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Therefore, the Pengarah Pilihanraya’s head has to be the first head that rolls, followed by the head of the Umno Youth Leader, and then if Umno is still thirsty for blood they can go for the head of the Prime Minister.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Anwar may not be Malaysia's political messiah
Helen Ting, April 15, 2008
With the expiry of a five-year ban, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today regains his freedom to contest a Malaysian general election and internal party election.
Anwar's political comeback is as stunning as his spectacular fall from power following his 1998 fallout with then boss, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir.
The general elections, in which the ruling National Front lost its two-thirds majority in federal parliament and in which the Opposition won control of five state assemblies, have been described as a 'political tsunami'.
For the first time ever, Anwar's multiracial party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, or the People's Justice Party) won more parliamentary seats than any other opposition party. As a result, Dr Wan Azizah, Anwar's wife, who was also re-elected, has become the Opposition leader.
Commentators have interpreted the results as an endorsement of PKR's electoral pledge to replace decades-old race-based affirmative action with needs-based assistance programs. They argue that racial politics and the battle cry of Malay hegemony have finally been superseded.
'The people have voted decisively for a new era where the government must be truly inclusive and recognise that all Malaysians, regardless of race, culture or religion are a nation of one,' an elated Anwar declared the night the electoral results were known.
The darling of the foreign press, the charismatic and capable Anwar generally receives positive and enthusiastic coverage. Widely seen as the uncontested Prime-Minister-to-be should the opposition gain control of the Parliament, many Malaysians are ready to give Anwar another chance.
But many others harbour lingering doubts. One key concern arises from uncertainty over the extent of Anwar's commitment to multiculturalism.
Until the late 1980s, the conversion of a Muslim to another religion could be validated by making a statutory declaration to that effect. More recently, state registrars have refused to recognise such conversions unless validated by the Syariah courts. Recent cases have shown the Syariah Courts are reluctant or refuse to do their job. A Malay convert to Catholicism, Lina Joy, contested this requirement in the civil courts in order to have the religious status recorded on her identity card rectified without going through the Syariah courts.
Lina lost her case and, while this came as a disappointment to those who are already alarmed by the continuing erosion of the role of the civil courts as the guarantor of constitutional rights including religious freedom, Anwar declared his agreement with the verdict.
Secondly, even though several PKR campaign pamphlets attacked the government's marginalisation of Mandarin and Tamil-medium primary education, the PKR election manifesto contained no measure to rectify the situation. This silence raises doubts as to whether PKR will change the status quo should it win government.
Then there was the question of who would become Chief Minister in Perak after the opposition won that state. The Perak constitution stipulates that the state government should be headed by a Malay although this requirement can be waived by the Sultan. In this instance, none of the newly elected state assemblymen of the Democratic Action Party, the Chinese-based opposition party, which gained the most seats, were Malay. Yet, rather than considering the merits of the candidates, Anwar simply objected to having a non-Malay as the Chief Minister, citing the need to protect the Malay position politically and economically.
During the election campaign, he also attacked the previous government for raising petrol prices, and declared that he would lower them, once in power. Such a measure would be immensely popular, but to implement it would cost billions of ringgit in petrol subsidies. Is this the policy of a 'far-sighted' leader when this money could be used to finance a long-term solution to the prevailing over-dependence on private cars?
Anwar, who plans to return to the parliament in a by-election, has already announced that he is moving towards forming a new federal government with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition. A question arises as to whether such a 'back door' approach to gaining power is fair to voters, who tend to vote for a party rather than individual candidates. Besides, the opposition parties have previously backed an 'anti-hopping law', which would require elected representatives to resign and stand for by-election should they switch political allegiance.
It remains to be seen whether they will apply the same standard to themselves if and when they come to power. (http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=6654 ) ************************************
Rafidah blasts those pressing for power transfer
By Maria J.Dass, April 15, 2008
Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today blasted members who are pushing party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to quickly hand over power to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, saying such a practice is unprecedented.
“Remember, we are not just changing the (Umno) president, we are changing the prime minister. Other parties can change their president tomorrow, they can tell their president to go today; not Umno," she told reporters after five-hour meeting with Wanita leaders yesterday.
“We are talking about the prime minister and this country has never had a prime minister who has been pushed out in our history; always remember that.”
She said the transfer of leadership should not be done under pressure, and should be carried out at a time deemed suitable by both Abdullah and Najib. She said the Wanita wing fully supports the current president and the next, indicating neutrality in support.
"We cannot just force Najib to take over without giving Pak Lah a chance to stabilise the party and fix the situation first. This is not fair. One of them has to be ready to give and the other ready to receive and I’m sure Najib also wants the prime minister to ensure that what is broken now is fixed, and we (Wanita Umno) want this too.”
She said if the strong comments and guessing games are allowed to go on, the party will never be stable when this should be the priority now. Rafidah added that party members should stop airing dirty linen in public and should discuss party matters behind closed doors.
“It is the opposition and our opponents who are clapping their hand when we air our dirty linen in public."
She was obviously referring to the open airing of angst by division leaders in several states, with some calling on Abdullah to hand over power to Najib while others support Abdullah in his decision to stay on until the time is right to transfer power.
Rafidah also criticised those who blame others for the poor showing of the Barisan Nasional in the last election. “No one should say I’m free of blame, there should not be no such nonsense as everyone at all levels -- be it president, deputy, exco, supreme council and grassroots -- should not absolve themselves of blame. Only the proportion of the blame is different, but it is not fair to point fingers.”
Rafidah said Wanita’s post mortem of the general election results showed the losses were due to internal factors like leadership weakness at all levels up to the grassroots, party policies and opinions not accepted by voters, professionals and Malays themselves, and weaknesses in the implementation of programmes at grassroots level.
“For example we found that many voters from the 4th and 5th streams who are the younger voters did not support us and this is something for our Putera and Puteri Umno branches to look into.”
The external factors included the weak BN election machinery, the choice of candidates and the role of the opposition, she added. (http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=21502 ) ************************************
You either love him or you hate him. That is how many feel when it comes to Anwar Ibrahim. Then again, you could be feeling both at the same time, which one would then label as a love-hate relationship. I suppose that is better than the fate of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad whom almost everyone loves to hate. Nevertheless, our choice of Prime Minister should not be about whom we love or whom we hate. The job of Prime Minister is a very serious job indeed which should not be entrusted to just someone we love. Sometimes, the one we hate could actually be the best man or woman for the job.
Rafidah Aziz has hit the nail on the head with this one. In the euphoria to get Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign, some pertinent points appear to have been lost on the Umno guys and gals. As Rafidah very aptly pointed out, the MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, etc., Presidents are the business of the members of their respective parties. The Umno President, however, is the business of all Malaysians as this man will invariably be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. So it concerns all of us. Our future depends on the man holding the reins of power and the wrong man at the helm will spell doom for this country. Therefore, Umno can’t accuse non-Umno members of ‘interfering’ in their internal party matters if they were to ‘participate’ in the process of the party choosing its leader -- at least until Barisan Nasional is kicked out, which means the Umno President will no longer be our Prime Minister.
There is currently a move within Umno to punish the culprit who brought about Barisan Nasional’s disastrous performance in the recent general election. The fact is Umno did not really do that badly. It still got 78 Parliament seats, which is a decline of only 32 seats over 2004 and even lesser against the backdrop of the 1999 general election. It was the other parties such as MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP that got slaughtered. They were the ones who failed to deliver, not Umno. So they should be punished. Take Selangor as one example. Selangor has only 52% Malay voters. So it was the non-Malays who really swung, in particular the Indians (with of course a lot of help from the Malays as well).
What were amongst the many factors that led to Barisan Nasional’s dismal performance, especially the non-Malay voter factor? First of all, the Umno Youth Leader’s keris-waving and keris-kissing drama upset many Chinese. Add the rhetoric of the Umno Youth delegates challenging the Umno Youth Leader to use the keris because Malays never draw their keris without making sure it ‘tastes’ blood and this really pissed off the Chinese. And can the Chinese be blamed? Even I was upset.
Next, the Chinese placed this keris-waving and keris-kissing and the rhetoric of ‘never sheath it until it tastes blood’ against the backdrop of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak doing the same thing 20 years earlier at the TPCA padang -- and which resulted in Operasi Lalang that saw more than 100 people, except Najib, spend a few years in the Kamunting Detention Centre. It was Najib’s keris-waving antics and the threats of ‘bathing it in Chinese blood’ that made Operasi Lalang necessary. However, it was more than 100 other people, mainly non-Malays, who suffered detention without trial, not Najib.
Najib’s role in Operasi Lalang, as the then Umno Youth Leader, was merely to trigger tensions and push Malaysia to the brink of another ‘May 13’ so that the government can round up more than 100 dissidents and those who opposed the government. That is the man called Najib Tun Razak and his cousin called Hishammuddin Hussein whom the Chinese have never forgotten nor forgiven. And that is why the Chinese finally said ‘enough is enough, no more May 13 threats and keris waving’ and they swung to the opposition, demolishing the non-Umno parties in Barisan Nasional in the process.
It must be remembered that Umno Youth is the backbone of the election machinery in any general election or by-election. Umno Youth is normally the one that supplies the manpower and leads the charge. This has always been and will always be. But this time around Umno Youth did not do its job. Furthermore, the Director of Elections was the Deputy Prime Minister. Therefore, the Pengarah Pilihanraya’s head has to be the first head that rolls, followed by the head of the Umno Youth Leader, and then if Umno is still thirsty for blood they can go for the head of the Prime Minister.
It must further be remembered that Malaysians are very wary of the fact that Najib is next in line. They fear the day when Abdullah will step aside for Najib to take over. That is one more reason the voters wanted Barisan Nasional out. No Barisan Nasional, no Najib, as simple as that. Malaysians dread the day the country is going to have someone implicated in a murder as the Prime Minister.
Sure, the courts did not implicate him. In fact, the Attorney-General even officially announced that only three people and no others are involved. But there appears to be one small problem with this. Malaysians do not trust either the courts or the Attorney-General. As far as Malaysians are concerned, Najib has been tried by the ‘Court of Public Opinion’ and he has been pronounced guilty as hell. Therefore there is no way Malaysians will accept Najib as the next Prime Minister. In fact, they do not even want him to remain as Deputy Prime Minister.
Abdullah needs to face Malaysians and admit that he has erred. Malaysians are a forgiving lot and most would be prepared to give him a second chance. But this will only work if he is seen as serious and sincere about repentance. Malaysians are not as stupid as before and with the Internet they are also better-informed. So it is not that easy to pull the wool over their eyes.
Some outstanding issues are the reformation of the judiciary, all the people in the Altantuya murder even if it is the Deputy Prime Minister being brought to book, reformation of the election system, and so on. If Abdullah can address these issues and can be seen as addressing these issues, then most Malaysians would rather see him stay as Prime Minister than Najib taking over. If not, then move aside and make way for Anwar Ibrahim.
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at KSS was much better than my first orgasm! ...and I want more! 
I nominate Raja Nazrin. Can a Crown Prince be PM? If can, then he would be the best candidate in all of Malaysia to hold everything together and bring us to greater heights.