Parliament May Be Dissolved Tomorrow for GE14

It seems that with the rushing through of the Fake News Bill as well as the passing of the Redelineation Exercise through the final Parliament sitting recently indicate the imminent announcement of GE14.

Tomorrow, Friday 6 April, will be a special Cabinet Meeting in the morning moved from Wednesday and is also the final day sitting of the Parliament. Because there was no Cabinet Meeting yesterday, the fuel pump prices remain unchanged. Perhaps, it will remain unchanged until after the next Government assembles because the current BN Government will only be a caretaker after the dissolution of Parliament.

On the next day, Saturday 7 April, BN will announce their manifesto and a lot of news breaks have been alluding to the fact that our PM Najib has never announced the manifesto unless he calls for the General Election.

As such, tomorrow will be a timely moment for him to do so. The Rakyat of Malaysia has been long awaiting this GE14 as our PM Najib has been teasing since last year but it never did materialize. This suspense has inadvertently hurt the economy because all the anticipation for the GE14 do cause anxiety and suspense to Government and Corporate procurement.

And PM Najib is most likely to announce GE14 tomorrow which is much welcomed!

Malaysia At A Standstill

The PM has been sworn in. So did the Cabinet except for 5 individuals who should not have joined in at the time as they were not made Senators yet. The new term begins with a fiasco yet to be rectified. There has been rallies by PR and NGOs showing anger at alleged fraud and also directed at the Election Commission (EC) demanding reforms and for the heads to step down.

Obviously, none of the rallies and demands will be met because the Govt will not want to bow down to such pressure. In turn, they started to arrest PR leaders and activists but ignore pro-Umno bloggers and Utusan Malaysia and even Perkasa. The show of power to silence the Opposition is back.

Such is the beginnings of Najib’s new term. Uncertainty, draconian acts, selective prosecutions, all being the continuation of his previous term. No reforms are evident although Najib has reiterated that he will want to do so. While spewing such promises, the Sedition Act is used again. And arrests made to show power and strike fear into Malaysians.

Early Observations of GE13 Results

The votes are finalized and announced by SPR. BN wins 133 over PR 89 seats in Parliament. BN governs all states except Penang, Kelantan and Selangor. PR gains 7 additional seats. All this with strong underlying presence of alleged fraud with phantom voters and unfair main stream media coverage.

Najib’s initial reaction is that he did not expect the Chinese votes to swing so extreme (read here). His line of reasoning was covered with racial overtones with blames on the Chinese community and voting along racial lines.

This off-the-cuff reaction speaks very loudly that Najib’s line of thinking is very racial indeed. In psychological evaluation, one is tested on quick first thing in the mind reaction which shows how Najib thinks. He forgets that there are Malays who voted PR and the popular vote for PR was higher than BN. Why must everything be racial? Because that is how BN thinks and works.

In the calling for national reconciliation, will Najib remains focused on racial lines or will he take the nation beyond race to needs? Unfortunately, not many believes he will change much. It will be flowery rhetorics with racial policies underlying national strategies. But we shall give him a chance and see.

What actually happened in GE13?

What can we expect AFTER GE13?

With the GE13 date set for May 5, we will see the culmination of Malaysia’s longest campaign period in our history. Although the formal campaign period is 15 days from Nomination Day, the unofficial campaigning started since PM Najib took over the reins from Pak Lah. For the past 4 years, Malaysians have gotten all kinds of goodies shoved at them with little economic fundamental progress. Whether they be budgets, programs, policies or expenditures, they are all short term designed to create the impression of strategy but with the intent to make the people feel good about Najib.

Well, the time will soon come for the day of reckoning if all that is said by BN and PR are well understood by Malaysians to translate into real votes for either of these political alignments.

Every political party is on the campaign road knowing full well nobody will stop them anymore regardless of the fact that the official campaigning period is not yet here. Everyday on TV, we will see how Najib pronounce the fact that BN is the savior of Malaysia and everybody else is rubbish.

Then, again, no Govt linked media will ever say anything bad about the ruling parties so that Malaysians will believe anything the media says and BN can do no wrong and there is everything wrong with the Opposition.

Thanks to the Internet and the alternate media, Malaysians can now assess for themselves both sides of the story. It appears that the Opposition has made significant inroads to the Internet savvy voters but those who are not so savvy may be missed out. More work to be done, obviously.

Fast forward to after GE13 and *&^%#$ has won the elections and now the Federal Govt.

We have two very distinct eventualities to consider. Many people are unaware that both BN and PR offers Malaysians two different destinies. Their manifestos may be incomplete but their general sense of direction are diverging. Furthermore, there are many intentions of both BN and PR that are not mentioned in their manifestos.

BN Destiny

Najib promises to fight graft if re-elected: Too Little, Too Late?

Najib promised more specialist graft courts and greater public disclosure of government contracts if BN is allowed to extend its 55 years of unbroken rule, according to a manifesto he unveiled at his first election rally since dissolving Parliament on April 3.

“My sincere apologies to all Malaysians IF we have done anything wrong,” the caretaker prime minister said in his speech, which had been broadcasted live on national television.
“At the end of the day, we are ORDINARY humans. IF we are given a strong mandate, I can assure you that we will do better in the NEXT five years. (emphasis mine)” This was what PM Najib said during the controversial live broadcast of the BN manifesto last Saturday night (read here).

Too little, too late, Mr Prime Minister. Way too little.

For 56 years when BN (read Umno) and now Najib is ruling, nothing much was really done but much said about graft and doing their best for the Rakyat.

Here is a gentle reminder to the NEXT Government.

YOU ARE VOTED BY THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR BEST INTERESTS. Malaysia is supposed to be governed by the people and for the people. Not for self interests.

What Najib should be saying is as follows:

The Final Leg Before The GE13 Finish Line

Malaysians expect the mother of all General Elections in the coming GE13. Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are pulling everything out of their hats to build a strong perception amongst voters in a yet to be called General Election.

This is the longest unofficial campaign period ever in the history of Malaysia’s elections. Ever since PM Najib took over the reins from Pak Lah, he has hinted to seek a mandate but has never dared to call for one, even until now. We are staring at the end of April 2013 as the automatic end of Parliament if Najib does not call for its dissolution earlier. For now, Negri Sembilan has gone into caretaking mode with the rest of the state parliaments following suit over the next month or two.

So, what can we expect now?

1. Najib’s Strong Closing and Finishing

Being the incumbent although without the so-called mandate, Najib will always be poised to pose a very formidable close to his reign as the current PM. His so-called “State of the Union” address last was designed to spew all kinds of numbers and stats to generate a positive impression of his government’s work-in-progress in all areas of social, economic and financial development. Of course, much of the realities are yet to be felt by the man-on-the-street regardless of how much he elevates the country’s progress. In fact, people feel that they are well behind financially and economically.

So, how is it that our PM says everything is beautiful and the people says huh?

Who will be the next PM?

As much as questions fielded to Pakatan Rakyat as to who will be their choice for the PM position in the event they win the GE13, the same question should also be asked of Barisan Nasional as if current PM Najib will continue to be one if they win with a lesser majority than during ex-PM Abdullah Badawi in 2008.

Tun M has voiced out his opinion that Najib is weak and if a lesser majority is obtained by him, Tun M believes Najib should be replaced. Of course, he gave a caveat that it was to be the decision the of Umno Supreme Council. The observation of most political analysts actually concurs with Tun M and if Badawi had to go for historical poorest performance, so should Najib in following the precedent. Read here for an analysis that BN will not get a 2/3 majority in the GE13.

BN has been trying to shake the PR tree playing up a strawman that Anwar may not be the PR choice for PM because of objections from PAS. At the same time, BN is playing ignoramus regarding Najib’s position as PM and Najib knows it all too well.

That is why the GE13 will now be held at the very last possible moment that Najib can call. It is very clear by now he has missed all the best timing over the past 3 years and has placed Malaysia in a state of flux guessing the GE13. The expected date will now be mid-April for dissolving Parliament and EC shall call for the GE in mid-May with a possible 10 days of campaigning. Otherwise, Najib’s term automatically expires on 30th April and the constitution will take over from there onwards.

What is clear will be as follows:

DPM Desperate Appeal To Selangorians

DPM Muhyiddin was reported to appeal to the residents in Selangor to vote for BN in the coming General Election as they are supposedly duped by the PKR-led state government (read Duped for four years – Selangor folks need to choose, says DPM). Muhyiddin cited the BN standard accusation of a purported water crisis to impact Selangor in 2014 if the Langat 2 project is not supported by MB Khalid. Obviously, Muhyiddin forgot to mention how well Selangor had performed in their governance based on the Auditor General Report 2011. They were tops with resounding accolades but this does not augur well for a BN appeal. Furthermore, BN never had such recognition by the Auditor General as long as our memory serves us well.

The appeal appears to be a desperate measure without merit. There must be something BN can latch on since PR is not perfect, far from it. But what can that be?

That is the million Ringgit question that Najib and Muhyiddin are trying to find answers so that they can stump PR and get the residents of Selangor to see the reality of the failures of the state government. Only then will the voters swing over to BN again.

Even when the MSM who favors the ruling Federal Government cannot find real failures of the Selangor state government until today, it appears that the PR government is really doing something dramatically good beyond what the previous BN government can do. And all within the past 4 years.

The voters must be wondering if the same state government continues to rule for many more years, will Selangor continue to prosper and the residents enjoy the fruit of the prosperity?

Vandalizing AES Cameras not right!

Bernama reported that 4 AES cameras have been vandalized in Perak since October (read Four AES Cameras In Perak Vandalised – RTD).

This is very unbecoming of Malaysians to vandalize the property of another. We are not uncouth, we are not uncultured, we are not uncivilized. We are Malaysians and we condemn such acts.

Yes, we Malaysians are not happy at all with the implementation of AES but vandalizing the property of others does not make it right either.

How Should We Now Vote, Malaysia?

MALAYSIANS DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THEY VOTE FOR!

The Umno General Assembly is now over. The well coordinated and choreographed presidential meeting of Umno has done the job. Its members are feeling confused to what they swore, some feeling humored and most couldn’t figure out what they are supposed to swear on as the words came out of Umno President Najib’s mouth.

The final verdict seems to contend that Umno was trying to create a perception that it has changed, it is now more united under Najib, it can stand strong to fight in what is probably the mother of all General Election in Malaysia, it has stamped out dissent, it can show that Umno remains the backbone of BN and also the defender of the Malays, and the focus is on the enemy Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar.

Yes, that is what the media will want you to believe. It is what Umno wants you to believe and they did a rather good job at that. All the toned down rhetorics and crocodile tears shed along the way shows that Malaysian show business is not dead at all. And Umno is a natural at this gauging from the conduct over the past few days of the Umno General Assembly.

So kudos to Najib and the Umno leadership for the perception generated. Umno is ready for a bruising battle for sure.

But such attracts controversial comments from opponents like Lim KS, Anwar and Hadi Awang. Fear mongering, they say. No vision and substance to lead the country. No focus on what matters for the rakyat. Etcetera etcetera…

We watched the PAS Congress in November demonstrate that it is now stronger than ever and ready to tackle hard issues and people centric issues. PAS is focusing on a strong leadership display and invoked a controversial prayer on the failing of Umno in the coming GE13. That obviously drew disdain from Umno who retorted in the recent General Assembly.

But such is politics in Malaysia. Umno with its own recipe of rhetorics on race, religion and royalty against the opposition on economics, people well-being, eradicating corruption, better governance, lowering the economic burden, etc now resonate across the country.