There are many fallacies about the outcome of the Malacca general election of November 20, 2021.
Firstly, that it was a landslide victory of UMNO and Barisan Nasional, when it was landslide victory of seats but not of votes – as although the BN won two-thirds majority of the state assembly seats, it won only an infinitesimal increase of 0.55 per cent of the 2018 votes cast to secure 38.39% of the votes in the Malacca general election last Saturday.
Secondly, UMNO leaders expected Perikatan Nasional (PN), in particular Bersatu, to be wiped out in the Malacca general election. Instead, PN secured 24.31% of the votes in the Malacca general election and proved that it is a political force to be reckoned with.
Thirdly, that the Malacca general election results signified the revival of MCA – when in actual fact, MCA joined the Gerakan for their candidates in losing their deposits in the Bandar Hilir and Kota Laksamana seats. Even in the two seats of Klebang and Machap Jaya won by MCA, the win was because of UMNO’s votes rather than MCA’s votes!
However, the Gerakan president Dominic Lau has created history of sorts in being appointed Senator after a disastrous electoral outing in Malacca general election, leading to the resignation of the former Gerakan state youth chief who denounced Lau for incompetence and lack of accountability.
Fourthly, based on the results, Najib Razak and UMNO leaders envisage a landslide victory for Barisan Nasional in the 15th General Election, and the Malacca general election a stepping stone for Najib to return as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, causing them to want the 15th General Election to be held early.
This is the reason why Najib is trying very hard to mock the whole idea, desperately trying to keep the question from being pondered by more and more Malaysians whether they want a kleptocrat to return as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In 2004, Transparency International released the names of the ten most corrupt politicians in the past two decades – led by Suharto of Indonesia, Marcos of Philippines, Mobutu of Zaire, Sani Abacha of Nigeria and Milosevic of Serbia.
If in 2024, Transparency International released a new list of the names of the ten leading Kleptocrats in the past two decades, will Najib’s name be on the list?
It is debatable whether the 15th General Election could replicate the results of the Malacca general election, one of which was the absence of Covid-19 pandemic as an election issue in the Malacca general election.
Many Malaccans mistakenly regard this as a national issue and not a Malacca general election issue.
Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 5,755 daily new Covid-19 cases and 37 Covid-19 deaths, bringing the cumulative totals to 2,602,855 Covid-19 cases and 30,147 (including 6,096 Brought-in-Dead) Covid-19 deaths.
Malaysia’s global ranking in the cumulative number of confirmed cases rose from 89th position on November 18, 2020 to 20th position on September 27, 2021 and it is quite an achievement that in the last two months, we have not overtaken more countries. However, it is a failure of our Covid-19 pandemic strategy that other nations have not overtaken Malaysia’s global ranking.
Malaysia’s deaths per million population is the highest in ASEAN, and the third highest in Asia.
Yesterday, Dr. Milton Lum, past president of the Federation of Private Medical Associations and Malaysian Medical Association, wrote a two-part article on “Fatal Errors in Covid Management” in CodeBlue, referring to “not just a single error, but a series of errors, some of which occurred concurrently that contributed significantly to the cases and deaths”.
He concluded his article with the question:”Who was accountable in Malaysia? Will the unpalatable question of the high number of Covid-19 deaths per capita be addressed?
“How many of the deaths were preventable? What about those who were brought-in-dead? Will there be an independent investigation into Covid-19 management in Malaysia?”
These questions should be answered in the Malacca general election, but they were not. Will the answers be given during the First Hundred Days of Khairy Jamaluddin as the Health Minister on December 7, 2021?
The atrocious handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the PN/BN governments were not addressed in Malacca general election on Nov. 20, but they will be the focal issues in the 15th General Election!
(Media Statement by DAP MP to Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 25th November 2021)
Beberapa falasi berkaitan keputusan pilihan raya negeri Melaka pada 20 November
Terdapat begitu banyak falasi berkaitan keputusan pilihan raya negeri Melaka 20 November 2021.
Pertamanya, ada yang mengatakan UMNO dan Barisan Nasional menang besar, tetapi mereka hanya memperolehi kerusi majoriti tetapi kemenangan itu tidak tercermin pada jumlah undi — meskipun BN menang dua pertiga majoriti daripada kerusi DUN yang dipertandingkan, jumlah undi yang diterima mereka hanya meningkat sebanyak 0.55 peratus berbanding jumlah undi yang diperolehi mereka pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2018 iaitu sebanyak 38.39 peratus.
Kedua, pemimpin UMNO menjangkakan Perikatan Nasional (PN), terutamanya Bersatu, akan kalah teruk dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka. Realitinya, PN menerima 24.31 peratus undi dalam pilihan raya tersebut, sekaligus membuktikan kekuatannya yang tersendiri.
Ketiga, pilihan raya negeri Melaka menandakan kebangkitan semula MCA — sedangkan, calon MCA dan Gerakan hilang wang pertaruhan di kerusi Bandar Hilir dan Kota Laksamana. Meskipun MCA menang di kerusi Klebang dan Machap, kemenangan tersebut didorong oleh sokongan penyokong UMNO dan bukannya penyokong akar umbi MCA.
Bagaimanapun, Presiden Gerakan, Dominic Lau telah mencipta sejarah selepas dilantik sebagai Senator meskipun kalah teruk dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka, yang mana disusuli dengan peletakan jawatan ketua pemuda negeri Gerakan yang menyelar Lau sebagai tidak cekap dan tiada akautabiliti.
Keempat, berdasarkan keputusan berkenaan, Najib Razak dan pemimpin UMNO meramalkan kemenangan besar Barisan Nasional dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15, dan pilihan raya negeri Melaka menjadi semacam batu loncatan buat Najib untuk kembali menjadi Perdana Menteri ke-10 Malaysia, membuatkan mereka yakin untuk melaksanakan PRU-15 lebih awal.
Ini sebabnya Najib bermati-matian menafikan perkara itu, malah cuba menutup persoalan berkenaan daripada bermain di fikiran rakyat — sama ada rakyat mahu kleptokrat kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri ke-10 Malaysia.
Pada 2004, Transparency International (TI) mengeluarkan senarai 10 nama kleptokrat baharu yang muncul sepanjang dua dekad lalu — didahului dengan Suharto dari Indonesia, Marcos dari Filipina, Mobutu dari Zaire, Sani Abacha dari Nigeria dan Milosevic dari Serbia.
Jika pada 2024, TI mengeluarkan satu senarai nama baharu 10 kleptokrat utama sepanjang dua dekad lalu, adakah nama Najib akan berada dalam senarai tersebut?
Masih belum pasti sama ada keputusan PRU15 akan sama dengan keputusan pilihan raya negeri Melaka, lebih-lebih lagi isu wabak Covid-19 tidak menjadi topik tumpuan dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka.
Ramai rakyat Melaka yang telah tersalah anggap dengan merasakan bahawa perkara ini adalah isu nasional dan tidak seharusnya dijadikan isu dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka.
Semalam, Malaysia merekodkan 5,755 kes harian baharu Covid-19 dengan 37 korban, menjadikan jumlah terkumpul kes Covid-19 sebanyak 2,602,855 dan korban sebanyak 30,147 (termasuk 6,096 kes BID).
Kedudukan global Malaysia dalam kategori jumlah keseluruhan kes Covid-19 tertinggi meningkat dari kedudukan ke-89 pada 18 November 2020 kepada kedudukan ke-20 pada 27 September 2021, dan boleh dikatakan sebagai satu pencapaian apabila kita tidak memintas negara-negara lain sepanjang dua bulan yang lalu.
Bagaimanapun, strategi Covid-19 kita masih dilihat gagal kerana negara-negara lain tidak memintas kedudukan global Malaysia.
Kematian per sejuta penduduk di Malaysia adalah tertinggi di rantau ASEAN, dan ketiga tertinggi di Asia.
Semalam, Dr. Milton Lun, bekas presiden Bekas presiden Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia, menulis dalam dua siri artikel berhubung “Kesalahan besar dalam pengurusan Covid” dalam CodeBlue, merujuk kepada “bukan hanya saja satu kesalahan, tetapi kesalahan yang berulang-ulang, yang mana menyebabkan peningkatan kes dan kematian.”
Beliau merumuskan artikel beliau dengan satu persoalan “Siapa yang bertanggungjawab? Adakah persoalan tentang jumlah kematian akibat Covid-19 per kapita yang tinggi akan dijawab?
“Berapa banyak kematian yang boleh dielakkan? Bagaimanapun pula dengan kes BID? Adakah akan ada siasatan bebas berhubung pengurusan Covid-19 di Malaysia?”
Persoalan-persoalan ini sepatutnya dijawab dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka, namun ia tidak dijawab. Adakah persoalan itu akan terjawab pada 100 hari Khairy Jamaluddin menjadi Menteri Kesihatan pada 7 Disember 2021?
Pengurusan wabak Covid-19 yang lemah oleh kerajaan PN/BN tidak dijawab dalam pilihan raya negeri Melaka pada 20 November, tetapi ia akan menjadi isu tumpuan dalam PRU15!
(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Khamis 25 November 2021)