Reposting this entry as the earlier link to IPS was faulty.
Kuala Terengganu was a trip down memory lane for me. The good news is that I found the old terrace house we used to rent along Jalan Cerong Lanjut when I was 7-8 years. It was still intact and looked more or less the same.
But it was bad news for Najib, on the cusp of becoming premier. For him, the by-election there must have been a nightmare, a major blow. The good Johan Saravanamuttu, a political scientist (and singer-guitarist for the Aliran Singers!), shares his thoughts over Bloomberg here.
POLITICS-MALAYSIA: By-Poll Debacle May Hit Reforms
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Jan 22 (IPS) – A key parliamentary by-election on Saturday that fell to a resurgent opposition alliance has piled pressure on Malaysia’s prime minister-to-be, Najib Razak.
At issue now is whether the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front or BN) coalition he leads is capable of pushing through reforms which many believe are vital for the long-term prospects of the coalition.
Najib, who spearheaded the BN’s campaign in Kuala Terengganu, capital of the oil-rich east coast state of Terengganu, was unable to stop a swing to the People’s Alliance, made up of the three main opposition parties.
Full article here.
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Dear Anil I am glad to note that the BN Administration has lost the TRENGGANU bye-election as well as the Permatang Pau. This is a clear indication that the end is near. Because the BN cannot hoodwink the RAKYAT forever; they are awake now. The BN is not doing right things; they still think that the RAKYAT are stupid – yes may be a certain portion of them but not all. They say one thing and do another. According to the available records so far, more than 100 Malaysian Indian Youths have died in pOLICE Custody (Police Stations) What has… Read more »
Found some wonderful cartoons on KT. Unable to reproduce it here because of copyright but you could visit the site.
http://malaysiancartoons.blogspot.com/
well, first of all i feel, towards equality, Malaysia must phase out things like the NEP and 30 percent bumi equity concept and bumiputra status in time to come because all this policies did not benefit all Malaysians but had, now and will always (UMNO motto) benefit all the cronies at the top. Its time for all to be treated fairly and equally at all levels, regardless of economic differences. Economic policies to help a certain race or class in society is needed though but only for the poor people. This is what Malaysia has been doing along, yet, the… Read more »
another good article…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KA23Ae01.html
Major blow or not, Najib will become PM in March. As it is Pak Lah has taken the back seat for some time now, with major announcements and statements coming from Najib.
Expects things to become worst before they get better.
Najib is becoming PM at the wrong time. The economic situation is really bad and is going to become worst. All of this will be on his hand.
Pak Lah will retire in peace and will be having him self a chuckle listening to all the criticism that Najib is going to get.. 😉
Najib tried to play down the magnitude of the loss by describing it as a “minor setback”. It’s more like a MAJOR SLAP right in the face of the incoming PM.