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Gelang Patah battle full of variables

By LIM MUN FAH | 2013-04-18 14:38
Translated by KHEI YOK MAN
MySinChew.com

MCA’s loan of Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency to Umno is an anomalous move as well as a gamble.

Terming it an anomaly because DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang will meet Abdul Ghani Othman which was never thought of.

Gelang Patah was under MCA for the past four terms and it was hailed as MCA’s stronghold with majority votes once in excess of 30,000, a record created by Tan Ah Eng in 2004. The dissenting gale in 2008 didn’t swallow her although the majority votes fell to 8,851.

No one anticipated that MCA would swallow its pride by loaning the constituency simply to topple Kit Siang. Neither would anyone foresee BN’s strategic move to put the menteri besar on the table for an embattled sparring.

Neither Kit Siang nor Abdul Ghani Othman reckoned this.

How would this “Fray of Kings” end up? Both sides claim confidence, but in reality they are unsure. It is a risk-taking move to both PR and BN.
Continue reading “Gelang Patah battle full of variables”

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Kit Siang wants to keep it clean

Terence Fernandez, Malay Mail
8:22AM Apr 21, 2013

“Ghani has brought a lot of achievement for Johor in the 18 years that he has been MB.”

That is not the kind of endorsement one would expect from a political rival on nomination day, but that was one of the first things Lim Kit Siang said at his first press conference yesterday as the official DAP candidate for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat.

But it also set the tone of his ‘gentleman’s’ campaign in the next 15 days.

“No personal attacks and no dirty politics based on race and money,” he told The Malay Mail later when met at his ops centre here.

Lim said he had invited Ghani to form an accord that they will stick to the facts and avoid gutter politics. He’s still waiting for Ghani’s response.

“We just want to thrash out the facts, and I meant what I said that (his challenger) Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman had brought much progress to Johor.

So how is he supposed to expect voters to pick him over a proven candidate?
Continue reading “Kit Siang wants to keep it clean”

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Gerrymandering Malaysia

Written by Our Correspondent | Asia Sentinel
TUESDAY, 16 APRIL 2013

Home field advantage

The largest electoral district in Malaysia has 144,369 registered voters, according to the latest electoral roll. The smallest has only 37,390. They are both in Selangor, meaning the state’s largest seat is four times its smallest. The Kapar district, the biggest, was won by the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the 2008 elections. The smallest, Sabak Bernam, was won by the Barisan Nasional.

The disparity between these two districts fits with the practice of corralling the largest number of potential opposition voters into a single district – as opposed to keeping pro-government districts as small as possible to multiply the number of pro-government seats.

Critics are using such disparities as fuel to allege that the Barisan Nasional government is putting a wide range of other electoral misuses in place in the effort make sure the opposition Pakatan Rakyat doesn’t take power after May 5 elections.

Ong Kian Ming, the director of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project and an official with the opposition Democratic Action Party, told a forum at a Kuala Lumpur suburban library Friday, reported by the website for the KL-based publication The Edge, that the government is also packing voter rolls in crucial pro-opposition districts with pro-Barisan Nasional voters. Voter numbers in Selangor, the country’s richest state, have increased by 660,000 since the 2008 elections.
Continue reading “Gerrymandering Malaysia”

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Crossing the lines – BN’s early strategic mistakes

Bridget Welsh | 1:35PM Apr 19, 2013
Malaysiakini

In assessing any electoral campaign, it is essential to review the assumptions and implications of different strategic moves.

Three decisions on the part of BN in the last two weeks are leading to tectonic shifts within the electorate, and thus strengthen the opposition’s position nationally.

These are:

  1. The use of sex videos against PAS and possibly other opposition politicians.

  2. The fielding of Perkasa leader Zulkifli Noordin in Shah Alam.

  3. The action by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in not recognising DAP’s central executive committee (CEC).

The combined effect of these moves have strengthened the opposition coalition and negatively impact the BN’s position with the electorate in the lead up to the May 5 general election.

Let’s take each of these in turn:

1. Smut videos Continue reading “Crossing the lines – BN’s early strategic mistakes”

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DAP’s Johor campaign begins, with loud cheers from Chinese for PAS

By Leslie Lau
The Malaysian Insider
April 21, 2013

JOHOR BARU, April 21 — That 72-year-old DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang was feted like a rock star by thousands of people cheering and blowing on air horns last night on the first day of campaigning here for Election 2013 was no surprise.

What was striking at a rally here for the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency was the sight of the predominantly Chinese crowd holding aloft PAS flags along with those bearing DAP’s rocket logo.

And Kit Siang captured the mood of the thousands gathered here and perhaps that of the Chinese electorate throughout the country over the perceived fear of the Islamic agenda of PAS.

“They say a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS. Is that true? Yes it is. That is because a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS, PKR and Pakatan Rakyat.

“I say here tonight. This is the battle between the past and the future,” he said as the Chinese crowd cheered enthusiastically. Continue reading “DAP’s Johor campaign begins, with loud cheers from Chinese for PAS”

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15-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – 13GE: A battle between the future as represented by PR and the past as represented by BN

The 13th General Elections has shaped up to be a historic battle for Malaysia at the crossroads.

It is a battle between the future as represented by Pakatan Rakyat and the past as represented by Barisan Nasional.

All DAP leaders, members and supporters are relieved that today’s Nomination Day went off smoothly as far as the DAP’s Rocket symbol is concerned, with 51 DAP parliamentary and 103 State Assembly candidates filing their nomination papers and being permitted to use the Rocket symbol during the 13GE polling day on May 5.

The crisis over the use of the Rocket symbol which erupted less than 48 hours before Nomination Day, which completely derailed the DAP’s final preparations for the 13GE in the last 48 hours to Nomination Day, should not have happened at all.

Clearly, political forces were at work behind the Registrar of Societies’ letter refusing to recognise the DAP Central Executive Committee after the CEC had been elected for close to four months and over a complaint which had never been communicated to the DAP, whether internally by the so-called complainants or by the Registrar of Societies himself.

Be that as it may, there is always a silver lining to every crisis.

The crisis over the use of Rocket in the 13GE has highlighted the unity, cohesion and solidarity of Pakatan Rakyat five years after its formation. Continue reading “15-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – 13GE: A battle between the future as represented by PR and the past as represented by BN”

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DAP harassed and hounded unjustly

P Ramakrishnan on 19 April 2013  
Aliran

Lim Kit Siang is rightly troubled that the DAP may not be able to contest in GE13 using the party logo – the rocket – because the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has issued a letter freezing the posts of all elected DAP leaders.

This sudden turn of events has very unfairly rendered the DAP secretary general incapable of issuing letters authorising selected DAP candidates to stand on the DAP platform using the party symbol.

This is clearly aimed at sabotaging DAP’s chances of scoring victories in the elections. Continue reading “DAP harassed and hounded unjustly”

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16-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: DAP use of PAS and PKR symbols in 13GE – a disaster in-the-making or a game changer that will propel Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya?

April 18, 2013 had been the most heart-rending day in my life, the day when the Registrar of Societies dispatched a letter to the DAP to knock out the Rocket symbol from the 13GE, with the Nomination Day less than 48 hours away, completely without any legal basis or plausible ground.

I was not the only one to shed tears yesterday as all over the country, many DAP stalwarts and supporters who are Malaysian patriots whose home and sole object of loyalty is Malaysia and do not know or recognize another country as their motherland, also cried at the injustice, oppression and iniquity of the ROS action , clearly at the behest of the political masters in UMNO/Barisan Nasional.

For 47 years, DAP had waged a patriotic, nationalistic but uphill battle to build a united, multiracial, just and democratic Malaysian nation with many leaders like Dr. Chen Man Hin, Ahmad Nor, P. Patto, Ibrahim Singgeh, Fadzlan Yahya, Peter Dason, Lau Dak Kee, Lim Cho Hock, V. David, Karpal Singh, Datuk Chian Heng Kai, Chan Kok Kit, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, Lim Guan Eng, Tan Kok Wai, Teresa Kok, paying a heavy personal price in their love, patriotism and loyalty to Malaysia, including losing their personal liberties enduring detention under the Internal Security Act, imprisonment and disqualification as MP and disenfranchisement of their civil rights such as the right to vote and to stand for elections for a period of time.
Continue reading “16-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: DAP use of PAS and PKR symbols in 13GE – a disaster in-the-making or a game changer that will propel Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya?”

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Ubah The Partner-Sheep

by Allan CF Goh

Once there was a partnership,
Pledged to fight for people’s benefit.
Jointly, they steered the State-ship,
Gaining admiration to befit.
Theirs were once leaders who cared,
Who watched over the people’s real need.
Those ancient leaders who dared,
To stand up, speak the truth, as their creed.
Alas, they are now history;
This is the partnership’s sad story.
Continue reading “Ubah The Partner-Sheep”

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Moving past the issue of race

— Ong Kar Jin (loyarburok)
The Malaysian Insider
April 18, 2013

APRIL 18 — Sixty-two years ago, Datuk Onn Jaafar took a bold political step forward and proposed that Umno open itself to members of other ethnicities. The United Malays National Organisation was to become the United Malayans National Organisation. Sadly, his vision was far ahead of his time and was rejected.

Since the inception of Malaya in 1957 and the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the political narrative of our country has been one of race. Campaigns, parties, social movements rely on appealing to ethnocentric sentiments to remain relevant.

Post-1969, this narrative hardened and played on fears of ethnic violence. To a large extent, it has reinforced barriers between Malaysians, and created a siege mentality of “us versus them”.

The issue of race has puzzled, haunted and fascinated me my entire life. As a child growing up in a Chinese vernacular school, I was shocked to see how some students treated Malays and Indians. “Babi”, “Keling” and other callous words were thrown about by children as young as 10.

All Malaysians have witnessed this kind of blatant racism, whether by eyewitness, hearsay or personal experience. And many of us are guilty of it. As a collective, we certainly are: stereotypes are perpetrated by parents complaining of racism while being guilty of it all the same, careless comments or dark thoughts in our heart of hearts, generalizing or signing off people based on their race. No one race can blame the other and absolve itself of its own complicity.

We cannot wash away our sins in these matters. Race-based political parties like Umno, MCA and MIC survive because of simple economics: where there is a demand, there will be a supply. These parties are both the cause and effect of our divisions: they are borne out of our own tendencies to divide ourselves and exploit them by emphasising how we are different.

Race-based parties imply that only Chinese can help Chinese best, only Malays will properly serve the interests of Malays, ad infinitum. By being explicitly race-based parties, they state they are their race first and Malaysian second. Continue reading “Moving past the issue of race”

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The story of Zul and Khalid

— The Malaysian Insider
April 18, 2013

APRIL 18 — Oh dear, how the roles are being reversed?

The political party that gave us the voices of reason and moderation of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Dr Ismail is now succumbing to more shrill tones and providing cover for divisive characters.

And on the flip side, the political party that once struck fear in the hearts of non-Malays for its fire and brimstone tone and narrow world view is now being increasingly seen as the centrist party, home to some of the country’s most inclusive politicians.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Shah Alam, where incumbent Khalid Samad of PAS is pitted against Zulkifli Noordin of Barisan Nasional.

Nowhere is this change of scenario clearer than on the campaign trail from Masai in Johor to Baling in Kedah where PAS politicians talk about non-Muslims as brothers and not ungrateful, demanding Malaysians.

Nowhere was this more evident than when Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently played the race card and raised the possibility of racial clashes if Lim Kit Siang won in Gelang Patah, and PAS’s Mahfuz Omar offered Malaysians the protection of his party if violence erupted. Continue reading “The story of Zul and Khalid”

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RoS move pushing DAP to ditch rocket logo, affect Chinese votes

By Jahabar Sadiq
The Malaysian Insider
April 18, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 – The Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) decision not to recognise the DAP’s office bearers means one thing, no one can authorise its candidates to use the party’s recognisable Rocket logo and force them to run under allies PAS’s full moon or PKR’s eye logos.

This ruling is likely to affect DAP candidates’ chances in the 49 federal seats and slightly more than 100 state seats in the May 5 general elections as most of the contests are in Chinese-majority areas where the Rocket is popular but not the other logos.

“The RoS decisions means that no party officials is recognised as officials by the authorities. So, they can’t authorise the candidates to use party symbols,” a DAP official told The Malaysian Insider. Continue reading “RoS move pushing DAP to ditch rocket logo, affect Chinese votes”

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DAP says will use PAS, PKR logos if RoS letter not revoked

By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
April 18, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 – The DAP demanded the Registrar of Societies (ROS) today to retract its letter by tomorrow on not recognising the party’s office-bearers, failing which the opposition party would run under PKR and PAS logos in Election 2013.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that the Bernama report, which quoted ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman today as saying that the DAP could still use its Rocket symbol for the May 5 polls, was “not good enough”.

“The DAP CEC in its meeting tonight decided that RoS must revoke its letter not recognising the office-bearers in the CEC by 3pm tomorrow on Friday,” Lim told reporters at the DAP headquarters here today, referring to the party’s central executive committee.

“Failure to do so will result in the DAP directing its 53 parliamentary candidates and 103 state candidates throughout the country to contest in the next general elections under the PAS symbol in peninsular Malaysia and the PKR symbol in Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.

Lim lambasted the ROS’ move in issuing the letter dated April 17, 2013, just two days before nomination day, saying it intended to “kill off DAP’s electoral prospects by forcing all DAP candidates to be independent.” Continue reading “DAP says will use PAS, PKR logos if RoS letter not revoked”

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17-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Najib’s T-Team of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is as “transformational” as his T-Cabinet in the past four years which have been dismissed as “half-past six” by Mahathir and “deadwood” by Daim

Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “T-Team” of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is as “transformational” as his T-Cabinet in the past four years which have been dismissed by Tun Dr. Mahathir as “half-past six” and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin as “deadwood”.

What is the Report Card for Najib’s Transformation Agenda in the past four years?

It is a report card of red marks and failures, especially in Najib’s signature 1Malaysia Policy and National Key Result Areas (NKRA) objectives particularly in fighting corruption, reducing crime, uplifting educational standards and spur economic growth to build a competitive, prosperous and progressive future.

The biggest Najib “T-failure” is of course the utter hollowness and insincerity of Najib’s signature 1Malaysia policy to build a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as a Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.

Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had openly repudiated Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy from the very beginning, declaring that he is “Malay first, Malaysian second”. Continue reading “17-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Najib’s T-Team of 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates for the 13GE is as “transformational” as his T-Cabinet in the past four years which have been dismissed as “half-past six” by Mahathir and “deadwood” by Daim”

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Why we must vote for change: An open letter

by Dr Ariffin Omar
Aliran

In an open letter, Ariffin Omar lists down the numerous problems plaguing the country and urges Malaysians to vote for change.

We are now at the crossroads of our destiny. The 13th General Elections that is slated to be held on 5 May will decide once and for all what future we are going to bequeath to our children and grandchildren.

We have lived for more than half a century under a regime which practices the politics of ethnic discrimination. In its wake this politics of apartheid has brought about corruption, mismanagement, cronyism and nepotism on a scale not seen in many countries. I have been told that as many as 3m Malaysians have left this nation for other countries in despair. Can we afford such a loss?

The Barisan Nasional, which had its origins as the Alliance Party, which then comprised of the United Malays National Organization, the Malayan Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress, has brought this country to the brink of disaster. Continue reading “Why we must vote for change: An open letter”

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Battle royale brewing in Gelang Patah, Putrajaya hot seats

The Sun Daily
Posted on 17 April 2013

KUALA LUMPUR (April 17, 2013): As political parties tie up the loose ends to their candidate line-ups for the 13th general election on May 5, the political battle taking shape in hot seats — Gelang Patah, Putrajaya and Lembah Pantai — are being keenly watched.

Billed the “battle royale” or “clash of the Titans”, the tussle for Gelang Patah (broken bracelet) parliamentary seat is a battle between political bigwigs — Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang –who is out to create a “political tsunami” in Johor, an Umno bastion.

Kit Siang, a political veteran, was reported to have said in Penang recently that he would not withdraw from contesting in Gelang Patah as he wanted the “political tsunami” created in the 2008 general election to be felt nationwide.

Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, who heads the Political, Security and International Affairs Cluster of the National Council of Professors, says Ghani’s service track record as the menteri besar and the people’s elected representative is a “good benchmark” to gauge the “best choice” for the rapidly-developing suburban seat.

“Ghani is the supremo and the architect of Johor’s impressive progress. He is also very popular among the electorate vis-a-vis Kit Siang, a relatively newcomer to Johor’s political scene.

“By far and large, the voters, including the Chinese community, appreciate what Ghani has done for Johor. Ghani is instrumental in developing Nusajaya and the Iskandar Malaysia economic corridor, besides being the person very familiar with Johor’s “nooks and corners” as opposed to Kit Siang,” he told Bernama.

Nusajaya, the Johor state government’s new administrative centre, encompasses the Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters, medical hub and EduCity.

The BN’s Tan Ah Heng from MCA won the Gelang Patah seat in the 2008 general election by a comfortable 8,851-vote majority, trouncing Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) aspirant Zaliha Mustafa.

Mohamed Mustafa says Ghani’s prospects of retaining Gelang Patah for BN was bright albeit the keen tussle for the predominantly Chinese-majority seat. Fifty-four per cent of the electorate are Chinese. Continue reading “Battle royale brewing in Gelang Patah, Putrajaya hot seats”

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Call on Election Commission to convene an all-party roundtable conference for all political parties to forswear the politics of fear and blackmail in 13GE and to accept any peaceful and democratic change of government

I call the Election Commission to convene an all-party roundtable conference for all political parties to forswear the politics of fear and blackmail in the 13th General Elections and to accept any peaceful and democratic change of government, whether at the Federal or state level, if this is the verdict of the electorate.

This is most urgent and imperative for two reasons: firstly, the increasing incidents of the politics of fear, blackmail, gangsterism and violence in the run-up to the 13GE; secondly, the possibility that the 13GE will herald the first change of federal government in 56 years through the ballot box, namely the formation of a Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government in Putrajaya following the ousting of the Barisan Nasional Federal Government through the democratic process.

I have received information that the Bukit Aman and Defence Ministry intelligence do not rule out the defeat of Barisan Nasional in the 13GE. According to one Bukit Aman intelligence estimate, which I cannot verify whether it is from the police or not, the possible outcome of the 13GE for parliamentary elections is as follows:

State PR BN
Perlis 1 2
Kedah 13 2
Kelantan 13 1
Terengganu 4 4
Penang 12 1
Perak 18 6
Pahang 5 9
Selangor 20 2
Wilayah Per. 10 1
Putrajaya 0 1
Negri Sembilan 6 2
Melaka 2 4
Johor 12 14
Labuan 1 0
Sabah 12 13
Sarawak 16 15
Total 145 77

According to this estimate, PR will win 145 parliamentary seats compared to 77 for Barisan Nasional – or a majority of 68 seats.
Continue reading “Call on Election Commission to convene an all-party roundtable conference for all political parties to forswear the politics of fear and blackmail in 13GE and to accept any peaceful and democratic change of government”