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Is Zahid referring to Muhyiddin as the UMNO leader plotting to topple the Najib government?

I am intrigued by the latest news reports online quoting the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi as saying that an Umno leader is leading an attempt to topple the Najib government “using the backdoor”.

Citing “trusted sources”, Zahid said there is an attempt to obtain statutory declarations (SD) of opposition and Barisan Nasional MPs to claim that they have the voice of the majority.

Is Zahid referring to former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who though sacked at DPM is still the UMNO Deputy President or some other UMNO leader?

Be that as it may, “toppling” Najib as Prime Minister is no crime and cannot fall under the ambit of Section 124B of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” as this is part and parcel of parliamentary democracy, unless the proposed “toppling” of the Prime Minister and the government is by “violent and unconstitutional” means. Continue reading “Is Zahid referring to Muhyiddin as the UMNO leader plotting to topple the Najib government?”

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72 hours to Najib and Cabinet to prove that they are sincere in political funding proposals

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday proposed a national consultative committee of political parties, NGOS, civil societies and youths to formulate guidelines on political funding with the aim of ensuring that funds are sourced with integrity.

The Prime Minister could not have made such a proposal in worse circumstances, for though the concept that funds for political parties are sourced with integrity and in a transparent manner is right, proper and deserves support, Najib’s timing of such a proposal could only ensure its rejection or reception with great skepticism.

I fully support the idea that funding for political parties and elections should be transparent with regard to its source and expenditure, but this is clearly secondary for Najib as the largest concern about him is his continued stonewalling from giving a full and satisfactory accounting of the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 before the 13th General Election remains – and the main question for Malaysians and the world remains: where the RM2.6 billion came from and where they have gone to.

It is a blot on Najib’s record of transparency and integrity that for over a month he could not say a simple “yes” or “no” as to whether RM2.6 billion was deposited into his personal bank accounts, and where the money came from and where they have gone to. The question uppermost in everybody’s mind is what had Najib got to hide? Continue reading “72 hours to Najib and Cabinet to prove that they are sincere in political funding proposals”

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Call on new AG and IGP to declare whether they will halt the current spate of police arrests and investigations under Section 124B of Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” as there is not a single case which contains the required element of being “by violent or unconstitutional” means

I call on the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali and the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to declare whether they will halt the current spate of police arrests and investigations under Section 124B of Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” as there is not a single case which contains the required element of being by “violent and unconstitutional” means.

What we are seeing in the past few weeks when Section 124B of the Penal Code has suddenly become a new monstrous weapon by the Najib government to arrest, intimidate and cow Malaysians from standing up for their democratic and constitutional rights is nothing less than a gross abuse of power and perversion of Parliament’s intention for the enactment of Section 124B of the Penal Code in 2012.

Parliament was given the assurance by the Najib Executive that Section 124B of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” which can send a person to jail for a maximum of 20 years was intended only for those who carried out “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” by “violent and unconstitutional means”.

When the tthen de facto Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was pressed in Parliament in 2012 why Section 124B had not spelt out clearly that it only referred to “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” by “violent and unconstitutional means”, Nazri answered that this was understood and even referred to Oxford Dictionary that “activities detrimental to Parliamentary Democracy” means “by violent and unconstitutional means”. Continue reading “Call on new AG and IGP to declare whether they will halt the current spate of police arrests and investigations under Section 124B of Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” as there is not a single case which contains the required element of being “by violent or unconstitutional” means”