Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has warned the BN government that Pakatan Rakyat will not allow the re-delineation of constituencies to be debated in Parliament unless it is done with transparency and fairness.
"I'm warning the government and the Election Commission (EC), Pakatan will not allow this present corrupt, fraudulent EC to table the matter and debate on the delineation.
"I'm giving ample warning to the government and the EC. I have discussed with (Bersih 2.0 co-chairpersons) S Ambiga and Pak Samad Said. I said 'look, we need to draw the line, like (US president Barrack) Obama's red line, we will not allow this debate'."
This warning was issued by Anwar in New York on Sunday when responding to questions during a dialogue with some 100 people, mostly Malaysians studying and working in the US.
"If they proceed (with the delineation), there would be problems. I can promise you, in Parliament and outside Parliament, we will make it a major issue, we will not concede," he stressed.
The re-delineation exercise is expected to begin by end of this year. It would have huge repercussions on the result of the next general election.
The opposition coalition won 52 percent of the popular votes during the last general election in May but failed to capture federal power due to alleged gerrymandering.
However, the PKR de facto leader did not elaborate on the plan to block the re-delineation from being tabled in Parliament.
To convince the attendees that electoral fraud was prevalent in the last general polls, he quoted earlier statements by EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof that there were 60,000 dubious voters in Sabah’s electoral roll, and another 40,000 names in the national electoral roll which need to be verified.
'He is now half Christian'
Wearing a pair of dark glasses due to an eye infection, Anwar also claimed that Pakatan only garnered 10 percent of the 700,000 early ballots cast five days before the polling day.
"You know what, because the votes were kept in police custody for five days, with 'osmosis' in the process. Nobody in their right mind, come on, would agree that 90 percent (of votes would go to BN). (Late Iraq dictator) Saddam Hussein only would get 90 over percent," he said, drawing laughter from the floor.
Anwar claimed that the electoral irregularities had caught the attention of other countries, and he had been invited to Indonesia by the republic's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain the issue.
"He said he is shocked because in Indonesia, in 1998 was reformasi, in 1999 they had free and fair election," he said.
During the question-and-answer session, an attendee asked Anwar to state his stand on conversion out of Islam.
Reminding that the contentious issue might give chance for pro-BN media to demonise him, Anwar stressed that he did not encourage apostasy but there should be no compulsion in Islam.
"Now I'm going to see Pope Francis (in Rome next week)... I think TV3 will say 'look, Anwar is gone. He is now half Christian'," he said in jest.
Anwar's three-day trip to the US coincided with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's working trip to the nation.
Malaysian consulate-general in New York had invited Malaysian students to a dinner with Najib on the coming Sunday.
Alleging that Malaysian embassy officials had previously attempted to stop Malaysian students overseas from meeting opposition leaders, Anwar however encouraged the audience to attend Najib's event.
"When the prime minister comes, you should attend, and enjoy the food," he said, prompting another round of laughter.
"I'm warning the government and the Election Commission (EC), Pakatan will not allow this present corrupt, fraudulent EC to table the matter and debate on the delineation.
"I'm giving ample warning to the government and the EC. I have discussed with (Bersih 2.0 co-chairpersons) S Ambiga and Pak Samad Said. I said 'look, we need to draw the line, like (US president Barrack) Obama's red line, we will not allow this debate'."This warning was issued by Anwar in New York on Sunday when responding to questions during a dialogue with some 100 people, mostly Malaysians studying and working in the US.
"If they proceed (with the delineation), there would be problems. I can promise you, in Parliament and outside Parliament, we will make it a major issue, we will not concede," he stressed.
The re-delineation exercise is expected to begin by end of this year. It would have huge repercussions on the result of the next general election.
The opposition coalition won 52 percent of the popular votes during the last general election in May but failed to capture federal power due to alleged gerrymandering.
However, the PKR de facto leader did not elaborate on the plan to block the re-delineation from being tabled in Parliament.
To convince the attendees that electoral fraud was prevalent in the last general polls, he quoted earlier statements by EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof that there were 60,000 dubious voters in Sabah’s electoral roll, and another 40,000 names in the national electoral roll which need to be verified.
'He is now half Christian'
Wearing a pair of dark glasses due to an eye infection, Anwar also claimed that Pakatan only garnered 10 percent of the 700,000 early ballots cast five days before the polling day.
"You know what, because the votes were kept in police custody for five days, with 'osmosis' in the process. Nobody in their right mind, come on, would agree that 90 percent (of votes would go to BN). (Late Iraq dictator) Saddam Hussein only would get 90 over percent," he said, drawing laughter from the floor.
Anwar claimed that the electoral irregularities had caught the attention of other countries, and he had been invited to Indonesia by the republic's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain the issue."He said he is shocked because in Indonesia, in 1998 was reformasi, in 1999 they had free and fair election," he said.
During the question-and-answer session, an attendee asked Anwar to state his stand on conversion out of Islam.
Reminding that the contentious issue might give chance for pro-BN media to demonise him, Anwar stressed that he did not encourage apostasy but there should be no compulsion in Islam.
"Now I'm going to see Pope Francis (in Rome next week)... I think TV3 will say 'look, Anwar is gone. He is now half Christian'," he said in jest.
Anwar's three-day trip to the US coincided with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's working trip to the nation.Malaysian consulate-general in New York had invited Malaysian students to a dinner with Najib on the coming Sunday.
Alleging that Malaysian embassy officials had previously attempted to stop Malaysian students overseas from meeting opposition leaders, Anwar however encouraged the audience to attend Najib's event.
"When the prime minister comes, you should attend, and enjoy the food," he said, prompting another round of laughter.
KUEK SER KUANG KENG is a former Malaysiakini journalist who is now a graduate student at the Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute, New York University on a Fulbright scholarship.
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