Umno Must Make Thorough Preparation, Planning To Win 14th General Election

IPOH, March 7 (Bernama) -- Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the party must make thorough preparation and planning if it wishes to win the 14th general election.

Najib, who is also Prime Minister, said this was because the political approach that could be accepted by the people at present was no longer rigid politics but new politics.

"But this does not mean the old politics cannot be practised, some politics of development, needed by the people is the core to the old politics that still needs to be implemented by us.

"We must do what needs to be done," he said when speaking at the closing of the Perak State Umno Convention and simultaneous opening of Umno branches conference 2015 at Indera Mulia Stadium here Saturday night.

He said the voters' point of view now was different from those in the past.

"So we must practise new politics...we cannot assume that if we have given an allocation, the problem is already solved.

"Today if we say the new generation must be thankful to Umno, maybe their reception may not be like before because it seems we are claiming our rights.

"On the contrary, if we tell, if they think rationally, there is no party with better agenda than Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) and this is not due to sentiment but a guaranteed future for the country at the state or national level," he said.

He also said Umno needed to adapt itself with the new political environment as currently social media was already regarded as mainstream media and the existing mainstream media such as print media had become second choice.

Umno leaders must avoid from becoming warlords as it would distance the grassroots from the party.

As such he urged them to practise openess and a willingness to go down to the grassroots besides being humble in order to be well accepted and liked.

"I cannot imagine Malaysia without Umno, especially Malays and Muslims. The answer will make the Malays destitutes in their own country.

Hence he urged Perak Umno members to fully support Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, who is also state Umno Liaison Committee chairman.

Earlier Perak Umno Convention Committee chairman Datuk Saarani Mohamad said 10 resolutions were approved.

Among them are programmes to increase membership and voters, strengthening of party machinery, branch auditing, engaging young voters and loyalty to leaders and Umno's struggle.

Najib Outlines Three Factors For BN Victory In GE14

TUMPAT, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said three factors namely suitable candidates, strong machinery and a united Barisan Nasional (BN) have to be established to ensure victory for BN in the 14th general election (GE14).

Najib, who is also BN chairman, said the combination of the three factors was proven with the big win for BN in the Pengkalan Kubor state by-election on Sept 25.

"The candidate has to be right... choose the candidate favoured by voters," he said on the first factor while speaking at a 'Leader with the People Session: An Evening with the Prime Minister' at the Kampung Geting community service centre in Pengkalan Kubor, here Saturday.

Taking the example of selecting Mat Razi Mat Ail as the BN candidate in the Pengkalan Kubor by-election, Najib said Mat Razi fulfilled the needs of voters as he had a respectable image apart from his knowledge on religion as well as being a teacher at a private religious school.

Najib said the strong election machinery also contributed to the success of BN as all parties worked as a team.

Najib also pointed out that unity in Umno and among BN component parties without any feelings of jealousy haD to be the core spirit to ensure victory for BN.

The Prime Minister stressed that the formula for BN's win in Pengkalan Kubor would be the watershed for Kelantan BN in GE14.

He also called on Kelantan BN to work harder in the effort to win the people's support for BN.

He also thanked Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Pengkalan Kubor by-election machinery director, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and the entire BN machinery who worked hard to ensure BN is firmly rooted in the constituency.

In the Pengkalan Kubor by-election last month, Mat Razi defeated Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim of PAS and independent Izat Bukhary Ismail by a majority of 2,635 votes.

Also present were Mustapa, who is also Kelantan BN chief, Umno secretary- General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Umno Information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan and Mat Razi.

The Islamic race

And this is what is going to determine the outcome of the next general election. The Malay vote is going to decide the government. And Malay here means Islam, both culturally and constitutionally. Hence to win the hearts and minds of the Malays you will need to do it via Islam. And those who are seen as more Islamic will be the ones to win the hearts and minds of the Malays.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In the past, we would hear a lot of talk about the arms race between the USSR and the US, especially during the Cold War period. Now that the Cold War has ended, the USSR no longer exists, the Berlin Wall has been brought down, and so on, there is no longer much talk about the arms race.

Nevertheless, the arms race still exists. It is just not discussed as often as before, that’s all. And it exists in the Muslim world.

Political Islam is viewed as a threat to the western world. Why then do they arm the Muslim countries at an alarming rate? Today, Iraq is seen as a problem, as is Iran. But was it not the west that armed both these countries? And was it not the west that created the Taliban so that Russia can be kept in check during the Cold War?

All the problems from the Muslim world were western creations. And they knew that one day these monsters they created would come back to haunt them. Why create these monsters in the first place then?

I suppose this is for two reasons. One would be that arms and wars are big money. And the west controls the arms industry so they can make a lot of money selling their arms to countries that have plenty of money. And countries that have deep pockets and can waste billions on arms they may never use in the end would be the oil producing Muslim countries.

Secondly would be about a balance of power. If the west arms the Muslim countries and these countries were constantly on war footing then they would not be such a nuisance or a threat to the west. They would be so busy watching each other they would not have any time to disturb the west.

Furthermore, the west sells arms to only those who are friendly to them. So Muslim countries need to be friends of the west to get approval to buy arms. And if your neighbour is arming itself, then you, too, need to arm yourself. And you can only do this if you are a friend to the country that is supplying the arms.

One thing I have talked about in the past -- which was not well received -- is that other than the arms race there is also the Islamic race. And the Islamic race exists not only in the Middle East but in Malaysia as well.

Of course, when I first raised the issue of the 3Rs it was pooh-poohed by most people. Some even accused me of playing the race card. It is something they would rather not hear about and they resented the fact that I raised it because then it reminded them that the 3R issue does exist, and that it is a problem, and that it is going to become a bigger problem as time goes on.

Over the last week or so we have been swamped with news regarding the Shia issue, especially regarding Mat Sabu of PAS. Now there is talk about creating a Sharia Police that is going to enforce Islamic laws on ‘deviants’. Islam appears to have just become the flavour of the day for Malaysia. And it is going to get worse before it becomes better, trust me on this.

Zurairi AR’s article in The Malay Mail (In religious contest, PAS Youth chief sees a win for Malaysians), quoting PAS Youth chief Suhaizan Kaiat, explains it quite well (READ HERE). PAS and Umno are involved in an Islamic race to see who can be more Islamic than the other. And PAS sees this as healthy and beneficial to Islam.

I have said this many times before and I will say it again. Islam is not just a religion. Islam is a political system, the administration of the ummah or community, in short, a government.

Anwar Ibrahim is fond of saying that Islam is an adeen or way of life. And Anwar is right. In fact, the Quran refers to Islam as the way of Abraham and further says that all those who follow the way of Abraham, whether they are Yahudi (people of Judea or Yahuda) or Nasrani (people of Nazareth) -- meaning Jews and Christians -- are the true submitters.

We must remember that Judaism and Christianity, at the time of Prophet Muhammad, were political and administrative in nature. Today maybe these two religions are merely ritualistic but back in the year 600 this was not so. When Islam first emerged, Judaism and Christianity were a form of government.

In a way, Judaism and Christianity have deviated from what the founders of these religions had originally intended. Judaism and Christianity are no longer a form of government like how they were when they first emerged. Islam, however, has held true to its course. And this is what non-Muslims cannot seem to comprehend.

It is not that Islam has become more militant. It is that Judaism and Christianity have become less militant. And this is not the fault of Islam but the fault of the Jews and Christians who have abandoned their true faith and have allowed their religion to become watered down so to speak.

There is no such thing as liberal Islam. That is a concept created by the liberals who would like to see Islam run the same course as Judaism and Christianity -- meaning deviate from what was intended by the founders of these religions. There is only one Islam. And Islam is certainly far from liberal because in Islam there are strict rules you need to follow to qualify calling yourself a Muslim.

I have warned you about the Islamic race between PAS and Umno a long time ago. No doubt, at that time, you thought I was hallucinating or was probably on some illegal substance or smoking weed. Today, we can see the truth in what I said back then. PAS and Umno are trying to outdo each other to see who can be more Islamic than the other.

And this is what is going to determine the outcome of the next general election. The Malay vote is going to decide the government. And Malay here means Islam, both culturally and constitutionally. Hence to win the hearts and minds of the Malays you will need to do it via Islam. And those who are seen as more Islamic will be the ones to win the hearts and minds of the Malays.

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Why is Saudi Arabia buying 15,000 U.S. anti-tank missiles for a war it will never fight?

No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles that has Saudi-watchers scratching their heads and wondering whether the deal is related to Riyadh's support for the Syrian rebels.

The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over US$1 billion.

Regardless of how this purchase of anti-tank missiles relates to Syria, it's undoubtedly part of a larger Saudi arms build up that has been going on for nearly a decade. From 2004 to 2011, according to a 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service, Riyadh signed US$75.7 billion worth of arms transfer agreements -- by far the most of any developing nation. The United States was the major benefactor of this Saudi largesse, as the deals bumped up U.S. arms sales to a record US$66 billion in 2011 alone.

How the Saudis plan to use many of these weapons is a mystery. And it's not just the anti-tank missiles whose purpose remains unclear. Riyadh recently bought advanced fighter jets from the United States for a whopping US$30 billion -- but the Saudis' lack of pilots and ability to maintain them means that it's an open question how long they can keep them airborne, said William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.

But purchasing the weapons, rather than any intent to use them, may be the point for the Saudis. At a time when they are at odds with Washington over the Obama administration's diplomacy with Iran and non-intervention in Syria, the kingdom's deep pockets can at least make sure their ties to the Pentagon remain as strong as ever.

"There was a [Washington] lobbyist who used to say, 'When you buy U.S. weapons, you're not just buying the weapon -- you're buying a relationship with the United States,'" said Hartung. "I think that's kind of the concept."

Read more : http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/12/why_is_saudi_arabia_buying_15000_us_anti_tank_missiles_for_a_land_war_it_will_ne#sthash.v7YblEqs.dpbs

The next general elections will be all about Islam

I was chatting with a senior PAS leader just before the party’s annual congress, and he expressed his worry over the creeping skin-deep Islamisation that the country is going through. “The next general elections will be about who seems the most Islamic,” he said, and despite his Islamist credentials, his concern was understandable.

Zurairi AR, MM

It is a relatively good time to be an Islamist in this country.

If signs are to be believed, it is only a matter of time until Malaysia becomes a full-fledged Islamic country, just like how it was meant to be.

Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was kind enough to grant the Mentri Besar of Kelantan, Ahmad Yaakob, an audience. It was believed that part of their discussions centred on steps to allow hudud laws to be implemented in Kelantan.

This, of course, came after Ahmad’s party, the Islamist PAS, passed a resolution during its annual congress last month, calling for the Federal government to not impede the implementation of Islamic laws, especially hudud, in states which are run by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat.

This frenzy, in turn, came about after the Sultan of Brunei decreed that Islamic laws including hudud be enforced in his country, inviting praises from PAS among others, despite international concerns over human rights.

PAS delegates even went as far as calling attention to the Acheh province in Indonesia, urging for the same kind of moral Gestapo to be given authority in Malaysia to harass citizens.

The frenzy for hudud in PAS’ annual congress was followed, almost serendipitously, by the Sultan of Johor’s announcement that the state will revert its rest days to Fridays and Saturdays to allow Muslims time for their weekly Friday prayers.

The last time this had happened was before 1994, and unlike previously, this time around the proclamation was made without much consideration for business entities, and almost failing to recognise Johor’s status as a neighbour to the burgeoning economy of Singapore.

Alas, this is a small matter. The sultans have listened to the rakyat. Islam is back in the grandstand.

For some, this might feel like a fortuitous turn of events. But not everyone obviously will feel the same way.

I was chatting with a senior PAS leader just before the party’s annual congress, and he expressed his worry over the creeping skin-deep Islamisation that the country is going through.

“The next general elections will be about who seems the most Islamic,” he said, and despite his Islamist credentials, his concern was understandable.

For a devout Muslim, this discomfort comes with seeing Islam being cheapened to a mere political tool, with support for hudud seen as the ultimate tool of proving a politician’s devoutness.

It is as if just by crying one’s religious credential over the others, it automatically absolves him of his many other sins.

We have already seen the ball rolling during the Umno general assembly this week.

Seemingly locked in religious auction with PAS, its Malay support base eroded in the last polls, Umno had beaten its chest, proclaiming itself as the “real” champion of Islam.

A delegate from the women’s wing even declared Umno as “more Islamic” than PAS, citing proven Islamic products such as Islamic banking as purportedly the fruits of Umno’s labour.

We also heard the Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin calling for a Constitutional amendment so that Malays will only adhere to the Sunni denomination of Islam, in another demonisation against the Shia sect.

The deputy prime minister also urged for Islamic studies to be a lifelong learning, whatever that means, to combat liberalism of all things.

We have witnessed a truly rare event, where both PAS and Umno mirrored each other: condemning the “liberals” and advocated human rights as undeniable threats to the sanctity of Islam in the country.

Thanks to smear tactics and fear-mongering by some narrow-minded Muslims NGOs, we have now been assured of not only a state-sanctioned, but even bi-partisan effort to deny Malaysians minorities of their rights.

Top of the list, however, is talk that both Umno and PAS should combine their powers for the sake of the Malays and Islam.

Talks of a unity government between the two have always been in the air, but never have they been so loud. Some of the public are truly looking forward to it.

If anything, if both of them do resort to unity after years of labelling each other heretics, it would only show their desperation and lack of political depth to survive the upcoming years.

For now, they might be in consensus. But it might not be long until they start the heretic blame game again in the game of one-upmanship.

The Muslims might think that they are winning out of this—surely this is a victory—but whether they will benefit from this remains to be seen.

One thing for sure, those who will suffer the most from the creeping Islamisation are the multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-ideological Malaysians. You and me.

There is nothing worse than being the minority, and to see the government that is supposed to represent you fixated on the whims and fancy of only one domineering ethno-religious group.

The road towards the next general elections will be intimidating. The hope of seeing any political body standing up for a secular Malaysia looks bleaker than ever.

Top priority for Pakatan Rakyat is to set up a high-level PR 14GE strategic council to plan for the capture of federal government in Putrajaya in next general elections

Congratulations are in order to PAS leaders and delegates for a very successful 59th Muktamar at national, youth and wanita levels, causing great disappointments to UMNO plotters and conspirators who had worked overtime through their printed or social media in cyberspace to sow dissension and distrust within PAS ranks and to sabotage the unity of purpose of Pakatan Rakyat and giving hope to enlightened Malaysians who comprise the majority of the electorate that two-coalition politics in Malaysia is here to stay as it is very much alive and kicking.

PAS Deputy President Mohamad Sabu struck the nail on the head when he pointed out in his winding-up speech at the 59th Muktamar that PAS would only be a regional party confined to the east coast of the peninsula if it had not entered into a pact with PKR and DAP in Pakatan Rakyat.
As Sabu succinctly said:

“Without Pakatan, our area of dominance would only stretch from Rantau Panjang (in northern Kelantan) to Kemaman (southern Terengganu).
“But with Pakatan, we conquered Selangor and, God willing, it will be Johor next.”

In 1999, when PAS benefitted most from the backlash against BN because of the 1998 political and economic crisis, it won 27 parliament and 98 state seats making it the largest opposition party.

However, 93% and 86% of the parliament and state seats won by PAS was in its “Northern” heartland of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

In 2004, as a result of the Pak Lah “Tsunami”, PAS was reduced to 6 parliament and 33 state seats (100% and 94% of which, respectively, were in the Northern states).

2008 marked a significant shift in PAS’s support outside the 4 Northern States. PAS won 23 parliament and 83 state seats in total, out of which 70% and 76% were in the 4 Northern States.
In 2013, PAS won 2 fewer parliament seats (21 vs 23) but won 2 more state seats (85 vs 83) and this time, 67% and 66% of parliament and state seats respectively were in the 4 Northern States (See Table 1 below)

State	1999		2004		2008		2013
	Parl.	State	Parl.	State	Parl.	State	Parl.	State
Perlis	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	1
Kedah	8	12	1	4	6	16	1	9
Kelantan	10	41	5	24	9	38	9	32
Terengganu	7	28	0	4	1	8	4	14
Penang	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1
Perak	2	3	0	0	2	6	2	5
Pahang	0	6	0	0	0	2	1	3
Selangor	0	4	0	0	4	8	4	15
KL	0	NA	0	NA	1	NA	0	NA
Negeri Sembilan	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Melaka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Johor	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	4
P.Msia	27	98	6	35	23	83	21	85
Perlis, Kedah, K’tan & T’gganu	25	84	6	33	16	63	14	56
Others	2	14	0	2	7	20	7	29
Northern %	92.6%	85.7%	100.0%	94.3%	69.6%	75.9%	66.7%	65.9%
Others %	7.4%	14.3%	0.0%	5.7%	30.4%	24.1%	33.3%	34.1%

Being part of Pakatan has helped PAS venture beyond its core 4 northern states.
The setback faced by PAS in Kedah in 2013 cannot be explained in terms of PAS participation in Pakatan but more so because of internal factors. Similar explanations can be used for the slight decrease in support for PAS in Kelantan.

If being part of Pakatan hurt PAS in the Malay heartland, then PAS would not have made gains in Terengganu.

Moving forward, it is clear that the states which have and will continue to experience the largest population growth in Peninsular Malaysia are Selangor, KL and Johor. These are where most of the new seat increases (parliament and state) will occur.

Many of the new seats will be ethnically ‘mixed’ seats.

Hence, if PAS wants to continue to make inroads beyond its 4 Northern States, it must work together in the context of Pakatan to maximize its Malay as well as non-Malay support. In the 4 Northern States, PAS must look internally to strengthen itself and Pakatan.

Another way of examining PAS’ performance out on a state by state basis is to analyse the % of votes obtained by PAS in the seats contested by PAS in each state.
This information is shown in Table 2 below.

State	Parliament (As a % of Votes in PAS Seats)				Change 1999 to 2013	Change 2004 to 2013
	1999	2004	2008	2013
Perlis	44.5%	35.6%	44.5%	44.7%	0.2%	9.1%
Kedah	48.4%	42.1%	50.6%	46.4%	-1.9%	4.4%
Kelantan	60.5%	47.2%	55.1%	54.4%	-6.2%	7.2%
Terengganu	58.7%	44.2%	44.9%	48.9%	-9.8%	4.7%
Penang	30.0%	28.2%	38.4%	46.8%	16.8%	18.6%
Perak	44.3%	35.0%	48.1%	43.6%	-0.7%	8.6%
Pahang	44.0%	32.6%	39.7%	42.1%	-1.9%	9.5%
Selangor	43.3%	32.6%	51.9%	54.3%	11.0%	21.7%
WPKL	47.5%	27.3%	48.7%	44.3%	-3.2%	17.1%
Melaka	34.0%	21.4%	29.4%	28.9%	-5.1%	7.5%
Negeri Sembilan	34.4%	23.0%	30.8%	39.5%	5.1%	16.4%
Johor	28.1%	17.6%	28.8%	35.2%	7.2%	17.6%
P.Msia	47.5%	34.4%	45.3%	47.3%	-0.2%	12.9%

PAS support in Kelantan and Terengganu reached its highest level in 1999 (60.5% and 58.7% respectively). PAS support in Kedah was the highest in 2008 when it won 50.6% of total votes in the seats it contested in. In 2013, even though PAS support is lower in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu compared to 1999, it is still much higher than in 2004.

At the same time, PAS’ support outside the 4 Northern States have increased significantly since 1999 especially in Penang (16.8% increase), Selangor (11.0%), Negeri Sembilan (5.1%) and Johor (7.2%). This shows that being part of Pakatan has clearly paid dividends for PAS in these states.
Table 2: % of votes won by PAS in PAS contested parliament seats (1999 to 2013)
Being part of Pakatan definitely helped PAS win two new parliament seats in 2013 that it could not have won without Pakatan’s support.

In Temerloh, a 63% Malay, 26% Chinese, 9% Indian seat, PAS won with a 1070 majority with very strong support coming from the 35% non-Malay voters in this seat.
In Sepang, a 59% Malay, 23% Chinese, 18% Indian seat, PAS won with a 1142 majority against a former UMNO Minister again with very strong support coming from the 41% non-Malay voters in this area.

For PAS to win back some of the marginal seats which it lost such as Sungai Besar (34% non-Malay), Kuala Selangor (36% non-Malay) and Titiwangsa (32% non-Malay), it must utilize the strength of the Pakatan brand and cooperation.

It is not just PAS which had benefitted from its partnership in Pakatan Rakyat, as the same case can be made for both the DAP and PKR as well.

There can be no doubt that by forming the coalition, the three component parties of DAP, PKR and PAS could not only individually win greater number of parliamentary and state assembly seats than when they are contesting on their own, they could also achieve a greater sum total of the overall number of parliamentary and state assembly seats countrywide.

The top priority for Pakatan Rakyat at present is to set up a high-level PR 14GE strategic council to plan for the capture of federal government in Putrajaya in next general elections as well as to achieve optimum election results for PR in the various states.

Based on present redelineation, Pakatan Rakyat should aim to win 135 parliamentary seats in 14GE to capture Putrajaya with PKR, PAS and DAP each winning 45 seats , with a parliamentary majority of 48

Based on present redelineation, the Battle for Putrajaya in the 14GE will depend on the outcome in 80 marginal seats – 51 presently held by Barisan Nasional and 29 from Pakatan Rakyat.

Taking more than 55 per cent vote secured in the 13GE as a “safe” seat, BN has 82 safe seats while Pakatan Rakyat has 60 safe seats.

In the 13GE, Pakatan Rakyat won the popular vote but robbed of Putrajaya as Barisan Nasional is the federal government with the majority of seats – 89 for Pakatan Rakyat as against BN’s 133 seats.

If Pakatan Rakyat had won another 23 seats in the 13GE, PR would have the simple majority of 112 out of 222 seats.

In the 14GE, apart from retaining all our 89 parliamentary seats, Pakatan Rakyat should not just aim at winning 23 of the 51 BN marginal seats, but should aim to double this target to win over 46 out of the 51 BN marginal seats so that the Pakatan Rakyat can win a total of 135 out of 222 parliamentary seats with a parliamentary majority of 48 – with the seats evenly distributed among the three Pakatan Rakyat parties, i.e. PKR, PAS and DAP each having 45 parliamentary seats.

At present, DAP has 38, PKR 30 and PAS 21 MPs. This means DAP has to win another seven parliamentary seats, PKR another 15 and PAS another 24.

I do not think this is too tall an order, considering that PAS had won 27 parliamentary seats in 1999 general elections – when the Barisan Alternative was first formed – and PAS almost quadrupled its previous parliamentary score of seven MPs in the 1995 general elections.

PAS would not need to quadruple or increase four-fold its parliamentary numbers in the 14GE to increase from 21 parliamentary seats in the 13GE to 45 parliamentary seats in the 14GE.

The performance of the Pakatan Rakyat parties in the 2008 and 2013 GEs have shown that the three component parties have their basic strengths and if we are prepared to persevere in a common patriotic cause to save the country from corruption, cronyism, abuses of power and exploitation of the poor and the downtrodden regardless of race, religion or region, extremism and intolerance and put in place good governance, public integrity, accountability, respect for democracy and human rights, moderation and tolerance, we have no reason to be pessimistic about the future of the country or the outcome of the 14GE.

Last Thursday, the country’s former top diplomat Tan Sri Razali Ismail warned that Malaysia will lose its competitive economic edge if its politics continue to cater to racial and racial extremes, as his international friends have of late started to question the divisive goings-on in the country.

He cannot be more right and the rhetoric and politics of extremism and intolerance have never been so rancorous and polarising in the nation’s history than in the past six months after the 13GE despite the Prime Minister’s talk of national reconciliation and his promotion of the Global Movement of Moderates.

The battle for the 14GE has started and concerns have rightly been expressed that taxpayers money will be raided for the Umno/BN war chests to fund a cyberwar via the social media against the Pakatan Rakyat.

Even after the 13GE on May 5, the cyberwar against the Pakatan Rakyat parties have not abated. I was recently accused of being part of the “Illuminati”, the so-called secret global organisation of the most powerful and influential elite to exercise political and economic control of the world. After the allegation in the Umno cyberblogs, I have to search the Internet to learn about the so-called Illuminati conspiracy.

Recently, a Malay woman came up to me at a local airport when I waiting for my luggage, extending her apologies to me. I was taken by surprise and I asked her what it was all about. She said that for the first 18 years of her life, she hated me as a racist and an evil person as all that she had learnt about me was that I was anti-Malay and anti-Islam, but when she entered society and have access to information on the Internet, she found that what she had learnt about me were completely untrue.

This episode should be a source of inspiration for all of us, whether in DAP, PKR or PAS, who are targets of vicious lies and falsehoods seeking to divide and split the PR parties and leaders.

The information revolution will help Pakatan Rakyat to liberate minds which Umno/BN propagandists and cybertroopers are seeking to poison and imprison.

What is important is that Pakatan Rakyat parties must stay the political and electoral course until we succeed in bringing about political change for Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or class to achieve the common Malaysian Dream – a Malaysia for all Malaysians where there is democracy, good governance and socio-economic justice and where every Malaysian can achieve his or her fullest potential for the collective good and greatness of the nation.

(Kit Siang Speech at the Pakatan Rakyat fund-raising dinner at Empire Hotel Ballroom, Subang Jaya at 9.30 pm)