Statement by the Press Secretary on Malaysia’s Elections
On behalf of the President and the people of the United States, we congratulate Prime Minister Najib on his coalition’s victory in Malaysia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday May 5. We also congratulate the people of Malaysia, who turned out in record numbers to cast their votes, as well as the parties of the opposition coalition on their campaigns, as a vibrant opposition is a foundation of democracy. We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised. We look forward to the outcome of their investigations. The United States looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the government and the people of Malaysia to continue to strengthen democracy, peace, and prosperity in the region.
Malaysians protesting in Singapore at Merlion park 08 May ’13
Live pictures: Malaysians mass protest in Singapore at Merlion fountain, asking for a “Bersih” election. Pic credit: Michelle Low via 忠政快讯
Spotted on Yahoo Newsroom, pictures of Pakatan’s mammoth Kelana Jaya rally. HUGE turnout!
Demonstrators attend a rally in protest of the Sunday’s election results at a stadium in Kelana Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur May 8, 2013. Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim vowed on Tuesday to lead a “fierce movement” to reform the country’s electoral system and challenge the results of an election he lost, starting with a rally of supporters this week.
Anwar has contested the results of the most closely fought election since Malaysia was engulfed in race riots in 1969, accusing the ruling party of fraud, including use of immigrants as proxy voters, charges the government denies. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Demonstrators attend a rally in protest of the Sunday’s election results at a stadium in Kelana Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur May 8, 2013. At least 40,000 supporters of Malaysia’s opposition held a rally near Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to protest alleged vote fraud, with its leader Anwar Ibrahim vowing to the crowds he would expose the cheating he says cost them an election win. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
I was just browsing through my Facebook newsfeed when I suddenly noticed that many of my Malaysian Facebook friends had changed their profile pictures to black.
After scanning through the numerous profile picture changes, I finally discovered why.
Taken from The Real Singapore:
The vote counting for the General Election 2013, Malaysia, dragged on for several hours with numerous incidents of high tension and minor violence.
As at 1am, the Barisan Nationals (BN) have won 112 seats and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have won 58. BN has won the elections by securing the simple majority and will stay in power for another term.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on May 5, 2013 before the announcement of the election results. Malaysians voted in record numbers in the May 5 general election, with one of the world’s longest-serving governments facing a serious threat from an upstart opposition that pledges sweeping reform. — PHOTO: AFP
In a press conference, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim expressed his concerns over the election events citing several key allegations of dirty tactics.
Reports of the not so ‘indelible’ ink, phantom voters, legitimate voters being turned away due to having ‘already’ cast a vote, voting slips completed in pencil as well as reports of mysterious vehicles allegedly carrying extra ballot boxes into voting centers have painted a grim picture for the fairness of the electoral procedure.
Many Malaysians have expressed their disappointment at the results with a online trend emerging to show their disapproval. Many have posted photos of black as well as changing profile pictures to black boxes to sybolize the lack of transparency and democracy.
I was quite surprised also that BN won because I know that all of my Malaysian friends were planning to vote for PR and well, several of my friends shared this photo in the afternoon and according to the response, Malaysians seemed to be leaning towards the PR party in many states as seen from the JustUndi Poll screenshot.
*Edit: This is just a poll results and does not reflect actual votes
Also, I heard from many of my Facebook friends that there was a 10 minute blackout at many polling stations.
and suddenly new boxes of votes for the Barisan Nasional (BN) party came out of nowhere.
According to 辛卡米克‘s Facebook page, this is probably what happened during the blackout:
So here’s presenting to you…
The magical blackout!
Yes indeed, like magic! *poof*
Well, no one shouldn’t be really surprised at these tactics. Check out this article from The Guardian News (UK):
Malaysia’s governing party accused of dirty tricks in run-up to election Opposition claim irregularities in electoral register and say PM’s party is flying supporters into marginal constituencies
Supporters greet the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, who has denied chartering planes to move voters into marginal constituencies. Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
Malaysia’s governing party has been accused of a series of dirty tricks to ensure it keeps hold of power after Sunday’s election.
The prime minister has denied chartering planes to move tens of thousands of voters into marginal constituencies. Najib Razak’s party, the United Malays National Organisation, said the flights had been paid for by supporters and not by the prime minister’s office and were a routine effort to help people get back home to vote.
The opposition allege a number of other abuses in the lead-up to the closest election since independence in 1957. One researcher found a suspiciously large number of voters over the age of 100 in the eastern state of Sabah. Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, says there are nearly 5,000 extra voters registered in her constituency in Kuala Lumpur whom she cannot trace.
Well, as a Singaporean across the border, I can’t do much to help or support my Malaysian friends except to share what’s going on, and also to help share this petition:
Hello! I'm mitsueki aka Daphne and I blog at mitsueki.sg! Follow me on IG for more updates too!
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27 Comments on “Malaysia General Election 2013 // The Darkest Day in Malaysia?”
Great article! Thanks for sharing it. The blackout thing is kind of an old trick. Someone was accused to using this trick 50 years ago. http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/370204 Lucky it was an one off thing and was never used again by him.
FYI – the justUndiPoll pic you have posted are NOT real results. It is an online poll collected thru a smartphone app from people who voluntarily enter their preferences.
But the allegations of extra votes, particularly in closely-fought seats, as well as foreigners given ICs to vote and the ferrying of voters probably have some truth in it.
Thanks for sharing the story though – awareness is important.
Secondly, I hope you play your part in helping Singapore on its own way to a much better democracy too. In many ways the PAP is similar to BN – it keeps its power through underhand tactics e.g. interfering in due process (e.g. A-P Cherian George’s recent case, or by raising lawsuits), heavy-handed response to fair criticism (recent SMRT strike) and media control (unbalanced reporting)…, just not the same means as what the Malaysian government does! But the main problem is that many Singaporeans are unconcerned or choose to remain ignorant.
Hi Darren, thank for pointing out about the JustUndi poll, I didnt know about that as my friends who shared it on Facebook mentioned that it was the latest updated election results (so I thought the same way), but I hve edited/updated accordingly. With regards to the allegrations, it does seem true based on what I’ve seen shared through social media – pictures and videos so I’ll just leave it as that until otherwise.
Meanwhile with regards to democracy in SG, well most of us know whats going on, so we’ll see at the next election(:
Mitsueki-sun,
Thank you for your effect and time to share with us the special features on GE 13 Malaysia Election that you’ve written in your blog. We’re looking forward to a better future in a democratic world!
Nice post. TBH though, the opposition had very little chance of winning even though they had more votes overall. Funny huh?
Blackouts, phantom votes are just a distraction. The biggest trick is the large number of seats rural areas in sabah and sarawak. The issues faced by the peninsular arent the same as the people in those areas. The exposure to the dark side of BN isnt the same there and even if there is, they don’t really care because the opposition can’t reach them to help and dont have the funds to campaign in those small villages and plantations.
The rural areas do not care about car taxes, petrol prices (not as much as the urban folks), GST implementation, toll prices etc.
Given that the ruling party directly influences the governance of the country, regional players should be made aware of the political situations in Malaysia. It’s a pity Singapore is unable to intervene in Malaysia’s political arena to stop this corrupted behaviour. Unfortunately even though we may infer that the BN resorted to dirty tricks, there isn’t yet enough evidence to accuse them (doing so might not achieve a desired outcome either). Singaporeans should reach out to our Malaysian friends and let them know that we support them
Fellow Singaporean here, and this is my take on the disparity between online poll results and actual results of the elections, and also the reason for BN winning this elections.
1) Online polls differ so much from actual voting results due to the survey’s target group – many who do online polls are IT savvy and would thus be more well-informed about the current situation in M’sia, as compared to those of perhaps the older generation which are not as well-informed, or prefer the status quo due to their traditional mindsets and preference to not take unnecessary risks (no reason to change governments as the country is not doing too badly economy-wise). Disparity between online poll results and actual votes are very common in elections around the world, but perhaps not as apparent as in the case of M’sia.
2) Gerrymandering is definitely one of the reasons why the popular vote is 48% for BN but the electoral vote instead reflects 132 out of 222 seats for BN. Another reason for the skewed results could be that given the unfair advantages Malays gain from the incumbent government’s lead, there isn’t much reason for them to vote for the opposition, whereby their status in M’sian society may then be threatened if the opposition party were to take over the power.
Honestly, I wouldn’t consider BN to have “won” the elections per se – they may have won in black (pun unintended) and white, but what I feel is that it wasn’t a convincing win, as they did not win, or perhaps even lost, the hearts of the people, especially given the obvious manipulation of the elections this time round.
Hello I am a Singaporean observing this Malaysian General Election closely.I personally feel that BN has cheated this time round.Losing to PR on the popular vote and yet controlling the majority in parliament?What kind of democracy is this?This is fraud and although I can’t be in Petaliing Jaya wearing black,I will be praying and supporting all those attending the 5-8 rally against electoral fraud.
BN won PRU 13,that’s a fact.Get over it,stop looking for and creating nonsense & excuses,it’s time for all TRUE Malaysian to start the nation building process again
BN won because it managed to hold onto Johor,Sabah and Sarawak.The latter two states may be less populated but they seemed to have been allocated more seats than they are supposed to have.Also the delinenation of constituencies has become a big issue.Seats like Putrajaya have only a few thousand voters while opposition held seats like Pemantang Pauh and Lembah Pantai have at least 60,000 voters.
Hence from these facts,I think I can see why BN can still win despite losing on the popular vote.And of course,how can we forget those rural-based Malays who still remained loyal to UMNO/BN after many years?Now it is the urban and middle class voters,irregardless of race,language and religion,backing PR.
Interesting to note that on the day of the 508 protest gathering,CNA presenter Glenda Chong also wore all black.:-) She is one of my favourite newscasters,BTW.
Demonstrators attend a rally in protest of the Sunday’s election results at a stadium in Kelana Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur May 8, 2013. At least 40,000 supporters of Malaysia’s opposition held a rally near Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to protest alleged vote fraud, with its leader Anwar Ibrahim vowing to the crowds he would expose the cheating he says cost them an election win. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad
Great article! Thanks for sharing it. The blackout thing is kind of an old trick. Someone was accused to using this trick 50 years ago. http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/370204 Lucky it was an one off thing and was never used again by him.
Wow, I never knew that! Thanks for sharing!
FYI – the justUndiPoll pic you have posted are NOT real results. It is an online poll collected thru a smartphone app from people who voluntarily enter their preferences.
But the allegations of extra votes, particularly in closely-fought seats, as well as foreigners given ICs to vote and the ferrying of voters probably have some truth in it.
Thanks for sharing the story though – awareness is important.
Secondly, I hope you play your part in helping Singapore on its own way to a much better democracy too. In many ways the PAP is similar to BN – it keeps its power through underhand tactics e.g. interfering in due process (e.g. A-P Cherian George’s recent case, or by raising lawsuits), heavy-handed response to fair criticism (recent SMRT strike) and media control (unbalanced reporting)…, just not the same means as what the Malaysian government does! But the main problem is that many Singaporeans are unconcerned or choose to remain ignorant.
Hi Darren, thank for pointing out about the JustUndi poll, I didnt know about that as my friends who shared it on Facebook mentioned that it was the latest updated election results (so I thought the same way), but I hve edited/updated accordingly. With regards to the allegrations, it does seem true based on what I’ve seen shared through social media – pictures and videos so I’ll just leave it as that until otherwise.
Meanwhile with regards to democracy in SG, well most of us know whats going on, so we’ll see at the next election(:
Hi, thanks for sharing it.
Pray for Malaysia…
Mitsueki-sun,
Thank you for your effect and time to share with us the special features on GE 13 Malaysia Election that you’ve written in your blog. We’re looking forward to a better future in a democratic world!
Thanks Mitsueki, thanks for help us to spread our sadness, our disappointed and our anger to the world.
from,
darkness country in the world citizen.
Nice post. TBH though, the opposition had very little chance of winning even though they had more votes overall. Funny huh?
Blackouts, phantom votes are just a distraction. The biggest trick is the large number of seats rural areas in sabah and sarawak. The issues faced by the peninsular arent the same as the people in those areas. The exposure to the dark side of BN isnt the same there and even if there is, they don’t really care because the opposition can’t reach them to help and dont have the funds to campaign in those small villages and plantations.
The rural areas do not care about car taxes, petrol prices (not as much as the urban folks), GST implementation, toll prices etc.
Given that the ruling party directly influences the governance of the country, regional players should be made aware of the political situations in Malaysia. It’s a pity Singapore is unable to intervene in Malaysia’s political arena to stop this corrupted behaviour. Unfortunately even though we may infer that the BN resorted to dirty tricks, there isn’t yet enough evidence to accuse them (doing so might not achieve a desired outcome either). Singaporeans should reach out to our Malaysian friends and let them know that we support them
It is truly a pity to have such issues going on when the whole world is watching you!
Fellow Singaporean here, and this is my take on the disparity between online poll results and actual results of the elections, and also the reason for BN winning this elections.
1) Online polls differ so much from actual voting results due to the survey’s target group – many who do online polls are IT savvy and would thus be more well-informed about the current situation in M’sia, as compared to those of perhaps the older generation which are not as well-informed, or prefer the status quo due to their traditional mindsets and preference to not take unnecessary risks (no reason to change governments as the country is not doing too badly economy-wise). Disparity between online poll results and actual votes are very common in elections around the world, but perhaps not as apparent as in the case of M’sia.
2) Gerrymandering is definitely one of the reasons why the popular vote is 48% for BN but the electoral vote instead reflects 132 out of 222 seats for BN. Another reason for the skewed results could be that given the unfair advantages Malays gain from the incumbent government’s lead, there isn’t much reason for them to vote for the opposition, whereby their status in M’sian society may then be threatened if the opposition party were to take over the power.
Honestly, I wouldn’t consider BN to have “won” the elections per se – they may have won in black (pun unintended) and white, but what I feel is that it wasn’t a convincing win, as they did not win, or perhaps even lost, the hearts of the people, especially given the obvious manipulation of the elections this time round.
Thanks for this article! I have family in Malaysia and was wondering what was going on with the black profile pictures.
althou im not malaysian, i feel kinda angry.
Hello I am a Singaporean observing this Malaysian General Election closely.I personally feel that BN has cheated this time round.Losing to PR on the popular vote and yet controlling the majority in parliament?What kind of democracy is this?This is fraud and although I can’t be in Petaliing Jaya wearing black,I will be praying and supporting all those attending the 5-8 rally against electoral fraud.
May God bless Malaysia and her people.
Thank you.
BN won PRU 13,that’s a fact.Get over it,stop looking for and creating nonsense & excuses,it’s time for all TRUE Malaysian to start the nation building process again
BN won because it managed to hold onto Johor,Sabah and Sarawak.The latter two states may be less populated but they seemed to have been allocated more seats than they are supposed to have.Also the delinenation of constituencies has become a big issue.Seats like Putrajaya have only a few thousand voters while opposition held seats like Pemantang Pauh and Lembah Pantai have at least 60,000 voters.
Hence from these facts,I think I can see why BN can still win despite losing on the popular vote.And of course,how can we forget those rural-based Malays who still remained loyal to UMNO/BN after many years?Now it is the urban and middle class voters,irregardless of race,language and religion,backing PR.
Thanks for the insight and the good use and manipulation description of the whole scene in the general elections in Malaysia.
Anyway the results are already out so I guessed we just have to get on with our lifes.
Interesting to note that on the day of the 508 protest gathering,CNA presenter Glenda Chong also wore all black.:-) She is one of my favourite newscasters,BTW.
Very good presentation of how we feel! Congrats!
FUCK BLACKOUT
welcome to malaysia political style