PAS Polls Gives Clarity to Pakatan

PAS wrapped up their party polls yesterday with Hadi Awang, the incumbent President since 2002, swept the positions with the pro-ulama faction leaving the so-called professionals biting the dust. The professionals faction had a poor showing. Mat Sabu, the ex-Deputy President, as well as the ex-VPs in Husam Musa, Mahfuz Omar and Sallehudin Ayub all lost their positions. Central committee members like Khalid Samad, Mohammad Hanipa Maidin and Dr Dzukelfy Ahmad also lost their positions. These were members who were critical of Hadi and vocal against his position of unilateral decisions in the Kelantan hudud issue and of PAS relationship with Pakatan, particularly DAP.

Indeed the polls have given clarity to the direction of PAS members. Although the professionals faction garnered about 20% of the votes, it is now crystal clear where the members want the party to head. They want a firm leadership like Hadi who can stand his ground against other parties and head down a path that the old warrior of Nik Aziz will not travel, namely, a path of cooperation with Umno.

With Hadi remaining at the helm, it also helps Pakatan to be clear of what to do next. DAP will have to cut ties with PAS for sure this time. There is no way Lim Guan Eng will continue entertaining the whims of Hadi and it is sure to signal a breakage in the Pakatan pact. PKR will not be able to hold them together as the glue was Anwar who is now incarcerated. The coming days will see the various parties having to make the hard decision to kick PAS out of the Pakatan group and suffer the consequences. PAS has said that they can win their political war alone without the help of others but that remains as a hollow rhetoric.

PAS Youth Nothing Better To Do

It was reported today that PAS Youth wants to “hold a protest to condemn both the murder of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists as well as the weekly’s move to continue publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.” (read here). Why would they want to bother on something so far away while the urgent issues affecting them directly here are ignored?

Clarity of Pakatan Rakyat Break-up with PAS

After a month of arduous representation to the Sultan of Selangor and his royal “anger” at PKR and DAP regarding their “disobedience” to his decree to have at least 2 names nominated, while PAS at their Central Committee level agree to nominate Wan Azizah and Azmin finally ended up with Hadi Awang nominating 3 candidates totally different from the PAS CC, including one PAS candidate.

PAS is having their Muktamar and all eyes are on them, including the Sultan. According to news reporting his royal decision on the new MB, it stated that HRH is waiting for the PAS meeting to conclude before deciding on the new MB but the installation date is set for next Tuesday. Presumably, invitations have already gone out but is kept private for now.

Constitution lawyers are surprised by the secrecy shrouding the appointment of the new MB by the Sultan, if the constitution is actually being followed. That is the only basis of the appointment, if the ADUN has the majority support of the house. If that is breached, it will plunge the state into chaos.

PAS Oversteps Pakatan Rakyat Boundary

PAS decided this morning that they will stay in Pakatan Rakyat in solidarity of the coalition but surprised everyone to recommend not only Wan Azizah but included Azmin as well. How can a coalition party member who agreed that the MB post should go to PKR recommend other candidates? PAS will never accept it if DAP or PKR had nominated somebody else for the MB of Kelantan but they would do this to PKR. Such is an uncalled for position for an equal coalition partner. Seriously undermining PKR leadership, PAS dug another hole after climbing out of one today.

Selangor Dilemma

The open move to replace Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim with Wan Azizah does not appear smooth at all. The Selangor Sultan has made open his thoughts and getting his approval may be a hurdle. The MB Khalid is not budging and insist that he will stay until the end of his term. PAS President Hadi Awang voiced his view of status quo although the PAS leadership seems to endorse the change together with DAP.

It is the latest expose of the PAS central committee Whatsapp screenshot of a very sensitive conversation now released on the Internet has stirred serious emotions. The contents of the conversation points to the Operations Director Dr Zuhdi suggesting for PAS to leave Pakatan Rakyat and join forces with Umno to retain control and to suggest that the year end delineation can strengthen Malay candidates to ensure that the minority voters cannot raise their issues effectively. Dr Zuhdi did not dispute the authenticity but rather defended that this was merely his analysis as requested by the central party members. He felt that he is being wrongly accused, according to his facebook posting.

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?

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.

Absurdities in Malaysia – Signs of GE13 round the corner

There are many absurd things happening in Malaysia that baffles the man on the street. Why are things that matter not being worked on? Like inflation, corruption, jobs, etc? Here is a round up of absurdities this week.

1. Lie Detector Test

MIC Welfare and Social Bureau deputy chairman R Ramanan was reported to have called for Penang MB Lim GE, his wife and a woman alleged by MCA that he had an affair with to take the lie detector test (read here).

What will politicans dream of nowadays? First, they make wild allegations in Parliament. Then it is presumed to be true by the MSM. The lie detector test is novel and perhaps all BN politicians should take it. Are we living in a “you are guilty until you prove your innocence“? And MCA Gan dare not repeat that allegation outside of Parliament. So who is the scardy cat now? Abusing the Parliamentary freedom of speech with unfounded allegations only for political mileage. Gutter politics is a sign of politicians impoverished of focusing on things that matter. At least

Vell Paari, who is also the party’s public relations and communications chief of MIC, had the decency to disapprove of Ramanan’s crap but stopped short of censuring him.

2. Polls Expenses from 40m to 700m

This must be the age of Malaysian Government printing money where our PM Najib is going around behaving like Santa Claus giving away RM100 there, RM500 here. Then the quarterly request for budget increase for 2012 over what was tabled last year, 30B here and there.

So the Election Commission must have caught the vision from Najib that they too can do the same. They have requested RM700m to conduct the next General Election, the most expensive in history. Obviously, poor Malaysians are not aware that the EC is trying to get into the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records for spending the most in Malaysian history. Malaysia Boleh! (read here).

Who stands to benefit from this out-of-the-world increase in expenses? EC should declare to all Malaysians because they are paying for this.

3. Crime Awareness on the Rise

Opposition Does NOT Have To Announce Shadow Cabinet

There are calls by many quarters for the Opposition to announce a shadow cabinet. These are foolish demands by vested interest parties who knows nothing of political parties setting up a cabinet.

I don’t believe the Opposition needs to do that for the federal cabinet or for BN to announce one for Selangor.

It is definitely too premature to announce a cabinet because we don’t know how the GE13 results will turn out. How many seats will each party win? Will the intended leadership personalities win their seats?

Why put the cart before the horse? Even in the US Presidential elections, the only known role is the so-called shadow Vice President, the presidential candidate’s running mate.

President Obama only appointed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State after he won the presidential election as with his “cabinet”.

So why is everybody clamoring for Pakatan Rakyat to announce a shadow cabinet? Maybe there are other parties that need to join forces to form the government. We shouldn’t think that there are only BN or PR only in the next GE13. We shouldn’t assume PR will win or BN will lose.

Enough About Hudud, On with the Economy!

The Hudud Issue has taken forefront over the other national issues particularly the electoral reforms as well as economic recovery actions.

It has become a political tool rather than a legal and religious matter. First, it was an attack on historical accuracy about our past if we were colonized or not. Then the independence fighter issue that revolved around the communists that Mat Sabu caused a stir.

It’s become an Umno vs Pas in multi-chapter episodes that the country has forgotten how serious the economic challenges are to Malaysia. The Greece potential financial repayment defaults will have a massive downside for us but we seem to be more concerned about raising hudud issues.

The Christian community has voiced out that there are no concerns as long as there is iron clad guarantee that non-Muslims are not affected.