2018 - Malaysia will soon have its General Elections...State Elections and also Federal Elections...Remember that any State can dissolve the State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri) and call for General Elections of the State - no need to wait for Najib to call for Parliamentary elections... So when is the Opposition States, i.e. Lim Guan Eng(Penang), Azmin(Selangor) and Kelantan going to call for General Elections ...
It is always good to have separate General Election for Parliament, and the States. Now, only Sarawak haves elections at a different time...
PRIME MINISTER after General Elections - it is most sad that some of the Opposition parties are focused too much on naming who their Prime Ministerial candidate will be?
Who are the candidates that some of the Opposition are proposing?
ANWAR IBRAHIM - well, let's not forget that he was in UMNO-BN - and he was Deputy Prime Minister...until he was ousted from UMNO... Then, he suddenly is 'Opposition'... and became 'Opposition Leader'... and wanting still to be Prime Minister [Remember, when Tengku Razaleigh was out of UMNO, he too was elevated to be 'Opposition Leader'... but then later, Opposition Semangat 46 ...just went back and joined UMNO-BN]
Anwar Ibrahim chose to form a new political party rather than join then existing Opposition political parties like DAP and/or PAS - Well, the good thing about PKR is that it is a multi-racial multi-religious political party ...a Malaysian party? [Remember DAP and GERAKAN are also multi-racial multi-religious political parties ...but sadly not many Malays joined the party...or emerged as top leaders in those parties]
Anwar, of course, has been convicted of a crime - and, of course, some say that he was a victim of the State...and that he really is 'innocent'... well, that may be true, as there may be many innocent people languishing in prison convicted of crimes because of 'miscarriage of justice' ...brought about for various reasons...but then Anwar nor his party seem to have not been raising such issues...only about the injustice faced by Anwar. Unlike Uthayakumar, Anwar, who has spend years in Malaysian prison has not been seen lobbying much for prisoner rights, better prison conditions (I wonder why????)
MAHATHIR - well, he was the UMNO-BN Prime Minister for about 20 years ...and he weakened the Malaysian Judiciary(1988 Judicial Crisis), used Detention Without Trial Laws(Operation Lallang), made more draconian laws that suppressed our freedoms...Anwar was his Deputy Prime Minister until he was ousted.
Another person looking to be Prime Minister may be Muhyiddin - yet another UMNO-BN Deputy Prime Minister...
So, looks like the options Malaysia have is an UMNO-BN Prime Minister or an EX-UMNO-BN Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister...
TODAY - Most Malaysians seem to have just had enough with the UMNO-BN government - and want an alternative government made up of the Opposition parties or Opposition party...It is time...and changes in government is always a GOOD thing for the people of Malaysia. We may give it to an Opposition coalition in 2018, but if they do not perform well, then we may just give it back come next elections to an UMNO-led coalition of parties...Such will be good, as all parties will then become focused in doing the needful to make us Malaysians happy...
Personally, I would prefer a NEW person, with no UMNO-BN past to become Prime Minister ...someone that will have the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament....
Personally, I would prefer the Opposition party leaders like Mahathir, Anwar, Muhyiddin, Lim Kit Siang, Hadi Awang, Mukriz ...to not be Prime Minister or Menteri Besar - but be an important 'Check and Balance' to whosoever is chosen as PM/MB or Chief Minister...They can also be 'advisors'...
*** With Mahathir's new party, and even some in PKR - there is always a little worry that if the UMNO-BN lose in the upcoming General Elections - some(or all) from these parties(or party) will just 'jump' back to UMNO-BN...allowing again for UMNO-BN to continue to govern...Najib may be gone but it may still end up an UMNO-BN government ...???
It was interesting to see PKR's 3 conditions for Mahathir to be 'interim' PM if Opposition wins..
...the first condition is that de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim is immediately released from jail and installed as the prime minister within a year of the opposition coming into power.“The second condition is that PKR be allocated the most federal seats to contest in GE14. PKR wants around 60 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.
Comments:-“The third condition is for Dr Mahathir to agree to reform key institutions in the country,"...
1 - Well, PKR inadvertently wants to undermine the Federal Constitution which states that the Prime Minister will be the MP that enjoys the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament - so very wrong for a political party to take away the power of MPs, and try to shift it into the hands of political parties???
2 - The desire of PKR to try to get the most seats ...well, does even PKR have the support of the people? In all elections, the Opposition has contested as a 'pact' - so irrespective of which party the candidate of the Opposition came from, the people who voted for the candidate voted for the 'Opposition' - not the political party - so, if the PKR candidate won, it does not translate as support for PKR. The idea of claiming a seat as a seat of a particular political party is baseless... Has PKR ever called for a mass gathering of people to indicate support for PKR - No, it has not and that tells us it too is not confident as to the number of people that will support PKR?? Anwar Ibrahim...may have had some support immediately after he was ousted...but then the REFORMASI movement was not solely about Anwar but about a range of people's dissatisfaction with the then UMNO-BN government. After Anwar's release, when he went around, a lot of people turned up...but the 2nd time he went around ...there was little support...when he came to Mentakab in his 'tour bus', only about 150 turned up. PKR membership - is it increasing? Media seems to believe that some people are 'prominent' or with a lot of support from the people - but alas, the people may not really support them???
3 - In my opinion, support for the Opposition still rests with the DAP, PAS and maybe even Amanah(the break away PAS party)...and the reason for this is their consistent sacrifice and commitment in fighting for justice irrespective of the fact they had little to gain in terms of power of governance for many years. Not the same to be said for the Opposition parties formed by the 'leaders' of UMNO that were ousted from(or left) UMNO...
4 - The 3rd condition - 'reform key institutions' is unclear...but looking at Opposition governed States of Selangor and Penang - what were the reform of key institutions that happened? Despite having the majority sufficient to amend the Selangor Constitution to enable an ADUN who enjoys the support of the majority of ADUNs to be Menteri Besar irrespective of ethnicity or religion, the Opposition failed to amend the Constitution to be in line with the correct democratic principles in our Federal Constitution?? What about even having more democratic kampung/taman elections...So, what reforms is PKR talking about?
FOCUS on what will be done if the Opposition wins in the next General Elections...
- Will all Detention Without Trial laws(POCA, POTA, DD(SPM)A) be immediately abolished within 100 days?
- Will the SOSMA be abolished?
- Will the Sedition Act be abolished?
- Will the laws preventing Local Council Elections immediately be repealed/amended within 100 days, and Local Council Elections will be held within 200 days?
- Will there be immediate elections at kampungs, kampung barus, kampung orang asli, tamans, etc within 200 days, and the government will thereafter liase and deal with only democratically elected leaders with regard to policy and development affecting their areas...hence, the JKKKK and such institutions will all be abolished...
- Will there be a law that allocates 10-20% of income taxes of individuals/corporations back to the respective State governments that will be used for development and/or the good of the people of the State? Now, State governments have too little 'monies' - as most monies collected as taxes/duties/fees flow to the Federal Government, and even the Local Government(Local Council) has more...
- Will the State government and the Local Government be given greater autonomy and power...During the UMNO-BN rule, slowly a lot of power and control has flowed from State and Local government to the Federal Government ...and this also includes garbage collection, and the cutting of grass on road sides,...
- Will there be transparency of all agreements like the TOL agreements? Are the toll agreements just to pay for the cost of maintenance - if yes, then toll rates must compensate the real cost of maintenance and upkeep of these highways? Or maybe toll should be abolished...PLUS tells us that the annual cost of maintenance is RM1 billion per year...is that real cost? Or does it include the high wages to CEOs, Directors and senior officers? I wonder what is the annual cost of maintenance of all other roads in Malaysia- other than the toll highways, which UMNO-BN seems to be slacking in ...given the current conditions of many of the roads, whereby even the road white lines have long been re-painted?? Remember, when the toll highways came into being, the UMNO-BN government also did say (if I am not wrong), that they will upgrade and maintain all non-toll highways?
- What about train service - now there is just one train service per day from Tumpat to JB and back... At one time there were at least 2 services(or was it 3, the third being an Express which did not stop at all stations), and also the commuter services. The train services were disrupted because of damage following the 2014 floods...but how long does it take to restore these train srvices. When you discontinue train services for long, people resort to alternate forms of transportation... Remember, this is Peninsular Malaysia and it affects the states of Kelantan, Pahang, Johor...Can't UMNO-BN and KTMB not handle the job of providing dependable public transport for the lower incomed group. UMNO-BN focussed to much monies on KL and Klang Valley, and forgot about even the rest of Peninsular Malaysia...town bus services are absent...many bus companies have stopped certain routes...
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OPPOSITION - Ideally the Opposition should try to bring together more Opposition parties...Pakatan Rakyat was only 3 - PKR, DAP and PAS...and now, Pakatan Harapan - PKR, Bersatu, DAP and Amanah... What about bringing in the other Opposition parties like PRM, PSM, Parti Warisan Sabah and the other Opposition parties in Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsular Malaysia...many of which have a long history of being for a change and the ousting of the UMNO-BN for a very long time...
All Opposition parties need to try to work together ...including PAS...Competition between Opposition parties only risk the possibility of UMNO-BN winning...
The coming together of the Opposition parties could be formal coalition or just an electoral pact. Pakatan Harapan and PAS should stop attacking one another and focus on getting in a NEW government that is NOT UMNO-BN - a different government for all Malaysians...We need to try to experience a different government ...but one which will bring about significant changes in law and policy...especially those that need serious changes..
PKR sets 3 conditions to make Dr Mahathir interim prime minister
It is not yet certain if Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr
Mahathir Mohamad will reprise his role as the prime minister should the
opposition win enough seats in the next election to form the government.
– The Malaysian Insight file pic, December 28, 2017.
According to a party insider who attended the party’s political bureau meeting on December 19, the first condition is that de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim is immediately released from jail and installed as the prime minister within a year of the opposition coming into power.
“The second condition is that PKR be allocated the most federal seats to contest in GE14. PKR wants around 60 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.
“The third condition is for Dr Mahathir to agree to reform key institutions in the country," said the source.
During a two-day PH retreat on December 1, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu had agreed to Dr Mahathir and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in being the interim prime minister and deputy prime minister, respectively, if Putrajaya is won.
However, the full consensus has been delayed by PKR, who had wished to discuss the proposal internally before coming to a decision.
Another party source familiar with last week's PKR meeting said the three conditions would be put to Dr Mahathir, who would have to sign a contract if he agreed.
“We want Dr Mahathir to promise that he will only be a temporary prime minister and that he will hand the office over to Anwar when the time is right.
“PKR wants the most seats because it fears that many Umno leaders will flock to join Bersatu after GE14, making it the strongest party in PH,” said the source.
He said PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was tasked with bearing the proposal to Dr Mahathir.
“Besides Dr Mahahtir, Saifuddin has to meet PH leaders Lim Kit Siang and Mohamad Sabu to convince them to accept these conditions,” said the source.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said on Wednesday that there was no need for PH to name its interim prime minister now.
She said that PH should instead focus on winning GE14 and carrying out reforms.
Political analysts believe that naming Dr Mahathir as the opposition prime minister was a good strategy to win over rural Malays, who are predominantly pro- Umno.
"If the pact is solely to win rural Malay votes, it might just work," said James Chin, executive director at Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania.
"Naming Dr Mahathir is a smart move as they are telling the Umno Malay voters that if you vote PH, you get the original Umno, not Najib's Umno," Chin said.
Although the opposition managed to win 52% of the popular vote and the lion’s share of the non-Malay vote, it could not win Putrajaya without the support of rural Malays.
In this respect, said Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, Dr Mahathir was a stronger draw than Anwar.
He said that since Dr Mahathir came on board, the coalition had been better organised and structured.
This is not the first time that PKR has delayed proceedings in PH.
The PH presidential council lineup selection was delayed for more than two months because of PKR’s opposition to Dr Mahathir as the PH chairman. – December 28, 2017.
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