Damned, damned, damned…
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, UMNO on Thursday, 19 March 2009, 12:40 pm
“Damned if we do and damned if we don’t…”
This is the lament of Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen, chairman of the Umno disciplinary board, for disciplinary action meted out to Umno members.
But shouldn’t the Umno board also be damned for being able to take action only against 15 Umno members, when the number should be in hundreds as UMNO is “awash” with money politics and corruption in the Umno party elections, running into hundreds of millions of ringgit.
This is the question I posed in Parliament this morning during the 2008 Supplementary estimates committee stage debate on the Education Ministry. Read the rest of this entry »
Sedition charge against Karpal
Posted by Kit in Court, DAP, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Perak on Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 11:46 pm
(The following is the charge preferred against DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh under Sedition Act 1948 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Tuesday 17 March 2009)
DALAM MAKAMAH SESYEN DI KUALA LUMPUR
KES TANGKAP NO:
PENDAKWA RAYA
LAWAN
KARPAL SINGH A/L RAM SINGH
Pertuduhan
Kamu didakwa atas kehendak Pendakwa Raya dan pertuduhan terhadap kamu ialah:
“Bahawa kamu pada 6 Februari 2009 jam antara 12.00 tengahari dan 12.30 petang di Tetuan Karpal Singh & Co yang beralamat No. 67, Jalan Pudu Lama, dalam Daerah Dang Wangi, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur dalam satu sidang akhbar telah menyebut kata-kata menghasut (transkrip ucapan dilampirkan sebagai LAMPIRAN ‘A’ kepada pertuduhan ini dan kata-kata menghasut digariskan); dan oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan satu kesalahan di bawah seksyen 4(1)(b) Akta Hasutan 1948 (Akta 15) dan boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen 4(1) Akta yang sama.”
Hukuman
Kamu boleh, bagi kesalahan kali pertama, didenda tidak melebihi lima ribu ringgit atau dipenjara selama tempoh tidak melebihi tiga tahun atau kedua-duanya, dan bagi kesalahan yang kemudian boleh dipenjara selama tempoh tidak melebihi lima tahun.
Bertarikh pada 16 Mac 2009
PENDAKWA RAYA
[signature]
(TAN SRI ABDUL GANI PATAIL)
PENDAKWA RAYA
Read the rest of this entry »
If truth be told, Najib can’t be PM
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 7:27 pm
Zaid Ibrahim
Mar 18, 09
(Speech by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim at the Royal Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur)
This is the second time I have been invited to address a Rotary Club. Thank you for the honour. Given the times we live in, perhaps it might be appropriate for me to speak about the leadership transition that has been foisted upon us Malaysians.
I say ‘foisted’ because neither me nor anyone in this room had any role or say in the choice of the person who will lead Malaysia next. We were mere bystanders in a political chess game. And yet the transition is a subject of great consequence to the nation, one I would say is of great national interest.
Leadership is definitive; the individual who assumes the mantle of leadership of this nation, whomever that may be, is one who for better or worse will leave his mark on us. His will be the hand who guides us to greater success, or possibly gut-wrenching disaster.
Save for the dawn of Merdeka, never in the history of this country has the choice of prime minister been so crucial: Malaysia is in crisis. We are facing tremendous economic challenges with unavoidably harsh socio-political consequences. Our much undermined democracy is once again being assailed by those who would prefer a more autocratic form of governance.
Our public institutions are hollowed out caricatures, unable to distinguish vested party interests from national ones, unable to offer the man in the street refuge from the powerful and connected.
Our social fabric that took us from colony to an independent nation and on through the obstacles of nation building has reached a point where it sometimes feel like we are hanging on by a thread. This is the Malaysia we live in. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib heralds the coming of a New Dark Age
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 4:56 pm
Parliament has just passed the RM60 billion Second Economic Stimulus Package in the form of a mini-budget, but there has been nothing “stimulating” on the economy.
Instead, the effect had been the opposite as illustrated by the unchecked fall in the Kuala Lumpur stockmarket index in the past six days since the announcement of the RM60 billion package, with the KLSE registering a fall from 858.22 points on March 10 to 841 points at the close of the market today.
Far from being able to stimulate the economy, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the main cause for the crisis of confidence gripping the country, even undermining the RM60 billion second economic stimulus package announced by him last week. Read the rest of this entry »
BTN communal poison again
Posted by Kit in nation building, Parliament on Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 11:27 am
Yesterday, I received an indignant email from a recent participant in the course of the Biro Tata Negara (BTN), funded by taxpayers but acting as the propaganda arm of UMNO, pumping communal poison instead of spreading the message of national unity.
Despite criticisms against the BTN both in and out of Parliament, invariably followed by denials by the Minister or Deputy Minister concerned, it is clear from this email that BTN had not changed one whit its irresponsible ways.
I read out the complaints in the email in Parliament yesterday during the debate on the 2008 Supplementary Estimates, viz: Read the rest of this entry »
Not fit to contest as UMNO Deputy President but fit to continue as Malacca CM?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, UMNO on Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 8:07 pm
How can Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam be barred from contesting to be the Umno Deputy President for involvement in money politics (euphemism for corruption) but yet be fit to continue as the Malacca Chief Minister?
The same question applies to Khairy Jamaluddin, who was given a warning for being involved in money politics – as to how he could continue even as MP for Rembau.
I posed these questions in Parliament during the 2008 Supplementary Estimates after the announcement by the Umno Disciplinary Board this evening.
In my speech, I quoted the interview by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in Sunday Star (8.3.09) on money politics in the Umno elections, where he admitted:
“It’s still quite rampant except that it has gone underground.”
Karpal charged with sedition for saying Sultan can be sued
By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
17.3.09
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – DAP chairman Karpal Singh was charged this morning with sedition for saying Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin’s removal as Perak menteri besar by Sultan Azlan Shah could be questioned in a court of law.
The veteran lawyer-politician was charged at the Sessions Court here before Judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1946.
Karpal is further accused of several other seditious statements related to the entire Perak constitutional crisis which began a month ago.
He is accused of committing the crime during a press conference at his law firm here on February 6.
A partial transcript of the press conference, which formed the basis for the charge, was read out in open court.
Among the underlined statements, which are allegedly seditious are:
“With that ruling of the federal court which has stood the test of time for 32 years beyond a pale of a doubt, the Sultan of Perak has contravened Article 16(6) of the Constitutions of the State of Perak,” referring to a 1977 Federal Court decision that the King had acted beyond his authority in confirming three detention orders under the Emergency Ordinance.
“Clearly the Sultan of Perak cannot invoke his powers under Article 16(1) which states [His Royal Highness shall appoint an Executive Council] to appoint a Barisan Nasional Executive Council with a new Menteri Besar and a new government. The Government of a Menteri Besar Dato’ Haji Nizar bin Jamaluddin still had constitutional supremacy and legitimacy. The actions of the Sultan of Perak are clearly, premature.” Read the rest of this entry »
Political Roguery Runs Riot In Perak
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Martin Jalleh, Perak on Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 7:34 am
by Martin Jalleh
(MJ tries to capture the initial events leading to Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory in Perak)
The rakyat of Perak are robbed in broad daylight of their political right to determine the State Government they want. Their will is ridden roughshod over by a few renegades and running dogs ready to reap their reward. A day of reckoning will come.
A fraudulent state government rules Perak. It is a farcical government of a fallacious “majority”. The people are frustrated and furious. They believe that a fake legislature forced upon them will eventually face its fatal consequences.
C4 and 4Cs
The Election Commission (EC) plays politics and panders to the political (pay)master. It even portrays itself as a court of law and makes a palpably wrong decision that prevents the people from being the paramount arbitrator to overcome Perak’s political deadlock.
The new EC chairman refuses to recognise the Perak Speaker’s request to call for two by-elections after two assemblymen “prostituted” themselves. It is a duty which he is constitutionally bound to do so – a fact promptly and plainly confirmed by his predecessor.
The EC chairman sets a precedent that will perpetuate party hopping and paves the way for Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory. He reinforces growing public suspicion that the EC is hand-in-glove with the powers-that-be. Read the rest of this entry »
D-Day for Ali, KJ and Khir tomorrow?
Zubaidah Abu Bakar in her New Straits Times column “Umno’s ticking time bomb” today wrote:
“Some people are expecting something big to happen over the next few days — either someone eyeing a senior post would be charged, disqualified from contesting or would withdraw from contesting.”
Is tomorrow, Tuesday, 17th March 2009, D-Day for contenders for UMNO and UMNO Youth top posts, viz: Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar and Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Khir Toyo?
Karpal to be charged with sedition
Understand that DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh is to be charged with sedition at the Jalan Duta Sessions Court, Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning at 9 am.
Darkness descends every day with Najib Razak getting closer to become the next Prime Minister.
Parliament becomes kangaroo court
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Parliament on Monday, 16 March 2009, 3:34 pm
Parliament convened as a court of justice this morning to decide the fate of DAP MP for Puchong, Gobind Singh Deo, over what transpired in Parliament last Thursday but it operated as a kangaroo court as Gobind was not even allowed the floor to defend himself.
For the first hour, Pakatan Rakyat MPs raised one objection after another against the motion to suspend Gobind for one year as MP without pay and privileges, from the propriety of the motion whether from the standpoint of the Parliamentary Standing Orders, the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 or the Federal Constitution, to questions including double jeopardy and sub judice but they were all brushed aside by the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin.
Read the rest of this entry »
Calling For A New Breed of Politicians
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa on Monday, 16 March 2009, 3:05 pm
By M. Bakri Musa
Book review: Saifuddin Abdullah: Politik Baru: Mematangkan Demokrasi Malaysia. English version: New Politics: Towards A Mature Malaysian Democracy. Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 2008. 88 Pages, RM 30.00 (Sabah & Sarawak: RM35).
It is now de rigeur for ambitious politicians to pen their autobiographies, or put in print their political thoughts. Barack Obama did both, presumably just to be sure, first with his autobiographical Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, and then his The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. That strategy obviously worked!
I am not privy to Deputy Minister for Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Saifuddin Abdullah’s political aspirations, but he has written Politik Baru: Mematangkan Demokrasi Malaysia, and its English translation, New Politics: Towards A Mature Malaysian Democracy. Both versions are included under this one cover.
Saifuddin has written three other books. Impressive! He is way ahead of another leader both in literary as well as political milestones. At a comparable stage in his life, Dr. Mahathir had yet to write a book or hold any ministerial appointment. Read the rest of this entry »
3-day nefarious Operation Democracy Tree plaque vandalism–desecration completed
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Perak on Sunday, 15 March 2009, 9:33 am
Vandalism and desecration of the Democracy Tree plaque has been completed in a three-day nefarious operation.
There is now not a trace of the Democracy plague or relic at the historic Democracy Raintree in Ipoh.
Ipoh City Council workers in a lorry and tractor were sighted at the site this morning at about 7.30 am this morning to “cleanse” the site, removing every bit and piece of the Democracy Monument.
Even the signposts for the five Democracy saplings were not spared.
Consistency Of Purpose, Duty And Responsibility
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Sunday, 15 March 2009, 8:51 am
by Tunku Abdul Aziz
mysinchew.com
Whenever I think of my friend Karpal Singh, I am reminded of my great headmaster, the late Dr. Frank J. Rawcliffe who taught us the importance of being consistent, even if meant sometimes upsetting some people.
You may say what you want about Karpal’s manner, his magisterial pronouncements often delivered with a great roar full of fiery passion, but you cannot accuse him of being inconsistent in the position he has taken over the years on matters involving both personal and public ethical principles.
While Karpal clearly recognises that there are, in politics, no permanent friends or foes, he believes devoutly in the importance of “permanent principles.”
Unprincipled politics as we have seen in Malaysia can very quickly degenerate into unmitigated disasters. The unsavoury Perak affair is a case in point.
I believe in, and will fight for, my right to say what I like within the law. I naturally accept willingly the accompanying responsibility that such rights impose on me.
I should expect to be free from threats of violence for my views, and I was, therefore, shocked to see on TV a disgraceful act of intolerance by a group of UMNO youth, and for a second or two I thought I was watching a familiar scene from a 1935 newsreel showing the storm troopers of the Third Reich pouncing on a hapless Jew in a wheel chair.
On this occasion, it was in the hallowed grounds of the national parliament, no less that the brave Malay warriors chose to flex their muscle. The only difference was that UMNO’s storm troopers were not wearing the dreaded brown shirts of their German counterparts of days gone by. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M says Perak grab unlawful
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Perak on Saturday, 14 March 2009, 6:19 pm
Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2009
By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — More than a month after Barisan Nasional ousted Pakatan Rakyat from Perak, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the takeover was not done according to the law.
He said mistakes, bad strategy and carelessness in the Feb 5 power grab, orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had led to the current crisis in the state.
“You cannot topple a menteri besar or a prime minister without a no-confidence vote in the assembly. There is no other provision,” he said at a function organised by Mubarak, the association for former elected representatives.
“Umno-BN was too careless and did not wait for an assembly but instead asked the Ruler to sack the menteri besar,” he said, referring to Sultan Azlan Shah’s decision to ask Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin to resign.
“As far as I know, there is no such provision in the Perak or Federal Constitution,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said that BN should have done it properly and not “be in conflict with the law” as the courts may now rule that the Sultan has no right to sack a menteri besar.
He added that a Sultan could only reject a candidate for one of his choice after an election but even this candidate could be defeated in the assembly by a vote. Read the rest of this entry »
Double jeopardy – Motion to suspend Gobind for one year without pay against parliamentary Standing Orders
Posted by Kit in Parliament on Saturday, 14 March 2009, 12:42 pm
The motion to be moved by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to suspend DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo for a year without parliamentary pay and privileges is against the parliamentary Standing Orders.
Gobind had already been punished by the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Ronald Kiandee with a one-day suspension for what transpired in the House on Thursday, and it goes against all the rudiments of common sense, fair play and justice to invoke the Umno/Barisan Nasional parliamentary majority to subject Gobind to double jeopardy with a very harsh second punishment over the same parliamentary incident. Read the rest of this entry »
Baggage too heavy for our new PM
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 14 March 2009, 11:06 am
By Tunku Aziz
Opinion | The Malaysian Insider | 13 March 2009
No one in living memory has ever had to drag so much unnecessary baggage along with him as Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is doing on assuming the highest political office in Malaysia.
My heart naturally goes out to the unfortunate man who has had to fend off, without a break, a relentless barrage of poison-tipped arrows all aimed at his personal and public integrity.
I will not claim to know how he must feel because I would have absolutely no idea unless I were in his well-heeled shoes. And this would be most unlikely even in a million years.
Under different and happier circumstances, he should be celebrating his moment of destiny, the attainment, albeit Umno-style, of the greatest political prize of all.
Read the rest of this entry »
Further vandalism of Democracy Plaque – Spirit of Democracy Relic inspires fear
The Democracy Tree plaque in Ipoh can be vandalized and desecrated but the spirit for democracy will grow stronger and more determined.
This was what happened when the Democracy Tree plaque was vandalized in the small hours of yesterday morning, with the vandals smashing into smithereens the top portion of the democracy plaque, turning it into a Democracy Relic.
But the Democracy Relic also inspires fear among the enemies of democracy and freedom in Perak and Malaysia.
In the small hours of this morning, like thieves in the night, the vandals went to work again, pouring black paint to erase the wordings of the Democracy Relic immortalizing the historic “Tree Perak State Assembly” on March 3, 2009, which has entered the folklore of the human struggle for democracy, attracting national and international interest and attention.
The enemies of democracy are in mortal fear of the Democracy Tree, Democracy Plaque and the Democratic Relic.
Read the rest of this entry »
Gobind to be suspended as MP without pay for one year from Monday
Posted by Kit in DAP, Parliament on Friday, 13 March 2009, 6:27 pm
The UMNO/Barisan Nasional government is moving against the DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo and will abuse their parliamentary majority, against all parliamentary convention, tradition and practices, to summarily suspend Gobind as Member of Parliament without pay for one year with instant effect from Monday.
The following is the motion which has been placed on Monday’s Order Paper as the first item of business after question-time:
ATURAN URUSAN MESYUARAT DAN USUL-USUL
1. Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri akan mencadangkan:
BAHAWA pada 12 Mac 2009, Yang Berhormat Tuan Gobind Singh Deo, Ahli Parlimen kawasan Puchong semasa perbahasan peringkat Jawatankuasa Rang Undang-undang Perbekalan Tambahan (2009) 2009 telah mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang mendakwa YAB. Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Pekan terlibat dalam kes pembunuhan.
BAHAWA Yang Berhormat Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Puchong juga telah mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang menghina Timbalan Yang di-Pertua Dewan Rakyat setelah diperintah keluar Dewan.
DAN BAHAWA kenyataan-kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Yang Berhormat Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Puchong adalah merupakan satu dakwaan yang sangat serius dan menyalahi hak dan keistimewaan sebagai Ahli Parlimen serta merupakan satu penghinaan kepada Dewan ini.
MAKA INILAH DIPERSETUJUI BAHAWA Yang Berhormat Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Puchong hendaklah digantung tugas dari jawatannya sebagai Ahli Parlimen selama dua belas (12) bulan dari tarikh keputusan usul ini diluluskan. Dalam masa penggantungan ini Yang Berhormat Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Puchong tidak akan dibayar kesemua bayaran elaun dan kemudahan sebagai seorang Ahli Parlimen.
Najib – like Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Parliament on Friday, 13 March 2009, 12:40 pm
At the beginning of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s winding up of the RM60 billion mini budget (second economic stimulus package) in Parliament yesterday, I asked why his response to the economic crisis was so slow and so late, when it was evident to all economists and analysts last year that his RM7 billion “first economic stimulus package” was totally inadequate to the economic challenges facing the country.
As far back as January 21, Najib was so deep in denial that he could maintain that Malaysia could still achieve 3.5% GDP growth this year when there were already forecasts of negative growth.
It took Najib another seven weeks in his mini-budget of March 10 to revise Malaysia’s estimated GDP growth this year to between -1% to 1%, when there were even more dire forecasts of negative growth of between three to five per cent.
As Finance Minister of a country facing the world’s worst economic crisis in 80 years, Najib should have focused single-mindedly on the country’s economy.
Instead, he neglected his responsibilities as the Finance Minister at the country’s most critical stage to play politics, orchestrating the unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak, which has plunged Perak and the country into a new crisis of confidence in governance and democracy.
I told Najib in Parliament that what he did was like Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned. Read the rest of this entry »
