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PKR "ori" wants Ansari as Tuaran candidate, not incumbent Bumburing

April 4, 2013, 4:57 pm
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PENAMPANG: Parti Keadialan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah Thursday unveiled a list of seven proposed candidates for the West Coast North Zone.

They are senior lawyer Hj Ansari Abdullah (Tuaran), anti-illegal immigrant activist Dr Chong Eng Leong (Sepangar), Mazhry Nasir (Putatan), Anthony Mandiau (Kota Marudu), Mursalim Tanjul (Kudat), Saidil Semoi (Kota Belud) and Jonathan Yassin, the division chief for PKR Ranau, who is also brother-in-law to Ansari.

Unveiling this was Ansari who is also currently PKR Tuaran Chief in the presence of five of the seven proposed candidates and the various PKR divisional chiefs, in a press conference held at its Headquarters here.


“In line with the promise for autonomy (by Pakatan Rakyat leadership), we have taken the liberty to release the names of the seven candidates that have been picked by the respective divisions. All the seven divisional heads of the seven divisions are also here.

“We are very confident that Datuk Seri Anwar and the party leaderships of PAS and DAP will honour their commitment that matters involving Sabah will be decided by Sabahans.

“This is a test of whether the party leadership is sincere in its promise to give us autonomy. We are very confident that the party will pass this test,” he said.

He claimed that all the candidates have been long identified, as far back as two years ago, and their backgrounds too have been thoroughly vetted.

Ansari also declared that all the seven divisions had during their meeting held earlier reach a consensus to make clear their stands that the other PR components and allies should not contest for any of the said seven constituencies.

“Our stand is that, since PAS did not contest any of these seven constituencies they have no right to contest. DAP obtained lesser votes in Sepangar and Putatan; they even lost to PKR candidates.

“Neither did they contest in any of the other five constituencies, so DAP should not also lodge any claim on these seven constituencies in the West Coast North Zone.

“Therefore, all the seats should go to PKR,” he proclaimed.

As for the APS led by Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing, Ansari noted that Bumburing had during the launch of APS declared that APS’s purpose is not to fight for candidacy but to help the PR, and secondly, they will not take PKR members but those who left BN without any party.

“Datuk Wilfred is my friend, he is an honourable man and I am sure he is a man of his words,” added Ansari.

Besides this, he also emphatically rebutted the notion by a certain local opposition parties that PKR/PR is just a clone of UMNO/BN.

“That’s not right, because in our Buku Jingga, one of the undertakings given by PR is to treat Sabah as an “equal partner” rather than just another state and whatever that has been agreed under the Malaysia Agreement will be honoured by the coalition,” he contended.

He was convinced that the Pakatan leadership is sincere and committed to their promise of honouring political autonomy to Sabah should it comes into power.

He said this was adequately reflected in the open pledge made by the Pakatan leaderships like Anwar, Datuk Hadi Awang of PAS and Lim Kit Siang of DAP in various occasions, both in Sabah and Sarawak.

He cited for example, in 15 September 2010 during the launching of PR Secretariat in Bukit Padang here, Anwar, Kit Siang and Ustaz Nasharuddin Mat Isa of PAS had pledged that all important decisions affecting Sabah will be decided by Sabahans.

“And in Last September, in the Kuching Declaration signed by Anwar, Ustaz Hadi Awang and Kit Siang, once again they reiterated that Sabah and Sarawak should be treated as partners within the Federation,” he said.
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Jeffrey tells Sabahans to think local

April 5, 2013, 2:58 am
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The Election Commission must ensure that the security personnel
in ESSZONE which encompasses 11 parliamentary and 30 state
constituencies are not postal voters.
KOTA KINABALU: Maverick Sabah leader Jeffrey Kitingan has appealed to the voters in Sabah to unite to protect their homeland from further control and colonisation by Malaya through its local proxies and stooges and to take back Sabah in the coming general election.
Now leading the State Reform Party (STAR) as its chairman, Jeffrey stressed that the appeal is to the people of Sabah across the board, regardless of their ethnicity and religion and whether they were beneficiaries of “Project IC” or not.
“We also urge all Sabahans who are currently away from Sabah to fulfil their patriotic duty and return and cast their votes to safeguard their homeland from being taken over by outsiders,” he added.
The younger brother of former Sabah chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan said that his party was ready to face the election and that its manifesto and list of candidates were ready and would be announced at the appropriate time.
Jeffrey also reminded the Election Commission (EC) to carry out its duties impartially and in accordance with the requirements of the constitution.
He said the country’s election authorities must ensure all political parties are allowed fair access to the mainstream media as well as airtime, something that has never been acquiesced to by the government in the past.
“Certainly not acceptable is giving the opposition parties 10 minutes airtime and the remaining 23 hours and 50 minutes to the BN,” he said, repeating the worries of opposition parties which have criticised the mainstream media for their duplicity.
Jeffrey also stressed that the EC should ensure that all security personnel deployed in the newly created security area or ESSZONE which encompasses 11 parliamentary and 30 state constituencies must not become postal voters to vote in advance.
He said this was only appropriate since Sabahans have suffered long enough from their political franchise and voting rights over-ridden by “imported” or foreign voters and to be now further eroded by troops and police personnel from Malaya and Sarawak.
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Sabah PKR beats Anwar in naming candidates

April 5, 2013, 3:07 am
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This is a test of whether the party leadership is sincere in
its promise to give us autonomy, says Ansari Abdullah.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PKR, pre-empting any likely ‘hijacking’ by Kuala Lumpur, hurriedly announced its seven candidates for the state’s west coast region.
Tuaran PKR chief Ansari Abdullah said Sabah PKR had “taken the liberty” of making the announcement based on an earlier promise by Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including Anwar Ibrahim, of giving “autonomy” for the state coalition’s decisions.
He said the candidates were himself for Tuaran constituency and surgeon-activist-author Dr Chong Eng Leong for Sepanggar.
Others were Mazhry Nasir (Putatan), Anthony Mandiau (Kota Marudu), Mursalim Tanjul (Kudat), Saidil Semoi (Kota Belud) and Johanathan Yassin (Ranau).
When unveiling the list late yesterday in Sabah PKR headquarters in Penampang, Ansari said: “We have taken the liberty to release the names of the seven candidates that have been picked by the respective divisions.
“This is a test of whether the party leadership is sincere in its promise to give us autonomy. We are very confident that the party will pass this test.
“We are very confident that Anwar and the party leaderships of PAS and DAP will honour their commitment that matters involving Sabah will be decided by Sabahans.
Also present were the seven ‘proposed’ candidates and other PKR divisional chiefs.
According to Ansari, the candidates had been identified as far back as two years ago, and their backgrounds had been “thoroughly vetted.”
He added that the candidates’ respective divisions had also endorsed them.
Widespread resentment
On possible disputes arising with Pakatan partners PAS and DAP over the candidates, Ansari said the seven divisions had taken a common stand and passed a resolution that “other Pakatan components and allies” should not contest in any of these seven constituencies.
The consensus is seen as a direct response to seat demands by Pakatan’s new local allies Wilfred Bumburing’s APS Sabah and Lajim Ukin’s PPS. Both Bumburing and Lajim are former Barisan Nasional MPs who defected in July last year in support for Anwar.
Anwar’s partiality towards them has triggered widespread resentment with the state’s original party members. Party members look at both Bumburing and Lajim with distrust and believe that they are the reasons why Pakatan has dismissed other local players.
Said Ansari: “Wilfred said during the launch of APS, the purpose was not to fight for candidacy but to help the Pakatan. He also said APS will not take away PKR members…
“Wilfred is my friend, he is an honourable man and I am sure he is a man of his words,” said Ansari.
He said as far as PAS and DAP were concerned, it was a crystal clear situation.
“PAS did not contest any of these seven constituencies as such they have no right to contest.
“DAP obtained lesser votes in Sepangar and Putatan; they even lost to PKR candidates.
“Neither did they contest in any of the other five constituencies, so DAP should not also lodge any claim on these seven constituencies in the West Coast North Zone.
“Therefore, all the seats should go to PKR. This is our stand,” he said adding that he was convinced that the Pakatan leadership was sincere and committed to their promise and collective pledge to honour political autonomy in Sabah.
Not final list
But Sabah PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin however has dismissed Ansari’s announcement saying that the final list of Sabah candidates will only be known next week.
“PKR Sabah confirms receiving Haji Ansari Abdullah’s proposals with reference to the proposed seats and candidates list.
“It was forwarded much earlier on to the presidential council for  final stage of screening, negotiations and discussion.
“The final phase of seat negotiations among Pakatan Rakyat Parties – PKR, DAP & PAS is still ongoing at the Presidential Council level and will be concluded by this weekend.
“Once the seat negotiations are settled, then the next phase will be short listing of candidates to be concluded by the respective parties in Pakatan Rakyat.
“In the case of Sabah, the final announcement (of candidates) will be made possibly on the 12 Apr 2013 in Sandakan,”  he said in a statement this evening.
Thamrin’s statement follows that of deputy PKR president Azmin Ali, who earlier this afternoon, dismissed Ansari’s candidates list as “mere suggestions”.
Azmin’s dismissal of the list highlights the growing discontent between the party’s national leadership and the Sabah leaders.
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Amir Kahar quit job, and later UMNO, to fight BN in Banggi

April 5, 2013, 10:09 pm
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By Christian Danial
KOTA KINABALU : Sabah Barisan Nasional especially UMNO, is set to lose one of its northern chieftains, Amir Kahar Mustapha, who yesterday quit his UMNO-appointed job, and made known public his intention to "stand in the coming general election".

He quit the post Inspector-General of Projects, an unglamorous post created to be of ministerial-status but which has little clout and notice.

Amir Kahar, a son of Sabah's first Yang di-Pertua Negara, Mustapha Harun, was briefly a former deputy chief minister under PBS government.
He used to be Banggi assemblyman for 22 years until he was dropped by UMNO in 2008 and replaced with unknown Mijul Unaini. He is now set to go against BN in the northern-most seat in Sabah.

"I have sent my resignation letter to the Chief Minister's Department," ostensciously without naming Chief Minister Musa Aman.

"I would be contesting in the coming election, i will make the announcement soon (under which party to contest). I have decided to contest again after almost a five-year break because i believed i can still deliver and serve the people," Amir Kahar reportedly said in Kota Kinabalu.

Amir Kahar, of Suluk-Bajau ethnic, was involved in seeking solution to the recent Tanduo stand-off in Lahad Datu and he was believed to be a personal emissary of Prime Minister Najib Razak in a meeting with self-proclaimed Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Manila recently.

It is not yet known what made Amir Kahar decided to announce his own candidacy yesterday but insiders had been claiming he is grossly unhappy with UMNO's ways of handling him and Sabah issues lately.

He was rumoured to have talk with Jeffrey Kitingan of State Reform Party (STAR) only weeks ago but now his supporters claimed that PKR could have seized the opportunity to get him aboard the surging PKR.

If this happens, then again Jeffrey failed to secure alliance for his fledgling STAR, which in recent weeks had seen a drop in support in contrast with now surging-again PKR.

Peninsular-based PKR was coming in strong ahead of a crucial poll that many people increasingly believe more to replace UMNO regime at the central government than entertaining parochial politics, which STAR and SAPP (Sabah Progressive Party) are riding on since the last one year.
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Who will the Suluks support?

April 6, 2013, 4:17 pm
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By Luke Rintod of FMT
Sabah Umno leaders do not believe that the Suluk voters in Sabah have deserted them following the Tanduo stand-off in Lahad Datu between Sulu terrorists and Malaysian armed forces.
“The majority of the Suluk voters are still with BN (Barisan Nasional),” said Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan, the principal political secretary to Sabah strongman, Musa Aman.
Many in the BN component parties like PBS, UPKO, LDP, PBRS and MCA share Nizam’s observation.
But deep within the Suluk community in Sabah, cracks are appearing.
If you talk to the ordinary Suluk men, the majority would still say they are “with the government”. And their leaders, in NGOs, too are issuing statements supporting the establishment.
The question now is can these Suluk supporters of BN be trusted.
Remember the Tanduo incident when the armed Sulu terrorists from the Philippines hoisted a white flag signaling a surrender or peace?
But while the white flag was hoisted, the Sulu terrorists shot dead two Malaysian armed forces.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said our men were tricked.
In which case could it be that the Suluk community is once again sending a decoy to BN, to eventually surprise them by a swing in the Suluk votes?
Not so safe now
Observers here observed that “even a small swing” in support from the community in some of the eastern coast seats could be a nightmare to some Umno candidates.
The Lahad Datu and Tungku state seats and Silam parliamentary constituency (where Tanduo is) have consistently registered a huge dissenting votes against BN in previous elections.
In the 2008 general election, the Lahad Datu state seat was won by Umno’s Nasrun Mansur in a straight fight with PKR candidate, Zainuddin Zulkarnain.
Nasrun chalked up 8,034 votes against Zainuddin’s 4,976.
Now five years later, observers note that support for the opposition had further increased.
And now with the additional likely swing in Suluk votes, it’s going to be a close fight especially if it is a one-to-one battle.
In adjacent Tungku, also under the Silam parliamentary seat, and where the Tanduo action was, the situation is similar.
Here too in 2008 the dissenting voices were strong.
Umno’s Suhaili Said won the seat for BN with a 4,828 votes but there were a substantial 2,446 votes that went to PKR’s Jamal Sulai and another 164 votes for an independent.
A slight shift in Suluk support here towards PKR could tilt the balance to a 50-50 or 45-55 situation, with Umno having only the slightest advantage.
PAS, Anwar gaining ground
Local observers said that if there is a 30% or more shift in the Suluk and Badjao communities, then BN is in for a run of its money in east coast.
But Umno has never been more strong in the east coast than now.
With financially powerful Badjao leader like Shafie Apdal from nearby Semporna, Lahad Datu and Tungku and Silam parliamentary seats could well be within BN’s so-called fixed-deposit areas.
With about RM6 billion annual development fund under his control in the federal Rural Development Ministry, Shafie is in pole position to influence the politics in Sabah’s east coast.
Shafie is an Umno vice-president and cannot afford to fail Umno in Sabah. If he falters in delivering seats to BN, then it would be the end of his political journey for him too.
However, much to the dislike of Shafie and Sabah Umno, not all Suluk groups look up to or listen to the party anymore.
They now have an alternative in PAS and the charismatic Anwar Ibrahim-led PKR.
Both are known sympathisers of the Muslim community. And there is Usco (United Suluk Community Organisation).
The youthful NGO has planned to put up election candidates against BN and Pakatan at the coming polls.
Usco and Usno
Usco president, Bentan Alamin, recently announced Usco’s intention to stand in areas that have substantial Suluk voters.
Though the Suluks are mainly found in islands and coastline, many of them have settled around cities like Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.
They are mainly fishermen, construction labourers, petty traders, street peddlars but many also have joined other sectors including the public service.
Among the areas Usco is aiming for are Banggi and Tanjung Kapur in Kudat, Karambunai, Likas, Tanjung Aru and Sepanggar in the west coast and Sandakan.
Young Bentan said that the decision to participate in the election was made at Usco’s third annual general meeting which called for the body to put up its young leaders as election candidates as “a starting point for Usco to be in politics”.
Usno, another NGO, is led by Badaruddin, son of the most famous Suluk-Bajau leader ever, Mustapha Harun. This group is eyeing at least two seats in the east coast, most likely Bugaya and Senallang or Sulabayan.
Badaruddin is aligned to Jeffrey Kitingan of State Reform Party (STAR), another sign of the emerging importance of aligning oneself to the potentially-powerful Suluk-Bajau politics in Sabah.
There are signs that other seats in Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau – where state opposition parties Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and STAR have little clout – would be left entirely to PKR-PAS-DAP to tussle it with BN-Umno.
These tussles will be worth watching. Already the situation is beginning to unfold.
Again in this pivotal polls, the question arises: who will the Suluk community look up to as its leader?
Will it be Najib or Anwar?

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President of de-registered PASOK joins PKR

April 7, 2013, 4:21 am
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By Ezra Haganez
KOTA KINABALU : Former President of now-deregistered PASOK, Cleftus Mojingol, is joining opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Mojingol who is currently on a business trip in Taiwan, issued his statement to join PKR through his one-time secretary-general of PASOK, Kanul Gindol, in Kota Kinabalu today. Kanul was also a former PKR Sabah state liaison secretary.
In his statement, Mojingol, who had been partyless for quite some time, said he made his decision to join PKR not long ago, based on requests from ex-PASOK members and supporters.

"I also made my own personal evaluation on the PKR support among the Kadazandusun community and I found out that PKR does have an overwhelming support and it already augurs well for PKR and Sabah.

"I was also taking into consideration that being in PKR or Pakatan Rakyat, the community's plights or ideas would be much easier to be heard," said Mojingol.
He said he would hand over his membership application form together with other leaders to PKR leader, Anwar Ibrahim during his visit to Sandakan on April 12 (Friday).  

"I would like to see Pakatan Rakyat be further consolidated. We should help the party formulate inclusive policies that would protect our rights and also achieve the people's aspirations," said the seasoned politician.

Mojingol also called on all ex-PASOK members and supporters to join with him on April 12 in Sandakan during Anwar's visit.

"I would like to appeal to our supporters to give an undivided support for PKR so that Pakatan Rakyat could garner the majority seats to form the new Federal Government," he said adding that it is time to breath a fresh air into the state-federal relationship under a new party.
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SAPP: New Federal Government will have to honour full autonomy to Sabah or, risk losing her forever

April 8, 2013, 4:44 pm
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Yong gestures to highlight the inclusion of
Sabah/North Borneo in the Philippines maps;
KOTA KINABALU, April 7, 2013: Whoever forms the next Federal government will have to honour, recognise and respect political autonomy to Sabah, as promised in the Malaysia Agreement, which is the basis for the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

Any attempt to depart from the “letter and spirit” of the formation of Malaysia will only fortify and intensify the Sulu/Philippines claim on Sabah.

Issuing the terse warning was President of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Datuk Yong Teck Lee, while speaking at its second ‘Kopitiam Ceramah’ held in the vicinity of the Foh Sang shops here, on Saturday.

His speech mainly focused on the perennial issue of Sabah Claim which has recently cropped up following the bloody intrusion of Sabah by Filipino militants proclaiming themselves as the Royal Army of Sulu Sultanate, in Lahad Datu.

He reminded that within the Malaysia Agreement was the Article 8 (A) which talked about the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report between the governments of United Kingdom, Malaya, Singapura, and at that time North Borneo Sabah and Sarawak.
 
A sizable crowd turns up to listen to the talk on Saturday.
 
That IGC Report contains the Cobbold Commission Report which in turn contains all the recommendations and the spirit of the ‘20 Points’.

“The gist of all these including various undertakings by the British Government and the Malayan Government at that time is that Sabah will be autonomous – a sovereign state within Malaysia. The basis of Malaysia is the Malaysia Agreement which also grants autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak.

“They (the Philippines and the Sulu Sultanate) claimed that Sabah is not part of Malaysia (based on the Malaysia Agreement). This has now been highlighted and that if Malaysia were to try to depart from the letter and spirit of the formation of Malaysia, then the Sulu Claim will come in,” he warned.

“Between the Sulu Claim i.e. that Sabah is no longer part of Malaysia or autonomy for Sabah, I think the choice for the Federal government is very obvious,” he added.
Noting that there are a lot of contradictions that need to be resolved by the federal government, Yong reiterated that the federal government will have no choice but to honour, recognise and respect full political autonomy for (to) Sabah.

“Because the other option will result in a strong claim from the Philippines and the Sulu Sultanate if they were perceived to be any departure from the Malaysia Agreement and the spirit of the formation of Malaysia.

Yong gestures to highlight the inclusion of
Sabah/North Borneo in the Philippines maps;
“For instance, you cannot say our coastline is too wide therefore you cannot protect us, because security was the main guarantee given to Sabah for forming Malaysia. you cannot claim that our maritime area is too wide to guard when you are also extracting oil and gas from our maritime area,” he asserted.

While acknowledging that although legally-speaking the Philippines has no right to claim Sabah, Yong highlighted that politically and psychologically they have been keeping the issue alive all these years, by having all these maps that prominently showed Sabah as part of its sovereignty.

“Politically and psychologically, the Philippines are keeping the issue alive by telling the Filipinos that that there is this place called Sabah/North Borneo that they have a claim to,” he said, adding that “There is no mention of Malaysia in the map showing Sabah, only Sabah/North Borneo,” as he pointed at the maps put up at the talk.

The former Chief Minister of Sabah was also of the opinion that the invasion of Sabah by the Filipino militants is far from over, and may take the government a long time to deal with it.

“It’s not the end, it was only the ICU (intensive care unit) treatment. Now we have to go for rehabilitation and recovery, and that will take 20 years, don’t listen to Jimmy Wong (Sabah DAP Chief), who claimed that it can be solved within one day. No!,” he said.

Yong pointed out that what is happening now is a violent pushback of the Suluks which he believed will create a very hostile and angry population of easily more than 4 million Bangsa Moro across the border.

“Therefore I think there are long-term implications which I think will take twenty years to resolve,” he said.

He thus contended that the federal government was on the wrong track in dealing with the situation although with the establishment of Immigration, Customs,
Quarantine and Security (ICQS) inspection centre and more police stations in the east coast region of Sabah, which has always been plagued by long and porous coastlines.

“It looks like they are building a fortress for Sabah to prevent intruders but the perspective from the Philippines side is very different, where what we consider the sea as a barrier they consider as a bridge and they consider it homecoming when we consider it as an intrusion. This has not been addressed in anyway by the federal government.

“So, I think they are missing that point, where they are still talking about manpower, committees, term of reference, without tackling the key issues i.e. the mindset of generations of Filipinos who believe Sabah legitimately belonged to Sulu through the Philippines,” he said.

He attributed the wrong approach to the top politicians and civil servants in Kuala Lumpur who just don’t understand the mindset and the psychology of the people here, both the Sabahans as well as those from the neighbouring Philippines.

“This is partly the failure of the Sabah government for not putting the Federal government on the right track,” he said.

He thus stressed that what the government should do is to get the perspective right, and one of the pressing issues is concerning the land-grab by government-linked companies like Felda.

He cited for example, there’s little support for the Government among the villagers in and around Kg Tanduo during the intrusion because Felda has been grabbing lands from villagers.

“Felda have been very crude, at times, even rough with villagers. They even dug huge drain almost like the Palestine settlement type, to bar villagers from entering certain areas which are now claimed by Felda and that has made the people very angry.

“When the dust has settled, the anger among the local people there built up over the year will become more apparent. Now that the ICU stage is over, we are not on the right track. We must get to see the full picture,” he stressed.

He was also of the opinion that the beefing up of the security and its infrastructures, in the east coast of Sabah, may not necessary deters future intrusions.

“It’s like putting up iron grills or posting part time security guards in your house when the neighbourhood is already infested with socio-economic problems and you think that your security guards and iron grills can look after you? No!” he said.

Yong stressed that to properly and effectively resolve the issue there must be a serious regional effort to revive the now idled BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area) endeavour.

“That’s very important for a regional economic prosperity especially in the Southern Philippines, so that it would create a situation whereby most of the illegal immigrants will voluntarily return to their country of origin, just like what happened in China where a majority of the Chinese migrants in Hong Kong have returned to Shenzheng,” he explained.

Also present in the occasion were various SAPP senior leaders including its secretary-general Datuk Richard Yong, treasurer-general Dullie Marie, vice president Don Chin, wanita chief Melanie Chia, youth chief Edward Dagul, and Chong Pit Fah, its information chief.
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Fraud in Malaysian politics never-ending

April 9, 2013, 1:00 am
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By Joe Fernandez

If the 1987 Umno presidential election is taken as one yardstick, the response of the Court may not be in favour of a novel development of the law or, as some would allege, making law.

In that party election, the Court discovered that votes from 30 illegal party branches may have contributed towards Mahathir Mohamad’s narrow 43-vote victory over his challenger Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. It was alleged that the 30 illegal branches were aligned towards Mahathir. Even so, in a surprising ruling, Judge Harun Hashim declared the entire party unlawful. Had the Judge concluded that the illegal votes may have gone in the direction of Razaleigh, that ruling would not have arisen since the outcome was not affected!

Harun Hashim bought kamikaze arguments and denied Razaleigh
The Court did not take into consideration that the presidential election was only unlawful to the extent of the illegal votes and the party unlawful to the extent of the illegal branches. The Jury may still be out on the question of whether the Judge could have discounted the illegal votes and handed the presidential victory to Razaleigh. Many will argue that he could have but unfortunately he didn’t. The good judge has long gone to meet his maker. Dead men tell no tales.

Even if Mahathir had won by one vote, and it was determined that his victory was due to one illegal voter, the outcome had been affected. Both Mahathir and Razaleigh, the one illegal vote removed, had tied. 

One mitigating circumstance against the party being declared unlawful was that it had helmed the country since independence for Malaya in 1957 and steered the birth of Malaysia in 1963.

That approach could not be misconstrued as judicial activism using the fig leaf that our system of justice is adversarial.

Alas, the Judge bought the kamikaze arguments in Court that he had no alternative but declare the entire party unlawful if the Court concluded that illegal branches had participated in the presidential elections and illegal votes had also been counted. Again, the Court is not about the truth, justice or moral values but the law, no matter how much weighted against the public interest.

Court no help in awarding victory to the real polls winners

In another case, on 8 June, 2001 Election Court Justice Muhammad Kamil Awang made a landmark decision declaring the March 13, 1999, Likas election result null and void after upholding two election petitions filed by losing PBS candidate Dr Chong En Leong and former Chief Minister Harris Salleh of Parti Bersekutu. Justice Kamil had affirmed that the Likas electoral roll was tainted with more than 5,000 phantom voters. But who obtained those votes?

Former Barisan Nasional-rotated Sabah Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee, who polled 9,110 votes against 4, 962 by Dr Chong, lost the seat. Yong had won by 4, 962 votes. Harris drew 3,576 votes.

Even if all of the Likas-resident Harris’ votes came from the illegals, a likely possibility but nevertheless strenuously denied by those in his camp, that still left over 1,424 votes from the illegals for Yong since these people wouldn’t vote for PBS, then in the Opposition. If these 1,424 votes are discounted from Yong’s margin of victory, he still won by 3,538 votes. Only judicial activism could have saved Yong unless the ballot boxes were opened up and each voted recounted.

In a 15 June, 2001 media statement, then Dap National Chairman Lim Kit Siang lamented the subsequent disclosure that the Judge had received a telephone directive from someone at the top of the Judiciary to strike out the Likas petition without a hearing. Lim’s beef was that the Judge did not disclose the telephone call in Court.

So, not much can be placed in the case of proven electoral fraud, on the Court stripping the winner of a disputed victory and awarding it to his nearest challenger.

Never ending go back to India, China cries from Nusantara people

There should be a system in place for the Court, in case of election petitions alleging fraud, to scrutinize the ballot papers and determine who collected whose vote. That would be the most efficient way to determine polls winners instead of a re-poll which would necessitate the cleaning up of the electoral rolls, a process which has been bitterly disputed in the past.

Still, the bottomline may not even be the extent of electoral fraud.

It comes back to the system again.

The greatest fraud perpetrated against the people of Malaysia is the formation of pre-polls coalitions. These coalitions circumvent the democratic process by endorsing elite power-sharing and denying the grassroots majority meaningful participation in the electoral process. The formation of coalitions should only be allowed, by law, after the elections are over.

Coalition government need not be inevitability.

The party with the most number of seats in Parliament, for example, can share the Federal Cabinet and Government posts with other political parties without entering into coalition government.

If coalition government is the option exercise, such a coalition must disband on the eve of the next elections to ensure a free for all at the ballot box. That by itself would spell the end of political parties based on narrow considerations like race and religion.

Politics can then be fought on issues and these may be urban, suburban, rural, coastal, from the interior or the high mountain country. No longer would anyone be identified by his race or religion in politics or whether he’s an Orang Asal, recently or long arrived or the descendents of those recently arrived or long arrived.

No longer would anyone be told to “go back to India or China”, for example, if they are “not happy in Malaysia”.

No pledge from Dap not to fraudulently embrace Umno

Every election, and in the run-up to elections, the Indian community in particular are subject to all sorts of indignities, racial abuse and derogatory remarks in the struggle to confine the national cake to a smaller number of people.

The Indians are united by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, the Chinese are united by their bank drafts, and the Malays by their overdrafts. The makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil – cries of Interlok Pariah Umno is being heard again as the seatless Indians rail against the ruling party.

The Opposition is a marriage of convenience united by Malay hatred in particular for the BN in general and Umno in particular. The marriage appears to be less unholy now than when it was first formed.

The BN in Malaya, apart from Umno, has fallen apart and will crumble under a united Opposition assault come this 13th GE but will continue in Sabah and Sarawak, mauled and bruised in the latter in particular but still taking power.

In the absence of a public pledge, it’s being speculated that the urban and Chinese-based Dap would not hesitate to abandon its Malay and Islamic partners, PKR and Pas, in the aftermath of the 13th GE and team up with Umno to share the Federal Government provided the MCA and Gerakan are removed. That would be like the Pap of Singapore fraudulently achieving by the backdoor what it failed to do in Malaysia.

People of Borneo given the short end of the stick in Malaysia

The greatest fraud perpetrated in Malaysia was to weaken the voice of the people of Borneo nations in Parliament.

The two countries, Sabah and Sarawak, have a combined 57 seats in Parliament, less than the at least one third plus one promised by the 1963 Malaysia Agreement. This is 18 less seats than they should have out of 222 seats.

To add insult to injury, many of the 57 seats are held by Malaya-based parties across the political divide, thus further weakening the voice of the people of Borneo in the Malaysian Parliament.

The Registrar of Societies (ROS) is a party to these political parties being in violation of the Malaysia Agreement.  It facilitates Putrajaya ruling Sabah and Sarawak through rogue elements – Projek IC operatives, Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf – local proxies (local Muslims and illegals) and their stooges (Orang Asal).

The Malaya-based parties have not even been locally-incorporated in Sabah and Sarawak to comply with at least the letter, if not the spirit, of the Malaysia Agreement.

If politics is all about the re-distribution of power and resources, the people of Borneo are being given the short end of the stick in their already disputed participation Malaysia. There could be no greater fraud than this.
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Mere ‘fraud’ not consideration in 13th GE

April 9, 2013, 2:30 am
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By Joe Fernandez   

Malaysians by and large worry that “fraudulent practices” by way of the electoral rolls and at the ballot box will cheat them out of the Government they want in Putrajaya and in the states. This should not be read as having a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Government in the Federal Administrative Centre instead of one formed by the Barisan Nasional (BN).

Fraud can work both ways although the outgoing BN, revamped from the Alliance Party in the wake of the searing Sino-Malay race riots of 13 May, 1969, has ruled the country since 1957 when the British left Malaya.
In the absence of proof in the form of the proverbial smoking gun, indefinite BN rule by itself should not be seen as having been facilitated by fraudulent electoral practices. The formation of the BN itself stretched out the welcome mat for the Alliance Party.

The system itself is at fault.

The playing field is not level.

The Court should not allow the gazetting of tainted electoral rolls even if evidence of such fraud, for example Projek IC and the like, was discovered well after the public display and objection period for such rolls is over.

The delineation of constituencies is another issue since it facilitates gerrymandering.

Winning by default not evidence of fraud in elections

Putrajaya, for example, is a parliamentary seat with less than 6,000 voters. There are many Putrajayas in Malaysia which are all BN territory. Indeed, it has even been estimated that with as little as 18.9 per cent of the votes cast, the BN can still obtain 112 seats in Parliament to form the Federal Government. There are 222 seats in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Opposition strongholds have anything up to 100,000 or more voters. So, BN can still lose the popular vote and form the majority in Parliament, for example. In that case, only its moral right to govern can be questioned by the Opposition and the people. The Court is not about the truth, justice or moral values. It’s about the law.

To digress a little, the Congress in India at one time, before the advent of coalition government, was able to form the Federal Government single-handedly with less than 30 per cent of the total votes cast. 18.9 per cent in Malaysia would be even more shocking!

There’s a case for limiting the number of registered voters in any parliamentary seat to 50,000, plus or minus either way, within a 10,000 range. So, Putrajaya by itself will not qualify to be a parliamentary seat.

Even so, the Opposition has not been able to get its act together in recent years until the watershed 12th General Election of 2008.

Defection of Opposition after May 13 fraud perpetrated on the people

So, the ruling party can still win by default as it has been the case in Sarawak except for one point in time in 1987 known as the Ming Court Affair. After that, the Malay-based Permas disbanded and its ally, the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) joined the state government in coalition, only to find itself deregistered several years later. That set back Opposition politics in Sarawak until 2009 when the Malaya-based Opposition, despite not being united, made a credible showing in the state election.

This time the same Opposition is more united than ever in Sarawak but it is only the parliamentary seats are at stake. Seven to eight parliamentary seats, out of the 31 at stake in Sarawak, are already in the bag for the Opposition. It does not have any local Opposition parties to contend with apart from the mosquito Sarawak Workers Party (SWP), bankrolled curiously among others by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to do in a coalition partner, the rising Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), the part successor party to PBDS.

The people of Sarawak appear to be willing to place Sabah opposition strongman Jeffrey Kitingan’s Borneo Agenda on the backburner for the moment as they wrestle with the Herculean task of removing the Taib Dynasty from power. They are willing to enter a temporary marriage of convenience with the Malaya-based Opposition parties for this singular purpose. The Borneo Agenda is explained as being against everything that the parti parti Malaya in Borneo stands for and their local presence.

   
The 10 May, 1969 General Election became an aberration when the Opposition fled to the newly step up BN to replace the Alliance Party.

Part of the blame for the political weakness of the opposition in Malaysia can be placed on the since discarded International Security Act (ISA) which hung like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the Opposition and also struck fear in the people at large.

Majority right to rule, minority right to be heard

Mass civil disobedience was not employed by the Opposition as a weapon in their arsenal. There were no hungry stomachs to march. People still had food on the table. It’s not like in France when Marie Antoinette, the Austrian-born Queen of France during the 1789 Revolution, infamously remarked, “If the people have no bread, let them eat cake”. This was her response to news that the peasants were starving. King Louis XVI was beheaded on 21 Jan, 1793 for treason, “trying to get help from royal supporters in England, Prussia and Austria”. Marie Antoinette was beheaded on 16 October, 1793 for the same crime.

The first past the post system should be reviewed to allow for the voices of the losing voters to be heard in the legislature, through non-constituency based seats, if a party which failed to win even one seat in any legislature managed to muster a minimum five per cent of the votes cast nationwide. While the majority – as reflected in the legislature – has the right to rule, the minority i.e. the losing votes in elections, has a right to be heard. That’s true democracy!

Effecting the outcome the principle in determining election fraud
The BN, thick-skinned as they are when it comes to corruption issues, are extremely sensitive when it comes to any hints of any element of fraud in the quest for power. It’s aware that the eyes of the world are on it and besides there’s the question of the Malay maruah – self-respect – and the issue of legitimacy to consider on such issues, if not in corruption.

This maruah/legitimacy factors, the Malay Achilles Heel, has seen the BN Government setting up the long-awaited Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the extraordinary population explosion in Sabah and its reflection in the electoral rolls. The same factors, maruah and legitimacy, has seen the BN wrestling with the issues of statelessness, and the marginalisation and disenfranchisement of the Indian Nation in Malaysia, the legitimacy of Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak, and the right of Malaysians abroad to vote.

Legitimacy by itself has wider implications, embracing security considerations, and its reflection on valuation in the economy in several areas driven by investor and consumer confidence viz. the strength of the currency, value of stocks, property prices, credit risk, credit rating and the like. When politics comes in through the door, economics will fly out the window with widespread security and other implications which will render any quest for political power either pointless or a phyric victory.

When it comes down to brass tacks, mere fraudulent practices in the GE, abominable as they are to those who claim the moral high ground, are not the main consideration in law.

No election anywhere in the world is without an element of fraud.

What’s more important to consider in the post-GE period is whether fraudulent practices in terms of vote count at the ballot box were of a magnitude which affected the outcome; what would be the response of the Court if indeed fraudulent practices had determined the outcome.

Many options for people to act against fraud in elections

The respective share of the popular vote is immaterial except for the Opposition and the people taking to the streets and demanding fresh polls, free and fair, under an Interim Government or the inclusion of the Opposition in the division of Cabinet and Government posts without resort to coalition government.

A 3rd alternative is a Revolutionary Government formed by the people. Revolutionary Government would also be the option if the people conclude that there’s no way that the BN can be dethroned through the ballot box.

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Generasi muda kurang tahu Sejarah Batu Sumpah Keningau

April 9, 2013, 11:30 am
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Oleh:  Roger  Binson  A.S
KENINGAU: Batu  setinggi  4  kaki  yang  terpacak  teguh  di  hadapan  bangunan  Urusetia   Keningau  merupakan  bahan  sejarah  yang  amat  berharga  bagi  masyarakat  Sabah  khususnya  di  pedalaman. Malangnya  pada   masa  kini   generasi muda  hanya mengenali batu  itu  tidak lebih dari sekadar landskap  bagi  menceriakan  kawasan  sekitarnya.

Kemerdekaan  Malaya  pada  tahun  1957  turut  memberi  kesan  kepada  masayarakat  Borneo  Utara(Sabah)  untuk  mendapat  kemerdekaan  sendiri  daripada  kerajaan  British.  Pada  tahun  1962 beberapa  komuniti  antara   kerajaan  yang  di  wakili  oleh kerajaan Inggeris,Malaya,Sarawak,  Burneo  Utara  dan   Singapura telah  berbincang mengenai impilakasi  tentang  penubuhan  Perseketuan  Malaysia.Komuniti  ini   di  kenali  sebagai  Suruhanjaya  Cobbold  dan  ini  merupakan  bermulanya  sejarah  penting  tahun  1963  dalam  sejarah  Borneo  Utara(Sabah)  yang  menyaksikan  berakhirnya  era  penjajahan  oleh  kuasa  British.
 
Sebelum  pembentukan  Malaysia  ini  terjadi   Masyarakat  Borneo  Utara (Sabah) menolak  dengan  keras  Pembentukan  Malaysia  di  sebabkan  takut  di  jajah  oleh  Malaya  yang  lebih  matang  dari  segi  Politik,Sosial  dan  ekonomi  pada  waktu  itu , namun  kesangsian  itu  telah  berakhir  apabila  penduduk  Borneo  Utara(Sabah)  diberi   jaminan  oleh  Malaya  bahawa   tidak  akan  ada  penjajahan  di  Borneo  Utara(Sabah)  sekiranya  Malaysia  di  bentuk.Akibat  daripada  implaikasi  itu   satu  jaminan  telah  di  buat  dan  jaminan  itu  di  kenali  sebagai  “Perkara  20”,setelah    jaminan  itu   di  terima  oleh  Pihak  Malaya  maka  Malaysia  pun  di  bentuk  oleh   4  negara  iaitu  Singapura,Borneo  Utara,Serawak  dan  Tanah  Malaya.

Batu  sumpah  ini  amat  bermakna  dan  dihormati  oleh   semua  penduduk  pendalaman  dan  sesiapa  yang  melanggar    simbol  keamanan  menurut  batu  sumpah  ini  nasibnya  akan  malang  ataupun  ditimpa  bencana.Terdapat  tiga  rukun  yang  dipersetujui :

  1. Agama  bebas  dalam  Borneo  Utara( Sabah).
  2. Tanah-tanah  dalam  Borneo  Utara(Sabah)  dikuasai  oleh  Kerajaan  Borneo  Utara(Sabah).
  3. Adat  Istiadat  rakyat  Borneo  Utara(Sabah  )di hormati  dan  dipelihara  oleh  Kerajaan.

Batu   Sumpah  ini    di  istiharkan  pada  31 Ogos 1964  sempena  ulang  tahun  pertama  kemerdekaan  bagi Borneo  Utara (Sabah)  oleh  mendiang Tan  Sri V.Manickasavagam  yang  merupakan  menteri  buruh  perseketuan  ketika  itu,  ini  sekali  gus  membuktikan    Batu  sumpah  yang  terdapat  di  daerah  Keningau  ini  amat  bernilai  dan  bukan  seperti  tanggapan  generasi  muda  iaitu  sebagai  landskap  untuk  menceriakan  kawasan  di  sini.
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Hiew Ignorant of Sabah Rights - STAR

April 9, 2013, 6:14 pm
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KOTA KINABALU: DAP's Member of Parliament, Hiew King Chew, fails to see the reality of Sabah's dire needs within the federation because he is a member of a Malayan-based party, says State Reform Party (STAR).
 
STAR Sabah's Information Chief Edward Linggu said this in a statement in response to Hiew who had told voters not to waste votes on STAR and SAPP yesterday. He claimed that  a STAR or SAPP state government wouldn't be able to function because it will be an opposition state even if PR took over Putrajaya, just like PBS government was after it was the state opposition government.
 
Linggu said Hiew has chosen to speak with selective ignorance, betraying his political tunnel vision, by saying Sabah can only survive by surrendering its fate to Malayan parties. Linggu also said that as  a DAP representative Hiew has forgotten his roots and believes Sabah is a territory to be claimed for Malaya, and not to be given any measure of rights and autonomy.
 
"Has Hiew forgotten that Sabah was promised certain special rights, privileges and autonomy as special conditions for Sabah's forming Malaysia together with three other nation states?" Linggu asked. "Or as a DAP leader does he prefer that Sabah continues to be under the control of Malayan parties forever?
 
"As a Sabahan does Hiew want to fight for Sabah rights or Malayan control over your state?
 
"STAR sees Sabah as our home and our ultimate objective is to establish hegemony of local parties over it and do away with dictations on how to run our home state by Malayan BN parties," Linggu added. "But sadly, our efforts are being hampered by other Malaya-based parties like DAP which are out to split votes."
 
Linggu said Hiew's ignorance of political realities is evident in his attempt to compare STAR's future scenario with that of the PBS era, stressing how easily we can be choked to death by Kuala Lumpur.
 
"Hiew needs to wake up to the reality that the people of Sabah had awakened from this lie and they are now fighting for their rights without fear. They now fully realize that they are at the losing end of the current arrangement whereby their state is being robbed of RM42 billion annually by Kuala Lumpur and yet remain poor because it is given mere token allocations for development compared to what is being given the Peeninsula.
 
"Nobody will help Sabahans except ourselves. So STAR is fighting for something BN Sabah parties don't dare to do, that is to take back our rights which were promised to us in the Malaysia Agreement, the IGC Report, the 20 Points and the Oath Stone. These rights have been eroded and will be completely wiped out if Malayan parties continue to rule us because they have no understanding of the desires of genuine Sabahans.
 
"Can Hiew understand this part of Sabah politics? To STAR,  voting for PR is like trying to jump from the BN frying pan into the PR fire. We have very little trust in Anwar who had betrayed his ignorance of leanings.
 
"If Hiew is honest and sincere to fight for Sabahans he needs to seriously re-consider his stance on this issue and whether he can fight for us to our full advantage under a neo-colonist political platform. He can't be claiming to fight for us while being a proxy of Malayan hegemony.
 
"If he believes Sabah will not be able to stand on its own if PR takes over Putrajaya is he denying that Penang,, under his party, has done better than when it was under the BN?" Linggu demanded. "And by saying that does he also mean that PR will be suppressing and choking Sabah, with him playing the KL agent's role to victimize and strangle his fellow Sabahans?" Linggu demanded.
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13,268,002 rakyat Malaysia layak mengundi PRU 13 pada 5 Mei 2013

April 9, 2013, 11:35 pm
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PUTRAJAYA: Hari pengundian bagi pilihan raya umum ke-13 ditetapkan pada Ahad 5 Mei,manakala tarikh penamaan calon pada 20 April,Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) mengumumkan pada Rabu.

Pengundian awal ditetapkan pada 30 April.

Tempoh berkempen ialah selama 15 hari. Tempoh berkempen pada pilihan raya umum 2008 ialah selama 13 hari.
Ketika mengumumkan tarikh-tarikh itu, Pengerusi SPR Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof berkata seramai 13,268,002 rakyat Malaysia layak mengundi kali ini, berdasarkan daftar pemilih yang digazetkan pada Khamis (11 April).

Pilihan raya umum kali ini membabitkan 222 kerusi Parlimen dan 505 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN).

Abdul Aziz membuat pengumuman itu pada pukul 12.30 tengah hari di ibu pejabat SPR di Putrajaya, yang disiarkan secara langsung oleh RTM dan TV3. - BERNAMA
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Election looms but hospital not ready

April 10, 2013, 2:21 am
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KOTA KINABALU, 10 April 2013: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) is demanding the chaotic and depressing situation plaguing health care services in the state be addressed without further delays.

SAPP Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said health care services in Sabah have deteriorated to its lowest following the declaration that the towers of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH 1), was unsafe on 24 October 2008.
"It's almost five years but the health care services here have never been improved and the most saddened part was the delay in the completion of the new towers.

"The new towers were supposed to be completed by December 2012 but still not completed until today.

"Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 is the only referral general hospital for Sabah, Labuan  and some parts of Sarawak but the delays have in many ways pose difficulties to patients seeking major treatments," he said.

On 8 March 2011, Sabah health director Dr Mohd Yusof Ibrahim said the construction of the new towers with a total 660 beds should be ready by the end of 2012.

Based on the schedule of 30 months under the contract, the entire demolition of the unsafe towers and construction of the new towers project would end by December 2012.

Pit Fah reminded that the longer it takes for the Government to come up with an effective solution to the QEH1 crisis, more costs would be incurred.

He said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had revealed that it was estimated to cost the Government a whopping RM70 million a year, to relocate and 'outsource' the QEH 1 patients, as a short-term measure to deal with the crisis.

He added that the Government was indecisive in tackling the crisis when taking nearly seven months for the Prime Minister to announce the allocation amounting to RM245 million on 5 May for the purchase of the second Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) in Luyang.

He went on saying that QEH 1 patients are being relocated to the other district hospitals and yet the Government, both at the Federal and State levels still could not come out with any effective-and-comprehensive solution to the poor health care services here.

Pit Fah said patients continue to suffer while their lives are in danger.

He lamented that such unnecessary inconveniences has caused long waiting lists, increasing suffering of patients awaiting much needed surgeries.

He went on saying that hospitals here are short of prescriptions and even had to supply patients with generic drugs, inferior quality medicines.

He said it is certainly do not make sense when the government could afford to disburse RM500 to every household head and RM250 to all single Malaysians aged 21 and above under the BR1M but could not afford quality medicines.

Pit Fah said he also received many complaints that hospitals advised patients to buy quality medicines at registered pharmacies because such were unavailable.

He also said that hospitals are supplying prescriptions lasted for two weeks instead of one month, which forced patients to come back twice every month.

He said such practice was unwise to the elderly patients and those living far from hospitals.
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Indians suffered 56 years of internal colonisation!

April 10, 2013, 11:49 pm
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By Joe Fernandez
The departure of the British administrators from Malaya in 1957, ostensibly giving independence to the country, meant nothing to the Indian Nation.

Indians soon found that they had exchanged one colonial master for another, from the British to the Malay-speaking communities drawn from the Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Arab Muslims and Indian Muslims, among others. This was the Malay Nation, a people without territory in Singapore, Malaya, south Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and South Africa.
From the scourge of external colonisation, Indians have been experiencing internal colonisation since 1957, a crime under international law. Incidentally, it was internal colonisation by Khartoum which eventually led to South Sudan breaking away from Sudan with the blessing of the UN Security Council.

On that score alone, internal colonisation, Umno/BN is the sworn eternal and mortal enemies of the Indian Nation in Malaysia.  It’s neither possible to forgive nor forget what Umno/BN has done to the Indians.

It’s not possible for Indians to do business, purely on moral grounds, with this evil coalition which has squatted on Indians more than half a century. 

Indians must seize the moral high ground and reject Umno/BN completely

The last General Election, the 12th, was a watershed for Indians when the makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil – wave generated by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi unleashed a political tsunami and installed Opposition Governments, formed by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), in five states in Malaya and handed it Kuala Lumpur.

Alas, PR did little to roll back the policies institutionalized by 56 years of internal colonisation under Umno and its running dogs, the Barisan Nasional (BN). Neither is the Opposition making any attempts this time to woo the Indians despite 85 per cent of them voting against the BN in 2008. PR belabours under the delusion that Indians would automatically vote for them, having broken with BN the last time.

This 13th GE, Indians are in a league all by themselves, having not even one ethnic-majority seat in any legislature, despite nearly a million of them on the electoral rolls.

The community must seize the moral high ground and have nothing to do with the BN which, as the last GE proved, doesn’t really need Indian votes to keep Putrajaya. Umno is more concerned about denying Indian votes to the Opposition and in return has offered the prospect of throwing some crumbs directly at the community instead of routing these through their political mandores in MIC and PPP. PR meanwhile has enthusiastically embraced the political mandore system being abandoned by Umno/BN.

PKR, the glue that holds Dap and Pas together in PR, was formed by the losing side after the proverbial falling out of thieves in Umno. Its aim is to replace Umno in the Federal Government.

New faces can be given the benefit of the doubt

Dap meanwhile has done a good job of wooing the urban and Chinese voters away from BN, on the verge of collapse on the eve of the GE.

Umno can no longer afford to give BN the seats where the Malays form the single biggest community but still less than 50 per cent. PR is set to sweep these seats from BN and Umno thinks it will have a better chance than its lapdog to retain the Malay voters.

Indians, having burnt their bridges with PR in the aftermath of 2008, have no reason to worry about the fate of the Opposition Alliance no matter what’s in store for them. It’s for the non-Indian urban and Chinese voters to save PR as their best vehicle to bring them to power in Putrajaya.

Indians must walk a lonely path in politics, even one that involves a spell in the cold or wilderness.

The community can give new faces, making their electoral debut in the 13th GE, the benefit of the doubt provided they endorse the Hindraf Blueprint. If both BN and PR candidates in a particular seat endorse the Blueprint, it’s for the voters in that locality to decide among themselves which candidate appears more credible.

On balance, it would be difficult for Indians to endorse BN new faces given the ugly history of the coalition.

Alternatively, they can root for a 3rd candidate if there’s one in the fray, provided the Blueprint is endorsed.

Not in Indian interest to see PR fail and crumble

If Hindraf fields candidates, probably under one common symbol and flag, Indians should naturally vote for this NGO as it offers them the best hope for the future. Indians decide in 67 parliamentary seats, and the related state seats, in Malaya. It’s likely that Hindraf, win or lose, will garner more Indian votes than BN and PR combined and especially from among the underclass.

Hindraf and the new faces aside, Indians should vote against all incumbents. They can do this, not by abstaining or boycotting, but spoiling the ballots in protest against their marginalisation and disenfranchisement. Hopefully, there will be one million spoilt ballots to earn a place in world history and focus the attention of the international community and the UN on the plight of the Indian Nation in Malaysia.

Abstaining has been mentioned as a weapon so that the winners will know why they won i.e. the Indians didn’t vote against them. The losers will know why they lost i.e. the Indians didn’t vote for them.

If the last GE is any guide, the winners in this case would be the BN and PR the losers. It’s the PR which needs Indian votes, not the BN.

Does the Indian community really want to see PR losing all its states? That would only strengthen Umno/BN, the sworn enemies of the Indian Nation, and make it all the more difficult to remove this scourge which has been plaguing the nation the last half century and more.

Ketuanan Melayu the great barrier to Indian advancement

Or should it take the position that the enemy (PR) of my enemy (Umno/BN) is my friend even if not so friendly.

Is it really in the Indian interest to see the return of BN stronger than ever or would it be more strategic to keep giving PR the chances that it obviously doesn’t deserve but only until the ruling coalition has been driven out from Putrajaya? The only reason that Umno/BN is being respectful towards the Indians is because of the presence of PR. If PR is no longer around, Umno/BN will ignore the Indians once more like before 2008.

Some would say that there’s method in madness if the Indians turn to the Opposition once again after having installed PR in Putrajaya. The odds are against the opposition peacefully assuming power in Malaysia as there are no free and fair elections in the country and it may be virtually impossible to overthrow BN through the ballot box.

Indians can have no part in Government unless and until the Sapu Bersih deviations and distortions of Article 153 in the Federal Constitution and the NEP are ended; the issue of statelessness dealt with; anti non-Malay minorities administrative laws be scrapped; Islam kept in its proper perspective as per Article 3 of the Federal Constitution which doesn’t mention any official religion; the intrusion of Syariah and the Syariah Courts into civil law ended; forced and bogus conversions to Islam be outlawed; the bogus conversion of non-Muslims to Islam upon marring Muslims be outlawed; and Muslims be allowed to leave Islam without the sanction of the Syariah Court.

That’s unlikely to happen as long as Umno continues its policy of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political domination and supremacy) -- a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, and Fascism, Communism, Political Islam and the caste system which allows no upward social mobility – driven by racism, prejudice and opportunism.

Now is not the time to play the devil’s advocate. Hindraf Makkal Sakthi must announce its unconditional support for PR come the 13th GE although it has vowed No Free Votes.

It’s more important for Indians at this stage to think about punishing, and even destroying Umno and BN, than to worry about what they can get out of a PR Government in Putrajaya.

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Opposition ‘spoilers’ giving Sabah BN quiet wins

April 10, 2013, 11:55 pm
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By Luke Rintod of FMT
STAR and SAPP have reminded Sabah DAP and Sabahans that
voting for Pakatan would be a case of jumping from the
frying pan into fire situation.
KOTA KINABALU : Opposition parties DAP, SAPP and STAR have a common enemy in Barisan Nasional. Yet they seem unable to hold it together, constantly kniving each other instead of plotting against their enemy.
This in itself is intriguing and is telling of Sabah’s layered opposition politics which runs deep on distrust.
Yesterday, DAP’s sole parliamentarian Hiew King Chew, accused both State Reform Party (STAR) and Sabah Progressive Peoples Party (SAPP) of being “useless” parties that cannot do anything.
“It is a waste to vote STAR or SAPP,” he had said in statement that lumped the two parties as “spoilers” in the 13th general election.
Hiew’s statement was featured prominently in Sabah local dailies, spiking the heat in what will be an all-time ‘do or die’ elections for some groups.
SAPP information chief, Chong Pit Fah however shot Hiew’s view as “arrogant” and merely promoting Pakatan Rakyat to replace BN, at the expense of Sabahans’ real aspiration to restore glory to state autonomy.
“Let me remind Hiew that it is his boss Lim Kit Siang who admitted that DAP cannot win Sabah.
“So if (Pakatan) cannot win Sabah, why must contest here and become a spoiler?” Chong retorted.
Chong was referring to Lim’s recent interview with Sin Chew Daily in which he had said that Pakatan was set to recapture Perak, retain Kedah, Penang, Kelantan and Selangor and take over only Perlis and Negeri Sembilan.
“It is also strange that Hiew is always complaining about SAPP flags being flown everywhere including near his office, when he never complained about Umno or BN flags,” said Chong, who accused Hiew of feeling threatened by surging support for local parties like SAPP.
Who’s greedy?
Chong also said that Hiew’s argument that should SAPP form a state government it would run into trouble just like previous Parti Bersatu Sabah’s state government was “lame and outdated”.
“PBS time was different as Umno was very strong then under Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but now the landscape has changed with both BN and PR equally strong or weak, in need of continuous support from Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
He also called on Hiew to reflect on Lim and Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim’s persistent statements that the country is going bankrupt.
He said it was Malaya that was going bankrupt and because of their greed, it was bankrupting the whole nation.
“Bankrupting Malaysia is not the doing of Sabah and Sarawak. In fact Sabah and Sarawak are cushioning the economic impacts of Malaya’s border-less greed and unrepentant plundering the country,” he said.
Chong, who is poised to stand as SAPP candidate for Kepayan state seat near here, argued that Hiew has no right to accuse state parties of greed.
“Unlike DAP, SAPP has always been here for the single reason that it fights for Sabah and Sabahans, and of course we are looking at seats within Sabah of which there are only 25 parliamentary seats and 60 state seats
“There are more than 400 state seats in Peninsular and 165 parliamentary seats over there that the DAP and Pakatan can lay their hands on, so why is still the greed to grab the few seats in Sabah too?
“Seriously now, who is greedy?” asked Chong.
Saving Sabah
Meanwhile, Chong’s counterpart from STAR, Edward Linggu, in a separate statement, said Hiew, who is Kota Kinabalu MP, has chosen to forget that Sabah has special rights, privileges and autonomy and these were the conditions on which the state agreed to forming Malaysia in 1963.
Linggu questioned the patriotism of Hiew as he refused to fight for Sabah’s rights but instead help surrender Sabah to yet another group from across the South China Sea.
“STAR sees Sabah as its home to assert the peoples’ right to do away with dictation by outsider party. But sadly, our efforts are being hampered by other Malaya-based parties like DAP which is out to split votes here,” Linggu argued.
Linggu said Hiew needs to wake up to the reality that the people of Sabah had awakened from their slumber and wanted to assert their rights to the RM42 billion collected annually by Kuala Lumpur from the state.
“Let me tell Hiew, nobody will help Sabahans except ourselves.
“STAR is fighting for something BN Sabah parties don’t dare to do, that is to take back our rights which were promised to us in the Malaysia Agreement, the IGC Report, the 20 Points and the Oath Stone.
“These rights have been eroded and will be completely wiped out if yet another Malayan parties continue to rule over us because they have no understanding of the genuine desires Sabahans,” Linggu said.
He said voting for Pakatan is like jumping from the BN frying pan into the Pakatan fire.
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Taib’s our ‘chief campaigner’, says opposition

April 11, 2013, 8:12 pm
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The Barisan Nasional lives on corruption and all PM Najib Tun Razak
can do is to condone such wrong doings, says Sarawak DAP
KUCHING: If Sarawak opposition wins its targeted 16 parliamentary seats in the May 5 general election, it will be due entirely to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.
Describing Taib as the opposition’s “chief campaigner”, state DAP said “if he does not step down as promised” the likelihood of an opposition win was very high.
In the 2011 state election, allegations of corruption, land grabs and power abuse by Taib and his cronies saw the opposition wrest an unprecedented 15 seats.
Post-election analysis had pointed out a more than 40% swing in voter support for the opposition in the once strong Barisan Nasional frontiers.
Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said their “assault” had begun immediately after the state election.
“We’ve been preparing and working the ground since,” he said, adding that Taib had “unwittingly” been their “number one campaigner”.
“Unwittingly, he is our number one campaigner. He has overstayed his welcome [as chief minister).
"His continuance as chief minister and refusal to step down as promised are the two factors which will be our number one campaigning tool,” said Chong.
He said Taib had made a promise to quit his chief minister's post during the 2010 Sibu by-election and reiterated this in the run-up to 2011 state election.
"At that time, he said he will retire within two years of the state election.
"The two years is coming up on April 16. In case he forgets, I would like to remind him to honour his pledge.
"He still has four days to honour his pledge, otherwise he will be a leader who has ‘eaten’ his words.
"A pledge is a pledge, a promise is a promise. Taib should fulfil his promise especially after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak made his ‘jangi ditepati’ slogan.
"If Taib cannot fulfil the promise, then the ‘jangi ditepati’ slogan is meaningless,” said Chong, who is tipped to contest the “hot” seat of Stampin, told reporters here today.
'Najib condones wrongdoings'
On corruption, Chong said it was the top scourge not just in Sarawak but also in the country.
“It is our number one enemy not only in Sarawak, but also throughout the country.
"In fact, it has always been our number one enemy since 2003 when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the prime minister.
“As a result of rampant corruption, wastage and illicit capital outflow, government debt has increased to RM500 billion.
“The people do not get to share the country’s wealth, but has to bear the BN’s debt of corruption.
"The BN lives on corruption and all Najib can do is to condone such wrong-doings,” he said.
The DAP leader said that the only way to stop the rot is to change the government and to create a two-party system in Malaysia’s political landscape.
“The corrupt leaders must be brought to book and their ill-gotten wealth taken back for the people.
“For now, corrupt leaders have not been arrested. This shows that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission [MACC] is a coward,” he said.
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Pairin, 73, still wants Keningau and Tambunan seats

April 12, 2013, 6:20 am
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PENAMPANG: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan said he would defend his Keningau parliamentary and Tambunan state seats in the 13th general election.
The Sabah Deputy Chief Minister who had been politically active since 1975 described his bids as his last battle to retain both constituencies for the Barisan Nasional in the interest of the people.
On the party’s other candidates, he indicated that there would be new faces in the line-up.
Pairin, who is the Huguan Siou or paramount chief of the Kadazandusun Murut community, urged the people to continue supporting the BN for the success of the Government Transformation Programme and Vision 2020 towards developed nation status.
“We know that the people would assess wisely and choose the BN rather than the opposition which is not united and cannot really be trusted,” he said at the launch of the Blue Wave and Sabah BN election machinery themed “Tatap BN” by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman last night.
In the 2008 general election, Pairin won the Keningau seat with a 4,264 majority over his younger brother Jeffrey Kitingan of PKR, and the Tambunan seat with a majority of 2,781 over Mozes Michael Iking also of PKR.
Bernama
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Tataba Wave emboldens Mahathir and UMNO to strangle the nation

April 13, 2013, 4:05 am
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By Ezra Haganez
KOTA KINABALU : Opposition State Reform Party (STAR) has accused that the Gelombang Tataba promulgated by PBS, UPKO and PBRS is nothing but to propel UMNO's "ketuanan Melayu" over Sabahans.

STAR Sabah deputy chairman, Daniel John Jambun, said Sabahans must realise that the Gelombang Tataba was nothing but the idea of UMNO to empower Mahathir Mohamad to help perpetuate "ketuanan Melayu dan UMNO" to overlord Sabahans.
"By empowering UMNO and BN, the non-muslims would continue to be suppressed as the Tataba Wave would embolden the kind of Mahathir and Ibrahim Ali of PERKASA in banning the non-muslims from using many words including "Allah" in their worship.

"By calling the Kadazandusuns to support BN and UMNO, leaders of PBS, UPKO and PBRS are empowering Ibrahim to repeat his call for the burning of our Bible or Alkitab," he said in a statement here Saturday.

Jambun who is also President of UK-based Borneo's Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) said Ibrahim should be charged for treason, and Mahathir too for the IC Project.

"But look PBS, UPKO and PBRS are calling the people to support Mahathir and Ibrahim instead !


"It appeared to me that the Gelombang Tataba has not empowered the natives in Sabah at all but only put UMNO leaders like Mahathir and Ibrahim above the law. Sabahans must see this ploy, hatched by UMNO, and carried by the three parties to hoodwink the people," he stressed.
Everybody remembers that Pairin has given the Federal Government until last year (2012) to resolve the illegal immigrants issues in Sabah but look it is already 2013 and even the RCI has been postponed due to UMNO's pressure over the Tanduo's intrusion by Filipinos, Jambun further said.
"Now there is no guarantee that the illegal immigrants issues in Sabah would be resolved even after the coming general election, as the RCI had so far recorded so many incriminating evidences against PBS, UPKO and PBRS' friends and allies in UMNO!" he added.
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Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – Hindraf under Star symbol and flag in Malaya!

April 13, 2013, 4:18 am
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By Joe Fernandez
It’s confirmed! Hindraf Makkal Sakthi will be fielding candidates in Malaya under the Borneo-based State Reform Party’s (Star) symbol and flag in the forthcoming 13th General Election on May 5. Star is a national party.

Star chairman Jeffrey Kitingan, in a text message a little while ago said: “Let Hindraf be a big surprise.”

Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy in a text message confirmed: “We are still finalizing the list.”
Star Secretary Guandee Kohoi confirmed in a text message: “We agreed to it. Letter of authorization to use symbol with me. We only need full name as per IC.”

This is the culmination of a process which began quite some time ago to get the ten million Christians in Malaysia on board with Hindraf as 3rd Force allies. At present, the Christians in Malaya don’t have any political vehicle. Star has answered that need. There are many Sabahans and Sarawakians in Malaya.

Hindraf Star alliance in Malaya mooted quite some time ago

When Waytha was still in involuntary political asylum in London, I casually suggested to him and Jeffrey that Hindraf field candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya to help forge 3rd Force unity in Parliament. That was well before Waytha re-filed the Hindraf class action suit in London in early July last year.

Incidentally, I am not a member of Hindraf or Star. Neither am I a self-appointed Advisor to anyone. I am more for embedded reporting, albeit with a difference.

It’s not about scooping anyone.

There’s a difference between merely following the news and watching history on the one hand and giving a Hearing to All.

First, a little more digression.

The fact that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) approved Hindraf last month after earlier lifting the ban on the unregistered organisation is beside the point. The ROS himself said that Hindraf could apply for registration after the ban was ended. Hindraf still remains an NGO. It’s not a political party. Obviously, the Barisan Nasional (BN) hopes that Hindraf would be a BN-friendly NGO. Hence, no doubt the approval. However, Hindraf’s support for anyone would not be free.

The registration of Hindraf was filed at the same time as the appeal for the ban on it to be lifted. Nothing was done discreetly, according to a text message a while ago from Waytha. Supporters of former Legal Advisor and co-Founder P. Uthayakumar in PKR – the man himself is not involved -- were also at the same time trying to hijack ownership of the NGO.

Away from that little digression, I felt that no useful purpose would be served by Waytha continuing to stay in London once the suit had been re-filed.

No mystery in Waythamoorthy’s return to Malaysia

He was worried that his return would be seen as a sellout to the BN, the same worry plaguing Royal Fugitive Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin who had met up with Waytha to exchange notes. The latter had put me in Skype contact with Petra.

Initially, Waytha did not know what to say about the Star proposal. I suggested subsequently that he head a Star chapter in Malaya, an idea which came from Jeffrey. Waytha appeared to agree somewhat and I even mentioned this in a story on his return from political exile. No one followed up the story as the media on both sides of the political divide, especially the Opposition, is anti-3rd Force.

Waytha himself, before the Star idea came up, toyed with the idea of standing on a Dap ticket, or even a Pas ticket. He was also for meeting Nurul Izzah and her mother Wan Azizah in Singapore to discuss patching up between Hindraf and PKR.

However, doing business with PKR was difficult since relations between Anwar and Hindraf were strained to the breaking point after the former tried to discredit the NGO as a racist organisation and kept claiming that it had nothing to do with the makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil -- wave which unleashed the political tsunami of Sat 8 Mar, 2008. Anwar had shamelessly jumped on the Hindraf bandwagon but now he was like the lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama. The people did not vote for PR in 2008. They voted against BN.
   
Waytha decided to return via Singapore without his Malaysian passport. He had a UN Travel Document issued to him, as a political exile, by the British Government. He could travel to any country in the world except Malaysia and should he infringe the condition, his political asylum status would be immediately revoked.

People of Borneo should get a proper hearing in Parliament

The Malaysian High Commission in Singapore quickly re-issued a Malaysian passport to Waytha as otherwise he would have to be deported, as is the norm in Government agreements with carrier airlines, and this would have been politically and diplomatically embarrassing to both Singapore and Malaysia especially if Waytha refused to leave the city state and made repeated attempts to enter his country. The British Government and the UN would then enter the picture. Waytha’s idea was to cross over from Singapore to Johore on foot. He was prepared to be arrested and charged with terrorism, sedition and treason as the Government had earlier indicated.

Jeffrey was initially hesitant about Hindraf fielding candidates under the Star symbol and flag in Malaya.

He feared that Star crossing the South China Sea to Malaya may perhaps contradict his own battle cry that Malayan parties should keep out of Borneo. Hence, we have Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo, a Star version of a one-to-one fight in Sabah.

(Kepayan Star Chief Phillip Among, a young Turk, is the Architect of the Agenda Borneo v Agenda parti parti Malaya in Borneo theme. He sold me the idea one day over tea at McDonald’s in Kota Kinabalu. I wrote about it, to gather public feedback, even before Jeffrey entered the picture and quickly endorsed it. Star is a young Turk party.)
   
I pointed out to Jeffrey that under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, and related constitutional documents on Malaysia, Malaya was supposed to have one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. Given the present 222 seats in Parliament, that means no more than 147 seats. Malaya has 165 seats in Parliament. This is a theft of 18 seats which should be with Borneo, a heinous crime against the people, the result of the Registrar of Societies, the Election Commission and the Attorney General looking the other way to diminish the voice of the people in Parliament.

By the same token, there’s no reason why Borneo cannot have the same one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament at the very maximum. In order to achieve this, a Borneo-based national party or coalition would have to field candidates under its symbol and flag in Malaya. It’s not tit-for-tat! It should not be tit for tat!

Nur Misuari can’t help Anwar against Star/Usno in Sabah east coast
It’s not possible for Borneo to achieve the same maximum in Parliament given its paltry 57 seats including Labuan. Even if Malaya had not stolen the 18 seats, Borneo would have only 75 seats in Parliament, far short of the 147 seats.

Jeffrey was finally sold on the idea of Hindraf using the Star symbol and flag in Malaya.

Also, the mood in his party was, Lu Kacau Gua, Gua Kacau Lu – a variation of Caretaker Unelected Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s infamous Lu Tolong Gua, Gua Tolong Lu declaration in Sibu during a parliamentary by-election -- given the stubborn refusal of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to make way for local parties in Sabah.

Anwar is being politically suicidal in Sabah.  Although he may not have been a party to placing illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls, he certainly knew about it, did nothing to stop the treasonous activities, and now wants to benefit from it, as he did when he headed Sabah Umno.

He wants to ensure that Muslim, whether local or illegal, political domination of Sabah continues so that he can “inherit” the system in tact through cross-overs en bloc. This is why he’s having problems with his own Sabah PKR leaders who are up in arms against his nefarious plans in their country.

Anwar is pledged towards continued disunity among the Orang Asal, including the Muslim, in Sabah and Sarawak.

If possible, he wants to see the political destruction of the mainly Christian Orang Asal in Sabah and Sarawak in pursuit of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political domination and supremacy).

His attempts to get Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari to throw a spanner in the Star-United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) alliance has not worked. Usno, now protem after deregistration, was founded by legendary Suluk Chief Mustapha Harun, a previous Governor and then Chief Minister of Sabah. Nur Misuari pledged he could do more than what Anwar wants according to Sabah PKR sources now with Star, and either known or unknown to him (Anwar), was behind the Lahad Datu intrusion. His latest ploy has been to try and wreck the possibility of a truce between Star and Sapp.

Anwar should make way for the sake of greater Opposition Unity

If Hindraf and Star maintain their position that the former fields candidates under the latter’s symbol and flag in Malaya, it will be a whole new ball game.

Some will say that it will be BN that would benefit.

The jury is still out on the issue.

We need to watch where Hindraf will be fielding candidates and then work out the possible trends that could emerge.

It will be prudent if both BN and PR can give way to Star/Hindraf in Malaya instead of continuing to promote their political mandores.

Both should accept the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) if the Hindraf Blueprint proper sticks in their throats. The Ministry can implement the Hindraf Blueprint.

Ideally, Indians should put off the inevitable destruction of Umno/BN, and help maintain the status quo in Malaya for now except for removing MIC from the scene and making place for Hindraf/Star. Indians have more than an axe to grind with Umno/BN for the 56 years of internal colonisation they suffered under the ruling coalition’s bangsa, agama, negara (race, religion, country) policy of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political dominance and supremacy), a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, Political Islam, terrorism, militancy, “ethnic cleansing”, and the caste system to prevent upward social mobility among the 45 per cent non-Malay minorities.

It would not be in the interest of Indians to see the destruction of PR. The PR is needed to destroy Umno/BN, if not now, later. In any case, the writing is on the wall for Umno/BN after 56 years. Its days are numbered. BN, outside Umno, is likely to be history this time in Malaya.

If there’s going to greater opposition unity, come the 13th GE, Anwar has to step aside and let Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng, Chua Jui Meng, Hadi Awang, Nik Aziz and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have a greater say.

Anwar has become a divisive figure, partly the result of Azmin Ali & Co, on both sides of the South China Sea. He cannot continue to take Azmin’s side against his own wife, the party president, and his daughter Nurul Izzah. It’s the party president who should run the party, not the de facto whatever by using the fig leaf of being the Opposition Leader in Parliament.

Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner in Sarawak

If the Opposition in Malaya and Sabah fails to measure up to public expectations, come the 13th GE, blame it on Anwar for not being able to rise to the occasion. His political impotence would be complete.

In Sarawak, the people have put the Agenda Borneo v Agenda Malaya on the backburner for the moment, given the destruction of local political parties by the Taib regime.

They are banking on PR to help bring about a change of government in their country.

However, PR component parties in Sarawak would have to incorporate locally and be autonomous and independent of Malaya, or they risk Jeffery entering the picture again in that nation to haunt them all over again.

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Anwar after Hindraf over Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama)

April 14, 2013, 7:47 pm
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By Joe Fernandez

Is Jayathas of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), allegedly Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s newly-recruited political mandore from Hindraf, trying to say the NGO should not be registered just because his boss doesn’t like it?

It appears to be so judging from his song-and-dance act on Sat at a press conference, for his 15 minutes of fame, on the subject.

Hindraf, or any organisation, has a right to be registered. It's the Registrar of Societies (ROS) which plays politics with registration, on the instructions of Umno, until the matter ends up in Court. Umno doesn't own the ROS.
Anwar is just a case of sour grapes trying to create trouble for Hindraf on the registration issue through Jayathas and his other known Indian political mandores. He's painting Hindraf's registration as proof of it being in cahoots -- whatever it means -- with Umno/BN. If there’s one thing which can annoy PR and drive it up the wall, if not around the bend, it’s the registration of Hindraf and Umno/BN knows it only too well and has capitalised on it.

Anwar has never stopped trying to discredit Hindraf as a "racist" organisation ever since 2008 when he shamelessly jumped onto its makkal sakthi -- people power in Tamil -- bandwagon which created the political tsunami at the 12th General Elections. He forgets that Umno/BN has never once referred to Hindraf as a racist organisation. In 67 parliamentary seats in Malaya, and the related state seats, the Indians decide. That was the reading in 2008. But “lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama” Anwar continues to remain in a state of denial.

When unelected caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wanted to talk to Hindraf, they said, "lift the ban first". Obviously, the Government can't be in discussions with an unlawful or banned organisation.

So, the ban was lifted and at the same time the organisation was registered. All the paperwork was done. Again, the Government can't be engaged in discussions either with an unregistered organisation. The registration had to be done.

Mahathir makes it seem as if the Malays are desperate for heroes

Hindraf was banned although it was not a registered organisation and did not apply for registration. Anwar was among those who gloated in public when Hindraf was banned. He was even seen doing his usual dance jig, Oh! Hindraf sudah goyang!, at various ceramah over the banning.

The then IGP Musa Hassan even disingenuously accused Hindraf of having links with the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. Anwar applauded the IGP although his paternal grandfather is a Tamil Hindu and he should have known better. His main concern, as a well-known “user”, was to eliminate Hindraf so that he doesn’t have to share political space with the NGO.

The IGP wanted to cover up the fact that there was little intelligence in his intelligence service, the Special Branch, and Military Intelligence. Déjà vu!

Indians had a good laugh since there's no love lost between the Sri Lanka Tamils and Indian Tamils. The Tamil Tigers would have been able to carve a separate homeland by now for the Tamils, Muslims and Malays in northern and eastern Sri Lanka had the Tamils of Tamil Nadu in south-eastern India supported them. The Tamil Tiger killing of Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu was the last straw.

Initially, Hindraf began as an ad hoc protest movement against the bogus conversion of Everest hero Moorthy to Islam by two operatives of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir makes it seem as if the Malays are desperate for heroes to enter, by hook or crook, in our history books which are already highly politicised and full of propaganda. Fortunately, the truth is out there in the libraries of the world. Mahathir should take his own advice not so long ago when he urged the Malays to commit hara kiri should they bring shame upon their own people.

Then, in response to Mahathir on Moorthy, the Indian community jumped on the Hindraf bandwagon with all their pent-up demands from over the last half century. The rest is history.

Buku Jingga, Manifesto an irritating response to Blueprint

One needs to read the Tamil papers, not malaysiakini and the like, to get an idea of what's going on in the Indian community.

Hindraf can help Pakatan Rakyat (PR) against Umno/BN despite the Indian community not having even one ethnic-majority seat in any legislature. Anwar doesn't seem to realise that the people did not vote for PR in 2008. It voted against Umno/BN. Who channelled the hate against Umno/BN into the political tsunami if not Hindraf? That does not mean that Indians, in the absence of a clear direction from Hindraf, will take leave of their senses and root wholesale for Umno/BN.

However, Hindraf cannot be a political mandore for PR or BN, after having been so vocal on the issue and for so long.

Political mandoreism is a theory on which Hindraf holds intellectual property rights. Jeffrey Kitingan, similarly, holds intellectual property rights with his theories on the Dependency Syndrome, and Putrajaya's rule by proxy, composed of traitors who are proxies, stooges and rogue elements, in Borneo.

If Umno/BN supports the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama), it must make an open declaration and not come to a secret understanding, as feared, with Hindraf.

Anwar can steal the thunder from Umno/BN by openly declaring PR's support for the proposed Ministry instead of taking pot shots at Hindraf through minions like Jayathas who may mean well but are naïve enough to be like buffaloes led by a rope through the nostrils. Let not the Ministry become yet another Fixed Deposit for Umno/BN. The ball is in PR's court.

Anwar must realise that Hindraf, being apolitical, cares two hoots about his PR or even Umno/BN.

He has already made a big mistake by not probing whether the Hindraf Blueprint may have been a Red Herring.

Instead, he was going on and on about his Buku Jingga whatever and Manifesto, both of which doesn't interest Hindraf and Indians in the least. They are all about the Chinese and Malays.

Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) the key concern

Malaysia is perhaps the only country in the world where politicians expect free votes especially from the marginalised and disenfranchised.

Even the great Obama had to make concessions on immigration reform, for example, before he could clinch the Latino votes to win a second term as US President. Otherwise, how could a black man enter the White House, in a largely white country which is still generally racist to the core?

Anwar offers Indians nothing in return for their votes except the remote possibility of throwing out Umno/BN in retaliation for the 56 years of internal colonisation they suffered under the ruling party’s bangsa, agama, negara driven ketuanan Melayu (Malay political supremacy and dominance) "ideology", a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, Fascism, Communism, Political Islam, terrorism, militancy, "ethnic cleansing", and the caste system which denies the non-Malays upward social mobility.

Dap compounded Anwar's big mistake by copy pasting the Hindraf Blueprint in part for their 14 Point Gelang Patah Declaration. No reference was made, if any, to the Hindraf Blueprint. Now the Dap has both egg and mud on their faces as Hindraf cried plagiarism and rolled on the floor with laughter. Don't underestimate these estate Indians. They had 56 years to work out which side their bread is buttered.

All Hindraf is concerned about is pushing through the proposed Ministry, an idea which has the support of State Reform Party (Star) chairman Jeffrey Kitingan and the Orang Asal on both sides of the South China Sea, the Suluks, the Chinese, Christians, Siamese, Portuguese, Eurasians, Anglo Indians, Baba Nonya, Chitty and other members of the 45 per cent non-Malay minorities in Malays. The mood is clear from Hindraf's ceramah, tea party talks and town hall-style meetings.

Entry of Star into the fray in Malaya an unknown factor

Once the Ministry kicks off, the Hindraf Blueprint will automatically take on a life of its own. If Anwar is smart, he will say that he supports the proposed Ministry and will leave any decision on the Hindraf Blueprint to it. Many countries have a ministry for minorities, an idea promoted by the UN High Commission on Human Rights.

If both PR and Umno/BN refuse to endorse the Hindraf Blueprint, the NGO has pledged to urge Indians to abstain from voting. This is equivalent to spoiling the ballots. In the former case, Indians don’t have to bother visiting the polling stations.

If Indians abstain, there are no prizes for guessing what will be the result come polling day. The winners (BN) will know that they won because the Indians didn’t vote against them. The losers (PR) will know they lost because Indians didn’t vote for them. In 2008, 85 per cent of Indians voted against BN. This means PR needs Indian votes more than BN does.

We still haven’t factored in Hindraf’s reported plans to field candidates under the State Reform Party (Star) symbol and flag in Malaya. Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, win or lose, can be expected to take on MIC President, G. Palanivel, in Cameron Highlands or wherever he’s fielded.

Hindraf wants deviations, distortions and anti-non Malay laws ended

Hindraf must remain an apolitical NGO on human rights for all (hurifa).

Hindraf is not about Hinduism or a particular religion as Anwar keeps preaching to his mandores and others.

It has never been about Hinduism as evident from its stand on Article 3 of the Federal Constitution, which does not mention an official religion, and about creeping Islamisation in the country.

Hindraf's stand against the intrusion of the Syariah and the Syariah Court into civil law, bogus conversions, forced conversions, and the lack of freedom of worship, has the support of all right-minded Malaysians.

Hindraf's stand on the deviations and distortions on Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the anti non-Malay minorities administrative laws must also have the support of all right and fair-minded Malaysians.

Hindraf wants these deviations, distortions and administrative laws ended and abolished.

It has further called for Article 153 and the NEP to be ended and abolished.
The jury is still out on this matter among the Malay-speaking nation -- Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Arab Muslims, Indian Muslims etc -- in Malaya and the Orang Asal.

Hindraf has taken a stand against the ruling elite running up the National Debt Burden to put their hands in the National Cookie Jar under the guise of bringing development to the people but in fact to feather their own nests at the expense of the nation. Consider the fact that the Malay-speaking communities are no match for the Chinese as a people despite 56 years of racist rule by Umno pushing the so-called Malay Agenda.

Had it remained ad hoc, Hindraf could have been a Hydra on human rights

The Orang Asal can join Hindraf as they were originally Hindus, are culturally Hindus, and the pagans practise an animist form of Hinduism.

All Indians, Afghans, Iranians, and southeast and East Asians, irrespective of religion, are culturally Hindus.

Had it remained ad hoc, Hindraf could have been a Hydra on human rights.

Now, that possibility remains unclear even diminished, as the inevitable struggle for posts, come in-house elections if any in Hindraf, would give rise to internal politicking and power struggles. Jayathas is not Anwar’s only political mandore. He has others bidding their time in Hindraf while feeding him with information in return for a little tambang bas but there should be no witch-hunt. They are under the constant watch of the hardcore Hindraf loyalists.

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