When An 'Election' Becomes An Invasion - COMMENT

3 May 2016

For yet another week the unabashed leaders of BN plainly intend to sully Sarawak’s morals with disgusting displays of naked bribery,  threats and open election cheating.

The lights will go out three days before (as usual) so that the BN controlled charade can then get down to the real business of making sure they come out with a really whopping “win” after the pantomime of all that so-called ‘electioneering’.

No effective monitoring at the count will, of course, be tolerated – those of PR’s leaders who have been allowed in at all are due to be rounded up and thrown out of the state on May 5th. No explanation given.

A hundred thousand illegal postal votes from absent West Malaysian ex-cops and soldiers remain in hand to be distributed around to ‘top up’ any flagging BN seats – and, of course, there are now the 11 safe new micro-rural seats, desginged to ensure a commanding 2/3 majority. Despite protests at the constitutionally illegal and gross imbalance of voter numbers, the client Election Commission forced the gerrymandering through.

These kleptocrats will then massively congratulate themselves and attempt to claim they ‘won hearts and minds’, before they doubtless all run off to Mecca (first class/private jet) to ‘purge themselves’ of such blatant sin.

This election is nothing to do with Najib? Adenan bows to his UMNO boss

Why bother?

In the eyes of the world it won’t wash, of course. Elections are about winning the argument, not bludgeoning the poor.

As any observer can deduce, the reason BN behaves this way is because they themselves know and fear that they cannot win on anything resembling a fair playing field. It is a plain admission by themselves that they know they have lost hearts and minds, so need to resort to the worst levels of election thuggery.

Indeed, given BN’s actions over this short ‘campaign’, they might as well have driven tanks into Kuching and declared martial law, as bother to pretend that this has been any kind of a democratic vote.

What worries many is that Kuching is a mere precursor to just such a potential outcome in Malaysia.

Najib is fighting hard to force the sultans to agree to concede him new ’emergency powers’, already granted by his parliamentary toadies, given that the probability now looms that his role in the theft and laundering of billions of stolen public money will soon be proven by global investigators.

Part of this planned “clamp down” will be an assault on the freedoms of the on online media, so that his and his party’s behaviour during elections such as in Sarawak can no longer be brought to the attention of the outside world.

The ‘reformer’ who learnt his lesson

Back when he took over in 2009, of course, Najib had reckoned he could have his cake and eat it, by promising ‘reforms’ of Malaysia’s repressive systems, which are designed to keep the BN kleptocrats for ever in power, getting richer and richer.

Adenan played the same ‘reformer’ role when he later took over in Sarawak.  Both scooped plaudits.

Sadly, it is like expecting a bunch of dirty old Mafia bosses to clean up their own illegal business.

Like Adenan, Najib has been at the heart of BN’s corrupted process all his political life.  While they may like to pretend they are forward looking, the logical conclusion of reform was a change of government and an end to the kleptocrat bonanza for UMNO’s ruling clique of client families in Malaysia – most particularly the both of them.

The 2011 state election in Sarawak was the first wake up call. A more open election than had ever previously been allowed, thanks to a free online media, and the emergence of a real opposition leader in the form of Anwar, caused a landslide away from BN.

If BN had not controlled a swathe of rotten rural seats the former Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud, would have lost hands down.

Najib, who was by then facing criticism from his sour-faced party predecessors, concluded that some good old-fashioned cheating was in order, to assure a 2013 win.

So, he set about employing some of the mountains of stolen cash he had already begun to amass (as one does in BN) from the made-for-purpose slush fund, 1MDB.

The rest is history.  Najib bought and cheated his way through the 2013 election – and only just won at that.  Time to put the pesky Anwar into jail and initiate a clampdown, clearly.

The ‘reforming’ Najib had already learnt his lesson by the point last year, at which the horrible exposure of all his criminal thieving from 1MDB started to come to light, thanks again to that on-line media phenomenon, which was so far free from all the restrictions BN impose on the press and broadcasting.

WHAM!  Back against the wall and under the spotlight, Najib has swiftly turned 360 degrees from a ‘reformer’ into a reactionary thug-dictator, determined to protect his perilous position.

After all, if he fails, he knows that the forces of law and order have an inevitable route to take when it comes to grand theft and bribes…. not to mention all the other past sins involving Najib, which ought to have disqualified him from ever standing for the job of Prime Minister.

No one will give credence to the outcome of Sarawak’s sad election therefore.  The real issue is what will Malaysia do about Najib and the shocking situation with BN?

Lim Kit Siang has disappointed many!

Let me remind the opposition (whoever they may now be!) why they were able to get the popular mandate from the voters of Malaysia  and garner 51% of the votes in the last general election. 

Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi and Tok Guru together, arms raised in unison, giving the message to all Malaysians that no matter what their differences, they will be together to serve the people of Malaysia should they be called upon to form the Government of the day. If they can somehow forge a union from racial, religious and political diversity then there is hope yet for our nation, our people and for our future. 

The people of Malaysia did not fail them. Pakatan Rakyat received the popular mandate to form government but six decades of gerry meandering by a corrupt Umno who intends to stay in government at all costs - through legal or illegal means - meant that a popular mandate is not enough to allow the opposition to form government. That would have to wait for another day when a level playing field is in place to ensure that democratic principles are adhered to. 

The burden of race has inflicted upon us all many limitations. 

Ketuanan Melayu in lieu of meritocracy. The immediate benefit that migration brings against the tedious work and sacrifices that nation building asks of you.  Political correctness at the expense of political realities that effectively impedes national growth and consensus when our nation has need for it most. All this that I say here, is for you all to reflect as the Sarawak elections unfolds before us all.   

Today at the very moment when the Umno led Barisan Nasional is at it weakest what is happening to the opposition? 

Azmin: DAP-PKR clashes in Sarawak election 'unfortunate'

KUCHING: Going against earlier pledges not to fight each other in the upcoming Sarawak election, two component parties of Pakatan Harapan are nevertheless doing precisely that as they take each other on in Batu Kitang.

What are we to make of all this? 

Pakatan Rakyat is long gone - dead and buried without so much as a respectful burial for a political entity that 51% of Malaysian voters choose to lead them in the last general election. Think about it!  The people of Malaysia voted for Pakatan Rakyat and what Pakatan Rakyat did was to turn around and told the people of Malaysia "F*#k Off"!...our own political agendas, our leaders individual needs and our racial and religious wants comes first before the national aspirations of the majority of the electorates that voted for Pakatan Rakyat. 

Thank you very much we all say...we will not forget that in the next general elections. 

For now let me have my say on the state of the opposition today.

Lim Kit Siang has disappoint many Malaysians because he will not lead the opposition in lieu of Anwar Ibrahim. He deserves to lead, he has earned the right to lead and there is nobody better to lead the opposition, but Kit Siang will not lead because "political correctness" does not allow him to be leader of the opposition.

That is why the opposition is in disarray. That is why the opposition is failing if it has not already failed. And that is why when Umno is at its weakest, so is the opposition!

Politics abhor a vacuum. I have nothing against a women to lead the opposition but I have  everything against a women leader, against any leader, who fails to lead.

Azmin Ali is too busy being "presidential" as MB Selangor and has started to stray into political delusion of grandeurs that has dog many other overly ambitious political leaders. Will Pakatan Harapan want anything from what Azmin Ali already has in Selangor? Does Azmin Ali need to work with the leadership within Pakatan Harapan or do they need him and Selangor more than Azmin and Selangor need Pakatan Harapan? And an "agreement in principles" on how the Sarawak Elections are to be conducted can be agreed to if, and only if, they served his and PKR's political agendas, NOT Pakatan Harapan agendas!

This is what happens when there is a political vacuum within the opposition! Everyone for themselves - for their own needs and for their own greed.         

There is no political vacuum in Umno. They may have a flawed, corrupt and irresponsible leader but Umno has a leader in Najib Razak. When they tire of him they will change him but for now there is focus in Umno, there is leadership. 

In conclusion let me say this:

For as long as the Chinese think they cannot lead politically in Malaysia because of race and religion.

For as long as the Malays think that race and religion confers upon them the right to political power without any consideration to meritocracy, responsibility and accountability.

Then that is the length of time our nation, our people and our future will be damm to achieve less that what we can, if not damm, eventually, to failure.

Great men, with greater purpose in life than themselves, can go on to do greater things. The late Tok Guru Nik Aziz, the late Karpal Singh have done their part. Anwar too - but Anwar is now indisposed. Lim Kit Siang has still to run the gauntlet.....we will have to wait to see if he does!    

   
   


Comment by Dahi Ketiak

Very true Cik Hussein, but if Kit Siang leads the Opposition the BN people will have a field day citing it as proof that the Cina are taking over the country.  This surely won't go down very well with the Malays who fear that Ketuanan Melayu will no longer be possible. Apa Cina mau lagi? This will plague the Malay psyche who forever fear losing Tanah Melayu. Until you understand this Malay mindset you will never appreciate why The Peminpin must always be a Melayu.

steadyaku47 : DK I have understood the "Malay mindset" from the time I could think for I am a Malay myself....but why would any Malay want to be led by any Malay who will rob, steal, plunder and pillage a country that they mistakenly call their own? If, despite our numerical advantage and after 60 years of Umno a Malay is no longer The Peminpin - then maybe it is what the Malays mau?  

 

  

Sarawak Report : Bags of Cash in the Dash to the Election Bash!

Najib's Gang And The Sarawak Plot - PBB Election Rivalries Open Up

20 Apr 2016

Adenan’s house – senior politicians from BN are arriving here to pick up sacks of cash

Adenan’s house – senior politicians from BN are arriving here to pick up sacks of cash

Speaking in Sarawak at the weekend, Najib called Adenan a “member of the gang”.

In the context of Malaysia’s criminalised political scene, it did not make for much of a joke.

So, why has Adenan, after months of keeping his distance from Najib’s unravelling scandals, now signed up to bless his federal ‘gang’ boss, the very moment that it has become evident the PM is about to get busted?

The answer is the usual one, which is that money in the form of mixed denomination notes is now flowing through the Sarawak BN party machine, as Adenan sets out to fix this election in the way that it has been done all his political life.

Insiders have told Sarawak Report that the operations centre for the bags of cash is none other than the Chief Minister’s luxury home in Santubong.  Senior members of SUPP have already been round there to pick up their share.

The source of the cash? Sarawak’s timber tycoons and Najib’s agent, Bustari Yusof (seen clambering out with Najib from helicoper above), say PBB insiders.

Sarawak rural voters have been educated to understand that this is how democracy works and that they are lucky to be able to sell their votes at election time.  This, BN tells them, is ‘progress’ and keeping the money flowing through Sarawak’s “safe deposit” is Najib’s priority to keep his party and himself in power.

Najib’s fighting fund was the 1MDB theft’s smoking gun

Indeed, without their ability to buy votes in Sarawak/Sabah BN would have long since lost its majority in Federal Malaysia and this was the reason why Najib has openly admitted that he used money from 1MDB to channel his bogus “Saudi royal donation” into his election fighting account at AmBank in March 2013.

Otherwise, the PM would more sensibly have kept all of his 1MDB haul safely off-shore.

Satem’s timber tycoons are up to the same thing – elderly Janet Lau of the KTS family has been appointed as a ‘direct’ candidate by Adenan and is handing out mega-cheques, claiming it is merely a charitable coincidence!

Insiders have confided that Najib pump-primed his KL AmBank account to over a billion dollars in March 2013, because he had feared he might lose the BN majority and have to shell out extremely large sums of this taxpayers’ cash to buy over individual opposition MPS.

In the end he was able to save on that money and, as Sarawak Report originally revealed back last year, he returned most of the money back out of Malaysia shortly after the election.

This having been exposed, Najib has tried to argue that he gave the money back to the unidentified “Saudi royal donor”.  The account he used from the company Tanore Finance Corporation, has emerged as having been set up by Jho Low’s fixer Eric Tan. Why did the ‘Saudi Royal’ donate his billions through such a route?

‘Reformer’ Adenan has even continued Taib’s taste for gilt furniture in his reception room where the money is being handed out

Now the same game is on again, in the same Sarawak state, and Adenan playing ball with both Najib and Sarawak’s traditional timber tycoons to make sure of victory.

After months of acting the reformer and showing a cold shoulder to Najib, he has now embraced the Prime Minister and all the money that is being handed out in his own living room, according to our sources.

Flying in, yet again, on Sunday to check on progress (see main image), Najib was again accompanied by his key agent in this matter, Bustari Yusuf, whose brother has positioned himself, with Najib’s support, to replace Adenan, as soon as is decent after the election.

Meanwhile, Adenan was lecturing the opposition not to discuss Federal matters in an election that is being micro-managed by the Federal Prime Minister.

How Adenan is being managed by Najib

However, these developments are causing friction and concern within Adenan’s local PBB party, which has thrived for months off the new chief minister’s supposed independence from KL and his supposed ‘reformist’ stance – all now jettisoned.

Najib has adopted an aggressive strategy with Sarawak, according to PBB insiders, which goes well beyond merely supporting an Adenan win.  They have confided fears to Sarawak Report that the Prime Minister is moving together with the super-wealthy Bustari brothers to achieve an UMNO takeover of the local party once Adenan goes.

Adenan appearing at one of Fadillah’s Sarawak ‘youth gatherings’ – note the UMNO flag in the centre of it all!

The blatant positioning and channelling of funds to the Bustaris has therefore created a rift beneath the surface of Sarawak’s main BN coalition partner, which has always traded on its alleged independence from KL with local Dayak voters.  Najib wants that independence ended, say PBB defectors, so that he can get a more direct hold on the wealth of Malaysia’s richest resourced state.

To this end they say Najib has orchestrated the siphoning of  major chunks of Sarawak’s infrastructure and health budgets into companies controlled by Bustari Yusof, as we reported already this weekend.

Fadillah is frequently wheeled out by UMNO these days – how come?

Meanwhile, his brother Fadillah, head of Sarawak PBB’s youth wing, has been developing his UMNO links in KL in the course of his role as the Federal Minister of Public Works.

Fadillah finances the Sarawak youth wing, something the Bustaris have positioned themselves financially to do by giving themselves public contracts such as the Borneo Highway (handed by Fadillah to his brother Bustari with Najib’s blessing).

Fadillah has also become a promoted speaker within Federal UMNO, the same malcontents explain. Why?

Red all over! Fadillah’s ex political secretary is just a place warmer, say PBB dissenters

 

The plot, they claim, concerns the candidate for Tupong, Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman (who tactlessly wears UMNO red, rather than Barisan blue).

Fazzrudin, Fadillah’s former political secretary, is one of a number of Fadillah’s placemen in the PBB list of candidates, who is believed willing to step aside to allow Fadillah to take a State seat the moment he needs it to come back and become leader.

The deal, they claim, is that Fadillah will be Najib’s man in Sarawak, much in the same way that Taib and his uncle represented the party before.

Adenan has himself bought into this system throughout his political career – after all he is on record as saying that “only Malays” must be allowed to control the non-Malay majority in Sarawak!

Fadillah’s list

The PBB dissenters have provided Sarawak Report of their list of identified Fadillah/Najib controlled candidates within the PBB election list – they say they represent half, i.e. 20 of the 40 PBB candidates:

“They are Abang Zohari, Michael Manyin, Talip Zulpilip, Stephen Rundi, Karim Hamzah, Abdullah Saidol, Abdul Rahman Junaidi, Sharifah Hasidah, Ripin Lamat, Aidel Lariwoo, Simoi Peri, Razi Sitam, Annuar Rapaee, Dennis Ngau, Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, Gerald Rentap, Allen Siden Gramong, Juanda Jaya, Idris Buang and Shafie Ahmad”, one of the dissenters told Sarawak Report.

Adenan has of course moved to create his own power base within the BN coalition, using his creation of a mass of constitutionally illegal new seats in already tiny rural areas to do so.

He has appointed no less than 11 so-called ‘Direct Candidates’, in an unprecedented move to secure place-men, who belong to no party and who are therefore entirely loyal to him.

Star turn all over UMNO?

It is a further erosion of Sarawak’s already tattered democratic processes by the man who has spent the last couple of years telling the world that he is a reformer.

To rub salt into the wound, half of these candidates are blatant representatives of Sarawak’s most wealthy timber families, who have for the past half century worked hand in glove with BN politicians to plunder the state.

Indeed, Adenan “the reformer” shocked listeners when he announced a few days ago that only these families could manage Sarawak’s timber business and that was why he was backing the status quo and would resist ending their monopoly of licenses in the state.

It is why Sarawak voters must understand that elderly Adenan and his line up of elderly timber tycoons are all about preserving the present regime against change and reform and they (along with Najib’s behind the scenes rivals to succeed him) are using all the same old tactics and faces now that the gloves are off and the election battle is on