Can Umno Change or Cows Fly?
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 20 January 2012, 6:13 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
UMNO is beyond redemption. At its general assembly in December, the message it sent out was suspicion of others and hatred for them, and a desperate desire to win the next general election.
Its president, Najib Razak, once again proved what many of us have long suspected – that he is a dissembler. He exposed the ultimate lie behind his 1Malaysia slogan by saying things that would divide the races rather than bring them together. He set the trend for delegates at the assembly to harp on the threats to Umno from other races. It was disgraceful coming from the prime minister of the country. It was supremely irresponsible.
Worse, two days after the assembly ended, he appealed to the right-wing NGO Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) for support. This has to be the final nail in the 1Malaysia coffin.
To cap it all, Umno showed its partiality to cronyism by defending Wanita leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil over the scandal surrounding her family’s business, the National Feedlot Corporation. One or two colleagues called for her to step down, but the overwhelming majority stood by her and castigated the Opposition for exposing the scandal.
This begs the question: Can Umno change? As the major party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, can it truly stand up for other races as well, and work for their well-being? Can it stay clear of corrupt practices? Can it stop dishing out favours and projects to party leaders and their cronies? Can it save Malaysia from financial meltdown or will it rather bleed our coffers dry? Read the rest of this entry »
Early polls better for economy, says MIER
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 19, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — It would be better for the government to hold the general election as soon as possible since lingering uncertainty over the nation’s political future will hurt the economy, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) said today.
MIER executive director Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid said private investors were currently holding back investments on concerns that government policies will change should the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) fail to hold on to power.
He said private investment was the key component to propping up the economy this year as external demand slows, and urged the government to call for early polls to dispel investors’ wait-and-see attitude.
“If you ask me as an economist, I would rather see the problem solved once and for all. The earlier they settle the political problem, the better, so we can focus on the economy.
“Right now everything is still hanging. People are postponing because of the election so if they settle it once and for all and immediately, it would be better,” he told reporters here after presenting MIER’s economic outlook for 2011 and 2012. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia 2012 Growth to Miss Official Target, Institute Says
Bloomberg
By Chong Pooi Koon
January 19, 2012
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s growth will probably miss the government’s forecast this year amid the faltering global economy, according to the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.
Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy will expand 3.7 percent in 2012, the partly-government funded institute said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today, cutting its earlier estimate of 5 percent gross domestic product expansion. This is below the 5 percent to 6 percent government forecast in its Oct. 7 budget statement.
“Economic growth will likely get bumpier in the months ahead,” the institute said in the report. “Growth in the last quarter of 2011 is expected to be much lower on account of external developments. Latest monthly economic indicators are already suggesting that.”
The World Bank said yesterday developing growth in Asia- Pacific economies will slow for a second straight year on Europe’s debt crisis and weaker global trade. Malaysia likely expanded 4.9 percent in 2011, the institute said, missing the government’s growth forecast of as much as 5.5 percent. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Anxieties engulfing BN camp’
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Thursday, 19 January 2012, 6:34 pm
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 19, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
Gemas, now infamous for the National Feedlot Centre and the double tracking railway project scandals, is poised to be the epicentre of another political tsunami.
COMMENT
Usually those who are pressing for an early election are those from within Umno itself and who think they will contest as candidates replacing the incumbents.
In Umno replacing incumbents is not difficult – just mobilize a few dissenting and envious voices to create the necessary ‘public’ opinion.
Elevate personal anecdotes and personal sob and frustrated stories and exploit those as generalizations.
Then package all the lies and present it to a nervous and insecure Umno division head.
Never mind if he was the Deputy Prime Minister then and now Prime Minister.
I was in Gemas for the Rapat Rakyat programme on Jan 15. Anwar Ibrahim was there.
I would estimate the crowd to have been around 10,000 people. The local guy standing next to me in the crowd confided that he had never seen such a big crowd before attending a political gathering. And he’s been staying in Gemas since the 60s.
Umno will of course trivialize this observation by saying the opposition has always attracted large crowds to their rallies. But in the end, the Barisan Nasional will win. Read the rest of this entry »
Salient points – 1Care
By DrNGSC
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The government plans to introduce a new healthcare system called 1-Care. It includes an insurance system to fund for healthcare.
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The National Healthcare Financing Authority will be in charge of 1Care – and it is likely to be turned into a GLC.
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Based on available information, every household will be made to pay up to 9.4% of gross household income for social health insurance. The payers will be the individual, the employer and the government via taxes, exact proportion still being worked out)
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There shall be no choice. Everyone has to pay. There is no opting out. We have to pay upfront. It will no longer be fee-for-service; it is fee-before- service.
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There has been no information on exactly how this payment will have to be made or how the government will collect from self-employed people.
Read the rest of this entry »
The last days of Umno are beginning
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Najib Razak, NEP on Thursday, 19 January 2012, 11:37 am
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
UMNO shows no signs of genuine reforms despite claims by PM Najib that UMNO is on the reform road as shown by the verdict of freedom for Anwar over the Sodomy 2 conspiracy. If there are no signs of reforms than UMNO will collapse in time, similar to what happened to the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1990.
Like Najib, Mikail Gorbachev tried to save Russia with his policies of ‘glasnost and perestroika’ but these failed to save Soviet Russia, because he could not introduce democracy and economic restructuring as there was no policies or infrastructure to modernise Russia.
Najib is also claiming that he has great plans to reform the country, ever since he introduced his 1 Malaysia program. However, all he had to deliver are just promises. Nothing concrete he promised to cut down corruption, but every day corruption is the rule in government departments, judiciary and the police. Events have overtaken Najib and there is no way he could reverse the corruption cancer pervading the country.
Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should heed his own call “to make voice of moderation of louder” by declaring transformation of Utusan Malaysia into the Voice of Moderation
Posted by Kit in Elections, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 19 January 2012, 5:20 am
“Najib: Make voice of moderation louder” – this is yesterday’s front-page headline of UMNO-owned New Straits Times reporting on the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak opening speech of the inaugural International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates on Tuesday.
Najib should heed his own call “to make voice of moderation louder” by declaring the transformation of the UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia into the Voice of Reason and Moderation, ceasing henceforth to be the Voice of Enmity, Malice, Unreason and Extremism which had caused the degeneration of Najib’s 33 months as Prime Minister into the country’s most divisive, divided and polarized times both in racial and religious terms as compared to the first 33 months of the country’s first five Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.
If Najib is not prepared to make his “voice of moderation louder” and make a commitment to transform Utusan Malaysia from being the Voice of Extremism to become the Voice of Moderation, then Malaysians are entitled to ask what is the real purpose of the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates which would have cost the government a fortune to host.
Najib would be guilty of not complying with his own prescription to the International Conference, i.e. that it is time for the masses to stand up and say to the extremists “with a single breath a firm and resounding no” – reducing the whole conference into an international joke and a farce! Read the rest of this entry »
Why did they free Anwar?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 18 January 2012, 3:25 pm
— P. Ramakrishnan
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 18, 2012
JAN 18 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s acquittal and discharge could not have earned the judiciary any brownie points. Neither did the trial judge, Justice Datuk Zabidin Mohd Diah, come across as someone capable of blazing a new trail in proactive justice.
In fact, the court proceedings only disappointed Malaysians the way the judge denied the defence the many crucial notes they were entitled to, dismissed their right to question the prime minister and his wife by granting their application not to appear as witnesses, and refused to recuse himself as the presiding judge by dismissing Anwar’s application that he was biased in the proceedings.
He even strengthened this belief by concluding at the end of the prosecution case that Saiful was a “truthful and credible witness” without even hearing the defence side of the case. The bias was so blatant and so obvious. Read the rest of this entry »
NFC RCI should also inquire into Najib’s role as Chairman of High-Impact Committee which approved project in 2006, why MACC and PAC so tardy in their investigations and unravel other NFC-like scandals littered in government
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 18 January 2012, 2:41 pm
UMNO insiders are worried that the RM300 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) “cattle condo” scandal may cost UMNO very dearly, causing it to lose more than 30 parliamentary seats in the general elections if this scandal is not handled and resolved in a quick and satisfactory manner.
This is why I do not expect the UMNO Wanita Chairman and Minister for Women, Family and Welfare Development, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to return to Cabinet at the end of her three-week leave (one week gone with two weeks left) on Feb. 3, 2012.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that he had discussed with Shahrizat her decision to take three-weeks leave from her ministerial duties and that she was willing to be “investigated fully”.
Among the teeming questions in Malaysian minds about the RM300 million NFC “cattle condo” scandal is why it had taken Shahrizat six months to go on ministerial leave to enable full investigations into the NFC scandal to be conducted, as the Auditor-General’s 2010 report which highlighted the NFC “mess” was completed and made available to the Cabinet and all Ministries in early June last year. The Auditor-General’s 2010 Accounts Report was deliberately held back in Parliament until the last week of October. Read the rest of this entry »
Make Gemas the epicentre of a political tsunami
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Wednesday, 18 January 2012, 11:24 am
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 16, 2012
JAN 16 — If the crowd at the Rapat Rakyat yesterday night in sleepy Gemas is an indication, Negri Sembilan will fall to the opposition at the next GE. It does not matter whether the elections are held in the next few months or later nearer a full five-year term. It will not make any difference on the outcome of the elections — Barisan Nasional will suffer massive losses and lose its mandate.
Those politically untutored, of course, will chide others who are wishing for an earlier election date. Usually those who are pressing for a quicker date are those from within Umno itself. Especially those who think they will contest as candidates replacing the incumbents.
In Umno, replacing incumbents is not difficult — just mobilise a few dissenting and envious voices to create the necessary “public” opinion. Elevate personal anecdotes and personal sob and frustrated stories and exploit those as generalizations. Then package all the lies and present it to a nervous and insecure division head. Never mind if he is the DPM then and now PM.
I would estimate the crowd yesterday to be around 10,000 people. The local guy next to me confided in me since staying in Gemas since the late 60s, this is the first time he sees this big a crowd attend a political gathering. Read the rest of this entry »
Sokongan mengusik jiwa
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 17, 2012
17 JAN — Kali ini saya hanya menulis “article” yang pendek sahaja. Saya telah mendapat reaksi yang banyak kerana tindakan saya menukar wadah dalam arena politik. Perlu difahami bahawa saya tidak bergiat dalam politik melebihi satu dekad dan saya pada awalnya tidak mahu lagi terlibat dalam hal ini. Saya merasakan banyak yang tidak kena dengan perjalanan dan arah tuju politik Melayu, khususnya Umno, dan mengambil tindakan mendiamkan diri adalah satu tindakan yang “natural” bagi sesiapa yang menghadapi perasaan dan masalah seperti saya ini.
Saya hanya mengambil tahu hal keadaan politik dari rumah sahaja sambil-sambil menengok-nengokkan cucu saya yang kian waktu makin membesar dan bertambah bilangannya itu. Saya mengambil langkah untuk menulis sedikit sebanyak dalam blog kecil saya ini untuk mengasah otak saya supaya tidak menjadi tumpul. Tetapi dalam waktu pencarian ini saya nampak keadaan sudah terlalu menekan untuk saya kembali dan bergiat, setidak-tidaknya untuk memberikan sumbangan sedikit sebanyak kepada pandangan masyarakat yang dahagakan perubahan.
Tindakan saya menyertai DAP ini dilakukan setelah berfikir dengan mendalam dan mencari penyesuaian dan keserasian dengan perjuangan parti ini. Setelah saya menyertainya, saya telah mendapat puluhan atau ratusan sokongan melalui e-mail saya setiap hari, kecuali beberapa orang yang menentang kemasukan saya dalam DAP. Yang lain yang ramai-ramai itu telah memberikan saya galakan dan ramai (Melayu) yang telah menunjukkan sokongan yang begitu kuat terhadap tindakan saya itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Dengar cerita ‘anjing sukum’
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 17, 2012
17 JAN — Dalam tahun-tahun awalan lapan puluhan ada seorang yang semasa itu merupakan seorang veteran yang duduk bersama kami sebagai AJK Umno Bahagian di tempat saya, bernama Yassin Mahmud. Beliau sudah tiada lagi bersama kita kerana beliau telah pergi menghadap Allah yang Maha Esa. Beliau seorang guru dan beliau juga adalah seorang yang serius tetapi nampak periang sifatnya. Beliau pernah menelah yang Umno akan menjadi apa yang kita lihat pada hari ini, iaitu sebuah parti untuk ‘warlords’ dan beliau selalu membuka cerita Umno ini dengan memberikan anologi yang melucukan terhadap apa yang akan terjadi kepada parti ini.
Beliaulah yang membuka cerita yang bertajuk ‘anjing sukum’ dan cerita ini pernah saya tulis tiga tahun dahulu. Anjing sukum ini pada beliau ialah anjing buruan yang taat kepada bossnya dan akan melakukan apa sahaja untuk menghambat segala binatang buruan bossnya untuk bossnya melapah dan memakan haiwan buruan, lebihan dari yang telah di jual oleh pemburu itu.
Anjing sukum ini dibela oleh pemburu itu guna untuk membantunya menghambat binatang buruan seperti rusa dan apabila rusa itu telah dihambat dan tidak berdaya untuk melarikan diri pemburu itu akan menembaknya. Setelah rusa itu jatuh maka pemburu itu akan menyembelih rusa yang di hambat oleh anjing sukum itu tadi.
Sedang pemburu itu melapah daging-daging rusa tersebut, anjing-anjing sukum ini menyalak-nyalak untuk mendapatkan habuan dan upah menghambat rusa itu tadi. Pemburu pantas memotong tulang-tulang rusa itu dan membalingkan tulang-tulang tersebut kepada tujuh lapan ekor anjing sukum itu. Maka anjing sukum itu pun terus diam sahaja dan berpuas hati dengan upah tulang-tulang yang dilemparkan oleh bossnya itu. Read the rest of this entry »
National Feedlot Corporation has given two powerful reasons why there should be a RCI into the “cattle condo” scandal focussing on the role and responsibility of Muhyiddin as Agriculture Minister who approved the RM250 million loan project before 308 “political tsunami”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, 17 January 2012, 3:58 pm
The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) has today given two powerful reasons why there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM300 million “cattle condo” scandal, focussing on the role and responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was the Agriculture Minister who approved the RM250 million loan project before the “308” political tsunami.
The company declared today that its contract for its RM250 million loan from the government was signed in 2007, disputing the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) earlier claim that the company had received the sum before the contract was signed.
NFC said the loan agreement between the government represented by the Ministry of Finance and NFC was signed on December 6, 2007, and not in 2010 and that the first drawdown of RM7 million was in January 2008 “in compliance with proper procedure”.
It claimed that beginning this year, NFC “will start serving its loan repayment as stipulated in its loan agreement”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Five tests whether International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates is meaningful and Najib qualifies to be regarded as the voice of moderates in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Monday, 16 January 2012, 11:50 am
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is to launch and institutionalize “the Global Movement of the Moderates” at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
In international conferences in the past two years, whether at the United Nations General Assembly or in Europe, Najib had kept to the theme calling on the moderates of the world to unite against extremists.
However, when he returns to Malaysia, he has allowed the forces of extremism, unreason and falsehoods a field day to the extent that Malaysia had never been more polarised on ethnic and religious grounds in the first three years of a Prime Minister than under him in the history of the nation.
Tonight, I want to put forth five tests to determine whether the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates is meaningful or an exercise in hypocrisy and double-talk and whether Najib qualifies to be regarded as the voice of moderates in Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »
“Temporary freeze” of NFC assets meaningless unless the collective monthly salaries of Shahrizat family in NFC also slashed by two-thirds from RM215,000 to some RM71,000
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Monday, 16 January 2012, 11:01 am
The announcement by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) executive director Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh that It’s “business as usual” and NFCorp operations are uninterrupted despite the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement two days ago of the temporary freeze of the National Feedlot Centre assets offends the most elementary sense of right and wrong of decent Malaysians.
It raises the critical question nagging thinking Malaysians whether the “temporary freeze” of NFC assets was nothing but a charade and a conjuror’s sleight-of-hand to appease an increasingly outraged Malaysian population – including more and more disillusioned Umno and Barisan Nasional members – but with little real meaning for the operations of NFC as appears to have been confirmed by Izmir.
When were the assets of NFC frozen? Who froze the NFC assets and who have the authority and what are the circumstances to unfreeze the NFC assets?
Most important of all, how much of the NFC assets have actually been frozen as Malaysians would not be surprised if NFC has been reduced to an empty shell with the many dubious corporate manipulations and hanky-lanky misusing NFC funds completely unrelated to the original objective to promote a high-impact project to ensure a higher level of beef self-sufficiency as have been publicly exposed in the past three months.
Read the rest of this entry »
Call for independent public inquiry into RM300 million NFC scandal – the role of implicated Ministers including Muhyiddin, Noh Omar and Shahrizat
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 15 January 2012, 2:28 pm
The freeze of the assets of the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) pending investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Police is not adequate and does not inspire confidence that this is a prelude to a no-holds-barred full inquiry into the RM300 million NFC scandal.
Announcing the freeze on NFC assets yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he had discussed with the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil the decision to take three weeks leave from her ministerial duties, adding:
“I’ve discussed with her the decision to take leave. It is an appropriate decision as it allows the authority to carry out a thorough investigation.
“Datuk Seri Shahrizat said she was willing to be investigated fully. What happens after this will depend on the outcome of the investigation.”
Nobody expects Shahrizat to return to the Cabinet or Parliament after the expiry of her three-week leave expiring on Feb. 3, 2012.
But what is significant and ominous in Najib’s statement is the implication that before she was finally pressured to “voluntarily” go on three-weeks leave on January 12, she had successfully resisted any “full investigation” into her role in the RM300 million NFC scandal. Read the rest of this entry »
Solidariti ekonomi penawar kemelut
Posted by Kit in Zairil Khir Johari on Sunday, 15 January 2012, 2:18 pm
by Zairil Khir Johari
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 15, 2012
15 JAN — Sempena Persidangan Kebangsaan DAP 2012 tempoh hari, Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Pusat telah membentangkan “Deklarasi Shah Alam” sebagai juadah intelektual terbaru dalam agenda parti untuk Pilihan Raya Umum yang akan datang.
Perisytiharan yang dibuat ini melambangkan modal siasah baru yang cuba dipacu oleh DAP demi memupuk satu wadah kenegaraan yang berkisar pada dasar dan bukan sekadar isu-isu sensasi.
Teras asas dalam perisytiharan tersebut adalah isu ekonomi yang diulas melalui konsep “solidariti ekonomi”. Intisari perisytiharan tidak perlu diulangi di sini, namun saya ingin mengupas sedikit tentang tema yang boleh dikatakan menjadi “jiwa” yang menyelubungi jasad yang dipanggil Deklarasi Shah Alam ini.
Sesungguhnya tanggungjawab sesebuah kerajaan adalah untuk memastikan kualiti hidup yang selesa dan sejahtera bagi rakyatnya. Ini bermaksud kehidupan yang tidak dibebani hutang yang melampau, serta pendapatan yang memadai untuk membina rumahtangga dengan segala kelengkapan asas seperti rumah, kereta dan pendidikan anak-anak. Dalam erti kata lain, kesejahteraan ekonomi rakyat hendaklah dipelihara. Read the rest of this entry »
Opposition will devise plan to make country graft free
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections on Sunday, 15 January 2012, 12:46 am
Himanshu Bhatt
The Sun
14 January 2012
ALOR SETAR (Jan 14, 2012): The Pakatan Rakyat will come up with an action plan to combat corruption, should they win the next general elections.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said leaders of the three member parties – PKR, PAS and DAP – will discuss the matter and come with the plan prior the general elections, which must be held by April 2013.
“We will discuss the matter. And probably before the 13th general elections, we will come out with a proposal,” he at the PR’s 3rd annual convention at the Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim here.
“We want a graft free country,” he added in response to a query by guest speaker Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who is also Bersih 2.0 chairman, Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang dares Najib to respect GE results if Pakatan wins
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Najib Razak on Sunday, 15 January 2012, 12:26 am
Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 14, 2012
ALOR STAR, Jan 14 — Lim Kit Siang today challenged prime minister to promise that Barisan Nasional (BN) will respect the outcome of the next national polls and guarantee free and fair elections.
The DAP parliamentary leader also dared Datuk Seri Najib Razak to make good on his call for moderation by retracting the vow he made at the Umno general assembly two years ago to “defend Putrajaya with our bodies and broken bones”.
“This is not the voice of moderation, this is not the voice of moderation,” he told the PR convention here.
“We want the prime minister and all Umno leaders to declare that they will accept the decision in the 13th general election, even if Pakatan Rakyat forms government and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim becomes prime minister.” Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Najib Readies for Vote
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary, Najib Razak on Friday, 13 January 2012, 11:51 pm
by James Hookway
Wall Street Journal
Malaysian leader Najib Razak pointed to the acquittal this week of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as evidence he’s serious about political reforms, even inviting an election battle that could propel him out of power.
Eager to paint himself as a leader of the Malaysia’s most sweeping political reforms since independence, Mr. Najib appears to be betting that the judiciary’s release of Mr. Anwar would help rather than hurt him politically.
Three days after Malaysia’s High Court acquitted Mr. Anwar on sodomy charges this week, Mr. Najib said in an interview Thursday that both the government and opposition camps will step up their race to claim the center-ground of Malaysian politics in the coming months—but that this will only strengthen the predominantly Muslim country and provide a fresh example that democracy and Islam can coexist. Read the rest of this entry »