7th April by-elections has opened my eyes to many things. Pakatan Rakyat has control over Bukit Gantang and aslo Bukit Selambau once again but Batang Ai in Sarawak still belongs to Barisan Nasional.
I find it rather amusing that, Pakatan Rakyat could afford to win those two seats with a larger majority than the general elections. In Bukit Gantang,Mohd Jamaluddin Nizar (PAS) obtained 21,860 votes and won with a majority of 2,789 votes. In 2008, the majority was 1,566. In Bukit Selambau, there were 15 candidates. It is so silly to see 15 candidates competing. I think all of us are seen as a bunch of stupid and ignorant people. Some might think, 15 candidates mean finally there are people who have decided to take action. It is so obvious that those other 13 candidates had hidden agendas of their own. S. Manikumar (PKR) got 12,632 votes and won with a majority of 2,403 votes.
As for Batang Ai, I do not wish to say anything.
For the by-elections, Barisan Nasional used so many different techniques to topple the opposition. They even went to the extreme of using a video of Anwar Ibrahim talking bad about PAS and DAP 14 years ago. Personally I felt that Pakatan Rakyat was going to loose this battle after being bombard by Barisan. But it didn’t happen. Pakatan managed to win. If some were to say there were phantom voters or Pakatan members bribed votes, I would ask, Pakatan does not have that much money to do so.
Everyday, I see Pakatan members fighting among themselves, or is that what the media wants us to see? Barisan came up with the idea of have three girls dancing is a seductive way to get voters and yet claim it’s the Chinese culture. "What Malay knows about the Chinese culture? He is not a Chinese therefore how can he say that? Who is he?" I ask this question because Islamic leaders claim its wrong for a non-Muslim to talk about the Al-Quran. This came out in the news on the 6th of April. A DAP speaker quoted something from the Quran and it was seen as a humiliation to the Islam. Therefore, I assume, by saying Chinese likes to see half naked girls dancing and it’s their culture is humiliation as well. So what do they have to say for themselves?
It is clear that people are very unhappy with the current political scenario. Even when the leadership has changed, people still disagree with the politics happening around us. Everyone should be aware that, the people as in the citizens are not satisfied with and by reforming a new cabinet will not solve this mess. Day by day, it gets worst. Its seems to me that, our politicians don’t seem to bother what the voters think. In the last general elections, we have expressed our dissatisfaction with the leadership and now again the same outcome even after a change in the leadership.
What does this mean?Are the people saying they don’t want Barisan to lead them or they are just not satisfied with the leaders?
It’s a pity but I have to say this, “Corruption is the foundation of this country" Lets be practical. Who wants a prime minister who sleeps during meetings? I know I don’t. What about having a leader who had uttered racist remarks which led to the 1969 racial riots? What about a leader who has been accused twice of homosexual activities? A leader who lies? Who wants all this kind of leaders?
I believe that a leader is supposed to be a good example for others not acting good infront and having a dark side. To gain peoples trust one should either clear their allegations or be truthful to the people. It is better to tell the truth and seek forgiveness than to lie.
Malaysians are just unhappy with politics. Just look at the media, even an uneducated can see that the media is one sided. Look at the news on television during the 6th April. Everything was against the opposition, all I could hear is PKR this, that. Anwar this, that, support Barisan, we are Barisan. How can we say its a democratic country, when we only hear from one side. How about the opposition? Dont they have anything to say. Even if they want to say, Barisan Stupid! Dont vote them! Let them say it out. That is what we call as freedom of speech and democracy. Each party has equal rights to get the voters attention.
Let us all not be as if the citizens are stupid and ignorant about what happens around them. There needs to be change, major changes or else we the citizens and leaders of the nation about the witness a great riot the destruction of our nation. Bear in mind that, the rich ones might just walk away from the country. It is us the middle class and the lower class who will suffer the most. What does it take to make changes?
Parties can make changes little by little. For starters, UMNO should stop taking old people. I get the fact that past leaders have experience but they are still in their own world where they still follow their old mentality. Now I am not saying the old mentality is wrong but in this fast pace nation where we talk and deal with technology, how can we follow the old thinking and beliefs!
Besides, they are old, why do you need to join a political party and work, at your age you are supposed to sit back and relax and enjoy life. As for Pakatan Rakyat, there is a need to reform the party and members. There needs to be a stop of hopping parties. What kind of childish game is this, hopping parties? If a member is not satisfied with his or her party talk between them and solve it not by hopping to the opposition and then hop back to the previous one. What games are they trying to play here? We are dealing with a nation where there are millions of people who want their voice to be heard and promises to be done.
What do we want? We want safe roads. We want our children to have good education. We want police to be nicer and better. We want politicians to stop playing race cards. Most important, we want a nation where government staffs and the government itself do not use the citizens for their personal interest.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
It's election time...
Sunday, November 9, 2008
UMNO Nominations
Sun,9-Former Selangor Menteri Besar Muhammad Muhd Taib today gained the required nominations to vie for the Umno deputy president post.
He will be challenging two present vice-presidents Muhyiddin Yassin and Mohd Ali Rustam.
Mohd Ali gained his minimum nominations yesterday.
The frontrunner for the deputy post remains Muhyiddin who had already amassed 88 nominations. He qualified for the contest by acquiring the required nominations on Oct 19.
The division level meetings end today, except for some divisions whose meetings have been ordered by the party to be reconvened.
As it stands, the present deputy, Najib Abdul Razak is set to become the next party president after having won nominations from almost all 191 Umno divisions.
His own division, Pekan, naturally nominated him for the top post yesterday. He was also returned unopposed as the division chief.
Only Gua Musang had nominated someone else for the top post - that of its division head Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. However his challenge will not tale place as he had failed to obtain the required minimum 58 nominations from the top post.
Present president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had decided to step down in March allowing for a smooth takeover by Najib.
The question is as to who will become Najib's deputy from the trio of Muhyiddin, Muhd Taib and Mohd Ali. The contest next March is the first for the deputy president's post in 21 years.
By convention, the Umno president becomes the prime minister while the deputy president is slated to be the deputy premier.
As for Abdullah, although he is not contesting for the top post, he was nevertheless retained as the Kepala Batas division head today.
Vice presidents' race
Apart from the race for the deputy president, the heat is also on for the three slots for the vice-president's posts.
Today - the final day of meetings for the divisions, two other candidates qualified to make it an eight-cornered fight.
The last two to check in were Jamaluddin Jarjis and Rais Yatim who both gained the required minimum 21 nominations today.
Leading the race is the outgoing Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein who has already gotten at least 135 nominations.
He is followed by former Youth chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with at least 94 nominations.
Shafie Apdal has 69 nominations and looks set to give a tough fight based on his support from his home base Sabah.
Others in the contest are Khaled Nordin, Syed Hamid Albar and disgraced former vice-president Isa Samad.
There could still be time for one more contestant on the form of former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik. He needs six more nominations to fulfil the required minimum 20 nominations to contest for this post.
