by P Ramakrishnan
24 April 2010
By-elections have a habit of bringing out the worst in individuals. It is a time when certain party members suddenly become wise and enlightened. It is a time when hypocrisy takes centre stage.
It is rather strange that people who have been members of a political party and who have been running down their opponents – meaning BN and Umno – for quite a while now suddenly discover that their party is no longer the same and that their leaders had betrayed the rakyat.
The timing of their confession when a by-election is on only betrays their hypocrisy and confirms the claim that PRK members are paid between RM1,000 and RM1,500 for making damaging statements and condemning their former party.
Couldn’t these “enlightened” individuals have timed their departure from their former party after the by-election? That would have given them some credibility that their grouses were genuine.
It is believed by discerning Malaysians that the worth of these individuals would be zero after the by-election. But on the other hand, when they run down their former party before or during the by-election, their actions and their condemnation of their former party could boost the chances of the BN and therefore they deserve to be rewarded.
What is their worth during this time? For some, it could be more than RM1,000 or RM1,500.
Take the case of the two Independent candidates who withdrew their candidacy from the contest after filing their nomination papers. Their action had cost them the loss of RM10,000 that they had deposited with the Election Commission. Why would they suffer this loss?
The talk going round is that they could have been compensated for their loss and adequately rewarded for seeing sense at the last moment. If they had not withdrawn they would have split the votes – which would not have been to the benefit of BN. So they must have been “persuaded” to withdraw.
This is one tactic. But there are others. Ignore the issues but run down the character of your opponent. Just keep on repeating the attack ignoring ethics and morality. This is what they are doing to the PKR candidate, Zaid Ibrahim.
From day one, the BN targeted Zaid for something he had done in his younger days. He had consumed alcohol. He had confessed to it and had repented for his folly. He had performed his Haj. But this did not matter to the BN propagandist. They kept on hammering him as “kaki botol”, “womaniser” and what not. There was no let up.
Doctored and fabricated photos were circulated with no respect to the truth. The intensity of this lie was amazing. Billboards and pamphlets were widely distributed to fool and hoodwink the conservative, rural Malay folk. It took the form of the 1990 General Election blitzkrieg when the BN flooded the country with Tengku Razaleigh wearing a Kadazan headgear with a motif that was depicted as a Christian cross and roundly crucified as a man without shame. This abhorrent tactic swayed Malay support away from the Opposition. A similar tactic is being deployed once again in Hulu Selangor to achieve a BN victory.
To their credit, the PKR refused to resort to character assassination. If they had, the voters of Ulu Selangor would have got to know their Ministers and MPs very intimately! It is very telling that no one stood up when Lim Kit Siang challenged the BN MPs in Parliament who had not drunk before to stand up!
Imagine what a gala time the voters would have had if the polygamy of Bung Mokhtar Radin had been used to run down the BN. Somebody observed, “For a member of parliament to act irresponsibly by
belittling the sanctity of marriage is unforgivable.” But PKR did not stoop that low.
While one party is focussing on issues and the failures of this nation to do better, the BN has resorted to the heinous crime of running down Zaid and Anwar Ibrahim. Money is flowing freely to bribe and buy up voters with the Election Commission oblivious to this. The Pakatan party workers are being blocked from entering the Orang Asli villages to spread their message. This by-election is neither free nor fair.
The voters of Hulu Selangor must decide whether this abominable way of running down individuals should be permitted. One way to send a clear message that they don’t approve of this is to
vote against the BN. When this is done, future elections and by-elections will be fair and free.
Let Hulu Selangor set the benchmark for good conduct.
Yes,vote PR for CHANGE after fifty over years this nation has being condemned by BN.Don’t let this nation being stagnant after so long.We want a CHANGE to pave way for our generations to come.Banzai PR!
“Those who have not sinned, cast the first stone!” as the popular adage goes.
The continuous rantings of grandmother’s tales and lies will not succeed and our intelligent voters in Hulu Selangor today will endorse and signal for an eventual change of political power in Putrajaya come the next General Election (GE) !
BN has all the government agencies convenient to dispense money. A blatant bribe of ‘if we won, come see me I give 3million”, whether 3 million is to school or personal is not the point, it is a bribe. They give money, they corrupt people, and they do not give hope, hope for future.
PR on the other hand, has limited to offer, except hopes and slivers. This hope is the inspiration for the awakened rakyat. A hope, a dream, a change are the same thing. It will be the driving force; it will be the motivation when you felt hopeless. America nation is formed by “I have a dream” of Martin Luther King, Obama is the realization of the dream.
It would be difficult for PR as opposition to win over BN. It is BN who lose to PR, it would be a day where hope/dream/change is more precious than money. Keep going BN! make the whole country feel hopeless!, there will be a day hope/dream/change has its value.
No matter who wins this by-election, one main idea has to be remembered – Najib thrashed his own publicly declared agenda to try and win this election – reform in UMNO/BN is dead and the NEM is dead.
Najib needs to go back to the drawing board and deal with his own party first before trying for anything else. He should in fact give up on Sibu by-election and don’t even bother to contest. His first piece of agenda should be to convince UMNO/BN to have a truly independent Anti-Corruption agency by amending the IPCMC Act for reali independence in exchange for clause for amnesty.
Otherwise, he never meant really to change. He has lost complete moral authority over UMNO machinery and it will only get more chaotic going forward.
I don’t believe he will move on the legislation because I believe he is trapped with the Altantuya murder. Even if he writes an amnesty clause for his own corruption, there is no such thing as amnesty to murder or accessory to murder. He can’t turn back even if he want to now.
If BN wins, he can hang on to power a little while longer while mass exodus of people leaving will hollow out the economy and things will get bad not very long after that. Najib’s own party will get rid of him on their own.
If PR wins, while BN can still hold on to power – it will be a living nightmare and sooner or later the warlords will get tired of backtracking even just slowly and want him out too.
Najib is done. If I were him, I start moving my money to Swiss account and start getting a new passport. He really can’t stay..
Najib burried himself in Hulu Selangor.
What the outcome tonight that may be, BN has lost big in this by election.
Why promised 3m to a Chinese school during the by election? Should not this allocation be given under the 1 Malaysia concept> What BN need a by election to do the allocation? More why should go to see PM before the allocation was given? All this a bribe and the lowest tactic. We have been fool by BN for the past 50 years. Are we to be fool by them for another 50 years by casting the vote to them?
Why after waiting for the past 50 years and out of sudden the Blue IC was approve with the picture taking section? Should not it be approved by applying to the counter and get it approved if all procedures are complied with? What the Minister has all the time to hand over the approval personally? Does he not have better thing to do?
Do we need to have by election to have this and that approved over night? Please do not be fool by BN the arrogant that they have show after winning the election they will change back their color and fool you for another 50 years.
That not the way. BN has lost the election what the result it may be.
TDM = Malaysia Boleh
AAB = Malaysia Bodoh
NTR = Malaysia Bocor
MY = Malaysia Bo-liow
What transformation and good governance? This is the most corrupted election I have ever seen. How can we ever get rid of corruption and abuse of power when such practices are blatantly manifested in the course of the campaign? Win or lose, what moral decency have they got to govern this country. How can they ever give speeches to our young and citizens the values and the ethics we need to uphold? What credibility have they got to send moral police going around catching and harassing young couples who want some privacy? What moral authority have they got to promote the sanctity of their religions when they themselves are spiritually bankrupt and morally corrupt? How can they see the right and wrong when they are in total oblivion of the blatant wrongs they committed each day during the campaign. They are so rotten and corrupted inside, they are totally numb. This is the leadership of this hopeless nation.
johonnypok, TDM = Malaysia boleh my ass. Use your head, and don’t give credit to the ass. TDM = Malaysia my ass.
I am following through the online news of Malaysiakini and the Malaysian Insider on Hulu Selangor voting progress.
Oh God, I truly pray & seek victory for Pakatan Rakyat- Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. May Datuk Zaid fight a great fight with pride and high dignity. May he win the battle against the corrupted UMNO & groups.
Datuk Zaid is representing the “NEW” Malaysian generation! We want “Changes” and we want “Reformasi”!!!!
Please win this battle for us, who supported all PR’s members (except those evil jumping frogs).
Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
GO, Pakatan Rakyat, and the same, all the HULU SELANGOR voters, it is your time to help yourselves and the rest of the nation!
I am sick and tired of seeing BN giving away “big angpows” to constituencies involved in by-elections only. Does it mean that these constituencies do not deserve these incentives if there were no by-elections? If so, then, perhaps those wishing to see development and benefits in one’s constituency has to start “cursing” the existing Wakil Rakyat to die early so that “benefits” can come their way!!!!!
..correction …
“Under TDM = Malaysia Buruk”
The root cause of our problems, for decades, is the couldn’t care less and self-serving UMNO/BN government!
If you want a better future, just dump them!