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Both Najib and UMNO/BN Must Go

Koon Yew Yin
31st Aug 2016

The hot rumour in town is that Prime Minister Najib may resign soon and that UMNO and BN will go into the next GE without him at the helm. This story seems to have appeared probably because of a n article by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee which appeared recently.

Titled, “Why Prime Minister Najib is on his way out”, the article has resulted in numerous comments and feedback from the public. Some commentators have agreed with Dr. Lim, who incidentally is a friend of mine, and his prediction that Najib will call it a day and leave office ahead of our 14th GE so as to give UMNO an advantage in the polls.

But others have disagreed with him. So strong is the public disapproval and disgust with what has happened in the 1MDB case as well as that unbelievably gigantic donation into the PM’s personal account that many Malaysians want to see Najib pay the price for these two scandals which is costing our taxpayers billions of ringgit. I am with other Malaysians who hope that the Prime Minister will not be able to get away scot-free or in the words of Dr. Lim, be able to engineer “the great escape” from these two scandals which have made headline news around the world for the wrong reasons. Continue reading “Both Najib and UMNO/BN Must Go”

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Najib should explain his real relationship with Jho Low in the 1MDB global kleptocratic scandal instead of spreading canard that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam

Instead of spreading canards that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, it would be more useful and productive for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to explain his real relationship with the billionaire Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal which had overnight catapulted Malaysia into the stratosphere of a global kleptocracy with the single largest US and global action by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Or does Najib think that his expensive 1MDB caper was in the interests of upholding the rights, interests and glory of Malays and Islam in Malaysia?

In which case, let Najib state clearly who was making use of whom in the 1MDB scandal – Jho Low making use of Najib or Najib making use of Jho Low?

Who was taking who for a ride?

Was Jho Low the “mastermind” of the 1MDB global financial scandal, resulting in his named as one among the five persons, including Najib’s son-in-law, Hollywood film producer Riza Aziz, as defendants in the DOJ lawsuits to forfeit more than US$1 billion in assets, including about US$150 million of residential properties in New York and Los Angeles as well as several works of art, out of some US$3.5 billion stolen, embezzled, misappropriated and money-laundered from 1MDB funds, or was Najib the “mastermind” resulting in the reference to “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” 36 times in the 136-page DOJ complaint? Continue reading “Najib should explain his real relationship with Jho Low in the 1MDB global kleptocratic scandal instead of spreading canard that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam”

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Malaysia Leader Under Pressure From U.S. Lawsuit Over 1MDB Assets

By JAKE MAXWELL WATTS in Singapore and YANTOULTRA NGUI and CELINE FERNANDEZ in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Wall Street Journal
July 21, 2016

Prime Minister Najib Razak faced fresh calls to resign Thursday after the U.S. moved to seize more than $1 billion of assets allegedly siphoned from a development fund he founded. But with elections likely years away, Malaysia’s well-entrenched leader looked set to easily weather the latest storm.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday seeking to seize assets it said were part of “an international conspiracy to launder money’’ misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.

Authorities in Singapore, Malaysia’s wealthy neighbor, followed on Thursday by saying they had seized bank accounts and placed restrictions on property transactions worth a combined 240 million Singapore dollars (US$178 million) as part of their own probe into 1MDB.

A request for comment from Mr. Najib’s office went unanswered on Thursday. Earlier, his office said it would fully cooperate with any lawful investigation in line with international protocols. Continue reading “Malaysia Leader Under Pressure From U.S. Lawsuit Over 1MDB Assets”

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Malaysians must be able to hope again that change of Federal Government which was within a whisker of achievement in the 13GE was possible and realizable in 14GE, even if held in July/August next year

In the 13th General Election in 2013 three years ago, Malaysians regardless of race and religion were never so united in wanting to bring about a change of Federal Government, which would be regarded as unthinkable and impossible just five years earlier before the “political tsunami” of the 12th General Election in 2008.

Although the majority of voters voted for change of Federal Government, the undemocratic and unfair electoral system allowed Datuk Seri Najib Razak to become the first minority Prime Minister in the country because he won some 60 per cent of the parliamentary seats with only some 47% of the popular vote.

Many Malaysians have become disappointed, disenchanted and given up hope that there is a possibility of democratic change in Malaysia, and have voted with their feet with a surge of migration in the past three years.

The greatest challenge in Malaysia today is to ensure that Malaysians can hope again that change of Federal Government, which was within a whisker of achievement in the 13GE, is still possible and realizable in the 14th General Election even if it is held in July/August next year. Continue reading “Malaysians must be able to hope again that change of Federal Government which was within a whisker of achievement in the 13GE was possible and realizable in 14GE, even if held in July/August next year”

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DAP does not want UMNO to die, but to reform and renew itself which can only occur if it is defeated at least once in general elections to mark Malaysia becoming a normal democratic country

Yesterday’s Malaysiakini report “’DAP must die’ – Umno protesters cast hell notes” by Alyaa Azhar on the Red-Shirt UMNO demonstration outside the DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, said:

“Quizzed on the hell notes, one of the protesters replied: ‘Kerana kita nak kasi orang DAP mati ma (We want DAP people to die).’

“Chipping in, Federal Territory Umno Youth chief Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii said: ‘Something to that effect. They (DAP) wants Umno to die, so we want DAP to die.’”

I do not want here to touch on why the Police have repeatedly allowed irresponsible and extremist elements in our society to stage demonstrations to provoke and incite racial and religious hatred threatening to burn down headquarters whether of DAP, PKR or Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall but it is necessary to set the record straight so that the extremists and bigots are not allowed to mislead others to commit senseless acts.

DAP had never said it wanted UMNO to die. I am not aware of any person, political party or organization who had ever said that they want UMNO to die.

DAP does not want UMNO to die, but through the electoral contest, to reform and renew itself which can only occur if it is defeated at least once in general elections to mark Malaysia becoming a normal democratic country.

I have said many a time that UMNO/BN must be voted out of Putrajaya at least once if Malaysia is to become a normal democratic country and break the present national trajectory trending down the slippery slope towards a fractured, failed and rogue state. Continue reading “DAP does not want UMNO to die, but to reform and renew itself which can only occur if it is defeated at least once in general elections to mark Malaysia becoming a normal democratic country”

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UMNO/BN must be voted out of Putrajaya at least once if Malaysia is to become a normal democratic country and break the present national trajectory trending down the slippery slope towards a fractured, failed and rogue state

Many are asking about the future of Malaysia after the two big Barisan Nasional wins in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections a week ago, with the backdrop of the BN landslide victory in the Sarawak State General Election and the previous Teluk Intan by-election.

Is it still possible for Malaysians to hope for political change in Putrajaya at the 14th General Election whether in 2018 or a year earlier in July or August next year or in the near future?

Let us have a reality check as we have travelled quite a political distance in Malaysia. Only eight years ago, before the 2008 General Election, if any Malaysian was asked if it was possible foresee a change of Federal Government, the answer would be an unanimous and and unambiguous “No”.

But the “political tsunami” of the 2008 General Election had completely changed the political landscape, and what had been “unthinkable” and “impossible” had been transformed into a “thinkable”, “possible” and “achievable”, and the question of a change of Federal Government has taken the quantum leap from “whether” to “when” and “how”.

The 2013 General Election was fought on the platform of a change of Federal Government, and although 53% of the voters voted for change, victory was denied them because of the undemocratic electoral system which allowed Datuk Najib Razak to become the nation’s first minority Prime Minister by winning 60 per cent of the parliamentary seats though only securing a minority of 47% of the popular vote.

Malaysia is now an extraordinary paradox – on the one hand, Najib Razak an increasingly more powerful and unshakeable Prime Minister of Malaysia inside the country , while internationally he is under increasing siege perceived as corrupt, haunted and hounded by the RM55 billion 1MDB global scandal (which contained within it the RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal) which is being investigated by seven other countries. Continue reading “UMNO/BN must be voted out of Putrajaya at least once if Malaysia is to become a normal democratic country and break the present national trajectory trending down the slippery slope towards a fractured, failed and rogue state”

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Fallacies and facts on the two by-elections

Kim Quek
Malaysiakini
21 Jun 2016

COMMENT Bombastic assertions abound since the conclusion of the by-elections in Sungai Besar, Selangor and Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Chief among these are Malaysians’ resounding endorsement of PM Najib Abdul Razak’s otherwise precarious leadership and the allegedly corrupt rule of the Barisan Nasional government, as well as a huge shift of Chinese support to BN.

These claims are in reality more fallacy than fact. Continue reading “Fallacies and facts on the two by-elections”

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The June by-elections and the politics of losing

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
21st June 2018

COMMENT The by-election results for Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar are in. Umno held onto their seats, and increased its majorities.

Given the tragedy surrounding the polls stemming from the helicopter accident in Sarawak last month, the fact that by-elections disproportionately favour those with access to resources, and the reality that these contests were three-cornered fights with a divided opposition, these results are not unexpected.

The important implications of these by-elections lies less in the winning, but in the losing – as the shifts in campaigning, voting and political alignments reveal that old dreams are gone. Malaysian electoral politics is shifting, and all indications are that the direction is not toward a stronger, more vibrant polity that offers meaningful choices to the electorate. Continue reading “The June by-elections and the politics of losing”

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If Hadi is right, it must be Allah’s will that 65-year-old PAS is defeated by nine-month-old AMANAH and crushed in Sungai Besar by-election securing one per cent of Chinese votes when it received 75% Chinese voter support in 2013GE

This must be the first time that the UMNO President has beaten PAS President in claiming divine intervention for an electoral victory.

On Saturday night, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he had turned to God for answers if he was on the right path or whether he had really strayed, and Barisan Nasional’s “thumping victories in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections was God’s answer to his prayers”.
Najib said:

“I don’t reply with harsh words. I only want to work. I prayed to Allah, if I am right, then show it.

“(Then) God gave us victory beyond our expectations.”

It will not be long before there will be claims that Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.5 billion “donation” twin global scandals have received God’s blessings as well.

In the two by-elections, the student has outshone the teacher, as the “adviser” took two full days to recover from PAS’ stinging defeats in the two by-elections and to urge PAS supporters not to despair as it is in Allah’s powers to dictate victory for all who uphold Islam.

If the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang is right, it must be Allah’s will that the 65-year-old PAS is defeated by nine-month-old AMANAH and crushed in Sungai Besar by-election, securing one per cent of Chinese votes when it received 75% Chinese voter support in 2013GE. Continue reading “If Hadi is right, it must be Allah’s will that 65-year-old PAS is defeated by nine-month-old AMANAH and crushed in Sungai Besar by-election securing one per cent of Chinese votes when it received 75% Chinese voter support in 2013GE”

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Election victories bolster scandal-tainted Malaysian leader

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Daily Mail
19 June 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The party of Malaysia’s scandal-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak has won two parliamentary by-elections in a landslide, further strengthening his rule despite corruption allegations.

Najib’s United Malays National Organization retained the Sungai Besar seat in central Selangor state and Kuala Kangsar in northern Perak state in the elections Saturday with much larger majorities. The elections were triggered after the deaths of the incumbents in a helicopter crash.

The victory was expected due to a fractured opposition, as well as the ruling coalition’s well-oiled machinery and money. Voters in the two rural constituencies are mostly ethnic Malays, the bedrock of support for Najib’s Malay party.

Najib said the victory showed that the people rejected “politically-motivated slander” against his government. Last month, he also secured a major win for the coalition in a state election. Continue reading “Election victories bolster scandal-tainted Malaysian leader”

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Embattled PM wins by-elections in Malaysia

AFP
Bangkok Post
19 Jun 2016

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s ruling party won two parliamentary by-elections Saturday that were closely watched for indications of whether graft allegations hounding Prime Minister Najib Razak were affecting his governing coalition’s support.

The results in two mainly rural constituencies were largely expected, as support typically runs strong in such areas for the dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

The UMNO-led ruling coalition also enjoys huge advantages in money and machinery over a splintered opposition.

UMNO candidate Budiman Mohamad Zohdi won the parliamentary seat of Sungai Besar of west-central Malaysia, while Mastura Mohamad Yazid won the Kuala Kangsar constituency seat in the country’s north, the election commission announced.

Both candidates also pulled off a thumping victory as predicted. Continue reading “Embattled PM wins by-elections in Malaysia”

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Twin Malaysia By-Elections to Reveal Level of Support for Najib

by Shamim Adam
Bloomberg
June 18, 2016

Voters in two Malaysian districts head to the polls Saturday in by-elections that will indicate the extent of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s hold on his party.

More than 42,600 people in Sungai Besar in Selangor state and 33,000 in Kuala Kangsar in the northern Perak region will pick new lawmakers after a helicopter crash last month killed incumbents from Najib’s United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO.

The vote is the first test of public support for Najib on peninsular Malaysia after a year of political turmoil over funding scandals. Losses or narrower victories could spur concern in UMNO about his ability to steer it to another win in a national election due by 2018. Equally, a strong win for seats already held by UMNO would bolster his grip.

Former leader Mahathir Mohamad has recently lost traction in his bid to convince party officials that Najib is a liability and will cost them a reign unbroken since 1957. Most UMNO divisional chiefs back the premier, even amid concerns about slowing growth and its impact on ethnic Malays, the cornerstone of the party. Convincing wins would help Najib silence the Mahathir-led murmurings about his leadership. Continue reading “Twin Malaysia By-Elections to Reveal Level of Support for Najib”

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Ismail Sabri reminded of my three tweets to him that I am prepared to forgive him but he must apologise for his nefarious lies about me or I will pursue the matter and not let matter rest

Earlier today, I sent three tweets to the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakub, as follows:

1. @IsmailSabri60 You can run, you cannot hide. Where are your examples to substantiate your allegation that I had been anti-Malay anti-Islam?

2. Most shocking in this holy month of Ramadam @IsmailSabri60 can still tell such nefarious lies. Am prepared to forgive you if you apologise.

3. If @IsmailSabri60 does not apologise, I will pursue the issue whether in Parliament or the courts. Ball in your court. Over to you.

There has been thunderous silence from Ismail who had pretensions that he is one of the most Internet-savvy Cabinet Ministers in the country.

Ismail had said that he can compile a whole book to prove that I am anti-Malay and anti-Islam and I had told him that the book can wait, but to cite an instance a day up to the by-election polling day on Saturday 18th June 2016 that I had been anti-Malay and anti-Islam in my 50 years in politics.

Three days have passed and Ismail already owed me three examples. Will he come up with one example a day today and tomorrow, to produce a total of five examples in time for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections – which should be “chicken-feed” since he claimed that he could compile a book, which should have at least 100 examples.

I had hoped to make some money from Ismail but he seemed to have realised that he is on a slippery slope which would be very costly for him. If Ismail has now realised that he had wrongly defamed me, he should have the honesty and decency to publicly apologise for telling baseless lies and falsehoods about me – especially in this holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading “Ismail Sabri reminded of my three tweets to him that I am prepared to forgive him but he must apologise for his nefarious lies about me or I will pursue the matter and not let matter rest”

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Ismail Sabri, a book can wait, but let’s have one example a day until polling day – or five examples that I had been anti-Malay and anti-Islam in my 50 years in politics

Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday accepted my challenge to cite an example in my 50 years in politics to prove that I am anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and said that he can compile a whole book on the anti-Malay and anti-Islam speeches that I had made.

But he did not cite a single instance to back up his allegation.

Let me tell Ismail – a book can wait, but let’s have one example a day until polling day for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections on June 18 or five examples that I had been anti-Malay and anti-Islam in my 50 years in politics.

He should have given one example yesterday. As he did not, he owes me one example. I await his one example a day until Friday i.e. five examples in all, which is not too much to ask, since he is talking about a book, presumably at least 100 examples!

I have been tickled to no end reading the fulmination of another UMNO Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who said that Tun Dr. Mahathir was just the DAP’s latest “warhorse”. Continue reading “Ismail Sabri, a book can wait, but let’s have one example a day until polling day – or five examples that I had been anti-Malay and anti-Islam in my 50 years in politics”

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Pluralism remains critical to Malaysia

Opinion
Straits Times
JUN 10, 2016

Those fearing a creeping Islamisation of Malaysia reacted sharply when the government, led by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), allowed Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) to table a Bill on hudud – the controversial Islamic criminal code. The debate over its widespread application, if legislated, has divided Malaysia’s multi-religious landscape.

That PAS should push for hudud is hardly surprising. The party’s insistence on Malaysia becoming an Islamic state governed by syariah law, including hudud, has constituted its core political mission for decades. What is noteworthy about the hudud Bill being on the parliamentary agenda is the signal of a possible convergence of interests between Umno and PAS – two Malay-based parties whose erstwhile electoral rivalry expanded space for multi-religious politics. Nominally, the Bill seeks to only enhance the present powers of syariah courts. The larger purpose behind it is the Islamisation of the country through the induction of hudud into the body politic. Continue reading “Pluralism remains critical to Malaysia”

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Would voters who vote for UMNO’s Mastura in Kuala Kangsar or Budiman in Sungai Besar “sinned and be damned by Allah”?

Apart from refusal to be loyal to the Common Policy Programme of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and his insistence to exercise a veto power overriding the decisions of other PAS leaders reached at the PR Leadership Council, there is another powerful reason why the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang wanted to cause the disintegration of Pakatan Rakyat – his refusal to accept Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister as he himself wanted to be Prime Minister.

When Hadi found that the other two parties in Pakatan Rakyat would not endorse him as Prime Minister of Malaysia, he had no use for the Pakatan Rakyat and decided on a new political course for PAS led by him, acting as “adviser” to the UMNO President and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak – even when this required him to be blind to Najib’s two global scandals, the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega financial scandals.

Under the circumstances, it did not come as a surprise that Hadi was unmoved and not interested to rock Najib’s boat although former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir met him three months ago to explain about Najib’s “wrongdoings”.

What Mahathir revealed at the Second Colloquium on the RM55 billion 1MDB global scandal in Kuala Kangsar yesterday was news to the whole country, that he had taken pains to meet the PAS President to explain to him about the 1MDB scandal and other “wrongdoings” of the Prime Minister, but although Hadi admitted that there was some truth in what Mahathir had told him, the PAS President decided to side with Najib.

Hadi’s reply to Mahathir was most revealing. Continue reading “Would voters who vote for UMNO’s Mastura in Kuala Kangsar or Budiman in Sungai Besar “sinned and be damned by Allah”?”

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DAP and Pakatan Harapan are not enemies of ordinary UMNO and PAS members and we invite UMNO and PAS members to join in the “Save Malaysia” campaign to stop the country from sliding down the slippery slope of corruption and abuses of power to become a failed state

We are almost at the half-way mark of the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-election campaign.

At the beginning, the AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan candidates in these two by-elections were the true underdogs.

When I first went to campaign in Kuala Kangsar, I was asked by the press whether the AMANAH/Pakatan Rakyat candidate, nuclear physicist Professor Dr. Ahmad Termizi Ramli would lose his deposit in the by-election.

The situation in both by-elections is now clearer, that in both places, it is a contest between UMNO/BN and AMANAH/PH candidates, as a vote for the PAS candidate in both constituencies would be a wasted vote with no chance whatsoever that the PAS candidate can win in either one of the two constituencies.

In fact, I had said publicly that I expect the PAS candidate in Sungai Besar to lose by some 10,000 votes and in Kuala Kangsar to lose by some 5,000 votes as compared to the votes polled by the PAS candidates in these two constituencies in the 13th General Election in 2013, and no one in the PAS leadership has come forward to contradict me.

I want to make four points tonight:

Firstly, the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections are capable of creating political earthquakes in Malaysia. If Azhar Shukor is elected MP for Sungai Besar and Prof Termizi the MP for Kuala Kangsar on June 18, winning in traditional UMNO strongholds which no UMNO candidate had ever lost in six decades, the message is clear – either Datuk Seri Najib Razak steps down as Prime Minister or UMNO/BN will be defeated in the next 14th General Election. Continue reading “DAP and Pakatan Harapan are not enemies of ordinary UMNO and PAS members and we invite UMNO and PAS members to join in the “Save Malaysia” campaign to stop the country from sliding down the slippery slope of corruption and abuses of power to become a failed state”

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If AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan candidates can win in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, it will be an important signal that Malaysia is ready to become a normal democratic country where voters can change government through the ballot box like other developed countries

Sungai Besar is the most marginal and most unsafe parliamentary seat in the Peninsular Malaysia won by UMNO in the 13th General Election while Kuala Kangsar is eighth on the list of UMNO’s most marginal and unsafe seats in Peninsular Malaysia.

If the AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan candidates can win in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections, it will be a major signal that Malaysia is ready to become a normal democratic country where voters can change the government through the ballot box like other developed countries.

It will also mean that the AMANAH or Pakatan Harapan candidates stand a good chance to win the 10 most marginal and most unsafe parliamentary seats won by UMNO in Peninsular Malaysia, namely:

1. Sungai Besar
2. Kuala Selangor
3. Pasir Gudang
4. Bagan Serai
5. Ketereh
6. Machang
7. Jerai
8. Kuala Kangsar
9. Arau
10. Bera

Many people look at this list and conclude that these seats are not winnable, but I belong to those who look at the list and think of the ways Pakatan Amanah can win in these ten seats. Continue reading “If AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan candidates can win in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, it will be an important signal that Malaysia is ready to become a normal democratic country where voters can change government through the ballot box like other developed countries”

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Mah Hang Soon should not have used Wan Mohammad Khair-il’s name in vain or has he got the permission from Mastura’s approval to use her late husband’s name?

Since Nomination Day on Sunday, I have just made a tour of the Sungai Besar and the Kuala Kangsar constituencies where parliamentary by-elections are underway caused by the tragic helicopter crash during the Sarawak state general elections.

In both constituencies, the AMANAH/Pakatan Harapan candidate started as the underdog in the three-cornered fight in Sungai Besar and the four-cornered fight in the Kuala Kangsar by-elections, but after four days of the by-election campaigns, it is clear that the contest is between UMNO/BN and AMANAH/PH candidates, as a vote for the PAS candidate in both constituencies would be a wasted vote with no chance whatsoever for the PAS candidate to win in either one of the two constituencies.

In fact, I had said publicly that I expect the PAS candidate in Sungai Besar to lose by some 10,000 votes and in Kuala Kangsar to lose by some 5,000 votes as compared to the votes polled by the PAS candidates in these two constituencies in the 13th General Election in 2013.

To defeat the UMNO/BN candidate in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar in the by-elections would cause quite a political earthquake as both constituencies had been UMNO strongholds, never won by any Opposition candidate in the past six decades.

But this political earthquake could only achieved by the AMANAH candidate and NOT the PAS candidate because of the demographic composition of the constituencies and from the voters’ reactions in the past four days. Continue reading “Mah Hang Soon should not have used Wan Mohammad Khair-il’s name in vain or has he got the permission from Mastura’s approval to use her late husband’s name?”

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Hadi-led PAS is more and more like UMNO, sometimes even out-UMNO UMNO

I am surprised by the attacks on the DAP launched by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang since the run-up to the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar parliamentary by-elections, as if Hadi’s political caliber and leadership have to be judged by the intensity of his attacks on the DAP, regardless of their truth or falsity.

PAS led by Hadi is more and more like UMNO, sometimes even out-UMNO UMNO, and I can hardly recognize the “open-minded” PAS of Tok Guru Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who was Kelantan Mentri Besar for 23 years or the PAS of the previous PAS Presidents Fadzil Nor and Yusuf Rawa for some two decades before Hadi’s presidency.

Hadi had talked about being the adviser to UMNO and Najib, but sometimes I wonder whether it is Najib who is actually advising Hadi!

Recently, there had been a few instances of PAS under Hadi which is more and more like UMNO, sometimes even out-UMNO UMNO.

PAS had accused UMNO of communalism in advocating “ketuanan Melayu” but it has now followed the UMNO footsteps as illustrated by the PAS adoption of Malay warrior garb and other traditional Malay attire and customs at the recent PAS Muktamar – which even caused an UMNO Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to observe sardonically that UMNO’s formula had proved to be so successful that PAS was mimicking them.

But this was not the extent of PAS mimicry of UMNO – when Hadi wielded a long keris at the PAS Muktamar, longer than the short keris that Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had wielded three times at the UMNO Youth General Assembly when he was UMNO Youth Leader, with such awful consequences for plural Malaysia!

Even former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir was moved to chide PAS for trying to be more nationalist than UMNO – as if the longer the keris, the more nationalist the party, using the length of the keris to measure nationalism!
Continue reading “Hadi-led PAS is more and more like UMNO, sometimes even out-UMNO UMNO”