I remember reading once that the BN will have a candidate in every seat whether win or lose. And here they are saying they are offering a walkover.

I wonder if it’ll be another “Esok Tak Da” case

1. During the campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election won by Anwar, Ahmad Ismail was alleged to have said that the Chinese community were “immigrants who do not deserve equal rights” (source)
2. A furore blew up and Chinese leaders were upset and called for an apology (source)
3. Police reports were lodged (source and source)
4. PM said Ahmad did not mean it and that he will tell him not to do it again (source and source)
5. Ahmad Ismail went off the radar and could not be reached for comment even by PM (source and source)
6. Najib apologised on behalf of UMNO for the comment and said it was not the party’s stand and Nazri says there’s nothing wrong in saying sorry (source and source)
7. Ahmad Ismail gives police statement
8. Ahmad Ismail said he was misquoted by the press and asked for an apology (source)
9. Gerakan is vocal on this issue of alleged racial statements (source) and the newspapers stand by the story (source and source and source)
10. Police complete probe into alleged sedition remarks (source)
11. Ahmad calls for Gerakan to be expelled from BN (source)

I’m waiting to see what is the reaction to this latest statement. Will action be taken? Will this shake the coalition? Will this mean September 16 is becoming a reality?

As a citizen I am only worried about my safety especially after statements yesterday about supporters taking to the streets. I’m worried that no action will be taken and that culture of hooliganism will permeate, after seeing the actions of the supporters on tv tearing up posters with glee.

If Sept 16 does occur, it will not be a surprise if Barisan supporters go to the streets to challenge the legitimacy of a government formed through undemocratic means. And all this is because Anwar wants to be Prime Minister.

(source)

Is this a threat? If it is, is it an incitement against political harmony of the country?

Perhaps my action in stocking up tinned food may not be such a fool hardy task after all. Scary thought. I only pray good sense will prevail.

Already we have the Deputy Chairman of the SAPP party stating that he is confused and embarrassed over the decision of the party Chairman. Of course he is! The Deputy Chairman of SAPP is also the Deputy Chief Minister and Infrastructure Minister of Sabah! He risks being stripped of his post if he supports the motion!

This is precisely why I say that Politics is like a disposable diaper. You wear it until it soils then you discard it and put on a new one. SAPP has used the BN and they are now holding it to ransom on their threats. If they don’t get what they want, they’ll just head on over to the Pakatan Rakyat which is more than happy to gain 2 more MPs in their fold.

2 down, 26 more to go to form a new Government in Malaysia. Will it happen? We’ll have to wait and see how things develop.

Just 2 days ago, the Prime Minister or the Domestic Trade Minister said that the price increase in petrol was expected in August 2008. He was caught on tv during a press conference and that was what he said. August 2008. He even specified the year 2008.

Then, yesterday evening, BOOM! Petrol was increased by 78 sen today to RM2.70. Doesn’t this bring to
memory the infamous lines uttered by the Prime Minister the day before parliament was dissolved. He said “Esok Tak Ada” or “Not Tomorrow” when asked if Parliament was to be dissolved the following day. Then he went ahead and dissolved parliament the next day anyway!

This is turning out to be a farce.

One minute yes, One minute no.

What about the impact on the people. How are the lower income group going to fare? How high will food prices soar? This is nuts!

Ever since the elections was over, politics of the country has been unstable. Its bad for the country and for the people. Its bad for the economy because the government wants to curb spending on the states where they lost, at the expense of the people and the economy.

Then we had the indelible ink issue blown up again recently. Now, they are talking about getting ready for a snap election. Um… Its only been 3 months since the last election. What snap elections are they talking about? What need is there unless the government knows something we don’t already know i.e. that there’s talk of people jumping ship like rats deserting a sinking ship.

Like an elliptical machine that goes round and round yet goes nowhere, this seems to be the state of politics here in Malaysia. Grow up already, people!!!

Then I saw the various reactions by UMNO leaders over the next few days and I wondered if it was not intentional on his part?

Dr. M has criticized Abdullah Badawi for his leadership. He wants him to step down for the sake of the country and the people. If you were to ask the man on the street, he’d probably tell you the same thing. Nothing good has come out of the Abdullah Badawi administration.

Nothing.

The General Elections were a disaster for the BN with huge losses to the Opposition, the government meddled with the Election Commission on the issue of the indelible ink, consumer product prices are sky rocketing, the economy is stagnant… we have a Prime Minister who can barely give a speech that doesn’t send everyone to sleep in an instant! I cannot stand listening to his speeches. I never know what he’s saying because he mumbles along and because his command of the English language is appalling.

UMNO has been split with detractors and supporters of Abdullah Badawi. This has further weakened the country. I am now wondering if Mahathir sees this and is using his resignation to force the party leaders to consolidate their position and close ranks?

Many people are saying this will further tear UMNO apart and that Dr. M is disloyal. I am just wondering if that is truly the case? The leaders now have a common enemy – Dr. M – and they will now have no choice but to close ranks and stand united. Is this what his ultimate aim is?

I don’t believe Dr. M does things rashly. He must have thought it out long and hard and he has more foresight than anyone gives him credit for. His 22 year rule was not without problems but he pulled Malaysia kicking and screaming into the new century with developments and you gotta admit he held us stable through the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis that we came out of relatively unscathed.

Say what you say, the man’s got vision. And that’s why I am wondering what he’s truly up to. At 82 years he’s still got the gumption to do things and the strength to act, unlike many other men of his age. For his foresight and his strength, I say kudos to him. I will now be watching developments with great interest to see if I’m right about what’s happening.

Note: I am just a kopitiam observer. I don’t know politics. Don’t jump on me if you don’t agree with what I say.

Before the elections, there was a big issue about the use of Indelible Ink. Apparently, there was a proposal to paint the nails of voters with indelible ink so they could not go to other centres and vote again. It was to weed out phamtom voters.

Then, a few days before the elections on 8 March 2008, in a sudden about turn, the Election Commission made an announcement that no indelible ink would be used. This was after many discussions were held with muslim clerics to decide if it was against Islam to have the ink on the hands. Apparently the religion forbids it when praying so it was a big issue then.

When the EC announced that Indelible Ink was not going to be used, there was a huge hue and cry. It was disclosed that RM2.4 MILLION had been spent to bring in the bottles of Indelible Ink and the lame reason given then was because they had taken “legal advise” and that there were people trying to sabotage the ink thing.

Today, we read in the news that it was the CABINET that made the decision NOT to use the Indelible Ink. This decision was made a week before polling day. My question is, how on earth did the cabinet make this decision when they were merely a caretaker government? Aren’t all issues relating to the elections the domain of the EC? What business does the government have telling the EC what to do? This just goes to prove what everyone was saying all along i.e. that the EC is not independant.

Here are more lame statements being made by the government:-

Abdullah said the Cabinet believed that the election process would go on smoothly and all eligible voters could cast their votes if the indelible ink was not used.

“It was only a suggestion we made to the EC chairman. It was up to him to think it over and agree or to proceed with the original decision to use the ink,” he said.

When the decision to scrap the ink was announced at the eleventh hour of the general election, Barisan Nasional leaders, including Abdullah, had said that they wanted an explanation from the EC on why it was doing away with the indelible ink.

On why the Government did not come clean on the indelible ink in the first place, Abdullah said that if anything tainted the voting process it would be the Government that would be blamed.

And this is what the EC chairman said:-

Earlier, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the Cabinet decided not to approve the proposal to use indelible ink “on the day of Parliament dissolution, on Feb 13”.

“They did not approve because of two very strong reasons, and I agreed with them over those reasons.

“One was security and the other was law, relating to Article 119 of the Federal Constitution, which states that it is the fundamental right of a person to vote,” he told the press after opening the National Seminar on Elections 2008: Democracy at Work here yesterday.

Asked if he tried to convince the Cabinet otherwise, Abdul Rashid said “he could not” , adding: “But I took responsibility for it.”

“I was told that the Cabinet had been briefed about an attempt by PAS, that they had bought some ink from Thailand, and were going around to mark old voters. And when Umno came to know, they also went and bought the ink. This was given to me in black and white by the police,” he said.

On May 6, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said in a Parliament reply to DAP’s Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan that police did not find evidence of smuggled indelible ink and statements made by complainants and witnesses were rumours.

I don’t know WTF is happening. At the rate things are going, I won’t even dare keep any designer jewelry in the house. If its stolen, the police might very well point their fingers are phantom intruders, then at me and finally have to admit that it went missing in their care or something equally drastic. Do you trust the BN Government after this latest debacle?

I don’t. I’m so ashamed to say that I ever trusted them in the first place!

Now, we have the person who took the video clip, Loh Guo Burne saying that there’s more to the video. Aiyo! Why didn’t he just release it all? Why come out now after the commission has made its finding and then say there’s more. Does it mean it was doctored? Has it cast doubts on the authenticity of the video? I don’t know.

All I know is that this guy is now an MP a member of parliament. I wonder if there’s any repercussions for him to come out now and make these statements. The VK Lingam episode is like a disease. He should have released the whole tape and colon cleansed the whole episode instead of only now coming to say that there’s another 80% of the video shot still kept in China. Why China? Why 80%? What else is there?!

OMG what a mess!

In a classic D’oh incident, foreign minister Rais Yatim has gone and stuck his foot right into his mouth in typical Malaysian BN knee jerk reaction. I got the jerk part right!

Apparently, Rais Yatim wants young women travelling alone to get parental consent before leaving the country. This is to prevent them from being use as drug mules. Erm yes… and? I mean come on. If the women allow themselves to be used because they are promised thousands of RM so they can buy that latest LV bag, why bother? Let them get thrown into prison for their stupidity and greed.

The rest of us good girls aren’t likely to want to carry drugs any time soon and I don’t see what’s wrong with women going off on a holiday by themselves. What if they are orphans. Does it mean they can’t leave the country? Come on, young women above 21 are adults. The Federal Constitution allows us the basic freedom to do as you wish so long as we don’t flout the law.

Traveling alone isn’t flouting any law. What if I have to leave the country for a business trip? Next thing you know, they’ll ban us from carrying bic pens because we will poke someone’s eyes out.

Rais, if you want to closet all women and lock them up at home so they don’t go galliavanting around the world getting ideas about how women’s right should be in this country, and how a country ought to be run, just try to pass that bloody law and watch while the men of the country get torn from limb to limb. Women will not tolerate such nonsense!

Argh! the stupidity!!!