RUU Berita Palsu dan bala yang sedang menanti...

Jika Rang Undang-Undang anti berita palsu (Akta antiBerita Tidak Benar 2018) diluluskan parlimen dan dikuatkuasakan oleh pemerintahan Najib Razak, kita semua boleh dikenakan hukuman yang sangat berat sekiranya anda memanggil seseorang itu dengan gelaran haiwan atau apa sahaja kerana pernyataan tersebut adalah sama sekali tidak benar.

Menteri seperti Nazri Aziz pun boleh dikenakan hukuman penjara sekiranya dia terus memanggil MCA dengan pelbagai gelaran kesat dalam wawancaranya kepada media.

Satira dan komedi bakal menjadi sejarah apabila RUU ini menjadi undang-undang kerana bahan jenaka hampir sahaja pasti berbentuk palsu dan direka-reka.

Menggelar seseorang sebagai bodoh contohnya, dalam apa juga bentuk perkataan pun boleh menjadi jenayah kerana orang yang digelar mungkin mempunyai ijazah daripada universiti terkemuka.

Di zaman RUU berita palsu ini, adalah lebih baik bagi rakyat Malaysia yang mempunyai pendapat peribadi tetapi tidak ada wang atau tidak mahu dipenjara, supaya mengakhiri kenyataan mereka dengan tanda soal. Pastinya bertanya soalan tidak dikira sebagai kenyataan palsu, kan?

Sebenarnya terdapat banyak kejanggalan dalam draf RUU ini, yang membuatkan kita sangat terganggu. Yang paling utama ialah ambiguiti dalam tafsiran berita palsu itu sendiri.

RUU 15 mukasurat ini langsung tidak memberitahu kita siapakah yang mempunyai kuasa untuk menentukan kepalsuan sesuatu pernyataan atau laporan berita atau tulisan.

Contohnya jika Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak, memohon perintah mahkamah (seperti yang diperuntukkan oleh Akta melalui Seksyen 7[1]) supaya laman web Wall Street Journal (WSJ) yang berada di luar negara (juga dibolehkan Akta melalui Seksyen 3[1]) untuk menurunkan laporan-laporannya tentang skandal 1MDB, serta mendakwa pendana-pendana WSJ (juga seperti yang diperuntukkan oleh Akta melalui Seksyen 5), adakah wujud sebarang proses yang diiktiraf Akta untuk terlebih dahulu menentukan keabsahan laporan WSJ?

Malaysia proposes 10 years' jail for 'fake news'

Adakah mahkamah akan terpaksa memeriksa keterangan-keterangan saksi-saksi seperti Arul Kanda untuk menentukan terlebih dahulu laporan WSJ itu benar atau palsu?  Seksyen 2 nampaknya sama sekali bisu daripada menentukan siapa atau apa yang mempunyai kuasa penentu betul-palsu sesuatu kenyataan.

Dan jikalau menteri yang diberi kuasa mutlak untuk berbuat demikian, meski tidak diperuntukkan oleh Akta, adakah sebarang peruntukan untuk mencabar keputusan tersebut?

RUU ini nampaknya dibuat secara terlalu tergesa-gesa sehingga begitu banyak ambiguiti yang menjadikannya mengarut dan kelihatan cuai dengan lacuna yang begitu besar sekali. Lebih penting lagi, sekiranya RUU ini diluluskan, apakah jaminan bahawa penguatkuasaannya akan dilakukan secara adil dan saksama? 

Bagaimana kalau kerajaan yang membuat berita-berita palsu? Bagaimana kalau pembangkang melaporkan portal-portal berita pro-UMNO yang telah selama ini memfitnah pimpinan pembangkang? – Lim Lip Eng,Roketkini.com

Akta Berita Palsu: Banyak Cara Melapah Kucing

The Penakut Guy...

The Penakut Guy is very scared that voters will reject him. He is very desperate. If Tun Mahathir's party is deregistered that will be the best for the Penakut Guy.  He is scared of Tun Mahathir as the rakyat know Tun Mahathir is telling the truth while the Penakut Guy is lying. If  Tun Mahathir has no party to lead that will be best for him.

One by one, the Penakut Guy's lies are being exposed. Now his own team is criticising him openly.  Rafidah Aziz, Rais Yatim and Syed Hamid are  criticising him publicly.  Even his party veterans do not understand why the Penakut Guy is protecting JoLo.  The party grassroots are asking; if the Penakut Guy is not  guilty why is the government not making any attempt to arrest Jo Lo? They  are now believing Tun Mahathir's story about 1MDB, the Penakut Guy and Jo Lo.

The Penakut Guy is so scared and desperate. Guan Eng's case is being heard now - in some hurry. This will restrict Guan Eng's movement  so he cannot campaign. But this silly move will  backfire as Guan Eng will get the sympathy, not only from the Chinese but from all Malaysians.  Guan Eng is now becoming a bigger hero.

The Penakut Guy is so scared he will lose the elections. The delineations of the constituencies are being pushed through. This will give him even more advantage. Foreign media have publicly and openly said a thief is stealing the elections.  This is a very serious accusation by the Foreign Media.   If the accusation by the Foreign Media is fake news then legal action should be taken against the Foreign Media. The Foreign Media should be sued -  maybe this time by next Tuesday as well.  Otherwise the new fake news law will be seen just as an attempt to muzzle domestic critics and cripple opposition parties.  The Foreign Media is exempted.

All those seem not  enough. Now the Fake News Law has been introduced which gives the government sole right to determine what is faked and this is punishable with jail terms. Why is the Penakut Guy still feeling so scared? Only people who commit wrongs are so scared.

Now with the possibility of Bersatu being deregistered  and the introduction of the "faked" news law, parliament will most likely be dissolved next month and there will be a call for elections.

The Penakut Guy will fight the opposition who will not have a common logo. He  thinks he can steal the  elections.  Not that easy.  Despite all theses advantages the Penakut Guy is still scared of the rakyat. - ostb

Mahkamah Syariah Kota Bharu semak 

perkahwinan ketua SPRM

Story kat SINI dan SINI  

Jho Low beli Equanimity guna dana 1MDB

Do U want such situation 2 continue?

cheers.

‘Mamu Parpu’ tak tau hujung pangkai cerita,buat kalut...

Seorang blogger pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) yang menuduh Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng menyalahgunakan kuasa kononnya membeli rumah di Jalan Pinhorn dengan harga rendah sebelum ini, mengaku di mahkamah tidak mengetahui bila dan berapa bilangan rumah yang dimiliki.

“Saya tidak tahu,” itu kata Mohsin Abdul Latiff, 34, penulis blog yang menggunakan nama Mamu Parpu ketika disoal peguam Gobind Singh Deo di depan Hakim Hadhariah Syed Ismail dalam perbicaraan kes tersebut hari ini di Pulau Pinang.

Menurut Mohsin, dia tidak tahu mengenai nilai atau tarikh pembelian rumah tersebut ketika pertama kali membuat laporan kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dan hanya mengakui rumah tersebut dimiliki pada 2008.

Mohsin berkata, dia membuat laporan SPRM tersebut adalah berdasarkan laporan berita TV3 pada 2015 yang memaparkan perbahasan antara Guan Eng dan Ahli Parlimen Tasek Gelugor, Shahbudin Yahya di Dewan Rakyat. Di sebalik laporannya itu, dia turut menafikan mempunyai kepentingan politik terhadap Setiausaha Agung DAP itu.

“Itu tidak betul. Saya membuat laporan itu selepas menonton berita di TV3 mengenai perbahasan antara Lim dan Shabudin di Parlimen,” katanya lapor The Malaysian Insight.

Apa yang menjadi persoalan Gobind, laporan berita TV3 tersebut didengar pada tahun 2015 tetapi laporan daripada blogger pro-BN itu kepada SPRM pula mengatakan 2016 dan mendakwa rumah tersebut dibeli pada 2008.

Ketika ditanya, Mohsin juga mengakui memperoleh maklumat daripada blog sebelum membuat laporan ke SPRM dan tidak mengetahui sebarang butiran penilaian tanah dan harta tersebut.

Dia juga mengaku tidak tidak merujuk kepada mana-mana penilai atau pakar hartanah mengenai nilai rumah itu. – Roketkini.com

Sapa yang tentukan berita palsu atau benar?

Winston Smith, watak utama dalam novel ‘1984’ karya George Orwell, adalah seorang kakitangan awam. Beliau bekerja di ‘Ministry of Truth’. Kementerian Kebenaran.

Dalam novel terbabit, kementerian ini mempunyai tugas hakiki untuk menyebar propaganda. Tidak langsung ada kena mengena dengan ‘kebenaran’. Tetapi sesuai namanya, ia merekayasa apa yang dianggapnya kebenaran.

Winston, yang ternyata letih menjadi aparat pembohong kerajaan ‘Big Brother’ hanya mampu mengeluh. Beliau mengandaikan kalau-kalau kerajaan akan memutuskan bahawa dua campur dua, jawabnya lima. Kalau semua orang percaya itu adalah benar, pastilah itu yang diterima sebagai kebenaran.

Kerja Winston, si pegawai kerajaan di ‘Kementerian Kebenaran’ ialah menulis semula laporan berita lama. Demikian supaya sejarah menggambarkan bahawa kerajaannya sentiasa benar, dan konsisten sepanjang masa.

Novel ‘1984’ adalah sebuah karya dystopian tulisan Orwell pada tahun 1949. Ia menggambarkan sebuah negara yang ditadbir seorang diktator dikenali sebagai ‘Big Brother’. Negara baru ini ditadbir dengan suatu aparat dinamakan ‘Thought Police’ yang kerjanya mengambil tindakan ke atas mereka yang berani berfikir.

Bertepatan dengan slogan pentadbirannya ‘Ignorance is strength’ – kejahilan adalah kekuatan; elagimana orang ramai kekal dungu dan tidak tahu, selagi itulah ‘Big Brother’ kekal berkuasa.

Bayangan Orwell tentang dunia gila 1984 ternyata terlewat 30 tahun lebih. Dari lidah Donald Trump yang membungkam saluran media yang melaporkan kenyataan-kenyataan rasminya yang kelakar dengan menuduh mereka sebagai berita palsu, penyakit yang sama sudah merebak ke Malaysia.

Rakan golf Trump, kebetulan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, nampaknya sedang gigih menggunakan konsep ‘berita palsu’ ini untuk menutup rakam jejaknya yang terpalit skandal berbilion ringgit.

Cuma minggu lalu ada menteri memberitahu kita bahawa apa sahaja laporan mengenai 1MDB yang tidak disahkan kerajaan adalah berita palsu.

Hari ini, kita digemparkan dengan pembentangan Rang Undang-undang Anti-berita Tidak Benar. Suatu undang-undang yang dibentangkan dengan tujuan jelas nyata untuk membungkam demikian banyak laporan media tentang skandal mega pengubahan wang haram peringkat antarabangsa membabitkan syarikat bermasalah milik negara, 1MDB dan bekas pengerusi lembaga pengarahnya, Najib Razak sendiri.

Apa yang jelas setakat ini ialah kerajaan merancang untuk mengancam saluran media dalam dan luar negara untuk ‘mengawal diri’ daripada melaporkan apa-apa yang tidak kena dengan selera United Malays National Organisation, presidennya, serta isteri presidennya.

Apa yang tidak jelas pula ialah persoalan siapa yang menentukan laporan apa yang palsu, dan laporan mana yang benar.

Adakah laporan Wall Street Journal yang menanti sudah berapa ratus hari Selasa untuk disaman itu turut dikira laporan palsu? Bagaimana pula dengan senarai 53 agensi berita antarabangsa yang turut melaporkan tentang skandal 1MDB serta penyitaan kapal mewah Equanimity di Bali tempoh hari? Adakah mereka juga telah melaporkan berita palsu? Siapa yang tentukan palsu atau benar laporan berita ini semua?

Adakah semua berita yang dilaporkan media asing hasil siasatan pihak berkuasa asing terhadap salah laku yang terjadi di luar negara juga semuanya harus dilabel palsu belaka kerana media Malaysia tidak dibenarkan atau enggan melaporkannya? Siapa yang tentukan jawapan kepada soalan ini?

Tinggal tak berapa hari sahaja lagi sebelum Parlimen dibubarkan, kerajaan ini sedang cuba meluluskan akta baharu ini dengan begitu tergesa-gesa. Bersekali dengan usahanya melukis semula sempadan pilihanraya, tidak lain tidak bukan, dalam usaha besar untuk kekal berkuasa.

Cumanya pasti akan jadi kelakar kalau nanti Barisan Nasional tewas dalam pilihanraya, undang-undang serupa akan dikenakan terhadap TV3 dan Utusan Malaysia. – Roketkini.com

Is a 'Ministry of Truth' in the offing...

As the gravity of the Anti-Fake News Bill begins to sink in, some Malaysians on Twitterjaya have expressed concern over the broad reach of the proposed law. For instance, former cabinet minister and lawyer Zaid Ibrahim said the government could interpret fake news as materials that it does not like.

"Under the new law, people who spread fake news can be jailed up to 10 years. The problem is, material which they do not like will be fake news.

"If you don't want to go to jail, vote PH (Pakatan Harapan)," Zaid said.

Lawyer K Shanmuga said Section 8A of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 already has prescribed punitive measures to address false news - a maximum penalty of three years jail, RM20,000 fine or both.

"That is bad enough, but slightly better than this completely ridiculous law! #FreeSpeech," he wrote.

Activist Michelle Yesudas pondered aloud if Putrajaya intends to establish a "Ministry of Truth" - a fictional arm of government made popular by George Orwell's famous book "1984".

"A deeply concerned Malaysian citizen would like to ask the Malaysian government if there are any plans to establish a 'Ministry of Truth', dedicated to harvesting 'true news' to determine the fake nature of 'fake news'," she asked.

Malaysian gov't over-reach on display in anti "Fake News" draft law enabling the gov't to prosecute anyone anywhere in world for saying things about Malaysia that gov't classifies as fake!

Bill includes extra-territorial applications

Australian National University lecturer and Malaysia watcher Amrita Malhi noted that the bill includes extra-territorial applications and was tabled just ahead of the general election. 

"Opposition campaigners have good access to international media and use it frequently to communicate with Malaysians and international audiences alike," she noted.

Lawyer's for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen said that this provision was "excessive", noting that such provisions normally applied to piracy or terrorism.

"So technically, WSJ, NYT, The Guardian etc can be found liable in absentia," he wrote.

Another lawyer, Syahredzan Johan, believes that the bill would criminalise satire and parody altogether.

"It is wider than just 'news', it also covers information which is not traditionally 'news'.

"The bill is the death knell for satire and parody - your FakeMalaysiaNews, your @thetapirtimes, @kuasasiswa works etc," he wrote.

Critics react to the Anti-Fake News Bill

Unlike the much-criticised Section 233 (1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the element of intent was not required under the new bill.

"All that is required is that the information is 'fake news' and it is knowingly done. The threshold is lower," Syahredzan said. 

The editor-in-chief of Singapore-based New Naratif, Kirsten Han, also questioned the validity of the Malaysian government's definition of fake news - information what was "wholly" or "partly" false.

"This is such a broad definition. Who gets to decide what is 'false', much less 'partly false'?" she asked.

The Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 was tabled in Parliament for first reading today. - mk

Yang saya tahu DSAI tak pernah takut berhadapan dgn siapa saja. Beliau sedia berdebat di tangah2 jutaan lawan politiknya dimana dan bila2 saja. Sementara Najib Razak hanya bercakap berapi2 didepan penyokongnya saja ikut skrip. Tapi bila ada lawan yg sepadan atau dgn orang tua 93 tahun dia lari lintang pukang entah kemana. Contoh, nothing to hide. Dijemput untuk wacana, atau debat tak pernah timbul kepermukaan. Lalu dimana kayu ukurnya untuk seorang itu boleh disebut berkarisma? - Delier Junaidi 

Annuar Musa oi,,nak termuntah aku dengar ayat hang,,,nak bandingkan Najib dengan Anwar maaflah Najib tertinggai 360 darjah kebelakangla harapkan nama pak dia saja Tun Razak yang boleh dipakai yang lain semuanya macam ikan medak. - Pyan Gul

Sudah2lah Anuar Musa. Jawablah depan Allah nanti.Ini contoh berita palsu yang nyata.- Rosman Nordin 

Usul persempadan baru SPR 

harus diajar melalui prti undi...

ADUN-ADUN BN yang buat sidang media '10 Tahun 10 Kegagalan Pakatan' sepatutnya berselisih mata dengan MB. Bukannya tunduk, pandang arah lain, tengok skrip, main telefon dan sebagainya.Macam kena dengan Prof Kangkung...

Manusia paling tua dlm dunia rupanya ada di Sarawak

cheers.

Mungkinkah Najib mangsa pertama akta berita palsu...

Dalam sebuah program siaran langsung dua hari lalu, Najib Razak dengan bangganya mengatakan bahawa laporan PAC atau Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara telah mengesahkan beliau tidak mencuri wang 1MDB.

Adakah dalam laporan itu yang mengatakan saya telah mencuri wang 1MDB? Tidak sama sekali, kata Najib. Betulkah kata-kata Perdana Menteri itu?

Menurut salah seorang anggota PAC, Tony Pua, laporan PAC berkaitan 1MDB sebenarnya bukan saja tidak mengatakan Najib mencuri wang daripada syarikat pelaburan itu, tetapi ia juga tidak menyebut Perdana Menteri tidak mencuri duit 1MDB.

Menjelaskan kedudukan sebenarnya, beliau berkata, peranan Najib dalam skandal 1MDB tidak pernah disebut kerana PAC tidak pernah diberi peluang  untuk menyoal serta menyiasat Perdana Menteri.

PAC juga, tambah Tony Pua yang  merupakan Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara, tidak pernah sama sekali menyiasat sumber dana RM2,600 juta yang masuk ke akaun bank peribadi Najib.

"Meskipun PAC tidak pernah menyiasat sumber pemberi duit RM2,600 juta itu, Najib sebaliknya tanpa malu-malu membersihkan nama beliau sendiri kononnya tidak pernah mencuri duit 1MDB," kata Tony Pua lagi.

Katanya, Pengerusi PAC sebelum ini, Nur Jazlan Mohamed telah bersetuju bahawa Najib perlu menjawab kepada PAC tentang peranannya dalam skandal 1MDB, tetapi penggantinya, Hassan Ariffin telah menolak semua percubaan untuk memanggil Perdana Menteri.

"Ahli BN dalam PAC menghalang semua percubaan untuk memanggil Najib dengan alasan "Perdana Menteri tidak terlibat" atau "Perdana Menteri tidak relevan" untuk disiasat," jelas Tony Pua seterusnya.

Dengan penjelasan Tony Pua ini, bermakna adalah tidak tepat untuk mengatakan Najib secara mutlaknya tidak pernah mencuri duit 1MDB.

Hakikatnya, laporan PAC bukan saja tidak menyebut Najib mencuri duit 1MDB, tetapi juga tidak menyebut Najib tidak mencuri duit 1MDB.

Ini kerana PAC tidak pernah diberi peluang untuk menyiasat dan menyoal Najib. Baca seterusnya...

Hadi - 1MDB kami berkecuali...

Apa pendirian PAS sekarang setelah PAC,AG dan Polis mengatakan tidak ada kes dan tidak bersalah? takkan nak berkecuali lagi? nak tunggu siapa yang buat keputusan ? Mahkamah? Tiada kes. - Ab Rahman Yaacob

Apa guna jadi tuan penasihat kerajaang kalau sekadar membisu dan membuta sahaja sehingga terbukti sesuatu jenayah itu sah berlaku? Kalau dah sah berlaku, barulah PAS nak menjatuhkan hukuman? Hanya manusia yang tidak bertanggungjawab serta tidak berpendirian yang suka mengambil jalan selamat bagi menjaga kepentingan sendiri, walaupun mereka sedar jalan itu mendosakan mereka. - Mat Yet

Sikap berkecuali PAS dlm isu 1MDB akan memberi menfaat kpd rakyat kah Tn Presideng? Adakah ini cara yg dianjurkan oleh Islam dlm mendepani kemungkaran yg nyata ? Kes 1MDB telah disiasat di 9 negara dan pesalah yg terlibat telah dihukum oleh mahkamah Singapura - PAS masih nak berkecuali ? RM2.6b + 40j yg disahkan masuk ke a/c peribadi Najib - PAS bersetuju lah dgn AG Apandi ianya duit derma Arab dan Najib tak tau... Amat mengecewakan calon PM PAS ni. - IbnuAbbas Muhammad

Can Mahathir and Anwar's alliance beat history in Malaysia's election...

It's nearly 20 years since Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim was first arrested on what were widely regarded as trumped-up sodomy charges. At the time he was deputy prime minister and finance minister in the government of prime minister and great rival Mahathir Mohamad.

Fast-forward to 2018 and in the intervening two decades, Anwar has spent six years in jail and then six years back in parliament as opposition leader, having won the popular vote in the 2013 general election but been blocked from becoming PM because a gerrymander stopped him winning a majority of seats. After being convicted of another questionable sodomy charge in 2014 - he was initially found not guilty - Anwar has spent another four-year stint in jail.

Which brings us to the looming Malaysian general election, and a tale of two of the most unlikely political allies South-east Asia has ever seen: Anwar the prisoner, who is due to be released from jail on June 8, and Mahathir, the man who first put him behind bars.

The nation's 14th general election - or GE14, as it is known by Malaysians - is due no later than August 24, but poll watchers and pundits in the nation of about 30 million people widely expect it to be held at the end of April. The incumbent prime minister, Najib Razak, is another protege of the 92-year-old Mahathir, the man who led the country from 1981 to 2003.

Prime minister since April 2009, Najib has in recent years been rocked by allegations levelled by the US Department of Justice that he received $US681 million in stolen funds from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), of which he is chairman. Investigations are underway in at least five countries, though Najib has denied any wrongdoing.

In January, Mahathir announced his return to lead a coalition of opposition parties in a bid to defeat Najib and the ruling coalition Mahathir once led, which has ruled the country since 1957, the year of Malaysian independence. Mahathir tells Fairfax Media in an interview that beating Najib is going to be "very tricky", but that "Najib has destroyed everything that we have built up in this country. Today he is ruling the country without regard to the rule of law.

"We are facing the problem of a very dirty election which is unfair to the opposition,  skewed towards giving Najib victory. So this is against all our beliefs in a system of democracy, the rule of law and all that. It has all been abandoned."

Mahathir, Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister, ruled the country as an autocrat; his championing of democracy and the rule of law has left many pundits scratching their heads. And that's where the story takes a Shakespearean twist: Mahathir has agreed to seek a royal pardon for Anwar and to step aside so Anwar can replace him as prime minister if the opposition wins the election.

For a country that has grown relatively prosperous since independence under a succession of mildly autocratic rulers and a near one-party system, the next few months promise an extraordinary, bare-knuckle political fight. But can the opposition parties actually take power and bring political change to Malaysia after all this time?

Despite the bewildering 1MDB scandal and the unlikely alliance of Mahathir and Anwar, the answer is probably no, according to  University of Malaya politics professor and columnist Edmund Terence Gomez. Gomez says that to win, Mahathir and Anwar have to muster sufficient support in the Malay heartland states, and potentially the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah, to get over the line. That's something they will struggle to do.

The key factor in deciding the result will not necessarily be policies but rather an electoral boundary redistribution which will be pushed through parliament in the next couple of weeks, and which will favour the government and likely ensure Najib gets over the line.

"Najib will likely win a simply majority to form government, even if he loses the popular vote," Gomez says, "but things could change, you can’t ignore the Mahathir factor. The electorate in the Malay heartland now has a choice between two leaders, a sitting prime minister and a popular former prime minister."

"The question is can Mahathir convince people Najib doesn’t have the moral right to continue as prime minister because of the serious allegations of corruption against him?"

The alliance between Mahathir and Anwar marks the coming together of "deadly enemies", Gomez says, but it may not be enough.

"Politics is about the coming-together of strange bedfellows. The common agenda is to remove Najib.

"Is it politically savvy? Yes. Is it difficult to fathom? Yes. That’s why there is disillusionment that the opposition is led by the man who contributed to many of the problems in this country. But politically it makes sense."

Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, is also an MP and is currently serving as deputy opposition leader to Mahathir in the four-party Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition. In an interview with Fairfax Media, she admits to mixed feelings about being on the same side as Mahathir.

"It's a bit surreal. Is this really happening? But yes it is and of course for me it shows how bad the situation is that the former prime minister who actually handpicked Datuk Seri [Najib] as prime minister - it has come to this stage where he [Mahathir] actually wants to get rid of the man that he chose himself."

Both Mahathir and Wan Azizah are outraged by the 1MDB scandal, and the opposition will attempt to capitalise on it during the campaign, but Gomez isn't sure it will sway votes as it "is way over the head of most rural folk". It will, however, have some bite among the educated middle classes, though other scandals, such as in a land distribution agency, are better understood and will help the opposition more.

Gomez predicts a nasty, negative campaign in which the perennial issue of race will also play a part. Malaysia is a racially diverse state of ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians in which the electoral boundaries favour the Malay population.

The redrawing of boundaries for the 222-seat parliament is expected to deliver an even more unbalanced electoral map that favours the ruling party, with some seats to have as many as 160,000 voters and others less than a quarter of that number. Griffith University Asia Institute lecturer Lee Morgenbesser predicts that gerrymandering will ensure Najib's government retains power.

"It is highly likely that we will see the most extreme display of disproportion in recent memory. This heightened level of manipulation is owing to the unpopularity of [Najib] and the peculiar threat posed by Mahathir," he says. Morgenbesser predicts the status quo will prevail after the election, despite the high hopes of the newly-united opposition.

"The most likely outcome is that Mahathir's party wins the popular vote, but Najib's party wins a small majority in parliament. Given that the same result effectively occurred during the 2013 general election, this would not be a complete disaster for the [governing Barisan Nasional, or National Front] coalition."

Mahathir says the opposition have a very good chance "provided there is no cheating, but there is going to be massive cheating", while Wan Azizah concedes winning will be tough, but claims Malaysians have made up their mind that "enough is enough" and will vote for change.

So after more than 60 years of effective one-party rule, Malaysia's "GE14" is shaping up to be one of the fiercest - and most unusual - political fights the country has seen. - James Massola,SMH

Bayaq GST RM1.04 sebagai sumbangan gua utk

jelaskan hutang 1MDB yg hangpa dok bangga sangat...

Hangpa renung betoi2 muka ni.Agaknya dia takut Allah atau UMNO?

cheers.