The Saga Continues

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The war of words between Joseph Kurup and Joseph Pairin continues with Kurup throwing a challange to Pairin to an open debate.

Being the first one to write about the possibility of BN losing the Pensiangan seat if Kurup is nominated to stand in that constituency, I hope I wasn't the one that trigger off this personal animosity between the two.

KURUP DARES PAIRIN TO DEBATE

23rd January, 2009

KOTA KINABALU: PBRS president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup has challenged his Barisan Nasional (BN) colleague Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan to an open debate over the candidacy for the much-anticipated Pensiangan by-election.

Kurup who is the Deputy Minister of Rural Development urged Pairin who is the PBS president not to hide behind his secretary-general Datuk Radin Malleh and to face him as a gentleman.

“I would like to meet Datuk Pairin face to face to debate on his recent statement on the candidacy in Pensiangan and the implications of that statement as well as what I said about his performance as a two-term Pensiangan MP and his “colourful and well documented history with BN,” he said here yesterday.

He was responding to a statement issued by Radin on Wednesday questioning him (Kurup) on his chances of winning the Pensiangan seat, if and when a by-election was called.

Radin especially reminded Kurup that the Pensiangan seat was never won by PBRS in the real sense of the word but was given a ‘free ride’ in the spirit of the BN.

Radin was responding to Kurup’s attack on Pairin for ruling him out as the automatic choice of candidate for the by-election.

And he even quipped that Kurup himself was the one who did not know how to read the political situation and local sentiments in Pensiangan which indicated that the voters wanted a local Murut to be the candidate.

Kurup, according to Radin, should rule himself out of the running since he was neither a local of the area nor a Murut and he had lost before not only there but in other seats as well.

Taking Kurup to task for questioning Pairin over his record of public service and ridiculing him in the media, Radin pointed out that Kurup had failed the people wherever he represented them and that it was evident from the talk on the ground.

He cited for example when Kurup was the state assemblyman for Sook from 1985 to 1999 and again from 2004 to 2008 but failed to deliver his promises. In addition, he also held the post of state Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister during that period and now a federal Deputy Minister for Rural and Regional Development.

He thus advised Kurup to think of the people of Pensiangan and not just of himself.

“Kurup should do some soul-searching for the sake of the people in Pensiangan as well as the fate of the BN,” said Radin.

Kurup was offended by Pairin’s remarks and retaliated by hitting him with remarks which did not go down well with PBS and state BN leaders.

“As much as I would not like to say anything, I am compelled to do so in response to Pairin’s interference in this well-prepared machinery when he raised the question of the candidate for Pensiangan,” said Kurup. Read more.....

The Three Monkeys:Will BN Lose Again ?

Hantu Laut

In my previous two articles I mentioned that Joseph Kurup of PBRS/BN lost his uncontested MP seat of Pensiangan, nullified by the court in an election petition brought against him and that the BN would lose the seat if he is fielded again.

The election petition was brought against him by PKR's candidate Danny Anthony Andipai .It was found that the returning officer had acted unfairly towards Kurup's opponent by rejecting his papers when Kurup objected during objection time, quoting late submission of the papers as the reason for rejection.The judge ruled that the rejection was wrong and nullified the Pensiangan parliamentary seat.

Kurup was the Assemblyman for Sook from 1985 to 2008 except for the period 1999 to 2004 and had been Minister,Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister under both the PBS government and later under his own party PBRS/a component of the BN.

The Pensiangan parliamentary seat was previously held by Bernard Maraat also of PBRS who won the seat on a thin majority of 608 against Matin Tomy, an independent candidate.In the March 2008 General Elections, in fear of losing the seat and thinking it would be safer to move to other constituency Kurup abandoned his state seat of Sook and moved to Pensiangan.He booted out his colleague the incumbent Bernard Maraat and as President of the party refused to let him contest the seat.He took it for himself.

Kurup together with Bernard Dompok and Yong Teck Lee abandoned PBS soon after the 1994 state elections to form their own respective party and joined the BN to topple the PBS government.The plot was engineered by Anwar Ibrahim and assisted by the trio.

Yong had shown his true colour and had left the BN using the weak leadership of Badawi as the excuse and his love for Sabah as the reason.He misread the situation, thinking Anwar would be successful in taking over the government then.Dompok is rumbling all the times about how much he loves Sabah and wanted the best for Sabahans and objected to Petronas gas terminal and Pak Lah lack of concern for Sabah.He was given the reclamation work for the project.See, sometimes, threat does pay off. Kurup would surely abandon the BN if he is not chosen to stand in Pensiangan and good chance BN will succumb to his threat and let him contest Pensiangan.

One must admire this minute platform shoe-man, he has managed to stay in politics all this while.Pensiangan could be his death throes.

Following my comment of no place for Kurup in Pensiangan in the by-election, others have came out to express similar apprehension.Joseph Pairin has his doubt about Kurup here.Today, PBS Secretary-General Radin Malleh cautioned Kurup against his overconfidence of winning Pensiangan.He requests Kurup to do some soul searching here.

With Kurup the BN would surely lose.With a more acceptable candidate the BN would have a better chance of a close fight.

Najib's Version Of Failure.

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PM- designate and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has admitted that the loss of the Kuala Terengganu by-election was due to negative image of the party and perception that its leaders were unfriendly.

I believe that's not all the reasons. The people were unhappy and fed up with multitude of other sins.Being unfriendly was not the main reason, it might be one of them, but it was the years of corruptions, mismanagement of the nation's finances and abuses of power that had driven the people away from UMNO and the BN.

It is also hardly a secret that most UMNO leaders flaunt their wealth and allow their spouses and children to openly display their extravagantly opulent lifestyle to the dismay of the masses.The people perceived that corruptions, rent-seeking and abuses of power were the sources of these wealth and considered them as ill-gotten.No one, no matter how smart he is, can become rich effortlessly and in such a short period.

Wealth can only come two ways, stolen or earned, and the gathering of wealth is a laborious and lengthy process, which needs toil, determination and preservation.Those who become rich quickly without sweat and tears think they are smart, they are not, they are the human leeches of society.That's exactly what happening to UMNO and the BN, the people were so disillusioned with their lack of moral standing and failure to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities and accountability many consider them as parasites. True or not, these are the perceptions that people have.

In most instances only businessmen can become wealthy, how some politicians not doing any business can be wealthy is beyond my comprehension.Some have become instant millionaires living in huge mansions and own stable of posh cars.Even those in the middle and lower echelons of the party had become so rich they can afford to buy numerous properties not only in the country but overseas, mostly in Australia and the UK.Whether it was by device or divine intervention such luck are not for every mortal.Only those who joined the party and endearing to those in power can have this kind of bestowed windfall.

Being seen as unfriendly is just a minor setback , the bigger reason for the people's rejection of UMNO were corruptions and abuses of power.The sooner Najib realises this the better it would be for the party and it surprises me that he didn't bring this up as part of the reasons.

They may not like to hear this but if UMNO wanted to survive the next general elections, the stealing must stop.

It wouldn't hurt to show a little humility.

Kuala Terengganu:A Harbinger Of Doom ?

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Was Kuala Terengganu the beginning of the end for UMNO? The merchants of doom think so.Unless UMNO can salvage its broken image within the next four years, biting the dust, might not be far-fetched.It is not the BN (Barisan National) that is the problem, it is UMNO.

The other components in the BN were accidental victims and paid for the sins of UMNO in the last elections.The Chinese and Indian components, MCA, MIC and Gerakan were the early casualties of the people's anger.Gerakan was decimated and lost the state of Penang to opposition DAP.All in all, the BN lost five states to the rickety oppositions coalition.UMNO would have lost the central government if not for Sabah and Sarawak, which were untouched by the people's fury.With such disastrous results one would have thought the party would have changed direction and take immediate action to repair its badly broken image.

After less than a year from its worst showing in an elections, UMNO lost two by-elections to the oppositions coalition.The results showed a marked increase in the popularity of the oppositions.Permatang Pauh was a foregone conclusion.It was an uphill battle for UMNO against the charismatic and popular Anwar Ibrahim in his home turf.The loss of Permatang Pauh was expected.

Kuala Terengganu was different, there were no giant contender to reckon with, UMNO has the edge to win this one but they screwed it up big time.Firstly, the choice of candidate was wrong. The PM chose someone who was 'his man' reputedly arrogant, aloof and disconnected with the ground. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad and other bloggers who are familiar with UMNO politics had sent warning signals to PM Badawi that his choice of candidate may not be the best one around.Of course, as PM he has the prerogative to choose whoever he likes.

Sometimes, when your party popularity is at its lowest ebb fielding the right candidate can turn the table in your favour.He chose to ignore it.

UMNO have lost its lustre and ceased to capture the imagination of the masses.The leaders have ran out of ideas and unable to respond to the call for change.The have misconceived idea that the Malays owe them a living and must vote for them.

The Malays in the street know their lives will not make drastic change for the better if they continue to vote for UMNO.Keeping these leaders in office would mean continuation of a corrupt regime and a nation run by the oligarchy who treated the country as their own private fiefdom.They are so used to swimming in political patronage or pork-barrel politics that the only politics they knew is money, offering money, projects and other sweeteners to the people during elections time and would repeat the same things in every elections.In Sabah, where money politics first started, the offer could be anything from cash handouts to zinc roofing materials, water tanks and sealing of roads to the kampongs.

This is a government of political patronage and crony capitalism.Instead of success being determined by a free market and the rule of law, the success of a business is dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it by the ruling government.Almost all big government projects were given out on this basis and with ridiculously high inflated price to take care of the wang pelinciran (lubricating money).Those who court politicians are the most likely to get such projects even if there were no merits to award such huge project to them or their companies. These hangers-on are prepared to travel the length and breadth of the globe to be close to their favorite politicians.That's way we have abandoned projects,cracked and leaky buildings,cracked highways and other shames that should not have occurred if there were probity and accountability in the first place.

Kuala Terengganu should be the loudest wake-up call for UMNO.If it can lose so miserably in a predominantly Malay areas what chance has it and the BN got in those areas in Sabah and Sarawak in the next general elections.If the Malays in 'Tanah Melayu' have rejected them for PAS and Pakatan Rakyat, the road to recovery may be slow and painful, unless they can come up with a quick-fix formula to bring the Malays back to the fold or a formula to break up the Pakatan coalition before the next general elections.Still, some 30,000 voted for them which means all is not lost yet.

The next likely by-election would be Pensiangan in Sabah where BN/PBRS candidate Joseph Kurup was disqualified by the court for dubious means of depriving other candidates from contesting the elections.He was returned unopposed.The BN chance of winning the by-election would be dependent on the choice of candidate and Kurup should not be one of them.He has lost credibility with the people of Pensiangan hence the obviously dubious means used to stand unopposed.Putting Kurup would literally be bidding goodbye to the seat and give the opposition one more seat nearer to Putrajaya.There is 50/50 chance BN might lose the seat even with another candidate but at least it has a fighting chance. With Kurup the defeat would be sure.

The Chief Minister of Sarawak Taib Mahmud took exception to saying that Kuala Terengganu is a harbinger to the fall of his government in the state elections in Sarawak due in 2011.What happened in KT will certainly have a bearing in Sarawak, mainly in predominantly Dayak and Chinese areas. Whether Pakatan can take over the state government is too early to say, but they would certainly make some inroads into state politics if they can stay intact until then.

We have to wait until after March after Abdullah hands over the helm to Najib to see whether there would be change of direction and repentance by UMNO leaders to regain the trust and confidence of the masses.But if pigs might fly than the harbinger of doom may come to haunt them down the 'Road to Perdition'

I would say it is still the best form of coalition government if they can clean up the corruptions, the arrogance,self-seeking attitude and the abominable gravy train they called the NEP.