Malaysia Votes Tomorrow

In about 9 hours, Malaysians will be going out to vote in the 14th General Election (GE14). Many say this might be a historic defining moment that may see Barisan Nasional (BN) become the Opposition Party in Parliament.

This time, Tun Mahathir is leading the charge at 92 of age. He could be enjoying life but has chosen to stand with the Opposition to challenge BN to Putrajaya.

This was never in anyone’s wildest dreams. With Anwar locked away, Tun M was a natural choice. And banding together PKR, Bersatu, DAP and Amanah, and yes, standing under the PKR logo only, Tun M is also making history of sorts.

It is left to be seen if voters for the Opposition can overcome the gerrymandering, the flippant decisions of Election Commission (EC), the incredulous promises made by Najib, the various tricks to prevent a big turnout, Malaysians must come out to vote.

Whatever results that may appear tomorrow should be seen as clean and fair in the eyes of all Malaysians and the world.

Will it be more of Najib’s offers or will it be a fresh and just new government? Even Umno doesn’t believe they can change.

Culture, especially a bad one, cannot be slowly nursed to be good. It must take the shock therapy of serious soul searching and humility, neither is found in Umno.

In light of the constant denials of wrongdoings, there is really nobody who dares to pry into all allegations anymore with Najib having consolidated his powers.

GE14 is about what the people say, if it is at least enough to turn the tide or Najib will have outfoxed his one-time mentor?

Will Malaysians see a new tomorrow or more of the same?

We shall know by early Thursday morning.

So, go vote, fellow Malaysians. Do your duty. Stay safe!

Wan Azizah shows the numbers, PAS duo gains the respect

PKR Wan Azizah, State rep for Kajang, had a press conference today together with 29 other reps from PKR, DAP and PAS. A total of 30 reps came out to declare a loss of confidence against MB Khalid in public. This is more than a simple majority of 28. A possible catch is that one of them is the Speaker of the State Assembly, Hannah Yeoh, who can cast her vote in the event of a tie in a no-confidence motion.

Anyway, as expected, Khalid brushed this aside as he says to wait until November when the house meets again to allow for the no-confidence motion. Meanwhile, he is getting ever so bold to change things in the Selangor State administration. He has only 4 PAS reps in the Exco now given that the remaining PKR rep resigned today. This is the minimum number allowed in the State Constitution. This may change on Sunday when PAS leadership meets to decide on their position.

The two PAS reps, Hulu Kelang Saari Sungib and Morib Hasnul Baharuddin, gained full respect of the voters as they stood up for Pakatan Rakyat without fear or favor. They were steadfast even in light of threats of investigation by PAS. They stood up for what they believed for, not themselves but the interest of Selangor and PR. Many voters asked where their PAS reps were given their support was crucial for such an important event. Alas, they chose to toe the line to wait for Sunday while Selangor burns with Khalid’s ridiculous moves.

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?

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?

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.

The facts of NFC debacle

The National Feedlot Centre (NFC) and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) have been confusing the public a lot. In many cases, it has been used interchangeably but they are actually two separate entities. In actual fact, based on the AG Report 2010, the two have no legal agreement with each other at all. This is a highly engineered piece of work by those involved. Here is the attempt to clear some of the fog covering the so-called debacle and is based on the AG Report 2010