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Umno, PAS perlu gabung jadi satu parti

Amin Iskandar
The Malaysian Insider
20 December 2015

Peristiwa Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang berada di atas satu pentas di Kuala Lumpur minggu ini menjawab pelbagai persoalan yang sebelum ini tidak begitu jelas.

Dalam hal kerjasama di antara 2 parti Melayu itu, Umno kelihatan lebih jujur berbanding PAS.

Ketika Hadi dan beberapa pemimpin lain masih berdolak-dalik tentang kerjasama di antara 2 parti itu, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed mendedahkan sudah 2 tahun Umno dan PAS bekerjasama. Continue reading “Umno, PAS perlu gabung jadi satu parti”

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Umno-PAS alliance a ‘reinvention’ to remain relevant

P Ramasamy
Malaysiakini
20th December 2015

COMMENT Is it a major surprise to Malaysians that Umno and PAS are moving closer and closer for a final embrace? Or are Malaysians shocked beyond belief that those once-formidable foes have sunk their deep-seated differences for a new political alignment?

Whether Malaysians are surprised or shocked, the reality of this new alliance seems to be looming in the horizon. Whether such a relationship will be cemented in the form of admission of PAS into BN or a formation of a different sort of arrangement, remains to be seen.

However, most political analysts seem to think that a political relationship is in the offing.

What are the benefits for Umno if this alignment takes shape? Continue reading “Umno-PAS alliance a ‘reinvention’ to remain relevant”

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When democracy and human rights activists are regarded as bigger threats than ISIS terrorists as envisaged by the monstrous NSC Bill, Malaysia is replacing Myanmar as the rogue nation in ASEAN

The monstrous National Security Council (NSC) Bill made history of sorts when it spearheaded a European Parliament motion condemning human rights violations in Malaysia even before it became law – as it has still to be passed by the Dewan Negara expected on Tuesday, given the Royal Assent and gazetted before it joins the statute list for the most pernicious and infamously bad laws in Malaysia.

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution deploring the slew of human rights violations in the country and called for the withdrawal of the NSC
Bill which were rushed through the Dewan Rakyat on the last day of Parliament on Dec. 3 in a late-night sitting without adequate prior notice or consultation with MPs and the civil society.

Even the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) was kept out in the cold and was completely in the dark about the NSC Bill although Suhakam was tasked by Parliament with the statutory duties of promoting and protecting human rights.

Why have a Suhakam when it was not consulted and even did not know that such a monstrous and pernicious NSC bill was in the works – making a total mockery of human rights, democracy and the supremacy of the Constitution as professed by the Najib government? Continue reading “When democracy and human rights activists are regarded as bigger threats than ISIS terrorists as envisaged by the monstrous NSC Bill, Malaysia is replacing Myanmar as the rogue nation in ASEAN”

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Why it is good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders and to reform to be politically relevant again as experienced by Indian National Congress, Taiwan Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal Democratic parties

Some 10 days before the recent UMNO General Assembly, the Deputy UMNO President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in his speech to 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh that Malay support for UMNO had dwindled to 30 per cent when Malay support for UMNO over the years had always been above 50 per cent.

He warned that unless this warning signal to UMNO, in particular the unhappiness of the people over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin mega scandals of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election and the RM55 billion 1MDB debts, is faced by the UMNO leadership, UMNO may be defeated in the 14th General Election in two years’ time.

This theme was taken up by the Perak Mufti, Harussani Zakarai who warned at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for al-Azhar University alumni in Kuala Lumpur that Malays will lose their political power in about two years’ time if their leaders continue to fight against one another.

In an apparent reference to the 14th general election, Harussani called for the defence of Malay power in the country, saying the maintenance of that power would protect the position of Islam.

He said: “Malay leadership in this country must be defended because that’s where the strength of Islam lies.

“If the Malays are defeated, then Islam will too.”

There are two dangerous fallacies here. Continue reading “Why it is good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders and to reform to be politically relevant again as experienced by Indian National Congress, Taiwan Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal Democratic parties”

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Is Indonesia winning its fight against Islamic extremism?

By Mike Thomson
BBC News, Jakarta
19 December 2015

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but are its local Islamic traditions in danger of being overtaken by fundamentalism?

As I thread my way through crowds of worshippers at central Jakarta’s grand Istiqlal Mosque, traditionally dressed religious students grab my arms and pull me towards them.

“Take your photo with me!” shouts one. “No, first with me!” shouts another. Several small cameras appear as I am propelled to the centre of their smiling, boisterous group. All raise their thumbs in the air as the cameras start clicking.

I have visited many mosques around the world and I cannot remember ever getting such a warm and friendly reception. Though when I relate this experience to Yenny Wahid, founder of a Jakarta-based research centre on religion and daughter of the late Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, she is not surprised.

This, she says, is an example of a particularly Indonesian approach to Islam, known as Archipelago Islam.

“It really puts an emphasis on moderation, on tolerance, on protecting minority rights and basically has a big emphasis on a life of harmony,” she says. “So, it’s not strange when you see a woman in a headscarf walking hand in hand with a nun here.” Continue reading “Is Indonesia winning its fight against Islamic extremism?”

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An Umno-PAS coalition and its impact on all of us

— Liew Ching Tong
The Malay Mail Online
December 19, 2015

DECEMBER 19 — A coalition between Umno and PAS is very likely to take shape following Prime Minister Najib Razak’s speech at Umno General Assembly recently, as well as Najib and Hadi Awang’s joint appearance in pink Baju Melayu at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for Al-Azhar Graduates yesterday.

The Umno-PAS merger is part of a series of “once-in-a-generation” political earthquakes, aftershocks and realignments in 2015 and beyond.

On the one hand, in the aftermath of clean sweep of the conservative faction at the PAS Muktamar elections on 6 June, the progressives formed Parti Amanah Negara on 16 September. Pakatan Rakyat ceased to exist and a new coalition Pakatan Harapan was formed on 22 September.

Before the actual split, internal debate within PAS was focused on two issues: Continue reading “An Umno-PAS coalition and its impact on all of us”

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Singer-actress Soo Wincci says demanding Najib’s resignation a ‘responsibility’

by Nabihah Hamid
The Malaysian Insider
20 December 2015

Malaysian singer-actress Soo Wincci recently made headlines when sponsors pulled out of her first solo concert in the country, after she made a video demanding Datuk Seri Najib Razak resign as prime minister.

But insisting that the show must go on, the former beauty queen bankrolled the October 31 concert herself and managed to attract a packed stadium that included opposition supporters, politicians and celebrated local singer Siti Nurhaliza.

Looking back on the entire saga nearly two months later, the winner of the Miss World Malaysia 2008 said she had no regrets about releasing her outspoken video, made at the same time as the Bersih 4 rally in late August, despite the troubles it brought her. Continue reading “Singer-actress Soo Wincci says demanding Najib’s resignation a ‘responsibility’”

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Najib and Hadi have reached rare unanimity that Najib does not have to answer the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” but 30 million Malaysians, including three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, want Najib to give immediate answer without any more delay

This is the fourth of my five-whistlestop visit to Perak today as part of the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign.

I started in Kopisan in Gopeng, went to Kampar, and now coming from Bidor, ending up in Hutan Melintang after this visit.

Everywhere I went, since the first day of this nation-wide campaign after my six-month suspension from Parliament for wanting the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give full and satisfactory accounting for his twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal – I found the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” close to the hearts and minds of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

They are also close to the hearts and minds of the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, although their respective leaders, Najib and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, are in advanced “courtship” based on the understanding that these twin mega scandals should be banished from the public domain in Malaysian politics. Continue reading “Najib and Hadi have reached rare unanimity that Najib does not have to answer the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” but 30 million Malaysians, including three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, want Najib to give immediate answer without any more delay”

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May the farce be with you

Mariam Mokhtar | December 20, 2015
Free Malaysia Today

Why the Umno general assembly failed to be a bore buster.

Several thousand Umno-Baru fans rolled-out the red carpet for the premiere of the “The Farce Awakens,” which was held at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) on December 11.

Four days later, in Los Angeles, Star Wars fans queued for days for the premiere of the much awaited Disney blockbuster, “The Force Awakens.” Critics praised it as the best Star Wars film ever made.

To compensate for the long queues, the Star Wars producers should have taken the lead from Umno-Baru leaders, who bussed in thousands of its supporters and decked them in shades of red. The elite among them were dropped off in the latest Porsches, Maybachs, Hummers, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, making it look as though all the stars of Star Wars had driven to the PWTC.

Whilst the Star Wars films are classic tales of the fight between Good and Evil, and of heroes, heroines, loyal troops, action, drama and romance, the Malaysian “The Farce Awakens” is a repeat of the same old drivel perpetuated by Umno-Baru since its formation in 1988. Continue reading “May the farce be with you”