Najib sets up poll thriller

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Many pundits are unsure how first-time voters are going to make their choice. If the results of a survey of over 2000 youths across the nation is any indication, Pakatan certainly cannot take them for granted.

This is an article I wrote for Asia Times Online after Parliament was dissolved:

Malaysians are gearing up for what are expected to be the most closely contested general elections in the country’s history. Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the dissolution of parliament on April 3, ending nearly two years of speculation over when the polls would be held. The Election Commission meets this week to set a date for polls, which must be held within 60 days.

Najib’s earlier reluctance to call an election likely reflects his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s hesitation faced with the resurgent challenge of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition. Parliament’s current five-year term expires on April 28; no previous premier has ever dissolved the legislature so close to the end of its term.

Some political analysts believe the opposition is poised to make historic gains, or even win the election outright. PR won five of 13 national states at the 2008 general election, notching nearly 47% of the popular vote for federal level parliamentary seats. The result denied the BN a two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to change the constitutional and represented the BN’s worst yet electoral showing.

The then prime minister Abdullah Badawi took responsibility for the slippage and handed the premiership to Najib the following year. Najib, who has not yet faced the electorate as BN’s leader, has fared well in opinion surveys, despite a significant erosion in public perceptions of the wider BN coalition and its associated politicians. A Merdeka Center poll from February showed that popular support for the ruling coalition had fallen below 50%.

Full article in Asia Times Online

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June
June
12 Apr 2013 12.46pm

Orang yang ditipu Umno pasang bendera Umno dent an komisyen RM… sehari.
Tapi Kroni Umno dapat komisyen RM… setiap kontrak Ali baba(?)

Sememangnya orang … diperbodohkan!

Phua Kai Lit
Phua Kai Lit
10 Apr 2013 8.41am

Malaysia bankrupt in 2019 ?

At the rate the 1PM is desperately dishing out money,
we will get bankrupt very soon !

mani
mani
10 Apr 2013 6.21am

Just do it!!! You try you will know people’s power. We want change!!!!
ABU>>>ABU too much of corruptions, its all our money, why giving out our money to the robbers. A true robbers came to rob, you dun like. This is a licensed robbers.

Kevin
Kevin
9 Apr 2013 9.32pm

I doubt PR will be able to win the GE 13. I have pointed out before, even if the majority of Malaysians vote for PR it does not mean anything because we have a system which does not follow the one man one vote principle. It is the number of seats won that is important, not the total percentage of votes garnered. I can’t understand why Malaysians, including opposition leaders find this so hard to comprehend. It is so simple. A vote in rural Sarawak has less than a third of the number of voters in Petaling Jaya. In other… Read more »

SunnyOoi
SunnyOoi
10 Apr 2013 12.21am
Reply to  Kevin

You know for a fact that rural votes remained unchanged since the last election?

Kevin
Kevin
10 Apr 2013 9.21am
Reply to  SunnyOoi

Of course the rural votes will be unchanged. In fact I think BN will win with bigger majorities in rural seats. Look at all the BRIM and money thrown around left right and centre. In the village where they have no internet, no tv, no computer all they care about is food and money. If you give them a bag of rice and one bicycle, you have their vote. They can’t think and analyse why they are still in such a predicament 50 years after independence. They don’t realise that their average income is considered the poverty line in other… Read more »

tunglang
tunglang
10 Apr 2013 8.03am
Reply to  Kevin

Kevin, good observation.
PR (with the exception of Kelantan’s) has to go deep into the rural / jungle to spread the Good News of Salvation For Malaysia. Knowing the numbers (of seats to win) is crucial to conquer & take over Putrajaya. The Devil is in the detailed seat number game, are you PR?

Kevin
Kevin
10 Apr 2013 9.26am
Reply to  tunglang

PR has no choice if it wants to take federal power. The constituencies have been delineated in such a way deliberately.That is why campaigning has to be concentrated in the rural areas. The young who have migrated to urban areas should return to share information and to vote. Not hang around their offices in KL clicking on blogs and malaysian insider waiting for a miracle to happen.

Yang
Yang
9 Apr 2013 8.02pm

A vote for Pakatan is not a vote against 1 Malaysian vision

Because his deputy … is a Malay first and Malaysian Second which is against the 1Malaysian vision

As such a vote for BN UMNO Ah Cheap is a vote against the 1Malaysian vision

nature
nature
9 Apr 2013 6.45pm

BR1M RM1,200 for YOU!

RM 100 BILLIONS FOR UMNO & CRONIES!

Gerakan K (Team)
Gerakan K (Team)
9 Apr 2013 6.19pm

A vote for pakatan is a vote against 1Malaysia vision. A vote for pakatan will make PAS believe people have supported their PAS hudud objective. A vote for pakatan is a vote to stop BR1M (RM1200/RM600). We cannot rely on pakatan manifesto because according to pakatan top top leadership in Selangor MB Khalid, a manifesto is not a promise !!! So, your RM1200/RM600 cash could be GONE if you vote pakatan !!! So, play safe, vote BN just to get BR1M RM1200/RM600, no Pas hudud, and achieve 1Malaysia vision and Vision 2020 safely. The perfect choice for everyone except Taliban… Read more »

Catfish
Catfish
9 Apr 2013 9.24pm

Hutang negara sekarang dah mencecah RM502 billion!
Purata setiap rakyat kena tanggung sebanyak RM17,000 paling kurang.
Mahukah anda satu negara muflis menjelang 2019 dibawah regim BN yang penuh rasuah?

Anak muda sila pikir baik-baik.
Jangan gadai masa depan dengan RM200 handphone rebate!

Andrew I
Andrew I
9 Apr 2013 11.50pm

The pakatan manifesto is so nice people need to borrow from it.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

SamYap
SamYap
12 Apr 2013 12.36am

Attn: Gerakan K Hey stupid, that money has to come from somewhere. We are already up to our ears in debt. “We” includes you, your family, children and any other loved ones who pays taxes. One simple way for BN to quickly recoup the handouts, is to raise RON95 by 5sen. That is all it takes. But the economic implications are far reaching. Soon you will find everything else will go up in price including that packet of nasi lemak you have for breakfast. What BN GIVES WITH THE RIGHT, BN TAKES WITH THE LEFT. Understand? Are you so blind?… Read more »

bigjoe99
9 Apr 2013 1.00pm

Still hard to say. Momentum is with PR but BN has increased the handicap against them in the first place.At least a 10% vote swing from 2008 is needed, more to be safe..

Yang
Yang
9 Apr 2013 11.46am

A vote for BN UMNO is a vote for Mudyiddin A vote for BN UMNO is a vote for Malay first Malaysian second A vote for BN UMNO will be a vote for Mudyiddin, m kutty and Perkasa. A vote for BN UMNO will be a vote for (condoning): Racism, religiouism & extremism Gangsterism, mobster Burn the Bible, Belittle the Hindu and Chinese custom Implementing GST and increase of essential goods Denying a clean electora process. Continuance of the ISA with another same law Protecting murderer and cronies Slides in our education system ETC ETC ETC ETC And YOU WILL… Read more »

Hung Meng
Hung Meng
9 Apr 2013 12.05pm
Reply to  Yang

Vote for BN if you want Malaysia to go bankrupt by 2019!