Malaysiakini

LIVE REPORTS

11.40pm: Traffic congestion worsens and motorists continue to snake their way home. Some are even still trying to get to the stadium.

Malaysiakini reporter Aidila Razak was unable to make it to the stadium as she has been stuck in traffic for four hours.

Including those caught in traffic jams all around Petaling Jaya, the crowd is estimated at 120,000 – making it one of the biggest rallies in recent times.

11.27pm:Although the event is over, there are still people dressed in black walking towards the stadium from a couple of kilometres away.

Traffic is at an absolute standstill from least five kilometres away in various direction and many who were heading to the rally are still stuck.

This includes the Damansara-Puchong highway from the Federal Highway in one direction and Kelana Jaya LRT station in the other.

11.25pm: Met by reporters later, Anwar says he is impressed by the spontaneous turnout despite the rally only being called on Monday.

“I would not quit until we reach Putrajaya, until we expose all (fraud) and claim Putrajaya for the rakyat.

“They deserved it as we, Pakatan, won the popular vote,” he says.

Anwar then announced that there is to be another rally on Saturday in Penang, while they are still considering holing one in Ipoh on Friday.

11pm: Despite the drizzle, the crowd is still trickling into the stadium. Cars have been parked as far as 2km away and the party doesn’t seem to end anytime soon for supporters.

Many cannot not make out their leaders’ speeches but still chime in with chants of reformasi and ubah.

The rally then ends with the singing of ‘Negaraku’.

10.45pm: Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang takes to the stage, after having earlier arrived via the back of a motorcycle.

He begins by thanking all Malaysians, even those who did not support the Pakatan coalition, for their commitment towards making the country and people stronger and states that now is the time to “turn our resolve into the tasks that can move our country forward”.

“Foremost is the need to properly account for all of the irregularities during an election that was not only the dirtiest election in our country’s history, but also the most marred in its process.

“We support Bersih’s people’s tribunal as an essential step for justice and transparency. We call on all Malaysians to come forward to share their experiences and help us get to the truth,” he says, and adds Pakatan also supports electoral petitions.

The DAP supremo says a victory that is earned through money, lies and manipulation is not a victory at all.

“The Malaysia I know is one that believes in fairness. The Malaysia that I know is one that believes in decency.”

10.40pm: The way out of the stadium, heading towards Paradigm Mall is clogged as the car ferrying Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is forced to slow down as many people ask the latter to roll down his window so that they may take snapshots with him.

Khalid, meanwhile, smiles and graciously accomodates the requests of the crowd comprising of those leaving the stadium and those just heading in.

10.39pm: Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar Ibrahim declares that the people of Malaysia, be they Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Dayak, want free and fair election.

He is taking a dig at Utusan Malaysia’s inflammatory headline yesterday, “Apa lagi Cina mahu?“.

Anwar says every Malaysian, regardless of race, want to reclaim their rights and they want BN to fall.

The crowd, which has now swelled to 80,000 responds enthusiastically, raising their fists in a show support.

10.26pm: With no traffic police guiding traffic, civilians have taken it upon themselves to help unclog the roads.

Almost all cars have their windows down and most are honking rhythms, in what appears to be the most jubilant traffic jam in the Klang Valley.

Along the LDP, people are still making their way to the stadium on foot.

Most of them wear black, to symbolise protest against what they allege as “electoral fraud”.

Columns of cars and motorbikes, parked along the road and believed to belong to Pakatan supporters, have contributed to the traffic congestion.

10.19pm: Many are also walking to the stadium from Paradigm Mall, undeterred by the fact the rally was to have started two hours ago.

Those seen walking comprise of youth of various races.

10.15pm: Those still on the road start unwinding their windows to chat with each other. Among them are middle-aged Malay women and a group of young Chinese men.

“There was a bus which came all the way from Johor!” a man tells another.

“Well, I came from Kedah!” another man replies.

Then a young Malay man flies a PAS flag out a window and a car ferrying group of young women of different races honk wildly in support.

The traffic light has changed several times but there is no room to move.

10.05pm: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim arrives. His arrival is greeted with wild cheers from the crowd, who also begin shouting, “Kami anak Malaysia“.

10pm: Four kilometres from the venue, passengers on a bus and several cars alight from their vehicles and begin making their way to the rally on foot. All are dressed in black.

Meanwhile, men in a pick-up truck waves a PKR flag, to honks of support.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang is spotted riding pillion on a motorbike in the effort to beat the traffic jam so that he could get to the stadium on time for his speech.

PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim is also seen being ferried to the venue on a motorbike.

9.33pm: The traffic jam from Kelana Jaya goes as far as the NPE toll near Sunway. According to Google Map Traffic, the whole of Petaling Jaya is in a gridlock.

9.30pm: The audio system in the stadium is not fully functioning, making it difficult for the speakers to be heard from outside the stadium or even from certain areas inside.

Participants inside are also still having difficulty accessing active phone lines. Meanwhile, there’s a substantial spillover crowd at the entrance and spaces have run out inside the stadium.

9.25pm:Motorcyclists passing by drivers dressed in black but stuck in the traffic crawl on the LDP, yell out “Ini Kalilah”.

The roads around the stadium are clogged for several kilometres, with no sign of having eased over the past two hours.

Many people, adorning ‘Ini Kalilah’ T-shirst, are observed leaving their cars parked along the side of the highway and are legging it towards the stadium.

9.05pm: Stalls selling food and Pakatan memorabilia such as T-shirts, sashes and stickers, surround the stadium complex.

Meanwhile, people continue to stream into the stadium. All the seats have long been filled and so the crowd begin to sit on the field and running track.

9pm: PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli warns Utusan Malaysiathat if they still play the racial card, they will face the wrath of Malay people.

“I am Malay, but I support Pakatan Rakyat,” he told the 50,000 crowd.

They are chanting “Najib, tipu”, “Ubah” and blowing the noisy vuvuzelas.

Many of them have brought yellow flowers, symbolising Bersih, or clean and fair elections.

8.40pm: Many Pakatan Rakyat leaders tweeted that they are trapped in the traffic jam, including Tian Chua and Elizabeth Wong.

The drizzle has stopped and the participants of ‘Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat’ rally are packing up their umbrellas.

Newly-elected MP for Kelana Jaya Wong Chen takes the stage to address the excited crowd.

Telephone lines around the stadium are congested.

8.35pm: The rain has caused roads near the area to be jam-packed from the junction with the Federal Highway until Paradigm Mall.

Some of the participants have parked their cars at the side of the main road and are walking about 1km to the Kelana Jaya stadium.

Some of them are wearing black T-shirts and are walking while shouting “Hidup! Hidup! Hidup rakyat!”

8.35pm: Massive traffic jams are reported in the vicinity of the stadium. Some participants have to walk more than 2km to get the venue.

“I am stuck in the biggest ‘carpark’ in the world. Haven’t moved an inch for close to 15 minutes,” reports Malaysiakini journalist Aidila Razak.

Those who have reached the stadium are finding it difficult to find a parking space.

8.15pm: Tens of thousands are already inside the stadium. The slight drizzle continues with the crowd unfurling their umbrellas or donning raincoats.

7.30pm: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim will today address his supporters for the first time since Sunday’s elections, which he alleged were marred with fraudulent practices that ensured BN’s win.

The rally in Kelana Jaya today is expected to draw a large crowd eager to listen to their leaders after an election that has left many Pakatan Rakyat supporters unhappy.

The crowd is slowly trickling in, with the stadium about a quarter full as a slight drizzle falls on the grounds of the Kelana Jaya stadium.

No police presence has been spotted yet despite speculations that there will be tight police control around the stadium, which housed 50,000 supporters during a pre-election rally.

The Malaysian Insider

The DAP is endorsing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Opposition Leader despite winning more seats than PKR in Election 2013, party advisor Lim Kit Siang said today.

The DAP won 38 federal seats in the country’s tightest election in history, making it the second-largest party in Parliament; PKR and PAS took 30 and 21 seats respectively.

“We supported him as prime minister for a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government, which was supposed to be formed on the fifth of May,” Lim told reporters at the DAP headquarters here today.

“But since this didn’t come about, the preparation and commitment for Pakatan Rakyat remains. That’s why we propose that Anwar continues as parliamentary opposition leader and shadow prime minister,” added the DAP advisor.

Lim also said the results in some constituencies could be challenged due to alleged electoral fraud.

“Pakatan Rakyat will look into these constituencies where fraudulent practices were committed and take the necessary steps to uphold the integrity of the electoral process,” said the newly-elected Gelang Patah MP.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke pointed out that the DAP lost the Bentong, Cameron Highlands and Labis federal seats by fewer than 400 votes each.

“Many of these seats didn’t provide ‘Borang 14,’” said Loke, who was also at the press conference, referring to the form recording the total number of votes at each polling stream that must be provided to counting agents.

Anwar said earlier today that he would gather mass support to question the legitimacy of the newly-elected BN government, stressing that the “worst electoral fraud in history” had kept the coalition in federal government.

Election watchdog Bersih also said it would not recognise the BN government until it verified reports of vote-rigging.

BN won the 13th general election with a smaller majority, losing an additional seven federal seats to PR, besides failing to retake Selangor and Penang, the two most industrialised states in Malaysia.

BN and PR took 133 and 89 federal seats respectively, while the latter also significantly increased its number of state seats from 197 in Election 2008 to 230 in yesterday’s polls.

Lim pointed out today that PR won the popular vote as well.

“It was a ‘Malaysian tsunami’ and not a ‘Chinese tsunami’,” said Lim, dismissing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement yesterday that attributed BN’s losses to a Chinese swing.

“In many parts of the country, Pakatan won seats in areas that were previously considered as BN strongholds and took down many big BN guns in Malay-majority areas,” he added, highlighting the Kuala Terengganu, Alor Setar, Lumut and Sepang federal constituencies.

BN’s losses in major cities and towns from George Town to Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Malacca and big towns in Johor show a rising discontent among the middle-class and urban working-class, who are concerned with issues like corruption, increasing cost of living and crime.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua, who was also at the press conference, similarly pointed out that PR’s improved performance in Selangor, particularly the semi-rural areas, were won with a “massive increase in Malay support”.

The Malaysian Insider

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim vowed today to amass support from Malaysians indignant at last night’s polls results and move for “national consensus” to question the legitimacy of the newly-elected Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

He reiterated claims that the “worst electoral fraud in history” kept BN in federal power and issued a stern reminder to his foes that the push for change is “unstoppable”. Anwar also insisted the demand for clean and fair elections would persist beyond Election 2013. “Our conscience cannot allow us to accept election results conjured through frauds and cheating,” he said in a statement here.

“My heart is with every Malaysian who does not accept the results. I will work towards a national consensus to question the legitimacy of the BN’s government achieved through such electoral frauds,” he added.

Anwar also vowed to devote all his time and energy to work with polls reform group Bersih to remove the current crop of leaders in the Election Commission (EC), saying they should be held responsible to all proven acts of electoral fraud.

“The fact that Pakatan Rakyat won the popular votes by a large margin (50.3 per cent, compared to BN’s 46.8 per cent) confirms the mandate given to us and highlights that electoral frauds won the 13th General Election for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak,” he said.

Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact lost its bid for Putrajaya in a hard-fought election last night, picking up 89 seats to the 133 secured by Barisan Nasional (BN), despite increasing its seat numbers in Parliament and many state legislative assemblies.

As the results streamed in, the senior politician, who has vowed to stay out of the forefront of politics after this, said he would not accept the polls outcome due to widespread reports of vote-rigging and electoral discrepancies.

In a press conference late last night, Anwar noted claims that several hotly-contested seats were marred by allegations of widespread fraud.

“As of now we are not accepting the results,” the visibly upset Anwar told the press conference packed with supporters, local and international pressmen.

“Many of the seats they have announced we are contesting (the results) and they have not responded to our allegations,” he said.

The opposition leader added that PR would only accept yesterday’s results if the EC gives a satisfactory explanation to the complaints.

“They were complicit to the crime,” he said.

Anwar added today that a mass gathering will be held at the Kelana Jaya Stadium this Wednesday where he will address Malaysians for the first time after the polls.

“I call upon as many Malaysians to join hands and express our rejection and disgust at the unprecedented electoral frauds committed by Najib and the EC,” he said.

Malaysiakini

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has said that he is not contemplating retirement from politics yet, as he believes that his work “is not done” in the Malaysian political arena after Pakatan Rakyat’s defeat in yesterday’s disputed polls.

Anwar (right), who has said that he does not accept the Election Commission’s (EC) results for the general election, where Pakatan managed to win 89 parliamentary seats but fell short of forming the federal government, said that he will need to “settle all the issues” regarding the polls results before evaluating his options.

He had previously said that he would consider retiring to a teaching job in Europe if Pakatan fails to attain power this elections.

“These elections have been stolen from us by Umno-BN. As far as I am concerned, we have won this election,” he told Malaysiakini during an interview at PKR headquarters today.

Anwar said that he and the other coalition party leaders from DAP and PAS will decide on the next course of action, which will probably involve petitions to the court to re-look into the results of some disputed seats.

“I have said that the issue of legitimacy (of the elections) is in question. There is evidence of clear fraud. There are constituencies where we have a case. We will not accept the results of these seats- about 30 to 40 of them. We are working on it,” said Anwar.

Dressed in a dappled black shirt and a black coat, Anwar appeared mellow and slightly downbeat, and even admitted that he and his family did enjoy his time teaching in the US.

“When I was teaching in the US, those were the best times for me, Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail, his wife) and the family,” he said.

Anwar noted that he was confident that he was robbed of winning this election because of the groundswell momentum that he had observed during the last leg of his campaign.

“I know about the sentiments, because I have been campaigning my whole life,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“It saddens me (the result). I can still visualise the frustration that the people had during my ceramah nationwide,” he added.

During the closing days of campaigning, Pakatan ceramahs nationwide drew in bumper crowds ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 participants almost on a daily basis.

Postal votes don’t reflect groundswell sentiments

He also said that apart from allegations about phantom and foreign voters along with reports of controversial final counts which favoured BN, early votes and postal votes did not reflect the groundswell sentiments.

“Early votes and postal votes – are you telling me that Pakatan only got 12 percent of these votes? Are the army and police cut off from the rest of Malaysia? They don’t have relatives that they communicate with?” he asked.

He, however, appeared to be slightly sceptical about getting any form of response from the EC regarding the alleged discrepancies in the polling process.

“Of course they (EC) never took us seriously. They are unrepentant and are in a state of denial. They must be stupid to say that the indelible ink can’t be washed off when thousands of people complained about the same thing,” he further added.

“But we have not tried yet, we will give them a chance to respond to us,” he added, before saying that his party “cannot accept the process”.

“It has become so pervasive, the extent of fraud, that this is maybe the worst-conducted elections we ever had.”

Anwar, 65, was stripped of his deputy prime minister’s post and subsequently jailed for corruption in 1998 in a highly publicised rift with then-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He spent six years in jail prior to his release in 2004, and also formed Parti Keadilan Nasional, which later became Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)

This election was the first time he had led an opposition pact heading into the polls- his wife Wan Azizah was still the opposition leader during the 2008 elections because Anwar was still banned from contesting.

Going by results alone, this is still the best ever performance for an opposition pact  in the country’s history – with 89 parliamentary seats obtained.

Pakatan have won seven more seats than the 82 it won in 2008, and also won the popular vote nationwide at about 51 percent.

However, Anwar might be pushing 70 by the time Malaysia heads into the 14th general election, and it remains to be seen if a man who has has made an unlikely comeback in politics would be able to muster one last push to unseat BN, and assume the prime minister’s post.

MAY 2, 2013

This morning, I will be disclosing information and findings regarding the sudden surge in the arrival of dubious individuals on chartered flights since April 25th. These are foreign nationals as well as Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak who have been flown in to Peninsula Malaysia.

We have also received information that there has been a sudden surge in the arrivals of foreign workers from Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar through Bukti Kayu Hitam as well those from Indonesia through Port Kelang and other coastal entry points.

The timing of this surge in arrivals and its sheer size raises naturally raises the question of whether they have been transported here surreptitiously to vote in favour of Barisan Nasional.

We also received information that these flights were made at the instruction of the Prime Minister’s Department and made through a letter signed by a minister. The facts that we have established so far are:

The number of these flights, as many as 16 per day from East Malaysia primarily departing from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu as well as Sandakan, Miri and Sibu, with some flights using jumbo jets. The number of charter flights per day is more than even the number of charter flights during the Haj season.

Based on our calculations, as many as 4,500 people are being transported via the in-bound flights into KLIA each day. This has been taking place each day with the exception of May 1st, since April 25th.

This means at least 40,500 dubious individuals have and are still entering via this method of chartered flights via KLIA. This does not include foreign nationals who are being moved through land routes and seaports or other airport facilities such as LCCT.

The points of arrival of these flights have been KLIA Sepang as well as Bayan Lepas and Senai. We also have information that military aircraft (C130 Hercules) are being used to bring in these phantom voters to land in smaller airports such as Batu Berendam and Ipoh.

We have credible documentary evidence that these groups of foreign nationals are being transported from the airports to various sequestration points within Selangor/Kuala Lumpur and the other affected states using transport provided by various government agencies as well as charted bus operators;

We believe that the Election Commission in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office, and the involvement of a number of other agencies are involved in this operation. We now demand answers to the following questions from the relevant parties:

1. Can the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of the Armed Forces assure us that the Royal Malaysian Police and Malaysian Armed Forces are neutral professionals and are not involved in a plot to keep Barisan Nasional in power? Can both of them confirm that their intelligence personnel are not involved in orchestrating the movement of these dubious people?
2. Can the Chief of Armed Forces explain if the various Territorial Army (Askar Wataniah) camps have been used as accommodation centers for these dubious individuals?
3. Can the Director General of Immigration explain the role of the various depots in Lenggeng, Sepang and Semenyih in providing accommodation these foreign phantom voters?
4. Can the Director General of the National Registration Department explain whether foreign workers in the Sepang Formula 1 Circuit and KLIA have been given Malaysian identity cards?

We warn the Election Commission and its cahoots that there are many patriotic Malaysians in the various security agencies, airlines and airport employees who are angry and upset that the sovereignty of the country is being compromised. These patriots are monitoring and documenting all the suspicious movements groups of individuals. We have video recordings, photographic evidence and documents to support our claims. We also have the flight schedule of these chartered flights.

We want to warn the current Barisoan Nasional caretaker government not to deny Malaysians their democratic rights to vote freely and fairly. They should also not exploit powerless and marginalized foreign nationals or Malaysians for their goal of staying in power.

I also call upon Malaysians to document all evidence of the inflow of these imported voters. Take photos or videos of their movements. For those have in any way been involved in this operation, please forward to us the evidences that you have. We must protect the sovereignty of the rakyat.

Finally, we urge every single voter who loves Malaysia to come out to take control of our destiny by voting and not let the BN steal our election by using these dubious voters. If Pakatan Rakyat, Insyallah, is given the mandate by the rakyat, we will declare 6th May 2013 a national holiday to allow Malaysia to return home after the voting exercise.

We must overwhelm these imported voters with our high turnout to ensure our dignity and sovereignty. Let us exorcise this country from the demons of BN and the Election Commission.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Sinar Harian

Lebih daripada 60 peratus responden yang dipilih secara rawak oleh Pusat Kajian Demokrasi dan Pilihan Raya Universiti Malaya (Umcedel) mahu Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berdebat berhubung manifesto masing-masing menjelang hari mengundi 5 Mei ini.

Kajian membabitkan 1,407 responden ini bermula pada 3 April lalu dan berakhir pada 20 April iaitu pada hari penamaan calon.

Sebanyak 23 peratus daripada responden mengatakan debat mengenai manifesto kedua-dua pemimpin ini tidak perlu sementara 14 peratus lagi tidak pasti mengenainya.

Hasil kajian yang dilakukan oleh Umcedel menunjukkan pengundi Cina lebih cenderung kepada manifesto yang dibentangkan oleh Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pada Februari lalu.

“(Sebanyak) 77 peratus pengundi Cina yakin janji PR menurunkan harga minyak,” kata Pengarah Umcedel, Profesor Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman pada sidang media hari ini.

Antara manifesto popular PR yang ditanya kepada masyarakat termasuklah janji menurunkan caj air dan elektrik (64 peratus), menghapuskan tol (60 peratus), menurunkan harga kereta (61 peratus) dan pendidikan percuma (63 peratus).

Sementara manifesto BN yang turut ditanyakan ialah menaikkan Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia kepada RM1,200 (52 peratus), janji program transformasi seperti Klinik Rakyat 1Malaysia, Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (52 peratus) dan jani membina satu juta rumah mampu milik (51 peratus).