Archive for category Politics
What’s next for Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Media, Pakatan Rakyat, Politics, Post-2008 general election on Tuesday, 24 August 2010
By Karim Raslan
The Star
Tuesday August 24, 2010
All societies need change and countries that don’t change or can’t change remain ossified and stagnant.
A few weeks ago, I hosted a lunch for a Malaysian politician and an Indonesian businessman.
The politician and I were struck by the tycoon’s steadfast support of his nation’s democratic traditions.
He stressed that he would not be where he was now had it not been for Reformasi and the turbulence of 1998.
Indeed he made a powerful argument that his country wouldn’t be powering ahead were it not for the transformation that took place after Soeharto’s ouster.
Interestingly, I think most Malaysian businessmen, including those dependent on government contracts, would agree with my Indonesian friend.
All societies need change and countries that don’t change or can’t change remain ossified and stagnant. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should give his personal attention to stamp out the unhealthy and disturbing trend towards very ugly, intolerant and vicious politicking illustrated by M16 bullet threat to Tony Pua
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should give his personal attention to stamp out the unhealthy and disturbing trend towards very ugly, intolerant and vicious politicking illustrated by the M16 bullet threat to DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua yesterday.
Pua received a live 5.56mm bullet used in M-16s with a threatening note posted from Tangkak, Johor mailed to his service centre in Damansara Utama yesterday.
The note threatened: “Tony Pua Kiam Wee. You are so brave? What do you want now? You better watch out.
“We know about your family, your house, your office, your car.”
Pua believes that the threat was probably related to his recent proposal to the Selangor government to slash Bumiputera discounts for luxury homes and commercial property in the state to improve competitiveness and restore investor confidence while retaining the seven per cent discounts enjoyed by Malays and other Bumiputeras for homes below RM500,000.
Read the rest of this entry »
Let Hulu Selangor set the benchmark for good conduct
by P Ramakrishnan
24 April 2010
By-elections have a habit of bringing out the worst in individuals. It is a time when certain party members suddenly become wise and enlightened. It is a time when hypocrisy takes centre stage.
It is rather strange that people who have been members of a political party and who have been running down their opponents – meaning BN and Umno – for quite a while now suddenly discover that their party is no longer the same and that their leaders had betrayed the rakyat.
The timing of their confession when a by-election is on only betrays their hypocrisy and confirms the claim that PRK members are paid between RM1,000 and RM1,500 for making damaging statements and condemning their former party. Read the rest of this entry »
MIC/BN politicians acting like cattle which could be bought and sold at market place
Posted by Kit in Election, Parliament, Politics on Thursday, 15 April 2010
When I read the Malaysian Insider report “Palanivel offered senatorship, likely deputy minister’s post” in return for not being fielded as Barisan Nasional candidate in Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election, I immediately stood up in Parliament to protest at the political abuse and corruption signified by such a deal.
Parliament had just completed the division on the vote on the Foreign Ministry estimates during the committee stage of the debate on the 2010 supplementary estimates, and was starting debate on the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries.
I said that if there could be such blatant and cynical abuse of public trust and offices like Senatorship and Deputy Ministerships, what public confidence is there that there won’t be gross abuse of budget allocations approved by Parliament whether for the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries or other ministries.
I called on the Hulu Selangor voters to teach the Barisan Nasional and MIC leaderships a severe lesson by voting against the Barisan Nasional candidate in the by-election to protest against such breach of trust and flagrant disregard of the most rudimentary notions of ethical and honest political standards.
Read the rest of this entry »
MCA Ministers and leaders are the “politically walking-dead” in Malaysia
Surprise of surprises that there is a MCA Minister and leader who could bestir from their political comatose stage to notice current developments around them.
The MCA paper The Star today reported the MCA vice president Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha as commenting that “the ‘internal bleeding’ of Pakatan Rakyat is just the beginning of a more serious problem for the pact” and that “Normally, in medical terms, if there’s haemorrhaging in the brain, it will lead to a stroke”.
Thanks Kong for the concern, which must have been quite an exertion from a denizen of the “politically walking-dead” in Malaysia – the MCA Ministers and leaders.
Malaysians have ceased to ask why MCA Ministers have failed to pull their weight in Cabinet, as it is generally recognized that the “politically walking-dead” can have zero weight or input in serious matters of state – which is why MCA Ministers have nothing to say in Cabinet about national issues whether 1Malaysia, NEP, braindrain, corruption, galloping crime or recent issues as in getting the Cabinet to direct the Home Ministry to withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment of Datuk Lau Bee Lan allowing the Catholic weekly Herald to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia edition and to convene an inter-religious conference to resolve the “Allah” controversy; the exclusion of Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the selection of the first list of 20 high-performance schools or the Jakim insubordination and insurrection in organsing a forum for 800 civil servants last Thursday which openly defied the 1Malaysia concept.
Read the rest of this entry »
God as politics in Malaysia
Asia Times
By Fabio Scarpello
Jan 16 2010
DENPASAR, Bali – The escalating Allah controversy that has resulted in the bombing of Christian churches across Malaysia has called into question the country’s moderate Muslim credentials and could have major repercussions for political alliances that underpin the United Malays Nasional Organization (UMNO)-led coalition government.
Both main political blocs – UMNO and the Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition – have bid to capitalize on the violence, which has devolved from an obscure freedom of expression issue into a volatile matter of internal security that could potentially determine the government’s political survival.
UMNO has so far come out the worse for wear with its credibility shaken and reputation bruised by perceptions it has tacitly condoned the violence targeting Christians. Political analysts believe those perceptions, fanned by online media and blogs, could alienate UMNO’s moderate Muslim base and perhaps more importantly constituencies in the swing states of Sabah and Sarawak, whose parliamentarians help to maintain UMNO’s parliamentary majority.
Some analysts predict that the violence could coax certain constituencies, particularly Christians in Sabah and Sarawak, away from UMNO and towards the PR opposition, potentially paving the way for the parliamentary defections Anwar has long sought to topple the government. Others believe UMNO’s poor handling of the violence could sway more voters against the party at the next election, which already promised to be hotly contested.
UMNO’s politicization of ethnicity and religion has a long history. Many feel those tactics have paved the way for the recent senseless attacks against at least nine churches in the wake last month’s High Court ruling in favor of Catholic weekly newspaper, the Herald, that allowed the publication to use the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God.
Lim Teck Ghee, director for the Kuala Lumpur-based Center for Policy Initiatives, said that hot-headed Muslims would not have felt emboldened enough to throw firebombs at churches had former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad not “shifted the political goal posts in 2001 by pronouncing Malaysia as an Islamic state”. Read the rest of this entry »
Pathetic Police Play Politics in Perak
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Perak, Police, Politics on Tuesday, 3 November 2009
By Martin Jalleh
Bolehland continues to boast of the world’s one and only State with two Chief Ministers (Menteris Besar), two Speakers, two State Governments and two State Assemblies conducted simultaneously under one roof.
The Prime Minister’s slogan of 1Malaysia is beginning to bear much fruit as the Government, Police, Judiciary and Election Commission bond and blend together as one to bury any political dissent and opposition.
The doctrine of the separation of powers is blighted by the usurpation of power by the PM and those willing to do his bidding. There are no longer any boundaries or checks and balances – only cheques waiting for those who bow in subservience to the political elite.
The only “boundaries” left are those separating the government from the people – barricades, blockades, barriers and barbed wires like those put up by the police at the Perak State Assembly building recently. Be prepared for more barbaric times.
Read the rest of this entry »
The 30 votes that changed Samy Vellu/MIC history?
26-vote margin still fresh in my mind, says Subra
The Star
Wednesday September 9, 2009
PETALING JAYA: Datuk S. Subramaniam has hit out at his nemesis MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for claiming that the 30 “pocketed votes” in the 1977 party elections was an impossibility.
The former party deputy president also brushed off Samy Vellu’s claim that he and Datuk V. Govindaraj were “pathological liars”.
“Govindaraj told me he did it. He was Samy Vellu’s man and led his campaign then.
“I can’t recall off-hand the total number of votes cast in 1977 but I know that the difference was 26. That is still fresh in my mind.”
Govindaraj told an English daily recently that he took the 30 votes cast for Subramaniam during the party polls that saw Samy Vellu defeating Subramaniam for the deputy president’s post by a mere 26 votes. Read the rest of this entry »
Principled Politics
Posted by Kit in Hussein Hamid, Politics on Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Why is it that I, as a Malay, show much disrespect to Najib? Why are there so many Hang Jebats as oppose to Hang Tuahs in this time of ours – ready to do verbal battle with our leaders? Menderhaka they say. Sometimes after I have written my piece I read them and I am appalled at the venom of what I write. While we are Hang Jebats we do what we do because of what Hang Tuah had said “Takkan Melayu Hilang di Dunia”. If we do not care for our survival as a viable partner to the other races in our country then who will?
We want to tell the Malays and the people of our country that there is an alternative to the excesses of the past fifty years when UMNO were in power and got totally carried away. You not only systematically steal from our national treasuries but also take from other Malays what as taken years to acquire. How else do you explain the use of the EPF and Petronas funds to bail out your failures?
If you ask how can DAP, Keadilan and PAS work together towards a common goal when their fundamental beliefs are so divisive? I say this….how about principled politics?
Read the rest of this entry »
Musa’s gift to Najib in exchange for another term as IGP packaged as “elixir of life” to win next general elections but may really be a “poisoned chalice”
Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s last month as Inspector-General of Police in his two-year renewed term is not to act as the country’s Top Cop to draw up a blueprint and National Action Plan to roll back the tide of crime in the past five years but as a politician to lobby for another two-year renewal as IGP next month.
In exchange for another term as IGP, Musa has cleverly packaged to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak an “elixir of life” to win the next general elections but it may really be a “poisoned chalice”.
Musa is offering something many Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders have been dreaming of – to finish off the Opposition in one stroke.
This is a prospect Musa is holding out to the Prime Minister – to knock out the Pakatan Rakyat leaders from PKR, DAP and PAS in one blow by arresting and charging Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and I for “masterminding” last Saturday’s peaceful gathering in Kuala Lumpur of tens of thousands of Malaysians demanding for the abolition of the Internal Security Act.
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How Soon We Forget: Malaysia’s Ahistorical Politics
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, PAS, Politics, UMNO on Wednesday, 10 June 2009
By Farish A. Noor
How soon we forget. Malaysian politics is characterized by a curious form of ahistoricity and a willful neglect of history in general. The contribution of the diverse communities of Malaysia to the country’s nation-building process is often forgotten in the official narratives of the country, the role of women in our national history is seldom even mentioned.
Malaysian politicians and political parties are likewise blind to history, and even recent history at that. Which has prompted many of my students to ask me the same question: “How come people don’t seem to remember anything in this country, and how come alliances can be made one day and broken the day after?” Well that, dear students, is precisely what Malaysian politics is made up of: Pragmatism that is grounded on political ambitions rather than the empowerment and education of the people. Politics here seems to be more directed towards the acquisition of political power for politicians than the political empowerment of the public; for the latter means having to educate the public, and to remind them of their history as well.
Now that all of Malaysia is abuzz with talk about the impending collapse of the Pakatan Rakyat and the moves to bring the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS closer to UMNO, let us revisit the history of these two parties for a while… Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat facing first crisis of confidence since its formation after the March 8 political tsunami last year
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, Politics, UMNO on Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Pakatan Rakyat is facing its first crisis of confidence among members, supporters and well-wishers since its formation after the March 8 political tsunami last year.
I had made a short comment to reporters on the theme of the speech of the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang after the opening ceremony of the 55th PAS Muktamar in Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam on Friday.
I said that the theme Hadi had chosen for his opening speech, “Islam Memimpin Perubahan”, would be a great challenge for PAS to become a national party capable of representing the rights and interests of all citizens in plural Malaysia at a historic moment in the nation’s history undergoing unprecedented political change.
Read the rest of this entry »
Ai-yo-yo Samy
Nobody would have been surprised by the following newsflash:
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu retained the post of MIC president uncontested for the 11th consecutive term at the close of the party’s presidential nomination in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, according to sources.
The nomination papers of his challenger Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan were rejected.
“Foul is fair, fair is foul” – Malaysian politics getting uglier by the day as Najib gets close to be PM
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Parliament, Perak, Politics on Friday, 27 February 2009
With the Abdullah premiership nearing its end and the daily countdown for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to take over as the sixth Prime Minister in the first week of April, Malaysian politics is also getting uglier by the day – where “foul is fair and fair is foul”!
The shameful, shocking and outrageous violation of Parliament’s sanctity yesterday, where Selangor UMNO Youth leaders mobbed DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh in the precincts of Parliament, obstructing and menacing Karpal in the discharge of his parliamentary duties, as well as manhandling Pakatan Rakyat MPs Lim Lip Eng (DAP – Segambut), Fong Kui Lun (DAP – Bukit Bintang), Chong Chieng Jen (Bandar Kuching) and N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR – Padang Serai) who had gone to the aid of Karpal to protect him, is a blot in the 51-year history of Parliament marking a new low in Malaysian politics.
What was doubly shameful, shocking and outrageous was that the administration and security of Parliament were fully aware of the criminal intent of the Selangor UMNO Youth mob to commit the crime of parliamentary contempt under the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 in “assaulting, obstructing or insulting any member coming to or going from the House or on account of his conduct in the House or endeavouring to compel any member by force, insult, or menace to declare himself in favour of or against any proposition or matter pending or expected to be brought before the House” [Section 9 (e)], but they did not lift any finger to protect the safety and security of MPs in the parliamentary precincts from the Selangor UMNO Youth mob although they could alert MPs and the media to the crime of parliamentary contempt being committed against Karpal. Read the rest of this entry »
Perak political crisis can be ended in 30 days – with snap state elections
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Perak, Politics on Friday, 20 February 2009
UMNO leaders, particularly, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat to keep the palace above the political crisis in Perak as the issue in contention is not about the institution of constitutional monarchy but the popular will of the voters.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has rightly pointed out in his blog about the real nature of the constitutional crisis in Perak – it is not about the status of the Rulers like the 1993 constitutional crisis “which arose from an ugly confrontation between Umno and the Rulers over a question that had direct and profound implications on their sovereignty and that of the Yang Dipertuan Agong” but about the legitimacy of the process by which a new state government has been formed in Perak.
This is why Abdullah and other UMNO leaders created consternation yesterday when they sought to present the Perak political and constitutional crisis as a crisis of the system of constitutional monarchy using the language of “disrespect the Sultan” and even “treason” when it is solely and strictly about whether UMNO should be allowed to orchestrate an immoral, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.
The best way to uphold the system of constitutional monarchy in the country is for all political parties, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, to keep the Rulers above the political fray – especially on the question as to who should form the legitimate and democratically-elected government in Perak. Read the rest of this entry »
Disgust at the new low in politics
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament, PKFZ, Politics on Thursday, 19 February 2009
The Royal Address was a valedictory address to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the end of his address touched on the transition of leadership of the country, with the hand-over of the premiership to the Deputy Prime Minister next month.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong recorded appreciation to the Prime Minister for his leadership and contribution, mentioning specifically to issues concerning “democracy, accountability, integrity, the fight against corruption, strengthening the judiciary and the application of Islamic Hadhari approach”.
To the majority of Malaysians, Abdullah’s tenure as the fifth Prime Minister will be remembered more for its missed opportunities than any real achievements.
We are told that a second stimulus package in the form of a mini-budget would be presented in Parliament on March 10 to boost the country’s economy, when more than four months ago, I had called on the new Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to present a revised 2,009 Budget to take corrective measures to shield the country from the world’s worst economic crisis in 80 years so as to enhance competitiveness, boost growth and tamp down inflation. A missed opportunity.
We are told of a Cabinet Committee to Identify and Monitor the Participation of Indian Community in Government Programmes and Projects chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, when immediately after the landslide Barisan Nasional March 2004 general election, I had called for a high-powered Cabinet Committee to present a blueprint in the first meeting of Parliament to address the long-standing issues of marginalisation and alienation faced by Indian Malaysians in the country and to bring the Indian Malaysians into the mainstream of national development – political, economic, educational, social, cultural and all other aspects of the nation-building process. Another missed opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »
Privacy and Our Political Culture
By Farish A. Noor
Politics, we must remember, is something that takes place in the public domain. And it is in that public domain that politicians are judged for their actions, good and bad, right and wrong. The worth of a politician and his/her standing depends entirely on his/her conduct in the execution of the responsibilities that have been entrusted upon them by the public who voted them into office. And if they fail in the execution of those duties, then we the public have every justifiable right to demand an explanation from them. In the final analysis, it is we the public who determine the fate of the politicians we elect to represent us, and never vice-versa.
Politics, however, has its limits and the frontier of the political ends where the private domain begins. Politicians are human beings and it would be the mistake of the public to assume and expect our politicians to behave in a manner that is extraordinary by public standards. For that simple reason the public also has no right to expect politicians to be and remain politicians every hour, every day and every year of their lives; for politicians too have every right to be human and to have the privacy that we expect for ourselves. In the same way that we hope and wish that our elected representatives will defend the privacy of our lives, so should we extend that very same right to them, for they too are ultimately citizens like the rest of us.
It is therefore sad, to say the least, that the level of Malaysian politics and political culture has descended to a new low with the latest revelation of yet another sex scandal that involves a democratically elected state assemblywoman serving in the state government of Selangor, Ms Elizabeth Wong. This comes not too long after another sordid scandal involving another politician – Chua Soi Lek – who was likewise scandalised by revelations of his private life being made public. In both cases one can only assume that the motivation behind this intrusion into the private domain was political in nature.
Much has already been written about the two cases and the facts remain unclear over what actually happened in the case of the unfortunate Ms Wong, so I will not dwell upon that here. Read the rest of this entry »
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”
Posted by Kit in Parliament, Politics on Monday, 16 February 2009
In his royal address at the annual opening of Parliament today, the Yang Pertuan Agong called on Malaysians “from all walks of life, irrespective of political affiliation, to work together for the development of our beloved country”.
The King stressed that “all parties, including political groups should demonstrate wisdom and maturity and not act in any way detrimental to the country’s stability and economic development”.
This royal call should be the national imperative as the one and only preoccupation of Malaysians is how to be more united, resolute and competitive so that Malaysia can tide over the world’s worst global economic crisis in 80 years, with many predicting a looming recession for the country.
But the King’s advice has fallen on deaf ears. Read the rest of this entry »
Perak political crisis – all options will have to be considered
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Politics on Tuesday, 3 February 2009
The Election Commission has acted unconstitutionally outside its jurisdiction in refusing to recognize the decision of the Perak Speaker, V. Sivakumar on the vacancy of the Changkat Jering and Behrang state assembly seats and to hold by-elections.
As pointed out clearly by the former Election Commission Chairman, Tan Sri Rashid Rahman, the Election Commission’s constitutional duty is to act on the Perak Speaker’s official notification on the vacancy of the two state assembly seats and to call for by-elections to be held in the next 60 days.
It is no business of the Election Commission to act and usurp the jurisdiction of the courts to dispute the Speaker’s decision – as any such legal challenge should come from Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu if they want to challenge the legality of their resignations from their respective state assembly seats.
In this case, the Election Commission has even acted as a court of law – in a decision which is clearly influenced by the political interests and considerations of the Barisan Nasional.
With the further odds against the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak, all options to resolve the political crisis in Perak will have to be considered.
RM7 billion national economic stimulus package or RM7 billion BN economic stimulus package?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Politics on Sunday, 1 February 2009
Is it a RM7 billion national economic stimulus package to held tide the country through the global economic crisis or is it a RM7 billion Barisan Nasional economic stimulus package to tide the Barisan Nasional through the political tsunami triggered by the March 8 general election last year?
This is the question Malaysians pose when they read of the response of the Umno leadership to the defection of former Umno Bota Perak state assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim to PKR, followed by the disbandment of eight Umno branches in Bota.
This is the Star report “Bota branches follow Nasarudinn to PKR”:
Read the rest of this entry »
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