The coming 13th GE is the most historic and significant one in the 56-year history of the nation as Malaysians will decide if the change of Federal government in Putrajaya will come about on Polling Day on May 5, 2013.
The battle of the 13GE is the battle between the politics of the future represented by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition versus the politics of the past as practised by the Barisan Nasional in the past few decades.
The politics of the past is the politics of race and the politics of rampant corruption, cronyism, massive abuses of power, gross violation of democratic and human rights, injustices, unsustainable development because of despoilation of the environment, lack of transparency, accountability and good governance.
The politics of the future transcends racial politics where Malaysians unite not because they are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans but because they are Malaysian patriots who dare the dream the Malaysian Dream to create a more harmonious, just, free, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians. It seems to be an Impossible Dream that the politics of the future represented by the Pakatan Rakyat can replace the politics of the past as practised by Barisan Nasional, and Malaysians can see a future where there is an end to the politics of race, corruption, cronyism, abuses of power, violation of democratic and human rights, injustices and good governance in the country.
But five years ago, nobody would dare to expect, hope or dream that it is possible to effect a change of the federal government under our system of parliamentary democracy.
Now such a dream of a new federal government to replace the Umno/BN government in Putrajaya, is no more an Impossible Dream but eminently achievable, possible and probable.
Sarawak, Sabah and Johore – dubbed the three Barisan Nasional “fixed deposit” states – are the kingmakers in the 13GE as they hold within their hands the keys to Putrajaya.
In the 2008 general elections, Barisan Nasional won 140 parliamentary seats as against 82 by the Pakatan Rakyat parties.
The PR results in the three states of Sabah, Sarawak and Johore were particularly dismal, winning only three parliamentary seats out of the total of 83 seats in these three states – or one in each state, i.e. Bandar Kuching for Sarawak, Kota Kinabalu for Sabah and Bakri for Johore.
This is why we are now targetting the three BN “fixed deposit” states of Sarawak, Sabah and Johor, to start the process to turn them into Pakatan Rakyat “fixed deposit” states!
There are three challenges for Malaysians in these three BN “fixed deposit” states because of their catalytic role to take Pakatan Rakyat all the way to Putrajaya in the 13GE, resulting in the formation of a PR Federal Government and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia.
These three challenges to the voters of Sarawak, Sabah and Johor are:
Firstly, to achieve a breakthrough of at least one-third of the parliamentary seats in each state, i.e. at least nine parliamentary seats each for Sabah and Johor and 11 seats for Sarawak, giving a total of 29 parliamentary seats to PR.
Secondly, adding 29 parliamentary seats to 80 seats won in Peninsular Malaysia in 2008 (two more are each from Sarawak and Sabah) will yield at total of 109 seats, just three short of the magic figure of 112 to win a simple majority in Dewan Rakyat of 222 Mps.
However, I have a higher benchmark for Sarawak, Sabah and Johor, hoping that they can achieve a higher score than just cross the one-third mark, and that collectively the three states can achieve a total of 33 parliamentary seats which will give a total of 113 seats when we will be at the doorsteps of Putrajaya.
This is still not a comfortable majority. My hope is that Pakatan Rakyat can win a total of 125 parliamentary seats, with PKR getting 45 seats and DAP and PAS each getting 40 seats, yielding a comfortable majority of 28 parliamentary seats (the balance of the remaining 12 seats coming from the other Peninsular states apart from Sarawak, Sabah and Johore).
Thirdly, a challenge to the three BN “fixed deposit” states of Sarawak, Sabah and Johor as to which state can emerge as the leading state to win the biggest total of parliamentary seats to catapult Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya.
[Media conference statement by Pakatan Rakyat Parliamentary Candidate for Gelang Patah in Kuching at Sarawak DAP premises on 25th April 2013 at 4.30 pm]