Posted on

PM and DPM – time to have new advisers after another round of savage but avoidable battering to their credibility with delayed denials

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, have finally broken their silence on blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s statutory declaration with the “mind-boggling” accusation that Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was among three individuals who were also present when Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.

Raja Petra also alleged that the Prime Minister “has received a written report from the Military Intelligence” confirming his allegations and this report was subsequently handed over to his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin for safekeeping”.

Raja Petra also claimed that “one of the Rulers has been briefed about this matter” and “is fully aware” of the allegations.

Abdullah and Najib should have broken their silence and made their denials five days ago when Raja Petra’s allegations in his statutory declaration dated 18th June 2008 first surfaced on the Internet, reported by Malaysiakini and picked up by the blogs.

This was why I had issued a media statement four days ago on Saturday calling for public responses from Abdullah, Najib and Rosmah to Raja Petra’s statutory declaration, warning that “the credibility and legitimacy of the Abdullah premiership and government will suffer a mortal blow if Abdullah, Najib and Rosmah remain silent on Raja Petra’s bombshell allegations”. Continue reading “PM and DPM – time to have new advisers after another round of savage but avoidable battering to their credibility with delayed denials”

Posted on

PR status & citizenship for foreign spouses

(The following is the reply given in Parliament by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar yesterday to my question on the long-standing PR problem. Lets have your reaction as to whether you find the answer satisfactory or not. It was given as a written answer as the question did not come up for oral reply during the 90-minute Question Time. It was placed No. 49 out of 95 questions yesterday, which saw only eight questions answered on the floor during the Question Time.)

Tuan Lim Kit Siang minta Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri menyatakan hasil langkah-langkah untuk mempercepatkan pemprosesan pengeluaran (i) TarafPenduduk Tetap (PR) dan (ii) kerakyatan kepada pasangan asing rakyat Malaysia; mengapakah ujudnya aduan mengenai kelewatan yang keterlaluan dan sila berikan bilangan PR dan kerakyatan yang dikeluarkan dalam tempoh 20 tahun ini.

Jawapan: Pemberian taraf Pemastautin Tetap Malaysia merupakan ‘satu anugerah dan bukan hak’ yang boleh dituntut oleh warganegara asing. Dalam mempertimbangkan permohonan untuk taraf Pemastautin Tetap (PT), Kerajaan memberi keutamaan kepada aspek keselamatan negara dalam membuat keputusan. Berdasarkan kepada faktor ini, kerajaan sangat berhati-hati untuk membuat pertimbangan dan keputusan. Oleh yang demikian, setiap permohonan di WAJIBKAN melalui proses tapisan keselamatan oleh pihak Polis Di Raja Malaysia (PDRM). Di samping siasatan yang dijalankan oleh PDRM, pemohon dan penaja juga akan ditemu duga bagi memastikan bahawa maklumat yang diberikan adalah benar, dan juga untuk mengelakkan sebarang penyelewengan yang mungkin terjadi. Ini juga adalah bagi memastikan bahawa pemohon adalah tulen.

Kesemua langkah-langkah ini adalah amat penting bagi memastikan pemohon adalah seorang yang bebas dari gejala-gejala yang tidak sihat yang mungkin akan mengancam keselamatan negara. Hasrat kerajaan adalah bagi memastikan supaya hanya warganegara asing yang benar-benar ingin bermastautin di negara ini diberikan taraf Pendudukan Tetap. Di samping itu, semua syarat-syarat dan prosedur yang ditetapkan bertujuan untuk meminimumkan kebarangkalian berlakunya penyalahgunaan kemudahan yang disediakan seperti “marriage of convenience”. Continue reading “PR status & citizenship for foreign spouses”