Tonight is a historic one for Stampin and Sarawak, for with the brave and selfless decision of the DAP Sarawak Chairman Chong Chieng Jen to leave his safe Bandar Kuching parliamentary seat for the dangerous Stampin parliamentary seat, Stampin joins Ayer Hitam, Teluk Intan, Langkawi, Pagoh and Semporna as among the high-profile constituencies in the nation where the battle to Save Malaysia from a kleptocratic state and rogue democracy will be fought in the 14th General Election and be the focus of attention not only of Malaysians but the world.

In the 13th General Election, DAP won Stampin by 18,000 votes. But through the worst gerrymandering in the redelineation of parliamentary constituencies, Barisan Nasional sought to win back Stampin by the most undemocratic means by moving 28,000 voters from Stampin to Bandar Kuching so that SUPP can win Stampin.

The issue in Stampin, Sarawak and even Malaysia is whether the voice of Chong Chien Jen will be silenced in Parliament if he is defeated in Stampin.

It is shocking and even mind-blowing that the SUPP could be so mindless and blind as to claim that the 14th General Election has nothing to do with Datuk Seri Najib Razak and that it is about Sarawak’s rights to self-determination.

This is the greatest fake news and bluff in the 14th General Elecltion, and those in the SUPP who perpetrate such lies, fake news and false information should be charged under the Anti-Fake News Act which was bull-dozed through Parliament before dissolution, carrying draconian penalties of up to RM500,000 fine, six years’ jail or both.

The single most important issue in the 14th General Election is about Najib – whether he continues as Prime Minister of Malaysia although he had brought shame and humiliation to the country by being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy, whether there is going to be a new beginning for Sarawak and Malaysia under Pakatan Harapan Government in Putrajaya.

If Pakatan Harapan defeats the UMNO/BN coalition on May 9, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad will become the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia with Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as Deputy Prime Minister, and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But the great battle in the 14GE is not so much Najib vs Mahathir, as Najib vs People of Malaysia – for this is the time for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political party affiliation, to unite to save Malaysia from hurtling along the trajectory towards a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

The Barisan Nasional Manifesto for the 2018 General Elections is another “fake news” in the 14GE.

The theme of the Barisan Nasional manifesto “Bersama BN, Hebatkan Negaraku” is not only false and misleading, but one of greatest fake news in the country.

In reality, the hard truth is “Bersama BN, hancurlah Negaraku”.

The most fraudulent statement in the Barisan Nasional manifesto is the undertaking that after the 14GE, the Barisan Nasional will implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 proposals “based on consensus”.

A moment of serious consideration of this statement will show that it is a meaningless statement, which looks pretty on the outside and is utterly in the innards.

What does it mean that the Barisan Nasional would implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 proposals by consensus?

It means that all it needs to stop the fulfillment of this promise in its tracks is for one of the 13 Barisan Nasional component parties to object to any implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 proposals – for there would be no consensus for them.

There are four political parties in Sarawak and four political parties in Sabah who are members of the 13-member Barisan Nasional.

I was in Sandakan when the Barisan Nasional Manifesto was announced more than two weeks ago, and I had called on the leaders of the eight Barisan Nasional component parties in Sarawak and Sabah to requisition an emergency meeting of the BN Supreme Council to amend the Barisan Nasional Manifesto from “implementing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 based on consensus” to a straightforward undertaking to implement the MA1963.

The Malaysia Agreement 1963 proposals had been agreed to by all the signatory parties and should not be subject to any consensus in the Barisan Nasional

Let me declare that if Pakatan Harapan is given the mandate to form the Malaysian Government in Putrajaya in the 14GE, we will implement that Malaysia Agreement 1963 proposals and not subject them to renegotiation based on consensus of any body.

Did SUPP or anyone of the other Barisan Nasional component parties in Sarawak protest against the BN manifesto about “implementing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 based on consensus”?

None at all. When SUPP and the other BN component parties in Sarawak dare not even protest against the BN Manifesto and demand that it be amended to a straightforward commitment to implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 without subjecting it to any renegotiation, all the SUPP and BN Sarawak talk about Sarawak rights to self-determination is an empty one.

I have said that the BN Manifesto is wrong and misleading as “Bersama BN” will not “Hebatkan Negaraku” but “Hancurkan Negaraku”.

In over half a century of nation-building, instead of becoming a great nation admired and respected by the world for our accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor, we have lost our way and is scorned and looked askance by the world as we have become a global kleptocracy!

This is highlighted by the latest Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017 where Malaysia fell to the lowest ranking of No. 62 out of 180 countries, which is the lowest ranking in 23 years.

Malaysia is ranked No. 142 out of 158 countries in the independent joint “Electoral Integrity Project” of Harvard University and Univeristy of Sydney.

Is this the stuff of national greatness?

Do we have a great Prime Minister?

How can Malaysians be proud of a Prime Minister who is just a copycat of US President Donald Trump whose campaign theme was “Make America Great Again” (MAGA)?

Furthermore, Najib also “copied” Trump’s use of an ”anti-fake news” campaign not to combat fake news based on lies and false information but to impose a new form of censorship to suppress reports about abuses of power and corruption, in particular the 1MDB scandal.

Trump has the dubious honour of scoring the lowest popularity rating of below 40% in his first year as US President, but Najib as “out-Trump Trump”, as an international magazine last year listed five world leaders who have lower popularity rating than Trump – and Najib was one of these five world leaders!

Do we have a great Parliament?

The 13th Parliament had degenerated into a great farce, as illustrated by its last six days which I attended daily and diligently, but the Speaker and Deputy Speakers cannot see me, and I cannot participate in parliamentary debates and my vote was not counted during parliamentary votings.

It would appear that I have become a parliamentary “ghost”.

I had been a Member of Parliament for 10 terms from 1969 to 2018, except for the tenth Parliament from 1999 to 2004, spanning 45 years from 1969. However, I have not felt so ashamed as a MP than in the 13th Parliament.

It is not because I was suspended twice, and for six months each, basically because I demanded answers and accountability over the 1MDB scandal but because Malaysia became known as a global kleptocracy during the tenure of the 13th Parliament.

The Prime Minister Najib Razak and the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia owe to all Malaysians an apology for the 13th Parliament’s failure to do anything to clear or purge Malaysia of the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

The 13th Parliament not only did not do anything to clear or purge Malaysia of the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy, it ignored and subverted the fundamental doctrine of the separation of powers and allowed Parliament to be a rubber stamp of the Executive, not only to suppress questions and debates on the 1MDB scandal, it became a partner in the political crime of enacting the Anti-Fake News legislation to try to save Najib from the full consequences of the 1MDB scandal.

Do we have great national institutions in the Elections Commission, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission?

Every Malaysian knows that these national institutions have fallen on bad times, as their independence, credibility and authority have been greatly undermined by their chiefs not living up to their high standards of impartiality, responsibility, professionalism and patriotism.

Only a change of the Malaysian government in Putrajaya can make these national institutions great again, for them to be totally reformed and be run by efficient, competent and God-fearing Malaysians.

Do we have a great Judiciary?

We have good lawyers and judges, but we do not have a great judiciary where justice is meted out to all Malaysians, regardless of rank or status.

Will the judiciary in Malaysia uphold a declaration that UMNO has become an illegal political party since April 19, 2018 for failing to hold UMNO Supreme Council elections in 54 months (three years plus 18 months’ extension) as required by the UMNO constitution, and that in consequence, Najib cannot be BN President, that BN is illegal and the BN logo of “daching” cannot be used in the 14th General Election?

Malaysia can only sink lower and deeper in international esteem under Najib’s UMNO/BN as Malaysia can only be great again if Malaysians unite to Save Malaysia from Najib and UMNO/BN by voting for a Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya in the 14th General Election.

(Speech at the DAP Ceramah at Batu Kawan on Monday, April 23, 2018 at 9 pm)