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

[Brian]

yes

and they need only 50(+)% of the seats, the 2/3rds is required for them to amend the constitution

that's exactly why we want to deny BN their 2/3rds. stop them from changing the constitution according to their whims and fancies at the time.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by bslee

Yes!..I fully encourage every eligible voter to vote!. This is no time to think negatively, sit on the fence and not bother. Many here have voiced and exposed to all, many truths about where the sins of BN led gahmen can run this country to the ground a lot worse than we'll imagine.
Its THEM who created all the problems that they can't resolve, morever they use those points to hit back the opposition that their manifestos are not achievable. Who's in the wrong now?..think please.

Indeed. And the most important thing to remember is this...

After over 50 years of BN leadership, why are we going backwards?

The TV stations keep showing that stupid advertisement that says we are on the right track. The question is... where does that track lead to exactly?

From what I've seen so far, BN is on the right track only for the UMNOputras and their cronies. They want you to stay on track, so that they can keep stealing our country's wealth and resources.

If that's what you want, by all means, vote for them. Just don't bother complaining when they openly steal our money and thumb their noses at us.

I, for one, am going all the way back to Penang to cast my vote. Otherwise, I have no right to complain about the injustices perpetrated by our own elected leaders.

Of course, it's your right to decide who to vote for. I, for one, am openly declaring that BN deserves to be punished for the damage they have done to our country. We need to step up to OUR responsibility and VOTE THEM OUT!

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by bslee

Fine collection of truths, BUT its BN supporters and fence sitters who should absorb this all. With BN out, only this country can move forward..otherwise..NOPE!.. I repeat..NOPE!.

DSAI has been pointing out that corruption and mismanagement will make this country bankrupt with BN fully responsible for it all. What has current PM done with his 2004 pledge?.. Nothing significant so far..except in the opposite direction. Still trust BN?..

TBH, I suspect Badawi's 2004 pledge was really his "Not To Do" list.

When you think about it, not only has he NOT accomplished anything in his 2004 pledge, he actually did the OPPOSITE!

1. Increased corruption.
2. Increased crime rate.
3. Reduced freedom of religion.
4. Reduced personal freedom.
5. Reduced government transparency.
6. Reduced media freedom and transparency.
7. Reduced economic competitiveness and opportunities.
8. Increased inflation.

Everything he said he would do in 2004, he had done the OPPOSITE. He's either too stupid, or just plain crazy. Either way, I'm not stupid or crazy enough to vote him back.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by Dashken

I have a question here. If PAS, DAP and KEADILAN win 2/3 of the parliamentary seats contested combined. Each of them cannot set up a new government because no one of them wins 2/3 of the seats. But if suddenly out of nowhere, 3 of them decided to form a party with 3 of them as component parties, can they then form the new government?

You don't need 2/3 of the seats to form a government. Just a simple majority. You only need 2/3 of the seats to amend the Constitution without opposition.

And that's the danger in BN's assertion they need 2/3rd of the seats. There's no reason for them to require 2/3rd of the seats. If the laws and amendments they make are good, the opposition should and probably would agree and vote aye as well.

They only need 2/3 of the seats to do whatever they want, the country be damned. If we give any government 2/3 of the seats, it's virtually the same thing as giving them 100% of the seats because the opposition is toothless.

As for PAS, DAP and PKR winning a majority of the seats, by right, they can form a coalition government. But I remember BN saying that such a coalition is not possible as it had "not been registered". Of course, that's bullshit, but it's BN bullshit, backed by the machinery of the government including the police, the judiciary, etc.

[bslee]

As more truths emerge, I can only but see anyone who votes BN now, is either bought over with empty platitudes or plain selfish and self centered for own well being. The rest of us go buy 4Ekor and jaga ekor diri?.. is that the Malaysia we're supposed to inherit?. BN reps are presenting themselves to voters with the same shit in different buckets..thats all!.

[Chai]

Originally Posted by bslee

As more truths emerge, I can only but see anyone who votes BN now, is either bought over with empty platitudes or plain selfish and self centered for own well being. The rest of us go buy 4Ekor and jaga ekor diri?.. is that the Malaysia we're supposed to inherit?. BN reps are presenting themselves to voters with the same shit in different buckets..thats all!.

Government servants are forced to vote BN too, don't forget.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

You don't need 2/3 of the seats to form a government. Just a simple majority. You only need 2/3 of the seats to amend the Constitution without opposition.

And that's the danger in BN's assertion they need 2/3rd of the seats. There's no reason for them to require 2/3rd of the seats. If the laws and amendments they make are good, the opposition should and probably would agree and vote aye as well.

They only need 2/3 of the seats to do whatever they want, the country be damned. If we give any government 2/3 of the seats, it's virtually the same thing as giving them 100% of the seats because the opposition is toothless.

As for PAS, DAP and PKR winning a majority of the seats, by right, they can form a coalition government. But I remember BN saying that such a coalition is not possible as it had "not been registered". Of course, that's bullshit, but it's BN bullshit, backed by the machinery of the government including the police, the judiciary, etc.

I don't think they need to form some official alliance under some name or whatever. As long as they agree to form a coalition government and have more than 50% of the seats they should be fine. Well at least that's how it works in most other places.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by Brian

I don't think they need to form some official alliance under some name or whatever. As long as they agree to form a coalition government and have more than 50% of the seats they should be fine. Well at least that's how it works in most other places.

Yup, they should not need to register an offical alliance or anything. You can see that in other countries. But I believe BN will pull this kind of trick if they do ever lose more than 50% of the votes to the opposition. With the judiciary in their pockets, they can say and do anything.

[bslee]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

they can say and do anything.

Rogue governments like the Nazis and many others subscribe along those lines and thereon hold on to absolute power. Same shit, different buckets.
Nope..they're not to be trusted now or in future, they've blew it since 2004.

[Adrian Wong]

Here is a letter someone wrote to the editor of Malaysia-Today. A very honest evaluation of the media coverage for this general election.

It has been 50 years since Merdeka but I must say that I am ashamed at the conduct of the Malaysian media in which I find that they still portray and infantile image and attitude.

I had been analysing the papers over the contents in the last week and a matter related to the general election and the people that has been campaigning. For easy reading, I have divided my analysis to the following ways. As I can only understand Malay and English papers, my analysis is restricted to this part only.

Media coverage on matters related to the Election process

In all honesty, I take my hats of to The Star newspaper which to me provide the most comprehensive information about all the contestants. Its summary was good. The other newspapers had bits of pieces of information and the Malay dailies to me has been rather poor in their presentation. I find that none of the newspaper play the role in educating the readers on the roles of SPR and rules and Act/regulation that SPR is bound to. The newspaper should play a more educational role in educating people in understanding the roles of SPR and who are the SPR and how SPR recruits it volunteers. Rumour has it bulk of the volunteers come from Putri UMNO. If the media play their part, all misinformation can be corrected.

Media Coverage on the candidates

In this aspect, I feel that all the media has failed in their task. There seems to be much attention paid to Pak Lah and Najib. In this aspect, I believe it is important that the media write a brief profile for ALL candidates. At least the readers can read and judge who are they actually voting. For example, in Bukit Antarabangsa, I have difficulty getting information about both the UMNO and PKR candidates. I don’t know weather they are graduates, married, places where they live and their roles in society. I tried to do my very best research, so far information has not been encouraging. The one point I can see is that, the UMNO candidate is beautiful and probably will charmed a lot of bachelors (and some married man) out there. Wouldn’t it be great if we know some information about the candidates themselves.

Media Coverage on Manifestos

My assessment is that, the media has failed miserably. It has given a lopsided attention to all political parties. While it gave the BN and extensive coverage on explaining their manifesto, the same cannot be said about the other political parties. I saw PKR got a small column with a few lines and showing the picture of Anwar and the wife but not in the Malay daily.

Media Coverage on the BN performance

In this aspect, all the media passed with flying colours. There is a good coverage on what the government has been doing for the people in the last 5 years. This comes in the form of infomercial as well as on the newspaper reporting. However, the newspaper has not done their role in highlighting major scandalous issues that involves the BN government. For example, there is no write-up about the failure ship building project involving Amin Shah. There is no write up about the Scorpene submarine deal that involves prominent people like Najib, Razak Baginda, Althantuya, etc. There is also no write-up about, for example, local community issues like the long-abandoned Keramat market or why there is people still living below poverty line despite after 50 years of Merdeka. There are no stories about floods and deforestation of state land which actually makes a few people rich but a lot of people suffer.

Media Coverage on other political parties performance

The best comment I can write here is – what coverage? There is nothing good has been mention about them.

If there is a write-up it tends to be negative. It tends to sensationalise issues. For example, today's Utusan Malaysia gave a prominent front page article that says “Pas keluar fatwa benarkan calon mengumpat”. To me this is nonsense and my argument is simple. First of all, Fatwa’s are only issued by the nation's religious authorities. Second, PAS is not a religious authority. It now boils down on what the writer is trying to do. Is it trying to create fear or create problems amongst the people? The action of the newspaper is simply irresponsible. PAS is not a body that can deliver fatwas. On the rights of “mengumpat”, back-stabbing, and lies, there seems to more coming from BN, but of course this does not reach the media.

I also read about how BN threatened to withdraw part of RM112 billion project from Kelantan if BN fails. Why this kind of threat? It is the role of the government to develop the nation whether it is under BN or other parties. There is also a threat on how the country will be in chaos if BN loss, or how the MIC and MCA will lose their 'Chinese voice' in the government if they vote the opposition and the Sabah CM said that he cannot imagine if the Sabah is run by party other than BN. This is all nonsense. For your information, PBS once managed Sabah and the state did not collapse.

The ruling government must show love and equality to all. There is no reason to force people to vote for you through threats. Many people that I talk to, including myself, oppose any kind of threats. We live in a civil society, though some still prefer to use the Keris. We live in the information age. We should show maturity. We should be civil about things. Don’t think that by threatening you can go far. People can threaten you back. You continue threatening us.. I will not vote for you.. That is my threat?

Media portray BN as saint and others as devil

This is something that is shocking. It seems that everything that BN does is good. They have never made any mistakes in their life? Remember the school computer labs collapsing issue? Which party was ruling the country? Remember the leader that promised free school fees? Which party does he represent? Every time you drive a car, get stuck in traffic, hit a large pothole you need to ask your self which government that seems to be running things? There is poor planning. Even building a small bridge in your own territory is also difficult? Poor usage of public funds, etc. Creating a serious ethnic division among the populace... Which party is causing all this?

I don’t understand why in this country anyone that is not associated with BN is considered opposition. The way the opposition is portrayed in the media is so bad. Sometimes they are portrayed worst than communist. One UMNO member I heard even labelled non-members as PARIAH! For the record, they are Malaysian. They fight for what they believe is the best for the country. Some people associate the opposition as liken to a Swine (pork) – they are untouchables. People forget that, in Kelantan, the BN is the opposition. The media need to change their attitudes. People from other party are humans, born and raised in this country and who wants to do good for the country.

Media portray BN as one united party vs other loose coalition

The media needs to speak the truth. Barisan Nasional is not a party. BN is the name of coalition of many political parties. Inside this coalition, they fight all the time. Only thing the media don’t highlight this often enough. Look at Kayveas taking pot-shots at the other coalition members. When I hear KJ speaks about PKR only knows about main belakang” I felt ashamed of him. If I was in Rembau that day, I would have taken my shoe and put it in his mouth. What kind of character is this? This is the man who says he is a Muslim, prays 5 times a day, and yet talks profanity and behave like an ass. People in Penang must really have a short memory. When Hishammuddin insulted and threatened Gerakan and the CM over the action of it's youth head over his statement related to HIndraf. Gerakan leadership can't even say a thing. For GOD's sake, an UMNO youth member threatened the President of another friendly political party. This is no small matter. Mind you , BN council did not take action against him. Look at how these people in so-called united coalition behave. To me they are no difference from any other coalition. They are coalition of convenience. The press must highlight one thing. The other coalition do not have a common logo and BN does.. that is all.

Christmas came early this year

This is probably the best part of any GE. If you have been complaining to your local authorities and called Karam Singh Walia to highlight your issues and see how well the issue was played in the media, you will realise that all your request are suddenly being attended to. From potholes, road humps, rubbish disposal, environmental issues.. you name you will get it. Even Najib suddenly has the power to approve RM1 million for the upgrading of military quarters in Kelantan. No paperwork. No studies.. semua boleh.. that is why I said Santa came early this year. Put a small pillow under his belly and you will see that he looks not much different from Santa Claus. The press now suddenly has no more bad stories to write. All things is in order. There is no pollution, no rubbish problems, no waste management issues, no illegal felling of trees, etc.

I wonder what happened to those people who apartment was built next to a rubbish dump located in Sunway. Did you notice that somehow during the campaign period, there has been no accident and no one has died. The fact remains, all this monies they spend this month before election was supposed to be spend in the next one year. I can bet you, in the next one year, all new problems that appears will not be attended to.. you know why.. NO MONEY..

In conclusion, I want to say, if we cant get a truly clean and efficient government, the least I hope the papers can be honest and responsible. When the papers start to write garbage on the opponent political parties, it raises dissatisfaction to BN members like me because it reflects a poor attitude of our political leaders. One friend told me once, when you point one finger to the others, don’t forget that 3 other fingers is pointing back to you. This is the case. Now for every allegation made against the opponents, 3 new ones are coming back towards them. Have you ever realised that there is no sex scandal issues with PAS or DAP members? What about abuse of power or abuse of state money? There are none. It did not happen. In Kelantan, did you hear the government there can be bought? Have you ever heard about PAS leaders having affairs… got caught with money or were video-recorded having sex with anyone, involvement in unusual business transaction or associated with any bomb fragmented bodies?

Make your own conclusion. The press must show maturity… please…Put the country above self.