Key opposition leaders may move out of their safe seats to contest elsewhere in an attempt to seize control of the administrative capital.
Realising that some of the traditional Barisan Nasional strongholds must be captured in order to take control of the federal government in the general election, it is believed that the leaders of Pakatan Rakyat are planning to move out from their safe seats and contests in key parliamentary constituencies which are currently held by BN.
This strategy is necessary if Pakatan is to win at least 110 seats to form the next federal government as claimed by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
As a first move of this nationwide strategy, the Pandan parliamentary seat in Selangor currently held by former MCA president Ong Tee Kiat has been identified and PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli has been named as the Pakatan candidate.
Another strategic move that is being contemplated is fielding DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in Segamat, Johor, which is considered to be a safe seat for BN. The seat has been held by MIC for several terms and currently its MP is Dr S Subramaniam, a Cabinet minister and MIC deputy president.
Segamat has 44,873 voters with Chinese forming 47%, Malays 43% and Indians 10%. It is an ideal seat for Kit Siang to wrest from BN. DAP has always contested in the seat but never won it even once.
Kit Siang will easily garner the majority of the Chinese votes and with a little support from PKR, PAS and Indian voters he will easily romp home with victory.
One MIC leader from Segamat said: “For some time there has been talk that PKR vice-president Chua Jui Meng will contest in Segamat and lately there are talks that Kit Siang will take on Subramaniam.”
“Only a person of Kit Siang’s stature will be able to win Segamat. It will be an uphill task for an ordinary DAP leader as Subramaniam is a Cabinet minister.”
In 2008, Subramaniam won the Segamat seat by a majority of only 2,991 votes. Therefore it will not be difficult for Kit Siang to tilt the balance in favour of DAP.
In comparison, his current seat Ipoh Timur, a Chinese-majority seat in Perak, can easily be won by any other DAP candidate or even a newcomer. In 2008, Kit Siang won Ipoh Timur with a thumping majority of 21,942 votes.
Kit Siang’s move will also fall in line with Pakatan’s strategy of declaring Johor as the frontline state of the opposition in the coming general election.
PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub is expected to contest in Johor in the 13th general election as it is his home state. The other leader who is expected to contest in Johor is Chua, the former MP of Bakri, Johor.
Since Bakri is traditionally contested by DAP, Chua is said to be eyeing Gelang Patah which has 54% Chinese voters. PKR contested in that seat in 2008.
With these expected moves, Johor, which has always been hailed as a BN stronghold will become the focus state for Pakatan in the polls.
Anwar to move to KL or S’gor?
Similarly PKR leaders are also said to be plotting to oust key Umno leaders by moving out from their traditionally safe seats. A classic example was Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah ousting Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in Lembah Pantai in 2008.
Since Permatang Pauh is considered to be a safe seat for PKR, Anwar himself may be moving out to contest in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, according to PKR sources.
Anwar may contest in Sepang or Sabak Bernam in Selangor which are currently held by BN and were contested by PKR in 2008.
Nurul Nuha, the second daughter of Anwar, may even contest in Permatang Pauh and will be assisted by her mother and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who herself was the former MP of that constituency.
Wan Azizah will not be able to contest for a parliamentary seat for five years since she resigned as a MP in 2009 to pave the way for her husband to contest in Permatang Pauh.
Pakatan sources said one reason why key leaders of the opposition opt to stay in their safe seats is that they can travel all over the country to campaign for their respective parties without worrying about their own seats.
If they choose a new seat then they will be bogged down in their own constituency and will not be able to contribute to their respective parties in other keenly contested areas.
However, if the key traditional strongholds of BN seats are not captured, then Pakatan will not be able to get the required numbers to form the next federal government.
The only way to do this is for the Pakatan’s big guns to move out of their safe havens to take on the BN leaders in their respective strongholds.
By RJ Rajah
RJ Rajah is an observer and writer on politics and social issues.
PUTRID JAYA BUILD AT COST APPROX. $13 BILLION OF SABAH SARAWAK OIL MONEY
ReplyDeleteThis means Sabah and Sarawak had $13 billion less to spend on improving things.
It is one reason why Sabah is the poorest followed by Sarawak as the poorest colonies in Malaysia.
We must unite to vote and throw UMNO out of power and then escalate our demands for independence.
QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK
ReplyDelete(By Din Merican)
From Mahathir to Badawi to Najib (1981-2012…?)
Never in the history of any country has a government been as hypocritical, deceptive, dishonest and destructive as this government in question.
Which country has had only one political party in government for more than half a century?
Which country allows the government to use public funds for political purposes?
Which country uses the Police to beat up peaceful protestors and corner them when they have already dispersed?
Which country has a Prime Minister linked to murder?
Which country has a Prime Minister linked to corruption and his colleagues don’t bother?
Which country uses Islam as a political tool to destroy other Muslims?
Which country practices racial discrimination in its policies like South Africa?
Which country gives money to the rich to buy houses cheaper because of their race?
Which country gives money to ministers so they get very rich while the poor suffer?
Which country punishes honest former top Custom and Police officers who whistleblow?
Which country allows its government to rob the poor and fill the pockets of the rich by unreasonable road tolls?
Which country bails out cronies in business with public money into billions of ringgit?
Which country forces religion down people’s throats while the political leaders live in sin?
Which country has an anti-corruption agency accused of murder?
Which country has a police system that sees so many Indian youths die in police lock-ups?
Which country has former soldiers take part in politics and act like thugs against a clean and honest lady?
Which country has a ‘First Lady’ who spends the people’s money when the country does not even have a president?
Which country builds a costly palace when many people do not have proper housing, water and electricity?
Which country denies the Opposition time to speak freely yet claims to be the world’s best democracy?
Which country allows the Police to beat its journalists doing their jobs without mercy?
Which country forces its young into national youth programmes and see many die in freak accidents?
Which country has its Prime Minister say something and the DPM disagrees. Remember 1Malaysia and “Aku Melayu”.
Which country has a Prime Minister who runs away while important things happen in his country?
Which country allows dirty videos and other slanderous material to be published against others freely?
Which country has conspired against its Opposition leader in a sex scandal that we know is a conspiracy?
Which country has a retired Prime Minister and No 1 Ass-Hole who can’t keep his mouth shut and creates disharmony?
Which country has someone like former Premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad whose word cannot be trusted – who has said he has retired from politics but is still blabbing?
Which country has a Royal Commission which exposes mismanagement and corruption in the Police force but nothing is done to correct the shortcomings?
Which country has a Royal Commission to expose judge fixing and yet still no one is charged?
Which country has the NEP but sees many Malays denied of opportunities because they belong to the wrong political party?
Cont'd Part 2
Part 2
ReplyDeleteQUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK
Which country sees the non-Malays discriminated against and deprived of the constitutional rights while the corrupt take the lion’s share of their prosperity?
Which country makes a car and sells it at a higher price in the country but charges less for it in other countries?
Which country sees the people divided into bumiputera and non-bumiputera and practises apartheid policies?
Which country has gone so backward in its political culture and stays in power by bribing others with money?
Which country has a farmers’ cooperative and short changes its members not giving them their due money?
Which country has seen so many abuses of power and yet the government can still stay in power because of electoral irregularities?
Which country has punished its honest citizens for calling for democracy and clean and fair elections?
Which country controls all the country’s mainstream media and spreads propaganda?
Which country punishes media producers who merely want to promote a free country, what’s wrong with that?
Which country spends money on 1Malaysia but promotes racial hatred and disharmony?
Which country allows a politician like that white snake in Sarawak to be filthy rich and rob the natives of their lands and trees?
Which country allows a politician to spend public money to promote himself overseas?
Which country has been censured by the BBC for censoring their news we see?
Which country but Malaysia!
Many Malaysians and I have had enough. I can go on and on forever but I don’t want the UMNO-Barisan political coalition to govern our country and lead us to extinction while their sons and daughters party and drive around in Lamborghini and Ferrari cars while the majority of us live in poverty.
The Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Mamak Mahathir are masters of hypocrisy and their deeds expose their forked-tongues, because they say one thing and do something else, and they are able to trick the blind and impressionable who they know how to keep in check with money and illiteracy but not with intelligence, whether they are Malays, Indian, Chinese, Sarawakians or Sabahans.
What happened to Anwar Ibrahim, Teoh Beng Hock, Ahmad Sarbani, and Kugan and many innocent Malaysians can happen to anybody when you have morally depraved politicians in power.
Whatever your status in the country, whatever your race, whatever your religion, your enemy is the one who is turning your country into a disaster zone and the sooner you vote those crooks out of power the sooner you can save your nation and get something better.
No one can do worse than what has been done to Malaysia. Only those who are on the BN’s political payroll or get the kickbacks will disagree when there is the mounting evidence of corruption and abuses of power. The Umno-MCA-MIC and their Sarawak and Sarawak cronies have sold out their people and traded their interests for their own selfish power and positions.
I am not a member of the Opposition, just a citizen sick of the situation and only a fool will want the same government. If I can, I will vote for change of government for the sake of the nation.
Din Merican
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADDITION QUESTION
WHICH COUNTRY ANNEXED COLONIZED & PLUNDERED SABAH SARAWAK SINCE 1963-?
NO PRIZE FOR GUESSING RIGHT
Sound Interesting but no no for me.
ReplyDeleteBut Wish all the political party best of luck.
ReplyDeleteMana2 parti yang menang bila PRU nanti, yang penting mereka gunakan cara yang bersih.
ReplyDeleteHarap kita boleh melihat pertandingan yang bersih dan adil pada PRU-13 nanti. Semoga parti yang terbaik akan mendapat sokongan daripada majoriti rakyat nanti.
DeletePakatan should be careful of SAPP and Star for trying to get the Sabahans to reject your party.
ReplyDeleteSemua parti memasang strategi masing2 untuk tawan kawasan yang mereka tandingi.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe clean politics exist.
ReplyDeletePelbagai rancangan telah dilakukan oleh pembangkang untuk menawan Putrajaya. Kita lihat saja nanti bagaimana perancangan yang diatur oleh mereka ini.
ReplyDeletetgklah adakah rancangan mereka berjaya.
DeleteMungkin yang boleh kita simpulkan disini. Pembangkang akan buat apa saja cara untuk memastikan apa yang mereka inginkan itu akan tercapai.
ReplyDeleteitulah yang saya nampak.. ketua umum Pakatan pun bukannya aktif membawa isu2 sabahan ke peringkat persekutuan, datang melawat pun jarang sekali..
Deletestrategi Anwar ialah perhimpunan dan menjanjikan jawatan kabinet persekutuan supaya pemimpin2 BN keluar menyertai Pakatan..
ReplyDeletePrime Minister Najib Tun Razak said opposition political parties in the country seem to be teaching people bad things, even matters contrary to religion.
ReplyDeleteEvidently, three bad things were that debts do not have to be settled, good deeds can be forgotten and promises need not be fulfilled, he said.
ReplyDelete"Many promises were made (by the opposition parties) during the last general election but (after coming to power in several states) they did not fulfill them," he said.
ReplyDeleteNajib said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, on the other hand, not only fulfilled its promises but also provided the people with aid which it had not promised in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHe also said that Islam required all debts to be settled, and added that when people died, their outstanding debts had to be settled by their next-of-kin.
ReplyDeleteBy debts, the prime minister was apparently referring to those associated with the opposition proposal to write off the loans provided by the National Higher Education Corporation Fund (PTPTN).
ReplyDeleteNajib said the opposition was also poisoning the minds of the people by suggesting that they did not have to appreciate what the government was doing for them.
ReplyDelete"They tell people it is not necessary to remember good deeds, associated with aid for the people. I do not know of any country providing the people with mosquito nets, dentures and spectacles. When the government resurfaces a road, tarring is done up to the steps of houses," he said.
ReplyDeleteNajib said what the country has achieved so far would not have been garnered without having national leaders with integrity and vision.
ReplyDelete"Without integrity and vision, implementing any plan would result in a nightmare for the people," he said.
ReplyDeleteThe prime minister said the people should be grateful for the peace and unity they enjoyed.
ReplyDelete"Let's not make a mistake. If we do, we will lose the blessings we now enjoy. We have seen what has happened to the people in countries where political stability has been compromised," he said.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition will not succeed in penetrating Sabah, led by the Barisan Nasional (BN) under Chief Minister Musa Aman, in the next general election, said Sabah Information Executive Councillor Sapawi Ahmad.
ReplyDelete"Based on the current political scenario and the confidence shown by the people, Sabah BN will definitely win in the next general election," he said at the closing of the state- and Labuan-level 'Program Jelajah Isu'.
ReplyDeleteSapawi, who is also Sipitang MP, said that since the BN took over the state government in 1994, Sabah's financial position has strengthened, particularly with Musa's leadership.
ReplyDelete"Sabah only had a financial reserve of around RM300 million (in 1994) but it has increased substantially to RM3.3 billion as noted in the Auditor-General's Report.
ReplyDelete"This translates to good administration, especially economically, by the state government," he said.
ReplyDeleteHe also said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was a man of his word, and called on the people not to be influenced by propaganda spread by opposition political parties.
ReplyDelete