Day: December 7, 2012

Perhimpunan Agung UMNO ke-66 selama lima hari, yang mana pengkritik meggambarkannya sebagai “Lima hari pesta liar bingit dan berang” berakhir dengan kepimpinan UMNO merasa yakin bahawa UMNO/BN akan mencapai “kemenangan besar pilihan raya” – memenangi semula dua pertiga majoriti di Parlimen juga negeri-negeri Pakatan seperti Kelantan, Pulau Pinang, Selangor dan Kedah pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 dan mempertahankan kuasa yang tidak sah dan tidak mengikut perlembahaan di Perak.

Bagaimanapun, ucapan kempimpinan UMNO selepas Perhimpunan Agung UMNO, terutamanya “tok dalang” UMNO, Tun Dr Mahathir tidak menampakkan keyakinan itu.

Sungguhpun begitu, pertembungan merebut Putrajaya pada PRU13 akan menjadi sangat sengit dan sesiapa yang memenangi majoriti empat juta pengundi “atas pagar” akan mendapat kelebihan.

Pakatan Rakyat sepatutnya menumpukan pada memenangi empat juta pengundi “atas pagar” sekiranya mahu berjaya dalam pertembungan menawan Putrajaya pada PRU13.

Untuk PRU13, daftar pemilih telah meningkat lebih daripada 13 juta pengundi. Terdapat lebih kurang 3 juta pengundi baru di dalam daftar pemilih, 60% adalah di bawah usia 30 tahun. 25% daripada daftar pemilih pilihan raya umum akan datang terdiri daripada pengundi baru.
Continue reading “PR mesti menumpukan untuk memenangi lebih empat juta undi “atas pagar” sekiranya mahu berjaya dalam pertembungan menawan Putrajaya pada PRU13”

The five-day 66th UMNO General Assembly, which a critic has described as “A five-day orgy of sound and fury”, ended with the UMNO leaders breathing confidence that UMNO/BN are headed to “a resounding electoral victory” – winning back the two-thirds majority in Parliament as well as state power in the Pakatan states of Kelantan, Penang, Selangor and Kedah in the 13 General Election and retaining illegal and unconstitutional power in Perak.

However, the speeches of UMNO leaders after the UMNO General Assembly, particularly the UMNO “eminence grise”, Tun Dr. Mahathir do not bear out this confidence.

Be that as it may, the battle for Putrajaya in the 13GE is going to be a very close one and whoever wins the majority of the four million “middle ground” voters will have the upper hand.

Pakatan Rakyat should focus on winning the over four million “middle ground” voters if we are to succeed in the battle for Putrajaya in 13GE.

For the 13GE, the electorate has increased to slightly more than 13 million voters. There are approximately 3 million new voters in the electorate, 60% of whom are under the age of 30. New voters will comprise 25% of the electorate in the next general election.
Continue reading “PR must focus on winning over the four million “middle ground” votes if we are to succeed in the battle to Putrajaya in 13GE”

Di dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah Transparency International 2012 yang baru diterbitkan, kedudukan CPI Malaysia telah meningkat daripada tempat ke-60 daripada 183 negara pada 2011 kepada tempat ke-54 daripada 176 negara pada 2012.

Sementara Malaysia mungkin boleh berasa sedikit selesa dengan penurunan pada kedudukan Malaysia di dalam kedudukan CPI, haruslah diketahui bahawa kedudukan ke-54 masih teruk berbanding kedudukan Malaysia di tempat ke-43 daripada 179 negara pada tahun 2007 dan jauh lebih teruk daripada kedudukan ke-33 daripada 102 negara pada 2002 (Lihat jadual 1 di bawah).

Jadual 1: Kedudukan CPI Malaysia, mata dan jumlah negara di dalam sampel, 2001 hingga 2012

Tahun	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Kedudukan	36	33	37	39	39	44	43	47	56	56	60	54
Mata	5	4.9	5.2	5	5.1	5	5.1	5.1	4.5	4.4	4.3	49
Jumlah Negara	91	102	133	145	158	163	179	180	180	178	183	176

Malah, tidak seharusnya kita berasa sangat selesa dengan hakikat bahawa peningkatan Malaysia adalah kerana kita berjaya mengatasi kerajaan yang ‘terkenal’ dan ‘bersih’ seperti Jordan, Namibia, Oman, Kuwait dan Arab Saudi.
Continue reading “Kedudukan CPI Malaysia meningkat daripada tempat ke-60 daripada 183 negara pada 2011 kepada 54 daripada 176 negara pada 2012 tetapi tiga teras utama NKRA Membanteras Rasuah masih mempunyai banyak kelemahan”

Dalam perjalanan ke Yong Peng dari Kuala Lumpur tadi, saya terbaca satu berita bahawa Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dan Jabatan Peguam Negara akan mengadakan kursus pencegahan rasuah kepada ahli-ahli parlimen tahun depan.

Pengarah Pemandu, D Ravindran yang bertanggungjawab terhadap bahagian anti-rasuah bagi Bidang Keberhasilan Utama Negara (NKRA), berkata:

“Pelan Transformasi Kerajaan 2.0 (GTP 2.0) sebenarnya mempunyai komitmen oleh Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamad dan AG (Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail), di mana kedua-duanya akan mengadakan kursus untuk penggubal undang-undang kita.”

“Jadi, untuk pertamakalinya, kita akan mendidik ahli parlimen kita mengenai apa yang boleh diambil atau apa yang tidak boleh diambil,”

Bercakap di luar pelancaran Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2012, Ravindran mengatakan kursus tersebut akan turut memberikan maklumat tentang apa yang menjadikan sesuatu itu rasuah, dan tatakelakuan serta amalan terbaik untuk mengelakkannya.
Continue reading “Keutamaan yang sangat mendesak bagi SPRM dan Jabatan Peguam Negara untuk menjalankan kursus berkenaan rasuah buat Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Menteri Kabinet, Menteri Besar dan Ketua Menteri terutamanya di Sarawak dan Sabah serta pegawai tinggi kerajaan termasuk Peguam Negara sendiri sekiranya Malaysia benar-benar serius membanteras “rasuah besar””

Tiada apa untuk diraikan tetapi banyak sebab untuk dikesalkan terhadap Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2012 yang meletakkan kedudukan Malaysia di tempat ke-54 berbanding tempat ke-60 negara paling kurang rasuah tahun lepas

Jumlah negara yang dinilai dalam CPI TI 2012 tekah dikurangkan daripada 183 negara tahun lepas kepada 176 negara tahun ini dan TI telah menggunakan metodologi baru, TI juga menyatakan yang mata CPI 2012 tidak boleh dibandingkan dengan mata pada tahun 2011 atau mana-mana penilaian sebelumnya. Perbandingan antara tahun hanya boleh dilakukan bermula 2012 sebagai asas untuk tahun-tahun berikutnya.

Mengikut metodologi baru, mata CPI adalah pada skala 0-100 dengan 0=tanggapan rasuah tahap tertinggi dan 100=tanggapan rasuah tahap terendah berbanding mata 0 hingga 10 pada mata CPI sebelum ini.

Sungguhpun mata CPI TI 2012 Malaysia adalah 49 daripada 100 tidak boleh dibandingkan dengan mata CPI TI sepanjang 17 tahun lalu daripada 1995 hingga 2011, satu hakikat yang tidak dapat dielakkan adalah Malaysia telah tewas dalam usaha membanteras rasuah sepanjang dekad-dekad sebelumnya, yang melihat kedudukan CPI TI Malaysia jatuh ke kedudukan terendah tempat ke-60 tahun lepas berbanding tempat ke-23 pada 1995, dan mata CPI menjunam ke 4.3 tahun lepas berbanding 5.32 pada tahun 1996.
Continue reading “Tiada apa untuk diraikan tetapi banyak sebab untuk dikesalkan terhadap Indeks Persepsi Rasuah Transparency International 2012 yang meletakkan kedudukan Malaysia di tempat ke-54 berbanding tempat ke-60 negara paling kurang rasuah tahun lepas”

By LIZ GOOCH
New York Times
December 3, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR — Bathed in a sea of the party’s signature red, the headquarters of the United Malays National Organization swarmed with thousands of party faithful last week, eager to hear from their leader as the clock ticked toward Malaysia’s next election.

UMNO, the largest party in the National Front coalition, which has governed Malaysia for more than half a century, is preparing to contest what many analysts predict is likely to be its toughest election yet.

Vowing that the government would fight for every vote, Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia and president of the party, said Thursday that it would be “no ordinary election.”

“It will be the defining point for the destiny of the people and country,” he said during a spirited speech to flag-waving party members at the UMNO General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

With the wounds inflicted by the opposition during the last elections still fresh in the minds of party members, the next election, which must be held by June, will mark the first time Mr. Najib will seek a mandate from voters.

Observers say he will confront an influx of unpredictable young voters and a stronger opposition, setting the stage for a tight race. Continue reading “For Malaysia’s Governing Party,’ Defining Point’ Is Near”

Stanley Koh | December 6, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Nothing substantive came out of the recent Umno assembly.

COMMENT

Many followers of the news must be relieved now that the silliest season of the year is over.

Umno delegates spent five days at their annual meeting straining their throats with meaningless rhetoric, noisy battle cries and hilarious claims about their party’s importance in the life of the nation.

They even risked blasphemy. An unwritten resolution of the meeting is that the morally challenged party is God’s own. Umno’s founding fathers must have turned in their graves.

Some of us might have excused the criminal waste of time, newsprint and airwave if only a fraction of the delegates had made some intelligent observations about the current state of Malaysian democracy or questioned how far Umno had gone in president Najib Tun Razak’s transformation programme.

But this is what we have come to expect from Umno since it became Umno Baru in 1988. And it has only gotten worse with time.

Can Umno continue to survive in the rapidly changing Malaysian political landscape, where even schoolchildren can see through the hollowness of its rhetoric? Can this self-proclaimed protector of the Malay race and religion withstand the demands of a generation awakening to the call for justice, human rights and the rule of law? Continue reading “A 5-day orgy of sound and fury”

by Koon Yew Yin
7th December 2012

The biggest losers will be the Malays

As the countdown to the elections begins to take place in earnest, we are getting more and more calls from desperate and irresponsible politicians drawing attention to the possibility of a repetition of the infamous May 13 violence if the election results should go against the expectations of various political parties and interests.

The fact that these calls are directed towards the Bumiputra component of our population, are expressed in the national language, and are widely carried in the Malay mass media and internet world makes me suspicious of the intentions of these politicians who claim that they are simply doing Malaysians a favour by warning of the backlash should the election outcome not bring about a continuation of the present power structure.

To my mind, these politicians are not only applying crude pressure on the Malay electorate to vote for them but they are also blatantly revealing their trump card – that violence, chaos and political instability will automatically erupt in the event that the opposition parties win the elections.

This blackmailing of our electorate as well as incitement of disruptive and hooligan elements in our society is totally unacceptable. Various groups such as academicians and individual politicians from the opposition have spoken up against such fear mongering in the recent past. However, not enough has been done by members of the business community and other professional organizations to speak out against these warnings and threats although they will be the main losers should another May 13 episode takes place.

Much more needs to be done by key stakeholders to condemn the individuals and organizations making these threats as the risk of them becoming self-fulfilling prophesies increases by the day. Continue reading “Discourage rather than encourage a repetition of May 13”