Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Raja Petra's article on 5/12/2011




The Barisan Nasional government is built on a house of cards. And houses of cards tend to not last and will fall when least expected. The general elections give this appearance of legitimacy. It gives us the illusion that we have a democratically elected government in power. But that is all it is, an illusion.

NO HOLDS BARRED


Raja Petra Kamarudin

There may be no doubt that Barisan Nasional will win the next general election and will get to form the federal government yet again. The question remains, however, as to whether Barisan Nasional can win on a level playing field and will they win because they really do have the peoples’ support or for entirely different reasons.

This is what is troubling the Barisan Nasional leadership. They are not too concerned about the winning part. They are confident enough that they can win by hook or by crook. And they know they will need to do so by hook and by crook. What is of concern to them is that unless it is by hook and by crook they have a slim chance of winning.

I suppose anyone who wins through fraud and knows that he or she can only win through fraud would not rest easy. They would get very little satisfaction from that type of win. Even though they would be consoled by the fact that they won, they would nevertheless be quite restless about the win.

The Barisan Nasional leaders know that if it were on a level playing field they would be out of power. If they gave the opposition equal airtime on radio and television and did not impose such stringent rules and procedures for ceramahs, the government would have been changed long ago. If Malaysian elections were based on one-man-one-vote and within 15% or 20% variance between constituencies and the postal voting system was abolished plus overseas Malaysians were allowed to vote, that would be the end of Barisan Nasional.

We know that Barisan Nasional lost the election. Barisan Nasional knows that it lost the election. The United States government knows that Barisan Nasional lost the election -- if you had been reading the Wikileaks reports that Malaysia Today has been publishing this last half-year or so. There is no one who does not know that Barisan Nasional lost the election. And everyone knows that the official results showing that Barisan Nasional won the election is a sham and not a reflection of the real situation.

And that is why the Umno leaders have been making all sorts of statements over the last weekend during the Umno general assembly. They know that the reality of the situation is they are out of power. They know that the only reason they are still in power is because they had to use by hook and by crook methods to win. And they know that, to continue to stay in power, they have to continue applying by hook and crook methods in the coming election.

The Barisan Nasional government is built on a house of cards. And houses of cards tend to not last and will fall when least expected. The general elections give this appearance of legitimacy. It gives us the illusion that we have a democratically elected government in power. But that is all it is, an illusion.

So we need to break this illusion. We need to smash it to pieces. And the only way to do that is to not allow elections to be held until and unless we see electoral reforms and a level playing field.

Over the next few months we need to galvanise support from the rakyat to block, by hook or by crook (the methods being employed by Barisan Nasional), elections from being held. If a ‘Malaysian Spring’ needs to be triggered then a Malaysian Spring it will have to be.

The time for idle talk and empty rhetoric is over. I have heard and read a lot of things. So many comments by readers were posted in Malaysia Today. But now we have to walk the talk. Now we have to brace ourselves and prepare for hard times.

We need another 'May 13'. But this 'May 13' is not a race war. It is not Malays versus non-Malays. It is the rakyat versus the establishment. It is the ruled versus the ruler. It is the bourgeois masses versus the ruling elite.

Are you ready for this? Or are you all talk and hot air? Yes, many things have been said. But this is all being said anonymously and hidden behind the computer keyboard. Talk is easy. Talk is cheap. How far are you prepared to walk that talk?

Unless we are prepared to bite the bullet then we might as well stop talking. Just let Barisan Nasional continue to rule Malaysia. If we really want a change of government then we must be prepared to face all consequences. And the consequences must be the elections must be blocked until and unless electoral reforms are in place even if that has to result in bloodshed.

Now let us see if Malaysia Today’s readers are mere empty talk and bullshit!

Anyway, stayed tuned for further announcements.

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We want a strong government, says Najib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno want to form a strong government in the next general election.

"Whatever constitutes the definiton of a strong government, this is what we want. A two-thirds (majority) is something which is ideal but what is important is a strong government," he said at a news conference at the end of the 2011 Umno General Assembly, here.

He was responding to a question whether he would be happy with a two-thirds majority or a simple majority for the BN in the election.

He added that a strong government could be formed from a working majority or a two-thirds majority.

Najib, who is Umno president, also said that the BN was capable of winning the four opposition-ruled states in the coming election but said that he would not want to underrate the opposition. -- Bernama

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Muhyiddin outlines seven winning ingredients

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today outlined seven ingredients that would ensure Umno and the Barisan Nasional's (BN) victory at the polls.

"I think there is no magic ingredients to ensure Umno and Barisan National's victory in the general election other than implementing our focus over the next few years.

"We have to work hard to ensure the party's victory, then God willing, our party will succeed," he said when winding up the debate at the Umno General Assembly 2011 here today.

The ingredients are unity, loyalty, service, sacrifice, hard work, acceptance and submission, he added.

The deputy prime minister said the most important ingredient was unity in line with Umno's slogan.

"To win, unity is important as I have mentioned at the Wanita, Youth and Puteri assemblies. It is important that we have unity of hearts, minds and objective, and all these translated into unity in our resolve," he said.

He also reminded party members not to cause new problems, including resorting to back-stabbing and sabotage.

The deputy prime minister said secondly, Umno members must be loyal and should not take action that could be deemed not toeing the line.

"Do not do anything against the party's ethics and damage the party during this important and challenging time," he said.

Muhyiddin said thirdly, Umno members must serve wholeheartedly to the party and should not be calculative in performing their tasks.

"We are in a critical moment. We need to double our efforts as the president had said 'business is not as usual'. Do not take the same approach without taking into account the changing times and environment," he said.

Fourthly, he said all Umno members must be willing to sacrifice for the party regardless of time, energy and thinking without expecting any reward.

For the fifth ingredient, he said everyone in the party must strive for victory in the election as hard work would guarantee success.

"Umno members must be good team players just like in a football team. A good striker should play upfront, a goalkeeper should play as a goalkeeper and not becoming a striker or vice-versa.

"And what is most important is not to score own goals. This is a taboo in football as well as in the election, do not score own goals," he added. -- Bernama

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