Tuesday 30 September 2008

Get Rid of the Damn ISA: It is Un-Islamic, Inhuman, Uncivilise and Against the Malay Culture

Read here article, "Hadhari, Human Rights, Hypocrisy" by Dr. Azly Rahman

Excerpts: Read here for more

MUST READ !! : Click HERE- Open Letter from Dato Zaid Ibrahim to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi to repeal the ISA.
(Dato Zaid resigned from the cabinet in disgust over the recent arrests of Raja Petra, Teresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng)


Quote

"... Free Raja Petra Kamarudin and all the ISA detainees.

Abolish the ISA.

This is my appeal to the current regime (UMNO-led BN Government)...."
- Dr.Azly Rahman


  1. How do we continue to live with the contradiction of being a ratifier of the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and still hold on to the Internal Security Act (ISA) as an instrument of oppression?

  2. At home, how must we live with this hypocrisy of jailing without trial our noble citizens such as Raja Petra Kamaruddin and yet abroad speak out against Guantanamo Bay in the platform of world affairs?
When Malaysian leaders go abroad and give speeches at the United Nations or the Malaysian embassies for example, they often argue that Malaysians have their own way of dealing with human rights issues.

They say that culturally Malaysians are different than, say the American or the Britons. Human rights is a subjective issue that needs subjective interpretation, as the argument goes.

The way the government deals with freedom of speech for example includes the stubborn political will to keep the ISA intact as an instrument of the country's ‘right’ to maintain peace and security.

When Malaysian leaders are abroad and speak to Malaysians at dinner gatherings, for example, they often argue that other countries do not have the right to meddle into the affairs of another nation.

The US therefore is warned not to comment on Malaysian politics. Al Gore and Condoleezza Rice are to be scorned for making statements about the reformasi demonstrations on Malaysian streets and on the trial of Anwar Ibrahim, respectively.

At home, however, Malaysian leaders ironically love to rally for the cause of others - from the abolition of apartheid in South Africa or for the plight of the Palestinians.

Well and good. These are universal issues of human rights of which we ought to be aware.

We speak up for the rights of the Bosnians, the Chechens, the Palestinians, and Pattani Malays. I do not know whether the former Yugoslavs, the Russians, the Israelis, and the Thais have warned Malaysians not to meddle into the politics of the respective countries.

Isn't upholding and protecting of human rights the job of all citizens of the world? Did we not speak out against Guantanamo Bay, as millions of Americans have been doing; Americans who themselves are fed up with the war-mongering Bush-Cheney regime?

Hypocrisy of the UMNO-Led BN Government

Herein lies our hypocrisy within the context of our proclaimed ideology of Islam Hadhari and the right to talk about human rights. We are living with an outdated version of the Mahathir-Lee Kuan Yew interpretation of human rights vis-a-vis political and economic stability.

The ISA is used on citizens these days as part of a way to ensure that power, ideology, and hegemony is maintained for the rights of the few and to sustain the right to dehumanise others.

The question for educators like me is:
How will the continuing existence of the British colonial legacy of the ISA create a progressive, liberal, intelligent, wise, and just Malaysia?
How do we mediate the false dichotomy between the ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ interpretations of human rights?

Malaysia is a signatory to the UDHR including:

- Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

- Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
I believe the much trumpeted brand of Islam the current regime is promoting, Islam Hadhari, is anti-civilisation in the way human right is vis-a-vis the ISA detentions.

It is anti-Islam when those who are detained are fighting for social, economic justice and as Islam requires, to speak truth to power in combating corruption. To jail those who expose wrongdoings bring Islam Hadhari back to the age of pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah (Age of Ignorance).

Indeed, we are being hypocrites when we continue to keep and use the instrument of oppression left behind by the oppressors. We continue to let the current regime refine the instrument.

Setting aside the truncated mindset of the Malaysian leaders, the people must recognise the critical importance of the awareness and maintenance of human rights throughout the world.

We must believe that the definition, creation, and dissemination of human rights norms can bridge the gaps between countries, ensure that individual's human rights are respected, and pave the way for a more peaceful world.

And, as the countries of our world become increasingly more interconnected, the call for universal human rights standards could not be more important.

We are hypocrites living in an ideology of Hadhari.

We seem to refuse to understand what the idea of the universality of human rights means.

We cannot progress in this area unless we live by such principles of human rights - the one that we too ratified.
-Dr. Azly Rahman



Monday 29 September 2008

Donald Lim Siang Chai Should be Rejected as MCA Deputy President for Playing the Race Card to Create Racial Fear Among the Chinese

MCA vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai announced that he would contest the party deputy presidency at the MCA election on Oct 18.

Donald Lim Siang Chai said:
"I am already a vice-president, so it is only natural that I contest a higher position and I have decided on deputy president."

Donald Lim Siang Chai was rejected by voters when he failed to retain the Petaling Jaya Selatan parliamentary constituency in the March 8 general election. Read here for more.

Donald Lim Siang Chai was quoted as saying if Chinese Malaysians vote the Opposition, it will create a tense enviroment that will affect business and the economy and will result in the government being ruled only by Malays.

Such statement from a Chinese leader offends the sensibilities of ordinary Chinese and Malays. It is without doubt aimed at creating communal insecurity among Chinese Malaysians . It is racist in intent.

Donald Lim is playing gutter racial politics, no different from those ultra-Malays in UMNO.(Read here for more)

Malaysia cannot afford to have any Chinese leader in a political party in a ruling coalition government who still espouses racially-biased views despite the fact that voters across all races after March 8 election have rejected race-based politics of UMNO, MCA and MIC.

It is time that MCA grassroot members show the necessary courage to move MCA FORWARD for the sake of their future generations after MCA's dismal performace in March 8 Election. For MCA leaders to continue to play the race card and harp on racial issues will only lead to MCA into political wilderness, worse still, into oblivion. To move forward, MCA grassroots should start dusting off leaders from the MCA hierarchy who were already rejected by voters, especially those who still play the race-card to win support. Donald Lim Siang Chai is one such person.

Donald Lim Siang Chai , despite being an incumbent MP and former Deputy Tourism Minister, was rejected by the predominantly Chinese voters in Petaling Jaya Selatan seat. And that should be a clear message to MCA grassroots that his racially-based politics is totally out of step with majority of voters desiring a new Malaysia.

Likewise, the MCA membership should reject Donald Lim Siang Chai as Deputy President of MCA, for two reasons: firstly for playing the race card and secondly, voters in his constituency did NOT want him to re-enter Parliament in the March 2008 election.

Donald Lim Siang Chai belongs to the backward-looking old school of racially-biased MCA politicians very much favoured by UMNO, so much so that a vote for MCA by Chinese Malaysians in any election becomes a vote for UMNO.

Sunday 28 September 2008

Perak MB Must Sack Perak Tengah District Councillor Zul Hassan (PKR)

Read here for more Commentary by The Aisehman

Update: 29th Sept. 2009
PKR party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail said today Parti Keadilan Rakyat has backed the Perak state government's decision to sack Perak Tengah district councillor Zul Hassan from his post.

Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said yesterday the Pakatan Rakyat government had asked Zul to quit on Friday. "This is because he is unfit to represent the Government in the council and we have told him to quit as soon as possible," Nizar said, adding that Zul's case would serve as a warning to all councillors not to engage in any indecent or corrupt practices in their line of duty. Read here for more
--- END OF UPDATE

Background:

The Star reported: PKR vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye has urged the Perak government to sack Perak Tengah district councillor Zul Hassan after he had admitted to having accepted sexual favours. Dr Lee said it was “morally incorrect” for a person who holds public office to be involved in such a scandal.

“When something inappropriate is offered, you should reject it,” he said after opening a blood donation campaign here on Sunday.

He said the state executive council should remove Zul from the Perak Tengah district council as early as the next state exco meeting.

Dr Lee however declined to comment on whether the party itself would take action against Zul, a PKR member.

Zul and businessman Fairul Azrim Ismail had recently lodged a report at the state religious department against Mohammad Imran Abdullah for “encouraging them to commit a sinful act” with a woman from China in Batu Ferringhi, Penang on Aug 14.

Zul had reportedly told pressmen:

“What is important is we did not ask for the women. He (Mohammad Imran) supplied them to us. If people sedekah (donate), don’t you want to accept it?”

Commentary by The Aisehman: Read here

Excerpts:

The Perak MB should sack Zul Hassan as soon as he can, because you know what the mothi...f..ing pu..mak did and said?

What is important is we did not ask for the women. He (Mohammad Imran) supplied them to us. If people sedekah (donate), don’t you want to accept it?”
- Zul Hassan

Sedekah kepala atuk kau. It bukan sedekah, bahalul.
Macam tu, kalau orang sedekah anak perempuan kau ke, bini kau ke, aku tibai jugak la kot, Zul?

Bangang bahalol punya Melayu.


So, Anwar are you going to sack the mot....f...er from PKR
- The Aisehman

Saturday 27 September 2008

Perak Sultan Saves Malaysian Indian Family: Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku, Daulat Tuanku

Read here for more


DYMM Sultan Azlan Shah,
Sultan of Perak

Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah gave R. Ragu, a "stateless" Malaysian Indian a lifeline by ordering the State Registration Department director Mohd Sufian Omar to issue a temporary identification document within the next 3-4 days pending his application for a MyKad.

According to State executive councillor A. Sivanesan, the sultan expressed grave concern over the plight of Ragu and his family who have been sleeping and bathing at petrol stations since their arrival here.

Ragu, 33, his 27-year-old wife G. Neelaawathi, and their three children, between the ages of two and nine, arrived in Ipoh on Tuesday to meet Sultan Azlan Shah to obtain the necessary supporting document for his MyKad application.

Sivanesan said he would be following up with Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on Ragu's MyKad application.

Ragu said,

"I have applied for the MyKad eight times since 1998 but have failed each time because the NRD wanted me to prove that I was born here.

I don't have other evidence to show except the birth certificate bearing only my father's name and the place of my birth. I just need someone to help me get my MyKad."

Asked where he would be putting up while waiting to get his temporary identification document, Ragu said he and his family would continue to sleep in their family car.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

This UMNO Minister Says INTERNAL SECURITY ACT (ISA) Needed BECAUSE Malaysia is a Multi-Racial and Multi-Religious Country

What a Dim-Wit
Federal Minister from Sabah

Mohd Shafie Apdal
Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister

Mohd Shafie Apdal was born in Semporna, Sabah in October 20, 1957. He is married to Datin Seri Shuryani binti Shuaib and has 6 children.He is a member of UMNO and the Member of Parliament for Semporna, Sabah. Semporna is located in Tawau Division, in the east coast of Sabah with a mainly BAJAU-speaking population of about 135,000.

We Say,

This UMNO Minister from Sabah responsible for UNITY and CULTURE believes that the draconian "arrest and detain-first,investigate-later" Internal Security Act should be used to maintain racial and religious harmony among Malaysians.

This is what he said, "We should appreciate its (ISA) MERITS in SOLVING sensitive issues affecting various races and religions in the country."

That is HOW an UMNO-Minister (from Sabah) responsible for a Ministry to maintain UNITY and CULTURE, goes about to solve UNITY problems between races and religions: Bring down the ISA hard on ordinary Malaysians !

Mohd Shafie Apdal is introducing another controversial RACE RELATIONS ACT (another smaller version of ISA?) which was approved by the UMNO-led BN Cabinet.

Mohd Shafie Apdal said that if Malaysia has no Race Relations Act , it is akin to Malaysia WITHOUT a Federal Constitution to uphold Islam as an official religion.

In other words, according to Mohd Shafie Apdal, Islam needs to be protected with the dreadful un-Islamic ISA and the Race Relations Act!

Mohd Shafie Apdal, we would like to think, is a religious person as that other self-professed deeply devout Muslim, PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin from Kulim-Bandar Baharu, who had a very weird view that as Member of Parliament, Islam comes FIRST, while REPRESENTING the interest of multi-racial and multi-religious electorate comes SECOND, and that became the reason why he behaved like a thug in the company of other UMNO thugs at the Bar Council Forum protest.

Certainly we do not need a Member of Parliament coming from PKR (Pakatan Rakyat)such as Zulkifli Noordin representing Malaysians with a misguided view of an MP's priorities for his multi-racial and multi-religious voters. (Read here and here and here the bad behaviour of PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin)

Likewise we say, Malaysian voters DON'T need an MP and a Federal Minister with a moral outlook and the dim-wit intelligence of the like of Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Mohd Shafie Apdal is unsuited to represent the interests of multi-racial and multi-religious people of Sabah and much less as a Cabinet Minister in the Federal Government.

As a Muslim, his views on the ISA is against all the moral teachings of Islam (read here the views of Mufti of Perlis)and shows that he does NOT believe in the Rule of Law as a means to hold a multi-racial and multi-religious country together. Mohd Shafie Apdal's justification for having ISA and the Race Relations Act is a clear indication he is unqualified to be a Minister responsible for "Unity and Culture" at a time when race and religion are dividing the nation.

We appeal to Sabahan voters with this message: Mohd Shafie Apdal is an example of a BAD representative for multi-racial and multi-religious Sabahans.

We ask Sabahans to ensure that politicians like Mohd Shafie Apdal are prevented from being ever elected again in the next General Election or by-election.
-Malaysian Unplug

Read here and here as reported by Bernama

Menteri Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal berkata Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) tidak perlu dikaji semula kerana ia MASIH DIPERLUKAN di negara berbilang kaum dan agama seperti Malaysia.

Mohd Shafie berkata ISA mempunyai peranannya tersendiri dalam menangani pelbagai isu yang timbul daripada struktur masyarakat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum dan agama bagi memastikan ketenteraman kaum dan kesejahteraan negara sentiasa terjamin.

"Tak perlu dinilai semula. Apa yang penting kepada kita ialah kita kena melihat kebaikan ISA kerana ISA ada kebaikannya," katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis berbuka puasa bersama masyarakat setempat di sini hari ini.

Beliau berkata dalam masyarakat majmuk seperti di Malaysia, kerajaan perlu menguruskan isu-isu yang diangap sensitif seperti agama dan kaum agar ia tidak mencetuskan perkara buruk. Read here for more

The Internal Security Act (ISA) is still needed to maintain public order and harmony among various races in the country, said Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

"There is no need to review the act. We should appreciate its merits in solving sensitive issues affecting various races and religions in the country," he told reporters after witnessing the handing over of aid for the poor by Media Prima in the TV3's "Bersamamu" programme at the Inabah Kamal Mosque here Sunday.

The proposed Race Relations Act had been approved by the cabinet to to deal with matters affecting the sensitivity of each race and religion."

Sarawak Planning and Resource Management Assistant Minister Datuk Sri Awang Tengah Ali Hassan (had said) that Sarawak did not need the act.

Shafie likened the statements as suggesting that the country did not need a constitution to uphold Islam as the official religion, the position of the rulers and the Malay rights. "Without the constitution, what will be the platform of our actions?" he asked. Read here for more

COMMENTARY

From Dr. Azly Rahman

Read here: Article" Race Relations Act - why now?" by Azly Rahman in Malaysiakini

Race Relations Act - Why Now?

Excerpts:

This sounds like a good idea; but after 51 years of independence?

We should have had this act to prevent the emergence of race-based parties and to ensure that all citizens be given equal opportunity and the rights and privileges accorded to them as a result of surrendering their natural rights to the state.

After 51 years of the institutionalisation of ethnocentrism and many times outright racism in terms of allocation of resources, open-secret indoctrinations, and the exploitation of racial and religious issues for political gain, we are now proposing an act to improve race-relations?

I am now puzzled – by the inherent contradictions we are confronting and will continue to confront vis-à-vis this proposed act.

Since the government had asked citizens like me to make suggestions and seek clarification concerning this proposed act, I have the following questions:

  1. How will we judge the existing race-based parties that live and breathe on racial sentimentality to the point of being seditious in their pursuit of hegemony?

  2. How will this act be used against governmental institutions such as the Biro Tata Negara whose livelihood has historically been based upon making sure that the damaging ideology of Malay (Pseudo) supremacy will forever prevail?

  3. How will this act be used against public-funded educational institutions that promote "Ketuanan Melayu" which is clearly antithetical to our will to teach multi-racial understanding?

  4. How many members of Parliament will be arrested under the Race Relations Act based on the nature of speeches they had given?

  5. How many teachers and public servants will be investigated for using their position to deny their students and clients respectively the rights to be treated equally before the Constitution - rights accorded regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, color, creed, and religious orientation?

  6. How many years of the possibility of multicultural education and intercultural understanding have we lost as a consequence of not having a Race Relations Act way back on Sept 16, 1963 during the formation of Malaysia?

  7. How many racist policymakers in governmental and non-governmental sectors have we produced as a result of no Race Relations Act?

  8. How many racist youth party leaders have we given birth to and how many can we afford to see "cloned" and "artificially inseminated" as a result of the absence of any act that erases racism and curbs arrogance and greed?

  9. How will this proposed act, if passed, abolish the Internal Security Act that has been used to crush amongst others, those who oppose race-based policies and fight for racial and social justice?

  10. How will this act allow for the passage of a new brand of politics – one that sees a truly multiracial party ruling the country and implementing policies based on the philosophy of equality, equal opportunity, excellence and empathy?

We are proposing this act at a time when we arrest our citizens for no good reason and no trial, using the instrument of oppression no longer suitable for an ultra and hyper-modern society such as ours.

We are proposing this out of desperation and out of sync with the mass sentiment of the day; at a time when the Berlin Wall of our Balkanized race relations is crumbling by the day, each brick in the wall ripped off by the power of the digital tsunami.

We are hearing this proposal coming from a race-based coalition government that wants to ensure that the divide and conquer and sub-divide and sub-conquer policies of British colonialism prevail in the filter-funneled minds of our little brown brothers and sisters.

Perhaps what we need is NOT another act to add to the ambivalence of acts such as The University and University Colleges and the Internal Security Acts but to go deeper into our public institutions and ask why we have not progressed much in race relations after all these decades.

We should investigate further how the New Economic Policy itself as a grand Stalinist-inspired programme of national development has contributed not only to the deterioration of race relations but has cemented racism in newer forms – both subtle and open.

We should investigate how the topic race relations has been taught in our community centers, schools, universities, and other public institutions to see what goes into the mind of our citizens by way of schooling, indoctrination, training, and education – to see what went wrong and what is still not right.

We should examine governmental policies and see if we indeed uncover practices that promote equality, equal opportunity, and empathy in place; policies that ought to have improved race relations, inclusionary, and integrate rather than disintegrate the different races.

This will be a mind-boggling noble proposal for us to contribute ideas. Do we need a new act? Or will a new government with a brand new ideology suffice?

But as peace and justice-loving Malaysians, let us offer constructive ideas to this proposed act.

Let us propose that ONLY a truly multiracial party that has the will, motivation, intelligence and the set of acquired skills should be given the mandate to implement a Race Relations Act.

Any communal-based party is too much a contradiction to put their act together on this one.

Tuesday 23 September 2008

MCA Vice President Donald Lim Siang Chai Playing the RACE Card to Create Racial Fears Among the Chinese

PAS Leaders Tick Off MCA Vice President Donald Lim Siang Chai for playing the Race Card.

Read here for more


WHAT A DISGRACEFUL IDIOT
IMITATING UMNO'S SICKENING ATTITUDE!

(MCA'S " SOR-CHAI " )


MCA Vice President
(from Petaling Jaya Selatan Division)

Donald Lim Siang Chai has confirmed that a Vote for MCA is a Vote for UMNO

Excerpts: Read here for more

Naib Presiden PAS, Mohamad Sabu menyangkal dakwaan Naib Presiden MCA, Dato' Donald Lim Siang Chai bahawa hanya parti berasaskan orang Melayu menjadi parti memerintah jika semua parti kaum Cina menyokong pembangkang.

Beliau menyangkal dakwaan Dato' Donald Lim Siang Chai bahawa akan wujud ketegangan dan mencetuskan suasana tidak baik kepada perniagaan dan ekonomi jika semua parti berasaskan kaum Cina berpihak kepada pembangkang.

Dalam laporan akhbar Utusan Malaysia hari ini, Naib Presiden MCA, Dato' Donald Lim Siang Chai dilaporkan berkata akan wujud ketegangan dan mencetuskan suasana tidak baik kepada perniagaan dan ekonomi jika semua parti berasaskan kaum Cina berpihak kepada pembangkang dan hanya parti berasaskan orang Melayu menjadi parti memerintah.

Mohamad Sabu berpendapat sokongan daripada kaum Cina kepada pembangkang dewasa ini menunjukkan bahawa masyarakat tersebut inginkan sebuah kerajaan baru ditubuhkan di negara ini.

Beliau berkata:

"Tidak timbul soal sokongan kepada pembangkang kerana orang Cina sekarang menyokong kerajaan yang bakal ditubuhkan.

Bila ditubuhkan kerajaan baru, ianya masih kerajaan yang pelbagai kaum bukan hanya dikuasai Melayu."

Mohamad Sabu juga kesal kerana Naib Presiden MCA Donald Lim Siang Chai itu cuba mengalihkan perhatian terhadap keretakan dalaman MCA kepada sesuatu perkara yang langsung tidak menjadi isu.

Sementara itu Ketua Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat, Salahuddin Ayub pula berpendapat kenyataan Donald Lim Siang Chai itu mengambarkan satu sikap perkauman yang sempit.

Beliau juga menjelaskan bahawa kenyataan itu mengambarkan bahawa MCA kini berada dalam keadaan terdesak dan parti tersebut tidak memahami erti demokrasi yang sebenarnya.

Salahuddin Ayub mengulas,

"MCA sebenarnya menghadapi masalah yang sama dengan Umno iaitu parti itu juga sedang menuju kehancuran.

MCA sering menuduh DAP sebagai parti chauvenist Cina sedangkan hakikatnya mereka yang bersifat begitu."

Salahuddin juga menegaskan bahawa pendapat yang dikeluarkan oleh Naib Presiden MCA Donald Lim Siang Chai itu mengambarkan bahawa MCA sebenarnya merupakan sebuah parti chauvenist Cina.

Beliau turut menegaskan bahawa MCA dan Umno adalah merupakan dua buah parti yang sering mewujudkan masalah kaum di negara ini.

Monday 22 September 2008

Pak Lah, Now is the Time to Let History Judge You as Our "Gorbachev of Malaysia"

From article by Kim Quek: Read here

NOTE: Read here on Mikhail Gorbachev, Glasnost and Perestroika and here

Under SOVIET leaders PRIOR to Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership, those who spoke out against the government were punished, artistic expression was stifled, and the media provided censored information.

When he became President of the Soviet Union in 1989, Gorbachev introduced his policy of glasnost to pressure conservatives within the Communist Party who opposed his programs of economic restructuring(perestroika).

The main goal of glasnost policy was to make the country's management transparent and open to debate, thus circumventing the narrow circle of party apparatchiks who previously exercised complete control of the economy.

Freedoms of speech (freedom to criticize the government), freedom of the press, and freedom of expression were all a part of glasnost.

Glasnost gave new freedoms to the people of the Soviet Union, such as a greater freedom of information by opening the secret parts for unallowed literature in the libraries and a greater freedom of speech — a radical change, as control of speech and suppression of government criticism had previously been a central part of the Soviet system.

There was also a greater degree of freedom within the media during and after the Gorbachev era. Glasnost did indeed provide freedom of expression, far beyond what Gorbachev had intended, and changed citizens' views towards the government.

Glasnost was partly responsible for the collapse of Communism.



Quote:

"... There is no doubt that Abdullah Badawi (Pak Lah) is facing perhaps the most momentous decisions of his political life – not just about when he will resign, but also about what he will do between now and the day he steps down.

He should now reflect on his long-cherished ambition to reform our dilapidated institutions of state and restore some shine to our faded democracy.

He may not have the time or the clout to institute these reforms now, (but) he could at least with his awesome power as the prime minister provide a benevolent shield to enable the on-going democratic process to proceed without unlawful sabotage from any quarter.

What the nation is most concerned with at this moment is whether Barisan Nasional will unleash a repressive dragnet to thwart such a constitutional transition, as it has been prone to such indulgence in the past. The latest example was the recent wanton arrests of innocent civilians using the draconian Internal Security Act, though the Act was only meant to be used against armed insurgency.

(Pak Lah) may yet preside over, as premier, perhaps the final turning point towards complete democratization by safeguarding the Constitution from being violated by unscrupulous politicians.

IF he does that, his final days as premier may yet be moments of his crowning achievement a fair-minded prime minister who courageously stands by his pledge to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution’ at the crucial moment of transition of power - thus becoming instrumental in ushering a new era of reconstruction and rejuvenation from the current decrepit state of the country..."

-Kim Quek



PAK LAH’S POLITICAL SUNSET : A blazing sky or a dim eclipse?

by Kim Quek

Excerpts: Read here for more

The nation may know its fate – whether it will be a future that is nothing more than the status quo of racial fragmentation and corrupt rule or a BOLD NEW frontier that promises national unity and vigorous growth.

On one side, an aspiring prime minister-in-waiting is relentlessly seeking to take over power with his supposed parliamentary majority; while on the other, the incumbent Prime Minister looks set to succumb to party pressure to relinquish his post to his deputy.

Abdullah Badawi must have silently admitted to himself that he had lost the confidence of the party hierarchy. The remaining question is whether he will step down in the coming party election in December or before October 9 as requested by his dissidents.

There is no doubt that Abdullah is facing perhaps the most momentous decisions of his political life – not just about when he will resign, but also about what he will do between now and the day he steps down.

He should now reflect on his long-cherished ambition to reform our dilapidated institutions of state and restore some shine to our faded democracy.

He may not have the time or the clout to institute these reforms now, (but) he could at least with his awesome power as the prime minister provide a benevolent shield to enable the on-going democratic process to proceed without unlawful sabotage from any quarter.

What the nation is most concerned with at this moment is whether Barisan Nasional will unleash a repressive dragnet to thwart such a constitutional transition, as it has been prone to such indulgence in the past. The latest example was the recent wanton arrests of innocent civilians using the draconian Internal Security Act, though the Act was only meant to be used against armed insurgency.

And even Anwar appeared to be threatened by such ISA arrest when Pak Lah on Sept 17 suddenly called Anwar a threat to national economy and security, with such threat only eased the next day when Pak Lah said he had no intention of making any ISA arrest during his press conference after the fateful UMNO Supreme Council meeting where he was pressured to quit.

Will Pak Lah behave like a democratic gentleman in his lingering days of power and allow the Constitution to take its natural course which may see Anwar coming into power, or will he condone laws and institutions to be abused to frustrate the constitutional process?

Pak Lah (had) played a positive role on two important turning points in the democratization process of the country.
  1. When he allowed the court to act without political interference that resulted in the freeing of Anwar on 2nd Sept 2004.

  2. His graceful acceptance of the stunning set back suffered by Barisan Nasional in the general election of 8th March 2008.
These events could NOT conceivably have occurred under the repressive rule of former autocrat Mahathir Mohamed.

(Pak Lah) may yet preside over, as premier, the third and perhaps the final turning point towards complete democratization by safeguarding the Constitution from being violated by unscrupulous politicians.

IF he does that, his final days as premier may yet be moments of his crowning achievement – a fair-minded prime minister who courageously stands by his pledge to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution’ at the crucial moment of transition of power, thus becoming instrumental in ushering a new era of reconstruction and rejuvenation from the current decrepit state of the country.

The nation badly needs a complete overhaul, and the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional has already reached a dead end with no hope of salvation.

Former de-facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim, who was recruited by Pak Lah after the March election to specifically spearhead the much promised reforms, recently quit the cabinet in sheer despair of his colleagues’ dogmatic adherence to racist ideology and recalcitrance in perpetuating corrupt governance. He said:

“I faced a brick wall!

I can’t translate or make them (UMNO-BN) understand the basic thing that we are a country that is fair to ALL races, we have the SAME rights under the Federal Constitution. …… I truly feel that the institutions of government, the courts, the police and the judiciary need a major overhaul…..a major clean-up”.

They (UMNO-BN) are NOT ready for a process-driven system, NOT ready for meritocracy, NOT ready for greater levels of accountability and a truly independent judiciary. They would like to cling on the leverages of power based on discretion and privileges.”

These words of Zaid only confirm public knowledge that since the punishing March election, UMNO instead of learning the lesson, has instead crawled deeper into its cocoon of racism and corruption.

And leaders of satellite racial parties like MCA, MIC, Gerakan seem to be collectively suffering from mass denial syndrome when they claim that they can get UMNO to shed its racial hegemony and recoup the lost support from their respective communal groups.

It is far better for these politicians to bravely face the truth now and move according to what is best for themselves and their electorate, than to be rudely woken on the day of next election when they will find their parties completely obliterated by electorate that have long abandoned them.
-Kim Quek

MCA Leaders Must Come Clean on Police Report Against MP Teresa Kok

From LimKitSiang Blog: Read here

UPDATE: 20 September 2009: Read here

Police Report was made against Utusan Malaysia Columnist NOT Teresa Kok and "MCA Key Operative" did NOT make the Police Report
The so-called "MCA key operative" Arthur So and Seri Serdang assemblyman Datuk Mohd Satim Diman’s special assistant Kuan Chee Heng, who lodged a police report against an Utusan Malaysia columnist, have demanded an apology from DAP’s Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang for alleging that the report led to the detention of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Kuan, who is not with any political party, said he had lodged a police report against columnist Zaini Hassan over his article titled "Azan, Jawi, JAIS, UiTM dan ba-alif-ba-ya", and that it was NOT against Teresa Kok.

Kuan said at a joint press conference with Arthur So yesterday that if Lim Kit Siang refuses to explain and apologise, they will resort to legal action.

Arthur So, 63, who was named the "key operative of MCA" in earlier reports, clarified that he was MCA Kampung Bersatu branch chairman but he had quit the party in September last year. He said he did NOT lodge any police report.

"I met Kuan outside the police station on the day he lodged the report against Utusan Malaysia and I was invited to take a group photo with him. Since Lim Kit Siang made a mistake, he must apologise to us."

On Sunday, MCA vice-president Datuk Ong Tee Keat had also challenged Lim Kit Siang to prove his allegation, failing which he should apologise to the party.
Read here for more
--- End of Update ---

Is the MCA Operative who lodged the report triggering Teresa Kok’s ISA arrest a MCA member

by

Lim Kit Siang

Excerpts: Read here for more

".... on 18th September 2008 - the eve of Teresa Kok’s seven-day incarceration – I (Lim Kit Siang) said that a key MCA operative in Puchong had lodged a police report against Teresa Kok on Thursday, 11th September 2008, over the azan controversy which triggered her ISA detention the next day on Sept. 12 at 11.18pm.

Is/was the “key MCA operative in Puchong” a MCA member?

Let MCA leaders tell Malaysians.

Teresa had already revealed the identity of the “MCA operative in Puchong” concerned at the KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

The ball is now in the court of the MCA leaders. ..."
-MP Lim Kit Siang

Sunday 21 September 2008

Penang UMNO ( United Mamak National Organisation) Accused Anwar of Causing National Instability

Penang UMNO-Mamaks Against Anwar

As one blogger had asked:
Has UMNO morphed into a United Mamak National Organisation ?


Read here:

Excerpts:

A group calling themselves "Concerned Citizens" from Penang have lodge a police report accusing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim causing political instability in the country.

From the Malaysiakini photo grab above you can tell the group appears to be Indian Muslim in origin. This is a typical signature of Penang Umno. (Note: The UMNO-racist Ahmad Ismail, a mamak himself, who called Chinese Malaysians as "squatters" is from Penang.)

(It would appear) Umno (has become) basically a party of Indian Muslims who are Malay wannabes.Read here for more.

Related articles:

Note:
This anti-Chinese UMNO-racist person -Ahmad Ismail (see photo) who the police and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar refused to arrest and charge for inciting racial hatred of the Malays against the Chinese, is a pseudo-Malay hiding his Indian ancestry by being an ultra-racist Malay champion.

When the racist Ahmad Ismail made the seditious remark that Chinese Malaysians should not imitate the Jews, he should remember that one of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi grandparents is of Chinese ancestry from Hainan Island; the wife of Datuk Shahrir Samad is a Chinese; Mahathir's son, Mirzan is married to a Chinese (ie to an Indonesian Chinese tycoon family of Liem Sioe Liong) and Tengku Razaleigh married his long-time Chinese friend who converted and changed her name to Noor Abdullah.

Some of the "mamak" opportunists in UMNO disgrace other decent Indian Muslims by their uncouth behaviour and racist attitudes after they join UMNO. To achieve their greed for political influence and power, they played negative race-based politics to prove themselves to be more Malay than the more fair-minded ethnic Malays in UMNO.

For some unknown reason, the graciousness of the ethnic Malay culture of "sopan santun" that had traditionally been the hallmark of UMNO's core political outlook before and immediately after Merdeka was surreptitiously hijacked by the "sikap kurang ajar" of some of the undesirable "mamaks" in UMNO, who had come primarily from Penang ( and Kedah).

One wonders how the majority ethnic Malays had allowed some of these uncouth "mamaks" and other pseudo-Malays to rise in the UMNO hierarchy to peddle their negative influences and hijack UMNO's relationship with other races?

Many of the UMNO-'mamak' opportunists are fond of wearing the "baju Melayu" in public as a cosmetic lie and a mirage that they are purer Malay than the ethnic Malays. So much so, some of these unscrupulous UMNO-mamaks put themselves at the fore-front of Malay politics to cheer-lead and champion UMNO's bankrupt idea of "Ketuanan Melayu".


(Ahmad Ismail, the highly dangerous anti-Chinese UMNO Mamak)


Dr. Mahathir still at mouthing frequently racial polemics even
after he had retired from UMNO politics


Former Information Ministers Zainuddin Maidin (left) and Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir

Reezal Naina Merican -Political Secretary to Abdullah Badawi
-The behind-the-scene UMNO trouble maker, including responsible for
GPMS organising the Bar Council Forum Protest and sacking of Sanusi Junid from
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa


Abdul Azeez Rahim (President UMNO Putra)
The man who wants to legitimise the thuggery of the Mat Rempits

Saturday 20 September 2008

Syed Azidi Syed Aziz aka Shieh Kickdefella Released from Detention



Blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz - better known as Sheih Kickdefella - was released from custody at about 4.30pm on Saturday.

We Say,

Syed Azidi's arrest and detention by the Police on the pretext of protecting security of the nation are unwarranted and a blatant abuse of the Internal Security Act by the Police and the Home Ministry.

We reiterate the view that the Police could have conducted an investigation to verify the facts BEFORE arresting and detaining citizens.

Police tactics using the ISA as an excuse to arrest and detain innocent citizens outside the rule of law cause unnecessary emotional distress not only to families but to all Malaysians.

The Police Force exists to make innocent citizens feel secure and criminals insecure, not the other way round.

This on-going creation of the climate fear of the "knock at the door by the police in the middle of the night" has to stop - and stopped immediately.

We will never be a safe and confident nation with gestapo-like police tactics hovering over the lives of ordinary Malaysian citizens.
-Malaysian Unplug

Friday 19 September 2008

Our Police Force Should be Censured and Ashamed for Arrogance and Disgusting Behaviour

Read here comments by Teresa Kok at her press conference and Teresa Kok's Press Statement

Relating the incidents of the day, Teresa Kok told of how she was tailed the whole day by police before the arrest took place on her way home last Friday.

"I was going back to my condo after a function when a car sped up to block my car while another stopped behind me. Police came and tapped on my window to say that I was being arrested under the ISA. My request for a phone call was rejected. After instructing my driver to inform the party and my family, I was taken away," said Kok.

Requests for a shower and a chance to pick up some clothings before going to the police station were also IGNORED , said Kok.

The police wanted to handcuff her but after pleading with them, they relented and took her to a police station without the restraints.

Kok said that she was unsure where she was taken to and only got to her cell around 4am.

During her seven-day detention, Kok said she was only questioned twice – Saturday and Sunday – on the three allegations.

After the first session on Saturday, the three-term Seputeh MP offered to write her own statement for the police.

"They gave me a laptop on Sunday and I typed out my answers to their three questions in Bahasa Malaysia," said Kok.

The rest of her detention was uneventful, said Kok, except for one day when they gave her only boiled eggs, gravy and some cucumber for lunch and dinner.

Initially, she was NOT given any reading material but later on she was given a Bible after she requested for "something".

On the LAST two days, Kok was allowed to read newspapers.

"But I got some of the news by asking the investigating officer when I was being questioned in his room. That was the only time I got some air-cond," said the politician with an impish grin.

After the first two days, Kok was also permitted to exercise before she was returned to her '6 by 8' cell at 5.30pm each day.

The only upsetting moment in her detention was when she was told her confinement would be extended by 28 days. "It was distressing as I had already answered their questions," said Kok.

"It was also ironic that the morning they arrested me, I was EXPLAINING to 300 businessmen from China that Malaysia was a politically stable country for them to do business with. Imagine, their horror when the person who spoke to them on Friday appeared in the papers the next day, detained."

She ended the conference by thanking everyone who had supported her, with a special note to former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, who quit after protesting the ISA arrests.

"Zaid is really my friend! Thanks Zaid and you are welcomed to join Pakatan Rakyat anytime," she quipped.

Teresa Kok Released from ISA Detention

Read here in Malaysiakini


DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was released at 1pm today, after being held under the Internal Security Act for a week, revealed her lawyer Sankara Nair.

Kok walked out from the police station at 1.40pm.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said that Kok was released investigations showed that there was reason to detain her any further.

He said that she was released unconditionally.

Teresa Kok was held under the ISA detention for allegedly causing tension and conflict among races.The three-term MP has been in news in recent days - especially in Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia - after it was claimed that she had told mosque officials in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya to tone down the call to prayer.

Teresa Kok, who is also Kinrara state assemblyperson, has denied the allegations and one of the mosques, Masjid Kota Damansara, has clarified that a damaged amplifier has resulted in the calls to prayers to be made without the aid of a PA system.

Another mosque, Masjid Kinrara, has also denied that she was involved in a residents petition asking for the mosque to lower the volume of its loudspeakers during prayers.

Raja Petra, who has targeted the top government figures on his popular Malaysia Today website, however is still under detention.

We Say,

MP Teresa Kok should NOT have been arrested in the FIRST place if the Police Force under the watch of Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar had been competent in their job.

As every Malaysian knows except the Deputy IGP and the Police, the arrest of Teresa Kok under ISA was based on false allegations by Mohd Khir Toyo which was reported widely by Utusan Malaysia with malicious intent. It is obvious that Mohd Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia had mischievous design in making and reporting those allegations against a respected Member of Parliament-cum- Senior Exco member of the Selangor State Government.

Arresting an elected official before conducting a thorough investigation by our Police is one of the methods used in Communist countries such as North Korea, in Police States and in places like Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

We ask, why didn't the Deputy IGP get his Police personnel to conduct a thorough investigation FIRST to determine the truth of the allegation?

Does the Deputy IGP really think that the country will come to a boil if Teresea Kok is not arrested?

It is hard to believe that a senior police officer of the standing of a Deputy IGP actually prefers to arrest a respected Member of Parliment base on some flimsy allegations by Mohd Khir Toyo, BEFORE undertaking an investigation on the allegations.

While the rest of the country is fully convinced that Mohd Khir Toyo was spreading lies about Teresa Kok on the "azan" issue with the intent to create racial and religious hatred against DAP and the Chinese community, the Deputy IGP seem to be at first totally blind and deaf to the fact and to the call by Malaysians that the actual guilty person who should be arrested is Khir Toyo and NOT Teresa Kok, and secondly, to be hopelessly slow to realise it.

Is this an indication of embarrassing incompetence on the part of the Deputy IGP or more of a case of the Deputy IGP blindly following orders from his political masters despite the gravity of the available evidence otherwise?

While we are relieved that Teresa Kok is released, we are still dismayed by the fact that the Police is yet to arrest Mohd Khir Toyo for false allegations against a respected Member of Parliament and for creating a dangerous atmosphere of racial and religious mistrust between Malays/Muslims and non-Malays/non-Muslims.

In addition, Malaysians are still waiting for the Police to act forcefully against the racist Ahmad Ismail, not withstanding that his political party (UMNO) has disciplined him, which is irrelevant in as far as the law of the land is concerned.
-Malaysian Unplug



PRESS STATEMENT BY TERESA KOK AFTER HER RELEASE

I have been released after being detained in solitary confinement in a 6ft by 8ft holding cell for seven days under the Internal Security Act. I was informed by the police that they detained me under Section 73(1) of Internal Security Act 1960, which means I have incited racial and religious tension and conflict.

After being detained for seven days under the guise of so-called investigations, the police FAILED to produce any evidence or proof of me being involved in the activities of causing racial and religious tension.

They were only able to ask me few questions based entirely on the false and malicious article written by Zaini Hassan under the topic "Azan, jawi, JAIS, Uitm dan ba-alif-ba-ya" that was published in Utusan Malaysia on Sept 10, 2008.

The three main questions that the investigation officers asked me were:

i) whether I have mobilised a group of residents at Bandar Kinrara to present a petition to oppose to the azan at the Bandar Kinrara mosque;

ii) whether I have made a statement that 30% of the Selangor Islamic Department (JAIS) allocation is to be given to other non-Islam religious bodies; and

iii) whether I have opposed to the Jawi wording road signages in Kuala Lumpur.

I denied the first two accusations as I did not do any such things as accused. I also told them that the issue of opposing Jawi road signages in Kuala Lumpur was done in January/February 2008 at the request and following the pressure of resident associations. The resident associations, particularly in Taman Seputeh, were most unhappy because many of the road signages were changed arbitrarily by DBKL a few months before and changed again soon after this time with Jawi wordings. They were strongly opposed to this kind of wastage of public funds by DBKL.

I was quite surprised that there were no other questions posed to me besides these few main questions.

The Internal Security Act is meant to detain people who threaten national security. The three issues stated above have nothing to do with national security.

If the police wanted to carry out investigations on me, they can always ask me to give statements in any police station and there was absolutely no need to detain me under the ISA for seven days. This is a phenomenal abuse of the power of police under the ISA.

Besides, it is nonsensical for the police to detain me under the ISA merely based on the unsubstantiated article written by an irresponsible columnist(Zaini Hassan) in Utusan Malaysia.

How can they (the Police) regard that article as the gospel truth WITHOUT investigating the writer in the FIRST place?

How can Utusan Malaysia publish it WITHOUT verifying the facts?

I wish to ask the Police WHETHER they have called Zaini Hassan and Utusan Malaysia's editors for questioning before and after my detention.

I know that the imam of Bandar Kinrara mosque has publicly denied that I got involved in the Puchong residents petition against the azan of his mosque on Sept 13. I am also quite surprised to read in the New Straits Times dated Sept 19 that the official of the Bandar Kinrara mosque was called by the Dang Wangi police for statement recording only yesterday afternoon.

Why did the police do it SO LATE, one week AFTER I was arrested? Why didn't they check their facts first BEFORE they arrested me and put me behind bars?

I see my detention as a ploy by Umno to try to cover up the embarrassment and the outrage of the racist statements made by Ahmad Ismail in Penang.

I wonder why did they choose an innocent person like me as I have never made any racist statements or racist speeches in the past?

I lodged a police report on Sept 17 against Utusan Malaysia, Zaini Hassan and Dr Khir Toyo for criminal defamation. I would therefore urge the police to investigate Utusan Malaysia's editors, those racist bloggers and Dr Khir Toyo under the Penal Code.

As I have mentioned in my previous lawyer's visit, I will sue Utusan Malaysia, Zaini Hassan and Dr Khir Toyo. I have also instructed my lawyers to sue the Malaysian government for my unlawful arrest and detention.

As I am free from ISA detention today, I also call for the release of Raja Petra, the Hindraf Five and all other 60 over detainees under the draconian ISA.

I would also like to thank all politicians in the ruling parties as well as in the Pakatan Rakyat, NGOs, churches and all social organisations who have campaigned and
and prayed for my release.

Thursday 18 September 2008

Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar, Stay Out of the Partisan Politics of the Country.

From Malaysiakini: Read here

Deputy police chief Ismail Omar today issued a stern warning against those speculating and spreading rumours of a government takeover.

He said that these speculations were causing instability in the country.

He told this to reporters at a special press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukti Aman this afternoon.

In recent days there has been much talk of an impending takeover of the government by Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Rakyat.


We Say,

The Malaysian Police Force should get its nose out of the partisan politics of this country.

The present leadership of the Police Force is already causing irreversible damage to the confidence of the citizens as an institution to which they can look up to for their safety and security.

Recent actions by the Malaysian Police Force have put a huge question mark on its neutrality and where its accountability lies while the political stakes are being played out by the elected politicians in the public arena.

While outright racists such as Datuk Ahmad Ismail getting away for causing racial discontent and Datuk Seri Khir Toyo getting away with false allegations against a Member of Parliament and a Senior Exco Member of the Selangor Government, we find our Police Force spending public-funded limited resources and time to nab, at times in the middle of the night, innocent citizens such as Raja Petra, Syed Azidi Syed Aziz(Shieh-Kickdefella), MP Teresa Kok, journalist Tan Hoon Cheng and the lawyers of the Hindraf movement under the draconian Internal Security Act.

When prominent bloggers, journalists and opposition politicians are targeted for arrest under the ISA for the flimsiest (and even for false) reasons, one cannot help but feel that under the present leadership of the Police Force, the interests of the nation are SECOND to that of the ruling political parties in power .

Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar should ask himself why is that our police force is seen by majority of Malaysian citizens as more interested in protecting the interests of ruling party politicians instead of that of innocent citizens?

And yet, meanwhile criminals and murderers of victims eg little Nurin, are yet to be captured after more than a year.

What has the Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar got to say about what's being done to date to capture the murderer(s) of little Nurin?

The fact of the matter is that the streets of Kuala Lumpur and the suburban areas surrounding Klang Valley and major towns have never been safe from criminal gangs operating nonchalantly even during the day time.

We must remind the Deputy IGP Tan Sri Ismail Omar that the Police Force is constituted under the Federal Constitution to protect the citizens of Malaysia. It cannot usurp the power it is being granted under the Federal Constitution to be a power unto itself, nor to treat Malaysia as a Police State, nor should it be made a subservient tool to fulfill the whims and fancies of ruling political parties running this country.

We question the motive of the Deputy IGP to come out to warn citizens for discussing or speculating about government take-over.

Such public discourse by citizens on the politics of the nation is within the domain of responsible free speech and is part of the democratic process sanctified in the Federal Constitution.

Malaysians after 51 years of independence to not only know how to vote , but are matured enough to know how to have a conversation on the politics of this country without having the Deputy IGP, a mere public servant, issuing warnings.

Thus, this press statement by the Deputy IGP is un-called for and certainly unwarranted . It further erodes the little trust that the rakyat has for the Malaysian Police Force.

If the Deputy IGP cannot do his job that calls for neutrality of a public servant with regard to the politics of this country, we say politely he should quit his job and take a pension, with the compliments of the rakyat. Others might say, Go take a hike !

-Malaysian Unplug

Anwar is Correct in Taking a Cautious and Unconfrontational Move for Transition of Power: This is NOT a Coup d' Etat

Read here article by Sarah Stewart in AFP




Quote:

"... Anwar HAS the numbers to form a new government.

But in terms of strategy and the manoevering and the technicalities of how it will be worked out, that remains to be seen.

There is a group of Malay elites who CANNOT fathom that they may have to give up power. They've been in this position of strength and they know nothing else.

And Anwar will have to deal with the KING if he wants to be prime minister.

Anwar is moving very slowly and very cautiously, simply because there has never been a change of government since independence, so (Malaysia is) in uncharted territory.

The government has accused Anwar of bluffing after he refused to release the list of defectors until Abdullah grants him a meeting, but (Anwar) was wise to protect the (defecting) lawmakers from government attempts to claw them back..."


Excerpts:

Observers say that that Anwar, a former deputy premier who was sacked and jailed a decade ago, must overcome other formidable barriers before pulling off the FIRST change of government in Malaysia's history.

The ruling coalition, which has dominated the multiracial country since independence from Britain in 1957, will NOT GO QUIETLY despite Anwar's appeal this week for a peaceful transition.

Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert from Johns Hopkins University said,
" There is a group of Malay elites who cannot fathom that they may have to give up power. They've been in this position of strength and they know nothing else.

Anwar knows he has to get the civil service, the military, the King and the Sultans in his court in order to change the system that's been in power for 51 years and where there are entrenched interests.

After a crackdown last week that saw three arrests under a draconian internal security law, which allows for detention without trial, Anwar could also face a threat to his life and liberty.

He has to be concerned for his safety. I think he knows that and I think the international community is very concerned for his safety."
Malaysia's monarchy, which operates under a unique revolving system that gives state sultans the crown for five-year terms, could be KEY to the high-stakes negotiations currently under way.

Anwar has said he has the support of at least 31 lawmakers from the coalition, giving him a small majority in parliament, but if the government does not step down he will need to seek a mandate from the king.

According to James Chin, a political analyst from Monash University:

"Anwar will have to deal with the KING if he wants to be prime minister. At the very least he will have to prove that he commands the confidence of the majority of MPs in parliament.
The government has accused Anwar of bluffing after he refused to release the list of defectors until Abdullah grants him a meeting.

(Anwar) was wise to protect the lawmakers from government attempts to claw them back.

Anwar is moving very slowly and very cautiously, simply because there has never been a change of government since independence, so we're in uncharted territory."

The situation is complicated by a suspected power struggle within the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been disarray since elections in March that saw it lose its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time.

Tricia Yeoh from the Centre for Public Policy Studies said,
"I do think Anwar has the numbers to form a new government but in terms of strategy and the manoevering and the technicalities of how it will be worked out, that remains to be seen."
The 61-year-old opposition leader is also fighting a legal battle against new sodomy allegations-the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago-which he says have been fabricated to sideline him.

Analysts say the political brinkmanship may drag on for weeks or months, spelling bad news for the economy, investment and the stock market which has been paralyzed by the uncertainty.

RELATED ARTICLE

The Federal Constitution and the King Come Into Play in the Transition of Power

Read here

The Sun newspaper talked to Constitutional Law expert Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.

What is the process prescribed in the Federal Constitution for the taking of power?

OPPOSITION leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said that more than 31 Barisan MPs have agreed to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat. (but) Anwar also said he was committed to ensuring the takeover of government was constitutional.

Question: Once 30 or 31 MPs from BN cross over, PR forms the next government. Is it that simple?

Shad:

It’s NOT that simple. Because, under the Constitution, the Agong cannot dismiss the prime minister, the Parliament must dismiss the PM. And at the moment, the Dewan is not in session.

If there is a vote of no confidence on the PM, it must be in the Dewan.

A clear case is the Stephen Kalong Ningkan vs Tun Abang Haji Openg & Tawi Sli 1967. The court said once the chief minister is appointed, the governor cannot dismiss him unless the assembly passes a vote of no confidence.

At that time, there was a stalemate between Sarawak CM (Stephen Kalong Ningkan) on the one side and the assembly and the governor (Abang) on the other.

Question: So, Anwar cannot just march to the King and demand to be sworn in as the new PM as he has got the numbers? Is the King bound by the law to swear Anwar in as the PM?

Shad:
Yes, Anwar said they are going to the Istana. They are most welcome to the Istana; they can have nice tea there, I’m sure, but nothing more than that.

A piece of paper with 112 names is not enough. Anyone can write their names. It has to be on the floor of the house.

And, under Article 43 of the Constitution, the PM has two options once Parliament approves a motion of no confidence against him. He can either step down or advise the Agong for a dissolution of the Dewan. He has got those choices.

However, the King can say no to the dissolution of Parliament under Article 40a (2) (b). Then, in this case, the PM will have to step down.
Question: When PR said they will take over the government in the nearest possible time, how soon would that be?

Shad:

The Dewan is in prorogation now. It will only resume in October after Hari Raya. But the PM can postpone the Dewan sitting. He is entitled to keep the suspension. Without giving any reason. That is his discretion.

Under Article 55 (1), the Agong on the advice of the PM can allow six months to elapse between one sitting and another.

So he may just do that. It is untenable, democratically speaking, but PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi can rest for another six months.

Question: If Abdullah decided to postpone the Parliament for six months, what is the implication?

Shad:

It would create a lot of problems. It would be legal but not morally proper.

If he knew there were doubts about his administration, his government, he must call the assembly.

Question: If Abdullah does not extend the prorogation and by Oct 13, PR has got enough numbers, can they form the new government immediately?

Shad:

They can call for a motion of no confidence against the PM but the standing order of the Dewan is silent about this.

There is no mention of vote of no confidence in the standing order. But there is mention of other motions.

So, what needs to be done is for the MPs to introduce some other motions. An MP, any MP, can introduce a motion.

But then, it will have to be decided by the Speaker and he would first need enough number of MPs to support it, and then debate it, then only he will accept it.

Question:What are the options available to the government to thwart this?

Shad:

Legally, they can’t do anything unless the Agong decides to do something.

If the PM says he does not want the Parliament to resume in October, he can advise the Agong on this.

But, the Agong may not listen. He can do that. If he does that, it means he disregards his duty to listen to the Constitution (because the Agong should act on the advice of the PM).

But what can you do? You can’t take the Agong to court. For instance, like in the case of the appointment of Terengganu Mentri Besar whereby the King, or rather the Sultan, had defied the advice of the PM.

So, their (BN government’s) best recourse is to try to work with the Agong, with the hope that the Agong will follow the Constitution.

If the government is properly elected to power, we must follow the rules. If a government is formed according to the law, it must be dismissed according to the law. And the law says, there must be a vote of no confidence.

Question:What do you say of PR’s intention to hold fresh elections within six months to a year of it gaining control of Parliament?

Shad:

First of all, they are not in power. So, this is all speculative. The government in power is still holding majority of the seats in the Dewan.

So, I do not want to speculate about that. Sivarasa’s statement was just meant to create uncertainty.
(On Friday, the PKR vice-president said PR plans to call for an early general election if it comes into power to dispel worries its targeted takeover of the government might be undemocratic or unethical.)

They need to have enough members first. They should have the numbers by now.

All parties have plans once they come to power. All parties have their own manifesto. Everyone is allowed to dream. That’s the basic need.

But, the reality on the ground is, there is no clear evidence that the current government is losing its support in the parliament.

Article 40a

(2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say -

(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;

(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;

(c) the requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting and in any other case mentioned in this Constitution.

Article 43

(4) If the Prime Minister ceases to command the confi dence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister shall tender the resignation of the Cabinet.

Article 55

(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall from time to time summon Parliament and shall not allow six months to elapse between the last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first meeting in the next session.