TTF: Everywhere you go, every DAP, PKR or Amanah ceramah you attend, you hear speakers making references to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Not once, not twice, but over and over again. You tend to leave these ceramahs getting the feeling that the entire opposition-pact’s campaign revolves around telling Malaysians why the former premier needs to be forgiven and given a second chance.
And this is no joke. Hannah Yeoh got rapped in the mouth trying to tell Segambut folk that Mahathir has changed and was repentant (see video below).
Ramasamy, on the other hand, had the cheek to censure the former premier before telling his campaign that the former premier was needed to fish for Malay votes (see video below).
Now, what does all of this tell you?
Well, it tells you that firstly, the DAP is concerned that the Chinese will punish the party for having anything to do with Mahathir. Then, it tells you that the opposition pact is well aware that the former premier is an expired product, a product that voters – particularly those aged 35 and above – are likely to reject at the ballot box.
Finally, it tells you that the Lim Kit Siang led DAP is extremely concerned that Mahathir was not able to attract the Malays the way Dato Seri Abdul Hadi Awang did back when PAS was a part of Pakatan Rakyat. Ironically, the senior Lim felt that getting estate-Ramasamy to talk about “using Mahathir for Malay vote-fishing” was the way to go about turning the community around.
AYER HITAM: Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong has commended Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for disagreeing with the Election Commission’s (EC) move to cut out Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s photo from billboards.
However, the Ayer Hitam Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate was equally quick to chastise Hishammuddin for failing to denounce EC’s last-minute law that had subsequently led to the removal of Dr Mahathir’s face.
“The additional conditions issued by EC at the 11th hour, merely three days before Nomination Day, is not a piece of written law passed by a legislative body, neither is it a by-law of the local authority.
“Therefore the EC’s enforcement team acted beyond the stipulated rules in regards to campaign materials,” he said in a statement today.
Liew said EC’s reliance on Section 24B(4)(a) of the Election Offences Act 1954 does not hold water, claiming that a legal provision cannot be read in isolation, especially if it goes against more general provisions.
“The power to bring down a campaign material is limited if it contravenes or non-compliant with written laws in the Act,” he said.
He also argued that the EC was empowered to issue additional conditions as and when it likes, inevitably creating more questions than answers.
“Therefore I call on Hishammuddin to take a principled stand on Tun Dr Mahathir’s billboard to denounce EC’s last-minute rule as the latter is the prime ministerial candidate for PH,” he said.
Yesterday, Hishammuddin had said if the billboards were in violation of the EC’s rules, it should have been removed in its entirety, instead of having just the PH chairman’s face cut out.
The EC had stated a billboard must only feature candidates contesting in the constituency, while only images of the president and the deputy of a particular party could appear alongside that of the candidate.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
