Month: December 2015

The Senate should veto the National Security Council Bill which was rammed through the Dewan Rakyat in indecent haste in a late-night sitting last night, which was sprung as a total surprise on the nation as Members of Parliament on both sides of the House and the civil society did not have any clue beforehand that the government was preparing to enact such a monstrous legislation which is no less than a quadruple power grab at the expense of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and the autonomy powers of Sarawak and Sabah.

The National Security Council Bill was surreptitiously presented for first reading on Tuesday on Dec. 1, and even without any briefing for Barisan Nasional MPs especially from Sarawak and Sabah, the second and third readings of this monstrous Bill was rushed through Parliament yesterday, with BN MPs particularly from Sarawak and Sabah voting for it blindly like robots although they did not fully understand its far-reaching implications, including undermining the very autonomy powers of Sarawak and Sabah which have become the burning issues in these two states.

In fact, I do not believe that the 37 Ministers of the Cabinet could have discussed, debated or understood the National Security Council Bill before it was presented to Parliament for a shot-gun passage, for no self-respecting Cabinet would have agreed to such power-grab by the Prime Minister, who is in fact setting himself up as a dictator who need not pay heed to what is already a very supine and servile Cabinet! Continue reading “Senate should veto the National Security Council Bill as it is a quadruple power grab at the expense of Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and the autonomy powers Sarawak and Sabah and refer it back to Dewan Rakyat after full national consultative process”

Khairie Hisyam Aliman
Malay Mail Online
Thursday December 3, 2015

DECEMBER 3 ― On Tuesday, minister Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim dropped a bombshell by way of the National Security Bill 2015 ― furore immediately erupted over the allegedly excessive powers this Bill seeks to confer to a sitting prime minister if it is passed into law.

But what are these powers exactly and what implications do they bring to us? On Wednesday, a copy of the Bill became available for download on the Parliament website, so I indulged my curiosity (because I have an unnatural reading preference).

In simple terms, the Bill seeks to set up a National Security Council with eight members, namely the sitting prime minister as chairman; the deputy prime minister as deputy chairman; the ministers in charge of defence, home affairs and communication/multimedia respectively; the chief secretary to the government; the chief of the armed forces; and the Inspector General of Police.

The council’s powers under the Bill can be summarised into two broad areas: to control and co-ordinate government entities on operations concerning national security as well as to issue directives to any government entity on matters concerning national security.

But that’s where the problem begins, because…. Continue reading “Why the NSC Bill should scare the living daylights out of you”

It’s quite a feat – Parliament inflicted three black eyes on itself in one day!

Yesterday was one of the darkest days in the history of the 56-year Parliament in Malaysia, for in one day, it scaled a new height of shame and dishonour with a trio of disgraceful parliamentary episodes, viz:

• The “cop-out” in the three-minute Ministerial statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi dismissing some 90 parliamentary questions about Najib’s RM2.6 billion and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals in the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting;

• The petty and spiteful persecution of PKR Vice Chairman and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar virtually convicting her of disloyalty and treason to Malaysia, and referring her to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges under terms of reference which can only allow the Committee to propose the “commensurate” penalties to be meted out to her; and

• What has been fittingly described by a former Malaysian ambassador as “the final step in the Zimbabweisation of Malaysia”.

It is to the eternal shame of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia that so many shameful and disgraceful records could be set by the Malaysian Parliament in one day under his Speakership! Continue reading “Parliament inflicted three black eyes on itself in one day – quite a feat!”

I am awed by the 146-table dinner organized by Triang DAP Branch in conjunction with “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign tonight, which is not only the biggest-ever dinner organized by Triang DAP Branch but also the biggest-ever dinner in the history of Triang.

My six-month suspension from Parliament should be the cause of a new national awareness of the need to achieve two fundamental changes in Malaysia – the urgency to have a new Parliament where Members of Parliament are not prevented or persecuted for voicing out the innermost concerns of the people of Malaysia; and secondly, for an end to the rampant corruption, abuses of power and violation of the principles of accountability, transparency and good democratic governance illustrated by the growing list of political, economic, good governance and nation building scandals plaguing the country.

Public anger and protests against an irresponsible and unaccountable government resulting in scandals like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals are not just confined to Opposition ranks of DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara leaders, members and supporters.

I believe patriotic, right-thinking and justice-loving members of UMNO and Barisan Nasional parties, whether in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak or Sabah, also cannot agree, accept or tolerate Najib’s twin mega scandals or the host of economic, political, good governance and nation-building injustices surfacing in the country. Continue reading “Pakatan Harapan should work on an active plan and strategy to win the mandate to be the government in six states as well as the Federal government in Putrajaya in 14GE”

Praveen Menon & Anshuman Daga
Reuters
Malaysiakini
3 Dec 2015

A generous winning bid from a state-owned Chinese firm for a scandal-ridden Malaysian fund’s power assets will help Beijing find favour as it seeks more deals in the country and to extend its influence in South-East Asia, financial and diplomatic sources say.

China’s South-East Asia push is widely seen as having come at a perfect time for embattled Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who chairs the advisory board of state fund 1MDB and has been grappling with international probes and public outrage over allegations of graft at the fund.

The US$2.3 billion offer from China General Nuclear Corp, a surprise winner in the bidding, and its assumption of US$1.8 billion in 1MDB debt will result in Chinese firms having pole positions as key rail, port and road projects come up for grabs, sources said. Continue reading “China’s generous 1MDB bid seen reaping it big returns”

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s three-minute statement on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts is the greatest cop-out in Parliament in the nation’s history.

What happened in Parliament this morning will go down in the Malaysian parliamentary annals as another disgraceful episode as to why parliamentary reform is urgently needed – but meaningful parliamentary reforms cannot come from “sweet words” from the Speaker’s Chair but only from restoration of the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

Parliament was made to commit a most cowardly and unchilvarous act today – to blow up the Nurul-Jacel photograph incident in the hope of covering up Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal.

Clearly, the UMNO/BN Government needed desperately to distract attention from Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, especially as national and international attention had been building up for weeks to expect the Prime Minister to give a full and satisfactory accounting of his RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal today, the last day of the 25-day six-week parliamentary budget meeting.

What better distraction for Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal than the furore over the outrageous motion to convict the PKR Vice President and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, of the heinous charge of breach of oath as an MP “to bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia” and to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” and to refer her to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges for the penalties to be meted out. Continue reading “Zahid’s three-minute statement on Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts the greatest cop-out in Parliament in nation’s history”

Datuk Azalina Othman Said would have committed hara-kiri or seppuku in Parliament today if she upholds the bushido code of honour above life.

This is because the Order Paper in the last sitting of Parliament today – ending the 25-day six-week parliamentary budget meeting – proves that Azalina had been caught out committing the unparliamentary and dishonourable act of telling outright lies as Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs.

On the very first day of the current meeting of Parliament on Oct. 19, Azalina evaded the questions by DAP Members of Parliament, Lim Guan Eng (Bagan) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut), and said in written reply that the government would answer questions about the RM2.6 billion “donation” received by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other related questions during the current meeting of Parliament.

However, Azalina said the exact date for this would be determined later.

Guan Eng had asked Najib on the source of the RM2.6 billion donation, how was it spent and how much balance is left; who the money was spent on, if taxes were paid and if there was a formal declaration.

Lip Eng’s question with regard to the donation and the missing US$1 billion payment to International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) also received the same reply.

Then, in an act of great “benevolence” and “magnanimity”, Azalina told the media on Nov. 5 that the Prime Minister or a Minister will explain on the last day of the parliamentary meeting on Dec. 3 on the controversial RM2.6 billion donation that went into Najib’s personal bank accounts. Continue reading “Azalina would have committed hara-kiri or seppuku in Parliament today if she upholds the bushido code of honour above life”

The new National Security Council (NSC) Bill should be withdrawn from debate and passage tomorrow and deferred until Parliament next month to allow Members of Parliament and the civil society adequate time to study its far-reaching implications on human rights and democratic freedoms in Malaysia.

The 33-page Bill, in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, was only presented in Dewan Rakyat for first reading and it is really ridiculous and outrageous to rush through the second and third readings for the Bill tomorrow, without giving MPs and the civil society the opportunity to study its far-reaching implications on human rights and democratic freedoms in the country.

Members of Parliament may not be required to understand the real implications of the law, as their only requirement is to vote in support of any bill which the government tables in Parliament, but it is an insult to the intelligence of Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament and discerning members of the public to expect them to behave like unthinking and obedient robots or digits to give blank cheque support to whatever is decided by the Cabinet.

In fact, I believe the majority of the Ministers may not even understand the far-reaching implications of the National Security Bill although they all nodded in agreement when the Bill presented for Cabinet consent by the relevant Ministry and department concerned. Continue reading “The new National Security Council Bill should be withdrawn from debate tomorrow to allow MPs and civil society adequate time to study its far-reaching implications on civil liberties”

Datuk Hasan Arifin is too keen to demonstrate his “cari makan” characteristics to be a suitable Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman heading the PAC probe into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB scandal.

He should make way for the Deputy PAC Chairman Dr. Tan Seng Giaw to head the PAC inquiry into the 1MDB scandal so that the PAC inquiry would not be sullied by his “cari makan” propensities.

Hasan exhibited such a “cari makan” propensity yesterday when he jumped the gun and declared that he was “satisfied” with the testimony given by the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy to the PAC, although Arul had not completed his testimony nor did Hasan had the authority of the PAC to declare publicly that the PAC was satisfied with Arul’s testimony. Continue reading “Hasan Arifin should let Dr. Tan Seng Giaw head PAC probe into 1MDB as he is too keen to demonstrate his “cari makan” characteristics”

Fifty years ago, I started my involvement in Malaysian politics and my current six-month suspension from Parliament in a most symbolic way marked my half-century of political work and patriotism where I dedicated virtually my whole life to the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream of an united, inclusive, progressive, just and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, language, culture, region, politics or class.

My six-month suspension from Parliament is a salutary reminder that the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream is not a completed journey but very much a work-in-progress, that it is not a smooth-sailing venture but requires courage, commitment and vision to overcome the trials and tribulations of an upstream, against-the-current struggle to build a better Malaysia for all Malaysians, where good governance and justice is the order of the day and an end to the ever-lengthening list of political and economic scandals suffocating the country. Continue reading “My six-month suspension from Parliament a most symbolic way to mark my 50 years in politics in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream”

By John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
November 30, 2015

Latest involves attempt to intimidate prominent KL lawyer

The lengths Malaysian authorities are willing to go in the effort to keep a lid on continuing financial scandals involving Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, has taken a new turn with a threat to arrest a prominent lawyer for assisting a US businessman in making a sworn statement on his brother’s reported involvement into the stalled probe.

Police are demanding that Americk Sidhu, who assisted in writing the sworn statement by Atlanta-based businessman Charles Morais of his murdered brother’s reported involvement in the stalled Najib investigation, come in for questioning. Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police, told local media on Nov. 30 that “we are giving Americk two days to step forward and have his statement recorded.”

On Nov. 26, Morais read a sworn statement to a press conference in Kuala Lumpur that his brother Anthony Kevin Morais, a Malaysian deputy prosecutor whose body was found in a cement-filled oil drum that had been dumped in a river, had said he was assisting in the investigation of Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, before he disappeared. Morais said he had also received a USB drive from his dead brother, to be kept for safekeeping. But he gave no details about what was on the USB drive. Almost immediately after holding the press conference, Charles Morais left the country to go back to the US. Continue reading “Malaysia Vainly Seeks to Keep Lid on Scandal”

By Prashanth Parameswaran
Diplomat
November 25, 2015

An inside look at ongoing cooperation between Washington and Kuala Lumpur.

It has happened quickly and quietly. But over the past few months, Malaysia has cemented itself as one of the key American partners in the ongoing war on the Islamic State.

This is not a natural or easy position for the Muslim-majority nation to take. U.S. and Malaysian counterterrorism approaches differ in some significant ways, and aspects of American foreign policy in the Middle East – including lingering memories of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks – remain deeply unpopular in Malaysia.

But Kuala Lumpur’s current commitment, which was highlighted recently during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the country for the latest round of Asian summitry, reflects the seriousness of the Islamic State threat both generally and for Malaysia in particular. Continue reading “US, Malaysia and the War Against the Islamic State”

The motion by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman Said to refer the PKR Vice President and MP for Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah Anwar to the Committee of Privileges for being photographed with Jacel Kiram in Manila is a “kangaroo resolution”, making a mockery of the Committee of Privileges in expecting it to be a “kangaroo court” to mete out the sentence after conviction had been passed by a mindless majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

All over the world, the Committee of Privileges decide on whether a MP referred to it had been guilty of breach of parliamentary privilege and then decide on the proper sentence which should be adopted by Parliament commensurate with the breach, but Azalina wants the Malaysian Parliament to set a dubious world record where the Committee of Privileges is deprived of the right to decide whether Nurul is guilty of any such breach, but only to mete out the sentence concerned!

Azalina’s motion against Nurul, among other things, states: Continue reading “Azalina’s motion to refer Nurul to Committee of Privileges a “kangaroo resolution” making a mockery of the Committee of Privileges expecting it to be a “kangaroo court” to mete out the sentence after conviction had been passed by mindless majority in Dewan Rakyat”

The country is in unchartered waters with unprecedented fracture and fragmentation on both sides of the political divide – both with the UMNO-led coalition of Barisan Nasional and the splintered Opposition.

The gravity of the political situation in the governing coalition is best illustrated by the warning by the UMNO Deputy President and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a gathering of 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh on Sunday that Malay support for UMNO has dwindled to 30 per cent while 78 per cent of Malaysians are dissatisfied with how the government was handling the economy.

Muhyiddin said the level of Chinese support for the government has also dwindled, from 13 percent in the last general election to only five percent at present.

Muhyiddin blamed UMNO’s woes primarily to Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega-scandals and warned that if the UMNO decline is not corrected within the next two years, UMNO may lose in the 14th General Election.

As Muhyiddin rightly pointed out, this is the first time approval for the government among Malays has fallen below 50 percent since Merdeka Centre began recording the data in February 2012. Continue reading “Greatest challenge in 14GE is how to re-ignite hopes of Malaysians for change in Putrajaya after the failure of the seven-year Pakatan Rakyat experiment”

– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
30 November 2015

By now it is clear that the 1MDB financial scandal, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s campaign against Datuk Seri Najib Razak, GST pain and numerous examples of corruption, abuse and mismanagement of the economy and governance, are not going to win the next election for the opposition coalition.

This is not to say that we should underestimate the average Malaysian’s disillusionment with, and distrust of, Umno and its partner parties in Barisan Nasional (BN).

Even the most simpleton Umno member is fully aware of how the division chiefs have enriched themselves with fat contracts, scholarships for their children, jobs in the civil service for their relatives and friends, etc.

Umno members are no fools. They know that the higher one gets to be in the Umno leadership hierarchy, the more the goodies and wealth they can accumulate.
So they are not surprised that RM2.6 billion was deposited in Najib’s personal account.

Many of the more ethical and principled Umno members agree that this is wrong. But will this mean that they will not vote for Umno in the next election?

I hope they listen to their conscience and I am sure many other Malaysians will join me in wishing the same.

But hope is not enough. Continue reading “How the opposition can win the next elections”

– Murray Hunter
The Malaysian Insider
30 November 2015

With the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and RM2.6 billion ‘political donation’ crises looming and anti-Najib (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) forces aiming to remove him from office, there is one strategy open to the prime minister – a snap election, should he feel cornered.

This is a remote scenario, but one that is currently being drawn up now as a contingency in the Prime Minister’s Office.

The forces of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – who Najib fired as deputy prime minister – have largely been neutralized, as well as the opposition, primarily through botched votes of no confidence and the attempt to block a second budget reading.

No Barisan Nasional (BN) votes drifted over to the opposition, indicating that this group’s influence within Umno/BN is negligible. Continue reading “How Najib could win the next election”