Malaysia’s GE13 too close to call – former US ambassador

John Malott

Malaysia’s 13th General Elections on May 5 will be the most important — and the most hard-fought — in Malaysian history. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its coalition partners have ruled the nation since its independence in 1957. But now, for the first time in history, the Malaysian opposition is united and strong, and it believes it has a real chance of coming to power.

And also for the first time, UMNO, as well as those who have benefited politically and economically from their connections to the ruling party, fear that the voters might reject their party and the system that have governed the country continuously for over five decades.

Anatomy of a political strategy

Zefry Dahalan

Has Najib erred in his insistence on fielding ‘winnable’ candidates?

Umno president Najib Tun Razak began talking about fielding “winnable candidates” as early as 2010.

The mood in Umno then was to blame Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, for Umno’s dramatic losses in the 12th general election. Many said he blundered in his choice of candidates by accepting the proposals of the state Umno chiefs instead of listening to the grassroots.

In most cases, the state Umno chiefs were also the chief executives of their states. It was said that at least in Selangor, Kedah, Perak and Negeri Sembilan, the state chiefs proposed only their loyalists, sidelining potential candidates who were popular at the grassroots.

UMNO fighting hard from its deathbed: But for Najib, it’s GAME OVER!

Christopher Fernandez

After 55 years of Barisan Nasional (BN) governance of Malaysia, it now seems that their tenure in office is coming to an end and while what is certainly true that the “passenger political parties” that make up BN like MCA, MIC, Gerakan and others have lost a lot of favor with Malaysians, it is now also apparent that this 13^th GE is the end game for BN-UMNO.

While it is hard for most Malaysians to accept the fact and reality that UMNO has been losing ground steadily, the demise of Malaysia’s once most favored political party is impending and no further delay to attempt to try and resurrect the party is going to work.

The continuing saga of corrupt Umno culture

Anisah Shukry

A former Umno veteran says most Umno Supreme Council members bought votes and now this culture, with the help of the prime minister, is trickling down to the rest of the country.

Cash handouts, revised salaries and other financial perks given to Malaysians as polls approach are just an extension of Umno’s culture of buying votes for party positions, said former Umno veteran Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

Abdul Kadir, who was an Umno member of 56 years until he quit last year, told FMT in an exclusive interview that most Umno Supreme Council members gained their positions by bribing members up to millions of ringgit.

The renaissance man of Malaysia

Ali Cordoba

Anwar is now leading the Malay and non-Malay spectrum of voters while Mahathir is reviled for numerous economic and social misgivings.

Knowing the Barisan National culture, would it not have been easier for Anwar Ibrahim to have joined the ruling coalition after his release in 2004? Instead, Anwar opted to face the BN’s brutal force in full brunt!

“The demands of the people remain to be good governance, accountability for corruption, political empowerment and social justice.” said Anwar in an Asian Renaissance forum in 2011 in Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Anwar has always fought for all that he mentioned in that event.

Is Malaysia’s monarchy ‘above politics’?

Pak Sako

Speaking at the launch of a book on the Malaysian monarchy, Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the Malay Rulers “are above politics” (see “Najib: Constitutional monarchy fosters stability, prosperity”, The Malaysian Insider, January 30, 2013).

He said that the Malaysian monarchy “provides a solid foundation” for turning Malaysia into a high-income nation.

To be above politics means to not interfere in the political workings of the country and to take no sides in party politics.

To act as a foundation to the economy so that Malaysian citizens enjoy high incomes means abstaining from and disapproving the undemocratic use of the public’s wealth and resources.

2013: Time For A New Goverment

Tommy Thomas

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures.”

William Shakespeare

Run-up to tense election puts M’sia on edge

- Reuters

A win for Pakatan Rakyat would put Malaysia into uncharted political territory.

Malaysian economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin gave a presentation in Singapore last week that cost him his job.

His analysis, outlining risks for investors from a narrow election victory for Malaysia’s opposition, was reported by a Malaysian online news site as a prediction the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition government would fall this year.

The response from his employer, government-linked Bank Islam, was swift. It suspended him on Monday and Azrul, who was its chief economist, told Reuters he would resign this week.

Revival of May 13 nightmare gripping some parties

Steve Oh

The fires of May 13, 1969 still burn in the mind of older Malaysians who lived through the racial riots that swept through the major cities of the peninsula.

I was a teenager then and the sight of my father quickly putting on his shoes to go out to our middle-class and predominantly Chinese neighbourhood to call for the menfolk to come out and defend their homes if the Malays attacked us was hard to reconcile with the ‘happy-go-lucky’ life we were enjoying.

That liberalism, pluralism menace

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

The writer takes a cynical and satirical look on how the Malays must come to terms with themselves.

Liberalism and pluralism have engulfed the nation, and this negative phenomenon is slowly afflicting the Malays, causing them to turn away from the path of righteousness.

Even Umno which has been lovingly protecting the Malays for the last 50 years and the various religious authorities are now watching open-mouthed in horror as liberalism sweeps across the land unhindered – infecting unsuspecting Muslims.

Malaysia’s Internet Conundrum

Our Correspondent

Authorities would like to shut opposition sites, but former PM promised it would stay free

In August of 1996, when he launched the 50 km-long Multimedia Super Corridor between Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia’s new international airport in an attempt to lure high-tech startups to his country, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad made a promise to prospective international investors that the Internet would remain forever free from political interference.

It is a promise that successive governments – and belatedly perhaps Mahathir himself – have had trouble keeping or wish had never been made, as exemplified by the raid last week on Malaysiakini, with 300,000 daily readers the biggest of the flock of independent or opposition news sites that have altered Malaysia’s political landscape.

Irene bashing by Perkasa shows how PARANOID & OUT OF IDEAS Umno is

Joe Fernandez

Perkasa, which in any other civilized nation would be ridiculed by decent society, has once again stepped forward in a hysterical defence of a political illusion long passed off as reality in Malaysia.

Hence, the public bashing that activist Irene Fernandez has to endure in Perkasa’s diarrhoea of words over a study linked to her, Washing the Tigers: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Malaysia.

Umno continues to remain in a state of denial that it can no longer be business as usual. Therein lies a death wish like that harboured by the Nazis until the very end in pursuit of their 1,000-year Reich or by the white minority apartheid regime in South Africa.

Election window closing fast

Lim Sue Goan

There are not many date options left. The 13th general election is likely to fall in November this year, January or March next year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently hinted that the general election might be fall in November, as 11 is his favourite number. Therefore, people started to speculate that, in order to avoid the Deepavali and Awal Muharram on November 13 and 15, the polling day could fall on November 3, 11 or 25.

However, it could also be a false alarm, as there is still no sign showing that the election will be held in November. If the Prime Minister wants to distribute goodies on September 28 when the Budget is tabled, it will take time to achieve the expected effects and they would not make it by November.

GE outcome will determine Umno and BN’s survival

BERNAMA

Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at the simultaneous opening of the delegates meetings of six Umno divisions at Kedah today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday reminded party members that the upcoming 13th general election would determine Umno and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) survival.

He also reminded them to learn from the experience of losing (five states) in the 2008 general election and not to repeat those actions which caused the loss.

“I don’t want to see anymore politics of playing one against another and no more factions in the party…don’t want anymore sulking and back-stabbing in the election campaign.

How Dr M handled the Asian Financial Crisis after getting Anwar out of the way

Sam Chee Kong

The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 came as a surprise and caught most people by surprise not only by the speed but also the severity of the crisis.

At that time the Asian Economic Miracle was the buzzword then and the Asian Tiger economies are at their peak not only in the performance of their export oriented economies but also the stocks and properties market.

Malaysia was then led by Mahathir Mohamad while the Finance minister was his deputy Anwar Ibrahim. But it was clear even in the markets of that day that the relationship between the two men was strained.

The tyranny of the Umno media

Sakmongkol AK47

I haven’t watched TV3 for a very long time. During the weekend I found myself without my laptop and I don’t own any iPad either. So with nothing to do, I found myself having to watch the propaganda mouthpiece of the Umno/BN government.

What I saw confirmed what I have been saying for a long time. It’s a one-sided communication means whereby the government of the day, because it can, by virtue of controlling the federal government, spread lies and deliberate disinformation and cuckold the minds of the public.

Immediately you are bombarded with what Umno and BN is doing. It is clear Umno/BN does not want an enlightened and informed public. What it wants is to glorify what little achievements the PM accomplished — distributing zakat from the bank the government owns (meaning if PR wins, it can do the same), frying murtabak here and distributing the delicacy to seemingly starving people. Are we not ashamed to see so many people are poor in the PM’s backyard and then we are subjected to his hypocritical speech about what Allah likes and doesn’t like. It is just an elaborate PR exercise extolling the form rather than substance.

The Islamic political race

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

These are ruthless politicians who are trying to play God, and the minute they are in power, they need to restrict Muslims from moving out of line.

Gerakan vice-president Dr Teng Hock Nan has accused the Pakatan Rakyat-led state governments of moving towards Islamist governance.

Citing the Kuala Selangor District Council (MDKS) prohibiting unmarried Muslim couples from sitting together in cinema halls, he said Pakatan had failed to understand the sensitivities of non-Muslim communities.

The Chia Family Sue Yayasan Sabah For RM84.4million In Monopoly Row!

Sarawak Report

Clearing out the Borneo Jungle – more profit for Musa Aman?

A court case, lodged in the High Court of Sabah in Sandakan in February, raises further questions over the business relationship between the Chief Minister, Musa Aman, and the family of Michael Chia, as well as the lawyer Richard Christopher Barnes.

Aman has denied that Michael Chia was his favoured ‘adopted son’ or that he has had any business relations with him.

Mind-games: But Mahathir is wrong, there won’t be another May 13 tragedy

Moaz Nair

The country is now blessed with a two-party system that bodes well for the country. Unlike political parties of those years, both the present coalitions – Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) – are well represented by Malaysians of all races, with both dominated by ethnic Malays who form the majority race in the country.

Wisdom of the people has brought about this political sanity. For a better choice of government, this system should prevail in the country. UMNO or BN cannot be seen as the only political party that should represent all Malaysians.

Will Hisham the sacrificial lamb for Najib and Mukhriz

Nawawi Mohamad

Over the weekend, an Umno-owned daily raised eyebrows when it reported that there was speculation of Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein being be made the next Mentri Besar of Johor. But is there any reason to believe that such rumors could be true? What about the incumbent chief minister Ghani Othman? And is there any ulterior purpose for the news report? Was someone trying to signal something to Hisham and Prime Minister Najib Razak or were the cousins trying to signal something to someone?

A sheaf of questions and no real answers but whatever it is, the report confirms that many media have been reporting for a while now. Infighting in Umno is in advanced stage, and perhaps the Hisham rumor signals a key decision has been made. All these, of course, relate to the leadership succession in pirate Umno and who gets what and when.

Umno and Utusan trying to instigate violence

Nawawi Mohamad

Utusan columnist Awang Selamat is privy to almost anything. He has the ear of the UMNO top dogs. They tell him things and he woofs. For example, he is probably also privy to who were behind the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu and who plotted Sodomy II to frame Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

But as an obedient servant if not a slave to his master, he has to keep quiet over these two matters which are of prime interest to the Malaysian public. However, how does he have privy knowledge to the purported riots that are due to take place in the future?

Either he has a huge crystal-ball or he has just been fed morsels of information by his UMNO bosses. Is this Prime Minister Najib Razak’s way of telling people that he and his party will pre-empt the people’s anger at an unfair sodomy trial meant to lock up Anwar ahead of the 13th general election.

PM, DPM’s aides accused of taking kickbacks

Teoh El Sen

The two aides and a deputy minister were named in an anonymous blog claiming to have evidence of their involvement in corruption.

Allegations of corruption against top government officials, including two aides linked to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, have surfaced in an anonymous blog.

Written by one “TheWhistleblower711”, the blog claims to have evidence – in the form of documents and informants – to also implicate a deputy minister of improper conduct.

The blog has so far named three government officials whom the author claimed have been “bought” by one businessman for the purpose of obtaining contracts from the federal government and its agencies.

Umno’s missed opportunity

Awang Abdillah

Issues of national concern were not discussed at the recent Umno general assembly. Delegates also failed to call on Najib to step down for Umno to rise again.

Frankly, the recent Umno general assembly was the best venue and probably the last chance for Umno leaders to show their sincerity in addressing party and national concerns.

Instead of adopting the Mahathir doctrine or rather its despotic policy, Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should have discussed with the party leaders on how best to tackle the party and national problems.

Disgruntled members should have urged Najib to step down as one of the solutions for Umno to rise again. Personal leadership, party strength and national issues and problems are all inter-related.

Najib’s split personality

Mariam Mokhtar

Najib plays different tunes for political purposes but in the process, it is causing a rift in Umno.

At the Selangor Taoist solidarity dinner on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak recalled Tunku Abdul Rahman’s long-term vision and praised him for being “far-sighted in administering a complex nation such as Malaysia”. His remarks were at odds with the opening speech at the 62nd Umno general assembly, a fortnight ago.

The solidarity dinner saw Najib urging Malaysians to emphasise the similarities in their respective religions, for a stronger and more united Malaysia. He espoused universal qualities like courtesy, filial piety, trustworthiness and diligence as shared values.

The Battle for Umno: Infighting at the states

Nawawi Mohamad

As Malaysians brace for the 13th general election, widely expected to be called soon especially after the recent hint from former premier and still influential player Mahathir Mohamad, battle lines are also being drawn for another war – the fight for control of Umno.

Indeed, the tussle for the country’s largest political party, which has ruled Malaysia for 54 years, is shifting into its last lap and the momentum that is picking up may even exceed the interest its members feel in GE-13, although the two contests are inter-related and the outcomes inter-dependent.

The elite plot and scheme

At the very top, current president and prime minister of the country, Najib Razak, is trying to stave off a dogged and smart challenge from his Muhyiddin Yassin.

PM and DPM’s ping-pong match: A delayed telecast with results already known

Maclean Patrick

The 2011 UMNO General Assembly has come and gone, leaving little impact on the Malaysian political scene except that we know now what the party’s strategy going into the 13th General Election will be.

The UMNO game plan will be positioned on race and religion, and make no mistake it will also be one played out to the very end by a coalition desperate to stay in power.

The dominant and the submissive

The stance taken by UMNO is interesting, as it has been endorsed by both deputy UMNO president Muhyiddin Yassin and president Najib Razak.

The fact that Najib has given up on his multiracial 1Malaysia concept is an indication of how great a store UMNO places on race championing to win the GE-13.

Najib should not protect a fallen woman

Mariam Mokhtar

‘People First, Performance Now’ has been replaced by ‘Cover-ups in corruption’.

It is doubtful that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak believed a word of what he said, in the closing ceremony of Umno’s 2011 general assembly last week.

He claimed to have achieved his four objectives for the party conference: Umno was united, the party was geared up for the 13th general election, delegates fully supported the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Umno can be relied upon to provide a better future for the rakyat.

If Najib wants to earn the respect of the rakyat, he should assume leadership and address the financial irregularities which have embroiled members of his Cabinet.

Najib’s dilemma: What to do with Shahrizat?

Nawawi Mohamad

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s strategy to win the next General Election is to ensure that all UMNO-BN candidates are “winnable”. Najib also wanted to make sure that the squabbling over who got chosen stopped, thus he had to make sure that all the UMNO delegates agreed that he would get to have the final say on who should be the chosen ones.

In the recent UMNO general assembly, the UMNO president got his wish, with delegates agreeing to give him this all-important mandate. But did they have any choice and will the squabbling really end here, even though he also managed to squeeze from them a promise not to lobby, or face immediate disqualification as potential candidates.

Umno’s Cow Dung, No wonder fall in graft index

Melissa Lee

In what appears to be shaping up to be a massive Umno cover-up, Deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Bakar insists that investigations have so far not revealed any element of corruption in the RM250million NFC debacle.

Khalid was seen to be doing “Umno-putra service” by suddenly making the comment that critics said was meant to assure Umno members  that Women’s Chief Shahrizat Jalil and her family were innocent of any graft in the cattle livestock project.

Khalid’s remarks and Umno’s strident defense of Shahrizat comes smack in the face of another sharp decline in the internationally-followed Corruption Perception Index. Malaysia fell to 60th position from 56 last year, and the result marked the third straight year of worsening on the widely-followed graft index.

As AGM looms, Umno finds itself at its weakest, destroyed by its own leaders

Moaz Nair

This party general assembly in December 2011 would be a sort of a final psychological ‘redeemer’ for UMNO to face the next general election. To some critics though, the dye is already cast and UMNO is irredeemable. UMNO is already perceived as a weak political entity under the present leadership.

Nevertheless, some UMNO leaders would as usual come up with senseless rhetoric to pant up their members into supporting UMNO to face the 13^th political joust to be held possibly early next year. Little would they realise that many among their members are despondent when they ponder over the party leadership.

Many UMNO members are aware that all is not well within the party and BN. The sagging image of the party has attributed to a lot of desperation among members. They now have not much choice but to desperately make use of sex, race, religion and the royalty to gain Malay votes. This strategy is not favouring the party either in the run-up to the next general election.

The lost pride of the Indian Muslims – Mahathir notwithstanding

Moaz Nair

Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society, comprising the Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Indigenous people, offers a good sample to study and understand ethnic identity dilemma. The Bumiputera ethnic category was introduced to slot in Muslim and non-Muslim indigenous population in Sabah and Sarawak when Malaysia was formed as having equal and special position along with the Malays in the country.

All Malays are considered Muslims and an individual born in a Malay family would be considered a Bumiputera. Majority of Indians in Malaysia are either a Hindu or a Muslim.

Some Indian Muslim families would try hard to classify their newborn child as Malay to benefit from the special position of the Bumiputera. Other Indian Muslims who have so much pride in their ethnicity would choose to retain their family roots and prefer to be known as Indian Muslim.

War of words show Umno is badly in disarray

Maclean Patrick

The prelude to the 13th General Election is clearly in full force as Umno gathers itself to hold its General Assembly in early December – seen as the final flag off for nationwide polls.

And one can bet the Umno assembly will be of torrid interest to all Malaysians, especially for the majority who are without physical access to the meeting. For the past 54 years, it is the Umno delegates attending the assembly who get to decide who will be the prime minister of Malaysia – with impunity.

By convention, the Umno president also becomes the prime minister of Malaysia and this is why the party has so fiercely fought off a two-party system, trying all ways and means to kill off the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Umno heading for extinction

Kenny Gan

In 1961 the communist government of East Germany constructed a barrier that completely cut off West Berlin from East Berlin to stop citizens from the Communist Bloc fleeing to the West. The 103 miles wall bristling with lethal weapons was a huge construction feat that showcased the engineering capability of the Soviet Union but it was also a monument to the failure of Communism.

Apparently the “workers’ paradise” could only be built in a workers’ prison. If anything the Berlin wall was an ominous signal that Communism was doomed. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, this farsighted prophesy proved to be true. The Communist ideology has been abandoned all over the world except in a few select countries and even China is Communist only in the sense that it doesn’t hold elections.

Closer to home we can clearly see the signs of a doomed Umno grasping for survival in a political environment which has completely changed since the heady years of post-independence. When a party starts manufacturing sex scandals against the opposition and when even innocent minors are targeted it is only a matter of time before the party is flushed down the drain into the moral cesspool of its own creation by a disgusted electorate.

To Modernize, Can Malaysia Move Beyond Race?

Michael Schuman

Malaysia is that rare country with an unequivocal national narrative. It goes something like this: Malaysia’s 28 million people, comprising mainly Malays, Chinese and Indians, make up a moderate and modern emerging democracy. Unlike members of other multiethnic countries, they respect one another’s beliefs and values and share a commitment to achieving prosperity. The official religion is Islam, but other faiths are freely allowed and celebrated. This is one harmonious place.

Much of that narrative is true — but not all of it. Malaysia’s economic miracle has stalled, and while the nation is, indeed, somewhat pluralistic, it is no melting pot. Indeed, it is a society where people define themselves first and foremost by race.

The country’s political leadership has in some respects reinforced those ethnic identities. For the past 40 years, policymakers have doled out special privileges — in education and business — to one community: the majority Malays. The program is one of modern history’s greatest experiments in social engineering and possibly the world’s most extensive attempt at affirmative action. But the policies have also bred resentment among minorities, distorted the economy and undermined the concept of a single Malaysian identity.

Umno ‘circling’ for foray into Sarawak

Aidila Razak

The presence of Umno bigwigs and machinery during the BN election campaign in Sarawak has raised questions about the peninsula-based Malay party’s role in the state.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political science lecture Andrew Aeria (below left) is of the opinion that Umno will eventually move into Sarawak.

“But I dare not say more. I can’t really see it happening yet but the day (Chief Minister Abdul) Taib (Mahmud) moves away from the scene, there will be some serious moves (into Sarawak by Umno),” he said.