your say 'If this is left unchecked, soon may come a day where every voters can go to Putrajaya to collect their cash upon BN winning.'

 

Zaid barking up the wrong tree

Habib RAK: Good analysis Joe Fernandez. But you too have missed the point by a mile. This is what a struggle is all about. In our pursuit for a better Malaysia for all Malaysians, we learn from mistakes and keep chipping away even though it may seem insurmountable.

Anyone who has the strength and ability to challenge Umno/BN and all their apparatus should be encouraged. Whether we win at the end of day is not the issue, it is the continued resistence that is needed.

Nathan M: Joe, you totally missed the point. Never before has election bribery been so blatantly done. Najib Razak has just set a new standard of giving "bribes" in broad daylight.

If this is left unchecked, soon may come a day where every voters can go to Putrajaya to collect their cash upon BN winning. Zaid Ibrahim is doing the right thing to sue the Election Commission for deliberately closing their eyes on this matter.

Ian2003: Dear all, I would tend to agree with Joe. No point barking, but PKR need to start serving. How is it a village in today's age has limited water supply - that is, an hour a day. This by itself has failed the people who has elected them.

So... start mixing with the ordinary people and get to know their problem and solves it. When the support is overwhelming and not marginal, only then can another tsunami be created.

KayKay: This piece is perhaps trying to ‘psycho' the courts into being fair to Zaid while berating him for his inadequacies, perceived or otherwise. Even his chomping on expensive cigars has been mentioned as part of the criticism. This shows that nothing succeeds like success.

Everybody loves a winner. If fresh polls are ordered by some miracle, Zaid should run a more inclusive campaign. All the stakeholders matter. He should not go from being a "sore loser", as Umno labels him, to being a born loser. He must win the next time.

Let him work on the Tamil schools land issue in the meantime.

Kgen: Joe Fernandez is barking up the wrong tree. Does he expect Zaid to take all the EC shenanigans lying down? This will pave the way for future abuses.

The EC must be challenged whether the outcome is likely to favour Zaid or not. Their abuses must be revealed. At least there is a shame factor if justice is not achieved. The people must be made aware of what sort of government BN is.

Loyal Malaysian: Indeed, if Zaid feels he has been wronged in the conduct of the Hulu Selangor elections, he should seek recourse via an election petition. Yes, in all likelihood it shall be thrown out but that's irrelevant.

Jany: Sure there are real problems in taking election cases to court. I am sure all and sundry know this for a fact. There are more than one side to a story. That you can just forget about engaging the system because it is futile is one view. The other view is constant engagement to show up the failure of this government to deliver.

How many sedition cases have gone to court post May 13? Countless. How many habeas corpus applications against ISA were heard? Countless. The struggle is as important, or more important in many cases, than the outcome.

Ghkok: In hindsight, it is very easy for Joe Fernandez to criticise the strategy employed by PKR. Come on, when you contest an election, just like when you play a football match, you plan and strategise according to the available information, but no football manager gets it right all the time.

In hindsight, it is easy to say, "you should do this and that, you should not listen to this person and that person, etc". Anyone can say that.

Ong: According to Joe, Zaid is embarking on "an exercise in utter futility" because the Election Court is not going to order fresh elections. Using the same logic, Joe should quit being a journalist if people don't take his writings seriously.

And I don't understand the significance or relevance to his story when he commented on Zaid "chomping on expensive cigars", unless of course Zaid has the habit of deliberately drawing peoples' attention to the fact that "chomping on expensive cigars" is his regular routine.

Perhaps Joe would also like to tell us if Zaid actually has this habit.

SusahKes: Hey Joe, so you say Zaid lost, amongst other things, due to ignoring HRP's pull factor? Perhaps. But let me ask you this: now what? Are the HRP chaps happy that Umno has won the election?

In Zaid, you had a man whose principles alone were worth fighting for. He was principled enough to even stand up to PKR leaders. I believe Zaid would have argued for inclusiveness of Indian issues if he had been voted into Parliament. For sure, he will definitely make more sound than Kamal bin Alan s/o Nathan.

Why do I say that he will also fight for Indians? Because Zaid stuck his neck out for the churches in the ‘Allah' issue, which is more than what I say for the supposedly ‘Human Rights' Party.

I'd like to know if HRP stood up for the right of the churches as Zaid did. Fifty-two years of being oppressed by Umno, and you appear to conclude that HRP doesn't mind another round of Umno oppression until the next general election. Think of what HRP - and Malaysia at large - lost because HRP decided to be neutral.

Wfcoolie: I can't understand Joe's logic except that he thought without Hindraf, you could not do anything? Yes, here and there but do remember, there are 222 seats at the federal level, how many can Hindraf support to win? Ten or even 15? Then what?

Unless one realises the real truth behind your own strengths and weaknesses, you will hit the brick wall mighty fast. If you think a small community can play such a game, what about other communities?

Do remember both in number and resources, you still need others to get things going.

Fi-sha: How sad. No wonder we are where we are today because we have people like Joe Fernandez who won't stand up for their rights. Success belongs to those who fall down seven times and get up eight times. Lawan tetap lawan!

 

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