SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not meddle in politics, said Kita chief Zaid Ibrahim.
“Mahathir, now that he has retired, should stay out of politics. Once your time is over, it is over,” Zaid said in response to a question at a forum entitled “13th General Election: Whose Vote Decides?” organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday.
A polling agent raised the question of Rosmah’s influence on her husband and if it may contribute to BN faring badly in the upcoming general election.
The other speakers were Deputy Higher Education Minister and Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah, Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Universiti Malaya media studies senior lecturer Abu Hassan Hasbullah.
Saifuddin came to the government’s defence and dismissed the notion of Rosmah’s influence on her husband and in the politics of the day.
He cited the amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act, the government’s transformation programmes and the repeal of the ISA as examples of how Najib acted independently without anyone’s influence.
Rosmah has been in the news for her alleged exhorbitant and extravagant spending since Najib came into power in April 2009.
Abu Hassan weighed in by calling voters to reject individuals who misuse public funds.
“Irrespective of whether they are wives or children of ministers, if they misuse public funds, they must be rejected,” he said.
The panellists, however, had different opinions on which group would be an influential force to decide on the fate of the next government.
New reality voters
Zaid said that the Malay votes would be a crucial factor. “They will determine the outcome as they are the biggest group.“The Malays would only be able to be a strong voter bloc if they were willing to reject the corrupt culture perpertrated by Umno whom he referred to as the ‘biggest Malay party’.”
Abu Hassan named three groups who he said will play a crucial role in the outcome of the next general election.
“The 21 to 40 age group who make up 68 percent of the voters (three percent of this group have already made up their minds); the Chinese community who make up 45 percent of the voters in some places; and lastly, the women bloc who have 48 to 57 percent influence in generally all the constituencies,” said Abu Hassan.
Lim’s witty reply was: “Phantom voters would decide. And if reform efforts fail, then we would have a phantom government.”
On a serious note, he acknowledged that Sabah and Sarawak voters were a formidable bloc.
“They can determine the fate of at least 112 parliamentary seats,” Lim said, adding that he hoped Pakatan Rakyat would form the next federal government with a simple majority.
Currently, Pakatan has 77 seats in Parliament after five MPs turned BN-friendly independents.
Saifuddin, however, picked the new reality voters as the group that would be the deciding factor.
“It is definitely not BN or Pakatan supporters but the new reality voters,” he said.
He described the new reality voter group as those who are connected on social networking sites via informal groupings and are for participatory democratic transformation.
Nurul said that Umno-BN would be the deciding factor based on the ruling coalition’s willingness to implement electoral reforms.
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