vox populi big thumbnail ‘Zaid wants to be forced out of PKR so that he can lead a new group (a current phenomenon) of the Third Force, whose aim is to play power-broker’.

Zaid will pull out if Nurul goes for No 2

Ferdtan:

The suggestion by Zaid is so preposterous that I wonder what is his real motive. From the beginning he was against PKR to be a kind of ‘family party’ dominated by Anwar and his family. He is leading Nurul into a trap and I hope Nurul is wise enough to see through this charade.

With due respect to Nurul, she is not ready to take up the second highest post in the party. Zaid knows very well the top position will be filled either by Wan Azizah or Anwar - if he wishes to contest. So where does that leaves Nurul if she were to win? The party will be condemned; rightly so, when the top two positions in the party are helmed by mother/father and daughter.

Let me see the future - Zaid wants to be forced out of PKR so that he can lead a new group (a current phenomenon) of the Third Force, whose aim is to play as a power broker. The Third Force is only relevant only when you have two equal top players - but can Pakatan be considered as a strong second ? A big ‘NO’.

TKC: In trying to make sense of what Zaid Ibrahim is saying, my guess is he will go for the top post. But since he doesn’t want to alienate Anwar Ibrahim or Wan Azizah, he is encouraging Nurul Izzah to run for deputy president. A Zaid/Nurul ticket is not bad at all vis-à-vis the ex-Umno misfits.

Whatever it is, this is a healthy development within PKR ie, we are seeing real democracy at work. The important thing is to close ranks once the election is over.

ES: I'm dumbfounded, actually. Makes me wonder when will Anwar's other children join PKR and take up the vice-presidents and general-secretary posts. That would be charming, too, eh?

Anonymous:

Will he go for the PKR presidency if Nurul goes for deputy presidency? Or will he go down to vice-presidency? The situation is getting murkier and puzzling with some having nominations for the presidency, deputy presidency and vice-presidency.

Tomorrow is D-Day? So, there will be last minute changes, as everybody wants to be in the limelight. But there is a lot of hard work ahead when the general election rolls in so let’s all look at the big picture.

CarL: He has the gall to say I challenge your mother and father for number one, if you go for number two, and I will win it for you. This is a mystery, well, we will wait for it to be revealed. The real deal? He wants to run for president. So all of you, help him out, register as a PKR member quickly.

Mat: This is democracy at work. Let events run their natural cause. When Pakatan Rakyat comes to power, let's hope it is with a two-thirds majority for then political reform can take place. Let’s have direct elections for the prime minister.

And now, 'media created the Perkasa monster'

AB Sulaiman:

There is this wisdom saying that a person judges himself according to what he thinks he can do while others judge him according to what he has already done. Translation: Umno says it doesn't create Perkasa but the people can see clearly that its membership of about 200,000 or sixty percent is reportedly from Umno. Thus the Umno-Perkasa link is very difficult to deny. The Tengku's denial is the Ketuanan Melayu's denial syndrome at its best.

GH Kok: ‘Umno likes to be friendly with anyone’ ... I see. So if the Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan were to set up an NGO in Malaysia, Umno will also be friendly with them?

Cala: Actions matter, Adnan. Adnan's seemingly righteous talk about the noble tasks of Umno in safeguarding the rights of both Malays and non-Malays reminds me of Clinton's (an ex-US president) remarks to Monica Lewinsky (his ex-lover, a one- time White House intern).

Clinton said as an American president, he had the moral responsibility to look after the affairs of the world, as he was also the head of the Free World. Whether Clinton (or for that matter other American presidents) did what he preached is a topic that is best left for historians to decide. In the same vein, as of now we need not take Adnan's words too seriously given the nature of politics and the way politicians embrace public choice theory.

Wira: Don't blame the media. The media did not create Perkasa. It was created with the tacit support of Umno. If Umno had distanced itself from this NGO from the beginning, the media would have nothing more to write about that would draw the attention of anyone.

Now that Umno realises that it would fare badly in every mixed seat in the next election if the minorities of this country were to vote Pakatan Rakyat, it wants to change course and is now scrambling to find a scapegoat.

Swipenter: Typical of Umnoputras to say that it is wrong of Perkasa to spout racism but not wrong for them to do so because they are protecting Malay rights. Sounds confounding doesn’t it?

What is happening is that Umno has always been interpreting, twisting and turning everything to suit whatever is expedient to them at that particular point in time from curbing the power of the Malay sultans to protecting them, from blasting PAS’s stand on Islam to protecting the sanctity of Islam and from alleviating a Malay to towering status and then to reducing him/her to being a traitor to their race. If Umno can be wrong then you can’t be right either.

Why is 'March to Putrajaya' banned?

Anonymous: Why was ‘March to Putrajaya ‘ banned? My guess is that BN leaders are scared of people getting ideas. They, the BN people, do not want to be out of jobs. If you lose the throne, you lose everything. So do not allow the voters to get crazy ideas which will hurt their careers. Hence, the simplest solution is to ban the book.

So, there is no march to Putrajaya! That is the reasoning. Note that the former PM had a ‘Look East’ policy and he kept hammering this pet project of his into the heads of the people until one fine state election, the Sabahans did look East by voting in PBS led by Pairin Kitingan. After this election, Mahathir stopped telling people about ‘looking East’!

You see, Sabahans thought ‘Look East ‘ meant themselves; so they obliged him by picking PBS against Berjaya! So ‘March to Putrajaya ‘ is a dangerous book because people will get funny ideas. And some leaders cannot take jokes. Note Zunar's book of cartoons and jokes being banned. Don't joke!

Up Yours: I would not have bought the book but read it for free, I did and that must ring true for hundreds of thousands of Malaysians worldwide - the Home Ministry just did the opposition a big favour for free!

Mustaffa: The Muhyiddin I knew then and now

One Malaysian: Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is a spent force so let him play all the racial cards and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will outsmart him. Muhyiddin will be thrown out, that’s for sure.

Singa Pura Pura:

Then or now, the BN or Barisan Nasional is a particularly apt and ironical front for Umno. For in reality, there is no tangible BN but only Umno. Has anyone heard or seen (or experienced) a BN educational policy, or a BN banking and economic policy, or a BN race-relations or inter-faith policy, or even a BN transport or agricultural or arts policy?

Aren’t they all Umno supreme council policies? Umno (and its BN front) is a conglomeration of the dysfunctional elite with a sub-bourgeois twist. It subsists to sustain the few politicians who rule the land.

Yet it cannot subsist without the sustenance it extracts from the masses it claims to protect. Umno’s very existence hinges upon its ability to keep that crafty claim alive. Umno works on the ‘non-nons’ whilst the Barisan works on the ‘nons’. Both are, no doubt, an affront to ‘1Malaysia’.

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