Pak Lah says Yes!
Read the following, which is part of a news item in The Star by V. P. Sujata:
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has confidence that Malaysians can help Barisan Nasional win big in the next general election similar to the 2004 historical victory.
He also stated that the disastrous results of the March election was a blessing in disguise, adding that there was a lesson to be learnt from it all.
He suggested that if Malaysians could change their attitude and refuse to be beaten, repeating the historical 2004 general elections results was possible.
“I’m used to making history that leaders before me had not achieved.
“The 2004 general election was the best but the 2008 result was the worst which no leader before me had achieved,” he said.
Together with positive thinking, he said, the implementation of objectives should also be in order to succeed.
“There are always challenges and lessons. Losing does not matter; there is a blessing behind all these.
Now, will that actually happen?
Well, looking at what is happening in this country after the 12th General Election, I doubt so.
It might be possible if BN make amends and reform, but what many people see is arrogance among many BN leaders even after the 8 March political tsunami. Not to forget, the 78 sen increase in price of petrol and the increase in electricity tariff as well as the skyrocketing inflation rate and reduced life quality affecting the people, the BN government is today even more unpopular compared to during the election campaign 4 months ago.
Justice Zainal Adzam of the Kangar High Court today ruled that the results of the constituency of N15 Sanglang of the Perlis State Legislative Assembly is invalid.
However, he said the defendants may appeal against the ruling in the Federal Court.
In the 8 March 2008 General Election, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Abdullah Hassan polled 3,384 votes against PAS candidate Hashim Jasin who polled 3,235 votes, giving a majority of 149 votes.
Hashim claimed that he should be declared the winner as votes tallied from all counting centers indicated that he obtained 3,333 votes against Abdullah’s 3,286 votes.
The judge however disagreed to declare Hashim the winner. Instead a by-election will be held pending appeal against the ruling, if any, to the Federal Court.
No. This is not a parody to Jackie Chan’s 1995 Hollywood blockbuster Rumble in the Bronx. Rather, this is about a potential second political tsunami that may hit the country, that will start in Sabah, the Land Below the Wind.
In the 8 March 2008 12th General Election, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) was delivered a blow, losing 2/3 parliamentary majority for the first time since 1969, losing the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat as well as fail to capture Kelantan from the grip of PAS since 1990. The election results have been decribed as a political tsunami.
It is a widely believed that Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who was once Deputy Prime Minister between 1993 and 1998, is engineering crossovers of BN MPs, in particular those in Sabah and Sarawak to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Anwar claimed that more than 30 MPs have decided to crossover, however, were waiting for the suitable time.
While many BN leaders brushed off Anwar’s claims, some senior BN politicians such as Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have warned that Anwar’s claim might in fact come true.
The BN managed to form the Federal Government with a simple majority, in fact, 8 seats short of holding 2/3 majority, mainly due to the victory of all but 2 BN candidates in Sabah and Sarawak. Without the parliamentary seats from Sabah and Sarawak, BN would not be able to obtain a simple majority. BN only lost the Kota Kinabalu and Bandar Kuching parliamentary seats to DAP.
The new Cabinet lineup announced by the Prime Minister has in one way or another, disappointed BN leaders from the 2 Borneo states, in particular from Sabah. The number of ministers from Sabah and Sarawak in the new Cabinet does not reflect the strength of the government according to states. BN, which lost Selangor and Perak has quite a number of ministers from these 2 states, however, Sabah and Sarawak leaders were only given a few ministerial posts, mostly in not very important portfolios.
The rumble started when Kimanis MP Anifah Aman refused to accept a Deputy Minister, while weeks later Kalabakan MP Ghapur Salleh resigned from his Deputy Minister post. A meeting between the Prime Minister and Sabah BN leaders resulted in the election of Dewan Rakyat Speaker and Deputy Speakers from Sabah and Sarawak.
In recent days, many BN leaders from Sabah voiced out demands to the Federal Government. On Monday, Ghapur accused the BN of practicing double standards while debating the motion of thanks on the royal address in Parliament. He issued a serious warning that BN will suffer greatly if the double standards practice do not stop. He however denied that he is crossing over.
Ghapur and Anifah stole the limelight in the press where both were reported to have said the following respectively:
We (Sabah BN MPs) have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide where we want to sit…here or there”, he said, gesturing in the direction of the opposition and backbenchers. - Ghapur Salleh (BN - Kalabakan)
There is no harm in Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah defecting to the Opposition. What’s the point of moving to a terrace house if one is already living in a bungalow? However, for some of us, there seems to be no pleasure in living in this bungalow. What’s the point of living in a bungalow if one has to sleep beside the toilet?
- Anifah Aman (BN - Kimanis)
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Looi of The Star reports that SAPP President Yong Teck Lee, who was a Chief Minister under the 2-year rotation system between 1996 to 1998 gave an ultimatum to BN to resolve issues in Sabah.
Excerpts of the news item in The Star:
After August, there will be no guarantee that SAPP members will remain in Barisan, he said.
He however said the 16 Sabah MPs, who were speculated to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, were not from SAPP.
He added that this did not mean Barisan leaders should rule out the possibility that his members could leave the coalition in the near future.
He said now is the time for Sabah to demand requests from the Federal Government.
“This is the best time for Sabah but it is also the most important time for Barisan to do something for Sabah because if we do not do something, Sabah will be returned to its subservient role after August as September is the fasting month, October is the Hari Raya festivities and December is when the Umno general election will be held.
“If nothing happens, an explosion will happen in January, where the Opposition will come into play,” he told reporters Tuesday in the Parliament lobby here.
Anwar, meanwhile, in a press conference yesterday confirmed that several Members of Parliament from Barisan Nasional (BN) and its component parties will be crossing over soon, according to a news item by Tim Leonard in The Sun.
Statements fueled by BN leaders in Sabah and Anwar’s claim of defections definitely increase the speculation of defections from BN to Pakatan Rakyat will occur soon. Anwar himself claimed that Pakatan Rakyat would be able to form the Federal Government before Malaysia Day on 16 September 2008.
This is a piece of news as reported in the New Straits Times on 1 May 2008:
RM790,000 spent on jets
The government spent RM792,325.20 for the use of executive jets by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak between Feb 24 and Mar 7.
Abdullah said this in reply to Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS - Marang).
What? 24 February to 7 March! Isn’t that the campaign period in the recent general election? Isn’t government machinery not supposed to be used for the purpose of campaigning in elections? And RM792,325.20 tax payer’s money is being spent by the then Caretaker PM and Caretaker DPM on flying using executive jets for their election campaign!
Perhaps they should really learn from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who still flies Economy Class even he is now the head of the state government!
P.S.: Thanks to What A Lulu for this piece of news item. Since it is not posted on NST online, but printed on the paper itself, I actually missed it. I don’t buy NST anyway, only read it occassionaly online.
It has been more than a month since the 8 March 2008 political tsunami which sees the BN losing their 2/3 majority in Parliament and conceding 5 state assemblies to Pakatan Rakyat. The Federal Government and all state governments have been established, although Perak, Perlis and Terengganu faced with some problems initially. However, it seems, there is still too much politicking, especially by BN over their losses.
The state governments of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor under Pakatan Rakyat have started working immediately after their Chief Ministers were sworn in. Whereas, the media is full of coverage of finger-pointing within BN components parties as to why the BN suffered a setback in the elections. Calls for the Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down have been going on for the last 5 weeks. Politicking within BN parties are set to steal the limelight this year, particularly UMNO, MCA and Gerakan, as their party elections will be held this year.
Not enough with that, in recent weeks, in particular, Selangor, politicking continues over the pig farming project in Kuala Langat. It is well-known now that it was the previous BN administration that approves the project weeks prior to the General Election. Why the objection when the new administration decides to go on with it? To the BN in Selangor, do you oppose just because you are now the Opposition? As the opposition, you do not oppose for the sake of opposing. Rather, the opposition’s role is to provide check and balance to the government.
It’s time to stop all the politicking and start working for the people, as, no matter the government or the opposition, it is the rakyat that voted you in. Makkal Sakhti!
