Utusan Selangor : Neutralising the lying media & getting the whole truth out to the rakyat
The People’s Parliament
Genuine democracy must provide meaningful space for the people to express their views and to participate in various processes of daily administration and not merely to voting once in five years. All interest groups must be allowed to present and debate their views.
Information will be free available subject to strictly defined restrictions. To that end, we will take the necessary measures to ensure and safeguard the freedom of the press and the rights of peaceful assembly, expression and organisation, by amending the appropriate acts and laws and RTM will be corporatised and subject to an independent Broadcasting Commission – Clause B.1 of the People’s Declaration, which was endorsed by the three Pakatan parties on 23rd February, 2008. You can read about this HERE.
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Six minutes into this video clip, you will catch RPK driving home his point that come next GE, if BN wants to remain in power, it will have to depend on the Malay votes.
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I think RPK is spot on.
Anwar, in an interview with Malaysiakini, acknowledges that there is much work to be done by Pakatan to reach out to the Malay voters in the Malay heartland.
“We need to do much more in the Malay heartland. We have to address the issues like the small-scale economy, poverty, unemployment, and identifying with their faith as Muslims…We admit that we did not put in enough effort to be with (the Malay voters). We go to the urban and suburban areas, and we can articulate issues that the urban folk are comfortable with, like the judiciary, social justice and human rights” , Anwar is reported to have said.
Anwar also conceded that ‘there are forces working against them, saying that logistics in the kampung will be a perennial headache’.
“It’s difficult to get space. Unless we have a private space like a Markas PAS (PAS centre), where can we (find a place to) ceramah in Felda areas? Sometimes we are barred outright (by locals)” , Anwar is quoted as saying.
The Malaysiakini reporter opines that ‘PKR will have to find a way to placate Malay voters by changing the perception that the party is not doing enough to fight for Malay rights, while at the same time keeping the traditionally fickle and issues-driven Chinese voters happy.
I think she is right.
However, I think it is not only the responsibility of Pakatan.
Each of us who is better informed bears the responsibility of correcting this perception.
What’s creating this perception nightmare for Pakatan Rakyat, and for us?
We’ve just seen the culmination of the Bumiputra Economic Comgress. Malaysiakini reports that it ‘became the arena for NEM-bashing as experts slammed the New Economic Model for sidelining of Malay interests’.
