Archive for category Elections
Electoral Reform a Must Before Next General Election
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 17 August 2011
By Kee Thuan Chye | 17 August 2011
Malaysian Digest
PRIME Minister Najib Razak is suddenly so generous in calling for electoral reform. He has even called for the establishment of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into this. While it is still premature to say whether this will ensure effective participation by the Opposition in the process, it is nonetheless a radical change from his previous stubborn position against Bersih 2.0’s demands for free and fair elections.
As with much of Malaysian politics, there is probably more to all this than what appears on the surface. Najib must have been comforted by some assurance of electoral victory – and possibly a landslide one – before he would allow himself to accede to an initiative begun by Bersih 2.0. Otherwise, he would be seen to be weak by his own party, Umno, which no doubt would have players in the wings with knives behind their backs.
One hopes this assurance of certain victory does not involve giving illegal immigrants the right to vote. In light of Wanita PKR’s revelation that it has evidence of illegal immigrants taking an oath to vote for BN, this is disturbing.
Read the rest of this entry »
PM proposes bipartisan panel for polls reform
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Parliament on Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Nigel Aw | Aug 15, 11 7:38pm
Malaysiakini
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced today that the government will set up a parliamentary select committee to discuss electoral reforms before the next general election.
“Recently there have been demands for free and fair elections. The government’s response is that we will propose the setting up of a parliamentary select committee soon, which will be made up of members from both BN and opposition,” he said.
Najib said this in a speech at a ‘buka puasa’ event at the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
“The committee will discuss all electoral reforms that needs to be implemented in order to achieve bipartisan agreement without any suspicion that there is manipulation by the government,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Betulkah pemastautin diberi hak mengundi?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Parliament on Monday, 8 August 2011
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 08, 2011
8 OGOS — Isu besar yang hangat diperkatakan hari ini ialah isu pendatang asing yang menjadi pemastautin telah diberikan kerakyatan dan terus diberikan hak mengundi.
Ahli-ahli Parlimen pembangkang telah menghantar surat hari ini untuk mendesak persidangan Parlimen tergempar dipanggil untuk membincangkan isu seramai 1,600 orang pemastautin tetap yang dikatakan diberikan kerakyatan penuh untuk memudahkan mereka menjadi pengundi semasa pilihan raya umum yang akan datang.
Jika isu ini benar ia merupakan isu yang sangat besar dan merbahayakan negara serta Sistem Raja Berpelembagaan Negara kita. Kita sedang menghadapi masalah besar di Sabah tentang isu ini dan kita masih lagi tidak mahu belajar dari kesilapan ini semata-mata kerana ingin mempertahankan kuasa yang kita anggap sudah sampai ketepian itu.
Isu pendatang asing menjadi pengundi ini memang telah lama kita dengar malahan ada di antara rakan saya sendiri pernah di tahan kerana dituduh mengeluarkan kad pengenalan palsu untuk kegunaan dalam pilihan raya. Jika apa yang dituduh ini benar ianya serupalah seperti memanggil orang luar untuk membantu memerangi bangsa dan rakyat kita sendiri. Read the rest of this entry »
BN eyeing 25 winnable seats to regain Penang
Athi Shankar
Free Malaysia Today
August 8, 2011
GEORGE TOWN: Confidence is running high in Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) camp nowadays.
If the intelligence reports are anything to go by, BN should win enough state seats in the next general election to wrest the Penang government from Pakatan Rakyat.
It is learnt that the intelligence reports have identified at least 25 constituencies as winnable seats for BN – 15 on the mainland and 10 on the island. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng: US economic woes could prompt snap polls
Posted by Kit in DAP, Economics, Elections, Lim Guan Eng on Sunday, 7 August 2011
By Lisa J. Ariffin
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 07, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — The weak US economy and last week’s downgrade of Malaysia’s credit ratings could prompt the Najib administration to call for snap polls as early as November, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.
He said the US debt crisis “will not only have impact on the economy but also the date of the next [general election]”.
“If the impact continues, we will see early elections as early as November because it is very important for the economy,” Lim told a press conference at the party headquarters here today.
“After Bersih, this seems more likely because of a contagion effect,” Lim added. Read the rest of this entry »
Bersih: NRD’s Mismah-gate clarification unacceptable
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Parliament on Saturday, 6 August 2011
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Aug 5, 11 1:35pm
Malaysiakini
The National Registration Department (NRD)’s explanation of the ‘Mismah-gate’ is unacceptable as it fails to address the public’s concern, said Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenevasan.
Therefore, she supported Pakatan Rakyat MPs’ call for an emergency parliamentary sitting this month in order to seek answers for the many questions the scandal’s raised.
“We haven’t actually had any meaningful answer… there has to be accountability on this issue,” Ambiga (left) told Malaysiakini during an interview yesterday.
“The answer that they have given us so far is really quite unacceptable.” Read the rest of this entry »
A morning session with The Oracle of Syed Putera
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, NEM on Saturday, 6 August 2011
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
August 06, 2011
AUGUST 6 — Once again, I have the pleasure to share with readers, the current thoughts of the Oracle of Syed Putra.
To refresh the minds of readers, the Oracle is the alter ego of Tun Daim Zainudin. You can almost say what the Oracle says is what Tun Daim thinks. It seems now, whatever Tun Daim says is carefully analyzed. And Tun Daim is a dangerous seer. In 2008, he predicted the loss of BN in 5 states. The UMNO generals were up in arms. They vilified him, describing him with all sorts of disrespectful terms. Daim is a pensioner. Daim is out of touch. Daim is irrelevant. When the results came, what Daim predicted was generally true. So how does Daim see the future?
According to the Oracle, it’s a grim future for Umno and BN. the country has no leadership. Announcements were made continuously without understanding what were said. The PM reads the budget in parliament but when it comes to Q&A, Nor Yaakob does the answering. Some people prepare the text and PM who has no time to understand the context, will just read it. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno claims can win Selangor with big majority
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 06, 2011
KUANG, Aug 6 — Umno is confident that Barisan Nasional (BN) will trounce Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Selangor in the coming polls with a whopping 20-seat majority, allowing the pact to form a strong government in the frontline state.
Selangor Umno infomation chief Abdul Shukor Idrus told The Malaysian Insider that this time, BN will win in at least 38 of the state’s 56 seats, in comparison to the 20 it won in the 2008 election when PR captured the country’s wealthiest state.
He attributed BN’s pre-empted victories to a significant increase in Malay voter support from about 50 per cent in 2008 to an estimated 65 per cent, saying it was fuelled by a growing disenchantment with the current PR-led state administration and feverish ground work by Umno leaders humbled by their shocking losses in 2008.
“So although we cannot say that we are extremely comfortable yet, we are confident that we can win Selangor,” he said when met at his service centre here this week before the state Islamic affairs department triggered a controversy by raiding a Petaling Jaya church. Read the rest of this entry »
More ‘irregularities’ found in electoral roll in Penang
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Lim Guan Eng, Penang on Saturday, 6 August 2011
Susan Loone | Aug 5, 11 4:30pm
Malaysiakini
The Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang continues to reveal “irregularities” in the supplementary electoral roll, claiming there was a sudden surge in more state seats in the first quarter of this year.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today that the surge in votes in certain areas within the three months has exceeded the increase of votes since 2008, or 33 months (two years and nine months).
He said he cannot help but be suspicious over the matter and blamed the Election Commission again for dabbling in “dirty” tricks in the voter registration process.
“Something is simply not right,” he told reporters at a press conference in Komtar today. Read the rest of this entry »
Penang voters increase by 32,000 in three months
Posted by Kit in Elections, Lim Guan Eng, Penang on Friday, 5 August 2011
Susan Loone | Aug 4, 11 4:18pm
Malaysiakini
Following the allegations that over 1,500 permanent residents were allowed to be registered in the latest supplementary electoral roll, Penang Pakatan Rakyat today claimed that the state saw a sudden surge of 32,000 voters in just three months.
A staggering 1,400 postal votes were inserted into Batu Maung state constituency, currently held by state exco member Abdul Malik Kassim from PKR.
Between 2008 to 2010, the Malay-majority seat only saw an increase of 2,200 voters.
The influx of voters was revealed today during a press conference called by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, attended by Abdul Malik and Deputy Chief Minister Mansor Othman. Read the rest of this entry »
Bungling Najib making opposition stronger
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Najib Razak on Friday, 5 August 2011
Syed Jaymal Zahiid | August 5, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
A former minister says the crackdown on the Bersih 2.0 rally had made the NGO into a giant and strengthened the opposition.
SERI KEMBANGAN: Former minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s poor handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally had made the polls watchdog a potent force and strengthened public support for the opposition.
Kadir, a former tourism minister during the time of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said Najib could have easily minimised the Bersih threat if he had engaged the NGO instead of resorting to force, which, he added, had boosted the group.
“The government had built it up to become a big giant,” he told FMT in a recent interview at his office here, agreeing with the opinions of various party leaders who believed it would have been better to engage the polls watchdog in discussions than resorting to repressive measures.
“I would have allowed the procession right from the beginning… then there will be no noise at all… Bersih would have had only two days of publicity,” said the Umno veteran who described Bersih’s demands for electoral reforms as valid. Read the rest of this entry »
13th General Elections may be held as early as October/November and all Malaysians must grasp the possibility for the first time in nation’s history for change of government in Putrajaya
Posted by Kit in Elections, MIC, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 1 August 2011
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that UMNO must reform or it would be reformed.
From recent events, it is crystal clear that Umno and Barisan Nasional are incapable of reform and must be reformed by the people effecting a change of federal government from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat in the next general elections.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced the MIC President G. Palanivel as his second Indian Cabinet Minister implementing his notorious philosophy spelt out in the Sibu by-election of “Gua tolong lu, lu tolong gua” – when the duty of any responsible government must be to serve all needy Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political beliefs.
It is this cynical philosophy where essential public services are treated as a barter trade between the government and the people which is the root cause of the host of abuses of power and corruption afflicting the country destroying our national unity and international competitiveness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Polls dry run shows BN can lose Perak, Negri Sembilan
Posted by Kit in Elections, Johore, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Perak on Monday, 1 August 2011
By Jahabar Sadiq
Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 01, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) could lose Perak and Negri Sembilan in the next general elections, according to results of a recent dry run. Unless component parties put popular faces and ensure the grassroots machinery garner support from voters.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the Umno election dry run also showed that the BN fortress of Johor could see up to 15 out of the 56 state seats go to their political opponents Pakatan Rakyat (PR), something unheard before Election 2008 when the ruling coalition lost six seats. Read the rest of this entry »
Fed power not entirely impossible, says Kit Siang
By Joseph Sipalan and Lee Way Loon | Jul 28, 11
Malaysiakini
INTERVIEW There are very few who can claim to be an equal to Lim Kit Siang, who has spent nearly as many years as Malaysia has existed in relentlessly pursuing his beliefs as opposition leader.
Having experienced first-hand practically every pivotal moment that shaped the country into what it is today, the 45-year political veteran can be excused if he maintains a critical view of even the most promising developments.
Lim became (right) DAP’s secretary-general in 1969, at a time when racial tensions blew up into the bloody rioting of May 13, was detained for more than a year on two separate occasions under the ISA – first in 1969 and again under the controversial Ops Lalang in 1987 – and even convicted for leaking official secrets related to dodgy arms deals with a Swiss company.
Read the rest of this entry »
BN MPs want more funds ahead of polls
Posted by Kit in Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Thursday, 28 July 2011
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | July 28, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers have told coalition leaders that the government must ensure more funds trickle down to their constituencies instead of concentrating on big-ticket projects like the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) construction in Kuala Lumpur if the ruling coalition wants to receive a strong mandate in the next general election.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the matter was raised during a meeting on Monday night between 100 BN federal lawmakers and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The lawmakers argued that if Putrajaya could set aside funds for the MRT project, a similar amount should be given to generate economic benefits in more constituencies.
Read the rest of this entry »
For BN, a call to arms
Posted by Kit in Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Wednesday, 27 July 2011
By G. Manimaran, Bahasa Malaysia Editor | July 27, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — As speculation rises over the likely date of the next general election, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin rounded up over 100 Barisan Nasional lawmakers on Monday night and told them to work as if the “polls could be held at the end of the week”.
“The deputy prime minister did not give any indication except to tell us to be ready at all times, to assume as if the polls could be held at the end of the week… that was the only indication, nothing else,” one MP told The Malaysian Insider.
The first-term MP added that Muhyiddin also urged all representatives gathered for the annual meeting to make preparations as though they were already facing the polls.
Read the rest of this entry »
EU mulls observer group as EC ‘not credible’, say diplomats
By Jahabar Sadiq
Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 24, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Despite Putrajaya’s strident defence of the Election Commission (EC), European Union (EU) diplomats are looking into proposals to send observer groups for the next general election as they found the commission “not credible” after a recent briefing here.
Several diplomats told The Malaysian Insider that EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof’s briefing weeks before the Bersih rally on July 9 did not convince them of the commission’s neutrality as he kept referring to being part of the government.
“They are not credible. Abdul Aziz kept repeating ‘us’ and ‘we in the government’ during the briefing,” a European diplomat told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s expose the ministers
— Spyman
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 17, 2011
JULY 17 — Enough is enough lah. Even after seeing the rakyat shout for change, the ministers continue to insult us and treat us like kids.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak tries to sound brave in London and challenges Pakatan Rakyat to a fight in the next elections. Hello, the polls will be rigged and election fraud will be widespread. That is why there was Bersih 2.0: to have clean and fair elections.
And now we have Ahmad Shabery Chik saying that Opposition will use Bersih as an excuse for poor performance in the coming polls. Here is where his reasoning shows him up: if BN is so confident of winning the polls, why are they so resistant to clean and fair elections? Read the rest of this entry »
Negara kita
— Michelle Chan
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 17, 2011
JULY 17 — At the not-actually-ripe-yet age of 20, I may have not experienced first-hand or seen with my own eyes how bad WWII or May 13 were, but I recognise the face of right and wrong.
Being politically inclined since school days, it was not easy to stay passionate about this Bolehland. There is too much contradiction and ignorance or even denial from the previous generations and also my own.
Raised in a middle-income family, my parents work hard to make sure I grow up to have the good things in life — a good education, leading to a good job, marriage, kids, life. The whole point of these ideals is about progressing towards betterment. No? Development is about achieving the better things in life, right?
Leading up to the Bersih rally, I thought thoroughly about the validity of this event. The objective: clean and fair elections. I sure hope that when I’m eligible to vote, my vote really counts. Read the rest of this entry »
Family: We still don’t know how Baharudin died
Salhan K Ahmad
Malaysiakini
Jul 13, 11
Closure appears to be slow in coming for the family of Baharudin Ahmad, the sole fatality allegedly linked to the Bersih 2.0 rally last Saturday.
The police recently claimed that a preliminary report based on the post-mortem on the 59-year-old taxi driver indicated that he had died of heart failure.
This however is not conclusive enough to satisfy his wife, Rosni Malan, and the family.
As it is, Baharudin’s family was only given a letter of consent to take his body for burial last Sunday without any explanation for his death.
Rosni, 55, said there has been so much speculation surrounding the events that lead to her husband’s death, that she and her family do not know what to believe. Read the rest of this entry »
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