Ak57’s Weblog

Once again Perak seems to be undergoing a crisis, and I am uncertain where it is headed. Frankly speaking I’m confused exactly when it started as I have not been paying close attention to what is going on outside KL/Selangor/USA. This seems to be the chain of events:

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On 20th June 2008, Koh Tsu Koon gave a public talk in Bandar Utama on Gerakan as it stands today and what lies ahead for its future. I attended the talk and was glad to see that turnout was good – well over a hundred people, compared to the dozen that was at the last Gerakan talk I attended. I even managed to bump into some Kayu Ara and Bandar Utama friends

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A talk was given by the Opposition in PJS 3 (off Old Klang Road) on Sunday, 13th July 2008. The speakers were:

• Tian Chua (MP Batu)
• Ronnie Liu (Selangor Exco, ADUN Pandamaran)
• Gobalakrishnan (MP Padang Serai)
• Saifuddin Nasution (PKR)
• Dr. Hatta Ramli (PAS)
• Nurul Izzah (MP Lembah Pantai)

Old Klang Road was jammed solid from the Jalan Gasing entry point (due to roadblocks). Fortunately my friend drove (because I’m not that familiar with this area) and we took a mini adventure through the housing area from the opposite direction…which involved driving through a field of weeds on a makeshift concrete road with very poor visibility. Opposition ceramah finding is always adventurous!

We entered PJS 1 area and started searching for the hall, ending up going through THREE police road blocks. At the last road block they checked IC and driving license, even searching car boots. Police presence was heavy, probably 50+ cops – not as much as the horde at Lembah Pantai last Friday. No parang-wielders in sight, thank goodness.

By the time we arrived Tian Chua had just finished speaking, Raja Petra was there too but I’m uncertain whether he spoke.

All the speeches for the night were in Bahasa Malaysia, in which I am not very fluent so apologies in advance for missing details in the following summaries or mistranslation.

Ronnie Liu (10.36 pm)

I would like to thank Raja Petra for being brave enough to come here tonight and be with us. Let me talk about Saiful – I heard he showed up at PKR a week before the election claiming to be a close friend of a close friend of Anwar. During election time we accept any volunteer help we can get, so of course we accepted him.

I don’t believe he was not sodomised. As a matter of fact he was sodomised – sodomised by BN! We have been sodomised for the past 50 years, and to make matters worse we paid for it!

They have deceived us, gotten rich off us, at our expense without us being aware of it – that’s what I mean when I say we have been sodomised!

We are gathered here because nobody believes Saiful’s sodomy story. If it was true, why not charge Anwar in the Syariah Court? Where can four witnesses be found? That’s why they didn’t use the Syariah Court. Same story as before, same lies.

Gobalakrishnan (10.45 pm)

(Thanked those who were present)

In the recent MIC Perhimpunan Agung, Subramaniam said Samy Vellu is a great leader.

Is he a great leader? No! He is a great ROBBER!

Subramaniam has insulted HINDRAF! We don’t want leaders who are corrupted and under the control of others with evil intentions. The people have proven this in Penang, Selangor and the other Opposition States.

We will put forward the motion this Monday. Pak Lah and Najib Altantuya are scared of this, that’s why they placed roadblocks all over Kuala Lumpur. Don’t you feel sorry for the police, who earn less than plantation workers?

Pak Lah said that he will handover presidency to Najib in 2010. But what of Balasubramaniam? He has disappeared. You all saw him when he gave his second Statutory Declaration – who intimidated him to reverse his first one? He implicated Najib’s involvement with Altantuya and her murder.

I was surprised to read that Rosmah was present when C4 was tied to Altantuya – was she there to tighten the wires?

Now they place roadblocks all around out of fear. I say give Anwar a chance, give credible leaders a chance.

I need not elaborate further. You all are smart enough to know we have a stupid PM, Bodowi is his name.

The price of petrol is 16 cents in Venezuela, yet we have to pay RM2.70. Why should we suffer?

REFORMASI! KEADILAN!

(Ended the speech by leading the crowd in chants of Reformasi and Keadilan)

Dr. Hatta Ramli (11 pm)

We live in uncertain times. The government has spread rumours that there is a rally planned for tomorrow. Believe me, if there is ANY Opposition rally, I would know because I would be one of the organisers.

Dato’ Seri Wan Azizah was going to bring Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim as a guest. They fear him to the point that they ban the public, MP’s personal assistants and ALL guests from attending tomorrow’s Parliament session.

They even setup roadblocks all over KL! Bad enough you have to pay a toll, now you have to do a U-turn and pay again?

In the recent papers there is all this news about corruption in the Immigration Department. The Ketua Pengarah (Director General) of Immigration was arrested. Whenever there is a crisis in our country, our PM shows his power by suddenly grabbing these corrupt people.

Yet the ACA is still not independent. They report to the PM, not Parliament. We want corruption cases to be investigated thoroughly and convictions made, regardless if the arrested are ex-ministers or even current ministers.

I am disturbed when both the Director General and his deputy are arrested. It goes to show how corrupt the Immigration Department really is. But there are other corrupt departments in the government, such as Customs (cited a case where a Customs officer used department funds for a personal function). Even the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Attorney General (AG) are not free of corruption. They abuse their power for personal reasons.

I have heard of a case involving government security cards where embezzlement occurred. The person who reported it was detained under ISA! There was no investigation of the embezzlement at all.

We need to remove the ISA immediately, as it is a tool used by the corrupt to hide their deceptions. Four years is too long to wait to seize control of the Federal Government, who knows how many more cover-ups will occur in that period?

Let us pray that tomorrow’s debate on the motion is supported by BN MPs, whom I am certain are controlled by certain parties.

Let us hope that tomorrow will be a historical day.

Saifuddin Nasution (11.17 pm)

We are seeing a reuse of a script from 1998. Tomorrow Anwar has to give a statement to the police. Why? Because a report was lodged against him. Yet why are there no efforts by the police to get statements from Najib and Rosmah? Why do we have two sets of rules in our country?

They pressure Anwar because he has incriminating evidence against the IGP, the AG and others. We hope that now a report has been lodged against the IGP, that officers below him will come forward.

We have seen a lot happening in UMNO lately, due to their major loss in the elections, poor performance by their President and interference by his son-in-law, the MP from Rembau.

Tomorrow at 4.30 pm we hope to debate motion for a vote of no confidence, provided the Speaker allows it. For the motion to be allowed it has to fulfil three criteria:

1. Does it involve the people and is in the interest of public importance?
2. Does it require immediate attention?
3. Is it specific?

To these three criteria I say yes. It is specific because it involves the Prime Minister. It requires immediate attention because the longer he is in power, the longer the people will suffer. It is of public importance because it involves the leadership of the nation.

In Parliament we were informed that the average household income of 60% of the population is RM3,000/month. That is not enough to sustain a good life. Our nation is suffering under BN’s leadership!

After the debate on the motion we have two weeks to file for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. That is why they picked tomorrow to get a statement from Anwar – in the case we win the debate then they can arrest our leader!

Tomorrow Parliament has suddenly become off limits. It is a public place, where the public has the right of access! What has happened to our country?

We are merely following the rules of Parliament. Why are the police needed to restrict our movement? If Pakatan Rakyat can follow the rules, why can’t they? Instead they resort to these actions, and reuse a script from 1998!

Saiful failed at university, where the passing grade is a 2.0 GPA. He got a 1.5 GPA, yet he can go the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and ask for a scholarship? If that’s possible then ask your friends and relatives to forget about sources like MARA, just go see Najib!

Najib first said he didn’t know Saiful, but when shown the photo of his aide and Saiful at his office, he ‘remembered’ that Saiful came to see him for a scholarship.

Then days later he stated that Saiful came to him to seek advice on the sodomy that allegedly happened to him.

When did it become the Deputy PM’s job to listen to sodomy cases? Forget about reporting to the police for rape or sodomy, just go to Najib’s house!

When Anwar was arrested in 1998 they broken into the house, snatched him, blindfolded him and took him to a lockup in Bukit Aman. The IGP of that time, Rahim Noor, beat him while handcuffed. The police hid this crime. If the police hide crime, how can people trust them?

After much pressure by us, an investigative commission was formed. After MUCH investigation, they confirmed that Anwar was beaten, but they did not know who beat him!

They don’t know who beat him? He was arrested by police, rode in police vehicles, taken to police lockup, interviewed by police – who else could have done it? Apparently police can’t identify other policemen!

In 1998 they took DNA samples from Anwar. Don’t be surprised if they fake evidence to support Saiful’s case today. That is why Anwar lodged a report in the Syariah Court, where there is no room for DNA evidence.

Putera Umno is suddenly talking about taking an oath on the Quran, when all they have done is step on all it stands for!

Anwar will continue his tour of the nation, to bring his message to the people. This is just the beginning.

Nurul Izzah (11.44 pm)

(Greetings to those present)

Despite the police roadblocks, I am glad you all made it. We are gathered here to oppose cruelty and falsehood. For me what is important is that when we face lies, we oppose it!

Now we are experiencing a repeat of what happened 10 years ago. They are using government machinery to pressure us, to intimidate us. I feel sad that despite the results of the election, the BN government remains arrogant. The people have shown their support for the Opposition, yet they still resort to dirty tactics!

Before the elections the Deputy PM said the petrol price won’t change. What happened after the elections? The petrol price was increased without a care for the needs of the people!

Now you read in the news about ‘taking oaths on the Quran’ – it is merely a distraction. Let us not lose focus of the main issue which is the ruination of our economy by the PM and his Cabinet!

I congratulate those of you who attended the PROTES rally at the stadium. It is clear that our people are suffering and need an advocate to fight for them.

Today while I was visiting the victims of a fire in my constituency, my sister called me. Fifteen police officers had come to my house. I thought for a moment, did they come to arrest me? With these ceramahs being held, you wouldn’t know right?

I was shocked to hear that they had not come for me, but to deliver a Court Order to my father, stating that he and his supporters are not allowed within 5 kilometres of Parliament House tomorrow! So to those of you who are going tomorrow – if asked, say you are from DAP or PAS.

We are facing many problems in our nation, and we need all the support you can get. I am glad that SAPP has come out in support of us.

Now is the real test for us, so please spread the message to everyone that we are here to fight for your rights!

I thank you.

(Talk ended and crowd dispersed at 12 am)

A talk was given by the Opposition near Jalan Gasing on Friday, 11th July 2008. The speakers were:

• Chegubard
• Ronnie Liu
• Raja Petra Kamaruddin
• Nurul Izzah
• S. Musliadi

The talk was originally to be given in Kampung Kerinchi, but due to police presence I had to do some adventuring to find the new venue – a tale best told in a separate post.

I arrived at 9.40pm to find Ronnie Liu already there, and Chegubard giving a speech on stage. I decided to loiter around outside the hall and chat up fellow PKR people and reporters while waiting for the other speakers to arrive. Police presence was minimal, only one police car nearby though I did see guys on motorbikes openly wielding sheathed parang. I assume they are PKR-affiliated security, but who knows right?

Raja Petra and his wife arrived at 10 pm. Ronnie Liu started speaking to the crowd that had gathered in the hall at 10.20 pm. Nurul Izzah came at 10.30 pm.

All the speeches for the night were in Bahasa Malaysia, in which I’m not very fluent so my apologies in advance for missing details in summaries or any mistranslation.

Ronnie Liu

Ronnie Liu (10.20 pm)

If we had better management of our economy our nation would be stronger and better developed. We need better leaders, clean leaders – not like Pak Altantuya!

Sabah and Sarawak support the idea of joining Pakatan Rakyat, and our promise to them is to give 20% royalty on oil instead of the current 5%. The royalty can be used to further develop the state. The BN politicians in these states know that by joining us, they will become heroes to the people overnight.

We need control of the Federal Government. Despite winning in five states, our hands are still tied – we can’t build hospitals, police stations or post offices without Federal approval!

For the good of the nation, BN MPs should join us. (Closing speech given in Mandarin)

Raja Petra

Raja Petra (10.40 pm)

I am what people call kay-poh-chee, menyibuk (busy-body). I was on my way earlier to Lembah Pantai to see a battlefield, only to learn that it had been relocated here. I have been asked to speak, so I’ll find something to say.

Why do Muslims go for Friday prayers? It is part of our Fardhu, a requirement for us to pray together in a jemaah (group) at least once a week. Ideally we would pray together five times a day. Praying in a jemaah is important in Islam, because Islam places focus on community. Others are more important than self. That is what Islam is, not what you find in Islam Hadhari!

(Raja Petra then spoke on about Nabi Muhammad’s struggle to spread Islam and how he overcame adversity. Thanks to his efforts Islam has spread worldwide.)

Islam places emphasis on the right to speak out. Only Islam’s enemies try to suppress that right, try to suppress the truth. Those Muslims who behave in this manner are not real Muslims, they are pretenders!

Nurul Izzah

Nurul Izzah (10.50 pm)

I would like to congratulate those of you who were brave enough to come here tonight. I apologise to those who went to Lembah Pantai thinking the talk would be held there, it was not our intention to suddenly shift it here.

I was surprised at the numbers of police that were there to stop us. BN tries so hard to suppress our voice. Even with our victory all we officially get is a debate with their minister on a delayed telecast – presumably delayed to gauge their minister’s performance!

There is a case going on there I do not wish to even mention. Ten years ago they levied the same accusations against my father. We listened to the police, the Attorney General, and what happened? He spent years in jail, without any credible evidence against him!

Now we must fight these accusations. Let us not talk about ‘taking oaths’ when we should be talking about the real issue.

Anwar’s former aides, Nik Nazmi and Sim Tze Tsin are now YBs themselves. They volunteered themselves for the good of the party. Unfortunately this opened the door for opportunists to come in.

This coming Monday, we will resolve a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

When Anwar claims that he will lower the price of petrol BN says that is populism politics. What system is BN using then, politik penipuan (deceiving politics)? When we talk about 20-30 MPs crossing over, they resort to dirty tactics same as in 1998.

Despite promising that the price of petrol will not increase as it is not in their manifesto, BN did increase the price! Then they ask the people to sacrifice, offering a small rebate applicable only to owners of vehicles. What about those among us who don’t own a vehicle? We suffer too!

SMEs have started to shutdown as a result of this price increase. Where are these workers going to find new jobs in the meantime?

We have a clear message, a plan that Malaysia will be saved. We all must increase our efforts to spread this message to others!

S.Musliadi (11.08 pm)

(Chegubard introduced this man as the former UMNO Deputy Chief of Taman Widuri Indah Branch, Parliament Rembau)

I had my roots in UMNO Wangsa Maju. Back in 1998 I felt that without UMNO there would be nobody to defend the rights of Malays. In 2008 I felt that I could no longer defend UMNO.

I see nothing wrong with mixing with PKR or PAS members in order to serve the people. Isn’t that we are here to do, to help others? Yet I was criticised for my behaviour.

I am not someone that is looking for money, but a person of character interested in speaking the truth and in helping others. That is why I left UMNO to join PKR.

Closing (11.15 pm)

After the last speaker concluded, Nurul Izzah worked her way thru the crowd greeting residents and left promptly. I stayed awhile to chat up some other people before leaving myself. While there was no surprising information mentioned tonight, I think it was good that there was no police intimidation at the new venue and the turnout was quite alright.

The audience (click to zoom in)

Ronnie Liu giving his speech

Far left: Chegubard, Far right: S.Musliadi

There have been a number of protests in the last couple of weeks, all driven by individuals with a racist agenda. This is one of my pet peeves so be prepared for a long post.
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Frankly speaking, I feel this ‘crisis’ is just being played up by the media. Did anyone seriously think all three parties would break their pact nationwide?

Who Gets To Be Chief?

DAP wins 18 seats, PKR 7 and PAS 6. Logically speaking DAP should get the highest government position of Chief Minister, but the state constitution requires that person to be a Malay Muslim. So it follows that PKR should get that position.

Instead the Sultan picked the PAS candidate.

Naturally DAP, or should I say, Lim Kit Siang was furious and called for a boycott of the swearing-in ceremony. A strong, negative action when instead they should be showing support for the Opposition alliance. I guess it hasn’t hit home yet that the individual Opposition parties need to leave behind their ‘my rights take precedence over yours’ attitude for the sake of unity.

Lim Kit Siang did the right thing and apologised for the outrage caused by his statement and his son instructed the Perak DAP members to attend the ceremony. But at this point it didn’t seem to matter, because the Sultan decided to postpone the ceremony indefinitely.

Isn’t that sad? I feel sorry for both the PAS candidate and PAS as a party – without a swearing-in ceremony their victory seems less celebratory.

How will this go down in history? Perak liberated by the Opposition, but no swearing-in ceremony because DAP made some noise.

I don’t see it as DAP’s fault – yes they could have spared everyone the bad publicity by not calling for a boycott. But ultimately the decision was up to the Sultan. The Star reported that the ceremony had been postponed indefinitely, but NST reported that it had been postponed pending receipt by the palace of a jointly signed statement by the 31 state assemblymen that they agree to Nizar’s appointment as Chief Minister and will work together in a coalition government.

Dividing the Executive Council

This proved to be difficult for me to understand at first. DAP and PAS apparently had an agreement whereby eight of the ten seats be given to DAP, and the remaining two to PKR and PAS. If you compare the DUN seat ratio of 18-6 for DAP-PAS, it would make sense for DAP to have three times the Exco seats compared to PAS. So 6-2 seems fair.

I guess because DAP had no chance of getting the Chief Minister post they wanted more say in the Executive Council. If DAP had their way PKR would only have the lone Exco seat though, hence PKR’s protest that they would not take part in the administration of the Perak government if these allocations were not revised.

One party protests with a boycott of a ceremony, the other with a boycott of the government administration entirely. I tip my hat to the Opposition; they sure know how to make actions speak far, far louder than any words they could muster.

After some negotiations the final Executive Council line-up is:

• 6 DAP
• 3 PKR
• 1 PAS
• 1 Senator will be PKR, the other unknown

With a DAP chap as First Deputy Minister and a PKR person as Second Deputy Minister. That seems alright to me, though I wonder whether these two deputies get a swearing-in ceremony or not How do the three parties negotiate anyway? Hmm…

Side note: While I didn’t care much for NST’s frontpage cartoons, first of the crumbling wheel with the DAP, PKR and PAS logos on it, and today’s one with three evil, scruffy looking cats fighting over a fish bowl (again with Opposition party labels); I must say the artist is quite talented. Its exactly the kind of political cartoon style I find in The Economist, a style I like very much but sadly am not good enough to do Hope NST breaks out of its Opposition-hatred mode soon.

References:

• NST: DAP throws spanner in Perak govt plan (link)
• NST: Kit Siang apologises to regent (link)
• NST: Regent wants written assurance from parties (link) (another, related article)
• The Star: Swearing in called off (link)
• Malaysiakini: Deal stitched, all systems go for Perak (link)

KUALA LUMPUR: Loh Mui Fah and his son Gwo Burne, who were star witnesses in the recently concluded Lingam video clip inquiry, will stand in the general election on opposition tickets.Mui Fah said discussions were still under way to determine which seat and under what banner he would contest.”The seat will be finalised by tomorrow (today) but it will definitely be on a DAP or Parti Keadilan Rakyat ticket,” said the 58-year-old businessman.Gwo Burne will meet Datuk Lee Hwa Beng for the Kelana Jaya seat in Selangor.Mui Fah said he and his son decided to enter the polls following calls from opposition leaders and the public over the past week.

Gwo Burne, 34, a consultant, said he was to have left for China soon after Chinese New Year, but could not resist the call to offer himself as a candidate for the election.

The father and son said their campaign would touch on corruption, the current state of the judiciary, lack of ministerial responsibility, urban poverty, the rising cost of living and the crime rate.

- quoted from an article published in NST on 23rd February 2008 (link)

Another surprise. From their testimony previously, I understood them to be innocent bystanders, witnessing the crime of corruption. Gwo Burne’s involvement is still a mystery to me, because:

1. He claimed the recording was accidental
2. He claimed that the recording was not edited, meaning he pressed record, hit stop, and the 14 minute video that got released was the entirety of it
3. Yet the third video proves that Gwo Burne ‘accidentally’ recorded Lingam again, possibly before the alleged phone call from Fairuz (more details). Two accidents?

Gwo Burne denied having anything to do with the release of the video, implying that as he left copies of the video all over the place, someone else might have taken it. Now he is running for PKR, I guess after seeing the farce of the Royal Commission. What is he going to tell his boss if he wins though?

Gwo Burne: Hey boss, I have to go back to KL to testify in court.

Boss: Oh..umm..ok but make sure you come back here and settle your work.

(weeks later)

Gwo Burne: Hey boss, I quit!

Boss: What the ???

Gwo Burne: Yeah, I’m a politician now sorry.

Boss: (speechless)

Fong Po Kuan suddenly decided to come back yesterday, and frankly speaking I’m confused.

First she quits in a bad way, citing internal squabbling instead of picking a more diplomatic route of ‘wanting to settle down and start a family’.

Lim Guan Eng shames her by saying, ‘we might lose Batu Gajah’. Though since I read that DAP want to sue the press for misreporting, maybe Guan Eng didn’t say this *shrugs*.

Then her close friend Chong Eng announces that Fong wanted to quit in 2004 and life is very difficult for them as minority party women MPs.

Then Fong tells the press she is avoiding phone calls from DAP. Whatever happened to telling the press, ‘no comment’? You know how bad it must be if she’s not even picking up the phone when Kit Siang calls? Really bad.

In any case, this is in the past, time to move on. At least now DAP is pretty much guaranteed a safe seat, and Po Kuan … 4 more years of intense stress? Hopefully things improve internally in DAP post-election.

Drama Pros

1. Stole a lot of column inches in the papers that could have been used for promoting BN?
2. Brings to light the dedication that Po Kuan has to the people of Batu Gajah

Drama Cons

1. Makes DAP look disorganised and disunited
2. Makes Po Kuan look like she was pressed into service, both in 2004 and now

Related articles
Malaysiakini (link)
NST (link)

Related articles:

Malaysiakini

1. Fong to be squeezed out of Batu Gajah? (link)
2. Fong Quits Batu Gajah (link)

The Star

1. Po Kuan sticking to her guns (link)
2. DAP’s Iron Lady melts (link)

Sun

1. Fong had wanted to quit in 2004, says Chong Eng (link)

NST

1. Batu Gajah MP declines nomination (link)
2. Fong best person for Batu Gajah, says DAP (link)
3. DAP desperately seeking Po Kuan (link)

I was surprised and saddened by this news, as she is a prominent DAP member and from what I have read Batu Gajah would have been a ‘sure win’ for her due to her tireless work for the people. To be forced out due to the political infighting of the Perak DAP and perhaps the party leaders … well it is unfortunate she did not contend in another state instead. Maybe it is just burnout? Po Kuan’s endorsement of her Batu Gajah replacement only if it is Thomas Su Keong Siong didn’t sound good either. State run media of course were happy to put her unhappy face on the front page, making DAP look bad and full of squabbles. What about the infighting going on almost daily in BN…apparently not worthy of more than a few paragraphs?

The next day Lim Guan Eng even went so far as to say, “We may lose Batu Gajah if she doesn’t run there”. Chong Eng (MP – Bukit Mertajam) wept and spoke at great length of the hardship endured by women, particularly in the Opposition, something which I agree with. Apparently Po Kuan wanted to quit in 2004 itself but decided to stay on, so she has sacrificed enough for the people already. Lets hope one day she decides to return to politics.

My salute:

PSM going to contest in Sungai Siput and Jalong

IPOH: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), in a snub to the DAP in Perak, has decided to contest in the Sungai Siput parliamentary and Jalong state seats.

PSM made its decision at a central committee meeting held in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The party’s Dr D. Jeyakumar, who is tipped to contest in Sungai Siput, said the party fielded candidates in the two seats in the last elections and came in second in the three-way fights with Barisan Nasional and the DAP.

In 2004, PSM contested under the PKR ticket in the constituencies.

Dr Jeyakumar, who is also a CC member of the yet-to-be-registered PSM, said his party members had continued to work with the people of Sungai Siput and Jalong after the elections.

“The people there also want us to stand in the elections,” he said, adding that “given those reasons, we will be contesting in the two seats.”

On his previous statement that PSM would make way in Sungai Siput for a Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader detained under the Internal Security Act or a DAP national leader, Dr Jeyakumar said, “We’ve asked them (the DAP) earlier to consider that. We were prepared to give way but there was no response from the DAP.”

He said the party also decided to close its operations room in Buntong, Bercham and Jelapang to make way for the DAP for the elections.

“We want to avoid three-cornered fights in those state constituencies,” he said.

- quoted from an article published in The Star on 17th February 2008 (link)

I will say one thing about PSM, at least they have the common sense not to contest against Opposition parties (other than the two seats stated above). What confuses me is that PSM is running candidates anywhere at all, as they are not registered yet. I don’t understand why the government denied their application to register even in the previous election as it is to the government’s advantage to have many Opposition parties. That way the vote will be split, there will be three or four way fights even and the bulk of the votes will go to BN – a nice, lazy, win just the way BN likes it.

So if an unregistered party can contest a seat, what happens if it wins? Will the representative go to Parliament and take part in the government system without any challenge by the other parties? If so, what is the point of registering then? It seems like it is not needed for anything and merely a formality.