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21-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Attorney-General Gani Patail given opportunity to arrest and charge Mahathir for sedition and criminal defamation before I instruct my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Mahathir for defamation in connection with his blog on “Gelang Patah”

As the former DAP MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng has lodged a police report this morning in Kuala Lumpur against the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for sedition and criminal defamation, I will give the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail the opportunity to arrest and charge Mahathir for sedition and criminal defamation before I instruct my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Mahathir for defamation in connection with his blog, “Gelang Patah” last Thursday, 11th April 2013.

I had given Mahathir two opportunities to withdraw and apologise for his chauvinistic and seditious blog which made irresponsible and baseless attacks on my reputation and character or face legal action for defamation for his lies and falsehoods, but the former Prime Minister had been totally unmoved and unrepentant.

Mahathir had disgraced and dishonoured the office of the former Prime Minister, which is provided by Parliament every year with a princely allocation from the annual Federal Government budget for its upkeep, by spewing downright lies and falsehoods to make the 13th General Elections the dirtiest in the the nation’s history which is most unworthy and unfitting for a former Prime Minister whose living and maintenance expenses is billed to the public purse.

Two days ago, the latest “black operation” in the 13GE surfaced with the appearance of a sex video purportedly involving the PAS Secretry-General Mustapha Ali, which has been categorically denied by Mustafa who said that UMNO was desperate enough to lie in order to drop him from the country’s arena.
Continue reading “21-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Attorney-General Gani Patail given opportunity to arrest and charge Mahathir for sedition and criminal defamation before I instruct my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Mahathir for defamation in connection with his blog on “Gelang Patah””

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Chance for change? The possibility is there

By Bridget Welsh | 8:40AM Apr 13, 2013
Malaysiakini

GE13 SPECIAL Well, the dates have finally been set and Malaysia heads towards the most competitive electoral contest in the nation’s history. It is important to step back and look at how and why GE13 is competitive.

The broad reason is clear: this election offers the possibility of an electoral transition of power. More power is in the hands of ordinary Malaysians than ever before. The underlying dynamics that might make this change happen however, are more obscure.

This article – as part of a special series of pieces on the polls – maps the contest nationally and draws attention to fundamental shifts that are making the May polls historic, whatever the outcome.

The grey seats

The fierceness of the contest is evident in the numbers of seats that are “grey” – seats that can go either way.

Looking at a combination of factors in individual seats, the patterns of margin of victory and history of vote swing, the changing number and composition of voters, the candidate choices and infighting as well as macro national and state shifts in voting behaviour drawn from my fieldwork, I currently estimate that 42 percent of the parliamentary seats nationally are ‘grey’.
Continue reading “Chance for change? The possibility is there”

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‘Soi Lek a tiger or political eunuch?’

By Ho Kin Chai | 11:50AM Apr 13, 2013
Malaysiakini

COMMENT Following its poor performance in the 2008 general election, MCA is at the crossroad – to take the bull (its rival) by the horns or sink into the road of oblivion.

The current MCA leadership, particularly president Dr Chua Soi Lek, has failed to seize this opportunity to take on Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah.

Lim (left) has taken a bold gamble by thrusting himself into the traditional BN and MCA stronghold.

Johor is the backyard of MCA which won seven out of eight parliamentary seats it contested in 2008.

The DAP wrested Bakri, causing a dent. As the MCA president, Chua should seize this golden opportunity to take up this challenge.

By not taking up the challenge, he was sending a negative signal to its senior partner, Umno, and the MCA candidates and general membership.

Being the MCA supremo, he must rise up to the occasion to give Lim the strongest possible resistance.
Continue reading “‘Soi Lek a tiger or political eunuch?’”

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Malaysia’s general election: A time of gifts

The benefits of incumbency versus the lure of the unknown
The Economist
Apr 13th 2013 | SINGAPORE |From the print edition

SINCE Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957, the main question answered by general elections has been the size of the government’s majority. The poll that the election commission this week announced would be held on May 5th, is the first the government faces a real possibility of losing. Even if it does not—and the odds must still be in its favour—the election is likely to have a profound impact on Malaysian politics.

The ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, is dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), whose leader, Najib Razak, is prime minister. He has never led the party through an election, having taken over in 2009 after the humiliation of his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, in the election the previous year. For the first time, Barisan lost the two-thirds parliamentary majority that enabled it to change the constitution. Ever since, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, a three-party alliance, has sniffed power. Its most prominent figure, Anwar Ibrahim, was once in line to lead UMNO.

Helped by a strong economy, Mr Najib has been doling out goodies: cash handouts for poorer families; pay rises for civil servants; and promises of affordable housing and new highways. A lot is at stake: simultaneous assembly elections will be held in 12 of the 13 states. In 2008, five elected opposition administrations. More largesse is promised in Barisan’s manifesto. Since its own is equally open-handed, Pakatan accuses its opponents of plagiarism.
Continue reading “Malaysia’s general election: A time of gifts”

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What will it be for BN — Ibrahim Ali or 1 Malaysia?

By Jahabar Sadiq
The Malaysian Insider
April 08, 2013

COMMENT

April 8 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) has unveiled a centrist manifesto that fits its 1 Malaysia philosophy but Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s endorsement of Datuk Ibrahim Ali as a coalition candidate would appear to be at odds with the concept.

The stout Perkasa chief has been anything but centrist or even 1 Malaysia in his approach to push for Malay rights at a time when BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been advocating a gradual economic liberalisation and equity for Malaysians.

But why would the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who spoke in 1991 of a future Bangsa Malaysia plump, for an ethno-centric Ibrahim (picture), who ran on a PAS ticket in Election 2008 only to turn pro-Umno after winning the Pasir Mas seat? Continue reading “What will it be for BN — Ibrahim Ali or 1 Malaysia?”

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Dr M should campaign honourably

― Ravinder Singh
The Malaysian Insider
April 13, 2013

APRIL 13 ― Dr Mahathir Mohamad is obviously very unhappy that Lim Kit Siang is contesting in Gelang Patah. That is his right: to be unhappy and say so.

In his recent write up on this, he says “when Kit Siang wins Gelang Patah” ― here, he is acknowledging that this candidate is going to win.

What is regretted is that Dr Mahathir then goes on to say that this candidate’s win would result in racial confrontation and “even if there will not be violent clashes as seen in many countries where people are divided by race or religion, but confrontation between the three major races in Malaysia will be disruptive and will not be conducive to the development of Malaysia.”

Instead of making such irresponsible statements that can give wrong ideas to some people, he should take the honourable way of neutralising this candidate’s chances of victory. Continue reading “Dr M should campaign honourably”