Not knowing who will win scares the hell out of Najib!

About ten minutes ago a friend sent me images of what is happening at the perasmian of PPBM Bagagian Stiawangsa. It was just past 6.20 pm when I received it .....just as I was about to sit down to a late lunch/early dinner...call it what you want. I had not had a meal since breakfast this morning but as soon as I saw what he sent me....I pushed my plate aside and went straight to my Mac, downloaded the pictures and posted it first on my Facebook and then onto steadyaku47 to share with you guys. 

Imagine that....pictures from Setaiwangsa is sent to me in Melbourne and beamed back to you guys in Bolehland through my blog and Facebook...so that we could all see what was happening there...so that we know that the march to Putrajaya has already started in earnest.

FULL HOUSE PERASMIAN PPBM BAHAGIAN SETIAWANGSA DI AU2 KERAMAT..
#PPBM
#PAKATANHARAPAN
#ROADTOPUTRAJAYA

By the time I finished posting those images onto my Blog and Face book, I was no longer hungry. There were things I wanted to write to express my solidarity with those who are at this very moment in Setaiwangsa with Tun Dr Mahathir . They are all there to tell any one who will listen....that the War against Barisan Nasional and Najib has started with a vengeance. 

I want to be part of the war anyway I can. So must you all be a part of that war...for make no mistake...this will be a war. Take no prisoners. Give no quarter. Secure what is already ours. Marshalled all our forces and fall in behind Tun Dr Mahathir and Lim Kit Siang to march towards Putrajaya.

There is no doubt in my mind that we will win. There is also no doubt in my mind that those who are against us will fight a desperate fight to have another five years to loot, pillage and plunder our Nation. This we must not allow. The best thing we can say about the coming battle is this : 

INI KALI WE DO NOT KNOW WHO WILL WIN.    

Not knowing who will win scares the hell out of Najib and his gang of robbers, thieves and thugs. 

Not knowing who will win gives us all more then a fighting chance to put in place in Putrajaya a government for the people, by the people and of the people. And that is all that we need...a fighting chance against this corrupt and arrogant BN government. ...and we will convert that chance...that opportunity, into a victory for Pakistan Harapan at this PRU 14. 

Lawan mesti Lawan. 

PAS to win 40 of the 80 seats they are contesting at the next PRU? General Hadi dah nyanyok ka?

FAKTA ATAU AUTA?

Berikut adalah fakta tentang pencapaian Pas dalam sejarah pilihanraya Malaysia sejak 1959 sehingga 2013.

Pilihanraya 1959 (13 kerusi) - bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1964 (9 kerusi) -   bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1969 (12 kerusi) - bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1974 (14 kerusi) -  bergabung dengan UMNO dalam BN.

Pilihanraya 1978 (5 kerusi) -   bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1982 (5 kerusi) -  bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1986 (1 kerusi) -  bersendirian.

Pilihanraya 1990 (7 kerusi) -  bergabung dengan Semangat 46.

Pilihanraya 1995 (7 kerusi) -  bergabung dengan Semangat 46.

Pilihanraya 1999 (27 kerusi) -  bergabung dalam Barisan Alternatif (Pas,PKR dan DAP).

Pilihanraya 2004 (7 kerusi) -    bergabung dalam Barisan Alternatif (Pas dan PKR).

Pilihanraya 2008 (23 kerusi) -  bergabung dalam Pakatan Rakyat (Pas,PKR, DAP).

Pilihanraya 2013 (21 kerusi) -  bergabung dalam Pakatan Rakyat (Pas,PKR, DAP).

Entah kenapa dan berdasarkan kajian yang bagaimana, dalam PRU 14 mendatang ini, meskipun kembali bersendirian, Pas tetap mendabik dada mengatakan ia mampu menang 40 kerusi Parlimen daripada 80 yang bakal ditandinginya serta menguasai lima negeri iaitu Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak dan Selangor?

With thanks to Azmi Hamid : 

comment Kem :  Angan2. Klu dpt 7 kerusi utk PRU14 pun dah bagus - mungkin 4-5 kerusi je.

When something goes wrong in your life, deal with it. Ditto with Umno and Najib!

I knew, from way back before the Doctors at Sunshine had diagnosed the Dementia that was to take over my wife's and my life, I knew that all was not well with her. It was four years ago, upon our arrival in Melbourne, that we were informed of her frontal lobe dementia by Doctors after a two weeks stay at Sunshine Hospital. We had a number of intense and informative discussions with the team tasked with taking care of her. When my wife was discharged, I might have been shell shocked at what I had been presented with : Frontal Lobe Dementia with no prospect of recovery - only a gradual descend into the illness over an uncertain period of time : shell shocked, but I was at least prepared for what was to come. I was provided with medication to make her life as normal as was possible and I was told that in time to come, she will need care 24/7. 

Four years down the road, all that the Doctors at Sunshine had told me will happen, has happened. What time has also told me was that Dementia or not, Life goes on. 

A few months back, after a lengthy period of pain, aches and physical discomfort, and the dismissal of my oft repeated mantra "What I do not know will not hurt me"....I made the dreaded appointment to see a doctor to have an "educated" overview made of what was wrong with me. Over a three weeks period of consultations, tests and more tests and more tests....I was told that Gout, a possibility of renal failure, Hernia, and the onset of old age, were the ills bothering me. I was advised of what to do (no seafood, no tomato, no heavy lifting) and what not to do (enjoy seafood, no physical exertions when caring for my wife, and not to forget to take my medication). Life goes on.

The moral of the two stories? 

When something goes wrong in your life, deal with it. 

Now, why has nobody told Najib and Rosmah that what they do with their private and public life is not quite right? Why has nobody told the Emperor that he has no clothes on? 

And more pressing, why has nobody told Rosmah aka The Flying Hippo, that she too has no clothes on....which for a woman of her age and her physical attributes (or the lack of any) is simply revolting?

But that would be for Umno to say, would it not be? 

If Umno fails to do so then there is Parliament....and if Parliament fails in that task too....there is then the people of Malaysia to do just that at the Federal elections. 

We are past Umno, past Parliament and we are at that time when the Election and the people of Malaysia shall have their say......less than a year away, I think.

Not all are in readiness yet for the people of Malaysia to tell those two royals residing in Seri Perdana that they have no clothes on....but already the crowds are lining the route the Bugis Warrior and his Flying Hippo aka FLOM aka Birkin connoisseur, will have to take on their way to what they think will be their "coronation" to another term at Seri Perdana. 

What I would like you all to consider is this : 

Will you be one of those who will tell Najib and Rosmah that all is not right with their private and public life? And if you will be one of those who will do so, will you do it quietly or overtly? Will you be proactive or passive in making good governance a reality?

Or will you be one of those who will whimper and walk away with your tail in between your legs and do nothing because you think that if the Malays lose political power when Umno is dismissed from government, you as a Malay, will be the worst for it?

All I, and others can do, is to put the facts before you. The thinking you will have to do for yourself. 

Enough has been said about the corruption and abuse of political power by Umno and BN for personal gain but you can be certain that more will be said in the time to come by me and others of the same ilk. We do so because it must be told. We do so because we believe passionately that change is possible, not impossible. All it would take for that to happen is to provide the "fertile" ground and imagination for that thought to ferment and take root in as many of you as is possible by the next general election.

    

If Mahathir who is 91 can do so. If Anwar Ibrahim incarcerated in Sungai Buloh can do so. If 

those who has had enough of what Umno has now become can do so and if enough Malaysian can come over to our side and do so....then we will surely have the numbers to tell those two now residing in Seri Perdana that they are indeed without any clothes! 

I am one. With you, we are two. Who else will join us?

Kuala Kangsar.....Ajaib tapi Benar....Amanah mengatasi PAS.

Teuku Zacharyah Iskandar

Amanah Parti baru - 8 Bulan
PAS Parti Lama - 60 tahun

Amanah kalah perkara biasa
Amanah mengatasi PAS suatu keajaiban
PAS kalah pada Amanah suatu KEMALUAN

The next general election is for Pakatan Rakyat to lose

steadyaku47 comment: Sometime in June 2009, with the assist of Zach, my son I became familair with the wonders of the Internet. While surfing the Net, I chance upon a clip of Lim Kit Siang speaking in Parliament. I forgot now what it was that he was talking about then but I remembered about being concerned that his delivery in Malay had much to be desired. Impulsively (again with the help of my son - for I did not even know then how to send an email then) I sent Kit Siang an email suggesting that it would do him good if he improved his Malay diction if he wants to get more Malays on side.

To my surprise he replied to my email and suggested that if I had anything to say - why not I write it down and sent it to him. That I did and the following was the first or many articles that  I sent to Kit Siang that was posted on his blog on 16th July 2009 - over six years ago!

Most of what I wrote then is still relevant today. See if you agree. 

      



First posted Thursday, 16 July 2009, 5:00 am

The next general election is for Pakatan Rakyat to lose

by Hussein Hamid

I could write about what Anwar (as in Ibrahim) and what he represents for the many Malaysians who yearns for a Malaysia that is free from corruption, nepotism and all the promises that a ‘Man who would be King’ can promise before his ascent to the throne..but I will not.

I can write about Mahathir and what he has done for our country in the years he has been in power – that he has made Malaysia into a conglomerate that made strange bedfellows of business and politics – where his brand of ‘take no prisioners’ reign tolerated no opposition to his rule – where UMNO and himself was the ruler par excellance…but I will not.
I can write about Pak Lah who came in with a bang and left without even a whimper…but I will not.

I can write about Najib, Rosmah, Altantuya, leaping frogs and things that go bump in the night – but I will not.

I am no card carrying member of the “I am a Melayu/Bumiputra” brigade but I am a Melayu that has benefited greatly from the largeness of UMNO in the years that it has effectively dominated the politics of our country.
The ills that are now so self evident in our country, in the systems that prevails in the country, in the Police, in the failure of so many of our leaders to lead by examples, in the virtual breakdown of our own self belief that we as Malaysians can get a fair deal from our elected leaders is a manifestations of the many years that we have allowed UMNO to appoint leaders who have put self preservation before country. UMNO is the Political Party that the Malays had to have so that in time they will understand that the Politics of greed and avarice will not only bring a country to its knees but also mean the Malays has lost it’s place in a country that they once call their own. That we, as a race, have to pay so heavy a price for the follies of our elected leaders is now a reality.

But the future has overtaken us. The Malays are no longer alone in proclaiming that Malaysia is their country. They are others who have earned that right because over the years they choose to make Malaysia their home. Too many Malays now understand that the division between “them” and “us’ no longer exists. We are one. Together we want change and it will come – but the process of growing up is one of trial and errors, making informed choices of what is the right thing to do for our country and most critical, the tolerance and acceptance and celebration of one another as being different and yet united in wanting what is good for our country and for us.

We have begun the journey. Pak Lah started us on that journey when he unwittingly opened the way towards openness and decency in the way things were done. Anwar was release, the media could and did say things they could not say before, his Ministers, MB’s and UMNO itself were unshackled and were given enough rope to act as they think fit (and in the process, as we had hoped, hanged themselves). The last General Election is in large parts, a result of these changes that was only possible when Pak Lah took his place in our history books – albeit at the expense of UMNO, Barisan and some say, the Malays. But for most Malays it is a small price to pay for our entry into a real partnership with the others in Malaysia as we enter into an era of accountability and responsibility in the Governance of our Country that we now expect from those whom we elect as leaders – be it from Barisan or Pakatan Rakyat.

Pakatan Rakyat will need to negotiate a steep learning curve as it come to terms with what it can and what it cannot do when in power. There will be opportunities to enrich themselves beyond what mere mortals can only dream of and some amongst them will succumb to the temptations. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – again the heady emotions of wielding power at State level will make anyone salivate at the thoughts of wielding power at the Federal Level – what will they do to make that a reality? Do what UMNO has done? God forbids !! Common sense tells us that ‘good intentions’ alone will not hold Pakatan Rakyat together. What will? The spoils of wars? Much too soon the unraveling of Pakatan Rakyat has started – what we see and hear in public must surely be the tip of the iceberg. The union is too fragile and without cohesion to survive effectively unless there is unity in purpose. I hope I am wrong but this I know. The next election is there for Pakatan to lose.

This entry was posted on Thursday, 16 July 2009, 5:00 am and is filed under Hussein Hamid, Pakatan Rakyat. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Onward to Battle! Now whom should we Vote for?

Let us now try to inject some sanity and common sense into the run up to this 13th general elections. The insults, venom and expose are coming in thick and fast from all sides and you need to have your wits about you if you are to make some sense of what is going on. I for one am for using the public domain to air the dirty linens of those who offer themselves for high public office. What they have done while in Public Office must be open to scrutiny and judgement by the people. Then their suitability to serve the people in any capacity will be made by the people at the 13th general election.

We have been overloaded by an avalanche of expose. They range from massive financial frauds that seems to suggest that the Prime Minister himself have either been cuckolded or has colluded in the fraud - right up to the other end - gutter politics that suggest that the high and mighty have basic instincts quiet like ours! Sex is sex whether in Mecca or Kuala Lumpur!

Accusation have been hurled at leaders on both sides of the political spectrum that suggests that all is not well in the inner sanctums of our political kingdom – but again these are really just mischievous attempts to destabilize the already fragile and fraying alliances of men and women with diverging political beliefs and personal ambitions. They all know that to break rank so close to the 13th general election would mean that one harbours a wish to commit Hari Kiri. And so the stage is set for a fight to the finish.

What is left now is for these political elites to figure out how best to hoodwink, lie, cheat, corrupt, persuade, threaten, cajole, buy, insult and when all else fail, to plead and beg the electorates to vote for them! And so let the games begin!

Or have the games already begin? I do not know about you guys but I begin my day not with Ovaltine, Coffee or Nasi Lemak…..I start with MT or should I say Petra?

Not Yang Mulia Raja Petra Kamaruddin, not Pete, not RPK…I know him as Petra. Not as good looking as me (ahem I know beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but my wife told me so!) not to big in physical stature but certainly a giant amongst us all that call ourselves bloggers. All those self - publishers and Johnny Come Lately bloggers, including yours truly here, learnt our craft from him. Yes he does put in a bit of spin sometimes…and yes he does embellish and accentuate the ‘facts’ at times….and yes he is full of himself at times…but that is what we all do too. Those are but some of the tools of our trade.

Judging from what I read in MT, the games have already begun! I myself have to make my judgement call on what I am to do if I am to be relevant in what I write. Do I write from Adelaide or do I write from Kuala Lumpur? Do I keep whacking Anwar and PKR at the expense of Pakatan Rakyat or do I close ranks and start sniping at UMNO’s flanks in any way I can? Do I close shop as steadyaku47 and go where some of you have suggest I go (where the sun does not shine lah!) or do I do a Petra? i.e. tell those detractors of mine to go where they have told me to go? Ahhh the permutations are endless and the choice is mine! Just as it will be your choices to do what is best for yourselves, for our people and for our country.

It cannot be denied that Najib is working hard to win this general election for Barisan Nasional. While Anwar plays at being the much-maligned (so he claims) globe trotting political celebrity that is the darling of the international media, Najib is hard at work on the ground in Malaysia. Slowly but surely Najib is chipping away at the very foundation of Pakatan Rakyat’s support amongst the people. If anything we all cannot but give grudging recognition that Najib tries! He is there on the ground, in Malaysia where it really matters –and we are mindful that he does this!

But that does not excuse the excesses of UMNO in the past 50 years of misrule and abuses while in government. That does not excuse money politics, the corruption and the arrogance that is now UMNO! And certainly that does not excuse Altantuya, Teoh Beng Hock, PKFZ, NFC and a host of other scandals and tragedies that is now part and parcel of our political history – a history that UMNO certainly cannot be proud of. A history that now questions UMNO’s ability to continue to govern our country after this 13th general election.

While there was no question asked by the people of whom they would vote for at the 12th general election in order to send a message to UMNO that enough is enough…today in the run up to the 13th general election, Najib has been able to plant a seed of doubt  - that maybe UMNO should still be our choice given that the alternative is DSAI.

AND IF DSAI DOES NOT REALIZE IT NOW THAT HE SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THIS TODAY! NOW!      

Najib is gaining ground fast. Pakatan Rakyat is losing it. And we the people are still waiting to be convinced of one or the other  - of PR or BN, of Najib or DSAI, of the devil we know or the angel we are not to sure off.

We are no longer the same people that have been voting Barisan Nasional for the last 50 over years. Nor are we the same people that voted Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 to teach Barisan Nasional a lesson in humility. We now think, discuss and evaluate every word said, every action taken and every deed done by anyone seeking high public office. If you do good, we know. If you do bad we know. So those of you seeking public office take note of this reality. There are enough of us out here to do what is right for our people, our country and our king. Daulat Tuanku! May our King understand the aspirations of his people and do what is right by all of us! And now onwards to the 13th general elections!

And to all my friends out there in bloggerland – do not forget that the work we do might at times find us at odds with each other…but it is just work. We must make time to talk to each other and understand that when all is said and one, when this 13th general election is over and done with – we are all still brothers and sisters – still Malaysian! Still able to sit across the table from each other and talk about the merits of having Nasi Dagang in Kampong Baru as against the Nasi Dagang in Kota Baru….the Chicken Rice in front of the old EPF building in PJ as against the Chicken Rice in those franchised outlet all over town….the ‘semua tarok’ banana leaf restaurant in Kampong Pandan as against the one in Section Five in PJ! Do not take your work too seriously…it is the politicians that have got their future on the line…not us!   

If we falter this time around - we only have ourself to blame! ABU!

Fifty Five years ago we became independent. MERDEKA. The British handed over power to the government of the day –  The Alliance headed by our beloved Tunku, and henceforth we had freedom! Freedom? Freedom to do what?

Free speech, free press, the freedom to earn a decent living, freedom of worship – all personal freedom that goes to make a decent and civilized society.

The freedom to extend a helping hand to the sick, the poor, the orphaned, the hungry, the homeless, the aged,  the underprivileged and to those in the minority.

And last and certainly the least of our worries then, was the freedom to chose who governs us and the freedom to replace them if they do not meet with our approval.

Fast forward fifty years later to 2012.

What do we have now? 

No free speech, no free press, no freedom to earn a decent living, no freedom to worship whom we choose. The sick cannot afford to pay for decent health care. The poor, the orphaned, the hungry, the homeless and the aged depend on the charity of the NGO's  and benevolence of those that care enough to put in their time, effort and money to  help them.  The under privileged are left to their own devices. The minorities within our community are ignored and without recourse to plead for their own cause because they do not have representation on the electoral role - and the worse off amongst the minorities are the real people of the soil - the orang asli who were here before any of us!


And what fifty years ago was the least of our worries : the ability to chose whom we want to govern us : is today the issue that burdens us constantly. It burdens us because we were not wise enough fifty five years ago to chose a government that would have given us all the freedom that we had aspired to when we became independent on 31st August 1957! For we now know that the freedom to chose who govern us was the most precious freedom of all the freedom that came with independence! Now we know that the path our country and our people will take after independence is decided by those whom we chose to lead us. 


Germany chose Hitler and he led them to a World War that killed almost 2.5% of the world population  - 50 to 70 million - and wrecked despair and havoc all over the world.


South Africa chose Mandela and he took that rainbow nation down the path of reconciliation when he would have been forgiven if he had sought retribution from the National Party for apartheid : a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party government and for imprisoning him for 27 years!



We chose UMNO to lead the government that govern us today. Can we now chose to change this government? 


If we have learned from our past mistakes we must first ask our self this question: Who do we now want to govern us? Who will do better or worse then UMNO? Are we to jump from the frying pan only to land in the fire? What are our options? 


The consensus is that there must be change. Anything but UMNO because fifty five years is long enough for any government to come up with something we want - even if it was to be found through a process of trial and error. 

And there have been many trials and many errors by this UMNO led government - so much trial and error that our country and our people are now on its knees pleading for good, responsible and accountable governance! And good , responsible and accountable governance will not come from UMNO. 


And so we look elsewhere. Will Pakatan Rakayt be that change that we want or are we so focused on ABU that all we want is change - and what comes with that change must be better then what we now have under UMNO?


The debate on this is robust and ongoing. 

I want change but not at any costs! As in matters of this nature we will all have our thoughts on the issue and these thoughts are coloured by many variables that will have a bearing on the final outcome of what we will do as we hurtle towards the coming 13th general elections. 

Do what you must but forget not the lessons we should have learned in the 55 years of independence that we have had under UMNO. It has taken us 55 years to lose our freedom of speech, lose the freedom of a free press,  lose much of our civil liberties, lose the ability to have an accountable and responsible government, lose our freedom of worship and many many other values that we had aspired to have when we first gained independence from our colonial masters. So my friends let us not wait a minute longer to lose UMNO! ABU!        








 

 

Academic consensus on unfair elections in Malaysia by Dr Lim Teck Ghee

In case you missed this . . . .
with thanks to my friend that posted this to me...to be shared with others!

Academic consensus on unfair elections:

Reinforcing the Case for BERSIH's March

By Dr Lim Teck Ghee
<http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=220
1&catid=141&Itemid=93>  | 27 June 2011
       CPIASIA

Many Malaysians may be unaware of the considerable research work by social scientists - both local and foreign - that have unequivocally concluded that the country's record on free and fair elections has been abysmal. Analysis of this remarkable record of trickery, manipulation and
gerrymandering by first the Alliance, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN), goes back for more than 50 years - in fact soon after the country received its independence.

Dishonest election conduct takes the following main forms:

i.        the manipulation of electoral boundaries or   

          gerrymandering
ii.       the vast disparity of voter numbers among the
          constituencies
iii.      the contamination of electoral rolls with phantom
          voters and other fraud
iv.      the grossly unfair use of the governmental machinery
          and resources in support of ruling party candidates

v.        impersonation, multiple voting, ballot stuffing and
           other frauds in polling, counting and tabulation

vi.       the rigid and opaque postal voting system

vii.      the short campaigning period and selective         

           restriction on campaign freedom

viii.     the biased and distorted official media coverage

ix.       the inadequate and outdated regulations on election    

           expenses and funding

x.        the ineffectiveness of or limitation in judicial remedy

Adding to the above is the impotency of the Electoral Commission. Lately,there has been an upsurge of political hooliganism which is increasingly coming from high levels and aimed at suppressing any expression of concern over the fair conduct of elections. Thus, it is not surprising that the
leaders of the ruling party are confident BN will remain in power - by hook or by crook - for the next 50 years.

Malaysians interested in how the ruling parties have manipulated the electoral process to their advantage are spoilt for choice in the matter of reading material. Reference to the work of any of the following scholars
will provide facts and figures on the truth behind the facade of 'democratic' elections in the country. Among them are: Sothi Rachagan, Mavis Puthucheary, Noraini Othman, Lim Hong Hai, Wong Chin Huat, Harold Crouch, James Jesudason, John Funston, Rainer Heufers, Bridget Welsh, Ong Kian Meng, Mustafa K. Anuar, James Chin, William Case, Francis Loh Kok Wah, Andrew Aeria, Dan Slater, Simon Barraclough, Gordon P. Means and Diane Mauzy.

A selection of excerpts from some recent published work is provided in the annex (see below).

Unfortunately such accounts have been deliberately obliterated from national media coverage whilst the antics of Ibrahim Ali as well as diversionary issues are prominently broadcast and splashed in the papers. The commentaries of media sycophants focusing on the purported economic losses
likely from traffic disruption (aren't these columnists capable of finding better reasons to explain why the planned march should not take place!) are merely to hoodwink Malaysians whereas the more belligerent editorials resort
to intimidation to discourage Bersih supporters marching.

Reading the independent and scholarly work on Malaysian elections should lead most in the country to conclude that the Bersih march has good reason to go ahead, if only to show to the rest of the world that BN's claim of
democratic elections has been one of the oldest - if not the oldest - lie in Malaysian politics.

ANNEX

Excerpts from recent academic writing on elections.         ".Thus, the electoral system contained built-in advantages for the Malay community. There was no realistic possibility of a non-bumiputra party's or coalition's "going it alone" and winning an election. The only way for Chinese and Indian politicians to participate in government was by allying themselves with Malays, inevitably as junior partners. In practice,only two types of government could emerge from elections: an all-Malay government or a Malay dominated coalition."

Crouch, Harold (1996)
Government and Society in Malaysia.
St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin Australia.         "Malaysia has institutionalised a semi-democratic political
system. It does engage in elections, which provide for free choices, and the opposition has won seats. Yet the contest is not a fair one, given state dominance of the media, bias in government funding toward the incumbent BN,
continuing electoral irregularities, and constituencies that are constructed to favour BN."

Welsh, Bridget (2007)
'Malaysia at 50: Midlife Crisis Ahead?'
Current History pp.106, 699. 

"We have demonstrated how the Barisan Nasional has managed to perpetuate its rule through various forms of electoral manipulation and administrative repressions. On one hand, its initial electoral strengths have been entrenched through control of franchise, alternation of
international and administrative boundaries, malapportionment and gerrymandering of electoral constituencies, controlled electoral campaigns and polling irregularities. On the other hand, political opposition is
disempowered with infringement of civil and political liberties, extensive patronage networks and abuse of federal apparatus to suppress intergovernmental competition. The opposition state governments are discriminated against and in some cases overthrown through direct federal intervention, while the local elections which the ruling coalition had largely failed to win were outright terminated since 1965."

Wong, Chin-Huat, Chin, James and Othman, Norani (2010) 'Malaysia - towards a topology of an electoral one-party state', Democratization, 17: 5, 920- 949.

"In Malaysia, elections are not fair since basic political rights
and civil liberties are restricted. Limitations to press freedom and to the right to associate and assemble, malapportionment, gerrymandering, and the financial advantages of the ruling parties are testimony to the systematic violation of fairness principles."

Ufen, Andreas (2009)
'The transformation of political party opposition in Malaysia and its implications for the electoral authoritarian regime',
Democratization, 16:3, 604-627
"On average in eleven general elections in Malaysia, the
opposition wins 45 percent of the votes, but due to the limits on the opposition within the electoral system, through gerrymandering, malapportionment and the impact of a first-past-the post system, and constraints on political organization for the opposition, holds less than 15 percent of the seats in parliament. In the 2004 election the BN won 63.4 percent of the popular vote, but won 91 percent of the overall seats."

Welsh, Bridget, Suffian, Ibrahim & Aeria, Andrew (2007)
'Malaysia country report.' Asian Barometer. 

"All mainstream media are directly controlled by either the
government, such as Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM), or by companies that have a close link with the BN's top leadership, such as Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, TV3, and Ntv7. Their relationships with leadership make them favourable to the ruling BN."

Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani (2009).
'The Emergence of new politics in Malaysia-from consociational to deliberative democracy.'
Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Vol. 5, No. 2: 97-125.         "The Malaysian electoral system . . . [has been] so heavily loaded in favour of the government that it is hard to imagine that [it] . . . could be defeated in an election."

Crouch, Harold (1996)
Malaysian Government: Authoritarian Repression and Democratic Responsiveness.
Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
"Further, these iterative electoral victories have extended some legitimating cover for the government's often sly legislation, habitual amendments to the constitution, manipulation of standing orders and question time, and elevation of loyalists to the largely ceremonial upper house. In sum, while the government can claim that Malaysia holds the longest unbroken record of elections in the region, it has not been established competitively. As Tun Razak noted in 1971: "So long as the form is preserved, the substance can be changed to suit conditions of a particular country."

Case, William (1996)
'Can the "Halfway House' stand?
Semi-democracy and elite theory in three Southeast Asian countries'.
Comparative Politics, Vol. 28, No.4, pp.437-464.

"A further package of factors working in Umno's favour included an electoral redistribution, changes to electoral laws, and a 'cleansing' of the electoral roll. An electoral redistribution carried out by the Election Commission (EC) added 26 seats to parliament, most in areas favourable to
Umno in the south (Johor from 20 to 26, Selangor 17 to 22), and Sabah (20 to 25). The northern states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah had no additions.
Furthermore, several seats in Kedah won by PAS in 1999 were reorganised with a higher proportion of non-Malay voters, making a repeat PAS victory unlikely.

"Traditionally, not issues but the 'three Ms' - media, money and machinery - are the key determinants of Malaysian elections. (It used to be the 'four Ms', before Mahathir retired.) The BN controls all television and radio stations, and all major newspapers, either through its control of government or party ownership. It uses this control to sell the virtues of the BN, and denigrate the opposition. An independent voice does exist in the form of the online newspaper Malaysiakini.. Some opposition parties and NGOs also have their own publications on the internet and/or in hard copy. But such publications cannot reach a large audience.

"The most controversial aspect of the 2004 election campaign was its management by the EC. The elections were the most disorganised and contested ever. In some cases this may simply have reflected incompetence, but EC
activities frequently provided direct benefits to the BN, as they had in the revisions of electoral boundaries and membership of the electoral roll.

In the face of very broad concern over EC activities its chairman proposed an independent inquiry into EC conduct. Prime Minister Abdullah quickly rejected this, telling the EC to conduct its own internal inquiry."

Funston, J. (2006)
'The Malay Electorate in 2004: Reversing the 1999 Result?',
in Saw Swee-Hock and K. Kesavapany (ed.),
Malaysia: Recent Trends and Challenges,
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore, p. 313


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