Archive for category UMNO
Even after Anwar’s acquittal, politics will likely stay dirty
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Saturday, 11 February 2012
— Bridget Welsh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012
FEB 10 — Malaysia recently hit the headlines after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges, although the prosecution has already filed an appeal.
The case is entirely political and reflects the government’s willingness to use the judiciary for political ends. Malaysia is set for the most competitive elections it has ever had, likely before June or else pushed off until 2013, and each side has a fighting chance to win.
Malaysian politics is dirty. Murder, sodomy, secret trysts, sex videos and conspiracy are all commonplace, and corruption scandals occur regularly. Both sides wallow in this political gutter, each trying to darken the reputation of the other and not fully appreciating how much the system as a whole has been damaged. Anwar’s acquittal gave the government an opportunity to take the high road and move away from this negative approach. Instead, it opted to appeal, despite the shabby evidence.
Concerns are now focused on the integrity of the electoral process. The government is mooting reforms but the problems are vast, from administrative neutrality to vote buying. As the system becomes more competitive, political institutions involved in anticorruption and law have been compromised, with the government pressuring institutions such as the civil service to toe the line. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s prime minister loses most from Anwar trial
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Saturday, 11 February 2012
— by Barry Wain
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012
FEB 10 — Malaysians expressed a collective sigh of relief when Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges in early January.
Their groan of dismay over the prosecution’s subsequent decision to appeal was equally palpable.
For most Malaysians, despite being divided in their opinions of Anwar, the acquittal marked a chance to move away from the sleazy politics that has long dominated daily life. Now, they expect more of the same. Aware of public exasperation, Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to seize on the not guilty verdict as proof of his ‘reformist’ agenda and Malaysia’s supposedly independent judiciary. But the appeal leaves him stranded, inclined to delay calling a general election, and acutely aware that he is under threat as much from within his own ranks as from the opposition. It seems likely that Najib will win the next election, but unless he scores big — which seems unlikely — his leadership could be at risk. Read the rest of this entry »
Berikan kepercayaan kepada rakyat, bukan sebaliknya!
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 8 February 2012
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 08, 2012
8 FEB — Nampak nya, bila PM Najib menyeru kaum India mempercayai nya, dia sudah lupa kepada slogan dia sendiri. Suatu ketika dahulu, semasa berkobar kobar semangat liberalism dan terlalu taksub untuk meyakinkan dunia barat, PM Najib telah berkata bahawa zaman dimana pemerintah lebih tahu segala nya sudah berakhir. The age of government knows best is over. Translated, it also means, the age of big brotherism is over.
Tapi kita tahu, PM Najib kadang-kadang tidak tahu apa yang sudah diucapkan. Maklum sahajalah, sebahagian besar ucapan mengenai dasar-dasar negara, di sediakan oleh con-sultans. Slogan itu sedap di dengar, tapi perlaksanaan nya tidak ada.
Dan baru-baru ini, kita dengar PM Najib berkata perbelanjaan keatas kebajikan rakyat akan memufliskan negara. Adakah bantuan kepada rakyat yang susah, bayaran melalui jabatan kebajikan masyarakat misalnya, akan memiskinkan negara? Kenyataan ini amat sukar di terima memandangkan dalam masa 10 tahun (2000-2009) sebanyak satu trillion atau 1,000 billion telah hilang dari negara akibat pemindahan wang ke luar negara secara haram! Bayangkan jika jumlah tersebut di aplikasikan kepada kebajikan masyarakat! Maka yang sebetulnya membengkrapkan negara ini ialah rasuah dan pemindahan wang secara haram. Read the rest of this entry »
When will Najib go into the den of the extremists to preach the message of moderation – especially Utusan Malaysia and UMNO Supreme Council?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 8 February 2012
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak preached the message of moderation to a Chap Goh Meh celebration at Fo Guang Shah Dong Zen temple in Jenjarom, Selangor on Monday night, invoking the Buddhist teaching of moderation.
Najib said: “Even though we may differ in terms of faith, moderation exists in almost all religions…Moderation points to an understanding of not practicing extreme, fanatical, militant or violent ideology among us.”
He urged all Malaysians to support the concept of transformation and not to let the opportunity to pass to lift the nation to be a fully developed nation by 2020.
I commend Najib for spreading the message of moderation but he should realize that he was speaking to a converted crowd – as the audience in Jenjarom was imbued by the Buddhist teaching of “Middle Way” and/or the Confucianist doctrine of “zhong yong”.
It does not escape notice that although the Prime Minister had been preaching the message of moderation at a few international forums, and hosted an International Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates only last month, extremism and intolerance have been rearing their ugly heads resulting in the worst racial and religious polarization in the country in the first three years of any Malaysian Prime Minister from Tunku Abdul Rahman to Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and now to him.
Najib should continue to preach the message of moderation but it is important that he should not just spread the word to the converted like the Chap Goh Meh celebration at Jenjarom but must take the message to extremist groups and circles who need conversion to the message of moderation the most.
How can Najib expect the bona fides of his message of moderation, though repeated in international conferences or to selected audiences in the country, to be taken seriously if Utusan Malaysia, the official newspaper of his own political party, UMNO, is the daily personification of a shrill, irresponsible, extremist and intolerant Voice both on racial and religious grounds? Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s right turn
Posted by Kit in Election, Hishammuddin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 8 February 2012
— Liew Chin Tong
Rocket/The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012
FEB 7 — As I walked from my hotel room to a meeting in Port Dickson in July 2005, I remember holding a newspaper with a photo of Hishammuddin Hussein brandishing a keris on its cover. At that moment, I knew Umno was kissing goodbye to its non-Malay support. (For reference, see the first part of this article here.)
Indeed, on hindsight, it was the pivotal moment of the decade: Umno had turned to the right permanently while the then-Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lost control over his reform agenda. The demise of Abdullah’s premiership, arguably Umno’s last chance to reform, began in July 2005.
Today, unless Prime Minister Najib Razak can stare down the right wing of his party as effectively as Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020 grand compromise and turn the clock back by seven years to restore its centrist credential, the events of July 2005 will culminate in Umno and Barisan Nasional’s eventual electoral collapse. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib kata, ‘gua caya lu, lu caya gua’
Posted by Kit in Elections, Indians, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 February 2012
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012
7 FEB — “Lu caya gua, gua caya lu!”….. itulah maksud kata-kata Najib kepada kaum India semasa melawat Batu Caves sempena hari Thaipusam pagi tadi. Najib menyeru kaum India supaya mempercayai beliau dalam usaha memperbaiki kehidupan kaum India dan memberikan beliau sokongan dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang. “Tuan-tuan tolong saya, saya akan tolong tuan-tuan” kata Najib lantang dan jelas.
Janji seperti ini telah dibuat setiap pilihanraya tiba sejak tiga puluh tahun yang lalu. Janji ini bukan sahaja dibuat kepada kaum India tetapi semua kaum termasuk kaum Najib sendiri, iaitu kaum Melayu yang merupakan kaum terbesar di negara ini. Janji ini jugalah yang akan ditabur dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang kerana kita tahu segala janji yang dibuat pagi tadi tidak akan kemana.
Tetapi kepada siapa yang masih yakin dan percaya kepada janji itu terpulang kepada mereka. Setiap rakyat berhak untuk memilih untuk dibohongi terus-terusan atau mengelak dari pembohongan tersebut. Sebagai seorang Perdana Menteri yang mengetuai Kerajaan Persekutuan, janji yang dibuat secara peribadi itu merupakan tindakan ‘desperate’ dan kata-katanya itu tidak melambangkan beliau seorang pemimpin yang ‘magnanimous’ yang memimpin rakyat yang berbilang kaum itu.
Orang Melayu telah dijanjikan bermacam-macam setiap pilihanraya, tetapi kita lihat apa yang berlaku sekarang ini adalah terlalu jauh dari menepati janji-janji yang telah dibuat kepada mereka. Umno telah menjadikan orang Melayu hanya sebagai dahan bongkok untuk ‘kera-kera’ meniti dan digunakan untuk memberikan sokongan dalam pilihanraya sahaja. Orang Melayu dan rakyat hanya diberikan RM500 upah sebelum pilihanraya ini untuk mendapatkan kuasa dan terus menjajah pemikiran bangsanya sendiri. Read the rest of this entry »
Shahrizat is Najib’s millstone
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Mariam Mokhtar | Feb 6, 2012
Malaysiakini
There was one serious flaw in the success story of Malaya: The emergent Malaysia bred generations of Malay politicians who, when caught with their hands in the public kitty, will do anything to hang on to power.
They continue nonchalantly because they are confident their peers will play along with the charade.
They delight in “proving their innocence” by swearing on the Quran. Some think that by seeking absolution from God, by going on umrahs, they are able to convince the god-fearing public, that the pilgrimage is a testament of their innocence.
The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal hangs like a millstone around the neck of the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Read the rest of this entry »
Kita memerlukan siasah, ‘ambience’ politik dan imej negara yang baru
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 06, 2012
6 FEB — Sejak saya menyertai Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) pada 8hb Januari yang lalu, saya agak sibuk juga berjumpa dengan ramai rakan-rakan lama yang saya sudah lama tidak temui. Setiap hari ada sahaja beberapa panggilan talipon dari sahabat-sahabat lama ini, ada yang sudah dua puluh tahun tidak bersua. Mereka berjumpa untuk bertanya khabar setelah mendengar berita yang saya sudah meninggalkan Umno untuk melalui wadah baru perjuangan setelah menyepi hampir dua dekad.
Sesungguhnya selama saya keseorangan di rumah bersama cucu-cucu, saya sempat berfikir dan membuat “soul searching” secara serius tentang isu-isu politik yang berbangkit dalam negara kita ini. Saya memerhatikan lagak dan laku pemimpin-pemimpin melalui TV yang kebanyakkannya adalah dari mereka yang saya kenal sejak berdekad-dekad dahulu yang kini sudah menjadi pemimpin, tidak dapat memahami dan menyelami perasaan ahli-ahli Umno dan rakyat amnya.
Ramai di antara mereka yang berjumpa dengan saya itu adalah ahli-ahli Umno serta pemimpin di peringkat rendahan seperti ketua-ketua bahagian Umno serta jawatankuasa mereka. Ada juga pemimpin peringkat yang tinggi memanggil bertanyakan kenapa saya menyertai pembangkang sedangkan saya telah menyertai Umno selama 40 tahun, lebih lama dari mereka sendiri.
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini saya jawab hanya dengan meluahkan satu dua baris ayat jawapan. Yang paling selalu saya jawap ialah, Umno sudah hilang identitinya samasekali. Saya sudah tidak mengenali Umno lagi. Parti yang disebut sebagai Umno itu sudah tidak rupa Umno lagi. Umno hanya tinggal pada nama tetapi tidak ada rohnya lagi. Umno ibarat kucing dengan tikus. Dulu kucing makan tikus tetapi kucing sekarang takut pada tikus. Kadang-kadang saya menjawab dengan bertanya satu soalan; kenapa saya mesti kekal dalam Umno? Apabila soalan itu dijawab barulah saya boleh menjawab soalan kenapa saya menyertai DAP.
Pemimpin-pemimpin sekarang tidak memahami apa itu Umno sebelum mereka menyertai parti itu. Sampai sekarang mereka tidak memahami apa itu Umno dan mereka jugalah yang menjadi pemimpin parti itu dan mentadbir negara dengan cara yang kita lihat sekarang. Mereka menganggap menyertai Umno dan seterusnya menjadi Menteri dan sebagainya itu merupakan perkara yang “ultimate” bagi mereka tetapi mereka tidak pernah berusaha untuk menjaga apa yang terkandung dalam BAB3 Perlembagaan Parti itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Shahrizat returns from leave with all guns blazing – not slayed the ghost of the “cattle condo” scandal but reared more monsters
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 6 February 2012
Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Wanita UMNO leader and Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, has returned from her three-week leave from Cabinet with all guns blazing but instead of slaying the ghost of the RM330 million “cattle condo” scandal, she has only reared more monsters.
When announcing her leave on January 12, Shahrizat said: “I hope the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be able to investigate whether or not I was involved in any of the decisions made by the government on the NFC in which my husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammad Salleh Ismail, is the executive chairman.”
Has Shahrizat been cleared of any impropriety, abuse of power or conflict of interest in the RM330 million NFC “cattle condo” scandal by the MACC?
The answer is in the negative. As the purpose of her Ministerial leave has not been achieved, shouldn’t her Cabinet leave be extended until a clear answer is available?
In the absence of any unequivocal exoneration by the MACC, the only alternative open to Shahrizat is to rebut one by one the many specific allegations of abuses of public funds or her knowledge/complicity, for instance allegations like the RM13.8 million used for purchasing luxury condominiums in Bangsar, RM10 million to purchase a luxury condominium in Singapore, RM3.4 million for plots of land in Putrajaya, RM830,000 for holiday trips, RM530,000 for a luxury car, payment of RM600,000 credit card bill for Shahrizat’s family, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
The prostitution of the mainstream media
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, Mahathir, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
FEB 5 — A few days ago, a friend remarked that he hasn’t read Utusan Malaysia for almost two years. When I asked the reason why, he answered simply by stating Utusan Malaysia has become the extended mouthpiece of Umno and BN. Especially the former. Its editorials are nothing more than patronising dictations by an officious Guru Kanan in charge of discipline. He finds the editorials insulting to the intelligence and nauseatingly overbearing. Who wants to read a paper that says Nik Aziz is delusional, while Dr Mahathir who hasn’t made peace with the new political realities, isn’t?
For substitute he now reads Sinar which has surpassed Utusan in circulation and credibility. I am inclined to believe many others share his revulsion for not only Utusan Malaysia but other members of the mainstream media too. The citadel for the shameless media partisanship has shifted from Jalan Riong to the HQ of Media Prima. Read the rest of this entry »
Poster-poster rasis sudah mula dinaikkan. Itu petanda BN sudah kehabisan modal
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
5 FEB — Saya telah pergi ke TTDI hari ini untuk bertemu beberapa orang rakan yang ingin berjumpa saya sambil minum pagi. Saya diberitahu oleh rakan-rakan saya yang sudah banyak poster-poster yang ditampal dimerata-rata tempat tentang Lim Guan Eng sebagai anti-Melayu. Poster itu berbunyi ‘Lim Guan Eng anti Melayu’. Sebagai seorang yang sentiasa berada bersama rakyat marhean di bawah ini, saya dapat merasakan dengan jelas yang DAP sedang mendapat penerimaan dari kaum Melayu yang sudah terbuka minda dan tidak lagi terkongkong dengan momokan jahat setengah pihak terhadap parti itu.
Ini juga dapat dirasakan oleh Umno dan sekutunya. Maka tidak terkejut jika mereka melakukan tindakan desperado ini kerana ini sahajalah jalan yang tinggal untuk menggagalkan usaha DAP untuik membuktikan yang parti itu benar-benar sebuah parti ‘multi-racial’ yang sedang mendapat sambutan dari semua kaum termasuk dari kaum Melayu yang sudah tidak terkongkong dengan momokan gila parti-parti dalam BN khususnya Umno.
Untuk memahami tujuan poster ini dinaikkan tidak memerlukan seorang yang bijak pandai untuk mentelaahnya. Seseorang yang terbuka sedikit mindanya dan sudah bercampur gaul dengan mereka yang berpolitik secara jujur akan cepat tahu matlamat pihak yang menaikkan poster-poster ini. Matlamatnya ialah untuk berusaha dengan cara kotor untuk BN mendapat sokongan dari semua kaum khususnya orang Melayu. Read the rest of this entry »
Wanita Umno to give Rafizi wing’s trademark baju kurung, says Shahrizat
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today said she will send the wing’s trademark red and white baju kurung to her “stalker” in PKR, whom she joked wanted to assume her post.
In an apparent reference to Rafizi Ramli, who has led PKR’s attacks on Shahrizat and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), the federal minister said the idea had been mooted by Perak Wanita Umno at a recent meeting.
“He will look good in red and white as he’s a little jambu (effete). Wanita Umno will pack the red and white garments and send them to my stalker,” she told reporters at Hospital Kuala Lumpur here.
“Because I think this particular person aspires to be Wanita Umno chief, maybe because he’s a wannabe leader (but) his party doesn’t have many members. Wanita Umno has 1.3 million members so he can feel the strength.” Read the rest of this entry »
‘Umno warlords will not let Najib succeed’
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, UMNO on Thursday, 2 February 2012
By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | February 2, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Sometime ago I met The Economist correspondent Dr Richard Cockett who asked me whether Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will succeed in his transformation ideas.
I said, Najib will not suceed. And why not? Because Umno won’t let him succeed.
Take the case of his New Economic Model (NEM). Nowadays we hardly hear about it. In the 2011 Umno general assembly, Najib did not even mention it.
Instead he devoted much of his speech sounding very combative and full of vehemence. What he did at the time was to actually retrograde to Umno cavemen politics – stick and stones.
So how is he going to push his tranformation agenda? Knowing Najib, he will revert to the ‘old’ tested ways of ‘patronage’.
Read the rest of this entry »
Umno parti rasuah
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 31 January 2012
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 31, 2012
31 JAN — Kawan kawan saya dalam Umno bercakap mengenai rasa cemas bila kerajaan yang di pimpin oleh Umno menabur wang begitu banyak kepada rakyat. Bayaran RM100, RM200, dan sekarang ini RM500 sedang rancak di jalankan. Tapi apa yang hendak di risaukan? Bukankah ini hasil pejuangan Umno dan bukti Umno dan BN amat perihatin kepada rakyat?
Mereka bertanya kepada saya, bayaran2 ini, adakah ianya meningkatkan peluang Umno dan kerajaan BN menang? Saya cakap sudah tentu ia meningkat peluang- peluang untuk rakyat merasa sakit hati. Bila rakyat sakit hati, bertambah ramailah musuh2 Umno.
Hah? Macam mana itu berlaku? Saya menyatakan bahawa dalam hal beri memberi ini, Umno selalu menghadapi masaalah. Siapa yang menentukan siapa dapat RM100, RM200 dan RM500? Selalunya yang menentukan ialah ketua kampung.
Ketua kampung punya keutamaan ialah menyenaraikan adik beradik, saudara-saudara terdekat, dan geng-geng yang sebulu dengan mereka. Golongan yang terpinggir ramai daripada yang dapat imbuhan. Ini memang resam sesetangah ketua kampong. Semasa saya jadi ADUN dahulu, saya mempunyai masaalah dengan ketua-ketua kampung yang seperti inilah juga — yang jadi pagar yang memakan padi.
Kalau buka kawasan pembesaran kampung, lot-lot tanah di sapu mereka dan keluarga mereka sendiri. Kalau ada rumah rakyat, rumah PPRT, sanak saudara di dahulukan. Bahkan lot-lot tanah di beri kepada suku-sakat mereka yang tidak pun tinggal dalam kawasan pemberian tanah.
Apabila saham Felcra di beri oleh kerajaan, yang sepatutnya di beri kepada kepala keluarga, pemimpin kampung mendesak di beri kepada anggota isi rumah. Kalau keluarganya ada lima orang, mereka mahu saham Felcra di beri kepada ke lima-lima ahli keluarganya. Apa akan jadi bila perkara seperti ini di biarkan? Ianya bermakna lima ketua keluarga yang lain di nafikan peluang untuk dapat saham Felcra.
Nah, sekarang perkara yang serupa berlaku apabila pentadbiran Najib Razak membayar wang kepada rakyat. Ramai orang menerima wang tersebut tapi bilangan yang di nafikan hak untuk menikmati rezeki dari Najib Razak juga kian bertambah. Read the rest of this entry »
Malays have no qualms about joining DAP: Only Umno says they have
by Moaz Nair
Malaysia Chronicle
30 January 2012
Some UMNO leaders and the nuisance-to-society Perkasa apparently still belong to the old school of thoughts that race and religion can be used to gain votes from the Malays. More often than not, they prefer to sow hatred among races in the country to achieve their selfish goals.
The new educated or enlightened Malay race – New Malays (Melayu Baru) do not auspiciously subscribe to this divisive politics or racial and religious rhetoric of UMNO or Perkasa anymore. The New Malays see race, religion and the country as a whole from an entirely different political perspective. They seem to spurn politics based on shallow discourse relating to race and religion. They have a bigger ambition for the country to see it develop with people of all races having a fair share of the economic pie.
Some irrelevant Malay politicians belonging to the old school of thoughts are wasting their precious time organising public speeches trying to delude the Malays into thinking that non-Malays are a threat to them or that Christianity is a threat to the Malays and the religion of Islam in this country. When these bigots sense that they are not getting the crowd to their numb sermons – as the people are not interested in their story telling – they resort to their friendly media to pad the events. They fail to realise that the majority of Malays are at ease living together with other races and seeing the many religions being practised in peace. There are many more Malays working, studying in Christian countries without fear that they will be converted to Christianity. Many Malays have even left this country for good after having hatred for UMNO’s approach to politics.
In truth, the New Malays in the country will not fall to UMNO’s bilk that DAP is a threat to the Malay race, Islam and the royalty. The country and its political parties have evolved for many years. DAP is today perceived by the New Malays as a party for all Malaysians. Never in the history of DAP’s party manifesto has it shown any predisposition towards the Malays, Islam or the royalty. Read the rest of this entry »
Dissecting Mahathir’s grand design
by Liew Chin Tong
The Rocket
30 January, 2012
Not many of us remembered that Barisan Nasional survived and thrived electorally for an extended period from 1991 to 2005 as a result of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s grand compromise in the form of Vision 2020.
Coercive tools and undemocratic means like security power to arrest legitimate political opponents without trial, legal and financial controls over mass media, and a distorted electoral system, have helped BN to remain in power, becoming the current longest serving elected government in the world.
The Alliance formula and the beginning of “Malay First” hegemony
BN’s predecessor the Alliance’s formula was to win half of the votes of all ethnic groups. Being the sole coalition with multi-ethnic representation at all levels, the strategy paid off well in 1959 and 1964.
But the Alliance also pursued a small-government-do-very-little approach, resulting in rising inequality. It eventually resulted in an increased support for the opposition among members of all ethnic groups, including Malays, in 1969.
Contrary to the popular belief that only Chinese supported the opposition in the 1969 election, the Malays played their part too. Dr. Mahathir lost his Kota Setar Selatan seat as well as the defeats of other UMNO bigwigs demonstrated that there were substantial Malay swing against the Alliance.
Post-1969, Tun Razak’s formula strived to achieve a 70 percent Malay electoral support for BN. Non-Malay support was considered non-essential in such formula. All policies under the new arrangement, symbolised by the New Economic Policy, were geared towards that goal.
The “Malay first” strategy served UMNO well until the 1990 general election when the Malay votes were split after the formation of Semangat 46, led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and other former senior UMNO leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
The fracturing of the Malay community (2)
S Thayaparan | Jan 30, 2012
Malaysiakini
COMMENT
Umno’s interaction with “multiracial parties” has so far been with Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR – ostensibly a multiracial party but for the most part, an organisation filled with ship-jumping Umno rejects – and the Islamic PAS, often used as a bogeyman by Umno to keep the non-Muslims in line.
That Umno considers PKR a threat to its power has more to do with the fact that it was always perceived to be the third moderate way of the Malay polity and not for any multiracial reasons.
Umno is fighting a battle on two fronts, against vocal liberal Malay voices of PKR and the more religious tones from PAS.
In both these cases, the fight for the Malay soul is confined within the Malay community and the non-Malays have been collateral damage in the ongoing shadow war that will determine the fate of this country.
So it should come as no surprise that Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin (left) is concerned over the possible influx of moderate Malay voices into the routinely demonised DAP.
If more Malays enter this political party, the Malay vote will be further fractured into a diverse range of political aspirations that don’t neatly fit in the bigoted ethnocentric agenda of the ruling Umno regime.
If the point of the Umno game is to limit the choices of the Malay population then any attempt to provide avenues for different forms of political expressions is a threat to the natural order of their reality.
There can be no plurality of voices when it comes to expressing Islam. Anything which is a threat to Malay unity, which should be read as Umno hegemony, should be shot down in a hail of racial, religious or cultural bullets. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahal sungguh nak ‘maintain’ Umno ini
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 30 January 2012
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 30, 2012
30 JAN — Masalah yang dihadapi oleh parti pemerintah sekarang ini ialah perpecahan dalaman yang berlaku dari atas sehingga ke bawah. Perpecahan yang sangat serius ini bukan kepalang besarnya. Beberapa minggu lalu di Shah Alam Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah menyeru ahli-ahli Umno supaya menyokong calon Umno walaupun yang diturunkan oleh parti itu bukannya seorang ahli Umno.
Seruan Dr Mahathir ini sangat besar maknanya kepada seseorang yang berpolitik. Ia bermakna Umno memang sedang berada di dalam keadaan tenat sehinggakan ada tempat-tempat dan kawasan yang tidak ada seorang pun ahli Umno yang layak untuk diturunkan sebagai calon yang mendapat sokongan yang menyeluruh.
Dr Mahathir pula nampaknya sudah berubah lagi. Kali ini beliau menyokong parti, tidak seperti dalam PRU yang lalu di mana beliau meyokong calon dan tidak parti. Tetapi itu adalah tindakan yang tidak mengejutkan ramai sebab Dr Mahathir adalah seorang yang sentiasa “flip-flop” dalam perjuangan beliau.
Jadi benarlah pandangan saya selama ini yang Umno memang tidak ada kepimpinan di kalangan ahli-ahlinya. Jika seorang pemimpin yang digelar sebagai negarawan oleh penyokong-penyokong setianya itu, boleh menzahirkan kata-kata seruan seperti itu maka sah Umno memang sedang menghadapi masalah yang bertindih-tindih yang tidak dapat diselesaikan walaupun PRU akan diadakan tidak lama lagi. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s in trouble in Selangor
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 30 January 2012
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 30, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Contrary to survey ratings, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not as popular as people are made to believe, says Daim Zainuddin.
COMMENT
In the pre-2008 general election days, Umno leaders castigated and demeaned former economic adviser Daim Zainuddin, claiming he was senile and past his shelf life, and that he was way-off with his political predictions.
Then came the shocking loss. As prophesied by Daim, Barisan Nasional lost five states and barely managed to retain its two-thirds majority.
Now every Umno leader regards Daim as the Oracle of Delphi. More so, if they can persuade him to give encouraging, if not forced, optimism of Umno’s prospects in the 13th general election.
Sadly they are not going to get that.
Two Saturdays ago, I sat down with Daim’s alter ego, whom I call the Oracle of Syed Putra.
Although I directed my questions to the Oracle and he gave answers, readers must assume they are directed to and answered by Daim himself.
I asked the Oracle his assessment of the current political situation and of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
His response was somewhat startling, to say the least.
He said Najib “has simply lost the plot” on how to run and manage this country.
What about those polls and ratings about Najib being popular?
The Oracle said, “Surveyors and those surveyed can be paid to elicit the politically correct statements. No big deal.” Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia or Chua Soi Lek – which of them lied? Answer: Both lied!
Yesterday, when Utusan Malaysia accused DAP of being the world’s most racist political party, I did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
To laugh at the poverty of ideas and bankruptcy of journalistic principles of the Utusan editors or to cry at the lack of loyalty and patriotism of Utusan editors to an united, harmonious and successful multi-racial Malaysia!
What came to me immediately was the Greek saying: “Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad!”
The Utusan Malaysia charge was so ridiculous that I put the Utusan Malaysia item on my blog in verbatim, to let more people see the depths Utusan had sunk to from its early days when it was a great newspaper.
Only few days earlier, the MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek was in his stentorian best, spinning the tune that a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS and a victory for DAP in the next general elections is paving the road for PAS’ “days of glory”.
If Utusan Malaysia is right that DAP is the world’s most racist party, then Chua is wrong. If Chua is right, then Utusan must be wrong.
Read the rest of this entry »
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