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Parliament inflicted three black eyes on itself in one day – quite a feat!

It’s quite a feat – Parliament inflicted three black eyes on itself in one day!

Yesterday was one of the darkest days in the history of the 56-year Parliament in Malaysia, for in one day, it scaled a new height of shame and dishonour with a trio of disgraceful parliamentary episodes, viz:

• The “cop-out” in the three-minute Ministerial statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi dismissing some 90 parliamentary questions about Najib’s RM2.6 billion and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals in the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting;

• The petty and spiteful persecution of PKR Vice Chairman and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar virtually convicting her of disloyalty and treason to Malaysia, and referring her to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges under terms of reference which can only allow the Committee to propose the “commensurate” penalties to be meted out to her; and

• What has been fittingly described by a former Malaysian ambassador as “the final step in the Zimbabweisation of Malaysia”.

It is to the eternal shame of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia that so many shameful and disgraceful records could be set by the Malaysian Parliament in one day under his Speakership! Continue reading “Parliament inflicted three black eyes on itself in one day – quite a feat!”

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Zahid’s three-minute statement on Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts the greatest cop-out in Parliament in nation’s history

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s three-minute statement on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts is the greatest cop-out in Parliament in the nation’s history.

What happened in Parliament this morning will go down in the Malaysian parliamentary annals as another disgraceful episode as to why parliamentary reform is urgently needed – but meaningful parliamentary reforms cannot come from “sweet words” from the Speaker’s Chair but only from restoration of the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

Parliament was made to commit a most cowardly and unchilvarous act today – to blow up the Nurul-Jacel photograph incident in the hope of covering up Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal.

Clearly, the UMNO/BN Government needed desperately to distract attention from Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, especially as national and international attention had been building up for weeks to expect the Prime Minister to give a full and satisfactory accounting of his RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal today, the last day of the 25-day six-week parliamentary budget meeting.

What better distraction for Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal than the furore over the outrageous motion to convict the PKR Vice President and MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, of the heinous charge of breach of oath as an MP “to bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia” and to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” and to refer her to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges for the penalties to be meted out. Continue reading “Zahid’s three-minute statement on Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts the greatest cop-out in Parliament in nation’s history”

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Azalina would have committed hara-kiri or seppuku in Parliament today if she upholds the bushido code of honour above life

Datuk Azalina Othman Said would have committed hara-kiri or seppuku in Parliament today if she upholds the bushido code of honour above life.

This is because the Order Paper in the last sitting of Parliament today – ending the 25-day six-week parliamentary budget meeting – proves that Azalina had been caught out committing the unparliamentary and dishonourable act of telling outright lies as Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs.

On the very first day of the current meeting of Parliament on Oct. 19, Azalina evaded the questions by DAP Members of Parliament, Lim Guan Eng (Bagan) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut), and said in written reply that the government would answer questions about the RM2.6 billion “donation” received by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and other related questions during the current meeting of Parliament.

However, Azalina said the exact date for this would be determined later.

Guan Eng had asked Najib on the source of the RM2.6 billion donation, how was it spent and how much balance is left; who the money was spent on, if taxes were paid and if there was a formal declaration.

Lip Eng’s question with regard to the donation and the missing US$1 billion payment to International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC) also received the same reply.

Then, in an act of great “benevolence” and “magnanimity”, Azalina told the media on Nov. 5 that the Prime Minister or a Minister will explain on the last day of the parliamentary meeting on Dec. 3 on the controversial RM2.6 billion donation that went into Najib’s personal bank accounts. Continue reading “Azalina would have committed hara-kiri or seppuku in Parliament today if she upholds the bushido code of honour above life”

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Hasan Arifin should let Dr. Tan Seng Giaw head PAC probe into 1MDB as he is too keen to demonstrate his “cari makan” characteristics

Datuk Hasan Arifin is too keen to demonstrate his “cari makan” characteristics to be a suitable Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman heading the PAC probe into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB scandal.

He should make way for the Deputy PAC Chairman Dr. Tan Seng Giaw to head the PAC inquiry into the 1MDB scandal so that the PAC inquiry would not be sullied by his “cari makan” propensities.

Hasan exhibited such a “cari makan” propensity yesterday when he jumped the gun and declared that he was “satisfied” with the testimony given by the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy to the PAC, although Arul had not completed his testimony nor did Hasan had the authority of the PAC to declare publicly that the PAC was satisfied with Arul’s testimony. Continue reading “Hasan Arifin should let Dr. Tan Seng Giaw head PAC probe into 1MDB as he is too keen to demonstrate his “cari makan” characteristics”

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The meaning of Nancy Shukri’s answer on 1MDB probe is that there will be no outcome on 1MDB investigations so long as Najib is the Prime Minister of Malaysia

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri has given a very convoluted reply to the parliamentary question on the progress of the Special Task Force to investigate into the 1MDB.

Saying that the Special Task Force is still investigating the 1MDB, Nancy said there is no time frame set for the investigations as there are many witnesses and documents to obtain, some of which are overseas.

She said the probe will be completed after the statements of all witnesses are recorded and all related documents obtained.

Once it is done, the report will be tabled to Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali for further action.

Does any MP or anyone for that matter really understand what Nancy is actually trying to say in her convoluted reply?

The long and short of Nancy’s convoluted reply is that there will be no outcome on the 1MDB probe, so long as Najib is the Prime Minister of Malaysia – and make no mistake, this applies to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as well, which explains the three-month derailment of continued PAC investigation into 1MDB in August, my six-month suspension from Parliament and the new PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin’s disarmingly frank admission that he had to “cari makan” when asked why Najib was not called as a star witness in the PAC probe into 1MDB. Continue reading “The meaning of Nancy Shukri’s answer on 1MDB probe is that there will be no outcome on 1MDB investigations so long as Najib is the Prime Minister of Malaysia”

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Kulai is the 28th Parliamentary and Senai the 30th State Assembly constituency I am visiting in the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign since my six-month suspension from Parliament

I thank the people of Senai State Assembly constituency in Kulai parliamentary seat for their support this morning.

Kulai is the 28th Parliamentary and Senai the 30th State Assembly constituency I am visiting in the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 – not because I had stolen, robbed or killed anyone, but because as elected representatives, we have the right and obligation to speak up in Parliament and the State Assemblies without fear or favour to articulate the concerns of Malaysians.

Undoubtedly today, one of the greatest concerns in everyone’s minds, even to the Malay Rulers who issued a rare joint statement on the 1MDB scandal on Oct. 6, are the two questions: where the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak personal banking accounts came from, and where they have gone to. Continue reading “Kulai is the 28th Parliamentary and Senai the 30th State Assembly constituency I am visiting in the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign since my six-month suspension from Parliament”

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Call for an international investigation into the murder of DPP Kevin Morais following the shock statutory declaration by his brother Charles who raised many disturbing questions

Next week is the last week of the 25-day parliamentary budget meeting, and there are no signs that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will come clean and give a full and satisfactory accounting of his twin mega scandals in the last four days of the six-week parliamentary meeting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

Those who had hoped that the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals, now that the ASEAN and Post-ASEAN Summits with the largest-ever gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Kuala Lumpur in recent times had been held without any mishap, will somehow disappear or fade away by the time the UMNO General Assemblies are held from Dec. 8 to 12, 2015 cannot be more wrong.

Firstly, Najib’s twin mega scandals had haunted and hounded the ASEAN and Post-ASEAN Summits in Kuala Lumpur last weekend.

There is no doubt that Najib’s twin mega scandals featured prominently in their own internal briefings of every ASEAN and Asian-Pacific leader who was in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, receiving their personal attention even though not a single one of the ASEAN and Asian-Pacific leaders would have committed the diplomatic faux pax of breathing a word of Najib’s twin mega scandals in public.

This was why one commentator entitled a round-up of the ASEAN Summit with the heading: “ASEAN summit tarnished by Malaysian corruption scandal involving PM”. Continue reading “Call for an international investigation into the murder of DPP Kevin Morais following the shock statutory declaration by his brother Charles who raised many disturbing questions”

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1MDB fire sale reeks of desperation

by Khairie Hisyam
Kinibiz
November 24 2015

The open secret that 1MDB is selling off its power assets to foreign hands is now out, and now all eyes are on its attempts to divest a majority stake in its Bandar Malaysia project. The entire exercise reeks of the desperation that is driving the company.

On Nov 23, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) finally made an unsurprising announcement: China General Nuclear (CGN) has won the bidding for its power assets, offering nearly 25% higher than local power player Tenaga Nasional Berhad.

The sale is understandable – 1MDB is desperate for cash. It has RM42 billion in borrowings that it is finding very hard to service. However, the sale of its only cash cow reeks of desperation and raises questions on just how deep is the hole 1MDB is in right now.

According to 1MDB, CGN is paying RM9.83 billion for its power assets held under Edra Global Energy. Payment is cash, which is music to the ears of those tracking 1MDB’s long trail of questionable deals over the years where it got into convoluted deals that often involve payments that are not cash.

As an aside, the sale brings full circle what was a contentious and questionable generosity – recall that 1MDB overpaid by several billion ringgit for the power assets which cost a total of RM12 billion, excluding the upcoming Track 4B 2,000MW power plant in Malacca. Continue reading “1MDB fire sale reeks of desperation”

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One Lim Kit Siang can be suspended from Parliament for six months, but let tens and hundreds of thousands and even millions of Malaysians stand up and declare “I am also Lim Kit Siang” to ask the same question: “Najib, Mana RM2.6 billion?”

I thank the DAP in Nibong Tebal for this “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang and Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah and the large crowd tonight despite intermittent rain which shows the nation-wide concern transcending race, religion, region or even politics about government accountability, transparency and good governance – especially over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

The message central to the nation-wide “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” campaign is to let the Prime Minister know that one Lim Kit Siang can be suspended from Parliament for six months, but tens and hundreds of thousands and even millions of Malaysians will rise up and declare “I am also Lim Kit Siang” to ask the same question: “Najib, Mana RM2.6 billion?”

Leaders of over 20 Asian-Pacific leaders are in South-east Asia for the Asian Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit in the Philippines and the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur to exchange views about the future of the region and the world, but there is one thing that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib has outclassed all the world leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, whether President Xi Jingping of China, President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia or President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

No other leader in APEC, ASEAN or in the Asia-Pacific region would have RM2.6 billion in his personal banking account, and what is worse, refusing to explain where the RM2.6 billion came from and to whom the RM2.6 billion went to, although Najib claims full commitment to the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance. Continue reading “One Lim Kit Siang can be suspended from Parliament for six months, but let tens and hundreds of thousands and even millions of Malaysians stand up and declare “I am also Lim Kit Siang” to ask the same question: “Najib, Mana RM2.6 billion?””

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Five ways for Members of Parliament to send a clear and unmistakable message to the world that they do not want to a “cari makan” PAC or a “cari makan” PAC Chairman and to redeem the esteem, integrity, honour and good name of Malaysian Parliament

There are five ways for Members of Parliament from both sides of the House to send a clear and unmistakable message to the world that they do not want a “cari makan” Public Accounts Committee or a “cari makan” PAC Chairman and to redeem the esteem, integrity, honour and good name of Malaysian Parliament.

Without these five measures, Members of Parliament from Malaysia will be the butt of jokes at international conferences as “cari makan” MPs – whether at Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conferences, International Parliamentary Union (IPU) gatherings or other international meetings, whether directly in their face or from their backs.

These five measures are:

1. Sack Datuk Hasan Arifin as PAC Chairman if Hasan does not have the humility and good sense to realise that he had committed an inexcusable and unpardonable parliamentary sin when he said that he had to “cari makan” as the reason why the PAC will not summon Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to its 1MDB investigations, and compounding his egregrious mistake by blaming the media for it instead of apologizing and owning up to his faux pax. This is a classic example of a public office holder mistaking his personal idiosyncrasy as a public imperative, the start on the road of corruption of public responsibilities for personal or private gain. Continue reading “Five ways for Members of Parliament to send a clear and unmistakable message to the world that they do not want to a “cari makan” PAC or a “cari makan” PAC Chairman and to redeem the esteem, integrity, honour and good name of Malaysian Parliament”

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Malaysian Parliament should not make world Parliament history by producing the first PAC Chairman with a Press Conference-phobia when his KPI should be to uphold government financial accountability and integrity starting with the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals

The Malaysian Parliament should not make world Parliamentary history by producing the first Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman in the world with a press conference-phobia, when his KPI should be to uphold government financial accountability and integrity starting with the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

In his first month as PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin (who was elected Member of Parliament only in May in the Rompin by-election) has also already carved out a place for himself in the Malaysian Parliamentary pantheon of well-known personalities, though not in any laudatory sense.

How can Hasan discharge his principal role as PAC Chairman to uphold government financial accountability and integrity when he is afraid of the press, to the extent that he has declared a total ban on press conferences.

Hasan has already given a rather knavish connotation to his position as PAC Chairman when he disarmingly admitted that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would not be called as a witness to the PAC as he himself has to “cari makan”, but which he subsequently aggravated trying to deny he had made such remarks although it was captured on videotape by several journalists. Continue reading “Malaysian Parliament should not make world Parliament history by producing the first PAC Chairman with a Press Conference-phobia when his KPI should be to uphold government financial accountability and integrity starting with the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals”

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Honour requires Hasan to resign as PAC Chairman for his obnoxious “cari makan” remark or he should be referred to the Committee of Privileges to determine whether his “cari makan” remark had brought shame, disrepute and dishonour to PAC and Parliament

Honour requires Datuk Hasan Arifin to resign as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman for his obnoxious “cari makan” remark or he should be referred to the Committee of Privileges to determine whether his “cari makan” remark had brought shame, disrepute and dishonour to PAC and Parliament, and therefore a gross breach of parliamentary privilege.

Compounding his egregious breach of parliamentary privilege, Hasan has added insult to injury by resorting to the final ruse of a desperate and dishonest politician – blaming the media for reporting what he had actually said.

Hasan messed up a very bad situation with his subsequent clarification attempting to do the impossible – to deny and to admit with qualification, one at the same time, which is an impossible job of trying to square the circle!

On the one hand, Hasan denied the quip when he claimed that he literally meant ‘looking for food’ when he uttered, ‘Saya pun cari makan’.

But in the same breath, he admitted the quip but tried to excuse himself with extenuating circumstances, blaming the reporters as unethical in undermining his reputation as PAC Chairman and a politician in publishing his quip as he had informed the media that it should not be reported as it was “just a joke”.

Further admitting that he had actually made the offensive remark, Hasan said it was off the record as it was made in jest with the intention to be friendly with the media, for whom he provided lunch. Continue reading “Honour requires Hasan to resign as PAC Chairman for his obnoxious “cari makan” remark or he should be referred to the Committee of Privileges to determine whether his “cari makan” remark had brought shame, disrepute and dishonour to PAC and Parliament”

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Malaysia’s Lost Decade

By WILLIAM PESEK
Barron’s Asia
November 17, 2015

The 1MDB scandal is a microcosm of what ails Malaysia. Prime Minister Najib Razak need only look in the mirror to find the culprit for its woes.

Najib Razak, Malaysia’s prime minister, attends prayers at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photographer: Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg
For journalists who love politicians who say wacky things, Mahathir Mohamad is the gift that keeps on giving. As the world mourned the dead in Paris over the weekend, the one-time Malaysian prime minister couldn’t help but share his latest nutty theory: blame Israel, not ISIS.

Students of the 1997 Asian crisis will recall Mahathir’s rants against George Soros and a shadowy cabal of Jews crashing Malaysia’s currency. His latest controversial comments are a reminder 18 years later of the challenges Malaysia faces marketing itself in a globalized age. Don’t take my word for it –- ask the brother of the latest leader tarnishing the national brand, current Prime Minister Najib Razak. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Lost Decade”

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Husni’s answer yesterday a “washout” and total disgrace, further proof that Najib government has more to hide than reveal and account about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega-scandals

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanazlah had the unenviable task of standing in for the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the final winding-up of the 2016 Budget, although Najib who had already returned from Turkey and was in Parliament for the voting, could have handled the winding-up personally.

But what is the use of having a Second Finance Minister if one is unable to send him like a Roman gladiator into the Coliseum of ancient times to fight the lions.

Husni’s answer on the twin mega scandals was a “washout” and total disgrace, further proof that Najib government has more to hide than to reveal and account about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

Husni should have had an easy job with the 1MDB explanation in Parliament, not only because he is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable Minister on 1MDB after he was appointed as the Cabinet spokesman for 1MDB for two months in mid-year forcing him to try “master” the intricacies and complexities of the 1MDB scandal – but also because the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy should have prepared the stage for him with Arul’s “virtuoso” explanation of the 1MDB to 2,000 UMNO divisional leaders, representatives from UMNO-compliant NGOs and government agencies at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) on Saturday.

But Husni was wise not to try to repeat Arul’s “cop-out” performance as with “hawkish” MPs in Parliament, like DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli, he would not get away unscathed if he had repeated Arul’s stunts in Parliament yesterday.

As a result, MPs and the nation were none the wiser about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega-scandals despite another budget debate in Parliament – the sixth in the history of the 1MDB scandal since 2009! Continue reading “Husni’s answer yesterday a “washout” and total disgrace, further proof that Najib government has more to hide than reveal and account about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega-scandals”

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1MDB May Have Violated US Election Laws

Asia Sentinel
November 16, 2015

Some of the money shoveled into US consultancy may have ended up in US political campaigns

Records compiled by the Sarawak Report, the UK-based news site run by Clare Rewcastle Brown, indicate that the state-backed 1Malaysia Development Bhd. investment fund may have violated US Federal Election Law by channeling money to a well-connected US lobbying firm, which subsequently poured money into the 2014 electoral campaigns of at least seven Democrats.

The vehicle was DuSable Capital Management, incorporated in Delaware, which features some of the US’s weakest corporate registration laws, on May 9, 2013. DuSable was the brainchild of Frank White Jr., the National vice-chairman of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and co-chair for the president’s 2013 Inauguration Committee, and Shomik Dutta, a former hedge fund executive and fellow political campaigner. In effect, White was formerly the president’s chief fundraiser after having sold his own IT support company to go into political campaigning.

DuSable registered as a foreign agent for the government of Malaysia five months later, on Sept. 9 with its sole registered client 1MDB and the government of Malaysia. Continue reading “1MDB May Have Violated US Election Laws”

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Serially late – 1MDB’s tale of missed deadlines

Anil Netto
Aliran
15 Nov 2015

If you are late for school but if you have a good reason, you may be excused.

But if you are habitually late, say, more than three times in a short space time, then your excuses may wear a little thin. You could end up in detention class or whatever they call it these days. In earlier days, it could even have meant the rotan!

According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia, a “company’s financial statement need (sic) to be tabled (at the AGM) within six months after financial year ended.”

And then, Section 165 of the Companies Act 1965 requires all companies to lodge the annual return (which includes the financial statements and the auditor’s report) within one month of the AGM.

Of course, the company can apply for an extension under Section 143(2) and/or section 169(2) of the Act if it has a special reason for not holding the AGM in time. The registrar will then have to assess if the reason is valid.

One experienced company secretary told me, “The registrar is now very strict about these deadlines.”

So, what happens if a firm is habitually late? What happens if it misses the usual deadline for tabling or submission of accounts, not once but five times?

Let’s take a look at a company which has been very much in the news. Continue reading “Serially late – 1MDB’s tale of missed deadlines”

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If Arul can so easily explain away the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal at the UMNO briefing on Saturday, are Cabinet Ministers so intellectually-challenged that none of them could explain it to Parliament for the past month?

In the past two days, the UMNO/BN owned or controlled media and their legion of cybertroopers have been carrying glowing reports about what a superb performance the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy gave at the briefing for UMNO divisional leaders at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) on Saturday about the 1MDB scandal, and that the participants, which included representatives from NGOs and government agencies, were satisfied with Arul’s explanations which gave “a better picture of the real situation”.

The immediate question that comes to mind is whether the Cabinet of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is so intellectually-challenged that none of the Ministers could explain the intricacies and complexities of the 1MDB scandal to Parliament for the past month, when Arul could so easily explain away the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal at the UMNO briefing to its divisional leaders and pliable NGOs at PWTC last Saturday – as if Arul is such a superb performer that he is capable of getting birds to eat food from his hands?

Nobody disputes that Najib’s Ministers are intellectually-challenged – otherwise why did a former Prime Minister and a former Finance Minister agreed in unison that the present batch of Ministers are “half-past six” or “deadwood”, but surely they are not so intellectually challenged that they could not do what Arul did so easily!

Arul did put up a virtuoso performance last Saturday, but not as a solid management expert explaining how a government company had landed up with over RM50 billion debts (a figure quoted by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin his last speech as Deputy Prime Minister which Arul, Najib and all Ministers have studiously avoided reference in the past four months), but as a conjurer trying to put up the most convincing illusion tricks like “rabbit disappearing” or “bird flying out of empty hat” in a magician’s repertoire. Continue reading “If Arul can so easily explain away the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal at the UMNO briefing on Saturday, are Cabinet Ministers so intellectually-challenged that none of them could explain it to Parliament for the past month?”

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Why has Husni disappeared from the radar after two months as Cabinet spokesman for 1MDB, destroying his credibility and integrity which he had painstakingly built up for over two decades?

Yesterday, 1MDB was the top issue at Bank Negara’s third-quarter economic briefing where Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz was asked whether the central bank had made any mistake in the investigation on 1MDB’s investment abroad.

When Zeti replied with an emphatic “No”, it must have deepened the question on everybody’s mind why in his first wide-ranging press interview, where the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali talked on a wide variety of subjects including why the sedition charge against Tinju Ali was dropped and the unfettered exercise of his discretionary powers as Public Prosecutor, he failed to explain the reasons why he rejected Bank Negara’s recommendations for prosecution against 1MDB for violation of financial laws.

This morning, there was an overwhelming crowd at the briefing for UMNO divisional leaders at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) where 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy proved to be a greater crowd-puller on the subject of 1MDB than UMNO heavyweights scheduled to speak for the day, like Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad on the Transpacific Partnership Agreement and the Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanazlah on the 2016 Budget.

In fact, the crowd-puller today should have been Husni as at the Cabinet meeting in the last week of May, Husni was appointed the Cabinet spokesman for 1MDB, but he disappeared from the public scene as Cabinet spokeman on the 1MDB after two months. Continue reading “Why has Husni disappeared from the radar after two months as Cabinet spokesman for 1MDB, destroying his credibility and integrity which he had painstakingly built up for over two decades?”

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Najib will have to resign as Prime Minister if the 47 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament (22 from Sabah and 25 from Sarawak) vote down the 2016 Budget in Parliament on Monday on 16th November 2015

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak be toppled on Monday, 16th November 2015 when the 2016 Budget is put to a vote in Parliament?

Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament from DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara total 72, but there are only 71 votes as I have been suspended from Parliament for six months (i.e. until the end of April).

To have an absolute simple majority of 112 Members of Parliament to defeat the UMNO/BN government in Parliament, at least 42 UMNO/BN Members of Parliament have to cross the floor to support the 71 Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliment, as PAS has announced that it will not support any effort to reject Najib’s 2016 Budget.

It is a very tall order indeed to expect some 40 UMNO/BN Members of Parliament to join Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament to reject Najib’s 2016 Budget.

There are 47 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament in Sabah and Sarawak – 22 from Sabah and 25 from Sarawak.

If all the 47 BN Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak reject Najib’s 2016 Budget next Monday, that will be Najib’s last day as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia. Continue reading “Najib will have to resign as Prime Minister if the 47 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament (22 from Sabah and 25 from Sarawak) vote down the 2016 Budget in Parliament on Monday on 16th November 2015”

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Five factors why Najib cannot shift responsibility for the country’s woes to external causes – twin mega scandals and prolonged crisis of confidence in Najib premiership

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the Malay Contractors Association that blame should not be placed entirely on the government for what is happening in the country right now, especially with the weakening ringgit, as the main factors causing this are external and out of the government’s control.

I do not think Najib would find much sympathy or support for his attempt to “pass the buck” and blame external factors for the country’s woes.

Najib is guilty of serious denial syndrome in refusing to accept that while the falling oil prices have a huge impact on the depreciation of the Malaysian ringgit, the prolonged crisis of confidence and the political turmoils in the country have been major factors undermining the economy.

Let me outline five factors why Najib cannot shirk or shake responsibility for the country’s present prolonged woes: Continue reading “Five factors why Najib cannot shift responsibility for the country’s woes to external causes – twin mega scandals and prolonged crisis of confidence in Najib premiership”