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People’s hope in the judiciary has been misplaced

by P Ramakrishnan
President
Aliran

Confronted by crisis in Perak, the people had reason to believe that the judiciary would be our last hope for justice to prevail. That hope is apparently misplaced. What a disappointment that proved to be!

It is difficult to believe or accept the decision of the Judicial Commissioner, Ridwan Ibrahim. To say the least, Malaysians are shocked into disbelief by his verdict. Technicalities were used to prevent a fair trial and counter arguments to help the judge to arrive at a sound decision. In this instance we are reminded of Aeschylus who said, “Wrong must not win by technicalities.” But that was what happened in the Ipoh High Court on 3 March 2009. It is a matter of grave disappointment to all of us.

To begin with, his decision to hear the case in chambers – not withstanding his discretionary powers – came as a complete surprise to the nation. Knowing that the entire country is very concerned with what is happening in Perak, the appropriate thing would have been to hear the case in open court as requested by senior lawyer, Tommy Thomas, representing the Speaker of the Perak Assembly. This fair request was denied.

What is at issue in this instance concerns every Malaysian and they have a right to know what persuasive arguments have been presented to support this case that has been brought to the Ipoh High Court by Zambry and others. We have a right to know what prevailed upon the Judicial Commissioner for his decision. Now, we will never know what transpired in the chambers. Continue reading “People’s hope in the judiciary has been misplaced”

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Razaleigh calls for fresh polls in Perak

Business Times, Singapore
06 Mar 2009

Razaleigh calls for fresh polls in Perak
He says this may be an elegant way out of the political impasse

By S JAYASANKARAN
IN KUALA LUMPUR

BARISAN Nasional lawmaker and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has added his voice to a growing chorus of Malaysians demanding fresh elections in Perak state to resolve its month-long political impasse.

‘I think that constitutional rule in Perak has collapsed and the only way to rectify the situation is to go back to the people,’ Tengku Razaleigh told BT in an exclusive interview yesterday. ‘That would be the appropriate thing for the ruler to do.’

The reference is to Sultan Azlan Shah, the state’s monarch who, on Feb 2, rejected a request by Perak’s then chief minister Nizar Jamaluddin – of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition alliance – to dissolve the state’s assembly and pave the way for fresh polls.
Mr Nizar made the request after his government was toppled when three of his representatives defected to become independents supportive of the Barisan Nasional (BN). Continue reading “Razaleigh calls for fresh polls in Perak”

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Believe it or not!

‘Perak Speaker Can Only Be Represented By State Legal Adviser’
Bernama
March 05, 2009 18:58 PM

IPOH, March 5 (Bernama) — The High Court has ruled that Perak State Legislative Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar can only be represented by the State Legal Adviser in the suits brought by 10 members of the assembly including Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Zambry and the six State Executive Councillors — Datuk Ramly Zahari, Datuk Saarani Mohamad, Hamidah Osman, Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin, Mohd Zahir Abdul Khalid and Dr Mah Hang Soon — are seeking a declaration that the speaker’s decision in suspending and preventing them from attending the assembly’s sittings for 18 months (for Zambry) and 12 months (for the rest) null and void.

There independent lawmakers — Jamaluddin Md Radzi, Capt (R) Mohd Osman Jailu and Hee Yit — want the court to declare that their Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang seats not vacant and that they are still legitimate people’s representatives.

Counsel Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun, a member of the team of lawyers representing all the plaintiffs, told reporters that Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Hashim accepted two points forwarded by his side to object the appointment of private lawyers to represent the Speaker.

First, he said, the Speaker is a public official and a branch of the government and his salary is paid through the state government’s Consolidated Fund.

Second, the preamble of the Perak Constitution explains that the executive body to the state assembly is an organ of the state government, he said. Continue reading “Believe it or not!”

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The Parable Of The Rain Tree – A Personal Experience

By Goh Keat Peng

While some watch birds, I have always preferred trees myself. The best break I ever have always involves sitting where my eyes can behold the wonders of trees, unfailingly and truly a sight for my tired eyes, mind and heart.

Coming from Taiping, my favourite tree is the raintree, tall and sprawling. At the Taiping Lake Gardens, the branches of the raintree majestically bend down towards the water forming a manificent canopy of green archways over the road. You haven’t been to Taiping without cycling or driving under those archways, a singular sublime experience to cherish for a very long time.

Raintrees do last a long time. In Taiping, they were there long before I was born and no doubt will be there long after my time on this earth.

What better symbol therefore for the status of Perak democracy than the humble raintree!

Derogatory talk, therefore, of the extraordinary session of the Perak State Assembly convened on Tuesday 3 March 2009 at 10.20am under the raintree across the road from the Perak State Secretariat Building is completely misplaced, shortsighted and shallow. Continue reading “The Parable Of The Rain Tree – A Personal Experience”

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Najib’s unethical and unconstitutional power grab in Perak may sow the seeds for his downfall as the sixth Prime Minister

As the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot be so ignorant as not to know that his statement that there could not be any Perak State Assembly meeting until the courts decide on the status of the state government is completely untenable, as it has no basis in law or constitutional practice.

The question is whether Najib is making this statement as Deputy Prime Minister after getting the proper advice of the Attorney-General’s Chambers or as UMNO Deputy President without the benefit of any proper expert legal opinion.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had acted most improperly when he had earlier advised the “pretender” Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir to lodge police report against the Perak State Assembly Speaker, V. Sivakumar for suspending Zambry and the other six “pretender” state exco members from the state assembly, which also attracted the criticism of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, when the Speaker’s decision or action is protected by law and conferred immunity from civil or criminal proceedings.

Clearly, Abdullah’s advice could not have emanated from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

But it has resulted in gross abuses of power by the Police as well as by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in subjecting the Perak State Assembly Speaker to interrogation, which are gross violation of established world-wide parliamentary laws, practices ,conventions and traditions. Continue reading “Najib’s unethical and unconstitutional power grab in Perak may sow the seeds for his downfall as the sixth Prime Minister”

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‘Cops, security did not help me’

by S Pathmawathy & Rahmah Ghazali
Malaysiakini Feb 26, 09

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh said police and security personnel did not come to his aid when he was mobbed by a group of angry Umno Youth supporters at the Parliament lobby this afternoon.

“Although I called for the police to come and help, no one came… and my driver Michael called (DAP MP Fong) Po Kuan, who then called (DAP MP) Lim (Lip Eng).

“Lim came with N Gobalakrishnan (Padang Serai-PKR), Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang-DAP) and Chong Chieng Jen (Bandar Kuching-DAP),” he told reporters after the incident.

“I might be in a wheelchair but I will not be cowed or intimidated by anyone,” he added.

The DAP chairperson and Bukit Gelugor MP said the Umno Youth supporters were so brazen that some of them had given him their name cards.

“They were very unruly and refused to let me leave,” said the veteran politician, who called for urgent action to be taken against the mob.

“Something must be done on a very urgent basis… how were these people even allowed in the precincts of Parliament? Where is the security if we are going to be accosted on our way to the House?

“I want action to be taken by the speaker, a rhetoric statement in the House is not enough, we want action and the speaker could do the necessary afterwards,” he added.
Continue reading “‘Cops, security did not help me’”

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Sultan has no powers to ask Nizar to quit

by NH Chan
Malaysiakini
20.2.09

According to the Perak constitution, the ruler has a personal discretion in the performance of two functions – the appointment of a menteri besar and the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of the legislative assembly.

On Feb 4, Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, the mentri besar, was granted an audience by the sultan to request for the ruler’s consent to dissolve the Perak State Assembly.

The next day, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak also requested for an audience with the sultan as the Perak BN chief and consent was granted for him to present himself before the ruler.

This is the account given in the Star, Feb 6:

“The four-page statement, signed by the sultan’s private secretary, Col Abdul Rahim Mohamad Nor, was issued at 2.15pm, Feb 5.

“It said Mohd Nizar had an audience with the sultan yesterday to seek the ruler’s consent to dissolve the state assembly. Earlier in the day, Najib, who is Perak Barisan chairman, had an audience with the sultan twice.

“At the audience in the morning, he informed the ruler that BN and its supporters now had the majority in the state assembly. The statement said the sultan had summoned all the 31 assemblymen before him to verify the information.

“‘His Royal Highness had used his discretion under Article XWI (2)(b) of the Perak Darul Ridzuan State Constitution and did not consent to the dissolution of the Perak State Assembly,’ the statement added.”

Bernama later reported that Mohd Nizar was summoned to an audience to be informed of the sultan’s decision not to dissolve the state government.

Now what is wrong with that? Continue reading “Sultan has no powers to ask Nizar to quit”

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Abdullah – retract statement that police report be lodged against Perak Speaker Sivakumar

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is right when he ridiculed the public statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir to lodge a police report against the Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar.

As Mahathir asked in his blog, “If the decision of the Speaker can be considered a crime, then what will happen when the Parliamentary Speaker suspends opposition members for whatever reasons?”

Abdullah has not only made a ridiculous proposal, he had set a bad example as Prime Minister in publicly calling for an open breach of the law, as the Speaker’s decision or action, whether one agrees or disagrees with it, is protected by law and conferred immunity from civil or criminal proceedings.

This is why the Police should stop harassing Sivakumar as the police should be the first to uphold the law rather than to break it. Continue reading “Abdullah – retract statement that police report be lodged against Perak Speaker Sivakumar”

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Zambry – seek legitimacy as Perak MB through state polls

Yesterday, the illegal and illegitimate Perak Mentri Besar Dr. Zambry Abd. Kadir admitted that people were wondering whether he was truly the Mentri Besar and lamented that his position was considered illegitimate and illegal – undoubtedly by the majority of the people in Perak and Malaysia if they are given the opportunity to have their say.

Zambry should seek legitimacy as Perak Mentri Besar through a new snap state election in Perak as he will never gain legitimacy through the immoral, illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional power grab orchestrated by the new UMNO Perak chief and the Prime Minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Unless the Perak State Assembly is dissolved to return the mandate to the voters of Perak to elect the state government of their choice, Zambry will go down in Perak and Malaysian history with the dubious reputation as the “usurper” and illegal Mentri Besar who has no popular mandate or legitimacy to be the head of government because of the immoral, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab orchestrated by Najib.

The Perak political and constitutional crisis sparked by Najib’s immoral, illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional power grab had dragged on for too long and it is the responsibility of all the political leaders in both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional to end the political stalemate of two Mentris Besar to restore the people’s confidence and mobilise state and national energies to face the worst global economic crisis in 80 years. Continue reading “Zambry – seek legitimacy as Perak MB through state polls”

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Perak political crisis can be ended in 30 days – with snap state elections

UMNO leaders, particularly, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat to keep the palace above the political crisis in Perak as the issue in contention is not about the institution of constitutional monarchy but the popular will of the voters.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has rightly pointed out in his blog about the real nature of the constitutional crisis in Perak – it is not about the status of the Rulers like the 1993 constitutional crisis “which arose from an ugly confrontation between Umno and the Rulers over a question that had direct and profound implications on their sovereignty and that of the Yang Dipertuan Agong” but about the legitimacy of the process by which a new state government has been formed in Perak.

This is why Abdullah and other UMNO leaders created consternation yesterday when they sought to present the Perak political and constitutional crisis as a crisis of the system of constitutional monarchy using the language of “disrespect the Sultan” and even “treason” when it is solely and strictly about whether UMNO should be allowed to orchestrate an immoral, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

The best way to uphold the system of constitutional monarchy in the country is for all political parties, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, to keep the Rulers above the political fray – especially on the question as to who should form the legitimate and democratically-elected government in Perak. Continue reading “Perak political crisis can be ended in 30 days – with snap state elections”

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Forum – “Perak Coup D’etat: What Say You?”

Public Forum : “Perak Coup D’etat : What Say You?”
Date : 17th Feb 2009 (Tuesday)
Time : 8:00pm
Venue : Dewan Hamzah, Majlis Perbandaran Klang, Klang
Speakers : Ngeh Koo Ham
A. Sivanesan
Lim Kit Siang
Khalid Samad
Dr. Dzulkifli Ahmad
Haris Ibrahim
Charles Santiago
Organiser: Office of Klang Member of Parliament

Please contact Yap (016-2026300) / Sarah (016-6267797) for any enquiries.

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Zambry – dissolve State Assembly or go down in history as the infamous “illegitimate Perak MB” and dragging with him Najib

Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir should cut the Gordian knot of the Perak political crisis by agreeing to the dissolution of the Perak State Assembly or he will go down in history as the infamous “illegitimate Perak Mentri Besar” and dragging with him Najib Razak.

If Zambry is a democrat and believes that he has the mandate from the voters of Perak to be Mentri Besar, he should not have any qualm in opting for the only decent, honest and honourable solution to the political crisis – dissolution of the Perak State Assembly to return the mandate to the Perak voters to elect the Mentri Besar and government of their choice.

Zambry should know better than anyone that the illegal and unconstitutional power grab orchestrated by the Prime Minister-in-waiting, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is a great disservice to the cause of the healthy growth of parliamentary democracy in the country.

This is because Zambry should have realized by now that he has no credibility and legitimacy whatsoever as the Perak Mentri Besar among the people of Perak and Malaysia – which explains why he had such a short fuse in his first media conference as the illegitimate Mentri Besar of Perak on Tuesday.
Continue reading “Zambry – dissolve State Assembly or go down in history as the infamous “illegitimate Perak MB” and dragging with him Najib”

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Perak political crisis – all options will have to be considered

The Election Commission has acted unconstitutionally outside its jurisdiction in refusing to recognize the decision of the Perak Speaker, V. Sivakumar on the vacancy of the Changkat Jering and Behrang state assembly seats and to hold by-elections.

As pointed out clearly by the former Election Commission Chairman, Tan Sri Rashid Rahman, the Election Commission’s constitutional duty is to act on the Perak Speaker’s official notification on the vacancy of the two state assembly seats and to call for by-elections to be held in the next 60 days.

It is no business of the Election Commission to act and usurp the jurisdiction of the courts to dispute the Speaker’s decision – as any such legal challenge should come from Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu if they want to challenge the legality of their resignations from their respective state assembly seats.

In this case, the Election Commission has even acted as a court of law – in a decision which is clearly influenced by the political interests and considerations of the Barisan Nasional.

With the further odds against the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak, all options to resolve the political crisis in Perak will have to be considered.

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Najib “No freehold” bombshell – who are the “spanner throwers”?

Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Datuk Seri Najib Razak dropped a bombshell at the National Land Council meeting yesterday – that it is unconstitutional for state governments to issue freehold titles to new villages, kampong tersusun and other purposes, impacting directly on the plans of Pakatan Rakyat state governments of Perak and Penang.

The Perak Pakatan Rakyat State government had announced within a month of being in power after the March 8 “political tsunami” that freehold titles would be issued to new villages and kampong tersusun, affecting some 149,000 people living in 349 planned and 134 new villages in the state.

The Penang Pakatan Rakyat State Government had also announced that residential leasehold landowners in the state could apply for their property to be converted to freehold status and earlier this month, that some 20,000 owners of low and medium-cost flats developed on state land need not pay a premium to convert their leasehold titles to freehold status.

There is controversy as to whether Najib is right that Article 91(5) of the Constitution and the National Land Code constitute a bar on the state governments from issuing freehold titles without the approval of the National Land Council. Continue reading “Najib “No freehold” bombshell – who are the “spanner throwers”?”

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Mukhriz has committed the offence of sedition in proposing closure of Chinese/Tamil primary schools

UMNO MP for Jerlun and candidate for Umno Youth chief, Mukhriz Mahathir has committed the offence of sedition in questioning one of the four “sensitive” issues entrenched in the Constitution which has no parliamentary immunity and on conviction, he can be stripped of his parliamentary membership, disqualified from taking part in parliamentary and state assembly elections as well as barred from holding office in any society for five years.

However Mukhriz twist and turn, there can be no doubt that in his press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday which he repeated in his speech in the House last night, he was in fact calling for the closure of Chinese and Tamil primary schools, hence the following headlines:

• “Sekolah satu sistem – cadangan ke arah menggantikan pendidikan berbeza aliran” – Utusan Malaysia
• “Mukhriz: Scrap vernacular schools, one system for all” (Star online).
• “”Abolish dual system” (Star in print).
• “Mukhriz: Close down vernacular schools” (Malaysiakini English)
• “Mukhriz saran tutup sekolah vernacular” (Malaysiakini Bahasa Malaysia)
• “Mukhriz says vernacular schools should be abolished” (Malaysianinside)
• “Change all school medium to Bahasa Malaysia” – Nanyang
• “Abolish Chinese and Tamil primary schools to check polarisation – Mukhriz” – (China Press)
• “Standardise all primary schools with Bahasa Malaysia as medium of instruction” – (Oriental Daily) Continue reading “Mukhriz has committed the offence of sedition in proposing closure of Chinese/Tamil primary schools”

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Why PM and DPM out of the country at same time this week – breaking 30-yr standing rule?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is in Uzbekistan for a four-day official visit, accompanied by his wife and Cabinet Ministers including Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Senator Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz (both from the Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Shafie Apdal (Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage) and Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Higher Education). Abdullah will only return back to office for duty on Friday, 21st November 2008.

Tomorrow, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will leave with another team of Cabinet Ministers for the 16th Apec Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in Lima, Peru, starting this week.

It has been reported that Najib will go ahead to New York from Peru and will only be back home early next month.

This would mean that for at least two days on Wednesday and Thursday, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister would be out of the country at the same time – which will run counter to the 30-year standing rule or of longer vintage that both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister should not be out of the country at the same.

Why has this standing rule been broken this week? Continue reading “Why PM and DPM out of the country at same time this week – breaking 30-yr standing rule?”

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The Courage To Be Different

by M. Bakri Musa

The Sultan of Trengganu’s decision not to bestow royal honors on the occasion of his birthday is worthy of praise. I also applaud his celebrating it in a low-key manner. With the nation facing trying economic times, this message of prudence needs to be conveyed from the highest levels of our leadership. Further, the Sultan’s gesture while seemingly symbolic portends far more significant changes.

I am surprised that this is not more recognized and lauded by our intellectuals and pundits. Perhaps they too are eagerly waiting for their own little title and accompanying tinplate.

The Sultan in his capacity as King is also imparting his important message to the Prime Minister. Abdullah, his humble beginnings in the village and his very public displays of piety notwithstanding, has shown a detestable fondness for things luxurious since becoming Prime Minister. Witness his RM 250 million corporate jet! Prudent spending is not his strength.

For a culture that does not normally recognize birthdays, Malaysians have taken up this Western cultural artifact with gusto. This is especially so with the royalty. The investiture ceremonies associated with such birthdays would stretch for days, with the Prime Minister and other top officials having to be in attendance at all times, thus distracting them from their regular work. Not that they are any good or effective when they are in their offices!

Apart from the King, Malaysia has nine sultans as well as four sultan wannabes in the person of state governors. With 14 head-of-state birthdays to celebrate and heaps of honorifics to bestow, there is a glut of these titles.

It is not so much that I detest these ostentatious celebrations rather that I resent the wasting of precious taxpayers’ money. I could not care less if those sultans and governors were to throw private parties at their own expense. Continue reading “The Courage To Be Different”

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Religion and the Social Contract: Can Religion be reconciled with Civil Society?

By Farish A. Noor

Modern nation-states are, for all intents and purposes, artificial entities that are the product of consensus and rational agency. Practically every modern nation-state in the world today traces its history to some founding moment and a founding document that lays down the terms of the social contract that brought together a disparate community of individuals to form a pact, which in turn sustains the nation as a whole and lends it sense of identity and cohesiveness over time.

Now of course the foundational moment of many a nation-state today is lost in the mist of history and some might ask the question of how and why should an agreement made by a handful of men (and it is nearly always men, not women, mind you) who lived centuries ago be relevant to the citizens of today? America’s founding moment, for instance, lay in the midst of battle and the struggle of the American colonies to break free from the yoke of British imperialism then. However even a cursory glance at the documents of the past will show that America’s founding fathers were a small band of landed white American capitalists, land-owners and slave-traders who cared little for the fate of the thousands of African-Americans who were the descendants of slaves brought there from Africa. Equally scant attention was paid to the plight of the native Americans who in time would be marginalised and corralled into their reserves and left out of the mainstream of society, relegated to the status of ‘savage natives’ unfit for modernisation. Likewise women who made up half of the colonies’ population are hardly mentioned in the founding documents of what later became the United States of America.

Be that as it may, there remained enough scope for expansion and development in the American Constitution to allow the country to adapt to the changing realities of the time, and crucial articles of the Constitution – which guarantee equality and freedom of speech, for instance – paved the way for the American Civil Rights movement and the American Feminist movement that came into being by the mid-20th century.

As in the case of the United States, so was it the case in many other secular democracies in the developed part of the world where social upheavals and transformation were facilitated by the looseness of their respective Constitutions, that in turn allowed for the continuous revision and re-reading of its meaning and intent. What is crucial to note in all these cases is the fact that the advances in terms of civil and political rights in these countries occurred via recourse to the Constitution and the rule of law. At no point was the Constitution rejected outright simply because the founding fathers of the nation all came from the same elite strata of white, middle-classed men. Continue reading “Religion and the Social Contract: Can Religion be reconciled with Civil Society?”

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PM should overrule Johari and rescind Internal Security Ministry order to HERALD

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should overrule Internal Security Deputy Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum and rescind the Internal Security Ministry order to Herald, the Catholic weekly to discontinue the Bahasa Malaysia section, so that Christmas Day this year will not be celebrated under a cloud of burgeoning religious intolerance and constitutional encroachments.

Johari has admitted that he had made the decision that the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion, and to impose the new condition on this restriction on the Herald when the annual publishing permit of the Catholic weekly is next renewed.

Although Johari said that his decision was based on a report submitted by the publications department of his ministry, it is an indictment of the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process and even misgovernance that there had been no consultation whatsoever with the religious organizations which will be affected by the decision.

Even more arbitrary and deplorable was the ministry’s decision to abolish the Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia section, which is not only unconstitutional but shows that the government itself does not give pride of place to Bahasa Malaysia.

As the word “Allah” has been used to refer to God among Christians for generations in many countries and is never meant to offend or confuse the Muslims, Abdullah should intervene to rescind such retrogressive measure by the Internal Security Ministry or it will be another signal that Malaysia is down the slippery slope of more religious restrictions for non-Muslim faiths, whose constitutionally-entrenched guarantees of freedom of religion are not being honoured by the government. Continue reading “PM should overrule Johari and rescind Internal Security Ministry order to HERALD”