






Daripada Tham Choy Lin
HULU SELANGOR, 15 April (Bernama) -- Ketua Penerangan MIC P. Kamalanathan dipilih mewakili Barisan Nasional (BN) pada pilihan raya kecil bagi kerusi Parlimen Hulu Selangor 25 April ini.KUALA LUMPUR 9 April - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) dicabar meletakkan calon bukan Melayu pada Pilihan Raya Kecil Parlimen Hulu Selangor pada 25 April ini bagi memberi keadilan kepada semua kaum di kawasan tersebut.
Ketua Penerangan UMNO, Datuk Ahmad Maslan berkata, ini memandangkan dua daripada tiga kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) di Parlimen Hulu Selangor iaitu Hulu Bernam dan Batang Kali kini disandang pemimpin Melayu.
Katanya, oleh itu adalah wajar jika kerusi Parlimen diwakili oleh pemimpin bukan Melayu di samping DUN Kuala Kubu Bharu memandangkan jumlah pengundi Melayu dan bukan Melayu adalah seimbang.
''Justeru jika mereka tidak meletakkan calon bukan Melayu, bererti mereka tidak adil kepada kaum lain dari segi pembahagian kerusi,'' katanya.
Beliau yang juga Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri berkata demikian selepas menghadiri program ramah mesra bersama penduduk di kilang sawit Felda Sungai Tengi di sini hari ini.
Pada pilihan raya umum lalu, PKR meletakkan calon Melayu di kerusi yang ditandingi parti itu iaitu Parlimen Hulu Selangor dan DUN Batang Kali manakala DUN Kuala Kubu Bharu pula ditandingi DAP manakala Pas bertanding di DUN Hulu Bernam.
Kawasan pilihan raya Parlimen Hulu Selangor mempunyai 64,500 pemilih berdaftar yang terdiri daripada 63,701 pengundi biasa dan 799 pengundi pos.
Daripada jumlah tersebut, orang Melayu merupakan majoriti dengan 34,020 pengundi atau 52.7 peratus manakala kaum Cina dan India masing-masing mencatatkan bilangan 16,964 atau 26.3 peratus dan 12,453 atau 19.3 peratus.
Ahmad berkata, konsep pembahagian kuasa yang diamalkan BN melambangkan pemerintahan yang adil berteraskan gagasan 1Malaysia.
Mengenai peluang pada pilihan raya kecil tersebut, Ahmad yakin kemenangan akan berpihak kepada calon BN memandangkan rakyat semakin selesa dengan pentadbiran Kerajaan Pusat.
Selain itu katanya, banyak permohonan penduduk di Parlimen Hulu Selangor diluluskan oleh Kerajaan Pusat seperti pembinaan jalan raya, bantuan membaiki rumah dan juga keperluan lain.
Justeru beliau mengharapkan BN bukan sahaja menang di kerusi tersebut malah menang dengan majoriti yang agak selesa terutama peti undi di tanah rancangan Felda yang mempunyai 6,904 pengundi.
''Di empat tanah rancangan Felda di Parlimen Hulu Selangor iaitu Felda Sungai Tengi, Felda Sungai Tengi Selatan, Felda Soeharto dan Felda Gedangsa, kita jangkakan majoriti bakal bertambah berbanding pilihan raya umum lalu.
''Jika pada 2008, calon BN menang dengan majoriti 1,100 undi di empat Felda itu, kali ini saya harap majoriti tersebut akan lebih baik,'' ujarnya.
Sementara itu, Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO, Khairy Jamaluddin turut mencabar Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim meletakkan calon berketurunan India bertanding di Parlimen Hulu Selangor.
Beliau berkata, Abdul Khalid perlu berbuat demikian bagi membuktikan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) mempunyai keberanian meletakkan calon daripada kaum minoriti seperti dilakukan oleh Barisan Nasional (BN).
''Khalid tidak sedar bahawa langkah BN ini menepati konsep 1Malaysia. Oleh itu, saya cabar dia untuk letakkan calon kaum India jika pembangkang merasakan mereka benar-benar lebih hebat daripada BN.
''Puak PKR ini hanya pandai bercakap sahaja. Mereka sebenarnya tidak boleh buat seperti mana BN. Saya percaya dalam pilihan raya ini mereka tidak berani untuk meletakkan calon daripada kaum minoriti,'' katanya.
Beliau bercakap kepada pemberita selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Exco Pemuda UMNO di Menara Dato' Onn, Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) di sini hari ini.
Khairy mengulas hasrat Abdul Khalid untuk menyerang gagasan 1Malaysia sepanjang kempen pilihan raya kecil itu kerana didakwanya banyak kelemahan dan ditolak oleh rakyat.
Bagi Khairy, Abdul Khalid harus berpijak di bumi nyata bahawa konsep 1Malaysia semakin diterima oleh rakyat negara ini termasuk generasi muda.
''Bagaimana dia boleh kata rakyat menolak 1Malaysia sedangkan dalam satu tinjauan yang dibuat, Perdana Menteri telah mendapat sokongan yang tinggi sehingga 68 peratus berbanding pada awal pelantikannya hanya 44 peratus," tegasnya.
Dalam perkembangan lain, Khairy hairan melihat telatah kerajaan pakatan pembangkang di Selangor yang memberi pelbagai habuan kepada penduduk di kawasan Hulu Selangor.
''Saya mendapat maklumat Abdul Khalid dan barisan pemimpin lain berkampung di kawasan Hulu Selangor dan memberi pelbagai habuan dan bantuan sama ada dalam bentuk tunai atau kelulusan geran tanah.
''Bila ditanya mengenai kelulusan yang diberi ini mereka kata kebetulan hendak diberi sekarang. Inilah tuduhan yang telah dibuat kepada BN sebelum ini. Rupa-rupanya mereka yang melakukan perbuatan itu sebenarnya,'' katanya lagi.
-UTUSAN







On the eve of the Annapolis Summit, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General ERIC SHINSEKI has asked that his name be added to a letter to the President and Secretary of State about the fundamental requirements for a successful Israel-Palestine outcome.
Former New Jersey Governor and Bush Administration EPA Administrator CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN and Rice University James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Director and former US Ambassador EDWARD DJEREJIAN has also agreed to sign the letter.
The New America Foundation, International Crisis Group, and US/Middle East Project helped draft and promulgate a letter to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the Annapolis Peace Summit several weeks ago.
The letter, as first drafted, calls for a process that is inclusive of all parties in the region, a process that has impact on the daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis, and is not a one-shot deal that ends with this Summit.
There are many signers of the letter now, but initial signatories included BRENT SCOWCROFT, ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, CARLA HILLS, NANCY KASSEBAUM BAKER, LEE HAMILTON, THOMAS PICKERING, THEODORE SORENSEN, and PAUL VOLCKER.
Other signatories in the subsequent weeks have "included" but are not limited to:
US AID Deputy Administrator HARRIET "HATTIE" BABBITT, former USIA Chief JOSEPH DUFFEY, former US Senator GARY HART, former US Senator LINCOLN CHAFEE, RAND Corporation Board Member and New America Foundation/American Strategy Program Chair RITA HAUSER, former Assistant Secretary of State JAMES DOBBINS, former State Department Policy Planning Director MORTON HALPERIN, former Deputy Ambassador to the UN WILLIAM VAN DEN HEUVEL, former Israel Foreign Minister SCHLOMO BEN-AMI. . .former US Senator BIRCH BAYH, former Congressman and Corning CEO AMO HOUGHTON Jr., former National Intelligence Council Chairman ROBERT HUTCHINGS, Fletcher School Dean and former U.S. Ambassador STEPHEN BOSWORTH, former Assistant Secretary of Defense LAWRENCE KORB, former American Political Science Association President and Columbia University professor ROBERT JERVIS, Kings College Terrorism Chair and New America Foundation Senior Fellow ANATOL LIEVEN, former National Security Agency Director Lt. General WILLIAM ODOM. . .
Committee for the Republic President WILLIAM NITZE, Brookings Visiting Senior Fellow DIANA VILLIERS NEGROPONTE, Former CIA Deputy Director JOHN McLAUGHLIN, former US Ambassador JOHN MALOTT, former EU Commissioner for Foreign Relations CHRISTOPHER PATTEN, former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East PAUL PILLAR, former US Senator LARRY PRESSLER, former US Ambassador FELIX ROHATYN. . .
MIT Center for International Studies Director RICHARD SAMUELS, retired Marine Corps General JOHN J. "JACK" SHEEHAN, Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School Dean ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER, Former Congressman STEPHEN SOLARZ, former First USA Bank CEO and Adagio Partners CEO RICHARD VAGUE, Former US Senator and UN Foundation President TIMOTHY WIRTH, and former US Ambassador and AIG Vice Chairman FRANK WISNER. . .
former New Jersey Governor and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Nixon Center President and National Interest Publisher DIMITRI SIMES, former National Security Advisor to Vice President Al Gore LEON FUERTH, Brookings Senior Fellow PHILIP GORDON, former US Ambassador to NATO ROBERT HUNTER, former Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister ANWAR IBRAHIM, former CIA Deputy Director JOHN McLAUGHLIN. . .
former State Department Chief of Staff LAWRENCE WILKERSON, Lehman Brothers Managing Director THEODORE ROOSEVELT IV, former US Ambassador JOSEPH WILSON, former Chief Monitor of the Middle East Roadmap at the Department of State JOHN S. WOLF -- among others.
The Annapolis Summit is actually an extraordinary meeting of global players -- including the foreign ministers of all P-5 nations not to mention a vast number of Arab states -- but more needs to be known on whether something tangible and transmittable to the next US President will emerge from this meeting.
While I have heard through the DC grapevine that the Palestinians are depressed after being cajoled into signing a joint declaration, they are hopeful and semi-confident that Bush's speech on Tuesday at the session will offer some greater specificity on his vision of various "final status" issues.
As one friend of mine close to the process told me today, it is vital that the White House understand that it is not only Ehud Ohlmert who needs to give a victory speech when he goes home -- but also Palestinian Authority President Abbas. If Palestinians on the street don't feel bolstered by the outcome tomorrow, Abbas will be politically crushed -- and Hamas, which is not included in this process, will emerge a victor.
More later.
-- Steve Clemons
Fikir-fikirkanlah...
-Bangsa Kecewa