'Tis the season for amusing sayings and moments with our politikus as we head forward to nomination day and polling day.
Our caretaker MITI, one Kak Rafidah is quoted by Bernama as saying this ::
"Do you want a credible government, a tested, responsible and (one that) has proven itself to be not only business-friendly, not only able to deliver but also has had women on its agenda for a long time".
She is also quoted as saying :: "The Barisan Nasional had always had a very special agenda for women and let's not ignore those facts."
Now can Kak Rafidah please enlighten us all regarding this special agenda for women.
Because of this special agenda for women, she urged women in Malaysia not to highlight women's issues at this juncture as "we only have 10 days' left, so the only issue in front of us is what kind of government do you want." Shouldn't she be asking for a longer campaigning period so that women's issues can be highlighted and dealt with?
She has also confirmed that she will be contesting in GE2004, but we were told that all will only be made known on Thursday. Has Pak Lah whispered into her ears? If she is really contesting and should win, the government she would be in would certainly be a more than credible government indeed.
People's Progressive Party (PPP) president Datuk M. Kayveas is a busy man as of late, he has been very busy trying to find a constituency to contest in. First it was Cameron Highlands, where he claimed to have done a lot of nursing for the past 3 years but the rumour mills have it that he will be given the UMNO stronghold of Bukit Gantang instead. But then he isn't too sure at the moment and therefore he urges all to be patient, most of all himself, most likely. When asked about his Bukit Gantang candidacy, he said he was not surprised that Umno members in the constituency objected to fielding candidates from other parties in Bukit Gantang and he respected their feelings as it was a traditional Umno seat. Bernama also reported this :: "I think that their objections are fair and I myself support the objections. I would probably act the same way if a traditional PPP seat is given to another party," he said in a statement here. Now has the PPP any traditional seat to give away?
Bernama has also reported that for this election :: NS Puteri UMNO Ready To Lure More Young Voters. This was in reference to the Negeri Sembilan Puteri Umno election machinery which is ready to attract more young voters to cast their votes in the 11th general election this March 21st, this was said by its chief Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid.
The Election Commission is in the news. First it says that the claim of the existence Of 48% Phantom Voters was illogical and even suggest that the monitoring group called MAFREL may be itself a phantom. EC Secretary Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, who doubted the validity of the organisation, also said that the precentage stated was not logical. "I do not know whether they are a registered organisation or not because during election time, sometimes a lot of people just form so called teams to monitor the election, but they are not recognised by anybody especially the Election Commission". Maybe the EC Sec would like to know that MAFREL was formed in Oct 2003 and had its first meeting on 23rd Oct 2003. Go look for yourself, Mr EC Sec, here, it is just a tikus click away.
The EC says that nomination papers have been sold out. EC Secretary said that nomination papers, priced at RM20 a set, were sold out since the first day of sales last Sunday and the papers are going into reprints. According to him, the EC did not sell the papers indiscriminately. He said the papers were sold according to the limit which was one for every Parliamentary seat and 10 for every State seat. Why just one for every Parliamentary seat, are all of them going to be uncontested and is the EC expecting 10 candidates for each state seat?
The Malay Mail reported that the complete electoral roll CD would cost RM41,926.20 and the book form RM41,766.20. Surely the 'cetak rompak' guys would make a killing and charge much less. Why so expensive, only the EC knows? How many political parties can afford to cough out these amounts for the electoral rolls?
The Funnies, The Spins, The Humourous and The Humourless......
"I do not aim at fusion. Each religion has its own contribution to make to human evolution.
I regard the great faiths of the WORLD as so many branches of a tree, each distinct from the other though having the same source.----Mahatma Ghandhi.