Why would Umno want to rid itself of a leader who won an unwinnable election for Barisan Nasional? 

Almost two million Chinese voted for Pakatan – largely for DAP really. They voted for DAP in the hope that Pakatan will form government, and that DAP will have effective control of that government. This is NOT what you or I think but this is what a vast majority of the Malays think. It is irrelevant whether it was Umno that put that thought in their mind or whether they worked it out for themselves.

CT Ali, FMT

It has been with us a long while and we should admit that it is a potent factor in Malaysian politics, says Chandra Muzzafar.

Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT

Political analysts are not surprised with the country’s distinct racial polarisation following the results of the recent 13th general election (GE13).

For the sake of this country, the writer hopes his entire analysis is rubbish, and that he will be proven absolutely wrong and a pessimistic idiot.

Before moving on let me just clarify that this analysis is not meant to monger fear or accuse the government of anything. It is a hypothesis based on my historical analysis of post-election trends in Malaysia, and as with all hypotheses, is unproven and certainly not set in stone.

By Ong Kar Jin, FMT

Ahli Parlimen DAP-Bukit Bendera Zairil Khir Johari berkata, perkara itu dilihat berdasarkan tiga perkara utama.

Jamilah Kamarudin, FMT

Hak keistimewaan orang Melayu dijamin takkan terhapus sampai bila-bila sekalipun DAP menjadi kuasa terbesar memerintah di peringkat Pusat.

For the 13th GE, the Opposition set out a strategy of portraying BN administration as a corrupt, evil, racist and inept government while seeking to position and elevate PR as Apostles of good governance, anti-racism, anti-corruption, democracy, equality and human rights. To support their campaign, PR came up with the catchy war cry of “UBAH” and the grammatically awkward and incorrect “Ini Kali lah”.

FMT LETTER: From Calvin Sankaran, via e-mail

An academic says the ruling coalition is still lagging in the perception war.

Athi Shankar, FMT

Barisan Nasional needs to beef up its cyber team to beat Pakatan Rakyat in the game of shaping public opinion, a political analyst has suggested.

by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, fz.com

In Sinar Harian today, Umno leaders called on Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fulfil his promise of leaving politics if he failed to win Putrajaya in the 13th general election.

We cannot ignore the obvious: vote buying is rampant in all our elections because there is no shortage of vote sellers. Anyone who sells his or her vote clearly does not understand or appreciate the democratic institutions that so many Filipinos have fought so hard to attain.

Manila Times 

(Bernama) - Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman P. Waythamoorthy has been appointed to join the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 

Khairy has weathered the storm. Even his political foes and detractors acknowledge that he deserved a ministerial post, citing his loyalty to Umno when he was being sidelined and the number of times he responded in the name of the party in facing off the opposition and NGOs in debates and what not.

Mohsin Abdullah, fz.com 

You asked what more do the Chinese want, well, can I ask what have you given me before?

This whole Chinese thing - whatever political mind-games the arse-holes are playing, I took it personally. It is for this crap that they had shoved down my throat for years that I am until today, more Chinese than I am Malaysian.

Messages at Midnite

To mislead the people and squander millions of Ringgit (more than RM 6 million) of public funds to procure ‘indelible’ ink that cannot serve its function as indelible ink is, we believe, a criminal breach of trust.

PY Wong 

Now, just like many of you, I was ecstatic in March 2008 when Pakatan Rakyat won five states and managed to deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament by winning 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats. Then things began to take a turn and things were no longer honky-dory and peachy-rosy. We began to detect some characteristics of Barisan Nasional in Pakatan Rakyat.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

They recently did a poll in Pakistan and 11% voted in favour of a democracy, 22% in favour of military rule, and 53% in favour of the Khalifah system. The Khalifah system would basically mean a Monarch as the head of religion plus head of the nation. “What has Pakistan got to do with Malaysia or the Malays?” you may ask. Well, many Malay ulama’ (religious scholars) received their education in India/Pakistan (Nik Aziz Nik Mat included).

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Out of the 89 parliamentary seats that Pakatan Rakyat won, 53 are non-Malay/Muslim seats while only 36 can be said to be Malay/Muslim-majority seats. Umno, however, won 88 seats just by itself (almost the same as for DAP, PKR and PAS combined). Then there were another 12 non-Malay/Muslim seats with 33 from the native areas in East Malaysia.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

You may argue that the Chinese voters have rejected the Chinese from Barisan Nasional and hence the Chinese should not be in the government. But if the Sultan says he wants Chinese in the government then Barisan Nasional will have to make sure that there are Chinese in the government. And if the Sultan says he does not want certain people in the government then these people will have to be dropped from the EXCO list (or as the Menteri Besar).

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hence the percentage in votes has never matched the percentage in seats. This has always been the case since Merdeka and is called gerrymandering, perfectly legal all over the world unless that particular country passes a law where the variance between seats must be within plus-minus 10% or 15% (something I have been talking about since 1999).

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The problem is not so much what to do with Najib. If Najib were to be ousted, just like Pak Lah was soon after the 2008 general election, then Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin would automatically take over as Prime Minister. The problem is: who would then become the new Deputy Prime Minister? By convention, once the Prime Minister retires/resigns/dies and the Deputy Prime Minister takes over, then one of the three Vice Presidents of Umno becomes the new Deputy Prime Minister. And who would this person be?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Racism is usually defined as views, practices and actions reflecting the belief that humanity is divided into distinct biological groups called races and that members of a certain race share certain attributes which make that group as a whole less desirable, more desirable, inferior or superior.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

We once found a few names registered at a cemetery (now that is what I would call real phantom voters). In fact, Azmin Ali’s dead father was still a registered voter in 2004 and, more importantly, he actually voted in the 2004 general election. How was that possible? This is where your election workers need to be good. The fact that Azmin not only found out that his father was still a registered voter but that he had also ‘voted’ shows that his machinery is on the ball.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

And that would mean Umno’s days are numbered when more Malays move away from Umno and swing over to PAS and PKR in the spirit of Pakatan Rakyat. And this would happen when the ‘power struggle’ changes from a vertical divide into a horizontal divide (a struggle between the rulers and the ruled -- like what is already happening in the recent general election).

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar’s knee-jerk reaction when the results were announced on Sunday night was that Pakatan Rakyat won 51% of the votes so this means Pakatan Rakyat won the election. In 1933, Adolf Hitler won only 43% of the votes and 33% of the seats and yet his party took power. Al Gore won 48.4% of the votes but George W. Bush took power with 47.9% of the votes. In 1969, the Alliance Party won 49% of the votes and still managed to form the government.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

What Najib did not suspect was that some other Barisan Nasional leaders from Sabah and Sarawak wanted to follow Lajim Ukin and Wilfred Bumburing when they crossed over. However, Anwar told them to stay put in Barisan Nasional and contest the general election under the ruling party banner and then cross over after the general election.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Umno has still not recovered from this shock and even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is pissed big time. He is blaming Najib for wasting his time and the government’s resources in trying to woo back the Chinese when that time and money could have been better spent in the rural areas where the Malays are the majority.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Once the election results are officially gazetted, Pakatan Rakyat should immediately file Election Petitions in court. In the meantime they should gather the evidence in preparation. Umno and Barisan Nasional will be doing this, at least Umno Terengganu will, and if they win their cases then Pakatan Rakyat is going to lose a few more seats.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

But since March 2008 many of you have become very arrogant. You no longer care about what you say. And you no longer care whether anyone gets hurt by what you say. And you declared that the Chinese are going to finish off Umno (ABU! ABU! ABU!). So the stupid Malays and Indians (plus those stupid natives from East Malaysia) had better wake up.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Now do you understand the reason behind all this talk regarding the Chinese Tsunami? You may hate Umno but you have to take your hat off to them for how well they strategised the 13th General Election. Umno is years ahead of the Chinese. And the DAP Chinese are still political novices save a few people like Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The problem is we are in a Catch 22 situation. We need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to be able to change the system. But the system will not allow us to get this two-thirds majority in Parliament. This is the Catch 22 situation I am talking about. So how do you win the elections? More importantly, how do you win with a two-thirds majority so that you can change the system when the system itself does not allow you to win two-thirds?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In the run-up to the 13th General Election, the Chinese were boldly and proudly screaming that this time around the Chinese are going to unite and vote against Barisan Nasional. This time we are going to see a Chinese Tsunami, bigger than the 2008 Tsunami. Expect more than 90% of the Chinese voters to swing to Pakatan Rakyat, they kept repeating again and again.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin