Mahathir's take on the election results was revealing- he felt that the problem lay in the absence of a strong grassroots network which did not convert positive intention into delivered votes while Najib complained of there being too many leaders on the ground. In both cases, what is interesting is that the analysis is in effect a reiteration of a worldview that is pre-existing. What is in effect being said is that the top-down approach of the UMNO works just fine; the only hitch is that there is no one at the bottom to utilise that advantage. When it is said that there are too many leaders, the subtext is that the party has all the leaders it needs in the members of the family; what it lacks are committed followers who are able to convert charisma into votes.One would imagine that there is nothing more real or sobering than election results for nothing makes reality more naked than hard cold numbers. And yet, because it is so difficult to disaggregate election results and tease out different strands of influences at work, what tends to happen is that the results serve to reinforce existing positions rather than act as a wake-up call for the parties in question.One would imagine that there is nothing more real or sobering than election results for nothing makes reality more naked than hard cold numbers. And yet, because it is so difficult to disaggregate election results and tease out different strands of influences at work, what tends to happen is that the results serve to reinforce existing positions rather than act as a wake-up call for the parties in question.
strategist Jahabar Sadiq told “The government is looking at the end of November, just after the last flight bringing back the Haj pilgrims on November 19,”BN’s mandate expires next April 28, five years after Election 2008 where the ruling coalition under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suffered historic losses of its two-thirds parliamentary majority and four more states. Abdullah stepped down in favour of Najib in April 2009. This is Najib’s first shot at getting his own mandate.
Jahabar Sadiq Barisan strategist has already put a 60-day timeline for the next elections after Budget Day although others are in favour of finishing the current mandate before calling polls.Nearly 13 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots if a general election is called, involving all 222 federal seats and 505 seats in 12 states. However, the four PR-ruled states have yet to say if they will hold elections the same day as the general election as their mandates only expire next April. Sarawak has already had its state election last year.Widespread allegations of tampered electoral rolls have forced the EC to defend itself and order a review of the rolls. The EC is also looking into implementing a 10-day campaign period following proposed reforms by a Cabinet committee after widespread protests calling for free and fair elections.We are a vicious cycle. We are a rut. We, the voters, are an eternal stalemate. We love confrontation and hate cooperation. Can’t we all just get along? Where would the fun be in that? Why would we watch? Why would we care? argue, and disagree, and scream at each other.If there is a diplomatic equivalent of masochism, where people derive pleasure by hurting and humiliating oneself That's a dark thought - far darker than Najib's misplaced sense of hurt. If anything,
Can an election ever throw up the right candidate? Or to put it more moderately, is an election the mechanism best suited to throw up representatives that will strive to work for their constituents and attempt to better their life? Are there in-built into the electoral process, a set of imperatives that help pre-determine one kind of outcome, irrespective of the quality of the candidates? Increasingly, it would seem that what it takes to win an election is not only very different from what it takes to govern, but might well be at odds with the idea of providing governance. The privileging of representativeness in our democracy, with an emphasis on race and religion, has meant that electable candidates are chosen with a view to who has the biggest electoral draw in terms representing the interests of a community rather than select those that have a view on issues of policy or administration. At one level, democracy does not require its practitioners to come equipped with a track record, and representativeness is perhaps the most vital element in the idea of democracy, but over a period of time, what representativeness has come to mean identity rather than action; the leader resembles his or her constituents, speaks for them and on the occasion that he or she acts on their behalf, it is often through the same narrow lens of community. Under these circumstances, the election abets the process of weeding out those that see their role in more on their voters terms, and focuses its attention narrowly on those with more cronies agendas.Winning elections requires a peculiar kind of knowledge and familiarity community arithmetic, multiplied by financial resources and propped up by on-ground muscle. The reason why the incidence of criminality in politics has been such a visible presence is partly due to the fact there are great similarities between the two skill sets. It is easier for a local grown to become a politician mobilise resources and numbers far more easily but also because the electorate sees more advantages in being represented by someone who can thump the table on their behalf rather than someone who is not seen to have a realistic chance of winning.The middle class distrust of politicians is in part a sense of frustration with the electoral process. Part of the reason why visible outrage does not automatically translate into higher voting percentages is because the idea is laced with a sense of presumptive futility.
The statistics of last general elections do not justify the self-evident depression that has overtaken The shock is that UMNO could not read the internal map of every constituency as well once it did.UMNO MUST GIVE VOICE TO THOSE WHO FEEL DISILLUSIONED OR DISENFRANCHISED BY THE CHOICE OF THEIR CANDIDATES. BY PLACING LOCAL CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION, VOTERS WILL BE ABLE VOTE SUITABLE CHOICES. WE HAVE NO MANIFESTO OR POLITICAL VIEW, BUT OFFER THE ELECTORATE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, AND AN END TO ‘VOTER APATHY’ the factional problem of Umno has not yet been solved. Some district leaders actually ignore Najib’s plan of fielding only those with the highest chance of winning, and insist to compete. The election would not come so soon before the problem is solved.
Therefore, Umno leaders are very likely to invest in the party president the full authority to decide on election candidates at the annual party congress, to eliminate different voices in the party. Also, Umno is expected to motivate party members and implement the party’s policy at the congress.
Therefore, the possibility to have the election in November is not high. Since they have been waiting for so long, why should they take the risk now? Therefore, it is believed that the election should be held either in January or March next year.The disenchantment with the movement is in part due to its involvement in electoral politics; the paradox being that the impetus for change cannot succeed unless it becomes a variable in the elections but the very act of getting involved with anything to do with elections is seen as an act of contamination.
Electoral reforms will help. But too much has to change before reforms by themselves can be effective. As a structure, elections cannot create intent; that must exist in the system. Without intent, the structure merely re-inforces and perhaps amplifies all that is already wrong. Even when elections are not rigged, in some ways they always are. If not by design, then by definition.
This is the first time that the long term anti-incumbency gathered by a party could not surmount the anti–incumbency of the party in power. The meaning of this is that the voters of the country do not approve of Mahathir's Perkasa in such large numbers that it can bring a Mahathirism ideology party into power. One suspects that many in the UMNO-Barisan this and reflective of this is the massive corruption in the last 22 years( when members of a government are sure of getting reelected how are they bothered about public outcry ?).
That is not to argue that no meaningful and objective analysis of election results is possible but merely that what passes for analysis in the immediate aftermath of the election results is often nothing but a form of self-justifying wish fulfilment on the part of all concerned. The media seeks grand explanations that collapse the local complexity of elections into a global feel-good story while individual parties strive to tell themselves that nothing needs to change at a fundamental level; the problem is possible to explain away using local variables.
The real question that the elections throw up might well have to do the state of leadership in India today. It appears that the need for strong local leaders cuts across parties. Wherever, at the state level we see strong local leadership, we find that the party in question, be it regional or national seems to be in good shape. The challenge for national parties, particularly in states with strong presence of regional forces, is to build credible and empowered local leaders. But in the magic mirror called election results, it seems that we can all see exactly what we want to see.
Lim Kit Siang have just read online reports of what Tun Dr. Mahathir said earlier today, warning Malaysians that the country may never see a Barisan Nasional (BN) government again if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is voted into Putrajaya alleging that PR "would do everything possible to stay in power forever".
The former Prime Minister who is confirming growing perceptions of Malaysians that he is "back in the saddle" as de facto Prime Minister, especially with the present premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak proving to be the most vaccillating PM in the nation's history worse than his predecessor Tun Abdullah, is now indulging his favourite pasttime of fearmongering with both immunity and impunity.
This is not the first time Mahathir has made the wild and reckless allegation that if Pakatan Rakyat wins the federal government in the next 13th General Election, it will signify the end of democracy in Malaysia as PR would never allow any future elections where it would lose power in Putrajaya.
This is utter nonsense.
End of BN does not equate to end of Democracy
Firstly, there are substantial numbers of Malaysians who will not regard the prospect of the country never seeing again a Barisan Nasional government as a national catastrophe or disaster, as they regard this as the greatest blessing for the country in view of the rampant corruption, abuses of power, socio-economic injustices, and the worsening of the politics of hatred and lies resulting in deepening racial and religious polarisation in the county.
But whether a Barisan Nasional governmant will become history, never again to be entrusted with the responsibility to govern the country, will be a decision to be made by Malaysians through the ballot box and not to be decided by the Pakatan Rakyat.
On behalf of Pakatan Rakyat, I can state and pledge that if PR is voted into Putrajaya in the 13 th General Election, PR will respect and accept the verdict of voters if they want to vote UMNO/BN back to power in the 14th General Election in another five years down the road.
I challenge Najib and Mahathir to make a similar public commitment that UMNO will peacefully effect transition of federal power in Putrajaya if this is the electoral verdict of Malaysians in the 13th General Election?
It has not escaped public notice thAt Najib snd Mahathir have been conspicuously silent on this point.
Are both Najib and Mahathir prepared to make a public pledge to accept the people's verdict in the 13th GE, i.e. a PR federal government in Putrajaya with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the seventh Malaysian Prime Minister, or is Najib's claim of wanting to make Malaysia the "world best democracy" unable to pass its first elementary test?
Mahathir promised after the 13th general election, he with his mafia gang will form a very strong government Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad moved today to cut out Datuk Seri Najib Razak against critics of the latter’s perceived weak leadership, pointing out that the premier could not take a hardline stance yet as he had inherited a very fractured Barisan Nastional (BN) from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib will order shoot at sight
Mahathir has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The rest of us have let down the people there a little. In times to come, let us open our minds to these seven beautiful states. Let us also hope the TSUNAMI finally finds its rightful place, and is no longer an ignored barisan, but a blue-eyed sta Mahathir of our national Hero of deception All good things must come to an end. Expecially when they stink of mamaks,ketuanan melayu,cronyism and overweight UMNO fuedalistic families that actually are the ones who want to rule forever. The new independent Malaysia is all about the rakyat taking control and deciding who and how long the government choosen by a true democratic process will serve. this old man cannot accept the fact that people are now very well aware of the wrongs done by him and his cronies. It will take decades to correct all the wrongs and distortions done to date. So we desperately need leadership that will correct all that was done wrong.
This is democracy and the Rakyat are no school children. Exposing the ‘cozy club’ of the corrupt is a good beginningIt is necessary, therefore that the pressure continues. It is important to further expose these cozy clubs. The more they are exposed, the more our investigative agencies would be forced to take action, and with the elections closing in, there would be little option for them but continue with at least a pretence that they are at it. It is a long haul, sure, but every long journey begins with the first step.If there is a diplomatic equivalent of masochism, where people derive pleasure by hurting and humiliating oneself, India is turning into a masterful performer
. If there is a fair election in Malaysia no party can rule forever. Only performer can continue to be elected by teh people. By saying that Pakatan will do what ever it needs to stay in Power it does sound rather funny, isn't this is what BN have been doing all this while ?.
The agonized missive that defiant Malaysians dared to commit acts like trampling on the pictures of the country’s prime minister and raising a different flag instead of the Jalur Gemilang during Merdeka day. is just the latest episode of self-flagellation. The government might be red with ecstasy at its combativeness. Both these events evoked reactions which threatened the very integrity of the country. It did not matter to the political class so long as these disgraceful acts suited their political agenda. governments in power at the time of these incidents have changed but even the opposition governments have failed either by design or otherwise to bring the culprits to book.
If Najib is going to be sterner after the GE then it is more important that he be booted out of Putrajaya in the next GE. We don't need a sterner PM. We need a fair and compassionate PM that looks after the welfare of the rakyat.
We don't need another autocrat like Mahathir to helm this nation. Malaysians are on a new path and this old party that have ruled the nation for over 50 years is old, tired, lack talents and is running out of idea.Collusion of the politician, bureaucracy, businessmen, the law and investigating agencies against the interest of the country and people is nothing short of treason. By involving the bureaucracy and the investigating agencies in wrong doings, what message are we sending to these government servants and agencies? What respect will they have for those who demand such acts of misdeeds of them and for those in authority? What moral authority will the government have to point a finger at these agencies and officials when they commit grave impropriety?
Our parliamentary system of governance has failed the people especially the poor. It is time we revisited our constitution.Dr Mahathir explained that Najib’s main duty today was to strengthen BN to ensure he leads the ruling coalition to a thumping victory in the coming polls.This, he said, was likely the reason why the present government often appeared to pander to the wishes of civil society groups and activists, even appearing weak at times when harsher decisions are required.“When the government is strong, only then he (Najib) can be firmer. Firmer in his actions.
“Now, he is not as firm because he inherited a weak government,” Dr Mahathir told a tea-time session with the Lembah Pantai Retirees Club here this evening.I‘m amused at the key role wife’s and children play in mustering up public sentiment and thrusting an emotional garland round the candidates neck. Smartly attired, furiously coiffured, the potential first lady needs a personal bent of mind, a certain chutzpah and dying love for her husband. Family sentiment plays a big part in the election campaigns in spite of the western liberal attitude towards marriage and familial values there is a great thrust on presenting the incumbent as a perfect family man. Interestingly looking at profiles of the republican hopefuls, people who had applied but couldn’t make the cut in the initial primaries, I couldn’t help but observe that all the rejects had multiple marriages and divorces with a mistress or two in the closet. For a society with bold standards of morality and sentiment in private (divorce rates are 50%) it is surprising they expect their politicians to be of an exemplary breed. It s as if a stable married man seems a magnet on which the hapless voters are drawn for deliverance. Apart from a voracious energy to raise funds and resources the other key ingredient is a one woman man, preferably the woman being a college sweet heart.
So the rhetoric may attract or a brilliant mind may have a quick fix solution to the ills around, but the sheen coming of the wedding band is the real silent word which reaches out to the voters.
He was earlier asked to explain the government and its agencies’ apparent failure to act more harshly against those who insulted the country’s sovereignty or threatened national security.
May/June 2013 polls would be the best possible option for Najib given the growing opposition against him from within Umno engineered by Muhyiddin Yassin, his deputy, who has suddenly dropped out from the limelight in the mainstream media, state-owned TV stations and TV3. Muhyiddin is being quietly backed by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his family.
Much of the Muhyiddin/Mahathir opposition to Najib stems from the latter’s plans to more than cut down their influence in Umno and the Government. Nowhere is this more evident than in the list of Umno candidates drawn up for the GE, according to the political grapevine. Najib’s and Hishammuddin’s people dominate the slate of candidates.
One result has been Mahathir’s decision to hold back from funding the Najib/Hishammuddin camp for the GE. Mahathir has a formidable war chest built up from his own considerable resources as well as contributions from crony capitalists he nurtured during his long innings, 22 years, in power.
Najib, however, cannot delay national polls until May/June next year without the backing of the Opposition, the Pakatan Rakyat in particular. The Opposition would take to the streets in record numbers, especially in Peninsular Malaysia, should the GE be delayed without a clearly stated course of alternative action that included their participation.Minority Government cannot be ruled out
This would come about if Umno tells the King that unlike BN, PR is not a registered association and so cannot claim that their numbers in Parliament should be tallied as belonging to one group to enable them to stake a claim to the Prime Minister’s post.
In that case, there would be no Government of National Unity and Umno/BN can only form a Minority Government which would fall if the Speaker eschews delaying tactics and allows the introduction of a no confidence motion.
Najib’s best bet is an alliance with the Opposition. It would be foolish of him to put all the eggs in one basket – Umno/BN – and continue to remain at the mercy of the diabolical duo of Muhyiddin/Mahathir.
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