10 things Anwar must do

P Gunasegaram

By now the cabinet has been appointed and while there are fresh faces, no one I have spoken to expects any drastic changes from the norm especially as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is bound to face pressure from Umno delegates at the forthcoming Umno general assembly.

We seem to be going from one election to another and delaying much needed change accordingly. And as everyone knows by now, Umno delegates don’t at all represent the common voice of the Malays but posture to make it appear as if they do.

Thus it was that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi got a massive mandate from the people in the 2004 elections, obtaining over 90 percent of parliamentary seats, he refrained from taking measures he promised because his advisers told him there will be a backlash from Umno delegates.

Discontent in BN parties over Cabinet posts

TMI

File photo of Najib announcing his new Cabinet line-up in Putrajaya on May 15, 2013. BN parties are not happy with some of his choices.

All is not well among Barisan Nasional (BN) parties over the distribution of Cabinet posts as Sarawak’s PRS has decided to reject its appointments while SPDP is also upset its four federal wins did not get the party anything.

Several senior Sabah Umno MPs are also grumbling that they were overlooked in the Cabinet appointments while other Umno lawmakers are disputing Hindraf’s P. Waythamoorthy’s selection despite him running down the government previously.

‘They welcome Bangladeshis, but tell us to balik Cina’

Ahmad Fadli KC

Anger at new home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who had told those dissatisfied with the 13th general election to leave the country, is fuelling the crowds at the Black 505 rally in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Participant Karen Ngoo, 46 (right), when met at the 30,000-strong rally last night said Zahid’s comment did not make sense, as there were many allegations of foreigners being allegedly brought in to vote.

“He wants to drive away us Malaysians, but Bangladeshis are being brought in to the country.

“He should show us respect. The Bangladeshi phantom voters are the ones who need to be sent away,” she said.

The downside of BN’s victory

Selena Tay

Najib’s new cabinet has been labelled as the “same old thing”. Let us also hope that the petrol price will stay the same too.

For the low-wage earner and the average man-in-the-street trying to make ends meet, the worst thing about Barisan Nasional emerging victorious in the 13th general election is that there is no reduction in the petrol price.

Although the low-income group look forward to the annual BR1M handout at the beginning of the year, that is a pittance compared to the daily rising cost of living.

BN leaders have mentioned that the RM500 cash aid will be gradually increased to RM1,200 but there is silence on this matter now.

NGOs condemns IHA for supporting Taib

Joseph Tawie

SAVE Rivers, a coalition of NGOs, want the International Hydropower Association (IHA) to cancel its global conference in Kuching.

Save Sarawak Rivers Network (SAVE Rivers) is demanding that the International Hydropower Association (IHA) withdraw its support for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s plans to build 12 additional mega-dams.

The call was also made to state-owned Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), the main contractors of the project. SAVE Rivers wants the state government scrap its plans to build the dams.

Its secretary, Mark Bujang, said: “We want IHA to cancel SEB’s membership in the association as it has not yet addressed the outstanding issues affecting the indigenous people in Batang Ai, Bakun and Murum dams.

Please get your facts right, home minister

Andrew Khoo

Like many Malaysiakini readers, I was appalled at the remarks made by the new Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, vice president of Umno with regard to those who questioned the fact that Barisan Nasional lost the popular vote but still won a majority of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat. 

He basically told them that if they didn’t like the result, they could leave.

His clear disrespect for the right of Malaysians to freedom of expression, coming as it does as he takes up his new position, is a negative harbinger of things to come.

However, a careful study of his article published in Utusan Malaysia on May 16, 2013 reveals more egregious remarks which are unbefitting a minister of government.

GE13: We are already the winners!

M.M. Pereira

A few days before the historic 505, the then caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said: “The victor or loser of this 13th general election will not be BN or PR. It will be Malaysia, its people and our children.” Immediately after the official results were announced, he blamed the loss of BN seats on a “Chinese tsunami”.

In my view, these statements not only reflect Najib’s arrogance but also his shallow understanding of the democratic process and how disconnected he is with what is happening at the grassroots. And he continues to insult our intelligence!

Today we see Malaysians from diverse ethnic backgrounds manifesting their unity of purpose with so much pride, confidence and optimism, taking ownership of their country and their destiny. They are ready to take risks to secure the future they desire.

Najib, BN fight for political survival: Nik Nazmi charged in bid to stop Black505 rallies

Maria Begum

In a bid to suppress massive public support for the Black505 rallies kicked off by Anwar Ibrahim, it looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak has reverted to scare tactics and draconian measures just days after unveiling a new “transformational” Cabinet and promised to practise “the best democracy”.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the PKR state assemblyman for Seri Setia, was charged in the Petaling Jaya Sessions court on Friday morning over the recently-held Kelana Jaya rally to protest fraud and irregularities in the May 5 general election.

According to his lawyer Eric Paulsen, Nik was charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act for allegedly failing to give 10 days notice to the police before the Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat or Black505 rally was held on May 8.

Is a forgiven Husam on course for rehab?

Terence Netto

In the Malay political chess game of feint-and-manoeuvre, whose Kelantanese variant is more complex than its peers, former PAS state executive councillor Husam Musa has made what has traditionally been known to be the prelude to a concatenation of moves.

Surprisingly not included in the list of executive councillors announced last week by newly-installed Menteri Besar Ahmad Yacob, a development attributed to his being deliberately excluded by design of his compatriots or at the behest of the sultan, Husam earlier this week left for Mecca to perform the umrah.

Though there is no precise dictionary by which to interpret gestures in the Malay political chess game, since every nonverbal expression depends for meaning on the variants of both the individual using it and the culture in which it takes place, there was no mistaking the import of the letter emanating from the palace a day or two after Husam left for the holy land and addressed to Husam.

PRS tired of being ‘flower girls’

Joseph Tawie

Parti Rakyat Sarawak says Prime Minister Najib ‘should be smart enough and well-advised to know what the Dayaks need and where they can fit in’.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak vice-president Joseph Salang said the party’s supreme council took a firm stand on the cabinet posts because they were tired of “begging” and being treated like “flower arrangements”

Said Salang: “Najib offered us only two deputy ministers…Only after the president (James Masing) protested and some begging, only then the Prime Minister agreed for (Joseph) Entulu to be made a full minister in the Prime Minister’s Department

“Is that the way to treat PRS which has six seats, while a certain party which delivered only one seat is given a full minister?

SEREMBAN rushes for a slice of Anwar, PR:Who are you to tell us to get out – Zahid scolded

Wong Choon Mei

Yes, it was another easy victory for Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat team. The 50,000-odd crowd at the Seremban Blackout 505 rally on Friday night was only too happy to lap up their speeches, and Prime Minister Najib Razak should take note that when Anwar asked, “should we give BN another 5 years”, the crowd roared back “NO WAY!”‘

So great is Anwar’s and Pakatan’s hold on the people that they have become superstars. On arrival, they are mobbed and at the end of the ceramah (rally), the crowd rushes up to the stage to take photos with their favourite Pakatan leaders and to get their autographs.

Tonight, apart from Anwar who as always got the loudest cheers, it was Nik Nazmi, the PKR assemblyman for Seri Setia, who got the hero’s welcome, while stealing the show was Johari Abdul, the PKR MP for Sungei Petani.

Sarawak dams will flood 2,300 sq km, warns BMF

BMF

VIDEO | 1.32 min The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has warned of possible degradation of the environment and social effects on the Sarawak indigenous people, following the proposed flooding of 11 dams which may cover an area of 2,300 square km of rainforests or one-and-a-half times the area of Greater London.

BMF, which released a map of the possible repercussions, said it is concerned over this fact following Sarawak’s hosting of the International Hydro-power Association’s (IHA) World Congress in Kuching for three days beginning May 21.

It said Sarawak Energy, the state’s power monopoly, is planning to realise the dams by 2020. 

What do Chinese want?

Koon Yew Yin

The most important concern of the Chinese is fairness in the system – especially in education, business and the civil service.

Even before the elections took place, various Umno leaders led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Utusan Malaysia have led the onslaught against the Chinese in the country.

Now the results are in, they are taking to a new level the politics of suspicion, hatred and revenge in the Malay masses for what they say as a betrayal by the Chinese voters.

There are several undeniable contrary facts to their thinking. Firstly, as others have pointed out, the so-called Chinese tsunami was actually a Malaysian tsunami which accounted for the largest ever proportion of total votes – in fact the majority – going to the opposition.

Stop the racist politics of suspicion and hate

Koon Yew Yin

Even before the elections took place, various Umno leaders led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Utusan Malaysia have led the onslaught against the Chinese in the country. Now that the results are in, they are taking to a new level the politics of suspicion, hatred and revenge in the Malay masses for what they say as a betrayal by the Chinese voters.

There are several undeniable contrary facts to their thinking.

Firstly, as others have pointed out, the so-called Chinese tsunami was actually a Malaysian tsunami which accounted for the largest ever proportion of total votes — in fact the majority — going to the opposition. Simple arithmetic explains why the Chinese who comprise less than 30 per cent of the total population can barely account for at most half the total votes cast against BN even if all Chinese had voted against BN.

Angry SPDP members : Why did you drop us, Najib?

Joseph Tawie

Angry SPDP members have called for the party leaders to pull out of BN over its exclusion from the federal cabinet despite delivering four parliamentary seats.

Angry Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) members across the state have been advised to stay calm and allow its party leaders to query Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to drop them from the federal cabinet.

Najib had, on Wednesday, excluded the party from his cabinet list.

SPDP won all its four parliamentary seats – Anthony Nogeh (Mas Gading), William Mawan Ikom (Saratok), Anyi Ngau (Baram) and Tiong King Sing (Bintulu) – and was expecting to be amply rewarded with one full minister and a deputy or at least two deputies.

Time for BN to walk the talk

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

The holiday is over and BN must start implementing the promises in its manifesto before it loses all credibility with the people.

Pakatan Rakyat won 52% of the popular vote compared to 48% by BN despite MEF (Massive Electoral Fraud). It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that Pakatan deserves to be the government of the day.

Not only has it come as a rude shock to Barisan Nasional, it is also a terrible shame for BN to comprehend it has lost the popularity vote count.

Fifty two percent of Malaysians actually believed in Pakatan Rakyat’s vision of a democratic nation, free from tyranny and corruption. It is a stunning vision that embraces racial unity, meritocracy, equal rights and individual freedoms.

Reject GE13 results before it is TOO LATE!

Wong Choon Mei

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim called on his countrymen to reject the results of the recently-concluded 13th general election, urging them to defend their rights and “save Malaysia” from a bleak future where corruption and political tyranny would dominate.

His call comes as pressure mounts from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government to accept the outcome of the May 5 polls, which has been marred by allegations of vote-rigging, phantom voters and even the use of illegal foreign workers to slip into the polling booths and vote for Najib’s Umno-BN coalition in return for which they would be given permanent residency.

The 64-year-old Anwar is disputing Najib’s claim of a 133-seats victory in Malaysia’s 222-seats Parliament. His Pakatan Rakyat coalition, which won the popular vote, sweeping 52% of all ballots cast, wants a re-election in 27 seats where they say they have evidence of highly irregular procedures. Anwar has refused to concede defeat, and has kicked off a nationwide tour to take his case to the people.

Silver nitrate’s not carcinogenic, voter tells EC

Mkini

A voter is taking Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof to task for a recent statement that silver nitrate content of more than 1 percent in indelible ink could cause cancer or kidney damage, which the former claimed is untrue.

Disputing this, Stephen Ng, who claims to be a chemist by training, said such serious health effects are not even listed on the material safety data sheet (MSDS) of the AgNO3 compound, or silver nitrate, which instead states there is no available evidence of carcinogenic, mutanic or teratonic effects.

The MSDS is a document which denotes health and safety information pertaining to the properties of a particular substance of chemical.

TI divided over Taib’s dam congress

Keruah Usit

The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, or TI, faces an internal split over its support for the World Congress of the International Hydropower Association (IHA), to be held in Kuching, Sarawak from May 21 to 24.

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) secretary general Josie Fernandez (right) toldMalaysiakini that she and other Malaysian members were “disappointed and embarrassed that TI is a sponsor of the World Congress hosted by Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), a public company controlled by Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak chief minister who is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on allegations of grand corruption.”

It’s Najib’s ‘thank you’ to Taib

Joseph Tawie

Opposition PKR claims that MPs from Sabah and Sarawak are nothing more than ‘window dressing’ in the new federal cabinet.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s allocation of seven ministers from Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) is an act of gratitude and a bid to “establish a foothold in Umno” in preparation for the October Umno assembly, claims Sarawak PKR.

Said PKR vice-president See Chee How: “Giving PBB the lion’s share is probably to please Taib (state BN chairman) for winning 25 seats, including 14 from PBB.”

Najib’s legitimacy deficit

Josh Hong

I am surprised that there are voices from within the opposition saying that it is time to move on and get on with business, ie. acknowledging BN’s victory and continuing the fight within the current system that we have.

Perhaps this is understandable, given that many candidates, especially those from DAP, have now won a seat and do not want to betray the trust that their voters have put in them.

But what is often overlooked is that GE13 was not contested on a level-playing field. The following points can help illustrate this:

Another May 13 in the offing?

Ong Kar Jin

For the sake of this country, the writer hopes his entire analysis is rubbish, and that he will be proven absolutely wrong and a pessimistic idiot.

May 13 has arrived and passed with no major incidents. For many Malaysians who sit uneasily with the date, there is a culpable sense of relief. However, is the threat of a nationwide disturbance over?

Is it possible still in this day and age for something on the scale of the May 13 riots to reoccur?

Before moving on let me just clarify that this analysis is not meant to monger fear or accuse the government of anything. It is a hypothesis based on my historical analysis of post-election trends in Malaysia, and as with all hypotheses, is unproven and certainly not set in stone.

Sorry NAJIB: A leopard cannot change its spots – neither can you or Umno!

J. D. Lovrenciear

A leopard cannot change its spots. Now, will this hold true for BN and especially UMNO?

There is talk among some UMNO-BN power brokers that BN needs to “re-brand”. One notion is that that it should mint a new name to replace the “BN” and to even have a new logo to reflect that change.

The idea being mooted is to disband race-based UMNO, MIC and MCA with a single tag to represent a sort of multiracial coalition of sorts.

But let us take a leave from that age-old wisdom – let truth be told!

Having a new logo is not going to change the spots of the leopard. A leopard is a leopard. Having a new name to describe a leopard is not going to make the leopard into a cuddly cat.

Class, gender divide seen in GE13 voting trends, says Merdeka Center

ZURAIRI AR

Women and poorer Malaysians voted for Barisan Nasional (BN) while men and the middle- and upper-class voters leaned towards Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties in Election 2013.

Ibrahim Suffian, the director of independent pollster Merdeka Center, also said today that 55 per cent of respondents in a recent survey stated that they depended on the Internet and social media as their main source of political information.

“We see women generally leaned towards BN compared to men who leaned towards PR,” Ibrahim (picture) said at a forum organised by Universiti Malaya Centre of Democracy and Election (UMCEDEL).

Dayaks bitter over cabinet choices

FMT Staff

The Sabah Kadazandusun Murut Welfare and Education Association however described “as historic” the appointment of three full ministers from the community.

The much anticipated “stronger” representations by Sarawak’s loyal Dayak community in the new federal cabinet turned out to be a major disappointment.

In fact local Dayak majority parties Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Democratic Party (SPDP) have questioned the rationale behind Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to handover a large chunk of cabinet positions to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

Black to the future

Dean Johns

The huge and continuing black rallies against BN’s theft of the 13th general election are a brilliant sign of Malaysians’ undying determination to emerge from the dark ages imposed on them by this dim and shady regime.

And the fact that the forces of darkness are fighting back with the same fly-by-night tactics for which the people have come to so loathe them is only serving to make prospects of the new dawn brighter.

Faced with election results rejecting of his fraudulent 1Malaysia as nothing but UnMalaysia, UnPrime Minister Najib Abdul Razak immediately started making dark accusations against Chinese Malaysians.

Umno-heavy Cabinet reflects Najib’s party polls focus, could affect reforms

AMIN ISKANDAR, DEBRA CHONG AND SYED JAYMAL ZAHIID

Najib announces his new Cabinet line-up at his office in Putrajaya yesterday while Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (left) listens.

Umno’s domination of the 2013 Cabinet shows Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s desire to shore up his personal support ahead of party polls but at the expense of the prime minister’s national reform measures, several observers say.

While the pundits hold grave reservations over the large number of veterans in the 32-man Cabinet, they said Najib deserves a chance to prove he can deliver on his promised government and economic transformation agenda once he has secured his party presidency.

Why I will not move on

Lishan Low

1. Barisan Nasional (BN) does not have political legitimacy

There are two elements to legitimacy — procedural and substantive legitimacy. BN fails on both counts.

Procedural legitimacy requires that the instituted election mechanisms (however unfair) are carried out and complied with to the fullest extent. This means that even with an uneven delineation of constituencies and a questionable electoral roll, if the elections had been conducted in a professional manner, the results would have been procedurally legitimate by account of the “rules of the game.”

Nevertheless, even on this count, BN has failed to adhere to its own heavily biased and terribly unfair procedure. Allegations of ballot boxes disappearing, double voting, and ballot stuffing mar the elections purely on a procedural level. Moreover, a widespread and fairly indiscreet campaign of vote-buying is illegal and further taints the electoral process. So even if you ask me to accept the grossly unfair procedure that BN themselves have instituted, I cannot grant that the outcome was legitimate.

‘Putrajaya-state disconnect problem for Orang Asal’

Tharshinaa Chandran

A disconnect between Putrajaya and state policies throws up obstacles to Orang Asal’s rights to forest and land management, a legal expert told a convention on Orang Asal rights yesterday.

Universiti Malaya’s Centre for Legal Pluralism and Indigenous Law head Azmi Sharom (left) said matters concerning Orang Asal rights are handled by the federal government, whereas land and forestry matters are under state jurisdiction.

“The difference makes it hard to solve the issues faced by the indigenous people, especially when the two parties have different kinds of power,” he said.

SUPP’s deregistration ‘very real’

Joseph Tawie

Rumours are rife that Wong Soon Koh’s faction in SUPP is looking at a number of options in the event the party is deregistered.

Is 54-year-Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), which began as a party for working class Chinese here way back in 1959, facing the ROS axe?

Bengoh state assemblyman Dr Jerip Susil seems to think the possibility of this happening is “very real”.

Susil is a SUPP assemblyman aligned to Senior Minister Wong Soon Koh’s faction within the party. Wong’s faction had disputed the party’s tienniel delegates convention and the presidential elections held in December 2011

Anwar to furnish ‘proof of GE13 fraud’ to Obama

Abdul Rahim Sabri

Pakatan Rakyat is turning its sights on the United States of America for help in its bid to address alleged electoral fraud during the May 5 general election, with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim saying it will furnish “proof” to President Barack Obama.

Addressing the crowd during the ‘Blackout 505′ rally in Kuantan last night, Anwar (left) said the opposition is taking such a measure in order to solicit a response from the powerful nation on BN’s win, which he alleged is contributed in part by “foreign voters”.

“Oh, he said (Barack) Obama telephoned Najib (Abdul Razak). It’s okay, no problem. But I want to tell President Obama… America launched a war in Iraq, for what? For democracy in Iraq.

Najib fails to read the ground right

Jeswan Kaur

The ‘indelible’ fact is that the rakyat have lost trust in BN and its leadership and it is this issue that Najib has to deal with.

Looks like the dismal show of support received by ruling coalition Barisan Nasional has failed to teach the party a thing or two about ‘eating the humble pie’.

Instead, BN has unleashed its fury against its rival, the Pakatan Rakyat pact, accusing the latter of misleading the rakyat into thinking that BN’s dominant arm Umno is a racist party out to sabotage the welfare of the non-Malays.

Not only that, BN chief and prime minister Najib Tun Razak says the opposition Pakatan pact is full of lies and excuses.

Global leaders gloss over Malaysia’s fraudulent polls

Dennis Ignatius

Now that the elections are over, world leaders have rushed to congratulate Prime Minister Najib Razak on his electoral victory while glossing over irregularities that have rendered the elections suspect.

It is quite clear to anyone who cares to look that the 13th general election was the most fraudulent election in our history. It failed, by any measure, to meet the minimum standards of free and fair elections.

Of course, one would expect the likes of Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) to praise Najib for his leadership and for “the strong backing” he received. Undoubtedly, Iran now feels an extra special affinity for Malaysia given Iran’s own penchant for skewing the electoral process.

Muslim lawyers: Act against Christian group using ‘Allah’

Mkini

The Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (PPMM) has urged for action to be taken against the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) for using the word ‘Allah’ in one of its programmes.

“PPMM calls on Muslim NGOs or any Muslim individuals to come forward and lodge police reports for investigations to commence.

“State Islamic religious authorities can also lodge police reports for investigations and appropriate action to be taken against those who breached the enactment (on prohibition for use of the word ‘Allah’),” said PPMM president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.

Zainul (left) pointed out that a court case on whether non-Muslims could use the world ‘Allah’ was still ongoing and until then, enactments in several states preventing non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’ still stands.

Our task ahead is momentous

Selena Tay

It cannot be denied that Barisan Nasional has won the 13th general election at all costs. And it also cannot be denied that they have obtained less than 50% of the popular vote. When all is said and done, this simply shows that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not that popular after all.

While Pakatan Rakyat will be filing election petitions to challenge the results of between 25 to 29 parliamentary seats, the results of the 13th general election at this point in time is definitely valid until the legal process takes its course.

Therefore the Pakatan MPs must now focus on the work of being the opposition in parliament. Their first task of course will be to bring up important issues in the new parliamentary session which will be held either end of this month or early June.