The Permatang Pauh by-election on 26 August 2008 has been billed as "the mother of all by-elections", "the dirtiest elections ever" and "a do-or-die by-election". Not only would it decide who would be the representative for the parliamentary seat of Permatang Pauh but it would also determine whether Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister, would re-enter parliament after ten years in the political wilderness. This in turn may also mean the possibility of a change of government which many Malaysians hope will herald in a period where there will be a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.
After 10 days of intense and tumultous campaigning, polling day started on a bright note with sunny skies despite the forecast of rain. Very few people have doubts that Anwar Ibrahim would win this by-election but the question on many people's mind is the margin of victory. Would it surpass the 13,398 majority which Wan Azizah won during the March 8 general elections? Or would the persistent accusations hurled at Anwar persuade some of the voters to cast their votes for BN instead, thus reducing the majority which Anwar would get? A resounding win for Anwar would be an endorsement and a strong signal for him to lead the country.
A high voter turnout has been predicted for this by-election. The public holiday declared by the Penang state government would certainly more than offset the unusual decision of the Election Commission to fix the polling day on a weekday. The Permatang Pauh voters must realise how important this by-election is for the country. With the presence of the top leaders of both the Pakatan Rakyat and the BN canvassing for their votes and the constant media focus on the constituency, any complacent voter there would certainly be woken up from their slumber. In the March elections, the voter turnout was about 80%. The total number of voters for the by-election is 58,459. If there is increase of voter turnout to 85% there should be a total of about 50,000 casting their votes.
The racial composition for the Permatang Pauh constituency is Malays - 69.4%, Chinese - 24.5%, Indians - 6% and others - 0.1%. Most observers feel that the majority, if not all of the non-Malays voters will vote for Anwar due the racial issues which were exploited by the BN recently and in particular the Malay supremacy stance taken by UMNO. It is interesting to note that out of the 3 state constituencies in Permatang Pauh, only the mixed state constituency of Seberang Jaya was won by UMNO represented by Arif Shah in the March 8 election. Perhaps, it is due to the habit of Penangites to vote for BN in the state constituency and opposition for the parliamentary seat which saved Arif in the general elections. He won by a majority of only 533! It is very unlikely that many of the non-Malays in Seberang Jaya would vote for him for the parliamentary seat.
In the other two predominantly Malay state constituencies of Permatang Pasir and Penanti, PAS and PKR won the seats in the March elections with majority of 5,433 and 2,219 respectively. BN was trying their best to win back some support in these areas by using dirty tactics of playing up the unbelievable sodomy case against Anwar and showing videos of Saiful swearing with the Koran. Instead of winning them over, these tactics have probably alienated more of the Malays voters including some UMNO supporters. Many are not convinced by the sodomy allegation against Anwar. In a survey conducted by the Merdeka center, about 60% of the Malays surveyed do not believe the sodomy claims and agree that they are politically motivated.
So, what would be the results of this mother of all by-elections Malaysia? Out of the total of about 50,000 voters predicted to come out to vote, about 30% or slightly less of the non-Malay votes should go to Anwar. Lets say about 14,000. Of the remaining Malay voters of about 36,000, more than 60% of these voters should vote for Anwar which will be about 22,000 votes. The final outcome can be Anwar - 36,000 and Arif - 14,000 but due to unexpected events such as names not appearing in the electoral rolls the predicted outcome is:
Prediction of Permatang Pauh By-election results (at 5.31 pm, 26/8/08):
Anwar Ibrahim - 35,000
Arif Shah - 15,000
Majority - 20,000
Final official results
However, when the final results were announced by the EC the actual turnout did not increase as predicted but remain almost the same as in the March 8 elections at 81%. The final official results of the Permatang Pauh by-election is as follows:
Anwar Ibrahim - 31,195 votes
Arif Shah - 15,524 votes
Hanafi - 92 votes
Majority - 15,671
Anwar has won the by-election with a higher majority of 15,671 as compared to the 13,388 majority obtained by Wan Azizah in the March 8 election. Although this is lower than what was predicted, it is still a thumping endorsement for Anwar Ibrahim.
Showing posts with label News (elections). Show all posts
Showing posts with label News (elections). Show all posts
August 27, 2008
April 15, 2008
Anwar claims enough support to form govt
Anwar claims enough support to form govt
The Edge - 15 April 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed last night that the coalition now had enough support from Sabah and Sarawak to command a slim majority in Parliament and to take over as the government of the day.
However, he said the coalition was not yet prepared to act on it, as it wanted to be in a stronger position, rather than just having a “slim majority” for the control of government to be “meaningful”.
“We are not in a hurry, but for the first time, we are saying we are ready to govern. My personal view is that we must have a stronger and comfortable majority to do that,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Anwar said the three component parties of Pakatan Rakyat — PKR, DAP and PAS — needed to form a consensus on who would be prime minister on it forming the government.
Earlier in his speech to a gathering at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru here, he said the coalition had enough support in Sabah and Sarawak to form the government.
...more
The Edge - 15 April 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed last night that the coalition now had enough support from Sabah and Sarawak to command a slim majority in Parliament and to take over as the government of the day.
However, he said the coalition was not yet prepared to act on it, as it wanted to be in a stronger position, rather than just having a “slim majority” for the control of government to be “meaningful”.
“We are not in a hurry, but for the first time, we are saying we are ready to govern. My personal view is that we must have a stronger and comfortable majority to do that,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Anwar said the three component parties of Pakatan Rakyat — PKR, DAP and PAS — needed to form a consensus on who would be prime minister on it forming the government.
Earlier in his speech to a gathering at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru here, he said the coalition had enough support in Sabah and Sarawak to form the government.
...more
April 6, 2008
Lest We Forget V
Tunku Abdul Aziz: It's time to close ranks and get on with job
NST - 6 April 2008
...
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's role in the clamour for Abdullah's political demise is sad and pathetic for a man who should be helping to heal the wound and in the process ensure that Umno would rise quickly to political eminence once again as a real party of the people with all that this implies.
Instead, he chooses to camp outside the castle wall shouting invectives and taking one pot shot after another at his hapless successor who is trying to mend the fences and get on with the job.
Dr Mahathir over the last few years has emerged and become widely known as someone with a highly developed selective memory, if not amnesia itself. He has forgotten that he picked Abdullah because he must have believed that his erstwhile deputy was the right man for the highest public office in the land.
If Dr Mahathir now believes that he had in the event made a wrong choice and Abdullah has not been dancing to his former master's discordant music, it merely confirms that Dr Mahathir is a bad judge of people.
Musa Hitam and Anwar Ibrahim, too, were given short shrift, and in the case of Anwar, that is putting it mildly. But, then, Dr Mahathir chooses not to remember.
Dr Mahathir, the wily political street fighter, has apparently not lost his penchant and flair for controversies. He has always thrived on crises, and as someone remarked to me the other day, "if there was no crisis, he would waste little time in inventing one".
The most dishonourable of his innumerable crisis machinations, perhaps intrigues would better describe his actions, was the shamelessly orchestrated "constitutional crisis" against the sultans when he was at the height of his absolute power, and craving more.
He was tireless, verging on the maniacal, in his abuse of the media to demonise our constitutional rulers who had no means of defending themselves.
For him, in this as in other cases, including the "judicial crisis" in which the lord president and a number of senior judges became victims of his cruel, unethical conduct, the end always justified the means.
He now expects the world to accept his callous statement that it was the tribunal that should be blamed, not he whose hands are whiter than white. Dr Mahathir is so confident of his "cleanness" that he has issued a challenge for him to be investigated for corruption and other acts of wrong doing.
My advice, in all seriousness, is not to tempt fate as it could be a self-fulfilling wish. I find all this "wayang kulit" a little rich even for my cast-iron stomach, but I am prepared to use my international network to form an independent investigation team to look into one or two of the most outrageous revelations of abuse of power that are in the public domain. Just say when.
...more
NST - 6 April 2008
...
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's role in the clamour for Abdullah's political demise is sad and pathetic for a man who should be helping to heal the wound and in the process ensure that Umno would rise quickly to political eminence once again as a real party of the people with all that this implies.
Instead, he chooses to camp outside the castle wall shouting invectives and taking one pot shot after another at his hapless successor who is trying to mend the fences and get on with the job.
Dr Mahathir over the last few years has emerged and become widely known as someone with a highly developed selective memory, if not amnesia itself. He has forgotten that he picked Abdullah because he must have believed that his erstwhile deputy was the right man for the highest public office in the land.
If Dr Mahathir now believes that he had in the event made a wrong choice and Abdullah has not been dancing to his former master's discordant music, it merely confirms that Dr Mahathir is a bad judge of people.
Musa Hitam and Anwar Ibrahim, too, were given short shrift, and in the case of Anwar, that is putting it mildly. But, then, Dr Mahathir chooses not to remember.
Dr Mahathir, the wily political street fighter, has apparently not lost his penchant and flair for controversies. He has always thrived on crises, and as someone remarked to me the other day, "if there was no crisis, he would waste little time in inventing one".
The most dishonourable of his innumerable crisis machinations, perhaps intrigues would better describe his actions, was the shamelessly orchestrated "constitutional crisis" against the sultans when he was at the height of his absolute power, and craving more.
He was tireless, verging on the maniacal, in his abuse of the media to demonise our constitutional rulers who had no means of defending themselves.
For him, in this as in other cases, including the "judicial crisis" in which the lord president and a number of senior judges became victims of his cruel, unethical conduct, the end always justified the means.
He now expects the world to accept his callous statement that it was the tribunal that should be blamed, not he whose hands are whiter than white. Dr Mahathir is so confident of his "cleanness" that he has issued a challenge for him to be investigated for corruption and other acts of wrong doing.
My advice, in all seriousness, is not to tempt fate as it could be a self-fulfilling wish. I find all this "wayang kulit" a little rich even for my cast-iron stomach, but I am prepared to use my international network to form an independent investigation team to look into one or two of the most outrageous revelations of abuse of power that are in the public domain. Just say when.
...more
Lest We Forget IV
The Edge says Dr M at centre of Umno’s many problems
Malaysian Insider - 5 April 2008
The Edge has waded into the political battle between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, urging Malaysians not to forget that many of the problems facing Umno and Malaysia happened under the former prime minister’s watch. This article could set the tone for a weekend of fireworks.
Abdullah is scheduled to speak to party members tomorrow and will list down the reasons for Umno and Barisan Nasional’s reverses in Election 2008. He is also being urged to address many of the accusations levelled against him by Dr Mahathir.
Earlier in the day, Dr Mahathir will address another Umno gathering. He will continue to demand for Abdullah’s resignation. He may also have to respond to some of the points raised by the Edge and one of its writers.
In an editorial headlined “Lest We Forget”, the influential financial weekly said that despite Dr Mahathir’s selective memory, he cannot absolve himself from the sacking of the Lord President and two other judges in 1988. Nor should he forget that it was he who put in place the rule that anyone who wants to contest the party president’s position must receive nominations from at least 30 per cent of the divisions.
The paper said that contrary to assertions by the former PM, Umno tends to have a crisis every 10 years. There was the quarrel with Musa Hitam, the jailing and sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and now he is attacking Abdullah.
“Three crises in three decades and the central figure in each of them is Mahathir. Mahathir ‘mudah lupa’ but we hope the rest of the Malaysians will not forget that easily,‘’ said the editorial.
The paper upped the ante in an accompanying article. Its writer noted that Dr Mahathir challenged the authorities to get foreign agencies to investigate him.
“Perhaps it is high time Abdullah called his bluff and launched an international investigation into all the alleged misdeeds of Mahathir during his 22 years in office, with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his first key witness,‘’ said the writer.
It is unlikely that Abdullah will order any investigations into the Mahathir era. Throughout his political career, he has not exhibited a ruthless streak or a willingness to get down into the trenches and fight. Tomorrow, he may aim some barbs at Dr Mahathir but it will fall a long way short of what his supporters want him to do.
It is also unlikely that Dr Mahathir will lose any sleep after being painted as a hypocrite by the Edge. Throughout his 22 years in office, he has shown an unerring ability to stay on message.
...more
Malaysian Insider - 5 April 2008
The Edge has waded into the political battle between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, urging Malaysians not to forget that many of the problems facing Umno and Malaysia happened under the former prime minister’s watch. This article could set the tone for a weekend of fireworks.
Abdullah is scheduled to speak to party members tomorrow and will list down the reasons for Umno and Barisan Nasional’s reverses in Election 2008. He is also being urged to address many of the accusations levelled against him by Dr Mahathir.
Earlier in the day, Dr Mahathir will address another Umno gathering. He will continue to demand for Abdullah’s resignation. He may also have to respond to some of the points raised by the Edge and one of its writers.
In an editorial headlined “Lest We Forget”, the influential financial weekly said that despite Dr Mahathir’s selective memory, he cannot absolve himself from the sacking of the Lord President and two other judges in 1988. Nor should he forget that it was he who put in place the rule that anyone who wants to contest the party president’s position must receive nominations from at least 30 per cent of the divisions.
The paper said that contrary to assertions by the former PM, Umno tends to have a crisis every 10 years. There was the quarrel with Musa Hitam, the jailing and sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and now he is attacking Abdullah.
“Three crises in three decades and the central figure in each of them is Mahathir. Mahathir ‘mudah lupa’ but we hope the rest of the Malaysians will not forget that easily,‘’ said the editorial.
The paper upped the ante in an accompanying article. Its writer noted that Dr Mahathir challenged the authorities to get foreign agencies to investigate him.
“Perhaps it is high time Abdullah called his bluff and launched an international investigation into all the alleged misdeeds of Mahathir during his 22 years in office, with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his first key witness,‘’ said the writer.
It is unlikely that Abdullah will order any investigations into the Mahathir era. Throughout his political career, he has not exhibited a ruthless streak or a willingness to get down into the trenches and fight. Tomorrow, he may aim some barbs at Dr Mahathir but it will fall a long way short of what his supporters want him to do.
It is also unlikely that Dr Mahathir will lose any sleep after being painted as a hypocrite by the Edge. Throughout his 22 years in office, he has shown an unerring ability to stay on message.
...more
April 1, 2008
Emergence of Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact)
It's official. It's historical. Opposition forms coalition
Malaysian Insider - April 1 2008
It's been floating around for some time now and Anwar Ibrahim has spoken about it to various media, but today it is official, he announced at a news conference that Malaysia's opposition parties have agreed to enter into a formal coalition, called Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact).
The de facto leader of the opposition, whose wife Dr Wan Azizah will be the formal Leader of the Opposition in parliament, said the move to have a formal coalition is to present the parties as a credible alternative to the present ruling government coalition, Barisan Nasional.
A convention of all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of Parliament and State Assemblies will be held the 27th of April, 2008
This ushers in the era of a two-party system into Malaysian politics for the first time in its history.
The PKR-PAS-DAP group has proposed strengthening ties by forming Pakatan Rakyat, pending the agreement of the respective parties, said Anwar.
He dismissed the long-held position of Parti Islam SeMalaysia, or PAS, on making Malaysia an Islamic state as non-issue. Malaysia's opposition has been divided for many years on separate philosophies, with two parties , PKR and DAP appealing mainly to urban, liberal voters and Islamist PAS attracting mainly rural votes.
The 3 parties have tried before to form a coalition with a single policy platform, during an election campaign in 1999, calling themselves the Barisan Alternatif. But the pact fell apart two years later over the issue PAS's call for the creation of an Islamic state.
Anwar said the parties were still working on a common policy platform, and detailed policy steps would be hammered out at a meeting of parliamentary and state assembly deputies of all 3 parties on April 27. He insisted that PAS's stand on an Islamic state would not sink the new alliance.
...more
Malaysian Insider - April 1 2008
It's been floating around for some time now and Anwar Ibrahim has spoken about it to various media, but today it is official, he announced at a news conference that Malaysia's opposition parties have agreed to enter into a formal coalition, called Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact).
The de facto leader of the opposition, whose wife Dr Wan Azizah will be the formal Leader of the Opposition in parliament, said the move to have a formal coalition is to present the parties as a credible alternative to the present ruling government coalition, Barisan Nasional.
A convention of all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of Parliament and State Assemblies will be held the 27th of April, 2008
This ushers in the era of a two-party system into Malaysian politics for the first time in its history.
The PKR-PAS-DAP group has proposed strengthening ties by forming Pakatan Rakyat, pending the agreement of the respective parties, said Anwar.
He dismissed the long-held position of Parti Islam SeMalaysia, or PAS, on making Malaysia an Islamic state as non-issue. Malaysia's opposition has been divided for many years on separate philosophies, with two parties , PKR and DAP appealing mainly to urban, liberal voters and Islamist PAS attracting mainly rural votes.
The 3 parties have tried before to form a coalition with a single policy platform, during an election campaign in 1999, calling themselves the Barisan Alternatif. But the pact fell apart two years later over the issue PAS's call for the creation of an Islamic state.
Anwar said the parties were still working on a common policy platform, and detailed policy steps would be hammered out at a meeting of parliamentary and state assembly deputies of all 3 parties on April 27. He insisted that PAS's stand on an Islamic state would not sink the new alliance.
...more
March 26, 2008
Malaysia: Change is Long Overdue
Malaysia: Change is Long Overdue
Farish A. Noor
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
The election results of March 2008 have shown the world that in Malaysia at least race and communal-based voting may soon become a thing of the past. This may have been a protest vote against the lackadaisical performance of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it did nonetheless send a very clear message to the government and all the parties in the country.
For as long as they can remember, Malaysians have been told time and again that there can only be political stability in the country as long as the status quo is defended. This rather uninspiring message was, of course, delivered by none other than those who were already in power and who had every reason to wish to remain in power for as long as humanly possible. Since it became independent in 1957 Malaysia has been ruled by the same coterie of right-of-centre Conservative-nationalist parties led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its allies in the former Alliance coalition and now the National Front. For more than half a century Malaysians were told that this was the natural order of things and that to even entertain the idea of there being a different government was tantamount to political heresy of sorts.
Yet a quick survey of the political landscape of many a post-colonial nation-state today would show clearly that almost every post-colonial country in the world has experienced a change of government, and in many cases this transition has come about without leading to chaos and tumult in the streets. The nationalists of Algeria were eventually kicked out of office after it became patently clear that their brand of conservative nationalism served only to disguise what was really a corrupt mode of patronage politics. In India the Congress party that had for so long rested on its laurels and prided itself with the claim that it was the party that won India's independence has been soundly beaten at both the national and state level; again for the same reason. Why even Indonesia that suffered under three decades of military rule has made the slow but sure transition to a fledgling democracy of sorts, and the mainstream media in Indonesia today remains the most open and courageous in all of Southeast Asia. So why not Malaysia?
The election results of March 2008 have shown the world that in Malaysia at least race and communal-based voting may soon become a thing of the past. This may have been a protest vote against the lackadaisical performance of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it did nonetheless send a very clear message to the government and all the parties in the country. It signalled that the Malaysian public was tired of empty promises and having sweet nothings whispered in their ears, while the government continues along its inebriated pace of mismanaging the country. It also reminded all politicians from all parties that the Malaysian voters will no longer vote along racial or religious-communitarian lines, and that henceforth they will vote for the best candidate who can do her or his job better than the other bloke.
If this is not a sign of political maturity and responsibility, then this analyst doesn't know what is. The Malaysian voters were literally warned by the ruling parties to vote for them, yet they defied the might of the government and were prepared to take the costs. Yet soon after the election results were known there were still voices among the ruling elite who had not yet adjusted to the realities on the ground. During a rather tiresome debate live on TV with a prominent has-been from the ruling UMNO party, I was struck by how outdated, disconnected and irrelevant his views and discourse were: Rambling on about the need to protect his own ethnic and religious community while slandering the politicians of the opposite camp, he merely reiterated every single cliché on race politics we had been fed for the past fifty years. If people like these are still adamant that there should be no change in Malaysia, then we all know that the time for change has already come.
...more
Farish A. Noor
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
The election results of March 2008 have shown the world that in Malaysia at least race and communal-based voting may soon become a thing of the past. This may have been a protest vote against the lackadaisical performance of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it did nonetheless send a very clear message to the government and all the parties in the country.
For as long as they can remember, Malaysians have been told time and again that there can only be political stability in the country as long as the status quo is defended. This rather uninspiring message was, of course, delivered by none other than those who were already in power and who had every reason to wish to remain in power for as long as humanly possible. Since it became independent in 1957 Malaysia has been ruled by the same coterie of right-of-centre Conservative-nationalist parties led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its allies in the former Alliance coalition and now the National Front. For more than half a century Malaysians were told that this was the natural order of things and that to even entertain the idea of there being a different government was tantamount to political heresy of sorts.
Yet a quick survey of the political landscape of many a post-colonial nation-state today would show clearly that almost every post-colonial country in the world has experienced a change of government, and in many cases this transition has come about without leading to chaos and tumult in the streets. The nationalists of Algeria were eventually kicked out of office after it became patently clear that their brand of conservative nationalism served only to disguise what was really a corrupt mode of patronage politics. In India the Congress party that had for so long rested on its laurels and prided itself with the claim that it was the party that won India's independence has been soundly beaten at both the national and state level; again for the same reason. Why even Indonesia that suffered under three decades of military rule has made the slow but sure transition to a fledgling democracy of sorts, and the mainstream media in Indonesia today remains the most open and courageous in all of Southeast Asia. So why not Malaysia?
The election results of March 2008 have shown the world that in Malaysia at least race and communal-based voting may soon become a thing of the past. This may have been a protest vote against the lackadaisical performance of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but it did nonetheless send a very clear message to the government and all the parties in the country. It signalled that the Malaysian public was tired of empty promises and having sweet nothings whispered in their ears, while the government continues along its inebriated pace of mismanaging the country. It also reminded all politicians from all parties that the Malaysian voters will no longer vote along racial or religious-communitarian lines, and that henceforth they will vote for the best candidate who can do her or his job better than the other bloke.
If this is not a sign of political maturity and responsibility, then this analyst doesn't know what is. The Malaysian voters were literally warned by the ruling parties to vote for them, yet they defied the might of the government and were prepared to take the costs. Yet soon after the election results were known there were still voices among the ruling elite who had not yet adjusted to the realities on the ground. During a rather tiresome debate live on TV with a prominent has-been from the ruling UMNO party, I was struck by how outdated, disconnected and irrelevant his views and discourse were: Rambling on about the need to protect his own ethnic and religious community while slandering the politicians of the opposite camp, he merely reiterated every single cliché on race politics we had been fed for the past fifty years. If people like these are still adamant that there should be no change in Malaysia, then we all know that the time for change has already come.
...more
A Truly Defining & Defying Moment!
A Truly Defining & Defying Moment!
Martin Jalleh
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
The Umno-BN hegemony has come to a sudden halt. The 50-year old political juggernaut has been severely jolted. Its formidable force fragmented. A mean machine has been reduced to a mouse.
The coalition that had used its brute majority to bully and bulldoze its way and will in Parliament, blinked when the Opposition breached its two-thirds majority. It was something that they had not bargained for.
The regime of humbug, hype, hypocrisy, hysterics and histrionics, displayed especially in Parliament, has been humbled, even humiliated. People in high places came hurtling down without knowing what really hit them.
The government of unbridled arrogance of power and brazen high-handedness has been brought low. A haunting silence hovers over the once haughty as their political future hangs heavily against hope. The high and mighty are hushed.
The powers that have dominated, dictated and decided for “the good of the people” have been dented. The BN is left in a daze as to why and how they have been ditched and damned so decidedly.
Umno’s high-profile ‘heroes’ had failed to prepare the party to cope with the winds of change. Instead, they became experts in denial, diversion, damage control and in demanding that they be not deprived of their "crutches".
They had tried to stamp their superiority by demonising others, demolishing critics, "desensitising" non-Malays by brandishing a keris annually, and dramatically displaying Umno as the staunchest defender of Islam.
Umno’s elite would even walk over each other to grab any and every opportunity to satisfy their insatiable and grotesque greed -- and they would have the gall to do it under the guise of fighting for the poor Malay.
Incapable of reforming themselves, as former PM Mahathir had inspiringly pointed out recently, it was only a matter of time when Umno would implode – self-destruct – the inevitable happened on 8th March!
The rakyat were fed up, frustrated and furious at the unconscionable Umnoputra elite and their lapdog coalition partners for having bled this country dry and gambling the country away with the racial and religious card.
The people were tired of the government’s make-believe. Behind its portrait of a "successful nation" hung an increasingly strained and soiled social fabric – which they had to contend with everyday of their lives.
Pak Lah’s advisors failed to read the groundswell of disillusionment and discontentment. Detached and disconnected from the grassroots, they discussed day-to-day realities from the 4th Floor...as the PM dozed off!
For four years they had gone on a frolick, fumbling and flip-flopping all the way, while the people struggled to stay afloat against the rising cost of living…and as the leaders of the country grew fat and flaunted their fortune.
Khairy and his boys on the 4th Floor must have flogged themselves or went into a fit as four more states fell to the Opposition. Oxbridge must have wished they never had such an ox-brained graduate.
Dr Mahathir says Pak Lah is responsible for ‘destroying’ Umno and BN. He forgets that the ruins of today have their roots in his government of yesterday -- one riddled with the most rotten of policies, practices and public personalities.
...more
Martin Jalleh
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
The Umno-BN hegemony has come to a sudden halt. The 50-year old political juggernaut has been severely jolted. Its formidable force fragmented. A mean machine has been reduced to a mouse.
The coalition that had used its brute majority to bully and bulldoze its way and will in Parliament, blinked when the Opposition breached its two-thirds majority. It was something that they had not bargained for.
The regime of humbug, hype, hypocrisy, hysterics and histrionics, displayed especially in Parliament, has been humbled, even humiliated. People in high places came hurtling down without knowing what really hit them.
The government of unbridled arrogance of power and brazen high-handedness has been brought low. A haunting silence hovers over the once haughty as their political future hangs heavily against hope. The high and mighty are hushed.
The powers that have dominated, dictated and decided for “the good of the people” have been dented. The BN is left in a daze as to why and how they have been ditched and damned so decidedly.
Umno’s high-profile ‘heroes’ had failed to prepare the party to cope with the winds of change. Instead, they became experts in denial, diversion, damage control and in demanding that they be not deprived of their "crutches".
They had tried to stamp their superiority by demonising others, demolishing critics, "desensitising" non-Malays by brandishing a keris annually, and dramatically displaying Umno as the staunchest defender of Islam.
Umno’s elite would even walk over each other to grab any and every opportunity to satisfy their insatiable and grotesque greed -- and they would have the gall to do it under the guise of fighting for the poor Malay.
Incapable of reforming themselves, as former PM Mahathir had inspiringly pointed out recently, it was only a matter of time when Umno would implode – self-destruct – the inevitable happened on 8th March!
The rakyat were fed up, frustrated and furious at the unconscionable Umnoputra elite and their lapdog coalition partners for having bled this country dry and gambling the country away with the racial and religious card.
The people were tired of the government’s make-believe. Behind its portrait of a "successful nation" hung an increasingly strained and soiled social fabric – which they had to contend with everyday of their lives.
Pak Lah’s advisors failed to read the groundswell of disillusionment and discontentment. Detached and disconnected from the grassroots, they discussed day-to-day realities from the 4th Floor...as the PM dozed off!
For four years they had gone on a frolick, fumbling and flip-flopping all the way, while the people struggled to stay afloat against the rising cost of living…and as the leaders of the country grew fat and flaunted their fortune.
Khairy and his boys on the 4th Floor must have flogged themselves or went into a fit as four more states fell to the Opposition. Oxbridge must have wished they never had such an ox-brained graduate.
Dr Mahathir says Pak Lah is responsible for ‘destroying’ Umno and BN. He forgets that the ruins of today have their roots in his government of yesterday -- one riddled with the most rotten of policies, practices and public personalities.
...more
In Penang, serious questions over some land deals
In Penang, serious questions over some land deals
Malaysian Insider - March 26
When the Penang state government disclosed recently that it was revisiting certain land deals, the first name that escaped the lips of most people was the controversial Penang Global City Centre project. After all, the plan to turn this choice real estate into a mixed development of high-rise condominiums, bungalows, hotels and parks has been as popular as the plague.
But The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the state government is more concerned about a more down-to-earth project in the district of Penanti. As the story goes, land belonging to a clan association was “hijacked’’ by the previous state government and offered as a concession to a businessman in the quarry business.
How the state government or Land Office approved this transaction, bearing in mind that the land belonged to a third party, is unclear.
...more
Malaysian Insider - March 26
When the Penang state government disclosed recently that it was revisiting certain land deals, the first name that escaped the lips of most people was the controversial Penang Global City Centre project. After all, the plan to turn this choice real estate into a mixed development of high-rise condominiums, bungalows, hotels and parks has been as popular as the plague.
But The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the state government is more concerned about a more down-to-earth project in the district of Penanti. As the story goes, land belonging to a clan association was “hijacked’’ by the previous state government and offered as a concession to a businessman in the quarry business.
How the state government or Land Office approved this transaction, bearing in mind that the land belonged to a third party, is unclear.
...more
Malaysia's PM pays high price to stay in power
Malaysia's PM pays high price to stay in power
Michael Backman
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
(The Age):MALAYSIA'S hapless Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi got something right last week: he announced a radical reshuffle of his cabinet, which included dropping several ministers who had seemed untouchable. But what Abdullah got wrong was the timing. The reshuffle is about two years too late. Had he done it then, his coalition Government would not have done so badly at this month's elections. He would not now be staring into the political abyss whereby it is almost a certainty he will not be Prime Minister at the next election. It is a possibility that his party will not even be in office.
But Abdullah's new ministry is no clear-cut triumph. Two Government members named as ministers refused to serve, highlighting the sloppiness of the process of government in Malaysia. Why did Abdullah not check with them before announcing his ministry? This is the usual process in parliamentary democracies elsewhere. One, aged just 54, said he wanted to make way for a younger person. Did he sense a sinking ship?
The head of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a component of the ruling coalition, made it quite clear he didn't want to be considered for a cabinet post. He wants to spend more time watching his back. There is much bitterness in the MCA and a chance it will split.
Most interestingly, Abdullah appointed Muhammad Muhammad Taib as his Minister for Rural and Regional Development. What does such a minister do? He travels to Malaysia's more far-flung parts and hands out money for development. What he really does is to hand out contracts to politicians, their families and friends to keep them onside. This will be more important than ever now, as the ruling coalition does not have a majority of seats in Parliament drawn from peninsular Malaysia and can only rule with the support of the smaller, regionally based parties in Sarawak and Sabah states on the island of Borneo.
...more
Michael Backman
Malaysia Today - 26 March 2008
(The Age):MALAYSIA'S hapless Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi got something right last week: he announced a radical reshuffle of his cabinet, which included dropping several ministers who had seemed untouchable. But what Abdullah got wrong was the timing. The reshuffle is about two years too late. Had he done it then, his coalition Government would not have done so badly at this month's elections. He would not now be staring into the political abyss whereby it is almost a certainty he will not be Prime Minister at the next election. It is a possibility that his party will not even be in office.
But Abdullah's new ministry is no clear-cut triumph. Two Government members named as ministers refused to serve, highlighting the sloppiness of the process of government in Malaysia. Why did Abdullah not check with them before announcing his ministry? This is the usual process in parliamentary democracies elsewhere. One, aged just 54, said he wanted to make way for a younger person. Did he sense a sinking ship?
The head of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a component of the ruling coalition, made it quite clear he didn't want to be considered for a cabinet post. He wants to spend more time watching his back. There is much bitterness in the MCA and a chance it will split.
Most interestingly, Abdullah appointed Muhammad Muhammad Taib as his Minister for Rural and Regional Development. What does such a minister do? He travels to Malaysia's more far-flung parts and hands out money for development. What he really does is to hand out contracts to politicians, their families and friends to keep them onside. This will be more important than ever now, as the ruling coalition does not have a majority of seats in Parliament drawn from peninsular Malaysia and can only rule with the support of the smaller, regionally based parties in Sarawak and Sabah states on the island of Borneo.
...more
A legal contract more defining than the so-called 'social contract'
A legal contract more defining than the so-called 'social contract'
Dr Collin Abraham
Malaysia Today - 25 March 2008
I believe it will be generally agreed that if there was one extraordinary appointment to the newly formed cabinet it was that of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim charged with the responsibility of Judicial Affairs and Legal Reform.
This is not simply because Zaid’ appointment was controversial in itself, to say the least, but rather because he has potentially been given a blank cheque to institute legal reforms that strike at the heart of giving each and every Malaysian an inalienable legal contract of protection under the Federal Constitution. I have no doubt whatsoever that Zaid will do his utmost to ensure that Malaysians have this full protection under the rule of law, thereby giving them the kind of confidence needed to create a ‘level playing field’ for themselves and to take control of their lives. As I see it, this situation, if it is also accompanied by reasonable institutional measures to alleviate poverty across the board, will necessarily make the so-called “social contract’ of the Barisan National obsolete.
Indeed, according to a leading lawyer Zainur Zakaria “the (this) so-called ‘social contract’” has been replaced with the Federation Constitution which spells out the rights of the communities” (NST 24/3/08) and therefore in emphasising individual legal rights under law reforms Zaid would in fact be contributing to a defining boost to harmonious ethnic and race relations in the country.
...more
Dr Collin Abraham
Malaysia Today - 25 March 2008
I believe it will be generally agreed that if there was one extraordinary appointment to the newly formed cabinet it was that of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim charged with the responsibility of Judicial Affairs and Legal Reform.
This is not simply because Zaid’ appointment was controversial in itself, to say the least, but rather because he has potentially been given a blank cheque to institute legal reforms that strike at the heart of giving each and every Malaysian an inalienable legal contract of protection under the Federal Constitution. I have no doubt whatsoever that Zaid will do his utmost to ensure that Malaysians have this full protection under the rule of law, thereby giving them the kind of confidence needed to create a ‘level playing field’ for themselves and to take control of their lives. As I see it, this situation, if it is also accompanied by reasonable institutional measures to alleviate poverty across the board, will necessarily make the so-called “social contract’ of the Barisan National obsolete.
Indeed, according to a leading lawyer Zainur Zakaria “the (this) so-called ‘social contract’” has been replaced with the Federation Constitution which spells out the rights of the communities” (NST 24/3/08) and therefore in emphasising individual legal rights under law reforms Zaid would in fact be contributing to a defining boost to harmonious ethnic and race relations in the country.
...more
March 24, 2008
Param: Seek accountability, not apology
Param: Seek accountability, not apology
Malaysiakini (subscription reqd) - Mar 24, 2008
New law minister Zaid Ibrahim’s suggestion that the government should apologise to those victimised in the 1988 judicial crisis does not meet the test of accountability, said Param Cumaraswamy.
The former United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers said that those who committed the transgressions should be the ones to apologise.
“Those who perpetrated the transgressions are still alive and they must be called to account for their conduct and seek forgiveness from the six valiant judges, their families and Malaysians generally for the sacrilege committed to the temple of independent justice,” he said in a statement today.
Param, a former Malaysian Bar president, named then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Attorney-General Abu Talib Othman (currently chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) and Chief Justice Hamid Omar as those deemed accountable.
“There were other personalities who carried out what in military terms is called ‘superior orders’ for fear of being dismissed from their positions,” said Param.
“Having made the transgressors publicly accountable, the government must offer adequate compensation to the victims and their families (as) reinstatement of the three dismissed is no longer possible.”
Param noted that Malaysians have a right to know who was responsible for the events and why it happened.
...more
Malaysiakini (subscription reqd) - Mar 24, 2008
New law minister Zaid Ibrahim’s suggestion that the government should apologise to those victimised in the 1988 judicial crisis does not meet the test of accountability, said Param Cumaraswamy.
The former United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers said that those who committed the transgressions should be the ones to apologise.
“Those who perpetrated the transgressions are still alive and they must be called to account for their conduct and seek forgiveness from the six valiant judges, their families and Malaysians generally for the sacrilege committed to the temple of independent justice,” he said in a statement today.
Param, a former Malaysian Bar president, named then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Attorney-General Abu Talib Othman (currently chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) and Chief Justice Hamid Omar as those deemed accountable.
“There were other personalities who carried out what in military terms is called ‘superior orders’ for fear of being dismissed from their positions,” said Param.
“Having made the transgressors publicly accountable, the government must offer adequate compensation to the victims and their families (as) reinstatement of the three dismissed is no longer possible.”
Param noted that Malaysians have a right to know who was responsible for the events and why it happened.
...more
Trengganu MB crisis: Follow the money trail
Trengganu MB crisis: Follow the money trail
anilnetto.com - 24 March 2008
While much has been said about the constitutional position, there is more to it than just the letter and spirit of the law.
There is more to it than that - and it is essential that we consider this dimension in any discussion of the political situation in Trengganu.
Follow the money trail.
One of the key issues, I believe, is how the Petronas oil royalties due to the state amounting to some RM1 billion annually should be spent - for the benefit of the people or for vested interests. Despite its oil wealth, Trengganu is one of the poorest states in the federation.
The royalty payments are no small change. In the past, the money was paid directly to the state government and dispensed under its supervision.
But when Trengganu fell to opposition hands (Pas) in 1999, then prime minister Mahathir changed the rules. He couldn’t bear to see all that money going to an opposition-controlled state government.
Instead of the Petronas royalties (amounting to 5 per cent of oil extraction and sales) going directly to the Trengganu state government, they were now channelled to a federally administered Special Fund Financing Programme (the Fund), which was established in December 2000. The money in this new Fund was euphemistically renamed “goodwill money” (wang ihsan) and it was supposed to directly finance development programmes for the people of Terengganu, largely bypassing the state government.
Since then, there has been little accountability over how this money has been spent and whether the projects really benefit the ordinary people.
...more
anilnetto.com - 24 March 2008
While much has been said about the constitutional position, there is more to it than just the letter and spirit of the law.
There is more to it than that - and it is essential that we consider this dimension in any discussion of the political situation in Trengganu.
Follow the money trail.
One of the key issues, I believe, is how the Petronas oil royalties due to the state amounting to some RM1 billion annually should be spent - for the benefit of the people or for vested interests. Despite its oil wealth, Trengganu is one of the poorest states in the federation.
The royalty payments are no small change. In the past, the money was paid directly to the state government and dispensed under its supervision.
But when Trengganu fell to opposition hands (Pas) in 1999, then prime minister Mahathir changed the rules. He couldn’t bear to see all that money going to an opposition-controlled state government.
Instead of the Petronas royalties (amounting to 5 per cent of oil extraction and sales) going directly to the Trengganu state government, they were now channelled to a federally administered Special Fund Financing Programme (the Fund), which was established in December 2000. The money in this new Fund was euphemistically renamed “goodwill money” (wang ihsan) and it was supposed to directly finance development programmes for the people of Terengganu, largely bypassing the state government.
Since then, there has been little accountability over how this money has been spent and whether the projects really benefit the ordinary people.
...more
Monsoon (Cup) winds of change
Monsoon (Cup) winds of change
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER - Raja Petra Kamarudin
Malaysia Today - 24 March 2008
Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.
...
That is probably what the Kuala Terengganu folks at the Pasar Payang wet market are lamenting. When the Rulers keep quiet, the rakyat complain and question the purpose of retaining the Monarchy if the Rulers do not earn their salary. However, when they do act, the raykat complain and accuse the Rulers of getting involved in politics. The Rulers must work for the people, argue the rakyat. The bottom line is, the rakyat don't really know what they want.
In the 1990s, a well-known Malaysian business magazine reported that Terengganu is the second richest state after Selangor but its rakyat are the second poorest after Perlis. The Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, retorted that Kelantan may be poor compared to Terengganu, but its people are rich. “Kekayaan Kelantan di tangan rakyat,” said Nik Aziz. Kelantenese, Nik Aziz stressed, do not need to depend on the government. They will travel far and wide, even to Singapore, to earn their living. And they will send money back to the state to help prop up its economy.
This is true. You can find a Kampong Kelantan in Singapore but not a Kampong Terengganu or Kampong Kedah or whatever. And Kelantanese will go back to Kelantan to pay their zakat (tithe) so that the money can go to the state and not to the federal government. And that is why the federal government attempted to nationalise the zakat collection -- they wanted to deny the state the money. But Kelantanese are stubborn and they are in fact proud that they can survive without federal funding and in spite of being squeezed of federal funding.
Take their water supply as one example. Kelantanese are being denied clean water because the federal government will not give the state the money it needs to improve its water supply. Because of this many have died of cholera over the last two decades but the Kelantanese refuse to hand the state back to Barisan Nasional although by doing so they could then get clean water and would no longer suffer so many deaths. Kelantanese treat the high number of deaths and the loss of their loved ones as 'collateral damage' which one has to endure when opposing the federal government. Yes, they are sad that many have to die, but in any struggle people die and the struggle against the tyranny of the federal government overrides all other considerations.
...more
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER - Raja Petra Kamarudin
Malaysia Today - 24 March 2008
Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.
...
That is probably what the Kuala Terengganu folks at the Pasar Payang wet market are lamenting. When the Rulers keep quiet, the rakyat complain and question the purpose of retaining the Monarchy if the Rulers do not earn their salary. However, when they do act, the raykat complain and accuse the Rulers of getting involved in politics. The Rulers must work for the people, argue the rakyat. The bottom line is, the rakyat don't really know what they want.
In the 1990s, a well-known Malaysian business magazine reported that Terengganu is the second richest state after Selangor but its rakyat are the second poorest after Perlis. The Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, retorted that Kelantan may be poor compared to Terengganu, but its people are rich. “Kekayaan Kelantan di tangan rakyat,” said Nik Aziz. Kelantenese, Nik Aziz stressed, do not need to depend on the government. They will travel far and wide, even to Singapore, to earn their living. And they will send money back to the state to help prop up its economy.
This is true. You can find a Kampong Kelantan in Singapore but not a Kampong Terengganu or Kampong Kedah or whatever. And Kelantanese will go back to Kelantan to pay their zakat (tithe) so that the money can go to the state and not to the federal government. And that is why the federal government attempted to nationalise the zakat collection -- they wanted to deny the state the money. But Kelantanese are stubborn and they are in fact proud that they can survive without federal funding and in spite of being squeezed of federal funding.
Take their water supply as one example. Kelantanese are being denied clean water because the federal government will not give the state the money it needs to improve its water supply. Because of this many have died of cholera over the last two decades but the Kelantanese refuse to hand the state back to Barisan Nasional although by doing so they could then get clean water and would no longer suffer so many deaths. Kelantanese treat the high number of deaths and the loss of their loved ones as 'collateral damage' which one has to endure when opposing the federal government. Yes, they are sad that many have to die, but in any struggle people die and the struggle against the tyranny of the federal government overrides all other considerations.
...more
BN, Malaysians never forgot
BN, Malaysians never forgot
K W Waran
Malaysia Today - 24 March 2008
Our Ex-PM once said, “Melayu mudah lupa” (Malays forget easily). In retrospective thinking, it would have been most appropriate if he had said, “Kroni-kroni saya mudah lupa”. Dulu berpusu-pusu nak cium tangan saya, tapi sekarang, saya talipon pun tak mahu jawab“. (My CRONIES forget easily, before they would clamber over each other to kiss my hand. Now, even if I call them, they never answer)”.This fate is awaiting Samy too.
Well, TUN, those were of the Blood Sucking Parasite species that you were nurturing and nourishing instead of us,whom you was responsible for. We, irrespective of colour and creed always loved our nation as OUR IBU PERTIWI. If, a fraction of the all those frustrated budding entrepreneurs with their brilliant ideas were assisted, today, our nation would have been much closer towards realizing the Vision 2020 .
For decades, the BN believed in their own spin that the Silent Majority were behind them and therefore wasted Billions of Ringgits, while gobbling some annually were their INHERENT HALLMARK of GROSTESQUE MISMANAGEMENT and NEGLIGENCE in every aspects of their Governance tells on them. If only half had been saved, it would be enough to nourish every child of this nation with quality food daily to say the least. We know,today, some are still only having rice drizzled with soy sauce.
We never forgot the Auditor-General’s Reports that never improved over those years even after Mr. Clean came in. We never approved of the obsolete draconian ISA nor forgot how and against whom it is still being used. We never forgot the Billions of Petro Ringgit that was never accounted for was/is spent with total impunity as always mentioned by DSAI. We never forgot the Currency Market debacle that almost bankrupted the Bank Negara Malaysia.
We will also never FORGET the gross atrocities that took place when the entire BN machinery was used in a feeble attempt to destroy DSAI for good. It was then that every person with conscience felt it to the very core of their hearts that many did shed tears of pain while only being able to offer prayers for him and his family. Would anyone forget his so called “self inflicted” black eye, the aggravated spinal injury due to the bashing and the poison attempt on his life. I can go on and on, on this case alone about the sins that was committed without ever caring to give a hoot as to how the RAKYAT is feeling.
...more
K W Waran
Malaysia Today - 24 March 2008
Our Ex-PM once said, “Melayu mudah lupa” (Malays forget easily). In retrospective thinking, it would have been most appropriate if he had said, “Kroni-kroni saya mudah lupa”. Dulu berpusu-pusu nak cium tangan saya, tapi sekarang, saya talipon pun tak mahu jawab“. (My CRONIES forget easily, before they would clamber over each other to kiss my hand. Now, even if I call them, they never answer)”.This fate is awaiting Samy too.
Well, TUN, those were of the Blood Sucking Parasite species that you were nurturing and nourishing instead of us,whom you was responsible for. We, irrespective of colour and creed always loved our nation as OUR IBU PERTIWI. If, a fraction of the all those frustrated budding entrepreneurs with their brilliant ideas were assisted, today, our nation would have been much closer towards realizing the Vision 2020 .
For decades, the BN believed in their own spin that the Silent Majority were behind them and therefore wasted Billions of Ringgits, while gobbling some annually were their INHERENT HALLMARK of GROSTESQUE MISMANAGEMENT and NEGLIGENCE in every aspects of their Governance tells on them. If only half had been saved, it would be enough to nourish every child of this nation with quality food daily to say the least. We know,today, some are still only having rice drizzled with soy sauce.
We never forgot the Auditor-General’s Reports that never improved over those years even after Mr. Clean came in. We never approved of the obsolete draconian ISA nor forgot how and against whom it is still being used. We never forgot the Billions of Petro Ringgit that was never accounted for was/is spent with total impunity as always mentioned by DSAI. We never forgot the Currency Market debacle that almost bankrupted the Bank Negara Malaysia.
We will also never FORGET the gross atrocities that took place when the entire BN machinery was used in a feeble attempt to destroy DSAI for good. It was then that every person with conscience felt it to the very core of their hearts that many did shed tears of pain while only being able to offer prayers for him and his family. Would anyone forget his so called “self inflicted” black eye, the aggravated spinal injury due to the bashing and the poison attempt on his life. I can go on and on, on this case alone about the sins that was committed without ever caring to give a hoot as to how the RAKYAT is feeling.
...more
March 23, 2008
Constitutional crisis brews in Teregganu
In Teregganu, a constitutional crisis brews as Sultan overrules elected assembly on who to be mentri besar
Malaysian Insider - 22 March 2008
A full-blown constitutional crisis is on the verge of breaking out in Terengganu after Sultan Mizan ignored the wishes of 22 Umno assemblymen and moved to appoint Ahmad Said as the new mentri besar.
Under the state constitution, the choice of the mentri besar is up to the state assembly. If a majority supports a particular candidate, he must be appointed the chief executive of the state. Only if there is a split as in the case of Perlis, can the ruler appoint the MB.
The move to appoint Kijal assemblyman Ahmad Said instead of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, who has the support of the assemblymen, comes as a surprise because in the past few days, news emanated from the palace that the impasse over Idris appointment as the mentri besar was over.
But the latest news is that Sultan Mizan is holding firm.
...more
Malaysian Insider - 22 March 2008
A full-blown constitutional crisis is on the verge of breaking out in Terengganu after Sultan Mizan ignored the wishes of 22 Umno assemblymen and moved to appoint Ahmad Said as the new mentri besar.
Under the state constitution, the choice of the mentri besar is up to the state assembly. If a majority supports a particular candidate, he must be appointed the chief executive of the state. Only if there is a split as in the case of Perlis, can the ruler appoint the MB.
The move to appoint Kijal assemblyman Ahmad Said instead of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, who has the support of the assemblymen, comes as a surprise because in the past few days, news emanated from the palace that the impasse over Idris appointment as the mentri besar was over.
But the latest news is that Sultan Mizan is holding firm.
...more
We live in inciting times
We live in inciting times
Helen Ang
People’s Parliament - March 22, 2008
For those who desired change, you got it, and in a tidal wave. Anwar Ibrahim on March 18 acknowledged one of the agents of change which generated the ‘political tsunami’ – “other than Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today, bloggers did a fantastic job”. Anwar noted this postscript to reporters as he was getting up from his seat at a press conference.
I’m quoting Anwar not to boost blogosphere (I’m most wary of the undoubted political animal that he is) but to remind ourselves that just as civil society can help him, so can it check him. He’s the numero uno surfer riding the election wave crest that washed upon the Barisan Rakyat corridor, including Penang – his home state as well as that of Abdullah Badawi, and now governed by Lim Guan Eng.
Haris has called on blogosphere to defend BR as the political parties in both camps are finding their feet amidst the turbulence. Mainstream media spinning for BN are the post-tsunami flotsam and jetsam tripping the new BR reps. Bernama had had to apologise to the newly-elected Penang CM for slotting in its report a May 13 reference he never made.
...more
Helen Ang
People’s Parliament - March 22, 2008
For those who desired change, you got it, and in a tidal wave. Anwar Ibrahim on March 18 acknowledged one of the agents of change which generated the ‘political tsunami’ – “other than Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today, bloggers did a fantastic job”. Anwar noted this postscript to reporters as he was getting up from his seat at a press conference.
I’m quoting Anwar not to boost blogosphere (I’m most wary of the undoubted political animal that he is) but to remind ourselves that just as civil society can help him, so can it check him. He’s the numero uno surfer riding the election wave crest that washed upon the Barisan Rakyat corridor, including Penang – his home state as well as that of Abdullah Badawi, and now governed by Lim Guan Eng.
Haris has called on blogosphere to defend BR as the political parties in both camps are finding their feet amidst the turbulence. Mainstream media spinning for BN are the post-tsunami flotsam and jetsam tripping the new BR reps. Bernama had had to apologise to the newly-elected Penang CM for slotting in its report a May 13 reference he never made.
...more
Chandra Muzaffar: A propagandist to smear Anwar Ibrahim?
Chandra Muzaffar: A propagandist to smear Anwar Ibrahim?
Datuk Rasammah Bhupalan
Malaysia Today - 22 March 2008
...
It is pathetic to see Chandra Muzaffar, the so-called public intellectual, joining hands with a rank politician like Lim Keng Yaik to attack the political integrity of Anwar Ibrahim. Both Chandra Muzaffar and Lim Keng Yaik have revealed more of their real selves by resorting to smear tactics.
Chandra Muzaffar, in particular, reveals his intellectuals dishonesty when he now reminds the public that Anwar Ibrahim, in changing the nomenclature “Bahasa Malaysia” to “Bahasa Melayu” and in placing non-mandarin speaking administrators in government-aided Chinese schools in 1987, had stoked racial tension in our country. Chandra Muzaffar did not find these actions objectionable when consenting to being a founding member of PKR and its Deputy President in 1997! This man of convenient memory also attacked Parti Keadilan and Anwar Ibrahim upon his resignation from the party whilst Anwar was languishing and unable to defend himself. What sort of man is one that attacks another who is unable to mount a defence?
It would seem that the media has adopted Chandra Muzaffar as one of the main propagandists to smear Anwar Ibrahim. The question that has to be asked is what possible justification is there for any honest man to use the media in this manner to denigrate a person like Anwar Ibrahim who has suffered a grave injustice? Is he the issue and is this how we want to conduct elections in our country?
...more
Datuk Rasammah Bhupalan
Malaysia Today - 22 March 2008
...
It is pathetic to see Chandra Muzaffar, the so-called public intellectual, joining hands with a rank politician like Lim Keng Yaik to attack the political integrity of Anwar Ibrahim. Both Chandra Muzaffar and Lim Keng Yaik have revealed more of their real selves by resorting to smear tactics.
Chandra Muzaffar, in particular, reveals his intellectuals dishonesty when he now reminds the public that Anwar Ibrahim, in changing the nomenclature “Bahasa Malaysia” to “Bahasa Melayu” and in placing non-mandarin speaking administrators in government-aided Chinese schools in 1987, had stoked racial tension in our country. Chandra Muzaffar did not find these actions objectionable when consenting to being a founding member of PKR and its Deputy President in 1997! This man of convenient memory also attacked Parti Keadilan and Anwar Ibrahim upon his resignation from the party whilst Anwar was languishing and unable to defend himself. What sort of man is one that attacks another who is unable to mount a defence?
It would seem that the media has adopted Chandra Muzaffar as one of the main propagandists to smear Anwar Ibrahim. The question that has to be asked is what possible justification is there for any honest man to use the media in this manner to denigrate a person like Anwar Ibrahim who has suffered a grave injustice? Is he the issue and is this how we want to conduct elections in our country?
...more
The mess left by BN in Penang
Questionable land deals give Guan Eng huge headache
anilnetto.com - 23 March 2008
It has been over a week since Lim Guan Eng was sworn in as Penang Chief Minister, but already he is discovering some of the serious challenges facing the new Penang state government.
He faces a daunting task. Planning approvals for major development projects in the past have been haphazard at best and irresponsible at worst. The PGCC Campaign Group met Guan Eng this afternoon in the Bilik Gerakan (someone quipped that it should be renamed “Bilik DAP”) of the Chief Minister’s office in Komtar. Apart from driving the final nails into the PGCC coffin - Guan Eng joked that the developer’s bouquet of flowers had not influenced him in any way - the activists from Penang’s main civil society groups said they would come up with a detailed proposal for a People’s Park within the next couple of months.
They also highlighted a whole range of planning and approval shortcomings that have left the island looking increasingly like a veritable concrete jungle plasted with bill boards and plagued with poor enforcement. Among the examples cited were proposals for 40-storey tower blocks on the coastline of Tanjung Bunga and the massive Hunza development along Gurney Drive. The Campaign Group stressed that there should be no major development work until Local Plans have been approved.
Land reclamation was another major issue. The activists pointed out that the previous adminstration had lost huge amounts of potential revenue by virtually handing over land reclamation projects to private developers to make lucrative profits while state coffers hardly benefited.
If land reclamation had been properly handled - there are 16,000 hectares of potential land that can be reclaimed - it could have generated enough revenue for the state to finance its operating and development expenditure for many years. Instead, IJM (along the Jelutong Expressway) and E&O (along Tanjong Tokong) appear to be the prime beneficiaries.
Land reclamation has also caused severe environmental problems - mud flats in Gurney Drive and siltation around the Penang port area. I hear that the authorities may now have to spend federal funds (public money) to dredge the sea. Let’s not even talk about the damage it has caused to marine and coastal biodiversity.
Guan Eng pointed out that Penang has to cope with tight financial constraints, with a budget deficit of RM35 million announced last year. Worse, there are several court cases coming up involving dubious land deals undertaken during the previous administration that have exposed the state to potential legal damages. In one such case involving a shady land deal in 2003, in which the state has admitted liability, the state government could be exposed to RM30 million in damages. “I don’t know where I am going to find RM30 million,” said Guan Eng, an accountant by training.
The Penang state government must institute a thorough investigation into how this could have happened.
...more
anilnetto.com - 23 March 2008
It has been over a week since Lim Guan Eng was sworn in as Penang Chief Minister, but already he is discovering some of the serious challenges facing the new Penang state government.
He faces a daunting task. Planning approvals for major development projects in the past have been haphazard at best and irresponsible at worst. The PGCC Campaign Group met Guan Eng this afternoon in the Bilik Gerakan (someone quipped that it should be renamed “Bilik DAP”) of the Chief Minister’s office in Komtar. Apart from driving the final nails into the PGCC coffin - Guan Eng joked that the developer’s bouquet of flowers had not influenced him in any way - the activists from Penang’s main civil society groups said they would come up with a detailed proposal for a People’s Park within the next couple of months.
They also highlighted a whole range of planning and approval shortcomings that have left the island looking increasingly like a veritable concrete jungle plasted with bill boards and plagued with poor enforcement. Among the examples cited were proposals for 40-storey tower blocks on the coastline of Tanjung Bunga and the massive Hunza development along Gurney Drive. The Campaign Group stressed that there should be no major development work until Local Plans have been approved.
Land reclamation was another major issue. The activists pointed out that the previous adminstration had lost huge amounts of potential revenue by virtually handing over land reclamation projects to private developers to make lucrative profits while state coffers hardly benefited.
If land reclamation had been properly handled - there are 16,000 hectares of potential land that can be reclaimed - it could have generated enough revenue for the state to finance its operating and development expenditure for many years. Instead, IJM (along the Jelutong Expressway) and E&O (along Tanjong Tokong) appear to be the prime beneficiaries.
Land reclamation has also caused severe environmental problems - mud flats in Gurney Drive and siltation around the Penang port area. I hear that the authorities may now have to spend federal funds (public money) to dredge the sea. Let’s not even talk about the damage it has caused to marine and coastal biodiversity.
Guan Eng pointed out that Penang has to cope with tight financial constraints, with a budget deficit of RM35 million announced last year. Worse, there are several court cases coming up involving dubious land deals undertaken during the previous administration that have exposed the state to potential legal damages. In one such case involving a shady land deal in 2003, in which the state has admitted liability, the state government could be exposed to RM30 million in damages. “I don’t know where I am going to find RM30 million,” said Guan Eng, an accountant by training.
The Penang state government must institute a thorough investigation into how this could have happened.
...more
March 22, 2008
KL's new political landscape
KL's new political landscape
K. Kesavapany
Straits Times - 22 March 2008
VISITING Malaysia for the first time since the general election was like touring a foreign country for the first time. Nothing in my years as a former Malaysian - and later, as Singapore's High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur - prepared me for what I saw.
I saw a political landscape that has changed beyond recognition. Peninsular Malaysia, from Selangor up to the Thai-Malaysian border, with the exception of the tiny state of Perlis, is now opposition territory. Former Barisan Nasional (BN) strongholds like Perak, Selangor and the Federal Territory have become opposition strongholds.
The hotly contested state of Penang has gone to the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a prize that the opposition party had hankered after for a long time. Indeed, if not for the BN's hold on Sabah and Sarawak, the political complexion of the Federal government itself would have been open to question.
Before my eyes lay the new reality of Malaysia. Race-based politics lay eroded. Voters had rejected that politics in large numbers and crossed racial lines. This change was marked in Penang, where disgruntled Indian voters had voted overwhelmingly in the DAP's favour, with the Chinese and some Malays joining in.
...more
K. Kesavapany
Straits Times - 22 March 2008
VISITING Malaysia for the first time since the general election was like touring a foreign country for the first time. Nothing in my years as a former Malaysian - and later, as Singapore's High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur - prepared me for what I saw.
I saw a political landscape that has changed beyond recognition. Peninsular Malaysia, from Selangor up to the Thai-Malaysian border, with the exception of the tiny state of Perlis, is now opposition territory. Former Barisan Nasional (BN) strongholds like Perak, Selangor and the Federal Territory have become opposition strongholds.
The hotly contested state of Penang has gone to the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a prize that the opposition party had hankered after for a long time. Indeed, if not for the BN's hold on Sabah and Sarawak, the political complexion of the Federal government itself would have been open to question.
Before my eyes lay the new reality of Malaysia. Race-based politics lay eroded. Voters had rejected that politics in large numbers and crossed racial lines. This change was marked in Penang, where disgruntled Indian voters had voted overwhelmingly in the DAP's favour, with the Chinese and some Malays joining in.
...more
Malaysia's new power brokers - Part 1: Raja Nazrin
Malaysia's new power brokers - Part 1: Raja Nazrin
Malaysian Insider - 21 March 2008
SOME Malaysians believe that the best candidate to lead this country did not contest the elections.
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, the erudite, urbane Regent of Perak has won the support of many with his common touch and willingness to speak candidly on a range of delicate issues which have troubled Malaysians over the past few years.
In 2006, just after a clutch of Umno politicians spooked the country with their sabre-rattling speeches at the party’s general assembly, the Oxford and Harvard-educated Raja Nazrin provided the balm with his sensible comments, reminding all that race relations was not a zero-sum game and scolding the irresponsible loose-cannons.
Since then, the heir to the Perak throne has used all his speaking engagements to talk about the supremacy of the Constitution, the need for a strong judiciary, the need to fight corruption and why every citizen must feel that their place under the Malaysian sun is guaranteed.
...more
Malaysian Insider - 21 March 2008
SOME Malaysians believe that the best candidate to lead this country did not contest the elections.
Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, the erudite, urbane Regent of Perak has won the support of many with his common touch and willingness to speak candidly on a range of delicate issues which have troubled Malaysians over the past few years.
In 2006, just after a clutch of Umno politicians spooked the country with their sabre-rattling speeches at the party’s general assembly, the Oxford and Harvard-educated Raja Nazrin provided the balm with his sensible comments, reminding all that race relations was not a zero-sum game and scolding the irresponsible loose-cannons.
Since then, the heir to the Perak throne has used all his speaking engagements to talk about the supremacy of the Constitution, the need for a strong judiciary, the need to fight corruption and why every citizen must feel that their place under the Malaysian sun is guaranteed.
...more
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