National reconciliation, my foot! I will believe Najib, if ...

After 30 years of mollycoddling, the Prime Minister now has a real task at hand. The BN’s victory is not a sweet one. Najib Razak has to save the BN and himself sooner rather than later.

His statement about national reconciliation, however, woke me up instantly. He has positioned national reconciliation as his most urgent priority, and so it should be. He has lost practically all Chinese support in the country, and has at the same emboldened Malay extremists to continue on their warpath to further strengthen Ketuanan Melayu, even if imperils our unity.

Sometimes his speeches to an UMNO audience bear the same uncompromising trademarks that peppered former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Perkasa ’s speeches—even Najib’s oratory style has been modulated to sound fiery

As a former colleague, I know him to frown on combative politics. He was always more interested in placating and pleasing, but this will not do when dealing with UMNO extremists. He tried hard to please them by putting Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin up as election candidates.

Sometimes his speeches to an UMNO audience bear the same uncompromising trademarks that peppered former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Ibrahim’s speeches—even Najib’s oratory style has been modulated to sound fiery. But I for one still think he has real concern for national unity. Let’s see what he will do in the next few weeks.

I will believe him to be serious about national reconciliation if he can, for a start, do the following:

> Disband Biro Tata Negara, a department first started to open Malay eyes and minds to nation-building and how they can participate in the process. However, it has turned into dangerous, fascistic propaganda training that creates fear and even hatred for other races. It’s totally unproductive and gives no positive outlook to the Malays at all.

> Explicitly repudiate Perkasa and the likes of Dr Mahathir, Ibrahim and Zukifli. The PM no longer has any excuse to tamely obey the wishes of Dr Mahathir as he now has his own mandate. Anything less will not do.

> Instruct the Attorney-General to repeal the Sedition Act, unless he is willing to apply the law fairly and without favour. Any UMNO/Perkasa statement must be viewed objectively as the law dictates and action must be taken against those who break the law. It should not just be applied to Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang.

> Immediately reorganise Utusan Melayu and the Media Prima Group so that media operators and journalists stop poisoning the Malays with dangerous rubbish, which has become standard practice. If the Prime Minister is unable to see the damage done by these people, then he is not fit to talk of national reconciliation.

Apply the law fairly

The Chinese are not asking as much as Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy did on behalf of the Indian community, which the Prime Minister has willingly obliged. The Chinese are just asking for respect and to be treated fairly. Sure, the Chinese are economically better off than the Malays, but this has nothing to do with wanting to feel included in the way this country’s affairs are managed. The Prime Minister must once and for all repudiate Ketuanan Melayu, a concept that is meaningless yet brings so much division in the country.

Some will say the Chinese are also extremists and their newspapers are also inflammatory. Well then, apply the law fairly and prosecute them—but you can’t allow Utusan to get away with murder and complain when the Chinese react. The Chinese do not need to vote for an UMNO leader to keep their businesses running. Punishing the Chinese will not work as they are self-reliant and wily. The more the Prime Minister relies on the likes of Ibrahim and Zulkifli, the less chance an UMNO politician will get the Chinese vote.

In any case, there are Malays who will come in support of the Chinese and other ethnic groups because these Malays want to see peace and stability in the country. They abhor indiscriminate policies and they want to see unity in the long term. It’s already clear that DAP would not have done so well if not for the support of the Malays.

Finally, please stop calling Kit Siang a racist. He is a respected leader of the Chinese community and has served many years in Parliament. The Prime Minister would do well to bestow him with the title “Tan Sri” for his many years of service, just as the former Opposition Leader in Parliament Tan Chee Khoon was.

By doing these things the Prime Minister will undoubtedly be subject to serious body blows from the Perkasa patron and even his own deputy. But if the Prime Minister truly wants to unify the country, he has to have the stomach for it.

Zaid Ibrahim is the former minister in the Prime Minister's Department

Tapah aspirant: Cops pushed me out of counting hall

Exercising his constitutional right to justice at the Tapah vote counting centre proved to be disastrous for PKR parliamentary candidate K Vasantha Kumar.

He was pushed out of the Tapah constituency counting centre, the Dewan Merdeka in the town, by members of the police Light Strike Force at 11pm on Sunday.

Vasantha Kumar said eight policemen pushed him out after he queried Election Commission (EC) officers on what he calimed were irregularities as there were mixed votes in ballot boxes and missing ballot boxes. The missing boxes had not arrived at the counting centre as at 11pm.

The postal votes had allegedly been combined with the parliamentary and state constituency ballot papers in the mixed ballot boxes.

“I requested a recount because the parliamentary and state ballot papers were mixed up in one parliament ballot box. Further, there were ballot papers placed outside the box.

“I made the request also because four boxes from Chenderiang and five boxes from Ayer Kuning were not in the counting hall at the Dewan Merdaka. Following the request, EC officers brought in two boxes from Ayer Kuning. The other seven boxes had still not arrived.

“At the same time, I requested the 91 Form 14s from the 91 polling centres and an EC officer refused, Vasantha Kumar told Malaysiakini.

“Some of the Form 14s were not properly signed and endorsed by the EC officers.

“It was at this point that BN’s candidate, M Saravanan, came into the centre and raised his voice and ‘threatened’ me.

“I told him to not interfere as this was a dispute between me and the EC. The dispute was over the ballot papers from the state seats of Chenderiang and Ayer Kuning.

“At that point the results for the Perak state seats were 29 for BN and 28 for Pakatan. I insisted on the recount because the results from these two seats would be the deciding factor in the formation of the next Perak government.

“When I insisted that these documents be produced before the announcement of the results, the returning officer instructed the olice to push my polling agents and me out of the hall.”

At this juncture, Vasantha Kumar said, “Saravanan threw a chair at me while I was being pushed out.”

“I was shocked when the police manhandled me, pushing me 50m out of the centre, while Saravanan and his assistant tried to attack me. However, the police stopped them.”

Vasantha Kumar claimed that he and his counting agents were pushed out by the police all the way to the main road outside the hall. 

‘No representative to monitor ballot boxes’

“The policemen then barricaded the counting hall and did not allow me to go in. At that time I had no representative inside in the hall to esnure that the ballot boxes were not tampered with.”

He alleged that during this time, Saravanan and the two BN candidates for the two state seats (Chenderiang and Ayer Kuning) were allowed to be inside the hall as the results were being finalised.

Vasantha Kumar said the EC officers directed the policemen to keep him outside the hall for about an hour. 

“After an hour I demanded that as the official candidate for Tapah, I should be allowed into the hall.”

Upon his re-entry into the hall, Vasantha Kumar walked straight to the returning officer and requested the verification of the 91 Form 14s from all the 91 polling centres and a recount of the ballot papers.

“The returning officer declined my request. He told me to take any dispute on the matter to the courts.

“I disagreed with the results they were about to announce as the Form 14s were not furnished and there was no proper recount of the postal votes and ballot papers. Shortly afterward, about 1am, the results were announced - that BN’s Saravanan and its two state assembly candidates had won.”

These two state assembly results clinched BN’s victory in the Perak state assembly, with 31 seats over Pakatan’s 28.

Vasantha Kumar lodged a report at the Tapah police station at 1.30am yesterday.

He said that he was willing to appear before any tribunal and provide his evidence, with video recordings and pictures of the high-handed actions on the part of the authorities.

When contacted and asked about the presence of police in the counting hall, returning officer Razali Bakar said he could not make any statement without referring to the higher authorities.

A brief guide to electoral fraud for the busy despot

THE only poll that counts, supposedly, is election day. But for the sophisticated vote-rigger that is terrible advice. Election day is too late. If you go around beating up your opponents' voters, stuffing ballot boxes and making up results, someone somewhere is bound to complain. All those foreign busybodies will take you to task. It enrages the crowd and it dents your reputation.

It is also unnecessary. If you set about rigging the vote well in advance (see article), you can have an election that looks all right on the outside but guarantees the result you want. And nobody will be able to object. The secret is to obey the rules—having first written them yourself.

In this section

• The beginning of the end of Putin
• Small is not beautiful
• A horse worth the price
• Set the money free
• Weighing the votes

Reprints

Related topics

• Politics
• Government and politics
• Elections and voting
• United States

It all starts with television, where most voters (especially the poorer and less-educated) get most of their news. Don't clamp down completely—it makes you look weak. Tolerate small, ill-funded opposition outlets (not least so that you have an idea yourself of what is going on). But make sure that you or your allies control all the main television channels. Television news should trumpet your successes, portraying you as statesmanlike, and perhaps also enjoying manly sports and cuddly charity work.

This makes you the dominant brand in voters' minds. Your propaganda machine should also highlight the opposition's foreign links, making them look disloyal and alien. It should play up splits and divisions and any personal foibles (your own vices, meanwhile, must remain state secrets).

This makes the next stages easier. Gerrymandering is an excellent tactic. In a parliamentary election, corral your opponents' votes into places where they pile up uselessly, while making sure that yours are spread across plenty of marginal constituencies. If in doubt, look at how it is done in America. Then sort out the electoral registers: you need tough registration requirements for the voters who dislike you. You can count on votes from prisoners, army conscripts and others, so make sure they are registered en masse.

The laws governing political parties are in your hands too: make them burdensome. That will sap the opposition's energies—and if they make a single slip-up, you can always have their candidates struck from the ballot. Your own party will control a mighty bureaucratic machine and will meet the requirements easily. A sophisticated twist on this is to create your own tame opposition parties, in several flavours. They will distract attention from your real rivals.

You will have to allow some foreigners into your country on polling day. So make it easy for the right ones (your ideological soul mates and those from other autocratic countries). Nosy nit-pickers from the West can come too, but only at the last moment, so they have little time to get organised. Discredit local election-monitoring outfits as foreign-funded and partisan. Trumpet your fans' verdict at home: it will offset the complaints from those foreigners who, your television channel can argue, are secretly bent on doing your country down.

Stuff and nonsense

Do not waste much time campaigning. Anything beyond the odd triumphant rally makes you seem like a mere politician. Instead say you are too busy minding the affairs of state—and make sure you are shown on television doing so.

On polling day hand out free food and booze in poor areas. In places that will not vote for you, have the polling stations open late and close early. If necessary, they can run out of ballot papers. Long queues are a deterrent to busy people.

As insurance, you need to be able to fiddle the results. A computerised system which is apparently secure but actually accessible is ideal. If ballot-boxes are used, make sure they can be stored overnight in a discreet location where, if all else fails, you can add and subtract votes as necessary. If you get caught, say provocateurs are trying to discredit you.

None of this helps you run the country when you win. But who said politics was easy?

GE13

This is probably my final thoughts on this topic. I have written a lot over the last month about politics, and realized that I quite enjoy it. I did learn a lot more about our country and its politics. I hope you did too. Now I probably have to find something else to write about :-)

1. On the note about the "Chinese Tsunami".

This will be all over the papers tomorrow. At the time of me writing this, PKR and PAS together won 44 seats, while DAP won 36. Overall BN has 129 with 13 seats still being counted or recounted. This time BN blamed its losses on the "Chinese Tsunami".

The numbers meant that the malays did vote for the oppositions too. There isn't enough chinese in the country to carry the seats won by PKR and PAS. The fact is actually that the chinese made a resounding statement in not voting for MCA and Gerakan. Which simply means that racial politics is slowly dissipating, and that people are gathering around bigger issues then just race.

I do believe that BN sees this. In the statements made by Dato' Seri Najib, BN is strategically moving towards a moderate right stand, and the overwhelming lost of Perkasa, MCA, Gerakan, and its component parties sends a clear message. The extreme racial right wing is losing its shine.

2. On the call for unfair electoral process.

This will be hard to prove. Very hard indeed. However, it is important to note that in the seats where the opposition wins with an overwhelming majority, no postal, ghostal, nor electorial manouver could stop it from winning. This is what the opposition needs.

An overwhelming win. In many seats in fact the opposition did win convincingly. It came back stronger then before, and the outcome is clear. The opposition wins the urban seats, and has the middle class as its voting base. GE14 is about retaining this base, and coming back with a clear offering for a broader audience. BN has Sabah and Sarawak which is a huge base for its parliamentary seats. When PR lost several of its Kelantan, Selangor, and Perak seats it created a clear path for BN after that.

PR needs a strong agenda. Just hating BN, and crying foul over the negative issues isn't enough to attract the moderates. A great strategy would be for PR to form a proper coalition, one logo, one agenda, and a concerted vision. There were enough cracks in the alliance that allowed for the BN campaign to squeeze through and divide the voters. I've always wanted economic clarity, and I don't think I am alone. Yes, I don't like corruption, the lack of press freedom, and the arm twisting tactics, but we also need to know that we are not jumping into the lions den when the voters cross over.

A new line up of leaders would help. The LGE, Rafizi, Nurul, and Khalid combination will go very far.

The Rakyat is not racist. In this I believe. However, they still need to know that they are protected. The coalition needs to make a clear proclamation that the Special Privileges of the malay is intact. It also needs to clear the air on hudud. Once and for all.

3. On moving forward. Together.

I saw a lot of facebook pages turn black.

I disagree. We all love this country. We worked hard to fight for change. And working hard for change doesn't mean that it ends when you lose. In fact it begins when you lost.

Malaysia has a lot of potential. Please. Don't say you want to leave the country. Please. Don't say that we're run by communists. Please. Don't give up on the land that we share together. Instead, if the call for a better country is sincere, PR supporters should rise in support of making the country greater. There is much to be done. The internet is still a great platform to bind the same belief system. Used correctly it will bring the masses. The world didn't end. Malaysia didn't end. In fact as oppositions PR has done more for the country then it gives itself credit. And the results are a strong mandate from the people. It did better then before, and PR should take the people's vote seriously.

I understand the pain. It still is a lost.

But losing gracefully means that you get to play again. And next time, with the grace shown, people will remember. I disagree with Dato' Seri Anwar's call for an unfair election. It probably was, or wasn't. It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that we the people shall benefit from the promises made, at the federal and state level. PR won several states. It has promises to fulfill. Work to do.

If PR is able to prove that it is a worthy alternative, then perhaps in time, the rakyat will agree.

I know that I have made many posts that leans left, and tends to critic the ruling party. And I would have joined in rejoice with PR had it won. I would have hoped that it would bring order to the way of life and the way of work in this country that we all cherish. But perhaps, PR needs to work harder in convincing a lot more people that it isn't just about righting a wrong.

It needs to join the moderate middle, tone down, stay the course and share with the people what it is all about. It has won the hearts of those who doesn't want BN, but it has to earn the mind of those who doesn't believe in PR yet.

Let's get back to business, work hard, and pray for peace.

There are five more years of nation building to do and god willing, this may have a different outcome next time. Perhaps for a party that has a clear agenda of what it is all about, and one that shows the country that it will benefit from its leadership.

Who knows...

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CAUGHT ON CAMERA – BN’S HATCHET FACED VOTE BUYERS!

Dissappointed with arrogant corrupted Umno/BN winning, it means another5 years of dictatiorship rule,cronyism,corruption, mismanagement of the country’s resources, and wastage of public funds, racism, discrimination, persecution, religious intolerance, no respect for fundamental rights, no civil liberties, and no freedom of thought, freedom of association and freedom of religious beliefs. 

There is no honour in winning by foul means,Najib knows it and we know that the election was won on fraud.(PR win- BN lose,recount,suddenly no electricity,BN win-PR lose,Banglas/illegal immigrants with mycards brought to the polling stations in the bus load,to vote,escorted by the police,indelible ink disappearing within hours,tainted ballot papers) 

Yes PR lost.Yes the rug was pulled out from under our feet,though our hearts has been broken, shattered and abused,let's not wallow in self pity,we must never give up our struggle for TRUTH and JUSTICE,sooner or later TRUTH and JUSTICE, WILLalways prevails!

Election foul! – This hatchet faced BN organiser was filmed paying for votes at a car parked up by this polling station in PeraWe warned the vote buyers of BN that they were in danger of exposure this year like never before.

We said that an army of young Malaysians holding cameras, mobile phones and recorders as their weapons would be patrolling the streets ready to catch them in the act and post it on the Worldwide Web.

But, it seems they took no notice and carried out the instructions of their BN masters to try and cheat and buy up this election.

What greater crime can there be than to attempt to steal the liberty of your own people?  This crime is treachery.

Sarawak Report, like so many of the internet eyes on this election, has been watching and we present a round up of the cheating captured by the busy eyes of our team of supporters.  We will be updating it during the next hours.

RM50 ringgit – cheap for your liberty mate!

The woman at this polling station in Perak was then clearly filmed walking back to the BN polling centre with the bought ballot form to join her flag-waving party colleagues.

Handily, the camera was able to catch the number plate of the car she walked past as well… it was the car from which the money in the transaction was handed from.

The car, the woman and the BN flags…. time to call the police?

There have been numerous incidents caught on camera of BN agents up to untoward activities in this election.  This is how they have always won in the past.  Take a look at our vote buyer as she returns to base.

Back to her BN base…. the toad in her hole

Meanwhile, the citizen camera people were also picking up and posting evidence of other untoward activity in Perak, with helicopters dropping out bags marked for the Election Commission into the middle of a football field during the course of the day!

Marked for the election commission!

A horrified onlooker posted the shot on Facebook and said this:

‘”THIS is really going OVERBOARD…I hope we could get an EXPLANATION for this???  Time 3.50pm. Location Sungai siput (u), perak. Sungai buloh football field. A helicopter dropped 2 packages the SPR believed to contain ballot boxes in them. ANYBODY else saw this please CONFIRM here in CCWM Group on the thread…Thank You!”

Soon enough some relevant video footage arrived on the matter.  BN will try to front out this evidence when it comes out in court, hoping they can bludgeon through to yet another ‘victory’ and continue their gangster rule of Malaysia for another 5 years, helped no doubt by a ‘crack down’ on freedom of information about activities like this.

Washed off in a trice with soap and water!

As for indelible ink?  The whole of Malaysia is laughing about that one… and the excuse that has just come out, that the reason was it had to be ‘Halal’!  This on the basis it is ‘Hudud’ for BN not to be allowed to break the law to win?

BN’s foreign voters

The voters many who can’t sing the national anthem or speak Malay have been filmed arriving at the stations…..

And then there were of course the imported voters. The buses duly drew up at polling stations around the country, protected by obliging police…. but filmed by outraged local people.

These matters will all be filed as reports, but what would a returning BN government, staffed with proven money grabbers do about it?

More dubious bus loads of voters arriving….

Then of course there was the foreign voter who made the mistake of presenting himself to PKR’s chief crook buster Rafizi Ramli, looking for money to pay for his vote!

The chap was questioned and could not sing the anthem or give a convincing account of why he had come from Sabah to vote in the Peninsular!

His suspicious IC is now up on the internet for all to see.  Maybe he was just trying it on.

With the culture of corruption engendered by BN’s vote buyers you can hardly blame the poorer classes from trying to get rice money out of a process that has been netting ministers billions.

But, they were being identified and caught on camera all over the place.  BN should hang its head in shame for exploiting the people they have kept poor in this way.  But, it seems these vote riggers have no shame, just a sense of entitlement that allows a bunch of 3rd generation under-achievers to think they should continue to run the country.

Can you pay me for my vote please? I came over from Sabah!

Sarawak

And of course over in Sarawak, Taib’s money bags (and those of his side-kick Sgn Chee Hwa of the spurious Sarawak Workers Party) started arriving at the longhouses at midnight last night.

Poor rural voters were shown by helicoptered big wigs “who was boss” with piles of money such as they had never imagined could exist.  RM500 to each of them.

If only those people could actually see the money piled up in the bank accounts of Taib Mahmud and his henchmen, then they would realise what a small amount they have received and how short a distance it will go towards repaying the vast natural resources they have thereby allowed Taib’s men to keep their hands on.

This evening opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim expressed his fears that the cheats would stop at nothing…

Going for Change

You can love your country without loving your government. And we don't owe Umno/BN anything,in fact they owe us, a good government,free of racial discrimination, intimidation, obscurantism, racism, subjugation,having tolerance toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion,differs.For all who love freedom and peace, Malaysia without the racist Umno/BNs regime is a better and safer place,for us all.

10Reasons why we need change.

1) When a government has lost the implicit trust and respect of the people, it must not overstay its welcome.

2) When there is a void of leadership with vision and sense of mission to lead to a better future for all its people.

3) When self-interest and vested interests rule supreme and when public interests are trampled and despised. When the government has ceased to listen, investigate and act.

4) When corruption, poor judgement, selective persecutions and biased prosecutions become the norm of government.

5) When most social institutions and public administration agencies have all broken down, and public policies are sidelined in preference to self-interests of one race.

6) When people no longer are optimistic about their outlook for life in this country and when migration of talent people seems the only choice for survival.

7) When law and order is breaking down and when law enforcement agencies are implicated with criminal groups in search of monetary gains.

8) When our defense capabilities are weakened by politicians and when the defence budget is being embezzled without accountability to the safety and security of our armed personnel, and when life is cheapen to the extent that it is no longer the primary duty of the leaders to protect and safeguard the citizens of this country.

9) When our citizens are so divided that the entire social fabric is unraveling and the very loyalty of the citizens is being questioned.

10) When hope is lost and when a cloud of uncertainty and gloom has descended on this land.

Give me one good reason why Umno/BN should not be replaced through the ballot box on 5th May 2013.

Another Round of Cheating,

Mohd Najib Tun Razak @NajibRazak (Twitter)
Indian students will fill 1500 matriculation seats for 2013/2014 intake, up by 1000 as promised. Our commitment that no one is left behind.

Here again the serial liar is attempting to hoodwink the Indians again.Last year in a 'Ponggal' festival in Klang, Najib promosed 1500 matriculation seats for the Indian students however the BTN brainwashed racist official in the Education department provided only 700 seats,leaving 800 seats vacant,when enquiries was made,the official said that there was no directive from the PM's department to offer 1500 seats to deserving Indian students.

Yesterday an article in a Tamil daily had alleged that the Education ministry had allocated only 500 places for Indians in its matriculation centres for the 2013/2014 intake,but MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam has reiterated that a total of 1,500 matriculation seats would be filled by Indian Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students, quashing claims that the government did not fulfill its promise on the matter.

The MIC(Manam Illatha Congress) was not even able to fight for the 800 seats left vacant, for the 2013/2013 intake and Najib/MIC are using education as an election bargaining tool this time around to cheat the Indian people/students,again.It is a disgrace for MIC to defend the Umno/BN government as having fulfilled its promise when 800 seats were denied to desreving Indian students.