Merdeka Malaysiaku dari kawaq, penyangak & penyamun....
Analisi keputusan PRK DUN Slim...
Azmin Masuk PPBM, Apa Kesan Pada MN?
Bicara tengah malam - Lokman Noor Adam Part 1
Bicara tengah malam - Lokman Noor Adam Part 2
Lessons for PKR and
Harapan from Slim polls...
The Slim by-election has taken place. I congratulate both the winner and his competitors as well as the constituency’s voters for the successful exercise. Nevertheless, the results were not what we, the combined opposition of Malaysia, would have liked. The fault does not lie with the candidate which was run — he tried his best against difficult odds. However, the Slim by-election is cause for all opposition parties — especially PKR and Pakatan Harapan — to seriously reflect and consolidate, especially in terms of strategy as well as approach. But it cannot be denied that the Independent candidate that was backed by the opposition was still defeated by a party whose leaders are facing criminal charges in court and who are part of a “backdoor” government that is increasingly fractious as well as unstable. Indeed, the candidate selected by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) was not only defeated in Slim, but with a majority five-times higher than in 2018 (10,945 votes compared to 2,183) in a seat that is almost 75 percent Malay. This was despite claims by some Harapan politicians and analysts that Mahathir’s presence was absolutely necessary to swing the Malay and other voters, that no one else could do it.
What is more concerning for the opposition is that the BN candidate polled 13,060 votes, ie more than the combined total of Umno and PAS’ 2018 votes (12,430). Moreover, BN reportedly won all polling stations in Slim — including those which were predominantly non-Malay. The Pejuang candidate this round got 2,115 votes compared to Bersatus 6,144 in 2018 (when it was still with Harapan). This suggests that large swathes of opposition-leaning supporters stayed away from the ballot boxes or went to BN, which is also worrying.
It is true that Slim was a BN/Umno stronghold. Moreover, the late incumbent was popular, and the candidate Umno ran to replace him had worked closely with him in the past. Voters may have been swayed by other local factors. But it is also a fact is that Pejuang ran a campaign that was largely devoid of issues or a message beyond expecting voters to back them simply because of who they are and who their chairperson is. This is an entitled attitude and a recipe for disaster. When GE15 comes, Harapan certainly cannot go to voters offering nothing but relitigating the feuds of the last decade, whether it is the 1MDB scandal, the issues that confronted the federal government we led from 2018—2020 or the Sheraton Move.
I am not saying that these points are irrelevant, but it cannot be the only things that we run on. And Harapan certainly should not be aligning itself with other parties who cannot see or understand this. “Kleptokrat”, “Kerajaan pintu belakang” and “pengkhianat” will not be slogans we will win the next general election on. Not on their own. The fact is that Pejuang did not offer a compelling economic message to the voters of Slim. The party could not persuade them that their lives and livelihoods would improve if they voted for their candidate. There was no vision, no hope or promise for the future. And that is why the Pejuang candidate lost. This is the mistake that Harapan must avoid in the next election. Of course, we don’t have to shy away from exposing the abuses and lack of legitimacy of the current government. But this cannot be in the absence of a plan for bettering the economic prospects of Malaysians, especially in light of the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. The heavy defeat at Slim can be a turning point for PKR and Harapan — but only if we learn the right lessons from it. - Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad,mk
Ini pula senarai Guan Eng,majoriti projek dari era BN....
Bekas menteri kewangan Lim Guan Eng menyenaraikan semula projek-projek rundingan terus yang sebelum ini dikaitkan dengan pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan (PH). Dia berkata hanya RM352 juta (5.3 peratus) perolehan baru daripada RM6.61 bilion projek dilaksanakan oleh kerajaan PH sebelum ini. Lim berkata, sebanyak RM4.48 bilion (67.7 peratus) projek dalam senarai dikeluarkan Menteri Kewangan Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz semalam sebenarnya ditawarkan ketika BN memerintah.
Sebanyak RM1.753 bilion (26.5 peratus) pula diwarisi daripada kerajaan BN, kata Lim yang juga setiausaha agung DAP. Dia menegaskan projek rundingan terus di era PH hanya bernilai RM352 juta atau 0.07 peratus daripada nilai keseluruhan perolehan kerajaan (RM477.38 bilion).
Itu pun, katanya, melibatkan bidang dengan keperluan mendesak seperti perbekalan buku teks sekolah oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) dan operasi pembasmian kecemasan wabak rabies di Sarawak. Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional (PN) semalam mendedahkan senarai 101 kontrak yang didakwa diberikan oleh pentadbiran PH melalui rundingan terus. Pemimpin PN membidasnya dengan mendakwa PH melanggar manifesto sendiri yang mahu mengamalkan tender terbuka untuk projek kerajaan.
Daripada RM6.61 bilion projek rundingan terus yang dilaksanakan pada zaman Pakatan Harapan, RM6.28 bilion adalah kontrak yang diwarisi daripada kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Projek rundingan terus kerajaan PH selama 22 bulan hanyalah RM352 juta.
Bukan itu saja, kerajaan PH telah merundingkan semula kontrak-kontrak rundingan terus kerajaan BN dan berjaya mengurangkan dengan banyak kosnya. Beberapa orang Menteri PH khianat yang kini bersama kerajaan PN pun turut memohon kebenaran melaksanakan kontrak rundingan terus.
Berikut senarai projek yang didakwa diwarisi daripada BN yang didakwa disambung atau ditambah baik serta bercirikan kepakaran khas atau monopoli:...
Senarai di bawah pula berkaitan projek rundingan terus di era PH, menurut Lim:...mk
80% of direct nego projects
were in BN's time...
We refer to the statement released by the Minister of Finance, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, on Aug 26 which provides a detailed listing of all the 101 projects worth a total of RM6.6 billion which were awarded via direct negotiations during Pakatan Harapan’s 22 months in government. A total of nine projects worth RM10.4 million were listed as projects awarded by direct negotiations under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry [Miti](refer to Table 1 below). Four of the projects listed, which are worth RM8.18 million, were organised before the 14th general election when BN was the government.
1. Himpunan Usahawan Bumiputera (HUB) 2018 (RM5,999,000) took place on March 30 and 31, 2018.
2. Youth CEO Summit Hub (RM545,000) took place on March 30, 2018.
3. Mini-SDSI Showcase in conjunction with HUB 2018 (RM632,000) took place on March 30 and 31, 2020.
4. Karnival Jom Niaga Wilayah Utara (RM999,350) took place from Jan 26 to 28, 2018.
These four projects alone, which took place in a space of three months before GE14, cost RM8.18m or 79 percent of the RM10.4 million of the direct negotiations projects attributed to Miti. In contrast, only RM2 million worth of direct negotiation projects took place in Miti under the Harapan government (the RM150,000 project awarded to Malaysia Bioeconomy should not count towards Mitis allocation since this agency was no longer under Miti under the Harapan government).
We call upon the finance minister to correct this error of wrongly attributing these BN direct negotiation awards to the Harapan government. At the same time, we also call upon the minister to reveal the details of all directly negotiated awards in Miti from 2013 to 2018 under the BN government so that the people can see for themselves the difference between the BN and the Harapan government. - Darel Leiking,mk
Institutionalization of tenders awarded via direct negotiations...
Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said 101 projects worth RM6.6 billion were awarded via direct negotiations during PH's time, sparking a new round of war of words in the Dewan Rakyat as well as heated discussions outside the hall. Former Pakatan Harapan ministers have challenged the finance minister to publish the list of projects awarded via direct negotiations, not just during PH's time but also BN's. In the meantime, PN ministers who were formerly with the PH have denied the presence of any such projects, while the MACC says it will start the investigation as soon as it has received the report.
PH's former finance minister Lim Guan Eng naturally became the target of attacks. He admitted that indeed there were specific projects that had to be awarded via direct negotiations during PH's time. He also published a list of projects approved in this way by the previous BN administration. As a matter of fact, awarding a project via direct negotiation has been a customary practice in the government. These projects are mostly defense ministry procurements or those involving government secrets or under emergency conditions in which the projects are directly awarded to eligible companies after securing approval from the cabinet. Normally a contractor capable of executing the project based on its nature and technical requirements is invited to provide a quote, followed by pricing and contract negotiations. This nevertheless should not constitute direct handing out of a project although it veritably lacks transparency. Even though the project is awarded via a direct negotiation, the government still needs to draft the tender document and contract while the bidder must also prepare the bidding document. In other words, both sides must still go through the required procedures.
Sure enough open tendering is the best way to reflect the openness of market mechanism with fair competition, pricing and selection process to award a project to a contractor best suited for the job. However, if the so-called open tender system is not open, fair or transparent enough to provide a fair ground for competition among the bidders, there will still be possibility of a conflict of interests by way of collusive bidding and bid rigging. As such, in whichever tendering system, the most crucial thing is to institutionalize the system.
Such a modus operandi has been in existence, be it during PN's, PH's or BN's time. PH has been specifically targeted this time because the coalition made open tenders part of their election manifesto in 2018.
It should mark a good beginning for transparent and accountable governance if Tengku Zafrul or the PN government will unveil the details of projects awarded via direct negotiations for debate among the lawmakers or public scrutiny. This matter, nevertheless, must not be exploited as a political confrontational tool. All present and future government leaders, whichever side of the political divide they are on, must devote themselves to institutional reforms as a common goal in governance. - Sin Chew Daily
Posted by
Kerah Lekung on Wednesday, 26 August 2020
Tunjuk list 101 kami nak tengok,jangan dok gempaq saja....
Har ini barisan pemimpin Pakatan Harapan terpaksa membuat sidang media di Parlimen minta Menteri Kewangan dedahkan senarai 101 Projek rundingan Terus.. Pelik sampai kena paksa untuk dedah.. bayangkan..Dah jadi Kerajaan takut nak dedah..Rafizi dulu sampai kena dakwa sebab Dedah skandal NFC..
Rupanya RM 6 Billion tu cuma 1-2% dari Jumlah Perolehan kerajaan yg diluluskan Kementerian kewangan...zaman BN lebih RM 100 billion tanpa tender terbuka dan rundingan terus.. Itu pun dari RM 6 billion atas sebab sebab khusus dan tertentu terutama menyentuh isu Keselamatan seperti ATM dan PDRM... begitu juga keperluan mendesak seperti pembinaan jambatan ketika banjir.. LGE masih pertahan PH laksana tender dan Projek secara telus..
Dulu dulu zaman PH.. Rafizi terus dedah jer..skandal NFC, Skandal Solar.. Skandal Pembekalan Internet kat YTL tanpa tender.. tu belum cerita kos LRT dan ECRL.. Ini nak sebut satu projek pun takut.. Bayangkan depa nak cari satu projek sabitkan Lim Guan Eng pun payah...
Jadi fahamkan sebab apa ketika Menteri Kewangan bankers cuba jawab..Shahidan Kasim..Mamak India Azeez Rahim cuba halang..Buat kecoh.. Kalau nak tahu, Itulah cara depa cipta Persepsi.. Perompak berlagak Alim..
Yang heran.. PAS pun sama Bdoh ditipu UMNO..Boleh percaya pulak dengan Penyamun dan Penyangak.. Tapi apa kita heran..Nabi dah Sebut.. Akhir zaman kelompok Ruwaibdhah dan Khawarij kita sendiri hari ini nampak depa mata.. - Ipohmali
PH 101 projects valued at 6.1 billion$ cannot compare with Najib 1001 projects valued 6 Trillion$. His predecessor, Lim Guan Eng, earlier today challenged Tengku Zafrul to make public the list of projects, adding that even if the figure was true, it would only make up some 1.4% of total government procurement worth RM477 billion during PH’s 22-month tenure.
"Perhaps Zafrul is afraid that he would be exposing the prime minister, who was the home minister during the Harapan administration and other 'pengkhianat' ministers, who sought direct-award projects from me when I was finance minister.
"Is the prime minister also wrong for seeking such projects at the time? Will they go to the extent of criticising themselves?" he asked in a statement.
“If he (Zafrul) wants to make an accusation, back it up with facts and figures,” he said.
“Be transparent, be brave. He made the accusation, back it up.”
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has since said it would be going through the full list of 101 projects approved through direct negotiation when PH was in government. - f/bk
Takut pulak!!!
A ‘Slim’ waterloo – either Din or Dr.M or UMNO will have to pack and go...
The independent candidate from the as yet unregistered Pejuang party has a fat chance of winning in the Slim by-election in Perak on Saturday. It is a given that Barisan Nasional’s Mohd Zaidi Aziz of Umno will win it, said one political analyst. “During GE14, BN won comfortably in a three-cornered fight. Even with the ‘Opposition tsunami’, PH (Pakatan Harapan) lost in Slim,” pointed out Universiti Teknologi Malaysia politics and governance research group head Dr Mazlan Ali. “Plus, Malays united under Muafakat Nasional and Pakatan entangled with DAP (which is disliked by a majority of Malays), the support for Umno is solid.” In the by-election, acting Tanjung Malim Umno division chief Mohd Zaidi, 44, will be taking on lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, 38, an independent candidate from the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-backed Pejuang, and independent Dr S. Santharasekaran, 45. What is essential to dissect in the by-election is Umno’s margin of victory and the margin of defeat of Dr Mahathir’s candidate.
In the 14th General Election in 2018, Barisan’s Datuk Khusairi Abdul Talib of Umno got 8,327 votes, Pakatan’s Mohd Amran Ibrahim of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) received 6,144 and PAS ‘Zulfadli Zainal got 4,103. The late Khusairi won with a 2,183 majority. On paper, since Umno, Bersatu and PAS are currently part of the Perikatan Nasional government (and soon to be in Muafakat Nasional), Mohd Zaidi should win all the votes the three parties garnered in GE14. But politics is not that simple. The results of the by-election that will be held on Aug 29 will be an indication of political trends in the country, especially among Malays. “Will Umno get more or less than the combined votes Umno and PAS got in GE14?” Dr Mazlan said, adding that his numbers depend on voter turnout – if it is lower than GE14, it means the unification of Umno and PAS in Muafakat Nasional is not supported by the parties’ grassroots. If it is higher, it means the combination of the two Malay parties has translated into solid votes from their community. Mazlan also pointed out that if Umno gets fewer than 10,000 votes, it means that not all of PAS’ grassroot members support Umno. “If less, the Melayu Raya caucus (the combination of Malaysia’s three ruling Malay-based parties under a single umbrella) is not as strong as PAS’ analysis has claimed it is. “Can the Pejuang independent candidate maintain the 6,000 votes that Bersatu received in GE14?” Mazlan said.
According to the political analyst, if Amir Khusyairi gets more votes than Bersatu won in 2018, it will mean that the party led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin does not have as much support as back then. “Muhyiddin’s (political) dignity is at stake,” said Mazlan, adding, “if Pejuang doesn’t do well in the by-election, Umno will continue to look down on Muhyiddin. It will complicate the Bersatu president’s seat negotiations,” he said, adding that Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has questioned Bersatu’s contribution to the by-election. If half of the 6,000 votes that Bersatu garnered in the last general elections go to Umno, it will be a good showing for Muhyiddin, the political analyst said, as it would show that the Muhyiddin factor can draw support to Muafakat Nasional. “It will elevate Muhyiddin’s prestige within Muafakat Nasional and also be a threat to Umno, as it would show he has a political base in the Malay coalition,” he said. If Dr Mahathir’s independent candidate, Amir Khusyairi, gets half of the votes Bersatu got in GE14, it would indicate that the former prime minister is still relevant. But if Amir Khusyairi receives fewer than half, it means the former Bersatu chairman and his Pejuang party are irrelevant. “Getting more than 3,000 votes would be a moral victory for Dr Mahathir. If the votes are less than half for the Pejuang candidate, then it is a moral victory for Muhyiddin,” said Mazlan. Independent research firm Ilham Centre’s Prof Hamidin Abdul Hamid agreed that the two independents have only a slim chance of winning in Slim. But it wouldn’t be a victory for Umno if it gets fewer than 14,000 votes (based on a 70% voter turnout): “Umno must win more than 14,000 votes because they should be getting the Umno, PAS and most of the Bersatu votes from GE14. If it is less than that, it means that it is status quo and nothing has changed in the last two years,” he said. “It will mean that it retained only the hardcore support from Umno and PAS and it did not get any new support. (It will mean) Muafakat Nasional and Perikatan Nasional did not gain momentum on the ground,” he said.
If it is above 14,000, Hamidin pointed out that it means that those who voted for Bersatu (which was split by Team Muhyiddin and Team Dr Mahathir) were going back to the ruling government. “It means the protest votes (in GE14) are no longer there. But if it is less, it means that the protest votes against Umno have turned into Opposition votes,” he said. If Umno gets fewer than 14,000 votes, what does it mean for Muhyiddin’s leadership, I asked. “It doesn’t affect Muhyiddin’s leadership in the Perikatan government. The Slim campaign doesn’t touch on Perikatan. It is focused on Muafakat Nasional,” he said. Hamidin contended that if Pejuang’s candidate could get more than 3,000 votes, it would be a good result for Dr Mahathir: “It would mean that Pejuang retained the protest votes and it got Bersatu voters’ support, meaning trouble for Muhyiddin,” he said. But if it is fewer than 3,000 votes, Hamidin said it would mean that Dr Mahathir and Pejuang had to work harder – and, “It would also ask the question, does Pejuang have a place within the Malay framework?” Hamidin also said that it was not only the votes that should be analysed but also where they come from. In GE14, Umno lost in Slim River, which had a sizable number of non-Malay voters and won in Felda Trolak and Felda Besaut, which is largely Malay, he said. “But what I want to see is who the young voters in these two Felda settlements are voting for. If you look at the strategy of Pejuang, (Simpang Renggam MP) Dr Maszlee Malik and (Muar MP) Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman are campaigning there. They are targeting young voters,” he said. “If Pejuang can get the young voters, it will be big trouble for Umno in the long run.” Pejuang might have a slim chance of winning in the Slim by-election and, depending on its margin of defeat, it could be a big moral victory for the as yet unregistered party. - ANN,MC
Kepala otak hang lah. Bukankah hang juga berada dlm gomen PH waktu tu? Tembak apa ni?? Dia tak sedar ke dia perosak PH 22 bulan dulu? Isu semburit pun dah cukup merosakkan nama PH dulu. Kau berkempen di kawasan FELDA cakap kerajaan PH gagal. Siapa jaga FELDA masa tu? Azwan Ali kah? Itu belum isu ekonomi,Felda dan lain2 yg dia buat tak kisah pun..Kalu nak ampu jgn lah nampak bangang sangat...-f/bk
Punyalah nak backup kabilah sendiri langgar SOP, sanggup dia samakan dengan driver lori sayur dan pilot kapal terbang. Dulu dia pertahankan Arul Kanda tentang penyelewangan dlm 1MDB. Hari ini dia pertahankan Al Takiri tentang langgaq SOP..Lebai ni mungkin lupa, dia adalah sebahagian dari kerajaan yang membuat peraturan pencegahan penyebaran Covid19 termasuklah arahan wajib kuarantin kepada sesiapa yang datang dari luar negara. Tapi kenapa dalil yang sama tak terpakai pada tokey mamak Sivagangga dan Makcik gelang pink yang masing didenda dan masuk jail? Kalulah DAP yg langgaq SOP rasanya depa dah buat demo dan suruh letak jawatan. Tapi bila kena kat depa kot mana pon halal..Terserlah kebodohannya - f/bk
He calls himself a Ustaz but he behaves like a mat rempit...
Khairuddin has exposed his "aurat" in public, and must be whipped in the public square to cleanse his immorality. nothing less than a jail sentence wud satisfy the rakyat. in shylock's own words "I hv come for my pound of flesh". The threats are in politics, the government’s failure to safeguard the interests of the people, and the rakyat’s perception of the law. 1.The threat of Coronavirus is clear, but the worst risk is the people’s hatred for PN and PAS. 2.If Khairuddin can’t even respect the order to self-quarantine, he is not capable of managing this country, 3.PAS President, Hadi Awang, is afraid to reprimand Khairuddin or to issue an official statement. If he does not criticise party members, he lacks the qualities of a leader. 4.Khairuddin shirks his responsibility, so he does not deserve to be a member of the Cabinet. The rakyat pays his salaries and allowances. He should resign. 5.Why did MOH have to answer on behalf of Khairuddin? Rules are for everyone, regardless of standing in society. Khairuddin is an adult, not a child anymore. 6.People who do not follow the rules have been imprisoned and fined. But Khairuddin was treated like royalty. He is arrogant and proud that he need not obey the law. His arrogance is proof that Malaysia has two sets of laws. One for politicians and one for ordinary people.
7. The question of Khairuddin’s swab test results which he said was negative, cannot be used as an excuse. It cannot justify something that is wrong.
8.Rakyat is fed up with the attitude of Malay leaders. Most Umno-Baru and PAS politicians are bandits, liars, rogues and unprincipled, like Khairuddin. Khairuddin’s behavior made the people furious. He insulted parliament. As a member of parliament (where laws are made), he himself did not comply with the law. He set a bad example to Malaysians. 9.Khairuddin does not care about other people’s health. It is irrelevant if his Coronavirus test swab registered a positive or negative, result. He broke the law. It is as simple as that. 10.Khairuddin does not acknowledge nor does he respect the sacrifice of doctors, nurses and all frontliners, including policemen, in the fight against the Coronavirus. He calls himself a cleric (ustaz) but he behaves like a mat rempit. He has no dignity and no principles. Khairuddin is daft, but he need not have his stupidity on display. Why does he think he can fool the rakyat. If he refuses to resign, Muhyiddin should fire him, before the people punish PN in GE-15. He issued his apology but it was too late. 11. It sets a very dangerous precedent ... any of the 111 MPs can hold Moodin's govt to ransom. Khairuddin, or even any low level MP can fuck the govt up real good. hence any belt-tightening measures to recover the national economy will be followed superficially only, in form but not in substance. 12. Countries all over the world will lose faith in Moodin's govt. it is already suffering "trust n diplomatic deficit" in international standing. which country wud trust Msia w their investment / loans. if a rapist can't be trusted to keep his trousers up; then jail is compulsory to prevent him from raping more. if moodin is already in Trust Deficit, jailing Khairuddin is the least he can do to plug the leaking boat, leaking out trust, faith n integrity by the gallons. 13. In Havard they preached " it is not a crime until u r caught w yr pants down". in Arab society, u can commit a 1000 immoral acts w/in the confines of yr home, but don't ever expose yr "aurat" in public .... it is an unforgivable sin. - Amin Fasaili
didalam minda Lokman ialah "Najib tidak bersalah"...
Hubungan Pas dengan Bersatu kian rapat apabila kedua parti bersetuju untuk menjadi penaja kepada penubuhan Perikatan Nasional (PN). Perkembangan ini menyebabkan hubungan Pas dengan Umno menerusi Muafakat Nasional (MN) jadi tanda tanya. Baru2 ni PAS keluar knyataan akan bersama BERSATU. With or without UMNO katanya...Xda peliknya pun. Satu dunia tahu yg PAS ni parti hina. Jenis xda prinsip. Alangkah agama pun boleh dijual timbang kati, inikan pulak UMNO, parti yg pernah dikafirkannya satu masa dulu.
Bnyk lg yg boleh diulas tentang parti lebai malang ni.. Jgn kata rakyat Malaysia, anjing kurap pun tau betapa hinanya lebai2 PA$ nih ..! PA$ letak lah 50 calon kawasan parlimen, kalau boleh menang 20 kerusi dah boleh jadi Kingmaker. Kalau kurang dari itu, lebih baik bubarkan je PA$. Ni yg dikatakan atas kertas nampak comel je, bila dizahirkan nampak hodoh, sebab tu hari2 kena kutuk..- f/bk
No peace of mind for
the man in Putrajaya...
Muhyiddin Yassin must be racking his brain to fence off threats to Bersatu. Phlip Rodrigues imagines what the party president must be going through. One can easily imagine Muhyiddin Yassin having sleepless nights before taking the fateful step of enlisting his party Bersatu in Muafakat Nasional. He must be racking his brain thinking of ways and means of removing any threat to Bersatu before he calls for a general election. Many disturbing thoughts assail Muhyiddin as he grapples with his next moves. He knows acutely the coalition he leads – Perikatan Nasional – is not a pact of jolly bedfellows but a marriage of convenience. Despondently, he thinks he is unable to improve PN’s flimsy majority. Why can’t more ‘frogs’ jump over to his side? Don’t they know their future is not with Umno or Pas? Isn’t Bersatu ruling the country? The gloom thickens as Muhyiddin perhaps wrestles with the many ‘demons’ who incessantly mock his political impotence. Enemies and fake friends – inside and outside PN – don’t help his cause. One can imagine Muhyiddin wondering how to weaken or neutralise them. The urgency to do something drastic grows by the hour. Take Umno, the birthplace of his political career. Muhyiddin has been uneasy with his former ‘home’ ever since he was sacked from the party. There is something odorous about Umno: segments of the party still reek of corruption, and associating with it will only bring Bersatu into disrepute. Besides, Muhyiddin may suspect Umno is up to no good when it says it doesn’t want to be part of PN; he may also suspect Zahid Hamidi is playing politics.
Zahid, the Umno president, thinks Bersatu is too weak and prefers to cast his lot with Pas under Muafakat. Why this love affair with Muafakat? The Umno president is miffed that Muhyiddin did nothing to save his former fallen boss, Najib Razak. And Zahid himself is fighting for his political life in the dock. Why should Muhyiddin worry about Zahid? The Bersatu president is probably thinking, let justice take its course, and the Umno president will not be a threat for now. But something else may be bothering Muhyiddin: he realises he is unable to dump Umno. The party may have lost its clout, but it is no pushover. Zahid may not be Umno’s standard-bearer when the election is called, but the party can still influence the Malay mind. Muhyiddin, however, may feel sure Bersatu has an edge over Umno because the latter has a lot of homework to do to rebuild its shattered house. What strategy to use with Umno? Mulling over it, Muhyiddin comes up with the best available option: treat the party gently by keeping it contented with promises of some political goodies. With Umno safely tucked away, or so he thinks, Muhyiddin is more at ease when he turns his attention to Umno’s allies in Barisan Nasional – the MCA, the MIC and Gerakan. No problem here. All these minnows have no choice but to come on board his ship. But dark clouds of anxiety soon descend on him again. How to tackle Pas? This is a stronger rival whose Islamic credentials leave many Malay politicians wary. Bersatu cannot twist the Islamist party around its finger and order it to fall in line.
Pas is a venerable political institution that captured large segments of the Malay imagination 65 years ago. Today, it continues to enjoy significant support with its uncompromising Islamisation agenda. Muhyiddin is probably deep in thought over how to pull Pas president Hadi Awang over to his side. But wait! Why does Pas keep insisting on a snap general election? If the Islamic party is a genuine friend, it should help Bersatu strengthen its hold on federal power first to prolong its stay in Putrajaya. Muhyiddin is likely to harbour a deep suspicion about Hadi’s political ambition. Snap polls? Many believe Pas will win more seats than Bersatu. Some pundits predict Bersatu might even be wiped out because it was responsible for ruining a grand experiment called Pakatan Harapan. That said, Bersatu and Pas also share a common ideology. Both are conservative in their outlook, both uphold Malay supremacy in national politics and both appear committed to the concept of Islamic democracy. If this is the case, then it would appear that Hadi, Pas and Bersatu are on the same wavelength. Muhyiddin might realise choosing Hadi as his deputy prime minister could be a masterstroke and seal the ‘brotherhood’.
But the Bersatu president’s headache hasn’t ended. What to do with the non-Malay electorate? Bersatu needs their support to remain in the saddle. These voters represent a significant segment of the population that can swing the balance of power. The party may feel it needs a strategy that can rattle the ethnic Chinese and Indian support for the DAP and PKR. To dent the popularity of these parties, what better way than to conjure up something to show that certain opposition leaders are political crooks dressed as knights in shining armour. When touring the country, bark out the message: “Look at your corrupt leaders! They are hypocrites! Don’t gamble your future on them!” That would be a shock-and-awe tactic. Shock the people with the news of the opposition’s own failings, and awe the public with the rectitude of Bersatu. Then, with everything in order – Umno tamed, Pas neutralised or compromised, the DAP and PKR cornered – the Bersatu bandwagon would be ready to roll. But before anyone can heave a sigh of relief, yet another problem emerges: why all these Bersatu defections?
Mahathir!...The nearly century-old man stands like a spectral figure straddling the political landscape. What to do with this crusty warrior, who refuses to ride into the sunset. Instead, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has formed a new Malay-based party, Pejuang, which has already sparked a wave of low-level defections from Bersatu. He wants to be the prime minister again and again and again…. Muhyiddin keeps musing over his next move in the face of a gathering storm. And then he makes his grand move: he announces that Bersatu is joining Muafakat Nasional. It finally dawns on him that this pact is a bigger and stronger coalition than PN. With this strategic manoeuvre, won’t it solve all his problems? Won’t he continue to be PM of a grand alliance? Just then the Bersatu president feels a ‘cold finger’ tap him. He looks around and he sees that spectral figure again. Mahathir seems to be silently mouthing: Not so fast, kawan…. - Phlip Rodrigues
Apakah jadah polis pi escort Najib berkempen dalam PRK ini??
Speaker nak terkencing atau kencingkan pembangkang...
Lucunya parlimen Malaysia di bawah kerajaan tebuk atap. Bukan ahli parlimen tunggu speaker masuk, tapi speaker yg pergi cari dan tunggu ahli parlimen masuk. Sebab apa? Sebab ada undian dan bilangan ahli parlimen kerajaan tebuk atap tak cukup dalam parlimen. Maka, speaker seperti budak suruhan lari keluaq cari2 orang. - f/bk
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok today claimed that a minister visited Turkey from July 3 to 7 and attended Dewan Rakyat on July 13. Kok told the Dewan Rakyat that the minister in question was in charge of plantation industries and commodities.
“We know that whoever goes overseas needs to undergo quarantine for 14 days. But this minister did not comply (with the quarantine rules),” the DAP lawmaker said. She asked if the health ministry or Parliament should take action against him.
Former deputy health minister Lee Boon Chye (PH-Gopeng), who was debating on the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020, said action should be taken if the claim was true. “There should be no double standards,” he added.- f/bk
The RM4 million rebuke...
The DAP could hardly contain its elation when it announced on Saturday that in just one week Malaysians from all walks of life had contributed almost RM4 million to the solidary fund set up to help DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (LGE) cover his bail expenses. The whopping response by ordinary Malaysians, at a time of economic hardship no less, says a lot about the mood of the public these days. In the first place, it is a sure sign that public faith in the integrity and credibility of government institutions has hit rock bottom. Coming after the sweetheart deal involving Riza Aziz and the withdrawal of charges against former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman, the corruption charges against LGE were viewed with nothing but scepticism and contempt. And when you add to the mix the plotting that brought down the Warisan government in Sabah and attempts now underway to challenge the legality of the royal pardon that Anwar received in 2018, it is not a difficult leap to conclude that a conspiracy is afoot to castrate the opposition and keep it from challenging an already shaky government. If MCA and Gerakan were hoping for some political dividend from the corruption charges against LGE, they would, no doubt, be greatly disappointed. They tried to make an issue of the donation drive – by questioning why the DAP was appealing for public donations to help pay for LGE’s bail when the DAP secretary-general and his wife were more than capable of paying for it themselves – but it fell flat.
LGE is, of course, no pauper but the fund-raising exercise was never really about the money; it was a shrewd political move to harness public outrage over the charges, an invitation to the public to express with their cheque books their disdain for the government’s actions. And clearly, Malaysians rose to the occasion in splendid form, delivering a stunning RM4 million rebuke to the government. PN parties can fulminate all they want about the DAP’s tactics but there’s no escaping the fact that UMNO, MCA or Gerakan can never dream of raising such support from the public themselves. Many voters would rather swallow whatever coin they have than give it to PN parties. Certainly, when UMNO stalwarts tried to raise money for former UMNO president Najib’s bail in 2018, the results were less than inspiring. Media reports indicated that about RM500,000 was raised and that too mostly from UMNO branches. Perhaps after seeing the glittering array of treasure that was taken from his home, people wisely concluded that Najib didn’t need any of their hard-earned money. No word yet on whether there were any donations from Najib’s many Saudi admirers or whether the MCA or the Gerakan themselves offered financial support to the man they were once so proud to follow. In the end, the PN government might have done the opposition a huge favour by its clumsy attempt to sideline LGE. All it did was to make voters angry enough with PN to rally to the DAP. As the party’s publicity secretary Tony Pua said with obvious glee, “The response [to the solidarity fund] has been incredible and exceeded all expectations… [it] has certainly reinvigorated all of us at DAP.”
The same thing happened when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad brought trumped-up sodomy charges against Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Malaysians, instinctively recognizing that an injustice was being perpetrated, flocked to Anwar’s banner by the hundreds of thousands. It gave birth to the reformasi movement which has had such a profound impact on Malaysian politics since.
It is a reminder that in politics, perception is everything. If people perceive something is not right, they will respond appropriately. For now at least, PN may have the power but it cannot claim to have the hearts of the people. The DAP leadership, however, should not take the support of the people for granted especially when it comes to their blinkered love affair with Mahathir. Many voters have grown weary of Mahathir’s endless race-based political intrigues and schemes. They overwhelmingly hold him accountable for the collapse of the PH government and are in no mood to give him another chance. Mahathir’s continuing obsession with race came through again when he launched his new party last week. Instead of talking about building a united and democratic nation, which is what is desperately needed, he talked about the struggle for Malay dignity and Malay rights. From past experience, we know that when Malay politicians talk about fighting for Malay rights, they are invariably implying that the non-Malays have become too strong, too rich, too ungrateful or too whatever. This was the same narrative that Mahathir deployed at the Malay Dignity Congress to gather support for his plans to form a Malay unity government. No one wants to see a repeat performance. If the DAP wants to continue to enjoy the support of the people it must not fall for Mahathir’s charms again. Voters would rather the DAP (and PKR) remain in opposition and continue to fight for a more inclusive and democratic nation than be in a government led by a man they no longer trust. If the DAP is so desperate to return to power that it is willing to blindly follow Mahathir once more, it might just have to look for rich Saudi donors the next time it needs support. - Dennis Ignatius
cheers.
