Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Dr M turns his back on Muhyiddin?

When Barisan Nasional was battered blue and black in the 2008 electoral bout, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Tun Razak hammered the final nail into Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s political coffin.

During Abdullah’s five-year tenure as prime minister, Mahathir had launched an unrelenting wave of vitriolic salvos against his handpicked successor whom he branded as incompetent.

Under the influence of his ambitious son-in-law, Abdullah, who was meant to be a seat warmer in the wake of the controversy surrounding the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim, started formulating grand plans of his own, much to the chagrin of Mahathir.

Fearful that his legacy would be dismantled and his cronies sidelined, a bitter Mahathir had even quit Umno Baru, the party which he founded in 1987 following the old Umno’s de-registration.

Mahathir’s antics in the run up to the 2008 polls had ripped Umno apart and contributed to BN’s dismal performance.

His detractors believe that Mahathir, who ruled with an iron fist for more than two decades, suffers from megalomania and considers himself to be Malaysia’s greatest boon.

And while his craftiness in statecraft is indisputable, critics however consider the 87-year-old former premier to be the nation’s greatest bane.

His departure from power was celebrated by the voters in the 2004 election, which saw Abdullah securing BN’s biggest ever mandate.

No other alternative

With Abdullah out of the picture, Mahathir trained his crosshairs on Najib. It is an open secret that he disagreed with the new prime minister’s ‘soft approach’.

Prior to the 2013 general election, there were rumours that Umno warlords were moving in for the kill but Mahathir had told them to stand down until after the election.

Speculation was rife that Mahathir was backing Umno No 2 Muhyiddin Yassin.

And when BN performed even worse in this polls compared to its previous debacle, observers expected the ‘Double M’ juggernaut to steamroll Najib.

However, speaking in Tokyo over the weekend, Mahathir said that BN had no choice but to continue backing the incumbent.

“I think the party will support him [Najib] because of a lack of an alternative,” he said, suggesting to those who read between the lines that he no longer saw Muhyiddin as a viable option.

Mahathir had also said that the results of the election showed that Malaysia had become more divided than unified.

“We are still striving to bring the races together,” he said, calling unity an “uphill task.”

“Because of this racial polarisation, Najib couldn’t get Chinese votes,” he added.

An ironic statement

Some observers find the above statement to be ironic since Mahathir was considered to be one of the chief causes of racial divisiveness in Malaysia.

He became the patron of Perkasa, an ultra Malay movement, whose leader Ibrahim Ali had called for the torching of bibles at an event in the presence of Mahathir.

The former premier, whose paternal roots are in India, had even questioned the granting of citizenship to the Chinese and Indians.

Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had once described Mahathir as suffering from an inferiority complex due to his Indian heritage.

“You know his grandfather came from India. His father is half Indian or three-quarters Indian. Then his father came to Alor Setar and married a Malay and so he is half or three-quarters Malay and one quarter Indian. But nevertheless, he has felt a certain, you know, as if they looked down on him.

“To overcome that inferiority complex, which as I told you before is the worst disease a man can have, you would do things you wouldn’t normally do,” Tunku had said.

The progressive elements in BN and Umno consider Mahathir to be a political liability and blame him for being one of the major factors behind the non-Malay voters’ disenchantment with the ruling coalition. -FMT

Do not have any illusion of cheaper cars

The announcement by International Trade and Industries minister Mustapa Mohamed that the government would reduce car prices between 20 per cent and 30 per cent over five years was a message to Malaysians to forget about buying cheaper cars.

“In effect, the BN government is telling Malaysians that they can stop dreaming of cheaper cars for the next five years, and if car prices drop at all, it will be after the 14th General Election,” said Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua.

Pua challenged Mustapa’s reasoning that car prices would be reduced in accordance with “market forces”, which had failed to bring car prices down over the past 20 years.

“(Then) why Malaysians should believe that these same 'market forces' will suddenly be able to result in a 20-30 percent drop in prices over the next five years?” he asked in an opinion piece on news site Malaysiakini.

The DAP national publicity secretary said new cars remain costly in Malaysia due to government taxes and protectionist policies for local car companies.

He also dismissed Mustapa’s claim of serious impact on the automotive industry with lower car price, including massive loss of jobs as well as a blow to the second hand car market.

Instead, Pua said reduction in excise duties would have no impact on car companies' profits and by extension its workers.

Countering Mustapa’s claim of worsening traffic jams, Pua said car ownership in the Klang Valley had exceeded the 1:1 ratio, thus cheaper cars would not worsen the already bad traffic congestion.

“Taxing the people more, while maintaining the existing duties are the only means by which the BN government will be able to continue funding its largesse and excesses,” he added, and suggested that the public can brace for more "broken promises to come". -HD

Ex-minister says disgusted by ‘I love PM’ campaign

WRITING ON THE WALL FOR NAJIB: Ex-minister says disgusted by ‘I love PM’ campaign
Those responsible for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “I Love PM” campaign should be sacked, former minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin has said as he expressed disdain for the attempt to endear the prime minister to Malaysians.

Zainuddin, or “Zam” as he is popularly known as, said the campaign that depicted Najib eating in stalls and mamak coffee shops with voters during the just-concluded polls, only showed hypocrisy as the prime minister was understandably still flanked by his personal assistants and bodyguards.

“His advisors thought that these pictures would show the elitist Najib and his aristocratic family living like regular citizens... but to the people, this is ‘extraordinary’ because they never bump into Najib in places like these.

“Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin called (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim a clown (King of Comedians would be more appropriate). To me, I call Najib an imitator,” Zam wrote in his blog Zamkata yesterday in a posting titled, “I love PM. It is disgusting”.

“His advisors have their heads in the clouds without their feet touching ground. These are the advisor who should be sacked,” he added.

Adding that he had long hid this disdain, Zam quoted from a text message that he received recently from a friend of his from the corporate world, and said it reflected his exact sentiment.

“He said, ‘On Daim’s remark, I agree fully. Najib doesn’t need to compete with Anwar and try to imitate his style. It looks awful. Please tell them to stop showing the banner ‘I Love PM’. It is disgusting. Najib Should present himself as a serious statesman not as a student leader style’,” Zam wrote, quoting from the SMS.

Continuing his critique, the former minister also appeared to question the sudden talk among Barisan Nasional’s (BN) top party leaders on the possibility of morphing into a single, multiracial party.

He noted that the country was being wracked by the opposition-led post-polls upheaval but said this did not mean that the Umno leadership should be seen in a state of panic by entertaining such suggestions at a time of turmoil.

“A serious proposal should be made when things are calm,” he said. “If you want to test ground, now is not the time.”

He also pointed to the sudden clampdown on opposition party organs, calling the move both hilarious and odd as it had only come after the reins of the Home Ministry was passed on from Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“Are they only illegal because the ministry is now under Zahid Hamidi, and was legal because it was under Hishammuddin previously... or were there ministry officials who were pro-opposition who kept an eye closed before, or was it difficult to control?” he asked.

Zam said an explanation should be given to the people so that they would not be shocked in the future if these party organs again hit the market later.

“It looks as if there are laws that can make things legal in one moment and illegal the next,” he said.

The ministry had last week carted off over thousands of copies of PAS-owned Malay newspaper Harakah as well as DAP-owned The Rocket and PKR’s Suara Keadilan from shops and several distribution centres in was seen as a crackdown on the opposition.

The nationwide raid had come following the string of arrests and court charges slapped on opposition politicians and activists who were involved in the series of post-polls events organised by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to rally support in its protest against BN’s polls victory.

- The Malaysian Insider

PAS-UMNO alliance? Over my dead body

PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said he would oppose any attempt to forge alliance between PAS and UMNO as long as he is alive.

The influential former Kelantan Menteri Besar said PAS belonged to all its members and any decision must have the full support of members during its muktamar.

“No one can arrange for any cooperation between PAS and UMNO, what more if it's in secrecy, this party is open to the public and belongs to all members," said Nik Aziz, amid renewed efforts by some UMNO leaders and renegade PAS members calling for cooperation between the two parties.

In recent times, such calls have been made by former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa and former minister Zainudin Maidin. While PAS Ulama Council chief Harun Taib suggested that the proposal could be debated and put to the vote at the party muktamar.

Nik Aziz however vowed to strongly oppose any alliance with UMNO.

“I will not allow it, as long as I am alive, I will never allow any effort to forge cooperation between PAS and UMNO," he told Harakahdaily.

Nik Aziz pointed out that despite being a Malay-Muslim party, UMNO had always rejected PAS's Islamic principles, in addition to "many other faults committed by UMNO".

“As such, there is no reason for us to join them and let me remind others not to continue such efforts," he stressed.

-HD

BN did not steal victory in GE13 - Najib

AND ALTANTUYA IS STILL ALIVE!  BN did not steal victory in GE13 - Najib
The Barisan Nasional (BN) did not steal victory from the opposition in the 13th general election (GE13), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said Malaysia practiced a parliamentary democratic system as enshrined in the federal constitution whereby BN had won general elections based on winning more seats to form the government and not based on the popular votes system.

"The claim that we stole victory from the opposition is a falsehood because we did not cheat in the recent GE13.

"Show me the Bangladeshis who became voters? They (opposition) claimed 40,000 Bangladeshis converged on an airport, show which airport?"

"Don't drag a person just because he looked dark like a Bangladeshi," he said when launching the 2013 Youth Festival, here, today.

Also present were former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Najib said the supremacy and loftiness of the constitution was the main pillar of the nation but the people had avenues to voice their opinions in line with parliamentary democracy.

"Whatever we want to voice out must be centred on the constitution and cannot be done by the roadside by demanding and causing chaos leading to insecurity as it is not in line with the constitution.

"As the younger generation, we must understand the demands for change must be based on the constitution and Rule of Law. If not the law of the jungle will prevail in our country," he said.

At the same time, Najib suggested that the younger generation should think wisely and rationally and not to be taken in by instigation and fraud, specifically in cyberspace.

He said most important in building a nation and future was that it must be based on common sense by picking truth over falsehoods and right over wrong.

"If this can be fostered, if this can be nurtured among youths, God willing our future, the future of the youths and the beloved nation will continue to shine," he said.

Najib also gave his assurance that the government was capable of carrying out all changes it had pledged not only for the youths but also for the future of the nation.

"Believe that if you want changes to the nation, it need not necessarily be involved in street gatherings or bringing down what is in existence today.

"What is important we must understand what youths want and we provide the national administration which is suitable for youths," he said.

During the ceremony, Najib also handed out three categories of 2013 National Youth Premier Awards (APBN) which were introduced in 1988, to recognise youths and youth organisations which had contributed towards development of youths in the country.

The Youth Organisation category was won by Malaysian Youth Club (MAYC) of Simpang Bekoh, Melaka which received cash RM50,000, trophy and certificate of appreciation.

Meanwhile, the Male category was won by Malaysian Youth Council's vice-president Manndzri Nasib and the woman's category by Halimah Abd Rahman from Persatuan Puteri Islam Malaysia, Sabah.

They each took home cash of RM20,000, a trophy and certificates of appreciation.

- BERNAMA

Stop sounding like a BN leader

Election Commission deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar should stop making statements like a Barisan Nasional leader, said PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli today.

“He should focus on addressing the electoral fraud that happened during the general election such as the indelible ink fiasco and the blackouts. Leave political statements to people like [Home Minister] Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,” said Rafizi at a press conference today.

Also present were PKR vice president Fuziah Salleh and Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul.

Yesterday, Wan Ahmad challenged PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim to boycott Parliament if he was disputing the general election results.

Several analysts have also called upon Anwar to stop the Black 505 rallies and focus his energy on strengthening the opposition and contribute to nation building.

Hurling brickbats at Wan Ahmad, Rafizi said that the EC official’s statements against Pakatan Rakyat only showed that the former was not impartial in his conduct.

“It is not his place to ask Anwar to boycott Parliament. Wan Ahmad can’t even get proper indelible ink but now he wants to meddle in parliamentary affairs,” said the Pandan MP.

On the academics’ statement, Rafizi urged them to attend the rallies to see how people are upset over the electoral fraud allegation.

“Get out of your offices and come to the rallies attended by the 51% who voted for Pakatan. If you are against it, you are part of the 47% minority,” he said.

Rafizi added that there can be no talk of nation building when the government in place was elected using fraudulent methods.

“We cannot continue in a situation where the majority questions the legitimacy of the current government. They want a solution to the electoral irregularities,” he said.

Bringing Malaysians closer

The PKR leader also said that the rallies have brought another positive outcome; bringing Malaysians together irrespective of race and religion.

Rafizi added that Malaysians felt a sense of belonging and togetherness like never before in the rallies, which had also helped fire up the mood for change.

“And I dare say that we are more successful in bringing Malaysians together compared to the 1Malaysia songs the government airs daily,” he said.

On the same note, Johari accused Wan Ahmad of being “more Umno than Umno itself.”

“I remember back in my student days in Universiti Malaya, a student forged his certificates to gain entry into the varsity.

“The university only found out about it after three years. Despite being a good student, he was expelled from the varsity.

“Similarly, we have a government which is elected into power through fraud. How is the EC going to address this?” he asked.

On the academics, Johari, who is also the organiser of the Black 505 rallies, said: “If they want us to stop, give us equal access in the media to air our grouses.” -FMT

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

BN Perak state govt may not last six months

Perak PAS deputy commissioner Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (pic) said the current BN state government may not last beyond six months.

The former Perak Menteri Besar, whose administration was controversially overthrown in 2009 through a series of defections, said this hinged on several petitions to be filed by Pakatan Rakyat disputing BN's victories in several state seats.

"The Pakatan Rakyat government in Perak fell 11 months into power. This BN government will, God willing, collapse within six months through these petitions," Nizar told some 10,000 who gathered at the Tapah PAS building last night as part of the 'Blackout 505' protest rallies against electoral frauds.

Nizar said the coalition planned to file election petitions involving eight state seats won by BN, six of which were contested by PAS.

The seats are Manjoi, Manong, Pasir Panjang, Rungkup, Lubok Merbau, Selama, Chenderiang and Tualang Sekah.

He said evidences were being documented to prove fraudulent activities had taken place during polling.

In the May 5 polls, BN scraped through in Perak by winning 31 seats, just two more than PR in the state's 59-seat assembly.

Nizar said if petitions in only two of the state seats involved were accepted, BN would be in a jittery position, as it had won by razor thin majorities.

"This is enough to overthrow the BN in Perak," said Nizar, who is Changkat Jering state assemblyman. -HD

Who instigated illegal immigrants to vote?

I believe the identity card (IC) of the Pakistani who used the name Abdul Latif Jumaani, is 'real' in a true sense as the Immigration Department had accepted it to process his application for a passport in 2010.

In 2010, the IC scanning system was in place to verify the genuineness of the identity card and is linked to the National Registration Department's (NRD) database. So the main culprit is the NRD. They are the ones who gave out and/or duplicate identity cards to foreigners. That is traitorous.

The sorry state of affair was long ago alerted by then parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang in a March 30, 1993 statement.

His statement: "It is clear that NRD director-general Kamaruddin Nordin knew nothing of the syndicate involving senior NRD officers supplying new hi-tech identity cards to foreigners, which was disclosed by Deputy Home Minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob, in Perak on Sunday (March 28).

"He had to refer back to Megat Junid who said last Sunday that he had been informed by police that three senior NRD officers had been questioned in connection with the illegal supply of the cards to foreigners.

"The senior NRD officers were suspected to conspiring with the syndicate as the particulars of the new cards had been recorded in the department's computers but the applications had not received official vetting.

"He said that such ‘upstream cheating' involving senior NRD officers had been suspected to have gone on for a year. Megat also said another syndicate was responsible for supplying Malaysian birth certificates to Muslim foreigners here.

"Megat's revelations as well as Kamaruddin's ignorance have presented with a double shock."

The proof was all there in 1993 and the BN government hushed up this fraud by detaining the NRD officers under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Dr Mahathir Mohamad must answer for all this as he was the PM then.

Lim Chong Leong: What or who instigated Abdul Latif to vote? If he is just interested in the IC and therefore residency and citizenship perks, what was his motivation to vote?

Surely, if he is an illegal citizen, he could not care less if it was BN or whoever else ran the country, so what or who instigated him to vote? Why was that not put to the witness during the Sabah royal commission of inquiry (RCI)?

Up2U: These revelations are very, very serious matters involving national security, and those involved in the rampant and blatant issuing of identity cards for citizenship must be charged with treason.

There is no need to wait until the RCI is completed. A special task force must be set up immediately to start investigations immediately. The only problem is who can be entrusted to head and be in this special task force.

RA 1: Since Abdul Latif's child was born in Malaysia, the child is a Malaysian citizen. As a result, both parents can claim permanent resident as they have lived here more than five years. Case closed.

DontPlayGod: RA 1, but there are also hundreds of thousands of non-Muslims who were born here and whose applications for citizenship are still under process for the last 50 years, and by the look of things, since Umno has been returned to power, these applications will still be under process until their last days on this planet.

Don't bank on MCA, MIC, or even Hindraf to day anything about it.

Disgusted: Can anyone blame Pakatan Rakyat for saying that there is massive fraud created by BN with the help of the Election Commission (EC) to cheat in elections since Mahathir's reign.

Umno-BN has cheated not only in the recent GE, but in previous elections as well.

How can anyone trust EC to be impartial and fair? Bersih has been justified all this while. Mahathir and PM Najib Razak should be charged for treason for selling citizenship to foreigners to keep themselves in power.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, too, as he did nothing about it during his tenure as PM.

Mick: There is no point in telling all these. The best procedure is to take up the case in the court to have the election declared null and void because of these anomalies.

Documents, photos, videos should be submitted in support of the claim so that the authorities will be stopped from denying the facts. If you have proper evidence, the judge cannot reject the case. An eminent lawyer should be engaged to pursue the issue.

OMG!!: Pakatan, this is your best chance to do something for the Sabahans to win them over. Do something on the mounting evidence of treacherous acts. Don't wait for the conclusion of the RCI.

N Ng: I guess we all know why the phrase "Malaysia Boleh" was coined. The question is whether the RCI will be allowed to make it own conclusions, and whether anyone will be made to stand trial for it.
Doc: Maybe Abdul Latif mixed up the years as he may have voted in both Pakistani and Malaysian elections. After all, both these nation's elections are marred by vote rigging and electoral fraud.

The Mask: Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said there was "not a shred of evidence". What say you now?

-MK

Stop the intimidation, PKR tells police

PKR today urged the police to stop intimidating those who lodge police reports against the Election Commission on the indelible ink and phantom voters.

PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar said: “I have received complaints from those who lodged police reports against the EC that they had their photographs taken after lodging their respective police reports.”

“Those who lodged police reports at the Gombak police headquarters had their faces and left index fingers photographed while at the Ulu Kelang police station, they had their mugshots taken.

“As a law practitioner, I find it unusual and strange. It is not standard procedure to take photographs of those lodging complaints as they are not criminals. It is totally unnecessary.

“Pictures are only taken when the person involved is a criminal. These people are not, and instead they have now become the victims,” said Shamsul, who is also the MP for Bukit Katil.

Shamsul added that those who lodged reports were asked repeatedly by the police officers who had asked them to lodge the reports and whether they are being used by certain parties to make the reports.

“This must be stopped. This is a typical scare tactic employed so that if word spreads, voters would be reluctant and scared to make police reports.

“The home minister (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) should conduct an investigation into this and I also challenge the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to explain,” he said.

When asked on the delay in lodging a police report on the indelible ink issue, a voter who declined to be named, said that she decided to make the report only now as it has become a national issue.

“When the ink initially got washed off, I just thought that it must have been simply because they forgot to shake the bottle, but it is obvious now how the EC is cheating.

“I also lodged another police report after I found out that an unknown man was registered as a voter with my home address.

“Only my husband, daughter and I reside at the address. How come there’s an unknown man registered to my address?” asked the 65-year-old woman.

“I felt it is high time my husband and I lodged a police report against the EC,” she added. “All members of the EC should resign or the same thing is likely to happen in the coming elections.” -FMT

DAP rubbishes Utusan's 'bean' story

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang found himself rebutting yet another claim by UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia, this time about a so-called 'Red Bean Army' said to be maintained at RM15 million annually.

“All these are modern-day fairy tales completely without one iota of truth in them!” said Lim, adding that he had only learnt about 'RBA' from the right-wing paper several days ago.

“I have not heard of the term before,” added Lim.

According to the paper, which frequently bases its reports on anonymous blogs, 'RBA' is a six-year old cybertrooper team to fight pro-BN comments on social media websites. Another UMNO mouthpiece News Straits Times meanwhile reported that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had used RBA to 'incite hatred'.

Lim chided the immediate response by Home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the RBA story. Zahid had called for an immediate probe on RBA for violations of social media laws.

“How much I had wished that the police, the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Malaysian CyberSecurity had identified the culprits and cleaned up the racism and poison spewed by UMNO-BN cybertroopers on the Internet during the 13th general elections,” said Lim, who won the Gelang Patah seat in the May 5 polls.

During the GE13 campaign, cybertroopers on UMNO paylist had accused the DAP of sparking the May 13 racial riot in 1969, in a familiar attempt by the BN to scare away voters.

But Lim stated the party could not afford to pay any cybertroopers, unlike UMNO which used hundreds of millions of public funds to engage 10,000 cybertroopers, he added. -HD

Liow says no to Matang-Scope deal

MCA leaders are objecting to the proposed takeover by the MCA-linked plantation firm Matang Holdings Berhad of electronics company Scope Industries Berhad on the grounds that it will be an unfair deal for Matang shareholders.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said complaints from Matang's minority shareholders on the takeover centre on the lopsided terms of the deal as well as a discrepancy in the valuation of the companies involved.

"This has raised the alarm and is a cause for concern among shareholders that it will be an inequitable deal, and leave them out in the cold," he told a press conference today.

Matang Holdings's largest shareholder is MCA-owned Huaren Holdings, which holds 10% stake, and the rest are held by some 20,000 minority shareholders.

Liow urged Matang Holdings to postpone its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled for May 31, when the deal is expected to be inked, until the concerns of the shareholders have been addressed.

Former MCA Selangor chief Datuk Seri Donald Lim said last week that the proposed takeover must be "re-evaluated" as there were two different valuations of the deal, with a difference of at least RM30 million.

He also raised concerns over the four-year "freeze" on shares, whereby Matang shareholders would not be able to sell or move their Scope shares.

However, barely a few hours after Liow's press conference, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek issued a statement backing the deal.

"Such a deal is meant to add value to Matang shares, and does not involve the sale of the any Matang Holdings asset and it is wrong to construe this transaction as asset stripping by MCA," he said in the statement, adding he had no right to call off the EGM.

DAP's Liew Chin Tong, Tan Hong Pin and Liow Cai Tung reportedly said last week the deal deliberately puts the small shareholders at a disadvantage, claiming that Matang's key assets were deliberately undervalued. -Thesundaily

PKR candidate alleges bribery in Tapah

The PKR candidate for the Tapah parliamentary seat K Vasantha Kumar claims that RM100 vouchers were given out during the campaign period.

But, MIC’s M Saravanan, who won the seat, claimed that it was for party workers.

On May 26, Vasantha Kumar lodged a police report against Saravanan at the Tapah police station for handing out vouchers to the public.

“Approximately 600 vouchers have been handed out and the public has redeemed it for cash,” he claimed.

“Giving out cash or vouchers are considered a bribery even if it is to party members and I hope the authorities will look into the matter,” he added.

The voucher contained the signature of MIC Tapah division head Dr M Malasingam.

Saravanan said the vouchers were given to members of the party for the work they carried out during the campaign period.

“Let the police investigate as the vouchers were handed out only to party members for carrying out campaign duties.

“Vasantha Kumar wasn’t the only candidate who contested against me, there were two other professionals who contested as independents. So far, we have not heard any complaints from them,” he added.

Saravanan retained the seat by 7,927 votes in the four-cornered tussle, which also included Independents Shaharuzzaman Bistamam and Ridzuan Bani. -FMT

State PR chiefs excluded in new Selangor line-up

The new Selangor executive council members, who will be sworn-in this Thursday at Istana Alam Shah in Klang, will not include any of the state party leaders from PAS, PKR and DAP.

It is understood that the Exco will comprise of four from PAS and three from PKR and DAP respectively, in compliance with a request by the Selangor Sultan that six Malays and four non-Malays be appointed to the 10-member council to better reflect the state assembly's racial composition.

The line-up this time will however not include PAS state commissioner and Meru state assemblyman Dr Abdul Rani Osman, and PKR state chief and Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman Azmin Ali. While Selangor state DAP chairperson and former Exco member Teresa Kok is no longer a state representative in keeping with DAP's one-candidate one-seat rule.

A source told Harakahdaily two former Exco members from PAS, Iskandar Abdul Samad and Halimah Ali, will be retained. It also said the post of state assembly speaker would be reserved for DAP.

Yesterday, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim revealed that he had an audience with the Sultan who approved the new Exco names.

In the May 5 polls, PR increased its number of seats to 44 from 33 previously. -HD

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sabah will lose more rights, voice in parliament

Sabah and Sarawak are not ready for the one-vote-one-value voting system which will see both states’ presentation in parliament reduced by 15%.

Currently Sabah’s 25 and Sarawak’s 31 parliamentary seats make up 25% of the 222 seats in parliament

Agreeing with Upko Kota Belud deputy chief Ewon Benedict, UK-based Borneo Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) chairman Daniel Jambun warned that a redelianation of boundaries will further erode Sabah and Sarawak’s position as equal partners in the federation.

Benedick had reportedly said that 981,814 voters in Sabah and 1,083,972 voters in Sarawak were involved in the recent general election. This he said comprised 15% of the total 13,268,007 voters in Malaysia.

“If we adopt the one-vote-one-value system, then the people of Sabah and Sarawak must be ready to accept its consequences,” Benedict had said.

Adding to Benedict’s comment, Jambun said any proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries must strictly adhere to the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.

“Sabahans are very worried that after this exercise Sabah and Sarawak will lose more rights and voice in Parliament.

“This is because the exercise can be another federal manipulation with gerrymandering after which Sabah and Sarawak will lose more leverage as Borneo states,” Jambun said.

He said that consistent with the spirit of the 20 Points, both states should have 34% of the parliamentary seats, and it is for this reason that Sabah and Sarawak must never surrender any seat – parliament or state seat – to any Malayan-based parties, but defend it by all means.

“Local opposition based party must unite and fight for their rights consistent with the Malaysia Agreement, the 20 Points, the IGC Report and the Oath Stone, both in letter and spirit.

“Allowing any seats to be contested by KL parties tantamount to surrendering the rights of the Bornea states.

“But as it is now, most of these seats have been robbed by KL-based parties — Umno, MCA, and Gerakan from BN, and DAP and PKR from PR (Pakatan Rakyat).

“Any seat transferred to a Peninsula-based party will be our serious loss because the parliamentarians will not be able to speak firmly for Sabah, simply because they have to toe the line with their Malayan political bosses,” he said.

Jamubun pointed out that the “very purpose” of the existing 34% seats that Sabah and Sarawak have is “to enable us to veto any negative laws thatKuala Lumpur may decide to impose on the Borneo states.”

“What we are worried about is that the federal government may be ignorant about Sabah rights as stated in the many documents such as the Malaysia Agreement the 20 Points, the Cobbold Commission Report and even the Oath Stone.

“This worry is strongly founded by the fact the during the recent campaign, the Prime Minister was making statements betraying his ignorance of Sabah history and Sabah rights.

“For example he, just like the PKR supremo (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, didn’t know that Sabah’s autonomy was a special arrangement promised before the formation of Malaysia.

“If the federal leaders are still this ignorant, or feigning ignorance, then we are bound to lose a lot more with this redelineation exercise.

“There is also the real danger that the Barisan Nasional will use this exercise to strengthen its grip on the two states, which it considers to be its fixed deposits,.” he said. -FMT

Darmindran’s death: Act now or face rally

Federal police headquarters Bukit Aman has been urged to swiftly act against police officials involved in the custodial death of 32-year-old lorry driver N Darmindran, or face public wrath in the form of a major rally.

Pressing the demand today, PKR human rights deputy chief S Jayathas told FMT that the police had no excuse to avoid taking action against the perpetrators after classifying the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

“If this was a member of public who committed an offence under this section, he or she would have long been arrested,” he said.

“But why is there still no action? What are the police waiting for? We urge them to immediately make arrest or else we would hold a major rally at Bukit Aman,” he added.

Darmindran was found dead in police custody on May 21. He was picked up by the police over his involvement in a fight.

The preliminary post-mortem conducted at Hospital Kuala Lumpur revealed that Darmindran had died due to severe force trauma, with severe injuries found on his back and buttock. The report also found two parts of the deceased’s body – ankles and ears – were stapled.

Jayathas said today that PKR would not fix a timeline for the police to act, but stressed it must be done as soon as possible.

Earlier today PKR had lodged a police report over the police inaction on the case.

PKR leader manhandled

Meanwhile, Jayathas also claimed that he was manhandled by the policeman when making the report at Dang Wangi station.

He claimed that he was pushed to the ground by the policeman when he tried to re-enter the station after going out briefly to meet press reporters.

“About 15 police officials refused to let me in eventhough I told them that I had just stepped out from inside. When I insisted to make my way in, one of them pushed me heavily and made me fall to the ground,” he claimed.

The brief commotion only ended when PKR vice president N Surendran, who was filing the report inside the station, came out to Jayathas’ rescue.

Jayathas has made a separate police report on the incident. -FMT

80,000 youths turn on lights to 'SAVE MALAYSIA'

80,000 youths turn on lights to 'SAVE MALAYSIA': Najib & EC top officials must resignIt happened in Indonesia, it happened in Thailand. It is now happening in Malaysia. And Singapore, try as it may to resist, will sooner or later have to deal with the same issue of youth-led change. For too long have the authoritarian governments - some say semi-dictatorships - of Southeast Asia had it easy.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak should have smelled the wind of change blowing near but ensconced in the plush, expensively-carpeted corridors of power, he dismissed it. He continued to rule in the tradition of his elitist Umno-BN coalition, setting off a few 'racial' firecrackers now and then to keep the 'masses' in check.

But Gen Y in Malaysia is a different force altogether. An online generation fed on literature where Good always triumphs over Evil and against all odds, they are smarter, much more articulate and conscientious than let's say the 'Flower children' of the 1960s.

And in eyes of Malaysia's Gen Y now, Good is Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat. They are the Gandalfs and Bilbos to Malaysia's youth. Clearly on the opposite side are Najib and Umno-BN. They are the Saurons and the evil Orcs as depicted in Tolkien's light versus darkness epic - Lord of the Rings.

Rise of the Black 505 movement

This then is the situation in Malaysia where the ruling coalition and the Opposition have moved from a controversial ballot to a new and uncharted battleground. The head-to-head fight is gaining intensity and this cannot be manifested more clearly than in Saturday's Blackout 505 rally to protest electoral fraud and to demand new elections.

Some 80,000 Malaysians of various races and backgrounds had flooded the field in Padang Timur, Petaling Jaya. Mostly youths in their 20s and 30s, they dressed in black T-shirts to symbolize the death of democracy due to the controversial May 5 election that many have accused the Najib administration of rigging to cling to power.

The youths showed no shyness or fear in calling for Najib and top officials of the Election Commission to quit and for Umno-BN to be toppled. Waving flags, banners and blowing vuvuzuelas, they shouted their frustration against the ruling regime's notorious corruption and ham-fisted rule.

Not the grand finale at all but the first

The youth-led uprising has left Najib and his administration in a bind. Wavering between using 'scare tactics' and the fear that he might set off an unwanted wave of public resistance if he overplayed his hand, Najib has been conspicuously silent, leaving his lieutenants such as newly-appointed Home Minister Zahid Hamidi to play 'bad cop'.

But instead of working, this strategy has made the 59-year-old Najib appear even weaker, exposing him as a leader with few ideas as to where and how to take Malaysia forward.

"This is not the last or grand finale but the first rally to consolidate all the ones that we have been carrying out. Before this we held many smaller rallies in various places and tonight's rally is to sum up those demonstrations. After this we will travel to other states such as Sabah, Sarawak and other places that we have not gone to yet," PKR women's youth chief Siti Aishah Shaik Ismail told Malaysia Chronicle.

"So far despite all the threats from the police and the authorities, the people are still coming to our rallies and this shows they know this is their country and the government should listen to them. This is why I say this is the beginning because we will not stop until they withdraw the outcome of the (May 5) election."

"I am surprised by the reaction. It is not only from the Malays but from the Chinese and Indians. And 60 to 70% of those who come are youths. This shows that Malaysian politics have reached a high level of maturity where all the different races can accept Malaysian politics."

UMNO duo against anti-fraud protesters lectured on electoral system

Home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Selangor Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Noh Omar, both of whom had told those unhappy with Malaysia's electoral system to leave, were today lectured on the “first-past-the-post” voting system.

Newly elected DAP member of parliament Ong Kian Ming said that while Zahid was right to say that Malaysia inherited the 'single member constituency first-past-the-post' electoral system from Britain, there were several recommendations that Ong said had been forgotten in time.

One of these was the Reid Commission's recommendation to limit to 15 percent maximum deviation limit from national average in terms of the number of voters per constituency.

“The maximum rural weightage allowed was 2 to 1 – which effectively means that the largest constituency can only have twice as many voters as the smallest constituency,” said Ong, citing how the system was violated.

He gave the example of Kapar in Selangor, with 144,369 voters, which is nine times the number of voters in Putrajaya, the smallest constituency, having 15,798 voters during the last general election.

Ong said several countries had made such a rule, including Britain which passed a law in 2011 to set the deviation limit to five percent, Australia with a limit of 10 percent and Canada at 25 percent.

In Australia, Ong said any redelineation exercise must adhere to a maximum of 3.5 percent deviation rule.

“If Australia, given its large geographic area, can follow the one-man-one-vote principle, there is no reason why Malaysia cannot follow suit,” he added.

Zahid and Noh were recently criticised over their statements urging those who do not agree with the country’s election system to migrate or move to the jungle.

In the May 5 polls, BN won rural seats and gained some twenty seats more to form the Federal government, despite losing popular votes to Pakatan Rakyat. -HD

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Sabah’s Ansari quits PKR

Suspended PKR Tuaran chief Ansari Abdullah today announced he has resigned from the party which he joined 14 years ago.

In a brief statement posted on his Facebook this morning, he noted that he had decided to quit politics much earlier, but out of respect to the requests from friends, he withheld the announcement until today.

“I have lost faith in the party’s leadership. I am now suspended as a member without any time period. I did not receive a ‘show cause letter’. So much for justice and due process,” he added.

“I criticised the leadership since they were wrong in allowing 2/3 of the seats in Sabah to be contested under Parti Keadilan’s (PKR) symbol by non-members in the form of APS (Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah) and PPPS (Pertubuhan Pakatan Perpaduan Sabah),” he explained.

He went on to note that both APS and PPPS lost in all the parliamentary seats they contested and each won a state seat (Tamparuli and Klias).

Ansari, a practising lawyer, has also had a troubled relationship with other PKR members and leaders in the past.

In the run-up to this month’s elections on May 5, Ansari made a preemptive attempt the day after the dissolution of Parliament to push through the seven divisions’ list of candidates which included himself for the Tuaran constituency.

When his ‘proposal’ was shot down, he accused Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim of not being sincere in wanting to return political autonomy to Sabah when PKR rejected a move by him to nominate seven candidates to contest for PKR.

He said the rejection of three-quarters of the candidates proposed by the seven divisions in the Sabah west coast north zone, showed that the party’s headquarters was adamant about maintaining control of the state from Kuala Lumpur. -FMT

Anwar slams Najib for latest "TYRANNY"

Anwar slams Najib for latest "TYRANNY"Adam Adli has been charged with sedition purportedly “by calling for the toppling of the elected government”. Tian Chua, Harris Ibrahim and Tamrin Tun Ghafar have been arrested. This is tyranny writ large.

Let’s get it straight: Najib’s government is not a duly elected government. It is a government that’s come into power by systemic widespread fraud aided and abetted by the Election Commission. Its legitimacy is therefore in question. This is our position and we are mounting a legal and judicial challenge in this regard.

Meantime, the people by the hundreds of thousands are exercising their constitutional right to gather peacefully to demonstrate their utter disgust with this cheating and the consequent illegitimate assumption of power. By the latest count, almost half a million Malaysians, mostly comprising the young from all races have attended our nation-wide rallies.

They have come because of their conviction for justice and their deep sense of fair play and not because of any inducement or bribe or promise of material gain. On the contrary, they have come to these rallies in spite of the constant threats and warnings from the police of arrest because they believe in their cause – a cause for their future and the generations to come. This is nobility of spirit which no tyranny can suppress. Adam Adli embodies this spirit and the aspirations of the hundreds of thousands who have attended and the millions more who voted for change, fair play and justice.

Reneging on political reform

The dictatorships of Stalin, Marcos and Suharto are long gone. The likes of Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi are gone not so long ago. Even Mahathir’s time where such abuses of state power were ever so common is over. Yet, not only has Najib reneged on his pledges of political reform, he is winding the clock backwards.

First, Nik Nazmi was charged. Last night, they arrested 18 people who together with a thousand others had gathered in front of the Jinjang police station to show support for Adam. No doubt, this intimidation will continue even as the show of solidarity for those arrested will spring up across the land.

The new Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar is talking tough and issuing all kinds of threats to the people, taking the cue from the Home Minister. May I remind him that his duty is to serve the people. His priority is to keep the county safe – not from legitimate peaceful rallies – but from criminals and real mischief makers.

Meanwhile, DAP veteran Dr. Chen Man Hin, who should rightly be honoured for his tireless service to the people, was hauled up and interrogated over frivolous allegations about him being linked to a plot to overthrow the government. This is completely insane.

Wasting taxpayers' money

Is this Najib’s way of spending tax payers’ money? Is this the new direction to be given to the police under its new IGP? While real criminals, including those who commit hate and racist crimes, are going about with impunity, those who are calling for justice are being hounded like rats and prosecuted?

Police detainee N Dharmendran was beaten to death and people at a peaceful candle light vigil for Adam in Penang were assaulted by thugs while UMNO’s racist inciters to hatred and thugs are roaming the nation with impunity.

Najib is stepping on the heads of the rakyat. Eventually, the rakyat will prevail.

Anwar Ibrahim is the PKR adviser

Sabah an ‘expensive’ but useful lesson for Pakatan

Smug from having won just over 51% of the popular votes in the recent general election, Pakatan Rakyat is re-aligning its strategy and focusing on Borneo.

Sabah DAP’s Junz Wong, who is also the national youth (DAPSY) wing publicity secretary said last night among its strategies was the early registration of young voters.

“We are not waiting till the last minute. Our targeted youth are between 17 and 21 years old because they will reach the eligible voting age of 21 years in four to five years time.

“There will be at least another three million more unregistered but eligible voters who missed their chance to vote in GE13.

“What we are looking at is another new six million voters in GE14.

“These group of voters will determine whether there will be a change of government in GE14,” said Wong, who is also Likas state assemblyman.

Wong’s comments backs party advisor Lim Kit Siang’s latest statement that the coalition had learnt an expensive lesson in Sabah in GE13 and would re-strategize its battle plans to win more seats in Sabah and Sarawak in GE14.

In the recent May 5 polls, although Pakatan only won three parliamentary seats, it did remarkably well in winning 11 state seats in Sabah.

This despite the months of puerile spewing by its leaders, internal sabotage and widely felt inconsistency with PKR and DAP’s stands in the months preceding the polls.

What is acknowledged here is that Pakatan surfed the “Inikali lah” wave triggered by a former party vice-president – now Sabah State Reform Party chief – Jeffrey Kitingan.

Jeffrey ’s two-year long ground breaking campaign to inform Sabahans about the 20 points and Malaysia Agreement while rekindling an ‘old flame’ within the KDMs failed to follow through in terms of structure and strategy –vital in any war.

In the end the Borneo Agenda gave Pakatan a leverage into state politics which in all honesty it did not really have to begin with.

All Pakatan partner PKR did was to add “tukar” to the “inikali lah” and allowed its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s charismatic persona do the work. And before long Sabah was awash with “tukar, ini kali lah” drowning STAR.

To counter if not contain its bickering Sabah-based party ‘warlords’ Anwar brought in Lajim Ukin and Wilfred Bumburing and propped them up despite widespread discontent which divided the party.

Anwar handed over 10 parliamentary seats to Lajim’s PPPS and Bumburing’s APS movements. Both movements’ candidates stood under the PKR banner but failed to win a single seat. In the end only Lajim and Bumburing won their Klias and Tamparuli seats respectively.

The investment did not pay off in seats but it did help with the branding Pakatan and its partners.

Sabah PKR and DAP took a leap securing 11 state seats from one in 2008 general elections.

Good job in Borneo

Across the border, earlier in the Sarawak state polls in 2011, both parties won 15 seats – DAP (12) and PKR (3).

It was a good job, considering both Sabah and Sarawak are decades behind West Malaysia in terms of socio-political and economic empowerment.

One must remember that West Malaysia’s political reformation was seeded in the 1990s and spilled over in 2008 when the opposition wrested five states from BN.

Sabah and Sarawak were jolted out of their slumber only in 2008, when to quote PACO’s Anne Lasimbang “we realized we could shake Kuala Lumpur (Putrajaya).

“When PBS toppled Berjaya, we were young, ready to fight. But after winning the battle ( PBS took over the government) , we only then realized the power was with (the) federal (leaders). The rest is history as you know it,” she told FMT days before the GE13.

Now that the heat of anger and denial over an alleged fraudulent GE13, acceptance is setting in with the Pakatan camp. DAP and PAS at least are showing signs of moving on.

In Sarawak, the coalition is in the midst of forming its own shadow cabinet to stalk the performance of state ministers. In Sabah Lajim said they would do the same.

Sarawak is due for state election in 2016 at the latest.

Pakatan is aiming to up its score from 15 to at least 25 in the next state elections.

If 2011 was tough, the next polls will be an even tougher one for the opposition in Sarawak.

‘Double –battle’ in Borneo

A Chief Minister Taib Mahmud-instigated 300% hike in salaries for state assemblyman, assistant ministers and ministers was aimed at ensuring elected representatives stayed with BN and triple their efforts on the ground.

It was also meant to contain a speculated internal coup within PBB to unseat Taib and to send Putrajaya a warning not to touch Sarawak.

Lim, who had whizzed in and out of Borneo, particular Sabah, in the weeks before GE13 said Pakatan was drawing up plans for East Malaysia, where it will be a “double battle”.

Reviewing Pakatan’s GE13 performance in Sabah, Lim said if the country’s electoral boundaries had followed the “one-man, one-vote, one-value” system, their candidates would have wiped out BN’s two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

He said with 55.78 per cent of the total votes cast for all 60 state seats favouring Pakatan, Barisan Nasional would have only secured 34 seats instead of 48 seats it now has.

Pakatan partners contested all 60 state seats and collectively polled 248,185 votes or 32.36 per cent of the total votes cast. This, Lim said should have won them 20 seats instead of just 11 seats.

STAR won only one seat – Bingkor – through Jeffrey although it contested in 47 constituencies. Another local party led by former Sabah CM Yong Teck Lee – Sabah Progressive Peoples Party (SAPP) – was wiped out and garnered only 3.69% of the total votes casts in GE13 in Sabah.

Lim said had there been straight fights Pakatan would have won four more parliamentary and eight other state seats.

The four parliamentary seats are Keningau, Kota Marudu, Pensiangan and Tenom while the state seats were Elopura, Melalap, Kundasang, Liawan, Paginatan, Kiulu, Nabawan and Tambunan.

The GE13 in Sabah was a well learnt lesson, albeit an “expensive one” said Lim but it was not the end.

The GE14 is not too far away and change has begun to engage the psyche of people in Sabah and Sarawak. -FMT

Pakatan rally at Dataran PJ



Pakatan Rakyat leaders today staged yet another rally to incite the rakyat to object the 13th general election results after it failed to wrest Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional

Their supporters have started crowding the Dataran Petaling Jaya here since late afternoon.

New Straits Times

APS won’t merge with Sabah PKR

Former Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing said his Sabah Reform Movement or Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) will not disband and merge with PKR but would instead focus on a unified Sabah opposition grouping.

Bumburing, who won the Tamparuli state seat on a PKR ticket in the May 5 polls, said that APS leaders had decided that for now the Pakatan Rakyat friendly movement would remain an NGO.

The APS leadership also discussed the possibility of registering as a political party. Also discussed was the possibility of consolidating with other local-based opposition parties and non-governmental organisations for a Sabah or Borneo-based united opposition front.

Bumburing said APS would initiate discussions with Sabah-based opposition parties and NGOs about forming a united opposition front which the movement believes was reflected by voting trends during the general elections.

Local opposition leaders in the state like the former Tuaran MP are just coming to terms with their near wipeout in the elections with voters opting for the more united Pakatan Rakyat alliance rather than individual Sabah opposition parties.

Bumburing has been the first to bravely address what many had said was obvious and that a divided opposition was no force in facing the might of the Umno-led ruling Barisan Nasional.

Local opposition leaders like SAPP’s Yong Teck Lee and State Reform Party’s Jeffrey Kitingan were caught by surprise by the overwhelming swing to the ‘peninsula-based’ opposition coalition by voters they had assumed would retain the Sabah bias they had displayed in past elections.

They are now staring at irrelevance for the immediate future based on the performance of the Pakatan Rakyat based parties.

The emerging picture is that only unity at local level can save them from being swamped.

Bumburing said the 13th general election had also shown that winning the popular vote was not enough to topple the BN especially when the opposition vote was split between various parties.

No regrets

Coming together as a coordinated team, he said, would place the opposition parties in a better position as an alternative to the ruling coalition of BN.

On other issues brought up during APS’ meeting last Wednesady, Bumburing said, reports relating to irregularities in GE13 were also presented.

He said APS would decide in due cause on whether to file election petitions.

He said though the claims of irregularity were “backed with very solid evidence”, APS would consult its panel of lawyers on the matter before making any decision.

Among the electoral issues that were highlighted, he said, was the quality of the indelible ink used – which was easily washed off – and allowed for multiple votes by the same person.

“There was also an incident where a ballot paper cast in Tuaran ended up in Putatan and this was discovered during the counting process. We have strong evidence of this,” he said.

As for his decision to abandon the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) and BN, Bumburing said he did not regret joining the opposition despite losing his MP seat to the BN’s Wilfred Madius Tangau, the Upko secretary-general.

“I think I can walk tall in town. We never regretted what we have done,” he said.

Bumburing quit as Upko deputy president on July 29, last year and established APS.

In the just concluded general election the former Barisan Nasional member of Parliament for Tuaran defended his seat and also went for the Tamparuli seat.

Beside Bumburing, former senator Maijol Mahap who was a Upko vice president also quit the party to form APS..

Mahap contest on a PKR ticket for the Kota Marudu MP seat but lost narrowly to PBS deputy president Maximus Ongkili. -FMT

Najib's 10-day IMPOTENCE - Kit Siang

Najib's 10-day IMPOTENCE - Kit SiangYesterday, Malaysians saw the sorry spectacle of Paul Low who took his oath as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department on 16th May 2013 before the Yang di Pertuan Agong at the Istana Negara pathetically telling the media to “Ask Putrajaya” when questioned about the legality of his appointment to the Cabinet as he has not been sworn in as a senator yet.

This is the first time in the 56-year history of Malaysia where two Ministers and three Deputy Ministers have been placed in the Cabinet and constitutional limbo for ten days after the announcement of their ministerial appointments, as they had the dubious honour of being illegal Ministers and Deputy Ministers during this period as they have not been sworn in as Senators yet.

I had expected very quick and efficient end to the constitutional farce of two illegal Ministers and three illegal Deputy Ministers by having the five to be sworn in as Senators on the very night, even if it is midnight, when I issued my statement pointing out the grave constitutional oversight – i.e. on Friday 17th May 2013.

But I was wrong. Day after day, the two Ministers and three deputy Ministers did not know whether they were coming or going, become butts of jokes as illegal and unlawful “backdoor” Ministers and Deputy Ministers – with the sorry and pathetic spectacle of Paul Low yesterday as the latest example.

Why the 10-day impotence and hiatus by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to rectify the constitutional farce of appointing on Wednesday, 15th May and on Thursday, 16th May, illegally swearing in two Ministers and three Deputy Ministers without first appointing them as Senators?

Can be challenged in court

I understand that there are some smart alecs claiming that it is not unconstitutional to appoint a Minister or a Deputy Minister without first being sworn in as a Senator where the appointees are not elected Members of Parliament – and a lot of brainy people have been put to work to build and present such a case.

This is probably why the newly re-appointed Senate President Abu Zahar Ujang sidestepped the matter at his own swearing-in on Tuesday, saying cryptically, that he would “put things in order”.

If Najib is going to take the stand that it is perfectly constitutional to swear in the two Minister and three Deputy Minister without their first taking their oath as Senators, then let the Prime Minister say so publicly, loud and clear as this constitutional charade should not go on any further.

In fact, it would not be adequate for the two Ministers and three Deputy Ministers now in constitutional limbo to be sworn in first as Senators before they can take up their ministerial positions, they have also to be sworn in again as Ministers and Deputy Ministers before the Yang di Pertuan Agong as their earlier oath-taking ceremony before the Yang di Pertuan Agong on 16th May was clearly unlawful, null and void.

In fact, the two Ministers and three Deputy Ministers concerned should expect their Ministerial positions and all their ministerial decisions and actions to be challenged in the courts if they are not sworn in again as Ministers and Deputy Ministers after they have taken their oath as Senators.

In keeping with the principles of accountability and transparency, the Prime Minister should explain who are the officers who were responsible for this grave constitutional farce and oversight, embarrassing not only the nation but also the Yang di Pertuan Agong, and why it is taking such a long time to end the constitutional charade.

Lim Kit Siang is the DAP adviser

We are already in the jungle, Mahfuz tells Noh

PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar has shot back at Selangor Barisan Nasional's deputy chief Noh Omar over the latter's call on those protesting frauds in the polls to move to the jungle.

"The people don't have to move to the jungle because even now they feel like living in the woods under the law of the jungle," said the Pokok Sena member of parliament.

He said the fact that frauds and corruption were tolerated by the authorities showed that Malaysia was practising 'law of the jungle'.

The series of rallies by Pakatan Rakyat dubbed 'Black 505' to highlight electoral frauds in the May 5 polls have so far drawn hundreds of thousands of people. The coalition is currently preparing evidences to show that some 27 parliamentary seats were won by BN in this manner.

The call by Noh, who was dropped from the latest cabinet line-up, followed another statement by Home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, telling Malaysians who could not accept the results of the polls to migrate.

In the face of the storm, the Election Commission has denied any wrongdoing, saying elections were conducted free and fair.

Meanwhile, Mahfuz further delved into the analogy of life in the forest.

"In the forest, those reigning supreme are the ferocious tigers who do what they please.

"So these rallies are to break free from these ferocious tigers," he said.

Malaysia's youth flood Blackout 505 rally, demanding new elections

QUIT NAJIB, QUIT EC: Malaysia's youth flood Blackout 505 rally, demanding new electionsIt happened in Indonesia, it happened in Thailand. It is now happening in Malaysia. And Singapore, try as it may, will sooner or later have to deal with the same issue of youth-led change.

For too long have the authoritarian governments - some say semi dictatorships - of Southeast Asia had it easy. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak should have smelled the wind of change blowing near but ensconced in plush, expensively-carpeted corridors of power, he dismissed it. He continued to rule in the tradition of his elitist Umno-BN coalition, setting off a few 'racial' firecrackers now and then, here and there, to keep the 'masses' in check.

But Gen Y is a different force altogether. An online generation fed on literature where Good triumped over Evil against all odds, they are smarter, much more articulate and conscientious than let's say the 'Flower children' of the 1960s.

And in eyes of Malaysia's Gen Y now, Good is Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat. They are the Gandalfs and Bilbos to Malaysia's youth. Clearly on the opposite side are Najib and Umno-BN. They are the Saurons and the evil Orcs.

This then is the situation in Malaysia. And this cannot be manifested more clearly than in Saturday's Blackout 505 rally to protest electoral fraud in Malaysia's 13th general election and to demand new elections.

By 6.30pm, some 15,000 youths had already 'camped' out on the field in Padang Timur, Petaling Jaya. Dressed in the black T-shirts to symbolise 'death of democracy' in the May 5 election, they showed no shyness or fear in calling for Najib to quit and for Umno-BN to be toppled. Waving flags, banners and blowing vuvuzuelas, they shouted expressions of frustration against the ruling regime's notorious corruption and ham-fisted rule.

The youth-led uprising has caught Najib and his administration in a bind. Wavering between the usual threats to jail 'provocative' youth leaders and Opposition rivals and fear that he might trigger a wave of public fight-back unprecedented in Malaysia, Najib has been conspicuoulsy silent. This has made him appear even weaker and politically clueless as to where and how to take Malaysia forward.. MC

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Don't start a war with the people - PR warns Zahid, Mukhriz

BLACK505 takes Malay heartland by storm!Don't start a war with the people - PR warns Zahid, MukhrizKEDAH - More than 80,000 people - double the number expected - turned up at the Black 505 rally held at the PAS headquarters here to cheer on Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition as they fight for an electoral victory they claim was "stolen" from them at the May 5 general election.

"This s an extraordinary crowd and it proves people like (MCA president) Chua Soi Lek wrong. Soi Lek says only the Chinese attend the Black 505 rallies but what we saw tonight were the Malays in full force," Johari Abdul, the PKR MP for Sungei Petani, told a press conference after the rally ended close to midnight.

He was one of the speakers in a star-studded lineup that included Anwar, PAS deputy president Mat Sabu, PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub, PKR vice presidents Tian Chua and N Surendran

With all the warnings from Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party of a "Chinese tsunami" threatening the birth rights of the Malays, who would have thought that Kota Sarang Semut, a typical small town in the Malay heartland, would jump with both feet into the Black 505 craze sweeping the country.

But come they did. By 6.30pm, the compound of the PAS headquarters was already a hive of activity. A traffic jam was already building up and you could find only parking a kilometre away. Many wore black in solidarity with the Black 505 movement begun by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to protest electoral fraud in Malaysia's May 5 general election.



Historic stand by the Malaysian people

Refusing to concede defeat, Anwar had accused Najib's government of rampant vote-rigging and cheating to "steal" victory from his Pakatan Rakyat coalition. He called for a show of support from the people two days after the election and a crowd of some 150,000 turned up at the Kelana Jaya stadium in Selangor. The rest as they say is history.

Buoyed by overwhelming support from the people, particularly young Malaysians in their 20s and 30s urging him to fight on, Anwar and PR took their case to Batu Kawan, Ipoh, Kuantan, Johor and Seremban, where they spoke to 'sell-out' crowds who braved rainy weather and massive traffic jams to see their 'heroes' in action. The Pakatan is seeking a review and re-election in some 30 seats which they claim suffered the worst electoral fraud

Don't start a war with the people, PR warns Zahid & Mukhriz

Kedah PAS commissioner Mahfuz Omar, who had earlier predicted a crowd size of more than 50,000, had words of advice for Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and Kedah Chief Minister Mukhriz Mahathir. The two Umno leaders had warned against the rally, with Mukhriz refusing to allow the organisers to use the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Setar while Zahid said the rally was illegal and "action" would be taken.

"I would advise Zahid to accept that the majority of the people are with the Pakatan Rakyat and don't start a war with the people. Be rational," Mafuz, who is also a PAS vice-president and the MP for Pokok Sena.

"As for Mukhriz, I would ask him to open up a bit as he is still a young man. He should not behave like the Umno leaders of the past who adopted a confrontational approach with the people."

The crowd in Kota Sarang Semut showed a crowd that - compared to urban counterparts in Kelana Jaya, Ipoh and Johor - was slightly shy but no less eager to take part in Black 505 and vent their outrage at the Umno-BN's alleged electoral fraud. Umno leaders, including Shabery Chik, have however described the gatherings as "pesta kegilaan" or festivals of madness.

As in all the past Black 505 rallies, Anwar's arrival stirred up a frenzy. The 64-year-old leader gave fresh examples of the Election Commission's alleged connivance with the Najib administration in "making fools of the voters". He called on EC staff to "stand up" and speak out against the polls fraud, believed by many to be the worst ever in Malaysia's history. The PR won 89 seats vs BN's 133 seats.





Malaysia Chronicle

BN rep hits out at pro-opposition KK mayor

A freshly minted Sepanggar Barisan Nasional MP has taken city council mayor Abidin Madingkir to task for “holding-up” RM5 million which was meant for development projects in the constituency.

Jumat Idris said the federal government had until July last year allocated millions of ringgit for development projects in the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency and there was a balance of about RM5 million yet to be utilised.

Jumat said several projects had since been approved but the money is yet to released.

“I had put on a thick face in asking for the allocation from the Prime Minister’s Department and other ministries and agencies, but here we have an non-effective mayor sitting on his job,” Jumat told a gathering of farmers in Menggatal on Tuesday.

Allocations for development in Sepanggar are channelled to the City Hall.

To release the funds, the local MP, BN chairman and assemblyman have to forward to City Hall a list of projects approved for implementation.

Although last year, Jumat was was not an MP, he was tasked with looking after Sepanggar after its MP Eric Majimbun of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) quit the national coalition soon after the 2008 general elections.

The constituency encompasses the state seats of Karambunai and Inanam.

Jumat, who won the Sepanggar MP seat in the May 5 polls, accused the mayor of being an agent of the opposition.

He claimed that Abidin, who had been given another term to head the City Hall on the recommendation of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), had failed to do what was expected of him.

“He (Abidin) must show better performance in carrying out his duties or resign from the post to allow someone more capable to take over.

“Such a huge sum of money is yet to be utilised due to a lack of cooperation from the Mayor’s office.”

“Some of the allocations were from July last year. This shows that he is an inefficient government officer because he takes too long. He is really unproductive,” Jumat raged.

‘Shame on Abidin’

Jumat, who is also Sepanggar Umno chief, said the failure to carry out the projects had a negative impact on the residents of Kota Kinabalu, especially those in the Sepanggar suburban area.

“Whatever it is, his contract has been renewed and his services as mayor has been continued. But I want to challenge him, if he does not want to work under the BN government he should resign.

“It is a shame when a Bumiputera is not sensitive to help other Bumiputera.

“Sepanggar is mainly a Bumiputera area. I am frustrated because our efforts to develop the area is halted,” he said.

“This is what happens if a government officer is not with us. That is why I always said we need to replace officers who could not work with BN.

“Government officers must give us their fullest cooperation or we should go after them. As the government we must fight for the people as we are responsible and answerable to them,” he said.

DAP comes to the defence of mayor

Meanwhile, DAP’s Luyang state rep, Hiew King Cheu, came to the defence of the mayor, stating that Jumat was being unfair in his attacks.

Hiew said there should not be a blame-game and finger pointing as to why the allocations were not fully distributed by the City Hall.

He added that allocations were not only under-utilised in Kota Kinabalu but the same was true for the whole of Sabah.

“The allocation RM16.9 billion for Sabah in the 9th Malaysia Plan was not fully utilised, and from the 3,690 approved projects only 2,056 projects worth RM6.81 billion were completed.

“What happened to the remaining unused RM10.09 billion and the 843 projects wanted by the people?

“In the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015), a sum of RM20.3 billion had been allocated, and will this sum be used effectively and fully?

“If that is the case, according to Jumat’s rationale, the whole lot of the government officers have to resign,” said Hiew.

He added that the federal or other allocations could not be controlled by the opposition or the people in need.

“In this case why blame the KK mayor Abidin? The poor fellow is just executing the instructions and directives from “upstair” or the top brass of the BN,” he said. -FMT

7% GST plan 'ridiculous' in low-income Malaysia

The debate on the government's plan to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) continues, with PAS Research Centre director Dzulkefly Ahmad describing the 7 percent rate as hinted by minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala as ridiculous.

“Maybe Najib has awakened to the fact the Federal government’s debt has ballooned to almost 55 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because of him,” Dzulkefly told Harakahdaily.

Idris recently told a forum that at 7 per cent GST, the government could earn some RM27 billion. The rate was almost doubled from the 4 percent when GST was first mooted.

Dzulkefly, the former Kuala Selangor member of parliament, said even Singapore, which has three times Malaysia’s earnings per capita, had introduced GST at the rate of 3 percent due to the exorbitant cost to get the tax system implemented.

"(It will add) pressure to cost of goods and services namely inflation, which could not be avoided due to cost of starting the GST,” he added.

As a result of the GST, Dzulkefly reminded that Singapore faced 3 percent inflation rise for three subsequent years.

Dzulkefly (left) said Pakatan Rakyat planned to implement GST only when the people’s income reach a reasonable level, unlike at present where some 60 percent earn less than RM3,000 a month.

But he disagreed with the suggestion that consumers would have to ultimately bear a total of 28 percent tax for goods and services, having absorbed the 7 percent GST imposed on three higher levels – production, wholesale and retail.

“GST uses the Value-Added Tax (VAT) system like in United Kingdom,” he added.

While admitting GST could be a more efficient taxing system, Dzulkefly insisted that it must not be implemented unless wastages and leakages within the government could be halted. -HD

Ready to declare wealth, but MACC's credibility tainted'

DAP today said while its elected representatives were prepared to declare assets, such an act should not be limited to a "secret" declaration to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

MACC's Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel recently proposed that all elected representatives at Federal and state levels declare their assets to it every three years.

But Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua (pic) questioned MACC's credibility, saying it cannot be relied upon to decide whether an elected representative has questionable wealth.

"The MACC has proven over the past 5 years that it is not competent in investigating and uncovering corruption among the ‘big fishes’ entrenched in the ruling party.

"Worse, the MACC has been completely impartial in its actions by targetting only Pakatan Rakyat representatives," said the second-term MP, who is also DAP's publicity chief, citing a series of highly-publicised actions against PR leaders which in the end failed to prove allegations of corruption.

"It is clear that the MACC, while 'independent' on paper, serves only the political interest of Barisan Nasional. As a result, any declaration of assets solely to MACC is a pointless exercise as MACC will only scrutinise the assets of Pakatan Rakyat representatives and not that of Barisan Nasional," Pua said.

Saying DAP MPs and state assemblymen were not fearful of declaring their assets, Pua challenged MACC to advise the prime minister to require all elected representatives, or at least all federal ministers and state excos, to declare their assets.

"I for one, am prepared to declare assets publicly because I know whatever assets that is in my possession is earned honestly without a single sen obtained from the tax-payers’ money via corrupt means," added Pua, who headed an IT company before joining politics.

The latest proposal is the second by MACC following the Penang state government's move to have all its Exco members declare assets.

Early last year, then minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz came out strongly against a suggestion by MACC to have cabinet members make assets declaration, arguing that such a move could pose danger to the safety of those involved.

Nazri, whose son Nedim made headlines over his extraordinary wealth as well as involvement in an assault case, was not fielded as a BN candidate to defend his Padang Rengas seat. -HD

Don't allow Anwar the chance of new elections

Don't allow Anwar the chance of new elections or there'll be TURMOIL - Dr M warns NajibStreet demonstrations can bring down Governments. This we know from the Arab Spring. But we should also know that setting up a new Government to replace the old Government is not as easy.

There will always be people who will not agree with the new Government, no matter if the Government is democratically elected or not. The losers in the bid for power will always accuse the winners of cheating and frauds of all kinds. They will demand for new elections, or a re-count or whatever.

If their demand is not agreed to then they will take to the streets in continuous and even violent demonstrations, supplemented with strikes and sundry disorders. They know that if the demonstrations are big enough, the police cannot act against them. If the police try, they will resist and become violent. If the police react with violence than their foreign backers will accuse the police of brutality.

In many instances the police had to withdraw or they may be directed to withdraw. They become disinclined to carry out their duties. Some people would take advantage of this by committing minor crimes. The people would feel insecure.

Turmoil

If on the other hand new elections are held, and the former losers win, the new losers will accuse the winners of cheating, of fraud etc. They will hold street demonstrations and strikes and do everything possible to bring down the Government. And so it would go on.

The net result would be continuous turmoil in the country. There would be no growth. Poverty will spread. The country may have to beg for aid or borrow. In the end it loses its independence.

But of course this is a small price to pay for the right to bring down governments through democratic street demonstrations.

Perhaps it would be better if governments are chosen through street demonstrations. It would probably be less fraudulent.

http://chedet.cc/

PKR polls may be postponed

PKR may consider postponing internal elections scheduled for November this year, according to the party’s secretary-general, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said some PKR members felt that the party needed time to consolidate following the recent general election.

“We put in a lot of time, effort and resources for the 13th general election,” Saifuddin told a press conference here. “Some are of the view that the party needs to rebuild its strength and base before holding party polls.”

However, he acknowledged that there were voices arguing that the polls should be held on schedule because it could help boost members’ morale after the general election.

He also said any decision to put off the polls would require amendments to the party’s constitution.

“And for that to happen, we need to hold a special congress to get delegates’ approval,” he said, adding that he had discussed the matter with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Asked whether the matter would be discussed at the party congress opening this Friday, Saifuddin replied in the negative.

“This meeting is being done to settle outstanding issues from 2012, such as getting our financial statements and meeting minutes from last year approved.

“If you remember, this congress was supposed to be held last year, but we postponed it for the general election. So we need to resolve matters pending from last year, as required by ROS.”

Saifuddin unveiled the theme for the congress—Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat, which is the exact sound bite used to rally Pakatan supporters to the massive gatherings held in protest against alleged cheating by BN in GE13.

The congress will be held for two days at the MBPJ Civic Centre. Saifuddin said he expected about 2,500 party delegates, observers and guests to attend.

Saifuddin was coy when asked to comment on calls for BN and Pakatan to stop bickering and learn to work with each other.

“As for recognising Najib Tun Razak’s government,” he said, “it will be decided by the Pakatan leadership council.”

Several political analysts yesterday called on BN to appoint a fair number of Pakatan leaders to sit in parliamentary committees and urged Pakatan to recognise Najib’s government on condition that it commit itself to improving the electoral system.

Saifuddin said PKR would continue mobilising the masses against election fraud and collecting evidence of alleged rigging in the recent polls.

He declared the party’s support for Bersih’s plan to convene a “people’s tribunal” to examine evidence of fraud in GE13. -FMT

Monday, May 20, 2013

RM689mil contracts for Taib family companies

KUCHING: State owned Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) has allegedly channelled RM680 million worth of contracts to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s family-linked companies since 2009.

Swiss-based NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) claimed the three recipients of these enormous contacts were Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS), Sarawak Cable and Naim Holdings.

Channelling these SEB contracts to the Taib family was its “handpicked’ Norwegian CEO Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, who joined the company in 2009.

This revelation comes on the eve of the controversy-ridden International Hydropower Association’s (IHA) conference tomorrow.

Sjotveit, who was recently appointed to the board of the IHA, is seen as Taib’s henchmen here and the “executor” of his ambitious plan to build 12 mega dams in Sarawak in addition to the white-elephant Bakun Dam.

Last week, 600 Penan natives appealed to the Norwegian King to recall Sjøtveit. Also the same week SaveRivers Network, a coalition of conservationists and individuals, urged the IHA to call off its conference which they claimed Sjotveit was using to secure a ‘back-door’ endorsement of Taib’s plans for the construction of these dams.

Calling for Sjoveit to step down from IHA as it was a “conflict of interest”, BMF director Lukas Straumann said: “The extent of conflict of interest in Sarawak’s energy sector is shocking.”

“It is particularly disturbing that the Taib family is directly benefiting from the displacement of indigenous communities.

“(Mr) Sjøtveit should step down immediately for unduly favouring the Taib family and also his superior, the Chief Minister’s cousin Hamid Sepawi.”

(Hamid is the Naim Holdings chairman. He is also the SEB chairman)

Strauman also called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Norway’s financial regulators, Økokrim, to investigate these contracts.

“We expect (these) prosecutors to implement the relevant anti-corruption legislation (in their respective countries),” he added.

According to Straumann, Sjotveit had been more than generous with these companies.

Contracts to Taib’s son

The BMF report revealed that Sarawak Cable is chaired by Taib’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib.

The company allegedly received three contracts for power transmission lines linked to SEB hydropower projects, worth RM237 million.

In 2010, Sarawak Energy sold its profitable subsidiary, Sarwaja Timur, to Sarawak Cable, securing the Chief Minister’s son another RM13 million (US$ 4.3 million) in public contracts.

It also noted that CMS, which is flagship of the Taib business empire, received RM23 million contracts from SEB in 2012 for the construction of a resettlement site for indigenous Penan communities displaced by the Murum dam project.

Naim Holdings was granted RM209 million contract to build power transmission lines to Bakun dam in 2009.

In March 2012, Sarawak Energy commissioned Naim to construct the resettlement site for indigenous Penan communities displaced by the Murum dam for a total of RM197 million. -FMT

GST balloons to 28 per cent at end consumers

PAS Youth chief and Temerloh member of parliament Nasrudin Hassan has urged the government to come clean on the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), said to be ready for implementation following Barisan Nasional's narrow victory in the polls.

Nasrudin responded to the claim made by minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala who gave his calculation of new income for the government through GST.

Idris recently told a forum that at 7 per cent GST, the government could earn some RM27 billion.

“In 2011, this BN senator said GST would be at four per cent. Now it is almost double. In fact, this is higher than the existing government service tax at six per cent,” said Nasrudin, who also heads PAS Youth's Movement to Save the Economy (GESA).

Nasrudin said at the new rate, end consumers would be paying 28 per cent in GST.

“The end consumers would pay GST at 28 per cent rate to cover the cost by manufacturers at seven per cent, wholesalers at seven per cent, retailers at seven per cent and lastly another seven per cent for them. Consumers will not realise this because the 21 per cent of GST had been imposed on manufacturers, wholesalers will be included as the product price,” he explained.

Nasrudin (right) also rubbished the view that GST implementation could be balanced with reduction in income tax.

“It’s not relevant because only 10 per cent of the population pay taxes,” he added.

He said PAS Youth would oppose any plan to introduce GST.

Nasrudin said the government should instead focus on increasing national revenue through prudent spending and recovery of debts from politically-tied businessmen friends.

“It is regretful that even with a mandate of 47 per cent popular votes, BN is big-headed in punishing majority of the people who did not vote for them,” chided Nasrudin. -HD