Politic Today

Lebih tepat, terkini dan telus

2008-04-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

Sila kunjungi website baru saya di www.politictoday.com.

Lebih Sudu Dari Kuah

2008-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Telah menjadi satu tradisi setiap kali keluar akan pasti ada driver dan bodyguard dikalangan org BN, tidak kira dari ahli Perlimen sehingga ke pegawai khas...Masalahnya driver yang tidak mempunyai apa2 kelulusan ini bertindak sombong dan lebih teruk lagi angkuh melebihi dari ahli Parlimen atau pegawai2 khas ini...Nak berjumap dengan pegawai khas pun kena buat temujanji melalui driver...masalahnya driver ni mengaji setakat Penilaian Darjah 5...Dengan kata lain " Lu sapa beb?" pada driver2 ini...

Desas Desus Hubungan Intim

2008-02-19T21:17:00.000-08:00

Sejauh mana kebenaran desas desus ini yang bertiup kencang di Kedah...adakah perkhabaran ini sekadar untuk melemahkan jentera BN pilihanraya Kedah?

Kubang Pasu Semakin Panas...

2008-02-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Senarai calun akan diedarkan mungkin hari ini atau besok oleh Menteri Besar Kedah..yang menarik perhatian dikawasan Kubang Pasu adalah siapakah bakal calon Perlimen dan DUN...

Khabar angin bertiup kencang mengatakan ADUN Pukul 10 ( ADUN yang tutup pagar rumah jam 10 malam) akan terkeluar senarai calun...sewajarnya beliau tak tersenarai kerana tidak ada bezanya dari dulu hingga sekarang..Mungkin pada zaman Tun beliau adalah calon yang dapat menandingi Prof. Dato Harun Din( ketika itu masih Prof) kerana beliau pun setaraf dengan nya. Zaman Pak Lah, beliau bukanlah calun kesukaan rakyat..

Khabarnya, seorang guru yang telah menjadikan tandas paling cantik sehinggakan guru menjadikan tandas sebagai pejabat guru tersebut..Secara logiknya, sedangkan tandas boleh dibangunkan menjadi pejabat, inikan pula kawasan yang sememangnya cantik di Jitra...sekiranya betul khabar angin untuk dicalunkan, sokongan BN masih kuat di Jitra.

Jitra dan Bukit Kayu HItam menjadi rebutan calon-calon UMNO kerana bakal2 YB kawasan tersebut tidak perlu bekerja keras untuk menang...Sememangnya, letak tunggul kayu pun sebagai ADUN yang mewakili UMNO, pasti penduduk kedua2 kawasan ini akan mengundi...Inilah hakikat perebutan yang berlaku...

Pengumuman Calon PAS Kedah

2008-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

Semakin hampir, semakin panas dan kencang debaran akan menantikan pengumuman calun PAS untuk DUN dan Perlimen Kedah. Kemuncak penantian ini akan diketahui pada Khamis malam, 21 Feb 2008 di Batu 9, Simpang 4 Kedah...

1031 Undi Pos DUN Belantik

2008-02-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

Angka keramat 1301 hangat diperkatakan di Sik. Yang mengejut para pengundi di Dun Belantik, Sik Kedah. dimana datangnya anggota askar seramai itu sedangkan Kem Gubir hanyalah kem pertahanan hadapan yang menjadi tempat persinggahan askar yang kekadang hanya mampu menampung lebih kurang 250 anggota sahaja.

Adakah tektik ini akan menjadi tektik baru BN untuk meramapas DUN Belantik?

Ex-President Bush says attacks on McCain 'unfair'

2008-02-18T19:28:00.001-08:00

By Jason Szep
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush urged disgruntled conservatives on Monday to rally around John McCain, calling their criticism of the Republican presidential front-runner "grossly unfair."
Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain speaks after gaining the endorsement of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush (R) at a campaign event in Houston February 18, 2008. (REUTERS/Richard Carson)
The father of President George W. Bush said he was annoyed by attacks within the conservative wing of the Republican Party against the Arizona senator, the all-but-certain Republican nominee to face Democrats in November's presidential election.
Many conservatives distrust McCain because of his moderate views on illegal immigration and campaign finance reform and for having originally voted against President Bush's tax cuts. Persuading them all to vote for McCain in November will be a central challenge.
"His character was forged in the crucible of war. His commitment to America is beyond any doubt," the 41st U.S. president, joined by his wife Barbara, told a joint news conference with McCain in a Houston airport hangar.
"You know, if you've been around the track you hear these criticisms and I think they are grossly unfair. He's got a ... sound conservative record but he's not above reaching out to the other side," he said.
"So I hear these criticisms and Barbara knows I get a little bit annoyed about them frankly," he said, later dismissing them as "absurd."
Later, aboard his campaign plane, McCain said he would be glad to have President George W. Bush campaign on his behalf "under any circumstance" and said key fundraisers who worked on Bush's presidential campaigns are now joining his campaign.
McCain faces a delicate balancing act in dealing with Bush, whose job approval rating languishes near record lows of around 30 percent but is more than double that among conservative Republicans whose votes McCain needs in November.
A 'THIRD BUSH TERM?'
His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, often pokes fun at "Bush-McCain Republicans, and likens a vote for McCain to a "third Bush term." McCain dismisses such talk. "People know me for who I am and what I am," he told reporters on his plane.
The elder Bush said even former President Ronald Reagan, a hero of the conservative movement, faced attacks from the right wing of the party, citing several quotations from diaries written by Reagan in 1982, his second year in office.
One lambasted Reagan for "betrayal of the conservative cause" and another, in the "Conservative Digest," accused Reagan of being a "kind of turncoat conservative."
A key challenge for McCain is to placate conservative activists in his party while continuing to attract moderate Republicans and independent voters drawn to his positions on immigration, torture and global climate change.
"We as a party must unite and move forward," McCain told the news conference after the elder Bush endorsed him.
Right-wing radio hosts who are influential in U.S. politics have expressed alarm at the lead established by McCain in the race to become the Republican nominee.
Leading host Rush Limbaugh warned this month that McCain spelled danger for the party on ideological grounds, and callers to his show deplored his "liberal" views, saying he lacks the bedrock convictions of Republican hero Reagan.
Conservatives say they disagree with the four-term senator and former Vietnam War prisoner on issues including taxes, free political speech, immigration and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other U.S. prisons.
In one indication of doubts about McCain, evangelical leader James Dobson said this month he would not vote for McCain if he became the nominee, raising the possibility that some Republicans would sit out the Nov. 4 election.Copyright © 2008 Reuters

Gelombang peralihan sokongan masyarakat India di Malaysia

2008-02-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Sekali lagi Samy Vellu diserbu dan dimaki hamun oleh orang-orangnya sendiri. Kali ini di dua lokasi dalam sehari iaitu di SJKC Chung Hwa Pusat 3 di Taman Senangin di Butterworth dan di Chai Leng Park ketika bertemu JK Rukun Tetangga dan Umno cawangan juga di Butterworth.
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Dalam kejadian pertama Samy dikatakan telah dikunci di dalam bangunan sekolah berkenaan oleh sekumpulan besar masyarakat India yang mendesak agar beliau bertindak membebaskan lebih 100 tahanan yang ditahan oleh polis di KL kerana menghadiri demonstrasi anjuran Hindraf di KL pada sebelah paginya. Samy dikatakan berjanji akan campurtangan dan akhirnya apabila pihak polis tiba Samy berjaya diloloskan dari cengkaman kumpulan berkenaan.
Kemudiannya dalam majlis kedua ucapan Samy diganggu oleh sekumpulan masyarakat India yang lain yang jelas tidak berpuas hati dengan kepimpinan beliau dan MIC.
Samy dilaporkan berada di Butterworth bagi membantu jentera MIC yang akan bertanding mempertahankan kerusi DUN Prai miliknya. Prai mempunyai lebih 87% pengundi bukan Melayu dengan pengundi India sahaja seramai 35%. Dalam PRU ke 11 lalu calon DAP tewas Cuma dengan 583 undi.
Dengan perkembangan ini saya yakin kedudukan calon-calon MIC buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah politik negara berada dalam situasi yang sangat meruncing. MIC kini mempunyai 12 kerusi Parlimen dan 19 DUN. Sepanjang pilihanraya yang lepas-lepas calon-calon MIC sentiasa memberikan kekuatan kepada BN, mungkin dengan perkembangan terbaru ini tidak lagi.
Malah Umno sendiri sepatutnya tidak memandang kecil perkembangan ini kerana kebanyakkan calon-calon Umno juga terutama di Pantai Barat bersandar kepada kekuatan sokongan dari masyarakat India yang selama ini taat dan setia pada BN. Jika berlaku lebih dari 50% 'swing' atau peralihan sokongan dari BN ke pembangkang dari kalangan pengundi-pengundi India, tidak mustahil bukan hanya calon-calon MIC yang akan kecundang malahan calon-calon Umno pun akan terlentang terutama di Pulau Pinga, Selangor dan Perak.
Perkembangan yang tidak disangka-sangka ini jika berlaku 8 Mac ini akan mencetuskan gelombang kebangkitan baru lanskap politik di Malaysia. Kita mengharapkan agar pengundi-pegundi Melayu juga akan membuka mata masing-masing dan berani juga membuat keputusan yang realistik. Sama ada berpayung di bawah pimpinan yang tidak bermoral dan lemah atau beralih kepada yang lebih baik.
Fikirlah semasak-masaknya. - detikdaily.net ---Harakah

Awas, perancangan 'jahat' halang calon BA bertanding

2008-02-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Feb (Hrkh) - Terdapat perancangan 'jahat' pihak tertentu untuk menghalang parti pembangkang khususnya PAS bertanding di kawasan Parlimen Pandan, Selangor pada pilihan raya umum ke-12.
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Yang Dipertua PAS Kawasan Pandan Iskandar Abdul Samad mendakwa ada ura-ura bakal-bakal calon dan pimpinan parti-parti bukan Barisan Nasional (BN) akan ditahan sebelum hari penamaan calon pada 24 Februari supaya BN dapat meraih kejayaan dengan menang tanpa bertanding.
"Walaupun desas-desus, kita mengambil perhatian serius tentang dakwaan tersebut," katanya dalam satu kenyataan media yang difaksmilikan kepada Harakahdaily semalam.
Katanya, perkembangan beberapa insiden di Pandan telah mendorong PAS untuk berwaspada dan menggesa supaya pihak-pihak tidak bertanggungjawab melupakan perancangan jahat untuk menjatuhkan PAS dalam pilihan raya akan datang.
Antara insidennya ialah pada 26 Januari lalu, seorang anggota cawangan khas Balai Polis Daerah Ampang telah menyusup masuk dalam konvensyen PAS manakala keesokannya pihak polis yang menggalas 'machine gun' didakwa telah cuba menakut-nakutkan tetamu yang hadir di majlis minum teh bersama masyarakat India di Pandan Indah.
Selain itu pihak polis didakwa telah mengganggu Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor, Dato' Dr Hasan Ali berucap pada lawatan ke Kampung Pandan yang diadakan di rumah ahli PAS 29 Januari lalu.
"Pada 16 Februari lalu, polis telah cuba mmeberhentikan program solat hajat dan munajat kami di Pandan Indah," katanya.
Katanya, provokasi polis itu tidak boleh dijadikan alasan perundangan memandangkan program-program Umno seperti Majlis Mesra Rakyat ADUN Chempaka pada 10 Februari lalu tidak diganggu padahal diadakan di padang awam.
"Kita seru supaya semua pihak bertindak secara bertamadun dan berfikiran waras untuk menghormati demokrasi di negara ini
"Jika perlu, kita akan mengadap Sultan Selangor supaya baginda dapat memastikan agar demokrasi di Selangor ini tidak dicemari,"tegasnya.
Beliau tidak mahu insiden 28 September lalu berulang lagi iaitu Naib Yang Dipertua PAS telah dibelasah di Kampung Pandan.
Walaupun laporan polis telah dibuat sehingga kini penyerang terbabit belum didakwa sama sekali.
"Nyawa pimpinan PAS terancam jika pihak-pihak tidak bertanggungjawab dan pengancam ini terlepas daripada undang-undang," katanya. - mks. ---Harakah

Sapa undi sapa? Diketahui

2008-02-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

Nombor siri pada kertas undi dan juga kertas salinan dalam buku daftar pemilih masih dicetak pada pilihan raya umum ke-12 bagi menjamin ketelusan proses mengundi, kata Setiausaha Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya, Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd. Noor.
Beliau berkata, bagi merahsiakan dan melindungi identiti pengundi pula, pihak SPR membuat satu pembaharuan apabila tidak lagi menulis nombor siri pemilih di atas keratan kertas salinan dalam buku kertas undi.
Jelasnya, dengan kaedah terbaru itu, ia dapat menjamin kerahsiaan mengundi 100 peratus.
“Dengan ini, kita tidak dapat mengesan siapa yang diberi sesuatu kertas undi.
“SPR tidak lagi menulis nombor siri pemilih di atas keratan kertas salinan dalam buku kertas undi,” katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia ketika ditemui di sini hari ini. - UTUSAN MALAYSIA

Adakah Shahrir Bakal MB Baru Johor

2008-02-18T04:08:00.000-08:00

JOHOR BAHRU 17 Feb. – “Saya tidak bercita-cita untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Menteri atau Menteri Besar,” kata Ahli Parlimen Johor Bahru, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad.
Menurutnya, walaupun beliau bersedia berpindah kerusi dari Parlimen ke Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) namun ia tidak bermakna beliau menyimpan hasrat untuk memegang jawatan Menteri Besar.
“Bagi saya, berkhidmat untuk masyarakat lebih utama daripada mengejar jawatan,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas Majlis Penyerahan Tong Sampah Beroda oleh Southern Waste Management Sdn. Bhd. (SWM) kepada penduduk Taman Melodies di sini hari ini.
Beliau mengulas desas-desus mengatakan namanya antara yang disenaraikan bakal bertanding kerusi DUN Tanjung Puteri pada pilihan raya umum 8 Mac ini.
Sambil menyifatkan perkara itu sebagai spekulasi politik, Shahrir berkata, hasratnya dalam politik hanya ingin bekerja dan berkhidmat sebaik mungkin kepada penduduk Johor Bahru.
Menjawab pertanyaan apa akan berlaku terhadap beberapa projek yang dirancangnya untuk penduduk Johor Bahru jika tidak terpilih mengekalkan kerusi sedia ada, Shahrir memberitahu, khidmatnya boleh diteruskan menerusi jawatannya sebagai Ketua UMNO Bahagian Johor Bahru.
Sementara itu, menurut Shahrir, dua ahli majlis MBJB, seorang bekas ahli majlis MBJB, seorang pemimpin Pemuda dan seorang ahli Pergerakan Wanita antara tujuh nama yang dicalonkan UMNO Bahagian Johor Bahru untuk kerusi Parlimen dan DUN.
Menurutnya, turut disenaraikan ialah beliau sendiri selaku penyandang sedia ada dan wakil rakyat DUN Tanjung Puteri, Ali Mohamed.
“Pemilihan dibuat secara terbuka dan mereka yang dipilih boleh bertanding kerusi Parlimen dan DUN,” katanya.
Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata, tiada nama luar daripada UMNO Bahagian Johor Bahru dicalonkan untuk kedua-dua kerusi tersebut.

Kelantan sentiasa sihat...luar dan dalam

2008-02-18T04:05:00.000-08:00

ALOR STAR 17 Feb. – Kelantan tidak ‘sakit’ dan tidak memerlukan ‘rawatan’, kata Menteri Besarnya, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
Mursyidul Am Pas itu ketika mempertahankan corak pemerintahan parti pembangkang itu di Kelantan berkata, Kelantan membangun mengikut acuan sendiri.
Malah, menurut beliau, orang Melayu dan Cina di Kelantan hidup bagai adik-beradik dan menunjukkan kemesraan hidup bersama kerajaan yang berasaskan Islam.
“Rawat penyakit apa? Kalau penyakit kulit, jantung, buah pinggang, darah tinggi Kelantan ada hospital, ada doktor. Sudah lama Kelantan ada hospital ada doktor,” katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas memberikan ceramah di Kompleks Pas Kedah, di Kota Sarang Semut dekat sini malam tadi.
Turut hadir ialah Presiden Pas, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Timbalan Mursyidul Am Pas, Datuk Dr. Haron Din dan Ketua Penerangan Pas Pusat, Mahfuz Omar.
Barisan Nasional (BN) pada 15 Februari lalu mengisytiharkan 2008 sebagai ‘Tahun Merawat Kelantan’ iaitu respons kepada perisytiharan ‘Tahun Melawat Kelantan 2008’ yang dibuat oleh kerajaan Pas.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, kempen itu bertujuan memulihkan semula keadaan negeri ini yang ‘sakit’.
Beliau berkata, kelemahan kerajaan Pas yang memerintah negeri ini sejak 1990 menyebabkan Kelantan mundur dalam semua aspek fizikal, kemanusiaan dan modal insan.
Sementara itu, ketika ditanya mengenai peluang Pas di Kelantan pada pilihan raya ini, Nik Abdul Aziz optimis parti itu mampu mencapai kemenangan dengan majoriti dua pertiga kerusi.
Dalam pada itu, Abdul Hadi berkata, Pas akan mengumumkan senarai calonnya secara berperingkat mengikut negeri dalam tempoh terdekat dengan meletakkan sehingga 50 peratus muka baru di kawasan-kawasan tertentu.
Senarai calon Pas di Kedah, menurut beliau, akan diumumkan pada 21 Februari ini dan parti itu menawarkan Kedah menjadi negeri ‘kebajikan’ seperti Kelantan jika mereka menang.

Timbang semula BM dalam Sains, Matematik

2008-02-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

PULAU PINANG 17 Feb. – Kerajaan akan menimbangkan permintaan untuk menggunakan bahasa ibunda dalam mata pelajaran Sains dan Matematik di sekolah rendah.
Bagaimanapun, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkata, pertimbangan itu akan dibuat selepas kajian terperinci mengenai keberkesanan penggunaan bahasa Inggeris bagi kedua-dua mata pelajaran itu dilakukan.
“Bukan hanya orang Cina yang minta, orang Melayu juga minta jadi kami mengambil kira kedua-duanya.
“Ia perlu diteruskan dulu untuk satu tempoh tertentu, kemudian ia akan dikaji dan dinilai semula,” katanya ketika menjawab satu soalan mengenainya pada majlis perjumpaan dengan masyarakat Cina di Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Pulau Pinang di sini hari ini.
Penggunaan bahasa Inggeris untuk pengajaran dan pembelajaran mata pelajaran Sains dan Matematik di sekolah rendah dilaksanakan sejak 2003.
Mengenai kekurangan guru di Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina, Bernama melaporkan Abdullah berkata, perkara itu telah dibincangkan di peringkat Kabinet dan perkara itu sedang diusahakan.
Abdullah menjelaskan, isu itu turut dibincangkan dengan Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting dan beliau percaya ia dapat diselesaikan secepat mungkin.
Isu penggunaan bahasa ibunda untuk mengajar Sains dan Matematik bukan sahaja dibangkitkan oleh sesetengah kumpulan dalam masyarakat Cina.
UMNO Johor pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO tahun lalu juga menggesa kerajaan mengembalikan semula pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Melayu bagi mengangkasakan tamadun bangsa selain memenuhi peruntukan Perkara 152 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
Wakil Badan Perhubungan UMNO Johor, Senator Dr. Mohd. Puad Zarkashi yang menimbulkan isu kedudukan bahasa Melayu itu berkata, UMNO Johor tidak menolak penguasaan pelbagai bahasa termasuk bahasa Inggeris.
Beliau memberi alasan bahasa Melayu adalah jati diri untuk mengangkasakan tamadun bangsa.
UMNO Johor dalam Konvensyen UMNO Johor 2006 turut membantah pengajaran Matematik dan Sains dalam bahasa Inggeris di sekolah-sekolah kerana dasar tersebut hanya menyebabkan bangsa Melayu kehilangan identiti dan jati diri.
Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan UMNO negeri itu, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman sebelum ini berkata, pendirian tersebut tetap tidak berubah sejak pengumuman pertama pelaksanaan bahasa Inggeris untuk mengajar kedua-dua subjek itu kerana ia berhubung rapat dengan soal maruah dan martabat bangsa.

Malaysian opposition aiming for drastic shift at the polls

2008-02-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - As Malaysia heads for elections dominated by seething ethnic tensions, an invigorated opposition is hopeful of making unprecedented gains against the coalition that has ruled for half a century.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi scored a thumping victory in 2004, a year after taking over from long-time leader Mahathir Mohamad, but since then he has been criticised as weak and ineffective.

His government has been rocked by a series of public protests -- unthinkable during Mahathir's era -- accusing the government of discriminating against Indians, electoral fraud and failing to cap rising prices of food and fuel.
In the latest protests Saturday police fired teargas and water cannons to disperse ethnic Indians who had defied a ban and attempted to gather in Independence Square in downtown Kuala Lumpur to protest alleged discrimination.
Support from Malaysia's ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities is thought to be melting away due to anger over the system of positive discrimination for Muslim Malays, who control government and dominate the population.

Lim Kit Siang from the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), who leads the opposition in parliament, sees chinks in the armour of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
"I think there is a glimmer of hope that we can try to break the UMNO political hegemony and deny the Barisan Nasional its parliamentary two-thirds majority which has always been the unreachable holy grail in Malaysian politics," he told AFP.

Such a development in the March 8 polls would prevent the government from amending the constitution at will, giving the opposition more say in policy and delivering an enormous morale boost.
"For the first time the Indians are prepared for change. For the past 50 years they were a vote-bank for the government," Lim said, adding that ethnic Chinese also feel they "want to have an equal place under the Malaysian sun.
"But are the Malays prepared for change? Unless we can bring all that together in the next three weeks before polling then we will not be able to bring the change that we all desire."
Malaysia's opposition is a disparate collection including the DAP with 12 seats in parliament, the fundamentalist Islamic party PAS with six and dissident former premier Anwar Ibrahim, whose Keadilan party has one seat.
They are trying to put aside their differences and field just one candidate against the government in each constituency instead of creating the three-cornered contests that have scuppered their chances in the past.
Anwar, who was sacked and jailed in 1998 on corruption and sodomy charges that were widely seen as politically motivated, has emerged as an opposition figurehead even though he is barred from standing for office until April.
He has condemned the timing of the elections as a "shameful" attempt to sideline him. But he plans to campaign energetically in the next few weeks and enter parliament shortly after by holding a by-election in a Keadilan seat.
"The elections will be defining in the sense it will shake the very foundations of this government," he told AFP.
However, the opposition faces formidable barriers including a government-friendly media that gives it virtually no airtime and an electoral process it says is rigged and fraudulent.
Key battlegrounds will be urban areas where the pain of rising prices is most keenly felt, the island state of Penang with its large Chinese population, and PAS-held Kelantan, the only state not in government hands.
Khoo Kay Peng from the think-tank Sedar Institute tips the opposition to win just 5-10 new seats, with the government losing the support of the ethnic minorities but retaining Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population.
He said there is a risk the outcome would emphasise the ethnic divide in Malaysia, which is desperate to avoid a repeat of past bloody racial conflict.
"The election results could project a very polarised Malaysia because the non-Malay communities are dissatisfied. Some of them will vote against the government and that swing will be interpreted as anti-Malay sentiment towards a Malay-led government," he said.
Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at John Hopkins University in the United States, said that even relatively modest gains by a more professional and less quarrelsome opposition will boost its important watchdog role.
"We all know the BN is going to win because the system is structured that way," she said, noting that in 2004 the coalition seized 90 percent of the seats with just 64 percent of the vote.
"But this is not necessarily going to be about the result, it's going to be the process," she said, adding that the campaign could see small parties' profiles boosted and their grievances highlighted.
"Things are very optimistic, more than the last election by far, and there is a sense of purpose among the opposition to illustrate to the government the real concerns about where the country is going."

Fong : Totally quick from DAP

2007-04-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

IPOH: Fong Po Kuan, dubbed cili padi because of her fiery style, has dropped a bombshell that has rocked the DAP – announcing that she is not going to contest in the general election.
The latest crisis to hit the opposition party is as a result of state party leaders trying to grab her Batu Gajah parliamentary seat.
“This crisis has been brewing for quite some time and it is unfortunate that it has exploded just before the general election,” said the insider, who is sympathetic to Fong.

Happier days: Fong being kissed by Tan after their marriage ceremony in Ipoh on Jan 12. It has not been a fairy-tale since then.Her troubles with the other party leaders started when she defeated Barisan Nasional’s candidate Datuk Ong Ka Chuan in 2004 for the Batu Gajah seat.
“After her victory, Perak DAP leaders labelled Batu Gajah as an opposition stronghold and wanted her to give way to more senior leaders,” said one source.
Announcing her decision not to contest at a press conference at the Batu Gajah DAP office, Fong said her decision was final and suggested that incumbent Pasir Pinji assemblyman Thomas Su Keong Siong contest in her place.
This, according to party insiders, was a move by Fong to prevent state party leaders from nominating DAP Youth chief Nga Kor Ming, who is Pantai Remis assemblyman, to succeed her. It is well known that Fong does not get along with Nga or the state DAP led by his cousin Ngeh Koo Ham, the incumbent Sitiawan assemblyman.
“In fact, Fong and Ngeh are not on talking terms,” said one insider, adding that there were moves to even get Fong to contest in Johor, just because she married Johor DAP organising secretary Tan Chen Choon on Jan 12.
Another insider blamed Ngeh and Nga for freezing her out of the state party, which was why she resigned from the state committee last year.
The 34-year-old Fong, who is still the party’s assistant publicity secretary and Wanita DAP national organising secretary, refused to take many questions.
“The development of internal party events in the Perak DAP over the last few years and currently, has made it impossible for me to continue serving effectively and efficiently and wholeheartedly as a party leader and an elected representative,” she said.
She said it was a tough decision for her because the DAP had become her “second family” and the people of Batu Gajah had become special to her over the last eight years.
Fong tried to keep her emotions in check throughout the press conference but her voice broke as she read out her statement, especially when she described the DAP as her second family.
“Under such circumstances, and in the best interest of all concerned, I have arrived at this unavoidable and difficult decision. My decision is final.”
She said she had conveyed her decision to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, who is also a member of the DAP National Committee on Candidate Selection, and written a letter to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng about the matter.
Calls to Nga, Ngeh and other Perak DAP leaders to get their comments about Fong’s decision went unanswered.
Fong, who holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the International Islamic University, first came into national prominence when she won the Batu Gajah seat in the 1999 general election with a majority of 2,071 votes. At 26 years of age, she was the youngest MP then.