FREE VOXPOP ‘Those best suited for power are those who have never sought it.' So MCLM - what's your call if Pakatan won't accept your candidates? Will you go on your own?

No free ride on PKR for MCLM nominees

Ong: What a pity the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement forgot to enter its AAA+ candidates against the BN and Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the recent by-elections, thus turning those by-elections into three-cornered contests. Those were lost opportunities to test their acceptability by voters.

Anyway, I hope MCLM doesn't forget to contest all coming by-elections that may take place before the next general election. If MCLM candidates can do better than Pakatan candidates, then surely that will open the eyes of the Pakatan coalition. Until they know where they stand with the electorate, they should not demand that Pakatan parties give up seats for MCLM candidates on terms they dictate.

Sabah my Home: What is MCLM about, actually? Every party has its own party policy, manifesto, vision and what not. How can any Tom, Dick or Harry be supplied by MCLM - just because it thinks it is good - to represent any party to contest? I reckon MCLM should contest under its own flag instead.

Logic Thinker: Your enemy at present is BN. Questions of yes-men or no-men do not arise at the moment. You must be able to work as a team. The best wins, irrespective of who you are, with whom you are, etc. Infighting gets you nowhere.

Don't waste your precious time if you are going to become frogs or opportunists after the election. You must have the credibility and integrity if you are truly committed and want to serve. If not, better get lost and don't get curses from the rakyat.

Gandhi: With due respect to Haris Ibrahim and MCLM, I'm puzzled by their guarantee that all their candidates are the chosen ones. What happens to people who have gone on the ground fighting for causes and who have built grassroots support?

A person who is known only to some quarters does not mean they are nationally known and will be elected. They are rookies when it comes to politics. They may be people with integrity and honesty, but they must have sacrificed in some form or other to give them the MP or state seats.

PKR must work with some parties for one-on-one fights, otherwise doom awaits it, simply because PKR is not as powerful as it was during the 2008 general election. There was unanimous support for the party during the 12th GE, but now, the support has eroded and it might not get the full support of the minority communities.

KSN: They want only candidates with loyalty, like deputy president Mohd Azmin Ali's loyalty to Anwar Ibrahim. The newcomers must be loyal and subordinate to Anwar and Azmin. That is the basic criterion for PKR. The rest of the qualifications, like education, vision, integrity, competency, secular attitudes, loyalty to the country and her people, democratic values, etc, are not important to PKR.

Is this view of PKR shared by DAP and PAS? MCLM, look elsewhere, please. There are many takers, I believe.

Anonymous365_hg: Imagine PKR giving anyone a free ride. These PKR guys are so damn bloody sure they will win that they want every candidate to toe the party line and this means, short of bending over, you have to give your whole life and possessions.

This arrogance of PKR is going to see it lose big, and I mean big. It thinks that a second ‘tsunami' will come and will be bigger than the first. 78 MPs during the height of everything never to be seen again - and PKR still behaves so arrogantly. Even Azmin talks big now, and tries to put on an air of being a well liked guy suitable for DPM or even PM.

Ferd Tan: At first, we had a lot of respect for Haris Ibrahim and his gang. But after forming MCML, a political party which was to act as a third force in the political arena - will it just be a spoiler for our dream of having a two-party system in Malaysia?

MCML said it may contest independently if its candidates are not accepted by Pakatan, which was not what we had been told earlier by the leader, Raja Petra Kamaruddin - that MCML's role is to provide ‘good and vetted candidates' to Pakatan to contest.

MCML should just remain a pressure NGO, working for the rakyat to voice out good practices. The moment it joins in the fray of dirty politics, it will get tainted. Obviously, it looks like MCLM too loves the address of ‘Yang Berhormat'.

According to a wise saying, "Those who are best suited for power are those who have never sought it." So MCML - what will be your call if Pakatan will not accept your candidates? Will you go on your own?

S'wak polls: PKR filters out 'frogs'

Ghkok : PKR is obviously taking firm measures to avoid the problem of frogs. This is definitely something positive. This is progress. In 2008, it had no choice but to accept many dubious candidates because it was short of legitimate candidates.

Not many dared to be a candidate for PKR because it was a sure way to attract attention from the Special Branch and other tools of state oppression, and a sure way to lose your friends and family as well as your career or business.

Today, it is slightly different. Many decent people are open to being candidates for PKR. The fear factor has reduced somewhat. As people coagulate around PKR and Pakatan, the stage is set for the biggest transformation in the history of our country. The stage is set for the formation of a Pakatan federal government, forcing a total reform of BN and finally cementing the two-party system that our country needs.

Sarawakian_3ff9: PKR should also ask each candidate to do a videotape of him or herself, where they take an oath of loyalty to the party and to the voters who will vote for them. Other things, such as what their inspirations are for the party and the constituencies they represent, can be included. Distribute the video to the voters during the election as a record of their promises and sincerity.

Alex Too: All these are useless efforts. What needs to be done is to enact a law to automatically make a seat vacant and eligible for by-election whenever an elected assembly man/woman decides to switch party or become an independent, or gets sacked from his/her party. Let the rakyat have a say on whether to punish these "frogs" or not.

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