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| Anwar must accept the fact that Najib has defeated him |
The following passages were sent to me by a political analyst a while ago.
via email:
"Though Gore came in second in the electoral vote, he received 543,895 more popular votes than Bush in 2000."This marked only the fourth election in U.S. history in which the eventual winner failed to win a plurality of the popular vote (after the elections of 1824,1876, and 1888)"In the 2012 election, House Democrats won a plurality nation-wide with 1.4 million more votes,[9][10] but the Republicans were able to retain a 234-to-201 seat majority due to their advantage in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census,[11][12][13] and because many Democratic votes were concentrated into urban and minority districts.[14] In the previous century, on four occasions the party with a plurality of the popular vote was unable to receive a majority in the House, but only once since World War II.[15] The last time was in 1996, where the GOP kept the House for similar reasons.[16][17]."
The point the analyst wants to make is this: that the popular vote is not the deciding factor in a democratic election, not even in the US elections. And certainly popular votes don't suggest fraud, rigging, black magic, etc. If they do, then the Americans would have Al Gore, who, incidentally, was a good buddy for Anwar Ibrahim, as its President instead of Bush.
In Malaysia, popular votes don't decide who form the government at Federal level. They never did. It is the number of parliamentary seats you win. Simple as that. Malaysians have done that over and over against for 13 general elections and hundreds of by-elections. And if Anwar Ibrahim tells you that BN cheated because Pakatan got more of the popular votes, then he's just found an excuse to stay on in politics instead of keeping his word about quitting if he does not become PM after PRU13.
Oh, by the way, Washington says it is looking forward to working with Najib, the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Malaysia, again:
U.S. Department of State
DIPLOMACY IN ACTION
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/
Congratulations to Barisan Nasional and Prime Minister Najib / Electoral Process
Patrick VentrellActing Deputy SpokespersonDaily Press BriefingWashington, DCMay 6, 2013
Acting Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
May 6, 2013
Daily Press Briefing - May 6, 2013
1:11 p.m. EDT
MR. VENTRELL: Yeah.
QUESTION: Do you recognize the victory of the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Najib, or do you support the claim by the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim that the election were fraudulent?
MR. VENTRELL: Thank you for the question, Nicolas. We congratulate the people of Malaysia on holding the most competitive election in their country’s history. We were pleased to see Malaysians across the political spectrum engaged in the electoral process in large numbers with unprecedented enthusiasm. We congratulate Barisan Nasional and Prime Minister Najib on their victory in Malaysia’s 13th general election. We look forward to working with the new government once it is formed.
We are aware of concerns about voting irregularities and note that the opposition parties faced significant restrictions on access to the media. Addressing these issues is important to strengthen confidence in the electoral process. And so we call on all parties to peacefully respect the will of the voters.
QUESTION: But you don’t think there needs to be a recount.
MR. VENTRELL: In this instance, we understand that the opposition has expressed some concern about irregularities, and we have some concerns also about restriction on access to the media.