Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the inaugural general meeting of the newly-registered Jalan Assumption DAP Branch in Bagan on Wednesday, 10th August 1994 at 8 pm
I will be writing to Mahathir for a meeting to discuss the holding a ‘free, fair and clean’ general elections
The Government and the Opposition parties should co-operate to make the next general elections, the ninth general elections since Merdeka and the first general elections since Mahathir’s Vision 2020 announcement, a model general elections for the world which is recognized internally as well as externally as ‘free, fair and clean.’
Let us recognize the flaws and defects in the previous general elections, in particular the abuses of the 3M – namely money, mass media and government machinery.
Mahathir and called an extraordinary UMNO General Assembly to amend the UMNO constitution to stamp out money politics so that UMNO will not be destroyed by corruption.
There is also a need, before the next general elections, to introduce new election laws and regulations so that the democratic system is not destroyed by money politics and electoral abuses.
DAP proposes and All-Party Conference to draw up guidelines for the conduct of fair, free and clean general elections
DAP proposes the holding of an All-Party Conference to draw up guidelines for the conduct of fair, free and clean general elections.
All election laws and regulations should be amended to conform with this Guideline for Fair, Free and Clean General Elections.
As the general elections is not far away, the Prime Minister should not delay and should convene this All-Party Conference immediately.
The haze which Mahathir and the Cabinet had brought to Penang three weeks ago have not yet been dispersed
Three weeks ago, Mahathir led the entire Federal Cabinet to Penang in a three-day Save-Dr. Koh Tsu Koon Operation.
Penangites noted that Mahathir and Cabinet brought along he haze to Penang, and after three weeks, the haze over Penang had not dispersed.
Mahathir and the Cabinet had also brought along the ‘political haze’ to Penang politics, starting with his comment that the Penang DAP had recruited 11,000 Malay members in the state.
Nobody in the Barisan Nasional dares to state that Mahathir had succeeded in the ‘Save-Koh Tsu Koon’ Operation as up to now, such ‘political haze’ has also not dissipated.
DAP’s Battle of Tanjong 3 in Penang will be the centre of national focus in the next general elections, and it will be even more intense, challenging and exciting than DAP’s Battle of Tanjong 2.
For Gerakan, it will be a ‘life and death’ battle, for if DAP captures the Penang state government, it will not only mark the death of Gerakan in Penang but throughout Malaysia!
Without its Penang power base, Gerekan will be reduced to a position even worse than the People’s Progressive Party.
For this reason, Gerakan is resorting to ‘dirty tricks’ for the next general elections, as in registering /phantom voters’ from other constituencies and even from other states in certain Gerakan constituencies to save the Gerakan candidates from defeat.
It is important therefore that there should be a special look-out for these ‘phantom voters’ which were registered during the 21-day Voters’ Registration Exercise last month.
I hope the Gerakan leaders had taken heed of my public warning last month that the DAP will be on the look-out for these ‘phantom voters’ in certain Gerakan constituencies, particularly Tanjong Bungah state constituency in Penang and Bruas parliamentary constituency in Perak.