Who Is The Prime Minister ?

Hantu Laut

It's different time and different ball game.Former Premier Tun Mahathir should not equate his time with what is happening now.The political landscape has changed.The people dread the long wearying journey under his autocratic regime and are not looking forward to a rendition of it. It may have worked well with his style of leadership then but things have changed, the people have come out of the coconut shell.The kataks are now smarter and liberated.

During his time the opposition was weak, disorganised and in disarray and he was in full control of the politics of the nation making it difficult for the oppositions to make major breakthrough in general elections, let alone in any by-elections. His government won almost all by-elections. A walk in the park.

After having ravaged Abdullah's reputation and successfully ousted him from office many would have thought this grand old man would stop active involvement in politics and leave Najib alone.It appears that Mahathir is not about to give up politics and Najib may be in for a long rough ride and if he is not careful may be weaken by the very same man.He had already criticise some of Najib's choices in the cabinet and termed them unsavoury characters.

Mahathir insisted Najib must allow the BN to contest the Penanti by-election after the prime minister said the BN may not contest the by-election.Mahathir is prepared to lead the campaign in this Anwar's stronghold. Previous elections had shown that the BN is not exactly popular in the areas.

Below are the results of the last two general elections:

PRU - 11
N12: PENANTI: 14,808
1. Anuar Shaari (Keadilan) 5,528
2. Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid (BN-UMNO) 6,195
Majoriti: 667
Jumlah Mengundi: 11,915
Peratus Mengundi: 80.5
Rosak: 192

PRU - 12
N12: PENANTI:15,421
1. MOHAMMAD FAIRUS KHAIRUDDIN 7,346
2. Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid (BN-UMNO) 5,127
Majoriti : 2,219
Jumlah Mengundi :12,657
Peratus Mengundi :82
Rosak :184

Even in 2004, at the height of Abdullah's popularity and a landslide victory for the BN, the BN/UMNO candidate Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid didn't performed that well, getting only majority of 667 votes.

Mahathir might have meant well for Najib and UMNO but the situation have not changed after Abdullah left the scene.The rancor against UMNO and the BN have not subsided in Pakatan controlled areas. It's still in favour of Anwar and Pakatan. Putting an UMNO candidate would be like sending a cow to the abattoir to be slaughtered.

As Prime Minister, Najib should stand by his decision.

Now that Mahathir has made some noises, the whole nation is watching which direction is Najib moving to.

Protester Killed By Police

Hantu Laut

Police brutality and violent handling of protesters is not only happening in Malaysia.In the US and UK cases of police brutality are on the rise with some resulting in death.The difference is, in Malaysia, it can become a hot political issue taken up by the oppositions to discredit the government.In the West it stays as police case investigation by the police or an independent body if the government deemed so.

Read the story below:

From The Times

April 18, 2009

Beaten G20 man Ian Tomlinson ‘died of internal bleeding’

Sean O’Neill and Adam Fresco

The masked policeman caught on film hitting and pushing a man who later died at the G20 protests has been questioned on suspicion of manslaughter.

The Metropolitan Police officer was interviewed under caution earlier this week after a second post-mortem examination concluded that Ian Tomlinson died of severe internal bleeding — contradicting an earlier finding that he had had a heart attack.

Video footage and photographs showed Mr Tomlinson, who was not a protester, being harassed by police dogs, struck by a masked officer and shoved to the ground minutes before he collapsed and died on April 1.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating his death, said: “Following the initial result of the second post-mortem a Metropolitan Police officer has been interviewed under caution for the offence of manslaughter.” The officer, a constable in the Territorial Support Group who has been suspended from duty, attended the interview voluntarily and has not been arrested.Read more.....

Fairus Pakatan's Sacrifical Lamb ?

Hantu Laut

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was right when he said there was no need for a by-election for the Penanti state seat. Less than a year after the last general elections the nation had seen 5 by-elections.All won by Pakatan except Batang Ai in Sarawak. Maybe, Sabahans and Sarawakians were better campaigners than their counterparts in the Peninsula.

It is not the money spent on these by-elections that matters.It is the diversion that Anwar planned to eventually break down the BN as they will spend more time defending themselves rather than governing the nation.

The resignation of Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin was forced by Anwar Ibrahim to further his psychological war against the BN. Fairus has not been charged for corruption yet Anwar sees it fits to force him to resign.The statute 'that one is innocent until proven guilty' is not in his lexicon because he has other more important political agenda. Fairus was the ultimate sacrificial lamb. Was the letter of resignation signed recently or was it signed before the March 2008 General Elections?

To maintain his popularity with the people Anwar needs to call for by-election every now and than to remind the people that Pakatan Rakyat is a force to be reckoned with and to re-assure himself that the people are still supporting him and PR. His alter ego necessitates him to take this course of action to keep the momentum of Pakatan popularity going and the road to Putrajaya on track.It is also his ways of keeping the coalition cohesive and intact until the next general elections.

Was it a question of integrity or mere hyperbolic rhetoric to capture the imagination of his supporters that PKR and Pakatan are the people's choice of a clean government? Was Anwar squeaky clean when he was in UMNO ? A question not many of PR supporters would want to know or care about. To them Anwar is infallible and of unquestionable integrity and all of BN leaders are corrupted and rotten to the core.A browse through Malaysian blogosphere would show how impressively loyal, to a fault, the majority of Pakatan supporters were to the Anwar's cause.A gullible lot may not be a far off remark and Pakatan will continue to win by-elections in Pakatan stronghold and denigrate the BN to the gutter by the support of this maddening lot.

Cleaning up the mess will not be easy for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak unless he has some magic formula.

For a start, as envisaged by Najib, the BN should not contest the Penanti by-election or for that matter any by-election that came from Pakatan stronghold.It should only concentrate to defend those that came from its own constituency.The loss of Kuala Trengganu should not be repeated elsewhere.

It's high time the BN stop giving undue attention to Pakatan and concentrates in regaining its credibility and tackle the economic crisis.

We Are In A Haze! No Rhetoric And Histrionics Please.

Hantu Laut

Is 1 Malaysia going to be like 'Islam Hadari', an oracular slogan , widely misunderstood and nobody knows exactly what it is. The Prime Minister denied it is the same as Malaysian Malaysia promoted by Lee Kuan Yew when Singapore was still in Malaysia.What is it than ?

A slogan without substantive information and without the seriousness and sincerity to implement would end up making the people more weary and distrustful of the government.

With Mahathir we had 'Bersih Cekap Dan Amanah', a complete misnomer because corruptions actually grew under his administration as compared to previous administrations. Under Abdullah we have 'Islam Hadari' every one knows the name but doesn't know what it is and was never implemented other than staying on the lips of the progenitor. Now, under Najib we have '1 Malaysia', a catchy slogan but still a complete mystery to most Malaysians.

Rhetoric and histrionics bespeak the kind of politicians we have on both sides of the political fence.Mere voluble without any element of substance. Political gimmickry at best.Malaysians are more interested in how government actions can translate into benefits for them. Slogans are useless if they don't materialise into actions.

Najib has only three years to bring about drastic change to the government poor image.Recent racialist outbursts by those aligned to the ruling party are not doing him any good and may spoil his attempt to narrow the bridge among the races.He must fully explain his 1 Malaysia concept and how the various races can benefit from it.

The people have had enough of slogans, political bumbling and empty promises.It's time to give the realm of practicality, honesty and reality to the people.Action speaks louder than words.

Najib's government must make certain sacrifices if he seriously want to bring the people back to its fold.