Sembang-sembang Forum last night invited Dato Zaid Ibrahim and Deputy Chief Minister of Penang YB Dr Mansor bin Othman to a forum titled “Two Party System and the Future of Malaysia”It was a great success! The turn out was great, about 400+ Penangites of all walks of life attended. There were interesting Q&A. I congratulate Penangites for actively speaking up on politics, unlike before! This has shown the maturity of our politics and we gotta engage each other more in these discussions for the betterment of the country.Please see the Malaysiakini Reporting. http://malaysiakini.com/news/116533Zaid: Sabah, S’wak vital to Putrajaya dream PKR coordinator Zaid Ibrahim said Pakatan Rakyat must make a major breakthrough in Sabah and Sarawak in the next general election if the coalition wanted to capture the federal government.
Speaking at the ‘Sembang Sembang Forum’ in Penang last night, he said Pakatan must win the majority of parliamentary seats in both the East Malaysian states if the coalition harboured hopes of taking over Putrajaya.
However, the former de facto law minister pointed out that it would be anything but a walk in the park given that Barisan Nasional has a strong hold on the two states.
“It’s not going to be easy. But Pakatan would have to make inroads into Sabah and Sarawak,” he told some 1,000 people who attended the forum.
Moreover, he said the issues and politics in Sabah and Sarawak were very different and more complicated than the Peninsular.
He said both states have issues such as customary land rights, disproportionate development, natives rights and illegal immigrants.
Zaid said if Pakatan wanted to realise its dream of capturing Putrajaya, the coalition must come out strongly to support and address these issues.
He pointed out that unlike Sabah, Sarawak had not experienced a change in political leadership for the past 30 years.
Sabah has 25 parliamentary seats while Sarawak has 31, making up some 20 percent of the country’s 222 federal seats.
During the 2008 general election, BN won all but two seats - one in each state.
Work towards common agenda
Meanwhile, Zaid also emphasised that Pakatan allies – PKR, PAS and DAP - must compromise their individual political agendas to reach a consensus on a common agenda.
The former Umno leader expressed hope that the common agenda he prepared would be accepted and endorsed by the three allies before the Pakatan national convention in December.
“PAS must come out from its usual rhetoric religious stance. DAP must work harder to eliminate the perception that it is a Chinese-based party.
“But I would say that both parties have come far on both fronts,” he said.
He also said that Pakatan would have to unveil its style of governance, policies and action plans to convince the public that it was a different government-in-waiting.
On PAS’ commitment to Pakatan, he said the party would not leave the opposition coalition because “it was its lifetime ambition to knock Umno off its perch.”
Zaid, who is currently on a six-month break, also dismissed rumours about his rift with PKR vice-president Azmin Ali.
The ‘Sembang Sembang Forum’ is an initiative of Pantai Jerejak assemblyperson Sim Tze Tzin.
Also present was Deputy Chief Minister 1 and PKR state chief Mansor Othman
