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First thing MPs should do tomorrow is to redeem honour, dignity and privileges of MPs by censuring Executive contempt and disrespect of Parliament in imposing humiliating OSA conditions on Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB when presented to PAC

The first thing that Members of Parliament, irrespective of whether from ruling coalition or the Opposition, should do tomorrow is to unite on a common platform to redeem the honour, dignity and privileges of MPs by censuring Executive contempt and disrespect of Parliament in imposing humiliating Official Secrets Act (OSA) conditions on the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB when presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Not only is the Auditor-General’s final audit report of some 300 pages classified under the OSA, interfering with parliamentary privileges as to what Parliament intends to do about reports and documents presented to it which, in the process nullifies the principle of the supremacy of Parliament over the Executive, but even more serious, treat Members of Parliament as naughty school children prone to mischief and law-breaking who cannot be entrusted with state secrets!

It is the height of contempt of Parliament for the Executive to classify the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB as under the OSA although submitted to the PAC on Friday and later today, and what is even more humiliating, imposing the rule that PAC members cannot take home the Auditor-General’s 300-page final audit report, and PAC members can refer to the AG’s final audit report only in Parliament’s “strong-room”!

Why not lock the “cari makan” PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin together with the 13 other PAC members in the Parliament “strongroom”, requiring to digest, understand and master the Auditor-General’s final audit report before they are allowed to leave the Parliament “strongroom”?
Continue reading “First thing MPs should do tomorrow is to redeem honour, dignity and privileges of MPs by censuring Executive contempt and disrespect of Parliament in imposing humiliating OSA conditions on Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB when presented to PAC”

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Call for Anwar Ibrahim’s release from Sungai Buloh prison to take part, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1990, in national reconciliation talks to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and rogue state

There have both been bouquets and brickbats following 304 (March 4) historic gathering on the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration involving former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Cabinet Ministers and Opposition and civil society leaders.

Undoubtedly, the Citizens’ Declaration on Friday had come as a total surprise and shock to many, including journalists whose profession is to smell out trends and news breaking stories, who would never imagine as possible such a get-together of long-time political opponents for a common cause.

I thank all for the bouquets and even welcome the brickbats, provided they are honest views and not pure venom soaked in lies and spite.

Can the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia calling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and for democratic and institutional reforms succeed?

To be frank, I do not think anybody can answer that question in all sincerity. But to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and a rogue state is a deserving, honourable and honest objective which is worth trying to achieve and even failing, instead of not trying at all. Continue reading “Call for Anwar Ibrahim’s release from Sungai Buloh prison to take part, like Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1990, in national reconciliation talks to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed and rogue state”

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There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal and democratic and institutional reforms

There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal as Prime Minister and call for democratic and institutional reforms to Save Malaysia.

This was why Najib had summoned UMNO/Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament to his official residence last night – a pre-council meeting which in the past had been held either on the eve of the beginning of Parliament or on the morning of the first day of Parliament meeting, but never two days in advance!

And there are valid reasons for Najib to be concerned about the effect and impact of the 304 Citizens’ Declaration, signed not only by the longest-serving former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Ministers, but also by political and civil society leaders.

This is because the Citizens’ Declaration had crossed the great political divide and accords with the sentiments of overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender that a national call must go out to reach the maximum number of Malaysians, even to the 3.3 million UMNO members and a million PAS members, for all to stand on a united common platform to save Malaysia from the slide down the slippery slope to a failed and a rogue state.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, from inside Sungai Buloh prison, has given unequivocal support to the bridging of the political divide not to be limited to “personal agendas or political vendettas” but to “chart a new way forward to save our beloved nation”. Continue reading “There is an air of panic in Putrajaya as a result of the historic 304 Citizens’ Declaration for Najib’s removal and democratic and institutional reforms”

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My only wish is that the Royal Address by the Yang di Pertuan Agong opening Parliament on Monday will announce the establishment of a credible Royal Commission of Inquiry into Najib’s twin mega scandals

Parliament will be opened by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Monday to kick off a 20-sitting of the first meeting of the 4th session of the 13th Parliament from 7th March to 7th April 2016.

I will be absent from the five weeks of Parliamentary meeting beginning on Monday as I had been suspended from Parliament for six months, not because I had committed any crime or corruption or anyway involved in the greatest corruption and financial scandal to hit the country in six decades – the 1MDB scandal and the Prime Minister’s multi-billion ringgit “donation” scandal – but because I had been in the forefront demanding full accountability and transparency on these two mega scandals.

In demanding full accountability and transparency for Najib’s twin mega scandals, I am suspended from Parliament for six months and have to sit out the 20-day meeting of Parliament from Monday, but those responsible for the twin mega scandals and for the cover-up of the twin mega scandals which have shaken the Prime Minister’s credibility and plunged Malaysia’s international image and standing to their lowest ebbs in the nation’s history do not suffer any restriction or constraint and are able to walks the Chamber of Parliament with immunity and impunity!

This is indeed the supreme irony of ironies, which illustrate why life in Malaysia, in the recent words of former Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Musa Hitam, is “turning upside down…The end seems to justify the means and anything, anything goes. The dividing line between good and bad, right and wrong, seem blurred”.

Barring the five years from 1999 to 2004 when I was not a Member of Parliament after losing in the Bukit Bendera parliamentary constituency in the 10th General Election, this will be the first time since I was elected Member of Parliament 47 years ago in 1969, that I will be missing the Royal Address at the official opening of Parliament each year. Continue reading “My only wish is that the Royal Address by the Yang di Pertuan Agong opening Parliament on Monday will announce the establishment of a credible Royal Commission of Inquiry into Najib’s twin mega scandals”

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Hasan Arifin should move a motion in name of PAC to censure the Executive for classification of Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB under Official Secrets Act as a contempt of Parliament and breach of parliamentary privilege

The Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Datuk Hasan Arifin should move a motion in the name of PAC in Parliament which reconvenes on Monday to censure the Executive for classification of Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB under the Official Secrets Act as a contempt of Parliament and breach of parliamentary privilege.

The reason which had been given for the classification of the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB is not only unacceptable, it has never been done before as far as the Auditor-General’s reports were concerned.

For instance, the Auditor-General’s interim report on 1MDB which was presented to PAC in July was never classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Why is it necessary to classify the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB under OSA, a contempt of Parliament which must be challenged by MPs at the first available opportunity, i.e. on Tuesday on March 8. Continue reading “Hasan Arifin should move a motion in name of PAC to censure the Executive for classification of Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB under Official Secrets Act as a contempt of Parliament and breach of parliamentary privilege”

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Najib should seek a vote of confidence in forthcoming Parliament unless he is unsure of unquestioned loyalty from UMNO/BN MPs

Shortly after the historic gathering for the signing and the proclamation of the Citizen’s Declaration to Save Malaysia, calling for the removal of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister of Malaysia and democratic and institutional reforms, the Najib government came out with a swift response.

It said that a general election is the only “existing mechanism” to change the government and the Prime Minister – “the only mechanism that is lawful, democratic and fulfil’s the people’s will” – claiming that in 2013, “the Malaysian people expressed their will and elected the current government, led by Prime Minister Najib Razak” and any change must “follow the democratic process and await the next election, in line with Malaysia’s laws and Federal Constitution”.

What balderdash!

Firstly, the government statement is more than bending history because Najib was not elected Prime Minister as a result of the support of the majority of popular votes. He is the first minority Prime Minister of Malaysia as he secured only 47% of the popular vote but 60% of the parliamentary seats, a reflection of the undemocratic and unjust electoral system.

Secondly, a general election is not the only way or mechanism for a change of Prime Minister. Continue reading “Najib should seek a vote of confidence in forthcoming Parliament unless he is unsure of unquestioned loyalty from UMNO/BN MPs”

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Najib making fatal mistake of underestimating the intelligence of Internet users in Malaysia to be able to differentiate truth from falsehoods in 14GE just as Pak Lah made the fatal mistake in 12GE in 2008 in underestimating the impact of Internet

Let me preface my speech with some observations about what the distinguished panelists have said this evening.

Firstly, the special appearance of the founder of Sarawak Report, Claire Brown from United Kingdom on Skype including a question-and-answer session with the audience in this hall highlights the futility of those in power to censor or control the flow of information in the Internet era.

Secondly, thanks to the government ban on The Malaysian Insider, more Malaysians have acquired the very simple skills of circumventing the Internet walls erected by Putrajaya to block access to The Malaysian Insider and other websites, with The Malaysian Insider becoming The Malaysian Outsider, getting acquainted with Unblocking sites and the “wide wide wide” world of Internet devoted to fighting all forms of Internet censorship. This is because all the secrets of overcoming Internet censorship can be mastered in a few minutes by searching the solutions on the Internet.

The CEO of Malaysiakini, Premesh Chandran had rightly cited the “tsunami” loss of UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the 12th General Election in 2008 to the Internet as the Prime Minister at the time, Tun Abdullah had subsequently admitted his “serious misjudgment” in underestimating the power of the Internet, losing the cyberwar to the Opposition. Continue reading “Najib making fatal mistake of underestimating the intelligence of Internet users in Malaysia to be able to differentiate truth from falsehoods in 14GE just as Pak Lah made the fatal mistake in 12GE in 2008 in underestimating the impact of Internet”

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Follow the money, if you can

Economist
Mar 5th 2016 | KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s 1MDB affair – Investigators in several countries are trying to get to the bottom of Malaysia’s growing corruption scandal

IT WAS a striking move from a country better known for hiding iffy foreign wealth than for exposing it. Frustrated by a lack of co-operation from Malaysian counterparts, Switzerland’s attorney-general declared in late January that there were “serious indications” that $4 billion had gone astray from Malaysian state concerns, some of it into accounts held by current or former Malaysian and Middle Eastern officials. The announcement fuelled an already combustible scandal that has transfixed Malaysians, battered their prime minister, Najib Razak, and could yet ensnare banks around the world.

The allegations of misappropriation centre on a Malaysian state investment fund, from which it is suspected that large sums were siphoned by businessmen and officials with links to Mr Najib. It is thought that some of this was used to help his party win an election in 2013; some was spent on buying assets at questionable prices; and some of the remainder was moved to offshore shell companies and bank accounts. All those suspected of involvement, including Mr Najib, deny wrongdoing. None has been charged with a crime. Continue reading “Follow the money, if you can”

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The Najib effect

Economist
Mar 5th 2016

Not only Malaysians should be worried about rotten politics and a divisive prime minister

ONE of South-East Asia’s richest and hitherto most stable countries, Malaysia ought to be a beacon. Its constitution is liberal, and its brand of Islam generally tolerant. Its diverse, English-speaking population, combining ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians, gives it zest and vim. Yet under the prime minister, Najib Razak, the country is regressing at alarming speed. Its politics stinks, its economy is in trouble, and there are worrying signs that the government is not above stirring up ethnic and religious divisions.

For the past year allegations of corruption have swirled around Mr Najib. They centre around hundreds of millions of dollars that made their way into his bank accounts before the most recent general election, in 2013. Investigators are looking into whether the money is linked to a troubled state investment firm, 1MDB, whose advisory board Mr Najib chairs. He denies wrongdoing. His attorney-general has ruled that the money was a legal donation from an unnamed Saudi royal, and that much of it has been returned. Continue reading “The Najib effect”

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As Najib Razak digs in, disillusion among Malaysians grows

Economist
Mar 5th 2016 | KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia’s scandals – The art of survival

ONLY standing room is left at the civic hall in Petaling Jaya in the western suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital. Inside 1,000-odd middle-class Malaysians have gathered to consider the fallout from a corruption scandal that has buffeted the country since July. “The whole world is laughing at us,” says a retiree watching from the back rows.

At the heart of the scandal are hundreds of millions of dollars that for unclear reasons entered bank accounts belonging to the prime minister, Najib Razak. You might think such a revelation would unseat Mr Najib and spell ruin for his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has held power since independence. Instead, Mr Najib appears to have strengthened his grip, by purging critics within the cabinet and police. On February 29th the grand old man of Malaysian politics, Mahathir Mohamad, stormed out of the party in disgust. Dr Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years until 2003 and was once a fan of Mr Najib. No more. Continue reading “As Najib Razak digs in, disillusion among Malaysians grows”

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Lines finally drawn in fight for Malaysia

COMMENTARY BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
4 March 2016

It took Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to force the issue for all Malaysians. He drew a line in the sand today, asking friends and foes to make up their minds once and for all.

Get on his side to “Save Malaysia” from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government or be the enemy and part of the Najib Party – the ones defending the status quo as much as Dr Mahathir did when sacking Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 18 years ago.

Anwar has signed up to support his mentor-turned-nemesis’s efforts. So has Lim Kit Siang and the DAP, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and the PKR gang, and activists such as Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah.

A total of 58 prominent Malaysians signed Dr Mahathir’s Citizens’ Declaration today. The only ones missing are those from PAS. Continue reading “Lines finally drawn in fight for Malaysia”

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Malaysia laughing stock of all foreign offices in the world with the infantile and moronic justification that TMI banned to maintain peace, stability and harmony

Malaysia is the laughing stock of all foreign offices in the world with the infantile and moronic justification by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry that the news portal The Malaysian Insider had to be banned to maintain peace, stability and harmony in the country to safeguard the multi-racial and multi-cultural values, norms and practices in Malaysia.

Wisma Putra’s response to United States’ concern about the move to restrict access to domestic and international reporting on Malaysian current affairs and the call by the US State Department spokesman John Kirby to the Malaysian government to ensure that its laws respected freedom of expression including the free flow of ideas on the Internet is one of the most asinine statements ever issued in the name of the Malaysian government in the nation’s 48-year history.

Has the intellectual depth and breadth of the “Mandarins” in the Malaysian civil service become so scarce and shallow that such a statement could pass muster as to be released in the name of the Malaysian government?

What has happened to the Malaysian Governments’ 20-year Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Bill of Guarantees especially on “No Internet Censorship”?

Are all the ten guarantees in the MSC Bill of Guarantees now to be regarded as no better than a worthless scrap of paper? Continue reading “Malaysia laughing stock of all foreign offices in the world with the infantile and moronic justification that TMI banned to maintain peace, stability and harmony”

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From saving nation from Dr M, to saving it with Dr M

Malaysiakini
3.3.2016

COMMENT “Mahathir wants me dead but I pray that Mahathir will live to 100 years to see the decline and end of Mahathirism.”

Little did Lim Kit Siang know at the time that Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s influence would dwindle within the next three years of him uttering those words.

Fast backward, prior to the last general election, the 75-year-old DAP stalwart was furious because the 90-year-old former premier wanted the voters in Gelang Patah to put Lim’s political career in a coffin.

Lim said Mahathir’s “kubur” (grave) remark elicited a “rapturous response” from then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin who declared “I was ‘trapped’ in Gelang Patah and that I was ‘finished’ politically.”

There was not the only thing which ruffled his feathers. Continue reading “From saving nation from Dr M, to saving it with Dr M”

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Cat out of the bag why PAC meeting of Feb. 24/25 postponed – for AG to think of ways to suppress Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB?

The cat seems to be out of the bag as to why the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Feb. 24 and 25 were summarily postponed in the last minute although there were three times the requisite PAC quorum of three available for the two scheduled PAC meetings last month, with the cock-and-bull story about some PAC members out of the country?

The clue is to be found in the Malay Mail Online scoop today that the Auditor-General’s final 1MDB audit report has been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972, and that PAC members will not be allowed to take home the 300-page report on the controversial state investment fund when it is tabled at the PAC tomorrow.

Was the last-minute postponement of the PAC meeting on Feb. 24 and 25 to give Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s henchmen in the Executive, in particular the new Attorney-General, time to think of ways to suppress the Auditor-General’s final audit report on the 1MDB?

This is downright ridiculous and a clear and gross violation of parliamentary powers and jurisdiction by the Executive branch of government and shows the insufferably arrogant attitude by some members of the Executive who think that they are the only patriots in the country, although they are responsible for the international opprobrium and odium suffered by the country on the world stage as a nation which is increasingly corrupt, repressive and authoritarian! Continue reading “Cat out of the bag why PAC meeting of Feb. 24/25 postponed – for AG to think of ways to suppress Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB?”

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Malaysia’s US$1 billion question

– Jakarta Post
The Malaysian Insider
3 March 2016

In a desperate attempt to unseat his former “golden boy” Datuk Seri Najib Razak from the premiership, former Malaysian leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced his resignation from the ruling Umno on Monday.

His move, however, will hardly impact Najib, because Dr Mahathir cannot deny that he was also, at least partly, responsible for the current political landscape. The resignation looks more like personal revenge against Najib because of his failure to abide by his former mentor’s instructions.

There are growing protests from civil society groups against alleged power abuses and rampant corrupt practices involving political elites and the ruling coalition government.

But the opposition is divided and even hostile within itself, while the government silences the disgruntled groups using the tactics of wealth and power distribution.

The Wall Street Journal dropped another political bombshell on Malaysia when it reported on Monday that Najib has US$1 billion in his bank accounts, US$319 million more than what the newspaper allegedly found in July last year. Continue reading “Malaysia’s US$1 billion question”

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Corruption Allegations Continue to Build Against Malaysia’s Prime Minister

Nash Jenkins
Time
3rd March 2015

Najib Razak is accused of siphoning more than a billion dollars from a struggling state fund

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak continues to dismiss allegations that he embezzled funds from a struggling state development fund, even after new evidence reportedly links upwards of a billion dollars in deposits from the fund into his personal accounts.

Najib has been the subject of unprecedented controversy since last July, when the Wall Street Journal and investigative news website Sarawak Report published documents tracing nearly $700 million from the ledgers of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to Najib’s private bank accounts. On Monday, the Journal reported that antigraft investigators believed the sum in Najib’s accounts was in fact higher than initially stated — totaling more than $1 billion.

Najib’s office released a statement in response to the article, condemning the Journal as a “willing vehicle for certain political actors who are seeking to damage the Prime Minister and Malaysia for personal gain,” but not commenting directly on the matter of the finances. Continue reading “Corruption Allegations Continue to Build Against Malaysia’s Prime Minister”

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The attitude “case closed” with regard to Najib’s twin mega scandals must be debunked and demolished when Parliament reconvenes next Monday

UMNO leaders and operatives are now adopting the attitude of “case closed” with regard to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin mega scandals. This attitude must be debunked and demolished when Parliament reconvenes next Monday.

Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion (or is it RM4.2 billion) “donation” twin mega scandals are not only NOT over and resolved, as Najib happily announced in his 2016 New Year Message, but they have become even bigger and more monstrous scandals with the expose of many new facets and angles, both inside and outside the country, in the past two months.

In fact, with Najib’s twin mega scandals now increasingly intertwined, one question foremost in the minds of concerned and patriotic Malaysians is whether the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion (now mushroomed to RM4.2 billion) “donation” scandal are actually part of one big monstrous financial scandal. Continue reading “The attitude “case closed” with regard to Najib’s twin mega scandals must be debunked and demolished when Parliament reconvenes next Monday”

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Malaysia Broadens Media Crackdown As Political Scandal Worsens

By Mong Palatino
The Diplomat
March 02, 2016

Internet freedom suffers as Najib’s embattled government tries to fight off the deepening 1MDB scandal.

Since last month, the Malaysian government has blocked three news websites and three socio-political blogs. Meanwhile, the police have threatened Internet users who will share satirical clown memes of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

These reports are troubling and somewhat ironic considering the fact that the government’s Multimedia Super Corridor program supposedly guarantees Internet freedom. Yet those who are familiar with the corruption scandal involving Najib and its massive political impact will immediately recognize these acts as a desperate attempt to silence critical voices that can mobilize public opinion against the ruling party.

Despite being cleared of committing any wrongdoing by the attorney general, Najib is still hounded by accusations that he received illegal fund transfers from 1MDB, a state-run investment firm. Najib admitted that he has $600 million in his personal bank accounts but he claimed the money was a political donation from a royal family in the Middle East. The scandal sparked intense protests across Malaysia and some of Najib’s allies even called for his resignation. Though Najib remains the head of the ruling coalition, his credibility has been tainted.

It would not be a stretch to suggest that the suspension of some newspapers last year and the recent censoring of news websites and blogs are part of the machinations of Najib’s faction to stop the further spread of information concerning the corruption scandal. Continue reading “Malaysia Broadens Media Crackdown As Political Scandal Worsens”

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Is Malaysia Sliding Toward Dictatorship?

By Prashanth Parameswaran
The Diplomat
March 01, 2016

A look at how the rhetoric compares to reality.

Last week, Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad grabbed headlines when he suggested that the country was heading towards becoming a dictatorship like North Korea under its current premier Najib Razak.

And as I reported over the weekend, Najib’s former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin also warned that the country was witnessing “the collapse of democratic institutions and the emergence of a new dictatorship.” Muhyiddin was sacked last year after criticizing Najib amid the 1MDB scandal, a high-profile corruption saga where the premier has been accused of mismanaging funds linked to debt-ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The aforementioned statements are no doubt heavily politicized and hyperbolic. But just how close are they to reality? Continue reading “Is Malaysia Sliding Toward Dictatorship?”