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DAP and Pakatan Harapan prepared to work and co-operate with disaffected UMNO leaders, branches and members in a new political realignment to “Save Malaysia” from rampant corruption, widespread socio-economic injustices and nation-building failures

The start of the new year 2016 has not been an auspicious one – with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s most disappointing New Year message claiming that his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals are no more issues in the country, as if by a magician’s wand, they have disappeared into thin air!

This is the worst example of denial syndrome in the nation’s history, where the Prime Minister is openly denying the existence of a problem and scandal which he himself could not possibly believe in.

In fact, just three days ago, Malaysia was catapulted into the stratosphere when we won the international dishonour of being named the world’s third most corrupt nation in 2015 thanks to Najib’s twin mega scandals.

Just now, we made history for Malaysia when the people of Kluang displayed the placard “Mana RM2.6 billion?” as a reply to Najib’s New Year Message, not only on behalf of Kluang but of Malaysia, that the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals remain very alive and are the leading issues of the nation for this year, and that Malaysians expect Najib to address them and not to continue to run and hide. Continue reading “DAP and Pakatan Harapan prepared to work and co-operate with disaffected UMNO leaders, branches and members in a new political realignment to “Save Malaysia” from rampant corruption, widespread socio-economic injustices and nation-building failures”

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Senior political leader who lied about the DAP being offered RM1.2 billion in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson will have to pay the heavy price in court for making false and defamatory statement

There is recently a culture of political desperation in the country.

This could be seen from the New Year Message by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday claiming that his twin RM2.6 billion and 1MDB mega scandals are no more, when they are never more alive and kicking, growing ever bigger in scale and impact, that Malaysia has just been “crowned” as the world’s third most corrupt country – thanks to Najib’s twin mega scandals!

What beggars the imagination is how Najib could make such an outrageous claim when he himself could not possibly believe it, unless he has left the real world of politics and entered the world of make-believe!

Another example of such political desperation is the regurgitation of wild and reckless allegation by a senior political leader of another political party about the DAP’s ties with Israel, and the preposterous allegation that the DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel if we win the general elections in exchange for the building of an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson.

Senior political leaders from other political parties who lied about the DAP, like the one who made the preposterous allegation about the DAP being offered RM1.2 billion in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson, will have to pay the heavy price for such baseless and reckless allegations in the courts.

All political leader must learn the hard lesson that they cannot just get away with lies or the most preposterous allegations, or seek refuge for their nefarious and dastardly deeds by claiming they were merely recycling such lies and falsehoods by “men of straw” or some insubstantial characters!

According to Al-Quran, slander is a crime worse than murder. Continue reading “Senior political leader who lied about the DAP being offered RM1.2 billion in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson will have to pay the heavy price in court for making false and defamatory statement”

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In search of hope for Pakatan Harapan

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
22 Dec 2015

COMMENT Today marks the three-month anniversary of Pakatan Harapan – the revamped opposition coalition that is having difficulty getting off the ground. It is supposed to bring about hope, to galvanise like-minded Malaysians in the spirit of reform and cooperation to offer an electoral alternative. It is failing badly. As the year end approaches, it is valuable to examine why.

Legacy issues

The fact that Harapan was formed out of disappointment with Pakatan Rakyat has marked the new coalition. Attention still centres on who was responsible for Pakatan Rakyat’s collapse, with the blame game a persistent dynamic. At the same time, there is denial that Pakatan Rakyat is over, with some individuals and parties unwilling to let go of the past.

These legacies of the past are debilitating Harapan. Rather than look forward, opposition parties in Harapan are continually focused on old wounds and battles. Fighting old friends now enemies is the norm, as old wounds are still raw. DAP attacks PAS. PKR insists that it can work with everyone (while in effect it is working with none as it stymies its supposed partners). Continue reading “In search of hope for Pakatan Harapan”

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What parliamentary charade!

What parliamentary charade!

What I had feared most has indeed come to pass – and what happened in Senate yesterday invokes Shakespeare’s immortal lines in Macbeth: “It is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.””

Also come to pass was my warning yesterday, viz:

“BN Senators who have won new respect from Malaysians for daring to speak up to oppose the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC (National Security Council) Bill will forfeit their new-found public respect and admiration in a matter of 24 hours if they are not prepared to act on their conviction and vote for reference of the Bill for further study and amendment, as the NSC Bill in its present form is a blight on constitutional democracy in Malaysia.

“Which is better, to speak boldly against the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill but to submissively vote in favour of the NSC Bill in the Senate; or to act like the BN MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to keep their silence for the elected BN MPs know from the very beginning that they have finally to vote obediently for the NSC Bill, whatever their inner reservations and objections to the draconian Bill?”

I have to qualify my statement yesterday as the elected Barisan Nasional MPs in Dewan Rakyat need only be ”very envious and even jealous that their counterparts in Dewan Negara are allowed to speak up about their objections and reservations about the NSC Bill which they were not allowed to do when the NSC Bill was debated in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3” only for 24 hours, as the Senate has been quickly reduced to its original form as no more than a rubber stamp after the parliamentary charade in the NSC Bill debate in the last two days. Continue reading “What parliamentary charade!”

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Why it is good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders and to reform to be politically relevant again as experienced by Indian National Congress, Taiwan Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal Democratic parties

Some 10 days before the recent UMNO General Assembly, the Deputy UMNO President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in his speech to 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh that Malay support for UMNO had dwindled to 30 per cent when Malay support for UMNO over the years had always been above 50 per cent.

He warned that unless this warning signal to UMNO, in particular the unhappiness of the people over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin mega scandals of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election and the RM55 billion 1MDB debts, is faced by the UMNO leadership, UMNO may be defeated in the 14th General Election in two years’ time.

This theme was taken up by the Perak Mufti, Harussani Zakarai who warned at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for al-Azhar University alumni in Kuala Lumpur that Malays will lose their political power in about two years’ time if their leaders continue to fight against one another.

In an apparent reference to the 14th general election, Harussani called for the defence of Malay power in the country, saying the maintenance of that power would protect the position of Islam.

He said: “Malay leadership in this country must be defended because that’s where the strength of Islam lies.

“If the Malays are defeated, then Islam will too.”

There are two dangerous fallacies here. Continue reading “Why it is good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders and to reform to be politically relevant again as experienced by Indian National Congress, Taiwan Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal Democratic parties”

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An Umno-PAS coalition and its impact on all of us

— Liew Ching Tong
The Malay Mail Online
December 19, 2015

DECEMBER 19 — A coalition between Umno and PAS is very likely to take shape following Prime Minister Najib Razak’s speech at Umno General Assembly recently, as well as Najib and Hadi Awang’s joint appearance in pink Baju Melayu at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for Al-Azhar Graduates yesterday.

The Umno-PAS merger is part of a series of “once-in-a-generation” political earthquakes, aftershocks and realignments in 2015 and beyond.

On the one hand, in the aftermath of clean sweep of the conservative faction at the PAS Muktamar elections on 6 June, the progressives formed Parti Amanah Negara on 16 September. Pakatan Rakyat ceased to exist and a new coalition Pakatan Harapan was formed on 22 September.

Before the actual split, internal debate within PAS was focused on two issues: Continue reading “An Umno-PAS coalition and its impact on all of us”

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Does Malaysia really need High Speed Rail?

Liew Chin Tong
Malaysiakini
15 Dec 2015

MP SPEAKS At the China High Speed Railway Symposium, China’s public relation event to lobby for the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project, Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) chairperson Syed Hamid Albar said that some 14 companies have been invited to present their views and ideas to Malaysia and Singapore for the development of the HSR.

At each Parliamentary sitting since June 2013, I have asked the government to reveal the feasibility studies for KL-Singapore High Speed Rail.

In the recent Parliamentary sitting, I told Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri during the debate on Prime Minister’s Department’s budget, that the government must not enter into the High Speed Rail project without revealing the feasibility studies and without a national debate on the nation’s priorities.

Pakatan Harapan stated our objection to the HSR in the Alternative Budget for 2016 as the government fails to demostrate that the HSR is a national priority and there is no feasibility study detailing its financial viability.

The national priority should be to expand railways to cater for both freight and passengers. Continue reading “Does Malaysia really need High Speed Rail?”

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What “olive branch” Najib could offer PAS in exchange for support of 14 PAS MPs to secure two-thirds parliamentary majority together with 134 UMNO/BN MPs to amend the Constitution for redelineation of parliamentary constituencies?

If by some miracle, it is possible to restitch back Pakatan Rakyat and get back together the three parties, DAP, PKR and PAS (plus a second miracle of re-uniting PAS and Parti Amanah Negara) under one roof for the 14th General Election, could the reconstituted Pakatan Rakyat defeat the UMNO/BN coalition by winning more parliamentary seats than the 13GE?

I don’t think so although UMNO in the 14th GE will be more fractured and weaker than in the 13GE with Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister haunted and hounded by so many political and economic scandals as compared to the general election two years ago.

This is because the reconstituted Pakatan Rakyat in the 14th General Election will be fighting a losing battle just to win back the same number of parliamentary and state assembly seats, for the most important element which led to the 53% popular support for Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th General Election, resulting in 89 Parliamentary and 229 State Assembly seats (minus Sarawak) will be missing, i.e. absolute trust and confidence in the PR because of the people’s belief in the adherence and unswerving commitment of DAP, PKR and PAS to the PR Common Policy Framework and the PR consensus operational principle.

I am reminded of the nursery rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Like Humpty Dumpty after its “great fall”, it would not be possible to put Pakatan Rakyat together again. Continue reading “What “olive branch” Najib could offer PAS in exchange for support of 14 PAS MPs to secure two-thirds parliamentary majority together with 134 UMNO/BN MPs to amend the Constitution for redelineation of parliamentary constituencies?”

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The five government scandals this year which show that UMNO/BN Federal Government is utterly insensitive to the rights and concerns of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region

This is the 43rd parliamentary constituency I am visiting as part of the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign since I was suspended from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for six months – – not because I had stolen, robbed or killed anyone, but because as elected representatives, we have the right and obligation to demand full accountability from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his RM2.6 billion “donation” and the RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

Although it will not be possible for me to visit all the 222 Parliamentary and 576 State Assembly constituencies in the country during the period of my six-month suspension from Parliament, I will try to visit more than 50 per cent of the 222 Parliamentary constituencies in the country by the time I am allowed to return to Parliament – with a strong and unmistakable mandate from Malaysians from all over the country, embracing all races, religions and regions in the country, to demand that Najib must fully account for the twin mega scandals.

Undoubtedly today, one of the greatest concerns in everyone’s minds, even to the Malay Rulers who even issued a rare joint statement on the 1MDB scandal on Oct. 6, are the two questions: where the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts came from, and where they have gone to.

For six weeks during the budget parliamentary meeting, Najib and the Ministers had taken MPs from both sides of the House for a ride, giving the promise that the government would be completely forthcoming and answer all questions relating to the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal on the last day of Parliament, only to renege on the last sitting of Parliament on Dec. 3 with a three-minute Ministerial Non-Statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi disclosing absolutely nothing at all.

Did Najib, Zahid or any government minister offer any apology or express any contrition to Members of Parliament and the nation for the government being caught so red-handed in breaking its promise and breaching its trust to Parliament and the country?

None at all. In fact, the Ministerial benches seem quite proud of such perfidy! Continue reading “The five government scandals this year which show that UMNO/BN Federal Government is utterly insensitive to the rights and concerns of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region”

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Pakatan Harapan should work on an active plan and strategy to win the mandate to be the government in six states as well as the Federal government in Putrajaya in 14GE

I am awed by the 146-table dinner organized by Triang DAP Branch in conjunction with “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign tonight, which is not only the biggest-ever dinner organized by Triang DAP Branch but also the biggest-ever dinner in the history of Triang.

My six-month suspension from Parliament should be the cause of a new national awareness of the need to achieve two fundamental changes in Malaysia – the urgency to have a new Parliament where Members of Parliament are not prevented or persecuted for voicing out the innermost concerns of the people of Malaysia; and secondly, for an end to the rampant corruption, abuses of power and violation of the principles of accountability, transparency and good democratic governance illustrated by the growing list of political, economic, good governance and nation building scandals plaguing the country.

Public anger and protests against an irresponsible and unaccountable government resulting in scandals like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals are not just confined to Opposition ranks of DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara leaders, members and supporters.

I believe patriotic, right-thinking and justice-loving members of UMNO and Barisan Nasional parties, whether in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak or Sabah, also cannot agree, accept or tolerate Najib’s twin mega scandals or the host of economic, political, good governance and nation-building injustices surfacing in the country. Continue reading “Pakatan Harapan should work on an active plan and strategy to win the mandate to be the government in six states as well as the Federal government in Putrajaya in 14GE”

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Greatest challenge in 14GE is how to re-ignite hopes of Malaysians for change in Putrajaya after the failure of the seven-year Pakatan Rakyat experiment

The country is in unchartered waters with unprecedented fracture and fragmentation on both sides of the political divide – both with the UMNO-led coalition of Barisan Nasional and the splintered Opposition.

The gravity of the political situation in the governing coalition is best illustrated by the warning by the UMNO Deputy President and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a gathering of 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh on Sunday that Malay support for UMNO has dwindled to 30 per cent while 78 per cent of Malaysians are dissatisfied with how the government was handling the economy.

Muhyiddin said the level of Chinese support for the government has also dwindled, from 13 percent in the last general election to only five percent at present.

Muhyiddin blamed UMNO’s woes primarily to Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega-scandals and warned that if the UMNO decline is not corrected within the next two years, UMNO may lose in the 14th General Election.

As Muhyiddin rightly pointed out, this is the first time approval for the government among Malays has fallen below 50 percent since Merdeka Centre began recording the data in February 2012. Continue reading “Greatest challenge in 14GE is how to re-ignite hopes of Malaysians for change in Putrajaya after the failure of the seven-year Pakatan Rakyat experiment”

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How Najib could win the next election

– Murray Hunter
The Malaysian Insider
30 November 2015

With the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and RM2.6 billion ‘political donation’ crises looming and anti-Najib (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) forces aiming to remove him from office, there is one strategy open to the prime minister – a snap election, should he feel cornered.

This is a remote scenario, but one that is currently being drawn up now as a contingency in the Prime Minister’s Office.

The forces of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – who Najib fired as deputy prime minister – have largely been neutralized, as well as the opposition, primarily through botched votes of no confidence and the attempt to block a second budget reading.

No Barisan Nasional (BN) votes drifted over to the opposition, indicating that this group’s influence within Umno/BN is negligible. Continue reading “How Najib could win the next election”

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With formation of Parti Amanah Negara and Pakatan Harapan, Malaysians can now hope again for political change in next general election after the roller-coaster ride of high hopes and virtual despair in the two years since the 13th GE

Malaysians can now hope again for political change in next general election after the roller-coaster ride of high hopes and virtual despair in the two years since the 13th GE in May 2013.

The 13GE in May 2013 was the highest water-mark of hopes of Malaysians for political change and the end of UMNO rule since Merdeka in 1957 and the beginning of a new Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government with a new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Although Pakatan Rakyat comprising DAP, PKR and PAS won the majority of 53% of the popular votes, Najib continued as the first minority Prime Minister when the UMNO/BN coalition won 60 per cent of the parliamentary seats with only 47% of the popular votes.

The two years after the nation-wide disappointment at missing the opportunity for political change in Putrajaya on 13GE Polling Day on 5th May 3013 because of gerrymandering and unfair, unjust and undemocratic redelineation of parliamentary constituencies can be likened to a roller-coaster ride by Malaysians of high hopes for political change and virtual despair that such political change is possible because of an increasingly divided Pakatan Rakyat.

After the 13 general election, Pakatan Rakyat existed only in name – as PAS decided to renege on its commitment to adhere to the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework as well as the Pakatan Rakyat operational principle of consensus.

In retrospect, if Pakatan Rakyat had captured the majority of the parliamentary seats and the mandate to form the Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 13th General Election, Pakatan Rakyat would have been confronted with it first crisis even before the Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government was formed, as the PAS President had refused to accept Anwar Ibrahim as the Prime Minister candidate.

With the history of the PAS President refusing not only to accept Anwar as the Prime Minister of Malaysia, but also the PKR President Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the Mentri Besar of Selangor, as well as his decision to renege from th PR Common Policy Framework particularly on the hudud and local government election issues, what is the basis to hope that there could be a revival of Pakatan Rakyat co-operation and unity? Continue reading “With formation of Parti Amanah Negara and Pakatan Harapan, Malaysians can now hope again for political change in next general election after the roller-coaster ride of high hopes and virtual despair in the two years since the 13th GE”

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Despatching UMNO to Opposition benches in 14GE will be doing both UMNO and nation a great favour as it will not only promote healthy growth and development of democracy in Malaysia but will give UMNO the chance for reform and regeneration

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Malaysia last week, in the company of other ASEAN, Asian and Pacific leaders like President Xi Jingping of China, President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia for the ASEAN and Post-ASEAN Summits.

Modi is the fifth Prime Minister of India resulting from a change of government through the ballot box in a general election.

The first time India had a change of government through the ballot box was in the sixth Indian general election in 1977 when the Indian Congress which had ruled India for 30 years was voted out of office, replaced by an Opposition coalition headed by Morarji Desai of Janata party.

Indian Congress under Indira Gandhi won back federal power in the seventh Indian general election in 1980 but BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leading an Opposition coalition captured New Delhi in the 11th to 13th Indian General Elections from 1996 – 1999.

Indian Congress leading a coalition of parties won back the Indian Federal Government in the 14th and 15th General Elections in 2004 and 2008 under Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.

The last change of government through the ballot box was in the 16th Indian General Election in 2014 with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

This means that in 63 years in sixteen General Elections, there had been five changes of government between the Indian Congress and Opposition coalitions.

In comparison, Malaysia has held 13 General Elections in 56 years but there has not been a single change of Federal Government in Putrajaya form the UMNO-led coalition, which makes Malaysian democracy as a most abnormal one. Continue reading “Despatching UMNO to Opposition benches in 14GE will be doing both UMNO and nation a great favour as it will not only promote healthy growth and development of democracy in Malaysia but will give UMNO the chance for reform and regeneration”

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Pakatan has failed?

— Steven Sim
Malay Mail Online
Friday November 27, 2015

NOVEMBER 27 — My dear friends,

Forget which Pakatan for now. But let’s talk about the opposition and our coalition for all its worth.

I always say that I see the world in many shades — and really that makes me unsuited for politics. It is much easier to present a monochrome world, an either-or proposition, a yes-or-no question. Simply because these are… simpler.

So that I look at social media today, many people are whacking Pakatan for failing, I feel that there are more shades to the situation than the ones presented. Continue reading “Pakatan has failed?”

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Three million UMNO members and 21,000 UMNO branches must place “Save the country” as top national agenda as the UMNO President and leadership have lost national purpose and bearings

Malaysia is in unchartered waters.

We have a minority government which won only 47% of the popular vote in the 13th General Election but 60% of the parliamentary seats, allowing Datuk Seri Najib Razak to continue as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia though a minority Prime Minister for the first time in Malaysia.

For the first time in the nation’s history, the leadership structure and institutions in the country have never been so fractured, not only in the public services as in the civil service and the major agencies like the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara, the Attorney-General’s Chambers but also in UMNO and Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.

Never before in the nation’s history, as the country been plagued by so many national crisis at the same time – political, economic, good governance and nation-building.

Never before has the country been inundated by such twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB – which have become the subject of investigations by at least seven foreign countries, viz. United Kingdom, Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. Continue reading “Three million UMNO members and 21,000 UMNO branches must place “Save the country” as top national agenda as the UMNO President and leadership have lost national purpose and bearings”

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Abdul Azeez should return to Baling to publicly apologise for his “balik tongsan” and other offensive remarks in Parliament or he should be voted out in 14GE as betraying the trust of the Baling electorate

The UMNO Member of Parliament for Baling, Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahman made Baling infamous in Parliament when he betrayed the trust of the voters of Baling by making offensive remarks against other races and other MPs, like his derogatory “balik tongsan” remark in Parliament early this month.

Only those who have a narrow, extremist and intolerant mindset, completely at odds with the inclusive 1Malaysia policy, could regard the Chinese or any other ethnic group as inherently “disloyal” to Malaysia, and be so irresponsible as to flippantly hurl the derogatory term “balik tongsan” against the Malaysian Chinese, which was as good as telling them to “return to mainland China”.

Abdul Azeez made the remark in Parliament against DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, Jimmy Wong, during the committee stage of the 2016 Budget debate on the Home Ministry, causing outrage among right-thinking Members of Parliament and Malaysians.

Although Abdul Azeez, as a result of the protest by the DAP parliamentary whip, Anthony Loke (Seremban), was forced to retract the offensive and derogatory term “balik tongsan” in Parliament, he was never remorseful for his most unMalaysian conduct for he never apologised for it.

Abdul Azeez should return to Baling to publicly apologise for his “balik tongsan” and other offensive remarks in Parliament or he should be voted out in 14GE as betraying the trust of the Baling electorate.

All genuine Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, must be offended by Abdul Azeez’s “balik tongsan” remark, for it shows the utter failure of Malaysian nation-building when an UMNO Member of Parliament could make such offensive and derogatory remark against other races in the country. Continue reading “Abdul Azeez should return to Baling to publicly apologise for his “balik tongsan” and other offensive remarks in Parliament or he should be voted out in 14GE as betraying the trust of the Baling electorate”

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Let 2015 be another historic milestone in Baling, marking not only the formation of DAP and AMANAH in Baling, but the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win Kedah state government in 14GE

DAP State Chairman and Assemblyman for Derga, Sdr. Tan Kok Yew just now regaled us about the three historic milestones of Baling, viz:

*the 1956 Baling Peace talks featuring Tunku Abdul Rahman, David Marshall and Chin Peng;

*the 1974 Baling hunger strike by peasants protesting against poverty, featuring Anwar Ibrahim and resulting in his detention under the Internal Security Act;

*the 1985 tragic Memali Incident which left 18 dead.

Let us make 2015 a fourth historic milestone for Baling, for it is in this year that two political parties were formed in Baling – Parti Amanah Negara and DAP.

Even more significant, let the formation of Parti Amanah Negara and DAP in Baling in 2015, together with the establishment of Pakatan Harapan, mark the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win the Kedah state government in the 14th General Election which must be be held within 30 months in 2018. Continue reading “Let 2015 be another historic milestone in Baling, marking not only the formation of DAP and AMANAH in Baling, but the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win Kedah state government in 14GE”

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Birth of AMANAH and formation of Pakatan Harapan re-ignited the lost hopes of Malaysians for political change in 14GE which had been dampened or destroyed in the past two years by a mutinous PAS in Pakatan Rakyat

The birth of Parti Amanah Negara and the formation of Pakatan Harapan in the past three months have re-ignited the lost hopes of Malaysians for political change in the 14th General Election which had been dampened or destroyed in the past two years by a mutinous PAS in Pakatan Rakyat.

Despite the treasury of the then secret RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts for the general election campaign (breaking all election laws in the country on money politics), the 13th General Election in May 2013 was held with highest-ever public hopes for political change in Putrajaya in the nation’s 13 general elections since Merdeka in 1957.

This was borne out by the 13GE results, as for the first time in the nation’s electoral history, the Opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat secured the majority of total votes cast while the UMNO-led governing coalition since Merdeka secured only 47% of the popular votes.

However, because of the undemocratic and unfair delineation of parliamentary constituencies, which translated UMNO/BN’s 47% of the national votes into 60% of the 222 seats in Parliament, Datuk Seri Najib Razak continued as the country’s first minority Prime Minister who failed to command the support of the majority of the voters in the country.

Public disappointment and disillusionment with the cohesion, unity and sense of purpose of Pakatan Rakyat set in swiftly after the 13th General Election when one of the three component parties, PAS, decided to play rogue and refused to abide by the PR consensus principle as well as the PR common policy framework, resulting in the final disintegration of Pakatan Rakyat in the middle of this year. Continue reading “Birth of AMANAH and formation of Pakatan Harapan re-ignited the lost hopes of Malaysians for political change in 14GE which had been dampened or destroyed in the past two years by a mutinous PAS in Pakatan Rakyat”

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Johor will head the list of states Pakatan Harapan aims to win and form State Government in the 14GE on the way to Putrajaya

The launching of Parti Amanah Negara (AMANAH) in Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency a week after AMANAH’s official launch in Johor is a sign of AMANAH’s thrust and momentum in preparation for the next general elections which must be held in less than 30 months.

In the 14th General Election, Johor will the front-line state and Johor will head the list of states Pakatan Harapan aims to win and form the State Government on the way to Federal power in Putrajaya.

Until the 2008 General Election, Johor was the impregnable and invincible state of Umno/BN, so much so that UMNO/BN leaders boasted about making Johore a zero-Opposition state in the 12th GE in 2008.

However, the political landscape in Johor underwent a drastic and fundamental change in the 12th and 13th General Elections, and Johor politics will never be the same again as compared to the first five decades after Merdeka in 1957.

In the 13th GE in 2013, Pakatan Rakat comprising DAP, PKR and PAS achieved the “Great Leap” forward in Johor with PR representation in the Johor State Assembly tripled from six to 18 seats, one seat short of denying the BN its two-thirds majority in the Johor State Assembly.

If there was a fair and democratic “one man, one vote” delineation of constituencies, PR should have won another eight seats, i.e.26 out of a total of 56 State Assembly seat in Johore as PR secured 46% per cent of the total votes cast for the Johore State Assembly seats.

The Opposition parties are not asking for another trebling of State Assembly seats in the 14th GE, but only to double our seats from 18 to 36 seats, which will see the formation of a Pakatan Harapan state government in Johor. Continue reading “Johor will head the list of states Pakatan Harapan aims to win and form State Government in the 14GE on the way to Putrajaya”