May 6, 2013
GE-13: Najib has his own mandate and now what’s next?
by Neil Khor@http://www.malaysiakini.com
No matter what happens, Malaysians must now put the electoral results behind us and try to look forward. It is time for national reconciliation. For those who have won should do as much soul-searching as those who have lost.–Neil Khor
COMMENT: The BN emerged victorious after a most gruelling fight at the 13th general election.
Najib Abdul Razak, who at the time of writing having surpassed a simple majority of 112 seats, finally has his own mandate. In the next couple of weeks, a lot of analyses will be made and a lot of soul-searching done as the battered BN wrestles with the huge urban swing to Pakatan Rakyat.
Najib (left) is calling it a “Chinese tsunami” but the reality goes beyond merely Chinese disenchantment. It is a swing away from the BN’s race-based formula in the cities.
Pakatan continues to bite at the BN’s heels. It has convincingly denied the BN its customary two-thirds majority, and made inroads into bastions Johor and Sabah. It continues to make inroads into fortress Sarawak. It is time that the BN begin to accept the reality that the days of a strong government and of strongmen are now over.
There were moments when many of us allowed ourselves to be carried away by unofficial reports that Pakatan was surging towards a victory. But the reality is that the odds were always stacked against the opposition coalition.
There was not really much hope of winning against the entrenched BN and against a machinery of money, power and all other instruments of incumbency at their disposal. But overdoing things like the never-ending dinners in Penang can drive voters away.
Plying the race card
Some impressive gains were made. Two BN ministers were defeated and two ex-chief ministers toppled. Ali Rustam, UMNO’s rising star, fell in Malacca whilst Abdul Ghani Othman lost decisively in Johor.
Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and Kong Cho Ha were also defeated. MIC’s G Palanivel, MCA’s Liow Tiong Lai and Chua Tee Yong survived by a hair’s breath.
Unfortunately, BN’s Saifuddin Abdullah was also defeated in Temerloh but Khairy Jamaluddin won big. Both represent the liberal side of UMNO. Mukhriz Mahathir will now be the Menteri Besar of Kedah whilst BN will rule in Terengganu and Perak, both by very small majorities.
Penang and Selangor, both the most urbanised states, remain with Pakatan. In all urban areas, Pakatan has won decisively.
BN will now call their electoral victory a narrow win for race and religion. Only when the dust has settled will we know for sure if this claim is true.
So what will now happen to the BN? This is the most important question. UMNO has demonstrated that it can go it alone and win federal power without MCA, MIC and Gerakan. It is, however, much weakened and will have to be more even-handed when it comes to dealing with its East Malaysian partners.
UMNO will try to play the race card here. The Chinese have visibly rejected the BN formula but it must also remember that the voting trends in GE13 reveals a far more alarming situation where the BN was roundly rejected in all urban areas. I will not be too surprised if it hangs on to power without a majority popular mandate.
New mission
So, at the time of writing, it is very clear that the BN has lost in the cities. At a rate of 70 percent of the population living in urban areas, the ruling coalition will have a lot of soul-searching to do. Can it really move forward and rule effectively without the urban electorate?
What about the power-sharing formula? The MCA president said that the party will respect the electorate’s wishes and will not participate in forming the cabinet. MIC is left with a president who won with a razor-thin majority. The BN government will now have to feature a largely one ethnic group cabinet.
No matter what happens, Malaysians must now put the electoral results behind us and try to look forward. It is time for national reconciliation. For those who have won should do as much soul-searching as those who have lost.
It is important that we do not lose faith in face of the outcome of the polls. Yes, the ink was not foolproof. Yes, there were some suspicious voters. Yes, the electricity went out and new ballot boxes appeared.
But look at the results carefully. Despite everything thrown at the Opposition, Malaysians have now a new mission. Pakatan won in urban Malaysia. It won in parliamentary constituencies of over 100,000 voters compared to Putrajaya’s 16,000! But BN won equally convincingly in rural Malaysia. Some form of national reconciliation must now take place.
A challenge will now present itself to the ruling class. A fellowship has been forged in the cities that will result in five years of super scrutiny of every piece of legislation, every action and every decision. But for now, for today, let’s be thankful for a peaceful Malaysia.
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
Dato,
Najib has no mandate. He cannot lead, proven after he took over from “Sleeping Beauty”. It’s going to be the same before the election. A landslide win in all States with equal race representations will be Najib’s resounding mandate, but alas…
Najib will just formed the new government with many of his old team through our Parliament loop-hole – the appointment Senator-ship. Najib has to look out for Dr. M. Dr. M now will has a free hands in vetoing Najib’s decisions even in the selection of the new government lineup. If Najib choose to defies Dr. M, Najib will has to be ready for his replacement. So, with Najib as the next PM. Development in Malaysia politics are much predictable.
Malaysia is going to drag its feet and do badly in economy and other areas for another term (5 years). No, thanks to those voted for corruptions.
UMNO/BN WON AND LOST on corruption.. Period..IT LOST ON EXTREMISM and debate of Malay rights..The Chinese WON on race issue – they voted for PAS, Malay candidates of DAP won…
For PR, its about leadership transition. They simply forgot their flank having PAS leadership problems in Kedah, Kelantan and you can also say so in Perak, Negeri and elsewhere. Both PR and DAP face leadership questions in the future.
Now Najib is going to be slaughtered within his own Party. BN lost overall seats. Najib in charge of Selangor did even worse. His blue eyed boy Raja Nong Chik got thrashed.
Mahathir is in better position to go after Najib. Muhyiddin will go after Najib & Mahathir. 3-way civil war in UMNO will begin soon.
Once the infighting in UMNO begins there are possibilities of migrations to Pakatan. 3 states likely to leave BN control are Trengganu, Perak & Kedah.
The amount of racism during this election is alarming. The distrusts among races are alarming. I never understood how Hitler’s National Front can get so much support. After witnessing this election, it became so clear. I have friends and relatives who claimed to be “not racists” but was spewing so much hatred towards the chinese even to the point of eradicating them. I’m worried.
The reality is that the ‘punch bowl’ won’t fix employment growth, economic growth or the rule of law.
UMNO/BN won the rural votes and lost in the urban votes.. The big issue to non-Malays in this country, does that mean there is still hope?
Truth is hope of reform is alive BUT NOT for a PLURAL & EQUAL SOCIETY. Even though they rejected the extremist among themselves, the Malays ALSO REJECTED A PLURAL & EQUAL SOCIETY..
The dream is death, all that is left is practicality…
Yes, I’d like to say that the Chinese went beyond the race issue in the voting this time. I hope that the whole nation can do the same in the next GE.
‘It is important that we do not lose faith in face of the outcome of the polls. Yes, the ink was not foolproof. Yes, there were some suspicious voters. Yes, the electricity went out and new ballot boxes appeared.’
Yes, notwithstanding the above very unfortunate events, PR will not and must not use them as excuses.
We lost because the heartland Malays and PAS let us down.
The kampong Malays were cheaply bought by miniscule cash “gifts” by Najib, very much akin to the one time used “muruku powder and saries to the rural Indians.The heartland Malays will always be in this subsidy mentality which BN thrives on.
As for PAS, with the exception of a small few in PAS, the party in general did not share the “common enemy” with DAP & PKR. They found it, instead necessary to harp on the hudud question right up to the very last minute. This is very backward “religious” thinking. Also in spite of agreement by all 3 in the coalition, certain goons thought it necessary to campaing against the PSM candidate.
Well, we now have to face another 50 years of this BN crap and I say this again, for all those who backed the thieves and scoundrels you deserve it .
BN must have used the most money in a GE ever together with all the dubious ways they have rigged this election (I personally saw Myanmar & Banglas trying to enter voting centers), In the cities, the rakyats managed to block many of these illegals from voting, I cannot say what happened in rural areas.
With this kind of results of BN losing more Parliament seats and losing many more state seats. BN better stop blaming the Chinese – do some more soul searching and arrest corruption and extremism.
Syabas to DAP and the Chinese voters. DAP has shown they are able to transition to the new voters and grooming future Malaysian leaders. And the Chinese have shown they are not racist and are willing to vote Malay candidates and even PAS candidates who are moderates and progressive.
It’s back to the same old shit again ! Nothing changes from now unless Najib gets the fright of his life when he face the next Umno election…If he can strike fear to that Maha king then its home sailing …..or else he will be torn to pieces ….lets see if he has that nerves of steel like all good statemen have…..
Najib is in a precarious position within UMNO.
For his own personal political survival, he has to try to go on the road for reconciliation.
Is there going to be horse trading with PKR or DAP to boost his political image and stave off Muhyiddin’s long knife ?
Vic are still dreaming?
Najib has no mandate.?
Hate him,hate umno
it is your choice
But 133 out of 222
is a mandate
Years ago,1982 Italy won a world cup that is marred by bad referring and fouls galore, But a win is a win, they did win. Now the playing styles changed and referees got better. There is lesson to bear, it going to be an unfair bitch, but it needs enduring and changing one stone at a time and it will make no mistake. Meanwhile we all need to move on, in what has been over politicking for over 5 years, energies better spent in living , working , family , friend and being smart on opportunities presented to make good. Lets move forwards as there is kith and kin on the other side as well
What’s next you ask? BRIM3 maybe.
I agree with vic. Najib did not get a mandate. A mandate is when you have an overwhelming victory and can do almost anything you want to. Najib led his team to victory, but in terms of popular votes they actually lost to the opposition 50%-49%, and that was BN’s weakest showing since 1969. The number of BN seats also declined. They had 198 in 2004; 140 in 2008; and 133 this time. The opposition made inroads in Johore, Sabah and Sarawak. Anyhow, it is not a mandate.
BN is now basically UMNO. UMNO actually increased the number of seats from 79 in 2008 to 109 in 2013. Most of the BN losses can be attributed to the decline of MCA, Gerakan, and MIC, which have been the “weak sisters” of BN for some time now.
So it will be interesting to watch UMNO in the months ahead. Will they try and woo PAS members, and try and split PR? Will they seek reconciliation and outreach to other races, or will they continue to beat the drum that “Malays are under siege?”
Personally, I think that it will be the latter course. Najib says that there was a Chinese tsunami and that it is unfortunate that they turned away from the government.
Ali Rustam says it is unfortunate that the Chinese community doesn’t appreciate what BN has done for them. But that sounds like someone who chops down the trees in the forest and then complains that there is no shade. The Chinese community turned against BN precisely because of the kind of rhetoric and discrimination that has been coming from UMNO.
setiap kali pru masalah yang sama juga berulang tidak ada langkah yang konkrit untuk betulkan keadaan-usaha untuk ubah perlu diteruskan.lagi biar pru nampak dijalankan dalam suasana yang betul dan tidak kotor
Probably the Chinese will get punish for the next 5 years.
Despite the hoary comments about the Chinese Tsunami, please be reminded that it should rightly be labeled an “URBAN” Tsunami. Bigjoe is of course right stating the obvious. It is not about Chinese chauvinism, so much as Blind Rural loyalty, which can be bought for a few bags of fertilizer.
That is how the Opposition in Selangor, Penang and Kelantan secured their State Assemblies 2/3 majority. It shows that the parochial sentiments, vote-buying and developmental politics still hold sway on a large population of the marginalized, feudal and rural folk – unless they have a Calling. Right now they remain susceptible to Mind-Rape.
The old guard in the Opposition will now transition to new leaders, as determined and principled as they are. The old guard in UMNO will transition into the baser, patronizing, corrupted, feudalistic politics they can only subscribe to.
Jibs? He’s Toast. With FlOM sandwiched in between.
Are we outsourcing our voting rights ?
To put it as “Chinese tsunami” is a misleading by itself. The opposition has effectively put the Malaysian GE on the 2-party system. Its just the Chinese has solidarity in supporting the opposition, while there is a big split in Malay votes between BN and opposition, especially in rural areas. Its really the RURAL and URBAN Tsunami!
I guess this song is apt for this moment.
Vivek, it is not outsourcing voting rights. Malaysians been outsourced ever since Tunku Abdul Rahman left office.
Umno’s ruling the country for 56 years and made its faithful partner, MCA lost, is a success or failure of Umno politics?
Vivek, “WE” outsourcing our voting rights?? Noooo, we fought to keep our rights, it was Najib/Umno who outsourced our voting rights and freely donated our money to the immigrants. I wonder why the rural folks were not concerned that the money they ‘could have had’ were given to the aliens.
1. Najib at risk at the next UMNO General Assembly.
But the FLOM will not give in easily without a fight.
2. Najib has launched a trend of blatant, unashamed and massive
vote-buying to win elections. We will get more of the same at GE 14 !
3. Worst Minister of FInance we have ever had.
No loss to Malaysia if he is replaced.
4. Malaysia will continue to experience relative decline compared to our
neighbours such as Thailand under this regime.
for the obvious few, a hollow victory resonating cheat, cheat, cheat, cheat…Tak Malu.
p/s the majority of the chinese voted for X. The majority malays voted for status quo. They won…
Teresa Kok has a majority of almost 50,000 genuine votes. Just figure out how many constituencies have that sort of voters!
It is time to review our electoral processes as well as bring in the check and balances of independent judiciary and civil service.
BN has to have the courage to come out with policies that satisfied the urban folks lest risking our future and competitiveness. Else we will see accelerated flow of our talents and creating ghost towns.
Rural folks may not understand the need but BN have the expertise of selling this.
I truly agree with Nototo. We the masses were being fool by the SPR and their cohorts election after election. We need to put a stop to their tyranny and nonsense. They robbed us of our right. Damn!.
It is not right for Khor to tell Malaysians to put the electoral results behind us and look forward. Many followed this election in detail for more than a year and most believe that they have been short changed by the EC. This election was conducted by UMNO, for UMNO and of Umno in the guise of the EC. It is not a question of sour grapes, but if the fraud was so very clear then we will be doing Malaysia and our future generation an injustice. Let the natural reaction begin.
Why do I have a feeling that it’s 1990 GE all over again? Well I got a bad feeling that evil folks such as Najib can get away with it over & over again. What about those UMNO-BN folks of moving forward when BN lost Perak 5 years ago? So you mean you win, we must put everything behind & move forward wor. Head you win, tail I lose la.
I agree that we should not concede till all these things such as phantom votes & vote buyings have been cleared. If it’s discovered that BN won the election through manipulation, we shall go to court. And if the court does not produce good justice, we shall go to the street.
We shall make sure Najib suffer what he had done to all Perakians in 2009. All the melayus I talked to are in favour of Nizar & PR. WTF man!
CLF,
I don’t give 2 hoot when Najib’s toasted. By the way, to my horror, Mukriz can be MB Kedah & if he has made his set pieces correctly may be the 7th PM. Sorry, Mooh Moohyidin, you may not see the light of being PM. Yup I am delighted that Azizan, the former MB has lost Kedah. This clown should commit harakiri & the entire PAS & PKR Kedah should have hold accountability from being one big mess.
In fact, if only PAS/PKR acceded to DAP request of haivng more state seats, PR Kedah may have kep the state government. PAS has lost terengganu before because of their stupidty. It seems that PAS didn’t fkingly learnt their history. Padan muka Azizan! Frankly, Bakar Bata, Kulim & Gurun should have reverted to DAP & PAS should have fkingly focus on 18 – 20 seats instead of grabbing 24 seats. See what happen when you chew too much, you got stomach ache
Guys & Gals,
You see Allah got eyes. Allah noticed that the only party that worked tremendously hard which was given too few seats are rewarded heavily. It’s time (I felt already too fking late) to divide the share equally
P.S : Don’t understand how come CJM can lose Segamat. DAP has given it to them in silver platter. All these shit hole in NS tells us that time to give DAP majority seats next time round. If only there is a next time
In Pahang, I felt that PKR strong man Fauzi should pergi mampus……See strong hand tactics by PKR has opened ALLAH eyes…..They send more rockets in parliament. Did you guys know that Arif Sabri & Tengku fella won both Parliament & State seats….
WTF, Fauzi’s doing…..KOH BOON HENG is DAP pahang vice chairman lei…..I hope DAP should not sack him but demand Fauzi to mampus instead…..Just see the f result la
Mohd Nor Jaafar (IND – IND) 174
Jamaluddin Abd Rahim (PR / OTHERS – PKR) 2435
Koh Boon Heng (IND – IND) 7841
Lau Lee (BN – MCA) – 7905
Koh Boon Heng should have won if that fking PKR stay away. It’s all Fauzi/Azmin/Anwar fault……Padan Muka!
UMNO must be very sore for its failure to capture Selangor and instead they are bitterly reject by Rakyat at the way UMNO has been playing and fooling around. Sybas is taking about water shortage. What water storage and pehaps they forget to turn the tap half turn.
Yes, Malaysians need national reconciliation now as proposed by Neil Khor. Najib has said the same thing in his humble and short victory speech. Let us close ranks now for the unending effort in nation-building for the good of our future generations.
Good show for Selangor and Penang; despite rigging, Khalid and Guang Eng won BIG. Bellweather watch did Nurul well. We might have a lady PM in future.
Kedah was expected; more so with TDM hands in
MCA, Gerakan and MIC are very insignificant. Might get wiped off this planet.
Next will be UMNO assembly. Despite not getting 2/3, he will survive. He has support within UMNO. Hisham will get to rise, IMHO.
New MB in Johor, Malacca and Kedah. Perhaps a few states too.
Will Selangor have new MB? Unlikely with Khalid having won Big.
Next GE?
Biologically, some of us will be gone; esp those who will exceed 90 by then.
2008 seemed like yesterday. by 2018, 2013 will seem likewise.
Let’s watch the new cabinet lineup.
I HOPE DSAI WILL NOT RETIRE FROM POLITICS. WE, THE RAKYAT AND PAKATAN NEED YOU TO LEAD US TO VICTORY IN 14TH GENERAL ELECTION. YOU DID NOT LOOSE ,PAKATAN WON THE POPULAR VOTE. BN WON BCOS THEY USED EVERY DIRTY TRICKS ON EARTH TO MAKE SURE THEY WIN.THEY WILL HAVE TO FACE GOD”WRATH ONE DAY.FINALLY MAY GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS AND BLESS YOU WITH GOOD HEALTH.
Now you are saying it, didi ” The amount of racism in this election is alarming. The distrusts among the races us are alarming…..l am worried… ”
Someone says, not without justification, that Malaysia is a fragile nation, and we have not matured.
I have personally tried my best not to be one sided, and do make it a point to say things on both sides of the divide. The psychology on both sides is this, whether we like it or not ; The clamourings go this way continuously – the more they ask, the more is given, and its never enough…they ask for more and more, and more and more is given, yet never seem to be enough…. Thus, those whose business it is to govern make all sorts of blunders through being silly in relenting….its gone to yuk…. because everyone pretends he has not got it and makes all sorts of noises…. the danger is it MAY come to some breaking point, and that will it be the Fragility !
Alie,
F u? Why Najib can’t reconcile with Pakatan hold on Perak when they won fair & square in 2008? Why Najib must take over Perak unconstitutionally? So F u alie?
Lisa,
The next course of action is to hold Najib accountable if he had cheated in order to win. Make sure that BN very tough to run the country. If it’s ok for Najib to take Perak samsengly, we should do the same. We don’t accept this result.
Antaj,
Very short changed indeed
Dear Brian, you’ve said it as it is,” As for PAS, with the exception of a small few in PAS, the party in general did not share the “common enemy” with DAP & PKR. They found it, instead necessary to harp on the hudud question right up to the very last minute.” It’s so true, there’s a lot of soul searching to be done within PR, from now on go and form a legal opposition party, not a coalition of parties. Stop this hudud or whatever that’s been a prick to the opposition arse….Oouch..but true
Will they try and woo PAS members, and try and split PR? Will they seek reconciliation and outreach to other races, or will they continue to beat the drum that “Malays are under siege?” Personally, I think that it will be the latter course.” Ambassador Malott
UMNO has shown to themselves to the rest of the electorate that they can go it alone. They can do without their Chinese and Indian partners and still win. Judging from their immediate response to their hard fought victory which has taken a hard knock, they will not be in the mood to re-group and reconcile any time soon. Despite their honest efforts to win the support of the Chinese, the Chinese have shown they could not be trusted to be loyal supporters (read: citizens) when push comes to shove. Malays with Indian descent like Mahathir are vengeful and will not forget so easily. They may make a show of it by giving a few token Cabinet seats.
While we’re are sad at the manner Najib “won” the election,we are happy at:
1.That Perkasa’s ibrahim and Zulkifli Nordin beating by the the people.
2.That all the “frogs” of 2008 were soundly beaten or either do not dare to stand in the election.The names of Zaharin,Othman Jailu,Hee,Gopalankrihnan,ex magnum gangster among others are fast becoming history albeit not a good history.
3.That Large majority of independent candiditates lost deposit except for less than 5 out of 270 candidates,giving a big hope that the 2 party system is now the way forward.
4.That Pas is the only Pakatan party that suffered a big loss,giving a call for Hadi Awang and gang to reflect and do some soul searching.Hadi’s greed and untruthful to partners made a major contribution to Pakatan’s failure for a much better showing.The people’s confidence on Pas shattered due to Hadi’s and Pas Leaders’arrogance.Poor administrative skills in managing a state like Kedah,too contributed to this.
5.That despite all odds,Najib’s and Rosmah’s ego are badly battered as this is BN worst outing in the last 56 years giving them a clear signal money and bribes cannot all the time buy the people..
Both BN and Pakatan have lost. The winner is democracy. So rejoice !
Malaysia is a one-party dominant political system no longer. It has denied the dominant party from continuiing to shred the country’s Constitution although it cannot roll back the controversial amendments they have introduced.
The Malays have benefitted the most during those years that UMNO-BN. The older generation of Malays were steadfast in their support of the status quo. The class warfare that many hoped would drive the elections instead took a back seat. Race and religion are still the driving force.
It is further proof that ‘change’ cannot take roots in good economic times. Western concepts of freedom and the rule of law are alien to the Malays and don’t matter as much.
ibnuBaltazar,
What did you expect when UMNO/BN controlled media try to fuel racial and religious tension for the last few years? With Utusan, Berita Harian harping on the Ketuanan Melayu and Islam issues; and the STAR and NST harping on hudud? On top of that UMNO’s outsourced Perkasa managed to frightened many rural Malays back to UMNO.
And now Najib and CSL blamed racial sentiments for their poor showing. The Malay proverb “baling batu, sembunyi tangan” is very apt here.
Forget about the good of western liberal democracy. It will never take roots in Asian societies with their emphasis on filial piety, Confucian-like values and in countries where Islam is the guiding and national philosophy. The best hope is for some mutated version of western democracy.
EC said 80% voters turnout and we have an electoral roll of 12 million, so total votes counted should be 80% x 12 million = 9.6 million. So how the fuck do we have 5.2 million for BN and 5.6 million for PR totalling 10.8 million? Where the fuck that extra 1.8 million came from Najis?
The bulk swear by money politics and racial slants. No room for ideology and moralistic reforms. BN will rule for another 50 years. Only when there is no money in the kitty will the masses rise and qualm for changes. Until then we will be belly aching,unfortunately.
When it comes to election, the incumbent will used every tricks at its disposal to ensure itself a clear win. So it is not surprising BN has use that to its advantage. Off course with the help of the EC. No re-count of votes is allowed when the ballots summary sheet has been signed and attested by party representatives at each polling centers. This stringent rule was not followed by the EC and as such the re-count thereafter should be considered null and void. The EC Chair Person should not have announced the results when these rules were not followed. You can see the “GRIN” on his face when he “HASTILY” announced the results when BN attained the 112 seats. This in itself was unbecoming of a so call EC Chair Person who is conider a neutral party. As a Malaysian, I wonder what has become of our country?
Dictatorships are never voted out.
Jamal Majid @9.28pm.
Before Election, I had said since Malaysia is a fragile nation (which might go into a failed nation eventually ), so bring back and put in place the draconian laws of Internal Security preventive laws, thinking that Pakatan Opposition might win GE – ie : the Reverse situation.
Now that we know BN has won, I will take the same stand that new Govt has the obligation and Responsibility to put back in place these tough Security law, precisely suiting the points you have raised on racialism, extreme religiousity, bigotry & arrogance – otherwise Malaysia will descend to a failed State. You see, tough draconian laws act as the proverbial Sword of Democles, to REMIND subjects of Limitations in words, actions & conduct , by man who can be the ‘ political animal ‘ – but rarely, if ever, that it be used indiscriminately at random…..
Yes kassim2, I had a dream. Dreaming for the day justice be served.
I don’t hate “him”, but his sins
I don’t hate umno, but the sins of it members
Kassim2 may hate me for my remarks on “him” & umno but
I love kassim2 and hate his sins
I agree with vic. Najib did not get a mandate. A mandate is when you have an overwhelming victory and can do almost anything you want to. Najib led his team to victory, but in terms of popular votes they actually lost to the opposition 50%-49%, and that was BN’s weakest showing since 1969. The number of BN seats also declined. They had 198 in 2004; 140 in 2008; and 133 this time. The opposition made inroads in Johore, Sabah and Sarawak. Anyhow, it is not a mandate – John Malott
Thank you Ambassador, I rest my case.
We can not put the electoral results aside until the Election Commission come out with reasons of such dirty tactics in manupilating the results of this election. The people are angry over the undemocratic way in handling this election and this incident has been locked in people’s mind for a very long time. We don’t want standard reply from EC when questions are being asked on foreigners with blue I/C.
Ali Rustam was reported to have threatened to get Malays to come out with their machete/parangs some years ago. If he has forgotten that, I haven’t.
Reconciliation is a non-starter because Najib, in the next breath, preferred to ascribe BN’s worst performance to date to the ‘Chinese tsunami’ when the core issue is entrenched corruption under his watch.
He has precious little time left, and he knows it; the grim look on him said everything. The knives are being sharpened as denial continues. At some point later, the knife sharpener will not care what Najib has to say about anything.
I have seen the best in Malays and I now see the worst in some.
‘Dixi, et salvavi animam meam.’
‘I have said it and I have saved my soul’
(from Hans Kung’s “A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics” OUP 1998)