SERIOUSLY, WHO TO BLAME for GE13 loss?

The 13th General Election is over and the winners are basking in their ill-gotten glory whilst the losers went to the streets with their Black505 series of protests all around the country. And right now, BERSIH's People's Tribunal on the GE13 fraud is on-going, attended and led by a most distinguished lineup.

Now, at the Black505 rallies, there were huge crowds who came to protest against the massive electoral fraud in the May 5 ballot. The 51% of voters who had supported Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat were seething in anger at having victory snatched away from them by the blatant cheating, vote rigging as well conspiracy between the relevant authorities.

It is true that massive cheating paved the way for the Barisan Nasional's win but was this not expected by all PR Leaders prior to the elections? Why didn't they foresee that BN would cheat on a magnitude great enough to win? Did they do enough to curb the cheating before the elections? Well, maybe they tried and so did free and fair polls movement BERSIH. But it was not enough because BN had all the institutions behind them.

There are also those who ask what did Anwar achieve with the Black505 rallies? Well, let me ask them back - what did BERSIH achieve with its giant rallies? Even with the huge crowds, BERSIH could not stop the Election Commission from using 'fake' indelible ink!

But to say it was all 'shiok sendiri' is to be ungrateful and STUPID. Malaysians owe a great debt to Anwar and BERSIH. The awareness they created can never be erased and it is from such inspiring courage and sense of civic duty that the mindset of Malaysians have permanently changed for the better. It remains for the 47% who voted BN to wake up and catch up!

BN arrogant and bent on showing their power over the people

Obviously the people are now fed up and still very disappointed. They are 'election-fatigued'.

After all that effort, BN has gone from bad to worse. Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced an huge 20-sen increase in petrol prices and all Hell has broken loose.

Everything has gone up even kangkung (water spinach) is up by 20 cents, why? Because the lorry that brings the kangkung to the market runs on fuel so they have to add in the extra costs.

Did the BN government bother to think about these repercussions on the man in the street and the low income folk who now suffer even more than before GE13? Obviously they don't, why should they bother?

To BN, it's 'lu punya pasal' (your problem). They have a mandate for 5 years, so what can the people do? Sad to say, the answer is nothing. So 'just shut up and follow' - that's what the BN is now telling everyone!

Whose fault?

Who do we blame for this sad situation? The Opposition? Or the 49% who voted for the BN? Or is you and me?

I think the answer is you and me. Yes, that's right. It is the 51% who voted for PR who are to blame. We wanted the change after 56 years of political hegemony, we wanted to see a new breed of uncorrupted leaders who could perform better than the old has-beens.

But we failed because we, who are closer to the BN 49%, could not convince them to vote otherwise. We failed to convince our parents, relatives, and friends not to vote for BN. Now we are all suffering.

You might say even if we convinced them, the BN would have still cheated enough to have won. It is true BN will still cheat but how much can they cheat? They can only cheat about 15%, that's all. If we won 75% of the total votes, we would have won even after deducting the 15% of cheating-votes.

We will need 75% voters representation for PR to win any General Election in Malaysia. This is the real scenario because the BN government has done enough gerrymandering and other devious exercises to ensure they will win always, but we can change this outcome if we get 75% of voters on our side.

The Opposition must lead Change because BN can't

In the 12th General Election, the awareness was already created. The 13th General Election saw a near miss but the 14th General Election can be finally won by the people if steps are now planted to get more voters to the PR side.

For me, the current Opposition leadership should all resign. Yes! you heard me correctly. All the current leaders should step down for new faces. They don't have to do it immediately but they should announce their retirement plan. Let the young ones take the lead.

Why? Because this kind of selfless vision would not be possible at BN. But PR has a real chance to show its sincerity and rapport with the people by taking this step. Remember the voter base is getting younger. The Opposition must be led by people who can empathize with the young, who think very differently compared to their fathers and uncles.

A new deal for Malaysia, please

There is no doubt BN will not change its leaders. Dr Mahathir, 88, will still be around to call the shots. So will corruption-tainted Najib and Rosmah and the whole chain-gang including Ibrahim Ali! Straightaway, BN will lose favor with the new breed of voters in this country

So seize the day, Pakatan Rakyat. Don't be too sad because the people need you to help them to overthrow those bad guys at Umno especially Najib, Rosmah and Mahathir Mohamad.

Be ever alert, ever inventive and ever creative. Look for the best possible way forward for Malaysia. Negotiate, deal and wheel, dialogue and debate but PLEASE, get a new deal for Malaysia. We deserve it after 56 years of rotten Umno-BN!

MAILBAG