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Call for Anwar Ibrahim’s release from Sungai Buloh prison to take part, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1990, in national reconciliation talks to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and rogue state

There have both been bouquets and brickbats following 304 (March 4) historic gathering on the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration involving former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Cabinet Ministers and Opposition and civil society leaders.

Undoubtedly, the Citizens’ Declaration on Friday had come as a total surprise and shock to many, including journalists whose profession is to smell out trends and news breaking stories, who would never imagine as possible such a get-together of long-time political opponents for a common cause.

I thank all for the bouquets and even welcome the brickbats, provided they are honest views and not pure venom soaked in lies and spite.

Can the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia calling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and for democratic and institutional reforms succeed?

To be frank, I do not think anybody can answer that question in all sincerity. But to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and a rogue state is a deserving, honourable and honest objective which is worth trying to achieve and even failing, instead of not trying at all. Continue reading “Call for Anwar Ibrahim’s release from Sungai Buloh prison to take part, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1990, in national reconciliation talks to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and rogue state”

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There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal and democratic and institutional reforms

There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal as Prime Minister and call for democratic and institutional reforms to Save Malaysia.

This was why Najib had summoned UMNO/Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament to his official residence last night – a pre-council meeting which in the past had been held either on the eve of the beginning of Parliament or on the morning of the first day of Parliament meeting, but never two days in advance!

And there are valid reasons for Najib to be concerned about the effect and impact of the 304 Citizens’ Declaration, signed not only by the longest-serving former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Ministers, but also by political and civil society leaders.

This is because the Citizens’ Declaration had crossed the great political divide and accords with the sentiments of overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender that a national call must go out to reach the maximum number of Malaysians, even to the 3.3 million UMNO members and a million PAS members, for all to stand on a united common platform to save Malaysia from the slide down the slippery slope to a failed and a rogue state.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, from inside Sungai Buloh prison, has given unequivocal support to the bridging of the political divide not to be limited to “personal agendas or political vendettas” but to “chart a new way forward to save our beloved nation”. Continue reading “There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal and democratic and institutional reforms”

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Is Malaysia Sliding Toward Dictatorship?

By Prashanth Parameswaran
The Diplomat
March 01, 2016

A look at how the rhetoric compares to reality.

Last week, Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad grabbed headlines when he suggested that the country was heading towards becoming a dictatorship like North Korea under its current premier Najib Razak.

And as I reported over the weekend, Najib’s former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin also warned that the country was witnessing “the collapse of democratic institutions and the emergence of a new dictatorship.” Muhyiddin was sacked last year after criticizing Najib amid the 1MDB scandal, a high-profile corruption saga where the premier has been accused of mismanaging funds linked to debt-ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The aforementioned statements are no doubt heavily politicized and hyperbolic. But just how close are they to reality? Continue reading “Is Malaysia Sliding Toward Dictatorship?”

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Beware of the Ides of March – but who should beware?

The past 12 months have been a year never experienced by Malaysians who, with increasing desperation and sense of hopelessness, have never felt so sick and wracked by so many crisis, whether the RM55 billion 1MDB crisis, the RM2.6 billion “donation” crisis – or actually more, as according to the latest revelation by Wall Street Journal today, more than US$1 billion and not just US$681 million had been deposited into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts – the 6% GST imposed on April 1; the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history with the unprecedented rise of extremism, intolerance and bigotry; the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit hovering at RM4.2 to the US dollar; the plunge in Malaysia’s educational standards and accomplishments; Malaysia’s deterioration in important international indices with the country named No.3 in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015” or falling four places in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015; the loss of national and international confidence in the Prime Minister who is being investigated by US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) whether he is a “kleptocrat” with the 1MDB scandal the subject of investigations by seven foreign countries; the threat of a new “dictatorship” with parliamentary passage of the National Security Council Bill (which has as yet to receive the Royal Assent) and above all, the future and survival of the Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and the Malaysian federation formed in 1963!

Everywhere and every day, informed, concerned and patriotic Malaysians are asking: How did Malaysia reached such a sorry pass, when the country once dreamt of international greatness and accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor in our early decades of nationhood, and how Malaysia could get out of the rut or cul de sac we have stuck ourselves in. Continue reading “Beware of the Ides of March – but who should beware?”

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The time has come for the “Save Malaysia” campaign

I am honoured to be invited to launch one of the Tommy Thomas’ two books today: “Anything But The Law”.

We see Tommy as the “Lawyer’s Lawyer” in his book “Abuse of Power”, while his other book “Anything But The Law” we see Tommy as the “Politician’s Politician”.

I want to tell Tommy that the world of politics beckons to him and it is never too late or too old to take the plunge into the political maelstrom for freedom, justice and good governance. Come and fight the good fight!

Tommy has suggested a few minutes of jolly, joyous and light-hearted moments for the occasion but it will be hard to think of an occasion where one cannot be more sober or even somber about our national situation.

Only yesterday, a Deputy Prime Minister who was summarily sacked from his high office some seven months ago was suspended as Deputy President of UMNO, fully vindicating the recent description of the parlous situation of the country by the longest-living former Deputy Prime Minister, viz:

“Within the last few years …life in Malayaia is turning upside down and inside out, that makes it difficult to keep calm! In government and politics particularly, behaviours seem to be based on the struggles that prioritise personal individual survival of the fittest. The end seems to justify the means and anything, anything goes. The dividing line between good and bad, right and wrong, seem blurred.”

The former DPM whose political party position was suspended yesterday warned of the making of a new dictator and called on the rakyat to rise up to oppose tyranny and wrongdoing and to Save Malaysia.

Even the former longest-serving Prime Minister is on the same wavelength, warning that the country is moving in the direction of the North Korean regime.

Another former Deputy Prime Minister, who is currently in incarceration, has rightly cautioned that the only way to implement true change is to address the crisis of confidence that the country is facing, and that mere fixation on an individual will not achieve this purpose – a deficit of trust in the judiciary, the media as well as the country’s democratic institutions and not just the Prime Minister or an individual. Continue reading “The time has come for the “Save Malaysia” campaign”

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Najib Razak puts Malaysia’s reputation at risk over mind-boggling donations scandal

EDITORIAL
Sydney Morning Herald
February 2, 2016

It’s almost a year since Malaysia’s highest court upheld the five-year jail sentence of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on a dubious charge of sodomy.

So, from the spartan jail cell with a squat toilet and a thin foam mattress on the floor as described by his lawyers, Mr Anwar is not in a position to comment on the deteriorating state of democracy in his country.

We can’t know whether he shares the dismay and despair of many ordinary Malaysians at the wave of repression that has occurred since his jailing. We don’t know what he thinks about the government’s attempts to keep a lid on the mind-boggling scandal in which a $US681 million no-strings-attached gift attributed to the Saudi royal family found its way into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account. But we could guess.

This week Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali issued a “move along, nothing to see” order to anyone worried about the donation of such a princely sum to a sitting Prime Minister’s personal bank account in a country claiming to be a representative democracy. Continue reading “Najib Razak puts Malaysia’s reputation at risk over mind-boggling donations scandal”

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Release Anwar from Sungai Buloh prison; drop all politically-motivated charges against Zunar, Azmi, Maria Chin and others; withdraw NSC Bill; suspend GST and fully account for Najib’s twin mega scandals before anyone talks about “Let bygones by bygones”

Christmas is five days away, and there is already a lot of talk about forgiveness and forget about the past.

I support the philosophy of being prepared to forgive and forget past transgressions to promote greater amity, understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups of people, not just because it is a teaching by all great religions but a good philosophy of life.

However, it is indeed odd to talk about forgiving and forgetting another political party’s past transgressions when the other party had never confessed or owned up to any past transgression or wrongdoing.

It is all very good to adopt the religious teaching or philsophy of “Let bygones be bygones” to construct a new relationship and to build a new future, to forget all the sins and transgressions of the past.

However, this readiness to forgive and forget all the sins and transgressions of the past must be accompanied by the readiness and resolution to right all current wrongs, injustices and transgressions or it is totally premature for any talk about “Let bygones be bygones”.

Is such a possibility on the cards? Continue reading “Release Anwar from Sungai Buloh prison; drop all politically-motivated charges against Zunar, Azmi, Maria Chin and others; withdraw NSC Bill; suspend GST and fully account for Najib’s twin mega scandals before anyone talks about “Let bygones by bygones””

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The five government scandals this year which show that UMNO/BN Federal Government is utterly insensitive to the rights and concerns of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region

This is the 43rd parliamentary constituency I am visiting as part of the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign since I was suspended from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for six months – – not because I had stolen, robbed or killed anyone, but because as elected representatives, we have the right and obligation to demand full accountability from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his RM2.6 billion “donation” and the RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

Although it will not be possible for me to visit all the 222 Parliamentary and 576 State Assembly constituencies in the country during the period of my six-month suspension from Parliament, I will try to visit more than 50 per cent of the 222 Parliamentary constituencies in the country by the time I am allowed to return to Parliament – with a strong and unmistakable mandate from Malaysians from all over the country, embracing all races, religions and regions in the country, to demand that Najib must fully account for the twin mega scandals.

Undoubtedly today, one of the greatest concerns in everyone’s minds, even to the Malay Rulers who even issued a rare joint statement on the 1MDB scandal on Oct. 6, are the two questions: where the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts came from, and where they have gone to.

For six weeks during the budget parliamentary meeting, Najib and the Ministers had taken MPs from both sides of the House for a ride, giving the promise that the government would be completely forthcoming and answer all questions relating to the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal on the last day of Parliament, only to renege on the last sitting of Parliament on Dec. 3 with a three-minute Ministerial Non-Statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi disclosing absolutely nothing at all.

Did Najib, Zahid or any government minister offer any apology or express any contrition to Members of Parliament and the nation for the government being caught so red-handed in breaking its promise and breaching its trust to Parliament and the country?

None at all. In fact, the Ministerial benches seem quite proud of such perfidy! Continue reading “The five government scandals this year which show that UMNO/BN Federal Government is utterly insensitive to the rights and concerns of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region”

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Let 2015 be another historic milestone in Baling, marking not only the formation of DAP and AMANAH in Baling, but the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win Kedah state government in 14GE

DAP State Chairman and Assemblyman for Derga, Sdr. Tan Kok Yew just now regaled us about the three historic milestones of Baling, viz:

*the 1956 Baling Peace talks featuring Tunku Abdul Rahman, David Marshall and Chin Peng;

*the 1974 Baling hunger strike by peasants protesting against poverty, featuring Anwar Ibrahim and resulting in his detention under the Internal Security Act;

*the 1985 tragic Memali Incident which left 18 dead.

Let us make 2015 a fourth historic milestone for Baling, for it is in this year that two political parties were formed in Baling – Parti Amanah Negara and DAP.

Even more significant, let the formation of Parti Amanah Negara and DAP in Baling in 2015, together with the establishment of Pakatan Harapan, mark the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win the Kedah state government in the 14th General Election which must be be held within 30 months in 2018. Continue reading “Let 2015 be another historic milestone in Baling, marking not only the formation of DAP and AMANAH in Baling, but the beginning of the Pakatan Harapan campaign to win Kedah state government in 14GE”

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Enough is enough, stop playing politics to make a mountain out of a molehill over Nurul’s unplanned meeting in the Philippines as if the country does not have weighty matters on hand

Enough is enough, stop playing politics to make a mountain out of a molehill over PRK Vice President and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar’s recent visit to the Philippines and unplanned meeting with Jacel Kiram, as if the country does not have weighty problems on hand.

If Nurul has traitorous intent, she would have ensured that there would be no photographic evidence of her meeting with Jacel, let alone allowing the photograph to be to be uploaded on FaceBook for the whole world to know.

This bolstered Nurul’s statement of innocence, her expression of regret over her photograph with Sulu “princess” Jacel Kiram and reiteration of her sympathies and support for the fallen heroes from the army, military and the public who perished as a result of the Lahad Datuk intrusion in 2013. Continue reading “Enough is enough, stop playing politics to make a mountain out of a molehill over Nurul’s unplanned meeting in the Philippines as if the country does not have weighty matters on hand”

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Anwar can be treated overseas – if the authorities agree!

by P Ramakrishnan
Aliran
15th Nov 2015

Is it a fact that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cannot receive medical treatment abroad?

Is it a fact that the law does not allow prison inmates to do so?

Utusan Malaysia has reported quoting Supri Hashim, the Prisons Department deputy director in charge of prison policy, as having stated “that Section 37 (1) of the Prisons Act 1995 clearly stated that a prisoner could only be treated in government hospitals, and not private hospitals, let alone overseas.” (Malaysian Insider, 10 November 2015)

But Section 37(1) does not seem to support his contention. At best, it is only his opinion and it is a matter of his interpretation of Section 37 (1). That is all – and nothing more! Continue reading “Anwar can be treated overseas – if the authorities agree!”

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Some of the unthinkable scenarios which Malaysians must think about and even face in the extraordinary political circumstances Malaysia is in today

I have been suspended for six months for pointing out in Parliament that the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia did not have the power to bar the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under the Deputy Chairman Dr. Tan Seng Giaw (Kepong) with the proper PAC quorum from continuing its investigations in August into the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal.

My suspension, and the two questions that are being asked all over the country as to from whom and to whom the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts have gone to, are just symptomatic that Malaysia is very “sick” where a proper parliamentary system and the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance cannot function normally and effectively.

Malaysia is in very abnormal political times – in the interregnum between the fall of an UMNO-led government coalition which had been in power for 58 years but have led the country into a rut after losing its moral compass and sense of responsibility as a government and its replacement by a new coalition committed to defend the democratic freedoms and human rights enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution.

This is the time for Malaysians to think unthinkable scenarios and face up to extraordinary challenges in entirely new political circumstances taking place in Malaysa today.

Before the 2008 elections elections, it was unthinkable that the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government in Malaysia could be replaced, but after the 12th general elections in 2008, nobody doubts this question as it was no more “whether” but “when” the UMNO/BN Federal Government in Putrajaya would be replaced.

Similarly, Malaysians must think of what appears to be unthinkable scenarios and be prepared to face the new political challenges presented by them, including the following: Continue reading “Some of the unthinkable scenarios which Malaysians must think about and even face in the extraordinary political circumstances Malaysia is in today”

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Malaysia’s prime minister is a questionable ally

By Editorial Board
Washington Post
September 18, 2015

THE OBAMA administration has made a heavy bet on the Malaysian government of Najib Razak, whose majority Muslim nation collaborates on several key U.S. national security initiatives: counterterrorism, counterproliferation and balancing against China’s regional ambitions. In December, President Obama invited Mr. Najib to a round of golf during his Hawaiian vacation, a rare show of friendship for a foreign leader.

Since then, however, Mr. Najib has been evolving into an increasingly unseemly pal. In February, the country’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was imprisoned on blatantly trumped-up charges, just under a year after the coalition Mr. Anwar led won the popular vote in national elections. That was the tip of a broader campaign to suppress the opposition; key leaders were indicted under a sedition law that Mr. Najib once promised to repeal, and a leading cartoonist was prosecuted for tweets. Mr. Anwar’s daughter, parliament member Nurul Izzah Anwar, was recently told she was being investigated under an anti-terrorism law. Continue reading “Malaysia’s prime minister is a questionable ally”

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Call on UMNO/BN Ministers and leaders not to wear blinkers about Mahathir – regarding all he said now as wrong when during his 22-year premiership, idolising all he said as right even when he was wrong

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad today told the police to go ahead and arrest him for attending the Bersih 4 rally when he returned to the Subang Airport from the Czech Republic.

I would be disappointed if Mahathir had said otherwise or disappeared from Malaysia to escape any police dragnet.

As political leaders, we must stand up for the rights of the people and do not run away from the police if we have done no wrong.

I was advised against returning to Kuala Lumpur during the May 13, 1969 riots as I had flown to Kota Kinabalu on the morning of May 13, 1969 to campaign for the Independent candidate in Kota Kinabalu, but I returned to Kuala Lumpur although I was warned that I was on the blacklist of Internal Security Act arrests, as I felt that my place was with the people of Malaysia in their hour of need and trouble and not to seek personal refuge and safety abroad. I was then 28 years old. Continue reading “Call on UMNO/BN Ministers and leaders not to wear blinkers about Mahathir – regarding all he said now as wrong when during his 22-year premiership, idolising all he said as right even when he was wrong”

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Are there at least 35 UMNO/BN MPs who are prepared to join with Opposition MPs in October Parliament on a “Save Malaysia” agenda including a no-confidence motion on Najib?

The universe seems to be conspiring against Malaysia, as there is no surcease of daily bad news for the country.

Yesterday’s, it was disclosed that Bank Negara’s international reserves have declined further to US$94.5 billion (RM356.4 billion) as at Aug 14 compared to US$96.7 billion (RM364.7 billion) on July 31.

At this rate of shrinking international reserves to stem the ringgit slide against the US dollar which yesterday stood at RM4.17 to a US dollar, the BN international reserves could fall to some US$92 billion on Merdeka Day on August 31 and by Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, might be struggling not to fall below the US$90 billion level.

The news yesterday of the flip-flop by the new Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, forming a new task force to investigate the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, after disbanding the earlier multi-agency Special Task Force to investigate into the twin scandals of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts, but now excluding the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), is only calculated to further undermine and not restore a very shaken public confidence in the key national institutions in the country.

In this context, the “interesting proposition” by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir that the Opposition support a no-confidence vote in Parliament against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak while still retaining Barisan Nasional as government has opened up a Pandora’s Box about the directions Malaysia should be heading in the coming years. Continue reading “Are there at least 35 UMNO/BN MPs who are prepared to join with Opposition MPs in October Parliament on a “Save Malaysia” agenda including a no-confidence motion on Najib?”

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Call for release of Anwar Ibrahim to fully participate in a National “Save Malaysia” Summit to prevent Malaysia from becoming a rogue and failed state

The plethora of political and economic crisis plaguing the country is symbolized by the ringgit falling to over 4 to a US dollar and 2.84 to a Singapore dollar today when 50 years ago the Malaysian ringgit was at par with the Singapore dollar.

There is gloom on the economic front, as apart from the worst devaluation of the ringgit in 17 years since August 1998, the stock market has continued to plunge across-the-board, foreign-exchange reserves have dropped below US$100 billion for the first time since 2010 and foreign capital is exiting the country at an unprecedented rate.

But economic woes are not Malaysia’s only problems.

Malaysia is also suffering from the worst crisis of confidence and the government with a minority Prime Minister has never been so fractured today as at any period in the nation’s 58-year history – evident from the ugly stand-off between the Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (which I had described as the “nine days of madness in Putrajaya), the sacking of the Attorney-General and the Deputy Prime Minister, the reshuffle to produce a 1MDB Cabinet and a new wave of attack on the independence and professionalism on the key national institutions.

There is not only a fractured government, but also a fractured UMNO, for nobody believes that Datuk Seri Najib Razak has the support of three million UMNO members, although he has the support of the UMNO party machinery! Continue reading “Call for release of Anwar Ibrahim to fully participate in a National “Save Malaysia” Summit to prevent Malaysia from becoming a rogue and failed state”

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Cabinet should convene a National “Save Malaysia” Summit before or on Merdeka Day involving all political parties and NGOs to form a national consensus on a blueprint to save Malaysia from becoming a rogue and failed state

Open Letter to Cabinet by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang on Wednesday, August 12, 2015:

To the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers.

I will not beat about the bush and get to the point straightaway for this Open Letter for your Cabinet meeting today.

Never before has Malaysia been faced with such a grave national crisis as today, with a minority Prime Minister helming the most fractured government ever – as evident from the ‘Nine Days of Madness in Putrajaya” when there was a confrontation between the Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), compelling the latter to hold a solat hajat to seek divine intervention to match the force and might of the police – and a full-blown economic crisis illustrated by foreign-exchange reserves dropping below US$100 billion for the first time since 2010, the rapid and unchecked deterioration of the Malaysian ringgit, the plunge in the stock exchange index and the exit of foreign capital.
Malaysia’s ringgit has fallen the most in the past seven weeks, retreating for a fifth day of losses to 3.9605 dollar , the lowest level since August 1998, and is down almost 20 percent in the past 12 months. Continue reading “Cabinet should convene a National “Save Malaysia” Summit before or on Merdeka Day involving all political parties and NGOs to form a national consensus on a blueprint to save Malaysia from becoming a rogue and failed state”

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Mahathir exaggerating when he said “democracy is dead” but there is no doubt that Najib would shed no tears to kill democracy and even launch a bigger “Operation Lalang 2015” than Mahathir’s 1987 Operation to save his political life

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that democracy in the country is dead.

Mahathir is exaggerating though there is no doubt that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would shed no tears to kill democracy and even launch a bigger “Operation Lalang 2015” than Mahathir’s 1987 Operation to save his political life.

Mahathir’s Operation Lalang in 1987, which unleashed a multi-faceted assault on democracy, human rights and the independence, impartiality and professionalism of key national institutions involving the Press, Parliament, Judiciary, key agencies like the Police, the anti-corruption agency, the election commission, the universities, entire civil service, brought the fragile plant of Malaysian democracy to the brink of ruin and disaster.

But Malaysian resilience, the spirit and love for freedom, justice and the nation, did not wilt or capitulate to Mahathir’s iron-fisted policies, but sprang back not only to recover lost ground during the Mahathir decades, but to achieve new democratic breakthroughs as in the 13th General Election when 52% of popular vote sought the first change of national government with new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but the people were denied the fruits of democratic victory because of undemocratic gerrymandering of parliamentary constituencies.

Democracy in Malaysia is facing another crisis, and undoubtedly an even bigger one than under Mahathir’s premiership. Continue reading “Mahathir exaggerating when he said “democracy is dead” but there is no doubt that Najib would shed no tears to kill democracy and even launch a bigger “Operation Lalang 2015” than Mahathir’s 1987 Operation to save his political life”

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Malaysia will not be in throes of a bumper political, economic and leadership confidence crisis if Anwar is Prime Minister of Malaysia today

Malaysia will not be in the throes of a bumper political, economic and leadership confidence crisis if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the Prime Minister of Malaysia today.

Firstly, there will not be a 1MDB crisis, which for the past five years, had sapped national and international confidence in the economic and investment climate in Malaysia.

Secondly, there will not be the scandal of RM2.6 billion deposited into the personal banking accounts of the Prime Minister, whether from 1MDB or any other source, as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 has made it very clear that the definition of gratification in the Act included donations and that any form of gratification was presumed to have been corruptly received, unless proven otherwise.

Thirdly, there will not be the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has caused great economic hardships to the people, small businesses and traders, causing Hari Raya sales this year to drop by some 50% and even the closure of shops and businesses. Continue reading “Malaysia will not be in throes of a bumper political, economic and leadership confidence crisis if Anwar is Prime Minister of Malaysia today”

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What Can Ensure a Real Political Breakthrough

Koon Yew Yin
3rd August 2015

Recently I wrote of developments on the opposition side that had the potential to lead to a political breakthrough for the country. I was referring to the formation of a new party led by Pas moderates and progressives.

I had also written on the need for the new Islamic party to adhere to the Common Policy Framework and reject a hard line and extremist Islamic ideology; oppose the move to introduce hudud in Kelantan and the federal parliament; support the constitutional position on democratic and human rights and the equality of all citizens, irrespective of race or creed and to fight racial and religious extremism wherever it comes from.

But in politics it is not enough to have the right manifesto or ideology. To win power, it is equally – if not more important – to have the right leaders. Today we have a clear political leadership crisis in the country in both government and the opposition. Continue reading “What Can Ensure a Real Political Breakthrough”