PAS combined). Then there were another 12 non-Malay/Muslim seats with 33 from the native areas in East Malaysia. Without the MCA/MIC/Gerakan seats included, Umno and the 'natives' won 121 seats in Parliament -- enough to form the government even without the help of MCA, MIC and Gerakan. Umno intentionally wanted Pakatan Rakyat to appear Chinese and less multi-racial. They also wanted the Malays in Pakatan Rakyat to appear like 'tools' of the Chinese. And to do this they need to play the race card -- which they are currently doing. Can you now understand the reason for this sudden surge in Chinese-bashing? It is all part of the plan to make Pakatan Rakyat appear Chinese. And the Chinese supporters of Pakatan Rakyat are not helping much either. The more Malay-bashing you indulge in, the more you strengthen Umno's strategy. 
TO BE CONTINUED |
| In the aftermath of May 5th (part 9) Posted: 12 May 2013 05:30 PM PDT
You may argue that the Chinese voters have rejected the Chinese from Barisan Nasional and hence the Chinese should not be in the government. But if the Sultan says he wants Chinese in the government then Barisan Nasional will have to make sure that there are Chinese in the government. And if the Sultan says he does not want certain people in the government then these people will have to be dropped from the EXCO list (or as the Menteri Besar). THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Azmin: I will respect and uphold Sultan's decision PKR deputy president Azmin Ali said the decision on who would be the Selangor Menteri Besar lies ultimately with the Sultan of Selangor and he will respect it totally. Despite his earlier strong objections over the way party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had submitted a candidate's name, allegedly without the knowledge of the state party's leadership, Azmin said that whoever was eventually chosen would have his full backing. READ MORE HERE *************************************************** Okay, how do you ensure that the percentage of seats you win almost matches the percentage of popular votes that you win (say 50% of the votes versus 50% of the seats as opposed to 40% of the votes versus 60% of the seats)? This was what I wrote in part 8 of this series: I followed the rally in Ipoh last night (on live streaming) and would like to touch on what Dr. Lee Boon Chye and Anwar Ibrahim said in that rally. Dr Lee lamented that he won with a majority of only 15,000 votes while if there had not been any cheating he would have won with a majority of 30,000 instead. Can you see that Dr Lee was complaining that he won but that he won with half the majority that he should have? According to Dr Lee, his majority should have been 30,000 instead of just 15,000. Now, I am not going to argue whether Dr Lee is right or wrong. Let us give him the benefit of the doubt and agree that he is right: that he was cheated out of a 30,000 majority and because of that his majority was only 15,000. That, to me, is not what Dr Lee should be focusing on. In fact, this is what most Pakatan Rakyat people talk about: the majority that they won. And that is not what a good election strategy is all about. Barisan Nasional cannot get these large majorities that Pakatan Rakyat can. In many seats that Barisan Nasional won their majorities were very slim. But this does not upset Barisan Nasional as it does Pakatan Rakyat. And this is because Barisan Nasional is not focused on vote majorities like Pakatan Rakyat is but on seat majorities. Pakatan Rakyat's support base is concentrated -- hence these large majorities. Barisan Nasional's support base is spread out, especially Umno. So, with the same number of votes, Barisan Nasional can win 50 seats versus only 30 seats for Pakatan Rakyat (see below). 
Pakatan Rakyat can win 30,000 or more vote majorities in the seats it contests. But that would mean it is 'robbing' another seat of a win. Barisan Nasional may win with a mere 10,000-vote majority but if it wins with a 10,000-vote majority in three seats, this would be three seats versus only one for Pakatan Rakyat. That is how to win an election with less than 50% of the popular votes like Barisan Nasional -- or lose the election with more than 50% of the votes like Pakatan Rakyat. Now, on the issue of the Menteri Besar of Selangor. I wrote earlier that His Highness the Sultan of Selangor had written to DAP, PKR and PAS asking the three Pakatan Rakyat parties whom they want as the Menteri Besar. All three replied to the Sultan's letter naming Khalid Ibrahim. Some readers, probably Azmin Ali's supporters, posted some very nasty comments calling me a liar and saying that no such thing happened (I deleted these nasty comments which were very personal in nature). Well, you can choose to believe it or you can choose not to believe it. Nevertheless this did happen. Azmin has been told (which he admits) that the power and prerogative to appoint the Menteri Besar lies with His Highness. The Sultan can even choose to reject the name or names suggested by Pakatan Rakyat and need not explain the reason why. His Highness can even reject the names of the EXCO Members, as His Highness the Sultan of Kelantan did last week. Yes, Their Highnesses the Sultans (and His Majesty the Agong) are just Constitutional Monarchs who must 'listen to the advise' of the Menteri Besar (or to the Prime Minister for the Agong). But this does not mean the Monarchs are Rubber-Stamp Monarchs even if they may be Constitutional Monarchs. Can you remember in 2008 when His Highness the Sultan of Selangor rejected Pakatan Rakyat's candidate for Deputy Menteri Besar, a Chinese from DAP? Finally this man was appointed the Speaker of the Selangor State Assembly as a sort of 'compromise'. The bottom line is: the Monarchs do have a certain amount of power and authority. It is just how far they want to exert this authority. Most times, by convention, the Monarchs do not meddle too much in issues concerning politics. But did not His Highness the Sultan of Johor just issue a statement saying that he insists that some Chinese representatives be appointed to the Johor EXCO? You may argue that the Chinese voters have rejected the Chinese from Barisan Nasional and hence the Chinese should not be in the government. But if the Sultan says he wants Chinese in the government then Barisan Nasional will have to make sure that there are Chinese in the government. And if the Sultan says he does not want certain people in the government then these people will have to be dropped from the EXCO list (or as the Menteri Besar). You may say you don't like this and you want the Sultans/Agong to butt out. Well, what if they don't? Do you want to launch a revolution and 'storm the Bastille'? Remember that His Majesty the Agong is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces while the state Monarchs are Colonels-in-Chief of the different branches of the Armed Forces. So, who holds the guns? Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat, or the Monarchs? And it is the Agong, not the Prime Minister, who holds the power to suspend Parliament and declare an Emergency. And the Agong with 100,000 guns and I don't know how many tanks behind him will have the final say. TO BE CONTINUED |
| In the aftermath of May 5th (part 8) Posted: 12 May 2013 04:26 PM PDT
Hence the percentage in votes has never matched the percentage in seats. This has always been the case since Merdeka and is called gerrymandering, perfectly legal all over the world unless that particular country passes a law where the variance between seats must be within plus-minus 10% or 15% (something I have been talking about since 1999). THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Anwar vows never to surrender until GE13 results validated (The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim vowed last night never to surrender Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) fight to ensure the pact claims its rightful place in Putrajaya, maintaining his stance that Barisan Nasional (BN) had cheated its way to victory on May 5. READ MORE HERE *************************************************** I followed the rally in Ipoh last night (on live streaming) and would like to touch on what Dr. Lee Boon Chye and Anwar Ibrahim said in that rally. Dr Lee lamented that he won with a majority of only 15,000 votes while if there had not been any cheating he would have won with a majority of 30,000 instead. Anwar, on the other hand, said since Pakatan Rakyat won with more than 51% of the popular votes this proves that Barisan Nasional lost the election. Furthermore, he had known as early as 7.00pm (even as the votes were still being counted) that Pakatan Rakyat had won. Okay, I would like to talk about three very crucial issues here, two of those issues that I have been talking about for a very long time since 1999. And the first issue is about gerrymandering or the fallacy of popular votes while the second issue is about crowds. On Sunday, 5th May 2013, Barisan Nasional won less than 50% of the popular votes and yet it still won almost 60% of the seats in Parliament. Hence this is the evidence of fraud, said Anwar, because it is impossible to win less than 50% of the popular votes and still win the election. Well, in that case, look at the following results of the last 12 general elections from 1959 to 2008 and tell me: is it impossible? 
Even in the worse election for the ruling party, 1969, they won less than 50% of the votes but yet were only 0.7% short of getting a two-thirds majority in Parliament. One more seat and the Alliance Party would have controlled two-thirds of Parliament. Hence the percentage in votes has never matched the percentage in seats. This has always been the case since Merdeka and is called gerrymandering, perfectly legal all over the world unless that particular country passes a law where the variance between seats must be within plus-minus 10% or 15% (something I have been talking about since 1999). So, how can Anwar say Pakatan Rakyat won the election since it won more than 51% of the seats? I have warned Pakatan Rakyat that Barisan Nasional can win 45% of the popular votes and still form the government with a simple majority and that if Pakatan Rakyat wants to take over it needs to win about 60% of the popular votes (based on the current system). The next point I have always talked about, and which was the basis of my Harakah article back in March 2000 regarding the Sanggang by-election (the article was called 'Crowds do NOT translate to votes') is that, well, crowds do not translate to votes. For the first time in Malaysian history, there was a huge crowd in the usually 'sleepy' town of Sanggang and the traffic jam into town was five kilometres long. Judging by the crowd alone, PAS had definitely won that by-election. When the votes were counted, however, Umno won 6,743 votes against Hishamuddin Yahya of PAS's 4,780 votes. Hishamuddin Yahya, the Managing Director of Harakah, published my article because, according to what he told me, he agreed with what I said and felt that the opposition should seriously take note of this very important point. But they did not. In January 2002, there were large crowds at the opposition rallies during the Indera Kayangan by-election. I had to park my car three kilometres from the ceramah and walk the rest of the way because of the massive jam. The crowd was at least 50,000 or more. Earlier, I drove pass Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim's residence and saw less than 100 people there. No way MCA was going to win. Cikgu Khoo from PKR was definitely going to win and PKR forecasted a majority of at least 2,500 votes. When the votes were counted, it was indeed a majority of 2,500 votes but in favour of MCA, not PKR. That is the reality but the opposition never listens and still thinks that crowds of 50,000 or 100,000 at their ceramah means they are going to win the election. This has never been the case and it is time that the opposition wise up to this reality. You need to win seats, not crowds at your ceramah, to win the election. I shall continue this 'story' in the next episode because Malaysia Today readers get very upset when my articles run into more than two pages. TO BE CONTINUED |
| Azmin: I will respect and uphold Sultan’s decision Posted: 12 May 2013 03:31 PM PDT 
(The Star) - PKR deputy president Azmin Ali said the decision on who would be the Selangor Menteri Besar lies ultimately with the Sultan of Selangor and he will respect it totally. Despite his earlier strong objections over the way party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had submitted a candidate's name, allegedly without the knowledge of the state party's leadership, Azmin said that whoever was eventually chosen would have his full backing.
"When the palace decides, all of us will have to accept it and I will uphold it 100% that is my style.
"Just like when the decision was made in 2008 (to appoint Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to the MB's post), I defended him all the way," he said, adding that Pakatan also wanted to honor its manifesto.
He reiterated that his unhappiness was not with the incumbent MB, who appeared to already have the endorsement of both DAP and PAS, but with the way Dr Wan Azizah went about selecting the candidate.
"I also welcome the statement by PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in which he admitted that the process was not observed, confirming what I said in the press conference.
"I hope that the party president will now listen to party leaders especially the state assemblymen," he added.
When asked whether he would contest the presidency in PKR's elections in October, he laughed off the question and said that it was still too early to decide.
"Let's settle this first. We have to start working for the people. The party elections are still too far off."
On his Twitter conversation with Umno leaders, including vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, about "moving together and dismantling old politics", he said it was far from wanting to work together with Barisan Nasional. |
| Blackout 505: PAS serah kepada negeri Posted: 12 May 2013 03:26 PM PDT 
(Harakah Daily) - Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang menyerahkan kepada PAS negeri sama ada mahu menyertai atau tidak perhimpunan Blackout 505, 'Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat'. "Kita serahkan kepada (PAS) negeri sama ada mahu menyertai atau tidak," katanya ketika ditemui media selepas mesyuarat Jawatankuasa PAS Pusat di Pejabat Agung PAS, Jalan Raja Laut, semalam.
Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas pendirian Dewan Ulama PAS yang tidak menyokong tindakan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim untuk mengadakan himpunan di seluruh negara bagi membantah keputusan PRU13.
Pada PRU13, Pakatan Rakyat memperoleh 89 kerusi Parlimen manakala BN memenangi 133 kerusi Parlimen sekaligus mengekalkan mereka sebagai Kerajaan Persekutuan.
Perhimpunan Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat mendapat sambutan luar biasa bermula di Kelana Jaya Rabu lalu, Pulau Pinang Sabtu lalu dan Perak malam tadi. |
| Anwar vows never to surrender until GE13 results validated Posted: 12 May 2013 03:13 PM PDT 
Clara Chooi, TMI Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim vowed last night never to surrender Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) fight to ensure the pact claims its rightful place in Putrajaya, maintaining his stance that Barisan Nasional (BN) had cheated its way to victory on May 5. The de facto PR leader, looking energetic and full of gumption as he addressed thousands of black-clad supporters at PR's third post-Election 2013 rally in Ipoh, acknowledged that it has been a week since the polls results were formally announced. But he insisted that although Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been sworn in as prime minister and it appears to be business as usual for the ruling pact in Putrajaya, the BN chairman and Umno president was not the actual person chosen for the job. "Umno leaders would say, 'we have the mandate so you shut up'. But I say — 'No way'. We have the mandate and we will... lawan tetap lawan (keep on fighting)," he thundered, urging the crowd to sound PR's often-used rallying cry along with him. "Najib has been endorsed as having won... and he has been sworn in. What should we do? "So that is why we say.... in Kelana Jaya, we amassed hundreds of thousands of people with just two days' notice... In Penang, hundreds of thousands turned up in Batu Kawan... the people's uprising. "Why? Because the voice of the people is sacred," the prime minister hopeful continued, unabated. "On Tuesday, we gather in Kuantan. On Wednesday in Johor. And we will not stop until justice is served in this country. "We will not stop until the valid results are announced. Yes. We will continue and we will never surrender," he added, according to a live streaming of the event last night. Anwar and his team in PR have insisted that the just-concluded May 5 polls were rigged, citing irregular voting patterns, suspicious handling of ballot boxes and other issues. Claiming to have gathered sufficient evidence to back their claims, lawyers from both the DAP and PAS are mulling filing election petitions to contest the results. PR officials say they are disputing up to 29 election results and the rallies, which began in Selangor last Wednesday, moved on to Penang on Saturday and Perak last night, will continue in Kuantan on Tuesday, followed by Johor on Wednesday. READ MORE HERE |
| Pasca PRU13 Siri 2: Pilihanraya Tipu? Posted: 12 May 2013 02:45 PM PDT 
Daripada proses yang saya lalui ini sebenarnya saya tidak nampak bagaimana penipuan boleh berlaku jika sekiranya kita punya PACA yang baik, mahir dan terlatih. Pada pandangan saya penipuan KETIKA proses pengundian berlangsung di hari mengundi sebenar agak sukar untuk dilakukan kerana sistemnya sangat ketat dan pengiraan undi di setiap saluran pula dilakukan dengan sangat telus. (DISKOPI) - Saya adalah salah seorang daripada PACA (Polling Agent and Counting Agent) untuk Pakatan Rakyat di salah satu kawasan bandar di Wilayah Persekutuan. PRU13 ini adalah kali kedua saya menjadi PACA. Kali pertama ialah pada 2008 di PRU12. Di kedua-dua pilihanraya ini saya bertindak sebagai polling agent (agen pengundian) dan counting agent (agen pengiraan). Setelah dua kali menjadi PACA dan mengikuti proses pengundian dan pengiraan undi dari mula sampai akhir, saya berpandangan agak sukar penipuan dibuat ketika proses pengundian di hari mengundi sebenar dijalankan. Oleh kerana itu saya tidak faham apabila terdapat ramai suara-suara yang mengatakan bahawa pilihanraya tipu, undi hantu, undi Bangla dan sebagainya. Sebelum saya lanjutkan biar saya letakkan kaveat. Pengalaman saya ini hanyalah tertakluk kepada pengalaman peribadi saya di PRU12 dan PRU13 di tempat dan saluran mengundi yang saya ditugaskan menjadi PACA sahaja. Di tempat-tempat lain mungkin berbeza. Di saluran-saluran lain mungkin berbeza. Pengalaman PACA-PACA lain juga mungkin berbeza. Tapi ini pengalaman peribadi saya. Dari pengalaman peribadi ini saya memutuskan bahawa di saluran yang saya jaga untuk kedua-dua PRU ini, hampir mustahil penipuan dapat dilakukan. Justeru itu, saya jadi kurang yakin dengan tuduhan-tuduhan yang mengatakan bahawa adanya beribu undi hantu, beribu undi Bangla dan banyak penipuan-penipuan lain yang telah berlaku. Biar saya kongsikan kenapa saya rasa penipuan hampir tidak mungkin dapat dilakukan ketika proses membuang dan mengira undi dijalankan dengan meneliti bagaimana proses pengundian dibuat di tempat mengundi. Tulisan ini memang panjang tapi perlu saya huraikan satu persatu supaya orang ramai faham bagaimana proses pengundian di hari mengundi sebenar dilakukan supaya kita dapat menilai sama ada penipuan mungkin berlaku atau tidak. READ MORE HERE |
| Suara Keadilan apologises to Pakatan supporter Posted: 12 May 2013 02:13 PM PDT 
(The Star) - Suara Keadilan has apologised for wrongly accusing a Malaysian supporter of being a Bangladeshi who voted in the elections. PKR's official newspaper carried a boxed-up clarification in its print edition for the article which appeared on page 13. "Suara Keadilan apologises for its error in printing a picture of Ali Mydin as a Bangladeshi. "He is a Pakatan Rakyat supporter. He failed to sing the Negaraku when questioned as he was rushing for time," the clarification stated. The paper went on to explain that Ali had previously voted in several elections and was a legitimate Malaysian citizen. The error and apology was picked up by several people on Twitter including Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan as well as Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. "Saw this in Suara Keadilan paper ... Apology 4accusing their own supporter as Bangla who failed singing NegaraKu. :-)" Abdul Rahman tweeted. Khairy said: "OK but damage done. Next time jgn tipu." @J4frul also reacted to the apology: "LOL. Obviously this event would mark down his choice of vote. Good job PR". @Zapa claimed: "Ni la akibat Krn terlalu Ghairah utk FITNAH SPR (This is the result of being too passionate about defaming EC). Others such as @haqimhakimi expressed pity for Ali. |
| Two men killed, two injured in Batu Kawan shooting Posted: 12 May 2013 02:07 PM PDT 
(The Star) - BATU KAWAN: Two men were killed while two others were seriously injured in a shooting at the Bukit Tambun traffic-light junction here Sunday night. The four, travelling in a pickup truck, were taken to the Seberang Jaya Hospital. However, two of the men - aged 28 and 40 - succumbed to their injuries, said Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi, adding that they had criminal records. He said the four men, aged between 28 and 60, had just left a relative's wedding when two assailants on a motorcycle pulled up to the left of the vehicle and fired multiple shots at about 10.30pm. The other two were critically injured and warded at the Seberang Jaya Hospital, Abdul Rahim told reporters here Monday. Their identities have yet to be ascertained. Abdul Rahim said the police believed automatic pistols were used in the attack and four bullet casings were found at the scene. He said investigations are underway but the police did not rule out business rivalry as the motive of the attack. Eyewitnesses and those with information are urged to contact the nearest police station, he added. |
| Zul Noordin fans ‘Chinese tsunami’ row, says DAP behind May 13 Posted: 12 May 2013 01:51 PM PDT 
(TMI) - Datuk Zulkifli Noordin raised the spectre of May 13 last night when he accused the DAP and Lim Kit Siang of being behind Malaysia's worst race riots even as Umno leaders continue to blame last week's poor election results on a "Chinese tsunami" that was fanned by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party. The controversial Perkasa vice-president, who was a direct Barisan Nasional (BN) losing candidate in Election 2013, made the allegations in a series of tweets sent out on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the riots. "Tomorrow is May 13... the 44th anniversary of race riots in Malaysia which was the atrocity of chauvinists including Kit Siang's party which used the slogan Malai-Seh or Die Malays," he tweeted late last night. Lim has frequently been the target of right-wing Malay groups who have singled him out for blame for the riots even though he was not even in Kuala Lumpur when the riots broke out. But former Umno member Tamrin Ghafar had cleared Lim while on the stump of the Election 2013 campaign trail, saying that Umno itself was behind the riot. The son of former deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba said he was told by former home minister, the late Tun Ghazali Shafie, that the May 13 riots were likely the result of an internal Umno coup against founding prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. According to police records, 196 people were killed in the riots which were largely clashes between Malay and Chinese groups, following the results of the general election held a few days earlier. In the 1969 elections, the Alliance coalition of Umno, the MCA and MIC lost the popular vote but won the elections. In Election 2013, BN, the successor to the Alliance also won the polls but lost the popular vote. Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak suggested a "Chinese tsunami" had caused his BN to record its worst-ever electoral results. Utusan Malaysia, the newspaper owned by Umno, has also suggested Chinese voters were provoking race tensions by voting against BN, with one headline last week asking the question "Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What else do the Chinese want?)" The newspaper — seen as being aligned with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad — and other party leaders have consistently argued that votes against the Umno-led BN were akin to voting against the Malays. READ MORE HERE |
| On May 13, Utusan calls for Malay political unity Posted: 12 May 2013 01:46 PM PDT 
The daily also quoted former PAS and PKR member Datuk Zulkifli Noordin who raised the spectre of May 13 by accusing the DAP and its veteran Lim Kit Siang of being behind Malaysia's worst race riots. Zurairi AR, TMI Utusan Malaysia ran a series of stories today, repeating calls for both Umno and PAS to unite for the sake of the Malay race and Islam after the recent general election where the Malays allegedly lost their political upper hand to the Chinese. With its front-page headline "Bersatulah Melayu" (Malays unite), the Umno-owned broadsheet quoted several speakers from a forum called "GE13 post-mortem: Muslim leadership and survival" yesterday, including maverick PAS politician Nasharuddin Mat Isa who moved again to revive unity talks between the Islamist party and ruling Umno. "The Malay-Muslim unity agenda through Umno and PAS's co-operation must go on ... The call was voiced by former PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa (picture) who asked Malay-Muslim leaders to realise the reality that the race and religion's futures are now being torn by certain parties," said Utusan today. The PAS conservative, who was edged out by the party's progressives during their 2011 internal polls, insisted yesterday that negotiations to unite both warring Malay-centric parties must continue for the sake of strengthening Islam and the position of the Malay race in the country. "To me, the unity of PAS and Umno must be a continuing agenda. I only cannot accept it when what is being pursued in the unity between PAS and Umno, there are those who say their face should be spat on.... what religious teaching is this?" said Nasharuddin. The daily also quoted former PAS and PKR member Datuk Zulkifli Noordin who raised the spectre of May 13 by accusing the DAP and its veteran Lim Kit Siang of being behind Malaysia's worst race riots. Zulkifli had accused the DAP of using the slogan "Malai-Seh" (Die Malays) in the 1969 bloody riots, and had asked yesterday whether Malays have truly "died" after certain parties are now willing to work together with "racist" DAP and "extremist and chauvinist" Lim. The controversial Perkasa vice-president, who was a direct Barisan Nasional (BN) losing candidate in Election 2013, made the allegations last night in a series of tweets sent out on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the riots. On its Page 3, Utusan ran the story "Berjihad perkasa Perlembagaan" (Jihad to strengthen the Constitution) where former appeals court judge Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah urged the Malays not compromise in having a Malay prime minister, mentri besar and chief minister. Mohd Noor had yesterday urged the Malays to be more aggressive to strengthen political and economic power to avoid being regarded as a weak race in their own country. As a result, DAP chairman Karpal Singh has urged the police to cite the former judge for sedition, claiming that Mohd Noor had used provocative language when he warned the Chinese of a Malay backlash for their alleged "betrayal" of BN in last Sunday's polls. READ MORE HERE |
| ‘What more does Kit Siang want?’, asks Utusan Posted: 12 May 2013 01:41 PM PDT 
"What more does Kit Siang want? Isn't it enough that during campaigning Kit Siang who supposedly fights for true democracy lets DAP leaders insult Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders? Isn't he happy when DAP has succeeded in resisting PAS's Islamic fight including for hudud?" asked Zulkiflee in his column. "So we ask, what more does Kit Siang want? Didn't he think that what he is doing right now, including insulting Umno leaders, might incite a reaction from the Malays?" he added, warning the DAP adviser not to "play with fire" in flaming the people's sentiments. Zurairi AR, TMI Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia suggested today that by insulting Umno the DAP's Lim Kit Siang could expect a strong reaction from Malays. Under the headline "What more does Kit Siang want?", the newspaper's senior editor Zulkiflee Bakar accused Lim and the DAP of endangering the safety of Malaysians and breaking the law in a series of allegedly illegal rallies held in the past few days. "What more does Kit Siang want? Isn't it enough that during campaigning Kit Siang who supposedly fights for true democracy lets DAP leaders insult Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders? Isn't he happy when DAP has succeeded in resisting PAS's Islamic fight including for hudud?" asked Zulkiflee in his column. "So we ask, what more does Kit Siang want? Didn't he think that what he is doing right now, including insulting Umno leaders, might incite a reaction from the Malays?" he added, warning the DAP adviser not to "play with fire" in flaming the people's sentiments. The newspaper has been consistently highlighting the DAP and Chinese voters in its tone of coverage and editorials since last week's general election. In Election 2013, BN won the polls but lost the popular vote. Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak had suggested a "Chinese tsunami" had caused his BN to record its worst-ever electoral results. Utusan, the newspaper owned by Umno, has also suggested Chinese voters were provoking racial tensions by voting against BN, with one headline last week asking the question "Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What else do the Chinese want?)" The newspaper — seen as being aligned with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad — and other party leaders have consistently argued that votes against the Umno-led BN were akin to voting against the Malays. This is despite the fact that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties PAS and PKR are largely Malay-Muslim in their membership. The DAP also fielded Malay candidates in the elections. On Saturday, Najib defended his party from accusations of racism, and instead accused the DAP of being racists. Despite the claims from Umno, analyses of the Election 2013 results point to a urban-rural divide rather than a Malay-Chinese division in the way Malaysians voted last week. While a majority of Chinese backed PR parties, a significant number of Malay voters also voted for the opposition parties, particularly in urban centres. Yesterday, Datuk Zulkifli Noordin raised the spectre of May 13 when he accused the DAP and Lim of being behind Malaysia's worst race riots even as Umno leaders continue to blame last week's poor election results on a "Chinese tsunami" that was fanned by the PR party. The controversial Perkasa vice-president, who was a direct BN losing candidate in Election 2013, made the allegations in a series of tweets sent out on the eve of the 44th anniversary of the riots. Lim has frequently been the target of right-wing Malay groups who have singled him out for blame for the riots even though he was not even in Kuala Lumpur when the riots broke out. Former Umno member Tamrin Ghafar had cleared Lim while on the stump of the Election 2013 campaign trail, saying that Umno itself was behind the riot. The son of former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba said he was told by former home minister, the late Tun Ghazali Shafie, that the May 13 riots were likely the result of an internal Umno coup against founding Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Today, Utusan claimed that Lim had insulted Najib at one of his post-election rallies, where he allegedly said "the devil we know has become the prime minister". READ MORE HERE |
| All eyes will be on Najib’s cabinet choices Posted: 12 May 2013 01:35 PM PDT 
Would Najib assemble a cabinet to win party votes or one to win the next general election, and the two seem to be mutually exclusive. However Najib's immediate task to assemble a Cabinet is more important. Compared to the cabinet before dissolution, he has 11 vacancies to fill. Seven members of the previous Cabinet did not contest the parliamentary elections and three were defeated. By ZB Othman, FMT A week is a long time in politics, but for Malaysians it has seemed a lot longer following the 13th general election (GE13). The final score was Barisan Nasional (BN) — 133 and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) — 89. Usually the winners would be busy cobbling a cabinet together and the losers would be licking their wounds and sitting in front of the drawing board to scheme a plan for the next one. However, the "most serious threat" to the BN since Merdeka has turned matters on its head. Losers PR is still planning protests, claiming that the election was stolen from them. On the other side, winners BN seems unsure how to handle a victory in which it retained power, by a comfortable margin, in parliament but lost the coveted two-third majority. For Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, his work has just begun. Najib's long-term work would be to reconcile a seemingly divided nation after the polls and to ensure BN's election promises get delivered in the next five years — a monumental task in itself with a bill that has been estimated at about RM225.6 billion by bean counters. However Najib's immediate task to assemble a Cabinet is more important. Compared to the cabinet before dissolution, he has 11 vacancies to fill. Seven members of the previous Cabinet did not contest the parliamentary elections and three were defeated. How he fills these vacancies is very important, not least because he will be scrutinised by members of his own Umno party who will vote whether he will stay as president in the next general assembly later this year. The question is already being asked, would he assemble a cabinet to win party votes or one to win the next general election, and the two seem to be mutually exclusive. In this, Najib is faced with precedents in Umno set in 1970 when Tunku Abdul Rahman stepped down after losing many seats in the 1969 general election and in 2009 when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was the first prime minister to fail in securing a two-thirds majority, made way for Najib. Since then, Najib has done a lot to correct some of the shortcomings that have driven young voters away from BN. Some of these steps, like his 1Malaysia branding and the abolition of the hated Internal Security Act have been successful in putting a new face on BN and Umno as a more tolerant organisation. Other steps, however, such as the rolling back of Malay privileges and spending to raise the lot of the poor has been treated with suspicion. Retribution politics It is telling that while Najib has called for national reconciliation, there are some in BN who are still bent on punishing the voters who did not support them. On Saturday newly appointed Terengganu Mentri Besar Ahmad Said said areas where BN lost in the state would not have the benefit of having the services of local development officers nor state funded affordable housing projects. It is back to the day of retribution politics that is losing traction now. Someone who lost but has not blamed voters is BN's Saifuddin Abdullah, who is an Umno Supreme Council member. Saifuddin admitted that his loss was due to Chinese votes but added that his analysis showed that he also lost because some Malay votes did not come his way. "Records show that some 3,389 Umno voters stayed away on election day, and if you do the maths, it could have easily offset the 1,070 votes I lost to my opponent," he said. "More importantly I think the trend is that a large portion of voters have moved away from development-based aspirations towards democratic aspirations." READ MORE HERE |
| ‘Expect a backlash from Malays’ Posted: 12 May 2013 01:27 PM PDT 
According to a former appeals court judge, although Malays have a special position in the country, they only own about 20 percent of the economy. (Bernama) - Malays need to be more aggressive to strengthen political and economic power in order not to be regarded as a weak race in their own country. Former appeals court judge Mohd Noor Abdullah said Malay rights enshrined in the federal constitution must be defended and the Malay leadership does not have to be apologetic to the other races. "Result of the 13th general election (GE13) and the 'Chinese tsunami' show that the Chinese have forgotten about the bond established 55 years ago." Mohd Noor said although the Malays have high tolerance, they hate betrayal and show of disrespect. "Expect a backlash from the Malays," he told participatnts at the GE13 Post Mortem: Muslim Leadership and Survival forum, organised by the Federation of Peninsula Malay Students (GPMS) and UiTM Alumni Association here today. Efforts should be made to retain Malay political power and to increase Malay reserve land in urban areas and increase economic share to 67 percent in 10 years. Although the Malays have a special position in this country, they only own about 20 percent of the economy. Mohd Noor warned the Malays to reject corruption because it can destroy their dignity and weaken the nation. "It must be strictly enforced so that the Malays fear corruption. This is because some people say the Malays can be bought with a cigarette," he added. Umno and PAS must united Former PAS deputy president Dr Nasharuddin Mat Isa said that efforts towards Umno-PAS unity should be continued for the sake of race and religion. "The future of our nation and religion is under threat. Some people may criticise me for saying this. Is it wrong in our religion to talk about race? "The events of May 13, 1969, and those affecting Muslims are of concern to the people. When you see the current trend, it is not impossible for similar events to recur if efforts for unity are not done." Muslim Intellectual Group member Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said young Malays are not keen to fight for their race for fear of being called racists. "The young failed to understand the Malay struggle because some clerics labelled it as 'assabiyah' or fanaticism. He also shared Nasharuddin's sentiment that there is no reason for Umno and PAS not to be united for the sake of religion and nation. President of Malay Professional Thinkers Association Dr Kamarudin Kachar said a resolution will be submitted to Prime Minister Seri Najib Tun Razak tomorrow as a guide to retain Muslim political power. |
| Wait for the next GE, Pakatan Posted: 12 May 2013 01:24 PM PDT 
This BN government is not reticent in using everything it has in its arsenal and at its disposal to 'manage' any threat to our national security - perceived or otherwise. If Anwar wanted to bolster his flagging image after Pakatan Rakyat's results in the 13th GE – he succeeded. What he did not succeed in doing was to defuse the already inflamed and volatile passion within so many diehard supporters of Pakatan who are ready to go out and create havoc and mayhem in our community because they are told that BN has stolen the GE from Pakatan. CT Ali, FMT The huge crowd at the Pakatan rallies, especially in Kelana Jaya, would have given Najib Tun Razak food for thought. The oratory on display would certainly have fuelled the adoring assembly into raptures of reverence and expectations of another tsunami, hopefully this time around to sweep Pakatan Rakyat into government. 'Hari ni PR menang. Esok BN form Government', 'Tumbang, Tumbang! Tumbang BN', 'Tolak, Tolak! Tolak BN', 'BN curi keputusan pilihan raya!', 'SPR Tipu! SPR Bohong!', 'Mari ketawakan SPR. Ha Ha Ha!', 'Tolak Tangan Persahabatan BN', 'Kami anak Malaysia', 'Kami Pahlawan Rakyat!'. And of course the ringing, familiar heart rendering calls of "RE…FOR…MASI!" And then the diminutive much loved figure of Pejuang Sastera Pak Samad greeted us with a "Salam Ubah" and proceeded to recite his "Ibu Segala Tipu" – written just three hours before the meet in Kelana Jaya. The crowd was primed for Anwar – the people's prime minister chosen by 52% of Malaysians. Anwar tells us that he "naik kereta, naik motor, jalan kaki dan berlari" to get to be with the them, and they were ready for anything Anwar had to say, and will do what he would ask them to do. Anwar Ibrahim declared that he will begin a fight to the finish between a peaceful Pakatan Rakyat against a corrupt and arrogant Barisan Nasional. And he will not rest until justice is done, democracy is restored and the 13th general election win illegally taken from Pakatan Rakyat by BN is given back to Pakatan. 'Kita akan lawan sampai menang' In two weeks, Anwar promised, the Bersih Tribunal will provide proof that 30 parliamentary seats were illegally won by BN. And Anwar promised that it will not end there. Every corner of the country will be visited, Sabah and Sarawak included, to tell the people that Pakatan Rakyat have had the general election stolen from them by BN. And it will not end until this Suara Rakyat from Pakatan Rakyat, this Suara Keramat has been heeded by the BN government. After all it was BN that "curi keputusan pilihan raya, bukan Pakatan'. If Anwar wanted to bolster his flagging image after Pakatan Rakyat's results in the 13th GE – he succeeded. If Anwar wanted to prime his supporters for the second coming of refomasi as we know if after his ouster as DPM – he succeeded. What he did not succeed in doing was to pursue in a calm and collected manner, his misgivings for the voting irregularities in the 13th GE. What he did not succeed in doing was to defuse the already inflamed and volatile passion within so many diehard supporters of Pakatan who are ready to go out and create havoc and mayhem in our community because they are told that BN has stolen the GE from Pakatan. If we are to descend into the hellfire of May 13-type of chaos that will consume our nation as Pakatan fight a battle it cannot win against the police and the army, this is the best way to do it. If Pakatan is to give BN an opportunity to rule by decree because our country's national security is at risk – this is the best way to do it. There must surely be another way forward for Pakatan Rakyat. Many have voiced their misgivings about a Pakatan-led by Anwar, a leader who could, would and did inflame the masses during his reformasi days. READ MORE HERE |
| Vernacular schools “disunite” people Posted: 12 May 2013 01:16 PM PDT 
(Bernama) - The result of the 13th general election which has triggered the issue of national integration has given rise to calls for vernacular schools be changed to single stream schools to strengthen national unity. The calls were made by academicians who were of the opinion that the problems of racial unity in the country were caused from an inconsistent schooling system, with the existence of schools of various streams. Universiti Technologi Mara (UiTM) pro-chancellor Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad said vernacular schools developed at a faster pace and that only 10 percent of non-Malays studied in national schools. "The rest are in vernacular schools. It is clear that racism is expanding widely, this continues with private secondary chools and national-type secondary schools. "If we still allow such schools, don't ever hope to talk about unity, it will only be lip service," he said at the 'GE13 Post Mortem Discourse: Leadership Discussion and Survival of the Muslim Community' here, yesterday. A more strident tone was used by former Appeals Court judge Mohd Noor Abdullah who wanted national-type schools (SJKs) to be done away with because they were not recognised under the constitution. "SJKs only disunite the people. We should now have government primary schools, government secondary schools. The existing SJKs should be changed to government schools. "Every student studies in the same classroom, eats at the same canteen, plays in the same court. Then we can strengthen national integration," he said. This should be supported by the whole Malaysian society, he said, regarding those who disagreed with a single stream school as anti-unity. |
| 'Umno, MCA, MIC Could Merge Into Single Party' Posted: 12 May 2013 01:06 PM PDT 
(The Malay Mail) - Senior Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians have called for an end to race-based politics on the 44th anniversary of of the May 13 riots as part of reconciliation efforts to make the party relevant to the present generation, which is averse to divisive politics. Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor suggested that the ruling coalition merge into a single party as part of its rebranding exercise to make it relevant to all Malaysians. The Putrajaya MP said BN is currently studying all possibilities to rebrand and make significant changes. "BN could perhaps be made into a single party that is no longer race-based someday," he told The Malay Mail. Tengku Adnan was responding to Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's call for the party to "ubah" (change). In a front-page report in The Malay Mail last Friday, Nazri said BN is outdated and does not resonate with the younger voters, who emphasise on unity. Tengku Adnan said for changes to take place sooner, youths should be more educated on politics and history. Another Umno supreme council member, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, said BN should try to address a newer form of politics to appeal to youths. "They don't like race-based politics as well as parties that carry baggage. Most youths relate to 'democratic hopes' like freedom of speech, human rights and fairness, whereas BN is currently only good at addressing 'developmental hope' such as welfare and infrastructure," he said. Saifuddin believes change in BN should begin with the appointment of younger and more youth-oriented people in its leadership. "Youth-orientedness is not just about attending and organizing programs. It is about developing a genuine world view on politics through experience and education," he said, adding that BN should encourage direct membership for youths. "There are many who want to support BN but are not comfortable in joining the component parties for various reasons," he said. Meanwhile, three Malay leaders: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, have also called for an end to partisan politics to get Malaysia moving forward. |
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