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93-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib should dissolve Parliament by 8th March on expiry of 5-year tenure of Parliament instead of resorting to Article 55(3)of Constitution to secure another 50 days as unelected PM

Article 55(3) of the Malaysian Constitution states:

“55(3) Parliament unless sooner dissolved shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting and shall then stand dissolved”.

The 12th Parliament was elected on March 8, 2008 – the polling day for the 12th general elections.

The first meeting of the present Parliament was on April 28, 2008. Under Article 55(3), unless Parliament is sooner dissolved, the 12th Parliament shall stand automatically dissolved on April 27, 2013.

The sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the nation’s longest unelected Prime Minister without a mandate of his own – longer than his four predecessors Tun Abdullah, Tun Mahathir, Tun Hussein and his father Tun Razak.

He should dissolve Parliament by 8th March 2013 on expiry of the five-year tenure of Parliament instead of resorting to the Constitutional device in Article 55(3) to secure another 50 days in office as unelected Prime Minister. Continue reading “93-Day Countdown to 13GE – Najib should dissolve Parliament by 8th March on expiry of 5-year tenure of Parliament instead of resorting to Article 55(3)of Constitution to secure another 50 days as unelected PM”

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RM160m to solve Najib’s problem?

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 8, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

The object of the whole LTAT exercise seems to be to save Raja Ropiah, people from Mindef and even LTAT – players who may all have a hand in the exercise.

COMMENT

You know how government-linked companies (GLCs) screws us? In order to deceive people, they build themselves a byzantine maze with sister companies, brother companies, son-companies, grandson-companies and great-great grandson companies.

It will take a financial sleuth some time to trace the trail of deception and corruption.

Take the maze of companies involved in the Deepak Jaikishan-Raja Ropiaah Abdullah scam.

LTAT (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera) is the parent company. Boustead Holdings Bhd is the son-company. Baktiwira is the grandson company. And Jendela Hikmat is the great-great grandson company. Then there is Guppyunit

Umno has a system already in place. At every level, an Umno GLC infuses the culture of deception and corruption. Every level it skims off the milk.

The question is, why is LTAT so friendly with Raja Ropiaah? Why is Raja Ropiaah so special to Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and its minister then?

One thing is known. The object of the whole LTAT exercise seems to be to save Raja Ropiaah, the people from Mindef and even LTAT – players who may all have a hand in the exercise. Continue reading “RM160m to solve Najib’s problem?”

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Pengiraan Detik 94 Hari ke PRU13 – Untuk menguji keyakinan UMNO bahawa tsunami 2008 telah dihentikan Najib perlu mengisytiharkan bahawa UMNO/BN akan menerima keputusan pengundi dalam PRU13 termasuklah pertukaran kerajaan di Putrajaya

Baru-baru ini pemimpin UMNO kelihatan penuh yakin, sekurang-kurangnya pada umum, berkenaan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13.

Ketua Penerangan UMNO, Datuk Ahmad Maslan contohnya telah mengisytiharkan bahawa Perdana Menteri Seri Najib Razak telah menghentikan “tsunami politik” 2008 dengan pelbagai ikrar dan program transformasi sejak April 2009.

Beliau berkata: “pada 2008 kita khuatir ada tsunami politik, tetapi 2013 saya yakin ia sudah lama berhenti.”

Ahmad jugalah yang tahun lepas meluahkan keyakinan bahawa Barisan Nasional akan mendapatkan semula 20 kerusi perlimen yang dipegang Pakatan Rakyat untuk memperoleh majoriti dua pertiga parlimen dalam PRU13 – mengekalkan 140 kerusi parlimen yang dimenangi dan merampas lime daripada 23 kerusi yang dipegang PAS, lima daripada 29 yang dipegang DAP dan 10 daripada 31 kerusi PKR.

Persoalan yang terlintas di fikiran adalah mengapa Najib berterusan berbolak-balik tentang tarikh pilihan raya umum ke-13 sekiranya kepimpinan UMNO begitu yakin telah menghentikan tsunami 2008 dan mampu mendapatkan semula majoriti dua pertiga parlimen – selain itu memenangi kembali semua lima negeri yang tewas kepada Pakatan Rakyat dalam pilihan raya umum 2008? Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 94 Hari ke PRU13 – Untuk menguji keyakinan UMNO bahawa tsunami 2008 telah dihentikan Najib perlu mengisytiharkan bahawa UMNO/BN akan menerima keputusan pengundi dalam PRU13 termasuklah pertukaran kerajaan di Putrajaya”

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94-Day Countdown to 13GE – Test of UMNO confidence that 2008 tsunami has been halted is for Najib to declare that UMNO/BN would accept verdict of voters in 13GE including change of government in Putrajaya

Recently, UMNO leaders are exuding supreme confidence, at least to the public, about the 13th General Elections.

UMNO information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan for instance has declared that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has halted the “political tsunami” of 2008 with his various transformation pledges and programmes since April 2009.

He said: “In 2008, we were worried of the ‘political tsunami’ but in 2013, I am confident it has ended.”

It was also Ahmad who last month expressed confidence that the Barisan Nasional would wrest back 20 parliamentary seats held by Pakatan Rakyat to secure two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 13GE – retaining the 140 parliamentary seats it won and capture five of the 23 seats held by PAS, five of 29 held by DAP and 10 of the 31 PKR seats.

The question that immediately comes to mind is why Najib keeps vacillating about the 13th general elections date if the UMNO leadership is so supremely confident about halting the political tsunami of 2008 and regain its two-thirds parliamentary majority – not to mention winning back all the five states lost to Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general elections? Continue reading “94-Day Countdown to 13GE – Test of UMNO confidence that 2008 tsunami has been halted is for Najib to declare that UMNO/BN would accept verdict of voters in 13GE including change of government in Putrajaya”

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Pengiraan Detik 97 Hari ke PRU13 – adakah kebenaran tentang pembunuhan menggunakan C4 warga Mongolia Altantuya, Akuan Bersumpah kedua Balasubramaniam dan dakwaan serius Deepak terhadap Najib dan Rosmah hanya akan diketahui sekiranya berlaku pertukaran kerajaan di Putrajaya?

Setelah hampir sebulan, negara telah digoncangkan dengan satu demi satu pendedahan sekitar pembunuhan warga Mongolia Altantuya Shaariibuu melibatkan Akuan Bersumpah kedua enyiasat persendirian P. Balasubramaniam dan dakwaan serius terhadap Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan keluarganya oleh seorang pengedar permaidani Deepak Jaikiishan.

Persoalan yang menjadi tanda-tanya rakyat Malaysia adalah sama ada kebenaran kebenaran tentang pembunuhan menggunakan C4 warga Mongolia Altantuya, misteri di sebalik Akuan Bersumpah kedua Balasubramaniam dan dakwaan serius Deepak terhadap Najib dan keluarganya hanya akan diketahui sekiranya berlaku pertukaran kerajaan di Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13.

Walaupun Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi telah berkata bahawa beliau akan menjawab semua dakwaan Deepak terhadap Najib ketika penggulungan Perhimpunan Agung UMNO ke-66, beliau dilihat gagal berbuat demikian, walaupun bukan Zahid tetapi Najib sendiri yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan Deepak. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 97 Hari ke PRU13 – adakah kebenaran tentang pembunuhan menggunakan C4 warga Mongolia Altantuya, Akuan Bersumpah kedua Balasubramaniam dan dakwaan serius Deepak terhadap Najib dan Rosmah hanya akan diketahui sekiranya berlaku pertukaran kerajaan di Putrajaya?”

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97-Day Countdown to 13GE – will the truth about the C4 murder of Mongolian Altantuya, Balasubramaniam’s second SD and Deepak’s serious allegations against Najib and Rosmah only be known if there is a change of government in Putrajaya?

For over a month, the country had been convulsed by a series of exposes revolving around the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu relating to the second Statutory Declaration of Private Investigator P. Balasubramaniam and very serious allegations against the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his family by carpet businessman Deepak Jaikiishan.

The question many Malaysians are asking is whether the truth about the C4 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the mystery surrounding Balasubramaniam’s second Statutory Declaration and the very serious allegations by Deepak against Najib and his family would only be known if there is a change of government in Putrajaya in the 13th general elections.

Although the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had said that he would respond to Deepak’s allegations against Najib at the winding-up of the 66th UMNO General Assembly, he conspicuously failed to do so, although it was not Zahid but Najib himself who should be responding to Deepak’s allegations. Continue reading “97-Day Countdown to 13GE – will the truth about the C4 murder of Mongolian Altantuya, Balasubramaniam’s second SD and Deepak’s serious allegations against Najib and Rosmah only be known if there is a change of government in Putrajaya?”

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Malaysian Businessman Continues Attacks on Premier

Written by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
03 January 2013

Prime Minister Najib, his wife and UMNO leaders remain silent in the face of charges

Disaffected Malaysian businessman Deepak Jaikishan is continuing to rain accusations of bribery, political favoritism, murder cover-up and other scandals against Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, his wife, family and top UMNO figures despite apparent attempts to shut him up by arranging for a quasi-government agency to buy his company.

He has now written – apparently at lightning speed – a book called “Black Rose” which is billed as a tell-all about his relationship with Rosmah Mansor, Najib’s wife, and deals with allegations of the cover-up of details of the murder of the 28-year-old Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006. The book was to be issued today but he told local media that the publisher couldn’t get it to him in time, so he would issue an e-book which so far hasn’t appeared.

Deepak, who once said he was close enough to Rosmah to call her his “big sister,” has continued to cause embarrassment to the prime minister and his wife, who so far have maintained an awkward silence in the face of his charges.

He has vowed to detail – or re-detail, since he has already made the information public to a flock of internet sites over recent weeks – RM3 million in payments to a private investigator, Perumal Balasubramaniam, in 2008 in an effort to shut up the investigator. Balasubramaniam had made public sworn allegations that Najib himself had had an affair with the jet-setting beauty, who was killed by two of Nabob’s personal bodyguards. The two were later convicted of murder in a trial regarded by many as designed to keep secret the names of those who had paid them to carry out the crime. Continue reading “Malaysian Businessman Continues Attacks on Premier”

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Out with the old, in with the new

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 31, 2012

Puppet shows, ‘Punch and Judy’ politics, farcical presentations, tragicomedies, drama queens, flip-flops, U-turns, dress rehearsals and of course, pornographic productions can be used to sum up current Malaysian politics.

It is amazing what the subconscious reveals. When MCA keeps asking if Hadi Awang or Anwar Ibrahim would make the better prime minister, you know what the ruling coalition are thinking – that BN is doomed.

Why would one of the main component parties in BN talk about opposition candidates for the post of prime minister? If they thought they stood any chance of winning GE13, they would be discussing which BN candidate should lead the country, rather than which opposition politician would make the best PM.

In November 2011, the Umno information chief, Ahmad Maslan, talked about a hung parliament: “If there is a hung Parliament scenario like Australia, let’s say 112 government seats to 110 opposition seats, it is the worst thing that could happen.”

This showed that Umno had no confidence of victory at the polls. Continue reading “Out with the old, in with the new”

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Don’t bribe us with our money! Malaysians are not that stupid

By P Ramakrishnan | Aliran executive committee member
28 December 2012
aliran.com

The Prime Minister seems to be playing Santa Claus. He is very generously dishing out goodies from seemingly bottomless coffers, convinced that Malaysians are a greedy, unthinking lot who can be bought easily.

Little does he realise that the Malaysians of today are a very perceptive and discerning lot who can see through his election ploy.

They know that the money that is being doled out does not come from Barisan Nasional coffers. If that was the case, then Malaysians can be grateful to the BN. But when he uses the people’s money to bribe them and expects them to be grateful to the BN, it is insulting their intelligence.
Continue reading “Don’t bribe us with our money! Malaysians are not that stupid”

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A leader leads by action, not words

– Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 26, 2012

DEC 26 – It is really interesting how our last two prime ministers – Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak – have felt the need to talk about themselves as leaders of all Malaysians.

The truly great and effective leaders of countries and businesses never need stand on the roof top and tell people what they are. It is plain for people to see. In short, their track record and actions speak volumes about them, their character and their decency.

Abdullah loved to talk about being a leader of all Malaysians, but we all know now that it was just spin for political expediency.

He hoodwinked many of us into thinking that he actually cared for non-malays and malays equally.

Now, we know that it was just a charade to get Malaysians to believe that he was different from Mahathir Mohamad and give him a huge mandate in 2004.

With the mandate in the bag, Abdullah reverted to type and became Umno’s servant, not the servant of Malaysians. Continue reading “A leader leads by action, not words”

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Bishop demurs over PM’s Christmas Day remarks

Terence Netto
Malaysiakini
Dec 26, 2012

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing described Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s remarks at a hi-tea hosted by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) yesterday as “pious platitudes we are used to hearing on these occasions”.

Speaking to Malaysiakini after reading reports on web news portals on Najib’s remarks at the CFM function which the prelate did not attend, bishop Tan said:

“I don’t want to sound churlish, particularly in this Christmas season of goodwill, but if you shake down the PM’s rhetoric, what have you left – syrupy sentiment and clichés that have little or no connection with realities on the ground.”

In remarks made at the Christmas Day hi-tea attended by the PM and his wife Rosmah Mansor, Najib assured the Christian community that they have not been marginalised.

“I don’t want to be prime minister for only a particular section of the community,” asserted Najib. “I’m prime minister for all Malaysians, and I’ve said that repeatedly.”

Bishop Tan said that no one with experience of how prime ministers have run the Malaysian nation would think to remark that there could be an ethnocentric and exclusivist dimension to the PM’s role.

“It’s odd that Najib has seen fit to remark that he has to be PM of all of our diverse nation and not just one or another part of it,” commented the head of the Catholic Church of the Melaka-Johor diocese whose two-year tenure as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei ends on Dec 31. Continue reading “Bishop demurs over PM’s Christmas Day remarks”

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We don’t need Santa Claus

— Christopher Kannan
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 25, 2012

DEC 25 — The prime minister has not forgotten the Christians, and that is why we can now travel to Jerusalem.

Should I be grateful?

I tell you what. I would be really grateful if my leader shuts up Perkasa, Utusan and Umno types who bash Christians all year round.

I am still upset that the PM has not clobbered Ibrahim Ali or his ilk. The only consolation is some two-bit politician saying we all have to be tolerant and respect the majority of people. It makes us feel like children of a lesser god, and sometimes, being told we are “pendatang”, “kafir” and whatever that might not pass as an outright insult.

And then once a year, the PM comes around like Santa Claus and says that he has not forgotten Christians!

I do think the country will be better served if leaders protect minorities 24/7 365 days a year, not just on Christmas Day. Continue reading “We don’t need Santa Claus”

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Who needs Santa when we have Najib?

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 24, 2012

Who needs Father Christmas when we have Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak?

The world has Father Christmas. In western folklore, he is the legendary figure who brings presents to the homes of good children on the night of Christmas eve. He is usually portrayed as a chubby, joyful, white-bearded man who wears black boots and a red suit trimmed with white fur. Santa lives in the North Pole with Mama Claus, and is assisted by his magical elves and flying reindeer.

In Malaysia, Najib has assumed the role of Santa, with his various handouts. Najib does not have Santa’s long white beard nor rosy cheeks, but many women claim to be envious of his luscious red lips.

Both the Malaysian Santa and his Mama Claus live in a sprawling mansion called Seri Perdana, with an air-conditioning system which would make Santa jealous. To put things into perspective, the official residence of the British PM, No 10 Downing Street, is a garden shed in comparison. Continue reading “Who needs Santa when we have Najib?”

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Graft-check for BN candidates

— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 21, 2012

DEC 21 — It must be the end of the world, dear sirs, if the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman is saying that all coalition candidates for the general election must clear a corruption check.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today this vetting and clearing must be done by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Excuse me for laughing, sir, but are you cracking a joke? No? You are serious about the MACC?

This agency, where witnesses or perhaps suspects, leap to their death mysteriously?

This agency, which told its Hong Kong counterpart that there is nothing suspicious about millions being sent to Umno’s Sabah chapter?

This agency, which is more interested in clearing its panel members of complicity rather than investigate where a sworn statement from a private investigator repudiating his earlier statutory declaration could mean something’s amiss? Continue reading “Graft-check for BN candidates”

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It ain’t over till the FLOM sings

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 17, 2012

If wife of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos is famous for her shoes, then Rosmah Mansor, the spouse of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is noted for her bags and rings. But fashion accessories are not her only forte, unlike most Malaysians, she can set aside subpoenas and has the time, money and inclination to write a book.

One moment, both Najib and Rosmah are riding high on the wave of public opinion and their belief that “we can do no wrong”. Next moment, they are at rock bottom and having to fend off accusations; hence the book. Did she publish details of her life and her rise to prominence, out of conceit or an act of desperation?

Surely the book is not the best medium to “explain” herself, if it is true that Malaysians only read two-and-a-half pages a year.

If Rosmah wants to clear her name, why has she not gone on television and done a Princess Diana type confession complete with black eyeliner and coy looks? After all, the government media and printed newspapers are all within her reach.

If the New York Times could have a US$5 million centre-fold spread of her a few years ago, then she should use the local papers to promote herself. RTM will free-up several slots and would not dare decline her request. Continue reading “It ain’t over till the FLOM sings”

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Malaysian Carpet Dealer Names a New Figure in Scandal

by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
21 December 2012

Deepak Jaikishan names well connected lawyer in murder cover-up

Perhaps the most crucial – and quoted – document seeking to tie Najib Tun Razak, the current prime minister of Malaysia, to a murdered Mongolian beauty named Altantuya Shaariibuu was a sworn declaration filed on July 1, 2008 by a Kuala Lumpur-based private detective named Perumal Balasubramaniam.

That document, which detailed allegations of an affair between Najib, the then-defense minister and the 28-year-old woman, lasted just three days before it was dramatically reversed. Police allegedly picked up Balasubramaniam and took him to a Kuala Lumpur police station where he was told his family was in serious danger if he didn’t reverse his statement.

The private detective was then taken to a room at the Hilton Hotel in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, where accordingly, on July 4, he signed a new six-page sworn statement in which he said, among other things, that “I wish to retract the entire contents of my Statutory Declaration dated 1July 2008. I was compelled to affirm the said Statutory Declaration dated 1July 2008 under duress.”

Balasubramaniam now says he didn’t write that statement. He never saw it, he said, until it was presented to him in the Hilton.

Four and a half years later, the name of the person who wrote the reversal is believed to be that of Cecil Abraham, a senior partner with the law firm of Zul Rafique & Partners of Kuala Lumpur, one of the country’s most prominent law firms and one that is a major beneficiary of government-related legal business. It is also a firm with considerable experience in defamation cases. Continue reading “Malaysian Carpet Dealer Names a New Figure in Scandal”

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Month-long jail sentence on “Occupy Dataran” student Umar Mohd Azmi outrageous and devastating reminder before 13GE that even under Najib as PM, the criminal justice system still sucks

The month-long jail sentence together with the maximum fine of RM1,000 on “Occupy Dataran” student Umar Mohd Azmi has become a national and international cause celebre because it is utterly outrageous as well as a devastating reminder just before the 13th General Elections that despite all the sloganeering about government, economic, educational, social and political transformation programmes, the criminal justice system in Malaysia still sucks even under the four-year premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I am now in Sydney or I would have visited the protest camp set up by student activists outside the Kajang prison to demonstrate my support, sympathy and solidarity with Umar at the gross injustice of the harsh sentence imposed on him for obstructing a public official from performing his duty.

Why was Umar imposed the harsh penalty of a maximum fine of RM1,000 together with a one-month jail sentence, when the maximum sentence for an offence under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing any public servant in the discharge of his public functions was a maximum jail sentence of three months or with maximum fine of RM1,000 or both?

One powerful reason why there must be change of Federal government in Putrajaya in the forthcoming 13th general elections is that the country is teeming with cases where the criminal justice really sucks like the case of Umar. Continue reading “Month-long jail sentence on “Occupy Dataran” student Umar Mohd Azmi outrageous and devastating reminder before 13GE that even under Najib as PM, the criminal justice system still sucks”

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Najib’s proposal to source English teachers from India is “crossing of the Rubicon” marking the failure of the Malaysian education system to reverse declining standards and to prepare the new generation of Malaysians for the challenges of the 21st century

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s proposal in New Delhi yesterday to source English teachers for Malaysian schools from India in a bid to help alleviate the shortage of teachers in English and to improve proficiency of the language in Malaysia marks the crossing of the Rubicon for the Malaysian national education system – as it is a sad admission of the failure of the Malaysian education system over the decades to arrest and reverse declining educational standards and to prepare the new Malaysian generation for the challenges of the 21st century.

In the recent past, Malaysia had been sourcing English-language teachers from the United Kingdom and the United States, ignoring the rich reservoir of available local talents to teach the English language. Now the Prime Minister is proposing to source them from India. Will Malaysia next source English teachers from the African continent?

This is undeniably a grievous psychological blow to the nation which had rightly prided itself as a country with high international standards and attainments in English language when it achieved Merdeka in 1957, and should now be sending Malaysians as English-language teachers all over the world, including India, as one of our precious international assets.

Instead, Malaysia has degenerated to become an importing nation for English-language teachers from foreign countries. What a national shame! Continue reading “Najib’s proposal to source English teachers from India is “crossing of the Rubicon” marking the failure of the Malaysian education system to reverse declining standards and to prepare the new generation of Malaysians for the challenges of the 21st century”

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Malaysia poised for pivotal polls

By Simon Roughneen
Asia Times
21st December 2012

Ahead of what reform campaigners believe will be Malaysia’s “dirtiest ever elections”, the long-ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has engineered something of a clean-up. In recent months, it has reformed some old and oft-derided laws, such as allowing indefinite detention without trial and forcing local newspapers to apply each year for a publication permit, a stipulation that encouraged self-censorship.

UMNO and its allies have governed Malaysia consecutively since achieving independence from colonial rule, a longevity not usually associated with electoral democracies. UMNO and its Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition survived the last election in 2008, though it ceded its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time and lost five out of 13 federal states to the opposition, a coalition of three parties led by controversial former UMNO firebrand Anwar Ibrahim that includes the Islamic party PAS and the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP).

While some in the Malaysian opposition and rights groups have criticized the recent reforms as piecemeal electioneering for next year’s vote, there are indications that the government has made some real positive changes, particularly regarding the overhaul of certain emergency laws and repealing the old Internal Security Act, a law which has in the past been used against the government’s political opponents. Continue reading “Malaysia poised for pivotal polls”

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Down to the wire

Malaysia’s elections
Banyan Asia
by R.C. | KUALA LUMPUR
The Economist
Dec 19th 2012

ALL year, it seems, Malaysia has been on a war footing. For elections, that is—and thankfully, rather than anything more martial. The country operates on a Westminster-style parliamentary system, so the prime ministers’ five-year term does not officially end until early next summer. Nonetheless, Najib Razak and his people have been talking up the chances of going to the polls before then pretty well continuously over the past 18 months or so, which keeps everyone guessing.

Now, with the end of the year in sight and no further announcements, it seems that Mr Najib will take this down to the wire. Given that he can only go to the country after Chinese New Year next February, most people expect him to plump for the latest date he can in the electoral calendar, which would be about late March or early April.

His supporters say, why rush? With a generally favourable economic outlook, tame state media and all the advantages of incumbency, there is no reason why Mr Najib can’t enjoy the rest of his term of office without worrying about the 13th general election. After all, he has a bit of history on his side, to put it mildly—the ruling political alliance, Barisan Nasional (BN), has never lost a general election since independence in 1957. Continue reading “Down to the wire”