The present Malay dilemma

CT Ali

Malay political leaders who have achieved the pinnacle of their career do so by a combination of guile, political pedigree and money – plenty of money.

Malays who are pillars and leaders of society, Malays who are in high public offices, Malays possessing great executive and political power with wide discretion in using that power and minimal accountability, will, more often than not, misuse that power to their personal advantage, resulting in the detriment of the very people whom they lead.

This was true of the Sultans who were not hesitant on calling upon the British to safeguard their royal prerogatives while surrendering their interest, that of their subjects and of their country into the avaricious hands of the British.

A hung Parliament – can it happen here?

Mohsin Abdullah

SOURCES close to veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah want to make one thing clear with regards to a series of meetings between the Kelantan prince and several BN members of Parliament recently.Tengku Razaleigh was once mentioned as a key player in a hung Parliament, according to a source. But that didn’t take place. and now many are asking if a crossover will happen this time.

And that is “it was the MPs that came to see Ku Li (as Tengku Razaleigh is fondly known) and not Ku Li who called for the meetings”.

Umno Baru is not invincible

Mariam Mokhtar

A schoolchild knows that when conducting scientific experiments, a definite conclusion cannot be made if the analyses and observations are based on flawed data. In a post-mortem of GE13, it is a fallacy for experts or analysts to report on trends, when their assumptions are based on a set of doctored evidence.

Anyone who is foolish enough to believe that BN won 47 percent of the votes in GE13 is seriously deluded. If allegations of cheating have been recorded in one constituency, then doubt is cast on the entire voting process.

The rakyat has long been aware of wholesale fraud and blatant gerrymandering in previous elections, but they allowed Umno Baru’s intransigence to browbeat them into submission. Under pressure, Malaysians capitulated easily to Umno Baru’s weapons of apathy and fear.

Najib vs Mahathir: Who will survive, who will bite the dust?

Nawawi Mohamad

How do you feel when someone keeps breathing down your neck, nagging, criticizing and meddling with your work right from the day you start work?

Yes, Mahathir or Dr M the former prime minister – hard as nails and some say ruthlessness personified – who defeated all other pretenders to his throne including Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh and Anwar Ibrahim.

Dr M also removed Abdullah Badawi from power even though he had handpicked Badawi to succeed him. And this was how Najib came to power – given the green light from Mahathir to replace Badawi..Well, if you want to know, ’tanya Najib’. Yes, ask Prime Minister Najib Razak because that must be how he is feeling all this while. And worse still, the person doing the heavy breathing is not Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu or wife Rosmah Mansor but Mahathir Mohamad!

Sarawak’s Penans still left in lurch

Leven Woon

They said despite a government’s task force having recommended specific actions in the areas of sexual abuse, citizenship registrations, healthcare and education in 2009, nothing has been done.

When 22-year-old Amelia Balan first heard about the recommendations put forward by the federal government’s Penan Task Force report in 2009, she thought that her life in the remote Long Itam village in Sarawak would improve.

However, four years later, she and Penan folks in the Baram Tengah region are still stuck with the same old problems – the lack of protection from sexual abuses, water supply, healthcare facilities, education opportunities, with many of them not having  identification cards.

NGOs: Expedite efforts to improve Penan livelihood

Jarni Blakkarly and Tharshinaa Chandran

A group of 36 NGOs and five Penan women want the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to expedite the implementation of the National Taskforce Report it produced in 2008 to improve the livelihood of the Penan community.

The new minister, Rohani Abdul Karim, has agreed to meet with the group at a later date in Baram, once she returns to Malaysia, Penan Support Group representative Liza Bong said today.

“We want to raise the needs of the Penan community with her, as these have not been addressed since the report was published in 2008,” Bong (on the left) said at a press conference at the All Women’s Action Society (Awam) headquarters today.

Numbers game in Ku Li as PM plot

Hawkeye

In 2008, DAP and PAS committed their support for Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to be PM, only Anwar Ibrahim and some BN MPs stood in the way.

Former Umno vice-president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah did not initiate the discussions between him and several MPs from Sabah and Sarawak.

In fact, according to “individuals privy to the proceedings”,  it was the MPs who mooted the meeting. They formed an informal delegation to seek advise from the veteran Umno leader.

It was “just a chit-chat” veered towards the possibility of combining resources to impress upon other MPs that time is ripe for a leadership change.

Can hard-core corruption, the Altantuya murder & collapsing buildings be mere PERCEPTION?

J. D. Lovrenciear

The minority-polled BN-led government head, Honorable Prime Minister Najib is in need of some serious coaching on the meaning of ‘perception’. Unfortunately, all the money spent on his foreign consulting outfit, APCO, hasonly landed him with yet another wrong ‘perception’ of the 51% of Malaysian’s perception.

The fact that he lambasted Malaysians in Indonesia for their flawed perception that foreign nationals voted in the nation’s GE-13 deserves a free lesson.

To begin with, ‘perception’ cannot be deemed as ‘deception’. On the contrary, perception is all about discernment, insight and wisdom.

Money politics, threats dog Sarawak opposition

Joseph Tawie

According to reports from Sarawak PKR’s election officers, each village security committee were given RM8k–RM10k to ensure their respective longhouses voted for BN.

Ground reports from  the 13th general  election has convinced the opposition here that “money politics is still very effective”  and that a cohesive early assault is now vital in rural areas.

Sarawak is expected to hold its state elections in 2016. In the 2011 state polls, Pakatan Rakyat swiped 15 seats from Barisan Nasional. PKR won three seats – Batu Lintang, Krian and Ba Kelalan – while DAP took away 13.

The Pakatan coalition is eyeing 25 seats in the next state elections.

Election law amendments top Private Member’s Bill proposals

Pathma Subramaniam

Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians have lined up a series of Private Members’ Bills on various matters including reforming the Election Commission (EC).

The first session of the 13th Parliament which convenes on June 24 is expected to see a number of Private Members’ Bills on electoral reform and custodial deaths tabled.

Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians who have been relentless in their push for electoral changes have lined up a series of Private Members’ Bills on matters such reforming the Election Commission (EC) and cleaning up the electoral role.

Goodbye to the national car, Proton

JAHABAR SADIQ

The last vestiges of the national car project will disappear as soon as Putrajaya replaces its fleet of ageing Proton Perdana V6 limousines with Honda Accords, while the Pahang government has opted for the Volkwagen Passats.

Both models are now assembled by Proton Bhd’s main shareholder DRB-Hicom Bhd in Pekan whose Member of Parliament is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The company that produces Proton is owned by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary.

The new cars are for Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and state executive councillors. The total cost of the purchase has yet to be determined.

Beyond Black 505

Zefry Dahalan

Pakatan should concentrate on ensuring a fair delineation of electoral constituencies.

The Black 505 rally scheduled for June 22 in Kuala Lumpur is expected to draw a crowd that is even larger than the record-breaking one that Bersih gathered for its third rally last year.

However, cynics are asking whether the Black 505 series will achieve anything more significant than giving vent to the anger felt by Pakatan Rakyat and its supporters over perceived unfairness in the conduct of last May 5’s general election.

Will there be a revision of the results of the 13th general election? Will the government revamp the Election Commission (EC)?

In parliament and party, Najib experiences déjà vu

JAHABAR SADIQ

Just a week before the 13th Parliament of Malaysia meets for the first time, Barisan Nasional members of the house are in talks that could decide whether the Prime Minister gets to enjoy his personal mandate till the next general election.

While there is no immediate threat to the Barisan chairman’s term in office, pockets of disgruntled coalition lawmakers want a better deal or else they might either switch their support to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or seek a change of leader in the Umno polls at the year end.

Analysts say PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not in a position to argue with these MPs. He won just 133 of the 222 federal seats, so if just 23 of the Barisan MPs cross to Pakatan Rakyat for a clutch of posts and other privileges, this could see a new government in Malaysia.

Anwar: Solve election cheating issues, then talk reconciliation

JAHABAR SADIQ

Putrajaya must solve the issue of electoral fraud in last month’s general election before there can be any talks with Pakatan Rakyat about national reconciliation, declared opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today in Jakarta.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s move to seek reconciliation is mere talk if nothing is done to solve fraud, irregularities and mismanagement by the Election Commission in the general election last month.

“Solve the problem of election fraud. Reconciliation must happen. But whatever happens, the issue of cheating must be handled seriously,” Anwar told reporters this morning, according to a report in KeAdilan Daily.

Politicising Agong’s birthday

Jeswan Kaur

There is nothing wrong in Malaysians criticising the Agong’s speech and to question the election results as both actions are their rights guaranteed by the federal constitution.

Have our rulers lost touch with the grassroots reality? The ‘glass wall’ that separates the rulers from the rakyat so often leads to their failure in listening to the rakyat and their problems.

At best, the rulers as the rakyat see it symbolise the Malay heritage; reality however has proven that politics always supercedes the monarchy, many a times at the expense of the rakyat’s welfare.

Apart from the time and again reminders to the people to keep away from the issue of the Malay rights and privileges, the rakyat has yet to recall a subject or issue that has affected the country’s rulers to the extent that they make it a priority to raise the matter at the available platform.

Jeffrey rejects talk of ‘Razaleigh plan’

Michael Kaung

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ‘s promise to make further changes in his cabinet later this year to accommodate unhappy BN MPs from Borneo shows how influential the two states are.

Maverick politician Jeffrey Kitingan has thrown a lifeline to beleaguered Prime Minister Najib Razak as word spreads of wheeling and dealing in the upper echelons of power over the direction of the country following last month’s general elections

The Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) chairman who has taken a hardline on any relations with peninsula or Malayan politicians interfering in Sabah and Sarwak’s affairs, scoffed at the idea of Sabah and Sarawak MPs meeting with Malayan politicians to engineer ways to remain relevant.

Political leaders and their selfish games

CT Ali

The highs and the peaks of holding political power intoxicate them and they lose touch with reality – and the people around them learn not to confront them with reality.

Rightly or wrongly too many of us think of wealth as a sign of greatness. And money is the root of all evil – even more so in politics.

In as long as that view prevails, our political leaders will have problems of morality because the political leaders we now have are not honourable men. They are not men upon whom we can stake our future and the future of our country.

They are not men who will do what we need most for our country – to restore political accountability and social justice.

Rafizi and Mohd Ariff – PR’s weapons of maths destruction head to Parliament

TMI

With the economy in sharp focus for the next five years, the eyes are on Pakatan Rakyat’s new team of data crunchers who are expected to give more snap and crackle to debates in the national Parliament.

Malaysia 13th Parliament will meet next week for the first time, on June 24.

Some new entries to the hallowed halls are Rafizi Ramli and Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, opposition brand names in their own right already. They are expected, like former e-biz whiz-turned-MP Tony Pua, to scrunitise government business and put inflated purchases under the microscope like never before.

Here’s a closer look at the two new entries who are comfortable enough with numbers, like Pua, to comb the books:

Transformation plans encounter obstacles

Lim Sue Goan

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has insisted to continue his transformation plans after the general election. However, lingering racism and racial politics have made progress difficult for the National Transformation Plan.

National transformation requires talents, foreign investment and technology. However, racial clamour has turned down these conditions, making Najib’s efforts less effective.

There are respective plans to retain talents in the public and private spheres. To retain talents in the public sector, college or university students and graduates are encouraged to participate in various governmental departments’ internship programmes to attract more freshmen into the government.

Problem with polls petitions is not law, but judges

Kim Quek

Ever since Pakatan Rakyat declared its intention to challenge the results of the 13th General Election (GE 13)- by far the dirtiest in history – there has been a deluge of pessimism by lawyers over the chances of success of such legal challenges.

The reasons for such pessimism range from the historical low rate of success of election petitions (vast majority being struck off before reaching hearing stage) to the high standard of proof demanded by our election laws.

While the former reason is true, the latter reason is not.

Contrary to popular legal opinion, it is easy to annul a dubious election under our election laws.

Behind closed doors, Dr M keeps his promise on Najib

JAHABAR SADIQ

Post GE13, Dr Mahathir is open in his criticism of Najib during closed-door sessions with politicians and businessmen. 

Talking to senior Johor Umno politicians behind closed doors weeks before the general election last month, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for everyone to unite behind Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ensure a big win for Barisan Nasional.

The former prime minister pointed out then that it was not the time to talk about Najib’s weak leadership or penchant for not moving on policies until he had a consensus.

The TPPA and Malaysia

Josh Hong

After BN ‘won’ GE13, Barack Obama called and congratulated Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on his ‘mandate’. The US president also reportedly confirmed his attendance at the upcoming 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit in KL later this year.

Of great significance is Obama’s mention of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), as he expressed his hope that it would be concluded sooner.

It is perhaps not by coincidence that both Nurul Izzah Anwar (left) and Charles Santiago have indicated their grave concern over the lack of transparency and also the possible impact of the TPPA on Malaysia’s sovereignty.

BN’s ‘stupid moves’

Selena Tay

Looks like the Malaysian political climate (as well as the weather) is getting to be erratic although the 13th General Election has been concluded more than a month ago.

Shortly after the 2004 general election, the BN government leaders used to say to the opposition: “Opposition, shut up and follow the majority.” This was said due to BN’s thumping win at the March 2004 polls.

Four years later, in 2008 that insult was also hurled at the opposition but on a less frequent basis.

Now in year 2013, they would still be using that insult against the opposition as they have won 133 Parliamentary seats but as their popular vote is less than the opposition, they would be stupid to use that insult.

Time to lead, Mr PM

TMI

The time for feeling sorry, betrayed and wallowing in self-pity is over. 

With a new mandate from the Malaysian electorate and a 44-seat advantage over Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Parliament, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be energised, selling his vision of the future to Malaysians daily and getting on with the job of governing this diverse nation.

After all, isn’t this what he has craved for since taking over from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2009: his own mandate? Instead, six weeks after the polls, visitors to Putrajaya still paint a picture of a leadership still wondering why the sought-after two-thirds majority was not attained; of a leadership still talking about betrayal by Chinese voters and of a leadership mulling what was not achieved instead what has been gained. 

Ku Li’s PM quest gets its last airing

Terence Netto

If there is anything sadder in life than unrequited love, it must be unfulfilled ambition.

Almost three decades ago, the flavour of that truth was hinted at by the subtitle of a biography of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, ‘An Unending Quest’.

That subtitle and what it entails are evoked by the news that the 10-term MP, the longest such occupancy by a federal legislator in Malaysian parliamentary history, who was returned from his southern Kelantan bailiwick of Gua Musang with a larger majority in the May 5 polls, has begun meeting with assorted MPs of the 13th Parliament.

Najib, Anwar in Jakarta, speculation mounts of possible meeting

JAHABAR SADIQ

Datuk Seri Najib Razak and political arch-rival Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are in Jakarta today, fueling talk of a meeting that could help the prime minister face down possible rivals in parliament and his own party after poor results in Election 2013.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the meeting has been in the works for at least a week, just as Najib is facing a likely challenge in the Umno elections this year end and a possible motion of no confidence after parliament convenes on June 24.

It is learnt that Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is close to both leaders, has been tasked to facilitate the meeting. He is in Jakarta for a bilateral visit.

“A meeting has been set up with Najib before Anwar meets Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Satuday,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

Najib likely to face leadership challenge

Bridget Welsh

One month after GE13, attention has turned to the Umno election. Rumours are already circulating about possible challengers to the ruling party’s No 1 post. While the Black 505 rallies continue to mobilise protest against the May 5 general election that many recognise as seriously flawed, the dominant political party is myopically focused on its party polls and who will lead the party after October.

The flurry of activity in recent weeks – from the call to make Umno more inclusive ethnically to the pleas for the return of the 2,000 delegates as electors (rather than 46,500 members) are all part of the now intensifying internal Umno political jockeying.

PKR: Rural votes bought, denied, or tallied in secret

Keruah Usit

Rural voters in Baram, Sarawak, were denied their ballots, despite having queued at polling stations half an hour before the official closing time, according to an election petition by Roland Engan, the unsuccessful PKR candidate.

The petition, filed on June 12, laid out startling details, resembling farcical polls for Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, or Egypt’s former leader Hosni Mubarak, more closely than elections in a modern democracy.

PKR claimed a Barisan Nasional polling agent, Apoi Ukeng, had distributed RM100 cash to individual villagers to entice them to vote for BN. Apoi Ukeng is the ketua kaum or village chief in Long Jeeh, Roland Engan’s own home village. This implies that alleged vote-buying would have been carried out blatantly, and with apparent impunity.

On election petitions

Art Harun

I refer to the report on Free Malaysia Today dated June 5 titled “Impossible To Win Election Petition”.

I have written before on the standard of proof in election petitions. Thus I will not comment on YB Rafizi Ramli’s statement on the same subject.

I wish to however address two issues.

Firstly, allow me to state the reason for the high standard of proof that is required to win an election petition. To understand the reason for the standard of proof, we need to know — and understand — the basic premise of an election petition.

GE13: What happened? And what now?

Clive Kessler

In a brief commentary elsewhere (“Malaysia’s election result — no surprise to the knowledgeable,” Asian Currents, June 2013), I have noted one paradoxical but hugely important consequence of Malaysia’s recent national elections held on 5 May.

A paradox: anomalous domination

The remarkable, perhaps “counter-intuitive”, fact is that, while the election result itself ― namely, a fairly close but nonetheless comfortable victory of the Umno-centred Barisan Nasional side over the Pakatan Rakyat opposition ― came as no great surprise, that unremarkable result nonetheless had one quite surprising, even paradoxical, consequence.

MACC wants more power

Bernama

It is seeking for the government to approve an amendment to Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 to empower the commission with legal authority

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) wants additional powers to compel anyone to declare their assets without the need to prove an element of corruption.

To that end, it has submitted a proposal to the government to amend Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 to empower the commission with such legal authority.

MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed said a Special Committee on Corruption had put together the proposal and he wants the government to give it serious consideration.

Will non-Muslim parents get justice, interfaith panel asks Putrajaya

TMI

Nazri previously announced a federal ban on ban the automatic conversion of minors to Islam.

Malaysia’s leading non-Muslim interfaith council demanded today the federal government answer if it had reversed its 2009 stand on child conversions to Islam, in the wake of a recent case in Negri Sembilan that may reignite the simmering religious tensions within the country.

The latest case of S. Deepa, a 29-year-old Hindu mother from Jelebu who learnt in April her estranged husband had unilaterally converted their two underage children to Islam after he embraced the country’s main religion over a year ago, had moved the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) to censure the authorities for what it perceived to be injustice towards non-Muslims.

Khairy, now Najib’s emerging star

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Not too long ago, he was sidelined by the Umno-owned media, vilified as a member of the infamous Fourth Floor and deemed untrustworthy by the Najib administration.

All in all, he was headed for political mediocrity.

Not anymore. Today, Khairy Jamaluddin is the go to guy for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Appointed Minister of Youth and Sports, he has also been named government spokesman of international media. In return, the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi has become a loyal cheerleader for the PM at a time when there is roiling debate on the PM’s strategy and performance at GE13 and growing discourse on whether there should a no-contest for the top Umno position at the coming polls.

Opposition gets flak from Masing over NCR land survey

Churchill Edward, @theborneopost.com

Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing yesterday hit out at the opposition for harping on issues over perimeter survey on native customary rights (NCR) land.

The Baleh assemblyman said the opposition will be bankrupt of ideas if land issue is taken away from their political means to bring down the government of the day.

Masing said the opposition knew very well that land issue is sensitive and by twisting the fact they were hoping to make the people become emotional and irrational.

“They (opposition) just want to look relevant. They can’t allow NCR land issue to die a natural death because they will too die a natural death,” the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president told The Borneo Post yesterday.

Roadblocks seen in redelineation exercise

TMI

Wan Ahmad says it would take a lot of negotiations with both sides of the political divide to make the redelineation exercise work.

The redelineation exercise of parliamentary constituencies due this year is expected to be the country’s most complicated yet.

This is because the opposition has more than one-third of the seats in Parliament, which allows it to block the creation of new constituencies, and hence new seats, according to a report in The Straits Times today.

The Singapore daily reported that in the past, the Election Commission (EC) has had little problem getting its reviews approved by Parliament, as the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had enjoyed a two-thirds majority of seats. But BN, which won last month’s polls with 133 of 222 seats, failed to regain the two-thirds majority, which it lost for the first time in the 2008 polls.