The biggest irony of our times is that people perceive all politicians as ‘thieves’ but at the same time they are also forced to elect them to Parliament again and again to rule the country. And, these ‘thieves’ pick up people similar to them from all walks of life and every profession to build a nexus they need to loot the country. Do we have any choice?The ruling class has made laws as per its convenience. We need to take radical measures to counter them. We must vote for a candidate who does not spend a penny on his election campaign or contests on the minimum expenditure. It will be better if we field and elect a person who has renounced his/her wealth. We need to vote for honest candidates and not parties. Some may find this illogical, while others would argue that voting for individuals may lead to fractured mandate and result in policy paralysis. Let there be paralysis for some time instead of allowing our motherland to be robbed. It will be a very small price to save the honour of the country.In physics it is known as threshold; in management we called it tipping point (made popular by Malcolm Gladwell). It is not farfetched to say that endemic and big time corruption has reached beyond redemption in Malaysia. Who has the power and audacity to investigate alleged corruption involving Scorpene submarines and timber concessions in Sarawak? Paul Low? Paul Low resigned from MCA in favour of TI because of its involvement in PKFZ. Where is PKFZ now? Who created the fiasco and took the money, Tun Ling only? Paul Low will most probably be put in charge of hapless national unity department.Then we have Wahid Omar who is supposed to take charge of NEM and EPU. Do we know why NEM was a stillborn baby? Look, it was never about affirmation action under the NEP that the NEM was trying to get rid of. It was the endemic corruption, cronyism, nepotism and abuse of power inherent in it. What credential and authority can Wahid Omar bring to the table when fighting UMNO warlords over who get what and how much. No, Wahid will not be able to do much, just like Idris Jala. They are there to give some semblance of credibility when there is none to begin with.
The May 5 general election was a “transitional general election”, where an emerging group of people voted in the hope of a better democracy, Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah said Paul Low, if you are really cut out for the job, the first order of the day is to start working with SUARAM on the Scorpene case. We want you to bring the people to books even if it means the prime minister himself. Mahathir can come second followed by the rest like Sharizat and her RM240m loan. If the BN is serious about curbing corruption per se, then you must also work with people from Pakatan. People like Rafizi and Tony Pua can be a great help. The people want to see every sen accounted for and corruption brought to a halt. That’s all, no more, no less.Hilarious that we are discussing TI-M and Paul Low’s credibility, when this article appears on the same page of Malasiakini; “TI Divided Over Taib’s Dam Congress” Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) secretary general Josie Fernandez (right) told Malaysiakini that she and other Malaysian members were “disappointed and embarrassed that TI is a sponsor of the World Congress hosted by Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), a public company controlled by Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak chief minister who is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on allegations of grand corruption.” …and so it goes.
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– Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah urged Barisan Nasional (BN) today to admit its past mistakes and apologise for them in a process called “drawing a white line” today, for it to move forward and continue its relevance.
In a forum to discuss the future of Malay politics here, the Umno Supreme Council member (picture) also agreed with fellow panelists PAS MP Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad and DAP MP Zairil Khir Johari that the next general elections will be fought along lines of “values” rather than racial.
“There must be a white line … First we must apologise for past mistakes. Second, we must affirm that we will not repeat past mistakes,” Saifuddin said here, using the analogy of the starting line in a foot race.
The word “colour-blind” was used numerous times as all three panelists tried to debunk the “Chinese tsunami” alluded to by BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno-backed daily Utusan Malaysia, insisting that the current generation has stopped viewing politics along racial lines.
“If it were to be described as a tsunami, it was more like a “tsunami nilai” (tsunami of values),” said Raja Kamarul Bahrin, saying that voters are more sensitive towards issues such as poverty and corruption.
In Election 2013, BN had won the polls but lost the popular vote, prompting Najib to suggest a “Chinese tsunami” had caused his BN to record its worst-ever electoral results.
Utusan has also suggested Chinese voters were provoking race tensions by voting against BN, with one headline last week asking the question “Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What else do the Chinese want?)”.
Saifuddin grouped voters into two categories today – those who desire development, and those who desire democracy – claiming that the trend has shown that more voters are swinging into the later category since Election 1999.
He warned that BN had lost in the area where there are more “hopes for democracy” compared to “hopes for development”, and the coalition needs to transform itself to attract those who did not vote for it.
The former Temerloh MP also rubbished calls for a political unity between Umno and PAS, saying that Malay unity does not depend on such a move.
“Having differing parties does not mean a schism,” he said, insisting that differences in opinions must not be chastised.
All three politicians also echoed each other on the need for good governance, with Saifuddin calling for neutrality among government agencies and local elections to strengthen grassroots politics in Malaysia.
The panelists shared views led to a heated question-and-answer session, as two irate members of the crowd took the chance to attack Zairil and DAP for allegedly sidelining Malays in Penang.
In the aftermath of BN’s result in Election 2013, the maverick Saifuddin has been leading the call for Umno and the coalition to reform, including raising the proposal that members be accepted directly into BN instead of having to join the coalition’s component parties.
On Monday, Saifuddin had also said in an exclusive interview published by the Sin Chew Daily that Umno will be committing suicide if it attempts to bring down its president Najib or leaves the moderate path.
