Malaysia's Elections 2008 (Before, During & After)

[Adrian Wong]

The aftermath of the 'bloodbath'

So remember who put you where you are today. Remember who gave you your job. The rakyat can hire and the rakyat can fire. We, the rakyat, made you and we, the rakyat, can break you. Just remember that and with God as our witness we shall not fail to do that if you fail to do what you promised to do.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Since yesterday I have been receiving a lot of phone calls from people who keep asking me what position I am going to hold in the government. I also have tons of e-mails in my in-box which I have either not read yet or have not replied to thus far. Firstly, can you please stop phoning so that I can get down to writing my article (anyway, I have switched off my phone so that I can complete this article). We can 'chat' about what the opposition needs to do later plus I will reply to all your e-mails once the dust settles.

Now, with regards to my 'position' in the government. No, no and no! I do not wish to hold any position in the government. I know some of you have threatened to 'protest' in front of the party headquarters if I am not offered at least a Senator's post. Hey, I do not want to be a Senator or Wakil Rakyat or anything at all for that matter. I just want to continue being plain Raja Petra Kamarudin, Editor and Webmaster of Malaysia Today -- so please drop all this talk of me 'holding a position in the government'.

Secondly, Malaysia Today is going to continue playing the role of watchdog and the conscience of the nation. We must continue to be the eyes, ears and voice of the rakyat and this must be done with me outside the government. Malaysia Today, which is already a nightmare for the ruling party, is going to now also be the nightmare of the five opposition-led state governments. And we are going to monitor these five states even closer than we watch the federal government.

Now, with regards to the talk floating around that Tok Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang has announced that Kedah is going to introduce Hudud laws; this is not true. Tok Guru confirmed he never made such an announcement. The trouble is, many of you wear these 'boycott the mainstream media' T-shirts yet you still read and believe what the mainstream media spins. Would you become terrible offended if I shout 'Bodoh punya orang!'? I really don't know what else to shout under these circumstances.

Let me repeat what I have said many, many times in the past. PAS does not have 150 seats in Parliament. In fact, PAS, DAP and PKR combined do not have 150 seats in Parliament. Read my lips. “PAS NEEDS 150 SEATS IN PARLIAMENT TO CHANGE THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY OR OF THE STATES!”

Anyway, 150 seats or no 150 seats, PAS does not intend to introduce Islamic laws, PERIOD.

Okay, can we now get down to some serious work? Our first task in hand is to set up an Ombudsman committee that will monitor all the five state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. A man such as Tun Salleh Abas or anyone of his calibre must head the Ombudsman committee which will comprise of men and women of standing and with squeaky-clean reputations. They must be people like Gandhi and Mother Theresa both rolled into one. Yes, Malaysia does have plenty of such people.

The Ombudsman must be above the Chief Minister and Menteri Besar. It must have the power and authority to summon even the highest man in the state to come before the committee for questioning on anything at all that may be perceived as wrongdoing, transgressions, deviations, etc. And the Ombudsman must have the power and authority to recommend the removal of any public servant or politician who may have committed a breach of discipline, even if he is the Chief Minister/Menteri Besar.

This Ombudsman shall be responsible to the rakyat. The meetings and official inquiries it conducts must not be behind closed doors but shall be open inquiries where members of the public who may be interested in the goings-on can attend and witness the proceedings. Everything must be transparent and open to public scrutiny. There shall be no secrets. Public servants and elected officials work for the rakyat. The rakyat are the boss. So the 'boss' must be allowed to witness any public inquiry and proceedings convened to look into the conduct of their 'employees'. There must be no compromise on this issue.

The government must not be race-based, and certainly not religion-based. People chosen to head the agencies in any of the five states must be based on capabilities and not because that person is Malay, Chinese or Indian. Granted, the Federal Constitution of Malaysia may state who can be Menteri Besar while the election promise was, if the opposition wins Penang, then a Chinese shall be the Chief Minister. But that must be as far as race considerations prevail. For thereon no positions should be filled because we want more Malays or more Chinese or more Indians in the government.

If qualifications and capabilities become the criteria, then Malays, Chinese and Indians would automatically be represented at all levels of government. Just give him or her the job because he or her is the best person for the job and the racial balance would automatically happen. You do not even need to try too hard.

All ongoing projects must be reviewed. Those that have not taken off yet and which are clearly white elephants, projek mewah, above the recommended cost, etc., should be aborted. Of course, those that have contractual obligations will have to go on lest the state becomes embroiled in legal tangles. But they must be aborted not for the sake of aborting them or because they have been awarded to cronies of 'the other side'. This would smack of political persecution and witch-hunting, something the opposition has accused the government of perpetuating and something we should not do as well.

Take note that the federal government will certainly squeeze the states of funds so money will be very tight. The states will have to engage a high-powered team of financial consultants to advice them on how to run a state government and still develop the state with no money. Kelantan has done it for 18 years. They inherited a colossal amount of debt when they took over Kelantan in 1990 and yet still managed to pay off all the debts plus carry the cost of running the state in spite of no money.

The local councils are more corrupted than the infamous Royal Malaysian Police. This needs to be immediately addressed and many heads should be on the chopping block. The state governments must be ruthless with no quarters asked nor any given. Let there be a 'bloodbath' if necessary. And send the files of all these crooks to the Anti-Corruption Agency and demand that they be hung from the highest tree. The rakyat will gladly pay for the cost of the tree.

The Malays should stop talking about 'percentage of Malay representation', as should the Chinese and Indians as well. We certainly want a meritocracy rather than a race-quota-based system. Nevertheless, no race or community must be left out of the government. So a delicate balancing act between meritocracy, yet taking into consideration racial representation, has to be the game plan here.

Remember, the opposition won these five states plus denied Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament through promises and rhetoric. The consideration of the voters the next election will no longer be based on promises and rhetoric but on performance and delivery. Many promises were made this election. Now is the time to deliver them. Then, come the next election, the voters will either continue electing this same government into office or opt to change back to Barisan Nasional depending on how well or how bad the five state governments have performed.

If you think that winning these five states and denying Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament was difficult, then you do not know what difficult is. Winning five states and denying Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament was the easy part. The difficult part is going to be in maintaining the confidence and support of the voters. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi won 92% of the seats in 2004 based on promises and four years later got massacred when he did not deliver. The same thing can and will happen to the opposition as well come the 13th General Election if it does not perform and/or deliver its election promise.

Malaysia Today is watching. And we shall whack the daylights out of anyone and everyone who misbehaves or forgets his or her promise. The opposition won the five states and 82 seats in Parliament with the support of Malays, Chinese and Indians. It needed all the races to cross the finishing line. Just two races would not have achieved that. One race would have been even more impossible.

So remember who put you where you are today. Remember who gave you your job. The rakyat can hire and the rakyat can fire. We, the rakyat, made you and we, the rakyat, can break you. Just remember that and with God as our witness we shall not fail to do that if you fail to do what you promised to do.

[Adrian Wong]

Here are some post-election quotes, courtesy of Malaysiakini.

Anwar Ibrahim, PKR de facto leader, quoted in Star today

Some mentris besar in the past spent half a million ringgit to renovate their offices. Such things cannot be an example in this new administration.

Nurul Izzah Anwar, Lembah Pantai MP at a press conference yesterday

(On whether she will vacate the seat to force a by-election so that her father, Anwar Ibrahim, can re-enter politics after a five-year ban): I have already started working in my constituency. The question does not arise.

PPP president M Kayveas, quoted in Star today

Prior to the elections, Barisan Nasional had kept on telling people to show their dissatisfaction through the ballot box. Now they have really shown it.

Sungai Petani losing BN candidate Zainuddin Maidin, quoted in Star today

It is not that they love Parti Keadilan Rakyat or PAS more that they voted against me.

The Chinese showed their resentment because of the economic backlash they often complained about. So, PAS and PKR should not be overly proud of their win (in Kedah).

The people may have to pay a price for their decision

[The_YongGrand]

Haha!

That's the best kind of Blitzkrieg we've ever seen! Power occupation of 5 states...

[Adrian Wong]

It was a blitzkrieg alright!

Unfortunately, UMNO members still haven't learnt how to blitz... Looks like they are still stuck in their indecisiveness.

Mukhriz's press conference causes a stir

A drama of sorts unfolded at a press conference by newly-elected Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir today.

The media was alerted to cover the press conference where Mukhriz, youngest son of ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was scheduled to speak at 3pm at a hotel in Seberang Jaya, Penang.

The journalists were told that Mukhriz, also an Umno Youth exco member, will call on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to quit. Youth wing leaders from Perak, Penang and Kedah were expected to back Mukhriz’s call.

However come 3pm, Mukhriz was no where to be found at the hotel. However there were others there, numbering some 200 - majority of whom were plainclothes police - waiting at the hotel for his arrival. There were also police trucks and the light strike force members on standby.

There were also moments of slight tension as journalists were informed that ugly scenes may occur when Mukhriz arrives.

After a 90-minute wait, the journalists were told by Mukhriz’s aide to go to another hotel located nearby quietly to avoid the remaining crowd from following them.

Malaysiakini later learnt that the change of venue was apparently due to some of Abdullah’s supporters who were waiting for Mukhriz to counter his attack against the premier, who was sworn in for the second term this morning.

Security were strict at the press conference, where only the media representatives and Mukhriz’s supporters were allowed in. A large number of plainclothes police were barred from entering the venue.

Mukhriz was seen discussing with his aides and drafting his speech when the journalists arrived. There were also about 100 supporters present.

Remedial actions needed

In the 20-minute press conference which ensued later, Mukhriz however did not call on Abdullah to resign as expected and but in a toned-down statement reiterated that Abdullah should “do the right thing”.

“The voice of the people is very clear, we appeal to the leadership to take cognisance of the people’s wishes and to take the correct initiatives to remedy the situation,” he said when asked on whether he opined Abdullah should quit in the wake of BN’s worst ever polls performance.

He declined to elaborate on what he referred to as ‘correct initiatives’ despite repeatedly being grilled by the horde of journalists, including those from the foreign wires who had flown in from Kuala Lumpur this morning. He merely said people want to see “some changes”.

“I can’t be sure of what the changes will be, but we are confident that Umno and BN will use its own party machinery and process to take remedial action to return to people’s confidence,” he noted.

He expressed hopes that the Umno members will air their views on what measures were needed to be taken in the party’s election which is expected to be held later this year.

According to Mukhriz, there are “a number of people” who shared his father’s view that Abdullah should quit over the polls outcome, which saw the BN denied its two-thirds majority for the first time and losing five state governments to the opposition.

The Umno rising star described this as an “unmitigated, unprecedented situation” and should serve as a wake-up call to Umno and BN.

Among the factors that led to the humiliating elections results, he said, were that the government was not addressing real issues that was close to the people’s heart.

No rally in Penang

The press conference was interrupted briefly when a supporter vented his frustration at Mukhriz for repeating that he was appealing to the leadership to listen to people’s wishes on questions by journalists if Abdullah should step down.

“Is that what you really want to say!” asked the angry supporter.

Asked on the change of the press conference venue, Mukhriz merely said he felt there was “some tensions” going on and that he did not want the event to turn chaotic.

On the widely-circulated SMS alert that he was to call for Abdullah’s resignation, he said he did
not know who was behind the circulation of the text message.

An aide to Mukhriz later also denied that there was a rally, said to be held in Penang tonight and organised by Mukhriz to demand for Abdullah’s resignation.

Mahathir has also urged Abdullah to resign and admitted he had made a mistake in selecting him as prime minister.

[Dashken]

Now from Penang to Selangor to visit Adrian... all the states that I'll pass through will be under the oppositions. Funny...

Best thing would be to abolish the toll... wow... song!!!

[Dashken]

Victory joy turns to horror for MCA man

IT was way past midnight but Barisan Nasional candidate for the Sungai Pelek state seat Yap Ee Wah could not hide his joy as the ballot papers made their way to the tallying centre at the Multi Purpose Hall in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.

He was convinced of a victory but Yap was walking around frantically as he was informed that his MCA colleagues were heading towards a polls defeat.

“I am really confused. My colleagues like Datuk Liew Yuen Keong (Barisan’s candidate in the Seri Kembangan state seat) and Datuk Hoh Hee Lee (Barisan’s candidate in the Serdang parliamentary seat) are losing. I can’t believe it. They have been serving their constituencies well. I don’t know what is wrong,” said Yap.

However as the clock ticked away, Yap became more and more agitated as he received news that his MCA colleagues were on the losing end in most of the seats.

He was restless and finally he was informed that the Opposition had garnered enough seats to form the state government.

It was then that the official results for the Sepang parliamentary seats the state seats of Sungai Pelek, Tanjong Sepat and Dengkil were announced.

Datuk Mohamed Zin Mohamed had defeated PAS Mohamed Makki Ahmad for the Sepang parliamentary seat. Mohamed Zin polled 26,381 while Mohamed Makki amassed 21,532.

Barisan’s Marsum Paeng was declared the winner in Dengkil after polling 11,838 to PAS’ Ishammudin Ismail's 8,471. Tanjong Sepat state seat went to Barisan's Datuk Dr Karim Mansor with 8297 votes while his opponent PAS’ Mohd Haslin Hassan had 5023.

Yap was involved in a three-cornered fight with DAP’s A. Sivanathan and independent Abdul Manap Saharudin for the Sungai Pelek seat.

Yap won the seat with a 431 majority. He polled 7,053 while Sivanathan and Abdul Manap had 5,481 and 816 votes respectively.

Now Yap is bracing for a hectic term in the state government on the opposition side.

“I am still in a daze. Give me some time,” pleaded Yap.

[The_YongGrand]

The vicinities around my place are all the time under the Opposition's rule. And even some places have been taken over by them recently.

I'm happy that the Opposition has teached these BNs a serious lesson. A good whoop-ar$e, a good slap, or a good splash of cold water, to wake the sleeping, dreaming, complacent guys there.

How we wish that Johor has a place for opposition too. Y'see, at least it could help Johor some more, since it's very close to S'pore.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by Dashken

Now from Penang to Selangor to visit Adrian... all the states that I'll pass through will be under the oppositions. Funny...

Best thing would be to abolish the toll... wow... song!!!

That's a radical idea, and one that should be implemented. However, the PLUS highway is under the federal government, I believe...

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand

The vicinities around my place are all the time under the Opposition's rule. And even some places have been taken over by them recently.

I'm happy that the Opposition has teached these BNs a serious lesson. A good whoop-ar$e, a good slap, or a good splash of cold water, to wake the sleeping, dreaming, complacent guys there.

How we wish that Johor has a place for opposition too. Y'see, at least it could help Johor some more, since it's very close to S'pore.

If the Opposition really live up to their word, the next states to fall would be Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and... Johor!

[peaz]

If BN get's their act right, it may be a good 5 years to come for Malaysia. The now relavent "opposition" government in the five states would be working their ass off to make sure they do a good job and deliver their promises. That's something hopeful.

And to be doubly positive, BN might also have to work their ass off to regain a popular stand with the Rakyat. so hopefully that means less arrogance and more rakyat-friendly goodies...

Let's see how things unfolds in the next 5 years!