Archive for category Constitution

Pada Hari Raya Aidilfitri ini, marilah kita semua sebagai rakyat Malaysia beriltizam untuk memelihara dan mempertahankan Perlembagaan Malaysia sebagai asas kemajuan negara

Sambutan Hari Raya Aidilfitri untuk tahun ini disambut dengan suasana yang sangat berbeza, tidak boleh untuk balik ke kampung masing-masing, Perdana Menteri sedang dikuarantin, dan rakyat Malaysia secara amnya perlu belajar untuk hidup bersama dengan virus Covid-19 ini dengan tabiat-tabiat baharu seperti penjarakan sosial dan kawalan pergerakan.

Wabak Covid-19 ini tidak mengenali perbezaan, baik dari segi kaum, agama, warna kulit, atau kewarganegaraan.

Kita dapat lihat dalam kalangan 20 negara dengan jumlah kes terkumpul tertinggi, virus ini menjangkiti manusia daripada semua latar belakang agama, tanpa pilih kasih: Read the rest of this entry »

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On this Hari Raya Aidilfritri, let Malaysians resolve to preserve, protect and defend the Malaysian Constitution as the basis to take the country to greater height

On this Hari Raya Aidilfritri, let Malaysians resolve to preserve, protect and defend the Malaysian Constitution as the basis to take the country to greater heights

The Hari Raya Aidilfitri this year is celebrated under unprecedented conditions, where there is no “balik kampong”, the Prime Minister in quarantine and Malaysians have to learn to live with the Covid-19 virus with new norms like social distancing and movement controls.

The Covid-19 pandemic knows no distinctions, whether race, religion, colour or nationality.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Will Opposition MPs agree that the Constitution Amendment Bill to lower voting age should include an enabling clause to empower the Election Commission to redelineate electoral constituencies to end undemocratic and unfair gerrymandering and malapportionment of constituencies without having to wait for eight years?

Yesterday, I gave four examples where recklessness as to what is the truth have become a curse in post-14th General Election politics in Malaysia – PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang’s saying declaring assets is a communist, socialist concept that may have been dreamt up by the DAP; Tok Guru Nik Aziz’s son saying that the global kleptocrat Najib Razak is more popular than the former PAS spiritual leader; Anwar Ibrahim’s lesson to Hadi when pointing out that Umar Abdul Aziz, upon becoming the eighth Umayyad caliph, recorded the assets of his entire family in a show of transparency; and the fact that it was DAP who defended PAS in 1978 when the Kelantan government fell to Barisan Nasional, causing chaos within the state.

It is such recklessness to the truth which informed and guided UMNO and PAS Members of Parliament in Dewan Rakyat.

Today, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman re-tabled in Parliament the Constitution Amendment Bill to lower the voting age to 18, incorporating the Opposition’s two demands – automatic voter registration and the reduction of the minimum age to be a member of the Dewan Rakyat from 21 to 18.

I am particularly pleased, as I have been calling for the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and automatic voters’ registration as far back as 48 years ago in Parliament in 1971.

However, it is a fallacy to think that once the 2019 Constitution Amendment Bill is passed by both Houses of Parliament, given the Royal Assent and gazetted, any Malaysian above 18 years would be able to cast his vote in any general election or by-election in the country. Read the rest of this entry »

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No reason why a competent, efficient and professional police force could not re-unite Indira Gandhi with her nine-year-old daughter Prasana Diksa three days after the Federal Court judgement

Long-suffering mother Indira Gandhi has made a most heart-rending plea that she only wants to see and hold her daughter, Prasana Diksa, who was taken from her nine years ago when she was only nine months old when her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah unilaterally converted Prasana to Islam.

Indira has said that she wants to put aside the issue of religion as her concern as a mother was to ensure her wellbeing.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Will Najib set a “wasatiyyah” example instead of leading a campaign of lies and falsehoods against the Opposition in the run-up to the 14GE?

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak set a “wasatiyyah” example and not lead a campaign of lies and falsehoods against the Opposition?

It is most unfortunate that in his UMNO Presidential Speech on Thursday, beating the war-drums for the impending 14th General Election, Najib spearheaded a campaign of lies and falsehoods against the Opposition.

He accused DAP of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, that “DAP yang terang terang Anti-Melayu dan Islam, sebagai tercatat dalam perlembagaan DAP, langsung tidak meyebut Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan”. Another Najib argument why the DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam is DAP’s commitment for a secular Malaysia.

Present at the 71st UMNO General Assembly opening were the leaders of the other 12 Barisan Nasional component parties, such as MCA, MIC, Gerakan and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties.

Is Najib aware that his baseless attack on the DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam applies in equal measure to the 12 other BN component parties, as his criticism that “tercatat dalam perlembagaan, langsung tidak sebut Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan” applies to all the other 12 BN component parties as well?

Is Najib accusing the other 12 component parties of Barisan Nasional of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam just because of this? Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysians must unite to defend the bedrock constitutional and nation-building principles of openness, tolerance, moderation and inclusivity if Malaysia is to succeed and prosper as a nation

I was struck by a foreign news report that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had pledged a return to a moderate past and looked forward to a technology-driven future.

Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, the Saudi Crown Prince said:

“We are returning to what we were before — a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world.

“We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today.”

The crown prince addressed an audience of thousands of global investors and dignitaries who visited the Saudi capital to hear first-hand how the country’s society and economy are being transformed.

He said: “Saudi Arabia was not like this before 1979. We want to go back to what we were, the moderate Islam that’s open to all religions. We want to live a normal life.”

Although the Saudi kingdom still has a long way to go in order to represent moderate Islam and become an open society, this is in stark contrast to some Malaysians who want to take the country towards an extremist direction, completely at odds with the country’s bedrock constitutional and nation-building principles of openness, tolerance, moderation and inclusivity. Read the rest of this entry »

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Why the pin-drop silence from Prime Minister and Cabinet the last two days on the Malay Rulers’ statement of concern on national unity and harmony

The Malay Rulers should be lauded for their expression of concern over the eroding unity and harmony in Malaysia, in light of racially controversial issues that have taken place of late.

Malaysians are entitled to ask why the pin-drop silence from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet in the last two days and whether the concern of the Malay Rulers was top of the agenda of the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, and if not, why not; and if yes, the outcome of such Cabinet deliberations. Read the rest of this entry »

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Call on all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or politics to attend the Pakatan Harapan rally “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan kleptocrasi” in PJ to send a clear and unmistaken message to Najib and the world

My visit to Rahang new village this morning is a most significant one.

It was from Rahang, through the Rahang by-election on 11th December 1965, which was won by Dr. Chen Man Hin as an independent candidate as DAP was still waiting for registration by the Registrar of Societies, that DAP took the first step in our long-term political struggle for an united, just and democratic Malaysia.

As the saying goes, “A journey of thousand miles begin with a single step” – the DAP’s 52 year struggle for an united, just and democratic Malaysia start from the “single step” in the Rahang by-election 52 years ago.

Let all Malaysians recall our Merdeka Dream 1957 and Malaysia Dream 1963 to be “for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

Sixty years after attainment of Merdeka in 1957 and 54 years after the formation of Malaysia, it is highly controversial whether in the past six decades, we have stayed true, loyal and faithful the key words in the Merdeka Proclamation 1957 and Malaysia Proclamation 1963 of being “sovereign”, “democratic”, “independent”, “liberty”, “justice”, “welfare and happiness of its people” and “maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

Today, there are more and more incidents which would be unthinkable to our forefathers and the early Prime Ministers during the early decades of the nation – like the upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts and launderette, which caused one of the Sultans to declare that his state is not a Taliban state! Read the rest of this entry »

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I have been in politics for 52 years and the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind

Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad today blogged that I had publicly stated that I had no ambitions to become Prime Minister of Malaysia.

I have been in politics for 52 years and I have stated more than once that the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind.

If I had never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties, why should I be thinking of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I am in the seventies?

I am also on public record as saying that although the Malaysian Constitution provides that any Malaysian can be a Prime Minister, I do not see any non-Malay becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia during my lifetime.

In the United States, a black man Barack Obama became the President of the United States – but this took place some 230 years after the establishment of the United States in 1776.

I hope that Malaysia would not need 230 years before a non-Malay become Prime Minister, but I do not expect a non-Malay to become Prime Minister in the 21st century, but whether there will be a non-Malay Prime Minister in the 22nd century from 2,100 to 2,199 or 23rd century from 2,200 to 2,299 will depend on whether the politics of identity will not continue to be so primordial and elemental as a political force in the Malaysian political landscape as today.

But the political reality that for the next hundred years, the Prime Minister of Malaysia will be a Malay will not affect the UMNO strategists and propagandists from stepping up their campaign of lies and fear to hold the Malays to ransom by warning that Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the 14th General Election. Read the rest of this entry »

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A recent upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts, launderette and Christianisation to compensate for the disastrous flops over Najib’s meeting with Trump and RCI on forex losses to target Mahathir and Anwar

There has been an upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts, launderette and so-called Christianisation to compensate for the propaganda setbacks suffered by UMNO/BN over the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s meeting with US President Trump and the failure of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to target former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Cabinet should take heed of the call by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail – whose distinguished diplomatic service included a year as President of the United Nations General Assembly – that Putrajaya should “take stock of the drift towards religious extremism”.

The prospect of creeping Talibanisation is the concern of all moderate and patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, culture or region, who love Malaysia and want the country to be an oasis of peace and harmony in a very troubled world and be an example to the world of how a plural society formed out of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures could unite to build a harmonious, tolerant, moderate and modern nation which is just, democratic, progressive and prosperous. Read the rest of this entry »

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Najib has recently developed very Trumpish habit with a special appetite for chest-thumping about the greatness of his premiership but why has he studiously avoided the subjects of Malaysia turning overnight into a global kleptocracy and the creeping Talibanisation in the country?

Najib has recently developed very Trumpish habit with a special appetite for chest-thumping about the greatness of his premiership but why has he studiously avoided the subjects of Malaysia turning overnight into a global kleptocracy and the creeping Talibanisation in the country?

Recently, since his return from his visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has developed very Trumpish habit with a special appetite for chest-thumping about the greatness of his premiership, but why has he studiously avoided the subjects of Malaysia turning overnight into a global kleptocracy and the creeping Talibanisation in the country?

Examples of such Najib’s “Trumpish” chest-thumping, which started with his return from his White House visit ten days ago, are: Read the rest of this entry »

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Nation grieves at the passing of Sultan of Kedah, who was twice Yang di Pertuan Agong

The nation grieves at the passing of the Sultan of Kedah, who made history for being twice the Yang di Pertuan Agong of the country.

When I first entered Parliament in February 1971 when Parliament was reconvened after being suspended for 21 months after the 1969 general election, Sultan Abdul Halim was the Yang di Pertuan Agong from 1970 to 1975. He served his second term as Yang di Pertuan Agong more than three decades later from 2011 to 2016.

Sultan Abdul Halim endeared himself to the nation as the people’s King.

The nation and people are in deep bereavement over Sultan Abdul Halim’s passing.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 11th September 2017)

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Najib’s statement on “Give us two-thirds to end unilateral conversion” is the Prime Minister’s second most irresponsible and morally reprehensible action after the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia overnight into a global kleptocracy

I am shocked beyond words by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s most cynical, contemptible and hypocritical urging to women to give Barisan Nasional to rule with two-thirds majority if they would like to see the proposed Section 88A introduced in the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act (LRA).

This is Najib’s second most irresponsible and morally reprehensible action under his premiership after the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia overnight into a global kleptocracy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Call for three Royal Commissions of inquiry – into 1MDB, Felda scandals and what happened in Government in the last week of July 2015 – to convince Malaysians that RCI like national institutions are not being abused by Najib to play politics

This is the RCI season, with a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing into the Bank Negara forex losses a quarter of a century ago, while the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is toying with another RCI of even longer vintage – the Memali Tragedy on Nov. 19, 1985 or 32 years ago – which claimed 18 lives, four of whom were police personnel.

RCI are useful instruments to discover the truth and promote transparency, accountability and good governance.

Similarly, national institutions like Parliament, Judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC0), Bank Negara and the Auditor-General’s Office have important national purposes and roles to play provided they, like RCI, do not become victims of misuse and abuse of power – not to promote the truth, accountability, transparency and good governance but become the political playthings and power play by the Prime Minister and the incumbent establishment against political opponents.

I call for the immediate establishment of three Royal Commissions of Inquiry, viz: Read the rest of this entry »

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Is Raus prepared to allow his peers in Federal Court to pronounce on the constitutionality of his re-appointment as Chief Justice?

The self-serving justification by Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif on his controversial re-appointment as Chief Justice through the unconstitutional backdoor of being appointed as “additional judge” under Article 122(1A) of the Constitutiion must have nagged many Malaysians in the last few days, as it does not seem to be right and proper.

Raus said his reappointment as Chief Justice was “unprecedented” but constitutional.

He said there is always a first time for everything, and that when something happens for the first time, there is bound to be many differences in opinions.

Raus sad that despite these differences in opinions, in the end, it is up to the court to decide on the constitutionality of the appointment.

“Lawyers always disagree. It is nothing strange for lawyers to disagree on the interpretation of the constitution.

“It happens every day in court,” he said.

Raus’ justification is to smug, self-serving and wrong that it was all right to have different opinions whether his re-appointment as Chief Justice is constitutional or not.

Why can’t we have a situation where all jurists and lawyers as well as informed Malaysians are in unanimity about its consitutionality? Read the rest of this entry »

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The great mission to save Malaysia from continuing in the trajectory of a failed and rogue state is more important than the lies, fake news and false information of UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers

What are the big news of today. There are several jostling for lead position.

They include the following:

First, 1MDB missed the new deadline to pay US$628.75 million (RM2.69 billion) to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) after a five-day extension from July 31.

The first deadline was set in a settlement between 1MDB and IPIC in April in order to avoid an arbitration process over monies owed to IPIC.

Abu Dhabi’s IPIC has given 1MDB until Aug 31 to make a US$603 million debt settlement payment that was due yesterday, plus interest.

However, IPIC said 1MDB was obliged to pay at least US$310 million by Aug 12, according to the company’s regulatory statement to the London Stock Exchange.
The IPIC statement yesterday stated that 1MDB and MOF Inc are to pay an undisclosed amount of “default interest” for the delay.

Have 1MDB and MOF Inc to pay the two “default interest” for the two delays and how much do they come to?

The international news about 1MDB and MoF Inc missing two debt-payment deadlines can neither be a boost to foreign investors nor cause for Malaysians to feel proud of the country, after suffering for two years under the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy. Read the rest of this entry »

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As Attorney-General is principal legal adviser to the government and not the final arbiter of law, had he advised the Prime Minister of Article 130 of the Malaysian Constitution to seek Federal Court opinion on whether Raus and Zulkefli’s re-appointment as Chief Justice and Court of Appeal President are constitutional or otherwise?

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali has finally spoken on the new constitutional crisis he had helped to precipitate as the principal legal adviser to the Federal Government, declaring that the re-appointment of Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif as Chief Justice and Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin as Court of Appeal President are constitutional.

But these are just superfluous words, for clearly, without the Attorney-General’s approval and sanction, the Prime Minister’s Office would not have issued the controversial media statement dated 7th July 2017 announcing the unconstitutional extension of tenure of Raus and Zulkefli’s as Chief Justice and Court of Appeal President respectively following their unconstitutional appointment as “additional judges” under Article 122(1A).

What the Attorney-General has written in his article in Berita Harian yesterday declaring that the re-appointment of Raus and Zulkefli as Chief Justice and Court of Appeal President respectively are constitutional does not add anything new to the arguments in the controversy as Apandi only repeated run-of-the-mill arguments defending the reappointment of Raus and Zulkefli in the two top judicial posts in the land as constitutional.

Apandi can go to the rooftops and shout a thousand times that the re-appointments of Raus and Zulkefli as Chief Justice and Court of Appeal President respectively are constitutional – but this does not necessarily make them constitutional. Read the rest of this entry »

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Unless Raus could defend as “unprecedented but constitutional” his re-appointment as Chief Justice in August 2020 for another three years using the unconstitutional backdoor of “additional judge”, how could he justify his present re-appointment?

Yesterday, I asked “Chief Justice” Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif a specific question: “Would it be constitutional and proper for Raus to continue to be appointed as ‘additional judge’ in August 2020 to extend his tenure as Chief Justice for another three years?”

Raus has yet to answer. I await his answer. But I want to ask him a further question:

“Unless Raus could defend as ‘unprecedented but constitutional’ his re-appointment as Chief Justice in August 2020 for another three years using the unconstitutional backdoor of ‘additional judge’, how could he justify his present re-appointment?” Read the rest of this entry »

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Would it be constitutional and proper for Raus to continue to be appointed as “additional judge” in August 2020 to extend his tenure as Chief Justice for another three years?

In reply to the question whether he should have declined re-appointment as Chief Justice under circumstances where the weight of legal and informed opinion are quite united in regarding it as unconstitutional, Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif said the issue does not arise.

He said: “Why should I decline? Because the government is of the view that the government needs our services…so they went through the process.”

Raus cannot be more wrong, as he knows that his claim that his re-appointment as Chief Justice is constitutional though unprecedented is open to challenge.

A chief justice of a country should not act like a “cantakerous litigant” arguing over every possible point of law, however far-fetched or ridiculous. Read the rest of this entry »

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The revelation by former Chief Justice Tun Zaki that extension of Raus’ tenure as Chief Justice was made without recommendation of Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) makes the extension not only unconstitutional and unprecedented but most improper

The newly-reappointed Chief Justice Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif has conceded that his reappointment is “unprecedented” but said that it is still constitutional.

However, he left the final decision on the constitutionality of his position to the court.

This is indeed doubly unprecedented – leaving the country with a Chief Justice who is believed by the Malaysian Bar through a emergency EGM and many jurists, including many serving and former top judges in the land, unconstitutionally occupying the top judicial post in the land for the next three years.

Surely, there can be no greater blow to the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the judiciary than for the country to have a judiciary which is headed by a person for next three years enmeshed in a controversy about the constitutionality of his extension of office?

A top judicial officer who cherishes unquestioned respect for the rule of law and unblemished standing of the judiciary not only in the eyes of the bench and bar but the Malaysian populace would want to spare the judiciary from the agony of a controversy lasting for the next three years over the constitutionality of the extension of the Chief Justice of the land.

The revelation by former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi in an article in New Straits Times yesterday that Raus’ extension as Chief Justice was made without recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) has made Raus’ reappointment as Chief Justice not only unconstitutional and unprecedented, but even most improper. Read the rest of this entry »

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