Is Najib ready for GE13?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 11:18 am
By CH Lee
The Drawing Is On The Wall
Malaysia at (yet another) crossroads
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Lynas, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 7:51 am
— Gerhard Hoffstaedter and Greg Lopez
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2013
APRIL 1 — The Malaysian government and its multiple state governments have become caretaker governments and elections will have to be called before June 28 if the country wants to maintain the semblance of an electoral democracy.
Everything is at stake at these elections. Malaysia has been ruled as a country by one coalition since independence in 1957 and its hold on political power has been tenacious. The economy and society remain formidable.
Opposition coalitions have tried at every election to make inroads in a system clearly stacked against them. In 2008, there was a real breakthrough, with the opposition capturing five out of the 13 states of the federation and breaking the ruling coalition’s psychologically important two-thirds majority it had become accustomed to.
It is not easy to categorise the two opposing coalitions and its members, as they are disparate, complex, and, with multiple agendas, often fractured. The ruling coalition is run by Umno, with other constituent parties largely serving the Chinese and Indian populations as well as some indigenous communities of Sabah and Sarawak. Read the rest of this entry »
All hail Dr M?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 6:31 am
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2013
APRIL 1 — I am thankful to The Malaysian Insider for giving publicity to whatever Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is saying these days.
Because it allows more Malaysians to appreciate what a fraud he is and understand that a vote for BN is a vote for Dr Mahathir.
These are my reasons for calling Dr Mahathir a fake, a Petaling Street knock-off, a politician who will say anything or do anything to perpetuate the system of excesses which he put in place. Read the rest of this entry »
Bishop: What sort of justice is this?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 5:38 am
RK Anand| April 1, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
Bishop Paul Tan is incensed over the video which shows MP Zulkifli Noordin belittling the Hindu faith and demands action from the ‘1Malaysia’ government.
KUALA LUMPUR: The video recording of a member of Parliament belittling the Hindu faith has prompted a Catholic priest to question the government’s double standard in dealing with such matters.
Bishop Paul Tan pointed out that the present ruling government had not hauled up any Muslim who uttered seditious words and made seditious gestures against those of other religions while it acted against those who stated unpleasant things about Islam.
The head of the Malacca-Johor diocese was responding to the video of Kulim Bandar Bahru MP Zulkifili Noordin who mocked how statues of Hindu deities could not prevent a flood in Masjid India here.
The video, which was uploaded on YouTube, had since gone viral.
Zulkifli is also the vice-president of Perkasa, whose president Ibrahim Ali had also earned the wrath of Tan when he called for the torching of Malay bibles that used the term Allah.
The bishop recounted how he had in the past called on the government to take action against both Ibrahim and Perkasa patron and former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad over this issue.
“What sort of justice is this? It is no justice but bigotry which the Almighty God himself would be ashamed of,” he said.
“God sees, hears and knows everything. In spite of the fact that final justice is rendered by the Almighty God, we humans are not exempt from taking the right means to right what is wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
Only BN (Bluster and Noise) over Zul Nordin!
Posted by Kit in Indians, Martin Jalleh on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 1:24 am
by Martin Jalleh
27-year-old Liow Cai Tung, product manager, is DAP candidate for Johor Jaya state assembly seat – a “7227” partnership of the old, middle-aged and young
Posted by Kit in Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 1 April 2013, 7:42 pm
There have been many misleading, incorrect and even baseless reports about Pakatan Rakyat negotiations on seats allocations which I think should be put straight for the record, viz:
Firstly, the Pakatan Rakyat leadership decision that I leave the comparatively safe seat of Ipoh Timor which I had won with a majority of over 21,000 votes in 2008 for Gelang Patah, which was won by the MCA/BN with a majority of some 9,000 votes in 2008 and a humongous majority of 31,666 votes in 2004 in a mission to help propel a “political tsunami” in Johore for Pakatan Rakyat to arrive in Putrajaya in the 13GE was not in exchange for any seat.
Secondly, the proposal that DAP allow PKR’s Chua Jui Meng to contest in Segamat is under discussion and negotiation. Read the rest of this entry »
Invitation to Mahathir to contest in Gelang Patah and let the voters of Johore decide whether Gelang Patah should be mine or his “political kubur”
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Mahathir on Monday, 1 April 2013, 5:49 pm
Tun Mahathir has come to Johor to help UMNO/Barisan Nasional fight Pakatan Rakyat’s Battle of Gelang Patah, which seeks to create a political tsunami from the south spreading to the rest of Malaysia, crossing the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak, to effect the first peaceful and democratic transition of federal power in the nation’s 56-year history.
In his speech in Johor Baru last night, Mahathir urged Johor folk to end my political career in Gelang Patah in the 13GE, saying:
“If he wants to contest in Penang, Malacca, we can understand but want to attack Umno’s fortress in Johor is stupid, doesn’t make sense.”
He further said:
“Lim Kit Siang wants to come here (to contest). I urge the people of Johor, all communities should pool their energy to ensure that the state of Johor will be the ‘burial ground’ for Lim Kit Siang’s politics.
“We must ensure that he (Kit Siang) loses in Johor. The state of Johor will continue to become the ‘fixed deposit’ for BN (Barisan Nasional).” Read the rest of this entry »
10-day Countdown to 13GE – Three reasons why Johoreans will vote in record numbers for Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general elections
Posted by Kit in Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 1 April 2013, 4:06 pm
Johor, my birth state, is arguably the most important state in Peninsular Malaysia in the upcoming 13th general elections. Not only does it have the largest number of parliament seats in Peninsular Malaysia (26), it is also a state where, unlike in the past, the BN can no longer guarantee a clean sweep of all or almost all of the parliament and state seats.
I have outlined the four objectives of the Battle of Gelang Patah last week. Objective One is to target the 6 Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in South Johor. Objective Two is to target a total of 19 Parliamentary and 30 State Assembly seats in the whole of Johor, which includes the South Johor seats mentioned in Objective One. Objective Three is to target 33 out of the 83 Parliamentary seats in the BN ‘fixed deposit’ states of Johor, Sabah and Sarawak in order to reach the magic number of 112 parliament seats. Objective Four is to win an additional 12 seats to win 125 parliament seats and obtain a comfortable governing majority of 28 seats.
Why do I feel confident that the winds of change are blowing sufficiently strongly in Johor so much so that it will no longer be a BN ‘fixed deposit’ state in GE13? There are at least three reasons.
Firstly, we have seen how big swings in the past have allowed the opposition to make significant gains. If these swings are big enough, it may even allow the opposition to win a majority of seats and gain control of a state government.
We saw this in Selangor in 2008. From 1995 to 2004, the opposition failed to win a single parliament seats in this state, including the 1999 general elections where the BN suffered a backlash from the victimization of Anwar Ibrahim, especially among the Malay voters. From 1995 to 2004, the most number of state seats won by the opposition was 6 out of a total of 48 state seats (1/8th or 12.5% of total state seats). And yet, in 2008, the opposition’s share of the popular vote jumped from 34% in 2004 to 55% in 2008, a massive swing of 21%! As a result, the opposition parties – PKR, PAS and DAP – won a majority of parliament seats (17 out of 22) and well as state seats (36 out of 56), thereby ushering in a Pakatan state government in Selangor for the first time in Malaysia’s history.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M’s April Fools’ Day Joke?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Martin Jalleh on Monday, 1 April 2013, 11:35 am
by Martin Jalleh
Who will keep a watch on one of Umno’s most-recognised rabid rabble rousers?
Posted by Kit in Hishammuddin, Martin Jalleh on Monday, 1 April 2013, 10:14 am
by Martin Jalleh
Dr M comes to Johor BN’s defence, tells voters to end Kit Siang’s political career
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Mahathir on Monday, 1 April 2013, 9:07 am
by Mohd Farhan Darwis
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2013
JOHOR BARU, April 1 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told Johor folk last night to end Lim Kit Siang’s political career in Gelang Patah in Election 2013 as Barisan Nasional (BN) brought out the veteran leader to defend its political fortress from an opposition onslaught.
In his usually truculent self, the country’s longest-serving prime minister also took swipes at other opposition leaders such as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, saying the 13th general election was the occasion to end Kelantan mentri besar’s political career
“Now Lim Kit Siang wants to come to Johor as it’s easy for him to win anytime he wants. Johoreans must crush him to the end… to ensure it is his last day in politics,” Dr Mahathir told thousands at a people’s housing project launch organised by Pulai Umno outside Hospital Permai near here.
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP Gelang Patah Declaration: A Vision & Strategy for Indian Empowerment
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Indians, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 1 April 2013, 8:50 am
(On 31st March 2013, the DAP Gelang Patah Declaration “A Vision and Strategy for Indian Empowerment” was formally launched in Gelang Patah at a historic meeting attended by DAP national, state and local leaders including DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kulasegeran, DAP MPs Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong), Charles Santiago (Klang) and Manogaran (Teluk Intan), former Senator S. Ramakrishnan, DAP State Assemblymen including Perak Assemblyman for Sungkai A. Sivanesan and Negri Sembilan Assemblyman for Senawang P. Gunasekaren.
The DAP Gelang Patah Declaration will be the basis for the DAP continued espousal of the cause of the Malaysians Indians to end their deplorable status as the new underclass in Malaysia. – LKS)
DAP Gelang Patah Declaration – A Vision and Strategy for Indian Empowerment
DAP offers justice, peace and equality for all.
DAP puts the aspirations of the people at the centre of its social and economic policies.
DAP recognizes BN’s 56 year rule has created unequal distribution of wealth, resulting in poverty among Indians and other vulnerable groups. But we shall ensure fair and effective distribution of our national wealth. The needs of the marginalized groups will be addressed under DAP.
Our policies will help all marginalized communities, especially the Indian poor and the lower middle-classes.
The Gelang Patah Declaration aims to create an enabling environment for the Indian community. DAP recognizes the significant contribution and struggles of the Indian community and wants to re-affirm, through this Gelang Patah Declaration, that under our leadership there will be improvement of their inherent rights and standard of living. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Najib to make public all the mega defence and other contracts entered into by the Federal Government in the past three weeks since March 8 when his premiership has “expired” its credibility, authority and legitimacy
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Defence, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Sunday, 31 March 2013, 3:34 pm
The RM4.2 billion arms deal worth RM4.2 billion entered into by the Defence Ministry at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima 2013), on top of the earlier argument that Parliament could not yet be dissolved as a caretaker government cannot enter into mega-ringgit defence deals at LIMA, has brought to the centrestage the important questions of good governance and public integrity and the issue of corruption in Malaysia – especially what is the proper and ethical conduct of a government which is reaching close to or gone past its “expiry” period.
There can be no contention that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is already the country’s longest unelected Prime Minister without a mandate of his own after taking over the reins of premiership from Tun Abdullah Badawi is already an “expired” Prime Minister leading an “expired” Cabinet and Government in the past three weeks since March 8, when it lost all public credibility, authority and legitimacy as the government of Malaysia.
Why can’t the RM4.2 billion arms deal in LIMA wait until after the 13GE for whichever government, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, to make the final decision? Read the rest of this entry »
11-Day Countdown to 13GE: 4th Objective of the Battle of Gelang Patah – Pakatan to target 12 parliament seats from the non-BN fixed deposit states in Peninsular Malaysia to pave the way to Putrajaya in 13GE
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 31 March 2013, 11:17 am
Over the past 3 days, I have outlined the three objective of the Battle of Gelang Patah as part of the larger objective to propel Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya.
The Third Objective which I outlined yesterday was Pakatan’s target to win 33 out of 83 parliamentary seats in the three fixed deposit states of Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.
If Pakatan can successfully defend the 80 parliamentary seats it won in the non-fixed deposit states in Peninsular Malaysia in GE12 and the Kuala Terengganu by-election, and if Pakatan can win 33 additional seats in the three BN fixed deposit states of Johor, Sabah and Sarawak, then Pakatan would exceed the magic number of 112 needed to form the Federal Government.
However, Pakatan can only win with a good and comfortable majority if we can win at least 125 parliamentary seats in 13GE, comprising say 45 seats for PKR and 40 seats each for DAP and PAS.
To reach the 125 seat (or a 28 seat majority) target, Pakatan needs to win 12 more parliament seats from the non BN-fixed deposit states.
This the Fourth Objective of the Battle of Gelang Patah. Read the rest of this entry »
Arms deals inked by ‘expired PM’ may not be valid
by Koh Jun Lin
Malaysiakini
Mar 30, 2013
Pakatan Rakyat would review all contracts signed by the federal government after March 8 and possibly cancel them if they are found to be unfair or involved abuse of power, if the coalition takes over Putrajaya, said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.
He said in his speech at Seputeh today that the government has no business signing these deals five years after the last general election; they should be considered interim agreements subject to confirmation by the succeeding government.
Highlighting the RM4.2 billion arms deal signed in Langkawi two days ago, he said: “We will not be bound by these agreements because these are done after March 8, when the prime minister has lost legitimacy and credibility, and is only an ‘expired’ prime minister.
“He cannot sign these agreements,” he said, adding that the federal government should declare every deal it inked since that date because it should not have endorsed them.
Lim was speaking at the official launching of DAP’s Seputeh election operations centre, which occupies a shoplot that local MP Teresa Kok said was let out to the party for free by a supporter. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s Afraid of Losing His Job
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak on Saturday, 30 March 2013, 5:08 pm
I stand corrected for predicting that Prime Minister Najib Razak would dissolve Parliament on March 26 to allow for the 13th general election to be held in mid-April. I had thought he would be man enough to do it.
It is unclear now when he will make the much-awaited move to face the people’s decision as to whether they want to retain his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition as the government or consign it to the Opposition benches. He could also wait for Parliament to automatically dissolve on April 28.
In fact, the Negeri Sembilan State Assembly has already been automatically dissolved – as its five-year term ended on March 27. The next state assembly to follow suit is the Pahang one on April 7.
Najib’s delay does not look good for him as it shows a lack of confidence. Already, many are calling him “coward” on social media. In contrast to the Opposition’s push forward by first unveiling its manifesto way ahead and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s daring declaration of standing in the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency in Johor, the bastion of BN, followed by DAP MP Liew Chin Tong being moved from Penang to a yet-unnamed seat also in Johor, Najib’s inaction is a sign of weakness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s debt: the misleading debt-to-GDP ratio
by Pak Sako
CPI Asia
This is the third part of a three-part CPI series on Malaysian debt. The first part, entitled, ‘Investigate Malaysia’s debts now‘ , surveyed the overall debt situation. The second part, entitled, ‘Malaysian government debt to approach RM1 trillion by 2020‘, looked at the trend in government debt.
This part critiques the debt-to-GDP ratio and questions Malaysia’s official debt figures.
An over-optimistic and misleading impression of debt results when the government puts its faith in one number, the debt-to-GDP ratio.
The current government-debt-to-GDP ratio for Malaysia of 53% is assumed as being within safe limits, below the 55% ceiling set by Malaysian policy.
Here it is argued that judging the nation’s debt condition primarily on account of this one indicator is wrong. A critical look at debt is required to understand the real situation and health of the economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Tsu Koon can redeem himself if he is prepared to take a honest and honourable stand on Wednesday’s Cabinet to demand the total suspension of the May 13 film Tanda Putra or to submit his resignation as Cabinet Minister
I feel very sorry for the Gerakan President and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr.Koh Tsu Koon but he has only himself to blame for the avalanche of public odium heaped on him in the last 48 hours when he did the indefensible – defending the private screenings of the May 13 riots film, Tanda Putera.
Tsu Koon claimed that the private screening of the controversial Tanda Putera are allowed because the Cabinet decision to postpone its screening is restricted to public screenings only.
What sycophancy, hypocrisy and sophistry!
No wonder Cabinet Ministers are not the most highly regarded and respected people in Malaysia – and the Najib Cabinet makes history as the Cabinet which beats all previous Cabinets in having the most useless “deadwood”.
Even the former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin in their recent interviews took turns to scalp the Ministerial “deadwood” in the Najib Cabinet.
Mahathir fully endorsed Daim’s condemnation of the Najib Cabinet as “carrying too much deadwood” with “most are already past their use-by date”, saying caustically: “I agree entirely. Lots of deadwood should be chopped down and thrown away and new trees grown.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Our Hope
Our Hope
By Allan CF Goh
The dark clouds may threaten,
Seemingly for eternity.
But after the rain,
The rainbow will appear,
Radiant with colours,
Alive with hope.
The darkness may stretch
Endlessly into the night,
A tarry mass of fright.
But dawn will surely come,
Bringing along the sun-bright,
To dispel the shifting shadows.
So must any rotten regime,
Bloated with corruptions,
Inert with inefficiency,
Accepted decreasingly,
Must sink into oblivion,
Into history’s waste bin.
Read the rest of this entry »
12-Day Countdown to 13GE: Third Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – BN’s fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak “Going, Going, Gone!” by targeting to win 33 out of the 83 Parliamentary seats in the three states
In the last two days, I had discussed the first two objectives of the Battle of Gelang Patah:
Objective One: to target the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in south Johore to pave the way for Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections. The six Parliamentary seats are Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Tebrau, Gelang Patah, Kulai and Pulai. The 13 State Assembly seats are: Stulang, Tanjong Puteri, Johore Jaya, Permas, Puteri Wangsa, Tiram, Skudai, Nusajaya, Pengkalan Rinting, Kempas, Senai, Bukit Batu and Bukit Permai.
Objective Two: to target a total of 19 Parliamentary seats and 30 State Assembly seats in the state of Johor, including the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in South Johore which I had already mentioned. The additional 13 Parliamentary seats in the rest of Johore are Tanjong Piai, Kluang, Batu Pahat, Bakri, Labis, Segamat, Sekijang, Ledang, Muar, Ayer Hitam, Sri Gading, Simpang Rengam and Sembrong. The additional 17 State Assemby seats are Pekan Nenas, Mengkibol, Penggaram, Bentayam, Sungai Abong, Bekok, Jementah, Tangkak, Paloh, Yong Peng, Mahkota, Layang-Layang, Parit Yaani, Maharani, Gambir, Tenang and Pemanis.
I am not claiming that Pakatan Rakyat can score a bullseye and win all the 19 Parliamentary and 30 State Assembly seats in Johore mentioned. In fact, if Pakatan Rakyat can achieve 50 per cent of this target, it is already a “phenomenal political revolution” in Johor, bearing in mind the arrogant boasts of Barisan Nasional leaders just five years ago before the 2008 general elections that they would ensure that Johore would become a “zero Opposition” state!
I am of course expecting hitting a more than 50% success for the PR target of 19 Parliamentary and 30 State Assembly seats in Johore the 13GE. Read the rest of this entry »
