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Silver linings in a GE13 without gold

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
May 12, 2013

COMMENT

The dust is beginning to settle one week after the dirtiest election in the country’s history. Some of the dirt will stick, while others will hopefully wash away as the memory of the election fades.

My earlier pieces have focussed on the questions about the electoral process and impact of an Umno ‘victory’. Here I turn to the effects of the election on the expansion of democracy in Malaysia.

The message is one of strength, not weakness, or hope, rather than despair. Continue reading “Silver linings in a GE13 without gold”

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I joined the black parade

— Pravin Pillai
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013

Empathy is feeling sorry for those who voted for a racist government. Sympathy is being sorry that they aren’t.

MAY 12 — I wasn’t going to go. But as the Facebook messages kept coming in about where help was needed I changed my mind.

I joined the black parade.

Like millions of others I felt like someone close to me had died. I was in mourning. The other side wants me to believe that all was fair and square. That I had a poor grasp of politics, the electorate and logic. Tis’ true, I am less a fan of logic than I am of heart. I believe logic can deceive you. You come home unexpectedly one afternoon and find your wife in bed. She says she’s having a headache. Logic moves you to check her temperature. The heart tells you to check under the bed. Half the country doesn’t have to wait for Rafizi to confirm the fact that they have been fucked. They feel it in their bones. Continue reading “I joined the black parade”

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The nation cried on May 8, 2013

— Foong Wai Fong
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2013

MAY 12 — My brother and his friend picked me up from Saujana and we proceeded slowly over to the Kelana Jaya Museum. None of us were speaking much as it was a solemn and sad occasion; it is like we are going

for a wake… to mourn the death of democracy.

I truly felt how the family of Tan Beng Hock felt when they were told that their son “committed suicide.”

On the morning of May 6th even pass midnight of May 5th, that was how we felt, “ PR Lost.” The whole process of announcing the result make you feel that they forced it down your throat, “ I said you lose, so you lose.”

How different is this from the way they treated the death of Tan Beng Hock.

My brother and I, and some of our other friends felt we just have to be at the Kelana Jaya Rally. Continue reading “The nation cried on May 8, 2013”

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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”. Continue reading “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?”

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This is a Democracy, You Understand?

by Kee Thuan Chye

Prime Minister Najib Razak blamed the Chinese for not voting for his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition at the 13th general election on May 5 and ex-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad slammed the Chinese and the Malays who voted for Pakatan Rakyat.

Others from BN and its main component party, Umno, jumped on the bandwagon and said the same thing, accusing the Chinese of being ungrateful.

They all made it sound as if it was a great sin to vote for the Opposition.

What is so wrong with voting for the Opposition? Why is an Opposition set up in the first place? Isn’t it to provide competition to the ruling party? So if people are more persuaded by the case made by the Opposition, why shouldn’t they vote for it?
Continue reading “This is a Democracy, You Understand?”

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Rais: Decision by MCA to reject Cabinet posts shallow

The Malaysian Insider
May 11, 2013

JELEBU, May 11 — MCA should not have made a decision that reflected its shallow politics by making impulsive remarks, like not wanting to accept posts in the Cabinet, said Datuk Seri Rais Yatim.

The former Information, Communications and Culture Minister said the stance taken by MCA was not proper because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was still in the process of forming a new federal government, likewise at the state level.

“There should be consultations, but they rejected from the beginning. This attitude is very suspicious.

“Honestly, we have to say that MCA and Gerakan have actually contributed partly to Barisan Nasional’s loss.

“The internal bickering and misunderstanding or absence of collective stand to an extent that several seats were lost to the BN’s political enemy,” he told reporters after a thanksgiving ceremony at the Jelebu District Council hall, Kuala Klawang here last night. Continue reading “Rais: Decision by MCA to reject Cabinet posts shallow”

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BN is effectively a minority government

by Tommy Thomas
Malaysiakini
8:26AM May 10, 2013

COMMENT In assessing the results of the long-awaited 13th general elections, it is imperative that one considers the actual conditions under which the elections were conducted.

Uninformed observers, particularly from overseas, assume that because Malaysia has a Westminister-style parliamentary democracy, our elections are conducted freely, fairly and in the spirit of fair play.

The reality is that our elections are never held as they are in mature democracies like the United Kingdom, India or Australia.

They are rather akin to another Commonwealth country, Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has been in power for some 33 years, and where the ruling party always wins because it thinks it has a divine right to rule, and will cheat to remain in power. Institutions intended to be independent and impartial have never acted independently and impartially. Continue reading “BN is effectively a minority government”

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The new Malaysia

— Abdul Haleem Abdul Rahiman
The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013

MAY 10 — If you are not aware — there is a NEW MALAYSIA out there. The NEW MALAYSIA with a new generation. Before you think this is the young new generation let me tell you that you are wrong. No, the word “generation” is not an age group defined.

This NEW MALAYSIA also not restricted by geographical boundaries. A Malaysian, no matter where is he or she based at, be it Australia, the Middle East, North America, North Asia, Europe or Africa — they are and they also surely will be part of this NEW MALAYSIA.

This NEW MALAYSIA no longer intimidated by tear gas or risk of being arrested for participating in public gatherings.

This NEW MALAYSIA will speak up, will stand up and will walk for miles to be heard, to be recognised and to be RESPECTED. Continue reading “The new Malaysia”

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The Star and being Malaysian

― The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013

MAY 10 ― Nothing is more nauseating than hypocrisy.

After weeks and months of driving a wedge between races in Malaysia and contributing to the “Chinese tsunami” myth in its coverage, The Star has now decided it is time for reconciliation and unity.

So, today, it has a front page montage of many happy faces of Malaysians, topped off with a headline “We are Malaysia”.

Are we now expected to forget the attempts by The Star and its owner MCA to pit Muslims against non-Muslims through its hudud-bashing articles and advertisements? Didn’t they realise that the hudud bashing was offensive to Muslims and other God-fearing people? Didn’t the editors bother about national unity then?

Are we expected to suffer from amnesia and forget reports by The Star’s editors and columnists aimed at portraying the DAP as a chauvinist party and PAS, extremists?

Now that its slavish adherence to MCA’s strategy has resulted in a near-complete rejection by Malaysians, the party-owned newspaper has decided to play the unity card and talk up reconciliation. Continue reading “The Star and being Malaysian”

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‘Misconception created by Chinese press’

Alyaa Azhar| May 10, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang says his statement with regard to a possible DAP-BN coalition was misconstrued by the Chinese press.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today said that newspaper headlines in Chinese press were to blame for a misconception that he wanted to form a coalition government with the Barisan Nasional.

“I was told that I have been the target of attacks in the social media for betraying the people. I have done nothing to justify that. The fault actually lies with the Chinese newspapers headlines, mixing two separate issues – first if DAP will join BN to replace MCA, and secondly the separate proposal of a BN-PR coalition government,” Lim told a press conference today.

Lim said that Sin Chew’s frontpaged headline gives readers, who only read the first headline, the impression that he supports the idea of DAP joining BN to replace MCA.

The main headline reads: ‘Lim Kit Siang: Can have coalition government with BN’ while the sub-heading reads: ‘Condition: Accept PR’s election manifesto’.

He said that Sin Chew and it sub-editors should be careful in ensuring that their primary headlines do not create misconceptions.

“They cannot assume that readers will read the full contents or even the sub-headings. You know how it is nowadays, most people only read the primary headline and not the full report,” he said.

He added that to avoid misunderstanding, both the main headline and sub-headings should not vary drastically. Continue reading “‘Misconception created by Chinese press’”

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Guan Eng: DAP has no interest in BN

Athi Shankar| May 10, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

Lim Guan Eng accuses Umno of trying to break up the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

GEORGE TOWN: DAP has no interest in joining Barisan Nasional for posts, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in a statement here today.

This is because, he said DAP struggled for principles and people-centric policies not positions and personal interests.

He claimed that BN was using underhand tactics to split up Pakatan Rakyat by inviting DAP to join the coalition.

He stressed DAP’s urgent priority of polls reform that respected the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” principle would not be undermined by such underhand tactics.

He claimed that Pakatan’s failure to wrest the federal government from BN despite garnering more popular votes demands urgent polls reforms.

He said Pakatan was willing to co-operate with BN to implement polls reform to reflect the unhappiness of majority Malaysians, who voted for change and yet discover that despite winning the popular votes, they could not vote out BN. Continue reading “Guan Eng: DAP has no interest in BN”

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Malaysia’s Opposition not after an ‘Arab spring’ – DAP leader

ABC Radio Australia
10 May 2013, 21:47 AEST

Malaysia’s opposition is planning several political gatherings across the country this month, over last Sunday’s disputed national elections.

The protests could be the most provocative challenge to the Malaysian government in years.

Mr Lim Kit Siang, a veteran senior member of the DAP, a component of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat, told Asia Pacific that the Opposition is studying allegations of fraud in between twenty to thirty constituencies.

Mr Lim, who caused a political upset last Sunday by winning a seat in Johor state against the incumbent chief minister, says media reports of a ‘wave of protests’ are erroneous.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Lim Kit Siang, member of parliament for Gelang Patah, and senior member of the opposition Democratic Action Party

LIM: Well, we’re having ceramahs (meetings) in order to explain to the people the electoral fraud, as well as the latest political situation in the country. I had one last night for instance, a DAP ceramah. Of course people are angry and frustrated that the election process has been so unfair, not having a level playing field, that has deprived the country of a government that they wanted – which is a replacement of the present government and prime minister.

LAM: Are you concerned that such ongoing protests might lead to national instability?

LIM: Well, we definitely do not want an ‘Arab spring’ in the sense of having national incidents and all that. We want to continue to have peaceful and orderly process, where there can be public meetings to explain to the people the latest political developments in the country, including the electoral fraud. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Opposition not after an ‘Arab spring’ – DAP leader”

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Rapprochement tough after BN’s ‘divisive’ campaign, says The Economist

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 ― National reconciliation appears a distant dream post-Election 2013 for a country scarred by the “nasty, divisive” electoral campaign led by Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) in the rural heartlands, The Economist has said.

The international current affairs magazine observed that Umno, to shore up its base of rural Malay voters, had alienated the Chinese and other communities already fed up with the alleged cronyism and corruption associated with affirmative action policies that favour the country’s largest ethnic group.

“Mr Najib has said he wants to be prime minister for all Malaysians. Sadly, however, he presided over an ugly campaign by his… Umno, the main component of Barisan,” the magazine wrote, referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was sworn in for his second term as prime minister after BN emerged victors again for its 13th general election running.

“In the rural Malay heartlands, Umno was as negative, racially divisive and pro-Malay as ever,” it added.

Adding salt to wound, The Economist said blaming BN’s losses on a “Chinese tsunami” had been unwise of Najib as the vote trend had clearly shown a massive swing in votes from the young and rising urban middle class, which cut across racial lines.

“Casting the election in such racial terms is neither wise nor accurate,” the magazine wrote in one article titled “A dangerous result”. Continue reading “Rapprochement tough after BN’s ‘divisive’ campaign, says The Economist”

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Kit Siang says would weigh coalition rule if BN embraces Pakatan manifesto

By Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 ― Pakatan Rakyat (PR) may consider working together with the Barisan Nasional (BN) to form a coalition government if the former’s election manifesto is endorsed by its rival, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today said.

Stressing that this proposal was merely his personal opinion, Lim said there would only be “basis for discussion” with BN if the ruling coalition “endorses” PR’s common policy framework and manifesto for the 13th general election.

“On that, we made it very clear, it’s my personal view, because this is something which can only be officially responded by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership,” said the veteran leader from DAP, one of three parties in the PR pact.

Think-tank ASLI had on Wednesday proposed a broad-based BN-PR coalition government, a suggestion that comes on the back of BN’s reduced support in the national polls on Sunday. Continue reading “Kit Siang says would weigh coalition rule if BN embraces Pakatan manifesto”

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Shock of my life when I woke up this morning and told that I am target of attacks on facebook for betraying the people, DAP and PR in wanting to form coalition government with BN

I got into Petaling Jaya at about 3 am this morning after the phenomenon of “ocean of black” both from the capacity and roaring crowd at the thank-voters DAP Ipoh ceramah at Chin Woo Hall and the equally-matched crowd, both in numbers and commitment to vision for a new Malaysia, outside Chin Woo last night.

But I woke up after a few hours of sleep to the shock of my life, as I was told that I have been the target of attacks on the social media, particularly facebook, for betraying the people, DAP and Pakatan Rakyat in wanting to form a coalition government with Barisan Nasional.

Because of prolonged lack of sleep, both during the 15-day 13GE election campaign as well as the four hectic days after Sunday’s Polling Day, it took me awhile to fully grasp what was happening – as I had done nothing in the past four days since outcome of the 13GE results to justify any notion that I had betrayed the people, DAP and PR in wanting to form a coalition government with Barisan Nasional.

This morning, hard-core DAP loyalists were first the target of attacks because of newspaper headlines quoting me as saying as if I had agreed with the idea of forming a coalition government with BN – of wanting to replace MCA in BN! As one DAP loyalists described his experience on fb, viz:

早上到巴剎,

一片罵聲,而且句句對準行動黨,

林吉祥更是慘被”PKHKC”,
Continue reading “Shock of my life when I woke up this morning and told that I am target of attacks on facebook for betraying the people, DAP and PR in wanting to form coalition government with BN”

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Parliamentary Reforms should be top agenda of 13th Parliament

Parliamentary reforms should be top agenda of the 13th Parliament.

Some proposals:

Firstly, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be given Ministerial status as a major commitment to promote and advance parliamentary democracy in Malaysia.

The allowance of the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be comparable to that of a Cabinet Minister together with all the perks and privileges, including being provided with an official car.

Even more important, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be provided with adequate staff to carry out his duties – at least two political secretaries, one private secretary and three research assistants.

The Parliamentary Opposition Leader should be accorded full respect in Parliament, whether in debates or question time, and should be fully consulted in the arrangement of parliamentary business.
Continue reading “Parliamentary Reforms should be top agenda of 13th Parliament”

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GE13 not a ‘Chinese tsunami’, says Merdeka Center

By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
May 10, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Election 2013 was not simply a “Chinese tsunami” as it showed a major swing among the multiracial urban and middle-class electorate against Barisan Nasional (BN), independent pollster Merdeka Center said yesterday.

Sinar Harian Online reported Merdeka Center executive director Ibrahim Suffian today as saying that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s reading of the May 5 general election as a “Chinese tsunami” was inaccurate as urban Malays had also voted for Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“There were differences between the low-income and the middle-income areas, as well as between the urban and rural areas,” Ibrahim was quoted as saying.

Analysts have noted that BN’s historic losses in Election 2013 were the result of a middle-class and urban exodus from the coalition that further widened the urban-rural rift in the country. Continue reading “GE13 not a ‘Chinese tsunami’, says Merdeka Center”

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The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions

by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee

Finally the general election is over. For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning.

Some conclusions are easy to arrive at. Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of financial and other incentives to voters, the BN could not improve on its 2008 performance. Although it regained power in one state and has a comfortable majority at parliamentary level, its share of state and parliamentary seats has been substantially reduced. Had a fair election prevailed, it would have been consigned to the opposition benches. In fact BN lost the popular vote count by a substantial margin nation-wide. In most if not all electoral systems found in the world, it would have been booted out of office. In our case, it came dangerously close to it. Continue reading “The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions”

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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. Continue reading “Election 2013 results expose Dr M’s decline as a force”