BATTLES OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT...IN JOHOR...AND PERAK...IN JOHOR WHETHER THE PRIME MINISTER WILL ALLOW JOHOR MB TO CONTEST AT GELANG PATAH AGAINST LIM KIT SIANG...????? IN PERAK ANWAR IBRAHIM WILL DEFINITELY TAKE ON IPOH TIMUR LEFT VACANT BY LIM KIT SIANG BECAUSE ANWAR IBRAHIM COULD NOT RISK HIS UTMOST DESIRE TO BE THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA. "DOKTRIN DAP" OF PERAK COULD NOT FORGET HOW THEY WERE TOPPLED BY THEIR OWN BUDDIES IN "PAKATAN SI BIADAP", "SI GILA KUASA" AND "SI PENDENDAM" TO BE YANG BERHORMAT FRIENDLY TO BARISAN NASIONAL. "DOKTRIN DAP" OF PERAK KEEP ON REPEATING TO THE REMIND THE PEOPLE OF PERAK TO KEEP THE "ANGER" AND PUNISH BARISAN NASIONAL IN THE COMING PRU13...

Titanic fights are looming on the horizon, barely a day after the dissolution of Parliament with challenges being thrown to some of the biggest names in Malaysian politics. In Johor, speculation is mounting that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang may not have the easy passage he is expecting in Gelang Patah. Several state Umno leaders have taken the radical step of asking Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman to square off with Lim.

In Perak, Barisan Nasional leaders say they will make sure that PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim loses if he contests in the state. The main attention, however, is on the DAP bid for Gelang Patah, which is key to the Pakatan Rakyat campaign strategy in Johor, which it regards as a frontline state.

Johor Barisan MPs believe that Ghani is the ideal and most credible candidate to fight the DAP heavyweight in what has been deemed “the hottest seat in Johor”.

Datuk Puad Zarkashi of Batu Pahat said Ghani would be the game-changer needed in Barisan's defence of Gelang Patah and Johor in the 13th general election. He said the contest would allow Ghani to defend his legacy in Johor. Puad, who is Deputy Education Minister, noted that Gelang Patah is the site of Iskandar Malaysia, the country's most prestigious development project which was launched under Ghani's watch. The new state capital in Nusajaya is also within Gelang Patah.

“We hope he will consider it (contesting in Gelang Patah) because he pioneered all these projects. He is the most suitable person to defend what we have in Johor,” Puad said. The 66-year-old Ghani has been Mentri Besar since 1995. It is understood that he had informed the Prime Minister that he did not mind offering himself as the Gelang Patah candidate.

Gelang Patah is an MCA seat but a party insider said the proposal could be discussed even though MCA division chief Datuk Jason Teoh has been forwarded as the candidate. The insider agreed that the Mentri Besar was popular among the Chinese and had a good chance of winning the seat, which has 53% Chinese voters, 34% Malays and 13% Indians.

Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said Ghani's style of politics reflected the “Johor way” of doing things. “DAP's racial politics and divisiveness are not going to be good for Johor. Voters should be given the choice whether they want the Johor way or DAP's racial way. “It is important for Johor to maintain and protect what has been Johor's trademark in race relations. We have been able to depoliticise issues like Chinese education.

“Our Chingay festival goes back 150 years and soon the Foon Yew High School will celebrate its 100th anniversary. We are proud of these traditions,” said Shahrir. The idea also had the support of Nusajaya assemblyman Datuk Aziz Sapian who said that Ghani had always enjoyed a warm relationship with the Chinese in Johor. He said Ghani also had good working ties with the Johor Chinese groups and associations which looked up to his leadership.

However, Deputy Defence Minister and Mersing MP Datuk Dr Latif Ahmad said there was no need to make Lim look so important. 

Meanwhile, reports that Anwar was likely to contest in Perak met with swift response from Barisan, with Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declaring that the coalition would “bury” the PKR leader in the state. Ahmad Zahid, who is Bagan Datoh MP, said Anwar's intention to contest in Perak would not scare anyone in Umno and that it would be lawan tetap lawan (fight to the end), regardless of whether it is Anwar or anyone else who takes on Umno in Perak.

Anwar's plan to quit Permatang Pauh for another seat in Perak has sparked speculation that he was not confident of holding on to his old constituency, which has more than 71% Malay voters, and that he was looking for a Perak seat with Chinese voters to carry him through.

Officially though, his reason for moving south is to lend his weight to Pakatan Rakyat in Perak now that Lim is moving to Johor. Ahmad Zahid said Anwar would not dare to contest in any of the Umno seats in Perak because “we will make sure he is defeated”.

Perak DAP reminded voters today of the power grab that toppled Pakatan Rakyat (PR) from the state in 2009 as it moved to reignite the anti-BN sentiment that rocked the northern state for over a year after the controversial putsch. At a press conference in Ipoh, state DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham told voters to “remain angry” at Barisan Nasional (BN) when they head to the ballot boxes this Election 2013, and punish the ruling pact for allegedly using illegal means to capture state power four years ago.

“They must tell all Malaysians and the world that they are principled people who were angry with BN for its power grab in 2009 and will remain angry with BN until BN is punished and justice meted out,” the Sitiawan assemblyman said in a statement. “They will not be bought with the little goodies that BN recently showered on them which in any case are monies which belong to the people,” he added, noting that this was among one of the reasons why Perak folk have a “duty” to support PR in the polls.

Ngeh also reminded voters of those who dared to stop the current state BN administration from being sworn into government on February 6, 2009, at the Perak Sultan’s palace in Kuala Kangsar. He said many had risked their lives by even lying across the road to stop the entourage of Perak’s royalty and BN leaders who were heading to the palace for the swearing-in ceremony at the time.

“They are now being charged in court and face possible jail sentences. We must show solidarity with them,” Ngeh said.

During the tumultuous event four years ago, thousands of protestors had converged on the small royal town of Kuala Kangsar to stop the ceremony but were forced to fall back when riot police rained tear gas canisters on the group to disperse the crowd.

In one incident, emotional voters, their eyes still burning from the sting of the tear gas, carried a young schoolboy who had fainted in the melee to the door of the official vehicle carrying the Perak Regent Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, demanding that the prince call off the event.

But after successfully dispersing protestors, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir was sworn in as the state’s 11th mentri besar, replacing PAS’s Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizarr Jamaluddin. Ngeh said the next general election will be the crucial opportunity for Perak folk to tell Zambry and his team that his allegedly “undemocratic” power grab in 2009 was not acceptable.

He labelled Zambry and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak as “chief criminals” in the putsch, insisting that neither leader deserved to lead any state government or the federal government. "Democracy must be restored in Perak,” he added. “Laws must be enacted to restore the democratic norms which were violated by BN just to ensure their power grab was successful and preserved.”

Ngeh insisted that during Perak PR’s 10-month rule in Perak, the state had scored well, registering an investment of RM3.2 million, which he said was the highest in state history. “Huge number of local as well as foreign investors was lining up to invest in Perak due to the efficient and graft-free PR Perak government,” he said, adding that many investors have even put their businesses on hold in hopes of PR being restored as the next state government.

But under BN’s leadership, Ngeh repeated allegations of illegal land grab by the ruling pact’s leaders, claiming that the government had approved 112,547 acres of land to cronies. “Billions of ringgit of the people’s monies were lost as the lands were approved without any open tender. Deserving cases of the landless were however ignored by the BN government,” he alleged.

Opposition parties DAP, PKR and PAS won 31 seats in Perak’s 59-seat assembly in the March 2008 general election, allowing the loose pact to form a minority government after the polls. In January 2009, BN’s Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim defected from Umno to PKR, increasing PR’s small three-seat margin over BN to four, changing the PR-BN seat tally to 32-27.

But in early February, Nasarudin returned to Umno, the same day that three PR assemblymen — two from PKR and one from DAP — left their respective parties to become BN-friendly independents. Their defections effectively toppled the PR government in Perak and resulted in a year-long constitutional impasse that was coloured by numerous historic events, including the March 3, 2009, “tree” assembly, the fracas outside the Kuala Kangsar palace and a mountain of legal suits.