There will be no 'safe seats' going into the 13th general elections says DAP national chairman Karpal Singh
Proposing a televised premier debate between Prime Minister-designate candidates of both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional for the next general election, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said it would spice up the democratic flavour of Malaysian electoral process.
“The voters will know a future premier’s policies and make better judgment.. But BN will not want it,” said Karpal adding that while Pakatan premier candidate Anwar Ibrahim would be gutsy to face the challenge, BN’s incumbent Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would ‘chicken out’ from such debate.
Karpal also welcomed the proposal by the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reform to allow sufficient and fair access to mainstream media, especially air time in state-sponsored radio and television channels, for all contesting political parties in the next election.
He said Najib’s administration should also adopt and implement all electoral reform proposals before the next election.
He also said Najib should repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) as promised in the coming March parliamentary sitting.
He predicted that the next parliamentary sitting, which would last for a month, could be the last for this term before dissolution to pave way for the country’s 13th General Election because “Najib can no longer prolong it.”
Morally, he said Najib can’t afford to continue governing the country with a federal government and Cabinet inherited from his predecessor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“Najib got to call for election fast to obtain his own mandate and earn his rights to govern the country.
“Any delay will erode his credibility,” Karpal told newsmen during his routine Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency visit here today.
People seeking change
He predicted that Pakatan should do better than 2008 in the next election based on its increasing popularity, crowd turnouts at rallies and swelling ground sentiments seeking a change in governance.
Karpal expressed confidence that Pakatan could capture Umno-held seats in Peninsular besides making progressive inroads into difficult electoral terrains of Borneo states.
“Even if it wins more seats in Sabah and Sarawak, BN can’t possibly offset its losses in Peninsular,” said the Pakatan leader, hinting of an evitable change in Putrajaya.
On a cautionary note, however Karpal pointed to the 1995 election results that a reverse can also happen and wipe out Pakatan altogether.
In 1995, the DAP’s Tanjung 3 project to capture Penang fell flat when Penangites wiped the party out in all, but one state seat.
Given to the dramatic change in political landscape caused by the 2008 tsunami, Karpal said all seats would be hot seats and no incumbent elected representative can be sure of retaining any seat.
“There is no longer safe seats … all will be tough battles,” he said.
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