Politics 101 Malaysia

Malaysia’s opposition said Monday that up to 16 ruling party lawmakers are prepared to join its ranks, as it works to seize power with the help of defectors.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has said he is moving towards forming a new government after elections that saw the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition - led by the United Malays National Organisation - suffer unprecedented losses.

“We have up to 15 to 16 lawmakers from BN, including UMNO MPs, who want to join Keadilan,” Shamsul Iskandar Mohamad Akin, the youth leader of Anwar’s Keadilan party, told AFP.

The government, which would lose power if 30 of its lawmakers switch sides, has reacted swiftly to the threat, accusing the opposition of “buying” over its members and threatening a new law to prevent defections. ”Continued”

by Ong Kian Ming, malaysiakini.

analysis A journalist friend of mine recently asked me this intriguing question – ‘Would the opposition have won the 2008 general election if the parliamentary seats were allocated proportionally?’

This question does not seem as ludicrous one may imagine, even if the Barisan Nasional did win 63% of parliamentary seats. The reason is that parliamentary seats in Malaysia do not have the same number of voters. Political scientists define this practice as malapportionment.

Indeed, the discrepancy between the largest and smallest parliamentary seat in Malaysia is huge. The largest seat, Kapar, has 112,000 voters while the smallest, Putrajaya only has 7,000 voters.

There are discrepancies between states as well. Selangor has an average of 71,000 voters in its 22 seats while Pahang has an average of 43,000 voters in its 14 seats. Sabah has an average of 31,000 voters in its 26 and Sarawak, an average of 29,000 voters in its 31 seats.

I won’t go into the mechanics of how seats are allocated between the states and how lines are drawn within them. Rather I want to project the electoral outcomes of the 2008 general election if the parliamentary seats were allocated to the different states in proportion to the number of voters in each state. ”Continued”

The DAP didn’t put up this banner in the Sg Rapat area in Ipoh. Who did? And why?

by Dean Johns, malaysiakini, Mar 12.

Congratulations to the parties, candidates and supporters of Barisan Rakyat on the results of the 12th general election. The outcome was more exciting and encouraging than even the most optimistic of us could have dared hope for.

election voter 2008 vote ballot boxIt was a stunning moral victory against seemingly impossible odds. And it was only these outrageous odds in Barisan Nasional’s favour - from massive gerrymandering of electorates to its manipulation of the mainstream media - that denied the nation the change of government it sorely needs and has now shown that it dearly desires.

BN may have kept its grip on power for now, but five years of government by a long-ruling regime that knows it needs to reform itself or die, with a resurgent opposition that’s increasingly ready to put it out of its misery, may prove a salutory transitional stage in Malaysia’s political evolution. ”Continued”

Perak Menteri Besar-designate Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin of PAS turned up at the ”What’s Coming Next” political forum held in Ipoh last Sunday and immediately stunned the Chinese crowd by speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, then in English and Malay.

The audience was speechless then gave the PAS leader a rousing applause. The forum was organized by Guang Ming Daily, Sin Chew Daily, Eye Asia and Sin Chew-i and held at Dewan Dou Mu in Ipoh at 2pm and attracted 3000 people. Speakers included PKR national vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye, Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham, Wangsa Maju Member of Parliament Wee Choo Keong and Sin Chew’s Deputy Chief Editor Tay Tian Yan.

Mohammad Nizar, an accomplished enginneer, was not a speaker but was invited to the forum by Ngeh. (Sin Chew Daily)

On The Beat - by Wong Chun Wai.

IF is there is one thing true sportsmen learn from day one is that you shake the hands of your rivals after a game.

You congratulate them, sulk all you want in the changing room and then go back to the training ground to gear yourself up for the next match.

The winner, on the other hand, should not gloat over his win and be unnecessarily arrogant.

And of course, the last thing you want is to have your fans, whether of the winners or losers, to go to the streets to cause mischief.

The politicians in Penang should take a leaf from true sportsmen. Not the sort one watches on the English Premier League, where arrogant footballers abuse the referee and throw tantrums, even when they wear the captain’s armband.

The impression one gets after the protest by Umno leaders at Komtar on Friday is that they are bad losers.

The reality is that the DAP, with the support of PKR and PAS, has formed the Penang state government and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is now the Chief Minister. ”Continued”

Malaysia’s opposition has reached a deal over control of northern Perak state, officials said Friday, ending days of squabbling and averting a split among the alliance members, reports AFP.

Malaysia’s three-party opposition seized four more states and a third of parliamentary seats in March 8 polls, and the unexpected gains presented them with the difficult task of forming workable coalitions to rule.

In Perak they squabbled over the selection of chief minister as well as the make-up of the state cabinet, but after threats of boycotts and walkouts all 31 elected assembly members signed a power-sharing agreement.

"All the three parties signed their allegiance to the decision. Everything is OK, there are no more problems," said Ahmad Awang, state commissioner of the Islamic party PAS.

The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) won most seats in Perak, but state law says the chief minister should be a Muslim Malay, so they have settled on a PAS candidate to take up the role. ”Continued”

In the ideal world, Perak will have a DAP MB and I will be the next Governor of Penang. However, idealism and realpolitik are worlds apart.

If we support changes, we have to also support changes to our political mentality.

While it is unfortunate the DAP did not succeed — not for the lack of trying — to get the Perak MB position, it failed because the Perak constitution forbids a non Muslim from the post and the Crown chose to not waive the requirement eventhough he is entitled to by law.

The process of getting the Crown to choose one from three names from DAP, PKR and Pas candidates appears strange. I would have thought only the name Ngeh Koo Ham of the DAP should hv been submitted, if he commands the majority support of DAP, PKR and Pas reps. ”Continued”

{smooch, smooch}