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Arms deals inked by ‘expired PM’ may not be valid

by Koh Jun Lin
Malaysiakini
Mar 30, 2013

Pakatan Rakyat would review all contracts signed by the federal government after March 8 and possibly cancel them if they are found to be unfair or involved abuse of power, if the coalition takes over Putrajaya, said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

He said in his speech at Seputeh today that the government has no business signing these deals five years after the last general election; they should be considered interim agreements subject to confirmation by the succeeding government.

Highlighting the RM4.2 billion arms deal signed in Langkawi two days ago, he said: “We will not be bound by these agreements because these are done after March 8, when the prime minister has lost legitimacy and credibility, and is only an ‘expired’ prime minister.

“He cannot sign these agreements,” he said, adding that the federal government should declare every deal it inked since that date because it should not have endorsed them.

Lim was speaking at the official launching of DAP’s Seputeh election operations centre, which occupies a shoplot that local MP Teresa Kok said was let out to the party for free by a supporter. Continue reading “Arms deals inked by ‘expired PM’ may not be valid”

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Najib’s Afraid of Losing His Job

By Kee Thuan Chye

I stand corrected for predicting that Prime Minister Najib Razak would dissolve Parliament on March 26 to allow for the 13th general election to be held in mid-April. I had thought he would be man enough to do it.

It is unclear now when he will make the much-awaited move to face the people’s decision as to whether they want to retain his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition as the government or consign it to the Opposition benches. He could also wait for Parliament to automatically dissolve on April 28.

In fact, the Negeri Sembilan State Assembly has already been automatically dissolved – as its five-year term ended on March 27. The next state assembly to follow suit is the Pahang one on April 7.

Najib’s delay does not look good for him as it shows a lack of confidence. Already, many are calling him “coward” on social media. In contrast to the Opposition’s push forward by first unveiling its manifesto way ahead and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s daring declaration of standing in the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency in Johor, the bastion of BN, followed by DAP MP Liew Chin Tong being moved from Penang to a yet-unnamed seat also in Johor, Najib’s inaction is a sign of weakness.
Continue reading “Najib’s Afraid of Losing His Job”

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Our Hope

Our Hope
By Allan CF Goh

The dark clouds may threaten,
Seemingly for eternity.
But after the rain,
The rainbow will appear,
Radiant with colours,
Alive with hope.

The darkness may stretch
Endlessly into the night,
A tarry mass of fright.
But dawn will surely come,
Bringing along the sun-bright,
To dispel the shifting shadows.

So must any rotten regime,
Bloated with corruptions,
Inert with inefficiency,
Accepted decreasingly,
Must sink into oblivion,
Into history’s waste bin.
Continue reading “Our Hope”

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12-Day Countdown to 13GE: Third Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – BN’s fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak “Going, Going, Gone!” by targeting to win 33 out of the 83 Parliamentary seats in the three states

In the last two days, I had discussed the first two objectives of the Battle of Gelang Patah:

Objective One: to target the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in south Johore to pave the way for Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections. The six Parliamentary seats are Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Tebrau, Gelang Patah, Kulai and Pulai. The 13 State Assembly seats are: Stulang, Tanjong Puteri, Johore Jaya, Permas, Puteri Wangsa, Tiram, Skudai, Nusajaya, Pengkalan Rinting, Kempas, Senai, Bukit Batu and Bukit Permai.

Objective Two: to target a total of 19 Parliamentary seats and 30 State Assembly seats in the state of Johor, including the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in South Johore which I had already mentioned. The additional 13 Parliamentary seats in the rest of Johore are Tanjong Piai, Kluang, Batu Pahat, Bakri, Labis, Segamat, Sekijang, Ledang, Muar, Ayer Hitam, Sri Gading, Simpang Rengam and Sembrong. The additional 17 State Assemby seats are Pekan Nenas, Mengkibol, Penggaram, Bentayam, Sungai Abong, Bekok, Jementah, Tangkak, Paloh, Yong Peng, Mahkota, Layang-Layang, Parit Yaani, Maharani, Gambir, Tenang and Pemanis.

I am not claiming that Pakatan Rakyat can score a bullseye and win all the 19 Parliamentary and 30 State Assembly seats in Johore mentioned. In fact, if Pakatan Rakyat can achieve 50 per cent of this target, it is already a “phenomenal political revolution” in Johor, bearing in mind the arrogant boasts of Barisan Nasional leaders just five years ago before the 2008 general elections that they would ensure that Johore would become a “zero Opposition” state!

I am of course expecting hitting a more than 50% success for the PR target of 19 Parliamentary and 30 State Assembly seats in Johore the 13GE. Continue reading “12-Day Countdown to 13GE: Third Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – BN’s fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak “Going, Going, Gone!” by targeting to win 33 out of the 83 Parliamentary seats in the three states”

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BN, no need for the politics of fear

JD Lovrenciear
Malaysiakini
Mar 27, 2013

As we gear towards an imminent dissolution of Parliament, the leaders and political party vanguards are really getting completely violently vile in thought, speech and deeds.

Are we the rakyat and nation-loving people to be left in the lurch and to stomach all this bullying then?

Why on earth is the prime minister of the nation – a leader for all Malaysians, himself also holding a gun to our heads?

BN leaders and party wigs are making all kinds of statements; are smilingly witnessing all kinds of abuse; and allowing all kinds of rubbish to be pumped out through all the mainstream media.

Are these not akin to holding a gun to the citizens’ heads? Continue reading “BN, no need for the politics of fear”

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Are we really independent?

P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Mar 29, 2013

QUESTION TIME On the eve of the general election, it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on how independent are we really.

What a moment it must have been when Malaysia (then Malaya) achieved independence from the British on Aug 31, 1957 and the flag of the newly independent country was raised.

At five years old, I was too young to remember what it was like then but have vague memories of my brother getting lost on a family visit to Kuala Lumpur town during the celebrations and being taken care of by policemen, before he was reunited with our parents.

It must have held so much hope for Malayans of all races and religions who put aside their differences to work for the formation of a new nation.

Tunku Abdul Rahman declared himself the happiest prime minister in the world and was proud of the fact that independence was achieved via negotiation without a single drop of blood being shed.

To be sure there were differences and in the years before independence there was much debate and agonising over how a disparate country of Chinese and Indian immigrants, many of whom had nowhere else but Malaya to call home, were to be integrated with the majority Malay community.

But there was a plan and everyone stuck to it and the country became independent. The communist threat had been beaten back although it would take until the sixties before they were more or less completely vanquished.

We were independent but how free were we? And did not independence mean freedom as well? Continue reading “Are we really independent?”

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Second Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – Target 19 of the 26 Parliamentary and 30 of the 56 State Assembly seats in Johore

Yesterday, when visiting Taman Damai Jaya in Gelang Patah, I spoke about the meaning of the Battle of Gelang Patah.

I stressed that the Battle of Gelang Patah is not my personal battle on whether I can be re-elected to Parliament.

If this is the case, I should stay back in Ipoh Timor which I had won with a majority of over 21,000 votes in the 2008 general elections, instead of going for a very high-risk contest in Gelang Patah which was won by the MCA/BN candidate with a majority of over 8,000 votes in 2008 and a humoungous majority of 31,666 votes in 2004.

In Gelang Patah I could very well lose but I am prepared to take the risk.

This is because the Battle of Gelang Patah is not so much about the victory or defeat of an individual or the gains or losses of individual parties, but whether Johore can become a “kingmaker” in the 13GE to spark a political tsunami in the country from the south and cross the South China Sea to effect the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat. Continue reading “Second Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – Target 19 of the 26 Parliamentary and 30 of the 56 State Assembly seats in Johore”

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13-Day Countdown to 13GE – In forcing the Negri Sembilan to be dissolved “automatically” on Wednesday midnight, Najib has unconstitutionally hijacked the powers of the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar and even the Yang di Pertuan Besar on dissolution of State Assembly

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has chalked up another dubious record in his political career – as for the second time, he has shown utter contempt for important, delicate and sensitive Federal-State relationships by trampling on the sanctity of State Constitutions in his utter disregard for the state’s autonomy, rights, powers and prerogatives entrenched in the State Constitutions.

The first time Najib violated the sanctity of a state constitution was in February 2009 when he orchestrated an undemocratic, illegal, unethical and unconstitutional grab for power in Perak and ousted the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin and the democratically-elected Pakatan Rakyat Perak executive council and government from office.

As a result, Najib’s recent signature of Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge is regarded as a political farce totally lacking in meaning and commitment, even in destroying in the process the credibility, authority and legitimacy of TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge altogether.

The second time Najib had violated the sanctity of State Constitutions happened on Wednesday midnight when he forced the Negri Sembilan State Assembly to run out of time and which had to be dissolved automatically with the Negri Sembilan Yang di Pertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and the Speaker, Datuk Razak Mansor completely in the dark on the issue. Continue reading “13-Day Countdown to 13GE – In forcing the Negri Sembilan to be dissolved “automatically” on Wednesday midnight, Najib has unconstitutionally hijacked the powers of the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar and even the Yang di Pertuan Besar on dissolution of State Assembly”

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Court turns a blind eye to justice

P Ramakrishnan
Immediate past president, now Aliran executive committee member
27 March 2013

Malaysians were rudely shocked to learn that the High Court in Shah Alam put itself in a straitjacket and refused to see the glaring injustice that was clearly highlighted by Klang MP Charles Santiago in a suit that was decided on 14 March 2013.

Mr Santiago wanted the Court to review the principal and supplementary electoral rolls for his parliamentary constituency.

It was very disappointing that Judge Vernon Ong said that the Court was bound by Section 9A of the Elections Act 1958 and cannot review a gazetted electoral roll, literally throwing to the wind the conventional wisdom that “where there is a malady the Court will provide a remedy” – even if it has to use its inherent powers.

The Judge further noted that the Court could not compel the Election Commission (EC) to respond to the queries of the MP as there was no provision in the Act for it to do so. While it may be true that there is no such provision, what is far more important is whether there is specifically any provision in the Act prohibiting the EC from responding?

Why was this logical point entirely overlooked by the Court? If the Court was the bastion of justice as provided by the inherent powers of providing a remedy for a malady, it would have been the natural consequence to fall back on this logic. But surprisingly, this was not the case.

While it may be true that the Court was bound by Section 9A of the Election Act, shouldn’t the Court invoking its overview functions have also looked into the legality of this section?

Is it constitutional? Is it constitutional to perpetuate a wrong in spite of fraud, probably even of a criminal nature, that were clearly established by Mr Santiago? Continue reading “Court turns a blind eye to justice”

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Time starting to run out for BN

― Fikry Osman
The Malaysian Insider
March 28, 2013

MARCH 28 ― The Negri Sembilan state assembly ran out of time and all the mentri besar could do is say that his is now the caretaker state government.

What kind of leadership is this? As the state’s chief executive, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan should have had the scrotal gumption to dissolve the legislature and notify the Election Commission (EC).

It would be up to them to decide the timing for polls, whether to hold it first or wait for the other assemblies and Parliament to also be dissolved.

Instead, he waited until time ran out and reportedly said, “There has to be a caretaker government because we will have to pay wages and look into other matters during the period… without a caretaker government, there will be anarchy.”

That is stating the obvious. Of course there is a caretaker government until the polls are held, whether he dissolves it or it is done automatically.

He should have just gone ahead and done it himself instead of looking like a clueless politician waiting for further orders from Putrajaya. Continue reading “Time starting to run out for BN”

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Ignorance isn’t bliss when it comes to bigots

The Malaysian Insider
March 28, 2013

MARCH 28 ― They say ignorance is bliss. And Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon says the Cabinet interfaith committee has deliberately avoided censuring those who spark religious tension in order to prevent giving them further publicity.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for unity and performance management said such people would only say “more and more” if the interfaith committee castigated them.

“Very often, ignoring is the best,” he said. “After one day, no more news… We better focus on promoting harmony.”

He has a point there except this strategy has failed miserably. These people are not used to being ignored by anyone and have become more brazen as days go by.

Look at what has happened this year. Malay rights group Perkasa urged Muslims last January to burn Malay-language bibles that contain the word “Allah” and other religious Arabic script.

Columnist Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah allegedly disparaged the Hindu community in an article published in Malay-language daily Sinar Harian on February 18.

All this just a few years after a group of men dragged a cow’s head in Shah Alam to protest a Hindu temple. Cows are sacred in Hinduism, something which almost every Malaysian knows. Continue reading “Ignorance isn’t bliss when it comes to bigots”

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Koh defends private screenings of Tanda Putera

by Koh Jun Lin
Malaysiakini
Mar 28, 2013

Private screenings of the controversial film on the May 13, 1969 racial riots, Tanda Putera are allowed because the cabinet decision to postpone its screening is restricted to public screenings only.

“There have been some private screenings for people to make some judgments and decisions.

“As long as there is no public screening, for that is the decision that was made by the cabinet,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon said today.

Asked why was this allowed despite charges that the film was racially divisive, the de facto unity minister questioned such a charge.

“I don’t know how many screenings there have been, but has it led to racial strife? I don’t know. You better check the facts before reporting on that,” Koh told reporters.

Information Minister Rais Yatim had previously said that Tanda Putera’s premier has been deferred because of ‘inappropriate’ scenes in the film. Continue reading “Koh defends private screenings of Tanda Putera”

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Ambiga: Four ‘good’ reasons, my foot!

RK Anand| March 28, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

The Bersih chief dismisses the four reasons given by the Star’s group editor-in-chief for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s delay in dissolving Parliament.

KUALA LUMPUR: In a comment piece published on the front-page of the Star today, the MCA-owned daily’s group editor-in-chief Wong Chun Wai stated four reasons for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s feet-dragging on the dissolution of Parliament.

However, Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga is not convinced with the four “good” reasons, which were:

*A caretaker government cannot enter into agreements at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima).

*Finishing touches to some projects and programmes.

*Barisan Nasional’s candidates’ list not finalised.

*Impossible at the moment for politicians to campaign freely in Lahad Datu.

Commenting on the first reason cited, Ambiga told FMT that it is not a licence to dig into the public coffers to embark on a spending spree.

“Lima contracts were all foreseeable. If this was an aim, then why lead the public on a merry ride and threaten to dissolve Parliament for more than a year?” she asked.
Continue reading “Ambiga: Four ‘good’ reasons, my foot!”

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First objective of Battle of Gelang Patah is to target the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in south Johore to pave the way for Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in 13GE

Since March 18, 2013, when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced at the forty-seventh DAP anniversary celebrations in Johore Baru that I will be contesting in the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency in line with the Pakatan Rakyat decision to make Johor the front-line state in the 13th General Elections, Gelang Patah and Johore have catapulted to national attention and captured the imagination of Malaysians about the challenges of the coming general elections.

There have been diverse reactions covering the entire spectrum, from one end regarding this a foolhardy decision to the other end hailing the decision as a most exciting and challenging test in the 13GE.

Those of the former view are concerned whether I could survive in Gelang Patah, as I will be leaving Ipoh Timor where I won in 2008 general election with a majority of over 21,000 votes to go to a constituency which has always been regarded as a “fort’ of MCA and Barisan Nasional.

In the 2008 general election, MCA/BN won Gelang Patah with a majority of over 8,000 votes while in the 2004 general election, the majority is an awesome one of 31,666 votes!

Is it possible to reverse such humongous majorities for the MCA/BN in Gelang Patah as to win the seat for DAP/Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE? Continue reading “First objective of Battle of Gelang Patah is to target the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in south Johore to pave the way for Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in 13GE”

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Lim Kit Siang’s wisdom

By LIM SUE GOAN
Sin Chew Daily
2013-03-28

13th general election
Opinion

As wisdom comes with age, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang is having the best political view among Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

Why is Lim Kit Siang leading DAP leaders to attack Johor? He revealed his campaign layout during an interview with the Sin Chew Daily.

He believes that the 308 political tsunami has not reached its peak and the wind of anti-ruling stopped at Negeri Sembilan. The purpose of attacking the southern peninsula this time is to make the tsunami which has not completed its task five years ago to reach its peak and hit the south-central peninsula, shaking the bastions of Umno and the MCA.

Although the responses of Chinese voters in Johor have given the DAP confidence that the tsunami this time would start from southern peninsula and spread its impacts to the northern part, Johor, after all, is the BN’s bastion and thus, there is a certain level of risk for Lim Kit Siang to take such a move this time, particularly when Johor Malay voters still tend to support the BN.

Despite the risk, Lim Kit Siang, who has engaged in politics for 47 years, knows that the fleeting opportunity will be gone if they do not grab it. Continue reading “Lim Kit Siang’s wisdom”

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14-Day Countdown to 13GE: Unhealthy Federal-State relations where Negri Sembilan State Assembly automatically dissolved midnight last night because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister

Another dubious record by Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia – Malaysian history’s first “automatic” dissolution of a State Assembly at midnight last night not because of a conscious and deliberate decision by the Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar but because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister embroiled in a Hamlet agony unable to decide when to dissolve Parliament for fear of becoming the last Umno/BN Prime Minister.

The automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly last night, with Negri Sembilan now without a single elected State Assembly members in the sixty days until May 26 – the last date for the election of the new Negri Sembilan State Assembly – is a major blow to healthy Federal-state relations, as it is a classic case where a State Government has been deprived of its constitutional right to seek a new mandate from the electorate solely because of extraneous and even unconstitutional considerations – the indecisiveness of the Prime Minister!

This is not the Federal-state relations which the country’s forefathers and the founders of the country’s Constitution had ever envisaged or desired more than half a century ago – for the autonomy, independence and prerogatives of each state government in the federation of Malaysia is to be jealously protected and honoured.

I am sure if Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Tan Cheng Lock or Tun Sambanthan had been asked 56 years ago whether under the 1957 Merdeka Federal Constitution a state government would be deprived of the power and have to surrender its prerogative to dissolve the State Assembly to seek a new mandate at the end of its five-year term to the Prime Minister until he could decide when to dissolve Parliament, the answer from all the fathers of Merdeka would be a loud, clear-cut and categorical “No! No! No!” Continue reading “14-Day Countdown to 13GE: Unhealthy Federal-State relations where Negri Sembilan State Assembly automatically dissolved midnight last night because of a “kiasu” and “kiasi” Prime Minister”

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Najib leaves Taib video expose to MACC probe

by Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
March 27, 2013

The Financial Times reported that the prime minister declined to address the expose by Global Witness directly during the interview. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is “equally as concerned about corruption” as its critics but the problem cannot go away overnight, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a Financial Times (FT) interview carried today, in the wake of a damning expose on Sarawak’s timber scandals.

The international financial daily reported that the prime minister declined to address the expose by Global Witness (GW) directly during the interview, pointing out that Malaysian graftbusters were already investigating the allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“Prostitution and corruption are two things that mankind has had to live with for so long. But we are determined to tackle it. It is a scourge. But it is something that will not go away overnight,” he was quoted saying.

In the article describing the likely heated contest that Najib will face in Election 2013, FT noted that Umno is vulnerable on the topic of corruption, which the federal opposition will use as its key weapon on the campaign trail. Continue reading “Najib leaves Taib video expose to MACC probe”

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Will MCA regain the 25 seats it lost in Election 2008?

by Lee Hwa Beng
The Malaysian Insider
MARCH 27, 2013

MARCH 27 ― In the last general election, MCA contested 40 Parliament seats yet it won only 15. Out of the 40 seats, MCA was able to win only 7 (out of 23 contested seats) from DAP, six (out of 15 contested seats) from PKR and two (out of two contested seats) from PAS.

This shows MCA won mainly in mixed seats where there are fewer Chinese voters while it lost heavily in the Chinese majority seats.

One can deduce, therefore, that MCA won with the support of Malay rather than Chinese votes.

Another major contributing factor in MCA’s drastic loss was the significant reduction of support from Indian voters who were traditionally Barisan Nasional/MCA supporters (more than 80 per cent) but have since deserted the ruling coalition with less than 40 per cent of them voting for the ruling coalition in GE12.

As in my earlier articles, “Who will win the 13th General Election?” and “How will MCA fare in the 25 seats they won in the last election?”, I will provide the reader with background information and factors to consider for my latest question: “Will MCA be able to wrest any of the 25 seats they lost in the last elections?” Continue reading “Will MCA regain the 25 seats it lost in Election 2008?”

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Pakatan and Kit Siang Take the Offensive

by Kee Thuan Chye
from Yahoo! Malaysia

It looks like Pakatan Rakyat is driving the 13th general election. As this most crucial of Malaysian elections draws near, the Opposition coalition is the more gung-ho in leading the way into battle. It is initiating the charge, taking the offensive, scoring the psychological points.

While the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is led by a leader who has been tardy in calling for the general election partly because he has been humming and hawing about wanting the rakyat to feel the effects of his transformation programmes first, Pakatan has already shown its preparedness by coming out with its manifesto a few weeks ago, way ahead of BN.

In football terms, this is like the away team, despite its disadvantageous position, taking the play to the home team and attacking its goalmouth. Sometimes, this can end in a victory for the outsiders.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s decision to stand in Gelang Patah – in BN’s impregnable state, Johor – is another courageous offensive. It is a risky move by the DAP veteran who has never fought shy of engaging in difficult battles.

In the most famous of his encounters, he took on Lim Chong Eu, the Chief Minister of Penang then, at Padang Kota in 1990 and won. Nonetheless, it was a huge gamble for Kit Siang, who has not always been victorious. He lost when he came out of his comfortable position as Kubu state assemblyman in 1982 to try and capture Bandar Hilir, and again when he took on the risky seat of Tanjung Bungah in 1995 against yet another chief minister, Koh Tsu Koon. In fact, throughout his political career, Kit Siang has lost five times. Continue reading “Pakatan and Kit Siang Take the Offensive”