Sudah daftar belum? Program Pendaftaran Pemilih yang telah berlangsung pada 3 dan 4 Julai yang lalu disambut baik dari masyarakat setempat dan yang datang dari jauh. Saya berharap program seperti ini tidak harus dikecualikan pada program-program pendaftaran pemilihan tertentu tetapi patut dijadikan sesuatu inisiatif yang penting untuk menyuarakan hak kita sebagai warganegara Malaysia dan memberi ruang untuk menyuarakan dan menggunakan hak tersebut.

Selain daripada program pendaftaran pemilihan, pejuang -pejuang PKR Lembah Pantai telah turun padang di PPR Sri Anggerik Jalan Klang Lama untuk membuat pendaftaran Pengundi baru pada 27hb Jun 2010 jam 11am.

Harapan saya adalah semua yang belum berdaftar, marilah sama-sama mendaftar dan menggunakan hak anda untuk memastikan integriti dan tadbirurus baik kerajaan, ada didalam tangan anda. Suara rakyat, suara keramat!

Tempat-tempat berdaftar dapatkan di sini

By Shannon Teoh

July 05, 2010

Pakatan Rakyat leaders attend the launch of FoPR in London yesterday, July 4, 2010. — Picture by Danny Lim

LONDON, July 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders continued their bullish stance towards a possible snap election by insisting that they would win big, when launching an outreach programme here yesterday.

Despite losing five MPs this year, they further taunted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak by stating that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was running scared.

“Umno is in a state of panic. They see enemies everywhere,” PR secretariat chief Datuk Zaid Ibrahim told a crowd of over 200 at the launch of Friends of Pakatan Rakyat (FoPR) in London.

Other leaders at the FoPR launch, such as PAS treasurer Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, DAP’s Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, were also confident of expanding their historic wins in Election 2008 into the next general election, which must be held by 2013.

Their upbeat mood followed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement last week that PR would be ready should BN opt to dissolve Parliament early.

The government’s reluctance to upset the majority Malays has led to policy reversals and reform pullbacks that are fuelling talk Najib may be readying to get his own mandate as prime minister. The last election was led by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who stepped down in April 2009.

Najib raised constituency allocations for BN MPs from RM1 million to RM1.5 million last month, leading to further speculation.

Dr Hatta expressed his belief that there was a significant possibility of a snap election after Umno vice president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday that the time had come for BN to go to the polls to prove that they have overcome past mistakes.

“If it’s in September, we will win big. If it’s next year, we will win even bigger,” the Kuala Krai MP said.

Zaid added that “ministers are talking rubbish all the time, because they are panicking over early elections.

“When you start banning newspapers, charging people for sedition and play races against each other and manufacture enemies, that’s the sign of an emerging fascist government. We cannot afford to let that happen,” the former de facto law minister said.

He also claimed that the constant persecution of opposition figures while Umno figures got away with outrageous statements was evidence that the Malay party had “destroyed all sense of fairness in the system.”

“Najib can blatantly buy elections by promising millions because they know they will never be prosecuted,” he said, referring to his recent defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-elections where the prime minister handed out millions to sway voters including RM3 million he promised to a Chinese school if BN won the poll as well, as in the Sibu by-election where the prime minister made a similar appeal.

Nurul Izzah expounded on how PR was more than just “not BN”, but a viable alternative today.

Nurul, who is Anwar’s eldest daughter, stressed that PR had established a Common Policy Framework; while in Selangor, it has introduced a select committee to ensure the integrity of lawmakers and are set to table the Freedom of Information Act in the state assembly.

“The only innovation from BN is Perkasa,” she said, referring to the Malay rights group led by Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

“Change will come and [the] next general election will not be something easily forgotten by BN,” she promised.

Dr Hatta added that in the last elections, DAP, PKR and PAS had only formed an electoral pact to avoid three-corner fights and campaigned individually, whereas this time they would campaign together and make sacrifices for each other.

“This administration should have been over in the last general election. Victory is within reach,” he said.

Dr Tan also insisted that PR would not wait to capture government state-by-state but would be taking over both federal and state governments “simultaneously.”

“While we cannot ensure that PR will be 100 per cent clean once we are in government, we promise that we will show no mercy to those who are corrupt. We must have integrity,” the DAP vice-chairman said.

Danny Lim
Jul 5, 10
3:23pm

As rumours of a snap general election intensify, Pakatan Rakyat is taking its fight overseas with the launch of their Friends for Pakatan Rakyat (FoPR) club in London yesterday.

FoPR chairperson Brain Morais estimated that 20,000-30,000 Malaysians live in London alone.

They represent a potential political support group that could channel its energies and resources through the club.

For the launch, Pakatan top guns flew in from Malaysia to massage the morale of overseas supporters and run through a lengthy checklist of BN blemishes, whilst allaying concerns about problems within the coalition, during a five-hour wide-ranging forum.

Above all, the message was to exude confidence in Pakatan’s ability to win the next general election, adding that the Sibu by-election was the precursor to BN’s downfall.

PKR supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim (right) said this has led to a situation where BN would attack imaginary enemies or create dodgy excuses to taint rivals.

Among others, he cited the banning of cartoon books by Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, and attempts to taint his Manchester rendevous with fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin as a criminal act.

“(BN) are in a state of panic, they now see enemies everywhere,” said Zaid, who later stated confidently that Pakatan’s takeover of Putrajaya is inevitable and near.

Withholding dissolution

As the cheerleading baton passed on to PAS treasurer Hatta Ramli, he said BN bigwigs such as Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein have dropped wide hints that a general election is looming.

“Which is September I guess. If it is, I think we will win big,” said Hatta (left).

He then mooted the possibility of Pakatan-held states of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor choosing not to dissolve their respective state legislative assemblies as a tactical manoeuvre.

“I’m trying to persuade our leaders…. I hope, or we hope, that the states now controlled by Pakatan will not join the fray and will not dissolve out state assembly.

“We have a duty to do. We have been given the task to rule for five years. We cannot run away from our responsibilities,” he said.

Hatta said that should a snap election be called, this scenario will allow Pakatan to concentrate its efforts on capturing other states, particularly the “difficult” states of Johor, Sabah and Malacca.

BN’s only innovation

The final speaker, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, took a more nuanced perspective and invited her audience to appreciate the fact that unlike the BN, Pakatan is open to criticism and willing to improve itself.

“You shouldn’t choose Pakatan just because we are the antithesis to BN. We have our weaknesses, but we have also been making progress,” she said.

Eager to quote policy positions, she cited successes like the implementation of Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency which acts as a internal check-and-balance mechanism.

“(Pakatan) distinguishes the power of the state, the state assembly and the powers of the executive,” said Nurul Izzah, adding that with the BN, the lines are opaque.

Nurul Izzah (left) also took a jibe at Umno’s apparent attempts to “outsource” its racial agenda to controversial Malay rights advocate Perkasa.

“In the 10th Malaysia plan, innovation is said to be the main driver of economic growth. The only innovation (thus far) seems to be Perkasa,” she quipped.

“Ibrahim Ali… he is a creature who has to be avoided at all cost… The prime minister has allowed the voice of these narcissistic, narrow-minded, dangerous Malays and allowed (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) to back them up, to shore up support, supposedly for Umno, at what cost?”

Other personalities at the event were fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, private investigator in exile P Balasubramaniam (in red shirt), and Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafar.

The event was held at the Conway Hall, which is reputed as a hub for free speech and previously a platform for speakers such as author Salman Rushdie.

For Pakatan, the cost of flying its leaders to London will be far outweighed by the votes it can achieve, if FoPR can get even half as many Malaysian Londoners to make the trip back home.

DANNY LIM is a freelance writer and photographer currently based in the UK.

MON, 21 JUN 2010 15:27

By Ken Vin Lek

KUALA LUMPUR: Nurul Izzah Anwar, the PKR’s MP for Lembah Pantai, has called for the reform of the Election Commission to improve and streamline its voter registration system.

“It is time we put an end to its archaic system when it comes to voter registration,” said Nurul at a forum organised organised by online news portal The Nut Graph last night.

“In 1999, as many as 600,000 were denied their right to vote simply because they could not be registered in time for the general election.

“As it is, it takes 11 months from the date of registration for an individual to be qualified as a voter. This needs to be improved with a better system put in place,” she added.

“Many MPs in Pakatan Rakyat have launched voter registration drives in the past months in an effort to ensure that those eligible can exercise their right to vote in the next general election.

“The challenge now is for all political parties to win over the youth and get them a chance to register as voters ahead of the next general election.

“I would like to ask Khairy (Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin) to join forces to help in the effort to reform the voter registration system,” said Nurul.

Khairy, the MP for Rembau, was also present at the event. He said voters should be allowed to vote without having to register, as it is a fundamental right of all citizens.

“Voting is a right of all citizens of Malaysia and we should not even ask them to register. They should’ve already been registered automatically in the first place.

“I will take it a step further by asking that the federal constitution be amended so that people can vote without the hassle of having to register,” said Khairy.

Community and national issues

When questioned about what she felt was the public’s expectation of an elected MP, Nurul said it had to be a balance between tackling local community issues and national issues.

“We are expected to care for and understand local issues quite well but also improve and take a stand on national related issues,” said Nurul.

In a Merdeka Centre poll carried out on May 16, 47 percent of the respondents felt that the main role of an MP was to voice out their constituent’s concerns over national policies while 29 percent expected them to attend to issues within their constituency.[see chart below]

The poll also showed that 43 percent viewed local councillors as the ones who should be solving issues such as drainage problems, etc. while only eight percent felt that it was an MP’s responsibility.

Nurul expressed optimism that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition will be sensitive to the people’s needs and that it will definitely be around come the next general election.

“We now have a common voice in the coalition, DAP and PAS have progressively moved towards the centre. We have already found a common stand on issues never thought possible prior to this, such as the use of Kalimah Allah,” she said.

Merit-based system

On the issue of improving women’s representation in the labour force, Nurul said that society has to take into account the problems faced by ordinary women.

“In PKR, we have already recognised the importance of women in the party while in Selangor, we have already implemented a support system to attract women into the labour force.

“It is about ensuring that women contribute to the economy as the majority of the lowest 40 percent of income earners are mainly women,” she said.

Nurul also urged for the formation of a national commission for women, citing it as the first step towards a merit-based system in Malaysia.

It has been reported that Malaysia only has 46.3 percent of women in workforce as compared to Singapore which stands at 56 percent.

An increase of 20 percent of women involvement in the workforce can bring about an increase in a country’s GDP by as much as three to four percent.

About 80 people turned up for the event which also featured DAP’s MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua.

Malaysiakini

Regina Lee
May 29, 10
7:37pm

PKR Youth fired a salvo at the Elections Commission (EC) today for deliberately hampering the party’s efforts to register new voters.

They claim that the EC has been stopping the party from registering new assistant registrars, as well as limiting the availability of voter registration forms.

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar recounted her experiences, saying that she had applied to the EC earlier this year to replace the assistant registrars, but they only got back to her a month later telling her the process has been “frozen temporarily”.

Only EC-approved assistant registrars, who are appointed by political parties, can accept applications from new voters.

“The EC was threatening to withdraw some of our assistant registrar status, saying that they were not doing enough work.

“It’s true that some of them were not active enough, but now they won’t even let us change them.

“We are not asking for additional assistant registrars, but just to be allowed to change them,” she said at a hastily-arranged press conference on the sidelines of the party’s sixth annual congress in Kota Bharu.

Pantai Jerejak state assemblyperson Sim Tze Tzin also complained that voter registration forms in Penang were limited to 100 a month per assistant registrar officers.

“This is a ridiculous number. I can register 1,000 people a day and they want to only give us 100 a month,” he decried. 

Aspiring voters are required to fill out official registration forms issued by the EC and photocopies are not allowed.

Youth chief demands for EC boss’ head

In the wake of the problems involving the voter registration drive, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin called on EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof to step down.

“If the EC can’t even perform their duties well, he might as well resign,” he said, adding that EC has one week to explain its tardiness over the issue.

“I believe that this is all a deliberate and concerted effort to dampen our aggressive efforts to get all the 4.5 million eligible voters to register.”

New and younger voters are generally seen as more prone to vote for the opposition.

Shamsul said that given the bureaucratic problems involved in the voter registration, it is high time for the EC to implement automatic registration.

“If other countries like in the UK can do it, why can’t we?” he asked.

The government has knocked down the proposal for the automatic registration of voters.

DAP losing out on Dayak women votes

By Pushparani Thilaganathan

SIBU: As polling day gets closer, a sense of urgency has gripped the PKR camp over the inroads Barisan Nasional women’s brigade has been making into Dayak women voters.

PKR’s Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who arrived here yesterday with a team, said it was among the priority areas in this last-ditch attempt to engage the women and youths.

Nurul Izzah is hoping that being a woman and a youth herself, she will be able to break the ice.

“It’s one of the priority areas… we’re going in to see and talk,” she said.

She expressed surprise when told that PKR was not doing enough compared to BN to woo the Dayak voters.

“It’s not possible to compete with BN’s overwhelming machinery… but our women are also on the ground and we are engaging the women voters,” she said.

Blogger and Dayak activist John Brian Anthnony wrote that the Pakatan Rakyat women’s wing was weak in Sibu and that there was only one “real” woman campaigner – head of Sarawak PKR Women’s Wing, Ibi Uding.

He said in the next few days PKR and DAP needed to find ways to get the Dayak NGOs to help them if they wanted the vote of Dayak women.

As it stands, Anthony said BN is ahead in Dayak women votes.

“Maybe, Idi Uding needs to change her routine of following the men and switch to forming an all- Dayak women campaign team.

“This way, BN’s Senator Empiang Jabu’s gain among Dayak women would be checked,” he said, alluding to the Parti Bersatu Bumiputera (PBB) Wanita chief, who is supported by her deputy chief minister husband Alfred Jabu.

Anthony believes that the Dayak women votes are crucial to the opposition and should not be ignored.

Women are more decisive now

Meanwhile, a tea chat with a local Foochow nurse, who calls herself Sin, revealed that many of the younger women voters were now more decisive than before.

“My cousins and friends know what we need,” she said.

Coming from a family of six, Sin has been in Sibu all her life. Her maternal grandparents were from Kanowit, an hour’s drive from Sibu town and she works in a district some three hours up the Rejang river.

Women make up just over 50% of Sibu’s voting community. Much of their lives are centred around work, school, church, temple and home.

The PKR and DAP approach of engaging the youth and women community through churches and temples is seen as the right strategy.

Said teacher Joseph: “People here are reticent. You don’t know what they are thinking… they are afraid to talk… especially the civil servants.”

“They have been indoctrinated with fear that you owe your loyalty to the ruling government because they pay your salaries. They’ve done this with the tuai (chiefs) in longhouses.

“It’s intimidation… the opposition’s approach to engaging the community through church seminars, chats is seen as casual, clean and honest,” he said.

Have to rush to Sibu today from Court despite wanting to wait and observe the heated banter between Saiful and Karpal Singh. Bumped into a few members of Parliaments at the AirAsia Departure Hall, Theresa Kok, Mustafa Ali…all geared for Sibu By-Election.

Tonight, I am supposed to give ceramah at two places, one-at Catholic High School, another at Rejang Park Ehsan Café. But before that, we visit the Permai Market to meet locals and hand out leaflets. What a surprise! Our Pakatan Rakyat team bumped into Noh Omar’s team at the market. I could tell that the fish mongers and vegetable vendors are the luckiest in that encounter.

During the ceramah, I talked about how after being under the BN reign for a long time; it is time for Sibu people to follow the foot steps of their heroic ancestors led by the legendary Rosli Dhobi who fought the colonial power and reject a government as corrupted as BN. I brought up the culture of nepotism of the Chief Minister and how the rakyat in Sarawak has to endure the economic implications such as poverty and lost of right to native customary land especially among the minority natives.

Most importantly, I wanted to remind the rakyat in Sibu on how the country’s judiciary has to bear witness to the deceit and lies in my father’s present trial concocted by the powers that be.

What can I say? The excited faces, friendly smiles and words of encouragement from the Sibu people are a testament of hope to Pakatan Rakyat that change is possible. Yes, there are skeptical and cynical smiles, but I believe we made more friends and supporters than enemies in Sibu as the by-election is coming nearer.

So, to people in Sibu, “Qing Tou, Hou Jian!”

by Deborah Loh from The Nut Graph

Name : Nurul Izzah Anwar

Constituency: Lembah Pantai

Party: PKR (Opposition) 

Years as MP: Since 2008 

Government position: None

Would you support the abolition/review of the Internal Security Act (ISA), in particular the provision that allows for detention without trial?

I began my political education with the knowledge that the ISA is a draconian and oppressive Act that is used in Malaysia to silence dissent related to the Barisan Nasional (BN).

It is a basic principle in law, as well as Islamic teachings, that a person is innocent until proven guilty. That fact led to my active campaign against the ISA, with [non-governmental organisation Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suaram], back in the political upheaval of 1998 — championing my father’s release from political incarceration, as well as many others held behind bars under the ISA.

That knowledge left such an impression on me that there is no turning back from [my stand that the Act should be abolished]. Terrorist threats or not, it is open to abuse, and has repeatedly been abused by the powers-that-be.

There are sufficient avenues in an open court to deal with concrete threats. Suspects should be charged in court when the authorities have sufficient evidence to do so, i.e. when there is a prima facie case.

2. Do you think Malaysia should be a secular or an Islamic state? Why?

The term “secular” or “Islamic” has been abused repeatedly by the ruling BN coalition, especially Umno. How can anyone categorically state what Malaysia falls under?

I am confident in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s stance to uphold the Federal Constitution. We are not changing Islam as the religion of the federation, or anything else related to Malay [Malaysian] rights, despite what [some] would like to allege against us.

3. How do you define your role as an elected MP? Does Parliament provide you with the necessary infrastructure and support to fulfill your role?

As an elected MP, I am the voice for my constituents.

At the ground level, minus a local government and state assemblypersons, MPs are expected to address local issues and problems, which directly fall under the purview of DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) — the enforcer, service provider and overall caretaker.

Unfortunately, since DBKL, and even the police force, are not elected, they remain unaccountable to the rakyat. This situation poses quite a challenge to the PR Kuala Lumpur MPs. [Federal constituency allocations also] escape [PR] MPs’ hands and go directly to the ruling party.

It is a steep learning curve that can be useful for MPs as well as their constituents — [to learn] that MPs, as legislators, should be allowed and be given the necessary resources to keep track of Parliament’s day-to-day activity as it makes new laws and be allowed to reject terrible laws, and to check [on] the government’s work.

When in Parliament, each MP should be given research support to aid us during the introduction of bills and specific issues pertinent to the nation. Our Parliament does not provide MPs with the necessary infrastructure and support — a new laptop or personal computer is surely no replacement for consistent research support.

4. Would you support a Freedom of Information Act? Why or why not?

Yes I would. It would go a long way in introducing a culture of transparency and accountability.

However, the current state of the Malaysian Parliament disallows any private member bills (such as the one Subang MP R Sivarasa brought for such an act) to see the light of day. Priority is given for ministerial matters, as well as government-related agenda only.

This situation only feeds the government’s needs while marginalising the needs of civil society.

5. If there was one thing you could do to strengthen parliamentary democracy in Malaysia, what would it be?

Immediately set up a system where select committees are allowed to exist and debate on selected topics.

As it stands now, all 222 MPs are fighting for their chance to speak in the Dewan Rakyat, with no time allocation for specific issues to be debated at length. The DNA Identification Bill 2008, for example, has ramifications affecting all Malaysians. There should have been a select committee created, consisting of MPs from different parties, who are then allowed to debate and come up with a nuanced version of the bill before [it was] approved.

In the long term, we seriously need to relook at just how subservient our Parliament has become — negating any separation of powers that we might think we have.

5. Do you believe in separation of powers between the government, Parliament and judiciary? Why or why not?

Malaysia is governed by three major institutions — the legislative, executive, and judiciary. These three institutions need to function without interference from each other under the doctrine of separation of power.

In turn, the doctrine guarantees that the institutions can work independently so as to avoid one institution from becoming too powerful. Each institution should function as a check and balance to the other. Only when we have total separation of powers can we then call our country truly democratic.

Hence, I call upon the government to take the first step towards this end by [making] our key institutions such as the police and the attorney-general’s chambers answerable to Parliament instead of the prime minister.

The various abuses currently taking place are a direct result of such a powerful Malaysian executive. A clear example is the attorney-general, who is also the legal adviser to the [government] — a clear conflict between [serving] the judiciary and the executive.

As for the judiciary, what more can I say?

Judicial reform is a fundamental need we cannot do without. Unfortunately, I can say there is no sign towards improving judicial integrity. What we have is continuing wastage of public funds on royal commissions. To date, no action has been taken on the recommendations made by the Royal Commission on the VK Lingam tape. Apparently judicial fixing is not a crime in Malaysia.

In sum, we have a long way to go, and we need a huge dose of political will, before true separation of powers becomes a reality in our democracy.

Anwar upbeat despite setback on sex chargesAnwar upbeat despite setback on sex charges
By Kevin Brown in Singapore
Published: December 3 2009 20:05 | Last updated: December 3 2009 20:05

Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader facing a criminal trial for sodomy, says the government has miscalculated if it thinks that jailing him will keep it in power at the next election.
Mr Anwar faces his second trial for sodomy in January following the high court’s rejection of an attempt to have the charges struck out on the grounds that medical evidence showed them to be false and that the prosecution was biased.
The court’s decision is a setback for Mr Anwar, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, who spent six years in prison on similar charges before Malaysia’s federal court overturned his conviction in 2004.
However, in an interview with the Financial Times Mr Anwar said the fresh charges were part of a conspiracy by the Barisan Nasional (National Front) government to undermine the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) coalition, which made spectacular gains at the 2008 general election.
“I am resigned to the fact that I am dealing with this oppressive system and I must be prepared for the worst,” Mr Anwar said in his office in Malaysia’s federal parliament building in Kuala Lumpur.
“It is not the courts, it is [the government],” he said. “Their political masters will instruct them that I be convicted. Then they have to be prepared for the grand battle; I am not taking it hands down. I will do what it takes; we will see.”
Mr Anwar said the Alliance leaders had agreed a strategy for running the coalition if an election – due by 2013 – is called while he is in prison. “I am optimistic that my incarceration would not necessarily put them in a sure victory; I think probably to the contrary,” he said.
Malaysia, a multi-racial state of 28m people, has been in political turmoil since the unexpected election result, which opened the possibility of a transfer of power between competing parties for the first time since independence from the UK in 1957.
The National Front, a 13-party coalition of mainly regional and race-based parties, won 140 of the 222 seats, but for the first time lost its two-thirds majority in parliament, which had allowed it to change the constitution.
Its three main components – the United Malays National Organisation, the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress – have been rocked by leadership disputes. Umno dumped Abdullah Badawi, its election-winning leader, in favour of Najib Razak, his deputy, in April last year.
Mr Najib has sought to stabilise the coalition, ordering Umno’s Chinese ally to resolve its festering leadership dispute and signalling to the MIC that the National Front might encourage other Indian-based parties if it fails to revitalise itself.
He has campaigned effectively against Mr Anwar, whose successive political careers have drawn accusations of inconsistency and opportunism.
The prime minister has also sought to re-engage minority voters through economic reforms intended to dilute discrimination in favour of ethnic Malays, who make up about 53 per cent of the population.
However, tensions have continued to flare, with Muslim protesters publicly trampling on a cow’s head, sacred to Hindus, and a government minister claiming that Indian demonstrators wrapped an Umno flag around a severed pig’s head, regarded by Muslims as unclean.
The three-party opposition coalition also has troubles, though, with few ideological links between its three parties – Mr Anwar’s multi-ethnic Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice party), the mainly ethnic Chinese Democratic Action party and the Islamist Parti Islam Semalaysia (PAS).
Some PAS leaders favour an alternative alliance with Umno, which would bring the two mainly Malay Muslim parties together, while others have clashed with DAP leaders over issues such as the sale of alcohol – especially in the four of Malaysia’s 13 states where the opposition parties are in power.
The Alliance hopes to resolve these issues at a convention on December 19.