Say ‘No’ to racist candidates

It is now left to the rakyat to make the right choice in deciding who best deserves their vote.

COMMENT

Going by the list of Barisan Nasional candidates contesting in the 13th general election as endorsed by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, it seems that the much-shouted about BN mantra of “people first” has been discarded and that too for the benefit of the “higher ups”.

Candidates like former PKR member Zulkifli Nordin is coming on board to contest on a BN ticket in the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

As to why Zulkifli, who is notorious for his racial slurs against the non-Malay communities of this country has been chosen, it is because Najib believes he is a “winnable” candidate.

On April 16, Najib, who is also the Selangor BN liaison chief, declared Zulkifli, a former PKR member, as the “Friend of BN” candidate for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.

The dogmatic and racist Zulkifli, while now a common sight at the BN ceramah, is certainly not a candidate the non-Malays would be happy to support, all no thanks to his uncouth and insenstitive remarks made particularly against the Hindus of this country.

It was not that long ago that Zulkifli was castigated and labelled a racist over a video showing him poking fun at Hindu followers and their gods.

And still Najib thought him a worthy candidate in the coming general election. Is support for the BN coalition all that matters to Najib? Whatever happened to his concern for the rakyat’s sentiments?

Fielding candidates who are not rakyat-friendly is typical of BN which, after its defeat in the 2008 general election, is leaving no stone unturned to return to Putrajaya victorious.

It is now left to the rakyat to make the right choice in deciding who best deserves their vote: a people’s candidate or a contestant considered “winnable” in ensuring the political survival of BN?

Say ‘No’ to racist candidates

In a press conference recently, caretaker de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz waxed lyrical about BN’s decision to field Zulkifli in the coming GE.

The fact that Zulkilfi, vice-president of the Malay-rights entity Perkasa, does not bat an eyelid in ridiculing the non-Muslims of this country is lost to Nazri who instead claimed the former as “principled”.

For Nazri’s benefit, no “principled” man would humiliate and ridicule the practices and beliefs of other faiths as continues to be done by Zulkifli.

In the eyes of BN, candidates like Zulkifli are winnable candidates, never mind that the likes of the latter will do more harm than good when in power.

Looks like BN is not out to serve the rakyat but is planning to get the people to kowtow to it as evident from its list of unscrupulous individuals being fielded in the 13th general election.

Was “winnable” the only reason for fielding Zulkifli or was the decision a case of “more than meets the eye”? Zulkifli was, after all, the lawyer who represented the two cops accused of murdering Mongolian native Altantuya Shaariibuu only to quit mid-way.

Or is it a case of Zulkifli holding Najib at ransom and the opportunity to contest for a parliamentary seat is the latter’s way of “rewarding” Zulkifli for keeping his mouth shut over “certain secrets”?

Anything goes for a very desperate BN

Giving miscreants like Zulkifli is not the only damage a power-hungry BN has done to the rakyat. It has been revealed that the coalition is also fielding candidates with dubious academic credentials.

DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming, in questioning the academic qualifications of five Selangor BN candidates, claims they were obtained from questionable foreign education institutions.

Naming two parliamentary and three state candidates, Ong hit the nail on the head by asking just how BN could claim to have a “competent, dynamic and progressive” line-up when these candidates had degrees from bogus universities.

Of the five named as possessing qualifications from the “degree mills”, one is from Gerakan, one from Umno and three from the MCA.

Among those named by Ong include Deputy Foreign Ministers A Kohilan Pillay and Richard Riot who each had two degrees from universities listed as “dubious institutions” by media reports.

“I challenge Kohilan to take legal action against me because not only does he have a Masters degree from a bogus university, his undergraduate degree is also from a bogus university!” Ong had said in a statement on April 18.

Is this how BN is planning to win the 13th general election, by deceiving the rakyat yet again, this time by using candidates with false academic credentials?

In 2010, a similar kerfuffle broke out over the degree credential of BN candidate for the Hulu Selangor state seat P Kamalanathan.

And three years later it is all happening again. Indeed, BN is very desperate to win the general election at all costs, throwing caution to the wind as far as the contesting candidates’ reputation goes.

So much for crying out loud that “BN is the rakyat’s choice”!

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.