UMNO is confident that Barisan Nasional can defeat me in Iskander Puteri parliamentary constituency, believing that if MCA can get the support of 30 per cent of the Chinese votes, UMNO would do the rest.

UMNO strategists on how Barisan Nasional could defeat me in Iskander Puteri may be right or wrong, as only when the votes are opened and counted on May 9 would we know whether the UMNO/BN plan to end my 52-year political career in Iskandar Puteri will succeed.

But it is very sad that everywhere, BN coalition is just a political contraption to hide UMNO’s real design to further marginalse the other Barisan Nasional component parties.

I am reminded of the words of the UMNO veteran and Johor Baru Member of Parliament, when we met at the steps of the entrance of Parliament in the last week of the 13th Parliament.

He asked whether I was contesting against him in the Johor Baru parliamentary seat, and when I told him that it was not a DAP seat but a PKR seat, Shahrir said:“What DAP wants, DAP gets; what DAP wants, DAP takes”.

In Malaysia, there is only one political party which has such a mentality, mindset and culture of “What I want, I get; what I want, I take” and that party is UMNO of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, resulting in UMNO hegemony in Barisan Nasional and Malaysia becoming a rogue democracy and a global kleptocracy.

This could be seen in the recent Barisan Nasional decision on candidatures for the 14th General Election, and what happened to Tan Sri M. Kayveas, the MyPPP President, which is a case of UMNO dictating to one of the BN component parties about the sacking of its President!

The 14th General Election is a most unique one.

In the previous 13 general elections, voters decided who should be their MP or State Assembly representative.

This time, it is very different and more onerous. This is because the voters on May 9. 2018 will not only elect their MP and ADUN, but also the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Malaysian voters do not normally have such a right to elect the Prime Minister, but a combination of factors and forces have brought this about resulting in the 15 million voters electoing the Prime Minister of Malaysia on May 9 – whether Najib or Tun Mahathir.

This is why in the 14GE, we want not only to win Iskander Puteri, we want all candidates from Pakatan Harapan – whether DAP, PKR, Amanah or Bersatu – to win a minimum of 119 parliamentary seats to form the new Malaysian Government in Putrajaya.

Today, after my programme here, I have another six programmes – in Johor Jaya, Simpang Rengam, Batu Pahat, Kluang, Paloh and Labis. In the next few days, I will be visiting Johore, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Pahang, Penang, Kedah, Sabah and Sarawak before returning to Iskander Puteri, and setting out again to Malacca and Perak and ending back in Iskander Puteri for Polling Day.

I call on the people of Iskander Puteri to help me to ensure that the highly-funded Barisan Nasional campaign to win Iskander Puteri does not succeed. In fact, I will go one step further, and ask the people of Iskandar Puteri to be the pivot of the national campaign to Save Malaysia and to take the first step for Malaysia to become a normal democracy.

(Speech at the 14GE kopitiam ceramah at Taman Universiti, Skudai on Sunday, 29th April 2018 at 8.30 am)