HOW did a minority coalition get into power in Malaysia’s recent general election? Refsa explains how the BN secured less popular votes than PR and yet still won more seats in Parliament.

MUCH has been said about how undemocratic the Peaceful Assembly Bill is. I beg to differ. On the contrary, three very good aspects of the Peaceful Assembly Bill have been missed by commentators. Here they are: More religious The Bill promotes a religious society. We all know how important religion is to ensure that we [...]

IN the lead-up to the Sarawak elections, the prime minister and his deputy went all out to convince voters that Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud would step down after the state election because he was “ready”. But what does “after” and “ready” really mean? Is it “someday” as the deputy prime minister has stated or in “two to three years” as Taib has claimed? Clearly, vague rhetoric is useful for politicians to keep their options open especially now that the Barisan Nasional has again secured its two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

THEY say a picture is worth a thousand words. In Hulu Selangor, if a poster is worth a 1,000 votes, Barisan Nasional (BN) would win the by-election hands down. The BN has literally “gone to town” with their campaign posters. Over a dozen different poster designs proclaim the wonders of the BN government in this [...]

Updated 10.55am, 19 April 2010 BN candidate P Kamalanathan (left) and PKR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim HULU Selangor, the 10th by-election since national polls in March 2008, is a fight neither the Barisan Nasional (BN) nor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can afford to lose. The BN needs to prove its sincerity about its rhetorically inclusive 1Malaysia [...]

“We open our ears to whatever grouses the public, in particular the Orang Asli, have. If anyone says we are depriving them, we are neglecting them, that’s not true.” RURAL and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, speaking to reporters after receiving a memorandum from the Orang Asli protesting proposed changes to the [...]