TV PAKATAN RAKYAT

The Bersih demands:

1. Clean the electoral roll, which is marred with irregularities such as deceased persons and multiple persons registered under a single address or non-existent addresses. In the longer term, BERSIH 2.0 also calls for the EC to implement an automated voter registration system upon eligibility to reduce irregularities.

2. Reform postal ballot, to ensure that all citizens of Malaysia, residing in or out of the country, are able to exercise their right to vote.

3. Use of indelible ink to reduce voter fraud.

4. Minimum 21 days campaign period to allow voters more time to gather information and deliberate on their choices. The first national elections in 1955 under the British Colonial Government had a campaign period of 42 days but the campaign period for 12th GE in 2008 was a mere 8 days.

5. Free and fair access to media, where all media agencies, especially state-funded media agencies such as Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) and Bernama allocate proportionate and objective coverage for all potlical parties.

6. Strengthen public institutions to act independently and impartially in upholding the rule of law and democracy. Public institutions such as the Judiciary, Attorney-General, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), Police and the EC must be reformed to uphold laws and protect human rights.

7. Stop corruption, and take serious action against ALL allegations of corruption, including vote buying.

8. Stop dirty politics, as citizens and voters are not interested in gutter politics; we are interested in policies that affect the nation.

http://bersih.org

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part 2


Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali warned PKR today not to dismiss a group of independents dubbed the “Third Force” as they could prevent Pakatan Rakyat (PR) from achieving a huge victory in the next general election.
“If it (the Third Force) is formed, this group will breathe life to Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN),” said Syed Husin in his opening speech at the seventh PKR Wanita and Youth congress today. “It will complicate Pakatan’s efforts in achieving a huge victory,” he added. PKR officials have come out strong against the Third Force as it can split the vote in multi-cornered fights that will benefit the ruling BN federal government.

Straight fights between BN and PR in Election 2008 helped the opposition pact to an unprecedented 82 federal seats and four states then. The Third Force’s initiative could result in multi-cornered fights in up to 30 of the 222 parliamentary seats that are being held or will be contested by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR. In Election 2008, more than 90 per cent of the federal seats saw a straight fight between PR parties and BN. Today, Syed Husin said the Third Force needed to be handled with care.

“This matter (the Third Force) must be handled wisely,” said the PKR deputy president. Recently, Third Force co-ordinator Haris Ibrahim said his objective was to offer strong candidates to PR who would not switch allegiance in case PR forms the next federal government. Haris had said that his group aimed to prevent a repeat of the Perak constitutional crisis last year that saw the fall of the PR state government after three of its assemblymen became BN-friendly lawmakers.

PR has also lost five MPs since March 2008. Four of them — Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim (Bayan Baru), Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal), Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (Bagan Serai) and Wee Choo Keong (Wangsa Maju) — quit, citing a loss of confidence in Anwar’s leadership. Zulkifli Noordin (Kulim-Bandar Baru) was sacked following disagreement with the PRK leadership over the “Allah” row. At a press conference later, however, Syed Husin said the Third Force did not pose a threat to PR currently. “As of now, no,” he told reporters. “It’s neither a ‘third’ nor a ‘force’. They use it to get people who are dissatisfied with the (PR) parties,” he added.

Haris, who has been working with civil society groups for the initiative, had stressed that the pool of candidates would first be offered to the federal opposition. The lawyer and active blogger said the candidates would only contest as independents if PR parties could not offer better candidates. His group of activists and bloggers has been campaigning against BN since before Election 2008 that saw the ruling coalition losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time and losing control of four states.

They were also behind a manifesto called the People’s Declaration that was endorsed by all PR parties ahead of the 12th general election. The group was also influential in mobilising urban voters to back PR candidates in 2008. Haris said negotiations with “non-BN parties” would start in January. Speculation is rife that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will call for a general election as early as the first quarter of next year. However, the current government’s mandate only expires in May 2013.

The by-election in Galas is an unusual one. Can you label it as just another by-election? Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or Ku Li said it was going to be a friendly match, and if BN won the match, it would be excellent. But even if it lost the match, it wouldn’t be too bad either. Anyway, Ku Li has not said he would defend Galas with all his prestige, or... blood. And since it is going to be a friendly match, friendship should come before the contest itself. Period. Even if the game is lost, we should at least take the defeat in stride.

The important thing is that Ku Li said Galas was going to be a gentlemen’s fight and no one should engage in any dirty trick. He did not enter the nomination centre on nomination day, which should have been a most opportune time for a show of spirit and force. But, was BN going to show that off with Ku Li nowhere in sight? Even his Pakatan Rakyat friends such as Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat were looking for him, probably to have some kind of friendly chat among old acquaintances. It was like a party, and everyone was expecting the most anticipated VVIP. Without him the party would lose half its shine.

On such an occasion, he had no foes but friends. On Day Two of campaigning, he was seen sipping Chinese tea with some “Ah Pek” at a coffeeshop, totally relaxed and unaggressive. Did we call that election campaigning? Such a campaigning style will only put the professional campaigners at a complete loss. No smearing of rival candidate, no destroying of rival banners and flags, no exchange of words, no extremist discourse, no mammoth mobilisation of manpower... Oh dear, they will go nuts very soon!

It has been said that Ku Li has barred the Perkasa people from coming to Galas for fear that they would contaminate the pristine by-election. Ku Li seems to be telling them: “This is my place. Please play by my rules. Don’t create havoc!” His way is obviously not the way of Umno, which has just convened its general assembly and whose commander-in-chief has just sworn to grab both Galas and Batu Sapi, on the other side of the South China Sea. Ku Li was chosen as the campaign director mainly for his local influence as well as tying him to Umno’s side so that he would not secretly collaborate with PAS. Ku Li’s unbecoming calmness may have already sent many hysterical.

The veteran fighter has seen battles 10 times more powerful and momentous than the one in Galas. While he hopes the battle could be won, so that his political life in Umno can be further prolonged, he will never want to sacrifice his friendship with PAS at the expense of a by-election. He understands better than anyone else that his political stage is more than just Umno, but includes also the vast space that is overlapped by the two major political camps in the country. His supporters have come out with the manifesto “Ambo nok parti Kuli” (We want Ku Li’s party), not the outright Umno or BN banner.

The by-election is momentary. Whether the game is won or lost, Ku Li’s political career still needs to go on beyond the election. In a similar manner, inter-party competition is also momentary, and what is more important is the country’s democratic process. Such gently fought friendly matches might, who knows, constitute a positive model for future political competition in Malaysia. — mysinchew.com -