Lebai oh lebai nasib hangpalah...

 

Never too late for Harapan 

to be an honest alternative...

What is wrong with Pakatan Harapan is that it does not know what kind of coalition it is. I have said this many times. Umno/BN and PAS know exactly what they are.

How long the fracturing in the Malay establishment benefits Harapan remains to be seen - but this does not take away from the fact that Umno/BN and PAS know what they are and what they are selling to their bases.

For instance, Umno poohbah Ismail Sabri Yaakob announces that the government, because it cares for the “people”, paid RM1.5 million ringgit to the family of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

When Harapan formed the federal government, de facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said this of the kidnapping of Indira Gandhi’s children: "This case, cannot really ask for the government to interfere because this is a litigation matter taken up by the mother against the ex-husband.”

Nobody in Harapan said anything when the Suhakam revealed that pastor Raymond Koh and social activist Amri Che Mat were kidnapped by the state security apparatus and when then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared the findings hearsay.

So it's no point lauding the money given to Adib's family and then throwing in Teoh Beng Hock's name when, while in government, you did absolutely nothing for Teoh's family and never did anything for the families Harapan used as propaganda before it got into Putrajaya.

Harapan has no idea what it stands for, but it gaslights people into thinking that they are something they are not. Dethroning Najib Abdul Razak was a once in a lifetime thing.

Elements in the Malay establishment wanted to get rid of Najib and they hooked up with Harapan to ensure this. This was not something that Harapan meticulously planned and executed and as such, this idea, that Harapan won some sort of major victory, is self-deluding. Keep in mind that a majority of Malaysians did not reject the system, only that Umno, for a while, was crippled.

What does Harapan stand for?

What does Harapan stand for? I have asked many political operatives this and almost all of them acknowledge that the best Harapan can be is a less corrupt version of Umno/BN - and some sort of guard rails against an emerging theocratic state.

And even in this, they fail, with Mujahid Yusof Rawa, the religious czar of Harapan, attempting to out Islamise PAS and Harapan controlled states attempting to inject religion into the economic sectors and attempting to control free speech.

Now of course in public and in the service of the base, Harapan political operatives will blurt out all sorts of political bromides to ensure that their supporters have something to hang onto.

Why did Harapan fall? The answer is simple, Mahathir. Why didn’t Harapan carry out reforms? The answer is simple, Mahathir. Why have some Malays become more racist after GE14? Well according to Kim Quek, the answer is simple, Mahathir.

No doubt, Mahathir was a prime mover in the collapse of Harapan but the reality is that he was one man. For heaven's sake, he dared the Harapan council to sack him and sarcastically thanked Anwar Ibrahim when he said that there would not be a vote of no confidence against him.

As someone who endorsed him, I wrote a piece on why any sort of unity government, post-Sheraton Move, was well complete madness and we should be apologising for even giving Mahathir a second chance:

“Worried about Najib coming back? Why? We have voted in kleptocrats for decades and when we had the chance for something new, the elected prime minister said that the manifesto was not worth the paper it was printed on and his erstwhile allies just buried their heads in the sand.”

Malay vote

Harapan could have formulated policies and funded entitlement programmes which actually would have helped the dominant Malay polity - but it instead attempted to take over existing Umno programmes to maintain political hegemony and the result is that Umno still managed to make a comeback, with convicted political operatives leading the charge while embroiled in internal party feuds.

Not to mention cutting off vital subsidy programmes for disenfranchised Malay groups while claiming that these were cost-cutting measures.

Take the issue of race. Lim Guan Eng says that DAP never abandoned its principles to woo or appease the Malays. First of all, I have no idea what principles he is talking about. Like many DAP political operatives, Guan Eng likes to blather on about Bangsa Malaysia, but then he outsources getting the Malay vote to PKR and Amanah.

Of course, there was also Mahathir who was supposed to get the rural Malay vote, while DAP was sure that they had the Chinese vote in the bag. Now the only people that this plays out with are DAP supporters, the rest of the country see this as hypocrisy it is.

Of course, very few political operatives in PKR and Amanah dispense this kool-aid because they understand on the ground reality of dealing with communities who do not understand this Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid or view it as an existential threat to their economic survival. Remember when Lim Kit Siang said GE14 was probably the last battle for him, Mahathir and Anwar? Well, I guess nobody got the memo.

Anwar’s desperation to be prime minister has taken Harapan down roads that it should never have travelled in the first place. With Kit Siang's retirement, the Malay establishment has lost one of its whipping boys. They should be denied all of them.

After the disastrous outing with Mahathir, one would have thought that any kind of partnership with Umno would have been avoided like the plague, but Anwar continued to avail himself to anyone who would take his hand in the hopes of securing the throne. How does this look to the demographic you are wooing? Weak, insecure political operatives hoping anyone will be their friend in their quest for power.

This also furthered the narrative that the DAP was willing to work with anyone, including those they demonised as racist and extremist to get political power. Now of course we have this big tent nonsense which just makes the situation even more bizarre.

Harapan did not need Mahathir to break Umno’s two-thirds majority and to capture economically viable states. They are sure as hell that they do not need the ketuanan establishment to hang on to power in those states.

Meanwhile, the states Umno/BN or PAS manage are mired in the kind of corruption that makes the lesser of two evils argument more viable. PKR, DAP and Amanah do not need anyone else to attain federal power and the propaganda that it does merely sustains the system.

Now some folks would say it is too late for Harapan to figure out what it is. That they should have done this a long time ago. I do not share that view. It is never too late to reform, reorganise and return to the fray. The problem is that Harapan needs to take a hard look at itself and admit to mistakes and propaganda that did nothing to reform the system. In fact, it caused more problems.

They need a younger leadership that does not buy into this bangsa kool-aid nonsense but understands that racial and religious politics should be dealt with realistically and strategically, instead of attempting to gaslight Harapan supporters.

These young leaders should not be proxies to the old guard. And these young leaders need to have an agenda that the leadership in Harapan subscribes to.

What did Sun Tzu say? “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” - S.Thayaparan

Kit Siang retires from politics...

Tributes poured in as DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang retires from politics after a 56-year stint.Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) vice president Lim Wei Jiet described the DAP veteran as a ‘giant’ in Malaysia’s political arena.

Despite Kit Siang being detained and oppressed while serving in the opposition block, Wei Jiet said the DAP stalwart has never backed down from voicing out. “If we read through the (parliament) Hansard, we can see that his speech makes most sense.

Tributes poured in as DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang retires from politics after a 56-year stint.

Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) vice president Lim Wei Jiet described the DAP veteran as a ‘giant’ in Malaysia’s political arena.

Despite Kit Siang being detained and oppressed while serving in the opposition block, Wei Jiet said the DAP stalwart has never backed down from voicing out.

“If we read through the (parliament) Hansard, we can see that his speech makes most sense.“The battle for the Malaysian Dream must go on until it is achieved but this is in your hands,” he said.

The recent Johor state general election, added Lim, was a salutary reminder that the party’s Malaysian Dream for a united, democratic, just world-class great Malaysia is a long-term political struggle.

“There are many ups and downs, gains and losses, but we must remain constant in our objectives and never compromise our principles and ideals,” he said.

In the DAP congress earlier, Kit Siang’s son and the party’s outgoing secretary-general Lim Guan Eng delivered a speech that paid tribute to his father’s contributions to the party when it was established in 1966 by 11 men.

“Eleven young men, many in their 30s, stood up to make a commitment with a confident vision of a young nation that is a free and democratic Malaysia based on the principles of racial equality, and social and economic justice, and founded on the institutions of parliamentary democracy.

“DAP was young then. Saudara Dr Chen Man Hin our first national chairman, was probably the oldest, in his 40s.

“In 1967, a 26-year-old young man Saudara Lim Kit Siang, was co-opted into the CEC.

“Little did they know then, that Lim Kit Siang would become a giant amongst Malaysian politicians for his brilliance, courage, indomitable spirit and loyalty to ideals and principles,” said Guan Eng.

The younger Lim hailed his father as the longest-serving Opposition leader in Parliament and that many ministers considered Kit Siang their only worthy opponent.

Guan Eng went as far to say that many international correspondents regarded Kit Siang as “the best prime minister that Malaysia will never have because of his ethnicity”.

“Perhaps this is the reason he has also been demonised and falsely maligned as being responsible for the 1969 May 13 riots in Kuala Lumpur when he was in Kota Kinabalu, being anti-Malay, anti-Chinese and anti-Indian. Kit embodied the DAP’s lonely struggle in opposition and ultimate success in winning power,” said Guan Eng.

Guan Eng also spoke of the countless death threats and detentions faced by his father before the Internal Security Act was abolished.

In a brief glimpse of their familial ties, Guan Eng said: “Our family is jealous of the time that DAP has taken away from him and that we have to share his love with the DAP.”

However, he added that their family fully respects and supports Kit Siang’s life-long determination to make Malaysian lives better.

“For many of us who know that without Kit Siang leading our veteran leaders, there would be no DAP today as well as many of us who remained in DAP during the painful days in Opposition due to his example or the young leaders here who joined DAP because they were inspired by Kit Siang, we want to thank you for all you have done.

“On behalf of DAP and the DAP family, let us thank you deeply and gratefully from the bottom of our hearts,” said Guan Eng. - thetruenet

Hadi should go, before he is pushed...

A week before the Johor state elections, PAS president Hadi Awang urged voters not to support Umno, a party he associated with misconduct, malpractice and corruption. Isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? PAS politicians broke many rules during the lockdowns, with one menteri besar engaging with members of another community in a northern state, and threatening to divert a river flowing into another state.

Moreover, didn’t PAS have to pay the investigative reporter, Clare Rewcastle Brown, a substantial amount of damages in an out-of-court settlement aftar Hadi sued her over an article alleging that PAS had received RM90 million to guarantee its support for Umno and Barisan Nasional?

PAS is also seen as a party which does not tolerate criticism. One of its MPs, Khairuddin Aman Razali, was critical of PAS and got into the bad books of the party hierarchy. Hadi had said that Umno and BN suffered from numerous failings and weaknesses. “The parties are old and weak and with that comes many failings, corruption, misconduct and malpractice,” he was reported to have said.

“We hope the people of Johor will vote for Perikatan Nasional instead, and elect representatives who do not simply make promises but do the work.”

Both Hadi and Najib Razak were instrumental in causing the break-up of Pakatan Rakyat soon after GE13 and midway through Najib’s tenure as prime minister from 2013 to 2018. At the time, Najib openly supported Hadi’s call for hudud in Kelantan. Soon after the 61st PAS muktamar in 2015, the progressives in the party were wiped out, when 22 of the 23 seats in the central committee were won by the ulama.

Mat Sabu (Mohamad Satu) and Husam Musa formed Amanah, but the “bromance” between Najib and Hadi appears to be over. Remember when veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah described PAS as untrustworthy, and was like “a prostitute, going back and forth between DAP and Semangat 46”?

Hadi should have realised that just like in real-life romances, any political union which does not have a solid foundation of trust, mutual understanding, respect and common interests formed over a lengthy period, can only spell disaster for that union.

A few months ago, in November 2021, when a victorious Umno triumphed in the Melaka state elections, the rift between PAS and Umno grew wider. PAS was treated like a jilted lover. Both Najib and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi are anxious men. The charges they face hang like millstones around their necks.

They would naturally prefer GE15 to be held as soon as possible, so that they can capitalise on the opposition supporters’ election fatigue and the fact that the opposition coalition is weak and in disarray. If both Najib and Zahid can pull off another election victory – this time in GE15 – who knows what the future might hold?

Nevertheless, Hadi is desperate to remain in power. He has tasted what it feels like to be in Putrajaya, and he is also aware that he, and his party, may not be able to secure many Malay votes in the future. This is ironic considering that both PAS and Umno have warned Malays in the past that only these two parties can protect Islam and defend the Malays.

In 2022, the Malays are more divided than ever, no thanks to both PAS and Umno. The politicians in PAS have been a total disappointment. Some are good at stoking racist and religious fires up north in Kedah. In Putrajaya, their ministers have shown dismal performances. Environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, for instance, has been ridiculed for his lack of knowledge about environmental issues, and deputy minister for women, family and community development Siti Zailah Mohd Yusof for advocating forms of gentle beating by husbands to control their wives.

Hadi is aware that he has a limited shelf life. His loyalty towards Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob meant that he was rewarded with a post as special envoy to the Middle East, but he is aware that he is on borrowed time.

He has done little to improve Middle Eastern relations. He only teamed up with Najib because it was politically expedient, but Hadi is also a political opportunist. After the Sheraton Move, he promptly dropped Najib in favour of Muhyiddin. Najib faced incarceration, and teaming up with Muhyiddin seemed a better bet.

Hadi is able to hang onto power because PAS supporters are often warned that they should listen to their leaders and not question them.

If PAS continues along the same path, the party’s future success in elections will be humiliating. Only a new leader, with better and more youthful ideas, can salvage the party and claw back some of its former reputation. - Mariam Mokhtar

cheers.

Lobai2 PAS di tuduh 3 jahanam....

“Selagi ada ‘tiga jahanam’ dalam PAS, selagi itu kerjasama dengan parti Islam itu tidak boleh diteruskan.” Bukan aku kata,UMNO yang kata...

Perkara itu ditegaskan perwakilan UMNO Kelantan,  Zawawi Othman dengan menjelaskan mereka yang dimaksudkan ialah Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang; Naib Presiden, Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah dan Pengarah Pilihan Raya Pas Pusat, Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor. Jelasnya lagi, pemimpin berkenaan digelar sedemikian kerana dianggap ‘bermulut jahat’...

Pasai apa Lobai suka bagi duit kat DAP? 

Jawapannya lobai dgn DAP tak dapatkan dipisahkan...

Anthony Loke takes over as DAP Secretary General with Liew ChinTong as his deputy.

Lim Guan Eng is the new national chairman with Gobind Singh as deputy chairman...

Who’s who in new DAP leadership lineup...

Rafizi Ramli & Nurul Izzah: Terus Terang Edisi "Terpaling"

Rafizi: Anwar's 'loyalists' not 

helping to create winnable narrative...

Fresh from announcing his comeback into active politics, Rafizi Ramli has taken aim at PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s “loyalists”, whom he claimed to have failed to help create a winnable narrative for the party and Pakatan Harapan since the 14th general election. 

Reflecting on PKR's performance in the recent Johor state election, Rafizi said the party has failed to convince the people of its original narrative, shaped by factors including consistency and commitment to offer solutions for their everyday problems.

“From the results of the Sarawak, Sabah, Malacca, and Johor elections, we can see that no matter how hard those on the ground are working, if the central narrative is weak, we will be left behind,” said the former Pandan MP. 

“I pity Anwar because he has many supporters but they are not helping to create this narrative. 

“Sometimes these loyalists are the ones dragging him down,” said Rafizi during a no-holds-barred two-hour discussion with Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar last night. He was responding to questions posed by Johor PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh as the discussion’s moderator. 

Rafizi, a former PKR vice-president, had ended his political hiatus by announcing plans to contest the deputy president’s post, which was left vacant since the departure of International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali to join Bersatu during the Sheraton Move which ended Harapan’s 22-month stint in Putrajaya. 

Since then, both Rafizi and Nurul Izzah noted that Anwar has unfairly been made responsible for losses based on collective decisions, as well as failures of those close to him.

“We need this narrative to be reshaped. Set a new benchmark for politicians.  “It is no longer enough to just raise issues in Parliament or on Twitter,” said Rafizi.

Nurul Izzah has yet to formally announce her comeback plans, having resigned from her post as an elected vice-president since 2018.

Throughout the discussion, it was however implied that she would be teaming up with Rafizi in the party’s upcoming elections next month.

Shortly after Rafizi’s announcement, former PKR Perak chief Farhash Wafa Salvador had accused him of implicitly attacking Anwar.

Farhash, who is Anwar’s former political secretary and had announced plans to contest the deputy president’s post, also challenged Rafizi to instead take on the top spot.

‘No problem with president’

Rafizi, however, reiterated he has no problems with Anwar’s presidency and his comeback was based on belief in PKR’s narrative of being a multi-racial party that enlightens the people. 

“The best place for me to enter this time is as deputy president because I don't think I have a problem with the president. “I don’t feel that at his age of 75, he should be running like those in their 40s. The problem is with people around him who are supposed to be running but yet they are not,” said Rafizi.

“I feel that those around Anwar should have been more hardworking, more efficient, and brought about bigger impacts. “Not wait to see what Anwar would do and hang around to carry his bags. Not ask Anwar to do everything but yet they ‘sell his name’ to rise within the party. That is very dangerous,” he said.

Rafizi added that he has consistently spoken out against such practices within PKR, believing they only represent a small group claiming to be Anwar’s loyalists.

Overall, Rafizi said being perceived as having an obsession with power over tackling real issues faced by the people could risk PKR and Harapan losing more seats in the next general election as the third choice after BN and Perikatan Nasional.

PKR had continued its series of electoral defeats by winning only one out of 20 seats it contested for in the recently concluded Johor polls. - Alyaa Alhadjri,mk

What’s wrong with Pakatan Harapan?...

 What’s wrong with Pakatan Harapan? This is one question that can beg dozens of answers, some complementary while others contradictory. Here is mine, for your consideration alongside those that put heavy emphasis on personalities and communalism. As this is not answering “what’s right with Harapan”, I will not list its achievements. Don’t misconstrue that Harapan has achieved nothing or complain that this does not do it justice.

In hindsight, nearly four years after GE14, Harapan’s fundamental failure is its inability to understand, steer, and adapt to political transformation.This failure contributed to its fall in the Sheraton Move but more damagingly, disables it from making a comeback after Sheraton.

Handicaps as a product of history

Many are disappointed with Harapan’s performance in its brief 22 months in power but such disappointment, while legitimate, must be examined against this question: how likely can any first non-Umno government do better? Could Harapan appoint a better cabinet with more experienced and competent ministers? Difficult. A parliamentary system requires most ministers to be appointed from among MPs and party hierarchy matters.

Unless our Parliament had many parliamentary committees for opposition MPs (and for that matter, backbenchers) and the opposition had a shadow cabinet for its senior MPs to develop policy expertise, how do you expect most first-time ministers to perform excellently? (The same applies to some incompetent first-term ministers under ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin and current premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob.)

Could Harapan avoid over-promising in its manifesto? Difficult. Without actual experience in the federal government and shadow ministers to think through policy solutions, how could the opposition produce a manifesto that is both exciting and realistic? (This defence however cannot be used by Harapan in GE15.)

Could Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, and Azmin Ali not engage in a power struggle? Yes but only if they were angels or saints.

Could Harapan not pick Mahathir as its prime minister candidate to avoid the subsequent fallout? Yes, but then it might not have won enough Malay votes to oust Umno. Just look at how Harapan lost in Malacca and Johor to grasp this point.

Could Harapan handle ethno-religious relations better, with more tact, humility, and caution? Yes. Would that be enough to stop Umno and PAS from playing up Malay anxiety? No.

Asking the above questions is important because we need to separate what might be inevitable for any first non-Umno government from what Harapan could have done better. Harapan is a product of history with its handicaps and limitations. To demand perfection is to say BN-Umno’s excesses should be tolerated no matter what. But this is not a blank cheque to excuse Harapan’s mistakes both in and out of power.

Mistake 1: Nasty opposition could be broken up and eliminated

In GE14, Harapan-Warisan won only 48 percent of votes, as the remaining 51 percent largely split between BN (33 percent) and PAS (17 percent). The victory was made possible by two factors, the Umno-PAS split of Malay votes and the record-high Chinese turnout. As both might not repeat in GE15, many Harapan politicians feared that they would be only a “one-term government”.

What were the their options to this danger?

The first was to break up and eliminate the nasty opposition. Since BN had built up excessive incumbent advantages – in constituency allocation, parliamentary business, selective prosecution/impunity – against the opposition, use them on the new opposition to weaken their base and induce their collapse.

The second would be the exact opposite – levelling the playing field through parliamentary reform, equal constituency allocation, decentralisation, electoral system reform, and reform of the Attorney-General’s Chambers and MACC.

These reforms – some were later implemented under the MOU - would allow the opposition to survive and compete healthily on bread-and-butter issues and integrity, without necessarily playing up ethno-religious issues.

By reducing incumbent advantages, the second option was at least insurance. If Harapan loses Putrajaya in GE15, it may still retain many states and Umno cannot rebuild a corrupt one-party state. Of course, the second option was not pursued, perhaps never seriously contemplated. Many Harapan leaders and supporters simply saw BN-Umno and PAS as corrupt and racist. For many self-acclaimed realists, politics must be winner-takes-all. Incentivising the opposition to behave benignly is simply naïve and stupid.

What’s the outcome of Option 1? Harapan increased its parliamentary seats from 121 to 139 (despite losing the Tanjung Piai seat in a by-election), just nine seats short of a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Harapan gained a total of 15 MPs from BN, 13 of them Umno defectors who ended up in Bersatu. In addition, BN also lost Sarawak BN (now GPS) and PBS which went independent with 19 and one seat respectively.

However, without the constraint of East Malaysians, Umno’s natural response was to team up with PAS in Muafakat Nasional, which constantly accused Harapan as the enemy and traitor of Malays.This, and the bourgeoning relationship between Bersatu with Umno defectors that exacerbated the Mahathir-Anwar conflict, ended Harapan.

As executive dominance, centralisation, and patronage politics remained intact, Harapan subsequently lost six state governments through defection.

Mistake 2: ‘Counter-coups’ by defection could be possible

The fear of facing GE15 without incumbent advantages led Harapan to obsessively chase after any chance of regaining power by a ‘counter-coup’ with government MP defections. While Anwar’s “strong, formidable, and convincing” majority has become a defining joke of his desperation, the obsession was shared throughout all Harapan-plus parties.

In fact, many blamed Anwar, not for pursuing ‘counter-coups’, but for failing to deliver. Realistically, how could the “counter-coups” be successful and sustainable? Why would Umno parliamentarians topple a non-Umno PM from Bersatu to install a non-Umno PM from Harapan, as they would bound to be punished by Umno grassroots in GE15?

In Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal’s case, why would GPS install a prime minister from Sabah and miss their own chance? And if a Harapan 2.0 government counts on the support of Umno’s court cluster, would it not be punished by its own base, who are more reformist and independent-minded?

What kind of “realists” would fantasise that Umno would hand over Malacca instead of going to the polls? Haunted by the fear of losing GE15 and possessed by an addiction to incumbent advantages, Harapan wasted every day post-Sheraton.

It refused to focus on governance and form a shadow cabinet to ‘mark’ (as in football) ministers. Most tellingly, they could not table a shadow budget in 2020 after losing power, which it successfully did for seven years before winning power in 2018. In a crisis is danger and opportunity, but a directionless Harapan failed to turn the government’s crises into its own opportunities.

When the Muhyiddin government failed on the pandemic, no one saw a successful alternative in Harapan. When Ismail Sabri’s federal government failed on the floods, no one said Harapan’s Selangor state government was a success.

Mistake 3: Voters can still be mobilised by anger

Harapan’s failure to offer superior and workable alternatives is caused by its addiction to both incumbent advantages and anger mobilisation. The “Anything but Umno” (ABU) anger – the term coined around 2008 but the sentiment existed the latest since 1990 – was simply resurrected as a rejection of “backdoor governments” after Sheraton.

The latest resurfaced label is “big tent”, the strategy that brought Harapan and Mahathir together for GE14. What Harapan failed to realise is that for many voters, anger has simply been disabled by fatigue. They may remain angry and distrustful of BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN), but they have joined the largest party in town – Parti Aku Tak Undi (Patu). Increasingly, voters will not respond to anger mobilisation for three reasons.

First, it makes them feel stupid when leaders realign rapidly. In Malacca, Harapan simply had no qualms taking Umno frogs after claiming victim to party-hopping.

Second, after Harapan’s 22 months, voters get realistic on what a new government can offer. 

Third, more than venting their anger on parties and politicians, voters want solutions when crises hit them.

Don’t recycle the pre-2018 playbook

Malaysia’s elections are now in transition into a multi-bloc competition, which may be stable or chaotic. Umno wants to restore the pre-2018 past.

To stop BN, Harapan must recognise the new realities and resist the temptation of recycling the pre-2018 playbook. - Wong Chin Huat,mk

Dear Rafizi, please build a new party...

Rafizi’s announcement to come back to politics has received some snide remarks from the likes of Farhash. I follow the Reformasi movement for over two decades since its birth and through several heart aching elections.

I do not recall the name Farhash, but I and millions know who Rafizi Ramli was and is. His big trailer truck will always be etched in the minds of most Malaysians For me, it was Rafizi who turned the tide of GE14 and it was Tun Mahathir who managed to put the PH just over the top.

Unfortunately, Tun M later on proved to be a traitor to the rakyat with Muhyiddin, Azmin, Saifuddin and Zuraida, and the five abandoned our hopes and dreams of a different and just Malaysia.

Anwar was still in prison and had not done much in the management of the election war. It is no surprise that Anwar has lost almost all the elections that came before and after the Sheraton Move. Anwar may have made a just PM but he is not an effective commander in an election war.

As a citizen of this country, I am writing to ask Rafizi to either join an existing political party or build a new one up. PKR is dead, as far as I am concerned. I saw the birth of PKR and it is fitting that I now am seeing it in its last throes of death under the leadership of Anwar.

Anwar was better as an inspiration to all Malaysians but he comes short as a war commander in an election battlefield. Rafizi seems to be better as a strategist and a general fielding his troops.

PKR was set up to free Anwar from injustice of imprisonment, and I thank Allah The Most High that He freed Anwar and thus the PKR mission is over. Now, PKR seems so arrogant that it still fantasizes that it is still a strong party supported by Malaysians in GE14.

If Selangor were to call for a snap election, I would not give much for the chances of PKR. Although it is true that BN won landslide victories, Umno is at its weakest with its Malay vote bank successfully taken over by Bersatu and PAS.

PKR and PH lost because the rakyat have become apathetic to the jostling for power and position in PKR thinking that Anwar will become PM. That is now a fantasy except a miracle from Allah. That miracle could come in the form of Rafizi Ramli.

But what has happened? Sneers and snide remarks greeted Rafizi’s announced comeback. Who is Farhash to accuse Rafizi of running away when we all know what Rafizi has done for PH in GE14? It is the likes of Farhash which are pulling the PH down.

Anwar is also at fault for not championing the vision of a just Malaysia choosing instead to play a careful game of Malay politics. The Malays have a saying, yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendung keciciran. The Malay votes he is chasing have left him while the non-Malay voters who overwhelmingly supported him are now spilled out and getting fewer and fewer.

Tun M is a towering Malay figure for he alone has the guts to take on the royalty, the religious institutions and the Malay Umno. Anwar is too gentleman nowadays to fight a battle for justice across race, religion and class. For this reason I ask Rafizi to consider joining either Warisan or Muda. Both these two parties are in desperate need of a seasoned strategist.

Rafizi can come in as a high-ranking supreme council member and could propose that East Malaysia carries the PM-ship for once and maybe Rafizi himself can be deputy PM. Let Anwar be the chief minister of Selangor if he can manage a win as an ADUN. Why go back to PKR which is clearly dying and ‘bodoh sombong’ to ask for help?

Rafizi can also form a new political party with him as the president. I am sure droves of PKR and Amanah members and young people will flock to his party. Rafizi does not have to get his party to contest 222 seats. Just 40 will do.

It does not have to be a big party like DAP, but just a modest one with serious people as candidates and serious research to strategically put up a viable social media campaign and ground troops. I am sure Malaysians will give him full support.

GE15 will either be in six or 12 months’ time. There is enough time for Rafizi to ditch PKR and get into Warisan or Muda. There is also enough time to form a new political party and put in place a ‘guerrilla warfare’ type of election assault.

When you are a large army, you can storm the castle, but when you are a small but elite commando unit, you can target specific weaknesses and penetration points. Both can win a war. Why spend much energy fighting off enemies from within PKR when one can spend energy building up an existing force or a new one? Forget PKR-lah. PKR is lost and tak boleh pakai lagi. - Prof. Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi,sinchew.com

cheers.

Lepaih ni PAS nak romen ngan sapa pulak?...

Katak dan jengking yang hang dok kalut,

tu penyamun dan penyangak hang buat2 tak tau pulak...

Ketua Puteri UMNO said Puteri is more manly than 

man and quote,“Our balls is bigger than yours”...

Rafizi Ramli goes 

to Putrajaya (again)...

Rafizi Ramil has chosen to reenter the political fray when PKR’s stock is at its lowest. PKR, often described as the weak link in Pakatan Harapan, has not only suffered electoral setbacks but is considered a party incapable of leadership because the prime minister in perpetual waiting, Anwar Ibrahim, has made moves that have not only destabilised his party but also threatened the viability of the coalition he supposedly leads.

In his posting about his return to active political life, Rafizi made it clear he wants to stake out the multiethnic middle ground. What this means remains to be seen, especially since the political dynamic of the various political parties in Harapan adhere to the old Umno/BN formula which Harapan (especially the DAP) always downplays with the Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid.

Rafizi has already fired his opening salvo, eliciting various responses from various groups within Harapan, about teaming up with Perikatan Nasional for the next election, which he described as “madness”. Huddling together like frightened children is not a new electoral strategy. It is as though Harapan was never confident in its ability to galvanise a majority of the electorate for political power.

The first time Rafizi went for the number two post in PKR (which he lost) in 2018, he said this of the supposed big tent strategy.

“In the last two or three years, PKR has had a disagreement about how we would move forward to face GE14. One school of thought, which is identified with me, believed that we must strengthen Harapan by remaining true to our ideals of a multiracial party.

“The other school of thought is associated with Azmin Ali and his team - Zuraida (Kamaruddin), S Sivarasa and Tian Chua - that we must avoid three-cornered fights and it is important to get closer to the so-called Malay axis. That PKR had to move closer to PAS and away from Harapan.

“These schools of thought brought contention in the party. But instead of breaking PKR, what happened after GE14 is PKR got stronger and we all focused on our areas of expertise.” Well, we all know how that ended, right?

Azmin vs Rafizi

Back in the day someone once asked me who do I prefer, Azmin or Rafizi? I said, in a perfect world, they would be working together. Both have demonstrated a remarkable ability to remain relevant and contribute to Malay politics in a way that is - unfortunately - essential in running this country. Azmin plays it close to his chest, while Rafizi puts it out there.

Not many people like it when I say that Azmin’s sin was not that he wanted to supplant Anwar - if Anwar could not hold on to his power that's on him - but rather he went outside the PKR family to gain power. You never go outside the family.

I get that Rafizi is beloved by progressive Malays and non-Malays but the question remains, will his “school of thought” resonate with the majority Malays which he needs to court for electoral victory?

More importantly, how would this translate when it comes to his belief in the multiethnic middle-ground politic? To this, we should add that when Rafizi criticises PKR, it is welcomed with open arms, but supposing he is critical of the DAP, then what happens?

We have seen how DAP and its base does not accept criticism well, and if there is blowback, then this will turn into a racial issue and propagandists in the Malay establishment will use it as just another example of how nobody can work with the “Chinese DAP”.

Furthermore, how is Rafizi, especially in a position of influence, going to counter the religiosity and racism of the Malay establishment under the guise of Malay rights? How would he balance needed reform and the corruption of entitlement programmes while adhering to an egalitarian framework? This is important because if he destabilises PKR, it would just further erode the political party as a viable option for the Malay community.

Grassroots level politics and issues are far removed from national issues and if Rafizi can balance his multiethnic agenda with all politics being local, this would indeed be an impressive feat. More importantly, he needs support within PKR to maintain this balance and already the knives are out and the various power groups within PKR are plotting their next move.

Rafizi does understand the problems faced by the Malay community and the failure of Harapan. In 2017, in a roundtable discussion, his words sound prophetic: “We don’t understand that Malay voters need more than just talk. Telling people that Najib is going to bring us down is not enough.

“Why do we lack credibility? We have been out of touch, to the point of being condescending.

“We just have to convince the people enough that we can do a better job. We must honestly accept failings and offer solutions that may be controversial.”

When Rafizi said, “So, if they (Malays) were to choose, they would rather choose someone they can trust. If we were to change from one product to another, we want to be sure the substitute of the product can bring better value to you,” this is something that I have been going on about for years, which is there is no real alternative in what Harapan is offering, so why not choose the original?

Saifuddin vs Rafizi for Setiausaha Agong PKR

Controversial strategies needed

Therein lies the problem. Harapan needs controversial strategies - in the Malaysian context that is - but will Rafizi be able to convince PKR and the grassroots that controversial is the way to go, especially in this political terrain where former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and Co have demonstrated that they can win elections even though they lead as the court cluster?

Rafizi not only has to contend with desperate power players within his own party, but he also needs to consider elements in the DAP and Amanah who have agendas of their own. Rafizi’s return is not about policy. Not yet anyway. It is about how he can navigate the political terrain of Harapan and remember he failed the last time.

Is the situation different now that Azmin and his base are not around? I have no doubt that Azmin still has allies within PKR and all these strategies which Rafizi rightly deemed “madness” are being pushed by loyalists who have the ear of Anwar. I could be wrong but there are many more Grima Wormtongues in PKR than there are Eowyns.

Are some people pinning their hopes on one man? That is a good question which is certainly a lot more complicated than it sounds. The reality is that political parties either coalesce around a galvanising idea or individual. In Malaysian politics, it is the strongman-type leader which is often what the electorate grabs onto.

Rafizi is right about personality politics, but his big ideas depend on the political brand he creates and how he manages to manoeuvre in the treacherous world of PKR politics. You need a strong personality to do that, especially since you have a generation of young leaders who want to “inherit” from their elders instead of taking over and establishing a political agenda of their own.

Rafizi's contention that he does not want to rock the boat by not gunning for the top job is unconvincing. As is his contention that it is not important who leads the party. This does not mean that I think that Rafizi should be gunning for the top spot, only that playing it safe when PKR desperately needs leadership is politics as usual for PKR, which is something I assumed Rafizi was rightfully trying to subvert.

Rafizi cannot be all things to all people. It remains to be seen if he can be a unifying and reformative force in PKR and not just a disruptive one. - S.Thayaparan

cheers.

Istana menang,Umno tertonggek...

 

There is no honour among thieves,last2 kena kencing...

Opposition is game over without new 

leadership, unity, strategy,value propositions...

Barisan Nasional has managed to repeat its Melaka state election victory, winning two-thirds majority (40 out of 56 seats) again in the Johor state election on Saturday (March 12), despite scooping only 43.11% of all ballots cast. All the opposition parties grabbed the remaining 16 seats, even though they had won the popular votes (56.89%). That sucks, but welcome to democracy.

It’s not rocket science that if all the opposition parties had joined forces, they could win. Unfortunately, unlike the 2018 General Election, where the Barisan Nasional was defeated for the first time in history due to a united opposition, today’s Opposition is massively divided. As a result, Barisan did not have to do any heavy lifting, but laughed all the way to the bank.

Barisan Nasional has managed to repeat its Melaka state election victory, winning two-thirds majority (40 out of 56 seats) again in the Johor state election on Saturday (March 12), despite scooping only 43.11% of all ballots cast. All the opposition parties grabbed the remaining 16 seats, even though they had won the popular votes (56.89%). That sucks, but welcome to democracy.

It’s not rocket science that if all the opposition parties had joined forces, they could win. Unfortunately, unlike the 2018 General Election, where the Barisan Nasional was defeated for the first time in history due to a united opposition, today’s Opposition is massively divided. As a result, Barisan did not have to do any heavy lifting, but laughed all the way to the bank.

Pakatan Harapan, the largest opposition coalition comprising DAP (won 10 seats), Amanah (1 seat) and PKR (1 seat) secured 367,525 votes or 26.42% votes – DAP won 181,455 votes (13.04%), Amanah (101,200 votes – 7.27%) and PKR (82,556 votes – 5.93%). DAP, Amanah and PKR contested 14, 16 and 20 seats respectively. MUDA, a new party aligned to Pakatan, won 1 seat and received 48,072 votes (3.46%).

Perikatan Nasional coalition, which is a governing partner of the ruling Barisan government at the federal level, obtained 334,457 votes (24.04%), but won only 3 seats. Bersatu won 2 out of 33 seats contested, while PAS grabbed 1 out of 15 seats contested. Gerakan lost all the 8 seats it contested. Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has even lost his stronghold Gambir constituency.

Other opposition parties were annihilated. Pejuang, set up by ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad, was not only wiped out, but suffered humiliation – lost deposits in all the 42 seats it contested. Pejuang got 18,692 votes (1.34%), Sabah-based Warisan party received merely 6,532 votes (0.47%), PBM got 4,880 votes (0.35%), Socialist Party PSM 997 votes (0.07%) and Putra took 247 votes (0.02%).

Barisan won not because the coalition was strong or had done something spectacular. Rather, it won because Pakatan is weak, directionless and leaderless. During the 2018 General Election, a united and strong opposition comprised DAP, Amanah, PKR, Bersatu and Warisan were being led by Mahathir, while PKR president Anwar Ibrahim was in prison.

On Saturday, the overcrowded opposition parties were practically butchering each other. Bersatu, having betrayed allies and friends in Pakatan Harapan, did not have the Chinese support and merely depended on Malay voters. Pakatan, lacking Malay support, has to depend on Chinese voters. Pejuang, depended on Mahathir’s past glory, has neither Malay nor Chinese support.

If the results of the Johor state election are any indicator, the Opposition will definitely be crushed in the next 15th General Election. Johor provides the best opportunity for Pakatan Harapan to return to power, largely because it is the only state with the most number of “mixed racial composition” constituencies. If it can’t even capture Johor, it will not be able to capture the federal government.

The recipe for victory is on the table. But can all the opposition parties reunite again after all the betrayal, treachery, backstabbing and whatnot? Can opposition de-facto leader Anwar forgive Muhyiddin’s treachery, let alone forget fellow Azmin Ali’s betrayal? Even if all of them can forget the past, which they can’t, what is there to stop “Sheraton Move” version 2.0 after the 15th national polls?

And even if Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan and Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional wanted to join forces, can Islamic party PAS and Democratic Action Party DAP see eye-to-eye? Assuming both PAS and DAP can pretend to be working together again, can their respective hardcore supporters accept each other without triggering an internal split or boycott at the ballot box?

But why fantasize about a united Pakatan and Perikatan when there was a split within Pakatan Harapan itself? Yes, PKR strategist Wong Chen and genius like Fahmi Fadzil have been lecturing allies DAP and Amanah that the real problem they suffered embarrassing defeats was due to the Pakatan Harapan logo. They argued that the logo is a reminder of the toxic Mahathir.

So, according to PKR’s childish and silly logic, which was agreed by its president Anwar Ibrahim, the formula to win big again was as simple as using the PKR logo, not Pakatan Harapan logo. Yet, hilariously but expectedly, PKR’s logo and flag could only capture 1 out of 20 seats it contested in Johor. What else will they blame now after the spectacular defeat in Johor.

Since the Pakatan Harapan government was betrayed and toppled through “Sheraton Move” in March 2020, the People’s Justice Party PKR has not been able to move on. They keep finding excuses, along with chest-thumping remarks, about how great they once were. They have wasted 2 years with nothing buy dreams to install Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister.

Exactly why Nurul Izzah (Anwar’s daughter) and Rafizi Ramli, arguably two of the shining stars of PKR who could click and connect with young voters, have not returned to help revitalize the party? Previously, PKR hardcore supporters had blamed Mahathir for Nurul and Rafizi’s “premature retirement”. But Mahathir had already been kicked out 2 years ago.

PKR is having a leadership crisis, despite denials from its top leadership. It attracted only 82,556 votes (5.93%) votes in Johor, behind DAP and Amanah. Effectively, PKR is the weakest party in Pakatan, despite using its PKR logo in the state election. In fact, Bersatu’s 196,078 (14.1%) votes are more than double of PKR’s, while PAS’ 97,552 votes exceeded PKR’s.

What more proof that PKR wants that it has failed to win over Malay voters? Not only PKR should bring back talents like Nurul and Rafizi, Anwar Ibrahim (assuming he has no plan to resign) should stop surrounding himself with useless apple polishers like Farhash Salvador Rizal Mubarak, who have done nothing but given rotten advice and played internal party politics.

After the betrayal of Azmin Ali and his boys, followed by a sudden exit of Nurul and Rafizi, PKR appears to be inactive, demoralized, directionless and disarray. It’s not an exaggeration to say that DAP, not PKR, that has been leading the Pakatan coalition, when it should be Anwar’s job. One could argue that the Opposition could perform better with Wan Azizah (Anwar’s wife) in charge.

While PKR was distracted with the obsession to make Anwar the next prime minister, DAP too has wasted valuable time with its obsession to put crooked Najib Razak in jail, to the extent of signing an MoU to support the racist, clueless and incompetent Ismail Sabri administration. Worse, neither DAP nor PKR has done enough to explain to the people why they support the turtle egg man.

For example, minorities Chinese and Indians were mad and furious why opposition Pakatan Harapan voted to pass the Budget 2022, which despite the monstrous RM332.1 billion budget, had discriminately and unfairly allocated a pathetic RM200 million for the ethnic Chinese and RM145 million for the Indian community. The loss of Yong Peng to rival MCA is proof of self-inflicted damage from the MoU.

Yes, Pakatan’s biggest screw-up was the lack of communication after they formed the government in May 2018. They did not fully utilize the government news media to win over the rural Malay vote bank, allowing opposition UMNO and PAS to stir up racial and religion sentiments among the Malays that the Muslims and Malay Rulers have lost power to the “Chinese, Christians and Communists”.

A portion of Chinese voters has returned to Barisan because Pakatan failed to explain their achievements during their 22-month rule, while disgraced ex-PM Najib Razak’s “Malu apa bossku” (What’s the shame, my boss?) moniker continues to brainwash even some Chinese that it’s perfectly alright to steal money. Fortunately, majority of the Chinese Johoreans who swung were MCA supporters.

DAP, and its allies PKR and Amanah for that matter, should realize that their hardcore Chinese supporters had chosen to stay at home rather than vote for them (as proven in DAP stronghold Skudai’s turnout of just 36%), contributing to the overall low turnout of about 55%. It was to teach the coalition a lesson. Despite the low turnout, the 1.39 million total votes are about 100,000 more voters than the 2018 election.

Unity and leadership are not the only two problems plaguing Pakatan Harapan. What is their new strategy to impress the voters? Obviously signing the MoU has backfired and flying the PKR flag or logo has failed. The old bullets – 1MDB, GST, Rosmah Mansor – are no longer effective. Heck, even large-scale “ceramah” (election rally) has been banned by the government.

Component parties DAP and Amanah cannot wait for PKR, who stubbornly refuses to listen, let alone make any radical changes. Proposing Wan Azizah as the first woman prime minister, and “a promotion” for Anwar as PKR mentor or adviser, could be one of the strategies to bring new breath to both PKR and Opposition. DAP should take the lead to unite as many opposition parties as possible.

Without the usual large-scale “ceramah”, the opposition has to create effective and creative campaign materials to influence and encourage young voters to vote for them. In Johor, a whopping 1.2 million eligible voters did not go to vote. This is a new market, consisting of both new and old voters that the Opposition should explore and penetrate, preferably through social media.

What is the differentiation between two IT resellers, for example, who try to sell a similar product or solution to a customer? Besides pricing, there’s a something called value proposition, which could be professional services or post-sales support. Why do you think some company deliberately hire “attractive female account manager” to serve certain clients?

Likewise, the opposition has to offer a value proposition that is much superior, yet achievable, to the voters. Barisan Nasional’s value propositions are development and stability, which works like a charm simply because all the opposition leaders had failed to propose anything new, except screaming about Najib Razak’s 1MDB scandal and corruption.

Not only Anwar leadership did not have any value proposition, it fails to influence voters of “bread and butter” consequences if Barisan were to return to power. For example, petrol price for RON95 was fixed at a certain ceiling price during Pakatan Harapan administration, without which the people would suffer today as a result of Russia-Ukraine conflict, which saw crude oil hit US$130 a barrel.

During Najib administration, there was “no ceiling price” and the fuel price at stations would be adjusted or “floated” on a monthly basis according to the global crude oil prices. Therefore, if Barisan Nasional and Najib return to power, people may be forced to pay more than the current RM2.05 a litre for RON95. But how many people actually realize this possibility, as they happily scream “Bossku”? – FT

cheers.