Hudud: Federal vs state legislative powers
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Parliament, PAS on Tuesday, 4 October 2011, 5:39 pm
Art Harun | October 04, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
OCT 4 — I have stated in my article, “Of wet dream, nightmare and Marty McFly” that the implementation of hudud is a Constitutional impossibility until and unless two-thirds of our Members of Parliament would vote to amend the Federal Constitution to allow it to happen. I also grimly stated in that article that the time when such Constitutional amendment is moved would be the first time when our Members of Parliament would vote solely or predominantly along racial and religious lines regardless of party policy or party whip.
The Bar Council has since issued a statement which basically echoes my opinion. Lim Chee Wee, the Bar Council’s President was quoted as saying:
“Hudud cannot be implemented within the current constitutional and legislative framework.”
My friend, the learned Professor Aziz Bari was reported to have disagreed with the Bar Council’s view. The learned Professor was quoted to say:
“The key here is Islam, not criminal law.”
The learned Professor pointed out that the Federal Constitution has set out the respective jurisdiction and powers of the Federal and State legislature. As the powers to legislate on matters pertaining to Islam rests with the State, he argued that the State, including Kelantan, may pass hudud laws accordingly. He also refuted that such a move would result in double jeopardy for Muslim wrongdoers as, in his words:
“In other words, two systems is not a problem and we are not the only country in the world where this duality prevails.”
I have the highest respect and regard for the learned Professor but I beg to differ on his opinion on this matter. Read the rest of this entry »
RM2m spent on 11,000 cops to stop Bersih rally, Parliament told
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Najib Razak, Parliament, Police on Tuesday, 4 October 2011, 12:29 pm
By Melissa Chi
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 04, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The government spent more than RM2 million to “handle” the outlawed rally by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 in July, it was revealed today.
More than 11,000 police officers were also deployed in the days leading up to the rally on July 9.
In a written reply in Parliament to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh), Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today the total amount spent by the police to “handle” the rally was RM2,018,850.06.
He added that a total of 11,046 police officers from all over the country were stationed in the Klang Valley area, including 2,600 who were on standby outside the city. Read the rest of this entry »
Press freedom, a la MCA
Posted by Kit in MCA, Media, Thomas Lee on Monday, 3 October 2011, 6:42 pm
by Thomas Lee Seng Hock
COMMENT
MCA president Chua Soi Lek has declared that his party wants the current restrictive and oppressive Printing Presses and Publications Act scrapped, to keep up with the increasing public demands for more openness and freedom of expression.
Chua said at the recently concluded 58th MCA annual general assembly that the aspirations of the new generation of Malaysians for a more liberal and democratic society means that the Barisan Nasional government should be bold and confident enough to dump the intolerable piece of harsh and authoritarian legislation, not just make amendments to it.
“We must work towards abolishing the Printing Presses and Publications Act and set a time frame for that. The government has to be bold and confident enough to take such a step,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP supports PSC on Electoral Reforms with reservations
Posted by Kit in Bersih, DAP, Elections, Parliament on Monday, 3 October 2011, 3:32 pm
The DAP welcomes the setting up of this Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms though we have many doubts and reservations.
Since 70s in Parliament, DAP MPs had been calling for free, fair and clean general elections, making proposals such as the following:
• a clean, honest and comprehensive electoral list where every eligible voter is on the list which could be simply achieved with an automatic voters registration system for every citizen who comes of voting age and the cleansing of phantom and illegal voters;
• eradication of postal vote abuses;
• Reduction of eligible voting age from 21 to 18 years;
• fair campaign period to allow voters adequate time to make informed decisions on their choice from competing candidates and political parties.
• eradication of electoral offences and corrupt practices, as money politics to buy votes;
• introduction of the concept of caretaker government to carry out day-to-day administration of the country between dissolution of Parliament and polling day where the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers are legally barred from abusing and misusing their public offices, resources or funds for any party electioneering campaigning on pain of disqualification despite election – like the case of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi whose election to Parliament was declared null and void in 1975 on grounds of electoral malpractices because she had used government resources including helicopter for campaigning.
• An independent, credible and professional Elections Commission to carry out the constitutional duty to conduct free and fair elections, and not one which claims that its responsibility is to conduct elections with no powers to ensure it is clean, free and fair.
• Free and fair access to media;
• Fair and democratic redelineation of constituencies to give meaning to the principle of “one man, one vote, one value”.
For four decades these calls for a free, fair and clean electoral system had been ignored by UMNO and Barisan Nasional because they have been able to perpetuate their political power through such an undemocratic, unfair and even corrupt electoral system.
Is there now a genuine “change of heart” by the Prime Minister, UMNO and BN represented by the formation of the PSC for electoral reforms before Parliament today? Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #84
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa on Monday, 3 October 2011, 10:38 am
By M. Bakri Musa
Chapter 10: Freedom, Justice, and the Law
Society and Individuals
Society and individual may be the two sides of the same coin; nonetheless our attitude or more importantly the attitude of those in power as to which side to be viewed first, involves more than just a simple toss of the coin. The difference between a totalitarian state versus a civil one is that with the former, the individual serves the state; in a civilized society, the state is there for the citizens. This seminal distinction makes all the difference.
The purported supremacy of Asian values that place a premium on societal goals over the dignity of the individual is in reality at best nothing more than a benign manifestation of authoritarian tendencies. It is no surprise that such societies are prone to militaristic and dictatorial tendencies, as demonstrated by Communist China and the Japan of World War II.
Read the rest of this entry »
A vote for Najib is a vote for…
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, MCA, Media on Monday, 3 October 2011, 2:00 am
— Tan Teck Huat
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 02, 2011
OCT 2 — … Utusan Malaysia, The Star, News Sraits Times and other propaganda papers.
Today I made the colossal mistake of reading that MCA-owned ragsheet, The Star.
Under the pretence of caring about the future of Malaysia, they went on and on about hudud laws, trying to frighten Malaysians about PAS and Pakatan Rakyat.
But there was nothing in the paper about the theft of native land in Sarawak, about corruption in the country and abuse of power by Barisan Nasional politicians, including those from the MCA.
It is the same with Utusan Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
New Deal
Letters
by Toh Leong
I read CSL speech (MCA 58th AGM). Sound okay in rhetoric, but can he match it with actions. Walk the talk as he expects others who are not in power to do.
The PKFZ scandal persisted since three previous MCA transport ministers. Are they going to continue keeping quiet, and hope the people will forget?
The MCA believes in peaceful dissent. How come they did not support Bersih in the first place. Tear gas and water cannons were fired into a hospital. Its minister promised an investigation, but nothing happens. Looks like empty vessel making noises. there is absolutely no concern of the two new laws to replace the repressive ISA. At least, state that detention without trail is not in the best interests of the rakyat. It is a weapon of colonialists and repressive regimes. Read the rest of this entry »
Why MCA is finished
Posted by Kit in MCA, Thomas Lee on Sunday, 2 October 2011, 2:26 pm
by Thomas Lee
COMMENT
I think the MCA will be totally wiped out at the next general election for the following reasons:
(1) The people, especially the educated urban voters, are fed up and want a big and drastic change. So they will dump the MCA and Gerakan, and will go all out to vote for the alternative front, especially the DAP.
(2) Looking at the type of leaders the MCA currently has, it is obvious that almost none of them are fit and credible to be elected representatives. The MCA will lose if it fields its present leaders and those who lost in the last general election, including the foolish ones who talk rubbish all the time (like the fellow who wants to set up a “Chinese Perkasa” or that Penang wanita leader who attacked Guan Eng for giving projects to Malay contractors via open tenders).
(3) If the DAP fields candidates like the late Teoh Beng Hock’s sister against the MCA president’s son in Johore, he will lose his deposit. Donald will also be roasted and lose his deposit if he is fielded again. There is no hope for any MCA candidate in Penang, and the party should stay out of the state or risks having all its candidate lose deposits there. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP lawmaker claims offered RM150,000 to run for BN in GE13
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Najib Razak on Saturday, 1 October 2011, 8:35 pm
By Debra Chong
Oct 01, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — A suspended Johor DAP assemblyman today revealed he had been offered RM150,000 and 50 acres of land to quit his party and stand as an independent candidate aligned to rival Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming national polls.
First-term Bentayan state lawmaker Gwee Tong Hiang said he was approached last Tuesday by a Chinese man claiming to be a representative from the Prime Minister’s Department who caught him while he was feeling down over his six-month suspension for alleged power abuse. Read the rest of this entry »
Come to the light(-hearted) side
Posted by Kit in Elections, Media, Najib Razak on Saturday, 1 October 2011, 4:29 pm
— Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 01, 2011
OCT 1 — So Jabba the Hutt has struck the first blow against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s new reform package barely two weeks after it was announced.
Despite promising to give more latitude to the media, his administration’s knee-jerk response to the “Undilah” video has only demonstrated that old habits die hard — if something disagrees with you, ban it.
The issue for me is not whether Pete Teo had intended to draw parallels between Najib and the hermaphroditic mob boss.
Only Teo truly knows the answer to that and, even if the allegation were true, the last time I checked it wasn’t a crime to be a hypocrite (in this case, to be allegedly partisan in what was intended to be a non-partisan project).
The issue is the disproportionate reaction of government to the perceived slight. To think the wheels of our state machinery were put in motion for what is, at worst, a sly but harmless dig at the current administration.
Lighten up, guys. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng pohon ampun, Umno bila pula?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Crime, Johore, Lim Guan Eng, UMNO on Saturday, 1 October 2011, 3:30 pm
— by Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2011
30 SEPT — Saya ingin mengucapkan sekalung tahniah kepada Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng kerana bertindak untuk memohon ampun kepada Sultan Johor kerana isu kenyataan beliau di Singapura baru-baru ini. Kenyataan beliau itu telah di isukan sebagai kenyataan yang memburuk-burukan negeri Johor serta Sultan yang menaungi negeri itu.
Guan Eng telah memohon ampun dan maaf kepada Raja yang menaungi rakyat dan negeri Johor. Beliau memohon ampun jika kenyataan yang belum tentu kesahihannya itu menyinggung perasaan kebawah Duli Tuanku Johor.
Tindakan Guan Eng ini melambangkan sifat gentleman beliau dan memahami yang negara kita mempunyai Raja-Raja Melayu yang rakyat patut menzahirkan ketaat setiaan kepada Raja-Raja Melayu sentiasa. Tindakan memohon ampun ini adalah satu sifat kepimpinan yang tinggi dan merendah diri yang ada kepada pemimpin muda ini.
Sekarang saya ingin pula menunggu bila pula Umno untuk memohon ampun dan maaf kepada Raja-Raja Melayu kerana menghina Raja-Raja Melayu semasa krisis Perlembagaan pada tahun 1993 dahulu. Sehingga sekarang Umno belum lagi memohon ampun kepada Kebawah Duli Raja-Raja Melayu kerana menelanjangkan kewibawaan Raja-Raja Melayu semasa krisis perlembagaan itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Please walk the talk
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP on Friday, 30 September 2011, 1:22 pm
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2011
SEPT 30 — One day soon, I hope a Malaysian leader will emerge who will say what he means and means what he says.
This leader will not tailor his message to his audience, be in love with symbolic acts and depend on image makeovers.
This leader will not be afraid of making unpopular but necessary decisions and policies for the country and will not allow family members or associates to plunder the country at will.
Prime Minister Najib Razak last night spoke at a gathering of Malay business and economic NGOs. He told them not to be too infatuated with protectionism. That was good but in the same speech he also reminded them that the government had reserved more than 40 per cent of the massive MRT project for Bumiputera companies.
That certainly sounds like protectionism to me, and molly-coddling a group of businessmen and creating unnatural business conditions for them. Read the rest of this entry »
Any DPP can charge A-G
Posted by Kit in Court, Law & Order, Letters on Friday, 30 September 2011, 12:27 pm
Letters
Mat Zain Ibrahim
30.09.2011
IF YDP AGONG CAN BE DECIEVED,WORST THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO US
The Attorney General has been challenged to account for the three expert reports, he was alleged to have fabricated in an investigation into a particular case. Notwithstanding mounting public outrage for the AG to come clean on this issue,he chose to maintain a deafening silence, instead of making known his position.
Should he finds it tough though, to account for all the three,which is understandable, he should at least show his sincerity by giving an account for just one of them. Any one of the three that he is comfortable with, will do.
For the benefit of all, the first expert report was dated 26 October 1998.The said report together with the second expert report was properly tendered during the Black-Eye RCI proceedings in 1999, which was duly recorded by the Commissioners. However, before the RCI’s final report was presented to YDP Agong ,the said first report went missing.
No other persons other than the maker of the documents and the AG himself have personal interests over those expert reports.
The onus to account for the making and the subsequent disappearance of the said report dated 26.10.1998 before it reached The Agong, lies solely on Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail,the AG. Fabrication of evidence is one thing, how it was disposed of, is another. Read the rest of this entry »
S’wak deports Haris Ibrahim
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Sarawak on Thursday, 29 September 2011, 7:07 pm
Patrick Lee | September 29, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: Human rights activist Haris Ibrahim has been denied entry into Sarawak and is currently awaiting deportation.
Haris, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) president, said that he was detained by Sarawak immigration authorites after landing at the Kuching International Airport at about 5.30pm today.
“The order of notification is the same as the one in April (this year). (But) I haven’t seen any papers (about this deportation) yet,” he told FMT through a telephone conversation.
He will be sent back to KLIA on a 7.30pm flight. Read the rest of this entry »
Kedah-Kelantan pipeline carrot for Umno men, claims US cable
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Elections, UMNO, Wikileaks on Thursday, 29 September 2011, 6:41 pm
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — A leaked US diplomatic cable issued in 2007 said that Malaysia’s RM21 billion trans-peninsula oil pipeline was likely launched as a means to reward Umno loyalists with lucrative contracts if Kelantan’s PAS government fell in Election 2008.
The cable pointed out that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports were prepared nor economic viability studies conducted for the project as ecological risks were not a major concern to the then Abdullah administration.
“Domestic politics may be a bigger driver for the project than the potential economic payoff,” said the cable, leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks and published by the Malaysia Today news portal today.
It said the government viewed the pipeline, which was to run from Kedah to Kelantan, as an opportunity to reward Umno supporters “regardless of whether or not the project makes long-term sense”.
“The refinery and pipeline in Bachok would be seen as a potential Umno deliverable and might just tip the balance in a PAS-controlled state shortly before the election,” the cable said.
It added that such order of business for major projects in Malaysia was “typical”. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan: Hudud only if all parties agree
Posted by Kit in Islamic state, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 29 September 2011, 8:19 am
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) agreed today that the contentious hudud or Islamic criminal law is not part of its joint policy until all parties agree to it, stepping back from the brink of a major difference that broke an earlier opposition coalition.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told a press conference just after midnight that the set of Islamic laws was “certainly now not PR policy and DAP’s objection has to be respected.”
Anwar said PR will continue to allow its members to air different views. — File pic
“Yes, very clear, it has to be together,” the PKR de facto leader replied to a question on whether any move to implement hudud would need the unanimous agreement of all three parties in the pact. Read the rest of this entry »
Hukum hudud is not Pakatan Rakyat agenda
Posted by Kit in Islam, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 29 September 2011, 2:30 am
KENYATAAN BERSAMA MAJLIS PIMPINAN PAKATAN RAKYAT
28 September 2011
Mesyuarat Pakatan Rakyat malam ini memperakui dan mempertahankan dasar-dasar bersama yang telah dipersetujui sebelum ini sepertimana terkandung dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan, Dasar Bersama dan Buku Jingga.
Pakatan Rakyat terus memperteguhkan iltizam politik bagi mempertingkatkan daya-saing ekonomi, pendapatan rakyat, mutu pendidikan, kesihatan dan menangani kos kehidupan yang semakin menekan.
Mesyuarat juga memperakui dan menghormati perbedaan ideologi setiap parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat sebagai sebuah permuafakatan demokratik, termasuk pendirian PAS berkenaan hukum syariah.
Mesyuarat juga memperakui kewujudan Enakmen Jenayah Syariah II Kelantan 1993 dan enakmen Jenayah Syariah Terengganu 2003 yakni sebelum wujudnya muafakat Pakatan Rakyat. Keadilan dan PAS menghormati perbezaan pendirian oleh DAP dalam perkara ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Middle Malaysia
By Liew Chin Tong | September 28, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
SEPT 28 — Middle Malaysia is elusive but it is clear that whichever coalition that is able to win across the traditional fault lines of race, religion and regions takes Federal power.
Barisan Nasional is now the world’s oldest elected government still in office. Its predecessor, the Alliance party, first won the Federal election for self-government in 1955.
BN’s longevity in government can be attributed to successful manipulation of the carrot and stick. Carrots range from contracts for big tycoons to rural patronage for the Umno base while the sticks are really big – dissenters can be put behind bars without trial for years while the mass media are muzzled.
But there is something deeper: there is no alternative.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bumi quotas to go eventually, says Najib
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP on Wednesday, 28 September 2011, 8:02 am
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 27, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed today the need to eventually do away with Bumiputera quotas but said the government must continue to support the community’s best talent to ensure a more competitive business environment.
The prime minister pointed out that the New Economic Model (NEM) promotes affirmative action based more on meritocracy, saying “we must promote the right Bumiputera”.
He said offering quotas would promote complacency, hamper economic growth and bury Bumiputera talent.
“What we have done in the past is we have not promoted the right kind of people.
“We want to do away from (with) quotas but we must support them (Bumiputera entrepreneurs) in a way that would allow them to grow,” he told the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2011 here this evening.
“If we give them quotas, what will happen is that they will rest on their laurels and eventually, they will not gain expertise,” he added.
Najib said the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target “does not mean anything”, particularly if entrepreneurs decide to sell off their shares when prices soar, leaving little in the hands of the Bumiputeras. Read the rest of this entry »
Beware of false prophets
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEP on Tuesday, 27 September 2011, 11:37 pm
— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
SEPT 27 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak certainly talks a good game. It is election season and he needs to win big so everything goes.
Today he talks about how Bumiputera quotas need to go, eventually. No one knows when this eventually will be because as we all know the Umno-hijacked New Economic Policy was extended under pressure from the Umno beneficiaries.
Najib is not the first Umno president to talk about removing quotas or taking away the crutches from Bumiputeras.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Badawi both mentioned this when they wanted to show Malaysians that they were enlightened leaders and when they were fishing for support from non-Malays before elections.
Needless to say all their “good intentions” never materialised. Once they got the votes, they promptly forgot about taking away the quotas and instead fortified the distortions in the system. Read the rest of this entry »
