Sunday, March 09, 2008

BN's Worst Ever Performance...

This is one massive wake-up call to Barisan Nasional and I think, in particular, Umno.

And someone should be made accountable.

"But it will not be me," said BN chief and Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi whose own state of Penang was lost to the opposition.
Well, not in those words but he told a media conference that he will not be resigning.

The coalition, despite its mighty and powerful election machinery, also lost Kedah, Selangor and Perak, and its siege on Kelantan, failed to retain the State.

And for the first time in history, it lost its two-thirds majority.
(It attained a simple majority, winning 137 of 222 parliamentary seats. The Opposition won an unprecedented 82 seats)

Abdullah who gave a brief Press conference with his wife, Jean and Najib by his side
at 2.20am, said that he was not resigning. He was asked whether he would step down as Prime Minister after the BN's defeat in four states and its failure to wrest Kelantan from Pas.

"I don't know who is being pressured to (step down). I'm not resigning", he said.

He also said this did not show that the people had lost confidence in his leadership.

"This is the people's stand not to give us a two-thirds majority", he remarked.

Abdullah assumed the premiership when Dr Mahathir Mohamed stepped down in 2003 after 22 years as Prime Minister.

When asked about BN's defeat in the five states, Abdullah replied: "We've lost, we've lost."
("Dah kalah, kalah.")

He had throughout the 2008 general election campaign expressed confidence of the BN's sweeping victory.

I think many people expected the BN to "lose some seats" but did not quite expect this "political tsunami", as someone was quoted to have said.

This will change the course of Malaysian politics.

The Malays are angry, the Chinese are angry, and of course, the Indians are angry. Malaysians are angry.

We see some of BN's big wigs being trounced -- MIC's Samy Vellu in Sungai Siput, PPP's Kayveas in Taiping, Gerakan's Koh Tsu Koon in Batu Kawan and Wanita Umno deputy chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who failed to defend Lembah Pantai against Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Zainuddin Maidin lost to a PKR candidate in Sungai Siput.

Except for Koh, the others were Cabinet ministers.

Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz won, but with a very reduced majority. Other BN top guns won, but badly.

All component parties took a beating.

Abdullah himself retained his Kepala Batas seat with a reduced majority.

But his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak, defended his Pekan seat with a huge margin. And Pahang did well. So did Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.

Well, wasn't it really Najib's day?

And, we will see a mother-daughter team of PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Ismail (who defended Permatang Pauh with a bigger majority) and Nurul Izzah in the Dewan Rakyat.

PKR advisor and former Deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim was at the fore of the Opposition's election campaign.
Now who said Anwar and PKR no longer had relevance in Malaysian politics?

There are not very many ways of reading the BN's dismal performance. I think many good BN leaders were made to suffer and had to take the fall just to give that very strong message that the people had had about enough with the BN and its arrogance, excesses, abuses, the father-in-law/son-in-law way of running the country.

I think it was a strong vote against Abdullah and his coterie of cronies.

According to Bernama, Abdullah would seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin tomorrow (Monday) to form the new fedderal government.
But according to NST, he'd be doing that later today.

Today at 11am, Dr Mahathir will be holding a Press conference at his residence in The Mines.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I don't know who is being pressured to (step down). I'm not resigning", he said.

Still arrogant!!!!

IBU said...

The time has come. Either he forgot to look at his watch or his watch is behind time. Still dreaming.

pinkbasket said...

Wake up lah Pak Lah, the results is a sure proof of Rakyat's no confindence in your leadership. Maybe Pak Lah is still asleep and think all this is just a dream!!! My grandpa wants to donate his kerusi malas for Pak Lah to sleep on, and continue sleeping.

Violet Ann said...

i cant wait to hear what mahathir is going to say.

to be frank, i'm also shockto learn that BN is unable to retain its seats in four states.

i think pak lah should resign lah.

Anonymous said...

Salam Nuraina. That statement made by pak lah that he's not resigning.... made me sick to the bone... tak segan ke? He's Musharraf in the making! And what about the SIL who lost with reduced majority despite the huge resources? Another muka tak ada malu, just like the FIL? Arghh! These two clowns really made my day today!

Anonymous said...

It's a real pity good stuff like Shahrizat got trashed by the political tsunami. Not many women like her who can deal politics like her in Malaysia or international. Pity.

Anonymous said...

The message from the voters:
- We do not want Bozos as our MPs
- We want MPs with higher quality, not people who think that being MP is a fast route to wealth
- Make the media independent, it's sickening to see the news prior to election
- we as voters have our limits and dignity.

Admin1 said...

As a leader, Pak Lah should still remain in seat. I hope with this new government he will be a better premier. It wont look good on him to resign. For the nation, his resignation would cause many repercussions on a political, economical and social scale. He should stay.

I am hopeful that the new leaders of our people will keep to their word of uniting the people, look into the welfare of the poor (regardless of race), a firm and decisive action on corruption and reunite the people as one rakyat.

The "divide and rule" tactics used by the British and then UMNO should end right here and right now.

Finally we have come to terms that we dont need a racially divided government to look into our needs. We can trust our future in any Malaysian who is true and earnest to their promise.

Hidup Rakyat! Hidup Rakyat! Hidup Rakyat!

Anonymous said...

Reasons why BN lost ;

1) Pak Lah has no qualms and oblivious to the fact that he potrays himself as so inefficient and lazy and also without any bright ideas. He didn't live up to the expectations locally and internationally as the CEO of Malaysia Inc.

2) KJ portrays himself as cocky and pretentious. Too ambitious for anyone and his dabble in most of the govt's administration lacks taste and often deemed as unbecoming

3) Dr M shoes are too big to be filled by Pak Lah. Moreover Pak Lah does not have a clue on how to govern Malaysia efficiently. This is the sentiment of the public majority.

4) For the first time, the REAL silent majority has their say and opted to stifle the govt whom they perceived as corrupt and 'sombong bodoh'.

5) Blatant show offs of riches and misuse of public funds by Pak Lah ad his politicians (airbus, yacht, SCOMI, palace of Datuk Zakaria, one eyed Jasin MP etc) irritates the voters. What more ith the rising costs of living

6) Pak Lah should have done better in marrying Jeanne who is actually his brher in law's ex wife. In Malay custom, this is taboo and can constitute as 'near' incest.

7) The so many countless lies or flip flopping by Pak Lah and his policies. No integrity.

8) The people is more sophisticated and they are more clever in choosing the candidates. Gone were the days when the people can only sit and accept the govt's propaganda during elections. That's why certain candidates can win in a tough seat (eg; Mukhriz) while certain candidates that are deemed stupid, corrupted or plain unlikeable, lost.

9) People perceive Malaysia as a company (like during TDM's time). If the company is being headed by a CEO which decreases the shareholders' wealth, then the CEO should be sacked.

from - jalaree@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

He once said "saya pantang dicabar." I don't think he gives a hoot about what people think with regards to his political future. He is not going to step down from such a cushy job that comes with all the perks that we can only dream about (such as Airbus A319 and his grand residence).

the girl said...

nur,

i want pak lah out! right now! he's dividing the country, especially orang melayu.

what are we if we cant stand together? he has to be out!

Anonymous said...

All Malaysians realized that they should change the government now..

With so many issues recently, his LOST is so predictable...
To be honest, im so happy !!

Anonymous said...

Ena,

Pak Lah said: I don't know who is being pressured (to step down). I'm not resigning".

Ya ampun, benak betul dia ni, kan?

Doc Bakri komen di blog Rocky yg dia ni patut kena penampar dgn 4x4 sampai sedar (dlm parlance MatYank, itu papan 4'x4" yang boleh tahan tebal, agak 1/2"). Hampir mental saya ketawa bila baca tu. :D

I think I'm still suffering from euphoria. It's almost 5:00am here and I'm still reading everything I can about the Malaysian bloodless coup.

Oh beloved CANLAND, it's so bleeping wonderful to feel SO PROUD of you and of BEING MALAYSIAN again!

Anonymous said...

If you have a mean to get to Kak Ijat, tell her she deserve better. She's a real gem in BN. May Allah rewards her for all her services.

Anonymous said...

aina,
Can't help feeling happy...relieved that somehow the message is conveyed even though some of the ex-leaders refused to accept the sigh..Oh Malaysiaku

Anonymous said...

Yes, Najib won by a bigger majority, but would he have if he didn't have those postal votes?

Jing said...

Don't forget rafidah aziz herself did not sign TWO of her nomination papers. If the EC hadn't overlooked it, she would have lost HER seat too.