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Can BN regain its supermajority?

by Tay Tian Yan
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 03, 2012

DEC 3 — Umno’s morale has been boosted after its general assembly and even its goal has changed.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak set retrieving two-thirds of parliamentary seats as the new goal. As the prime minister, he must have a certain degree of confidence to say so or he would have to face both internal and external pressure once he fails to achieve the goal.

Najib is very clear that he is just a “transition prime minister”, who received the regime directly from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In other words, he has not received a formal mandate from the people.

To be a strong leader, he must lead his team and win the election. And he understands that if Barisan Nasional just barely wins, the regime will be inevitably unstable while his personal reputation will also be very low.

Abdullah’s experience showed that Umno needs a powerful regime instead of a simple majority ruling.

Umno’s demand is very clear, namely to win two-thirds of the parliamentary seats and retrieve Selangor. Only that will be called the true victory of Umno and the BN coalition. Continue reading “Can BN regain its supermajority?”

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When Najib says that a vote for DAP is a vote for oppression of Malays while Chua Soi Lek declares that it is a vote for oppression of Chinese, time has come to save Malaysia from such dishonest, deceitful, unprincipled and immoral UMNO/BN govt

In his winding-up speech at the 66th UMNO General Assembly on Saturday, the UMNO President and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak ended with the flourish urging UMNO members to work harder to convince the people to support Barisan Nasional as a vote for DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Malays.

But this is the exact opposite of what MCA leaders like the MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek is telling the Chinese up and down the country, that a vote for the DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Chinese.

It is clear that when Najib says that a vote for DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Malays while Chua Soi Lek declares that it is a vote for oppression of the Chinese, the time has come to save Malaysia from such dishonest, deceitful, unprincipled and immoral UMNO/Barisan Nasional government.

What credibility and legitimacy has a political coalition like Barisan Nasional, which is capable of such blatant deceit and dishonesty, plumbing the depths of lies and falsehoods to entrench itself in power, to dare claim that it has the credentials and moral high ground to continue to govern multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia when it is in fact actively aggravating racial and religious polarisation in the country? Continue reading “When Najib says that a vote for DAP is a vote for oppression of Malays while Chua Soi Lek declares that it is a vote for oppression of Chinese, time has come to save Malaysia from such dishonest, deceitful, unprincipled and immoral UMNO/BN govt”

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Najib yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan serius Deepak pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO esok bukannya Zahid

Menteri Pertahanan dan Naib Presiden UMNO Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi telah mengatakan bahawa beliau akan menjawab dakwaan yang dibuat ahli perniagaan Deepak Jaikishan terhadap keluarga Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang turut melibatkan kes pembunuhan berprofil tinggi seorang warga Mongolia Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Bukan Zahid tetapi Najib sendiri yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan itu di dalam ucapan penggulungan pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO ke-66 esok atas tiga sebab.

Pertama, dakwaan Deepak melibatkan keluarga Najib, yang mana dia telah membayar sejumlah wang yang tidak didedahkan untuk campurtangan Perdana Menteri bagi membolehkannya menjadi satu pihak dalam satu projek Kementerian Pertahanan pada 2005 yang bernilai RM100 juta sewaktu Najib merupakan Menteri Pertahanan – membuat perjanjian dengan syarikat ketua Wanita UMNO Selangor yang membolehkannya menyertai sebagai pihak ketiga. Memandangkan Najib bukan sahaja hadir tetapi juga mengepalai UMNO, beliau sepatutnya menjawab kerana apa sahaja yang dikatakan Zahid tidak lebih sekadar khabar angin dan tidak mempunyai kewibawaan dan legitimasi. Continue reading “Najib yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan serius Deepak pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO esok bukannya Zahid”

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Najib benar – apabila UMNO dan MCA tidak boleh bersetuju dengan isu asas, BN telah hilang moraliti dan legitimasi untuk memerintah Putrajaya

Dalam Ucapan Dasar Presiden UMNO pada Khamis lalu, Perdana Menteri dan Presiden UMNO Datuk Seri Najib Razak kembali kepada topik kitar semula yang mempersoal bagaimana Pakatan Rakyat yang terdiri daripada PKR, PAS dan DAP akan membentuk kerajaan perikatan kerana terdapat perbezaan pada isu asas yang memisahkan mereka.

Tentu Najib tahu walaupun PKR, PAS dan DAP mempunyai perberzaan ideologi, kami telah bersetuju untuk membentuk Pakatan Rakyat dan mengikat diri kami dengan Kerangka Dasar Bersama dan Buku Jingga untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 dan PR akan dipandu oleh apa yang menyatukan kami dan bukannya apa yang memisahkan kami – akan tetapi itu adalah untuk kenyataan yang lain.

Apa yang ingin saya tunjukkan sekarang adalah Najib telah betul-betul menggambarkan apa yang menjadi punca masalah walaupun itu bukanlah niat beliau – sepertimana yang beliau dedahkan sebenarnya Barisan Nasional telah hilang moraliti dan legitimasi untuk mentadbir Malaysia yang berbilang kaum, berbilang bahasa, berbilang budaya dan berbilang agama apabila UMNO dan MCA tidak dapat bersepakat pada isu asas sama ada Melayu atau bukan Melayu yang akan kecundang sekiranya Pakatan Rakyat memenangi pilihan raya ke-13. Continue reading “Najib benar – apabila UMNO dan MCA tidak boleh bersetuju dengan isu asas, BN telah hilang moraliti dan legitimasi untuk memerintah Putrajaya”

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Umno Youth’s delusions

— Ahmad Ashraf
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2012

DEC 1 — When it comes to talk, very few can match Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. After all, he used to host a talk show. And today, he displayed his prowess when saying Umno is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Malaysian youth.

However, the country’s “richest unemployed young man,” as dubbed by Lim Kit Siang, is just talking up his achievements.

Is Umno popular among the young? Khairy says results of the recent campus elections reflects youth acceptance of Umno, where 18 out of 20 elections were won by the pro-government Pro-Aspirasi groups.

Well, the government-backed undergraduates won in elections where rules were stacked against those linked to opposition. In Universiti Malaya and the International Islamic University, where attempts to influence results failed, the pro-opposition candidates swept to power.

Care to explain that, Khairy? Continue reading “Umno Youth’s delusions”

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God, comedy and the Umno general assembly

Kee Thuan Chye
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 2, 2012

COMMENT

The Umno general assembly has often come across as reality comedy. Its ‘performers’ unwittingly amuse us with their unintentionally comic turns. This year, they didn’t disappoint.

Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, whose family is embroiled in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal that forced her not to renew her senatorship, says that for the upcoming general election, she is a winnable candidate. God help her.

Indeed, God was invoked on several occasions throughout the general assembly, sometimes for the sake of seeking his help.

President Najib Abdul Razak urged Umno members to pray hard to God in order to win the general election. “Let us pray so that with His blessings, we will continue to be the country’s ruling party,” he said.

The subtext of that smacked of a loss in confidence. Continue reading “God, comedy and the Umno general assembly”

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Greatest Najib disappointment at the 66th UMNO GA – failure to declare all-out war against corruption which is proof that UMNO incapable of change so long as it remains corrupted in the corridors of power

UMNO’s “war” 66th General Assembly has ended with UMNO leaders confident and euphoric, with the UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and other UMNO leaders declaring that UMNO will not only triumph in the next general elections, but will win back the two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as all the four Pakatan states including Kelantan and Penang.

However, “Man proposes, God disposes”.

The possibility of Barisan Nasional wresting back the four Pakatan Rakyat states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah or blocking Pakatan Rakyat from winning back Perak State Government cannot be dismissed completely.

At the national level, the 13GE is going to be a nail-biting finish, with the outcome a toss-up as it could go either way with Barisan Nasional returned to Federal power in Putrajaya or Pakatan Rakyat replacing BN as the new Malaysian government breaking UMNO political hegemony.

The 13GE will be faced with a new Malaysian political demography – with the majority of the 29 million population of today born after Malaysia Day, with nearly 70 per cent living in the urban areas, eighty per cent are under the age of 45 while half of our people under the age of 25.

Who wins Putrajaya in the 13GE will not be decided by the BN or PR hardcore but the middle ground voters, comprising some 30 per cent of the 13.1 million, i.e. 4 million, registered electorate. Continue reading “Greatest Najib disappointment at the 66th UMNO GA – failure to declare all-out war against corruption which is proof that UMNO incapable of change so long as it remains corrupted in the corridors of power”

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Najib is right – when UMNO and MCA cannot agree on the core issue whether Malays or non-Malays would be the losers if PR wins in 13GE, BN has lost the morality and legitimacy to rule in Putrajaya

In his UMNO Presidential Address on Thursday, the Prime Minister and UMNO President Datuk Seri Najib Razak returned to the oft-repeated UMNO theme asking how Pakatan Rakyat comprising PKR, PAS and DAP are going to form a coalition government because of the differences on the core issues separating them.

Surely Najib knows that although PKR, PAS and DAP have our ideological differences, we have agreed to form Pakatan Rakyat and committed ourselves to a Common Policy Framework and the Buku Jingga programme of action for the 13th General Election and PR will be guided by what unites us and not by what divides us – but that is for another statement.

What I want to point out now is that Najib had hit the nail on the head although this was not his intention – as he has exposed the fact that Barisan Nasional has lost the morality and legitimacy to govern multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia when UMNO and MCA cannot agree on the core issue whether Malays or non-Malays would be the losers if Pakatan Rakyat wins the 13th general election. Continue reading “Najib is right – when UMNO and MCA cannot agree on the core issue whether Malays or non-Malays would be the losers if PR wins in 13GE, BN has lost the morality and legitimacy to rule in Putrajaya”

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BN will recapture all Pakatan states, win two-thirds majority, say Umno leaders

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Umno is confident of wresting back all four Pakatan Rakyat-led (PR) states and even recapturing its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the coming polls, buoyed by a strong belief that the Najib government’s reformist measures have successfully impressed the Malaysian electorate.

Several leaders told The Malaysian Insider that Umno is now fully prepared to march to the battle lines, having struggled through four years of heavy transformation from the party’s administration to the mindsets of its over three million members.

Emerging fully charged after the second day of the party’s assembly here yesterday, the leaders wasted no breath in declaring that achieving two-thirds is no longer an aspiration for Umno but a comfortable reality.

“Of course,” Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said, when asked if the party was confident it would once again occupy two-thirds of Parliament’s 222 seats after the polls.

“I believe that we will win back two-thirds and we will get back at least all the four Pakatan states… including Kelantan and Penang,” he added. Kelantan has been in PAS’s hands since 1990. Continue reading “BN will recapture all Pakatan states, win two-thirds majority, say Umno leaders”

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Its Najib and not Zahid who should respond to Deepak’s most serious allegations at the UMNO General Assembly tomorrow

Defence Minister and UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi has said that he would respond tomorrow to allegations made by businessman Deepak Jaikishan on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s family which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

It is not Zahid but Najib himself who should be responding in his winding-up speech at the 66th UMNO General Assembly tomorrow, for three reasons.

Firstly, Deepak’s allegations pertain to Najib’s family, that he had paid an undisclosed sum for the premier’s intervention to allow him to come in as a party in a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 when Najib was the Defence Minister – stitching a deal with a Selangor UMNO Wanita leader’s company where he would participate as a third party in the project. As Najib is not only around but chief of the pack in UMNO, he should respond as whatever Zahid could say would only be hearsay with neither credibility nor legitimacy.

Secondly, the Deepak connection with the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Deepak has expressed regret of his involvement in getting private investigator P Balasubramaniam to make a second Statutory Declaration which reversed an earlier one linking Najib to murdered Mongolian Altantuya. Deepak said in interviews that he got involved in Bala’s case to help “the family of the prime minister”. Again, Zahid’s response to Deepak’s allegation cannot be satisfactory as only Najib is in a position to respond with any credibility. Continue reading “Its Najib and not Zahid who should respond to Deepak’s most serious allegations at the UMNO General Assembly tomorrow”

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RM40m Sabah Umno ‘donation’ is pittance, say Umno delegates

By Mohd Farhan Darwis and Leannza Chia
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 30, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Several Umno members appeared today to dismiss the controversy over Sabah Umno’s RM40 million “political donation”, saying the sum was pittance compared to the millions the party dishes out during elections.

Arsit Sedi @ Sidik, a delegate from Sabah, even described the sum as “a very small dot” and revealed that in the Putatan constituency in his home state, Umno would have to spend up to RM6 million during the polls.

“RM40 million is a small sum, I don’t think it can even support the next election.

“The amount needed is very high, especially Sabah. If you are talking RM40 million, it is not enough to even move the election machinery.

“RM40 million is a very small dot only,” he told The Malaysian Insider when approached on the sidelines of Umno’s 66th general assembly here. Continue reading “RM40m Sabah Umno ‘donation’ is pittance, say Umno delegates”

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Irresponsible threats of May 13 and chaos if Umno loses 13GE, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power, is best proof of failure and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy

The irresponsible threats raised by UMNO leaders at the 66th UMNO General Assembly of “May 13” and chaos if UMNO loses the 13th General Election, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power and will be rendered “destitute in our own land”, is the best proof of the failure and hypocrisy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy.

If the 1Malaysia Policy proclaimed by Najib after he became Prime Minister in in April 2009 is more than election gimmicks for votes in the 13GE, its philosophy “to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian will regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic status second” should have been the guiding spirit of speeches of UMNO/BN leaders and their party conferences.

But this is clearly not the case despite the onset of the 43rd month of Najib’s premiership, as illustrated by the 66th Umno General Assembly. Continue reading “Irresponsible threats of May 13 and chaos if Umno loses 13GE, falsely claiming that Malays will lose political power, is best proof of failure and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy”

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Shame on you, Shahrizat: You are a fear-monger

— P. Ramakrishnan
Aliran
Nov 30, 2012

NOV 30 — As a former minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil should have more sense to be responsible and appreciate the democratic process. Instead, she comes across as someone who is not prepared to accept the verdict of the people in a democratic election if that verdict went against Umno.

Is she planting the seeds of hatred in the minds of Umno members and instigating them to run amok and create havoc?

How does one view her statement when she said at the Wanita Umno assembly: “If we are no longer in power, we would lose political stability. Certainly, the Malays, the majority in this country, would be unsettled” (Malaysiakini, November 28).

“I am concerned and worried that this would bring racial tensions that could lead to a repeat of the May 13, 1969 tragedy.”

Is she threatening Malaysians that there will be a recurrence of the May 13, 1969 tragedy if Umno were to lose power? Why should that be so? Is she calling on Umno members to get ready to do the unthinkable if they were forced by the electorate to vacate Putrajaya? Continue reading “Shame on you, Shahrizat: You are a fear-monger”

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Malays not under threat, Umno is

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | November 30, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

There are 18 million Malays in this country and all the security forces plus every level of the government is Malay, so what threat is Najib Tun Razak talking about?

COMMENT

You can’t produce anything different from the same mould. As such, the idea which Malaysians must emulate is to change this government and move forward from there.

Let us all leave Najib Tun Razak and his pot of Mongolian alphabet goulash behind.

Change comes from a changed leadership and a new government.

Now, let us examine what Najib means when he says Malays must unite and Malay unity is no threat to others. Continue reading “Malays not under threat, Umno is”

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Najib’s omission of three paramount issues in his Umno presidential address confirms vital necessity of political change in 13GE to take Malaysia to next step of national development

No Malaysian is shocked that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Umno Presidential Address to the 66th UMNO General Assembly this morning is a war-cry to UMNO leaders and members to “fight like Churchill” to defend UMNO political power in Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections which I expect to be held within four months by March next year.

No Malaysian is surprised that UMNO leaders at the various UMNO Assemblies are raising the warning that the defeat of UMNO in the 13GE would result in the Malays in the country losing their political power, although rational and level-headed Malaysians can immediately see the fallacy of this falsehood as it is the UMNO leaders and not the Malays who will lose political power with the Umno/BN Federal Government replaced by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP. Furthermore, this is in direct contradiction to MCA propaganda that it is the Chinese and non-Malays who will suffer further loss of their political, educational, socio-economic and citizenship rights when Pakatan Rakyat comes to power in Putrajaya.

Although Malaysians are outraged, it is also not completely outside their expectations that apart from exploiting the race and religious cards at the UMNO Assemblies, UMNO leaders are also try to stoke fear by playing the “May 13 card” – proof that UMNO leaders are under great “pressure” as they know in their heart of hearts that the 13GE could signal the end of UMNO hegemony in Putrajaya despite all the brave front put up by UMNO leaders that UMNO/BN are sure to be returned to power in the 13GE, even to regain its parliamentary two-thirds majority.

But what must have come as a surprise to Malaysians is the total lack of vision in Najib’s UMNO Presidential speech of what Malaysian nation he wants to build in the second half of the first century of the country’s nationhood – apart from the cliché of “high-income developed state”. Continue reading “Najib’s omission of three paramount issues in his Umno presidential address confirms vital necessity of political change in 13GE to take Malaysia to next step of national development”

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UMNO General Assembly re-enacting last year’s “drama”: Who lied – Najib/Muhyiddin, Chua Soi Lek or all three?

The 66th UMNO General Assembly is in full-swing but it is only a re-enactment of last year’s 65th UMNO General Assembly “drama”.

At the end of the 65th UMNO General Assembly last December, I posed the question: “Who lied – Najib/Muhyiddin or Chua Soi Lek? Or all three?”

Although the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will only be delivering his UMNO Presidential address tomorrow and his winding-up speech on Friday, one does not have to be prescient to know it will be equally valid and pertinent to pose this same question at the end of the 66th UMNO General Assembly.

The Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, has already started the ball rolling for the re-enactment of this “drama” last year of whether “Who lied – Najib/Muhyiddin or Chua Soi Lek? Or all three?”

Last night at the opening of the UMNO Youth, Wanita and Puteri Assemblies, Muhyiddin dismissed PAS’ Islamic State goal as “a daydream”.

But this is the very exact opposite of what the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek is warning the Malaysian Chinese and non-Muslims up and down the country of “a point of no return” for the PAS agenda of an Islamic state if Pakatan Rakyat wins Putrajaya in the 13th general election! Continue reading “UMNO General Assembly re-enacting last year’s “drama”: Who lied – Najib/Muhyiddin, Chua Soi Lek or all three?”

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It’s the system that turns good leaders bad

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | November 28, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Malaysians think that by changing the present set of bad people with good ones everything will be all right, but nothing is farther from the truth.

COMMENT

People do not want to believe that if you have an intrinsically bad system, you are good at the beginning, but you are eventually going to degenerate.

But people don’t want to accept this.

Let’s assume Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is a good person (he probably is) but the system which sustains him is bad. It will eventually cause him to turn bad.

So it isn’t enough to transform society by changing the people leading it, but the system that structures our society must be changed too.

That is our (Pakatan Rakyat’s ) agenda now. Not just changing of guards, but changing the system that structures our society. Continue reading “It’s the system that turns good leaders bad”

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Najib tidak boleh samakan buah epal dengan bacang

Aspan Alias
21 November 2012

Najib masih menyanyikan lagu lama dengan dendangan yang lama. Najib seorang yang sangat terdesak dan kata-kata nya pun sangat tidak bernilai sebagai satu ucapan pemimpin yang setimpal sebagai kata-kata dan ucapan seorang pemimpin kepada rakyat yang sedang dalam pencarian ini. Najib terpaksa menggunakan ‘testimonial’ orang lain untuk mendapat kepujian dan pengiktirafan dan tidak mampu menunjukkan ‘testimonial’ sendiri bagi meyakinkan rakyat.

Najib masih meminta rakyat memberikan sokongan kepada UMNO dan BN kerana memberikan sokongan kepada UMNO khususnya kepada beliau itu tidak akan menjejaskan pelan transformasi beliau yang telah beliau umumkan setiap bulan dan minggu itu. Jika memberikan sokongan kepada pihak lain ia akan menjejaskan pelan pembangunan dan kemajuan negara dan akan membantutkan usaha kerajaan pimpinan beliau untuk menjadikan negara ini sebagai negara yang berpendapatan tinggi dan sebuah negara maju menjelangnya tahun 2020 nanti.

Najib mengambil Amerika Syarikat (AS) sebagai contoh pandangannya itu. Rakyat AS telah memberikan ‘continuity’ kepada pentadbiran Barack Obama dari Demokrat dalam pilihanraya Presiden baru-baru ini dan rakyat Malaysia perlu mengikut contoh itu dan memberikan sambungan pentadbiran kepada Barisan Nasional. Mendengar ucapan beliau itu, ramai termasuk diri saya hampir jatuh dari kerusi kerana hendak menyamakan beliau sebagai Barack Obama dan beliau tidak nampak bagaimana AS telah melakukan perubahan acapkali dalam pilihanraya Presiden di negara itu. Continue reading “Najib tidak boleh samakan buah epal dengan bacang”

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Umno is ‘rakyat’, not wrong to acquire public land, says Kuang rep

By Zurairi AR
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 21, 2012

SHAH ALAM, Nov 21 — A Selangor assemblyman denied today that Umno had abused its political ties to grab state land meant for the public, as the party represented the people.

All 24 plots of land in Selangor — alleged to have been acquired by Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties and former MIC President Datuk Seri Samy Vellu (picture) while they were in the ruling coalition — were meant for public amenities like multi-purpose halls and kindergartens, said Umno state lawmaker for Kuang, Abdul Shukur Idrus.

“Umno is ‘rakyat’… Umno represents 400,000 ‘rakyat’ in Selangor. (The land plots) were not for an individual. They’re for an organisation with many members.

“Can’t Umno receive land for the use of the people?” he asked, in response to backbenchers from the ruling Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact in the Selangor legislative assembly who had yesterday accused BN parties of being involved in a land grab when still in power.

The allegation was said to involve 24 plots of public land in seven out of nine districts in the country’s wealthiest state, which were acquired by the branches and divisions of Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan between 2000 and 2008. Continue reading “Umno is ‘rakyat’, not wrong to acquire public land, says Kuang rep”