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Egypt: The 12 million losers!

By Ali Ibrahim
Al Arabiya News
27 June 2012

Simply following the comments of activists and observers on social networking websites during the press conference held by the head of Egypt’s electoral commission, Farouk Sultan, who was forced by law to issue a lengthy legal preamble before the election result was announced, was fun in itself. These activists, in their nervous state, posted various comments claiming that Sultan’s narrative or use of certain words meant that Shafiq would be declared the winner, only to return later to post other comments claiming that the indications now suggested that Mursi would be declared victorious! Some comments accused the head of the electoral commission of being sadistic, because he did not immediately announce the election result but instead left everyone on the edge of their seats as he reviewed the work of the electoral commission and the difficult conditions it operated under.

Despite a flood of conspiracy theories, claims of voter fraud, and talk about secret understandings being reached behind closed doors, no one was sure of the name of the winning candidate until Farouk Sultan announced that Mohammed Mursi had won ahead of Ahmed Shafiq. Hence a new chapter in post-25 January Egypt has begun, and the challenges of this stage are no less difficult than the previous transitional period, which lasted for around 16 months and was full of turmoil.

There was a winner and a loser, each with a large support base who voted for them, and neither can cancel the other out. The end result was decided by a difference of less than 3 percent, or about 900 thousand votes out of a total of roughly 26 million according to the commission’s figures, including more than 800 thousand invalid votes. In the end, everyone must accept the outcome of the ballot box even if the difference is so small. Continue reading “Egypt: The 12 million losers!”

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Scandalous! Outrageous! Najib administration not serious about bringing Teoh’s killers to justice when MACC could take three times longer than TBH RCI to conduct internal probe into RCI findings on criminal transgressions of MACC officers

It is downright scandalous and outrageous – the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) taking three times longer than the Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to conduct its internal probe into the RCI findings on the criminal transgressions of MACC officers resulting in Teoh’s death at MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

And what is the outcome of such MACC internal probe? To decide on the disciplinary action to be taken against the three MACC officers whose “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation” had “driven” Teoh “to commit suicide”!

The MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed said today that the MACC would first make its recommendations to its complaints committee before meting out appropriate disciplinary action against the trio.

The message is very simple and crystal clear – the Najib administration and the MACC are just not serious in wanting to bring Teoh’s killers to justice! Continue reading “Scandalous! Outrageous! Najib administration not serious about bringing Teoh’s killers to justice when MACC could take three times longer than TBH RCI to conduct internal probe into RCI findings on criminal transgressions of MACC officers”