Wan Azizah, Anwar to focus on GE-13 at the PKR congress this weekend

PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is expected to focus on the 13th general elections during the party's three-day annual congress beginning this Friday.

At least 2,000 delegates are expected to throng the PKR meet, which significantly will be held in Johor this year, the political bastion of arch rivals Umno and MCA.

"The fact that we are having it in Johor shows how serious we are in giving BN the fight of their lives. This is their lion's den and we are congregating here to make sure that all our members know who we are fighting against, what we are fighting for and why we are fighting them," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

Pakatan top guns will be there in full force

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, the de-facto PKR head, and the top Pakatan Rakyat leadership including Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Karpal Singh, Hadi Awang, Nik Aziz and Mat Sabu are expected to congregate in Pulai Springs where the main meeting will be held on Saturday.

On Friday, November 25, the PKR Youth and Women's wing will hold their separate meetings, with Wan Azizah to deliver her keynote address on Saturday. Debates and a roundup will follow on Sunday.

Sizzling revelations

Anwar, who has come under severe personal attack by the Umno-BN, is expected to make several shocking revelations against his foes.

PKR is now a very different animal from the battle-worn party seen during the 2010 annual congress, after taking head on a barrage of non-stop torpedo fire from Umno and ex-FT chief Zaid Ibrahim during its historic one-member one-vote internal polls.

Not only has PKR survived, it has grown much stronger - a rebound and resilience that Umno-BN would do well to take note of.

"Political parties owe their strength to the people. Without the people's support, we are nothing. So after that terrible sabotage of 2010, the fact that PKR is even stronger than before, the fact that it is no longer doubted that PKR is the glue that binds Pakatan, shows what Malaysians are thinking and feelings about their political leaders. If Umno-BN still don't get it, it is just too bad for them," said Jui Meng.

Hudud and NFC

Indeed, PKR has been on a red-hot roll over the past months, helping to calm a mini storm in the teacup brewed by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad and the MCA over the Islamic hudud law in a bid to pit PAS against DAP.

While the MCA is still trying to flog the hudud issue with a forum on why such an Islamic law disfavors the non-Muslims, Anwar has already declared hudud "has no place in Pakatan".

But hudud is of fading interest, a conversational piece when there are no other more interesting topics.

Raging hot on the minds of Malaysians are the series of corruption revelations against the National Feedlot Centre, in which Umno's Shahrizat Jalil, her family, Khairy Jamaluddin and Muhyiddin Yassin are all embroiled.

Even Prime Minister Najib Razak was caught misleading Parliament when he insisted the project was above board in direct contradiction to the Auditor General's report that minced no words when describing the NFC project to supply beef as being "in a mess". At the PKR congress, more revelations on the ramifications can be expected to be made.

Another sizzling topic would be the absurd 'Peaceful Assembly' Bill just tabled by the Najib administration days ago. Many have already predicted this new attempt by the BN to tighten its control over the people at the expense of democracy and personal rights would sound the death knell for the coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 54 years. Pundits said the hypocrisy of the Act showcases to the people once and for all Najib's two-facedness and the untrustworthiness of Umno-BN.

The PM had promised in a grand and expensive live telecast that he wanted Malaysia to be "the best democracy in the world" but barely after just two months have passed, it is clear that he is making it impossible for the people to assemble peacefully by drafting prohibitive clauses and by handing over to the police excessive powers. Already, the Bill has attracted international attention, although Mahathir has stoutly defended it.

Final big summit before the GE-13?

Since the GE-13 may be held before the Chinese New Year which falls on January 23 and 24, the PKR annual congress may be the final big summit for its members and the Pakatan top leaders, although there will surely be many other smaller meetings to iron out preparations for the polls.

As such, Anwar as the Opposition head, might share more of the coalition's vision for the future should they win Putrajaya. For example, there is enormous interest in who will be the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers when Pakatan wins. The coalition's Buku Jingga or social and economic blueprint is also expected to get good coverage at the congress.

Jui Meng, whose Johor division is providing logistics and organizational support for the congress, said no less than 24 ceramahs or political discussions will be held during the 3-day meet and these will be spread across southern Johor. All the top Pakatan stars will also be taking part in the various ceramahs.

"This is the best opportunity for all Malaysians not just Johoreans to come close to and seek whatever clarification they wish from the Pakatan top leaders during the ceramahs," said Jui Meng.

		MAJLIS MALAM KONGRESS

Tarikh	Majlis	Lokasi	Penceramah	Remarks
24/11/2011	Ceramah Umum	Pasir Gudang	Nurul Izah
			Samsul Iskandar
			Johari Abdul
	Temurapat kaum	Saleng, Kulai	Manikumar
	India		S. Manikavasagam
			Seivarasa Rasiah
			Kesavan Subramaniam
25/11/2011	Dinner	Tmn. Molek,JB	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
			YB Tian Chua
	Ceramah	Tmn. Daya, Tebrau	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
	Ceramah	Gelang Patah	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
			YB. Saifuddin Nasution
			S. Manikumar
			& PR representative
	Hi-tea	Guo Tai 88, kulai	Azmin Ali
			Rafizi
			Mazlan Aliman (PAS)
			Tian Chua
			Elizabert Wong
			Dr. Tan Yee Kew
			Dr. Lee Bhon Chai
26/11/2011	Ceramah	Ulu Tiram, Tebrau	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
			YB Azmin Ali
	Ceramah	Kg. bendahara	Dato Sri Anwar	**** Jemaah Kg.
		Johor Bahru	Nurul Izah	Bendahari mohon
			Fauziah Salleh	DSAI singgah sebentar
			Saifudin nasution
			Samsul Iskandar
	Ceramah	Kg. Air Manis	Siti Aishah Sheikh Ismail
		Kulai	Johari Abdul
			Badrulamin Baharom
	Ceramah	Kg. Melayu Majidi	Azmin Ali
		Johor Bahru	Zuraidah Kamaruddin
			Rafizi
			Nurul Izah
			Saifudin Nasution
	Ceramah	Pontian	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
			Hassan Karim
			Syed Hamid Ali
27/11	Ceramah	Pasir Gudang	Wan Azizah
			Fauziah Salleh
			Rafizi
	Ceramah	Pjbt PKR Kulai	Saifudin Nasution
			Nik Nazmi
			Nurul Izah
	Ceramah	Layang-layang,	Dato Sri Anwar
		Simpang Rengam	Dato Chua Jui Meng
			Saifudin Nasution
	Ceramah	Markas Pas, Air Hitam	Dato Sri Anwar
			Dato Chua Jui Meng
Alamat-alamat bagi kunjungan Dato Sri Anwar Ibrahim:
25/11/2011	Jamuan makan malam - Cathay Restaurant JB(Formerly known Taison Restaurant), Lot 85473, Jalan Molek 2/4
	Taman Molek, 81100 Johor Bahru Johor
	Ceramah - Pejabat PKR Tebrau, Taman Daya, Johor Bahru, Johor
	Ceramah dan Perasmian Pejabat - Pejabat keadilan Cabang Gelang Patah
	No. 38-A,Jalan Keindahan 1, Taman Skudai Indah, skudai
26/11/2011
	Ceramah - Batu 18, Sungei Tiram, Ulu Tiram, Johor
	Singgahan - No. 4, Jalan Sawi, Kampung Bendahara, Johor Bahru.
	Ceramah - Kg Parit Kromo, Ayer Baloi, Pontian, Johor.
27/11/2011	Ceramah - Pejabat Keadilan, Jalan Cemara, Taman Cemara, Kampung Shari, Simpang Renggam, Johor
	Ceramah - Markas PAS Ayer Hitam, Dataran Haji Mardi, Ayer Hitam, Johor