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Pakatan Rakyat Budget 2012 (Part 2 of 10)

CONTENTS

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Pakatan Rakyat Budget 2012 (Part 1 of 10)

Snapshots

1. Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua
Belanjawan Kesejahteraan 2012 is a continuation of the collective effort by Pakatan Rakyat to chart a new future for Malaysia, following the releases of the Common Policy Platform in December 2009 and the Buku Jingga in December 2010.

Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua can be only achieved with political will to effect genuine and comprehensive institutional reforms guided by the principles of transparency and good governance.

Malaysia’s diversity is our strength. Our economic growth depends on the solidarity of all people regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion. Only through a budget which is gender responsive, and one that empowers ordinary Malaysians to live a dignified life full of opportunities , will we unleash the full potential of our people.

Recognizing the inflationary pressures on the Malaysian public, Belanjawan Kesejahteraan 2012 creates growth for all through providing policies and frameworks aimed towards uplifting the 60 percent of Malaysian households earning less than RM3,000 monthly.

Introduction of minimum wage, reduction of unskilled foreign workers, upgrading of skills and productivity will massively benefit the Malaysian workforce. In particular, special attention is given to improve women’s participation in the workforce. Wage, skills and productivity will improve in tandem.

Improvements to public transport, housing and healthcare will contribute to increasing disposable income of the people. Higher disposable income will enhance domestic consumption, which is increasingly more important in the volatile global environment.

Monopolies and oligopolies will be broken up, enhancing competition while helping Malaysian businesses to reduce costs. A competitive environment will mitigate inflationary pressures and generate more choices for the people. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat Budget 2012 (Part 1 of 10)”

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Pakatan: Hudud only if all parties agree

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) agreed today that the contentious hudud or Islamic criminal law is not part of its joint policy until all parties agree to it, stepping back from the brink of a major difference that broke an earlier opposition coalition.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told a press conference just after midnight that the set of Islamic laws was “certainly now not PR policy and DAP’s objection has to be respected.”

Anwar said PR will continue to allow its members to air different views. — File pic
“Yes, very clear, it has to be together,” the PKR de facto leader replied to a question on whether any move to implement hudud would need the unanimous agreement of all three parties in the pact. Continue reading “Pakatan: Hudud only if all parties agree”

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Hukum hudud is not Pakatan Rakyat agenda

KENYATAAN BERSAMA MAJLIS PIMPINAN PAKATAN RAKYAT
28 September 2011

Mesyuarat Pakatan Rakyat malam ini memperakui dan mempertahankan dasar-dasar bersama yang telah dipersetujui sebelum ini sepertimana terkandung dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan, Dasar Bersama dan Buku Jingga.

Pakatan Rakyat terus memperteguhkan iltizam politik bagi mempertingkatkan daya-saing ekonomi, pendapatan rakyat, mutu pendidikan, kesihatan dan menangani kos kehidupan yang semakin menekan.

Mesyuarat juga memperakui dan menghormati perbedaan ideologi setiap parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat sebagai sebuah permuafakatan demokratik, termasuk pendirian PAS berkenaan hukum syariah.

Mesyuarat juga memperakui kewujudan Enakmen Jenayah Syariah II Kelantan 1993 dan enakmen Jenayah Syariah Terengganu 2003 yakni sebelum wujudnya muafakat Pakatan Rakyat. Keadilan dan PAS menghormati perbezaan pendirian oleh DAP dalam perkara ini. Continue reading “Hukum hudud is not Pakatan Rakyat agenda”

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Pakatan commits to PSC

by Aidila Razak
Malaysiakini
Sep 21, 11

Pakatan Rakyat will participate in the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms despite earlier boycott threats.

After the Pakatan leadership council meeting in Kuala Lumpur, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said that the coalition was willing to “give the government a chance” to prove its commitment to electoral reforms.

However, the coalition has yet to appoint its three representatives to the nine member committee. Five will be filled by BN MPs and another from the Independent bloc.

“We have given our members full mandate to represent Pakatan and state their priorities, collaborate and see the workings of the committee and decide if it is a delay tactic.

“We are giving the government a chance, we don’t want to be presumptuous,” he said. Continue reading “Pakatan commits to PSC”

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You should be afraid, Najib

— Tan Teck Huat
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 18, 2011

SEPT 18 — One of the more amusing articles that I have read recently was the story about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak telling his Umno members yesterday that he was not afraid of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition leader.

Najib said that he was willing to debate Anwar or something along those lines.

The PM must be one of those people who say they are not fixated with something yet spend an inordinate amount of time talking or paying attention to that person “who they are not afraid of”.

If he is not afraid of Anwar, why bring up the name at all? Continue reading “You should be afraid, Najib”

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Pakatan asks BN to jointly fix polls date

By Shannon Teoh and Mohamed Hosni Ibrahim
September 13, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — The federal opposition has called for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to negotiate and fix the date of the next general election together to avoid any dispute over the implementation of electoral reforms that Datuk Seri Najib Razak has promised.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers said today that as Putrajaya has set aside six months for a parliamentary select committee to table recommendations to the House, the government should allow enough time for the reforms to take place before federal polls are called.

“It will show their commitment to electoral reforms. It has never happened before but we can make history and avoid any dissatisfaction,” said PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub.
Continue reading “Pakatan asks BN to jointly fix polls date”

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Lim: M’sia will have been governed by Pakatan if…

Monday, September 05, 2011
Daily Express Sabah

KEMABONG: DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said if Sabah and Sarawak followed the political tsunami in 2008, Malaysia will have been governed by the Pakatan Rakyat now.

Speaking at the Kampung Kalibatang Lama about 40km from here, Lim believed that the participation of many people in the interior with the opposition showed that it is gaining momentum and prepared to give the Barisan Nasional (BN) a run for their money.

He said during the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Sabah was the richest state in the country but now it was being labeled as the poorest.

“That is why we want to take out the present government. We want the people power to clean them up,” he said. Continue reading “Lim: M’sia will have been governed by Pakatan if…”

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Najib must guarantee reforms before polls, says Pakatan

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 24, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — The federal opposition has demanded a guarantee from Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the Election Commission (EC) will carry out electoral reforms before a general election is called.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said today that the prime minister’s insistence that the timing of polls was not bound to a parliamentary select committee on electoral improvements raised doubts over whether “he means business.”

However, with just six weeks to go before the polls panel is to be formed by Dewan Rakyat, the opposition pact said it has not decided if a failure to offer such an assurance will see PR decline to join what Barisan Nasional (BN) hopes will be a bipartisan committee.

“There is no decision to boycott but we have made it abundantly clear that the onus is on the government to show good faith.

“The EC must take immediate action and there must be an assurance from the prime minister that he means business … that elections will only be held after the EC has taken measures recommended by the select committee,” Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told reporters after a PR leadership meeting. Continue reading “Najib must guarantee reforms before polls, says Pakatan”

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BN pushing the panic button

— Douglas Tan
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 24, 2011

AUG 24 — What a flurry in government giving we are seeing these days!

Bonuses, dividends, loans, grants and scholarships and now doled out like candy by Umno, MCA and the like to the masses and their constituents. Acting more like NGOs or charities, the Barisan Nasional component parties have engaged on a charm offensive by handing out our money back to us, and trying to discredit the Opposition.

It really got going when our Prime Minister announced that the government half month Hari Raya bonuses for all civil servants, which would cost in excess of RM1 billion to taxpayers, despite reduced subsidies and mounting budget deficits. Continue reading “BN pushing the panic button”

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End the charade, revoke the ban on Bersih 2.0 and drop all charges against the 1,600 Bersih demonstrators and others related to wearing Bersih T-shirts or yellow

On the occasion of the sixth yellow Saturday, I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to end the Barisan Nasional government charade for the past two months, revoke the ban on Bersih 2.0 and drop all charges against the 1,600 Malaysians arrested for taking part in the peaceful Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections on July 9 and all others related to Bersih 2.0 rally, including those for wearing Bersih T-shirts or just wearing yellow.

Let the Prime Minister and all Barisan Nasional Ministers come out openly to admit that they had gravely mishandled the Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections, which are the most pertinent, legitimate and democratic aspirations of right-thinking Malaysians so that the Malaysian electoral process can win the support, confidence and legitimacy of Malaysian voters.

It is no answer to the Bersih 2.0 rally for the Barisan Nasional Ministers and the Election Commission to counter that if the electoral system is as flawed as alleged by Bersih 2.0, Pakatan Rakyat and the civil society, then Pakatan Rakyat would not have won in five states or denied the Barisan Nasional two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 2008 general elections. Continue reading “End the charade, revoke the ban on Bersih 2.0 and drop all charges against the 1,600 Bersih demonstrators and others related to wearing Bersih T-shirts or yellow”

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Pakatan demands to head polls review committee

By Shannon Teoh | August 16, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — The federal opposition has demanded that they chair the prime minister’s parliament parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms.

In a press statement issued this evening, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) said that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement “validates issues on electoral reform raised by Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih 2.0 and we consider it a huge feat and win for democratic forces in Malaysia.”

However they want a PR MP to chair the new committee.

“To prove good faith, we request the prime minister to incorporate the following demands (that) the head of the parliamentary committee should be from the opposition,” said the release sent by the coalition’s secretariat.
Continue reading “Pakatan demands to head polls review committee”

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Question of DAP joining BN to replace MCA does not arise at all

The media has been abuzz following the Sin Chew Daily interview with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and his notion that DAP should join the Barisan Nasional.

The question of DAP joining the Barisan Nasional to replace MCA does not arise at all.

DAP is not a Chinese party fighting for Chinese rights but a Malaysian party fighting for the rights of all Malaysians whether Chinese, Malays, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans or Orang Asli as common Malaysian citizens who are entitled to an equal place under the Malaysian sun.

DAP leaders have toiled and sacrificed for their political beliefs in the past 45 years, persecuted and prosecuted in court, detained under the Internal Security Act for as long as four year and nine months, jailed and disqualified as MP and barred from elective office for five years for standing firm and steadfast on a matter of principle to fight for the rights of all Malaysians transcending race and religion – all these sacrifices not just for the DAP to replace MCA in the Barisan Nasional. Continue reading “Question of DAP joining BN to replace MCA does not arise at all”

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Polls dry run shows BN can lose Perak, Negri Sembilan

By Jahabar Sadiq
Editor
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 01, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) could lose Perak and Negri Sembilan in the next general elections, according to results of a recent dry run. Unless component parties put popular faces and ensure the grassroots machinery garner support from voters.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the Umno election dry run also showed that the BN fortress of Johor could see up to 15 out of the 56 state seats go to their political opponents Pakatan Rakyat (PR), something unheard before Election 2008 when the ruling coalition lost six seats. Continue reading “Polls dry run shows BN can lose Perak, Negri Sembilan”

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Seat negotiations will test Pakatan unity

Joseph Sipalan and Lee Way Loon | Jul 29, 11
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW It appears that Malaysia’s opposition is looking at covering all its bases in anticipation of a snap general election that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may call at any time.

With speculation that snap polls could be called as early as November, Pakatan Rakyat has already gone into discussions to determine its candidates for each of the 222 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang (left) said the plan is for Pakatan leaders at state level to finalise their seat negotiations by Sunday (July 31), though he did not discount the possibility that the negotiations may require more time.

What is more significant, however, is how the three Pakatan member parties – PKR, DAP and PAS – iron out their differences and accommodate one another’s needs for growth, both within the confines of the coalition and in the broader scope of Malaysian politics.
Continue reading “Seat negotiations will test Pakatan unity”

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Rakyat the ‘Third Force’ or ‘The Main Force’

By Richard Loh

Today I am taking a challenge to write against the tide.

In physics, a force is any influence that causes a free body to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. Force can also be described by intuitive concepts such as a push or pull that can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform. Wikipedia

If I am not wrong, the third force was not heard before except the term ‘fence sitter’ which described those indecisive voters pre-308. Even post 308 for over a year and a half there is no one bringing up the third force subject. What the general public saw was an opportunity for a two party system and that is when Pakatan Rakyat was created or formed.

The talk of the third force begins to appear in some blogs initiated from a movement group, sometime in late 2009 or early 2010 without mentioning that the rakyat was going to be the third force. Why suddenly the call for the third force when everything was pointing towards a two party system.
Continue reading “Rakyat the ‘Third Force’ or ‘The Main Force’”

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DAP downplays Pakatan split rumours

By Clara Chooi
July 18, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today shrugged off talk that his party may split from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) due to recurring conflicts with PAS, saying the idea had “not seriously occurred” to party leaders.

The senior politician also rejected the notion that PAS had kowtowed to DAP when the former revoked the Kedah entertainment outlet ban yesterday, insisting instead that the state government had shown tolerance and their willingness to resolve conflicts through consultation.

“The issue has shown the preparedness of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership to discuss and resolve problems, a glaring contrast with Umno,” he told The Malaysian Insider today. Continue reading “DAP downplays Pakatan split rumours”

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Kedah drops Ramadan bar closure plan

By Hazland Zakaria
Jul 17, 11 | MalaysiaKini

The PAS-led Kedah government has dropped plans to enforce a 1997 state enactment that requires bars, discos and karaoke clubs to close during the coming Ramadhan, a state official told AFP today.

The northern state decided in May to enforce closure of all entertainment outlets during the holy month, as stipulated in the state law passed by the previous BN-led administration.

However, the plan drew criticism from entertainment outlet operators, as well as other Pakatan Rakyat components who feared that a blanket ban would alienate non-Muslim voters. Continue reading “Kedah drops Ramadan bar closure plan”

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Kedah entertainment ban limited to Muslims, says Hadi

By Syed Mu’az Syed Putra
July 17, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

AMPANG, July 17 — Kedah has revoked the outright ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan and will instead bar only Muslims from patronising such establishments, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

Hadi blamed the mainstream media’s inaccurate reports for causing confusion and sparking discontent among non-Muslims.

“The BN media is exploiting this issue. So only non-Muslims can enter (the entertainment outlets), but Muslims will not be allowed to enter,” Hadi told reporters here today. Continue reading “Kedah entertainment ban limited to Muslims, says Hadi”

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Kedah ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan – MB should revoke decision

I have been in contact with the DAP Kedah State Chairman and Kota Darul Aman State Assemblyman Lee Guan Aik on the Kedah ban on 13 types of entertainment outlets from operating during Ramadan.

Lee reports that Kedah DAP had never agreed to the ban and that the matter was never raised at the Kedah Pakatan Rakyat council level, although it was agreed that matters that might be sensitive to the different communities like the ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan should be discussed at PR Kedah state council level first.

Lee also clarified that he had never agreed to such a ban in the Kedah State Assembly.

In the circumstances, the Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan should reconsider and revoke the decision to fully implement Kedah State Entertainment Enactment 1997, especially as the previous Barisan Nasional state government had not done so in the 11 years before it was ousted in the 2008 general elections. Continue reading “Kedah ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan – MB should revoke decision”