Category: Pakatan Rakyat

Bernama
December 22, 2008 20:31 PM

PAS Admits Difficulty Getting Consensus On Hudud From Opposition Partners

KOTA BAHARU, Dec 22 (Bernama) — PAS has admitted that the implementation of Hudud and Qisas laws would have to be postponed even if Pakatan Rakyat is able to take over the government in future.

This is because it will require the agreement of its two other Pakatan Rakyat partners, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and DAP, which has already objected to the plan.

The admission was made by PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa at a press conference, here, today as the three opposition components had signed an agreement in August, stating that any policy change should have a multilateral agreement among them.

Husam said PAS would not act unilaterally in coming up with the Hudud law if the party ruled the country but would instead work together with DAP and PKR on the matter. Continue reading “Husam confirms – hukum hudud is not Pakatan Rakyat policy”

Media reports that PAS vice president Datuk Husam Musa has said that PAS will implement hudud if Pakatan Rakyat takes over the Federal Government has created a frenzy of reaction.

Hukum hudud is not Pakatan Rakyat policy and it is for Husam to clarify what he actually said.

DAP’s stand on the secular character of Malaysian nation and state as agreed in the social contract by our forefathers when Merdeka was achieved 51 years ago remains consistent and unchanged.

If unclarified, Husam’s statement would create unease, anxiety and opposition not only among the 11% of the Chinese voters in the critical Kuala Terengganu by-election on January 17 but also among both Malay and non-Malay voters whether in Terengganu or the rest of Malaysia.

Star Editor-in-Chief Wong Chun Wai in his blog yesterday on “The realities of Malaysian politics” wrote:

“Anwar Ibrahim has revealed a signed document between himself, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS’ Hadi Awang that none of us have heard of until now – an agreement to uphold the rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The Sept 8 agreement pledged to uphold Malay rights and the status of Islam as the official religion.

”Anwar also said that the social contract between the races were already agreed upon by all members of the coalition. He also revealed that the four-paragraph agreement could not be changed by any party, according to The Star.”

The imputation that I had signed on behalf of DAP a “secret” compact with the other Pakatan Rakyat leaders to uphold Malay rights and the status of Islam as the official religion as provided in the Federal Constitution is baseless, mischievous and unworthy of a professional journalist.

This is because Wong’s insinuation imported the innuendo that the DAP and I had all along opposed these two constitutional provisions but in a most opportunistic and dishonest act of political expediency, I had agreed in Pakatan Rakyat to a secret document “none of us have heard of until now” to support them. Continue reading “Insinuation of PR “secret agreement” on Malay special rights – baseless, mischievous and unworthy of a professional journalist”

The controversy of 50% bumiputra housing quota in Kedah is being resolved.

I raised this issue at the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council in Parliament on Tuesday and I am given to understand that there is no change from the previous position on bumiputra housing quota in the state.

Hopefully, this matter can be clarified and set to rest without further prolongation of the controversy. Continue reading “Kedah 50% bumiputra housing controversy being resolved”

Before the disgraceful “bastard” episode in Parliament on Wednesday (5th November 2008), the Barisan Nasional (BN) MP for Pasir Salak, Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was involved in an earlier parliamentary row when I was speaking on the Prime Minister’s Department on how the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) was poisoning the minds of the new generation of public servants with racist, communal and unMalaysian propaganda.

This was Tajuddin’s “tak sekolah ke?” expose.

Many MPs, not only from Pakatan Rakyat but also from BN, have been wondering why Tajuddin had been enjoying immunity not only for showing utter contempt for parliamentary decencies but even for openly challenging the authority of the Chair, as happened on on 29th October 2008 when the Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr. Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaffar was presiding, and Tajuddin threw the gauntlet:

“Kalau macam ini saya tidak setuju kalau Tuan Yang di-Pertua hendak ambil tindakan kepada saya, ambillah! Betul, ambillah, ambil! Come on. Let’s be fair dengan izin. You dengar ini dengar!”

DAP MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh was suspended for two days over the “main, main” issue but Tajuddin got away scot-free for unprecedented open defiance to the Chair except to subsequently withdraw the statement.

It was only less than a fortnight ago that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made it as the theme in his opening speech at the 55th MCA General Assembly that “UMNO is not a ‘Bully Party’ or many component parties would have left BN by now” and even asking:

“Do you think Ka Ting allows himself to be bullied? You think (MIC president) Samy (Vellu) can be bullied? You think (Gerakan president Dr. Koh) Tsu Koon wants to be bullied?”

I don’t want to answer Abdullah’s question as the best people to answer are the Malaysian people. All I can say is that Abdullah will be very surprised by the answers from the people if he really believes that Umno is not a “bully party” in Barisan Nasional.

Those who follow the recent parliamentary proceedings cannot escape the conclusion that Umno’s “bully” mentality vis-à-vis the other Barisan Nasional component parties are still very alive and unrepentant, as evidenced from the merciless way Umno MPs flayed the MCA Deputy Minister for National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, Teng Boon Soon and the Gerakan Wanita chief and Deputy Information Minister Datuk Tan Lian Hoe – with a NST headline “DEWAN RAKYAT: Lian Hoe gets another roasting” – and nobody in MCA and Gerakan in Parliament dared to come to their defence apart from DAP and Pakatan Rakyat MPs! How pathetic! Continue reading “UMNO continuing to behave like big bully of MCA and Gerakan in Parliament as well as PRS”

Why she is the target

Teresa Kok’s attempts to reach out to Malay Muslims has no doubt been a threat to Umno

Leslie Lau, October 4, 2008

SHE has been villified as a Chinese chauvinist and portrayed as anti-Muslim. She was detained one week under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for allegedly stirring up religious sentiments. And last week, unknown assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the compound of her family home in Kuala Lumpur.

But ask Democratic Action Party (DAP) Member of Parliament Teresa Kok why she has become the target of a smear campaign in recent months and she will probably be hard pressed for an answer.

And those who know her insist she is anything but a chauvinist or an enemy of Islam that her detractors claim she is.

When Ms Kok was detained under the ISA, even Mr Zaid Ibrahim, who quit the Cabinet as de facto Law Minister partly in protest against the use of the law, said of her: “I know Teresa personally and I cannot see her as anti-Islam.” Continue reading “Teresa – why she is the target”

by Bakri Musa

When (it appears less of an “if” now) Anwar Ibrahim takes over the government, he will face the monumental twin problems of undoing the damage wrecked upon our institutions as well as containing the inevitable implosion of UMNO.

Failure in either would effectively doom Anwar, Pakatan, and Malaysia. The good news is that both challenges could be handled simultaneously through the same strategy, and with the subsequent success benefiting all.

The blight on our institutions and governmental machinery, as well as the urgent need to rectify it, is well appreciated. Less recognized is the need to manage UMNO’s certain breakup.

For those who venture that UMNO’s fate is the least of Anwar’s (or our) concern, consider this. The tumultuous and unpredictable demise of the Soviet System may have ended the Cold War, but the world paid a severe price, one that could have been mitigated had the breakup been more orderly.

The world is still paying the price. There is the recurring nightmare that the Soviet’s old nuclear warheads might fall into unscrupulous hands. Those still unconvinced of the price being paid, just ask the Georgians and Ukrainians.

UMNO dominated Malaysia for over half a century; its implosion too will have unpredictable fallouts. If not skillfully managed, the consequences on Malaysia would be on a scale similar to that inflicted on Eastern Europe by the collapse of the Soviets. Continue reading ““916” Not A Failure”

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should reconsider his rejection of the request by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for an emergency session of Parliament to debate a “no confidence” motion latest by Tuesday, September 23.

He should table Anwar’s request at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to secure Cabinet approval to convene an emergency Parliament to end the six-month political impasse – resulting in the deepening and aggravation of the multiple crisis of confidence whether political, economic, nation-building, international competitiveness or good governance – by getting the country moving forward again with a clear-cut parliamentary vote as to who has the parliamentary majority to govern Malaysia.

Abdullah has said that Anwar’s ”916” plan to secure the support of the majority of the 222 MPs to move the country forward to address and overcome the manifold crisis and challenges confronting Malaysia is “a mirage” and “a lie”.

But the actions of the Barisan Nasional government belie these claims, whether it be the sodomy II charge against Anwar, the last-minute panicky “blur blur” agricultural study tour to Taiwan to sequester some 50 MPs from any possible defection, the spate of ISA arrests particularly against DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok – all point to a government unsure of its parliamentary majority and even raising the question whether it is a government in its last throes?

If Abdullah is convinced and confident that he still has the support of the majority of the 222 MPs, why is he running away from the opportunity to prove Anwar wrong by convening the emergency Parliament session for a clear-cut vote to be taken on Anwar’s “no confidence” motion? Continue reading “Abdullah should convene 929 Emergency Parliament unless his days as PM are numbered after Umno’s “918””

Got this email from Malaysia’s hard-hitting journalist and playwright Kee Thuan Chye:

“I hope you can mention in your blog that my book, “March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up”, is now in bookstores.

“I think it will be in the interest of multi-racialism, justice, fairness and a better Malaysia.”

These quotes from the book’s promotion will catch everyone’s attention:”

Quotes

“If the system is flawed, I believe it should be reformed, not blindly tolerated or accepted with a helpless shrug or defended with excuses—by the powers that be, the media, the man in the street.”

– Kee Thuan Chye

Do you think Penang people are stupid enough to support (Guan Eng)? We Penangites are not stupid.

– Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, said before March 8

An army can come but I know how to fight it out….The people in Sungai Siput are with me. They are my strength. I have strived for them and served them.

– MIC President S. Samy Vellu, said before March 8

The Barisan is peaking now. We let [DAP] shoot and finish their bullets. Now we’re the ones with the bullets and we’re chipping away at their arguments.

– Former Gerakan President Dr Lim Keng Yaik, March 7, The Star

Continue reading “March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up”

The uncharacteristically stern and harsh allegation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday that the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a threat to the national security and economy who wanted to “destroy the country and exploit the people’s trust and tarnish the country’s image abroad” had sparked speculation that the stage is being set for a Operation Lalang 2 crackdown and Anwar’s arrest under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

All right-thinking Malaysians must deplore in the strongest terms the veiled threat by Abdullah that Anwar would be arbitrarily and undemocratically silenced as the allegation that Anwar is a threat to national security and economy is a most ludicrous and preposterous one.

I have been twice detained under the ISA, once in 1969 and the second time in 1987, becoming the guest of His Majesty’s Government for a total of 35 months – and on both occasions, I was accused of being “a threat to national security”!

All the 16 DAP MPs and leaders detained in the 1987 Operation Lalang dragnet under the ISA were all accused of being threats to national security – but these are all baseless catch-all allegations just to justify the abuse of the ISA to silence critics and dissent.

We were threats to the political security of the Barisan Nasional leaders but it is the democratic and citizenship right of every Malaysian to challenge the political credibility, legitimacy and authority of the ruling government through the democratic process or we should not claim that Malaysia practises parliamentary democracy.

Such democratic challenges do not become threats to national security just because those in power are in fear of losing the perks of office and power.

Anwar Ibrahim can be accused of posing a grave threat to the political security of Abdullah and the other Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders with his “916 sky-change” plan, but he cannot under any stretch of imagination be accused of being a threat to national security and economy. Continue reading “Abdullah should give public assurance that Anwar will not be detained under ISA”

Will there be any “916” political transformation setting in motion the changes to bring about a Pakatan Rakyat federal government, ending Umno political hegemony and Barisan Nasional federal power?

This is the question uppermost in the minds of all Malaysians – and the reason for the farce of some 50 BN MPs forced to suffer daily media humiliation, Malaysian and Taiwan, in pursuing a “mong-cha-cha” (“blur, blur”) agricultural study trip to Taiwan just to foil the “916” political transformation.

However, whether the political transformation takes place in four days’ on 916, or 1016, 1116 or in an early 13th general election is a secondary question to the important fact that the Malaysian political mould has been completely recast and it is only a matter of time that a transition of federal power is effected.

What is most significant about “916” is not whether federal power will change hands from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat in four days’ time, but in the sea-change in the political attitude of Malaysians as compared to six months ago before the March 8 general election. Continue reading “Whether 916, 1016, 1116 or in an early 13th general election, time has come for new federal government”

Kenyataan Akhbar
PAKATAN RAKYAT

11 September 2008
Peralihan Kuasa Tetap Akan Berlaku Kerana BN Telah Gagal

Kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang bertemu hari ini yakin proses pembentukan kerajaan baru yang berlandasan Agenda Reformasi sedang berjalan secara lancar. Kami percaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional akan diganti dalam masa terdekat.

Pakatan Rakyat yakin mendapat bilangan ahli Parlimen yang mencukupi untuk mempunyai majoriti dalam Parlimen yang membolehkan penubuhan kerajaan baru. Bagaimanapun tarikh sebenar penubuhan kerajaan mungkin terpaksa dilewatkan dari 16 September sebagaimana rancangan awal akibat beberapa ahli Parlimen telah dipaksa ke Taiwan.

Umum mengetahui negara kini masih dicengkam permasalahan politik, ekonomi dan sosial yang getir. Akibat kehilangan keyakinan rakyat terhadap kepimpinan UMNO dan BN, timbul percubaan mengalih pandangan kepada isu perkauman sempit.

Masalah perkauman yang diapi-apikan berterusan sehingga kini menunjukkan formula BN yang dihantui kebejatan rasuah dan korupsi gagal mentadbir negara ini. Api perkauman yang cuba dibakar akan mengancam kestabilan negara dan kebajikan rakyat. Kepimpinan BN yang semakin lemah juga menyaksikan parti tersebut semakin berpecah dan semakin hilang arah.

Melihat kepada perkembangan semasa inilah ramai Ahli Parlimen BN telah hilang kepercayaan terhadap kepimpinan BN dan memutuskan untuk bersama dengan Pakatan Rakyat. Pakatan Rakyat menegaskan bahawa kami tidak pernah dan tidak perlu membeli atau menyogok Ahli Parlimen berkenaan untuk menyertai kami. Mereka didorong oleh kesedaran sendiri serta memberikan komitmen menyokong agenda perubahan. Continue reading “Power transfer at national level – matter of time”

by Martin Jalleh

With each passing day, Umno, which had very arrogantly declared that it would bury Anwar Ibrahim politically, continues to dig its own grave.

The results of the by-election in Permatang Pauh sounded the death knell to the supremacist party. It was the last nail that the party drove into its own coffin.

After the General Elections in March it became evident that Umno is not short of leaders like Ahmad Ismail who desperately seek to write Umno’s obituary.

Sharing this privilege is Dr M, whose self-deceiving sarcasm puts him in a state of denial especially over the fact that Umno started to decay and decompose during his days!

Umno’s colleagues in the BN whose parties are also disintegrating have made it clear that they can no longer swallow nor stomach Umno’s political vomit and venom.

The PM increasingly looks like a lame duck, kept afloat by a pool of lame-brained ministers like Najib, Nazri and Syed Hamid – experts at offering lame excuses.

It is against this dark despairing scenario that Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) offer much-needed hope. There is great urgency to bring about real and radical change. Continue reading “Of Pakatan, People, Principles, Patience and Prudence”

The last-minute free junket to Taiwan for 54 MPs is shaping up to be the greatest political farce in the nation’s 51-year history – all because of the “916 obsession” of the Umno/Barisan Nasional leadership.

UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders have put up a bold public front dismissing the possibility of any change of government come Sept. 16, dismissing the “916” speculation as political gimmick and “day-dream”, although in their heart of hearts, it has become a “living nightmare” to the Umno/BN leadership.

This is because Umno/BN leadership are acutely and painfully aware that six months after the March 8 general election, more and more BN MPs are convinced that the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional leadership have completely lost their way as illustrated by the latest Ahmad Ismail furore and have neither the vision nor political will to relate and become relevant to the revolution of new hopes and expectations of post-political tsunami Malaysia.

As compared to six months ago, there are even fewer BN MPs who are prepared to defend the policies and programmes of the Prime Minister and the BN leadership, as they have lost all hope and confidence in the their ability to manage a major turnaround of political support of the people.

Continue reading “The 916 obsession – 54 BN MPs have Anwar to thank for the last-minute free junket to Taiwan”

Kenyataan Akhbar
MAJLIS PIMPINAN PAKATAN RAKYAT

8 September 2008

Pakatan Rakyat Menjunjung Prinsip Perlembagaan Persekutuan

Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang bersidang pada hari ini 8 September 2008 dengan ini menegaskan penolakan kami terhadap usaha-usaha menyemarakkan politik perkauman yang sedang dilakukan oleh UMNO akhir-akhir ini. Kami amat bimbang isu ini sekarang digunakan untuk mengelabui pandangan rakyat yang sebenarnya merupakan usaha terdesak untuk menyelamatkan kepentingan segelintir golongan elit politik dan kroni mereka.

Kami sekali lagi mengulangi pendirian menjunjung prinsip-prinsip dasar yang termaktub di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ini termasuk soal-soal dasar seperti kedudukan Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan dan menjamin kebebasan mengamalkan agama-agama lain, kedaulatan Bahasa Melayu sebagai Bahasa Kebangsaan dan mempertahankan hak bahasa ibunda, kedudukan dan kedaulatan Institusi Raja-Raja Melayu serta kedudukan hak-hak istimewa orang Melayu dan Bumiputera serta hak-hak semua kaum yang telah dijamin oleh Perlembagaan.

Berdasarkan prinsip-prinsip Perlembagaan ini kami menolak sekeras-kerasnya pendekatan politik perkauman sempit yang menjadi dasar UMNO-BN. Pendekatan inilah yang sengaja digunakan untuk memecahbelahkan perpaduan dan keharmonian masyarakat majmuk negara ini. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat leadership council condemns racism of Ahmad Ismail and Penang Umno leaders”

The Star front-page headline today “Off to Taiwan – 50 Barisan MPs begin eight-day study trip” is the latest update of the political farce which could be appropriately entitled “The Birds Have Flown” to tell the story as to how 51 years after Merdeka, two-thirds of the 75 BN parliamentary backbenchers were forced to flee from Malaysia to ensure that they don’t take part any “916” political changes.

Despite maintaining a public stanc of stoic indifference, there is no doubt that with the daily countdown to September 16, there is an increasing panic in Umno and Barisan Nasional leadership ranks over the degree of cohesion, solidarity and allegiance of the 75 Barisan Nasional parliamentary backbenchers, resulting in the farcical “forced flight” overseas by two-thirds of the BN MPs to make it absolutely sure that none of them will participate in any “916” developments.

The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Bintulu) may pride himself for coming up with a “political masterstroke” to thwart “916”, but he did not realize that he has made the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the entire Umno and BN leadership look even more foolish in the eyes of Malaysians and the world! Continue reading ““The birds have flown” – BN MPs forced to flee from Malaysia because of “916””

I salute the voters of Permatang Pauh for being the pioneers of the Bangsa Malaysia generation who decisively rejected the divisive, racist and chauvinistic by-election campaign of Umno to rise above race and religion to vote solidly on Tuesday, August 26 for Anwar Ibrahim as their MP once again, after an enforced absence of a decade.

Although former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had set the target of 2020 for the emergence of a Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020, the people of Permatang Pauh whether Malays, Chinese or Indians were 12 years ahead of the timetable when they voted in unison as pioneers of the Bangsa Malaysia generation in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

This is why the Permatang Pauh by-election is of such historic, momentous and far-reaching consequence although it concerns only one parliamentary constituency.

The Permatang Pauh by-election was not only a resounding endorsement and victory for Anwar but also for the cause of Bangsa Malaysia. Continue reading “Merdeka II – declare Malaysia Day September 16 as second National Day/public holiday”

1. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi?

The loss suffered by the Barisan Nasional in the Permatang Pauh by-election should not be read as an emerging trend for other constituencies.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stressed that while the loss was something to be concerned about, the situation had not reached a “worrying level” as Barisan Nasional still controlled 140 seats after the March 8 general election.

“We can still continue with the government. We are aware of the mandate given to us and we will work hard to deliver,” he said. (The Star 28.8.08)

“After all, the last general election gave us a strong victory. We are only eight seats short of a two-thirds majority, it is not that we lost by 20 or 30 seats, only eight seats. We have a very strong government.” (New Straits Times 28.8.08)

Comment: Barisan Nasional achieved “a strong victory” in the March 8, 2008 general election? Abdullah must be living in a completely different world, when he could console himself as having achieved “a strong victory” what had been described as a “political tsunami” with BN candidates falling like nine-pins, sending the BN into the Opposition in five states and ending the hitherto unbroken BN two-thirds parliamentary majority?

Abdullah is in double trouble – he has not woken up from his slumber and he is suffering from terminal denial syndrome. Continue reading “Permatang Pauh by-election – who is the silliest of them all?”

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir remarked that Pakatan Rakyat cannot attract Barisan Nasional MPs to join its party with money because they are rich and would not be influenced by bribes.

He is right on the mark as PR is not a party grouping with rich and wealthy leaders and therefore do not have the resources to resort to bribery.

Pakatan Rakyat is attractive because it has an ideology which is a winning formula to bring about reforms and changes for a better Malaysia.

There are many Barisan leaders who are disenchanted with Umno because of its corruption, cronyism and racial policies. These dissatisfied leaders are welcome to join Pakatan Rakyat on their own volition, if they accept PR’s policies of democracy, justice, freedom of religion , rule of law and transparency. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat attracts new members because of its philosophy not money”