‘BN=perintah’ formula wins Sarawak rural seats

Keruah Usit

‘Vote for Ubah, vote for hope’ was the rallying call of DAP’s urban candidates Chong Chien Jen and Julian Tan Kok Ping, at their closing ceramah in Kuching, Sarawak, on May 4, the eve of polling day.

More than 25,000 people responded with eager cheers. Urban voters were looking forward, in hope and confidence.

“Don’t be afraid to vote for Pakatan (Rakyat),” was the message of the PKR’s articulate candidate for Mambong, Willie Mongin, at his final ceramah at Siburan, 27km away.

He was addressing some 500 suburban and rural voters, mostly Bidayuh and Chinese. These voters were looking over their shoulders in fear.

Analysts: For Malaysia’s sake, stop bickering

G Vinod

Political analysts agree that both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat should have a ceasefire and work in a bipartisan effort to help in the national reconciliation exercise.

With both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat still at loggerheads after the general election, analysts today called for both parties to come together in a bipartisan effort to facilitate the national reconciliation process.

Since the 13th general election, several BN leaders have embarked on racial salvos against the Chinese community for voting overwhelmingly in favour of the opposition pact.

Pakatan had also refused to recognise BN’s win and had kickstarted a series of public rallies alleging there were electoral irregularities during polling day and said that the BN is now leading a minority government as it got lower number of popular voters.

Standing up to bullying

The Malaysian Insider 

Finally, it comes down to motive. Why did Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan put herself in harm’s way, put her law practice on the backburner, and travel the length and breadth of the country educating Malaysians on clean and fair elections?

Because she believes that if we want a better government, better governance and a country that we can be proud of, then individuals must leave their comfort zones and take a stand.

Her courage and single-mindedness has come with a price, from clowns urging that her citizenship be revoked to the bum parade outside her home.

Pakatan MPs to use parliamentary strength to block unfair redelineation

CLARA CHOOI

People queue at a polling station in Gelang Patah, May 5, 2013.

 Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal lawmakers have vowed to make full use of their increased parliamentary numbers to ensure constituencies are fairly redrawn when the Election Commission (EC) kicks off the redelineation exercise this year-end.

PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli reminded that if the exercise involves an increase in seat numbers, a two-thirds majority vote is needed to approve the changes before they are passed by the lower House.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) does not have required two-thirds majority in Parliament, with only 133 seats to PR’s 89 seats, and will require votes from opposition lawmakers to approve the exercise.

So, what are the best ways to national unity?

H. Lee

I was disappointed to read the article “The best ways to national unity” in a mainstream English daily today. The panellists of the Cafe Latte chat included Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran, lawyer and human rights activist Latheefa Koya, Labis MP Chua Tee Yong and management consultant Anas Zubedy. Newsman Philip Golingai served as moderator.

I am not sure how much of the chat was reported verbatim, but it appears to me that half the time the panellists went off tangent. It was a discussion about national unity, but they talked so much about the elections and we were left wondering, so, what are the best ways to national unity?

It is a pity the panel moderator did little to manage the direction of the discussion. He should have set the rules that panellists should not use the forum to promote their political ideologies. I have nothing against politicians speaking a forum like this as long as they contribute constructively towards the cause intended, instead of wasting time attacking each other.

Two-thirds of Pakatan GE13 wins in multi-racial seats, research shows

ZURAIRI AR

Online research house PoliTweet.org said BN gained most of its votes from rural federal seats while PR increased its support from urban and semi-urban areas in GE13.KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won in 59 mixed-race federal seats, almost double its 30 wins in Chinese-majority seats in Malaysia’s Election 2013, according to a new research, debunking Barisan Nasional’s (BN) claim of a “Chinese Tsunami” that cost it more losses.

Independent online research house PoliTweet.org also said the ruling BN gained most of its votes from rural federal seats while PR increased its support from urban and semi-urban areas in the South-east Asian nation chasing developed nation status by 2020.

“BN represents the rural majority and can retain power with rural and semi-urban seats alone. This election highlighted PR’s weak areas which are rural seats, Bumiputra Sabah majority and Bumiputra Sarawak majority seats,” said the report, which can be found on PoliTweet’s official blog.

IS IT POSSIBLE: The de-racialisation of BN

Yang Razali Kassim

On the 44th anniversary of the May 13, 1969, racial riots that gave birth to it, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) displayed signs of being in existential angst.

Though it won the 13th general election on May 5 by securing the most parliamentary seats, BN lost the popular vote and failed to wrest back its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the face of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) strong showing.

While BN was relieved to have been returned to power, the results were a body blow that sent it into deep introspection. A significant upshot has been a proposal to transform itself from the current model of a coalition of communal parties into a single, merged multi-racial entity.

Ambiga: Bersih’s ‘People’s Tribunal’ a ‘moral force’ to expose electoral fraud

CLARA CHOOI

Ambiga said the tribunal will gather evidence of polls fraud.

Bersih 2.0’s “People’s Tribunal” may not have any legal standing but will serve as a “moral force” to publicly expose electoral fraud, said Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan when defending the polls watchdog’s final attempt at proving wrongdoing in the May 5 polls.

The renowned civil rights activist told The Malaysian Insider that Bersih 2.0 will soldier on with its plan to set up the tribunal which, she said, should be announced in two or three weeks’ time, despite earning condemnation from polls regulator Election Commission (EC).

“It is true that it is not set up under any law or statute. That is why it is called the People’s Tribunal,” she said.

Doing away with vernacular schools

Cheng Yi

As a parent of four kids, three of whom are still in the national school system, it is actually very heart-warming to see the children make friends with other students of all colour and creed, shapes and sizes, and gender.

In the short hour between end of school and start of co-curricular, my son will bring home his group of friends, and they mingle, eat together and call each other “bro”. But I realise this is sadly not the case for most other national schools, and even in my son’s school, the ratio of Malays to non-Malays is discouraging.

Somewhere in the 80s, I believe, there must have been a change in perception of the vernacular schools. When I was growing up, “Chinese school” kids were considered almost disadvantaged. They hardly spoke any English, and very bad Malay, (although their Math whipped a**) and had to waste a year attending remove classes, and national schools were the schools of choice.

SAVE RIVERS lodges police report against IHA and Sarawak Energy

Bruno Manser Fonds

The International Hydropower Assocation’s World Congress to be held in Kuching, Sarawak/ Malaysia, from 21 to 24 May 2013, is beginnig badly.

Peter Kallang, an important indigenous leader from Baram, Sarawak, has been barred this morning from a pre-congress workshop organized jointly by the International Hydropower Association (IHA), the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Despite having paid the horrendous IHA World Congress’ registration fee of USD 1750, Mr. Kallang was stopped this morning from boarding a bus to the International Hydropower Association’s pre-congress workshop at Sarawak Energy Bhd’s office. The reason given to Mr. Kallang was that he had written critical letters to the International Hydropower Association’s chairman, Richard Taylor, over the IHA’s cooperation with the regime of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and the association’ss policy to exclude affected indigenous people from the congress.

Thugs in Penang disrupt vigil for Adam Adli

Low Chia Ming

A candlelight vigil by some 30 people in front of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) showing solidarity with detained student Adam Adli Abdul Halim was disrupted by a rowdy group last night.

The thugs, numbering about 10, shoved a student and Suaram coordinator Sean Ho and hit two journalists on their arms during the vigil.

Police Special Branch officers and Universiti Sains Malaysia security personnel were present, but they did not take any action against the thugs.

The vigil began about 8.20pm with the singing of theNegaraku, followed by several brief talks given by participants.

For the love of God, he speaks

RK Anand

The 73-year-old cleric is passionate about his chosen path, and his faith and conviction motivate him to speak out against injustices, which has earned him both bouquets and brickbats.

JOHOR BAHRU: Step into the office and his four-legged companions are the first to greet you. Among the canine entourage, are two beautiful German Shepherds called Max and Bella. The rest are Beagles and a Doberman Pinscher.

Bishop Paul Tan loves his dogs, and never tires talking about them. He recalled how he had been given Bella when she was a two-month-old pup, and was thus forced to play the role of a surrogate mother.

The 73-year-old cleric is just as passionate about his chosen path, and his faith and conviction motivate him to speak out against injustices, which has earned him both bouquets and brickbats.

Malaysia hydropower meeting to open amid controversy

AFP 

This file photo shows a general view of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam on the Balui River, west of Belaga, in Malaysia’s Sarawak state, on September 21, 2011. The world hydroelectric industry’s decision to meet in Sarawak where dams have uprooted rainforests and native peoples is drawing bitter fire from environmental and tribal groups.

The world hydroelectric industry’s decision to meet in a Malaysian state where dams have uprooted rainforests and native peoples is drawing bitter fire from environmental and tribal groups.

The International Hydropower Association’s (IHA) four-day biennial meeting to push “sustainable hydropower” opens Tuesday in Kuching, the languid capital of Sarawak state on Borneo island, and a highly contentious choice.

DEAD SET AGAINST BN!

Christopher Fernandez

Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians are still absolutely clueless, retaining their foggy ideas about democracy as practiced in the past and failing to realize that Malaysians no longer want to play by the rules of the past.

The 12th and 13th general elections clearly show that a new Malaysia is emerging and Malaysians now see partisan politics as out-of-sync with the prevailing realities of the country which is really in line with globalization.

What Malaysians of all walks of life want is not being adhered to by BN and that is precisely why the ruling coalition is beginning to lose a lot of ground and support and followers. And it is not just the Chinese who are dead set against the governance of BN.

Blame yourself for defeat, Meonet tells Pakatan

Athi Shankar

The opposition pact did not have an effective strategy to net rural votes, says the election observer group.

GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Rakyat lost the recent general election because its campaign strategy was faulty, not because it was the victim of fraud, according to the Malaysian Election Observers Network (Meonet).

Meonet chief Ong Boon Keong said today that his organisation’s ground study found Pakatan did not have an effective strategy to penetrate Barisan Nasional’s rural vote bank, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.

He noted that virtually all of Pakatan’s claims of fraud involved urban constituencies, where it was more successful than BN.

Pakatan: It’s BN that’s detrimental to democracy

Mkini

Pakatan Rakyat today hit out at the BN government for investigating student activist Adam Adli for allegedly being detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and claims that it is the ruling coalition that has threatened parliamentary democracy.

In a joint statement by PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan, DAP Youth chief Teo Kok Seong and PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (right), the trio said that BN has destroyed democracy by clinging to power although it does not have the support of the majority.

“It is BN that is detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and not Adam Adli. BN has destroyed the value of democracy by continuing to shamelessly rule despite having less than 50 percent of the support in Malaysia,” they said.

Beyond GE13

Wong Chin Huat

AND so the Barisan Nasional (BN) is still in power. Those hoping for a change in government are still coming to terms with the results of the 13th general election since our independence (GE13). The Nut Graph asks political scientist Wong Chin Huat how the BN won, why it would racialise the poll results, and what needs to happen next.

So, the BN is still in power. How did that happen, considering that there was such an upsurge in support for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), as reflected in the increase in popular vote for the PR?

The PR’s vote share has risen from 36% in 2008 to 51% in 2013, but its seat share merely increased from 36% to 40% and the BN continues to rule despite more voters rejecting it than supporting it. This is the outcome of malapportionment where constituencies are of unequal electorate sizes, and of gerrymandering – manipulating constituency boundaries to benefit certain parties.

People’s fiesta to ‘take back democracy’

Alyaa Azhar

The rakyat just want to take back the stolen democracy, says SAMM’s Chegubard.

The people’s fiesta is not about toppling the government, rather, it is about taking back democracy, claimed NGO Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chairman Badrul Hisham Shahrin.

Badrul Hisham, also known as Chegubard, said a coalition made up of nearly 50 NGOs named the People’s Voice 505 (Suara Rakyat 505) will be launching an event on May 25 at Padang Timur, located in front of Amcorp Mall to present evidences of electoral fraud in the 13th general election (GE13).

“We are going to the streets not to topple the government, but to re-claim democracy.

Inclusive Dayak pact to counter Najib

Joseph Tawie

Unless all Dayak MPs are ‘roped’ into the new entity, the community will continually be sidelined by future leaders fo Malaysia, says PRS president James Masing.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing is serious about merging his party with Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and wants talks on it to resume as soon as possible in view of the current political situation in the country.

“After analyzing the post cabinet appointments by (Prime Minister) Najib (Tun Razak), there is an urgent need for Dayak-based political parties to get together.

“Loose ends need to be tied up, and it must be inclusive where all Dayak MPs are roped into the new Dayak entity.

International Hydropower Association Delegates Told “Sack Sjotveit”!

Sarawak Report

Complicit in Corruption – the dossier on Sarawak Energy CEO Torstein Dale Sjotveit

An investigation by the Swiss NGO the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has revealed that Sarawak Energy’s Nowegian Chief Executive has handed more than US$220 million worth of contracts to companies controlled by the Taib family.

BMF therefore slams Torstein Dale Sjotveit as being “complicit” in Sarawak’s political corruption and has demanded he be sacked.

The release of the damning information in a report entitled “Complicit in Corruption – Taib’s Norwegian Power Man” comes at a high profile and sensitive moment, on the eve of the International Hydropower Association’s Conference in Kuching this week.

Umno Baru’s hidden agenda

Mariam Mokhtar

When Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – the new home minister – told disgruntled opposition supporters that they should migrate if they were unhappy with the results of GE13, he had unwittingly confessed that Umno Baru has a hidden agenda.
This little-known plan is Umno Baru’s mass immigration policy and is a deliberate ploy fuelled by political self-interests. Asking people to emigrate will ensure that Malaysia is populated largely by Umno Baru-putras and selected foreigners.

Zahid reluctantly acknowledged that the rakyat was disappointed with the rigging of the polls, but at the same time, he revealed the fears of Umno Baru leaders. The cheating did not go as smoothly and secretly as they had intended.

Was an ‘honest oversight’, Najib?

FMT Staff

SPDP will send Prime Minister Najib a petition signed by all its 40 branches statewide, urging him to appoint one full minister and two deputies from the party.

Dayak-majority Sarawak Progressive  Democratic Party (SPDP) has given Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak the benefit of the doubt over its exclusion from the federal cabinet.

Despite winning all its four parliamentary seats in the 13th general election, SPDP was dropped from the federal cabinet.

“We hope it is an honest oversight (on the part of the PM) as we cannot really imagine any other reasons,” said SPDP supreme council member James Laju Ambok.

Emergence of the new kingmakers

Awang Abdillah

The phenomenal ‘finding’ of the 13th GE is the emergence of the Dayak and KadazandusunMurut-based parties as the real “kingmakers”.

As soon as Najib Tun Razak, announced in the wee hours of May 6, 2013 that Barisan Nasional had won and he would form the government, he had set in motion the third tsunami.

The fraudulent results of the 13th general election held on May 5, 2013 could precipitate many diverse dimensional consequences.

Though BN won 133 seats and Pakatan Rakyat 89, both coalitions and the voters know that the BN victory was made possible through fraudulent means.

Stop the racial politicking

Jeswan Kaur

While racial discord continues to grow unhealthily in the country, premier Najib continues to be non-committal on this issue.

It is Malaysia’s greatest tragedy that despite being home to people of diverse faiths, mutual respect for one another’s religious beliefs is increasingly being compromised.

The culprits who engage in racial disrespect are none other than the country’s politicians, the very people who had assured to look after the rakyat’s welfare.

To a great extent, the damage done by these politicians has become irreversible, with racial harmony once enjoyed by Malaysians now becoming a thing of the past.

Kuching Conference Threatens Image Of International Hydropower Association

Sarawak Report

Millionaire Tostein Sjotveit poses with the kids he plans to wash out of their homes.

The Chief Executive of Taib’s closely controlled Sarawak Energy Board, the Norwegian Torstein Dale Sjotveit, has been working hard to merit his extraordinary four million dollar a year salary.

His principle job is to push through SCORE, which is the Chief Minister’s monstrous plan to build up to 50 dams in the state.

It is also to make sure that all the plum Sarawak Energy contracts go to Taib’s own family in the process.

Building ‘respectability’

Najib’s feckless and uninspiring cabinet

Mariam Mokhtar

Najib is impotent when tackling corruption, or defusing racial and religious tensions. His weakness as a leader is reflected in the Cabinet line-up

Najib Tun Razak’s defence of the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia which displayed a provocative headline, “What more do the Chinese want?” does nothing for national reconciliation, something which Najib promised to address, after GE-13.

Trying his best to placate an increasingly cynical public, Najib vowed to be a prime minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, state or political views.

He said, “I love my country …… We will also continue to promote moderation among multiracial

JUSTICE FOR ALL MALAYSIANS ?

J. D. Lovrenciear

It is very telling that the onslaught of racists slurs and demands for ‘Malays’ rights is all geared to distract the rakyat from the core issue that needs to be addressed affirmatively. Thank God too that the honorable citizens – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans and others have not fallen for the UMNO bait or the BN poison.

UMNO and its BN coalition are shrouding the electoral results that are being questioned by the rakyat. Their tactics so far is not fooling the rakyat who are determined to return the honor and glory to the nation and restore its dignity and pride in the eyes of the global community of citizens who are watching Malaysia very closely.

But it won’t work

I will not retire, says Anwar

Athi Shankar

‘But why should I retire? We won. Are Umno people stupid? We won and we will fight together with the people against this robbery, says Anwar at a Penang rally.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will not retire from active politics any time soon, hinting that he would still be around come the next general election.

The Permatang Pauh MP defied calls for him to retire by claiming that Pakatan Rakyat had actually “won” the 13th general election, only to be robbed by electoral frauds.

He said Pakatan’s popular votes, which were more than Barisan Nasional’s, proved that majority Malaysians have voted for a change of federal government.

BN’s transformation agenda is a sham

Azmin Ali

Well done, Zahid! By taking this high and mighty position as your first proclamation of ministerial power, you’ve shown both arrogance and stupidity.

Since the 13th general election, the nation is once again being treated to an endless dose of racist rhetoric that seemed to have died down just days before.

After Najib’s first ‘Chinese tsunami’ outburst, Perkasa and other self-proclaimed ‘champions’ of Malay rights have come out of the woodwork to do their ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ service.

Right on cue to Utusan Malaysia’s “What more do the Chinese want?” front page headline, former Court of Appeal judge, Mohd Noor Abdullah, raged about how this country is being economically colonised by the Chinese.

What Tsunami? It was a political awakening

P Dev Anand Pillai

Umno is up its tricks to ensure that future generations remain firmly in its grasp by keeping them intellectually challenged and incapable of thinking

I had always participated in the workings of general elections since the time I was a staff in the Suruhanjaya PilihanRaya Selangor in the early 90s. Being a Polling and Counting Agent (PACA) in 1999 and 2004 general elections gave me the insight as to how it all worked at the end of the day. But this time, it was different, what I witnessed was a coming together of the whole country with a motive to change the federal government for the first time in history, friends from overseas whom had almost given up on their country of birth had made time to return to try to make the change happen. It would have, had it not been for massive fraud by the custodians of the elections themselves, the Election Commission, who were in cahoots with the  police.

‘Open up Petronas’ books’

Queville To

Prime Minister Najib must move to amendment the Petroleum Development Act 1974, says a Sabah state rep from DAP.

A Sabah state legislative assembly representative has called for greater  transparency, accountability and creditability in the shadowy world of the nation’s oil wealth that is now only privy to the Prime Minister.

Luyang representative Hiew King Cheu said the need to amend the Petroleum Development Act 1974 is in line with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s declared intentions of creating a more responsible government.

Racism and a blueprint for rebuilding M’sia

Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi

Although many things remain uncertain after the GE13 result, one thing is unarguably clear…Malaysia is in trouble.

Who is in trouble? Not Pakatan, not BN to my mind…we are. We…the rakyat.

Our children are in trouble and yes, theirs too, in the distant future if we do not stop this juggernaut called…racism.

I would like to outline my basic blueprint for rebuilding this country with the special focus of eliminating racism as its main objective.

Sidelined Sarawak reps demand seats in Najib’s Cabinet

DEBRA CHONG

Najib speaks during the announcement of his new Cabinet line-up at his office in Putrajaya May 15, 2013.

Overlooked lawmakers in the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) East Malaysian vote bank say they should also be aboard Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet, believing they had earned full ministerial positions after their victorious run in the May 5 polls.

Some 40 branches of Sarawak’s SPDP said they will petition the prime minister to consider allocating to them at least one ministerial seat and one deputy minister post, believing Najib’s decision to have been an oversight as the party had netted four federal seats for the Barisan Nasional (BN).

Chinese businessmen say boycott on community’s products “racist”, will hurt economy

BOO SU-LYN 

The Chinese community is being vilified for Barisan Nasional’s poor showing in Election 2013.

 The call by pro-Umno bloggers and Muslim groups for a boycott of Chinese businesses is racist and will harm the country’s economic growth, according to businessmen from the community.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year as a result of weaker exports and slower growth in public spending, compared to 4.7 per cent in the same quarter in 2012 and 6.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2012.

“How can you say boycott? Who loses? The government and Malaysia are the ones that will lose out,” Chen Kien Keong, chairman of the Tea Trade Association of Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

10 things Anwar must do

P Gunasegaram

By now the cabinet has been appointed and while there are fresh faces, no one I have spoken to expects any drastic changes from the norm especially as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is bound to face pressure from Umno delegates at the forthcoming Umno general assembly.

We seem to be going from one election to another and delaying much needed change accordingly. And as everyone knows by now, Umno delegates don’t at all represent the common voice of the Malays but posture to make it appear as if they do.

Thus it was that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi got a massive mandate from the people in the 2004 elections, obtaining over 90 percent of parliamentary seats, he refrained from taking measures he promised because his advisers told him there will be a backlash from Umno delegates.