When Anwar was accused in the 90s, I believe he was framed; and despite my dispute over the recent accusation, I still believe that Anwar did not do it.

However, does that mean that we are absolutely sure that Mohd Saiful is not sodomised by Anwar? Is there no chances, not even 1% of chances that Mohd Saiful is telling the truth? I wonder.

Second scenario… let’s assumed Mohd Saiful is indeed a liar; does that mean he is an absolute villain? How about him being forced to be part of this? What if his (or his family) safety is in jeopardy? What if he had to make a choice between life or death? He can’t hide into Turkey Embassy obviously… so, what option does he have?

The meaningless photos

His photos taken with various BN officials are widespread in the net, with claims that he is closely allied to the BN government… but does those photos really mean anything?

I have had pictures taken with Rafidah Aziz, I even had a lunch with her; I also have pictures taken with Raja Nazrin (Perak’s crown prince), Lim Keng Aik, Fong Chan Onn and also pictures with no less than two (ex) MPs that served my places.

So, does that mean that I am close to these peeps? Not at all… I have better chance of winning a lottery than having them remembering my name. The photos simply means that I had the chance to meet these people… and being an active student during high school and university provided lots of chances to meet these peeps… it’s no big deal at all.

Same situation might apply to Modh Saiful too; does those photos provide any insight that he is working closely with BN government? Think Malaysians, think.

The thought of Anwar plotting the show is rising for the past two days… just that most people who share the thought would not dare to raise their concerns fearing of being branded as cynical and also the backlash from PKR and Anwar’s supporters.

Just a few thoughts…

Who is the one that is actually benefiting the most from the current saga?
Is BN government that stupid to frame Anwar using the same old trick?
Who is behind the death threat?
Did Anwar really received a death threat or just tips from ‘reliable sources’?
Is the whole police force that corrupted that they are no good cops around at all?
Is it a logical choice to seek protection from a foreign embassy?
WTF do we need to involve foreign interference with this?
Isn’t it a bit too convenient for Turkey to provide the sanctuary?
Is Malaysia that volatile these days?
Are we in the same league of Myanmar, Zimbabwe or Pakistan?

I don’t want to suggest anything further… plenty of questions with no apparent answers though.

A few thoughts worth reading from other bloggers… Aizuddin and Bigdog.

Anwar responded that the report is a complete fabrication, which could be a retaliation for evidence he has recently obtained implicating IGP Musa Hassan and AG Gani Patail in misconduct including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him in 1998-1999.

When Anwar was first accused of sodomy in 1997… the people were separated in opinions; but this time, people would find it hard to believe that he’s not been framed.

Update – PM Badawi claimed that BN government is not behind this and would leave the police to conduct investigations on the allegations and to take the necessary action. [Thestar]

Seems like the PAS Youth have learned nothing after being slammed by the Sultan for their protest against rock queen Ella and dangdut singer Mas Idayu performing at the Sultan of Selangor Cup football match.

Frankly, if they can’t even stand the likes of Ella and Mas Idayu, we can kiss goodbye to most of the western artists if their wishes are granted; events like Super GT would probably be scrapped too… but I doubt the state government and royals would pay much attention to their plea at the moment.

It should remind people though, that PAS’ philosophy is not really aligned with PKR and DAP. If Pakatan Rakyat does take over the government by September… do bear in mind that PAS will have to part of the plan.

There are callings that we should not be shallow with PAS’ administration, that their governmental in Kelantan is better than some media is claming… but sometimes, what they are trying to do is plain annoying. They even tried to ban lipstick and high heels in Kota Bahru [Bernama], makes me wonder what they would come out next.

PSM has received a letter this morning from the ministry requesting the party to submit a fresh application, in which according to PSM’s secretary general S Arutchelvan, is just a matter of formality.

The court hearing which was scheduled this morning has been postponed following this latest development.

Jeyakumar Devaraj is the only Member of Parliament from PSM with his famous victory against MIC president Samy Vellu; PSM chairman Nasir Hashim is their only state assemblyman (Selangor). Both of them competed under PKR’s flagship during the March election.

It’s still uncertain if PSM would join the Pakatan Rakyat pact; S Arutchelvan has mentioned in an April interview that PSM will not join PR until they have seen their full program… which probably means that PSM will not be joining the pact yet in near future.

Ezam was one of the iconic faces during the reformasi era a decade ago… but he has become pretty much irrelevant for the past year or two. His decision to quit PKR in June 2007 has left little impact to the party, and the anti-corruption NGO he formed is moving no way.

People are asking why he is joining back Umno… but where else could he go? Going back to PKR is obviously not an answer. If he is still interested in expanding his political influence, he would have to choose between PAS and Umno… not many choices actually.

Some people are claiming that Ezam is going back to Umno to help reforming the party, but frankly… this fella is way overrated by some folks. Besides his fame, he doesn’t seem to have much to offer… in fact, he might find himself having a hard time with his political struggle in Umno.

Badawi might like him though; they shared a similar thread of flip-flopping after all.

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.

The first benefit of the pact is that we could now refer to these parties in a single term… it was a pain trying to mention their coalition like the “DAP-PAS-PKR alliances government” etc.

On serious note… it’s a good move to form the pact. The official alliance would hopefully create more understanding between the parties. Issues like the Perak MB joke could be avoided if the coalition was forged before that.

Also, as Anwar mentioned, this coalition would mean that the policies of the Pakatan controlled state governments would be in line with the policies of Pakatan Rakyat, which should be a good thing. However, I wonder how ‘in line’ these states could be… PAS’s Islamic policy would certainly create an obstacle in this matter.

I am not saying that PAS’s policy is bad; I believe Kelantanese are well treated regardless of religion… but it’s obvious that PAS is governing their state differently from the rest of the country. The only probable thing that PKR and DAP are sharing with PAS is the common goal to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians.

Just some simple questions… will PAS give up some of their religious based policies in Kelantan if the Pakatan is to be formally formed? Will DAP be happy if PAS want to implement some religious based rules at other states? It’s still a long way to go obviously.

Perhaps we should give the Pakatan Rakyat a bit more time to finalise their plans and ideology. I would like to see them forming a mock cabinet if the coalition goes well; I think they are thinking about that too.

Contrary to the possible chaos that Perak is facing, Lim sworn in with relative ease. PKR’s Mohd Fairus Khairuddin and DAP’s P Ramasamy have been appointed as his deputies to “ensure all the communities in Penang are represented and this government is for all”.

Various promises and plans have been announced… some good, some stupid. Talk is always easy though, we’ll see how it actually works out in future for this new government.

On side note, I would give ex-CM Koh Tsu Koon some props for the democratic attitude he showed since the General Election results were known. He has showed that he is a good man, but a good man doesn’t mean that he could be a good politician, or a good Chief Minister.

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.

They need to form their state government ASAP. DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng has been announced as the next Penang Chief Minister, and will form the state government with allianced parties. Kelantan will obviously lead by PAS… I am not so sure about Kedah though, PAS and PKR will have to sort that out ASAP.

Selangor might be giving the real headache… if the non-BN parties do win the majority seats, PKR is the most likely party to lead the state government. Thing is, DAP has won more seats (unofficially) than PKR, but I think they should be able to sort it out rather peacefully as DAP has already have Penang in hand (maybe Perak as well).

So, what’s next? Time to fulfill their promises. All these parties have promised an awful lots of things… not only that they need to fulfill those, they also need to avoid doing things that they have been criticising the BN government of.

The first case that comes into my mind is the Motorola saga; the previous BN government was reported to have offered them a RM1 billion project so that they will stay in Penang… and the non-BN parties have strongly oppose to it. Thing is, if Motorola is deciding to leave just after the new government is formed, how would they respond to it?

Facing the risk of losing thousands of job opportunities (mind that the downstream industry might be affected too), the new DAP & PKR government might have to resort to something similar as well, which on short term is actually a right thing to do… but they can’t do that obviously, as they would be breaking the rare trust that the people have given them.

There are lots of other issues to think of… Penang Bridge, the Rapid buses, environmental issues, the sharing of wealth, and other social issues… and I am still not starting on Kedah and Selangor yet.

It’s going to be a long story, to cut it short… there’s a huge challenge ahead; and a precious opportunity on the other hand for the non-BN parties to show the people what they can do… not just for their supporters, but also showing to all Malaysians that it’s not really a bad thing to change.

For better or worse… we will be seeing a new Malaysia when we wake up the next morning.

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.

“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]

The last minute reversal is not well received by the opposition parties and the public. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PKR’s deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali have both criticised the cancellation of indelible ink of favouring the ruling party’s cheating and abuses in the election.

Frankly, I can see the point of cancelling the use of inedible link… I have thought of some possible downside for using the ink, for example some ladies might not know about the plan somehow and have applied nail polish and not allowed to vote etc… it could create unexpected chaos.

Questions are however… why using it at the first place? The indelible ink has cost the country million of dollars, shouldn’t the EC think twice before deciding to use it initially?

I have never thought of the violation of constitutional rights for using the ink, stupid me… but I am just a common citizen after all. However, what’s the excuse for EC for not considering about the constitutional factor back then? Shouldn’t they be thinking of the legal issues before spending millions for the ink?

Now, what will happen to the ink? Shouldn’t someone be held responsible for the earlier decision? Should we continue to allow incompetent people like Abdul Rashid to continue leading the commission? And what’s next… cancelling the use of transparent ballot box because it violates privacy? How about cancelling the poll all together?