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Can a statutory declaration clear Rohaizat of the “personal misconduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls for breach of trust and dishonesty?

Barisan Nasional candidate for Permatang Pasir by-election Rohaizat Othman has said that he would heed Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s advice to make a statutory declaration to protect himself from accusations made by various quarters.

The two questions Rohaizat must answer are:

  • Whether he was found guilty of “serious misconduct” including “breach of trust, dishonesty, shown gross disregard” of the client’s (Penang Small Rubber Plantation Holders’ Co-operative Society) interests “tantamount to a conduct unbefitting that of an advocate and solicitor which conduct as such brings the legal profession into disrepute” and struck off the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors by the Chairman of the Advocates and Solictors Disciplinary Board Tan Sri Khalid Ahmad Sulaiman on 7th March 2008, which was upheld by the High Court; and

  • Whether a statutory declaration can clear Rohaizat of his “personal conduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls?

Continue reading “Can a statutory declaration clear Rohaizat of the “personal misconduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls for breach of trust and dishonesty?”

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Will Najib call for general elections in November this year if he could crank up his popularity rating to 80 to 85%?

I am quite intrigued by the following Sunday Star report “11 goodies at 11.11am on July 11” on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Hundred Day Address as Prime Minister yesterday, viz:

KUALA LUMPUR: It was the Prime Minister’s 100th day in office but it was the number 11 that took prominence.

His first 100 days fell on July 11. He announced 11 people-friendly measures, starting his speech at 11.11am.

Two minutes before that, Najib was already on stage to deliver his speech.

He smiled when the master of ceremony politely called on him to hang on for a while because, said the MC in jest, the speech text had gone missing.

At exactly 11.11am, Najib started delivering his 50-minute speech.

It would appear that “11” is Najib’s favourite or even magic number, just as it is known that “13” is the favourite number of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Continue reading “Will Najib call for general elections in November this year if he could crank up his popularity rating to 80 to 85%?”

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Najib should seek a vote of confidence as the first item of June meeting of Parliament starting on June 15

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s win in the Penanti by-election is nothing to boast about as it cannot be used as a yardstick to gauge the popularity of any political parties.

He told reporters at the 20th Asean-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island that Mansor Othman’s win was “not exciting” as the voter turnout was less than 50 per cent and “a win against independent candidates is not an absolute win…something that one can be proud of”.

This is really sour grapes by Najib, who should be ashamed of himself that the UMNO and Barisan Nasional that he leads dare not contest in Penanti, for fear that it would be his third consecutive by-election defeat in the Peninsular since becoming Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional’s fifth consecutive defeat since the March 8 political tsunami in last year’s general election.

The Penanti by-election results are very telling. Although Umno sponsored one independent candidate and Gerakan sponsored another Independent candidate, all three independent candidates lost their deposits – although the Gerakan-sponsored candidate beat the Umno-sponsored candidate by 102 votes!
Continue reading “Najib should seek a vote of confidence as the first item of June meeting of Parliament starting on June 15”

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Preamble to a Penanti proclamation

by Azly Rahman

Two scores and ten years ago, our forefathers and foremothers brought forth in this kampong the plan for a just republic that never materialised. We argued and waged peace for a republic of virtue but instead were given a warmongering State of Denial.

We toiled to establish a kingdom of peace and tolerance but saw instead the evolution of a dictatorship of plutocracy and totalitarianism. We have become ‘It’ in our journey towards the ‘Thou’. The “I” in us has gone astray, intoxicated by the “it-ness” of things.

Two scores and ten years ago, we thought we had Independence – given on a silver platter by a dying imperial power. But what we got was a state that evolved out of ketuanan Melayu. We wanted Liberty but we got Plutocracy.

Two scores and ten years later we are seeing a country divided, sub-divided, and further sub-divided into tribes and post-industrial tribes. The politics of race have strengthened and inspired the few to plunder and patronise the many. We are seeing chaos disguised in the name of consensus. Continue reading “Preamble to a Penanti proclamation”

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Election Commission – explain strange/extraordinary behaviour, reinforcing public suspicions about its independence, professionalism and integrity

At its meeting with political parties today, the Election Commission should explain its recent strange and extraordinary behaviour which only reinforce public suspicions about its independence, professionalism and integrity.

The Election Commission is acting more and more as a mouthpiece and appendage of the Barisan Nasional government instead of being a non-partisan, professional and independent Election Commission as mandated by the Constitution to conduct free, fair and clean elections to give meaning to the system of parliamentary democracy in Malaysia.

For instance, the Election Commission should explain its strange and unprecedented behaviour in not announcing the nomination and polling dates for the Penanti by-election although the Election Commission met on the matter yesterday.

In my 43 years of political and electoral experience, I have not come across another instance where the Election Commission failed to announce the dates for general election or by-election on the very same day after it had held a special meeting on it. Continue reading “Election Commission – explain strange/extraordinary behaviour, reinforcing public suspicions about its independence, professionalism and integrity”

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EC – what moral right has it to propose law changes to deal with “unnecessary by-elections”?

The Election Commission and Barisan Nasional leaders are talking about “unnecessary by-elections” and even to amend laws to prevent them because the Barisan Nasional is on a losing streak after the March 8 general election “political tsunami” last year.

If the Barisan Nasional had won all the five by-elections held since the general elections last year, and is on a winning streak, neither the Election Commission nor the Barisan Nasional leaders hogging the media now about “unnecessary by-elections” would have uttered a single word!

I find it shocking that the Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd has told Sin Chew Daily that the Election Commission is very serious about silly proposals to amend current elections laws to impose monetary penalty of RM100,000 or higher to prevent such “unnecessary by-elections” except in cases of death, illness or other conditions causing MPs or Assemblymen to be unfit to perform their duties.

Abdul Aziz should focus the energies of the Election Commission on reforms of election laws and the electoral system to eradicate the loopholes and blemishes which have marred the holding of free, fair, clean and democratic elections instead of dancing to the tune of Barisan Nasional leaders who are afraid of contesting in the Penanti by-election.
Continue reading “EC – what moral right has it to propose law changes to deal with “unnecessary by-elections”?”

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Why there should be by-elections for Jelapang, Behrang and Changkat Jering (Perak) and Kulai (Parliament)

When it was reported in the press this morning that Kedah Gerakan Youth had proposed amendments to the current elections laws, imposing monetary penalty of RM50,000 for state assemblymen and RM100,000 for MPs who resigned except in cases of death, illness or other conditions causing them unfit to perform their duties, I dismissed it as another example of scatterbrained ideas from those competing as to who could come out with more stupid suggestions.

However Bernama reported midday that the Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir is also making the same proposal, saying that the Election Commission should fine state assemblymen or Member of Parliament who resign without just cause or valid reason.

Mukriz said the resignation of assemblymen and MPs has become a trend among the opposition, “apparently to continuously hog the limelight”.

Apparently, Mukriz and Kedah Gerakan Youth belong to a substantial group in the Barisan Nasional quite lacking in grey matters as to have such silly ideas – imagine Opposition MPs or Assemblymen resigning just to “hog the limelight” when his father, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had amended the Constitution in 1990 to bar anyone who resigns as MP or State Assembly member from the right to stand for re-election for five years! Continue reading “Why there should be by-elections for Jelapang, Behrang and Changkat Jering (Perak) and Kulai (Parliament)”

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EC – prove it is not mouthpiece/tool of BN

The time has come for the Election Commission to demonstrate that it is not the mouthpiece or tool of the Barisan Nasional government but an independent, impartial and professional Election Commission as intended by the Constitution.

Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar was quoted in the Star today as saying that the time has come to amend existing laws to prevent abuse by political parties that force elected representatives to quit their parliamentary or state seats.

He said the move by a wakil rakyat to vacate a seat to fulfil a party’s agenda should be discouraged as the cost of holding by-elections had become a burden to the country. (Star)

It is most disappointing that since the appointment of Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusuf as the new Chairman for the Election Commission at the beginning of the year, the Election Commission has made decisions and taken actions which have further undermined public confidence in its independence, impartiality and professionalism – which is quite an “achievement” considering the canyon the Election Commission had plunged into in terms of public confidence under the former Chairman. Continue reading “EC – prove it is not mouthpiece/tool of BN”

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BN not contesting Penanti by-election unconvincing unless Najib ends all “political games” and holds Perak state-wide polls

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is advocating that Umno and Barisan Nasional not contest the Penanti state by-election in Penang following the resignation of Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Mohamad Fairus Khairuddin as Penanti state assemblyman, giving as reasons that such a by-election was not in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and a waste of public funds.

Led by the Gerakan “Super Minister” Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, who praised Najib for the “good idea for BN not to participate in a by-election caused by strategic intrigue or aimed at resolving Pakatan Rakyat’s internal predicament”, the other Barisan Nasional parties quickly competed to express support for Najib.

The only lone voice was MIC President, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu who said BN should contest in Penanti to safeguard its integrity, prestige and image as the BN should not be “frightened of the opposition”. Samy’s views must have panicked the other MIC leaders, causing the MIC secretary-general and Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam to openly declare support for Najib’s “no contest” idea to contain Samy’s “damage”.

The mainstream media also swung into action to support Najib by reporting that the five by-elections since the March general elections last year have cost Malaysian taxpayers RM33.4 million, comprising: Continue reading “BN not contesting Penanti by-election unconvincing unless Najib ends all “political games” and holds Perak state-wide polls”

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Pakatan’s rising hills, Najib’s declining slope

by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Apr 8, 09

The results are in, and the 2-1 victory shows that both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional held onto their original seats. But the final tallies do not suggest a status quo. Far from it.

The larger majorities for the opposition indicate serious obstacles for Najib Abdul Razak and BN. Voters have decisively rejected his new leadership less than one week into his tenure. The debate will not only centre on the numbers, but around the factors that contributed to BN defeats.

Allow me to point out 10 factors that stand out.

1) Leadership credibility – Najib has a serious public image problem. Despite hiring public relations firms, his reform-oriented speeches and calls to give him a chance, the new premier has yet to win over the support of a majority of Malaysians. The results show that this problem is across races (even among the Malays), classes and generations. Continue reading “Pakatan’s rising hills, Najib’s declining slope”

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Second political tsunami – double ‘no confidence’ vote on Najib and Zambry

The impressive victories by Pakatan Rakyat candidates in Bukit Gantang parliamentary and Bukit Selambau state assembly (Kedah) by-elections yesterday is a second political tsunami in Malaysian electoral politics in 13 months.

They are a double “no confidence” vote on Datuk Seri Najib Razak four days after being the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia as well as on Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir as the illegitimate and usurper Perak Mentri Besar following the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak two months ago.

The Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-election results, with increased majorities for the Pakatan Rakyat candidates as compared to last year, are a clear and unmistakable endorsement of the March 8, 2008 political tsunami telling the nation and the world that what happened in the 12th general elections in March last year was neither accidental nor a fluke, to disappear like fireworks in the skies, but a major political paradigm shift representing the deep-seated and widely-held aspirations of Malaysians regardless of race or religion for democratic change.

Furthermore, that such fundamental political change is here to stay!

Continue reading “Second political tsunami – double ‘no confidence’ vote on Najib and Zambry”

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Malaysian Elections: A Case of Too Little, Too Late for the Government?

By Farish A. Noor

The by-elections in Malaysia this week have demonstrated in many ways the fact that Malaysia’s political landscape has changed very little over the past year: The ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) that is dominated by the UMNO party won the by-election in East Malaysia, but lost both by-elections in the West Malaysian states of Perak and Kedah. In the case of the latter, the results of the elections have shown that the prevailing political mood in West Malaysia remains in favour of the opposition made up of the parties of the Peoples’ Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat), which won a majority of the votes in the Peninsula during the general elections of March 2008.

Political commentators and analysts will now set about dissecting the results of these elections and engage in the arcane art of political predictions: Not least for the simple reason that the by-election results will be seen as the peoples’ verdict on the standing and popularity of the country’s new Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak.

Sworn in as the country’s sixth Prime Minister less than a week ago, Najib Razak hails from one of the oldest elite families that have dominated the internal politics of UMNO – and by extension Malaysia – for more than half a century now. Son of the country’s second Prime Minister and connected to several of the aristocratic families of the country, Najib ironically cuts a curious figure in the context of Malaysia’s new and increasingly complex politics. In the 1950s and 60s he would have been seen as a prime candidate for the office of Prime Minister thanks to his elite background and Western education. But today Malaysia is witnessing the emergence of a new society that is infinitely more complex compared to the Malaysia of the 1950s. Continue reading “Malaysian Elections: A Case of Too Little, Too Late for the Government?”

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Tri-election breaking news

Breaking news : BN winning in Batang Ai

7.50pm Batang Ai OFFICIAL RESULTS

BN’s Malcolm Mussem Lamoh (3,907 votes) has beaten PKR’s Jawah Gerang (2,053). The majority is 1,854.

Update 2
Unofficial results – at 5.50 pm., BN majority in Batang Ai widens to 1,609 votes

Already 21 streams counted out of 25 polling streams.

BN 2901
PKR 1430
Majority 1415
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Bukit Gantang by-election – three historic missions of the voters

The 55,562 voters in the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency have a three-fold historic mission when they cast their votes in the by-election on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

Firstly, to vote on behalf of the people of Perak to reject the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak orchestrated by Datuk Seri Najib Razak sparking off a prolonged constitutional crisis with two Mentris Besar, a political stalemate and the grave erosion of the doctrine of the separation of powers, symbolised by the Democracy Tree in Ipoh which has entered into Malaysian political folklore and gained international recognition and admiration. Vote on April 7 for a return of the mandate to the voters of Perak by dissolving the Perak State Assembly and holding of state general election for Perakians to decide on the government of their choice.

Secondly, to vote on behalf of the people of Malaysia to send a clear and unmistakable message to Najib, who is to succeed Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister of Malaysia, that to safeguard the honour of the highest political office of the land and that of the nation, he must address the many serious swirling allegations haunting and hounding him whether about mega-defence commissions or the C4 murder of Mongolian Altantunya Shariibuu as they affect public and international perceptions about his suitability, integrity and legitimacy as Malaysian Prime Minister – and public interests demand a Royal Commission of Inquiry to establish Najib ’s innocence and clear his name with regard to all these allegations; and Continue reading “Bukit Gantang by-election – three historic missions of the voters”

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7.4.09 – Balik Mengundi!

Spread the word – Let’s Change For Malaysia!

This video is to remind Malaysians of the sense of hope and liberation felt by all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, at the heart-thumping general election results of March 8, 2008 – uniting all Malaysians in an uplifting feeling that there is still a future for the country as change is possible.

With the three important by-elections of Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai in eleven days’ time on April 7, 2009, let us reinforce the paradigm shift in Malaysian politics achieved last year after half-a-century of electoral politics to endorse the advent of two-coalition politics where Malaysians will always have a meaningful choice at the ballot box in the march towards freedom, democracy, justice, accountability, integrity and good governance.

Every vote counts in the three by-elections on April 7.

People’s power in Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai to end political hegemony in the country!

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Abdullah’s anti-crime multiprong strategy – just general election gimmick?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s expression of “worry” about the rising crime index and his announcement of a multi-prong strategy to combat crime lack seriousness and conviction, as they appear to be just election gimmicks to give Malaysians a false sense of security that something is being done to fight crime with the approach of the general election.

New Straits Times front-page headline yesterday, “CRIME RATE UP 13.4% – PM expresses alarm Announces remedial action” understates the gravity of the crime situation in Malaysia during the four-year Abdullah premiership.

The crime rate rose by 13.4 per cent last year but in the four years of Abdullah premiership, crime rate shot up by an even more alarming 45%.

When Abdullah became Prime Minister in October 2003, the crime situation was already out of control which was why one of his first reform promises and measures which won him all-round plaudits and support among Malaysians was the establishment of the Royal Police Commission to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their twin fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes.

After four years, Malaysia today is even more unsafe to its citizens, visitors, tourists or investors because of endemic crime.

In the past four years, the crime index had worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 224,298 cases in 2007 – a sharp rise of some 45% when it should have gone down as recommended by the Royal Police Commission. For the first time in the nation’s 50-year history, the crime index last year crashed through the 200,000 psychological barrier. Women in Malaysia are now more unsafe today than four years ago – as the incidence of rape had more than doubled from a daily average of four women in 2003 to 8.5 women last year!

Is the five-prong anti-crime strategy announced by Abdullah adequate to make Malaysia a safer country than just four years ago before he became Prime Minister?

One of the five anti-crime strategies is to appoint civilians to administrative positions and thereby release police personnel for their main duties.

This is actually Recommendation No. 78 of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, accountable, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.

The Royal Police Commission proposed “Civilianising or outsourcing functions presently performed by uniformed personnel in PDRM, and re-deploying the uniformed personnel to core policing functions”. It said that such a move would immediately release 35,000 uniformed police personnel for core policing functions, i.e. fighting crime and catching criminals!

The Royal Police Commission provided a time-line for the implementation of this proposal – “In phases. Completion by May 2007”

This is January 2008 and the Prime Minister is still talking about this proposal of “appointing civilians to administrative positions to release police personnel” for their core police duties to fight crime and catch criminals! What a shame and disappointment!

DAP has decided make crime, law and order the top national theme in the next general election – which will be a first in the nation’s 50-year electoral history.

Today, we are here to launch in Perak state the DAP’s “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” campaign theme for the next general election, starting with the visit to the Kampong Simee market just now.

Together with other DAP Perak state leaders, I will take part in a two-day whistle-stop campaign to take the DAP message of “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” to all Malaysians as it is the basic right and expectation of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs to enjoy personal safety and property security. Among the places I will visit in the weekend two-day whistle-stop campaign in Perak will be Ipoh, Teluk Intan, Taiping, Sungei Siput, Pantai Remis, Kampar and Bidor.

(Media Conference in Kampong Simee, Ipoh Timur, on Thursday, 10th January 2008 at 10 am)