Archive for category Johore
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 »
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 »
Election 2013 results expose Dr M’s decline as a force
BY CLARA CHOOI AND MD IZWAN
The Malaysian Insider
May 09, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — 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 has shown.
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 told The Malaysian Insider.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Lim Kit Siang wins Gelang Patah seat
By Tracy Quek In Gelang Patah (johor)
The Straits Times
DAP veteran beats Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani by 14,000 votes
Published on May 06, 2013
VETERAN opposition leader Lim Kit Siang beat outgoing Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman by a huge margin of more than 14,000 votes in the hotly contested Gelang Patah parliamentary seat.
It was as much a symbolic victory for the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the Umno-led Barisan Nasional’s stronghold as it was a personal one for 72-year- old Mr Lim. He announced he would quit his nearly five-decade political career if he lost here.
“Now that I have been given a new lease of life, it is a heavy responsibility,” he said last night, adding that he was awed by the winning margin.
Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang: don’t racialise electoral results
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Malaysiakini
May 6, 2013
Refuting MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s remark that the electoral result has formed a two-race system, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang urged him not to racialise the choice of the people.
He said the labelling of the result as a “victory of the Chinese against the Malays” by Chua is a betrayal to the vision of Malaysians as well as the 1Malaysia spirit touted by BN.
NONE”It is a great disservice to the country,” he said, while asking Chua to stop his race-baiting.
Lim, who defeated former Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah by a whopping majority of 14,762, called a press conference after being officially announced as the winner at the tally centre in Skudai.
To back his argument, Lim said he could not obtain such a high majority without the substantial support of the Malay voters, who form 34 percent of the total voters. Read the rest of this entry »
Psy war as both sides leak GE13 ‘win’ numbers
By Jahabar Sadiq
Editor
The Malaysian Insider
May 05, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) began leaking numbers of possible wins in the tight Election 2013 race just as voters finished casting their ballots today.
The BN is confident of winning 145 federal seats, with at least 118 in the white list, said sources from the coalition’s war room.
But PR is also bullish about capturing Putrajaya, with sources saying that it can win at least 117 federal seats. It is understood that an independent poll showed possibly taking at least 125 seats, with at least 40 per cent of the Malay vote in the bag.
The Umno-controlled Berita Harian has also been publishing an exit poll of various hot seats that indicate BN are in the lead. It is learnt that the numbers are from the BN war room.
PR sources say that their worst-case scenario is taking 100 federal seats and possibly wresting the Perak and Negri Sembilan state assemblies while keeping Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor.
But BN sources say they are also confident of keeping Perak and taking Kedah and Kelantan as part of their “Blue Wave” campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Ordinary Malaysians, extraordinary day
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Johore, Mahathir, Najib Razak, Sabah, Sarawak on Sunday, 5 May 2013
by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
May 5, 2013
GE13 SPECIAL On this historic day of GE13, Malaysians are bravely stepping into the unknown. Some are already queuing up to vote, and yet others are waiting for the crowd to disperse before heading out to the polling stations. Every Malaysian knows today will not be an ordinary day.
There are four intense but quiet battles taking place that will shape whether May 5 will indeed bring about change.
The first battle is a personal one, national in scope, taking place deep in the hearts of every Malaysian. It is a contest over what sort of country Malaysia should be. Many Malaysians are voting for a different moral foundation for the country’s politics.
The anger and sense of disbelief of BN governance runs deep, from the issues of corruption to its racial polemics. While there are many Malaysians who strongly support the status quo, among this group are many who question whether something is not quite right.
Indeed, today the country will be voting for its soul. Read the rest of this entry »
Gelang perkauman patah di Gelang Patah
Oleh Rahmat Haron | 12:56PM Apr 18 2013
Malaysiakini
Laporan maharaja lawak ‘April Fool’ yang lalu memberitakan khabar mantan perdana menteri Dr Mahathir Mohamad menyeru rakyat Johor menjadikan pertandingan PRU13 kerusi Parlimen Gelang Patah sebagai kubur kerjaya politik tokoh veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang.
Malah ke tahap melampau, Dr Mahathir membakar api perkauman dengan menyatakan kemenangan Lim Kit Siang akan mengakibatkan perseteruan antara kaum.
Menteri besar kerajaan sementara Johor Abdul Ghani Othman pula menambah rencah menjadi wira Melayu kununnya dengan berkata kemenangan Lim Kit Siang bakal menggugah keharmonian kaum di Johor.
Gelang Patah menjadi ‘kubur’ Lim Kit Siang merupakan suatu saranan yang teramat munasabah untuk politik tahun 1983. Di zaman kebenaran paling muktamad hanya didapatkan daripada tiga saluran tivi warna, dengan imej wajah ‘dewanya’ tidak lain dan tidak bukan ialah Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Tetapi pada tahun 2013 ini, di zaman pencerahan Internet, ia menampakkan sikap yang menggelabah. Kerana maklumat dan pengetahuan telah pun mematahkan gari ideologi, gelang perkauman yang merantai kita selama ini. Orang sudah tahu.
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9-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: Sarawak BN has conceded that 11 parliamentary seats in the state are in danger – a step closer to Putrajaya
I have just returned from a 42-hour whistle-stop visit to Sarawak and Sabah, where I challenged voters in the three Barisan Nasional “fixed deposit states” of Sarawak, Sabah and Johor to rise up to the historic challenge to achieve the target of winning a total of 33 Parliamentary seats in the 13GE from the three states – which is an important precondition for Malaysians to effect change in Putrajaya with Pakatan Rakyat replacing Barisan Nasional as the new Federal Government of Malaysia.
It is a tall order for the three BN “fixed deposit” states of Sarawak, Sabah and Johore to win for Pakatan Rakyat 33 out of the total of 83 parliamentary seats in these three states on 13GE Polling Day on May 5, as PR only won three or one in each state in the 2008 general elections – namely Bandar Kuching in Sarawak, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Bakri in Johore – but it is not an impossible target as it would have been five years ago.
I am encouraged from my lightning visits to Sabah (Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu) on Wednesday and Sarawak (Kuching, Mas Gading where our parliamentary candidate is Mordi Bimol and Serian where our parliamentary candidate is Edward Andrew Luat) yesterday that the winds of change are blowing strong and hard in these two states.
It was in Sabah that the catchcry “Ini Kalilah” and in Sarawak where the other catchcry “UBAH” first rang out loud and clear and which have now been joined as “Ini Kalilah – UBAH” to become the common cry and inspiration of all Malaysians in the country who want change to embrace the Malaysian Dream and an end to the politics of race, corruption, cronyism, abuses of power, violation of democratic and human rights, injustices and lack of good governance!
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Ghani should change his political advisers in the Gelang Patah contest as he is made to say things which undermines his reputation as a sober, rational and level-headed classic Malay gentleman
I am really flabbergasted. I am accused by the Johor Mentri Besar and Barisan Nasional candidate for Gelang Patah Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman of saying things about him which I had never done.
For instance, in an interview today with the UMNO-owned and controlled New Straits Times, which claims to be a newspaper when it is in fact a “lies-paper”, the Johor Mentri Besar was asked a loaded and completely untruthful question and Ghani gave an equally baseless and untruth answer because it was founded on lies and falsehoods.
This is the Q and A I am referring to:
“Question: Your opponent had tried to paint a picture of you being a Malay chauvinist. Do you think it will influence the Chinese electorate, who make up the majority of voters in Gelang Patah?
“Answer: It is cruel. I’m quite sad about the attempts to label me a racist. But Johoreans know me.
“I have been here for the past 18 years and the Chinese community here knows that I have always engaged them. I work with them directly on community issues as well as on education, culture and welfare.
“Since (Lim) Kit Siang decided to come here to contest (Gelang Patah), he has been provoking the Chinese.”
Three Challenges to three Barisan Nasional “fixed deposit states” of Sarawak, Sabah and Johore on their catalytic role to take Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in 13GE
The coming 13th GE is the most historic and significant one in the 56-year history of the nation as Malaysians will decide if the change of Federal government in Putrajaya will come about on Polling Day on May 5, 2013.
The battle of the 13GE is the battle between the politics of the future represented by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition versus the politics of the past as practised by the Barisan Nasional in the past few decades.
The politics of the past is the politics of race and the politics of rampant corruption, cronyism, massive abuses of power, gross violation of democratic and human rights, injustices, unsustainable development because of despoilation of the environment, lack of transparency, accountability and good governance.
The politics of the future transcends racial politics where Malaysians unite not because they are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans but because they are Malaysian patriots who dare the dream the Malaysian Dream to create a more harmonious, just, free, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians.
Read the rest of this entry »
Zaid tells Malays to reassert their identity: VOTE FOR KIT SIANG!
Saying the Malays had accepted the idea of sharing power with other communities in the past thus replacing traditional power structure hitherto dominated by Malay rulers, former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim said they should now continue to pursue such a path.
Slamming UMNO leaders’ statements threatening racial discord if DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang defeats BN’s Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah, Zaid urged the Malays to prove to the world that they are not a people out to create trouble as depicted by prime minister Najib Razak and UMNO strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Now the Malays have been asked to answer more big questions in Gelang Patah. Do they want moderate, sensible politics in multiracial Malaysia? Do they want racial harmony to continue? Or will they endorse the vile sectarian politics of Dr Mahathir Mahathir and his progeny Najib Razak?” asked Zaid.
He said Malays must kill off all attempts to raise spectre of violence and showcase to others of the community’s moderation.
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP’s dark horse in Tanjung Piai
Pauline Wong | 23 April 2013 – 11:30pm
The Sun
PONTIAN (April 23, 2013): The battle in the Tanjung Piai parliamentary constituency of about 51,000 voters may not be as intense as in Gelang Patah, where top guns Lim Kit Siang (DAP) and Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman (BN) are facing off.
Still, Tanjung Piai is exciting because a relatively unknown and dark horse candidate will give incumbent MP Datuk Wee Jeck Seng (BN) a run for his money.
Mahdzir Ibrahim, 37, (pix) from Batu Pahat, is eager to make his mark here.
“About one month ago I was asked by DAP leadership to stand in Tanjung Piai, and after I went on the ground and did some groundwork, I accepted the challenge,” said the former DAP Roketkini.com co-ordinator.
As the only Malay candidate fielded by DAP in Johor, the humble and forthright former lecturer (in music and arts) said he is under no illusion that being a Malay would give him an advantage in the Malay-majority area.
Read the rest of this entry »
Return of old warrior
by Terence Fernandez TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013 – 16:54
Malay Mail
Party elder comes out of retirement 23 years later after call from Kit Siang
THE last time he was in active service was in the 1990 elections, where he had campaigned for his party the DAP in Kluang.
After that, party elder Lee Kaw, called it quits to focus on his business and retire to a life of “napping, walks and taking care of my old lady”.
So what motivated the once treasurer-general of the DAP to come out of retirement 23 years later? For one, it was the call from fellow party elder Lim Kit Siang.
Then, it was the candidate. “No matter who calls, if I don’t believe in the candidate they put up … if they don’t like them — I’m not going to waste my time. If the candidate is a useless fellow, why should I support?” said Lee over coffee at the Rail Coffee cafe — the town’s main meeting place run by the Lim family of the famous Kluang Railway Station Canteen.
Read the rest of this entry »
Zaid Ibrahim accepts invitation to be Pakatan Rakyat adviser for Battle of Johor which is critical for PR to win Battle of Malaysia to replace Barisan Nasional in Putrajaya
I want to thank Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for speaking in support of my parliamentary candidature at the Pakatan Rakyat ceramah in Taman Nusantara, Gelang Patah last night.
The Battle of Gelang Patah is a microcosm of the battle for the hearts and minds of Malaysian voters in the 13GE and a prelude to the Battle of Johor and Battle of Malaysia in the 13GE.
I call on the caretaker Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to lead a campaign throughout the country and all the states of Malaysia which is clean, fair and honest, not marred by the politics of money.
I can speak on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat that this the type of general elections Malaysians want and should have in the 13GE. It is not too late for Najib to send our a message loud and clear to let the 13GE the “most clean, free and fair” instead of being the most dirty, unfree and unfair in the nation’s 56-year history.
Since the ending of the four-year wait by Malaysians for the 13th national polls on April 3, there is a new hope and a new expectation in the air for all Malaysians, regardless of whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans of a new political order – as summed up in the powerful catchphrase first coined in Sabah: “Ini Kali Lah!”
The historic objective of Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE is to effect a peaceful and democratic change of government in Putrajaya – and this is why the PAS Vice President Sallehuddin Ayub and I have left comparatively safe seats in Perak and Kelantan respectively, together with Gen (rtd) Tan Sri Hashim of PKR, to return to Johore to lead the charge in the state to trigger a political tsunami emanating from the south reaching upwards to the north of the country, and to cross the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak to complete the partial political tsunami in the 2008 GE. Read the rest of this entry »
11Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – I never accuse Ghani Othman as a “racist” , I believe he is not a “racist” and I invite Ghani to join me in making Battle of Gelang Patah and the Battle of Johor a clean, fair and gentlemanly contest of ideas and visions with no playing race or religion cards or money politics
Johor Mentri Besar, Johor Barisan Nasional Chairman and BN candidate for Gelang Patah, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman is reported in the media of expressing his disappointment that I had accused him of playing the race card.
He said I should not get “desperate” and insinuate that he is racist just to gain support from the Chinese voters who made up the majority of constituents in Gelang Patah.
He told New Straits Times: “I believe that he (Lim) is getting desperate. Everyone knows that I am not racist, and that is why I think he is trying to paint a picture of me being one”.
I do not know where Ghani got this report, just as I am equally mystified where Ghani got the report that I had said that if I win in Gelang Patah, PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang will become the Prime Minister.
I had never said that Ghani is a racist. I do not believe Ghani is a racist. This is what I said about Ghani two days ago:
Read the rest of this entry »
Still uphill for Johor Malay vote, admit Pakatan leaders
Posted by Kit in Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 23 April 2013
BY IDA LIM, MOHD FARHAN DARWIS AND DEBRA CHONG
APRIL 22, 2013
The Malaysian Insider
JOHOR BARU, April 22 — While Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders on their campaign trail have been feted like rock stars in the Chinese-majority areas across Johor, the muted response from the Malay-dominant neighbourhoods shows the opposition has a long and uphill road to victory in the May 5 polls.
Several PR leaders have acknowledged so.
“I’m seeing positive signs but Ghani still has the advantage,” DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider last night after wrapping up a night ceramah in Pulai Perdana, a fringe Malay residential neighbourhood chock-a-block with car service workshops.
The 72-year-old Gelang Patah MP candidate is up against four-term Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in the parliamentary constituency where Chinese make up 52 per cent, while Malays and Indians account for 34 per cent and 12 per cent of the registered voters there.
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13 Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Johor as the fulcrum of political change in Malaysia and let “Johor Leads” be the new slogan for all Johoreans in the new politics of the future struggling to be born in the 13GE, moving from the politics of the past based on race politics, corruption and mass abuses of power
On the third day of the 13GE, I want to sound a clarion call to all Johoreans for Johor to be the fulcrum of political change in Malaysia and let “Johor Leads” be the new slogan for all Johoreans in the new Malaysian politics of the future struggling to be born in the 13GE, moving from the politics of the past based on race politics, corruption and mass abuses of power.
In the past month, the people of Johor had the exhilarating experience of being the cynosure of the whole nation.
For the past 56 years, Johor had been the political backwaters, with the people of Johor following great political events and breakthroughs in other states, particularly in the north, Penang and Kelantan, as well as in Kedah, Perak and Selangor, while great political changes have passed Johor by and excluded Johoreans.
This state of affairs has now been completely transformed.
For the past month, beginning with the Battle of Gelang Patah, as the prelude to the Battle of Johor and the Battle of Malaysia in the 13GE, Gelang Patah and Johor have captured the imagination of Johoreans as well as Malaysians.
For the first time in the nation’s 56-year history, Johoreans are making political history and instead of Johoreans following political developments in other parts of Malaysia, it is Malaysians all over the country following with increasing excitement the daily political developments in Gelang Patah and Johor.
The time has come in the 13GE for the political transformation of Malaysian politics with Johor as the fulcrum of new politics of Malaysia with all Johoreans rallying to the battlecry of “Johor Leads”. Read the rest of this entry »
Looking forward to a gentleman’s fight in Johor
Pauline Wong
The Sun Daily
Posted on 21 April 2013
JOHOR BARU (April 21, 2013): The state of Johor is without a doubt, the state where all eyes are drawn – whether from the Barisan Nasional side, or from the Pakatan Rakyat.
Big names from the opposition have been parachuted to this southern state of Malaysia, where they hope that the 1.5 million voters here will cast ballots in their favour.
For the Barisan Nasional, the pressure is on to retain power in this birthplace of Umno, and they are more determined than ever to keep Johor in their grasp.
Even with so much at stake, the battle for Johor has taken off in a gentlemanly fashion, with fierce rivals going so far as to praise each other. Read the rest of this entry »
In Kit Siang, Pakatan gets unexpected boost to leap over Johor’s Malay wall
BY DEBRA CHONG, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR | APRIL 21, 2013
The Malaysian Insider
JOHOR BARU, April 21 — As Lim Kit Siang captured the imagination of Johor’s Chinese at last night’s rally here, it was also clear that he meant to help warm the Umno birthplace’s Malay population towards Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Election 2013.
Unlike some states to the north, the opposition parties have been repeatedly thwarted from gaining more than a toehold in Malaysia’s southernmost state.
“The Malay parties in the opposition have a tougher time trying to get support from the Malay community in Johor, so Kit Siang’s presence in southern Johor especially has tilted the situation,” said Ibrahim Suffian, the executive director of political research house Merdeka Center.
Johor’s resistance towards PAS and PKR, Ibrahim said, was historical. The highly-independent state had been used to running things its own way for a long time as it was among the last to be incorporated into colonial British rule.
It had built up a strong religious wall that did not give room for PR’s Islamist partner, PAS, to grow since Johor’s Islamic schools are well-funded and are state-run. In addition, PAS was seen as a northern influence, Ibrahim said.
But in the five years since Election 2008, a perceptible change has been felt in Johor.
Read the rest of this entry »
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