Is it a RM7 billion national economic stimulus package to held tide the country through the global economic crisis or is it a RM7 billion Barisan Nasional economic stimulus package to tide the Barisan Nasional through the political tsunami triggered by the March 8 general election last year?
This is the question Malaysians pose when they read of the response of the Umno leadership to the defection of former Umno Bota Perak state assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim to PKR, followed by the disbandment of eight Umno branches in Bota.
This is the Star report “Bota branches follow Nasarudinn to PKR”:
Acting Perak Umno liaison committee deputy chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the development should not be a setback for Umno.
He said Parit Umno division deputy chief Yusof Nordin would now coordinate the delivery of services to Bota residents.
“It is only temporary. I hope the (leaders of the) eight branches are prepared to pay the price of their actions,” Ahmad Zahid told reporters at a Mesra Rakyat programme near here yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid, who is Perak Federal Action Council chairman, assured state Barisan Nasional assemblymen that they would receive the RM300,000 in federal allocation for their constituencies following complaints that some had not receive part of the RM1.6bil allocation for Perak under the 9th Malaysia Plan.
“I guarantee that the money will be distributed equally even if the assemblyman is not an Umno division chief,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said each state constituency under Barisan would receive RM1mil under the RM7bil stimulus package.
Neither Parliament nor the nation was ever informed that the RM7 billion economic stimulus package would be used to prop up the Barisan Nasional, with “each state constituency under Barisan would receive RM1 mil under the RM7 bil stimulus package”.
This translates to RM307 million for the 307 Barisan Nasional state assembly constituencies while the 196 State assembly seats won by the Pakatan Rakyat are denied the million-ringgit provision under the economic stimulus package.
This is another blatant example of the Barisan Nasional government treating public funds as if they are party funds completely in disregard of the principles of justice, fair play and good governance.
What about parliamentary constituencies? How much is allocated to the Barisan Nasional parliamentary constituencies from the RM7 billion economic stimulus package which is denied to the Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians?
It is such cynical abuse of power which had institutionalised money politics and political corruption in Malaysia, providing the latest body blow to public confidence in the independence, autonomy and professionalism of the month-old Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Is the MACC going to end up as another Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) – as a toothless tiger totally incapable of rooting out the culture and mindset of corruption which is steeped so deeply in Barisan Nasional governance, whether at the national or state level or at best capable of acting only at the behest of the powers-that-be against political foes whether outside Barisan Nasional or even in Umno?
May I suggest that you consider taking legal action against these blatant acts of corruption. Sue BN for illegal use of public funds, sue MACC for not taking action and thereby violating their charter. Time to test the judiciary too.
Jeffrey, stop the crapshooting on “maybes” and “ifs” and “what nots” and start advising us on what course of action is available against these miscreants.
“Is the MACC going to end up as another ACA – as a toothless tiger totally incapable of rooting out the culture and mindset of culture which is steeped so deeply in Barisan Nasional governance….”
the macc or aca were never tigers in the first place.
they are a sick joke. seriously this rubbish
is really beginnning to sicken me to the core.
they are wicked liars from the beginning.
Bn has been doing this manay many years. The corruption was possible because they have been in power for so long. Time is closing on them. They have never learn and refuse to learn. while they think the government is belong to the BN parties and disregard to the actual need of taking care of all people regardless who are the wakil rakyat come from.
All allocation should be given regardless which political parties .
Any way it may be good for BN still stick to this policy as the next GE, it will be time for their exit.
i cannot believe this idiotic state of affairs
in malaysia. even as i child i knew these
umno and bn people were talking rubbish
most of the time.
We should also be asking why important transportation projects such as the LRT extensions in the Klang Valley and the Second Penang bridge are being unnecessarily delayed. Funds are being diverted to less important projects like Iskandar which have far less economic stimulus impact for the country.
These clowns need to take economic lessons from Limkamput !
Godfather,
Why don’t you give some ideas to this blog how to counter BN’s misuse of the RM7 billion Barisan Nasional economic stimulus package (beyond some vague suggestions of ‘Sue BN for illegal use of public funds, sue MACC’ etc, how I don’t know!) instead of unnecessarily dragging me in by your irrelevant comments about me ‘crapshooting on “maybes” and “ifs” and “what nots” (which are totally non-contributive to debate and discussion of the subject in this thread that others are interested in)?
Seems to be your habit to drag in other peoples name for no apparent reason except just to provoke an argument like the other example, “these clowns need to take economic lessons from Limkamput” which has nothing to do with the issues under discussion!
You are constantly flaming one or two posters whom you have a personal beef by reason that you either don’t like their opinions, style or whatever by such unconnected linkage without regard whether it might create a downward communication spiral and degenerate substantive discussions of the subject that others are interested.
This is most inconsiderate of you.
For a change be productive, and come out on your own own with some ideas that can help Kit instead of behaving in such childish behaviour.
Anyway I’m busy now. Can I ignore your flaming for a while for some other time?
I’m sooo sorry crapshooter. I’m not a lawyer so I thought that a person with a pathological desire to show off his legal skills could do something useful here for a change.
Can ah ?
Seriously we could be complaining about this injustice perpetrated by BN for a long while, and since we are all peaceful people, we can only look at legal recourse. hopefully lawyers here can throw some light at how we can act within the confines of the law.
“Seriously we could be complaining about this injustice perpetrated by BN for a long while, and since we are all peaceful people, we can only look at legal recourse.” (Godfather)
Godfather,
I think the best legal recourse can only be made possible when Pakatan Rakyat is able to seize the control over the Parliament and be given the mandate to form the Federal Government. Since Umno Federal Government is not going to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA), perhaps DAP and PKR should start to build up a good rapport with certain Police Officers from the Special Branch from now on and to lay a smooth path for taking over the Federal Government in the future.
The ISA can be put to good use by Pakatan Rakyat in the future during the interim period when Pakatan Rakyat forms the Federal Government. Chinese history told us that those who made and praised the usefulness of the draconian law would eventually have to succumb to the dragnet of the draconian law.
Test
I was wondering a long time about the supposed ‘economic stimulus package’ that these BN people have been waving around.
What are the details of these stimulus package? Was it presented to parliament and the details made public? Who are the people receiving these ‘stimulus’?
I have not seen any specifics on these stimulus other than bit’s and pieces of information here and there.
Example this news report:
“The Government has tripled its allocation for small infrastructure projects and maintenance of public amenities from RM300mil to RM900mil……initial RM300mil was allocated under the economic stimulus package announced by the Government last year……The RM900mil allocation will benefit mostly Class F contractors”
One honestly wonders if this RM900 million is going to stimulate anything. Has there been a full accounting of how these 900 million taxpayers money is being dished out to ‘stimulate’ the economy?
It’s too late if we all wait for 2013. They would have stolen the country blind at the rate they are going. Somehow we got to stop the pillaging now. I don’t know what legal recourse we have – whether we can obtain injunctions to stop certain “activities” from happening.
These guys will not hesitate to bankrupt the country for their own ends.
How many PR assemblymen will be able to resist the offer of RM10 million plus lucrative positions in GLCs offered by umno? In laymen language, who can earn RM10million in his/her lifetime (except BN ministers, of course).
I support YB Liew Chin Tong’s call for the Perak Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to seek the Sultan’s consent to dissolve the Perak State Assembly. If granted, I am confident that Pakatan Rakyat will win. A Pakatan victory will spell the end of Umno/Barisan Nasional and their money-thirsty warlords.
–>http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/17342-lets-fight-it-out
The BN (Read: UMNO) has been raping this country blind for years & years (51 years to be exact!).
How much more can Malaysians take?!
Allah help us!
That UMNO is displaying their strength and power for all to feel and see, or perhaps even imposing themselves in such a manner as to threaten and induce fear among the people, is most irresponsible and cowardly. Let alone being sensible and displaying maturity expected of national leaders.
That kind of face-off and positioning or posturing is so out-of-date and repulsive to all sensible and right thinking MALAYSIANS. Read Malaysiakini’s “Muhyiddin: Don’t underestimate 3 million strong UMNO”, Sunday February 01 2009. Or Ahmad Zahid’s positioning as per the above report.
Throughout the years, such kind of domineering and abuse on the part of so-called leaders had been common and rampant whenever situations were not favorable to them. They are so expected of certain leaders from certain political party to adopt such stance. So much so that it smacks of systemic bias, or a deliberate posturing to guard their own interests and positions.
No wonder 308 happened. No wonder Permatang Pauh happened. No wonder KT happened. No wonder whatever is going to happen will happen.
The PR must be alert at all times, in order not to lose what had been gained so far which gave Malaysians the hope of an alternative government which would function with integrity, transparency, accountability, honesty, and fairness. That is what ALL MALAYSIANS want.
No amount of religious posturing, racial card games or communal political positioning would make Malaysia desirable or sustainable.
There must be mutual trust, mutual acceptance, mutual respect, mutual consideration for a truly united nation to be hatched. That mutuality must be sincere, pure, and unwavering and principled. Anything short would not do.
There is no room for domineering, hegemonic, one-sided, jaundiced, prejudiced, discriminatory, communal, ethnic, holier-than-thou stance. All policies must transcend race, color and creed. If 308 is to mean anything at all, then ALL Malaysians must be prepared to adopt the right attitude and perspective and accept an all inclusive approach to nation building.
I rest my case.
“It’s too late if we all wait for 2013. They would have stolen the country blind at the rate they are going.” (Godfather)
Godfather,
Don’t get over-anxious if you want to catch the thief. All men are innocent before Law until proven guilty. You can’t accuse a person as a thief until you have hard evidence to prove that he did steal.
Right now, the best thing you can do is just let it be. We should at least have some faith in the Auditor-General, who is a professionally trained accountant. The biggest lopehole we find in the possible risks of misappropriation of public funds or embezzlement of public funds actually lies in the Government-Linked Corporations (GLCs), whereby the corporate governances can be quite tricky when the business decision-making power is vested in the hand of some agency managers. The agency managers can always create some fictitious transactions and siphon out the corporate money by way of transfer pricing (inflate the property purchase costs) and leave no evidence for the external auditors to trace. It is not easy to control stealing unless you are able to promote the ethical values or religious values to the watch dogs of the public assets.
I think the deterioration of value systems among Umnoputras is the major factor which contributed to the 308 political tsunami. If you want all Umnoputras to behave themselves now, it is just a waste of your time in vain effort.
Moreover, if all Umnoputras will start to behave themselves, what benefit does Pakatan Rakyat stand to gain from Umnoputras’ repentance and turn to do good? Is it not to the advantage of Pakatan Rakyat that when Malaysian people tend to believe that Umno has been falling so sick and is tantamount to suffering from incurable coma situation therefore Umno should be foresaken and Pakatan Rakyat should chosen as a much better alternative which deserves the mandate of forming the new Federal Government in the next general election?
So, please learn to put some trust in others because there are always other people out there who wish to work in accordance with their personal conscience. Dr. Zeti of Bank Negara Malaysia is one good example of these people of good integrity.
Trust in the Auditor General ? You gotta be kidding me. For the past 35 years, the Auditor General have been exposing misdemeanours (like RM 640 screwdrivers) and even then no ikan bilis has been “caught” to account.
The sharks continue to roam free, and these are untouchable. Furthermore, I think contracts awarded under “piratisations” are not within the purview of the Auditor General’s office.
Pakatan:
Beware the Perak, Selangor and Kedah state governments might fall if MPs succumb to the temptation of RM10 million each. Now it is obvious that the RM7 billion economic package is disguised as an attempt to buy over Pakatan MPs to cross over.
Najib is very desperate: once he can topple Pakatan and regain the 2/3 majority, Bolehland will be in deep shit. Can the Pakatan MPs rise to the occasion and reject money politics?
At the moment, GLCs like Sime Darby and Felda are the cash cows which Umnoputras plot to slaughter. I believe the Conference of Rulers Malaysia can also play an important role in providing checks-and-balances in the public spending because the rulers also have personal interest at stake in the government assets. The Malaysian public also need to keep an eye on these GLCs in order to prevent happening of misallocation of funds or embezzlement of funds by the agency managers in the GLCs.
As for the borrowing power of the Federal Government, I will appreciate it if someone can enlighten me on the limitations of such a power in the perspective of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia!
“It is not easy to control stealing unless you are able to promote the ethical values or religious values to the watch dogs of the public assets.”
And who watches the watchdogs of the public assets ?
“And who watches the watchdogs of the public assets ?” (Godfather)
Most organisations, especially the statutory bodies like EPF, Socso, Khazanah, and the GLCs like Sime Darby and Felda are supposed to have the Chief Financial Officer, the internal audit department and external auditors who assist in making recommendations for system improvement in oder to provide checks-and-balances for purpose of achieving better governance. However, fictitious transactions which involve with transfer pricing (unlawful inflate of asset purchase price) are sometimes quite difficult to detect, especially when the Chief Financial Officer is a collaborator with the Chief Executive Officer or Managing Director in the fictitious deal.
The best way to prevent embezzlement of funds by way of transfer pricing is for the MACC to plant some spies in the statutory bodies or the GLCs. However, the MACC may not have the moral courage to do so because the MACC staff are basically the subordinates of the Executive, i.e. the Prime Minister. Things may happen in such a manner that the CEO and CFO of the Statutory Bodies or the GLCs actually help to embezzle funds in the instruction of the Executive. Since the Executive is also the boss of the MACC, there will be some conflict of interest if the MACC will have to spy on its own boss. There is a system loophole here which is big enough to accommodate for the passthrough by a double decker bus. Therefore, prevention on happening of fictitious transactions in the statutory bodies or the GLCs may not be easy. The Malaysian people may still need to rely upon the personal conscience of the external auditors in order to detect and disclose the possible cases of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) that could have happened in the statutory bodies or the GLCs.
IPOH, Feb 1 — The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government in Perak appears to have turned the tables on Barisan Nasional (BN) after the state legislative speaker declared vacant the two state seats held by two PKR lawmakers who were expected to defect.
This paves the way for by-elections for the two seats within 60 days.
Talk is also rife that a number of Umno state assemblyman are in talks to defect to PR.
The declaration of “RM7 billion national economic stimulus package” is really a joke. Ironically, the Umno Federal Government could not even afford to pay promptly for the highway widening project at the phase of Seremban-Tampin Section. (The project has been awarded to the son of present Dato Undang of Rembau and has been delayed for about 7 years.) Who else is so naive enough to trust that Najib as MOF has the money to finance the RM7 billion public spending?
If the Umno Government can spur the economy simply by word-of-mouth without truly pumping hard cash into the banking system or economic system, I think the Iceland Government would no longer be required to declare dissolution since the bankruptcy problem seems to be easy to resolve by Umno’s criteria. Sometimes I just wonder why there are so many dummy politicians who are able to ocuppy the seats in the cabinet for such a long period of time. I think the Malaysians need to change their sympathy culture and not to repeat the mistake of electing an incompetent candidate to be the Parliamentarian simply based on the reason that the late father of the candidate was the Prime Minister of Malaysia who died an untimely death in mid 1970s!
Sad news for Malaysians.
RM7 billion for UMNO!!
10%…or more….money to keep playing money politics and corruptions…so clear.
These devils are going all out taking advantages..and to ruin the country’s economy…planning to say….it is world recessions…as excuses…..to keep fooling vast majority Malaysians.
This team of UMNO leaders are the greatest rouges Malaysians have ever seen.
Mahathir must be very proud of his faithful students.
Let that old man sleep with clear conscience every night…blaming others…except himself.
Yes..in March…Najib will be PM…not elected…and he needs all the money to bribe his way.
Such cunning people. Such hypocrites. Such irresponsible and selfish attitudes. The best in the world!! The worst reputation in the world. The most thick skinned politicians in the world.
Only People’s Power will decide lawfully..in 13th election.
Meanwhile..sit tight…be patients. What can we all do now…except during the 13th election.??
Lets hope DAP ..keDAILan and PAS…can save us all.
Abdullah responded in the affirmative when asked if there was any truth to the rumours that two PKR assemblymen in Perak would hop over to Umno soon.
“God willing, that may happen,”
——-
Sleepy head you can have the two tainted PKR assemblymen now. They are worthless to you as they have already resigned.
One use to refer to cancer as the big ‘C’ but today in Malaysia it means corruption, in many aspects too. Not just money but also in language and habits. Look at this banner – ::::: Merealisasi “Decent Work” ::::: Realising Decent Work ::::: which is displayed with pride in the official Ministry of Human Resources webpage. Now, I hear cries of protest of using the english language in teaching science and mathematics. Some excuses were very lame – students and teachers don’t have good command of the english language. Well, it that is true, we should endeavour to learn the english language to compete in the world.
Going back to this RM7b stimulus, it seems a big sum. I hear the DPM asking for ideas on how best to put this to good effect. How about giving every senior citizen over the age of 60 y.o. a grand ang pow of RM888 each to spend on whatever they like? This will help the local economy.
The Umno Seremban Division Head, Datuk Ishak Ismail, speculated that NS State Asemblymen Shamsul Kahar Md Deli (Serting), Datuk Aziz Shamsuddin (Palong) dan Mustafa Salim (Lenggeng) could possibly cross over to PKR. The news sounds encouraging for Pakatan Rakyat but please do not take it for granted too early.
As far as I know Datuk Ishak Ismail is the loyalist to Najib Razak and he is having some political clash and verbal dispute with an NS Umno veteran who was the former Division Head of Umno Rembau Division and is the elder brother of the Menteri Besar of NS. His speculation may just be a political trick to defame the Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan and his elder brother in order to tear them down in Umno’s March Party Election.
It is much better for Pakatan Rakyat to concentrate all attention and effort in Perak in order to retain the two vacant seats in the expected coming by-election and not to be distracted by the development in the NS because it may just be Umno’s another internal fight among all the greedy ransackers.
i call upon all rakyat to stop paying taxes or delayed paying. incur fine but lets cripple the stupid BN govt. They r treating our money as if it belongs to their father.
those affected constituencies shld stop paying taxes. who the H are they to treat my money as their own. GO WORK LA!!
“I hear the DPM asking for ideas on how best to put this to good effect.” (ringthetill)
Don’t be deceived by Najib’s political gimmick again. If he is able to bank in RM7 billion immediately into any commercial bank of Malaysia for at least 6 months, the very news of banking in RM7 billion itself will undoubtedly send a strong message to the financial market that the Malaysian Federal Government is situated in a sound financial position. I doubt Najib is able to take out RM7 billion at the moment unless he already gave instruction to the Bank Negara Malaysia to print more Ringgit Notes in order to increase the money supply. So, it is time to watch out for the Ringgit Currency Value now!
This is stupid!
A stimulus package has to include tax rebates and credit to tax payers so they have more to spend. When consumer spending is at an all time low and consumer confidence is low, that makes sense.
Bailouts (of certain states) are not the answer if consumer confidence remains where it is. The states have no revenue sources that they could depend on to balance their budgets. Merely making more funds available to the state governments would lead to more abuse of taxpayer money. States under PR contrrol could have less to spend.
This is stupid.
How much C4 can RM 7 billion buy ? It can be put to good use, and the resultant clean-up exercises could mean work for a lot of people.
“i call upon all rakyat to stop paying taxes or delayed paying. incur fine but lets cripple the stupid BN govt. They r treating our money as if it belongs to their father.” (smeagroo)
Good idea! But most Malaysian private companies are already doing it now since the retrenchment or inadequate job assignment already causes a substantial reduction in the contribution of Monthly Income Tax Deduction (Potongan Caruman Bulanan or PCB) by the employees. As for the corporates, it will not be surprised that most of them will know how to produce a creative financial report in order to show losses in order to avoid or evade paying corporate tax.
So, how is Najib going to find RM7 billion for use as national economic stimulus package?
“most of them will know how to produce a creative financial report in order to show losses in order to avoid or evade paying corporate tax.” -Onlooker Politics
In fact, i don’t think many companies in Malaysia need to be overly creative in order to do this. With such a downturn in economy, companies in Malaysia which is highly export based will definitely be hit hard. Many companies are already shutting down their plants for extended periods as there is a lack of demand for goods. Pay-cuts, retrenchments etc. The government should expect to have lower revenues from taxes.
And that talk about crippling the government…you know the truth is, it already IS crippled , and been so for a very loooong time. It’s just pretending not to be.
Now what with news rife and breaking news all over the internet that the two PKR Behrang State Assemblyman Jamaluddin Radzi and his Changkat Jering colleague Osman Jailu, who have been reported “missing”, are confirmed crossing over to Barisan Nasional?
What I cannot understand is why is Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar so quick to declare the two State seats – Changkat Jering and Behrang vacant before further clarification and when it’s a sunday today?
PR should demand a full public disclosure of how the 7 billion economic stimulus package is beings spent and where the money is going to. After all it is tax payers money, and we are entitled to know which persons or companies are receiving these money.
Who is going to believe in a boy who cried “wolf” for too many times without really seeing a wolf? Likewise, who is going to trust a stock market which will see some last-minute support only about 1 minute before market closing at day-end?
A lot of villagers find that they have difficulty to pay for the busing fares and foods for their school children after a drastic price drop happening to both Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) and Rubber Latex. How are we going to trust that Najib is able to find RM7 billion for use as national economic stimulus package?
Some Najib’s cronies who are still working on the Mindef infrastructure projects already find that they are not being paid on time by the Federal Government for the progress work done. Why did Najib want to talk big about the RM7 billion package deal? Didn’t he find blush in his face when he talk so loud about the RM7 billion package deal? Is he not scared that he is going to have a very long nose when he tells lie too often?
THANK YOU SO MUCH, DR M, FOR YOUR GREAT LEADERSHIP OVER 22 YEARS WHICH HAS BROUGHT MALAYSIA TO THE VERY EDGE OF RUIN.
Antares
“This is the Star report “Bota branches follow Nasarudinn to PKR”
– Oh boy, big deal indeed! PKR, a party of dissendents from UMNO, like putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig, isn’t it? To expect changes or is PKR importing more Trojan Horse into Pakatan Rakyat? Are we expected to believe them?
Now what’s the difference – PKR or UMNO? Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat? Tell me someone please, I need to know?
Yes, CHANGE!
But which way?
With money politics flowing around and a number of elected PR state assemblymen and women tempted by richness beyond their dreams (richness that may last for several generations), it may be CHANGE from PR-ruled state to BN-ruled state!
Furthermore, there is so much infighting within and between the component parties of PR.
What Pakatan Rakyat really lacks now is the kind of revolutionary passion and fraternal love that were seen among the comrades of Chinese Communist Party during 1930s and among the early founders of America who fought against the British Imperial Ruler in 1776.
Pakatan Rakyat by right should have started with some motivational programmes in order to enhance the morality and promote the knowledge on political principles among all its members from different party backgrounds. The success of Pakatan Rakyat will to a large extent lie on how well the coalition is able to cement the cohesiveness and coalescence among all the component parties and also among all the members of each and every component party.
Developments in Perak, sadly reveals that all is not well in the PKR coalition. The Ngeh-Nga cousins seems unable to rise above self interests and hold members together for the sake of the party and the people who voted for them as evidenced by the reported intention of the deputy speaker to meet up with Ong Tee Kiat. Likewise, the deputy speaker is clearly not acting interest of the party or the people who voted for her…
Kit, it appears to me that PKR has some serious work to do in terms of formulating a strategy to capture the government. As it is now it looks to me there are just too many weaknesses in the coalition in the coalition:
1) Inability of the Perak leadership to rise above petty internal differences to act in the greater of the people who voted for them.
2) By accepting a cross-over from UMNO, PKR leadership lost its moral right to chastise BN for trying to entice PKR state assemblymen from crossing over to BN.
3) To the voters who voted for these assemblymen, they must be wondering if they have voted people who are there to serve them or people who are there to further their own self interests.
4) If the current leadership does not address the current issues and problems in Perak it will appear to voters that BN is right about PKR being unprepared to head the next government.
I look forward to a clear stand from the PKR leadership on the “Perak Government turmoil” and “the morality of cross-overs”.
Rakyat need to take action on by putting in petition on how this evil people use their money. MACC you know is a worthless dog only bark and bite at Master’s request.
The present Perak Government turmoil is a good test on the organising capability of Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. If Anwar is able to resolve the problem and get PKR respectably out of the political dilemma of abruptly losing two assemblymen, then it is not necessarily that the current turmoil will have adverse setback on Pakatan Rakyat.
If the two assemblymen who chose to leave PKR were indeed being framed up by Umno in the corruption charge, then they should have stayed far away from Umno in order to avoid the cunningness and dirtieness of Umnoputras. However, if they chose to take up a position of standing by the side of Umno in the state assembly, that means these two defector state assemblymen are just the rubbish which needs to be cleansed up from Pakatan Rakyat. It will not be a bad thing for Pakatan Rakyat to get rid of the rubbish now since it would be too late for Pakatan Rakyat to react and take the remedial measure if these two men were to choose a timing at the last minute before the next general election for declaring defection.
Pakatan Rakyat should take the current event as the test and trial on the problem solving skills of its leadership. Pakatan Rakyat will definitely be able to come out as a much more healthy and strongly bonded coalition if it can overcome the current coup crisis without devastating its power and capability to form the Perak State Government.
The Ngeh-Nga cousins seems unable to rise above self interests”
– apparently it has been talk of Perak and is alleged that one of them even put his thumb into tenders for civil contract works in his constituency and gave the job to his local contractor friend/crony who’s bid was far up the 8th position! Yes 8th position got the job? Never mind the obvious huge difference in tendered sum that runs in millions, smell something terribly wrong already? They sure have learnt fast haven’t they? Where’s that transparency they promised during GE-12?
Let’s hope MACC can prove itself and bark at rakyat’s request and take it from here afterall it’s already ‘coffeeshop talk’.
All that party jumping, merry-go-round and open to the highest bidder. What a disgrace to your profession.
People, we must learn to ignore those politicians who are indisciplined, have no honour and principle. They should be consigned to history.
what lousy pkr people.
crmubling under pressure like this.
mediocre.
Wat a joke , all the BN clown out there will receive 1 million! Bolehland bolehland, we the raykat all not blind not deaf. U just wait BN clown. Ur time will end soon
i never trust people who try too hard
to appear sincere and polite. if they really
are there is no need to try.
given that the malays have already had more than forty years
to try their hand at government and administration
and seeing that they have failed badly , disasterously
at that perhaps they should deal with the “sensitive issue”
that perhaps they may not be so “tuan” and “ketuanan
melayu” afterall. of course its very sensitive we all know that.
perhaps the colonial british were right afterall…
i hope Lim Kit Siang has convinced himself
that anwar is corrupt free. seeing that he became
the deputy prime minister at a time when
“money politics” was rampant in umno
leaves a lot of doubt in my mind. this is not to say he
is or has been corrupt. but association with umno
leaves one tainted to some extent. if he ever becomes
prime minister the people must have the confidence that
he is not tainted and that he has no skeletons in the closet
so that no pressure can be brought upon him by
unscrupulous people to make decisions detrimental to the nation.
how sickening that the two generations after merdeka
turn out to be so corrupt and selfish.
this is the malaysia that has been left to the current
generation…
so there is speculation that the two pkr
assemblyman may hop to umno becasue they
want to escape corruption charges.
how absolutely disgusting. of course its speculation
but suppose its true, then what does that tell you?
these are elected people who are supposed to serve
the people. really what has happenned to malaysia?
why are its people so corrupt, greedy and accomplished
liars and pretenders? DAP should make sure
its party members are not corrupt.
i think malaysians are immature. if you know a friend
or relative who is corrupt advise him/her to stop.
if he/she doesn’t report him/her. that is the only way to
stop it. and since corruption has become a menace
the death penalty should be introduced.
:) Godfather said: “How much C4 can RM 7 billion buy ? It can be put to good use, and the resultant clean-up exercises could mean work for a lot of people”.
Aha! Thats reminds one awfully of the strange tale in the good Learning Book about the :( pseudo-firefighter who was really an arsonist (and a financial City broker before that) hiding under the fire-department’s professional badge and uniform.
The tale says that this real fireman and pseudo-firefighter would simply start fires so that he could go and put them all out to gain glory for himself in the people’s eyes and to fool them all very falsely.
So the tale warns like Aesop knowingly, that it’s not only false prophets one needs to watch out for, but also false experts in all things.
:| Hmm, that’s a really scary tale, I can tell you!
WE SAY YEAH! & NO TO ISA! :) AND HARIS FOR AG & RPK FOR IGP! GO FOR DSAI FOR PM & LKS FOR DPM & KIND WAN AZIZAH FOR HOME MINISTER.
2009 Resolution: Seek out all garbage and recycle or dispose post haste for a healthier life and planet!
UMNO’s transparency…..What you see is what you get. What you do not see….is what they get.
“I look forward to a clear stand from the PKR leadership on the “Perak Government turmoil” and “the morality of cross-overs” -lkt-56 commented at 01: 39.18 above.
Anwar was the one that consistently, after 308 threatened to topple the BN government by poaching political defections from BN. As I have pointed out in previous thread his stance contradicts Lim Guan Eng’s support for anti-hopping law and has been severely criticised by Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim.
In Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s struggle against the Barisan Nasional (BN) the PR’s defacto leader has flouted 2 important principles necessary for victory enunciated by Sun Tzu in his classic, “the Art of War”.
The first principle is the importance of the Moral Cause. “The Moral Cause / Law causes the people to be in complete
accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless
of their lives, undismayed by any danger” – Sun Tzu.
Anwar’s success last week in persuading Nasarudin to defect/cross over has caused PR to lose its moral standing and high ground to chastise UMNO for its tit-for-tat move to entice PR’s state legislators to defect to UMNO/BN. (It will be recalled that it was Anwar who last year harped on securing some 30 BN MPs to defect to help him form the federal government by last Sept 16).
One of attractions to Nasarudin – it is rumoured – is the promise of the coveted Perak’s Menteri Besar position (which after 308, PKR could not get because of a lack of credible Bumi candidate). How does current MB Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin feel? This is not to mention that enticing cross over by offering gratification of position skates thinly on the edge of corruption as stated in the MACC Act.
The second principle of Sun Tzu not heeded is what Sun Tzu said about the importance of “careful calculations show that your conditions in territory of war are more favourable than those of your enemy”.
In the struggle for defections from political adversary, who has more advantages to entice – PR or BN? The answer is obvious. The BN can dip its hands (directly/indirectly) not only on the RM7 billion national economic stimulus package but the national GDP! It controls the levers of powers.
As I have said before the draconian MACC can, by selective application, be used against PR members. Unless they are squeaky clean, which I doubt, all one has to do is to (for example) catch a few of these and charge them under MACC Act, and thereafter offer them reprieve from prosecution plus $$$$, who in the right mind, concerned with personal safety and family well being will not become turncoat?
If Anwar were wrong – and jeopardises the PR cause by doing wrong – he has to be told to do right. Although he is credited to be the man who could hold everyone together within PR, he owes his position today to everyone – not just PAS & DAP- but also the entire spectrum of civil society that has been supporting him. He will fall if support is withdrawn!
A leader’s decision is always a function of input from his immediate coterie of advisers. If these are young, impatient, in a hurry – and he takes their advice – now (to get rid of BN fast) and then (to get rid of Dr Mahathir fast) without careful calculations, he will yet fall again!
we got to stop the pillaging now
who watches the watchdogs
Welcome to democracy 101. The answer to the two questions is “No, you had to stop the pillaging then” and “you should have been”.
While everybody was busy ‘doing business’, your country went to the dogs. You’re really, really fuct now. Just about your last remaining hope is elections and a very few principled politicians. Your heroes are dead, the courts have gone belly-up, the mainstream media is crap and worse yet, most of your fellow voters and current politicians have grown up knowing nothing else. All the public and social institutions you would normally expect to be able call on for help in dark times are completely broken, neglected while the going was good. OnlookerPolitics’ MACC spies just aren’t needed in a healthy democracy, that’s what investigative journalists, ‘Outraged of Petaling Jaya’ writing to his MP, and NGOs would do.
The Internet has been a catalyst for positive change. All you can really do is keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last couple of years. There are a couple of critical journalists in print, but they’re only seconds away from being critical journalists in prison. I agree with Jeffrey and lkt-56 – just about the only positive thing PR had going for it was the moral high ground (all things being relative). If they fail to defend that last bastion, they’ve got nothing.
If there’s anything that can be done now, I think Onlooker Politics’ suggestion of a ‘choir school’ to get PR members singing from the same hymn sheet is crucial. Somebody suggested a shadow cabinet on a recent thread, I thought that was a really practical suggestion too. Whatever else, PR has to start giving the impression of a working government-in-waiting, rather than a ship of fools being tossed on a sea of cash inducements. The cock-waving braggadocio of some PR leaders is sooo 20th Century Malaysia. Does it actually attract voters? Perhaps it’s time to try some opinion polls to try to find out what PR’s strengths are, and play to those. I think a generation growing up with access to the Internet might be looking forward to a more respectable public front.
I feel sorry for the few people in PR that appear to be genuinely principled. It must be like herding cats.
ringthetill
each person RM888 , yeah its gd money for everyone to spend.
however the stimulus is only RM7 billion.
therefore assuming if our total population stands at 25 million.
each person should get roughly RM280.
if each person gets RM880 the stimulus figure should be RM22 billion
!!!!!!
Bro Kit,
Let’s face it, the Government (i.e. Racist UMNO) is in disarray (not to mention its problems with the coming UMNO Elections where the problem with Money Politics has gone through the roof!) and no one knows what’s happening.
With Economic Disaster looming in the horizon, can HRH Yang Dipertuan Agong call dissolve Parliment & call for fresh Elections?
Let’s get this sorted out once & for all! Rumours of Party hopping & Allah only knows what else!
If the people really want Najib as their next PM or do they want DSAI?!
It’s time HRH Yang Dipertuan Agong stpes in & saves us or else we are just going to keep spiralling downwards!
Typical 3rd World banana republic PM openly using money, threats and bribes to enable the defections of elected representatives from the opposition. Calls himself a world statesman
“It’s time HRH Yang Dipertuan Agong stpes in & saves us or else we are just going to keep spiralling downwards!”
PSM
rubbish! i don’t believe the king or the so called royalty
give a damn. they live a life of luxury and priviledge
paid for by the tax payers. what do they ever do?
make a few speaches every now and then
turn up at schools orphanages to smile and take pictures?
come on lah seriously these people are useless.
At the most, crossovers will only trigger a general election, the Rakyat still have to finish the job themselves.
When you said election Najib’s ballz shrunk beyond what the naked eyes can see.
OrangRojak said:
“Welcome to democracy 101. The answer to the two questions is “No, you had to stop the pillaging then” and “you should have been”.”
As a foreigner to this country, you should understand two Chinese words: KIASI and KIASU. The Chinese in Bolehland are either of these. One literally means “scared to die” and the other “scared to lose”. For 35 years, the Chinese have been kicked around simply because they have these siege mentalities. They have “close the front door when you hear a commotion outside” philosophy. They have been so easy to manage – threaten their livelihoods and they will back down.
For everyone of us who are vocal, there are hundreds who prefer to remain mute. This is where the MCA get their membership. Heck, since the Chinese pay 95 pct of the government’s revenues, it would have been so easy to cut a much more meritocratic deal with the government if we were united.
Now we even have Chinese who say that the alternative to BN is no alternative at all, and that we should not bother with giving them a chance to prove what it can do, warts and all. The people who say these are not exactly BN supporters either, so this mentality makes them fence-sitters. That’s why they are useless watchdogs.
UMNO is imploding as we speak. It looks like the “business as usual” clique is having the upper hand – and I agree with Dawsheng that the balls of some prominent guy will shrink at the mention of the word “elections”.
The situation in Perak shows that PR is better prepared for eventualities than BN. PR candidates were made to sign undated resignation letters, but BN candidates weren’t. If these undated resignation letters are somehow found to be legal and binding, then why is there a need for a anti-hopping law ?
“KIASI and KIASU. The Chinese in Bolehland are either of these…”Godfather.
no! they can also be both! in fact they usually are.
its highly unlikely that a chinese can be one of those
without being the other…
If the country has been pillaged by its political elites, and rakyat have been indolent and not vigilant of their rights, why single out and blame the Malaysian Chinese community as “Kiasi” and “Kiasu” as Godfather has done in his posting at 12: 38.32 ?
We have a chinese who has been fighting for Malaysian rights for 30 years, don’t we – in YB Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng etc? In the past Tan Chee Khoon? In the present, many Malaysian Chinese in NGOs and civil society?
We have even Malay leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman and Dato Onn Jaafar whose son Tun Hussein Onn was strict against corruption. Ordinary Malays like RPK, Zainah Anwar eschew and fight against pillage, small mindedness and abuse of power.
Amongst the Malaysian Indian community we have the Hindraf leaders, in yesteryears MG Pillai and in the 1960s the Sreenivasagam brothers and amongst the Malaysian Sikh community the likes of Karam Singh and prsent day Karpal Singh!
The fact is that all communities have their share of people who speak up in voice stentorian against pillage, corruption and oppression and also those who take on the indolent, “tidak apa” “Kiasu” and “kiasi” attitude, and the problem is the latter is overwhelming more in numbers!
It is pure nonsense and platitutde in Godfather’s part to single out the Chinese community for especial blame.
Since when after independence have the Chinese community the political bargaining power to change this state of affairs – pillage – more than other communities?
Godfather’s gross generalisation targetting Malaysian Chinese for special blame hits below the intellect and serve at worse a self denigration without proportionate justification and at best a refreshing break from the monotony of a litany of sensible remarks posted here.
Chinese like LKS and LGE are the real exceptions, the rare diamonds. They are the vocal ones – as I hinted in my post – but for each of LKS and LGE, there thousands more of crapshooters who talk in the abstract with the sole purpose of showing off their so-called skills.
Siapa yang makan cili dialah yang merasa pedas, if you know what (or who) I mean.
As for OrangRojak, I would like to introduce another colloquial term – “Action”. There are many Chinese with this trait – which means to show off, to boast, to tell the world how good they are. However, in reality, these are the indecisive people who walk the talk of “on the one hand it is this, and on the other hand it is that”, so they end up with doing nothing worthwhile.
I only know it is the man who peddles most crap who thinks he is most qualified to label others as crapshooters.
And of course there are Chinese who are rigidly decisive – about the wrong things, and who talks alot but suffer the speech impediment of having the foot in his own mouth!
//Chinese like LKS and LGE are the real exceptions, the rare diamonds.//
Hey, is there not something amiss in this statement?
Have you inadvertantly forgotten to include yourself or you’re making special effort at humility today?
When you pointed out that LKS/LGE are the real exceptions, the rare diamonds, is there not something amiss in this statement?
Have you inadvertantly forgotten to include yourself or you’re making special effort at humility today?
Maybe the crapshooter is right. Many of us here suffer speech impediment, which is why we don’t write lengthy exposes of legalspeak, or sentences that seem to run forever.
I’m guessing, Jeffrey, that Godfather was using the Malaysian “Royal We”. I don’t think he meant to point the finger at any section of the community in particular, more a very broad thumb at the chest of ‘people like himself’. If he included you in the group, I’m sure he didn’t mean to drag you down to his level.
It isn’t sufficient, in a democracy, to have a few ‘lions’ or heroes. A healthy democracy is one where every last citizen takes part. My point (the one Godfather was responding to) is that not all Malaysians have taken part, not that not one Malaysian takes part.
Placing all our hopes in one person or a few persons is abdicating personal responsibility. We each, every one of us, have to make individual efforts to ensure Malaysia is as good as it possibly can be. Every Malaysian can play a part in combating corruption, even if it’s just writing letters to the authorities, convincing their neighbours to write letters, or sign paper petitions that are properly delivered. They can donate money or time to organisations that fight corruption, abuse and incompetence.
If Malaysians do none of those things, they are not protecting their democracy, and it’s their fault when it stops working properly. It is quite difficult in Malaysia. I’ve just sent off another batch of registered post this morning, despite my neighbours’ attitude of “no use complaining, nothing will be done”. The letters are complaints, copied to anybody with the slightest link to the subject. If I don’t complain when something is wrong, how can I expect any improvement? It’s easier in the UK – I was busy, but could always rely on my neighbours to complain quickly! Despite the stereotype of “mustn’t grumble”, I have always found people from the UK to be very productive whiners.
Prior to March 8 elections, wherever I canvassed for support for PR, I got a large dose of “can’t trust PR, can’t trust PAS, can’t trust Anwar”. A number of these doomsayers are apparently on this blog.
Orang Rojak,
I agree mostly with what you said about “every one of us, have to make individual efforts to ensure Malaysia is as good as it possibly can be”.
I must add that the unfortunate thing is that many Malaysians of whatever race, of education, calibre and capability are simply too alienated/estranged and resigned from the political process as to contribute whatever little measure they could, and would prefer to be apolitical or simply apathetic to seek redress, even for example from overbearing municipal authorities.
The only part I don’t agree is that in relation to Godfather, that he didn’t mean “to point the finger at any section of the community in particular” or that he meant that to be “more of a very broad thumb at the chest of ‘people like himself’.
You are most charitable in your interpretation.
The chance of that happening is about as good as BN becoming overnight a government of transparency and accountability.
We can all see whether he will hereafter clarify that he meant himself or others to whom he points a finger of blame.
And as for your statement “if he included you in the group, I’m sure he didn’t mean to drag you down to his level”, it is certainly (to me) a unique point of view that he may take exception. :)
Of course I didn’t mean to drag such a learned fellow down to my level. I wouldn’t dare. Queen’s English and legal doublespeak are not my forte.
wherever I canvassed
Me too. Are we statistically significant yet? People like doom, it is certain to come, after all. Effort invested in avoiding doom could be wasted.
too alienated/estranged and resigned from the political process
Is there absolutely nothing that can be done to correct this? The Internet has worked wonders for those Malaysians fortunate enough to have access to it, and are receptive to the messages there, but what of the rest? I know a newspaper is out of the question, but is there no way of reintroducing politics to Malaysians? Would it be possible to print educational toilet roll? Oh yes, sorry, forgot, no longer use it myself. Beer mats? Fortune cookies?
Would it be possible to use DAP offices for social / educational events? I don’t mean radicalisation centres, but perhaps evening classes or special interest groups in some neutral subjects, at the same time having plenty of ‘information’ available in the form of posters / newsletters. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it ought to be OK for the DAP! Evening classes / Adult Ed. is something I miss from the UK. It’s a great neutral social activity, bringing together people from very diverse backgrounds, and coincidentally exposing them to new ideas and experiences.
I sometimes wonder how much of an organisation there is behind DAP – from my brief experiences of it, it appears to be very … thin.
However for your sake I will sometimes have to lie down in order to put a gentle point across.
Soon OrangRojak will be deemed a radical by the Home Minister and deported to Guantanamo.
//Soon OrangRojak will be deemed a radical by the Home Minister and deported to Guantanamo// – Godfather.
It is precisely doomsayers’ remarks like this that intimidate many educated Malaysians who have anything constructive and sensible to say from saying it – in fear of reprisals….except those detractors who spew nonsense and trite repetitive cliches most of the time who have no fear of reprisals simply because what they say garners little credibility to ever make any significant and adverse dent on the ruling elite’s image or inflict any harm to its interest, as a class.
How many true BN and PR politicians, who wish to serve the nation and people without thinking solely of personal gains, are out there?
Among elected PR politicians, some of them were as surprised as the men on the street that they were elected as state assemblymen or MPs during the last GE. Some of them would probably sell their beloved ones for once-in-a-life-time big fat offer from Umno to dump PR for BN. After all, they are resigned to the fact that they are only a one-term YB. Why should they not make hay while the sun shines? An offer of RM1 million to 10 million (that will last a couple of generations) is just too good not to grab. They will say: “To hell with PR and thank you voters for electing me to this opportunistic kaya raya position!”
Cross your heart and ask yourself, “Wouldn’t I do this as well?”
Perak is in a political mess at the moment.
Part of the problem is we have a group of first-timers running the state. These freshies were forced to work together for their political survival. Before they proved their worth, nay, before they even started on any serious work, they accepted titles like Datuk Seri and Datuk. Maybe the titles made their heads too bloated to function properly.
Can PR rule Perak properly for the rakyat?
boh-liao, I would tend to agree with you, however, Malaysiakini’s breaking news says that one PKR Ipoh Barat division head Fauzi Muda has leveled the damning claim that our Umno bigwig had tried last year to induce him to secure the crossover of two Pakatan Rakyat representatives in Perak for RM50 million for his services and to pay off those he managed to convince, but that he had remained non-committal then, and would be making a report to MACC now. :)
I wonder why he discloses it only now.
Crapshooter:
please don’t lie down on my account. Just bend over will do.
Interesting… are comments ‘awaiting moderation’ invisible now? Or have I qualified for some ‘frequent nonsense poster’ filter that silently discards my posts?
I just wanted to point out that the old favourite “Gunatanamera” means “girl from Guantanamo”. I posted a YouTube link, but can’t see my comment “awaiting moderation”.
“It is precisely doomsayers’ remarks like this that intimidate many educated Malaysians…” Crapshooter
For heaven’s sake, how many Malaysians except for a paranoid lawyer would say that my remark above about Guantanamo would be deemed intimidatory ? Who else but a crapshooting lawyer would say that Anwar had violated certain tenets of Sun Tzu’s Art of War as though Sun Tzu’s oft-quoted masterpiece must be followed by PR as a bible inviolate ?
OrangRojak:
If you include links to other sites, then your postings will go into the moderation tray. As long as the links are not porn, then you will get your hearing, albeit a few hours later.
Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Radzi and his Changkat Jering colleague Osman Jailu have both publicly proclaimed they were made to sign the undated resignation letters under force.
Under what type of force? Were they threatened to be blown up with C4 should they refuse to sign? They were not allowed to contest in the March 8th elections if they refused to sign. So is that really “forced to”?
If your finance company repossesses your car and effect the ownership transfer form, just say you pre-signed the transfer form under duress. If your bank forces you to resign as a board director by effecting your pre-signed resignation letter, just claim it was pre-signed under duress. If your land or building was transferred by your financier, just claim the Memorandum of Transfer was pre-signed under duress.
Looks like we have to re-write the law because of Perak.
I think Pakatan still need to prove themselves worthy of such responsibility of handling huge amounts of money. If there is one thing that has shown up BN, is their waste and mismanagement of state funds, we do not want twice the wastage and twice the mismanagement from Pakatan’s side now.
YB Kit,
According to The MalaysiaInsider Report Feb 2nd your Perak DAP senior state executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) led Perak state government would not dissolve the state legislative assembly to seek a new mandate as it was still stable.
How he could say it is stable eludes me because Mohd Osman Jailu and Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi are definitely not with the PR anymore.
Discounting them, PR has only a slim majority of not more than 1 or 2 in Perak state legislative assembly.
It would make more sense for PR to take advantage of the present Perak Turmoil – where Perakians not on BN’s side would blame BN for defections- to prevail on Perak MB Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (“Nizar”) to request the Sultan to dissolve state legislative assembly to pave way for the Perak State elections.
Mohd Osman Jailu and Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi did even turn up for press conferences arranged by their patrons, so technically they are still in PR, which being majority in Perak state assembly entitles Nizar to exercise its prerogative to dissolve state legislative assembly.
Based on current sentiments (against BN) in Perak, PR may in such a state election secure a bigger and clear majority of at least over 10 seats – that is if you believe in what you said that 308 Political tsunami, PP & KT by elections are harbinger of change….
However if PR tarries, waits and horses around with 2 by- elections – even if it wins – your majority of 3 or 4 are not that wide and if they were bought in a crossover – which is not difficult to be done, since, as you said, they have access to the RM7 billion national economic stimulus package – the prerogative to dissolve state legislative assembly will vest in BN and no more with PR, so that Perakians’ swing to the PR as stated in the preceding paragraph would not have an avenue for expression and could no more be taken advantage of!
The downside is of course the election campaign costs of PR at say RM500,000 per constituency for 59, which would tally at least RM30 million, which PR is not sure of raising in ceramahs in this economic downturn but again if you believe that change is an idea that has come and cannot be resisted, then you must believe that that amount can be raised in your ceramahs and your supporters.
There is however one caveat : your DAP’s Perak chieftains’ desire to have a DAP Bumi MB in the stead of Nizar should be resisted. What is the reason for the change? DAP’s or Ngeh’s hubris?
Nizar is doing his job well, is popular, and so far we have not heard any imputation to the contrary.
Ooops, correction ….”Mohd Osman Jailu and Behrang assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi did NOT even turn up for press conferences arranged by their patrons…”
Godfather, you said in your posting 17: 56.47 (3 hours ago) that “Crapshooter:please don’t lie down on my account. Just bend over will do”.
Oh, Ok I better not then: Until now I have had the impression that only your thoughts are directed along that narrow channel.
I did not have the benefit of your recent revelation that other parts of your anatomy are that way inclined as well!
I’m wondering about the signed, undated resignation letters. Isn’t that some sort of extortion? Presumably the MACC might be interested in it. But seriously – does anybody have a credible explanation as to why signed undated resignation letters are a good idea? It strikes me as more incompetent buffoonery.
One more example for Godfather’s list. My wife gave birth to our first child in Perak, at a private Maternity hospital. I think the doctor thought she wasn’t trying hard enough after a couple of hours on the birthing table, so he drew a line on her belly and gave her a consent form for a C-section (I think) to sign while his nurses helped him robe up. She just moaned and shook her head, so the doctor gave it to me, and said “you have to sign it”. I wrote “I don’t agree” on it, and gave it to one of the nurses. Perhaps it was theatre to encourage the reluctant mother, but our daughter popped out seconds later. I’ve often wondered since about the value of a contract signed in an operating theatre.
And to think of it I used to think that you were a colossal pain in the neck – when you could be in the back as well! :)
Which also means that now I have to revise and have a much “lower” opinion of you, if you know what I mean!
Don’t get me wrong. I`m not trying to insult you. I can`t take the credit for self infliction!:)
What I mean is I don’t want to make a monkey Sodomite out of you, Godfather. Why should I take all the credit for the one thing you’ve done yourself? :)
What I mean is I don’t want to make a Sodomite out of you, Godfather (not that I’ve got anything against a sodomite anyway). However, why should I claim credit for what you have done yourself? :)
Sorry, I’ve removed/withdrawn “monkey” : it is inappropriate; it is not known that simian primates engage in homosexual activities.
This whole development in Perak, I feel, is really like a joke from a movie.
Why I say so? Ok, first thing first. That stupid ex MB of Perak has claimed right from the very beginning that PR state govt in Perak will tumble on Aug 31 2008. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
Then, it followed with the 2 PR state assemblymen being charged for corruption. I am not sure whether they were really corrupted. If they really isn’t corrupted, then why scared? Why must you defect to BN? If you are innocent, be brave and face the charges. Few months back, I believed strongly that the duo had fallen into UMNO’s political trap and I believed then that maybe, just maybe, they are really innocent. Well, looking at the current situation now, i.e. of them likely defecting to UMNO, I now believe that they are indeed truly corrupted. Maybe they did genuinely accepted whatever bribes that were offered to them. Their credibility has gone deep down the drain.
And why wait till now, ONLY NOW that they decided to defect to UMNO, knowing very well that their up-coming trial is scheduled on Feb 10? Doesn’t that tell you that something fishy is going on? And why you have to “disappear” for 5 days without answering anybody’s call? And why the two same assemblymen charged with corruption had to go on “medical leave” at the same time, same day? Is it such a coincidence that they had to fall sick at the same time? And I read in the news somewhere that one of them is in Pahang for some back massage? Why Pahang? Such coincidence? Pekan, maybe? Does that ring a bell?
Every time I read and think about what’s going on in Perak, my blood will boil 100 degrees. I just hate the political scenario there, and especially hate BN more and more.
“I think Pakatan still need to prove themselves worthy of such responsibility of handling huge amounts of money. If there is one thing that has shown up BN, is their waste and mismanagement of state funds, we do not want twice the wastage and twice the mismanagement from Pakatan’s side now.”
You kidding me? Pakatan Rakyat is strong today because BN government is corrupt to the core. Are you ready Najib?
I hereby withdraw the term “Crapshooter” in reference to our lawyer friend. He has now done six continuous posts of four lines or less ! No more ten para, foot long postings…..and while you are at it, Jeffrey, make sure you make the sentences shorter for our better understanding. English isn’t our first language.
However, I reserve the right to reinstate this most appropriate term if he starts crapshooting again in his pathological desire to show off.
Dear dapsupporter888,
If Tajol is “stupid”, what can you say about Anwar who proclaimed to the world that BN will collapse by Sept 16, 2008?
A hallmark of credibility is using one yardstick for all, not selected few. If UMNO says nothing when its Supreme Council member charged for corruption, why accuse Tajol of masterminding te charge againtst the 2 state assemblymen in Perak. Why cant you say leave it to the law of the land.
If UMNO does not interfere in charge several Ketua Bahagian leader for alleged corruption, why not Nizar has the same courage( if he has one) to state that he will respect due course of law. After all, he won the coveted seat due to due process of law.
As for the duo taking medical leave, well go and ask them. Simply because they took medical leave, does not mean that they were bribed.
The moral of the story is that PR must not preach others about ethics if it refuses to play with the same rule. Stop complaining about assemblymen be bribed if they join BN as PR also enticed ADUN Bota.
And who can forget how Anwar got the coveted DPM post . Money clouded judgement. And as late Tun Ghafar refused to lower himself by involving in corruption, he was ousted. In Sabah, he received only 1 nomination, prompting a Ketua Bahagian in Sabah, while shedding tears, reminding the members that corruption will destroy the nation.
As for nepotism, lo and behold. I admire DAP members for ability to give scathing remark on Uncle Lim but maintains hipocratic face before the Emperor. Oh how Penang DAP Chairman was humiliated by not awarded the post of Ketua Menteri. As everybody knows, whaatever happens in DAP, the Crown Prince got the job, imported from other state. Talk about nepotism.
it is not known that simian primates engage in homosexual activities.
Bonobos and chimpanzees both love a bit of it, if my reading serves me well. I’ve a feeling that a zoologist would take the position that a complete absence of homosexuality in a species is not natural. I tell my wife this whenever she claims homosexuality is “not natural”, as she did at Iceland claiming another “world’s first X” prime minister this week.
I hope that’s helpful.
The query by OrangRojak about “undated resignation letters” holds the key to many strategic questions, flowing from the 1st one : are they effective or not effective and their implications.
Situation A : If resignations of Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi were effective, it implies PR’s loss of 2 state assemblymen does not translate to BN’s gain of 2 assemblymen via crossovers. This is because of operation of Article 48(6) of the Federal constitution disqualifying a resigning MP for 5 years, which means they cannot join BN as MP! This means (arithmetically) PR will still have a majority of 30 to 27 (ie 3) in state assembly, slightly worse off compared to a majority of 32 to 27 (by 5) before the resignations.
Situation B: If resignations were not effective/valid, defections by Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi would still imply PR’s loss of 2 state assemblymen (resulting in remaining 30): however by reason that Article 48(6) of the Federal constitution disqualifying a resigning MP for 5 years does not apply in this case, the crossover will result in BN’s existing 27 assemblymen being added another 2, making total 29 – just 1 short of PR’s 30! With such a razor thin of 1 it means that if another defection (say for example) by DAP’s Hee Yit Foong were to occur, BN will have the majority in state assembly to pass no confidence motion on Nizar and take over MB’s position as well!
The trouble is the resignations are, in my view, likelier to be not effective/valid as in Situation B above delineated, which spells great trouble for PR because this would mean PR’s majority becomes unstable, and the state govt could be overthrown.
Reasons why I say they are not effective are as follows:
Normally an undated signed resignation letter would be effective. Duress is crap! Why would sign something and give to someone else to hold unless you intend that latter custodian to be sole arbiter of when to submit the resignation to the speaker to make it effective? PR assemblymen knew all along why they signed those letters. They are to prevent defections after winning via PR’s ticket. And they freely gave those letters and these letters ought in ordinary circumstances to be normally/contractually binding on them and fully effective BUT for one important excepting fact: ie such letters or any form of agreement preventing defections have been determined by the Federal Court in 2002 to be contrary to Freedom of Association guaranteed by article 10 of the same Constitution and to the extent of the conflict, the lesser letter/agreement will be struck down as void for being inconsistent against the constitution. If resignations were struck down as contrary to Freedom of Association, it means they have not resigned as assemblymen for the 5 year bar of article 48(6) to kick in, and that means they can cross the floor to be BN’s assembly men…..
I hope I am wrong – I stand corrected if I were so – but if I were right in all of the above, it will mean that what I suggested in my earlier posting at 21:02.38 above – that Nizar uses PR majority now to dissolve the state assembly to pave way for fresh state elections through out Perak – will also be correct….. It also means Ngeh Koo Ham’s suggestion that PR led Perak state government would not dissolve the state legislative assembly to seek a new mandate as it was still stable is not correct – and PR statement govt is in dire danger of being overthrown.
Sorry typo error in last sentence – “….and PR STATE govt is in dire danger of being overthrown…”
YB Kit : Ask yourself why Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi [as reported in Malaysiakini Feb 2, 09 4:28pm ] keep on maintaining that they both have NOT stepped down as state representatives (even though the plain facts are that they are defecting at least from PKR)?
My answer is that they are trying to avoid operation of Article 48(6) of the Federal constitution that will bar them from being a state assembly men for 5 years. It is to ensure that as assemblymen they could still cross the floor in the Perak state assembly at the opportune time of another defection to throw a motion of no confidence on Nizar as MB, and take over the state government.
In the aftermath the prerogative to dissolve the state assembly will vest solely with the BN Perak state govt no matter how slim the majority of 1. It will not exercise that prerogative. It will not face Perakians.
PR on the other hand could face Perakians with alacrity & confidence. PR could get a bigger majority of even more than 10 that poaching from the other side will not disrupt!
This is a big advantage – the right/prerogative as majority in Perak state assembly at this moment to call for dissolution of state assembly to face the people in a fresh state election of 59 constituencies that in best circumstances PR could in combination maybe win more than 40???
Instead you guys are worried about campaign finances and prefer to go along with 2 by elections.
You mean if PR is confident about 2 by elections you guys are not confident about 59 of such elections in the state to bet for a wider margin?
Anything can happen before the polls on that 2 by elections: situation B can happen before then – and then what then? :)
YB,
According to Malaysiakini report filed by Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Feb 2, 09 5:25pm, Perak DAP chairperson Ngeh Koo Ham said that “the undated resignation letters signed by Perak PKR’s Jamaluddin Mat Radzi (Behrang) and Mohd Osman Jailu (Changkat Jering) are valid…
“The letters are valid and have been signed by them, unless they now say these are forgeries … but when you sign something, you (should) know what it is all about,” he said.
Ngeh (left) explained that the date of the letter or the absence of a date is not relevant as the law takes into account the signatory’s intention. The resignation of the duo is now a fact, he claimed, because the speaker accepted the letters this morning and has informed the Election Committee of the vacated seats.
Ngeh was dismissive of the claim that the letters were signed under duress, pointing out: “They are not little kids, they are not of feeble mind … you are bound by the contents of anything you sign, unless you are totally ignorant of the contents.”
This is not an issue of dates, duress forgeries of these letters etc.
The issue is whether their effect inevitably invoking the 5 year bar under Article 48(6) of the Federal constitution will infringe the defecting duo’s right to Freedom of Association.
You cannot deny that the intent of such undated letters is to prevent defection after winning under PR’s ticket. They fly straight in the face of Freedom of Association under article 10 (1)(c) which is what the Supreme Court in 1992 decided in Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan & Another v Nordin Salleh & Another).
Ngeh Koo Ham is a lawyer by profession : he ought to know about this case and its implications that would negative the letters of resignation. No point of him talking about dates, duress forgeries, these are not the issues that will negative these letters.
Yip! Jeffery is a braggart and pro MCA.
He thinks he knows everything….quoting this and that…and fire off..judging others….as if he is so dam smart..and one who knows all.
Will he declare..he will vote for change of government?
I doubt.
Yes…I complimented him…for being a professional….but some balls carriers are professional too.
I think Godfather is ready for all his stray bullets…and full of shit comments.
Jeffrey is so keen to persuade YB Kit to get Perak MB to dissolve the State Assembly and go for another state election. However, Perak MB does not practically have the final say in dissolving the State Assembly since the State Constitution requires the consent of Perak Sultan before the State Assembly can be dissolved.
Before the Sultan of Perak agrees to sign the dissolution of the State Assembly, His Highness may consult the Opposition Leader (namely Tajol Rosli) on whether the Opposition will have simple majority to form a state government. During the transition period, Najib can just spend a huge sum of money in order to get a third defector from PR. The risk is definitely high for Perak MB to make a request for dissolution of State Assembly at this turbulent juncture.
Even though the risk is high, the ultimate gain can also be high. However, in order to do a thorough analysis, one may have to take the following three possible outcomes into consideration:
1. High Risk, High Return.
2. High Risk, Low Return.
3. High Risk, High Loss.
Perhaps we may need Professor Lee Wang Yen to contribute his skills in probablistic calculation in order to do a much better analysis on the expected value of each possible outcomes before Perak MB has made a decision on whether to ask for dissolution of the State Assembly.
In response to Onlooker Politics’s comments:
· State Constitution’s requirement of Perak Sultan’s consent is I presume a formality when request made by MB still with majority, just like at Federal level PM commanding majority in parliament could request Agong to dissolve parliament for GE at PM’s timing.
· Consulting Opposition Leader (namely Tajol Rosli)? He’s demoralised (blamed by Puterajaya). According to Utusan Malaysia, Tajol Rosli masih terkejut dan bersedih hingga enggan menemui mana-mana pihak bagi mententeramkan perasaannya….Tajol Rosli kunci pintu dan menangis…”
According to Malaysiakini’s take, Feb 2, 09 2:50pm – (Quote)“With Pakatan’s 32 against BN’s 27, the BN opposition needs at least three defections, and so far they got two. With one seat short, it would not be able to convince the Perak sultan to transfer power without having to dissolve the state assembly and fight another bruising election. The game plan is for Jamaluddin Mat Radzi (Behrang) (photo, left) and Osman Jailu (Changkat Jering) (photo, right) – the two defectors – to quit PKR and declare themselves as Independents. This will allow BN to claim that the two assemblypersons are not party-hoppers, especially after having taken the high moral ground on the issue of defection. More so, when the duos are being seen as tainted politicians – both of whom are facing corruption charges in court. Clearly, the prime minister-in-waiting needs to go to the March Umno general assembly with something in his hands or he would have a hard time getting the party behind him for the tough battle ahead. That ‘gift’ he hopes to bring with him is Perak”. (Unquote)
PR’s current strategy : (Quote) “But Pakatan is seeking to turn the tables on Najib by declaring the two seats belonging to the defectors vacant, and thus force the Election Commission to call by-elections for both constituencies. The by-elections, pending any legal complications arising out of the validity of the two ‘resignation’ letters from the duo, must now be held within 60 days. Whether the letters can hold up to scrutiny as it was signed soon after the March 8 general election, Pakatan has succeeded in forcing the two ‘missing’ politicians to break their five-day silence by making their ‘resignation’ public. Pakatan has edge in snap polls. Should there be indeed by-elections for the two seats, the numbers are stacked against BN. Clearly, the last thing Najib wants is to fight two more by-elections, having tasted bitter defeat in Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu. His only other choice is find another defector. Yet Pakatan is not sitting still for Najib to strike. The state government is also seeking defections from BN in this tit-for-tat battle. And if push comes to shove, Pakatan can always exercise its final option – dissolve the state assembly and call a snap election in Perak. That too would be the last thing Najib wants.”(Unquote) (My sense is that the letters of resignation will run into legal problems and be invalid).
Well maybe someone should, as you say, do thorough analysis, one may have to take the following three possible outcomes into consideration:
1. High Risk, High Return.
2. High Risk, Low Return.
3. High Risk, High Loss.
It won’t be Professor Lee Wang Yen: You’d recall he has been “chased” away by abuses/name calling, and said he won’t be coming back’.
The key lies in what malaysiakini said, that “…if push comes to shove, Pakatan can always exercise its final option – dissolve the state assembly and call a snap election in Perak…”.
This is just an assumption – that PR still has the option. It is questionable. Do the arithmetics: if letters of resignations of Jamaluddin Mat Radzi and Mohd Osman Jailu are quickly declared by court as invalid, and another 1 or 2 additional defections from PR are successfully procured in the meanwhile, will PR not lose that majority in Perak Assembly, and with that happening, where is the option that Nijar/PR is supposed to have to dissolve state assembly if push comes to shove? Here timing is everything.
Economy stimulus will be concentrated on construction……..this is where huge amounts of money will be spent on projects with no/little benefit to the ordinary people in term of utility but significant benefit to a few.
Stop talking nonsense, counselor. If the undated resignations are found by a court to be invalid, then all that PR should do is to call for snap elections. Why bother to wait for another defection to take place when we all know that BN has a bottomless money pit to procure another seat.
Furthermore, if pre-signed resignation letters are invalid, then every PR representative in Bolehland will be subject to monetary temptation, and then all we will have left will be the principled ones which money can’t buy. This scenario isn’t necessarily bad for us.
“….This is just an assumption.” If the letters of resignation are found to be defective is an assumption. If 1 or 2 additional defections from PR are procured is just an assumption. If other BN reps cross over to PR is also an assumption. To assume is to make an ass of u n me.
“· State Constitution’s requirement of Perak Sultan’s consent is I presume a formality when request made by MB still with majority, just like at Federal level PM commanding majority in parliament could request Agong to dissolve parliament for GE at PM’s timing.” (Jeffrey)
Jeffrey’s presumption that “State Constitution’s requirement of Perak Sultan’s consent is a formality” may or may not be true, all depending on the outcome of the interactive forces juggling between the personal integrity of the ruler himself and the political will of the ruler to assert the so-called “Daulat Tuanku” Supremacy.
For instance, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had the intent to replace Abdul Ghani Othman with Khalid Nordin as the Menteri Besar of Johor right before the 2004 General Election. However, due to Johor Sultan’s intervention the lame duck PM had to change his mind and succumb to the will of Johor Sultan. Why should the Sultan change his Menteri Besar when the Menteri Besar was so kind and obedient to approve 10,000 acres virgin jungle lands to the Royal Family as personal property? What can the lame duck PM do to counterveil the Sultan’s adverse decision when there is no constitutional amendment in the State Constitution which allows overrule of Sultan’s refusal to sign legal documents or to sign bill into law by way of second passing with two thirds majority votes in the State Assembly?
I personally do not know Perak Sultan well. However, I do sincerely hope that His Highness can really be fair and impartial when sitting at the throne of highly respectable state ruler.
Why wasn’t Pairin Kitingan allowed by the EC to call for fresh elections when almost all of his state assemblymen jumped ship from PBS to BN?
It is EC chairperson Abdul Aziz that imediately decides on various aspects including the legal issues of the letters of resignation. It is EC that imediately decides whether to allow by elections based on the letters of resignation being valid and taking effect.
The die hard supporters of PR like Godfather think that I am talking nonsense and that if the undated resignations are found by a court to be invalid, then all that PR should do (then) is to call for snap elections, implying that there is alot of time to yet call a snap election.
OK, then, BN, will take the following course:
· No need to wait for court adjudication, EC immediately declares letters of resignation not valid for contravening article 10(1)(c) Federal Constitution on Freedom of Association based on Federal Court authority1992 of Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan & Another v Nordin Salleh & Another), and therefore EC decides that there is no need for the 2 by elections;
· Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, retaining their seats assemblymen but not allegiance to PKR, will immediately declare they are independent, so that there are 30 PKR state assembly councillors (including Bota’s Nasharudin) , 27 BN’s state assembly councillors, independent 2 (Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi) and all BN’s need is 1 more defection from (say) Hee to the independent side, reducing no. of PR state assembly councillors from 30 to 29 .
· BN should then, with 27 members + 3 independents (total 30) – which is 1 more than PR’s 29 state assembly councillors – immediately pass a motion of no confidence on Nizar and PR state Govt for not commanding majority in Perak State Assembly and request the Ruler to instal the BN as state govt with BN nominee as MB since the independent 3 will be crossing over to BN.
Jeffrey:
is the EC the final arbiter of the validity of a document ? This will have to be decided by the courts and even on an expedited basis how long will the courts take to decide based on appeals and counter-appeals ? Months ? furthermore, even if BN goes to the Sultan and declare that it has a majority of one and that it should be allowed to form the next state government, the Sultan can still disagree and instead declare that fresh elections are needed. Irrespective of whether the Sultan has this right, do you think BN will go against the Sultan’s wishes ?
Yes, we have time, and BN is going to blink on this one.
Onlooker Politics, it is “formality’ in sense that ours is a constitutional monarchy based on numbers, whether Parliament or State Assembly, that will determine outcome. The vote of confidence I was talking about in precedent post – and change of MB following successful majority vote of no confidence – is by convention that is normally adhered.
Having said that, I agree that if anything were to save the day for PR, it will be as what you said about “interactive forces juggling between the personal integrity of the ruler himself and the political will of the ruler to assert the so-called “Daulat Tuanku” Supremacy.”
It depends on whether the HRH Ruler will allow, if Nizar/PR desperately asks for an immediate snap Perak state election of 59 constitutencies once EC decides (this evening, I think) that Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi’s letters of resignation are invalid/unlawful/unconstitutional, thus paving the way for BN to immediately take over the government in manner as described in my above posting at 11: 08.08 above.
“BN should then, with 27 members + 3 independents (total 30) – which is 1 more than PR’s 29 state assembly councillors – immediately pass a motion of no confidence on Nizar and PR state Govt for not commanding majority in Perak State Assembly” (Jeffrey)
Jeffrey has purportedly ignored the fact that table of a motion in the State Assembly will require the approval by the Assembly Speaker, who is now being chaired by a member of PR. There is no such thing as “immediately pass a motion of no confidence” unless it is done in accordance with the due process of assembly proceedings in the State Assembly. And the due process usually takes time to accomplish by the Malaysian ethical code.
Godfather seems to have strong confidence in Perak Sultan on His Highness’s wish to have a snap election when BN is going to take control of a simple majority in the State Assembly. Is Godfather having a good rapport with His Highness? When is Godfather going to get a Datoship from Perak Sultan?
Godfather, your question “is the EC the final arbiter of the validity of a document ?” yes courts are final arbiters, however that will take months and maybe longer, but meanwhile EC has to do its job, make a decsion, and that includes deciding “no” to any by-elections because the letters of resignation are invalid, and if challenged as to that decision, EC can safely say it relies on established law laid down in 1992 Apex court decision and not arbitrarily.
Onlooker Politics, you raised the interesting point about the Assembly Speaker (posting 11: 38.44) : tell me, what do think he could do in a BN (majority) 30 against 29 (PR) situtaion when former push for motion of no confidence? Can Speaker deny the motion or delay it and what’s the consequences of such actions?
Onlooker Politics, how long is your idea of “due process of assembly proceedings in the State Assembly. And the due process usually takes time to accomplish” that you talk about when there is already a BN (majority) 30 against 29 (PR) ? Wouldn’t that time (I don’t know how long) provide more poaching of defections and more money being poured in to BN’s favour???
Even Abdullah Ahamd Badawi had to serve notice to the Speaker of Parliament when he wished to table a motion of reprimanding Israel on its aggression towards Gaza territorities. Does Jeffrey really think that Najib can make wonder in the Assembly proceedings of the Perak State Assembly? Is Najib really above the law?
Onlooker Politics, even in Parliament, let alone Perak state Assembly they have standing orders on notice for Emergency Motion… “Is Najib really above the law?” – you tell me! :)
Jeffrey, what you need to do now for goodness’ sake is just to stop spreading the news that BN is going to procure more state seats in Perak by paying money. If the present state assemblymen of PR can be bought over so easily with material benefit, then I believe the Perak Electorates will not be hard up on the PR state government anymore.
Nevertheless, I still have faith in other State Assemblymen of PR who want to stick to the principle of untouchable by material offerings. It is logically wrong for someone to think that money can buy everything in this world, including Jeffrey’s soul!
Take note that what we are arguing here is about (1) PR’s option of snap state election as last recourse versus (2) BN’s motion of no confidence (with all “due process of assembly proceedings in the State Assembly” and emergency motion, short notice being factored in) – which beats the other faster because once (2) occurs faster than (1) there may not be any more snap state election for the time being (as BN forming state govt albeit by slim majority of 1 or 2 would not want to face Perakians voters now until it consolidates position). Time is thereof of the greatest significance. PR has only that small window of opportunity of time to decide once – and if – EC decides against it by ruling leters of resignation invalid, which will pave the way for (2) to proceed. That’s the broad picture.
“Is Godfather having a good rapport with His Highness? When is Godfather going to get a Datoship from Perak Sultan?” Onlooker Politics
No way I can accept a Datoship if Kit and the Chief Minister of Penang are not even Dato’s. These are the people who have struggled for many years for the rakyat, and that tells you what Datoships are really worth.
“For goodness’ sake” Onlooker Politics, it may be “logically wrong for someone to think that money can buy everything in this world” and I admirel your faith in other State Assemblymen of PR but I wonder why you think that if Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi could go ‘missing’, that there won’t be anymore amongst those remaining who will not do the houdini? Aren’t Mohd Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi from PKR/PR in first place – why draw a line at them???
From 2006 to 1st half of 2008, CIMB went on shopping spree of buying banking and other assets.
At that time, everything were very expensive, most of the assets prices were very high, but CIMB bought / acquired it……
Now, most of the assets value have depreciated by more than 40%, some of the value lost more than 60%……
Based on these facts, very soon, we need to bail out CIMB again….
Wonder how much of the RM7 Billion will be reserved to bail out CIMB?
In the aftermath of the March 8 elections, we all agreed that the anti-BN sentiment was so strong that even if PR had put up monkeys in many constituencies, these monkeys would still win. I remember in a number of constituencies in Perak and Johor where even the DAP had to “beg” certain people to contest under their banner.
Now it is clear that some monkeys have indeed gotten through as people’s representatives. PR can’t compete against the promise of money. RM 50 million will buy many crossovers, and we all know that the MACC is simply going to turn a blind eye to clear cases of monetary inducement.
If the pre-signed letters are deemed to be invalid – through the court process as many of us don’t have much faith in the EC – then I would suggest that the ruling state governments in Selangor and Perak (and perhaps even Kedah) immediately declare snap elections and this time around be more selective in the choice of candidates.
I simply love by-elections because the rakyat gains from new schools, new temples, new suraus, newly paved roads, sewing machines, angpows, green packets, whatever. This is the economic stimulus that we need. It’s our money anyway, and what better way than to force the BN to spend it on our people.
Why should a pre-signed letter of resignation be unlawful? I believe a political party is like a club, you become a member based on its rules and regulations; if pre-signed resignation is a requirement then you have accepted it as conditional to become a member and have the ‘club’ putting up all the financial backing to put you on the platform.
Maybe we should have a law to prevent party hopping. this will also reduce ‘corruption’ in politics!
Godfather, you are right, it is not only those goodies you mentioned; by having a snao election for Perak, the result would be an EXCELLENT indicator for the whole nation to see which direction we are heading! BN or PR ?
If BN can regain Perak, maybe they have a little more time to change, otherwise it is an indicator for the nation that we do need a new Gomen.
The current scenario is bad for the country because we have spent too much time speculating and bickering; no time to plan how to overcome the current adverse economic situation.
As I said in posting 11: 08.08 above Malaysiakini’s breaking news (Feb 3, 09 1:01pm) is that Election Commission has (predictably) just announced that by-elections were not necessary for the state seats of Changkat Jering and Behrang as there were doubts on the resignation letters submitted by the representatives…..Ok, BN can proceed next to stage 2.
Breaking News: Malaysia has been renamed Umnosia Darul NEP
Just read Malaysiakini. There’s not going to be any by election in Perak.
STUPID. I am sure Najis is behind this. If there is another by election, UMNO is confident of losing BIG. So to save face, they’d rather play dirty… Get the 2 PKR fella to be Independents before paying them off to enter UMNO. So with that, PR will fall.
Najis and gang really have no BALLZ.
Of course UMNO need to borrow rm7b from the EPF to bail themselves out of their political crisis.
umno on the way out?
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Fitch Ratings lowered Malaysia’s local currency rating outlook to negative from stable, blaming its high fiscal deficit and public debt and on expectations its fiscal position would worsen this year and next.
Fitch said economic growth would decelerate to 1.5 percent in 2009 from an expected 5.5 percent in 2008.
It is totally disgusting for BN to give tax payers monies to only BN
assemblymen. It is corruption. I believe the best solution for Perak, is to have a fresh mandate.
Why would Najib want to be tested on BN’s popularity as he is less than 2 months away from being confirmed as the next PM ? His objective is to maintain the status quo until after the UMNO general assembly. we should go for snap elections NOW.
“Why would Najib want to be tested on BN’s popularity as he is less than 2 months away from being confirmed as the next PM ?” (Godfather)
Najib’s objective is NOT to maintain the status quo. He wants a breakthrough in his personal performance before Umno party election in March 2009 because he has been underperforming as the designated PM for the past few months.
Najib’s faction is facing a tough rivalry with Muhyiddin Yassin’s faction in the coming soon party election. It is said by many in Umno that Najib has played out Muhyiddin Yassin after getting AAB to promise the step down from the premiership in March 2009. The Deputy President Candidate who has quietly received the blessing from Najib now is a puppet of Rahim Thamby Chik, Mohd Ali Rustam (present CM of Melaka). Since Najib’s present political image has been tarnished by his defeat twice in the by-elections, he will surely need to struggle hard in order to improve his report card before the date of the Party General Assembly. His political secretary also finds it very difficult to get point for writing something good about Najib if he cannot perform in Perak within one month’s period.
Therefore, there is no good reason for Najib to maintain the status quo until the Umno General Assembly. PR leaders must get ready to ride a roller coaster for month to come.
///such letters or any form of agreement preventing defections have been determined by the Federal Court in 2002 to be contrary to Freedom of Association guaranteed by article 10 of the same Constitution and to the extent of the conflict, the lesser letter/agreement will be struck down as void for being inconsistent against the constitution.///– Jeffrey
The Federal Court decision is binding in law but not necessary binding in logic. The letter of resignation simply says that the person is no longer a member of state assembly or parliament, but it did not say that the person is not allowed to defect to another political party, or to be independent of any party. Sure, when the resignation letter becomes effective the value of the person who affixed his signature to the letter would be reduced to the party soliciting hopping. But that does not mean that the defector has lost his right to do so; his right of free association is intact, though he could be quite valueless without the elected post. Article 10 can guarantee a person’s right to defection, but it does not facilitate the defection made possible by having won a seat to the state assembly or parliament.
The Election Commission considered the two letter of resignation doubtful, and decided that there would not be by-elections in Perak. It is the duty of the EC is to organize free and fair election. The EC would have to act at the request of the government; and the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly represents the state government in matters concerning by-election. The EC cannot decide whether or not the vacancies exist in Perak State Assembly since the authority on the issue is the speaker. The EC has taken upon itself to decide on matter beyond its authority. Is it because it acts in the interest of BN, and has no fear to err?
The is no other way out to save Malaysia, please use your right as voter to vote BN out on 13th GE, only then we have a fair share of our country wealth.
Godfather Says:
Yesterday at 12: 29.01
I simply love by-elections because the rakyat gains from new schools, new temples, new suraus, newly paved roads, sewing machines, angpows, green packets…”
A temple here, a surau there and a new road or bridge leading perhaps to nowhere, sewing machines to sew your rags you called your clothes and an angpow guaranteed to last one weekend?
Also elections promises and pledges are one thing and carrying out those promises are another.
Nothing more than horse trading. Shameful.
Pity the 2 PKR turncoats. Had Altantuyaa been given a choice between being C4ed or joining umno, she would had most certainly chosen the latter.