I want to congratulate my fellow Malaysians for delivering an absolutely stunning election result. I got up at 5.30am NZ time to go online and got a pleasant shock that the opposition had won five out of thirteen states. And the ruling coalition, BN at press time (3.30am) had not secured the much coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament. Apparently Umno, MCA and MIC took a beating. MCA (Chinese party) was nearly cleaned out in most States and the longest serving Federal Minister, President of MIC (the Indian party) lost his seat.
Now the government has to take stock on why Malaysians across all races - Malays, Chinese and Indians voted the way they did. My comments are that:
1) The Indians did not like how the government handled their concerns and the strong-handed way it dealt with street demonstrations and arrest of its leaders under the Internal Security Act.
2) The Chinese as a whole saw MCA as inept and totally dominated by UMNO and could not champion their interests as Malaysian citizens.
3) Scandals over the last year had hit the government hard,
a) the murder of a Mongolian woman by two police officers from the Special Task Force by explosives
b) Accusations of corruption against top politicians and civil servants.
c) Several former Chief Justices implicated in the Linggam video scandal.
d) An MCA strongman being caught red-handed in a sex act on video and forced to resign
e) The erosion of religious liberty especially non-Muslim religions and creeping Islamic fundamentalism.
f) The heavy-handed way government dealt with peaceful demonstrations including a peace walk by 2,000 lawyers.
g) The arrogance of many politicians leading to the charge: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Congratulations Malaysians! The ruling coalition will from now be more humble and transparent with strong opposition in Parliament and having to eat humble pie as the oppositions in five big States including Penang, Selangor and Perak.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
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2 comments:
Dear Tony
The mood in Kota Kinabalu was purely jubilation for many days. People were excited by what they saw possible with the ballot box. Previously the attitude was "What is the use? You never change anything" but now it is "We've got power!" For a few days, I've gotten so many free lunches I had to decline some. The ordinary folks were so pleased with the results that they were seeing. David Fung even found it fitting to treat us (FGB men) to Hyatt. PTL.
Dear Nyen,
Yes it is a good thing for the country as whole and the new federal cabinet also looks a lot better except for one or two "have beens". I am glad that Dr. Rais Yatim is the new foreign minister and also the minister in charge of interfaith and religious affairs seems to be an open-minded person. But we have to continue to pray. One worrying sign is that PAS is now ruling three States. Hopefully DAP will be check and balance for them.
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