Archive for category PAS
RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is equivalent to 100 years of Kelantan’s annual state budget
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Harapan, PAS on Saturday, 14 May 2016
The Kelantan Amanah Chairman, Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah tells me that the annual budget for the Kelantan state is about RM500 million a year.
This would mean that the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is equivalent to 100 years of Kelantan’s annual state budget – an indication of the enormity and magnitude of the nation’s first global financial scandal and why it is imperative that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is also the Finance Minister should accept immediate and full responsibility and accountability for the worst case of public governance in almost six decades of the nation’s history.
The 1MDB global scandal would be a leading issue in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections, with the nomination date fixed for June 5 and polling on June 18.
PAS contested on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat in both constituencies in the 13th GE in May 2013, with the PAS candidate losing by 399 votes in Sungai Besasr and 1,082 votes in Kuala Kangsar.
PAS candidates in the by-election in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar will not get more votes in either constituency in the 2013 general elections, as their votes can only be lower, as PAS has alienated considerable segment of voters in both constituencies and is no more a Pakatan Rakyat component party. Read the rest of this entry »
PAS, oppose a corrupt and oppressive gov’t, not DAP
Posted by Kit in Corruption, DAP, Islam, PAS on Thursday, 24 March 2016
by Syerleena Abdul Rashid
Malaysiakini
24th March 2016
COMMENT It is most unsettling that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang would continue to demonise DAP in such an uncouth manner by using religion and race to push through his party’s far right wing agenda.
Given the present stream of hateful rhetoric out there, it is only inevitable and expected that some politicians much like Hadi would exploit the conservative political agenda that only reinforces Umno’s ‘divide and rule’ tactic.
Recently, through Utusan Malaysia, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had called for the unification of Malays to oppose opposition party DAP, whom according to him, “has bigger plans, more than just controlling the economy” – insinuating that the Muslim Malays in this country will suffer great oppression in the hands of a ‘Chinese chauvinist’ party.
As slanderous as it sounds, remarks like this verify the intricacies of fear mongering by unscrupulous political leaders and this is extremely harmful.
Malaysians must understand that proponents of conservative views necessitate rational discourse based on facts that are absolutely free from emotions and pious fervor. Malaysia is in fact a multicultural country where Islam and Malay rights are protected in our federal constitution. Read the rest of this entry »
Hadi hustles from hudud to hullabaloo
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
21 Mar 2016
What a remarkable line-up of strange bedfellows. Has-beens. Wannabe Arabs. Back-stabbers. ‘Devout’ Muslims with plenty to say on hudud, but not a word about punishing corrupt politicians. Back-pedallers. Misoygynists.
This new political line-up hopes to become a formidable opposition force, the ‘third force’ of Malaysian politics; but it is more farcical than forceful. The combo is more of a vanity political coalition, than a serious political entity.
The Ikatan president and former tourism minister, Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, had a joint press conference (PC) with Hadi Awang, the PAS president, about the new pact.
The Malaysian equivalent of Donald Trump (physical attributes), and a wannabe Arab. How can anyone have any confidence in this duo? Their track record is not a glittering success.
Hadi flirts with anyone whom he thinks can serve his purpose, but does not seem to realise that he is being used. He ignored the wise words of PAS’ spiritual adviser, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, to be wary of Umno Baru, but like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he ate the forbidden fruit, and today, his party has been banished from Eden. Read the rest of this entry »
Was Hadi an agent, stooge or puppet of DAP in most of the seven years of Pakatan Rakyat from 2008 to 2015?
Posted by Kit in Malays, Najib Razak, Parti Amanah, PAS, UMNO on Tuesday, 26 January 2016
The demonisation of DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and the tactics of fear and hate to scare Malays into believing that they will lose political power if UMNO and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak are toppled from Federal power in the 14th General Election have been intensified recently.
I expect such politics of fear and hate to escalate in the coming weeks and months.
The reason is very simple and obvious – Najib and his UMNO propagandists believe and fear that UMNO and Barisan Nasional would be defeated in the next national general election.
A recent opinion poll had found that the popularity rating of Najib’s UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government had for the first time in UMNO history fallen below the 50% mark among Malay voters, plunging to as low as 30%.
What better way to save Najib and UMNO by the classic tactics of creating an imaginary enemy for the Malay community!
Hence the continued intensification and escalation of the campaign of fear and hate to scare Malay voters into believing that Malays will lose political power and Islam will come under grave threat if UMNO and Prime Minister Najib are defeated in the 14th General Election – never mind that rational Malays will find this proposition a most preposterous and outrageous one, as such a scenario will never come to pass in Malaysia.
There is no way that the Malays can lose political power in Malaysia and that the DAP or the Chinese will rule the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Shahbudin: No need for PAS to drag in God
Joe Fernandez | January 19, 2016
Free Malaysia Today
PAS Information Chief Nasharudin Tantawi urged to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of a defamation case.
KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst, taking to his blog on a reported out-of-court settlement on a defamation suit between Lim Guan Eng the plaintiff and Nasharudin Tantawi, wonders whether it was really necessary to drag God into the case. “What’s important is proof based on the facts of the case.”
The case between Guan Eng and PAS Information Chief Nasharuddin was not one between Islam and non-Islam, pointed out Shahbudin Husin the analyst, but involves character values and the behaviour of human beings, something that can happen to anyone irrespective of religious leanings and race. “So, why invoke God by name as a factor, why sell the almighty’s name in a defamation suit?”
“Such an attitude will only serve to further blacken the image of Islam.”
Shahbudin wants Nasharudin to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him by a sign that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of the defamation case.
If it was really true that God told Nasharudin not to apologise to Guan Eng, also DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, the analyst wonders whether the Almighty also advised him to withdraw part of his allegations and pay compensation to the plaintiff, the victim. “Does that mean that God doesn’t like the idea of apologising?”
“Did God really tell Nasharudin not to tender an apology and go on to advise the PAS Information Chief on other aspects of the defamation suit?”
Again, wonders the analyst, why didn’t God advise Nasharudin to fight Guan Eng to the bitter end in the defamation suit. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno-PAS attacks fuel anti-DAP sentiments among Malays, study finds
BY ZULKIFLI SULONG, FEATURES AND ANALYSIS EDITOR | The Malaysian Insider
Published: 7 January 2016 6:59 AM
Anger towards DAP among Malay Muslims, especially in rural areas, has increased due to Umno’s consistent campaign to demonise the Chinese-dominated party, even as it recruits more Malay members and leaders, says a think tank.
The animosity intensified after the break-up of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in June, when DAP parted ways with former ally PAS, the country’s second largest party of Malay Muslims.
With Umno and PAS starting to work together, the anti-DAP campaign is becoming more effective as both Malay parties use religion to attack it, said the Darul Ehsan Institute (IDE).
Read the rest of this entry »
Poor MCA – so irrelevant and so lost that it is even following the lead of liars to scrape the bottom of the barrel
Poor MCA, so irrelevant and so lost in the woods of Malaysians politics that it is even following the lead of liars to scrape the bottom of the barrel!
This is not only my reaction, but the response of most Malaysians who came across new report like the one headlined: “MCA Youth join in to bash DAP over alleged Israeli link”.
I do not blame the MCA and MCA Youth for feeling so irrelevant and so lost, for what else can they do when MCA has established the most unenviable record of being the first political party in Malaysia which has a majority of members who do not vote for the MCA and Barisan Nasional in a general election?
Similarly, I will not waste any more time on the so-called Pro-Barisan Nasional NGOs Coalition whose president Zulkarnain Mahdar said that DAP should sue the Penang Chief Minister’s former special officer Mohamed Razali Abdul Rahman who alleged DAP of being offered RM1.2 billion in return for an Israeli base in Port Dickson if the opposition managed to capture Putrajaya in the last general election. Read the rest of this entry »
Is pro-BN NGO alliance seriously suggesting that IGP Khalid should be disciplined for police negligence in failing to act on the allegations that DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel in exchange for a Israeli naval base in Port Dickson?
Is the pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) non-government organisations (NGO) alliance seriously suggesting that the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should be disciplined for police negligence in failing to act on the allegations that DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel if we win the general elections in exchange for the building of an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson?
This would appear to be the case, as the Pro-BN NGO alliance president Zulkarnain Mahdar wants police to investigate allegations by the PAS Research Centre director Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki that the DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson, on the ground that if these allegations were true, it would be a huge disaster for Malaysia that should not be left ignored as it involved national security and sensitivities o the Muslims.
I would fully agree with Zulkarnain and go one step further, that if the allegations were true, it would highlight a serious and inexcusable police negligence as such allegations were first made some four years ago, and Khalid should explain why the Police had been guilty of such a grave dereliction of duty in the past four years in its failure to protect the security interests of the country.
I do not want to comment on the intellectual, moral, religious and political credibility of a senior political leader who could believe in such lies and falsehood as to now recycle them, when for the past four years, he and his political “soul mates” had no problems with such “security” and “Muslim sensitivity” concerns as none of them had once asked the DAP about such wild allegations when they were with the DAP in the same political coalition. Read the rest of this entry »
Senior political leader who lied about the DAP being offered RM1.2 billion in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson will have to pay the heavy price in court for making false and defamatory statement
Posted by Kit in DAP, Islam, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan, PAS on Saturday, 2 January 2016
There is recently a culture of political desperation in the country.
This could be seen from the New Year Message by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday claiming that his twin RM2.6 billion and 1MDB mega scandals are no more, when they are never more alive and kicking, growing ever bigger in scale and impact, that Malaysia has just been “crowned” as the world’s third most corrupt country – thanks to Najib’s twin mega scandals!
What beggars the imagination is how Najib could make such an outrageous claim when he himself could not possibly believe it, unless he has left the real world of politics and entered the world of make-believe!
Another example of such political desperation is the regurgitation of wild and reckless allegation by a senior political leader of another political party about the DAP’s ties with Israel, and the preposterous allegation that the DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel if we win the general elections in exchange for the building of an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson.
Senior political leaders from other political parties who lied about the DAP, like the one who made the preposterous allegation about the DAP being offered RM1.2 billion in exchange for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson, will have to pay the heavy price for such baseless and reckless allegations in the courts.
All political leader must learn the hard lesson that they cannot just get away with lies or the most preposterous allegations, or seek refuge for their nefarious and dastardly deeds by claiming they were merely recycling such lies and falsehoods by “men of straw” or some insubstantial characters!
According to Al-Quran, slander is a crime worse than murder. Read the rest of this entry »
In search of hope for Pakatan Harapan
Posted by Kit in Bridget Welsh, DAP, Pakatan Harapan, Parti Amanah, PAS, PKR on Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
22 Dec 2015
COMMENT Today marks the three-month anniversary of Pakatan Harapan – the revamped opposition coalition that is having difficulty getting off the ground. It is supposed to bring about hope, to galvanise like-minded Malaysians in the spirit of reform and cooperation to offer an electoral alternative. It is failing badly. As the year end approaches, it is valuable to examine why.
Legacy issues
The fact that Harapan was formed out of disappointment with Pakatan Rakyat has marked the new coalition. Attention still centres on who was responsible for Pakatan Rakyat’s collapse, with the blame game a persistent dynamic. At the same time, there is denial that Pakatan Rakyat is over, with some individuals and parties unwilling to let go of the past.
These legacies of the past are debilitating Harapan. Rather than look forward, opposition parties in Harapan are continually focused on old wounds and battles. Fighting old friends now enemies is the norm, as old wounds are still raw. DAP attacks PAS. PKR insists that it can work with everyone (while in effect it is working with none as it stymies its supposed partners). Read the rest of this entry »
Release Anwar from Sungai Buloh prison; drop all politically-motivated charges against Zunar, Azmi, Maria Chin and others; withdraw NSC Bill; suspend GST and fully account for Najib’s twin mega scandals before anyone talks about “Let bygones by bygones”
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Najib Razak, PAS on Monday, 21 December 2015
Christmas is five days away, and there is already a lot of talk about forgiveness and forget about the past.
I support the philosophy of being prepared to forgive and forget past transgressions to promote greater amity, understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups of people, not just because it is a teaching by all great religions but a good philosophy of life.
However, it is indeed odd to talk about forgiving and forgetting another political party’s past transgressions when the other party had never confessed or owned up to any past transgression or wrongdoing.
It is all very good to adopt the religious teaching or philsophy of “Let bygones be bygones” to construct a new relationship and to build a new future, to forget all the sins and transgressions of the past.
However, this readiness to forgive and forget all the sins and transgressions of the past must be accompanied by the readiness and resolution to right all current wrongs, injustices and transgressions or it is totally premature for any talk about “Let bygones be bygones”.
Is such a possibility on the cards? Read the rest of this entry »
Umno, PAS perlu gabung jadi satu parti
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, PAS, UMNO on Sunday, 20 December 2015
Amin Iskandar
The Malaysian Insider
20 December 2015
Peristiwa Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang berada di atas satu pentas di Kuala Lumpur minggu ini menjawab pelbagai persoalan yang sebelum ini tidak begitu jelas.
Dalam hal kerjasama di antara 2 parti Melayu itu, Umno kelihatan lebih jujur berbanding PAS.
Ketika Hadi dan beberapa pemimpin lain masih berdolak-dalik tentang kerjasama di antara 2 parti itu, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed mendedahkan sudah 2 tahun Umno dan PAS bekerjasama. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno-PAS alliance a ‘reinvention’ to remain relevant
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, PAS, UMNO on Sunday, 20 December 2015
P Ramasamy
Malaysiakini
20th December 2015
COMMENT Is it a major surprise to Malaysians that Umno and PAS are moving closer and closer for a final embrace? Or are Malaysians shocked beyond belief that those once-formidable foes have sunk their deep-seated differences for a new political alignment?
Whether Malaysians are surprised or shocked, the reality of this new alliance seems to be looming in the horizon. Whether such a relationship will be cemented in the form of admission of PAS into BN or a formation of a different sort of arrangement, remains to be seen.
However, most political analysts seem to think that a political relationship is in the offing.
What are the benefits for Umno if this alignment takes shape? Read the rest of this entry »
An Umno-PAS coalition and its impact on all of us
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan, PAS, UMNO on Sunday, 20 December 2015
— Liew Ching Tong
The Malay Mail Online
December 19, 2015
DECEMBER 19 — A coalition between Umno and PAS is very likely to take shape following Prime Minister Najib Razak’s speech at Umno General Assembly recently, as well as Najib and Hadi Awang’s joint appearance in pink Baju Melayu at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for Al-Azhar Graduates yesterday.
The Umno-PAS merger is part of a series of “once-in-a-generation” political earthquakes, aftershocks and realignments in 2015 and beyond.
On the one hand, in the aftermath of clean sweep of the conservative faction at the PAS Muktamar elections on 6 June, the progressives formed Parti Amanah Negara on 16 September. Pakatan Rakyat ceased to exist and a new coalition Pakatan Harapan was formed on 22 September.
Before the actual split, internal debate within PAS was focused on two issues: Read the rest of this entry »
Najib and Hadi have reached rare unanimity that Najib does not have to answer the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” but 30 million Malaysians, including three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, want Najib to give immediate answer without any more delay
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Najib Razak, PAS, UMNO on Sunday, 20 December 2015
This is the fourth of my five-whistlestop visit to Perak today as part of the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign.
I started in Kopisan in Gopeng, went to Kampar, and now coming from Bidor, ending up in Hutan Melintang after this visit.
Everywhere I went, since the first day of this nation-wide campaign after my six-month suspension from Parliament for wanting the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give full and satisfactory accounting for his twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal – I found the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” close to the hearts and minds of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.
They are also close to the hearts and minds of the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, although their respective leaders, Najib and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, are in advanced “courtship” based on the understanding that these twin mega scandals should be banished from the public domain in Malaysian politics. Read the rest of this entry »
A new political realignment is in the works – where UMNO-PAS co-operation could be more powerful and far-reaching than UMNO’S coalition with the other 13 BN parties
Posted by Kit in MCA, Najib Razak, PAS, UMNO on Saturday, 19 December 2015
A new political realignment is in the works in the political demography in Malaysia, driven by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overpowering passion to survive as Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of UMNO despite all odds, including his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.
This is why the advanced courtship between Najib and the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang has graduated from secret conclaves to the public domain, cemented by Hadi’s role as the pre-eminent defender of Najib in the Prime Minister’s twin mega scandals in the past few months.
In May, Hadi had publicly said that Najib should not bow down to pressures from the 1MDB scandal and should not resign as Prime Minister.
In July, Hadi was quick to come to the defence of Najib after the Wall Street Journal expose of RM2.6 billion deposits into Najib’s personal banking accounts before the May 2013 General Election, demanding for witnesses without which the Wall Street Journal allegation should be ignored.
As a result, the relationship between Najib and Hadi became increasingly warm and friendly in the last few months. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdul Rahman can only play with tweets as he has no input on the two seismic developments in the country – Najib’s galloping twin mega scandals and his courtship of Hadi and PAS leadership
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, PAS, Sarawak on Friday, 18 December 2015
My commiseration with Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
He is feeling so lonely and forlorn after he thought he has clambered up the mountain to deserve a special place next to the “The Chosen One”.
What a disappointment for him to find that he had been replaced or overtaken by others, even by a “political junior” from his home state, who have gone ahead to become the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, a position which is more important and higher on the political protocol than his recent sinecure as the Barisan Nasional Director of Strategic Communications (whatever that means).
I stand by what I said about him on July 24, 2015:
“Minister for Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan will be guilty of the greatest national disservice if the sole agenda of his appointment as Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director is to distract attention from Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) July 2 report that Malaysian government investigators have found US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) deposited into the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts in AmBank in 2013 just before the 13th General Election instead of helping to establish the facts of the Prime Minister’s alleged RM2.6 billion personal accounts.
“Since his sudden appearance as BN Strategic Communications Director the previous Wednesday, Rahman had got so much eggs on his face, and on a daily basis, that it is virtually impossible to find a centimeter on his face which is not egg-splattered – whether because of Rahman’s “God-send” Lester Melyani; Lester’s utterly discredited video confession even before all the parts had been aired publicly; the crazy and counter-productive notion for Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block access to Sarawak Report (forcing Malaysians to undergo an instant education of how to circumvent official Internet blocks) or the hyping of patriotic and valiant efforts to pry open the RM42 billion 1MDB financial scandal whether by journalists in the Edge or by MPs like Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli as offences like ‘activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy’, sabotage, ‘toppling the elected government’ or even treason!”
Two political bombshells went off today which have seismic effects on the Malaysian political scene in the weeks and months to come
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, PAS on Thursday, 17 December 2015
The Selayang parliamentary constituency is the 47th parliamentary seat I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 in pursuit of the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” in Parliament.
I have set out on a nation-wide tour of the parliamentary constituencies in these six months to witness the rising crescendo of the people’s demand for answer to the question to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak “Mana RM2.6 billion?” as well as for answer to another of Najib’s twin mega scandals – the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.
Najib and his Ministers went to great lengths both at the 25-day budget meeting of the Dewan Rakyat and the five-day 69th UMNO General Assemblies to suppress all disclosures and discussion about the twin mega scandals, but apart from causing Najib’s credibility to plumb to ever-lower depths, it could not succeed to bury both mega scandals for the simple reason that events and developments are no more within Najib’s full control.
This is why a political bombshell related to the 1MDB scandal exploded today, not in Malaysia, but far away in the United States where the Wall Street Journal published another 1MDB shocker, claiming that 1MDB sent at least US$850 million (RM3.7 billion) last year to an offshore entity formed to appear as if it was owned by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.
On top of Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, we now have another RM3.7 billion mysterious offshore account scandal. Read the rest of this entry »
What “olive branch” Najib could offer PAS in exchange for support of 14 PAS MPs to secure two-thirds parliamentary majority together with 134 UMNO/BN MPs to amend the Constitution for redelineation of parliamentary constituencies?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Elections, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan, Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament, PAS, UMNO on Tuesday, 15 December 2015
If by some miracle, it is possible to restitch back Pakatan Rakyat and get back together the three parties, DAP, PKR and PAS (plus a second miracle of re-uniting PAS and Parti Amanah Negara) under one roof for the 14th General Election, could the reconstituted Pakatan Rakyat defeat the UMNO/BN coalition by winning more parliamentary seats than the 13GE?
I don’t think so although UMNO in the 14th GE will be more fractured and weaker than in the 13GE with Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister haunted and hounded by so many political and economic scandals as compared to the general election two years ago.
This is because the reconstituted Pakatan Rakyat in the 14th General Election will be fighting a losing battle just to win back the same number of parliamentary and state assembly seats, for the most important element which led to the 53% popular support for Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th General Election, resulting in 89 Parliamentary and 229 State Assembly seats (minus Sarawak) will be missing, i.e. absolute trust and confidence in the PR because of the people’s belief in the adherence and unswerving commitment of DAP, PKR and PAS to the PR Common Policy Framework and the PR consensus operational principle.
I am reminded of the nursery rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Like Humpty Dumpty after its “great fall”, it would not be possible to put Pakatan Rakyat together again. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia Premier Tightens Grip as Draws Islamic Parties Closer
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, PAS, UMNO on Monday, 14 December 2015
Shamim Adam
Bloomberg
December 14, 2015
Having silenced his critics at a meeting of Malaysia’s ruling party, Prime Minister Najib Razak is moving to cement his hold on power by further wooing the ethnic Malay majority.
After five months of political turmoil sparked by a multimillion-dollar funding scandal, Najib has seen off potential threats to his leadership, securing the backing of the powerful division chiefs in his United Malays National Organisation. His message of unity and his calls for loyalty went largely unchallenged at a five-day annual UMNO congress last week attended by detractors including former premier Mahathir Mohamad.
As an additional buffer, he is bringing UMNO closer to the main opposition Islamic party. That could help rally the Malay vote ahead of an election due by 2018. UMNO, in power since independence in 1957, won the 2013 ballot with its slimmest result yet as Chinese and Indian electors deserted Najib’s coalition, and since then he’s embraced policies that play to his support base of Malay voters.
A closer working relationship with Parti Islam se-Malaysia could have dual outcomes: Further help Najib fend off the funding scandal and lead to more hardline policies. PAS, as the opposition party is known, has advocated Shariah law — which allows for stoning or amputation for certain crimes — in a state it governs, while Najib has already made greater use of the country’s Sedition Act with the detention of media executives and political opponents. Read the rest of this entry »
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