Author: Kit

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) Supreme Council has decided on “Mission 2057” to ensure continued development in all aspects since independence and after Vision 2020 had been achieved. “Mission 2057” would become the development guideline for another 50 years.

It sounded a rather tall tale that the BN Supreme Council met yesterday to take the policy decision to formulate Mission 2057, when it is not only dubious that Vision 2020 could be achieved but very clear that Abdullah’s Mission 2004 is heading towards a big flop.

Before Abdullah trots out Mission 2057 about Malaysia in another half-a-century, he should deliver Mission 2004 which he had promised in the 2004 general election to lead an efficient, clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, just, democratic and progressive administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the people — and for which he had won the unprecedented victory of 91 per cent of parliamentary seats which had never been achieved by the previous four Prime Ministers.

When he became the fifth Prime Minister in November 2003, Abdullah pledged to make anti-corruption the top agenda and proclaimed “zero tolerance for corruption”.

To mark the first three months of his premiership, Abdullah reiterated in an interview with senior editors of major newspapers his priority commitment to change the mindset of Malaysians to match the country’s first-class infrastructure with a first-class mentality, including the eradication of public and private sector corruption.

On his first 100 days as Prime Minister, Abdullah declared in his address to the Cambridge Foundation on 10th February 2004: “My first 100 days was my statement of intent. Now we get to work and walk the talk.”

However, after the unprecedented 91% parliamentary majority victory in the March 2004 general election, Abdullah had forgotten his declaration of “zero tolerance for corruption” or his pledge to make the fight against corruption as the top priority of his administration, as his “statement of intent” of his first 100 days remained mere “statement of intent” for the next 1,115 days till today without any “walk the talk” whatsoever. Continue reading “PM – deliver Mission 2004 before trotting out Mission 2057!”

The longest-serving former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, in his Sunday Star column “Point of View” today dealt the serious corruption allegations which had been made against the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor by former top ACA officer and “whistleblower” Mohamad Ramli Manan in July last year.

Entitled “Panta Rei — It’s inexorable”, Hanif wrote:

If we recall the reported course of events in the ACA director-general’s case, an ACA director had reported by letter to the IGP on July 4 last year against his DG and another, asking the IGP to treat the letter as a first information report. It is reported that he had also sent copies of the letter to the AG, among others…

In this particular case, there was no apparent useful response from the police or the others from July 4, 2006, to perhaps early March 2007. It would be interesting to know why. This inordinate delay could have been the cause of the complainant reporting to Parliament’s Select Committee on Integrity and Corruption. To the credit of the PSC, it acted expeditiously to make known that it would convene an enquiry into the allegations on March 12 by calling both complainant, the ACA director-general, as well as the previous IGP to clarify the situation. This was a far-reaching decision that could have made an enormous impact on the current battle against malfeasance and injustice.

The action of the PSC has served notice that proper redress must be given to a citizen’s grievances and that Parliament would hold the public services to account. In one fell stroke it had brought the tipping point closer. Continue reading ““Free fall of institutions” – can PSCI prove Tun Hanif wrong?”

The Monday (March 12) meeting of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI) will be held as fixed although with an altered agenda.

The March 12 meeting had been decided by the PSCI at its meeting on 27th Feb. 2007 to hear the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general, Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor and former top ACA officer and “whistleblower”, Mohamad Ramli Manan on serious allegations of corruption in the ACA; but the Chairman of PSCI, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had on Thursday arbitrarily and unilaterally made a shock announcement of its cancellation in view of police investigations against Zulkifli and the filing of lawsuits by Ramli against his former boss and several government agencies.

I had faxed a protest to Bernard yesterday asking that the PSCI meeting on March 12 should be held as scheduled to hear Zulkipli and Ramli or to reconsider whether to hear the duo and the Select Committee’s role in the latest developments raising fundamental questions about national integrity, in particular in ACA and Police.

As the March 12 meeting to hear Zulkipli and Ramli was the formal decision of the PSCI meeting on 27th Feb. 2007 – the second day of its meeting to deal with issues concerning the scourge of the false identity card rackets in Sabah – any cancellation of the March 12 meeting could only be made by the PSCI itself and not unilaterally and arbitrarily by any one person.

Bernard has agreed that the PSCI meeting on Monday should proceed as scheduled to consider whether Zulkipli and Ramli should appear before the Select Committee. A new notice from Parliament informing all MPs on the PSCI of the Monday meeting had been sent out yesterday.

Although the invitation to Zulkipli and Ramli to the Select Committee meeting on Monday had been cancelled earlier and they had accordingly been informed, both of them should voluntarily attend the PSCI meeting in Parliament on Monday to honour their public undertaking of their preparedness to appear and tell all about the serious corruption allegations in the ACA. Continue reading “PSC Integrity meeting on Monday – Zulkipli and Ramli should voluntarily attend”

I have this morning sent an urgent fax to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI), Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, proposing that the Select Committee meeting on Monday should be held as scheduled to hear the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor and former top ACA officer and “whistleblower” Mohamad Ramli Manan or to reconsider whether to hear the duo and the Select Committee’s role in latest developments raising fundamental questions about national integrity, in particular in ACA and Police

I also placed on record my shock and protest at Bernard’s announcement yesterday arbitrarily cancelling the PSCI meeting on Monday to hear Zulkipli and Ramli on serious allegations of corruption in the ACA.

I stressed that as the March 12 meeting to hear Zulkipli and Ramli was the formal decision of the PSCI meeting on 27th Feb. 2007, the second day of its meeting to deal with issues concerning the scourge of the false identity card rackets in Sabah, any cancellation of the March 12 meeting could only be made by the PSCI itself and not unilaterally and arbitrarily by any one person.

Bernard said in his statement yesterday that the decision to cancel the Select Committee meeting on Monday was the decision of the majority of the Integrity Select Committee and New Straits Times today even reported that the decision was taken at a meeting of the Select Committee meeting yesterday.

There was no meeting of the Integrity Select Committee yesterday. I have checked with the MPs who attended the PSCI meeting of Feb. 27 and found that there is no clear majority in favour of the cancellation of the March 12 meeting. Continue reading “Is ACA chief Zulkifli the cause for the cancellation of the PSCI meeting on Monday?”