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Excitement over Gobind, Karpal and Ali

by Zainon Ahmad

GOBIND Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) was suspended on Monday by the Dewan Rakyat for a year for calling Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak a murderer but reference to the decision punctuated much of the debates throughout the week.

Discussion on that and on two events outside the House – the sedition charges brought against his father, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), and the travails of Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ali Rustam – raised the temperature of the House as members abused their counterparts across the floor.

They generated a lot of excitement and this caused the Dewan Rakyat, its lobby and Members Lounge included, to become such a happening place that it attracted more visitors to the national legislature than previously. Finding a parking spot in the morning was like winning a lottery.

Sitting in the public gallery, the visitors would not take long to notice that there are more shouters than debaters. Of course there are those like Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit (BN-Mambong) and Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor) who come prepared with notes like veteran Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) who is never without his notes, newspaper cuttings and even reference books whenever it is his turn to speak. Continue reading “Excitement over Gobind, Karpal and Ali”

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Najib Countdown – double meaning for “N” in the RAHMAN prophecy

This is countdown time for Datuk Seri Najib Razak – with a week to go to his anointment as UMNO President next Thursday to be followed by his ascension as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in the first few days of April.

What is clear is that Najib’s takeover as Prime Minister of Malaysia will not be on April 1 so that it would not go down in history as “April Fool’s Joke”!

As it is, Najib’s impending takeover as the sixth Prime Minister is sufficiently dogged, hounded and haunted by grave doubts and allegations about his integrity and legitimacy, to the extent that for the first time in the 52-year history of Malaysia, strong objections are being raised publicly about the suitability of the Prime Minister-in-waiting, hardly a fortnight to his ascension to the highest political office in the land – and which is growing stronger by the day.

There are so many so skeptical and cynical about Najib’s suitability, integrity and legitimacy to become the next Prime Minister that they have spawned an increasing chorus of calls to stop Najib from becoming the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The latest to join this chorus is the former Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who called on the Yang di Pertuan Agong to reject Najib if UMNO puts him forward as Prime Minister to replace Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and to appoint someone who would “bring us back from the brink”.

There are online campaigns to get Abdullah to remain as Prime Minister even after the UMNO General Assembly next week, not because Abdullah is an effective and successful Prime Minister but because his replacement, Najib, is “evil”. Continue reading “Najib Countdown – double meaning for “N” in the RAHMAN prophecy”

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Sad, sad, sad…

Former MCA President and MP for Kulai Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting made one of his rare appearances in Parliament today.

For what?

Not to speak on anyone of the many great issues currently disturbing thinking Malaysians.

But to complain at the 2008 Supplementary Estimates Committee stage debate on the Education Ministry at the breach of the promise made by the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein when he was MCA President that the new SJKC(2) Kulai in his parliamentary constituency would be built with 30 classrooms.

He said that months have passed since his intervention, but the issue of the new SJKC(2) Kulai being built with only 24 classrooms instead of 30 classrooms as originally promised remains unresolved.

How the mighty had fallen when the former MCA President has to come to Parliament to complain about the disappearance of six classrooms despite the public pledge jointly made by him as MCA President and Hishammuddin as Education Minister only last year! Continue reading “Sad, sad, sad…”

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Damned, damned, damned…

“Damned if we do and damned if we don’t…”

This is the lament of Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen, chairman of the Umno disciplinary board, for disciplinary action meted out to Umno members.

But shouldn’t the Umno board also be damned for being able to take action only against 15 Umno members, when the number should be in hundreds as UMNO is “awash” with money politics and corruption in the Umno party elections, running into hundreds of millions of ringgit.

This is the question I posed in Parliament this morning during the 2008 Supplementary estimates committee stage debate on the Education Ministry. Continue reading “Damned, damned, damned…”

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Sedition charge against Karpal

(The following is the charge preferred against DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh under Sedition Act 1948 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Tuesday 17 March 2009)

DALAM MAKAMAH SESYEN DI KUALA LUMPUR
KES TANGKAP NO:
PENDAKWA RAYA
LAWAN
KARPAL SINGH A/L RAM SINGH

Pertuduhan

Kamu didakwa atas kehendak Pendakwa Raya dan pertuduhan terhadap kamu ialah:

“Bahawa kamu pada 6 Februari 2009 jam antara 12.00 tengahari dan 12.30 petang di Tetuan Karpal Singh & Co yang beralamat No. 67, Jalan Pudu Lama, dalam Daerah Dang Wangi, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur dalam satu sidang akhbar telah menyebut kata-kata menghasut (transkrip ucapan dilampirkan sebagai LAMPIRAN ‘A’ kepada pertuduhan ini dan kata-kata menghasut digariskan); dan oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan satu kesalahan di bawah seksyen 4(1)(b) Akta Hasutan 1948 (Akta 15) dan boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen 4(1) Akta yang sama.”

Hukuman

Kamu boleh, bagi kesalahan kali pertama, didenda tidak melebihi lima ribu ringgit atau dipenjara selama tempoh tidak melebihi tiga tahun atau kedua-duanya, dan bagi kesalahan yang kemudian boleh dipenjara selama tempoh tidak melebihi lima tahun.

Bertarikh pada 16 Mac 2009
PENDAKWA RAYA
[signature]
(TAN SRI ABDUL GANI PATAIL)
PENDAKWA RAYA
Continue reading “Sedition charge against Karpal”

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If truth be told, Najib can’t be PM

Zaid Ibrahim
Mar 18, 09

(Speech by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim at the Royal Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur)

This is the second time I have been invited to address a Rotary Club. Thank you for the honour. Given the times we live in, perhaps it might be appropriate for me to speak about the leadership transition that has been foisted upon us Malaysians.

I say ‘foisted’ because neither me nor anyone in this room had any role or say in the choice of the person who will lead Malaysia next. We were mere bystanders in a political chess game. And yet the transition is a subject of great consequence to the nation, one I would say is of great national interest.

Leadership is definitive; the individual who assumes the mantle of leadership of this nation, whomever that may be, is one who for better or worse will leave his mark on us. His will be the hand who guides us to greater success, or possibly gut-wrenching disaster.

Save for the dawn of Merdeka, never in the history of this country has the choice of prime minister been so crucial: Malaysia is in crisis. We are facing tremendous economic challenges with unavoidably harsh socio-political consequences. Our much undermined democracy is once again being assailed by those who would prefer a more autocratic form of governance.

Our public institutions are hollowed out caricatures, unable to distinguish vested party interests from national ones, unable to offer the man in the street refuge from the powerful and connected.

Our social fabric that took us from colony to an independent nation and on through the obstacles of nation building has reached a point where it sometimes feel like we are hanging on by a thread. This is the Malaysia we live in. Continue reading “If truth be told, Najib can’t be PM”

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Najib heralds the coming of a New Dark Age

Parliament has just passed the RM60 billion Second Economic Stimulus Package in the form of a mini-budget, but there has been nothing “stimulating” on the economy.

Instead, the effect had been the opposite as illustrated by the unchecked fall in the Kuala Lumpur stockmarket index in the past six days since the announcement of the RM60 billion package, with the KLSE registering a fall from 858.22 points on March 10 to 841 points at the close of the market today.

Far from being able to stimulate the economy, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the main cause for the crisis of confidence gripping the country, even undermining the RM60 billion second economic stimulus package announced by him last week. Continue reading “Najib heralds the coming of a New Dark Age”

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BTN communal poison again

Yesterday, I received an indignant email from a recent participant in the course of the Biro Tata Negara (BTN), funded by taxpayers but acting as the propaganda arm of UMNO, pumping communal poison instead of spreading the message of national unity.

Despite criticisms against the BTN both in and out of Parliament, invariably followed by denials by the Minister or Deputy Minister concerned, it is clear from this email that BTN had not changed one whit its irresponsible ways.

I read out the complaints in the email in Parliament yesterday during the debate on the 2008 Supplementary Estimates, viz: Continue reading “BTN communal poison again”

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Not fit to contest as UMNO Deputy President but fit to continue as Malacca CM?

How can Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam be barred from contesting to be the Umno Deputy President for involvement in money politics (euphemism for corruption) but yet be fit to continue as the Malacca Chief Minister?

The same question applies to Khairy Jamaluddin, who was given a warning for being involved in money politics – as to how he could continue even as MP for Rembau.

I posed these questions in Parliament during the 2008 Supplementary Estimates after the announcement by the Umno Disciplinary Board this evening.

In my speech, I quoted the interview by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in Sunday Star (8.3.09) on money politics in the Umno elections, where he admitted:

“It’s still quite rampant except that it has gone underground.”

Continue reading “Not fit to contest as UMNO Deputy President but fit to continue as Malacca CM?”

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Karpal charged with sedition for saying Sultan can be sued

By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
17.3.09

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – DAP chairman Karpal Singh was charged this morning with sedition for saying Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin’s removal as Perak menteri besar by Sultan Azlan Shah could be questioned in a court of law.

The veteran lawyer-politician was charged at the Sessions Court here before Judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1946.

Karpal is further accused of several other seditious statements related to the entire Perak constitutional crisis which began a month ago.

He is accused of committing the crime during a press conference at his law firm here on February 6.

A partial transcript of the press conference, which formed the basis for the charge, was read out in open court.

Among the underlined statements, which are allegedly seditious are:
“With that ruling of the federal court which has stood the test of time for 32 years beyond a pale of a doubt, the Sultan of Perak has contravened Article 16(6) of the Constitutions of the State of Perak,” referring to a 1977 Federal Court decision that the King had acted beyond his authority in confirming three detention orders under the Emergency Ordinance.

“Clearly the Sultan of Perak cannot invoke his powers under Article 16(1) which states [His Royal Highness shall appoint an Executive Council] to appoint a Barisan Nasional Executive Council with a new Menteri Besar and a new government. The Government of a Menteri Besar Dato’ Haji Nizar bin Jamaluddin still had constitutional supremacy and legitimacy. The actions of the Sultan of Perak are clearly, premature.” Continue reading “Karpal charged with sedition for saying Sultan can be sued”

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Political Roguery Runs Riot In Perak

by Martin Jalleh
(MJ tries to capture the initial events leading to Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory in Perak)

The rakyat of Perak are robbed in broad daylight of their political right to determine the State Government they want. Their will is ridden roughshod over by a few renegades and running dogs ready to reap their reward. A day of reckoning will come.

A fraudulent state government rules Perak. It is a farcical government of a fallacious “majority”. The people are frustrated and furious. They believe that a fake legislature forced upon them will eventually face its fatal consequences.

C4 and 4Cs

The Election Commission (EC) plays politics and panders to the political (pay)master. It even portrays itself as a court of law and makes a palpably wrong decision that prevents the people from being the paramount arbitrator to overcome Perak’s political deadlock.

The new EC chairman refuses to recognise the Perak Speaker’s request to call for two by-elections after two assemblymen “prostituted” themselves. It is a duty which he is constitutionally bound to do so – a fact promptly and plainly confirmed by his predecessor.

The EC chairman sets a precedent that will perpetuate party hopping and paves the way for Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory. He reinforces growing public suspicion that the EC is hand-in-glove with the powers-that-be. Continue reading “Political Roguery Runs Riot In Perak”

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D-Day for Ali, KJ and Khir tomorrow?

Zubaidah Abu Bakar in her New Straits Times column “Umno’s ticking time bomb” today wrote:

“Some people are expecting something big to happen over the next few days — either someone eyeing a senior post would be charged, disqualified from contesting or would withdraw from contesting.”

Is tomorrow, Tuesday, 17th March 2009, D-Day for contenders for UMNO and UMNO Youth top posts, viz: Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Khir Toyo?

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Parliament becomes kangaroo court

Parliament convened as a court of justice this morning to decide the fate of DAP MP for Puchong, Gobind Singh Deo, over what transpired in Parliament last Thursday but it operated as a kangaroo court as Gobind was not even allowed the floor to defend himself.

For the first hour, Pakatan Rakyat MPs raised one objection after another against the motion to suspend Gobind for one year as MP without pay and privileges, from the propriety of the motion whether from the standpoint of the Parliamentary Standing Orders, the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 or the Federal Constitution, to questions including double jeopardy and sub judice but they were all brushed aside by the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin.
Continue reading “Parliament becomes kangaroo court”

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Calling For A New Breed of Politicians

By M. Bakri Musa

Book review: Saifuddin Abdullah: Politik Baru: Mematangkan Demokrasi Malaysia. English version: New Politics: Towards A Mature Malaysian Democracy. Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 2008. 88 Pages, RM 30.00 (Sabah & Sarawak: RM35).

It is now de rigeur for ambitious politicians to pen their autobiographies, or put in print their political thoughts. Barack Obama did both, presumably just to be sure, first with his autobiographical Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, and then his The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. That strategy obviously worked!

I am not privy to Deputy Minister for Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Saifuddin Abdullah’s political aspirations, but he has written Politik Baru: Mematangkan Demokrasi Malaysia, and its English translation, New Politics: Towards A Mature Malaysian Democracy. Both versions are included under this one cover.

Saifuddin has written three other books. Impressive! He is way ahead of another leader both in literary as well as political milestones. At a comparable stage in his life, Dr. Mahathir had yet to write a book or hold any ministerial appointment. Continue reading “Calling For A New Breed of Politicians”

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3-day nefarious Operation Democracy Tree plaque vandalism–desecration completed

Vandalism and desecration of the Democracy Tree plaque has been completed in a three-day nefarious operation.

There is now not a trace of the Democracy plague or relic at the historic Democracy Raintree in Ipoh.

Ipoh City Council workers in a lorry and tractor were sighted at the site this morning at about 7.30 am this morning to “cleanse” the site, removing every bit and piece of the Democracy Monument.

Even the signposts for the five Democracy saplings were not spared.

Democracy Tree Plaque Completely Bulldozed Away
Continue reading “3-day nefarious Operation Democracy Tree plaque vandalism–desecration completed”

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Consistency Of Purpose, Duty And Responsibility

by Tunku Abdul Aziz
mysinchew.com

Whenever I think of my friend Karpal Singh, I am reminded of my great headmaster, the late Dr. Frank J. Rawcliffe who taught us the importance of being consistent, even if meant sometimes upsetting some people.

You may say what you want about Karpal’s manner, his magisterial pronouncements often delivered with a great roar full of fiery passion, but you cannot accuse him of being inconsistent in the position he has taken over the years on matters involving both personal and public ethical principles.

While Karpal clearly recognises that there are, in politics, no permanent friends or foes, he believes devoutly in the importance of “permanent principles.”

Unprincipled politics as we have seen in Malaysia can very quickly degenerate into unmitigated disasters. The unsavoury Perak affair is a case in point.

I believe in, and will fight for, my right to say what I like within the law. I naturally accept willingly the accompanying responsibility that such rights impose on me.

I should expect to be free from threats of violence for my views, and I was, therefore, shocked to see on TV a disgraceful act of intolerance by a group of UMNO youth, and for a second or two I thought I was watching a familiar scene from a 1935 newsreel showing the storm troopers of the Third Reich pouncing on a hapless Jew in a wheel chair.

On this occasion, it was in the hallowed grounds of the national parliament, no less that the brave Malay warriors chose to flex their muscle. The only difference was that UMNO’s storm troopers were not wearing the dreaded brown shirts of their German counterparts of days gone by. Continue reading “Consistency Of Purpose, Duty And Responsibility”

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Dr M says Perak grab unlawful

Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2009
By Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — More than a month after Barisan Nasional ousted Pakatan Rakyat from Perak, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the takeover was not done according to the law.

He said mistakes, bad strategy and carelessness in the Feb 5 power grab, orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had led to the current crisis in the state.

“You cannot topple a menteri besar or a prime minister without a no-confidence vote in the assembly. There is no other provision,” he said at a function organised by Mubarak, the association for former elected representatives.

“Umno-BN was too careless and did not wait for an assembly but instead asked the Ruler to sack the menteri besar,” he said, referring to Sultan Azlan Shah’s decision to ask Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin to resign.

“As far as I know, there is no such provision in the Perak or Federal Constitution,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said that BN should have done it properly and not “be in conflict with the law” as the courts may now rule that the Sultan has no right to sack a menteri besar.

He added that a Sultan could only reject a candidate for one of his choice after an election but even this candidate could be defeated in the assembly by a vote. Continue reading “Dr M says Perak grab unlawful”

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Double jeopardy – Motion to suspend Gobind for one year without pay against parliamentary Standing Orders

The motion to be moved by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to suspend DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo for a year without parliamentary pay and privileges is against the parliamentary Standing Orders.

Gobind had already been punished by the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Ronald Kiandee with a one-day suspension for what transpired in the House on Thursday, and it goes against all the rudiments of common sense, fair play and justice to invoke the Umno/Barisan Nasional parliamentary majority to subject Gobind to double jeopardy with a very harsh second punishment over the same parliamentary incident. Continue reading “Double jeopardy – Motion to suspend Gobind for one year without pay against parliamentary Standing Orders”

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Baggage too heavy for our new PM

By Tunku Aziz
Opinion | The Malaysian Insider | 13 March 2009

No one in living memory has ever had to drag so much unnecessary baggage along with him as Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is doing on assuming the highest political office in Malaysia.

My heart naturally goes out to the unfortunate man who has had to fend off, without a break, a relentless barrage of poison-tipped arrows all aimed at his personal and public integrity.

I will not claim to know how he must feel because I would have absolutely no idea unless I were in his well-heeled shoes. And this would be most unlikely even in a million years.

Under different and happier circumstances, he should be celebrating his moment of destiny, the attainment, albeit Umno-style, of the greatest political prize of all.
Continue reading “Baggage too heavy for our new PM”