FT Gerakan members defect to PKR

Sunday, September 28, 2008
More Nation Heroz joining Pakatan=)

FT Gerakan members defect to PKR

PETALING JAYA: More than 20 Federal Territory Gerakan members have defected to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) with “more expected in the coming weeks.”

Former Federal Territory Gerakan information bureau chief Gan Kok Keng said there would be at least 300 members from four divisions joining the opposition party soon.

The divisions involved are the Setiawangsa, Wangsa Maju, Bukit Bintang and Kepong divisions.

Gan, who had been with Gerakan for 24 years, said their desire to leave Gerakan stemmed from the inability of the party to play a meaningful role in Barisan Nasional.

“We have no decision-making powers and have been ignored and insulted many times,” he said.

Gan said what bothered him the most was the belief that the comments of former Bukit Bendera Umno chief Ahmad Ismail was not his own personal opinion but those of the party.

“Gerakan should not be appealing for action to be taken in any scenario but should be asking firmly instead,” he said at a press conference at the PKR headquarters here Sunday.

Also leaving Gerakan for PKR is their former Federal Territories Youth chief Tan Kang Ho, Federal Territories Economic Bureau chief Julian Leong, and Wangsa Maju secretary Azali Omar.

PKR vice-president and Subang Member of Parliament R. Sivarasa said the move by the Gerakan members to join PKR was something that was not easy to do.

“It is brave of them. There was also no offer of money and no discussion about positions in the party,” he said.

Earlier this month, former Segambut MP and Federal Territories Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong also joined PKR.

http://hopemalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-nation-heroz-joining-pakatan.html

New Media more than blogs

Thursday September 18, 2008
New Media more than blogs
Wikimedia
By OON YEOH


The Internet has become such a key component in the political battleground that any party which ignores its importance is likely to find itself handicapped.

RIGHT after the March general election, there was a sense of urgency amongst Barisan Nasional politicians to get aboard the New Media bandwagon.

There was talk of requiring current and aspiring MPs to set up their own blogs.

But harnessing the power of New Media takes more than just setting up blogs. It requires a sound understanding of how public opinion is shaped through online means and how political news and views are disseminated in cyberspace.

“The Barisan’s attitude towards bloggers, blogging and the blogosphere has been reactionary, erratic and inconsistent,” says political analyst Ong Kian Ming, who recently did a study comparing the use of New Media by Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat.

Barisan did get off on the right footing after the election, Ong notes. Information Minister Shabery Cheek declared that the Government would engage with bloggers and he even went as far as to invite some bloggers to appear on a TV interview show.

One of the first online personalities on this programme was none other than Raja Petra Kamarudin, whose website, Malaysia Today, was subsequently banned and then later reinstated.

Currently, he’s being detained under the dreaded ISA for stuff found on his website. “RPK’s case demonstrates the schizophrenic nature of the Barisan Government’s attitude towards bloggers,” says Ong.

Six months after the election, how much have the Barisan representatives responded to the call to set up their own blogs?

Not much, says Ong who found that of the 85 Barisan MPs in Peninsular Malaysia, only 13 of them currently have their own blogs (15%).

In contrast, 59 out of the 79 Pakatan MPs from the peninsula (almost three quarters of them) have their own blogs.

Note that he did not include independent MP Ibrahim Ali in his survey as he is neither with Barisan nor Pakatan.

Nor did he include East Malaysian MPs in his survey because blogs are not so important there.

In the past, the Barisan could rely on the mainstream media not to report or under-report any offensive remarks that may have been made by a Barisan politician.

Now, it is likely that such remarks would be picked up by online news sites or observant bloggers. Once such news leaks into cyberspace, the fallout is instantaneous.

And the mainstream media, which has already been emboldened since the election, will pick it up too. We’ve seen this phenomenon of blog scoops trickling into mainstream news happen in the United States and now it’s starting to happen here.

The Barisan is not used to playing the role of the underdog in the political sphere. But it is clearly outmanned and outgunned in cyberspace.

The number of independent blogs which can be categorised as anti-Barisan significantly outnumber the blogs which are supportive of the Barisan, says Ong, who adds: “It’s hard to name a single influential blogger who can be categorised as pro-Barisan.”

Barisan cannot overcome this disadvantage in cyberspace by throwing money at the problem. Even if it paid a whole army of bloggers to set up pro-Barisan blogs, it wouldn’t work as their credibility would be suspect straight away.

Mercenary bloggers just can’t match the passion of the ones who do it as a labour of love, who do it as a matter of personal commitment.

This is not to say that New Media is a lost cause for the Barisan. Even if it can’t get the blogosphere to support it immediately, it can set a good example by having its MPs and senior leaders maintain good websites or blogs.

They can start by emulating DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang who began embracing the Internet in the mid-90s.

He even bothered to learn HTML just so his party could have its own website and was one of the key drivers in continuously upgrading the party website, publishing the press statements and also encouraging its MPs to start blogs of their own.

Anwar Ibrahim’s website is very comprehensive and it has sections where one can make financial contributions, request Anwar to speak at events and view his past speeches and op-eds.

He also has a blog which has his public schedule, YouTube videos, related news items as well as press releases.

Even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has joined the blogosphere with over six million visits to date, a remarkable achievement by any standards.

In stark contrast, no senior Barisan leader can claim to have the same kind of Internet presence or traffic.

The most vilified person in the Malaysian blogosphere, Khairy Jamaluddin, does have his own website and it includes a blog.

It will take more than having his own online presence to counter all the negative postings about him but Khairy did garner some attention recently when he criticised the MCMC’s decision to block access to RPK’s website.

Perhaps other Barisan MPs can follow his lead and be willing to express their views frankly and openly through blogs.

The online advantage that Pakatan enjoys does not guarantee them electoral success.

There is no replacing the ‘offline’ activities that are part and parcel of what political parties and politicians need to do – the constituency servicing, the face-to-face meetings, the ceramahs, and so on, says Ong.

“But the Internet has become such a key component of the political battleground that any party that ignores its importance is likely to find itself handicapped,” he adds.

> Oon Yeoh has been blogging since 2003. You can check out some of his postings at www.oonyeoh.com.

Opposition-led rule in Malaysia looking likely

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Less than a year ago, Malaysians would have sniggered at any suggestion that former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, crushed by a sodomy charge in 1998, could make a political comeback.

Today, nobody laughs when Anwar claims he will become prime minister. He appears to be firmly on track to attract enough defectors from the ruling coalition ranks to secure a parliamentary majority and form Malaysia's first opposition-led government since independence in 1957.

Most analysts believe Anwar can pull it off, if not by his self-imposed deadline of Tuesday, then sometime next month.

It would mark another remarkable turnaround for a man once considered a star of Asian politics, only to be toppled 10 years ago and imprisoned on a conviction of having sex with a man, a crime in Malaysia. The conviction was overturned in 2004 but he now faces another sodomy charge. Anwar has strongly denied both cases, claiming they were intended to kill his political rise.

The ruling coalition has been weakened by dissent against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Anwar is capitalizing on that disarray. Abdullah lost much of his clout after presiding over the government's worst ever election results in March, plunging one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries into political turmoil.

Abdullah faced renewed public anger on Friday after his government arrested an opposition lawmaker, a journalist and an anti-government blogger under a law that allows indefinite detention without trial. Tan Hoon Cheng, a reporter for the Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew, was released Saturday after being questioned by police.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the arrests were necessary to prevent racial conflict, but Anwar said they were meant to "engineer an atmosphere of fear and instability."

Anwar needs 30 defections for his People's Alliance to form the next government.

"His chances have increased by 100 percent," said James Chin, a political science professor at the Monash University in Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur. "Getting 30 to me is not a problem. I don't doubt they will jump if the conditions and benefits are the right amount."

Still, there are serious doubts as to whether Anwar can hold together his three-party coalition of leftists, Islamists and liberal freethinkers, or fulfill his sweeping promises including dismantling a controversial affirmative action program that favors the ethnic Malay majority in jobs, education, housing, business and a host of other areas.

Many Malays see the program as their birthright. Most ethnic Chinese and Indians see it as state-engineered discrimination.

The Malay-dominated National Front has ruled Malaysia — often hailed as a moderate Islamic nation — continuously for more than 50 years. The coalition has maintained its legitimacy by claiming it alone can share out the nation's resources in a way that satisfies all ethnic groups.

That myth was shattered in the March 8 general election when Anwar stitched together his unlikely coalition on a platform of equality for all races. Together they won 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament, up from 19, as well as control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.

If 61-year-old Anwar forms the next government, it would amount to a political earthquake.

He says he will restructure the affirmative action program to focus on the needy, regardless of race; free the judiciary and the media from government interference; and guarantee religious freedom and civil liberties.

"It is not very difficult to be a better government, to control corruption, to be more just. That is quite easy. The more challenging task is to change the course of the economy," he said in a recent interview.

A major shift promised by Anwar would be a change in the way the government awards public contracts. At present the contracts can only go to Malay-owned companies, but even there the decisions are made arbitrarily.

This has been an obstacle to a free trade agreement with the U.S., which wants the contract process to be transparent and open to foreigners.

But Anwar has set his sights very high, and some foresee not reform but instability. The political outlook has rattled investor confidence, weakening Malaysia's currency and stock markets.

Still, his promises strike a chord not just with Chinese and Indians but with Malays who feel the benefits of affirmative action have gone only to a well-connected elite.

The system was devised soon after Malaysia suffered spasms of racial violence in 1969 and was intended to keep the peace by making all ethnic groups dependent on government patronage.

But analyst Chin said Anwar would temper any resentment among his fellow Malays by giving them dominance in government.

"There may be isolated protests but it won't turn into a full-scale uprising by Malays," he said. "Anwar knows the game well."

=================================================

Malaysian Seeks End to Decades of Firm Rule

By Thomas Fuller, The New York Times

By the most obvious yardstick, this country of 25 million people is a democracy: Malaysia has held regular elections since independence from Britain five decades ago.

Yet during that time power has remained in the hands of one coalition, the media has remained slavishly pro-government, the courts have often hewed closely to the government line and critics of the country's leadership have been detained without trial in periodic crackdowns.

Now Malaysia may be on the brink of a liberal, more democratic era.

The governing coalition is facing the very real possibility of losing its grip on power to the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who says he has enough votes to bring down the government and might do so as early as this week.

Mr. Anwar promises that if he become prime minister, he would not only scrap laws that muzzle criticism, but also upend the father-knows-best style of government and end a longstanding policy that favored the country's majority Malays over other ethnic groups.

"I think we're on an irreversible trend of democratization because it's coming from the bottom up," said Sivarasa Rasiah, a human rights lawyer and one of many opposition members elected to Parliament in March.

If Mr. Anwar succeeds in taking over the government, his actions could have implications far beyond Malaysia.

A onetime Islamist student radical, Mr. Anwar has emerged over the past decade as one of the leading proponents of the idea that Islam and liberal democracy are complementary. He has cultivated friendships with leaders who share his views in Turkey and Indonesia, and he has built bridges to the West.

He once served as a catalyst for the increasing religiosity among Malaysia's Muslims. Today he walks the fine line between the secularism of the country's Constitution and the demands by some Islamic forces, including those in his own coalition, for socially conservative policies.

Mr. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who once mingled with the very establishment he is now challenging, was re-elected to Parliament in August.

As he and his allies in the opposition gained increased political backing over the past several months, the government under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has begun to strike back. In July, Mr. Anwar was charged with sodomy for the second time in his career in a case that a large majority of Malaysians surveyed in opinion polls say reeks of politics. And several newspapers have been warned about stepping out of line.

On Friday, a member of Parliament for the opposition, a newspaper reporter and a prominent antigovernment blogger were detained under the internal security act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial. Syed Hamid Albar, the home minister, told reporters on Saturday that the blogger and Parliament member had been detained for inciting ethnic tensions but that the reporter, who was released Saturday after 16 hours, was only questioned about her reporting on a recent controversy involving a member of the governing party.

The governing party has leveled accusations of corruption in the opposition's campaign to win over defectors: Khairy Jamaluddin, one of the party's most articulate members, has denounced what he calls "underhanded tactics," saying members of Parliament have reported being offered money and positions of power in a future government, a charge the opposition denies.

Last week, the battle between the government and opposition flirted with absurdity. First, the governing party dispatched about 50 government lawmakers to Taiwan for what it called an agricultural "study trip," which appeared to be an attempt to stop them from crossing over to Mr. Anwar's side.

On Friday, opposition lawmakers followed them to Taiwan, checking into the same hotel in the hopes of convincing would-be defectors to take the leap.

Mr. Anwar initially vowed to bring down the government by Tuesday, saying he had written commitments from enough lawmakers to force the government's collapse. But he now concedes that the governing coalition's move to send lawmakers to Taiwan could succeed in drawing off some support, forcing him to delay his bid for power.

The changes that Mr. Anwar has proposed could change Malaysia substantially and fast.

"All the draconian, oppressive laws must go," Mr. Anwar said in a recent interview.

He promises to repeal Malaysia’s toughest laws that give the government the power to detain opponents without trial, ban unauthorized protests, bar students from participating in politics and keep the news media in line by requiring newspapers and magazines to apply for annual publishing permits.

He would also free all “political prisoners.”

Perhaps most explosive, he said he would end many special privileges for his own ethnic group, the Malays, who are given a variety of advantages, including discounts on houses, exclusive rights to government contracts and a reserved quota of stock-market shares. The privileges have angered the country’s two other main ethnic groups: Malaysian citizens of Chinese and Indian descent.

It was that anger, directed at the ethnically mixed governing coalition, that helped the opposition win just under half the popular vote, by far the best showing for the opposition since independence.

Mr. Anwar contends, and many experts agree, that most of the special privileges are enjoyed by a minority of Malays connected to the governing party. Still, it remains to be seen whether Malays will accept Mr. Anwar’s proposal of policies based on need, not ethnicity. Ethnic tensions have flared in the past, notably in 1969 when at least 200 people were killed in race-related violence.

Mr. Khairy of the governing party argues that Mr. Anwar is moving too fast by proposing to scrap the country’s harshest laws: Malaysia needs them to guard against ethnic strife, he said in an interview.

“We are a maturing democracy,” Mr. Khairy said. “These issues, to me, still need a lot of debate. We need to continue the way the Abdullah administration has done it, which is to reform gradually.”

At least as challenging as balancing the rights of ethnic groups would be managing the struggle between those who prefer a secular government and those who want a wider application of Islamic laws for Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the population.

In a recent interview in his sparsely furnished office, Mr. Anwar apologized to a visitor for the heat and stuffiness; he keeps the air-conditioning off during Ramadan because fasting from sunrise to sunset gives him chills.

But he criticized the decision of the Prime Minister Abdullah to suspend Parliament during Ramadan. “He thinks he’s representing himself as a good Muslim,” Mr. Anwar said. “I think it’s reactionary.”

“If you want to fast, go ahead,” he said. “But go on with your life. If you fast and it causes productivity to drop there’s something wrong with that.”

Some Muslim groups have called for greater punishments for apostates, those who leave the religion, and stronger enforcement of social laws like keeping unmarried couples chaste.

While Mr. Anwar clearly has a strong following, many Malaysians, especially those in the elite who have much to lose if the opposition takes power, question his sincerity and wonder whether a leader who has gone through so many permutations in his career can be trusted.

Mr. Anwar rose to prominence as an Islamic student radical before joining the governing party and eventually becoming deputy prime minister. But he is perhaps best known for his sudden downfall in 1998 shortly after challenging the prime minister at the time, Mahathir Mohamad, for power.

Mr. Anwar was detained under the internal security act, beaten, given a black eye by the chief of police (who lost his job over the episode) and sentenced to 15 years for sodomy and abuse of power in trying to cover up the sodomy allegations. In 2004, the country’s highest court struck down the sodomy verdict and released him, citing faulty procedures by the prosecution, but the judge, in a highly unusual statement, said he believed that the sodomy allegations were true anyway.

Like the charges in the first trial, the latest charges of sodomy, which were lodged by a 23-year-old campaign aide, are considered highly politicized. The deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, a chief rival of Mr. Anwar’s, initially denied that he had anything to do with the case but then admitted that he had met with Mr. Anwar’s accuser before the allegations were made public.

Salehuddin Hashim, a high school friend of Mr. Anwar’s who is now the secretary general of his party, admits to doubts about Mr. Anwar’s past, especially his years in the governing party. Even the party’s leaders admit that money politics and corruption are rampant within the party’s ranks.

“Anwar wasn’t a paragon of justice or virtue,” Mr. Salehuddin said. “He was part of the racket.”

But he said that six years in prison changed Mr. Anwar and made him more sensitive to injustices in Malaysia, a relatively prosperous country with one of the highest levels of income inequality in Asia.

“It’s a credit to Anwar that he managed to galvanize people into focusing what they are unhappy about,” Mr. Salehuddin said. “He personalized injustice.”

Peralihan Kuasa Tetap Akan Berlaku Kerana BN Telah Gagal

Pakatan Rakyat: Peralihan Kuasa Tetap Akan Berlaku Kerana BN Telah Gagal

Kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang bertemu hari ini yakin proses pembentukan kerajaan baru yang berlandasan Agenda Reformasi sedang berjalan secara lancar. Kami percaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional akan diganti dalam masa terdekat.

Pakatan Rakyat yakin mendapat bilangan ahli Parlimen yang mencukupi untuk mempunyai majoriti dalam Parlimen yang membolehkan penubuhan kerajaan baru. Bagaimanapun tarikh sebenar penubuhan kerajaan mungkin terpaksa dilewatkan dari 16 September sebagaimana rancangan awal akibat beberapa ahli Parlimen telah dipaksa ke Taiwan.

Umum mengetahui negara kini masih dicengkam permasalahan politik, ekonomi dan sosial yang getir. Akibat kehilangan keyakinan rakyat terhadap kepimpinan UMNO dan BN, timbul percubaan mengalih pandangan kepada isu perkauman sempit.

Masalah perkauman yang diapi-apikan berterusan sehingga kini menunjukkan formula BN yang dihantui kebejatan rasuah dan korupsi gagal mentadbir negara ini. Api perkauman yang cuba dibakar akan mengancam kestabilan negara dan kebajikan rakyat. Kepimpinan BN yang semakin lemah juga menyaksikan parti tersebut semakin berpecah dan semakin hilang arah.

Melihat kepada perkembangan semasa inilah ramai Ahli Parlimen BN telah hilang kepercayaan terhadap kepimpinan BN dan memutuskan untuk bersama dengan Pakatan Rakyat. Pakatan Rakyat menegaskan bahawa kami tidak pernah dan tidak perlu membeli atau menyogok Ahli Parlimen berkenaan untuk menyertai kami. Mereka didorong oleh kesedaran sendiri serta memberikan komitmen menyokong agenda perubahan.

Kami yakin terdapat segelintir elit pemerintah BN yang diketuai UMNO bercita-cita untuk mencipta huru hara agar dapat membantut perubahan, melumpuhkan demokrasi dan merampas hak-hak rakyat Malaysia yang dilindungi Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kami khuatir seandainya masalah sengaja dibiar merebak dan berlarutan untuk memberikan alasan kepada pemerintah bertindak keras termasuk penangkapan beramai-ramai menggunakan Undang-undang Darurat untuk membendung kemaraan rakyat yang menuntut pembelaan.

Kami menyeru kepada rakyat Malaysia termasuk penyokong UMNO untuk bertenang dan tidak terperangkap dengan retorik perkauman. Marilah kita rakyat Malaysia bersama-sama berusaha keras untuk memperbaiki keadaan ekonomi kita yang semakin teruk dan menyambut perubahan yang akan memberi harapan baru kepada kita semua.

Kami percaya apa pun jua usaha BN hanyalah dapat melambatkan proses pertukaran kerajaan tetapi tidak dapat menggagalkannya kerana formula BN telah gagal.

Dato’ Salehuddin Hashim
Setiausaha Agung PKR

YB Loke Siew Fook
Pengarah Pendidikan Politik DAP

YB Dato’ Kamarudin Jaffar
Setiausaha Agung PAS

Kita Menang! We Won!

— KENYATAAN MEDIA —-

PERMATANG PAUH, MALAYSIA, 26 OGOS 20008

Alhamdulillah, Allah memberikan kita kejayaan. Kemenangan ini merupakan saat penentu dan bakal menentukan hala tuju negara ini.

Saya berkongsi kegembiraan yang dirasai oleh semua rakyat Malaysia pada hari bersejarah ini. Ianya merupakan kemenangan buat rakyat.

Pada 8 Mac rakyat Malaysia memilih Harapan Baru. Hari ini di saat kita bakal menyambut hari kemerdekaan, rakyat menyahut seruan tersebut. Dengan ini kita merayakant hari kemerdekaan sepertimana pendiri-pendiri negara kita inginkan-sebuah negara dan rakyat yang bersatu.

Berhadapan dengan cabaran yang getir, kita memilih untuk menumpukan perhatian kepada isu yang berkaitan dengan negara ini. Seruan kita agar negara ini bersatu, mulai mengamalkan urus tadbir yang baik dan memperkasakan ekonomi telah menguburkan kempen yang berbaur perkauman, cita-cita individu yang sering mendapat habuan hasil dari penyalahgunaan kuasa dan eksploitasi politik yang berasaskan ketakutan serta penipuan.

Kami telah menjanjikan satu lembaran baru untuk Malaysia dan kami pasti akan melaksanakan janji kami. Kami akan melaksanakan Agenda Ekonomi Malaysia untuk memulihkan keadaan ekonomi kita, membasmi kemiskinan dan membantu sesiapa sahaja yang terpinggir tanpa berasaskan kaum. Kami akan memulihkan intergriti badan kehakiman, memerangi rasuah dan membina sebuah negara yang bersatu.

Dan kami akan menjadi sebuah kerajaan yang komited untuk merealisasikan aspirasi rakyat.

Dengan kejayaan 8 Mac dan juga kemenangan malam ini saya berani untuk menegaskan kita mampu bersama-sama menghadapi segala rintangan di masa hadapan.

Kami tidak akan menang tanpa dokongan kukuh dari rakan-rakan kami dalam Pakatan Rakyat dan juga sokongan ribuan rakyat Malaysia tidak kira samada Melayu, Cina, India, Iban, Kadazan, yang datang ke Permatang Pauh, bekerja keras, memerah keringat serta mengirim doa demi memastikan kemenangan ini. Saya sangat menghargai keberanian, tekad dan kesungguhan kamu semua; saya mengucapkan tahniah terhadap komitmen saudara semua terhadap prinsip bersama sebuah kemerdekaan, keadilan dan demokrasi.

Langkah kecil buat Permatang Pauh hari ini akan memastikan perubahan besar buat Malaysia.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

————————
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PERMATANG PAUH, MALAYSIA, 26 AUGUST 2008

We won! And our victory is decisive and overwhelming.

I share in the joy felt by all Malaysians on this historic day. This is a victory for the people. And it’s great to be back!

On March 8th Malaysians voted for a New Dawn. Today, on the eve of our independence day, we have reasserted that call. We celebrate our nation’s independence in the spirit that our founding fathers intended - a nation of one and a people united.

In the face of the greatest adversity, our campaign focused on the issues that matter to Malaysians. Our calls for national unity, good governance and a vibrant democracy have silenced the voices of racist chanting, those who profit from the abuse of power and exploit the politics of fear and deceit.

We have promised a New Dawn for Malaysia and we will deliver on our promise. We will forge ahead on our Malaysian Economic Agenda to revive the economy, and to uplift the poor and the marginalized of all races. We will restore the integrity of the judiciary, fight corruption and build a truly unified nation.

We will be a government that is totally committed to realizing the people’s aspirations.

With the success of the eight of March and tonight’s resounding victory, I daresay we are indeed ready to face the challenges of the future, together.

We could not have won without the firm, unwavering support of our friends in the Pakatan Rakyat and the tens of thousands of Malaysians – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadhazans - who have come to Permatang Pauh to work hard for this victory. I truly appreciate your courage, conviction and valour; and congratulate your commitment to our shared principles of freedom, justice and democracy.

This may be one small step for Permatang Pauh but one giant leap for the people of Malaysia.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Permatang Pauh and beyond

Permatang Pauh and beyond


Barring massive electoral fraud, Anwar is one by-election and two weeks short of returning to Parliament. When he does, he’d be the Opposition Leader of a second coalition. After that people would want to know if he’d really form a new Federal government in mid-September as he has declared, promised, or threatened.

If we don’t live in them but only notice them while we travel the old trunk roads or veer off the highways, our small towns will seem to be neither-here-nor-there places. They have neither the preserved charm of rural settlements nor the catching vibrancy of large cities.

One small town might be a shrine to a bit of history, like Baling, say, which hosted the abortive ‘peace talks’ of 1955. Another might fortuitously be associated with an unexpectedly prominent personage, rather like Kepala Batas, the hometown of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

We rarely think of the small towns as repositories of deeply cherished tradition or cradles of consequential change. Truth be told, we seldom expect our small towns to rise above nondescript places that are inhabited by hicks whose lives are so parochial they touch or inspire few outsiders.

Small town, big waves
Perhaps that’s why many people are startled each time a small-town electoral constituency teaches us political lessons that resonate beyond its geographical and social boundaries.

Three such constituencies, each coming alive at a crucial moment in our recent history, readily come to mind: Tambunan (Sabah), Lunas (Kedah) and Sungei Siput (Perak).

The Tambunan by-election of December 1984 gave Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan a spirited triumph that heralded Parti Bersatu Sabah’s toppling of Datuk Harris Salleh and his Parti Berjaya four months later. Tambunan’s many-sided impact on Sabah politics remains to this day.

The Lunas by-election of November 2000, which ended Barisan Nasional’s 40-year control of the constituency, marked the furthest point of Barisan Alternatif’s 1999 sally as a second coalition. The result broke BN’s customary two-thirds majority in Kedah, in hindsight a harbinger of Pakatan Rakyat’s takeover of the state government five months ago.

On 8 March 2008, Sungei Siput spurned Dato’ Seri Samy Vellu after having returned him in eight consecutive elections starting in 1974. Without detracting from Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s tenacious grassroots work, Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj’s victory after two failures revealed the reach of a Hindraf-inspired Makkhal Sakhti (People Power) and the scale of the rout of BN’s non-Malay-based parties.

Whatever their differences, each of those contests supplied a critical lesson. When a small-town constituency concentrates in itself political issues that grip the whole nation, an out-resourced, harassed and otherwise disadvantaged opposition could defeat the BN machine by surfing a wave of sheer voter rebelliousness.

By-election in Permatang Pauh
On 26 August, there will be just such an election in Permatang Pauh, Penang – with a critical difference (from Tambunan, Lunas and Sungei Siput): the voter rebelliousness won’t be directed at a BN incumbent, but will support an old incumbent against the national BN machine.

The immediate reason for the by-election is the resignation of Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as Member of Parliament barely five months after she won her third term since 1999. The most keenly anticipated aspect of the by-election is Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s return to electoral contest after an involuntary absence of ten years.

The basic outcome itself may not be remarkable. Almost everyone expects Anwar to win, after which the spin masters can go to work on the winning margin. Already some UMNO leaders belittle the significance of the by-election – just another by-election, according to UMNO Vice-President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin.

But were that so, there would be no need for Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak to lead the BN/UMNO campaign, or for the hotels in Bukit Mertajam and nearby towns to be fully booked, or for born-again foes of Anwar, such as Dr Chandra Muzaffar and Ezam Mohd Nor, to train their sights on the Pakatan Rakyat leader.

Startling results
Permatang Pauh which has 58,459 voters presently has been an interesting electoral battle ground.

Here in 1982, upon joining UMNO, Anwar won against the Parti Islam incumbent, demonstrating the huge electoral support Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad received when he led BN for the first time. (Thereafter, Anwar retained his seat against the challenges of other PAS notables, Mohamad Sabu and Mahfuz Omar.)

Seventeen years later, joining the Malay revolt against Mahathir and UMNO, Permatang Pauh responded to Anwar’s humiliation by electing his wife, Wan Azizah, in her contest against an erstwhile Anwar lieutenant, Dato’ Dr Ibrahim Saad.

Only Permatang Pauh was narrowly left standing in 2004 when BN’s unprecedented sweep cost Parti Keadilan Rakyat four of its five parliamentary seats.

Last March, however, any UMNO hope of seizing Permatang Pauh and wiping out Keadilan was dashed when Wan Azizah won her largest ever majority (while 30 other Keadilan candidates were victorious elsewhere).

Significant shifts
What can we infer from Permatang Pauh’s electoral record and its several startling results?

For the past 26 years, the constituency has been loyal to Anwar and Azizah. Crucially, though, its electorate has taken turns over several decades to support PAS, UMNO and Keadilan. In the heat of previous battles, the deeper significance of this willingness to vote in and vote out might have been overlooked. But such an attitude among the voters is precisely what’s necessary to liberalize the political system.

The present state-level balance of power is unusually equitable. Within Permatang Pauh, the State Legislative Assembly seats of Penanti, Permatang Pasir and Seberang Jaya are respectively held by Keadilan, PAS and UMNO. In other words, no party has a monopoly over local support. This situation may not gladden the hearts of party partisans. But it needn’t dishearten those who seek to pluralize the political system.

Moreover, the tripartite division of seats at state level suggests that this 69-percent-Malay constituency is barren soil for narrow appeals to ‘Malay unity’, UMNO’s constant refrain since Reformasi was first declared by Anwar in Permatang Pauh in September 1998.

And if a constituency such as Permatang Pauh, with its 31 per cent non-Malay voters, is also poor soil for BN’s ethnic politics, as shown by the March 2008 election, then the gerrymandering that long favoured BN against the stand-alone race-based parties has been undermined.

In short, this small-town constituency has quietly anticipated the shifts in voter attitudes and voting behaviour that now make a two-coalition system feasible.

Rebelliousness
The tenor of the by-election will surely be set by a persisting voter rebelliousness made up of four parts.

First, the 8 March voter defiance of BN remains. Abdullah Badawi’s regime has offered nothing meaningful to assuage non-Malay anger at UMNO, or to reverse Malay disenchantment with Abdullah’s leadership. For their losses in March, BN’s non-Malay-based parties blamed UMNO while large segments of UMNO blamed Abdullah.

Hence, the low or sharply reduced popularity and approval ratings for Abdullah, Najib, and BN in the Merdeka Centre polls of July and according to other less methodical soundings of public opinion. The ratings are indications that the regime has not won back disgruntled voters.

Inflation
Second, there’s the post-election anger at worsening inflation, most starkly represented by the 41 per cent and 100 per cent increases in petroleum and diesel prices respectively in June. By now, public resentment of inflation is part of a deeper loss of confidence in the Abdullah regime’s ability to manage what many fear is impending economic decline.

Indeed, at the Bankers Club Luncheon and Forum of 15 July, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah dismissed Abdullah’s various ‘Corridors’ as ‘stillborn projects’. Tengku Razaleigh described current economic policy as being ‘haphazard, driven by whims and special interest projects rather than by a cohesive design geared to shape areas of distinct national competitive advantage’.

Many voters would remember that Pakatan Rakyat’s New Malaysian Agenda stresses an urgent need for reform precisely to restore national competitive advantage.

The return of the sodomised
Third, there’s the collective disgust at Sodomy II (see ‘Conquering and vulnerable’, Aliran Monthly, 28, 5, 2008). The charges, based on Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s police report of ‘consensual sodomy’ performed by Anwar on him, will be tested in a court of law in September.

But with only 11 per cent of the Merdeka Centre’s surveyed respondents believing Anwar to be culpable, the court of public opinion has resoundingly rejected Sodomy II.

An electorate, and especially the Malay electorate, that painfully remembers Anwar’s 1998 sodomy trial is bound to regard Sodomy II as a politically-directed character assassination to preempt Anwar’s return to Parliament.

Political degeneration
And fourth, there is impatience over Abdullah’s undelivered promises of institutional reform. Politics in the country appears to have been reduced to a charade of allegations and counter-allegations, police reports and counter-reports, and statutory declarations and counter-declarations. Where have these led?

These have not clarified controversies such as the Shaariibuu Altantuya murder, Sodomy II, or the alleged roles of the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General in alleged evidence-fixing during Sodomy I.

These have not allayed suspicions over the disappearances of private investigator, P. Balasubramaniam (who had made two opposed statutory declarations in two days, first linking and then delinking Najib from the Altantuya murder trial) and Hospital Pusrawi’s Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid (whose medical report on Saiful had indicated no sign of sodomy).

Such are the symptoms, to paraphrase Tengku Razaleigh, of ‘a crippling loss of confidence in our key institutions’ when ‘personality dominated politics degenerates’, leading to ‘the destruction of reputations, intrigues, spy scandals, succession plans and whatnot as stratagems to resolve leadership contests’.

Crowd at a ceramah
Against this political background, within and beyond the constituency of Permatang Pauh, Anwar spoke at the Ceramah Perdana Menuju Ke Putrajaya, held in a field at Taman Pauh on Saturday, 9 August.

The large crowd, 15,000 according to one media estimate, was predominantly Malay. The majority sat in orderly fashion on the fenced field. The rest milled about the perimeter of the field.

There were many elderly men and women, mostly dressed in casual kampong attire. There were couples with young children, a few mothers with infants, and a small number of children who were peddling balloons and snacks. A lot of young men sat on or stood by their motorcycles. From the nearby flats, some residents leaned out of their windows.

Along one side of the field were the stalls that regularly add a pasar malam (night market) air to the Pakatan Rakyat rallies. The stalls sold food, drinks, and the Pakatan Rakyat parties’ paraphernalia – stickers, photos of Anwar and Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, DVDs of political speeches and events, and even ‘aic’ (Anwar Ibrahim Club) t-shirts.

The crowd very much recalled the gathering outside Anwar’s house in Cherok To’kun ten years ago when Anwar issued the original Permatang Pauh Declaration to launch Reformasi to a resounding reception (see ‘Wit and Wisdom’, Aliran Monthly, 18, 9, October 1998).

The world watches us
Several speakers spoke before Anwar, namely Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, Mohd Fariz Musa, Khairil Anuar Ahmad Zainudin, Tan Seng Toh and S. Kesavan, all leaders of Keadilan’s Angkatan Muda; Nga Kor Ming from Democratic Action Party; and Salahuddin Ayub from PAS.

Their presence and speeches underscored three points. Keadilan, itself a ‘youthful’ party, would heavily mobilize young voters who have always been drawn to Anwar’s charisma. All Pakatan Rakyat was united in defence of Anwar against Sodomy II and would spare no effort to secure his victory. And not just Malaysia but the world would be watching Permatang Pauh on 26 August.

New days
Then spoke Anwar.


It was 11 pm, not the time of night for shouting oneself hoarse. It was August 2008, not the time in Anwar’s career for demonstrating the desperate defiance of September 1998 when his days of freedom were numbered.

True, his days of freedom could be numbered again if, he said, a ‘correct, correct, correct’ judge presided over the Sodomy II trial. But now was a time to rally and reassure, and Anwar always did that with unmatched eloquence.

His tone was measured, his approach relaxed and comradely. The crowd was not a sea of anonymous voters, curious onlookers and itinerant stallholders. He addressed them as friends and neighbours which many of them were. Now he raised the pressing economic problems they faced; now he jested about the attempts on his reputation, derisively mimicking some of his detractors. On two occasions, he playfully broke into a few lines of song.

Son, not traitor
After all, this was Permatang Pauh, and he its favourite son. He wasn’t ever a sodomite; not then, not now. To charge him so was a conspiracy then and now.

He was no traitor to the Malays. Since his University of Malaya days he’d struggled for their interests. He was no one’s tool. But as Pakatan Rakyat leader he would be the instrument for uplifting all Malaysians. Before a crowd that was 90 per cent Malay, he didn’t hesitate. No more ketuanan Melayu: that was the slogan of corruption and cronyism.

He quoted Ibn Khaldun as if the Muqadimmah was meat and drink to his audience. Surprisingly, he also drew on Arnold Toynbee and Edward Gibbons to make a point about the rise and fall of civilizations and empires.

Anwar’s point was one that Mahathir had repeatedly taught: we have been sliding and sliding and we must catch up. But whereas Mahathir agonized over the decline of the Malays, Anwar was indignant about the decline of Malaysia.

The old doctor’s prescription was knowledge, work, discipline, and the New Economic Policy. His former ‘anointed’ successor’s solution was terse: Change the government!

Return to Permatang Pauh
Thus Anwar emphasized that his agenda was not personal. Permatang Pauh’s mission, come 26 August, was more than returning him to Parliament. This small-town constituency had to make a national choice. ‘If you want a small petrol price reduction, vote BN,’ he said. ‘But if you want real improvement to your lives, vote for a Pakatan Rakyat government.’

Barring massive electoral fraud, a qualification that even some observers indifferent to his fate have found it necessary to make in cyberspace, Anwar is one by-election and two weeks short of returning to Parliament. When he does, he’d be the Opposition Leader of a second coalition.

After that people would want to know if he’d really form a new Federal government in mid-September as he has declared, promised, or threatened.

But about that, don’t ask me, I wish I knew. Don’t ask Anwar either; he might just quote Hamlet to you.

Ask the Permatang Pauh voters: they may have something to do with it.

Aliran

Permatang Pauh Election

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Permatang Pauh Election

The convoy of cars and SUVs which accompanied Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail left his residence at Cherok Tok Kun, not far from Bukit Mertajam at 8.00 am sharp for the nomination center at the Tuanku Bainun Teachers College in Seberang Jaya.



By the time we arrived at the place 30 minites later, it was jam packed since very early morning with some 120,000 people from all walks of life, who have come from various parts of Malaysia as far as Sabah and Sarawak, to witness the official start of the by-election for the Parliamentary constituency of Permatang Pauh.

More than 95 per cent of those who braved the intense heat of the sun were KeADILan/Pakatan Rakyat supporters. They were energised by the sounds and beat of drums and percussion instruments of Indian and Chinese community and inspired by the winds of change which Anwar represents.

The UMNO-Barisan supporters were overwhelmed by the strong presence of “Anwar’s people”, a clear sign that public support for the ruling government was at an all time low. They were jeered by the crowd. The Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was not spared as the crowd greeted him with shouts of “pembunuh”(murderer) and “Altantuya!, Altantuya!”. Shahrizat “Jihad” Abdul Jalil, Mukhriz Tun Mahathir and UMNO Treasurer Azim Zabidi, among other BN and UMNO leaders, too received uncomplimentary remarks from the crowd.


Pakatan Rakyat leaders Tok Guru Nik Aziz, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, MB Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of Penang , however, were warmly greated by the crowd. Special cheers were given to hometown favorite, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his car entered the compound of the Teachers’ College.

Bloggers like Raja Petra and his wife Marina Abdullah, Sam Haris Ibrahim, Benard Khoo and members of Kuala Lumpur based civil society groups were present. They mingled in the crowd. The bulky and formidable Bala, a keen supporter of Nurul Izzah Anwar, our dynamic Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, was seen among a group of Makal Sakti/Hindraf supporters. Overall, it was a spectacle unseen before in the history of Malaysian elections.

To the credit of all concerned, especially the Officers and men of our Royal Malaysian Police and Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and marshalls of PKR and Pakatan Raykat, the crowd was orderly and well disciplined.


There is no doubt in my mind that this by-elections would be for the Pakatan Rakyat to lose. But given the Pakatan election machinery, PKR grassroots organisation in Permatang Pauh, and election strategists led by Party Vice President Azmin Ali which went into full gear following Datuk Seri Wan Azizah’s resignation in late July to make way for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the outcome may be a foregone conclusion, that is, Dato Seri Anwar will be in Parliament on August 27.

That said, PKR party officials led by Vice President Azmin Ali and Penang Liaison Chief Dato Zahrain Mohammed Hashim, the Pakatan Rakyat election oganisation and their workers and volunteers were not taking anything for granted, given the clearly demonstrated capacity of UMNO-Barisan Nasional political machine and official agencies of the government to cheat and bribe voters and use dirty politics.

When the formalities were completed at noon, the returning officer announced that there would be a three-corned fight (see the Malaysiakini report). Ten minutes later, the rain came down.–Din Merican