Tuesday 15 May 2012

MALAYSIAN ELECTION – WHICH PARTY TO CHOOSE?




By : STEPHEN YAMAN

AS A component of Pakatan Rakyat, DAP is a very prominent party in the opposition coalition in Malaysia. SAPP is a breakaway component party of Sabah BN with seats that it has won with the BN tickets in the last general election.

SAPP is trying to establish itself in the coming PRU 13 and has never tasted the general election activities on its own without the backing of BN in a major election arena. Star is a Sarawak based party that has never won a single seat in any general election in the past 16 years. It is a rejected party from Sarawak with nothing to show from any past records.

Senior insiders from the BN and PR are absolutely right when they said that SAPP and Star are irrelevant and insignificant in the coming general election as far taking up any state or national government is concerned. In a two party system, the people of Malaysia would have to choose between two prominent parties or political groupings to run the state or national government of the country as a whole.

How could a party such as SAPP or Star be in any position to run a state as the Sabahans had witnessed in the advent of USNO, BERJAYA and PBS in the past administration in Sabah? PBS is now absorbed into the BN fold as we have seen today.

As of the end of 2011, Mr. Jeffrey Kitingan went all the way to Sarawak to team up with Star to try and champion Sabah cause with the setting up of Star Sabah Chapter after jumping several parties over many years and some failed talks with the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) that had failed miserably in the 2011 Sarawak state election and has not even won any seat.

STAR in Sarawak has no record at all to talk about. Is this a party that the Sabahans want to see championing Sabah cause? In any cause, past records and performance should be a gauge for the people to use as a barometer when choosing a serious contender for a state or national government.

The people of Sabah or East Malaysia should not be misled by parties that are irrelevant and insignificant to run a proper government because a state government alone will not provide significant power to rule the country or state effectively.

Do the Sabahans believe that STAR will be able to fill in the gap or vacuum should BN fails? The Sarawakians for the past 16 years did not believe Star in Sarawak could do it. Does anybody in Sabah believe that Star would suddenly turn around Sabah over night like a ‘typhoon’ and become so prominent?

In the recent so called ‘debate’ between Dr. Edwin Bosi and Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, all Dr. Kitingan could say is that ‘STAR is the best for Sabah’ as if it is already a foregone conclusion for the people of Sabah without him stating some very strong and valid reasons why the people should unanimously give him the mandate to represent them in the DUN or parliament.

Dr. Kitingan has in his records some not so clear dealings including what he recently called ‘A Mahathir’s Joke’ and he is known to be a ‘parties’ jumper’. Can the people depend on a politician with such instability to be their ‘wakil rakyat’ or people’s representative?

As for SAPP, I was visiting some friends in Kudat at a Kampong Tq. Kapoor a couple of months ago. At coffee shop dinner, we were discussing the Sabah political situation when a local village senior citizen suddenly interrupted our conversation.

He said that Mr. Yong was at their village about a week before us on his walk about visit. Upon meeting the people and seeing the dilapidated situation of the village and rubbish all over the place with not proper sanitation and so on.

He said that “If he will be elected to represent the people in the coming general election and be the next Chief Minister, he would blah, blah, blah…..” This village senior citizen interrupted him and requested to ask a question. Mr. Yong obliged.

So, the senior citizen asked “Datuk, you aware the Minister and Chief Minister of Sabah at one time for BN what have you done? How sure are we that if you get elected again and become Chief Minister we are going to get so many changes this time around?” According to him, Mr. Yong could not give a decent reply and left the village in haste.

So, with these two Sabah parties SAPP and Star, and the past records of USNO, BERJAYA and PBS (as oppositions), how can we confidently vouch for a not so relevant and big enough party to represent us in the national political arena?

We must remember that the local, state or regional issues add up to the bigger picture at the national level. Now, do we need a two party system like many other countries all over the world such as the Conservatives and Labor parties in England, and the Republicans and Democratic parties in the USA, etc? If one party could not perform, it could step down thus enabling the other party to take over as we now have the BN and PR in Malaysia.

With the BN absolute rule of the past Malaysia era since independence in 1957 for Malaya and 1963 for Sabah and Sarawak, is it time for “change” as we have witnessed all over the world? All of us have never seen any other government in Malaysia in our life. BN claims to be the best compared to which party because we have never tried any other party. So, how do we know?

32 comments:

  1. rakyat tau memilih dan menilai mana parti yang terbaik dan boleh menjaga kebajikan mereka.

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  2. When the time comes, the people will know which party to vote.

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  3. Parti yang lebih banyak berkhidmat dengan rakyat tanpa mengira waktu pasti akan mendapat sokongan yang lebih daripada rakyat, bukannya parti yang hanya muncul bila dekat2 PRU.

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    Replies
    1. Rakyat mahukan pemimpin/parti yang bukan saja tahu berjanji tetapi mampu menunaikannya.

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    2. BN byk menunaikan janji2 mereka. berbanding pembangkang yang hnya memberi janji bulan bintang.

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  4. Jawapannya pada PRU13 nanti.

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  5. Untuk masa depan yang cerah, penilaian dan pengundian yang bijak harus buat oleh rakyat.

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  6. WR harus membuktikan keupayaan untuk memperjuangkan yang terbaik untuk rakyat.

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  7. The people will answer to these.

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  8. Let see whether the people can accept new party STAR?

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  9. BN will remain strong in Sabah.

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  10. Inilah masa rakyat harus menilai dengan betul-betul parti manakah yang sesuai untuk memimpin!

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  11. BN akan menjadi pemenang di PRU13? Susah diramal sebab ada juga golongan tidak terima cara pengendalian BN.

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  12. Parti yang mengutamakan rakyat pasti pilihan utama.

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  13. Parti yang cuma mengambil kesempatan harus disingkirkan.

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  14. Payah untuk STAR mencapai kerusi yang banyak sebab masih tidak tahu keupayaan dan cara pemimpinnya.

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  15. Semua ini terpulang dengan penilaian yang dibuat oleh rakyat sendiri.

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  16. Semua penentuan adalah pada PRU 13 nanti. Maka buktikan yang mana kerajaan masih relevan untuk rakyat.

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  17. saya percaya rakyat Sabah semakin matang dalam membuat keputusan undi

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  18. kalau ikutkan trend rakyat Sabah, PR awal2 lagi sudah out.. sebab PR bukan parti tempatan Sabah.. SAPP pula sudah pernah diberikan mandat dan reputasi YTL juga tidak begitu cemerlang.. STAR pula masih baru dan ketuanya mempunyai sikap tamak dimana beliau enggan bekerjasama dengan parti2 pembangkang lain untuk mengadakan satu lawan satu dengan BN..

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  19. Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) will adopt seven people-oriented principles to counter and ward off allegations as well as empty promises by the opposition. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman stressed that every member within the BN component; from the top leadership to the grassroot leaders must work very hard to explain to the people the various programmes that the government has implemented for them.

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  20. The Chief minister retaliated that this is the primary reason that he always emphasise on the need to go down to the people and inform them of the BN government’s track record which has been proven to be the best with its caring and responsible leadership. In outlining the seven principles, he said the first shows the people that the BN leadership can be trusted to help them as proven by the fact that BN has brought tremendous development to the country, especially to Sabah.

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  21. Secondly, he stated, the BN government brings hope for the people now and in the future as its economic and development programmes are geared for the present and future generations. Musa, who is also the Chairman of the Sabah Foundation Board of Trustees, said the third principle guaranteed that BN would ensure and preserve the existing peace, harmony and unity of all races in the country.

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  22. The fourth and fifth principles involve the Halatuju and efficient management of the nation and state’s economy in order to generate more income for the people. Sixth and seventh principles focus on the leaders’ work ethics as they need to make the people understand the government’s sincere intent to fulfil all their promises.

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  23. The Chief Minister stressed that less talk and efforts to work harder to convince the people of our pure intent to bring Malaysia, in particular Sabah to greater heights and demostrated tahat only BN can deliver these results. “As Chief Minister of Sabah, I can tell you that Sabah, as the second biggest state, needs a very big allocation from the federal government to develop the state and the allocation in billions of ringgit have been given to us,” he remarked.

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  24. BN has been proven to be responsible and accountable unlike the opposition that is only out to mislead and hoodwink the people with empty promises. The leaders in BN have always been working and thinking what is best for the people in terms of development for Sabah, alleviating the hardships of the low-income groups and addressing issues that concern the people.

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  25. He cited the Mesej mini estate projects that were implemented in the rural impoverished areas and the development of the Kota Belud Rice Bowl which had utilised funds amounting to some RM136million to date as evidence. “This show that the government is very committed to bring changes to the socio-economic status of the rural people by providing job opportunities and increasing their income,” he stated.

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  26. “We have to admit that although BN has done a lot for the people in the country and Sabah, that is not enough as we still need to continue planning and implementing many more holistic development programmes,” he added. “I am confident that with the federal government and people’s support, we will continue to bring changes and development, especially in rural impoverished areas,” he added.

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  27. Musa again reiterated his call for all community leaders and elected representatives to go down to the grassroots to explain the programmes and projects that the government had planned and implemented for their benefit.“We must always remember that the mandate given to us is not a privilege but a responsibility towards the people. If the leader is good the people will appreciate his services and when election comes, the people will not forget to vote for Barisan Nasional candidates,” said Musa.

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  28. Later during a press conference, Musa said that BN leaders are far different from the opposition who only know how to “offer lip service and make empty promises” to the people.

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  29. In contrast, the BN continues to plan and implement more development agenda for the people.

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