Archive for category Elections
Malaysia’s general election – Tawdry victory
The Economist
May 11th 2013 | KUALA LUMPUR |From the print edition
The government scrapes home—allegedly aided by vote rigging
ON MAY 5th Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional coalition, led by the prime minister, Najib Razak, was re-elected for the 13th time in a row. Barisan won a majority of seats in parliament, 133 out of 222, against 89 for the opposition, a three-party coalition called Pakatan Rakyat and led by Anwar Ibrahim. The turnout was a record 85%. And so the same government which has ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957 is set for another five years in office.
Within Barisan, the overriding sense is of relief. It did slightly better in terms of seats than some had predicted. Scratch the surface, however, and in almost every respect this was a lamentable result for the ruling coalition, its worst ever. Not only did it lose a further seven seats to Pakatan, but it won with only 47% of the popular vote. It is further evidence of how the electoral system is skewed in Barisan’s favour, allowing it to stack up seats in the rural Malay heartlands with far fewer voters than Pakatan needs to win seats in more urban areas. In many places the opposition increased large majorities. For instance, in Penang in the north of the country the Barisan defeat was so humiliating that its candidate for governor, Teng Chang Yeow, resigned from all his party posts. Several government ministers lost their seats.
Most striking was that ethnic Chinese (about a quarter of the population) shifted their votes away from Barisan towards the opposition. The Chinese party of the Barisan coalition, the Malaysian Chinese Association, won just seven seats, down from 15, whereas the opposition’s mainly Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) picked up ten seats, for a final tally of 38. Read the rest of this entry »
Analysis of the Malaysian Indian votes at GE13
— Satees Muniandy
The Malaysian Insider
May 13, 2013
MAY 13 — In the recently concluded GE13, we have witnessed quite an obvious trend of the chinese predominantly voting for the federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat. The malays on the other hand had been generally supportive of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), barring a few states like Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu. There has been very little mentioned about the indian voting trend. Therefore this article is intended to shed some light into how the Indians voted, taking into account the local demographics of the various constituencies.
During the build up towards GE13, there had been a lot of chest thumping by Barisan Nasional, particularly by the MIC leadership, that the indian support had returned to pre-2008 levels. It had been speculated that the community anger towards the BN government following the Hindraf instigated 2007 protest and the subsequent ISA crackdown of its key leaders, had subsided following the overtures made by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The community had also felt letdown by some Pakatan Rakyat state governments – particularly noted was the disillusionment towards the PAS led Kedah state government for failing to honor its promise to declare Thaipusam a state holiday, along with the failure of its state executive councilor Manikumar in managing a lot of issues concerning the indian community residing mainly in the southern tip of the rice bowl state. The community was however noted to be generally very pleased with the performance of the DAP led Penang and PKR led Selangor state governments – particularly in relation to the land issues plaguing the temples & tamil schools, and state employment opportunities for the Indians.
In the days approaching GE13, Najib Tun Razak appeared to have pulled off a coup when Waythamoorthy, leader of one of the many fractions of the fractured 2007 Hindraf movement signed a memorandum of understanding with his government and subsequently urged the indian community to return BN to the parliament with a 2/3 majority. Read the rest of this entry »
Losers discover too late Mahathir no more an asset
Daily Express
Friday, May 10, 2013
Kuala Lumpur: Election 2013 has laid bare the declining influence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a political force, an analysis of where and how he campaigned showed.
The former Prime Minister campaigned incessantly but Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates whom he backed or shared his ideals – such as the controversial Zulkifli Noordin and Ibrahim Ali – all lost.
In Kedah – where his son Mukhriz is now Mentri Besar on the back of a BN victory – local politicians and observers have pointed out that voters gave PAS the boot because of poor governance by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party.
Brand Mahathir did not win Kedah for BN, but it was rather a case of PAS losing the state, one senior Umno politician in Kedah said.
Dr Mahathir’s attempt at painting the battle for Gelang Patah in Johor as a Malay versus Chinese battle also failed miserably.
Many analysts and BN politicians have said that his incessant playing of the race card for the Election 2013 campaign saw support for him deplete.
“He still has his niche group of supporters in the Malays, they wouldn’t simply demonise leaders whom they feel have been there for them long enough.
“But yes… at times, it may be true that his time is over.
What he says, how he says it, may not have traction among the younger generation, in the urban areas. But let us not forget – he is not the PM of the day,” Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said. Read the rest of this entry »
Reflections on GE13
— SV Song
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
MAY 12 — I’m not angry because you retained a simple majority to form the government. Given that you’ve been in power for the past 56 years, I didn’t expect your opponents to easily overcome all the advantages you’ve built into the system like the gerrymandering, an election commission which answers to the PM’s office, and your control of mainstream media. I’m not even all that angry that you managed to form the government while losing the popular vote. This situation is not unique to our country, and no election process is foolproof.
I’m angry at how far you went in your bid to ‘win at all costs’. Unidentified voters arriving by the busloads, ballot boxes falling out of helicopters, chartered flights ferrying phantoms to different parts of the country, mysterious blackouts and disrupted telephone lines, ballot boxes appearing at opportune moments, cash handouts near voting centres – all at the expense of Malaysian taxpayers.
I’m angry that civilians had to resort to forming human barricades to counteract your dirty tactics, risking their own safety in the process – while the police either stood by and did nothing, or worse, aided you in your schemes. You, who claim to put the people first, instead, risked the lives of ordinary Malaysians just so you could continue to stay in power.
I’m angry at the way your practices breed fear and discrimination on so many levels. Human nature has its dark side – this is true. But there is also choice, and circumstance. You could have built bridges to help heal long-standing rifts. You could have created circumstances which allowed grievances to be aired and intellectual debate to thrive. Instead, you chose censorship and divisiveness. Your rule is characterised by escalating resentment and spreading distrust. Your rule propagates circumstances which bring out the ugly side of human nature. Read the rest of this entry »
Can’t divide and rule, dear PM
Posted by Kit in Elections, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 13 May 2013
— Fikry Osman
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
MAY 12 — One week after GE13, you get the feeling that some Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders, especially in Umno, are in denial about what went wrong with their campaign.
Instead, they first blamed it on the Chinese for rejecting them, and then told the Chinese they were stupid enough to be duped by the DAP into rejecting them. In not so many words, the Chinese are ungrateful and stupid.
“Umno was not defeated, in fact it added more seats. If not for some quarters playing race issues, we would have won more seats,” Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in his speech at the party’s 67th anniversary celebration at the Putra World Trade Centre here last night
“We are not a racist party, we are a party that is moderate. We have been serving other races for a long time,” he added.
One of the harsh realities of the new world is this: you cannot tailor your message to different race groups and get away with it.
Umno and BN tried that in Election 2013 and failed, Umno’s Utusan Malaysia tried to scare people with DAP being the master and PAS the puppet, while MCA’s The Star did the opposite.
The NST, well, it couldn’t do really much because its sales and readership, is shrinking and it could only rely on bloggers for its news content. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s reactionary GE13 ‘victory’
by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
May 12, 2013
COMMENT
The May 2013 general election was a potential transition election in which the BN governing coalition held onto power.
The majority of the Malaysians supported an alternative government, but the incumbent Umno elite, supported by vested interests and years of constructing an electoral system in its favour, won out.
Even with yet another multi-ethnic national swing in electoral support towards Pakatan and more Malaysians voting than ever before, the incumbent elite in power held on, thwarting democracy.
Earlier, I pointed to some of the specific questions surrounding the electoral roll, the placement of voters, the conduct of the election itself and the character of the results, highlighting many of the unanswered questions of GE13.
The process of evidence gathering has begun and in the months ahead many of the irregularities in the polls will be illustrated and investigated. Read the rest of this entry »
The day Malaysians spoke out loud
— Harris Nasril
The Malaysian Insider
May 11, 2013
MAY 11 — The rally on May 8 was amazing. I left the office in Cheras around 6.30pm. It took me almost two hours before I reached the LDP toll plaza at Sunway around 8.30pm. Traffic was crawling on the LDP highway. I reached the Sungai Way industrial zone at 9.15pm. People were parking their cars on the highway here as traffic had come to a standstill. I parked my car near the Western Digital factory. A simple check on Google map showed that I had to walk 3.8km to the Kelana Jaya stadium. Oh my! That is the longest walk since my school days! People were already walking from here in their thousands, almost 90 per cent dressed in black. Few of them were chanting “Ubah”, “Reformasi”. The four-lane LDP had turned into a single-lane road. Cars were double-parked by the roadside.
Despite the police warning that it was an illegal rally, I did not see even a single policeman when I reached the stadium around 9.45pm. It was packed like sardines in a can! The entrance was totally blocked. I saw a few people climbing the fence to get inside. Without wasting time, I too climbed the fence to get in. People from inside the stadium helped me up. I also saw a young Chinese girl climb up too and helped by a Malay guy.
The view from inside the stadium was incredible! It was a sea of people in black. Read the rest of this entry »
Glad I made it
— Sharm
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
MAY 12 — Yes, I was there. Why was I there? Without doubt, in the name of SUPPORT.
I had no idea what time fellow supporters were already thronging to the stadium.
In my mind, I thought we (my sister, brother-in-law and me) could get an easy access of car park and we can make it to the stadium.
But to our surprise, we were at a standstill for almost half an hour in our car just about 500 metres away from the Kelana Jaya toll exit. This was at approximately before 9pm. Read the rest of this entry »
There to be heard
Stephen Tan
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
MAY 12 — I was there. I am usually not too active or vocal with regards to politics. However, the series of blatant cheating practices with regards to the elections has made me upset, frustrated and extremely angry.
Furthermore, the blatant accusation made by the PM post elections is totally unstatesman-like. He practically proved to the whole country and world of the insincerity of his policies and so called transformation programs. He does not deserve to be PM, let alone a leader of a political party.
Malaysia is turning into a mini apartheid, or a Nazi state with leaders like this. Superior race in this time and age?! It pisses me off. Read the rest of this entry »
Silver linings in a GE13 without gold
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 13 May 2013
Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
May 12, 2013
COMMENT
The dust is beginning to settle one week after the dirtiest election in the country’s history. Some of the dirt will stick, while others will hopefully wash away as the memory of the election fades.
My earlier pieces have focussed on the questions about the electoral process and impact of an Umno ‘victory’. Here I turn to the effects of the election on the expansion of democracy in Malaysia.
The message is one of strength, not weakness, or hope, rather than despair. Read the rest of this entry »
I joined the black parade
— Pravin Pillai
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
Empathy is feeling sorry for those who voted for a racist government. Sympathy is being sorry that they aren’t.
MAY 12 — I wasn’t going to go. But as the Facebook messages kept coming in about where help was needed I changed my mind.
I joined the black parade.
Like millions of others I felt like someone close to me had died. I was in mourning. The other side wants me to believe that all was fair and square. That I had a poor grasp of politics, the electorate and logic. Tis’ true, I am less a fan of logic than I am of heart. I believe logic can deceive you. You come home unexpectedly one afternoon and find your wife in bed. She says she’s having a headache. Logic moves you to check her temperature. The heart tells you to check under the bed. Half the country doesn’t have to wait for Rafizi to confirm the fact that they have been fucked. They feel it in their bones. Read the rest of this entry »
The nation cried on May 8, 2013
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 12 May 2013
— Foong Wai Fong
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013
MAY 12 — My brother and his friend picked me up from Saujana and we proceeded slowly over to the Kelana Jaya Museum. None of us were speaking much as it was a solemn and sad occasion; it is like we are going
for a wake… to mourn the death of democracy.
I truly felt how the family of Tan Beng Hock felt when they were told that their son “committed suicide.”
On the morning of May 6th even pass midnight of May 5th, that was how we felt, “ PR Lost.” The whole process of announcing the result make you feel that they forced it down your throat, “ I said you lose, so you lose.”
How different is this from the way they treated the death of Tan Beng Hock.
My brother and I, and some of our other friends felt we just have to be at the Kelana Jaya Rally. Read the rest of this entry »
Johor UMNO, all its divisions and branches, as well as Johor UMNO leaders, should declare whether they support Ghani being appointed a Senator so that he could be made a Minister in charge of EPU?
There have not only been silence from UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders to my proposal that the outgoing four-term Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman should be rewarded with a senior government post, there appears to be an officially-inspired rejection of the proposal when MUBARAK, the association of former Barisan Nasional MP and Assemblymen, came out with a statement declaring that those defeated in the recent general elections should not be appointed a Senator or made a Minister.
The President of MUBARAK Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Rahman can only be referring to Ghani as I had specifically suggested that Ghani, in view of his contributions and experience in Johor, should be appointed a Senator and made a Minister, and a Cabinet post suitable for him will be Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning Unit, replacing Nor Mohamad Yakcop.
The implicit rejection of the proposal to make Ghani a Senator and his appointment as a Minister has confirmed suspicions all along that Ghani was a victim of a power struggle in UMNO, particularly in Johor, and Ghani was forced to contest in Gelang Patah to end his political career if he cannot, to use Tun Mahathir’s words, make Gelang Patah my “burial ground”. Read the rest of this entry »
Rais: Decision by MCA to reject Cabinet posts shallow
The Malaysian Insider
May 11, 2013
JELEBU, May 11 — MCA should not have made a decision that reflected its shallow politics by making impulsive remarks, like not wanting to accept posts in the Cabinet, said Datuk Seri Rais Yatim.
The former Information, Communications and Culture Minister said the stance taken by MCA was not proper because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was still in the process of forming a new federal government, likewise at the state level.
“There should be consultations, but they rejected from the beginning. This attitude is very suspicious.
“Honestly, we have to say that MCA and Gerakan have actually contributed partly to Barisan Nasional’s loss.
“The internal bickering and misunderstanding or absence of collective stand to an extent that several seats were lost to the BN’s political enemy,” he told reporters after a thanksgiving ceremony at the Jelebu District Council hall, Kuala Klawang here last night. Read the rest of this entry »
BN is effectively a minority government
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Bridget Welsh, Elections on Saturday, 11 May 2013
by Tommy Thomas
Malaysiakini
8:26AM May 10, 2013
COMMENT In assessing the results of the long-awaited 13th general elections, it is imperative that one considers the actual conditions under which the elections were conducted.
Uninformed observers, particularly from overseas, assume that because Malaysia has a Westminister-style parliamentary democracy, our elections are conducted freely, fairly and in the spirit of fair play.
The reality is that our elections are never held as they are in mature democracies like the United Kingdom, India or Australia.
They are rather akin to another Commonwealth country, Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has been in power for some 33 years, and where the ruling party always wins because it thinks it has a divine right to rule, and will cheat to remain in power. Institutions intended to be independent and impartial have never acted independently and impartially. Read the rest of this entry »
The new Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Elections, nation building on Saturday, 11 May 2013
— Abdul Haleem Abdul Rahiman
The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013
MAY 10 — If you are not aware — there is a NEW MALAYSIA out there. The NEW MALAYSIA with a new generation. Before you think this is the young new generation let me tell you that you are wrong. No, the word “generation” is not an age group defined.
This NEW MALAYSIA also not restricted by geographical boundaries. A Malaysian, no matter where is he or she based at, be it Australia, the Middle East, North America, North Asia, Europe or Africa — they are and they also surely will be part of this NEW MALAYSIA.
This NEW MALAYSIA no longer intimidated by tear gas or risk of being arrested for participating in public gatherings.
This NEW MALAYSIA will speak up, will stand up and will walk for miles to be heard, to be recognised and to be RESPECTED. Read the rest of this entry »
The Star and being Malaysian
― The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013
MAY 10 ― Nothing is more nauseating than hypocrisy.
After weeks and months of driving a wedge between races in Malaysia and contributing to the “Chinese tsunami” myth in its coverage, The Star has now decided it is time for reconciliation and unity.
So, today, it has a front page montage of many happy faces of Malaysians, topped off with a headline “We are Malaysia”.
Are we now expected to forget the attempts by The Star and its owner MCA to pit Muslims against non-Muslims through its hudud-bashing articles and advertisements? Didn’t they realise that the hudud bashing was offensive to Muslims and other God-fearing people? Didn’t the editors bother about national unity then?
Are we expected to suffer from amnesia and forget reports by The Star’s editors and columnists aimed at portraying the DAP as a chauvinist party and PAS, extremists?
Now that its slavish adherence to MCA’s strategy has resulted in a near-complete rejection by Malaysians, the party-owned newspaper has decided to play the unity card and talk up reconciliation. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Misconception created by Chinese press’
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 11 May 2013
Alyaa Azhar| May 10, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang says his statement with regard to a possible DAP-BN coalition was misconstrued by the Chinese press.
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today said that newspaper headlines in Chinese press were to blame for a misconception that he wanted to form a coalition government with the Barisan Nasional.
“I was told that I have been the target of attacks in the social media for betraying the people. I have done nothing to justify that. The fault actually lies with the Chinese newspapers headlines, mixing two separate issues – first if DAP will join BN to replace MCA, and secondly the separate proposal of a BN-PR coalition government,” Lim told a press conference today.
Lim said that Sin Chew’s frontpaged headline gives readers, who only read the first headline, the impression that he supports the idea of DAP joining BN to replace MCA.
The main headline reads: ‘Lim Kit Siang: Can have coalition government with BN’ while the sub-heading reads: ‘Condition: Accept PR’s election manifesto’.
He said that Sin Chew and it sub-editors should be careful in ensuring that their primary headlines do not create misconceptions.
“They cannot assume that readers will read the full contents or even the sub-headings. You know how it is nowadays, most people only read the primary headline and not the full report,” he said.
He added that to avoid misunderstanding, both the main headline and sub-headings should not vary drastically. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng: DAP has no interest in BN
Posted by Kit in Bersih, DAP, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 11 May 2013
Athi Shankar| May 10, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
Lim Guan Eng accuses Umno of trying to break up the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
GEORGE TOWN: DAP has no interest in joining Barisan Nasional for posts, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in a statement here today.
This is because, he said DAP struggled for principles and people-centric policies not positions and personal interests.
He claimed that BN was using underhand tactics to split up Pakatan Rakyat by inviting DAP to join the coalition.
He stressed DAP’s urgent priority of polls reform that respected the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” principle would not be undermined by such underhand tactics.
He claimed that Pakatan’s failure to wrest the federal government from BN despite garnering more popular votes demands urgent polls reforms.
He said Pakatan was willing to co-operate with BN to implement polls reform to reflect the unhappiness of majority Malaysians, who voted for change and yet discover that despite winning the popular votes, they could not vote out BN. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Opposition not after an ‘Arab spring’ – DAP leader
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 11 May 2013
ABC Radio Australia
10 May 2013, 21:47 AEST
Malaysia’s opposition is planning several political gatherings across the country this month, over last Sunday’s disputed national elections.
The protests could be the most provocative challenge to the Malaysian government in years.
Mr Lim Kit Siang, a veteran senior member of the DAP, a component of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat, told Asia Pacific that the Opposition is studying allegations of fraud in between twenty to thirty constituencies.
Mr Lim, who caused a political upset last Sunday by winning a seat in Johor state against the incumbent chief minister, says media reports of a ‘wave of protests’ are erroneous.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Lim Kit Siang, member of parliament for Gelang Patah, and senior member of the opposition Democratic Action Party
LIM: Well, we’re having ceramahs (meetings) in order to explain to the people the electoral fraud, as well as the latest political situation in the country. I had one last night for instance, a DAP ceramah. Of course people are angry and frustrated that the election process has been so unfair, not having a level playing field, that has deprived the country of a government that they wanted – which is a replacement of the present government and prime minister.
LAM: Are you concerned that such ongoing protests might lead to national instability?
LIM: Well, we definitely do not want an ‘Arab spring’ in the sense of having national incidents and all that. We want to continue to have peaceful and orderly process, where there can be public meetings to explain to the people the latest political developments in the country, including the electoral fraud. Read the rest of this entry »
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