by Terence Fernandez

IN 2008, many people had cast their vote for unknown and untested candidates. It was a case of party over candidate as the sentiments
against the incumbent at that time were very high.

FOLLOWINGthe "marriage of convenience" in April 2008, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has long term plans to carry on into the next season with no intention of "taking anyone out".

HE is known as “the best singles player” following his survival in several leadership crises in the MCA.

Many felt he had beaten the odds rising from youth chief to party president — albeit the shortest reign at one year and five months. Even then, he was told he only lost a set, not the game.

This assurance was repeated when he lost his Cabinet post as the transport minister. However, it seems that the final nail has been hammered into Ong’s political casket.

AS the Barisan Nasional chairman gets set to announce the party's candidates list, several politicians in the twilight of their lives are hoping, secretly or otherwise, that they will have the opportunity for "one last kopek" before riding off into the sunset.

SO was it a budget or a manifesto? At first glance the Barisan Nasional bid which was launched by its chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared as a financial plan for the nation over the next five years with tax cuts, housing and more money being dished out by the incumbent government.

WITH the looming general election, videos and CDs purportedly showing sexual indiscretions of politicians are expected to be used as political weapons once again.

Pakatan Rakyat, particularly is on the offensive with PKR secretarygeneral Datuk Saifuddin Nasution calling for a press conference today to deny “sex DVDs” purportedly featuring the likeness of several PKR leaders including vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and deputy president Azmin Ali.

REVELATIONS over the weekend at the Bar Council annual general meeting, of a thorny issue dodging our country’s current leadership comes at the worst possible time for the federal incumbents The issue is so sensitive that many of the mainstream press do not even dare mention it — skirting around the matter or cleverly hiding behind choice words and sentences to send the message to readers and viewers without actually mentioning the t

DON’T be fooled by the request for a ceasefire. This could just be a rouse for the Sulu intruders to regroup and strategise their next move.

Andrin Raj, the Southeast Asia regional director for the International Association of Counter-terrorism and Security Professionals, said the heavily-armed gunmen have satellite capabilities which could be used to communicate undetected and plan a fresh wave of attacks.

“We must curtail the problem as we have seen this tactic used by militants in the Philippines,” he told The Malay Mail.

THE MALAY MAIL: What are your observations of Malaysia's democratic evolution? Is it encouraging for you or do you think it's too slow?

PAUL JONES: Democracy is a journey, not an end-point. And I think countries around the world progress along that journey, according to different paces and times. I'm encouraged by a really vibrant debate I see here, by the role of civil society.