'Najib-mathematics' over popular vote stirs laughter & sadness: SAME UMNO, POOR MALAYSIA!

UPDATE3 KUALA LUMPUR - Despite clear-cut numbers provided by the Election Commission, often accused of bias towards his own coalition,Prime Minister Najib Razak told his Umno party that they had won the popular vote during the recent 13th general election.

According to Najib, who is the Umno president, they won more votes in 9 states while the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim won more votes in only 4 states. This was how Najib justified his claims to delegates attending the Umno general assembly.

His "illogic" drew immediate return fire from the Opposition.

"We heard about Najib-nomics, this is Najib mathematics. Popular vote is who won the most number of votes from the nation as a whole, not carved out by states. If you count by states, then this would actually reflect the gerrymandering existing in the system. This is blatant bare-faced lying by Najib and it shows how little respect he has for the intellect of his own party mates. He really must believe they are dumb and bad at maths," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

During the May 5 general election, Najib's Umno-BN coalition won 133 of the federal Parliament's 222 seats but only captured 47% of the total votes cast, whereas the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim won control of 4 states and almost 52% of the total votes.

"We are talking about popular vote, so we don't go by region but as a nation. How many people in this country are there and whom do most of them want to be their government? One man, one vote. So, this is what you add up and you find that the majority of voters in Malaysia want Pakatan. This is our rationale and if this is all the argument Najib can muster for the once Grand Old Party of Malaysia, it's really sad."" Nik Nazmi, the assemblyman for Seri Setia, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Najib may not realize it but he has just confirmed the gerrymandering that we have been protesting against. It's not the smartest comment to make and it shows he has not done his homework. The concept of popular vote does not differentiate where the voter comes from because each vote is treated as equal," Rafizi Ramli, the MP for Pandan, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"The fact that our electoral boundary is drawn in such a way that states or constituencies with less voters cam overwhelm areas with more voters is precisely the gerrymandering and systemic bias in the electoral system propped up by the Election Commission and BN. And this was recently confirmed by the previous EC chief himself," Rafizi added.

Not smart

At the Umno meet, Najib had lambasted the Opposition for refusing to accept defeat and dismissing the first-past-the-post election system practised since 1959.

Actually, his comments were not really true.

Anwar and Pakatan leaders have vowed to challenge the GE13 results, insisting that the top officials from the Election Commission be made accountable for the mass cheating they claimed was clearly evident during polling day.

The Opposition have however been attending Parliament, signaling their willingness for a 'truce' while the government did "the right thing" by calling for a probe. Anwar and team also filed a record number of election petitions to appeal the results.

Nonetheless, in the months since the election, it has become clear that Najib and his government have no plans to carry out any checks or to initiate any moves that could reconcile and reunite the country.

“Talking about the 13th general election... it’s as if the opposition cannot be gracious to accept defeat. There was always something that’s not right, there were always something to dig as mistakes in their eyes," Najib said in his inaugural speech at the 64th Umno annual general assembly.

“Its as if they do not understand and do not want the recognise the first-past-the-post system... however, even if we are to calculate the popular vote, we still won in nine out of 14 states while they only won the popular vote in four states.”

No way forward for M'sa, only treachery from "academically-challenged" Umno

According to MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah, Najib's speech further underscored that he would not accept a two-party system and would continue to use all ways and means to snuff out the Opposition.

This would be very negative for investors, sharply reducing Malaysia's prospects for economic success and well-being. Instead, it will return Malaysia to a regime of near dictatorship controlled by Najib's party while he, as the Umno president, would hold unchecked authority.

"This is spinning gone bad and it bodes ill for Malaysia. Perhaps the PM should focus on realizing  meaningful economic programs instead of sprending citizens' money on consultants to produce more unproductive spin that belittles the intelligence of the people, especially Umno members," Nurul told Malaysia Chronicle.  

"Najib knows that if the boundary is drawn fairly, 53% of popular votes would have translated to majority of parliamentary seats. This is a trick he is playing on his own Umno members and in broad daylight. Using the number of states as a comparison may fool Umno delegates, many of whom are academically challenged, but it won't fool the public. It is also disgusting to see the treachery and how little respect he has  for his own party members. In short, it is an insult to Umno by their ow president," said Rafizi.  - Malaysia Chronicle