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A hugely significant by-election

Anil Netto
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By-Poll Will Test Political Drift
By Anil Netto

KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 16 (IPS) – Following the political tsunami in March, which propelled a disparate opposition alliance to power in five of 13 Malaysian states, voters in the capital of oil-rich Terengganu state will determine Saturday if an ‘east coast monsoon’ will drive the alliance closer to national power.

This key parliamentary by-election in itself will not change anything as the ruling coalition holds a 137-82 majority over the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) in Parliament.

But it is hugely symbolic since Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is leading the ruling Barisan Nasional’s campaign, is seeking to use by-election to hammer home his credentials as prime minister-in-waiting.

Full story here.

BN’s last big ceramah

Anil Netto
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k-terengganu-by-election-005The BN uses a stadium that could fill 20,000 for its last big ceramah last night, complete with a stage for an open-air concert. But just about 3,000 turn up during the time we were there between 9.00pm and 10.00pm

Among the speakers urging the crowd to support the BN is Hishamuddin Hussein.

I finally solve the mystery of the Information Department trailer. You see the vehicle partly hidden by the the bus? See the stripes? This appears to be the same trailer that we spotted parked in town a couple of days ago.

I stroll up the field closer to the vehicle and discover that paper has been stuck on the side of the vehicle to cover up the name of the department to which the trailer belongs. Similarly, other lorries and pick-ups have paper stuck on the sides to cover up the names of organisations.

This was the trailer we spotted in town a couple of days ago.

Why do they plaster paper on the sides of the vehicles used for events like this – unless they are trying to cover up something: the abuse of government property for election campaigning?

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Opposition buoyant as campaigning draws to a close

Anil Netto
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Pakatan supporters in upbeat mood ahead of the polls: this was the scene at a main road in KT at around 4.00pm, when Pas, DAP and PKR supporters waved at passing motorists.  Among the enthusiastic road-side flag-wavers were bloggers from KL and activists from the PJ Abolish ISA vigils

2010: It’s proving to be hard to call, but Pakatan supporters are quietly confident that their candidate will coast through with a 1,000 to 2,000-vote majority. A few are predicting a bigger majority. Much will depend on whether Pas can build on the support it already has.

The Pakatan campaigners are everywhere. When I take time off this evening to look up the house I lived in when I was seven along Jalan Cerong Lanjut – I actually find the terrace house still standing, much to my delight – I notice a familiar figure walking up to the Hindu temple nearby. I take a closer look and it is Sivarasa Rasiah from PKR accompanied by a DAP activist. I stroll back to the old house and promptly run into a couple more DAP activists, who are making the rounds.

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LIVE from KT: The buzz at a Chinese cafe

Anil Netto
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1100: We return to the same cafe where we had roti paun yesterday. This seems to be a happening place. Seated at the table by the entrace, a couple of Pas volunteers are working on a laptop. They have also blown small green Pas balloons which bob around.

Inside the crowded cafe, the sound of chatter fills the air. People are reading the Chinese newspapers. At a table near us, a Chinese guy is looking at the front page of the latest Suara Keadilan, with the headline “Najib bohong” about the Permatang Pauh pledges.

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Jewish women protest inside Israeli consulate in Toronto

Anil Netto
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Here’s a protest against what’s happening in Gaza that you wouldn’t have seen in the mainstream media.

A message from Permatang Pauh voters

Anil Netto
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One of the PKR’s messages to the voters in KT is, don’t be taken in by promises of grants, aid and development. Anwar himself has been hammering home the message to voters here, citing what happened during the Permatang Pauh by-election last August.

During the Permatang Pauh by-election a number of promises were made especially pledges of aid to mosques. Folks there are now alleging that the promises remain unfulfilled. It’s the front page story in the latest Suara Keadilan this week. Check it out here.

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T’ganu’s debt, deficit soars despite return of royalties

Anil Netto
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k-terengganu-by-election-002The oil royalties may have been returned, but the state’s debt has been rising and it posted a deficit for 2007

One night, when I was unable to fall asleep, I opened up the Auditor-General’s Report for 2007, thinking it might be a cure for insomnia, but what I saw caught me completely by surprise.

I found out that the state once again started receiving its oil royalties from the federal government (coming from the Dana Khas or Special Fund). No surprise there:

2003 – Nil
2004 – RM150 million
2005 – RM1,015 million
2006 – RM1,334 million
2007 – RM1,000 million

But, and this is where it gets interesting, the state government’s debt to the federal government has been rising during the same period:

2003 – RM891 million
2004 – RM919 million
2005 – RM922 million
2006 – RM903 million
2007 – RM937 million

These are largely due to federal loans, taken out for “water supply” and “low-cost housing” projects.

Despite the substantially increased income to the state, Terengganu’s accounts show a deficit of RM284 million for 2007 compared to a surplus of RM184 million for 2006.

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Dirty tricks surface in Kuala Terengganu

Anil Netto
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Pakatan workers found this fake newspaper yesterday trying to pass itself as the Terengganu Pas newsletter, Kuala, when it is actually running down the Pas candidate (at the bottom left) as someone who is a sleepy-head.

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LIVE from KT: DAP says it’s about reforms, not hudud

Anil Netto
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k-terengganu-by-election-020DAP leaders at a press conference this afternoon in KT

1400: The DAP holds a press conference to deflect criticism that its cooperation with Pas in the by-election is promoting Islamic hudud laws.

Party adviser Lim Kit Siang addresses a host of Chinese media journalists.

Kit Siang tells them the by-election is not about hudud, but about whether the momentum for political reform unleashed by the political tsunami can be extended to the East Coast. He is responding to the MCA’s demand that the DAP should apologise for promoting hudud through its cooperation with Pas. He points out it is the MCA which should apologise for the party’s record of abuse of power and undermining of democracy.

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LIVE from KT: Nasi dagang next to river bank eyesore

Anil Netto
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k-terengganu-by-election-019A spectacular view marred by a landfill, which stretches hundreds of metres parallel to the KT river bank, next to Jalan Bandar

1200: We have lunch inside one of the old Chinese homes along the Terengganu River. The interior of the house is long, the century-old building having been extended closer and closer to the river-bank over the years.

One of the residents kindly invites us to lunch: nasi dagang, local rice with tuna fish wrapped in banana leaf and served with curry.

What would have been a fabulous view from the wooden verandah over the river bank is marred by a narrow landfill that stretches for hundreds of metres, parallel to the river banks.

A relative of the houseowner tells me the landfill was done for the Monsoon Cup. Whatever the reason, it has spoilt what would have been a terrific waterfront setting.

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