Archive for category UMNO
Most-watched political event in Malaysia
Straits Times
DEC 7, 2015
Umno’s general assembly is the most closely watched political event in Malaysia annually, except when there is a general election.
In the past, the issues raised at the five-day congress, attended by party members from all over the country, have resulted in new or tweaked government policies. Key speeches are broadcast live on radio and TV, with Umno the only political body to be given this privilege.
Love or loathe it, the reason for Umno’s power is its outsized position in Malaysian politics. Read the rest of this entry »
Let Najib clarify in his UMNO Presidential Address at the UMNO General Assembly whether he is the first Malaysian Prime Minister to be investigated by the FBI as to whether he is a ‘kleptocrat’
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, Parliament, UMNO on Monday, 7 December 2015
Should Pakatan Harapan MPs from DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara who have been in the forefront demanding full and satisfactory accountability from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his twin mega scandals on RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB go on their bended knees and thank their lucky stars that the Prime Minister was so merciful and spared them the agony and shame of an expose on the last day of the 25-day parliamentary meeting last Thursday (Dec. 3)?
This is because Najib said last night that the opposition spews nothing but “lies” on 1MDB (auta bukan fakta), declaring: “It they (the opposition) attack us using logic, rational thinking and facts, they will lose. It’s now the battle of the minds.”
If Najib is right, and the Prime Minister had appeared in Parliament on the last day of the budget parliamentary meeting on Dec. 3 to lay down the facts of the two scandals, all the Pakatan Harapan MPs who had been harping them would have been mercilessly exposed not only as opportunists, charlatans and even ignoramus.
However, before deciding whether the Pakatan Harapan MPs should be thankful for such little mercies from Najib, they must ask why the Prime Minister was so kind to them, if it was true that it would be so easy for him to squash the Opposition MPs who had been raising a storm particularly since March about the 1MDB scandal? Read the rest of this entry »
Tun Razak – A Leader With A Free Mind
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, UMNO on Monday, 7 December 2015
M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
7th December 2015
Notwithstanding their common aristocratic background, obvious brilliance, and genuine nationalism, plus their overlapping leadership in UMNO, Tun Razak had little in common with Datuk Onn Jaafar. To start with, there was their obvious age and thus generational difference, Onn being about 30 years older. The critical differentiating feature separating the two however was their personalities.
Like Onn, there is as yet no authoritative biography of Tun Razak. There is William Shaw’s, published in 1976, sympathetic bordering on the hagiographical. Razak had many contemporaries, some very erudite, but none had sought to pen an account of this great man. Likewise his sons (he had no daughters) who are all well educated, including one who is a Cambridge graduate, yet none has seen fit to write an account of their great father, apart from the anecdotal recollections in responses to interviews.
The contrasting personalities between Onn and Razak could not be more obvious then when they were campaigning or otherwise engaging the common people. To be sure, both were atypical politicians; neither exhibited the usual politician’s backslapping or feigned familiarity and affability. They both seemed aloof and uncomfortable with crowds. While Onn had the imperious look of an aristocrat who is forced to be with the peasants, Razak had that of a policy wonk embarrassed at being unable to articulate more simply his complex ideas. Both however, had great intellect and more importantly, were remarkably free-minded although expressed in very different ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Greatest challenge in 14GE is how to re-ignite hopes of Malaysians for change in Putrajaya after the failure of the seven-year Pakatan Rakyat experiment
Posted by Kit in Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Tuesday, 1 December 2015
The country is in unchartered waters with unprecedented fracture and fragmentation on both sides of the political divide – both with the UMNO-led coalition of Barisan Nasional and the splintered Opposition.
The gravity of the political situation in the governing coalition is best illustrated by the warning by the UMNO Deputy President and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at a gathering of 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh on Sunday that Malay support for UMNO has dwindled to 30 per cent while 78 per cent of Malaysians are dissatisfied with how the government was handling the economy.
Muhyiddin said the level of Chinese support for the government has also dwindled, from 13 percent in the last general election to only five percent at present.
Muhyiddin blamed UMNO’s woes primarily to Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega-scandals and warned that if the UMNO decline is not corrected within the next two years, UMNO may lose in the 14th General Election.
As Muhyiddin rightly pointed out, this is the first time approval for the government among Malays has fallen below 50 percent since Merdeka Centre began recording the data in February 2012. Read the rest of this entry »
How the opposition can win the next elections
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 1 December 2015
– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
30 November 2015
By now it is clear that the 1MDB financial scandal, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s campaign against Datuk Seri Najib Razak, GST pain and numerous examples of corruption, abuse and mismanagement of the economy and governance, are not going to win the next election for the opposition coalition.
This is not to say that we should underestimate the average Malaysian’s disillusionment with, and distrust of, Umno and its partner parties in Barisan Nasional (BN).
Even the most simpleton Umno member is fully aware of how the division chiefs have enriched themselves with fat contracts, scholarships for their children, jobs in the civil service for their relatives and friends, etc.
Umno members are no fools. They know that the higher one gets to be in the Umno leadership hierarchy, the more the goodies and wealth they can accumulate.
So they are not surprised that RM2.6 billion was deposited in Najib’s personal account.
Many of the more ethical and principled Umno members agree that this is wrong. But will this mean that they will not vote for Umno in the next election?
I hope they listen to their conscience and I am sure many other Malaysians will join me in wishing the same.
But hope is not enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Despatching UMNO to Opposition benches in 14GE will be doing both UMNO and nation a great favour as it will not only promote healthy growth and development of democracy in Malaysia but will give UMNO the chance for reform and regeneration
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mahathir, Pakatan Harapan, UMNO on Monday, 30 November 2015
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Malaysia last week, in the company of other ASEAN, Asian and Pacific leaders like President Xi Jingping of China, President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia for the ASEAN and Post-ASEAN Summits.
Modi is the fifth Prime Minister of India resulting from a change of government through the ballot box in a general election.
The first time India had a change of government through the ballot box was in the sixth Indian general election in 1977 when the Indian Congress which had ruled India for 30 years was voted out of office, replaced by an Opposition coalition headed by Morarji Desai of Janata party.
Indian Congress under Indira Gandhi won back federal power in the seventh Indian general election in 1980 but BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leading an Opposition coalition captured New Delhi in the 11th to 13th Indian General Elections from 1996 – 1999.
Indian Congress leading a coalition of parties won back the Indian Federal Government in the 14th and 15th General Elections in 2004 and 2008 under Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister.
The last change of government through the ballot box was in the 16th Indian General Election in 2014 with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
This means that in 63 years in sixteen General Elections, there had been five changes of government between the Indian Congress and Opposition coalitions.
In comparison, Malaysia has held 13 General Elections in 56 years but there has not been a single change of Federal Government in Putrajaya form the UMNO-led coalition, which makes Malaysian democracy as a most abnormal one. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s political headache
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 30 November 2015
Arnold Puyok, UNIMAS
East Asia Forum
26 November 2015
These are tiring times for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib has so far managed to stay in power despite the flurry of attacks on his leadership. Political debacles have almost cost Najib his prime ministership and the popularity of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN). Facing the prospect of losing the people’s mandate in the 2018 general election, Najib is racing against time to regain public confidence.
Earlier in 2015, an expose revealed a controversial 2.6 billion ringgit (US$700 million) ‘donation’ into Najib’s personal account. This was initially attributed to Najib siphoning funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned development company. Najib appeared on television to answer questions from critics and gave point-by-point rebuttals to the 1MDB controversy.
But these have failed to assuage public dissatisfaction. Some critics still believe that Najib siphoned public funds from the 1MDB — even though that allegation has not been proven in court or by independent audit firms. Najib is now left with the CEO of the 1MDB Arul Kanda to address the misconception toward the 1MDB and to implement a rationalisation plan in order to reduce its debt. Read the rest of this entry »
The Rapid Rejection of Post-UMNO Datuk Onn
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Malays, UMNO on Monday, 30 November 2015
M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
30th November 2015
Datuk Onn was a brilliant strategist and farsighted leader. Indeed he was so far ahead that he left his simple village followers behind.
In 1951, just five years after he established and led UMNO, he quit the presidency of his young struggling party and left in a huff. The issue was over admitting non-Malays into UMNO. On the surface this would seem to be a liberal move to engage non-Malays in the political process and to make the party race-blind. Indeed many contemporary commentators are effusive in their praise of the man for his supposed foresight in thinking beyond communal lines and racial identity.
I have a different take; I see his move as the earliest expression of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Hegemony). Onn saw his move as a means to establish Malay control on the political process by co-opting non-Malays, in particular the Chinese, into his Malay party. The reason was obvious. A year or two earlier the Chinese community under the leadership of the staunchly anti-communist Tan Cheng Lock had formed the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA). To Onn, it would be much easier to “control” the Chinese politically if they were to be co-opted within UMNO than if they were to have their own separate party. Onn feared that the newly-formed MCA would not only be a formidable power but also be on par with UMNO in the anticipated negotiations for independence. Read the rest of this entry »
At last, despite his advanced years even Mahathir is learning the basic principle of a developed democratic system that a two-coalition system better than any one-party rule
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Saturday, 28 November 2015
I have been involved in Malaysian politics for 50 years since the end of November 1965 not to “cari makan” for myself, as mentioned by the new Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Datuk Hasan Arifin, but to join forces with like-minded Malaysians to achieve an united, harmonious, democratic, just and prosperous nation which can a model and showcase to the world of a successful multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation-building.
There are three episodes which highlight the ups-and-downs and the trials and tribulations of this 50-year political struggle for democracy, justice and an united Malaysian nation.
Firstly, there was an occasion in the seventies when a powerful UMNO Minister stood up in Parliament to interrupt my speech on the political, economic, good governance and nation-building failures of the UMNO-led government and told me haughtily that if I did not like Umno/BN government policies, I could leave the country to a foreign land. Without hesitation, I immediately responded by telling this Minister that if he did not like to hear what I had said, which represented the voice of the electorate who had elected me into Parliament, he could leave the country himself! That shut him up. A lesson in democracy as well as in Malaysian nation-building. Read the rest of this entry »
Three million UMNO members and 21,000 UMNO branches must place “Save the country” as top national agenda as the UMNO President and leadership have lost national purpose and bearings
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Pakatan Harapan, UMNO on Friday, 27 November 2015
Malaysia is in unchartered waters.
We have a minority government which won only 47% of the popular vote in the 13th General Election but 60% of the parliamentary seats, allowing Datuk Seri Najib Razak to continue as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia though a minority Prime Minister for the first time in Malaysia.
For the first time in the nation’s history, the leadership structure and institutions in the country have never been so fractured, not only in the public services as in the civil service and the major agencies like the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara, the Attorney-General’s Chambers but also in UMNO and Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.
Never before in the nation’s history, as the country been plagued by so many national crisis at the same time – political, economic, good governance and nation-building.
Never before has the country been inundated by such twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB – which have become the subject of investigations by at least seven foreign countries, viz. United Kingdom, Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdul Azeez should return to Baling to publicly apologise for his “balik tongsan” and other offensive remarks in Parliament or he should be voted out in 14GE as betraying the trust of the Baling electorate
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Pakatan Harapan, Parliament, UMNO on Friday, 27 November 2015
The UMNO Member of Parliament for Baling, Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahman made Baling infamous in Parliament when he betrayed the trust of the voters of Baling by making offensive remarks against other races and other MPs, like his derogatory “balik tongsan” remark in Parliament early this month.
Only those who have a narrow, extremist and intolerant mindset, completely at odds with the inclusive 1Malaysia policy, could regard the Chinese or any other ethnic group as inherently “disloyal” to Malaysia, and be so irresponsible as to flippantly hurl the derogatory term “balik tongsan” against the Malaysian Chinese, which was as good as telling them to “return to mainland China”.
Abdul Azeez made the remark in Parliament against DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, Jimmy Wong, during the committee stage of the 2016 Budget debate on the Home Ministry, causing outrage among right-thinking Members of Parliament and Malaysians.
Although Abdul Azeez, as a result of the protest by the DAP parliamentary whip, Anthony Loke (Seremban), was forced to retract the offensive and derogatory term “balik tongsan” in Parliament, he was never remorseful for his most unMalaysian conduct for he never apologised for it.
Abdul Azeez should return to Baling to publicly apologise for his “balik tongsan” and other offensive remarks in Parliament or he should be voted out in 14GE as betraying the trust of the Baling electorate.
All genuine Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, must be offended by Abdul Azeez’s “balik tongsan” remark, for it shows the utter failure of Malaysian nation-building when an UMNO Member of Parliament could make such offensive and derogatory remark against other races in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Has Hishammuddin’s warning that UMNO is suffering from denial syndrome and losing trust come too late?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 25 November 2015
UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that UMNO cannot continue with it denial syndrome as it is now facing an erosion of trust and must find ways to stay relevant.
He said that UMNO must “clearly, courageously and sincerely” admit that UMNO is facing a test of trust as the new generation of Malays do not feel the sentimental connection with the party and they no longer feel like UMNO is addressing issues that concerned them.
Has Hishammuddin’s realization and warning that UMNO is suffering from denial syndrome and losing trust come too late? Read the rest of this entry »
300 cawangan Umno diupah bagi desak Najib undur, kata Ku Nan
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 23 November 2015
The Malaysian Insider
Monday November 23, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 Nov — Wujud gerakan dari dalam Umno sendiri untuk mendesak Presidennya Datuk Seri Najib Razak meletakkan jawatan, dedah setiausaha agung parti.
Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor berkata gerakan “orang dalam” parti itu sedang mengumpulkan 300 cawangan bagi tujuan tersebut, lapor Utusan Malaysia hari ini.
“Kita tahu ada dalang yang berlegar dalam Umno yang ingin melihat ada percanggahan dan kekeruhan berlaku dalam parti kerana sehingga kini mereka tahu bahawa Umno adalah sebuah parti yang kukuh.
“Dalang ini merupakan orang yang kecewa dengan parti. Kita tiada masalah, Umno mempunyai 25,000 cawangan seluruh negara, walaupun 300 cawangan dibayar untuk membuat kenyataan sedemikian, ia langsung tidak akan menjejaskan parti.
“Tindakan cawangan parti yang telah mengeluarkan kenyataan juga tidak mengikut saluran yang betul,” Tengku Adnan, juga dipanggil Ku Nan, dipetik berkata.
Beliau bagaimanapun tidak menjelaskan siapa di belakang gerakan tersusun itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Malaysian public to help the police and AG by producing evidence of Ali Tinju’s speech in Low Yat riots to lead to his prosecution under Sedition Act
The interview today of the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali in The Malaysian Insider on how Ali Tinju’s sedition charge had been dropped is neither convincing nor reflection of professionalism of the new Attorney-General and the police to bring to book those who openly flout the law to undermine national unity and harmony in the country.
Apandi said the sedition charge against Mohd Ali Baharom was dropped because the police could not come up with the audio recording of the alleged inflammatory remarks the ex-soldier made outside Low Yat Plaza in July.
Apandi said that without the evidence, he was unable to pursue the case.
He said:
“The actual recording was not enough. It was only a few seconds… We missed the ‘seditious’ part.
“They (the police) couldn’t find it. It wasn’t forthcoming. I told them, ‘this isn’t enough, go find more’. They said, ‘cannot find’. So that put an end to it.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Tun Dr Ismail would’ve been disappointed with current leadership, says son
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Sunday, 8 November 2015
by Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider
8 November 2015
Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s second deputy prime minister, would have been disappointed by the state of the country’s leadership if he were alive today, his eldest son Tawfik Ismail said.
The government is paralysed and the country is “in a mess” because leaders are preoccupied with defending Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over issues, such as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and his RM2.6 billion donation, says Tawfik in an interview with The Malaysian Insider.
“I think he would have been disappointed with the way the leadership is right now,” said the 64-year-old in an interview in conjunction with the release of Drifting into Politics, a collection of writings by Dr Ismail himself.
It was also the 100th birth anniversary of Dr Ismail on November 4. Read the rest of this entry »
As Najib’s Prime Minister popularity rating among Malay voters have fallen below 30%, the three million UMNO members must decide whether UMNO’s survival in the next general election will lie in having a new UMNO head and Prime Minister
Posted by Kit in Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, Parliament, UMNO on Saturday, 31 October 2015
It is reported today that at least 154 out of 191 UMNO division chiefs want the party’s supreme council to take against errant party leaders, referring to former Deputy Prime Minister and still Deputy UMNO President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and UMNO Vice President, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, and even former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir and former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid.
This is the result of an internal poll in UMNO conducted among 170 UMNO division leaders in an exclusive WhatsApp programme.
However, the result may be different if a poll is conducted among the three million UMNO members as it is becoming quite clear that for the first time since Merdeka, UMNO has never been so fragmented and fractured between the 300 UMNO chieftains versus the three million UMNO members.
The 300 UMNO chieftains are primarily Umno Supreme Council members and Umno division chiefs who are mostly in the pockets of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak the majority of whom will toe the Najib line, as compared to the three million Umno members most of whom must be very embarrassed by the two Najib mega-scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation”, and the lack of political will to resolve these two scandals until they mushroom to become international scandals, and the move to penalise UMNO leaders for speaking up against these two scandals.
All over the country, the question that is commonly asked is how long Najib can survive as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, whether he would suffer the fate of his predecessor, Tun Abdullah in having to give up the Prime Ministership before the end of his term. Read the rest of this entry »
#Merah169 youths say stung by toll rates hiked by government they defended
by Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Malay Mail Online
October 28, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 ― After genuine belief that their lives could be improved by joining the controversial #Merah169 rally, the sense of pride and optimism among the many poor urban Malay youths who took part in that movement is now fading.
Less than two months after the controversial gathering here in the capital city, ostensibly to uphold Malay dignity in the face of Chinese insults, the angst that drove them to proudly don the movement’s colours has found a new and ironic source ― #Merah169’s own backer, Umno.
“My family was upset about the toll hike. My mom only sells kuih and my dad has little income. Can you imagine what the increase will do to our expenses?
“And who did this? It’s the Umno government… it’s a Malay party,” Alif Fikri, who was interviewed by Malay Mail Online in a special report on urban Malay racism, said when met last week. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle between Najib’s 300 UMNO chieftains and the three million UMNO members will be a major factor to determine the fate of Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 25 October 2015
The reservations and opposition by UMNO leaders, like the UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal and former UMNO Deputy President Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad about the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s role in the two mega scandals in the country – the RM50 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion ‘donation’ in Najib’s personal banking accounts – and by the 14 UMNO Branches in Telok Kemang calling for Najib’s resignation must be given serious consideration.
In fact, the battle between Najib’s 300 UMNO chieftains and the three million UMNO members will be a major factor to determine the fate of Malaysia, whether Malaysia will hurtle headlong to become a rogue and failed state because of breakdown of rule of law, rampant corruption and abuses of power, and the collapse of good governance or whether Malaysia can pick herself up, re-strategise and reunite to strike forward to fulfill our national potential when we were on verge of becoming one of the Asian tigers before the 1997 financial crisis.
I agree with former International Trade Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz that Malaysia can rise from its current state again as the country has all the factors for success. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s 2016 Budget made history as a budget which could not generate any budget euphoria as it was snuffed out within seconds of delivery by phalanx of Opposition MPs standing up and displaying “Mana RM2.6 billion” placard
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 25 October 2015
Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2016 Budget made history as the first Malaysian budget which could not generate any budget euphoria as it was snuffed out within seconds of delivery by the phalanx of Opposition MPs standing up and displaying the “Mana RM2.6 billion” placard.
Normally, the budget presented by a Finance Minister in Parliament on a Friday would be able to generate a budget euphoria for weeks, or at least for the immediate weekend, with glowing economic reports and superlative accounts of the government’s budgetary plans, but Najib’s 2016 Budget failed dismally on this account, with the country overcast with hazy sky and noxious air which for weeks had closed schools, disrupted the economy and created havoc in the life of Malaysians.
In fact, events in the 24 hours after Najib’s delivery of the 2016 Budget had continued to be relentless in stamping out any ember for any post-budget euphoria, for instance:
1. the report by The Australian yesterday that a sixth foreign government, Australia, has joined five other countries, namely Switzerland, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore and United States in the ever-widening international inquiry into Malaysia’s biggest scandal in history, the RM50 billion 1MDB (well exceeding the RM42 billion normally associated with the scandal, according to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his last speech as Deputy Prime Minister to the UMNO Cheras Division on July 26); Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Mahathir: strongman turns activist to unseat former protégé
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 23 October 2015
Oliver Holmes and David Munk in Kuala Lumpur
Guardian
23 October 2015
‘Father of modern Malaysia’ brought down two former allies groomed to succeed him. Can he topple prime minister Najib Razak, his most stubborn heir?
He makes a most unlikely blogger. And, for many, an even more unlikely full-throated advocate of freedom of speech.
But that is the role Mahathir Mohamad has carved out for himself in Malaysia, the nation he is credited with transforming into a regional economic powerhouse.
As he enters his 91st year, he has become the country’s most prominent and undoubtedly most effective activist.
He has come out of retirement to throw allegations of arbitrary arrest, throttling of the press and corruption against current prime minister Najib Razak – similar to accusations that were lobbed against him during his own premiership from 1981 to 2003.
Sitting in his cavernous office and surrounded by gifts from world leaders, the man whose two decades in power are described by rights groups as autocratic has slipped seemingly with ease into his new role. Read the rest of this entry »
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