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Cabinet tomorrow should cut the Gordian Knot and end the rigmarole of two Bersih inquiries – dissolve Hanif panel and give full support to Suhakam inquiry

The Cabinet tomorrow should cut the Gordian Knot and end the rigmarole of two Bersih inquiries – by dissolving the Hanif Omar “independent advisory panel” and giving full support to the Suhakam inquiry.

Yesterday, former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar announced the ten terms of reference of the “independent advisory board” into Bersih 3.0 violence.

Notably absent from the “independent advisory board” terms of reference is whether it is to establish Bersih 3.0 rally was an attempted coup d’etat by the Opposition to topple the government, that there were pro-communist individuals at Bersih 3.0 from demonstrations in the 1970s and whether there was use of provocateurs and children ala-“tactics of the communists” in the Bersih 3.0 rally or whether the panel is to take these three allegations as “accepted and proven truths” as Hanif himself had publicly endorsed them.

Hanif had defended his appointment, saying that his track record has proven that he acts with integrity.

It is precisely because Hanif should cherish his reputation of integrity that he should recuse himself as head of the Bersih 3.0 panel, as there is no way he could come out of it with his integrity unscathed after he had publicly made known his anti-Bersih 3.0 views. Continue reading “Cabinet tomorrow should cut the Gordian Knot and end the rigmarole of two Bersih inquiries – dissolve Hanif panel and give full support to Suhakam inquiry”

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Is Mahathir telling the world that his daughter Marina is naïve to be a pawn of Bersih 3.0 and PR to topple the Najib government by violence?

Malaysians must thank former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir for furnishing the fifth evidence of the highest-level campaign to vilify and demonise Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat and why the Hanif Omar “independent advisory panel” to investigate into Bersih 3.0 violence is totally unacceptable and should be scrapped altogether.

The four evidence were earlier provided by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and two former Inspector-General of Police, viz:

• The wild and baseless allegation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that Bersih 3.0 rally was coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government;

• The instant public support for Najib’s coup allegation by former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar who said he identified pro-communist individuals at Bersih 3.0 from demonstrations in the 1970s with futher allegation on the use of provocateurs and children in the Bersih 3.0 rally as tactics of the communists!

• The equally instant public support for Najib’s coup allegation by another former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor who went on to allege that Bersih 3.0 had used “Marxist” tactics as well as accusing the Opposition of wanting blood shed as it was not confident of taking over Putrajaya.

• The allegation by Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in an interview with Sunday Star on May 20 that “democracy was hijacked” on April 28.

Mahathir’s blog two days ago that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a “preparation” and “warm-up” by Pakatan Rakyat for violent demonstrations to reject the results of the 13th general election should the opposition fail to win it is the fifth evidence of the highest-level campaign of vilification and demonization of Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat involving the current and former Prime Minister, two IGPs and the current Home Minister, although they have not furnished one iota of evidence to substantiate their serious allegations in the past month. Continue reading “Is Mahathir telling the world that his daughter Marina is naïve to be a pawn of Bersih 3.0 and PR to topple the Najib government by violence?”

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Najib and Hishammuddin must condemn and dissociate themselves if they do not want to be regarded as encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their prolonged silence on recent series of disruptions and attacks on PR functions

The question Malaysians are asking is whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussin are encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their failure to condemn the recent series of disruptions and attacks on Pakatan Rakyat functions!

Is this the route for Malaysia to take to become the world’s best democracy as Najib had boasted after Bersih 2.0 on July 9 last year?

Is this the example Najib is setting for the world on what he meant when he called for a Global Movement of Moderates to isolate and marginalize the extremists?

Yesterday, a Pakatan Rakyat ceramah in Lembah Pantai was pelted with eggs and stones, leaving several injured and bloodied. Continue reading “Najib and Hishammuddin must condemn and dissociate themselves if they do not want to be regarded as encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their prolonged silence on recent series of disruptions and attacks on PR functions”

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Truth Will Out in Suhakam Inquiry

by Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
Tuesday, 22 May 2012

We have witnessed much madness and asininity displayed in the aftermath of the Bersih 3.0 rally of April 28, especially exemplified in the laughable antics of anti-Bersih groups, such as hawkers’ group Ikhlas, the army veterans who shook their buttocks in front of Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasen’s home, and the Kuala Lumpur Petty Traders Action Council.

Some of it can also be seen in the comments on the rally made by government leaders, including Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim’s incredulous declaration that only 22,270 people took part in it. But most risible of all is the Government’s appointment of ex-Inspector General of Police Hanif Omar as chairperson of the so-called independent panel to investigate the violence that occurred on April 28.

So it is with considerable relief that we now welcome the decision of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to conduct its own public inquiry into the violence when earlier it had said it would wait for the Government’s panel. Suhakam decided to go ahead because the panel has yet to come out with its terms of reference, and also because it has received numerous complaints from the public about the police brutality committed during the rally.

This is a show of good sense amidst the show of puerile emotionalism by the anti-Bersih groups and anti-Bersih ministers. It restores faith in the belief that rationality still rules okay in our current tragicomic state. Continue reading “Truth Will Out in Suhakam Inquiry”

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Why the Hanif panel is getting stick

The Malaysian Insider | May 21, 2012

MAY 21 — It would appear strange that the panel investigating the Bersih 3.0 violence is getting criticised before they even start their work. Especially because it is helmed by Tan Sri Hanif Omar, the respected and longest-serving police chief in Malaysia.

Yet, it is because of him that the panel is getting stick.

Hanif did not do himself any favours by talking about Marxist elements in Bersih. This is akin to a judge commenting on a case before it is even heard. And no matter how much that judge can argue about his impartiality, his comments have already influenced people about his handling of the case. Just like what Hanif did.

The former IGP had reportedly made several anti-Bersih comments before the panel was set up, such as the coalition intended to “topple the government” and that it had been “infiltrated by communist sympathisers”.
Continue reading “Why the Hanif panel is getting stick”

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BN government should call off the Bersih 3.0 demonisation campaign as the first step to prove to Malaysians that it is capable of responding rationally and responsibly to legitimate demands for clean elections

The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said in today’s press that Malaysians should view the Bersih 3.0 demonstration in a more rational manner and look at the Government’s concern over what could go wrong if people took to the streets.

Unfortunately, in the past three weeks after the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, the government as represented by the Home Minister and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak have themselves failed this simple test of acting in “a more rational manner” to address.the controversies of what went wrong on April 28 resulting in the incidents of violence and brutality, regardless of whether the victims were police personnel, media representatives or peaceful protestors.

Najib and Hishammuddin should call off the Bersih 3.0 demonisation campaign to paint Bersih 3.0, the organizers and participants, in the worst and most sinister light, as the first step for the BN government to prove to Malaysians that it is capable of responding rationally and responsibly to the people’s legitimate demands for clean elections.

The Bersih 3.0 demonisation campaign started with the wild and irresponsible allegation by the Prime Minister that it was an anti-national conspiracy which included a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government, which conspiracy theory was immediately given blind and unthinking support by the former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar when there was no iota of evidence; culminating in the “Great Lie and Spin” on TV1 on Sunday when the government station telecast a 30-minute “documentary” entitled “Bersih 3.0 itu Kotor” to poison the minds of viewers about Bersih 3.0.

What the BN spin-masters did not realise is that the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians who gathered peacefully in Kuala Lumpur in response to the call of Bersih 3.0, and the millions who have direct information of what actually happened on April 28, could not identify with TV1 programme or agree that Bersih 3.0 was some grand or evil conspiracy to cause violence, unrest and even toppling of the government! Continue reading “BN government should call off the Bersih 3.0 demonisation campaign as the first step to prove to Malaysians that it is capable of responding rationally and responsibly to legitimate demands for clean elections”

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Hishammuddin – stop spreading lies and falsehoods about Bersih 3.0 as his allegation that “some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths” most wild, irresponsible and deplorable

Malaysians, including the hundreds of thousands regardless of race, religion, class, region, age or gender, who had come out peacefully for the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” at Dataran Merdeka on April 28, armed at most with salt and water bottles, are shocked and outraged at Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s allegation today that “some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths” at Bersih 3.0 – 24 days after the event! (The Malaysian Insider)

I believe I could speak on their behalf, as well as all decent and rational Malaysians, to urge Hishammuddin to stop spreading lies and falsehoods about Bersih 3.0 as his allegation that “some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths” is most wild, irresponsible and deplorable.

There is no iota of evidence whatsoever to back this latest but totally wild and contemptible allegation emanating from government quarters.

Malaysians can still vividly remember Hishammuddin’s declaration a week before April 28 that the Bersih 3.0 rally was not a security threat and his dismissive statement that “April 28 is not an issue” as it had gained “little traction” with the public.

Clearly, Hishammuddin had not expected Bersih 3.0 to garner much crowd, probably a few thousands but definitely not more than the Bersih 1.0 and 2.0 crowds. The hundreds of thousands of Malaysians who gathered in peace must have totally caught him and the Barisan Nasional leadership by surprise.

When did Hishammuddin get the “intelligence” that there were “some parties at the April 28 Bersih rally who wanted serious injuries and deaths to occur”? Was it before or after Bersih 3.0 on April 28? Continue reading “Hishammuddin – stop spreading lies and falsehoods about Bersih 3.0 as his allegation that “some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths” most wild, irresponsible and deplorable”

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Stubborn insistence to have Hanif to head probe into Bersih 3.0 violence raises larger question – whether time has come for a new PM and Home Minister as incumbents are so cut off from reasonable expectations of ordinary Malaysians

It is a sad commentary on the quality and judgment of the Najib premiership when both the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein could not see anything wrong in appointing Tun Hanif Omar as head to probe the Bersih 3.0 violence when the former Inspector-General of Police had clearly disqualified himself with preconceived and prejudicial views about the Bersih 3.0 rally.

It is most shocking that what seems crystal clear to ordinary citizens, even to school children, that the issue at stake is about impartiality and not Hanif’s track record, is totally beyond the grasp of the most important decision-makers in government, including the Prime Minister and Home Minister.

This is most ironic as it was only two days ago that Najib said that he could not even afford a single mistake as Prime Minister, declaring:

“When you are PM, if we have to make 10 major decisions, we need to get 10 out of 10 right. If we only get nine right and one inaccurate, that is the one that people would fault us for.”

And here we have the Najib premiership refusing to correct what could probably be Najib’s worst decision in his three years as Prime Minister, appointing Hanif as head to probe the Bersih 3.0 violence – an appointment which had elicited the unprecedented reaction of instant and all-round rejection and even condemnation by thinking and decent Malaysians, which is why the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Suaram, Bersih 2.0, the Malaysian Bar and even the Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah have declared their objection to Hanif’s appointment.

Malaysians and the world must wonder why important personages like the Prime Minister and the Home Minister could not understand the very clear, simple and irrefutable reason for objecting to Hanif’s appointment to head the probe into the Bersih 3.0 violence – that it has nothing to do with his track record as the longest-serving IGP in the country, Deputy Chairman of the Special Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police in 2004 or as member of the panel investigating the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Aminulrasyhid Amzah. Continue reading “Stubborn insistence to have Hanif to head probe into Bersih 3.0 violence raises larger question – whether time has come for a new PM and Home Minister as incumbents are so cut off from reasonable expectations of ordinary Malaysians”

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Hanif – face reality that you have shot yourself in the foot disqualifying you from heading a credible and impartial probe into Bersih 3.0 violence

Let me tell former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar frankly: “Tun, face reality that you have shot yourself in the foot disqualifying you from heading a credible and impartial probe into Bersih 3.0 violence.”

Hanif should stop being obstinate on the matter or he would only end up in severely embarrassing and dishonouring himself, the Bersih 3.0 probe, the Najib administration and most important of all, Malaysia’s international image and standing.

Haniff had asked his critics to check his track record in previous investigating committees before questioning his integrity to lead the independent panel to probe police brutality during the Bersih 3.0 rally, citing the case of the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Aminulrasyhid Amzah and his role in the Special Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police in 2004.

I had said publicly that I do not cast any aspersion on his integrity as a distinguished public servant and a Malaysian patriot, but on the question on the suitability of his heading a credible and impartial probe into Bersih 3.0 violence, regardless of whether the victim is police personnel, media representative or peaceful protestor, he had irremediably stained and disqualified himself because of his highly biased and prejudicial statements about the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” in Dataran Merdeka on April 28.

If Hanif stands by his prejudicial statements against Bersih 3.0, he should appear before the Bersih 3.0 probe as a “star witness” to substantiate his allegations and definitely not as a Chairman to probe into the truth or otherwise of his allegations. Continue reading “Hanif – face reality that you have shot yourself in the foot disqualifying you from heading a credible and impartial probe into Bersih 3.0 violence”

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Hanif should be the last person to head probe of Bersih 3.0 violence as he should be one of the “star” witnesses to substantiate his allegations that Bersih 3.0 was a coup attempt which involved pro-communist sympathizers

It is most ironical that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in an interview on Sinar.FM radio station this morning that as Prime Minister he could not even afford a single mistake, and “if we have to make 10 major decisions, we need to get 10 out of 10 right”, as he had just made probably his worst decision in his three-year premiership.

This is the appointment of former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar as chairman of the six-member Independent Advisory Panel to investigate the Bersih 3.0 violence and brutality.

Right from the second after the announcement by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein last evening, Hanif’s appointment as the head of the Bersih 3.0 panel had received immediate brickbats and all-round disapprobation and condemnation as being utterly inappropriate, rendering the whole probe not only lacking in independence but totally bereft of credibility and legitimacy.

I do not think it is possible to find another announcement of the composition of a public inquiry by the government in the nation’s 54-year history which had attracted such instant and all-round rejection and condemnation by major national stakeholders in the country!

The answer is very obvious. Hanif is the last person to head the probe of Bersih 3.0 violence as nobody would believe that he could be impartial and unbiased after he had publicly supported Najib’s irresponsible, wild and baseless allegation that Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” at Dataran Merdeka on April 28 was a coup d’etat attempt by the opposition to topple the government when there is not one iota of evidence whatsoever. Continue reading “Hanif should be the last person to head probe of Bersih 3.0 violence as he should be one of the “star” witnesses to substantiate his allegations that Bersih 3.0 was a coup attempt which involved pro-communist sympathizers”

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BERSIH 3.0 Broke Many Glasses (Including A Few Glass Ceilings)

by Bakri Musa

First of Two Parts: Seeing The Bright Side
(Next Week: Part Two: Lessons To Be Learned)

In the aftermath of the largest public demonstrations against the Barisan government, the officials’ obsession now turns to the exercise of apportioning blame and the associated inflicting of vengeance. Both are raw human reactions, but hardly enlightening, sophisticated, or even fruitful. Besides, there is plenty of blame to go around. I prefer to look at the bright side and on the lessons that can be learned.

BERSIH 3.0 clearly demonstrates that Malaysians no longer fear the state. In that regard we are a quantum leap ahead of the Egyptians under Mubarak, the Iraqis under Saddam, or the Chinese under Mao (or even today). When citizens are no longer afraid of the state, many wonderful things would follow. BERSIH is also the first successful multiracial mass movement in Malaysia. In a nation obsessed with and where every facet is defined by race, that is an achievement worthy of note. Another significant milestone, again not widely acknowledged, is that the movement is led by a woman who is neither Malay nor a Muslim. Ambiga Sreenevasan broke not one but three Malaysian glass ceilings!

On a sour note, BERSIH 3.0 revealed that Barisan leaders (and a few from the opposition) have yet to learn and accept the fundamental premise that dissent is an integral part of the democratic process, and expressing it through peaceful assembly a basic human right. At a more mundane level though no less important, the authorities’ performance in BERSIH 3.0 also exposed their woeful incompetence and negligence in basic crowd control. Continue reading “BERSIH 3.0 Broke Many Glasses (Including A Few Glass Ceilings)”

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“A Day of Shame” for Media Freedom, Police Professionalism and Najib’s Political Transformation

Malaysia marks World Press Freedom Day today under the shadow of “A Day of Shame” last Saturday (Bersih 3.0 on April 28, 2012) for media freedom, police professionalism and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s political transformation.

Never before in Malaysian history have so many media reporters and photographers been the target of such ruthless, brutal and systematic police attacks while covering the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” for free, fair and clean elections, making a total mockery of the recent amendment to the Printing Presses and Publications Act allegedly to allow for greater media freedom in the country.

It is an indictment of all the “transformation” programmes and promises of the past three years that media freedom in Malaysia had never felt more endangered to the extent that media representatives and their supporters are marking the World Press Freedom Day by donning black with a yellow ribbon!

This is why I am wearing black with a yellow ribbon today.

When apologizing yesterday to the Malay Mail photographer Arif Kartono, who was attacked by seven to eight policemen who kicked him in the face, legs and stomped on his back and his camera damaged during the assault despite clearly identifying himself with his media tag, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said:
Continue reading ““A Day of Shame” for Media Freedom, Police Professionalism and Najib’s Political Transformation”

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Let’s send Hishammuddin a message

— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 19, 2012

APRIL 19 — So the man who believes that it is birth right to become prime minister has decided to speak more often.

See, Hishammuddin Hussein after being blamed by his cousin for the Bersih 2.0 fallout decided to maintain radio silence. He figured that with 40 per cent of the voters in his Sembrong constituency Chinese, he needed to slip under the radar and make sure he actually retains his seat in the coming polls.

He and his advisers figured that if he kept quiet and didn’t antagonise anyone, then people would forget about the keris, about his handling of the cowhead protest and his demonisation of Bersih rallygoers as thugs.

So he said little about the replacement ISA law but you can’t keep someone who believes in noblisse oblige down too long.

This smug man today is belittling Bersih 3.0, saying that it will not have much traction. This is the Umno man talking, the arrogance of incumbency.

He even said that the students at Dataran Merdeka who were beaten up early this morning should not be believed. I suppose the beating was “self-inflicted”. The pattern of thuggish behaviour by Umno, Perkasa and Pekida has been evident over the last few months. Continue reading “Let’s send Hishammuddin a message”

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Who ‘owns’ Dataran Merdeka?

Jeswan Kaur | April 14, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

It is annoying how the ruling government is going in a roundabout manner to kill off the April 28 rally.

COMMENT

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz has curtly asked electoral watchdog Bersih 3.0 to obtain consent from the owners of Dataran Merdeka if it insists on using the site for its April 28 sit-in protest.

Now that is new. Who really “owns” Dataran Merdeka? And each time the federal government or big-wig corporate companies uses the square to organise events, do they too seek perrmission from the “owners”?

It is annoying how the ruling government is going in a roundabout manner to kill off the April 28 rally, sparing no effort in trying to wear down Bersih 3.0 which is not about to scout for another location.

Bersih 3.0 steering committee chairperson S Ambiga is determined to proceed with the sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka due to its historical relevance to the people’s struggle for independence and a democratic Malaysia.

“We do not agree that there is a necessity to change the venue to other places,” she said in a statement.

Ambiga added: “We certainly do not see any reason why Dataran Merdeka is unsuitable in the light of the many events that have recently been held there, including 205th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Police [PDRM].”

But Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is unwilling to cooperate and instead wants Bersih 3.0 to be “sincere” and “realistic” and compromise on the location. Continue reading “Who ‘owns’ Dataran Merdeka?”

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Will Mahathir propose Chua Soi Lek as UMNO President?

It has been suggested that the response to Tun Dr. Mahathir’s “tongue-in-cheek” proposal that I be made PAS President is to ask whether Mahathir would propose Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek as UMNO President!

However, I think it is more productive to focus on Mahathir’s other “tongue-in-cheek” statement that all the Tuns and “their sons and grandsons too” should all be investigated in response to my call for a full audit and accounting into the RM100 billion losses from the financial scandals during Mahathir’s 22-year premiership.

Another bad news about Malaysian Airlines recording a whopping net loss of RM2.52 billion for 2011 despite round-after-round of billion-ringgit bailouts in the past two decades is salutary reminder that the root cause why the once national premier airline is reduced to such a parlous crisis stage today must be traced to Mahathir’s 1994 decision to use Bank Negara’s MAS shares to bail out Bank Negara from its RM30 billion foreign exchange losses.

Malaysians today are still paying for those financial scandals, none of which have ever been fully accounted for, as for instance in the recent RM580 million write-off by the Malaysian government with the “out-of-court” settlement between Danaharta and other GLCs with Tajudin Ramli on Feb. 14 with regard to all suits pending between them.
Continue reading “Will Mahathir propose Chua Soi Lek as UMNO President?”

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Umno’s right turn

— Liew Chin Tong
Rocket/The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012

FEB 7 — As I walked from my hotel room to a meeting in Port Dickson in July 2005, I remember holding a newspaper with a photo of Hishammuddin Hussein brandishing a keris on its cover. At that moment, I knew Umno was kissing goodbye to its non-Malay support. (For reference, see the first part of this article here.)

Indeed, on hindsight, it was the pivotal moment of the decade: Umno had turned to the right permanently while the then-Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lost control over his reform agenda. The demise of Abdullah’s premiership, arguably Umno’s last chance to reform, began in July 2005.

Today, unless Prime Minister Najib Razak can stare down the right wing of his party as effectively as Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020 grand compromise and turn the clock back by seven years to restore its centrist credential, the events of July 2005 will culminate in Umno and Barisan Nasional’s eventual electoral collapse. Continue reading “Umno’s right turn”

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Give Hishammuddin a break

By Gomen Man | 25 Nov 2011
The Malaysian Insider

NOV 25 — Stop blaming Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for the proposed Peaceful Assembly Act. He may be the minister in charge of the police but there is a reason why Nazri Aziz and not him proposed the Bill in Parliament: his boss, the Prime Minister does not trust him.

So we can blame him for tolerating the cow head protest, for his childish opposition to Bersih 2.0, for his right wing tendencies and not being the intellectual league of his father or grandfather.

But he cannot be blamed for the new assembly act, which makes Malaysia look decidedly second best to Myanmar. In Umno circles, people are afraid of shadows and enough of Najib’s boys have been talking about the political ambitions of his cousin.

The talk has had effect and Hishammuddin does not enjoy the complete confidence of the PM. Especially after the Bersih debacle where some 50,000 people turned up despite the police advising the capital city to be shut down.
Continue reading “Give Hishammuddin a break”

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Let the people judge

— by Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 20, 2011

NOV 20 — There is a new mantra in Putrajaya: when they are caught in a tricky or difficult situation, they say “Let the People Decide”.

There is a reason why Muhyiddin Yassin and Hishammuddin Hussein have suddenly become lovers of the public opinion. It is because they hope to end whatever debate is going on, to recoup their position and then hope that Malaysians forget about the particularly embarrassing event.

Muhyiddin caught at the centre of National Feedlot Corporation (let us not be mistaken: he is a central figure in this scandal because he approved the project), says that the public upon reading Shahrizat Jalil husband’s porous defence will not swallow the lies of the Opposition.

The DPM just wants to end the debate on an issue which can embroil himself.

Now Hishammuddin Hussein, the man who denied the will of the people for free elections, is also keen for the people to judge the government’s actions in using the ISA to arrest 13 alleged terrorists. Continue reading “Let the people judge”

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Resisting Any Witch Hunt Aimed at Blaming the Illegals

Commentary by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee

The statement by the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that the presence of more illegal workers compared to the legal ones is a cause of concern and could undermine national unity reveals either an ignoramus or an idiot. Did he expect many less illegals given the super-efficiency of his Ministry and the other government agencies sharing responsibility on this vital matter of securing our borders against unauthorized intrusion and stay in the country?
According to the current ongoing exercise, as of Friday, a total of 2,088,358 foreign workers had been registered, of whom 1,135,499 were illegals. Probably everyone else in the country knows that this number is an under-estimate and that a very large number are still waiting processing or are avoiding being included in the count altogether.

Since his appointment in 2009 as the Minister in charge of this portfolio, Hishammuddin has been lurching from one self inflicted debacle to another. From bending over backwards to defend the indefensible conduct of demonstrators in the infamous cow head incident to his most recent use of repressive force against the Bersih rally, he has shown a standard of leadership of this important Ministry which must be plumbing new lows or matching those lows attained by Dr. Mahathir.
Continue reading “Resisting Any Witch Hunt Aimed at Blaming the Illegals”