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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Would PAS agree to separate religion from politics when religion is what puts them in power? Would Umno, MCA or MIC agree to separate race from politics when race is what puts them in power? Would DAP agree to drop ‘Chinese causes’ when ‘Chinese causes’ is what puts them in power? Would PKR agree to dump Anwar Ibrahim when the party’s cause is to make Anwar the Prime Minister? Would Barisan Nasional agree to electoral reforms when gerrymandering helps them get into power with less than 50% of the votes? THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
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I have been saying for years that Umno does not need to win 50% of the votes to win 50% of the seats. In 1969, the Alliance Party of Umno, MCA and MIC won only 49.3% of the votes but 65.97% of the seats -- less than 1% short of two-thirds. And that involved only three parties mind you -- Umno, MCA and MIC. The opposition, which won 50.7% of the votes, won only one-third of the seats. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said: “The Lib Dem vote is more concentrated than it was, because they have targeted certain seats. But it is still more evenly distributed than Labour and the Tories. They may get 30 per cent of the vote everywhere, for example, but one of the others will tend to get 40 per cent, and the Lib Dems will lose.” NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Many are waiting for my ‘I told you so’ article. No, I am not going to write an ‘I told you so’ article. Instead, I am going to remind you of the 13 predictions that were made for the 13th General Election that came true -- although there are actually more than 13 predictions that came true. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Now, if I were to bet RM100,000 on Pakatan Rakyat winning more than 100 seats, I might most likely win RM100,000. However, if I were to bet RM100,000 on Pakatan Rakyat NOT winning 100 seats, then I might lose my RM100,000 but, if I win, I will win RM1 million. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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However, I have monitored the news reports from both the mainstream media and alternative media over the last week since Nomination Day and what are the issues they are talking about? We are focused on discussing the symptoms of the disease. We are ignoring the causes of the disease. So how can the fence-sitters be sure about who is going to make a better government? NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Say Pakatan Rakyat does win the general election in two weeks time. How many of those pro-Umno or pro-Barisan Nasional people will remain pro-Umno or pro-Barisan Nasional? Would they not swing over to the government-of-the-day and become pro-Pakatan Rakyat? NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Can we Malaysians ever play the game with sportsmanship? Can we ever fight using Queensberry rules? Unfortunately when we Malaysians play or fight there are no rules or sportsmanship. Everything goes. Hence the losers lose with a bitter taste in their mouth and with revenge in their heart. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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And how many of you signed the petition asking for Dr Wan Azizah to be given a seat to contest the coming general election? Do you know and do you care? Well, let me tell you. From the more than 13 million registered voters, less than 2,000 signed the petition. So that comes to only…hell, who cares anyway? NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
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