BN's campaign will be built around Najib and his team of young, experienced and proven leaders. THE race is on. The general election, the pivotal moment in our democracy, is upon us. After the two-week official campaign, which kicked off yesterday, voters will cast their votes on May 5 to elect the party that they can trust most in running the country.

Dr. Juanda Jaya

 

Mufti Perlis Dr Juanda Jaya membidas tindakan PKR Perlis mengumumkan nama beliau sebagai calon parti itu untuk kerusi Parlimen Kangar sebagai satu tindakan yang “tidak beradab”. Apa yang disebut oleh PKR Perlis langsung tidak dirujuk kepada saya, saya agak terkilan sebab jual nama saya tanpa izin…saya tak pernah jumpa pimpinan PKR Perlis,” kata beliau.  “Isytihar secara ‘unilateral (sendiri)’ (adalah) suatu sikap yang tak beradab kepada orang lain apatah lagi kedudukan saya yang agak sensitif kepada banyak pihak. Ini perlu difahami terutamanya mereka yang mahu jadi ahli politik. “Saya ambil sikap diam diri kerana tak mahu sakiti hati mana-mana pihak kerana semuanya saudara seagama. Pelajaran daripada isu ini ialah orang politik kita masih belum matang seperti negara lain,” katanya.

Minggu lalu, Pengerusi PKR, Mohd Faisol Abdul Rahman telah mengumumkan nama Dr Juanda sebagai calon PKR di Parlimen Kangar dan turut mendakwa dengan pencalonan Mufti Perlis itu PKR yakin menang di kawasan parlimen tersebut. Pengumuman PKR itu disambut dengan nada yang agak marah oleh Dr Juanda menuduhnya sebagai ‘berita syaitan‘. “Saya dapati PRU13 tidak sesuai untuk saya kerana terlalu banyak fitnah dan penerimaan terhadap ‘scholar’ belum mantap. Pilihan tempat (bertanding) memang banyak tetapi tiada yang sesuai, politik bukanlah perkara mudah untuk orang macam saya sebab itu agak hairan ramai yang lobi tanpa fikirkan kesannya di dunia dan akhirat. 

“Perbincangan membabitkan banyak pihak bukan hanya Pakatan Rakyat, kawan-kawan BN pun tanya ajak berbincang. Isu Kangar hanya di tahap perbincangan dan ziarah kawan-kawan daripada kedua-dua belah pihak, ini normal bagi orang politik yang mencari dokongan. “Saya kurang berminat sebab saya bukan penduduk tempatan, kalau BN ‘offer’ pun tetap akan timbul isu orang luar. Politik Malaysia belum matang untuk menerima kepelbagaian, sentiman sentiasa menjuarai itu,” kata Dr Juanda.

  

Mufti Perlis, Dr. Juanda Jaya yang sebelum ini dikaitkan dengan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) malam tadi secara terbuka mengaku telah mengundi Barisan Nasional (BN) dan akan terus mengundi parti itu pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 nanti. Katanya, BN secara konsisten memperjuangkan Islam termasuk perundangan syariah di negara ini.  Tegas beliau lagi, Pas walaupun mengaku memperjuangkan Islam tetapi tidak mempunyai rekod kejayaan untuk dibuktikan. Sebaliknya, ujar beliau, kerajaan BN yang selalu dimomokkan sebagai tidak tahu agama oleh pemimpin Pas, telah mengangkat martabat Islam.

"Pada saya undi adalah rahsia. Tapi saya dari dahulu mengundi BN kerana parti inilah yang sebenarnya memperjuangkan Islam. "Puak sana yang kata nak buat hudud tapi sampai sekarang belum. Rotan apa yang akan digunakan untuk laksana hudud pun belum diputuskan," katanya sinis dalam satu majlis di Flat Sri Melaka di Bandar Tun Razak di sini malam tadi.

SPR

Mana-mana calon yang berhasrat untuk menarik diri daripada bertanding dalam Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU-13) perlu melupakan hasrat tersebut. Timbalan Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR), Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar berkata, berdasarkan pindaan terhadap Peraturan-Peraturan Pilihan Raya (Perjalanan Pilihan Raya) 1981, mana-mana calon yang sudah disahkan namanya oleh pegawai pengurus di pusat penamaan tidak dibenarkan menarik diri.

Katanya, pengumuman mana-mana calon untuk menarik diri daripada bertanding merupakan hak peribadi dan melibatkan hal dalaman parti masing-masing sahaja. "Mengikut undang-undang, SPR tetap akan mencetak kertas undi yang mempunyai nama dan logo calon itu biar pun mereka menarik diri di saat akhir. "Sebagai contoh, calon DAP yang bertanding sebagai calon Bebas, sebaik namanya diumumkan oleh pegawai pengurus itu adalah muktamad. Jika pada hari pengundian, pengundi mahu undi mereka, undi itu masih dikira," katanya dalam sidang akhbar di sini hari ini.

PRU-13 bakal menyaksikan tujuh kerusi berlaku pertembungan sesama sendiri antara calon Pas dan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) iaitu satu kerusi Parlimen dan selebihnya kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN). Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh telah mengarahkan tiga ahlinya yang bertanding sebagai calon Bebas menarik diri dalam tempoh 24 jam atau bakal dikenakan tindakan disiplin. Menurut Wan Ahmad, berdasarkan pindaan baru itu, kuasa pegawai pengurus untuk mengumumkan calon menang tanpa bertanding di sesuatu kerusi dihapuskan biar pun hanya terdapat pertandingan dua penjuru dan salah seorang daripadanya menarik diri.

Jenice Lee - Calon Bebas DUN Teratai

Penyandang kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Teratai, Jenice Lee mendakwa sikap angkuh dan amalan kronisme segelintir pemimpin tertinggi DAP menyebabkan beliau digugurkan daripada menjadi calon Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU-13). Menurutnya, sikap pilih bulu yang diamalkan dalam parti oleh sesetengah pemimpin itu tidak selari dengan slogan ketelusan yang sering dilaung-laungkan. Ada seorang pemimpin tertinggi dalam DAP yang secara terbuka menyerang saya dengan pelbagai tohmahan tanpa sebarang bukti kukuh, pemimpin lain dalam parti cuma mengikut kehendaknya yang tidak mahu mencalonkan saya. Adakah ini adil? Adakah ini dinamakan demokratik dan telus? Bagaimana seseorang itu boleh sesuka hati memfitnah tanpa bukti dan semua pemimpin lain tanpa menyiasat terus bersetuju dan menggantikan calon 'payung terjun' demi memastikan karier politik saya hancur. Pemimpin DAP perlu sedar parti itu semakin pincang, mereka tidak perlu bersikap bongkak kerana ego masing-masing, sebaliknya mengakui kesilapan percaturan sehingga menimbulkan kemarahan ahli-ahli akar umbi.

Kesamarataan yang diperjuangkan oleh pembangkang terutama DAP dilihat tidak akan membawa keadilan kepada rakyat di negara ini sebaliknya akan mewujudkan jurang perbezaan yang semakin besar. Kesamarataan tersebut akan menyebabkan golongan yang masih tercicir terpaksa bersaing secara terbuka dengan mereka yang sudah dan semakin berjaya serta maju. Kesamarataan tersebut mungkin boleh dilaksanakan sekiranya negara mempunyai kaum, masalah, isu dan latar belakang yang sama. "Kita boleh laksanakan kesamarataan jika dalam negara ini (mempunyai) rakyat yang tidak berbeza dari segi kaum dan pencapaian mereka, semua sama... isu semua sama... masalah semua sama... maka mungkin mudah bagi kita bawa pembangunan yang berasaskan kesamarataan". "Tetapi dalam negara kita ini semuanya berbeza. Kaum, latar belakang dan jati diri rakyatnya adalah berbeza. Sebab itu kita bawakan pembangunan berasaskan kesaksamaan dan bukannya kesamarataan seperti yang dimahukan oleh DAP".

 

Pembangunan atau kemajuan yang digarap oleh kerajaan dengan aspek kesaksamaan telah membawa kepada hidup bermuafakat dan membolehkan negara membangun sehingga menjadi sebuah negara maju. Pemuafakatan yang ada antara kaum selain kemajuan yang dibawa menerusi kesaksamaan itu juga membolehkan negara ini mampu berhadapan dengan pelbagai masalah yang turut dialami negara luar yang lain. Menerusi konsep kesamarataan itu juga, DAP mahu menghapuskan status bumiputera dan hak-hak keistimewaan yang diperolehi golongan itu. "Jika ini berlaku, pakatan pembangkang tidak lagi memberi sebarang perhatian kepada program memperkasakan kaum bumiputera seperti yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN). Jadi kita perlu bijak untuk memilih keadilan mana yang kita inginkan sama ada ia "berteraskan kesaksamaan atau kesamarataan". 

IS the opposition pact disintegrating? The Malay word pakatan, which means pact in English, can no longer be used to describe the loose alliance, with two of its three component party members, Pas and PKR, contesting against each other in seven constituencies in the May 5 general election.

One state PKR leader cited “greed and deceit” for the unprecedented face-off between the two Malay-based parties (see report on page 4). Others in the opposition pact, however, tried to play down the issue, blaming it on a breakdown in communications. “I’m in the dark,” Johor PKR chief Datuk Chua Jui Meng said, responding to a reporter’s question on the overlapping contest between PKR and Pas in the Johor state seat of Panti.

On nomination day, Pas and PKR candidates ended up pitted against each other and Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Labuan parliamentary seat and the state seats of Panti, Sungai Acheh (Penang), Kota Damansara (Selangor), Bukit Besi, Kota Putera and Seberang Takir (Terengganu). Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the face-off proved that the opposition pact, which included DAP, could no longer work. “The opposition parties claim that they are pakatan rakyat (the people’s alliance),” the BN chairman said at the launch of a Felda housing project near Pekan yesterday.

"But now it is proven that they have failed to honour the pact as they are contesting against each other. If they cannot agree during the general election, how can they administer the country? How can we trust them when they don't have one voice and the same goal," Najib said. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the opposition pact was made up of three parties with contrasting ideologies and had no common stand. "How can we trust them when they can't even agree on candidates," he said. Pas information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said Pas would meet tomorrow to discuss the issue of overlapping seats.

The Pas candidate for Sungai Acheh, Mohd Yusni Mat Piah, yesterday took aim at PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and said he would not back off. He alleged that Anwar had lied that Pas had agreed to withdraw from contesting the seat to allow a straight fight between PKR and BN. Yusni, the Penang Pas Youth chief, said it was PKR who should pull out because the seat belonged to Pas and it was only "leased" to PKR during the 2008 general election.

"PKR is already contesting the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat and the Sungai Bakap state seat, while DAP is contesting the Jawi state seat, so why is Pas being denied from contesting in Sungai Acheh? "We are only defending the opposition pact's cooperation spirit and, in this case, it is only fair for PKR to return the seat and allow us to have a straight fight with BN." He was commenting on Anwar's statement during a ceramah here on Saturday that Pas was to be blamed for the three-cornered fight in Sungai Acheh as "certain quarters" in the party failed to understand the opposition pact's bigger agenda.

Anwar had also told the crowd that state Pas commissioner Datuk Mohd Salleh Man and Pas secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali had told him on Saturday that the party had agreed not to field its candidate in Sungai Acheh. Anwar also defended his decision to field Badrul Hisham Shaharin, more popularly known as Chegu Bard, in Sungai Acheh, as the PKR Youth leader was capable of bringing more development to the constituency. Yusni and Badrul Hisham are locked in a three-cornered fight with BN candidate Datuk Mahmud Zakaria, who had won the seat in the 2008 general election after defeating PKR candidate Dr Azhar Ahmad with a 250-vote majority.

Simply, it is a choice between the experienced and the inexperienced. The proven and the unproven. The tested and the untried. Even before the start of this campaign, there were already deep cracks in the opposition side, stemming from the infighting, walkouts and protests that caused anxieties even among the most ardent opposition supporters. The record number of candidates contesting as bebas, or independents, has revealed the huge dissent within the ranks of Pakatan Rakyat.

The tone of the Barisan Nasional campaign was set by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he launched a comprehensive BN manifesto a fortnight ago and unveiled the candidates well ahead of yesterday's nominations. Flanked by leaders of BN component parties, Najib introduced his team as the "transformation team" that not only reflected the aspirations of the people but also set the foundation for his new cabinet team post-GE. In one stroke, he retired some old-timers, brought back proven leaders who were sidelined in the last election and roped in young and promising leaders. In contrast, Pakatan retained some of the ageing leaders.

In essence, the BN campaign will be built around Najib, whose popularity has consistently ranked higher than BN, and his team of young, experienced and proven leaders. With the emerging class of young and educated voters, Najib has to groom new leaders who can connect and be in sync with the young people, whose needs and wants may be different from the older generation. The rejuvenation process within BN, which is long overdue, cannot take place if leaders who overstayed their welcome, continue to cling to their seats.

With Najib leading BN for the first time as its leader, it places upon him a heavy burden of expectations as well. He has so far successfully rebuilt the house of Umno, revitalised BN and transformed the economy and government. BN has fully learnt the lessons of March 8, 2008, when the rakyat rejected the old ways of BN and denied it the two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time ever.

What will be his main message to the voters? Najib's dominant theme will be: "Now is not the time to experiment and put it at risk." "Don't make the wrong decision." Otherwise the nation's economy will be ruined and the livelihoods of millions of Malaysians will be in jeopardy. As for Pakatan, their main electoral pitch will be "time for a change".

Knowing that will be their drum- beat, BN campaigners will be quick to remind voters of the lacklustre Pakatan record in governing Penang, Kedah and Selangor for the last five years. The message to the voters in the three states will be: "You don't have to put up another five years of Pakatan rule." Selangor may run out of water and Penangites may continue to suffer in silence if Pakatan wins another term.

Najib's message to voters is clear: Between Najib, Anwar Ibrahim and Hadi Awang, whom they can trust to be their prime minister? The leader who can deliver his promises and tackle the hard issues facing the country will win the vote from the rakyat. In four years as prime minister, Najib has proven he can deliver. The next two weeks will be crucial for both BN and Pakatan. How the election campaign is being waged will have a lasting impact on voters' decision. The BN has a good story to tell. That will help them win the hearts and minds of the voters.