Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP Labis DAP Branch dinner held at Labis, Johore on Friday, April 15, 1994 at 8pm
General elections can be held any time after the new constituency redelineations come into force on 30th June
Yesterday, the Government tabled in Parliament the Election Commission’s new proposal for the redellineation of parliamentary and state assembly constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
These new redelineation of electoral constituencies, however unfair and undemocratic in violating the democratic principle of ‘one-man one-vote’, would be adopted by the present Parliamentary meeting with the mindless majority commanded by the Barisan Nasional.
General elections could be held any time after the new constituency redelineation come into force on 30th June,1994.
Recently, I have been warning that the DAP can do very badly in the next general elections, even worse than the 1982 generla elections when DAP could secure only six Parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia.
What I am saying is nothing new, for MCA leaders have been going round the country claiming that in the next general elections, they are going to win back all the seats captured by the DAP in the last general elections.
What is new in Malaysian politics is that I am prepared to admit publicly that the next general elections can be bad for the DAP, for it is not the tradition or practice for political leaders in Malaysia to admit publicly that their parties may be facing trouble in the next general elections.
I make such a public admission not because I am utterly demoralized or in a mood of despair and desperation about prospects of the next general elections. On the contrary, I am in a very fighting mood, looking forward to the battle of the next general elections. The same goes for all DAP leaders and workers.
However, being in a very fighting mood is not enough in fighting general elections.
The greatest challenge of DAP in next general elections is not only to turn the tide and maintain our present Parliamentary and State Assembly strength, but to male new inroads as capturing the Penang State Government
I believe that in a situation where the DAP faces its most difficult and challenging general elections in history, DAP leaders, members and supporters must be prepared for the worst so that they could devise a strategy not only to prevent such a worst scenario from taking place in the next general elections, but to maintain our present Parliamentary and State Assembly strength and even to make new breakthroughs by winning more seats than the next general elections.
This is the greatest challenge for the DAP in the next general elections – when everybody expect the DAP to do very badly and worse than the 1982 general elections, to prove that we can not only turn the tide to maintain our present Parliamentary and State Assembly strength, but to make new inroads, as in capturing the state government of Penang!
Has ACA cleared Samy Vellu of any criminal wrong doing in the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal for the second time because of the forthcoming Shahbandar Raya by-election in Selangor which would be contested by MIC?
Malaysians must be very surprised that the Anti-Corruption Agency Director-General, Tan Sri Zulkifli Mahmood, has suddenly cleared the MIC President and Minister for Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu, of any criminal wrongdoing in the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal for the second time.
Tan Sri Zulkifli said in a newspaper interview yesterday that the ACA has ‘completely closed investigations’ into MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal and there was no evidence found against Samy Vellu.
Why has the ACA chosen now to clear Samy Vellu a second time of any wrongdoing in the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal? Has this timing anything to do with the forthcoming Shahbandar Raya State Assembly by-election in Seleangor which would be contested by MIC?
The ACA’s credibility suffered its greatest blow when it first cleared Samy Vellu of any criminal wrongdoing in August last year, after 15 months of investigations, enabling Samy Vellu to boast in Parliament that he had ‘cleanest hands’ in the world.
I had hoped that ACA would be able to restore its credibility when it announced re-opening of investigations into the MAIKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal, when Samy Vellu’s confidante publicly admitted that he had helped Samy Vellu to fabricate Telekom shares accounts to frustrate and obstruct ACA investigations.
My hopes on the ACA has again been misplaced. When in future, when historians studied the failure of the ACA to make a dent in the fight against corruption in high political places, its failure in the MAKA Telekom shares hijacking scandal would be a classic example.
If Bank Negara is a commercial bank, it would have been taken over by the government because it is insolvent by over RM2 billion
During the Parliamentary debate on the Bank Negara’s colossal foreign exchange losses on Tuesday, Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would not admit that Bank Negara is insolvent by over RM2 billion.
It is most shocking that the Finance Minister of Malaysia does not understand what is the meaning of insolvency, when it is understood by every accountancy student or businessman.
A firm, business or bank s insolvent when its liabilities exceed its assets.
In BANK Negara’s case, according to its 1993 Accounts, its assets at the end of the year totaled RM3,697 million. However, it had not taken into account the RM5,707 million losses Bank Negara incurred as a result of forward foreign exchange speculation last year.
If this RM5.7 billion losses had been taken into account, as it should have been, the liabilities of BANK Negara will exceed its assets by RM2.01 billion – making it an insolvent Central Bank!
There is no doubt that if a commercial bank had been placed in a position like Bank Negara, where it is insolvent by RM2.01 billion, it would have been taken over by the government.
Here, the Finance Minister is even arguing whether Bank Negara is insolvent or not!
From this, we can see the extent the Government will go to hide the full magnitude of the foreign exchange losses suffered by Bank Nagara because of speculation in the forward foreign exchanged markets since 1992.
The RM30 billion foreign exchange losses suffered by the Bank Negara since 1992 is equivalent to a person striking RM2 million lottery every day for over 41 years
Actually, the BANK Negara suffered more forex losses last year than just the RM5.7 billion. I had calculated in Parliament when I spoke on my urgent motion on the colossal Bank Negara forex losses on Tuesday that Bank Negara could have lost as much as RM17 billion in 1993 and RM13 billion in 1992 – making a total of RM30 billion since 1992.
This is so colossal a figure that it is impossible for ordinary layman to grasp the immensity of the amounts involved.
I f a person strikes a RM2 million lottery every day, it will take him over 41 years of daily striking the RM2 million lottery to reach RM20 billion!
This is why the DAP has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to find the real extent and causes of the RM20 billion Bank Negara forex losses – which is about 12 times the BMF scandal which shock the country ten years ago.