Archive for category Elections
DAP, PAS and PKR achieved their best parliamentary and state assembly results during their tripartite co-operation in the 1999, 2008 and 2013 General Elections
In the 1999 General Elections, faced with the challenge of the four-party Barisan Alternative comprising DAP, PAS, PKR and Parti Rakyat, UMNO/BN strategists and propagandists launched a fork-tongued campaign, warning the Malays one the one hand that “DAP Plus PAS Equals Islam Hancur (destroyed)” while on the other hand warning the Chinese that a vote for DAP was a vote for PAS and an Islamic State where there would be no pork, no alcohol, no temples, no churches, no karaokes, no Chinese schools, women would have to cover their heads, beautiful women could not find jobs and that there would be the chopping of hands and feet.
By and large, the Malay voters in the 1999 general elections did not take the bait but the non-Malay voters, particularly the Chinese voters, fell victim to the campaign of falsehoods and fear generated by the Barisan Nasional, resulting in an outcome where PAS was the biggest winner in the Barisan Alternative as the largest parliamentary opposition with 27 MPs and 98 State Assembly representatives, capturing Terengganu state government in addition to Kelantan while DAP suffered severe setbacks, securing only 10 parliamentary and 11 state assembly seats. PKR won 5 parliamentary and 4 state assembly seats.
In the recent 2013 General Elections, faced with the challenge by Pakatan Rakyat, Umno/BN strategists and propagandists returned to their traditional fork-tongued campaign of lies and falsehoods, warning the Malays on the one hand that PAS would be a puppet of DAP while warning the Chinese on the other hand that DAP would be a stooge of PAS.
Unlike the 1999 General Elections, the Chinese voters did not take the Umno/BN bait in the 2013 polls. However, unlike the 10th General Elections, the UMNO campaign of lies and falsehoods made some impact on the Malay voters.
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Konvensyen DAP Negeri dalam tempoh beberapa minggu akan datang perlu menyampaikan satu mesej jelas kepada semua rakyat Malaysia –bahawa pemimpin DAP di peringkat negeri bersama-sama pemimpin DAP kebangsaan dan parti-parti Pakatan Rakyat akan menawan Putrajaya dalam PRU14 bagi mencapai Impian Malaysia
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Selepas Kongres Khas DAP yang diadakan pada 29 September 2013 untuk memilih semula barisan pimpinan DAP kebangsaan, pemilihan agung Umno pada bulan Oktober, dan Muktamar PAS ke-59 minggu lalu yang telah berjaya mengadakan pemilihan untuk barisan pimpinan PAS bagi tempoh dua tahun ke depan, perhatian kini beralih semula kepada DAP.
Bermula hujung minggu ini, Konvensyen DAP Negeri akan memilih barisan pimpinan baru untuk DAP di peringkat negeri – dan selari dengan itu para konspirator Umno/BN telah mula bekerja lebih masa untuk memburuk-burukkan para pemimpin DAP dan berusaha memecah-belahkan parti ini dan juga Pakatan Rakyat secara umum.
Para konspirator Umno/BN menerusi media bercetak dan Internet telah gagal untuk menghancurkan Pakatan Rakyat dan parti-parti komponennya, iaitu DAP, PAS, dan PKR, sebelum, semasa, dan sepanjang setengah tahun selepas PRU13. Kesempatan yang baik ini perlu diambil oleh para perwakilan Konvensyen DAP Negeri yang akan diadakan sepanjang beberapa minggu akan datang untuk bersatu padu di belakang barisan pimpinan DAP kebangsaan bagi menyampaikan satu mesej yang jelas kepada Umno/Barisan Nasional dan juga semua rakyat Malaysia.
Mesej jelas yang perlu disampaikan ialah bahawa DAP di semua peringkat dalam negara berdiri teguh di belakang pemimpin DAP kebangsaan dan dua lagi rakan kongsi Pakatan Rakyat, iaitu PAS dan PKR, untuk menawan Putrajaya dalam PRU14 bagi mencapai Impian Malaysia – sebuah Malaysia untuk semua warga tanpa mengira latar kaum, agama, kelas, atau negeri; sebuah Malaysia yang di dalamnya demokrasi, tadbir urus, dan keadilan sosioekonomi berkembang dengan baik bagi membolehkan setiap warga Malaysia mencapai sepenuhnya potensi mereka demi kebaikan bersama semua rakyat dan demi keagungan negara.
Saya telah sebutkan kelmarin bahawa ketiga-tiga parti DAP, PAS, dan PKR telah mendapat faedah daripada kerjasama dalam Pakatan Rakyat.
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Call on all DAP State Conventions in coming weeks to send out one clear message to Malaysians – one with DAP national leadership and Pakatan Rakyat parties to conquer Putrajaya in 14GE to achieve Malaysian Dream
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Tuesday, 26 November 2013
After the DAP Special Congress on September 29, 2013 to re-elect the DAP national leadership, the UMNO national elections in October and the 59th PAS Muktamar last weekend to elect the PAS leadership for the next two years, the national focus for the coming weeks will be back on the DAP.
Beginning this weekend, most of the DAP State Conventions will be electing the new DAP State leaderships – and true to form, the Umno/BN plotters and conspirators are already working overtime to demonise the DAP leaders to cause maximum dissension, division and damage to the DAP in particular and Pakatan Rakyat in general.
But just as the UMNO/BN plotters and conspirators, through their media, printed and Internet, had failed in their sinister design to destroy Pakatan Rakyat and the component parties of DAP, PAS and PKR, whether before, during and in the half-year after the 13th General Elections, DAP delegates to the DAP State Conventions in the coming weeks must mobilise to rally behind the national DAP leadership to send out one clear and unmistakable message not only to Umno/Barisan Nasional but also to all Malaysians.
This clear and unmistakable message all DAP State Conventions in the coming weeks should send out to all Malaysians is that the DAP at all levels in the country are one with the DAP national leadership and the other Pakatan Rakyat partners, PAS and PKR, to conquer Putrajaya in the 14GE to achieve the Malaysian Dream – a Malaysia for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class or region where democracy, good governance and socio-economic justice could flourish to allow every Malaysian to achieve his or her fullest potential for the collective good and greatness of the nation.
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Top priority for Pakatan Rakyat is to set up a high-level PR 14GE strategic council to plan for the capture of federal government in Putrajaya in next general elections
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Monday, 25 November 2013
Congratulations are in order to PAS leaders and delegates for a very successful 59th Muktamar at national, youth and wanita levels, causing great disappointments to UMNO plotters and conspirators who had worked overtime through their printed or social media in cyberspace to sow dissension and distrust within PAS ranks and to sabotage the unity of purpose of Pakatan Rakyat and giving hope to enlightened Malaysians who comprise the majority of the electorate that two-coalition politics in Malaysia is here to stay as it is very much alive and kicking.
PAS Deputy President Mohamad Sabu struck the nail on the head when he pointed out in his winding-up speech at the 59th Muktamar that PAS would only be a regional party confined to the east coast of the peninsula if it had not entered into a pact with PKR and DAP in Pakatan Rakyat.
As Sabu succinctly said:
“Without Pakatan, our area of dominance would only stretch from Rantau Panjang (in northern Kelantan) to Kemaman (southern Terengganu).
“But with Pakatan, we conquered Selangor and, God willing, it will be Johor next.”
In 1999, when PAS benefitted most from the backlash against BN because of the 1998 political and economic crisis, it won 27 parliament and 98 state seats making it the largest opposition party.
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Dr Dzul: Sokongan Melayu kepada DAP meningkat, PKR, PAS menurun
Oleh Mohd Farhan Darwis
The Malaysian Insider
November 24, 2013
PKR menerima penurunan tertinggi sokongan masyarakat Melayu.PKR menerima penurunan tertinggi sokongan masyarakat Melayu.Sokongan masyarakat Melayu kepada DAP ketika Pilihan Raya Umum 2013 (PRU13) meningkat, namun sokongan etnik berkenaan terhadap rakan komponen Pakatan Rakyat (PR) yang lain mengalami penurunan, kata Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Ahli Jawatankuasa Kerja (AJK) PAS Pusat itu ketika membentangkan dapatan itu di Muktamar Tahunan PAS ke-59 PAS berkata, PKR menerima penurunan tertinggi sokongan masyarakat Melayu, iaitu sebanyak 7%, dan sokongan Melayu terhadap PAS turut menurun 2%.
DAP bagaimanapun menerima peningkatan sokongan sebanyak 2%.
“Bagaimanapun, sokongan masyarakat Melayu terhadap PAS meningkat di Terengganu dan Johor,” kata bekas ahli Parlimen Kuala Selangor itu di Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam hari ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian media – watchdog or running dog?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Media, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Thursday, 21 November 2013
BY TESSA HOUGHTON, GUEST CONTRIBUTOR – 17 NOVEMBER 2013
New Mandala
If people use the mass media to inform themselves about their society and about the performance of their politicians, and if they use this information to direct their political choices and participation, then inadequate or inaccurate information is liable to result in misconceived political acts. (Street, 2001: 257)
Malaysia’s 13th General Election (GE13), held on the 5th of May 2013, was the continuation of a historical arc that begun at the 2008 general election (GE12), when the Barisan Nasional (BN), Malaysia’s ruling coalition for the past fifty-six years, lost the states of Penang and Selangor (and Perak temporarily) to the Opposition, as well as their coveted two-thirds Parliamentary majority. This was an unexpected shock to the system that immediately plunged Malaysia into an anticipatory political fervour. After 5 years of delays, civil unrest, and an increasingly unified opposition, with their term stretched to the far edge of expiration (and several state assemblies pushed beyond this point), BN failed to counter Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) message of ‘Ini Kali Lah!’, returning their worst result ever. The BN not only failed to recover a two-thirds majority in Parliament but lost the popular vote for the first time, with only 47.38% support compared to PR’s 50.87%.
The anticipation and tension leading up to and extending beyond GE13 (with widespread accusations of electoral fraud and BN retaining power through systemic gerrymandering and malapportionment), was apparent not just within civil society but also within academia, surely going down as not just the most anticipated but the most researched election in Malaysian history. Non-governmental organisations, too, were on high alert, with extensive scrutiny of electoral processes and authorities. One of the main areas of interest and contention in political, academic, activist, and civil society alike was that of media bias.
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‘Something rotten in Najib’s best democracy’
Malaysiakini
Nov 19, 2013
The state of the media in Malaysia indicates that the nation is not as democratic as it is made out to be, said a university-based researcher.
This is because most of the “mainstream Malaysian news media… is actually more akin to a BN party organ”, Nottingham University Media and Communications associate professor Tessa Houghton said.
“When the only media functioning as anything like professional news journalism organisations are in Mandarin or are online, it’s safe to say that something is seriously rotten in what aspires to be the best democracy in the world,” she said.
Houghton was responding to arguments against her media monitoring findings conducted in the lead-up to and during the 13th general election. Read the rest of this entry »
How did I suddenly become a communist in the past four years when in the previous 43 years, I was not a communist?
Recently, there has been an escalation of the campaign of lies and falsehoods against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, not only in cyberspace, but even in Parliament and the various State Assemblies.
The latest instance is in the Johore State Assembly, where the DAP State Assemblyman for Pekan Nenas, Yeo Tung Siong was accused of being a “communist” by the Umno State Assemblyman for Kukup Suhaimi bin Salleh for his speech in the State Assembly.
What was Tung Siong’s crime? What did Tung Siong say? Did Tung Siong glorify communism?
I asked Tung Siong and he sent me his speech in the Johore State Assemby early this week where he did not make any mention of communism. Read the rest of this entry »
Just as 13GE ended Johore as BN “fixed deposit” state, PR must end Sabah and Sarawak as “fixed deposit” states to reach Putrajaya in 14GE
One of the highlights of the 13th General Elections was to transform Johore, one of the three “fixed deposit” states of Barisan Nasional with Sabah and Sarawak, into a Pakatan Rakyat front-line state.
During the last general elections, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir not only led the campaign to ask the people of Johore to ensure that Gelang Patah become my “kubur”, Barisan Nasional leaders talking about making Johore into an “zero-opposition” state.
In the event, Johore achieved the greatest political breakthrough for Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE, increasing from one parliamentary to five parliamentary seats (500% increase) and six State Assembly seats to 18 State Assembly seats (300% increase). In popular votes, Pakatan Rakyat achieved the biggest increase of 10.3% from 34.7% in the 12GE in 2008 to 45% in the 13GE – transforming Johore from a BN “fixed deposit” state into a PR “front-line” state. Read the rest of this entry »
NST to apologise for ‘plot to destablise gov’t’ report
Lawrence Yong
Malaysiakini
Nov 13, 2013
It was a victory for responsible journalism in Malaysia today when mainstream daily New Straits Times (NST) had to bend to demands from four NGOs to apologise for publishing a fabricated story.
The apology was part of the conditions set by polls reform movement Bersih 2.0, human rights group Suaram, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and pollster Merdeka Centre, for dropping their defamation suit against the “oldest English newspaper in the country”.
NST’s website claims that it has been publishing since 1845.
NST also agreed to pay RM120,000 to the four parties, for reporting more than a year ago that the NGOs were plotting to overthrow the BN government.
“The damage was done at that time… I certainly hope this doesn’t become a habit for the NST to write a fabricated story and then apologise for it later,” Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan told reporters outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
“The apology is not the end of the matter. What we want to see is responsible journalism.” Read the rest of this entry »
Based on present redelineation, Pakatan Rakyat should aim to win 135 parliamentary seats in 14GE to capture Putrajaya with PKR, PAS and DAP each winning 45 seats , with a parliamentary majority of 48
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS, PKR on Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Based on present redelineation, the Battle for Putrajaya in the 14GE will depend on the outcome in 80 marginal seats – 51 presently held by Barisan Nasional and 29 from Pakatan Rakyat.
Taking more than 55 per cent vote secured in the 13GE as a “safe” seat, BN has 82 safe seats while Pakatan Rakyat has 60 safe seats.
In the 13GE, Pakatan Rakyat won the popular vote but robbed of Putrajaya as Barisan Nasional is the federal government with the majority of seats – 89 for Pakatan Rakyat as against BN’s 133 seats.
If Pakatan Rakyat had won another 23 seats in the 13GE, PR would have the simple majority of 112 out of 222 seats.
In the 14GE, apart from retaining all our 89 parliamentary seats, Pakatan Rakyat should not just aim at winning 23 of the 51 BN marginal seats, but should aim to double this target to win over 46 out of the 51 BN marginal seats so that the Pakatan Rakyat can win a total of 135 out of 222 parliamentary seats with a parliamentary majority of 48 – with the seats evenly distributed among the three Pakatan Rakyat parties, i.e. PKR, PAS and DAP each having 45 parliamentary seats. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir mahu saya mati tetapi saya berdoa Mahathir akan hidup sehingga 100 tahun untuk menyaksikan kemerosotan dan berakhirnya Mahathirisme
Mahathir mahu saya mati, kerana itu beliau menjalankan misinya dalam Pilihanraya Umum ke-13 dengan berkempen di Gelang Patah untuk menjadikan kawasan itu “kubur” politik saya.
Sebelum pilihanraya umum ke-13, Mahathir menyeru rakyat Johor untuk mengerah tenaga bagi memastikan negeri Johor menjadi “kubur” saya. Seruan beliau itu diberi sambutan hangat oleh Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang mengisytiharkan bahawa saya “terperangkap” di Gelang Patah dan kerjaya politik saya telah “tamat”.
Persaingan di Gelang Patah dalam PRU13 adalah pertempuran politik “hidup dan mati” bagi saya kerana saya berdepan bukan saja dengan Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman yang telah menjadi Menteri Besar selama empat penggal, tetapi juga kerana saya terpaksa berdepan dengan tiga lagi orang kuat Umno – Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Timbalan Perdana Menteri Muhyiddin dan Perdana Menteri yang paling lama memegang jawatan di Malaysia, iaitu Tun Mahathir sendiri.
Tetapi saya bersedia mempertaruhkan nasib, meninggalkan kerusi parlimen selamat bagi saya, iaitu Ipoh Timur, yang telah saya menangi pada tahun 2008 dengan majoriti lebih dari 21,000 undi, untuk bertanding di Gelang Patah di mana MCA/BN telah menang hampir 9,000 undi majoriti pada tahun 2008 dan 21,666 undi majoriti pada tahun 2004.
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Mahathir wants me dead but I pray that Mahathir will live to 100 years to see the decline and end of Mahathirism
Mahathir wants me dead and that is why he embarked on his mission in the 13th General Election to campaign in Gelang Patah to turn it into my political “burial ground”.
Before the 13th general election, Mahathir called on the people of Johore to pool their energy to ensure that the state of Johore will be my “kubur”, which elicited rapturous response from the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who declared that I was “trapped” in Gelang Patah and that I was “finished” politically.
Gelang Patah in the 13GE was my “life-and-death” political battle as I fought not just the popular four-term Johore Mentri Besar, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, but another three UMNO stalwarts – Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin and Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Tun Mahathir himself.
But I was prepared to put my head on the chopping block, leaving the safe parliamentary seat of Ipoh Timor which I had won in 2008 with more than 21,000-vote majority to a high-risk Gelang Patah where the MCA/BN had won with nearly 9,000-vote majority in 2008 and a humongous majority of 21,666-vote in 2004.
I want to thank members, supporters and well-wishers for their support and prayers on the night of May 5, 2013, as I have learnt from my travels throughout the country in the past half-year that they were very worried about the outcome of the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat as, just like me that night, I have no idea of the outcome and I left my political fate completely in the hands of the voters of Gelang Patah.
On that night of May 5, 2013, Mahathir lost and I won. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M: Will Kit Siang only retire when he’s dead?
By Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
November 8, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Age has not dulled his acerbic tongue as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad continued to trade barbs with political foe Lim Kit Siang, asking the DAP adviser if he was still fearful of the shadow of a man who had retired from government a decade ago.
The former prime minister, who has repeatedly crossed swords with Lim in Parliament between 1981 and 2003, hit out at the opposition leader in his latest entry on his Chedet.cc blog yesterday, in exchange for the blows rained upon him in the run-up to the Sungai Limau by-election on Monday and immediately after the results were announced.
“Kit Siang also campaigned but it was as if DAP is still afraid of my shadows. The focus of Kit Siang was to run me down, as if I was the one contesting. Kit Siang was uncomfortable that I am still active even after my retirement,” Dr Mahathir said.
In his blog rebuttal, Dr Mahathir said he had not planned to campaign for the BN in Sungai Limau, but had decided to hit the ground for certain reasons—which he did not elaborate—and that the state seat had been part of the Kota Setar Selatan parliamentary constituency that he had represented as an MP between 1964 and 1969.
The 88-year-old Kedah-born said both he and Lim had cut their teeth on politics in 1964 but while he had passed on the government’s reins to another 10 years ago, his former parliamentary opponent chose to stay on the political battlefield.
“When will Kit Siang retire? When he is dead? Even if he retires, will he remain the DAP’s Senior Leader?” Dr Mahathir asked. Read the rest of this entry »
Lessons from the Chinese vote in Sungai Limau
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 6 November 2013
NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
November 06, 2013
One of the takeaways from the Sungai Limau by-election on Monday was that some of the Chinese votes went back to Barisan Nasional (BN) although it was not enough to capture the state seat.
Politicians and analysts also noted that most of the Chinese stayed away from the by-election, presumably because most did not return for the Monday vote as it would not affect the state or federal administration.
For the record, PAS’s Mohd Azam Abdul Samat polled 12,069 votes to BN’s Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim who got 10,985. There were 27,222 registered voters but turnout was only 85.5%.
For BN, the slight increase in Chinese votes is a lifeline for parties like MCA and Gerakan which descended to the state seat to prove their vigour after the major setback of Election 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno kalah teruk dan MCA menang besar dalam pilihanraya kecil Sungai Limau?
Jika kita berpegang dengan dakwaan pemimpin MCA, Umno telah kalah teruk dan MCA pula menang besar dalam pilihanraya kecil Sungai Limau Isnin lalu.
Namun apakah kita boleh percaya kepada dakwaan para pemimpin MCA?
Pimpinan MCA, termasuk Dr. Leong Yong Kong yang disebut-sebut akan dilantik sebagai Exco Kerajaan Negeri Kedah, telah memberitahu media berbahasa Cina bahawa Barisan Nasional berjaya meraih 75.27% undi kaum Cina, iaitu 892 dari 1,185 undi daripada kaum Cina dan bahawa BN gagal meraih walau satu undi tambahan daripada Melayu dalam pilihanraya kecil tersebut.
Ini bererti terdapat peningkatan 732 undi Cina untuk BN berbanding dalam pilihanraya umum ke-13, memandangkan sebelum ini MCA mendakwa BN mendapat hanya 10% dari 1,600 undi Cina pada 5 Mei 2013, iaitu hanya sekitar 892 hingga 160 undi.
Walaupun BN telah berbelanja lebih RM15 juta, calon Barisan Nasional Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim hanya berjaya menambah 465 undi untuk BN dalam pilihanraya kecil kali ini berbanding piihanraya umum yang lalu, iaitu 10,985 undi dalam pilihanraya kecil, berbanding 10,520 undi dalam PRU13.
Jika kita berpegang dengan dakwaan pemimpin MCA yang menyebut bahawa BN mendapat tambahan lebih 732 undi Cina dalam pilihanraya kecil kali ini berbanding PRU13, ertinya BN kehilangan sekurang-kurangnya 267 undi Melayu.
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UMNO biggest loser and MCA biggest winner in Sungai Limau by-election?
If MCA leaders are to be believed, UMNO is the biggest loser and MCA the biggest winner in the Sungai Limau by-election on Monday.
Are MCA leaders to be believed?
MCA leaders, including the Kedah State Exco-designate Dr. Leong Yong Kong had told Chinese media that Barisan Nasional secured 75.27% of the Chinese votes, i.e. 892 out of 1,185 Chinese votes cast and that BN did not win a single extra Malay vote in the by-election.
This is an increase of over 732 Chinese votes cast for the BN in the 13th general elections, as MCA claims that BN did not secure more than 10% of the 1,600 Chinese votes on May 5, 2013, i.e. from 892 – 160.
But the Barisan Nasional candidate, Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim, despite BN’s expenditure of over RM15 million, only managed to get an additional 465 votes in the by-election as compared to the general elections. i.e. 10,985 votes in the by-election as compared to RM10,520 votes in the 13GE. Read the rest of this entry »
Sungai Limau: Winners and losers
by Zulkifli Sulong, Features and Analysis Editor
The Malaysian Insider
November 05, 2013
Datuk Mahfuz Omar must have been the happiest man in Kedah last night. Yesterday’s by-election which saw PAS retaining the Sungai Limau state seat was Mahfuz’s first since being appointed the Kedah PAS commissioner. On the other hand, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir is a man in grief. He led the Barisan Nasional charge and lost, the second blow for him after losing the Umno vice-presidential race weeks earlier.
The following are the winners and losers of the Sungai Limau by-election.
Winners
1. PAS
PAS leaders and supporters in the country are certainly delighted with the win. It goes without saying that numerous parties and functions will be held to celebrate the win. The win may have helped alleviate tensions within the PAS leadership ahead of the upcoming PAS Muktamar from November 22 to 24, 2013.
2. Datuk Mahfuz Omar
The newly-minted state commissioner is a big winner. He had just taken over the position after the 13th general election when the late Tan Sri Azizan Razak was undergoing treatment in Penang.
The win will cement his role in Kedah and also boost his chances at the PAS Muktamar as he defends his vice-presidency. Despite earlier talks that Mahfuz was in danger of losing, Mahfuz’s win at the party polls looks like a sure bet. Read the rest of this entry »
Sungai Limau by-election results: Is this the end of Mahathirism?
by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
November 05, 2013
Analysts say he might have played a role in swaying voters who were still undecided on voting day. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, November 5, 2013.
When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad descended on Sungai Limau during the last hours of campaigning on November 3, one longtime PAS activist from Alor Star described it as a “relief”.
“Many people in Sungai Limau come from a religious education background,” said the activist, referring to the community of teachers, students and parents involved in the area’s clutch of private and public Islamic schools, which are nationally renowned.
“They still remember how Mahathir used to run down PAS and our Islamic state concept,” said the activist of the former prime minister’s endless tirades against PAS in the few years before he resigned in 2003.
PAS and its Islamist credentials were a regular target of Dr Mahathir’s biting criticism especially after the party gained control of the Terengganu government and made major inroads into Kedah in the 1999 general election.
So it was almost like poetic justice when Dr Mahathir came down to canvass votes for Barisan Nasional from the people he had once slighted. Read the rest of this entry »
BN loss in Sungai Limau signals Dr M’s waning influence, says DAP
By Opalyn Mok
The Malay Mail Online
November 5, 2013
YAN, Nov 5 — PAS’s reduced majority in yesterday’s Sungai Limau by-election took no skin off the Islamist party but spells a setback for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) that had been banking on Kedah-born Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s name and his scion to sail through the polls, DAP leaders have said.
DAP Kedah interim chief Zairil Khir Johari and the opposition party’s adviser Lim Kit Siang insisted that PAS’s success in keeping the Kedah state seat was a major blow to the BN’s mighty machinery under the leadership of its Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, son of Malaysia’s longest-serving former prime minister, whom they claimed had followed his father’s style and pulled out all the stops in his bid to wrest Sungai Limau.
“It is clear that Mahathir’s influence has receded with this win,” Zairil, the son of a former Umno minister, told The Malay Mail Online last night after the official results announced a PAS victory by a lowered 1,084-vote margin. Read the rest of this entry »
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