I am tired of seeing all the political agendas from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat for the past 100 days. General Election is over, and it’s time to let the government do their job.
Pakatan are talking as if all the Malaysians would like a new govenment, but fact is they are still the oppositions because half of the Malaysians were not voting in their favour. There are lots of calls for Badawi to step down, including from within Umno itself… but that doesn’t mean that these people would want a new government or to have Anwar as the new Prime Minister.
Anwar has been campaigning like crazy for the past three months in hope of becoming the new PM. I don’t want to question whether he is genuine in building Malaysia or more of a personal agenda… but what he did for the past 100 days are hampering the country’s stability. What is the use of a GE if the opposition would continue plotting to take over the government after an election?
Imagine if PR takes over the government with Anwar’s crossover talk being materialised; the PR government would only have a minor majority by then, and what would happen if the BN (as opposition) starting to plot their own crossover plans to take back the government instead? The country will be in a never-ending political turmoil… and that’s why, the results of the GE should be respected and never be exploited in any other ways, regardless of who is doing it.
The people have spoken, you all have spoken, and the BN continue to rules. So be it, and let them rule for another 4-5 years and show what they can do (or not)… we’ll settle the score again in the next election.
Besides, while having BN under the radar, do mind that the Pakatan Rakyat state governments are being watched too. They are given the chances to rule as well; instead of all the political agendas, how about focusing on showing what they can really do at governmental levels and win the next GE fair and square?
Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin has written to dispute Malaysiakini’s reports that there was a recount of votes on polling night of March 8 in the Rembau parliamentary constituency where he won by 5,726.
Malaysiakini has apologised regarding this matter… [Malaysiakini]
On election night, we were informed by PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin that he was told by an EC official that there would be a recount.
Our story on that night reflected this. In addition, on March 11 Badrul repeated that there was a recount at a press conference and this was reported by not only Malaysiakini but also a number of other newspapers.
However, we have come to know now that such a recount did not take place. As such, we would like to apologise to Khairy Jamaluddin for publishing that assertion in our subsequent stories.
I wonder if Badrul is ready to apologise regarding this mistake too.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has claimed that he has the support of enough defectors from the ruling coalition to seize power, although he will not act until he has a bigger majority. [Malaysiakini]
Frankly, I won’t write off his statement… I am not a fan of Anwar’s cunningness, but I do reckon him as a leader with vision and ability to execute his plans.
Thing is, if the situation does happen (seize power)… it would be the darkest page in our country’s democracy. People have voted during the General Election, and although the BN government suffered some shocks, they are still given people’s mandate to rule the national government.
The Pakatan Rakyat leaders and some political bloggers often forgotten the fact that half of the Malaysians are still voting for BN… and they are celebrating their ‘victory’ as if all these BN supporters are non-existence.
If the Pakatan Rakyat wants to rule the country… win the election, fair and square… not by using these dirty tricks. What Anwar claimed should not happen and must not be allowed to happen… it’s the ugliest thing that could happen to our democracy system.
I thought it was a joke when my friend passed me the news that Zakaria Md Deros has passed away this morning, as the timing is rather bizarre just after BN’s disastrous election campaign. It’s not a joke though… Malaysiakini and Bernama have confirmed the news.
I was just about to write some stories about Zakaria (before knowing the news) about his influence in causing the BN downfall in the election… guess I will have to cut it short now.
Most of you would have known about the infamous Istana he built in 2006, and all those dubious property deals that he was involved… some quarters actually dubbed him the King of Klang for his arrogance, and for the fact that nobody could touch him even though he had been misusing his power as (ex) Klang municipal councillor for personal gain.
Although Zakaria didn’t participate much in the election, his infamous saga has played a landmark role in influencing the public thoughts, which showed that the top BN leadership was doing nothing much (or incapable) to stop corruption, and that the culprits could easily get away with some easy punishment.
People have begun to realise that Badawi and his BN co. are not going to fulfill their promise made in 2004 of making corruption-fighting their prime priority. Along with a few other cases like Rafidah’s AP issue, the people’s confidence was shaken, which in the end played a crucial role in the 12th General Election.
I don’t want to be too critical to a dead man though; the fact that thousands of people have paid their last respects to Zakaria since early morning shows that this man must had done something good in his life… rest in peace.
Malaysians have spoken.
At the time of writing, non-BN parties (let’s drop the term ‘opposition’ shall we?) have officially claimed the states of Penang, Kedah and Kelantan. Selangor and Perak are also reported to have won by non-BN alliances, albeit unofficial.
It’s just the beginning though… set aside PAS that has been governing Kelantan for years, DAP and PKR are noobs when it comes to governing a state. I am not saying that they are not capable to do so, it’s however a fact that they are facing a new challenge that they had never faced before… governance.
First thing first, they need to do their best to maintain peace. I don’t think we will have any serious riots or demos following the victories in these states, but we do need to take extra safety precautions to maintain peace.
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Final results for Malaysia’s 12th General Election…
Parliamentary seats: BN (140), BR (82: DAP-28, PAS-23, PKR-31)
States claimed by DAP-PAS-PKR alliances: Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Perak and Selangor.
Just like many other Malaysians, I had been staying up late after the polling day to read the latest results… with waves of surprises pouring in.
Frankly, I was shocked by the outcome. I thought that the non-BN parties would have a chance to deny the 2/3 BN majority for parliamentary seats, but I didn’t really expect it to happen. The real surprise however was on BN losing 5 states, especially for Selangor… that was unexpected at all.
Regardless, for better or worst, we will be having a new Malaysia that we have never seen before… let’s hope for the best.
The Election Commission (EC) has scrapped the indelible ink plan for the March 8 general election following legal advice, its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said. He said that the decision made at a meeting today was also to ensure security and public order.
“Police investigations reveal that there are irresponsible people who bought ink from foreign countries in order to persuade those not familiar with the procedure to have the ink applied (to a voter’s forefinger or nail) before polling day,” he told a press conference at the EC headquarters, Putrajaya. [Bernama]
Abdul Rashid also said that the use of indelible ink would not be effective as the country’s constitution allows those who refuse to have their fingernail marked with the ink to still be issued with a ballot, and that the use of the indelible ink could infringe the constitutional right of a voter to cast his vote, especially if the commission tries to bar someone from voting for having an ink marked in his finger. [Malaysiakini]
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Malaysiakini goes free for one week (March 4-10) to allow non-subscribers to read their (full) news without having to log in. Existing subscribers will be compensated with one additional week to the subscription period.
Quoted from editor-in-chief Steven Gan, “Democracy is about voters acquiring sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice. By making Malaysiakini available to all, we want to play our part in helping Malaysians exercise their democratic right.” [Malaysiakini]
Frankly, the media biasness for the past couple of weeks are really annoying. It’s a noble act from Malaysiakini to try and balance the election news and information, kudos for that.
