From Malaysia-Today
(The Edge) Despite the fact that he has all but thrown his weight behind the Opposition, former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim has thus far been coy about joining any Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party.
Yesterday, he sparked a flurry of speculation about this matter when he indicated he was keen to return to active politics.
Most analysts believe it’s just a question of when but the party in question is not really in doubt. Most likely it will be PKR, they say.
And it would be for the best for Pakatan Rakyat if he does. Although all three parties, PKR, DAP and PAS are considered more or less equals in the coalition, realpolitik dictates that the leader of PR has to come from PKR for the simple reason that neither a DAP or PAS leader would be considered acceptable to the broader public.
DAP is seen as too non-Malay though it’s nominally multi-racial while PAS is seen as too Islamic, although it has progressive and modernist elements within its ranks.
PR currently has a unifying figure in the form of its leader Anwar Ibrahim but he is the only one. What PR sorely needs is a credible and acceptable No. 2 who can represent both PKR and PR at the national level. Such a person needs to be acceptable to all parties. Zaid seems to be that man.
That he resigned his Cabinet post in opposition to the ISA – the bane of many an Opposition leader as most of them have been detained under this dreaded law – gives him added credibility. That he was kicked out of Umno probably gives him even more.
Zaid never quite fit in Umno anyway. He was once accused of engaging in money politics by the Umno disciplinary board in 2005, a charge which he vehemently denied. He was subsequently issued a warning, but was very vocal with his dissatisfaction towards the investigative and sanctioning procedures. This led to a three-year suspension, although it was eventually reduced to 18 months.
His political career was dealt another blow when he was dropped from contesting in the March 8, 2008 election. It was BN’s disastrous outing in the polls that saved his political career within Umno. Shortly after the election, he was roped in by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to help bolster his credentials as a reformist PM.
As de facto law minister, Zaid tried to introduce reforms to the judiciary but faced strong opposition from some of his colleagues in the cabinet. This frustrated him to no end but the last straw was the detention of blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, DAP MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng under the ISA.
He quit his post and shortly afterwards was seen at PKR’s annual congress in November. Umno subsequently sacked him. He was also seen in Kuala Terengganu during the by-election in January. Although he sat beside famous opposition icons, he fended off suggestions that he would soon be joining the opposition.
Zaid has recently returned to the media spotlight for his plea to the King to not recognise Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as prime minister because he was a divisive figure. This is the kind of rhetoric we are used to hearing from the Opposition but not from a former Cabinet minister from Umno.
At the launch of his book Saya Pun Melayu in Petaling Jaya yesterday, he told reporters that he will remain active in politics, but declined to say which party he would join.
Anwar, who was also present, was quick to chip in that it would be “the right party”. In a now-familiar refrain, Zaid promised to make a decision when the time is right.
Political analyst Wong Chin Huat feels that Zaid would most likely join PKR, although he felt would also make sense for Zaid to join DAP as his position on ethnicity and religion is very close to DAP’s stance.
“The Chinese in DAP will accept him; they love Malay critics of Malay supremacy and Islam,” says Wong. “It makes them feel safer.”
Though Zaid spoke openly yesterday about his great respect for PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat, it is almost certain he would not join the Islamic party due to its hardline stance on the hudud issue. Zaid actually once sued PAS in 2000, when he was still Umno Kota Bharu division head, for wanting to implement hudud laws.
Political analyst Ong Kian Ming says Zaid would most likely join PKR as the party has broader appeal than DAP and PAS. However, he feels that Zaid will not join the party before he is offered a top position and a Parliamentary seat so that he can become an MP (he became a minister through the Senatorship route).
Ong says Zaid’s appeal would be very similar to Anwar’s in that he is acceptable to Malays as well as non-Malays from different walks of life and backgrounds. Also unlike PAS and DAP, which are well-established parties with many old-time leaders, PKR is a relatively young party. It would not ruffle too many feathers if Zaid were to be catapulted to the upper echelons of PKR.
PR is currently preoccupied with the three by-elections in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang, which it’s likely to win, and Batang Ai, where it has a fighting chance. Having already won two consecutive by-elections, PR is looking to score victory after victory to demoralize the BN.
With any luck, it might just win all three by-elections on April 7. Imagine the momentum the Opposition coalition would be able to generate if it shortly after that it wins in Bukit Lanjan (should Elizabeth Wong go through with her resignation) followed by yet another favourable by-election triggered by a PKR candidate giving up his seat for Zaid to contest in.
But first things first: They have to get him to stop being coy and join PKR for that to happen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The start of the Najib crackdown?
By Mr. Lim Kit Siang
Are Malaysians seeing the start of the Najib crackdown from events of the past week?
These developments include:
16.3.09: DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo suspended for one year in “kangaroo court” proceeding in Parliament without parliamentary pay and privileges for asking the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak whether he was involved in the murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu.
17.3.09: DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh charged under the Sedition Act 1948 for stating that a State Ruler can be brought to court in their official and personal capacities under the Constitution.
18.3.09: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) showed utter contempt for the doctrine of separation of powers and continued harassment of the Perak State Assembly Committee of Privileges chaired by Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar for suspending usurper Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir and his illegitimate six exco members from the assembly, by subjecting the committee members to questioning for the offence of corruption in misusing their powers.
23.3.09: Unreasonable and undemocratic three-month suspension of PAS’ Harakah and PKR’s Suara Keadilan;
23.3.09: Indiscriminate police firing of tear gas and chemical-lacked water on 5,000-people ceramah at Bukit Selambau, Kedah minutes after Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took the podium.
Since the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and constitutional power grab in Perak on 5th February 2009, personally orchestrated by Najib, the PM-in-waiting has confirmed the worst fears that his ascension as the sixth Prime Minister would see a return of Mahathirism and a Najib crackdown.
Media reports of the parliamentary debate on the Witness Protection Bill yesterday have been sanitized to remove all reference to questions about Najib’s suitability, integrity and legitimacy to become the new Prime Minister, so long as he is not prepared to take the necessary actions to clear all doubts haunting and hounding him, whether about mega defence deal commissions, the Altantuya Shariibuu murder case or the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.
During the debate, I referred to the spate of adverse international media reports about Najib’s coming ascension - in London Sunday Times on Sunday, Paris Liberation last week, as well as in Thailand and Australia - questioned the seriousness and the political will in the purported reform to root out corruption (of which the Protection of Witness Bill is part of the package), the disappearance of private investigator Bala Subramaniam after two statutory declarations highly detrimental to Najib’s reputation and integrity, and the urgent need for Najib to respond frontally to the many swirling allegations dogging him by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry to vindicate his innocence, as he had claimed.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz avoided all these burning issues with the stance that they were totally irrelevant to the Bill.
Who is really being protected - Najib?
Are Malaysians seeing the start of the Najib crackdown from events of the past week?
These developments include:
16.3.09: DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo suspended for one year in “kangaroo court” proceeding in Parliament without parliamentary pay and privileges for asking the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak whether he was involved in the murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu.
17.3.09: DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh charged under the Sedition Act 1948 for stating that a State Ruler can be brought to court in their official and personal capacities under the Constitution.
18.3.09: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) showed utter contempt for the doctrine of separation of powers and continued harassment of the Perak State Assembly Committee of Privileges chaired by Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar for suspending usurper Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir and his illegitimate six exco members from the assembly, by subjecting the committee members to questioning for the offence of corruption in misusing their powers.
23.3.09: Unreasonable and undemocratic three-month suspension of PAS’ Harakah and PKR’s Suara Keadilan;
23.3.09: Indiscriminate police firing of tear gas and chemical-lacked water on 5,000-people ceramah at Bukit Selambau, Kedah minutes after Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took the podium.
Since the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and constitutional power grab in Perak on 5th February 2009, personally orchestrated by Najib, the PM-in-waiting has confirmed the worst fears that his ascension as the sixth Prime Minister would see a return of Mahathirism and a Najib crackdown.
Media reports of the parliamentary debate on the Witness Protection Bill yesterday have been sanitized to remove all reference to questions about Najib’s suitability, integrity and legitimacy to become the new Prime Minister, so long as he is not prepared to take the necessary actions to clear all doubts haunting and hounding him, whether about mega defence deal commissions, the Altantuya Shariibuu murder case or the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.
During the debate, I referred to the spate of adverse international media reports about Najib’s coming ascension - in London Sunday Times on Sunday, Paris Liberation last week, as well as in Thailand and Australia - questioned the seriousness and the political will in the purported reform to root out corruption (of which the Protection of Witness Bill is part of the package), the disappearance of private investigator Bala Subramaniam after two statutory declarations highly detrimental to Najib’s reputation and integrity, and the urgent need for Najib to respond frontally to the many swirling allegations dogging him by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry to vindicate his innocence, as he had claimed.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz avoided all these burning issues with the stance that they were totally irrelevant to the Bill.
Who is really being protected - Najib?
Monday, March 23, 2009
First things first with Najib Raszak
by M. Bakri Musa
Barring divine intervention, or an incredibly stupid move on his part, Najib Razak is set to be Malaysia’s next Prime Minister come this April. He will assume office with an approval rating even lower than that of the man he will be replacing. He also has a dark cloud hovering over him that simply refuses to fade away.
Despite that, Najib could still lead Malaysia out of its current doldrums and on to greater heights. To achieve that, he must address two critical issues, one relating to his personal integrity and the other, his leadership. For the first, he must answer the many sordid allegations swirling around him, specifically with regard to the brutal murder of the pregnant Mongolian model Altantuya. With the second, he must select a cabinet and leadership team that would “wow” the nation.
One thing is certain. This is not the time for Malaysians to resort to extra constitutional means or set dangerous precedents that could later haunt us just to deny Najib his due. Asking the King to intervene is one such dangerous precedent. Allah aside, only Parliament or UMNO Supreme Council could legitimately remove Najib. As both moves are unlikely, we might just as well focus on the potentially more productive pursuit of at least trying to ensure that his tenure will be successful. We owe that to our children. Love for country should transcend obsession with politics.
This is also not the time to demonstrate on the streets just to express our loathing for the man. That would only hasten Malaysia’s degeneration towards another Pakistan. During these perilous economic times, Malaysians would not forgive their politicians should they indulge their followers in such theatrics.
Every new leader deserves the courtesy of a grace period. There will be time enough in the next election for us to express our judgment on Najib. Meanwhile be thankful that the incompetent and neglectful leadership of Abdullah is finally coming to an end.
The Mongolian Murder Mystery
For Najib to simply deny that he is not in any way involved with the murder or attribute evil motives on his critics – his current strategy – will not cut it. His swearing of innocence over the Quran may convince some mosque attendees but it will not remove the lingering suspicion. The alleged evidences against him are just too specific and detailed. There are the purported SMS exchanges with a prominent lawyer who was initially involved in defending one of the accused, as well as the erasure of the murder victim’s record of entry into the country.
I applaud Najib in not resorting to libel suits to silence his critics. This is a particularly pernicious habit of the powerful in the region, a reflection of their ingrained “might being right” mentality. This is also the addiction of those who think they are powerful (and thus beyond criticism) simply because they have privileged access to the court system.
What Najib should do is to have a full press conference open to all, including and especially foreign correspondents, representatives of the alternative media, prominent bloggers, and his severest critics. I would include here Malaysia-Today’s Raja Petra Kamarudin.
Apart from being thoroughly prepared, Najib should bring to and distribute at that press conference all possible exculpatory documents such as his phone logs and billing records, as well as copies of Altantuya’s visitor entry record. Anything less would only deepen the suspicion. Najib needs to prevail in the court of public opinion, not the court of law.
I am making a crucial assumption here, and that is, Najib is truly innocent. If he is in any way involved in the murder, no matter how tangentially, then he does not deserve to be in Putra Jaya. He should be sent to Pudu Prison instead.
A “Wow” Cabinet and Leadership Team
Tun Mahathir’s warning to Najib that he should not pick a corrupt cabinet, while headline grabbing and stern sounding, is neither insightful nor helpful. Of course no one wants to be associated with the corrupt. Unlike Mahathir’s advice, mine is more specific and practical.
Najib should dispense entirely with the current cabinet, bar none. This includes the most likely candidate for Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyuddin Yassin. This is the team that passionately supported Mahathir when he wanted to build that crooked bridge to Singapore, and then just as enthusiastically backed Abdullah when he cancelled it! These ministers are incapable of independent thought; they serve nothing more than as their leader’s echo chamber. Get rid of them all.
The job of finding enough fresh talent to fill his new cabinet would be made considerably easier if Najib were to substantially reduce its size to about a dozen members. Get rid of the Ministries of Women Affairs, Youth, Tourism, and Information, among others. Apart from the cost savings, such a move would also streamline his administration.
Widen the search beyond UMNO and Barisan, or even outside of politics. Malaysia does not lack for talent, only that many are currently turned off by politics.
Najib may not remember this, but his father effectively used the senate appointment route to recruit new talents. That was how he brought in such outstanding individuals as Tengku Razaleigh, Ghazali Shafie and Chong Hon Nyan. Tun Razak even sought those who had previously been expelled from the party, as he did with Mahathir. Likewise, Najib must be as daring and unconventional as his father was. This is no time to stick to the old tired playbook.
A pivotal decision for Najib would be his choice for Deputy Prime Minister. Although Muhyuddin is likely to be elected the deputy UMNO leader, he would be a poor choice as Deputy Prime Minister, Mahathir’s endorsement notwithstanding. Najib should politely decline Mahathir’s recommendation and buck party tradition.
Being of the same age and experience as Najib, Muhyuddin would bring nothing extra to the team. For another, there would always be the subtle and distracting rivalry between the two, with Muhyuddin impatiently waiting his turn. We have been through that before! In part to allay our fears of this, he has already displayed the stereotypical UMNO streak of sucking up to his superior, as evidenced by his over enthusiastic embrace of Najib. He also goes to great pain impressing everyone on how well he can work with Najib. In Freudian psychology they call that “reaction formation,” a tried-and-true defense mechanism.
Muhyuddin’s fatal flaw is that he views the office of Deputy Prime Minister primarily as Najib’s chief “gofer” rather than as the nation’s second in command.
Najib should break once and for all the current unhealthy coupling of party positions with governmental appointments. Thus he should keep Muhyuddin out of government and task him to reform UMNO, a monumental undertaking in itself. He had been chairing the committee to reform the party for the past few years. Let him continue there.
Najib should instead invite (beg if necessary) Tengku Razaleigh to be his Deputy. His considerable experience and wisdom would confer upon Najib’s team instant respect and credibility. While that is important it should not be the sole reason for picking him. Rather, Najib should maximally utilize Razaleigh’s skills and talent.
The major challenge would be to make Razaleigh accept the appointment. Appealing to the man’s sense of public duty would help, indicating that this would further his publicly-stated quest for a “unity” government.
The age, experience and temperament of the two are sufficiently different that the two would unlikely get entangled in a destructive rivalry. Instead they would complement each other, recalling the successful Tunku-Tun Razak’s partnership of two generations earlier, only this time with a role reversal.
Early in his term I suggested that Prime Minister Abdullah should choose Tengku Razaleigh as a sort of Co-Prime Minister. Such successful co-leadership teams are seen in many large corporations, the most visible being Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Had Abdullah done that, his (as well as the nation’s) fate would today be far different.
Apart from the cabinet, there are two other crucial senior governmental appointments: the chiefs of the police and the Anti Corruption Commission. Both institutions are now hopelessly corrupted and irreparably politicized; likewise their senior officers. The only way to regain the public trust is for Najib to recruit internationally, possibly from the FBI, Scotland Yard, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Once he has reestablished trust, then he can revert to local talent.
A One-Term Mindset
To focus on these difficult tasks, Najib should develop a Reagan-like mindset of not worrying about the next election. He should act as if he would be a one-term Prime Minister. That would instill a much needed sense of urgency and discourage him from worrying about short-term political considerations. Such an attitude would also embolden him to make the necessary tough decisions.
By instituting these changes Najib would quickly assert his leadership as well as send the clear message that he is fully aware of the awesome responsibilities of his office and that he has the wherewithal to fulfill them. That would more likely make him succeed as Prime Minister, which in turn would ensure his party’s re-election.
These changes would of course trigger anger among the many powerful warlords in his party. Rest assured that as most of them are corrupt, a reinvigorated Anti Corruption Commission under professional leadership would keep them occupied.
However, first things first; Najib has to assure Malaysians that his personal integrity is beyond reproach. Frontally addressing the many ugly accusations leveled at him regarding the tragic end of that pregnant Mongolian model would be a good and essential start.
Barring divine intervention, or an incredibly stupid move on his part, Najib Razak is set to be Malaysia’s next Prime Minister come this April. He will assume office with an approval rating even lower than that of the man he will be replacing. He also has a dark cloud hovering over him that simply refuses to fade away.
Despite that, Najib could still lead Malaysia out of its current doldrums and on to greater heights. To achieve that, he must address two critical issues, one relating to his personal integrity and the other, his leadership. For the first, he must answer the many sordid allegations swirling around him, specifically with regard to the brutal murder of the pregnant Mongolian model Altantuya. With the second, he must select a cabinet and leadership team that would “wow” the nation.
One thing is certain. This is not the time for Malaysians to resort to extra constitutional means or set dangerous precedents that could later haunt us just to deny Najib his due. Asking the King to intervene is one such dangerous precedent. Allah aside, only Parliament or UMNO Supreme Council could legitimately remove Najib. As both moves are unlikely, we might just as well focus on the potentially more productive pursuit of at least trying to ensure that his tenure will be successful. We owe that to our children. Love for country should transcend obsession with politics.
This is also not the time to demonstrate on the streets just to express our loathing for the man. That would only hasten Malaysia’s degeneration towards another Pakistan. During these perilous economic times, Malaysians would not forgive their politicians should they indulge their followers in such theatrics.
Every new leader deserves the courtesy of a grace period. There will be time enough in the next election for us to express our judgment on Najib. Meanwhile be thankful that the incompetent and neglectful leadership of Abdullah is finally coming to an end.
The Mongolian Murder Mystery
For Najib to simply deny that he is not in any way involved with the murder or attribute evil motives on his critics – his current strategy – will not cut it. His swearing of innocence over the Quran may convince some mosque attendees but it will not remove the lingering suspicion. The alleged evidences against him are just too specific and detailed. There are the purported SMS exchanges with a prominent lawyer who was initially involved in defending one of the accused, as well as the erasure of the murder victim’s record of entry into the country.
I applaud Najib in not resorting to libel suits to silence his critics. This is a particularly pernicious habit of the powerful in the region, a reflection of their ingrained “might being right” mentality. This is also the addiction of those who think they are powerful (and thus beyond criticism) simply because they have privileged access to the court system.
What Najib should do is to have a full press conference open to all, including and especially foreign correspondents, representatives of the alternative media, prominent bloggers, and his severest critics. I would include here Malaysia-Today’s Raja Petra Kamarudin.
Apart from being thoroughly prepared, Najib should bring to and distribute at that press conference all possible exculpatory documents such as his phone logs and billing records, as well as copies of Altantuya’s visitor entry record. Anything less would only deepen the suspicion. Najib needs to prevail in the court of public opinion, not the court of law.
I am making a crucial assumption here, and that is, Najib is truly innocent. If he is in any way involved in the murder, no matter how tangentially, then he does not deserve to be in Putra Jaya. He should be sent to Pudu Prison instead.
A “Wow” Cabinet and Leadership Team
Tun Mahathir’s warning to Najib that he should not pick a corrupt cabinet, while headline grabbing and stern sounding, is neither insightful nor helpful. Of course no one wants to be associated with the corrupt. Unlike Mahathir’s advice, mine is more specific and practical.
Najib should dispense entirely with the current cabinet, bar none. This includes the most likely candidate for Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyuddin Yassin. This is the team that passionately supported Mahathir when he wanted to build that crooked bridge to Singapore, and then just as enthusiastically backed Abdullah when he cancelled it! These ministers are incapable of independent thought; they serve nothing more than as their leader’s echo chamber. Get rid of them all.
The job of finding enough fresh talent to fill his new cabinet would be made considerably easier if Najib were to substantially reduce its size to about a dozen members. Get rid of the Ministries of Women Affairs, Youth, Tourism, and Information, among others. Apart from the cost savings, such a move would also streamline his administration.
Widen the search beyond UMNO and Barisan, or even outside of politics. Malaysia does not lack for talent, only that many are currently turned off by politics.
Najib may not remember this, but his father effectively used the senate appointment route to recruit new talents. That was how he brought in such outstanding individuals as Tengku Razaleigh, Ghazali Shafie and Chong Hon Nyan. Tun Razak even sought those who had previously been expelled from the party, as he did with Mahathir. Likewise, Najib must be as daring and unconventional as his father was. This is no time to stick to the old tired playbook.
A pivotal decision for Najib would be his choice for Deputy Prime Minister. Although Muhyuddin is likely to be elected the deputy UMNO leader, he would be a poor choice as Deputy Prime Minister, Mahathir’s endorsement notwithstanding. Najib should politely decline Mahathir’s recommendation and buck party tradition.
Being of the same age and experience as Najib, Muhyuddin would bring nothing extra to the team. For another, there would always be the subtle and distracting rivalry between the two, with Muhyuddin impatiently waiting his turn. We have been through that before! In part to allay our fears of this, he has already displayed the stereotypical UMNO streak of sucking up to his superior, as evidenced by his over enthusiastic embrace of Najib. He also goes to great pain impressing everyone on how well he can work with Najib. In Freudian psychology they call that “reaction formation,” a tried-and-true defense mechanism.
Muhyuddin’s fatal flaw is that he views the office of Deputy Prime Minister primarily as Najib’s chief “gofer” rather than as the nation’s second in command.
Najib should break once and for all the current unhealthy coupling of party positions with governmental appointments. Thus he should keep Muhyuddin out of government and task him to reform UMNO, a monumental undertaking in itself. He had been chairing the committee to reform the party for the past few years. Let him continue there.
Najib should instead invite (beg if necessary) Tengku Razaleigh to be his Deputy. His considerable experience and wisdom would confer upon Najib’s team instant respect and credibility. While that is important it should not be the sole reason for picking him. Rather, Najib should maximally utilize Razaleigh’s skills and talent.
The major challenge would be to make Razaleigh accept the appointment. Appealing to the man’s sense of public duty would help, indicating that this would further his publicly-stated quest for a “unity” government.
The age, experience and temperament of the two are sufficiently different that the two would unlikely get entangled in a destructive rivalry. Instead they would complement each other, recalling the successful Tunku-Tun Razak’s partnership of two generations earlier, only this time with a role reversal.
Early in his term I suggested that Prime Minister Abdullah should choose Tengku Razaleigh as a sort of Co-Prime Minister. Such successful co-leadership teams are seen in many large corporations, the most visible being Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Had Abdullah done that, his (as well as the nation’s) fate would today be far different.
Apart from the cabinet, there are two other crucial senior governmental appointments: the chiefs of the police and the Anti Corruption Commission. Both institutions are now hopelessly corrupted and irreparably politicized; likewise their senior officers. The only way to regain the public trust is for Najib to recruit internationally, possibly from the FBI, Scotland Yard, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Once he has reestablished trust, then he can revert to local talent.
A One-Term Mindset
To focus on these difficult tasks, Najib should develop a Reagan-like mindset of not worrying about the next election. He should act as if he would be a one-term Prime Minister. That would instill a much needed sense of urgency and discourage him from worrying about short-term political considerations. Such an attitude would also embolden him to make the necessary tough decisions.
By instituting these changes Najib would quickly assert his leadership as well as send the clear message that he is fully aware of the awesome responsibilities of his office and that he has the wherewithal to fulfill them. That would more likely make him succeed as Prime Minister, which in turn would ensure his party’s re-election.
These changes would of course trigger anger among the many powerful warlords in his party. Rest assured that as most of them are corrupt, a reinvigorated Anti Corruption Commission under professional leadership would keep them occupied.
However, first things first; Najib has to assure Malaysians that his personal integrity is beyond reproach. Frontally addressing the many ugly accusations leveled at him regarding the tragic end of that pregnant Mongolian model would be a good and essential start.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
14 days is a long time in politics
11
Mar
09
14 days is a long time in politics
post info
By Anwar Ibrahim
By Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Federal Constitution merely states that the Agong shall appoint the Prime Minister from amongst a Member of the House who, in Tuanku’s opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House. It says nothing about the Prime Minister having to be the President of Umno or the Chairman of Barisan Nasional.
Moreover, Mr. Najib brings to the job much political baggage. In particular there is the case involving an adviser to Mr. Najib of a Mongolian woman who was shot and blown up with specialized C4 plastic explosives in Malaysia in 2006. The adviser, the woman’s former lover, was cleared of ordering her death in a protracted court case that drew harsh public criticism and left vital questions unanswered. Two members of an elite police bodyguard unit assigned to Mr. Najib, who were asked by the adviser to “do something” about the woman because she was blackmailing him, have to answer murder charges. The adviser said he had contacted the two policemen through Mr. Najib’s aide-de-camp, and one of them, a chief inspector, testified that the aide-de-camp had instructed him to help the adviser.
Before the adviser was charged, Mr. Najib sent a text message to a lawyer representing his adviser saying that the adviser “will have to face a tentative charge but all is not lost,” according to a transcript of their exchanges. One of the country’s most popular bloggers and online journalist-editors, Raja Petra Kamarudin, faces sedition and libel charges after allegedly implicating Mr. Najib and his wife in the killing. Although Mr. Najib has denied ever knowing the victim, taking the unusual step of swearing his innocence in a mosque, he has been unable to stem an avalanche of gossip, speculation and serious analysis, much of it circulated on the Internet.
Mr. Najib also has long been embroiled in allegations of corruption in the purchase of big-ticket weapon systems during his two lengthy terms as defense minister (1990-95, 1999-2008; he retained the defense portfolio after becoming deputy prime minister in 2003), when he drove an aggressive military modernization program. According to Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington-based think tank, foreign arms manufacturers use well-connected Malaysians as lobbyists, paying them commissions of 10% to 20% to win contracts. Malaysia’s political opposition says much of the money goes to people closely associated with UMNO, including Mr. Najib’s contacts, though the police and anticorruption authorities have not investigated particular cases to the satisfaction of complainants.
For example, the 115 million euros “coordination and support services” payment for Malaysia’s purchase in 2002 of two new Scorpene and one reconditioned Agosta submarine for 1 billion euros was paid to Perimekar Sdn. Bhd. Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called K.S. Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd — later by two other companies as well — which was in turn owned by Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, the Najib adviser who stood trial for abetting the murder of the Mongolian woman. The Defense Ministry denied paying a commission and said Peremkear was awarded a genuine contract to support the acquisition of the submarines.
Najib’s Challenge: Clean up UMNO by Barry Wain, Far Eastern Economic Review (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/19043/84/)
********************************
What a day to have lunch together. On a day when Najib is announcing his staggering RM60 billion stimulus package, Abdullah has lunch with Anwar.
I haven’t seen Abdullah looking so relaxed and cheerful for a long time. Click here to have a peek. (http://shamsuliskandar.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/pm-abdullah-dan-dsai-makan-tengahari-untuk-keamanan/)
According to PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar in his blog, both leaders were invited by Al-Fadhil Tuan Guru Syeikh Mahmud Al-Majzubdi (better known as Tok Ayah) for the Maulud Rasul celebrations at the Madrasah Nurul Iman, Hulu Langat in Selangor.
Anwar says people are reading too much into the encounter. But hey, it’s not everyday the PM and Anwar have lunch together; so tongues are bound to wag.
Anyway, 49 per cent of over 5,000 respondents to the poll on this blog think that Abdullah will remain as PM after March while only 11 per cent of you think Najib will take over. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Anwar-Abdullah lunch fuels speculation by Anil Netto (http://anilnetto.com/malaysian-politics/anwar-abdullah-lunch-fuels-speculation/)
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It is roughly two weeks to go before the coming Umno General Assembly. Two weeks is 14 days and 14 days is a long time in politics. Anwar went from becoming the successor to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a sacked Umno member in only three days. And about two weeks later be found himself in jail facing a possible nine criminal charges, seven which were later dropped after they secured a conviction on the first two, which attracted a total jail sentence of 15 years.
Can Najib Tun Razak still make it as Prime Minister at the end of this month? There is no doubt he will become the Umno President, mainly because he will win uncontested and anyone can win in a walkover. But this does not mean he will also become the Prime Minister because there is no law that says the Umno President must also become the Prime Minister.
Tun Razak, Najib’s father, became Prime Minister while Tunku Abdul Rahman stayed on as the Umno President. Dr Mahathir stayed on as Prime Minister after Umno got deregistered and the MCA President, Ling Liong Sik, took over as the Barisan Nasional Chairman. For all intents and purposes, Dr Mahathir was an independent Member of Parliament and a man with no party for that brief period of time until the new Umno called Umno Baru was registered.
The Federal Constitution merely states that the Agong shall appoint the Prime Minister from amongst a Member of the House who, in Tuanku’s opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House. It says nothing about the Prime Minister having to be the President of Umno or the Chairman of Barisan Nasional. For that matter, Ibrahim Ali, the sole independent Member of Parliament, can become Prime Minister if at least 112 of the 222 Members of Parliament support him as Prime Minister — heaven forbid.
And do at least 112 of the 222 Members of Parliament want Najib as the next Prime Minister come end of this month? Okay, maybe SOME of the 65 Umno Members of Parliament from Peninsular Malaysia do. And maybe SOME of the 13 Umno Members of Parliament from Sabah do as well. But that makes only 78 Members of Parliament who want him as Prime Minister — assuming ALL 78 Umno Members of Parliament from Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah are unanimous in their support for Najib.
And this is only if we assume that ALL 78 Umno Members of Parliament are unanimous in their support for Najib. From what I have been told, at least 20 are with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Amongst these 20 are of course Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Khairy Jamaluddin and Abdullah Badawi himself. So there is no way Najib can get the unanimous support of all the 78 Umno Members of Parliament. At best he can get the support of only 58 Umno Members of Parliament. This means Najib is still short of 54 Members of Parliament.
But then, can Najib afford to get the support of only 112 Members of Parliament? What if one were to get a heart attack while playing badminton and dies, or his/her nude photographs or sex video suddenly appeared on the Internet and he/she is forced to resign, or something like which is so customary nowadays. Then Najib would be left with only 111 Members of Parliament against 111 who are against him. This would result in a hung Parliament and Najib would find himself as the Prime Minister with the shortest term in Malaysian history.
No, a figure of 112 is just too close to the bone. Najib would need at least 130 to 140 to be home with a comfortable margin. And that means he cannot depend solely on the Umno Members of Parliament. Umno alone can’t give him the numbers. Umno has only 78 while just 58 are with him. He also needs the 30 non-Umno Members of Parliament from Sarawak and the balance 11 from Sabah plus the 20 from MCA, MIC and Gerakan as well.
Najib is banking on full support from Umno. He can of course get full support from the 2,500 or so Umno delegates who will be attending the Umno General Assembly in about two weeks time. But not all the 2,500 Umno delegates are Members of Parliament. Only 78 are while just 58 are with him. Najib has far from secured the job of Prime Minister of Malaysia whatever the outcome of the Umno General Assembly.
Ali Rustam will win the Umno Deputy Presidency and Najib’s cousin, Hishammuddin, is going to lose the Vice President’s post, while Khir Toyo will become the Youth Leader. Najib is going to automatically become the Umno President only because no one is able to challenge him. But he is going to be isolated and surrounded by those who are not aligned to him as far as the other Umno positions are concerned.
If Najib is assured of becoming the Prime Minister then he can be guaranteed the support of the non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament from MCA, MIC, Gerakan, Sabah and Sarawak. He will of course not get the support of the 83 Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament. But he has a chance of getting the support of the 61 non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament.
This, however, will depend on whether he is assured of becoming Prime Minister. People have a habit of supporting the winner. If you are winner everyone wants to be associated with you and wants to become your friend. No one, however, wants to become associated with a loser. And unless Najib can show he is a winner and not a loser he will not be guaranteed the support of the 61 non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament.
Abdullah Badawi has more or less resigned to the fact that by 1 April 2009 he would be sent into retirement. He has even bought an iPhone, which he intends to use to communicate with his grandkids. Does he even know how to use that very complicating iPhone? Not yet, but since he will soon be retiring he has plenty of time to learn how to use it and then spend hours chatting with his grandkids. Hell, he may even set up his own Blog and Facebook since he would not have much work come 1 April 2009.
His wife, Jeanne Danker, is also looking forward to retirement. This simple lady does not enjoy the limelight of ‘First Lady’ and will not miss life in Seri Perdana. She would rather spend her time with her husband and kids. But she abhors the thought of handing this country over to Najib. And Abdullah Badawi’s kids share Jeanne’s view. They are not opposed to Abdullah Badawi retiring. They are opposed to the idea of Najib taking over with the porky Rosmah Mansor gracing the halls of Seri Perdana as the ‘First Lady’ and ‘Queen Elizabeth’ both rolled into one.
They say there is no such thing as hell on earth. But then these people have not imagined life with Rosmah Mansor calling the shots as to how this country should be run. In fact, it would be more like run into the ground with her at the helm. And this is also the view of the Agong.
No doubt Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy and the Agong ‘shall act on the advice of the Prime Minister’ — and ‘shall’ has been wrongly interpreted as ‘must’. But there are certain things that the Agong does not act on the advice of the Prime Minister and instead uses his own discretion. And one of these things is with regards to the appointment of the Prime Minister who in Tuanku’s opinion commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House.
We have seen, of late, the Rulers exercising their discretion in the appointments of the CEOs. Perak, Selangor, Terengganu and Perlis are examples of this. The Rulers and not Umno decided on who should lead the states. The recent Perak crisis, where the state changed hands from Pakatan Rakyat to Barisan Nasional, is yet another case in point. The Rulers have the power to decide and they have not backed down from exercising this power. And the same applies with regards to the appointment of the Prime Minister.
Anwar Ibrahim’s meeting with Abdullah Badawi yesterday laid the foundation for cooperation between Pakatan Rakyat and some dissenting voices in Barisan Nasional who feel Najib should not be the next Prime Minister. With the 83 Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament and another 20 from Umno that makes 103 in all. So all they need is another nine to deny Najib the job of Prime Minister. And MCA has 15, MIC 3, Gerakan 2, Sarawak 30, while the non-Umno Members of Parliament from Sabah come to another 11. Getting just nine from amongst that large group of 61 is not that difficult.
Anwar Ibrahim may never become Prime Minister. But even if he does he is still the lesser of the two evils compared to Najib as far as Abdullah Badawi is concerned. And as far as Anwar is concerned, whether he becomes Prime Minister or not is not the key issue at the moment. What is would be that the Prime Minister must not be Najib. So even if all that Anwar achieves in the end would be for Abdullah Badawi to stay on, that too would be the lesser of the two evils in Anwar’s book.
Abdullah Badawi may have to keep his iPhone in the box awhile longer. He may not have the time to learn how to use it after all. Many are bent on assuring that Najib never takes over as Prime Minister. And if the new Prime Minister is not going to be Anwar, then Abdullah Badawi would have to instead stay on for some time to come. And if this happens then I will personally go to meet Abdullah Badawi to help him with his iPhone. Hell, I might even buy one myself so that I can learn how to use it before I go teach Abdullah Badawi how to use his.
Mar
09
14 days is a long time in politics
post info
By Anwar Ibrahim
By Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Federal Constitution merely states that the Agong shall appoint the Prime Minister from amongst a Member of the House who, in Tuanku’s opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House. It says nothing about the Prime Minister having to be the President of Umno or the Chairman of Barisan Nasional.
Moreover, Mr. Najib brings to the job much political baggage. In particular there is the case involving an adviser to Mr. Najib of a Mongolian woman who was shot and blown up with specialized C4 plastic explosives in Malaysia in 2006. The adviser, the woman’s former lover, was cleared of ordering her death in a protracted court case that drew harsh public criticism and left vital questions unanswered. Two members of an elite police bodyguard unit assigned to Mr. Najib, who were asked by the adviser to “do something” about the woman because she was blackmailing him, have to answer murder charges. The adviser said he had contacted the two policemen through Mr. Najib’s aide-de-camp, and one of them, a chief inspector, testified that the aide-de-camp had instructed him to help the adviser.
Before the adviser was charged, Mr. Najib sent a text message to a lawyer representing his adviser saying that the adviser “will have to face a tentative charge but all is not lost,” according to a transcript of their exchanges. One of the country’s most popular bloggers and online journalist-editors, Raja Petra Kamarudin, faces sedition and libel charges after allegedly implicating Mr. Najib and his wife in the killing. Although Mr. Najib has denied ever knowing the victim, taking the unusual step of swearing his innocence in a mosque, he has been unable to stem an avalanche of gossip, speculation and serious analysis, much of it circulated on the Internet.
Mr. Najib also has long been embroiled in allegations of corruption in the purchase of big-ticket weapon systems during his two lengthy terms as defense minister (1990-95, 1999-2008; he retained the defense portfolio after becoming deputy prime minister in 2003), when he drove an aggressive military modernization program. According to Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington-based think tank, foreign arms manufacturers use well-connected Malaysians as lobbyists, paying them commissions of 10% to 20% to win contracts. Malaysia’s political opposition says much of the money goes to people closely associated with UMNO, including Mr. Najib’s contacts, though the police and anticorruption authorities have not investigated particular cases to the satisfaction of complainants.
For example, the 115 million euros “coordination and support services” payment for Malaysia’s purchase in 2002 of two new Scorpene and one reconditioned Agosta submarine for 1 billion euros was paid to Perimekar Sdn. Bhd. Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called K.S. Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd — later by two other companies as well — which was in turn owned by Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, the Najib adviser who stood trial for abetting the murder of the Mongolian woman. The Defense Ministry denied paying a commission and said Peremkear was awarded a genuine contract to support the acquisition of the submarines.
Najib’s Challenge: Clean up UMNO by Barry Wain, Far Eastern Economic Review (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/19043/84/)
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What a day to have lunch together. On a day when Najib is announcing his staggering RM60 billion stimulus package, Abdullah has lunch with Anwar.
I haven’t seen Abdullah looking so relaxed and cheerful for a long time. Click here to have a peek. (http://shamsuliskandar.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/pm-abdullah-dan-dsai-makan-tengahari-untuk-keamanan/)
According to PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar in his blog, both leaders were invited by Al-Fadhil Tuan Guru Syeikh Mahmud Al-Majzubdi (better known as Tok Ayah) for the Maulud Rasul celebrations at the Madrasah Nurul Iman, Hulu Langat in Selangor.
Anwar says people are reading too much into the encounter. But hey, it’s not everyday the PM and Anwar have lunch together; so tongues are bound to wag.
Anyway, 49 per cent of over 5,000 respondents to the poll on this blog think that Abdullah will remain as PM after March while only 11 per cent of you think Najib will take over. Let’s wait and see what happens.
Anwar-Abdullah lunch fuels speculation by Anil Netto (http://anilnetto.com/malaysian-politics/anwar-abdullah-lunch-fuels-speculation/)
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It is roughly two weeks to go before the coming Umno General Assembly. Two weeks is 14 days and 14 days is a long time in politics. Anwar went from becoming the successor to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a sacked Umno member in only three days. And about two weeks later be found himself in jail facing a possible nine criminal charges, seven which were later dropped after they secured a conviction on the first two, which attracted a total jail sentence of 15 years.
Can Najib Tun Razak still make it as Prime Minister at the end of this month? There is no doubt he will become the Umno President, mainly because he will win uncontested and anyone can win in a walkover. But this does not mean he will also become the Prime Minister because there is no law that says the Umno President must also become the Prime Minister.
Tun Razak, Najib’s father, became Prime Minister while Tunku Abdul Rahman stayed on as the Umno President. Dr Mahathir stayed on as Prime Minister after Umno got deregistered and the MCA President, Ling Liong Sik, took over as the Barisan Nasional Chairman. For all intents and purposes, Dr Mahathir was an independent Member of Parliament and a man with no party for that brief period of time until the new Umno called Umno Baru was registered.
The Federal Constitution merely states that the Agong shall appoint the Prime Minister from amongst a Member of the House who, in Tuanku’s opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House. It says nothing about the Prime Minister having to be the President of Umno or the Chairman of Barisan Nasional. For that matter, Ibrahim Ali, the sole independent Member of Parliament, can become Prime Minister if at least 112 of the 222 Members of Parliament support him as Prime Minister — heaven forbid.
And do at least 112 of the 222 Members of Parliament want Najib as the next Prime Minister come end of this month? Okay, maybe SOME of the 65 Umno Members of Parliament from Peninsular Malaysia do. And maybe SOME of the 13 Umno Members of Parliament from Sabah do as well. But that makes only 78 Members of Parliament who want him as Prime Minister — assuming ALL 78 Umno Members of Parliament from Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah are unanimous in their support for Najib.
And this is only if we assume that ALL 78 Umno Members of Parliament are unanimous in their support for Najib. From what I have been told, at least 20 are with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Amongst these 20 are of course Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Khairy Jamaluddin and Abdullah Badawi himself. So there is no way Najib can get the unanimous support of all the 78 Umno Members of Parliament. At best he can get the support of only 58 Umno Members of Parliament. This means Najib is still short of 54 Members of Parliament.
But then, can Najib afford to get the support of only 112 Members of Parliament? What if one were to get a heart attack while playing badminton and dies, or his/her nude photographs or sex video suddenly appeared on the Internet and he/she is forced to resign, or something like which is so customary nowadays. Then Najib would be left with only 111 Members of Parliament against 111 who are against him. This would result in a hung Parliament and Najib would find himself as the Prime Minister with the shortest term in Malaysian history.
No, a figure of 112 is just too close to the bone. Najib would need at least 130 to 140 to be home with a comfortable margin. And that means he cannot depend solely on the Umno Members of Parliament. Umno alone can’t give him the numbers. Umno has only 78 while just 58 are with him. He also needs the 30 non-Umno Members of Parliament from Sarawak and the balance 11 from Sabah plus the 20 from MCA, MIC and Gerakan as well.
Najib is banking on full support from Umno. He can of course get full support from the 2,500 or so Umno delegates who will be attending the Umno General Assembly in about two weeks time. But not all the 2,500 Umno delegates are Members of Parliament. Only 78 are while just 58 are with him. Najib has far from secured the job of Prime Minister of Malaysia whatever the outcome of the Umno General Assembly.
Ali Rustam will win the Umno Deputy Presidency and Najib’s cousin, Hishammuddin, is going to lose the Vice President’s post, while Khir Toyo will become the Youth Leader. Najib is going to automatically become the Umno President only because no one is able to challenge him. But he is going to be isolated and surrounded by those who are not aligned to him as far as the other Umno positions are concerned.
If Najib is assured of becoming the Prime Minister then he can be guaranteed the support of the non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament from MCA, MIC, Gerakan, Sabah and Sarawak. He will of course not get the support of the 83 Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament. But he has a chance of getting the support of the 61 non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament.
This, however, will depend on whether he is assured of becoming Prime Minister. People have a habit of supporting the winner. If you are winner everyone wants to be associated with you and wants to become your friend. No one, however, wants to become associated with a loser. And unless Najib can show he is a winner and not a loser he will not be guaranteed the support of the 61 non-Umno Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament.
Abdullah Badawi has more or less resigned to the fact that by 1 April 2009 he would be sent into retirement. He has even bought an iPhone, which he intends to use to communicate with his grandkids. Does he even know how to use that very complicating iPhone? Not yet, but since he will soon be retiring he has plenty of time to learn how to use it and then spend hours chatting with his grandkids. Hell, he may even set up his own Blog and Facebook since he would not have much work come 1 April 2009.
His wife, Jeanne Danker, is also looking forward to retirement. This simple lady does not enjoy the limelight of ‘First Lady’ and will not miss life in Seri Perdana. She would rather spend her time with her husband and kids. But she abhors the thought of handing this country over to Najib. And Abdullah Badawi’s kids share Jeanne’s view. They are not opposed to Abdullah Badawi retiring. They are opposed to the idea of Najib taking over with the porky Rosmah Mansor gracing the halls of Seri Perdana as the ‘First Lady’ and ‘Queen Elizabeth’ both rolled into one.
They say there is no such thing as hell on earth. But then these people have not imagined life with Rosmah Mansor calling the shots as to how this country should be run. In fact, it would be more like run into the ground with her at the helm. And this is also the view of the Agong.
No doubt Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy and the Agong ‘shall act on the advice of the Prime Minister’ — and ‘shall’ has been wrongly interpreted as ‘must’. But there are certain things that the Agong does not act on the advice of the Prime Minister and instead uses his own discretion. And one of these things is with regards to the appointment of the Prime Minister who in Tuanku’s opinion commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of the House.
We have seen, of late, the Rulers exercising their discretion in the appointments of the CEOs. Perak, Selangor, Terengganu and Perlis are examples of this. The Rulers and not Umno decided on who should lead the states. The recent Perak crisis, where the state changed hands from Pakatan Rakyat to Barisan Nasional, is yet another case in point. The Rulers have the power to decide and they have not backed down from exercising this power. And the same applies with regards to the appointment of the Prime Minister.
Anwar Ibrahim’s meeting with Abdullah Badawi yesterday laid the foundation for cooperation between Pakatan Rakyat and some dissenting voices in Barisan Nasional who feel Najib should not be the next Prime Minister. With the 83 Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament and another 20 from Umno that makes 103 in all. So all they need is another nine to deny Najib the job of Prime Minister. And MCA has 15, MIC 3, Gerakan 2, Sarawak 30, while the non-Umno Members of Parliament from Sabah come to another 11. Getting just nine from amongst that large group of 61 is not that difficult.
Anwar Ibrahim may never become Prime Minister. But even if he does he is still the lesser of the two evils compared to Najib as far as Abdullah Badawi is concerned. And as far as Anwar is concerned, whether he becomes Prime Minister or not is not the key issue at the moment. What is would be that the Prime Minister must not be Najib. So even if all that Anwar achieves in the end would be for Abdullah Badawi to stay on, that too would be the lesser of the two evils in Anwar’s book.
Abdullah Badawi may have to keep his iPhone in the box awhile longer. He may not have the time to learn how to use it after all. Many are bent on assuring that Najib never takes over as Prime Minister. And if the new Prime Minister is not going to be Anwar, then Abdullah Badawi would have to instead stay on for some time to come. And if this happens then I will personally go to meet Abdullah Badawi to help him with his iPhone. Hell, I might even buy one myself so that I can learn how to use it before I go teach Abdullah Badawi how to use his.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
open letter from RPK to Nizar
.Monday, March 2, 2009 > Open letter to Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin By Raja Petra > Kamarudin > umno, after replacing Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak MB, are going after > Speaker V Sivakumar and now lockimg out the state secretariat. Will they > win in the Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau by-elections. > This open letter to Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin by Raja Petra > must be read and forward to as many people as possible. The rakyat must > stand solidly behind the legitimate Perak Government and fight together > against the immoral, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power > grab of the Perak State orchestrated by Najib. > > > Dear Datuk Seri, > > I am going to make this short and sweet. No more cheong hei article from > me. > > They can lock the Perak State Assembly building if they want. The > building is not important. If the building is inaccessible -- say like > there is a flood or an earthquake brings it down -- does this mean the > State Assembly can’t meet? > > Of course it can. It can meet anywhere, not necessarily in that > particular meeting. > > Go find another meeting place, tonight, now itself, and hold the meeting > there tomorrow. Pass a vote of confidence to support you as the Menteri > Besar. Then pass all the other motions, including the motion to dissolve > the Perak State Assembly. Then drive up to Bukit Chandan as soon as > possible and inform Tuanku of the State Assembly’s decision. > > If Tuanku refuses to comply with what is clearly lawful, then challenge > him and, if necessary, trigger a Constitutional Crisis like never before > seen in the 52-year history of this nation. > > The people are ready. The next ‘revolution’ is not going to be a race > riot a la May 13. It is going to be a class struggle. And I am with the > Rakyat on this, never mind my so-called Royal background. > > I speak as a Royal but speak for the Rakyat. And rest assured there are > many other Royals who share my view. Don’t allow a handful of those who > sit on the throne intimidate you into thinking that you are alone, > representing the Rakyat, against the Monarchy. No, we are with you, as > are many other Royals. > > Grab the bull by the horns and bring it to its knees. And if this bull > wears a crown so be it. The Rakyat have spoken. Don’t back down now. Go > all the way or forever lose that advantage. And if you fail to go all the > way, the Rakyat will never forgive you and you will lose our support till > the end of time. > > Daulat Tuanku. Daulat Tuanku. Daulat Tuanku. > > Patek yang hina sembah Tuanku dan memohon perkenan agar Tuanku jangan > kecewakan Rakyat. Hasrat Rakyat ialah untuk mencari kebenaran dan > keadilan. Biarlah ini juga menjadi hasrat Tuanku. > > Daulat Tuanku. Daulat Tuanku. Daulat Tuanku. >
Enough is enough by Frank Xroy
The real Malay must stand up.By; Xroy
I refer toy your article “Would you like being called 'celaka Singh'? Feb 27, 2009” and was a little amused by what the UMNO Youth exco member Rezal Merican Naina Merican had to say.
He is reported have said, “the Malays were hurt when the opposition leader referred to Umno Youth as 'celaka'.
What amused me were two things first that he is an UMNO Youth exco member, and secondly how do Malays as a whole get hurt as the “abuse” was hurled at UMNO, many Malays do not wish to be associated with UMNO, they are with PAS and PKR and in case he doesn’t know many are now even joining the DAP which they see as a better party for a futuristic Malaysia then UMNO.
He being an exco member in UMNO really shocked me, his very name will tell you he is an Indian and not a Malay, maybe and “honorary Malay” or is there such a thing in the first place, (I think there is and that is why Nor Mohammed is the Second Finance Minister, there never was one till he came along) it is people like him who are Indians when it suits them and Malays when it suits them, who are the real trouble makers.
Some of them in the past were registered as Indians when they went to foreign countries to study, and suddenly on returning after graduation they see the scope of opportunity lying before them if they are Malay, then claim to be Malay taking advantage of Malay hospitality, pretend to champion the “Malay Cause” and in the process create radical views blame the backwardness of the Malay on everyone else, talk about a great Malay era, and then take the best of everything for themselves leaving the Malay with the scraps. it is these opportunist who are to blame for any Malay backwardness, they create it by robbing the innocent Malay.
This reminded me of my trip to South Africa, where I visited the apartheid museum, if you have the opportunity go visit that museum and you’ll find similarities between the way that Government operated and our government of today.
They use to have a periodical review of the status of people, white, black, coloured, and honorary whites, (Taiwanese and Japanese were referred to as honarary whites) and in the review they’d have a number of whites classified as blacks from date of the review, some honorary whites classified as coloured and some classified as white, what beats me the most is some blacks and coloureds get classified as white too, quite like it is here especially in Sabah when some illegal immigrants become Bumiputera, and in the peninsular when many Indians become Malay, and some of them even become UMNO supreme council members, one of them became President and was the first UMNO leader to actually challenge the institution of the royalty.It is these people the honorary Malays, who take a radical view of everything, stir up racial issues to gain support and then use these to frighten the ordinary Malay by telling him that if he does not support UMNO these people will take everything form them, when they are the ones who use their positions in UMNO to enrich themselves withe money and opportunities reserved for the Malays at large in accordance with the NEP.Incidentally, there is a Javanese who is now trying hard to emulate this Indian example, and I think we all know him.
A careful look at UMNO and you’ll see that it is this ‘Honourary Malay” who is quite often the case of all the troubles that have befallen this nation, and one such ‘Honorary Malay’ is none other than Mahathir Mohammed himself.
A look at the many of the successful Malays from his era will reveal a lot, there are many honourary Malays who have suddenly become multi millionaires, and if all that wealth that is either now owned by them now or were owned by them and lost put together it would have lifted the ordinary Malay made them self sufficient and allowed all Malaysians irrespective of race to share in the economic pie of the nation. The NEP would have been a huge success.
We all know who is pulling the strings for Najib to become the PM, he has made no secret of it>Not Mahathir Mohammed and not any of these so called UMNO leaders are interested in the success of the NEP, its success will mean killing the cash cow, the cash cow from which they could milk all the wealth of the nation the way they do now, and they will stop at nothing, the going is too good to give it up will mean to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, by enriching their own inner circle it will keep the ordinary Malay deprived, and they can go on singing the same tune, then point to the successful Chinese who earns his money by legitimate means, tell him he has to give 30% of his Company to the Bumiputera, and appoint one of their own, or a lackey as a board director of the Company and pay him a director's fee, ever wonder why Malaysian company's prefer to use Singapore as a base for their International operations, why so many Company's that could make Malaysia their World headquarters refuse to do so? Ask MITI for the detailed terms, and the benefits, though the benefits are aplenty they do not believe in giving some anointed person a free ride of thirty percent of their enterprise.
What have we now in the form of a government a bunch of thieves who are bent on cheating the Malays, in cahoots with some people of other races who jointly proclaim they represent the respective races when in fact they are robbing us in broad daylight. And they bravely call themselves the National Front or Barisan Nasional, yes they are but a front for what they have not said.A front for racial abuse, a front to create racial trouble to suit their own needs and when the need arises to divert attention, after killing perhaps an Indian, or after illegitimately taking over a state government or buying over some politicians, or to arrest a political leader who is opposed to this tyrannical regime by bringing up all sorts of trumped up charges, or to cover up some murder etc, etc.This rape of the country, will continue as long as long as we continue to remain aloof in the belief that nothing can be done. Not too many things that Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Sian and Lim Guan Eng, Nik Aziz, and the PAS machinery can be achieved unless we the people decide it has to stop.The only way to put a stop to this is to come out and bravely tell them enough is enough, we’ll have no more of this we want to go forward so get out before we force you out.So spread the news all the by elections must send one message to this corrupt institution called the BN that claims to be the government of the the day that their days are numbered and they have to begin counting.As Anwar and Nik Aziz have said it is not privileges for the haves and the rich and mighty that the Government has to be worried about, it is to take care of the have nots regardless of race. Nik Aziz bravely has called for the dropping of the word Bumiputera.We have to stop this it is now kooking very much like a country leaning towards a apartheid type of regime.
Frank Xroy
I refer toy your article “Would you like being called 'celaka Singh'? Feb 27, 2009” and was a little amused by what the UMNO Youth exco member Rezal Merican Naina Merican had to say.
He is reported have said, “the Malays were hurt when the opposition leader referred to Umno Youth as 'celaka'.
What amused me were two things first that he is an UMNO Youth exco member, and secondly how do Malays as a whole get hurt as the “abuse” was hurled at UMNO, many Malays do not wish to be associated with UMNO, they are with PAS and PKR and in case he doesn’t know many are now even joining the DAP which they see as a better party for a futuristic Malaysia then UMNO.
He being an exco member in UMNO really shocked me, his very name will tell you he is an Indian and not a Malay, maybe and “honorary Malay” or is there such a thing in the first place, (I think there is and that is why Nor Mohammed is the Second Finance Minister, there never was one till he came along) it is people like him who are Indians when it suits them and Malays when it suits them, who are the real trouble makers.
Some of them in the past were registered as Indians when they went to foreign countries to study, and suddenly on returning after graduation they see the scope of opportunity lying before them if they are Malay, then claim to be Malay taking advantage of Malay hospitality, pretend to champion the “Malay Cause” and in the process create radical views blame the backwardness of the Malay on everyone else, talk about a great Malay era, and then take the best of everything for themselves leaving the Malay with the scraps. it is these opportunist who are to blame for any Malay backwardness, they create it by robbing the innocent Malay.
This reminded me of my trip to South Africa, where I visited the apartheid museum, if you have the opportunity go visit that museum and you’ll find similarities between the way that Government operated and our government of today.
They use to have a periodical review of the status of people, white, black, coloured, and honorary whites, (Taiwanese and Japanese were referred to as honarary whites) and in the review they’d have a number of whites classified as blacks from date of the review, some honorary whites classified as coloured and some classified as white, what beats me the most is some blacks and coloureds get classified as white too, quite like it is here especially in Sabah when some illegal immigrants become Bumiputera, and in the peninsular when many Indians become Malay, and some of them even become UMNO supreme council members, one of them became President and was the first UMNO leader to actually challenge the institution of the royalty.It is these people the honorary Malays, who take a radical view of everything, stir up racial issues to gain support and then use these to frighten the ordinary Malay by telling him that if he does not support UMNO these people will take everything form them, when they are the ones who use their positions in UMNO to enrich themselves withe money and opportunities reserved for the Malays at large in accordance with the NEP.Incidentally, there is a Javanese who is now trying hard to emulate this Indian example, and I think we all know him.
A careful look at UMNO and you’ll see that it is this ‘Honourary Malay” who is quite often the case of all the troubles that have befallen this nation, and one such ‘Honorary Malay’ is none other than Mahathir Mohammed himself.
A look at the many of the successful Malays from his era will reveal a lot, there are many honourary Malays who have suddenly become multi millionaires, and if all that wealth that is either now owned by them now or were owned by them and lost put together it would have lifted the ordinary Malay made them self sufficient and allowed all Malaysians irrespective of race to share in the economic pie of the nation. The NEP would have been a huge success.
We all know who is pulling the strings for Najib to become the PM, he has made no secret of it>Not Mahathir Mohammed and not any of these so called UMNO leaders are interested in the success of the NEP, its success will mean killing the cash cow, the cash cow from which they could milk all the wealth of the nation the way they do now, and they will stop at nothing, the going is too good to give it up will mean to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, by enriching their own inner circle it will keep the ordinary Malay deprived, and they can go on singing the same tune, then point to the successful Chinese who earns his money by legitimate means, tell him he has to give 30% of his Company to the Bumiputera, and appoint one of their own, or a lackey as a board director of the Company and pay him a director's fee, ever wonder why Malaysian company's prefer to use Singapore as a base for their International operations, why so many Company's that could make Malaysia their World headquarters refuse to do so? Ask MITI for the detailed terms, and the benefits, though the benefits are aplenty they do not believe in giving some anointed person a free ride of thirty percent of their enterprise.
What have we now in the form of a government a bunch of thieves who are bent on cheating the Malays, in cahoots with some people of other races who jointly proclaim they represent the respective races when in fact they are robbing us in broad daylight. And they bravely call themselves the National Front or Barisan Nasional, yes they are but a front for what they have not said.A front for racial abuse, a front to create racial trouble to suit their own needs and when the need arises to divert attention, after killing perhaps an Indian, or after illegitimately taking over a state government or buying over some politicians, or to arrest a political leader who is opposed to this tyrannical regime by bringing up all sorts of trumped up charges, or to cover up some murder etc, etc.This rape of the country, will continue as long as long as we continue to remain aloof in the belief that nothing can be done. Not too many things that Anwar Ibrahim, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Sian and Lim Guan Eng, Nik Aziz, and the PAS machinery can be achieved unless we the people decide it has to stop.The only way to put a stop to this is to come out and bravely tell them enough is enough, we’ll have no more of this we want to go forward so get out before we force you out.So spread the news all the by elections must send one message to this corrupt institution called the BN that claims to be the government of the the day that their days are numbered and they have to begin counting.As Anwar and Nik Aziz have said it is not privileges for the haves and the rich and mighty that the Government has to be worried about, it is to take care of the have nots regardless of race. Nik Aziz bravely has called for the dropping of the word Bumiputera.We have to stop this it is now kooking very much like a country leaning towards a apartheid type of regime.
Frank Xroy
Monday, March 9, 2009
Latest by RPK, is interesting, give yourself a break and read it
Go straight to jail, do not pass ‘go’, and do not collect RM200 Posted by admin Tuesday, 03 March 2009 14:55
This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin Section 124 of the Penal Code reads as follows:
"Whoever, with the intention of inducing or compelling or attempting to induce or compel a member of Parliament or of any legislative assembly or of any state executive council to exercise or refrain from exercising in any manner the lawful powers of such member, assaults or wrongfully restrains, or attempts wrongfully to restrain, or overawes by means of criminal force, or the show of criminal force, or attempts so to overawe, such member shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine."
The Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, has breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Technically, therefore, he can be charged for a criminal offence -- and, if found guilty, can be jailed or fined, or both. That is the law and one just can’t avoid punishment if one has broken the law.
But will he be made to face punishment? If the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly -- or any member of the public for that matter -- makes a police report against him, then the police are obligated, by law, to open a case file and investigate the report.
Over the last 11 years, thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made against those who walk in the corridors of power. But almost every single report has ended up in the NFA (No Further Action) tray. Try, however, to make a police report against someone perceived as ‘anti-establishment’. Within 24 hours an investigation will be launched and the police, with guns and Balaclavas, will swoop on the ‘dangerous criminal’.
Remember what happened to Anwar Ibrahim back in September 1998 and then, ten years later, in 2008? Both times the police came as if they were about to arrest Botak Chin, Bentong Kali, the Mamak Gang, or what have you. And, mind you, in both these incidences, Anwar’s lawyers had contacted the police to inform them that their client would voluntarily surrender himself at any police station that they want him to if asked.
Why the need to do a military-style operation as if Anwar was going to fight with guns and bombs till the last man standing? He had already said he would go in to the police station if asked. In fact, in the 2008 Hollywood-style arrest, Anwar was already on the way to the police station to make good his 2.00pm appointment when they arrested him so dramatically just outside his house as he was leaving for the police station.
Thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made over the 11 years which have all come to nought in the end. I have personally made two, one against the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Bakri Zinin, and another against JAKIM. The police not only classified them as NFA, they did not even call me in for my statement to be recorded, which is the usual procedure. In short, the police just totally ignored my two police reports.
I remember, back in 2001, when ten of us, all Reformasi activists, were detained under the Internal Security Act. The Special Branch goaded us and asked whether we really think we can take over the government. You can take to the streets, said the police. You can even win the general elections. But we own the guns and we decide who gets to form the government. Saari Sungib, in fact, wrote about this in his series of eight or ten books about his two-year experience in Kamunting and the two-month detention prior to that.
The police support the government-of-the-day, one very senior police officer told me. But we decide who gets to form the government and who becomes the Prime Minister, another officer told Saari. And if the Prime Minister tak betul jalan, they might even find his car dalam gaung the next day.
Strong and confrontational words indeed from the defenders of justice and upholders of public safety and security. Are they employed as guardians of the peace or to decide who gets to form the government and becomes the Prime Minister?
I remember what one Deputy Director of the Special Branch once told me. When the May 13 race riots broke out, Bukit Aman held a briefing for all its officers and the instructions to the officers was: you are Malays first and police officers second. You job is to defend Malay political power and dominance. Understandably, only the Malay officers were invited for that briefing.
Another non-Malay Special Branch officer who was on duty outside Datuk Harun Idris’s house moments before the May 13 riots started had this to relate. He saw the crowd surge forward after a series of rabble-rousing speeches by various UMNO leaders and they started hacking to death all the non-Malays they came across.
I was alone and had just one revolver with six bullets, he told me. What could I do against thousands of parang-wielding rioters bent on drawing blood? I tucked my revolver in my waist and just stood by helplessly and watched as they hacked to death innocent non-Malays who did not know what the hell was going on.
This officer managed to save a couple of people but was himself confronted by some soldiers who raised their rifles and took aim at his head. In desperation he took out his authority card and explained that he was a police officer. The soldiers gave him ten seconds to get out of there before they shoot him dead. Invariably, he resigned from the force in disgust soon after that. Being a Special Branch officer who was on duty at ‘Ground Zero’ when May 13 exploded means he knew more than he could endure.
Another friend whose father was an army camp commander at the time of May 13 told me how his father opted for early retirement not long after that. On retirement he became a recluse and refused to meet any of this old army mates. He totally turned his back on the army and on his old friends from his army days. He knew something that we all don’t but he refused to talk about the army or May 13 till the day he died.
The police revealed their ‘true colours’ again in Perak today. No, Barisan Nasional is not a coalition of 14 political parties. It is a coalition of 16. The other two are the police and the Elections Commission (SPR). The police and SPR are also part of Barisan Nasional and are out to serve the interests of that ruling coalition. Can we trust the police and SPR when their job is to ensure that UMNO stays in power?
This was, in fact, confirmed by SPR in a meeting we had with them back in 2000. When asked why they would not abolish the postal vote system now that the Communist insurgency has ended and the soldiers are no longer in the jungles fighting the CTs (Communist Terrorists), they replied: if we abolish the postal vote system then not a single Minister would be able to retain his or her seat.
We were shocked by that reply and, after a few minutes of deafening silence, we asked them, “Isn’t it the job of the SPR to guarantee fair and free elections?”
They replied, “No, the job of the SPR is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.”
The SPR may be crooks but at least they are honest about it. I suppose that makes them honest crooks just like we have virgin prostitutes. And the police are no less slimy. And if what happened today in Perak can’t convince you of this then nothing in the world will ever convince you.
Perak is supposed to be Najib’s ‘Waterloo’. And I mean, of course, Najib as Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who lost the war, not Najib as the Duke of Wellington, the man who won. Najib’s political fortunes will be determined by whether he gets to retain Perak or he loses it back to Pakatan Rakyat. Currently, it appears like Najib’s coup d’etat has failed and Pakatan Rakyat has managed to launch a successful counter-coup, albeit constitutionally. This makes Najib’s position very dicey indeed.
Najib needs to make sure he does not lose Perak. The forces opposed to him do not really mind if Perak falls back into Pakatan Rakyat’s hands. Okay, so they lose Perak. But then they will also lose Najib as well. It is a sort of ‘package deal’. If Perak goes, then Najib goes as well. Losing Perak is a small price to pay for blocking Najib from becoming Prime Minister.
I realised, when they postponed my sedition and criminal defamation trials to end-April and end-May respectively, that bringing Najib down through the evidence I was supposed to reveal during these trials would not happen as planned after all. Thus far, only the sedition trial has commenced. The criminal defamation trial has not even started yet. Even then, the sedition trial is not even halfway through.
Currently, the prosecution is still presenting its case. At the end of the prosecution’s case the court will decide whether I have a case to answer to and whether my defence needs to be called. If, just like in the Altantuya murder trial, the court feels there is no case, then I will be acquitted without my defence being called, just like what happened to Razak Baginda. This would mean nothing would be revealed, as there will be no trial.
The problem with this would be, all this may happen a year or more down the road, long after Najib takes over as Prime Minister. So there is really no reason to hold my breath until I turn blue. I will be long dead from asphyxiation by the time anything is going to happen, and even then only if it will happen. It will not be in the interest of Najib to allow the trial to go its entire length and breadth, as he knows I am waiting to reveal the evidence once my defence is called. The best would be for the court to acquit me without my defence being called. Even now, when it is still only the prosecution’s case, much of what is surfacing in court is proving very embarrassing for Najib.
Anyway, not knowing whether what I want to say will ever see the light of day, I have decided to change my strategy. Instead of depending on the trial, I have sent all the notes of the court proceedings to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Sure, they have blocked most from surfacing in the trial. Superintendent Gan Tack Guan refuses to reply to all the questions posed by my lawyer, YB Gobind Singh Deo. But what he has told us thus far is damaging enough.
For example, Supt Gan confirmed that no investigation was ever launched to confirm whether Najib was, or was not, involved in Altantuya’s murder. Okay, this is not evidence that he was. But there is also no evidence to prove he was not. And no less than Supt Gan, the Investigating Officer of the Altantuya murder, who said this. And he said this while testifying during my sedition trial.
Most lawyers would argue that just because one was not proven innocent does not mean this is evidence that one is guilty (although this was how they found Anwar guilty and sent him to jail for more than six years). Sure, if seen in isolation this may be so. But it should not be seen in isolation. It must be read together with the Affidavit that Razak Baginda signed when he applied for bail in the early days of his trial.
Now, this Affidavit can’t be ignored because this Affidavit was the basis for the court to rule that Razak is not guilty and subsequently acquitted him of the murder charge. This Affidavit is crucial. This Affidavit bought Razak his freedom. And the court believed what Razak had said in his Affidavit. So, what did this Affidavit say?
Razak said, simply, that he never knew the two police officers on trial for Altantuya’s murder until they were introduced to him by Musa Safri, Najib’s ADC. That was when he first met them. Then Razak goes into detail about what happened thereafter, which I had already written about before and, therefore, do not need to repeat here.
The question that begs answer is: who instructed Musa to assist Razak and who subsequently sent the police officer -- Chief Inspector Azilah -- to go and see him to help him out of his predicament? And did not Razak also say, in the same Affidavit, that he went to Najib’s office to meet Musa and accidentally bumped into (teserempak) Azilah there?
Razak’s conversation with Azilah, about who sent him, etc., also needs to be noted. In short, Najib’s office or someone in Najib’s office set up the whole arrangement. This is what Razak said. And the court believed Razak and freed him from jail.
Was this investigated? According to Supt Gan, no! So they have no way of knowing whether this is true or not. But the court thinks it is true and that is why it freed Razak. So the matter is not about whether Najib was proven guilty. It is about him not being proven innocent. And Najib is not a simple man-in-the-street. He is the man who is going to be the next Prime Minister. And a Prime Minister must be above suspicion, especially when it involves murder.
That was my argument. And I explained this when I sent the official court papers to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with a plea to not appoint Najib as the next Prime Minister. I tried to make it simple. I am not saying that Najib has been proven guilty of murder. I am saying that Supt Gan confirmed that Najib has not been proven innocent. The police did nothing. They never launched any investigation. And Supt Gan confirmed this during my trial.
Okay, maybe I did not win first prize. They made sure I would not with the ‘I can’t reply’, ‘I don’t know how to reply’, ‘How do I reply to that’ answers that Supt Gan gave us. But at least I won second prize, for now. We have thus far failed to prove that Najib is guilty, and that may take us another year of hearings before we can do that -- which might be too late by then. But we have succeeded in proving that the police never cleared him either.
The ball is now at Abdullah Badawi’s feet. Whether he wants to hand over to Najib at the end of this month or not is his call. But the Altantuya murder is not the only issue. Perak is one more nail in Najib’s coffin. Today, it looks like Barisan Nasional has lost Perak, which means Najib lost. Then there is the emergency meeting this afternoon where some UMNO veterans are going to apply for a court injunction to delay the UMNO Assembly scheduled for the end of this month.
More than 1,000 reports have been made alleging corruption by the many contestants in the UMNO party elections. That is more reports than number of candidates. The UMNO veterans want the party to delay the Assembly until after all the cases have been investigated. What happens if someone (or many) wins the party elections and later is found guilty of corruption (money politics)? They would have to resign and this would be embarrassing for UMNO.
Imagine the entire UMNO Supreme Council and its three Vice-Presidents who win at the end of this month are found guilty of corruption. The entire leadership would need to resign or get sacked. UMNO would be put to shame, not to mention the bother of holding the party elections all over again.
I said this before and I will say it again. 24 hours is a long time in politics. Governments can fall in a mere 24 hours. What more 24 days? Najib may yet not become Prime Minister come end of this month. Sure, he may make Deputy President of UMNO. But that does not mean he will also become Prime Minister. How he handles Perak the next 24 hours and what results from the emergency meeting by the UMNO veterans this afternoon and the injunction that may follow it would have a bearing on Najib’s chances of becoming Prime Minister.
And if Abdullah Badawi does what I hope he will do with the court papers I sent him, then Najib’s goose is cooked. And it will no longer matter what they do to me. Najib will be out and Perak will be back under Pakatan Rakyat. My job is done. What happens thereafter is not a big deal.
This is something Najib does not understand. He thought he knew the game. In reality, he does not. The game is actually very simple indeed. It is called ‘Russian Roulette’. We load the chamber with one bullet, spin the chamber, and pull the trigger. I have pulled it and it did not fire. It just ‘clicked’. It is now Najib’s turn to pull the trigger. Will it fire or will it also go ‘click’? I really don’t know. Najib will have to pull the trigger for us to see. If it ‘clicks’, then the gun comes back to me and it is my turn to, again, pull the trigger. And this game of Russian Roulette will continue until one of us gets a bullet in the head.
Yes, I live dangerously. But I do not do so for the sake of living dangerously. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. No pain, no gain. This is all necessary. Perak was Najib’s doing. He created that mess. So we have to mess him up if need be to get back Perak. And it looks like that may have happened today in spite of what Najib and the police tried to do.
To the Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, I have only one thing to say: you have breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Go straight to jail, do not pass ‘go’, and do not collect RM200 on the way to jail. And to Nizar, well done. We were in Perak today and we are very honoured to have witnessed history in the making. This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
This is Peoples’ Power in the true sense of the word. Syabas. I am proud of you, Nizar. By the powers invested in me, I now proclaim you an Honorary Bugis Warrior.
This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin Section 124 of the Penal Code reads as follows:
"Whoever, with the intention of inducing or compelling or attempting to induce or compel a member of Parliament or of any legislative assembly or of any state executive council to exercise or refrain from exercising in any manner the lawful powers of such member, assaults or wrongfully restrains, or attempts wrongfully to restrain, or overawes by means of criminal force, or the show of criminal force, or attempts so to overawe, such member shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine."
The Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, has breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Technically, therefore, he can be charged for a criminal offence -- and, if found guilty, can be jailed or fined, or both. That is the law and one just can’t avoid punishment if one has broken the law.
But will he be made to face punishment? If the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly -- or any member of the public for that matter -- makes a police report against him, then the police are obligated, by law, to open a case file and investigate the report.
Over the last 11 years, thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made against those who walk in the corridors of power. But almost every single report has ended up in the NFA (No Further Action) tray. Try, however, to make a police report against someone perceived as ‘anti-establishment’. Within 24 hours an investigation will be launched and the police, with guns and Balaclavas, will swoop on the ‘dangerous criminal’.
Remember what happened to Anwar Ibrahim back in September 1998 and then, ten years later, in 2008? Both times the police came as if they were about to arrest Botak Chin, Bentong Kali, the Mamak Gang, or what have you. And, mind you, in both these incidences, Anwar’s lawyers had contacted the police to inform them that their client would voluntarily surrender himself at any police station that they want him to if asked.
Why the need to do a military-style operation as if Anwar was going to fight with guns and bombs till the last man standing? He had already said he would go in to the police station if asked. In fact, in the 2008 Hollywood-style arrest, Anwar was already on the way to the police station to make good his 2.00pm appointment when they arrested him so dramatically just outside his house as he was leaving for the police station.
Thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made over the 11 years which have all come to nought in the end. I have personally made two, one against the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Bakri Zinin, and another against JAKIM. The police not only classified them as NFA, they did not even call me in for my statement to be recorded, which is the usual procedure. In short, the police just totally ignored my two police reports.
I remember, back in 2001, when ten of us, all Reformasi activists, were detained under the Internal Security Act. The Special Branch goaded us and asked whether we really think we can take over the government. You can take to the streets, said the police. You can even win the general elections. But we own the guns and we decide who gets to form the government. Saari Sungib, in fact, wrote about this in his series of eight or ten books about his two-year experience in Kamunting and the two-month detention prior to that.
The police support the government-of-the-day, one very senior police officer told me. But we decide who gets to form the government and who becomes the Prime Minister, another officer told Saari. And if the Prime Minister tak betul jalan, they might even find his car dalam gaung the next day.
Strong and confrontational words indeed from the defenders of justice and upholders of public safety and security. Are they employed as guardians of the peace or to decide who gets to form the government and becomes the Prime Minister?
I remember what one Deputy Director of the Special Branch once told me. When the May 13 race riots broke out, Bukit Aman held a briefing for all its officers and the instructions to the officers was: you are Malays first and police officers second. You job is to defend Malay political power and dominance. Understandably, only the Malay officers were invited for that briefing.
Another non-Malay Special Branch officer who was on duty outside Datuk Harun Idris’s house moments before the May 13 riots started had this to relate. He saw the crowd surge forward after a series of rabble-rousing speeches by various UMNO leaders and they started hacking to death all the non-Malays they came across.
I was alone and had just one revolver with six bullets, he told me. What could I do against thousands of parang-wielding rioters bent on drawing blood? I tucked my revolver in my waist and just stood by helplessly and watched as they hacked to death innocent non-Malays who did not know what the hell was going on.
This officer managed to save a couple of people but was himself confronted by some soldiers who raised their rifles and took aim at his head. In desperation he took out his authority card and explained that he was a police officer. The soldiers gave him ten seconds to get out of there before they shoot him dead. Invariably, he resigned from the force in disgust soon after that. Being a Special Branch officer who was on duty at ‘Ground Zero’ when May 13 exploded means he knew more than he could endure.
Another friend whose father was an army camp commander at the time of May 13 told me how his father opted for early retirement not long after that. On retirement he became a recluse and refused to meet any of this old army mates. He totally turned his back on the army and on his old friends from his army days. He knew something that we all don’t but he refused to talk about the army or May 13 till the day he died.
The police revealed their ‘true colours’ again in Perak today. No, Barisan Nasional is not a coalition of 14 political parties. It is a coalition of 16. The other two are the police and the Elections Commission (SPR). The police and SPR are also part of Barisan Nasional and are out to serve the interests of that ruling coalition. Can we trust the police and SPR when their job is to ensure that UMNO stays in power?
This was, in fact, confirmed by SPR in a meeting we had with them back in 2000. When asked why they would not abolish the postal vote system now that the Communist insurgency has ended and the soldiers are no longer in the jungles fighting the CTs (Communist Terrorists), they replied: if we abolish the postal vote system then not a single Minister would be able to retain his or her seat.
We were shocked by that reply and, after a few minutes of deafening silence, we asked them, “Isn’t it the job of the SPR to guarantee fair and free elections?”
They replied, “No, the job of the SPR is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.”
The SPR may be crooks but at least they are honest about it. I suppose that makes them honest crooks just like we have virgin prostitutes. And the police are no less slimy. And if what happened today in Perak can’t convince you of this then nothing in the world will ever convince you.
Perak is supposed to be Najib’s ‘Waterloo’. And I mean, of course, Najib as Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who lost the war, not Najib as the Duke of Wellington, the man who won. Najib’s political fortunes will be determined by whether he gets to retain Perak or he loses it back to Pakatan Rakyat. Currently, it appears like Najib’s coup d’etat has failed and Pakatan Rakyat has managed to launch a successful counter-coup, albeit constitutionally. This makes Najib’s position very dicey indeed.
Najib needs to make sure he does not lose Perak. The forces opposed to him do not really mind if Perak falls back into Pakatan Rakyat’s hands. Okay, so they lose Perak. But then they will also lose Najib as well. It is a sort of ‘package deal’. If Perak goes, then Najib goes as well. Losing Perak is a small price to pay for blocking Najib from becoming Prime Minister.
I realised, when they postponed my sedition and criminal defamation trials to end-April and end-May respectively, that bringing Najib down through the evidence I was supposed to reveal during these trials would not happen as planned after all. Thus far, only the sedition trial has commenced. The criminal defamation trial has not even started yet. Even then, the sedition trial is not even halfway through.
Currently, the prosecution is still presenting its case. At the end of the prosecution’s case the court will decide whether I have a case to answer to and whether my defence needs to be called. If, just like in the Altantuya murder trial, the court feels there is no case, then I will be acquitted without my defence being called, just like what happened to Razak Baginda. This would mean nothing would be revealed, as there will be no trial.
The problem with this would be, all this may happen a year or more down the road, long after Najib takes over as Prime Minister. So there is really no reason to hold my breath until I turn blue. I will be long dead from asphyxiation by the time anything is going to happen, and even then only if it will happen. It will not be in the interest of Najib to allow the trial to go its entire length and breadth, as he knows I am waiting to reveal the evidence once my defence is called. The best would be for the court to acquit me without my defence being called. Even now, when it is still only the prosecution’s case, much of what is surfacing in court is proving very embarrassing for Najib.
Anyway, not knowing whether what I want to say will ever see the light of day, I have decided to change my strategy. Instead of depending on the trial, I have sent all the notes of the court proceedings to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Sure, they have blocked most from surfacing in the trial. Superintendent Gan Tack Guan refuses to reply to all the questions posed by my lawyer, YB Gobind Singh Deo. But what he has told us thus far is damaging enough.
For example, Supt Gan confirmed that no investigation was ever launched to confirm whether Najib was, or was not, involved in Altantuya’s murder. Okay, this is not evidence that he was. But there is also no evidence to prove he was not. And no less than Supt Gan, the Investigating Officer of the Altantuya murder, who said this. And he said this while testifying during my sedition trial.
Most lawyers would argue that just because one was not proven innocent does not mean this is evidence that one is guilty (although this was how they found Anwar guilty and sent him to jail for more than six years). Sure, if seen in isolation this may be so. But it should not be seen in isolation. It must be read together with the Affidavit that Razak Baginda signed when he applied for bail in the early days of his trial.
Now, this Affidavit can’t be ignored because this Affidavit was the basis for the court to rule that Razak is not guilty and subsequently acquitted him of the murder charge. This Affidavit is crucial. This Affidavit bought Razak his freedom. And the court believed what Razak had said in his Affidavit. So, what did this Affidavit say?
Razak said, simply, that he never knew the two police officers on trial for Altantuya’s murder until they were introduced to him by Musa Safri, Najib’s ADC. That was when he first met them. Then Razak goes into detail about what happened thereafter, which I had already written about before and, therefore, do not need to repeat here.
The question that begs answer is: who instructed Musa to assist Razak and who subsequently sent the police officer -- Chief Inspector Azilah -- to go and see him to help him out of his predicament? And did not Razak also say, in the same Affidavit, that he went to Najib’s office to meet Musa and accidentally bumped into (teserempak) Azilah there?
Razak’s conversation with Azilah, about who sent him, etc., also needs to be noted. In short, Najib’s office or someone in Najib’s office set up the whole arrangement. This is what Razak said. And the court believed Razak and freed him from jail.
Was this investigated? According to Supt Gan, no! So they have no way of knowing whether this is true or not. But the court thinks it is true and that is why it freed Razak. So the matter is not about whether Najib was proven guilty. It is about him not being proven innocent. And Najib is not a simple man-in-the-street. He is the man who is going to be the next Prime Minister. And a Prime Minister must be above suspicion, especially when it involves murder.
That was my argument. And I explained this when I sent the official court papers to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with a plea to not appoint Najib as the next Prime Minister. I tried to make it simple. I am not saying that Najib has been proven guilty of murder. I am saying that Supt Gan confirmed that Najib has not been proven innocent. The police did nothing. They never launched any investigation. And Supt Gan confirmed this during my trial.
Okay, maybe I did not win first prize. They made sure I would not with the ‘I can’t reply’, ‘I don’t know how to reply’, ‘How do I reply to that’ answers that Supt Gan gave us. But at least I won second prize, for now. We have thus far failed to prove that Najib is guilty, and that may take us another year of hearings before we can do that -- which might be too late by then. But we have succeeded in proving that the police never cleared him either.
The ball is now at Abdullah Badawi’s feet. Whether he wants to hand over to Najib at the end of this month or not is his call. But the Altantuya murder is not the only issue. Perak is one more nail in Najib’s coffin. Today, it looks like Barisan Nasional has lost Perak, which means Najib lost. Then there is the emergency meeting this afternoon where some UMNO veterans are going to apply for a court injunction to delay the UMNO Assembly scheduled for the end of this month.
More than 1,000 reports have been made alleging corruption by the many contestants in the UMNO party elections. That is more reports than number of candidates. The UMNO veterans want the party to delay the Assembly until after all the cases have been investigated. What happens if someone (or many) wins the party elections and later is found guilty of corruption (money politics)? They would have to resign and this would be embarrassing for UMNO.
Imagine the entire UMNO Supreme Council and its three Vice-Presidents who win at the end of this month are found guilty of corruption. The entire leadership would need to resign or get sacked. UMNO would be put to shame, not to mention the bother of holding the party elections all over again.
I said this before and I will say it again. 24 hours is a long time in politics. Governments can fall in a mere 24 hours. What more 24 days? Najib may yet not become Prime Minister come end of this month. Sure, he may make Deputy President of UMNO. But that does not mean he will also become Prime Minister. How he handles Perak the next 24 hours and what results from the emergency meeting by the UMNO veterans this afternoon and the injunction that may follow it would have a bearing on Najib’s chances of becoming Prime Minister.
And if Abdullah Badawi does what I hope he will do with the court papers I sent him, then Najib’s goose is cooked. And it will no longer matter what they do to me. Najib will be out and Perak will be back under Pakatan Rakyat. My job is done. What happens thereafter is not a big deal.
This is something Najib does not understand. He thought he knew the game. In reality, he does not. The game is actually very simple indeed. It is called ‘Russian Roulette’. We load the chamber with one bullet, spin the chamber, and pull the trigger. I have pulled it and it did not fire. It just ‘clicked’. It is now Najib’s turn to pull the trigger. Will it fire or will it also go ‘click’? I really don’t know. Najib will have to pull the trigger for us to see. If it ‘clicks’, then the gun comes back to me and it is my turn to, again, pull the trigger. And this game of Russian Roulette will continue until one of us gets a bullet in the head.
Yes, I live dangerously. But I do not do so for the sake of living dangerously. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. No pain, no gain. This is all necessary. Perak was Najib’s doing. He created that mess. So we have to mess him up if need be to get back Perak. And it looks like that may have happened today in spite of what Najib and the police tried to do.
To the Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, I have only one thing to say: you have breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Go straight to jail, do not pass ‘go’, and do not collect RM200 on the way to jail. And to Nizar, well done. We were in Perak today and we are very honoured to have witnessed history in the making. This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
This is Peoples’ Power in the true sense of the word. Syabas. I am proud of you, Nizar. By the powers invested in me, I now proclaim you an Honorary Bugis Warrior.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Registration form on Human rights
Training Programme of the
Melaka Bar Committee
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Saturday, 21st February 2009
REGISTRATION FORM
I/We would like to register for the Talk.
Name : ……………………………………………………………………………………
E-mail : …………………………………………………………………………………….
Name of Organization (If applicable) : …………………………………………………………………….
Address : …………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………
Tel No : ………………….. Fax No: ………………………………….
Date : ………………….. Signature : ……………………………….
Please complete and e-mail the registration form to legalseminar123@gmail.com to confirm attendance. For registration information, please call Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423 / 06-284 8694.
There are limited places available and registration is free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Completed forms to be forwarded to :-
legalseminar123@gmail.com
Melaka Bar Committee
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Saturday, 21st February 2009
REGISTRATION FORM
I/We would like to register for the Talk.
Name : ……………………………………………………………………………………
E-mail : …………………………………………………………………………………….
Name of Organization (If applicable) : …………………………………………………………………….
Address : …………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………
Tel No : ………………….. Fax No: ………………………………….
Date : ………………….. Signature : ……………………………….
Please complete and e-mail the registration form to legalseminar123@gmail.com to confirm attendance. For registration information, please call Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423 / 06-284 8694.
There are limited places available and registration is free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Completed forms to be forwarded to :-
legalseminar123@gmail.com
Please take a break to come!
JAWATANKUASA PEGUAM NEGERI MELAKA
MALACCA BAR COMMITTEE
No. 9373, Taman Indah, Section 1,
Bukit Sebukor, 75150 Melaka.
Tel : 06-284 5519 / 286 4514 Fax : 06-283 0755 E-mail : mccabar@gmail.com
January 15th, 2009 Via E-mail
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re : Invitation to our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme
With reference to the above, the Malacca Bar Committee has the pleasure of inviting you/your organization to participate in our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme.
Rarely if ever has the subject of migrant workers, “orang asal”, women or child rights and Freedom of Speech in the Media been the fervent topic of legal discourse. Thus in the spirit of fostering an awareness in these issues, the Malacca Bar Committee and Multimedia University (MMU) Malacca have agreed to jointly host a training and educational programme for practitioners, non-governmental organizations and the public with the aim to empower participants on these issues and to translate this awareness into social and legal action.
Our proposed prominent speakers are legal practitioners each renowned in their respective fields include Edmond Bon, National Human Rights Committee Chairman; Amer Hamzah Arshad, proactive refugee counsel and Roger Chan, human rights activist.
The programme details are as follows :-
Date : Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Time : 8.30-1.30pm
Venue : MMU Hall, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, Melaka
Audience : on an invitation basis; expected 200-300 pax
Should there be any queries, feel free to contact Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423/ 06-284 8694.
The registration form is attached herewith in this e-mail. To help us in making arrangements, please confirm that you can attend soonest possible or by February 1st, 2009.
Thank you again for your support. Your presence is deeply appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Chua
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Chairman
Malacca Bar Committee
MALACCA BAR COMMITTEE
No. 9373, Taman Indah, Section 1,
Bukit Sebukor, 75150 Melaka.
Tel : 06-284 5519 / 286 4514 Fax : 06-283 0755 E-mail : mccabar@gmail.com
January 15th, 2009 Via E-mail
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re : Invitation to our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme
With reference to the above, the Malacca Bar Committee has the pleasure of inviting you/your organization to participate in our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme.
Rarely if ever has the subject of migrant workers, “orang asal”, women or child rights and Freedom of Speech in the Media been the fervent topic of legal discourse. Thus in the spirit of fostering an awareness in these issues, the Malacca Bar Committee and Multimedia University (MMU) Malacca have agreed to jointly host a training and educational programme for practitioners, non-governmental organizations and the public with the aim to empower participants on these issues and to translate this awareness into social and legal action.
Our proposed prominent speakers are legal practitioners each renowned in their respective fields include Edmond Bon, National Human Rights Committee Chairman; Amer Hamzah Arshad, proactive refugee counsel and Roger Chan, human rights activist.
The programme details are as follows :-
Date : Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Time : 8.30-1.30pm
Venue : MMU Hall, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, Melaka
Audience : on an invitation basis; expected 200-300 pax
Should there be any queries, feel free to contact Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423/ 06-284 8694.
The registration form is attached herewith in this e-mail. To help us in making arrangements, please confirm that you can attend soonest possible or by February 1st, 2009.
Thank you again for your support. Your presence is deeply appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Chua
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Chairman
Malacca Bar Committee
Friday, February 6, 2009
Now comes the hard part for BN: Winning over the people
by Malaysia Today admin
Friday, 06 February 2009 08:29
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
THE STRAITS TIMES It may have recaptured Perak, but Barisan Nasional now faces the bigger battle for the hearts of Malaysians, especially those who scoff at its backdoor re-entry to power.
But the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has not been spared criticism either. It has been knocked for losing control of its assemblymen.
On blogs, message boards and even networking site Facebook, netizens have unleashed their anger and disappointment, saying their trust in politicians has been shattered.
The volume of unhappy comments, along with the spike in Internet traffic driven by those wanting to read real-time updates of the twists and turns in the Perak saga, caused online news portals, including Malaysiakini, to redirect users to stripped-down versions of their websites, which load more quickly.
Most of the vitriol has been directed at the four politicians who jumped ship on Wednesday: former Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblymen Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, former DAP assemblyman Hee Yit Fong, and assemblyman Nasarudin Hashim, who defected to PKR last week before making an abrupt U-turn back to Umno.
They have been labelled traitors, having either flipped-flopped or reneged on earlier claims that they were not defecting.
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
“Any rep leaving the party after having won is no better than a dishonest salesman who hoodwinks customers into buying products (of which the) quality does not measure up to what was claimed,” wrote another reader.
Many, like business development manager Nicole Fong, 34, who grew up in Perak and has family there, disapprove of a government formed through defections. “Calling for snap polls is the fairer way forward. BN can't just take over the state like this — they don't have the people's consensus,” she told The Straits Times.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that BN has recaptured Perak — which fell to the Opposition in last year's general election — thanks to the four lawmakers who switched sides.
With the defections, BN and PR hold 28 seats each. But with the three pro-BN independent assemblymen, BN can now claim control of the state assembly.
Political observers have, however, warned of a possible backlash from citizens if BN chooses to reclaim power this way — a point that was also emphasised by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Yesterday, veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah joined the chorus of naysayers, cautioning that taking control of Perak without getting the people's mandate would spell disaster for BN in the next general election. Such actions would “cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back”, he said.
But Najib pre-empted such criticism. “We didn't start this,” he said. “Someone wanted to form the government on Sept 16,” he added, referring to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ambitious plan to engineer a massive defection of BN MPs to the opposition last year.
But political analyst James Chin said voters are always going to be more sympathetic towards the opposition.
“The general feeling is that the electoral system is skewed towards the ruling coalition. That's probably why they are less worked up when the opposition woos defectors,” he told The Straits Times.
Nevertheless, there are also fingers pointed at PR for its part in the debacle. “(Pakatan Rakyat), please vet all your candidates before letting them stand for snap polls,” wrote Perak resident Prema Subramaniam on Malaysiakini's website.Those who opted for the opposition last year have resigned themselves to a Catch-22 situation. After voting for BN for half a century, they say, voting for Pakatan has now backfired as well. — MI
Friday, 06 February 2009 08:29
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
THE STRAITS TIMES It may have recaptured Perak, but Barisan Nasional now faces the bigger battle for the hearts of Malaysians, especially those who scoff at its backdoor re-entry to power.
But the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has not been spared criticism either. It has been knocked for losing control of its assemblymen.
On blogs, message boards and even networking site Facebook, netizens have unleashed their anger and disappointment, saying their trust in politicians has been shattered.
The volume of unhappy comments, along with the spike in Internet traffic driven by those wanting to read real-time updates of the twists and turns in the Perak saga, caused online news portals, including Malaysiakini, to redirect users to stripped-down versions of their websites, which load more quickly.
Most of the vitriol has been directed at the four politicians who jumped ship on Wednesday: former Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblymen Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, former DAP assemblyman Hee Yit Fong, and assemblyman Nasarudin Hashim, who defected to PKR last week before making an abrupt U-turn back to Umno.
They have been labelled traitors, having either flipped-flopped or reneged on earlier claims that they were not defecting.
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
“Any rep leaving the party after having won is no better than a dishonest salesman who hoodwinks customers into buying products (of which the) quality does not measure up to what was claimed,” wrote another reader.
Many, like business development manager Nicole Fong, 34, who grew up in Perak and has family there, disapprove of a government formed through defections. “Calling for snap polls is the fairer way forward. BN can't just take over the state like this — they don't have the people's consensus,” she told The Straits Times.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that BN has recaptured Perak — which fell to the Opposition in last year's general election — thanks to the four lawmakers who switched sides.
With the defections, BN and PR hold 28 seats each. But with the three pro-BN independent assemblymen, BN can now claim control of the state assembly.
Political observers have, however, warned of a possible backlash from citizens if BN chooses to reclaim power this way — a point that was also emphasised by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Yesterday, veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah joined the chorus of naysayers, cautioning that taking control of Perak without getting the people's mandate would spell disaster for BN in the next general election. Such actions would “cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back”, he said.
But Najib pre-empted such criticism. “We didn't start this,” he said. “Someone wanted to form the government on Sept 16,” he added, referring to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ambitious plan to engineer a massive defection of BN MPs to the opposition last year.
But political analyst James Chin said voters are always going to be more sympathetic towards the opposition.
“The general feeling is that the electoral system is skewed towards the ruling coalition. That's probably why they are less worked up when the opposition woos defectors,” he told The Straits Times.
Nevertheless, there are also fingers pointed at PR for its part in the debacle. “(Pakatan Rakyat), please vet all your candidates before letting them stand for snap polls,” wrote Perak resident Prema Subramaniam on Malaysiakini's website.Those who opted for the opposition last year have resigned themselves to a Catch-22 situation. After voting for BN for half a century, they say, voting for Pakatan has now backfired as well. — MI
Law expert: Vote of o confidence should be passed against MB in assembly
By Maria J.Dass
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin's refusal to step down as Mentri Besar (MB) as instructed by the Sultan is legitimate as Article 16 of the Perak Constitution states that the MB has to tender his resignation if he no longer commands the support of the majority of members of the state legislative assembly, Constitutional law expert, Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said.
Asked if this meant that he was still legally the MB until the state legislative assembly convened, he said: "Personally I think the assembly should meet and then pass a vote of no confidence against him."
The MB also has a right to challenge the Sultan's orders for him to step down, he added."Right now there is a grey area as there is no vote of no confidence against the MB," Shad said.
The assembly has up to 60 days to be convened from the last meeting and the MB can wait to do so, he said.
"When the assembly convenes, and a vote of no confidence is passed, then at least the lack of confidence in the MB can be proved," he said.
Describing the current takeover of the state by Barisan Nasional (BN) as a backroom manoeuvre he said: "It is not tasteful."
"Things should be done in accordance with the law, democracy and the constitution," he added."Of course some people may argue and say that you can declare this loss of confidence towards the MB from outside the state assembly."
"So would you consider it valid if you make the declaration say from your yard, the supermarket or the park?" he asked.
Asked about the manner in which the take over was being carried out with the police and Federal Reserve Units (FRU) being called in to get the present executive councilors and their officers to vacate the state secretariat building, Shad described it as "sad and ugly".
"This is something that the law does not cover, the law does not cover everything," he said.
"This is an extraordinary situation," said Shad, stressing that he was in no way taking sides but commenting from a purely legal and personal point of view.
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin's refusal to step down as Mentri Besar (MB) as instructed by the Sultan is legitimate as Article 16 of the Perak Constitution states that the MB has to tender his resignation if he no longer commands the support of the majority of members of the state legislative assembly, Constitutional law expert, Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said.
Asked if this meant that he was still legally the MB until the state legislative assembly convened, he said: "Personally I think the assembly should meet and then pass a vote of no confidence against him."
The MB also has a right to challenge the Sultan's orders for him to step down, he added."Right now there is a grey area as there is no vote of no confidence against the MB," Shad said.
The assembly has up to 60 days to be convened from the last meeting and the MB can wait to do so, he said.
"When the assembly convenes, and a vote of no confidence is passed, then at least the lack of confidence in the MB can be proved," he said.
Describing the current takeover of the state by Barisan Nasional (BN) as a backroom manoeuvre he said: "It is not tasteful."
"Things should be done in accordance with the law, democracy and the constitution," he added."Of course some people may argue and say that you can declare this loss of confidence towards the MB from outside the state assembly."
"So would you consider it valid if you make the declaration say from your yard, the supermarket or the park?" he asked.
Asked about the manner in which the take over was being carried out with the police and Federal Reserve Units (FRU) being called in to get the present executive councilors and their officers to vacate the state secretariat building, Shad described it as "sad and ugly".
"This is something that the law does not cover, the law does not cover everything," he said.
"This is an extraordinary situation," said Shad, stressing that he was in no way taking sides but commenting from a purely legal and personal point of view.
Protest and tear gas rock royal city
By Malaysiakini
Feb 6, 09 2:36pm
Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) fires several rounds of tear gas as more than 3,000 Pakatan Rakyat supporters converge for a protest march at the Ubudiah mosque - about 1km from Iskandariah Palace in Kuala Kangsar.
LIVE REPORTS
4.30pm: Police confirm earlier that nine people have been arrested. The majority of the crowd have dispersed.
4.01pm: Zambry is sworn in before Sultan Azlan Shah. About 1,000 people are still gathered near the mosque with the police keeping a close watch.
4.00pm: A man claiming to be a Perak PAS representative addresses some 1,000 protesters using a loud-hailer from a police truck.
He tells them that they have already 'conveyed their message to the world' and calls on them to disperse.
3.58pm: Swearing-in ceremony for new Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir begins.
3.50pm: There are about 1,000 protesters still in Ubudiah mosque. About 10 people have been arrested during the 40-minute fracas between the crowd and riot police.
The remaining crowd is expected to wait for the swearing-in ceremony at the Iskandariah palace (left). According to PAS state assemblyperson Khalilul Rahman Abdul Samad, the protesters may attempt to block the main road again.
Swearing-in ceremony yet to begin at the palace.
3.45pm: No protesters could be seen in front of the Iskandariah palace where the new Perak MB, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is about to be sworn in.
3.33pm: State PAS leaders arrive at the scene and urge Pakatan Rakyat supporters to calm down. Swearing-in ceremony for new MB about to begin.
3.25pm: The situation calms down at the Ubudiah mosque (right). Several people are seen crying and scolding the police for firing tear gas into the mosque compound.
3.20pm: Police have finally cleared the blockade by the crowd and all cars are able to proceed to Iskandariah palace.
3.19pm: A vehicle with a yellow (royal) registration plate is pelted with stones by angry supporters.
3.18pm: Tear gas still being fired into the mosque compound. Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak's car enters the palace.
3.11pm: A group of protesters are lying on the road to block the passing cars.3.10pm: FRU personnel manage to remove the bloackade and cars are passing through to the palace.3.08pm: Tear gas is fired at those blocking the road. The FRU are also arresting those blocking the road.3.06pm: About 300 people are blocking the road leading to the palace, stopping dignitaries and BN politicians from attending the swearing-in ceremony, which is to kick off at 3.30pm.
3.04pm: The crowd is dispersed. Some are trying to block the road leading to the palace.
3.01pm: FRU charges at the crowd. A handful are seen throwing stones at the police.
2.59pm: More tear gas fired into the mosque carpark.
2.58pm: Crowd retreats to the mosque.
2.50pm: Another round of tear gas fired. Crowd refuses to back down with some throwing rocks at the FRU personnel.
2.43pm: Police tells the crowd to disperse. First round of tear gas fired.
2.41pm: The crowd swells to about 3,000 with some carrying banners calling on the sultan to dissolve the state assembly. FRU personnel are moving into position.
Earlier report
Some 500 Pakatan Rakyat supporters broke through a police barricade outside the Ubudiah mosque in Kuala Kangsar - about 1km from the Iskandariah palace - during a protest march this afternoon.At precisely 2.22pm, the supporters, which included a large group of women, had gathered outside the mosque after Friday prayers.They had wanted to march from the mosque to the Iskandariah Palace where the swearing-in of the new Perak menteri besar, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is scheduled to take place at 3.30pm.At 2.26pm, the crowd breaches the police barricade, and at 2.28pm, the police retaliate by firing several rounds of tear gas.This forced the supporters to retreat back into the mosque.The police have deployed some 30 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and 20 uniformed personnel.At 2.40pm, the crowd regroups outside the mosque as police sirens are heard blaring in the background. It is learnt that several truckloads of FRU personnel are being deployed to the scene.
Feb 6, 09 2:36pm
Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) fires several rounds of tear gas as more than 3,000 Pakatan Rakyat supporters converge for a protest march at the Ubudiah mosque - about 1km from Iskandariah Palace in Kuala Kangsar.
LIVE REPORTS
4.30pm: Police confirm earlier that nine people have been arrested. The majority of the crowd have dispersed.
4.01pm: Zambry is sworn in before Sultan Azlan Shah. About 1,000 people are still gathered near the mosque with the police keeping a close watch.
4.00pm: A man claiming to be a Perak PAS representative addresses some 1,000 protesters using a loud-hailer from a police truck.
He tells them that they have already 'conveyed their message to the world' and calls on them to disperse.
3.58pm: Swearing-in ceremony for new Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir begins.
3.50pm: There are about 1,000 protesters still in Ubudiah mosque. About 10 people have been arrested during the 40-minute fracas between the crowd and riot police.
The remaining crowd is expected to wait for the swearing-in ceremony at the Iskandariah palace (left). According to PAS state assemblyperson Khalilul Rahman Abdul Samad, the protesters may attempt to block the main road again.
Swearing-in ceremony yet to begin at the palace.
3.45pm: No protesters could be seen in front of the Iskandariah palace where the new Perak MB, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is about to be sworn in.
3.33pm: State PAS leaders arrive at the scene and urge Pakatan Rakyat supporters to calm down. Swearing-in ceremony for new MB about to begin.
3.25pm: The situation calms down at the Ubudiah mosque (right). Several people are seen crying and scolding the police for firing tear gas into the mosque compound.
3.20pm: Police have finally cleared the blockade by the crowd and all cars are able to proceed to Iskandariah palace.
3.19pm: A vehicle with a yellow (royal) registration plate is pelted with stones by angry supporters.
3.18pm: Tear gas still being fired into the mosque compound. Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak's car enters the palace.
3.11pm: A group of protesters are lying on the road to block the passing cars.3.10pm: FRU personnel manage to remove the bloackade and cars are passing through to the palace.3.08pm: Tear gas is fired at those blocking the road. The FRU are also arresting those blocking the road.3.06pm: About 300 people are blocking the road leading to the palace, stopping dignitaries and BN politicians from attending the swearing-in ceremony, which is to kick off at 3.30pm.
3.04pm: The crowd is dispersed. Some are trying to block the road leading to the palace.
3.01pm: FRU charges at the crowd. A handful are seen throwing stones at the police.
2.59pm: More tear gas fired into the mosque carpark.
2.58pm: Crowd retreats to the mosque.
2.50pm: Another round of tear gas fired. Crowd refuses to back down with some throwing rocks at the FRU personnel.
2.43pm: Police tells the crowd to disperse. First round of tear gas fired.
2.41pm: The crowd swells to about 3,000 with some carrying banners calling on the sultan to dissolve the state assembly. FRU personnel are moving into position.
Earlier report
Some 500 Pakatan Rakyat supporters broke through a police barricade outside the Ubudiah mosque in Kuala Kangsar - about 1km from the Iskandariah palace - during a protest march this afternoon.At precisely 2.22pm, the supporters, which included a large group of women, had gathered outside the mosque after Friday prayers.They had wanted to march from the mosque to the Iskandariah Palace where the swearing-in of the new Perak menteri besar, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is scheduled to take place at 3.30pm.At 2.26pm, the crowd breaches the police barricade, and at 2.28pm, the police retaliate by firing several rounds of tear gas.This forced the supporters to retreat back into the mosque.The police have deployed some 30 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and 20 uniformed personnel.At 2.40pm, the crowd regroups outside the mosque as police sirens are heard blaring in the background. It is learnt that several truckloads of FRU personnel are being deployed to the scene.
"犹如吴三桂般引清兵入关"林冠英斥许月凤成历史罪人
刘嘉铭 2月5日 中午12点53分
民主行动党秘书长林冠英表示，
许月凤可以有上千万种理由离开行动党，但不该背弃人民支持民联的意愿，否则将如吴三桂引清兵入关般，成为历史罪人而被后人遗弃。
身兼槟城首席部长的林冠英今早是在首长办公室，召开新闻发布会时表示，他对九洞州议员许月凤的退党感到痛心与失望。
背弃选民支持民联意愿
他要求许月凤三思而后行，就算不重新加入行动党，也不该背弃选民，支持国阵筹组政府。何况，民联在大选中获得54%的得票，除了证明多数选民的选择，所获得的委托地位也不容被质疑。
"如今，许月凤的做法不只关乎一个议席，而是一个州政权的垮台与否。"
"她扛着行动党的旗帜在竞选中以6000多数票胜出，不是代表个人。何况，人民明确表明要新政府上台执政，更百般不愿目睹国阵重新夺权。"
以历史为鉴免没好下场
他认为，退党及对党不忠是一回事，背弃选民却是一项永不被原谅的错误与罪恶。
"我们（行动党）给她这个家，她不要这个家，但可以弃儿不理吗?"
"她可因为任何原因退党及拥有本身的政治立场，背弃选民却是错误的做法。回顾历史，不管是圣经中的例子、勾结纳粹的挪威政客维德孔吉斯林（Vidkun Quisling），或引清兵入关的吴三桂都因变节遭遇不好下场。"
或如吴三桂遭后人遗弃
他更形容许月风的倒戈是在嘲弄人民的裁决，但他仍相信，后者并非想沦为吴三桂，但若坚决不改变立场，则必在历史上留下污名。
"吴三桂在历史上留下了不光彩的一页，有别于一些王族的后人，你不见有人站出来自认是吴三桂的后人。"
质问"变节"背后原故
"人民正在追求改变，你却逆民意转而支持国阵，犹如国难当头不救国之余，却引清兵入关，背弃老百姓。如果说，吴三桂当时是为了一名女人，我们倒可以问许月凤，你是为了什么?"
至于许氏是否因为不满倪氏兄弟而"出走"，林冠英则认为，"那是霹雳州的内部党务，但她不曾表达过不满。就算感到愤愤不平，也不该背弃人民。"
重申支持拟定反跳槽法
无论如何，他表示没有会见许月凤的必要，只希望对方重新考虑及审视其作为人民代议士的责任。
针对国阵领袖不断以民联才是拉拢议员跳槽的始俑者，来为霹雳州变天辩护，林冠英重申，该党由始至终支持拟定反跳槽法，立场前后一致。
刘嘉铭 2月5日 中午12点53分
民主行动党秘书长林冠英表示，
许月凤可以有上千万种理由离开行动党，但不该背弃人民支持民联的意愿，否则将如吴三桂引清兵入关般，成为历史罪人而被后人遗弃。
身兼槟城首席部长的林冠英今早是在首长办公室，召开新闻发布会时表示，他对九洞州议员许月凤的退党感到痛心与失望。
背弃选民支持民联意愿
他要求许月凤三思而后行，就算不重新加入行动党，也不该背弃选民，支持国阵筹组政府。何况，民联在大选中获得54%的得票，除了证明多数选民的选择，所获得的委托地位也不容被质疑。
"如今，许月凤的做法不只关乎一个议席，而是一个州政权的垮台与否。"
"她扛着行动党的旗帜在竞选中以6000多数票胜出，不是代表个人。何况，人民明确表明要新政府上台执政，更百般不愿目睹国阵重新夺权。"
以历史为鉴免没好下场
他认为，退党及对党不忠是一回事，背弃选民却是一项永不被原谅的错误与罪恶。
"我们（行动党）给她这个家，她不要这个家，但可以弃儿不理吗?"
"她可因为任何原因退党及拥有本身的政治立场，背弃选民却是错误的做法。回顾历史，不管是圣经中的例子、勾结纳粹的挪威政客维德孔吉斯林（Vidkun Quisling），或引清兵入关的吴三桂都因变节遭遇不好下场。"
或如吴三桂遭后人遗弃
他更形容许月风的倒戈是在嘲弄人民的裁决，但他仍相信，后者并非想沦为吴三桂，但若坚决不改变立场，则必在历史上留下污名。
"吴三桂在历史上留下了不光彩的一页，有别于一些王族的后人，你不见有人站出来自认是吴三桂的后人。"
质问"变节"背后原故
"人民正在追求改变，你却逆民意转而支持国阵，犹如国难当头不救国之余，却引清兵入关，背弃老百姓。如果说，吴三桂当时是为了一名女人，我们倒可以问许月凤，你是为了什么?"
至于许氏是否因为不满倪氏兄弟而"出走"，林冠英则认为，"那是霹雳州的内部党务，但她不曾表达过不满。就算感到愤愤不平，也不该背弃人民。"
重申支持拟定反跳槽法
无论如何，他表示没有会见许月凤的必要，只希望对方重新考虑及审视其作为人民代议士的责任。
针对国阵领袖不断以民联才是拉拢议员跳槽的始俑者，来为霹雳州变天辩护，林冠英重申，该党由始至终支持拟定反跳槽法，立场前后一致。
Constitutional scandal of two Perak MBs
By Mr. Lim Kit Siang
Abdullah should support dissolution and state elections
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wrong when he said that Pakatan Rakyat must now accept a new government in Perak just as Barisan Nasional had accepted the results of last year’s general election.
The comparison is totally inappropriate. In fact, he should be the last person to make such a statement if he is serious about national integrity and morality in politics and public affairs which is one of his major promises and biggest failures of his premiership.
Abdullah cannot be unaware that there is a world of a difference between last year’s general election result and the current political crisis in Perak engineered by Umno leaders.
Last year’s general election results were the outcome of the exercise of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Perak to elect the government of their choice, while the present attempt to oust the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat government by UMNO and Barisan Nasional is a most unethical and opportunistic power-play frustrating the verdict of the voters in the March 8 general election last year.
If Abdullah is sincere and serious in wanting to eradicate political corruption and introduce ethical and principled politics, which he had repeatedly professed publicly, he should dissociate himself from the coup d’etat orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister and the new Perak Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak through the defection of three and re-defection of one Perak state assembly person.
I call on Abdullah to support the dissolution of Perak State Assembly and the holding of state elections to resolve the political crisis in Perak and not to end his premiership with a constitutional scandal of two Mentri Besars in Perak.
Even if this is the only legacy of Abdullah in his five-year premiership, it will go a long way to strike a mortal blow at the bane of Malaysian politics – dishonest, unethical, immoral and money politics – and give meaning to the National Integrity Plan which he had launched with such fanfare five years ago but with so little results so far.
Although the Sultan of Perak has rejected the application of the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for a dissolution of the State Assembly, Nizar is still the legitimate Mentri Besar until he has been voted out by a “no confidence” motion in the Perak State Assembly.
Until such time, there is no vacancy in the post of Perak Mentri Besar.
Abdullah should advise Najib not to create a constitutional scandal of having two Mentri Besars in Perak and to fully respect the constitutional process and the people’s democratic right and mandate as expressed in last year’s general election – and the most democratic option is to return the mandate to the voters of Perak in a state-wide election to elect a new state government of their choice.
Abdullah should support dissolution and state elections
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wrong when he said that Pakatan Rakyat must now accept a new government in Perak just as Barisan Nasional had accepted the results of last year’s general election.
The comparison is totally inappropriate. In fact, he should be the last person to make such a statement if he is serious about national integrity and morality in politics and public affairs which is one of his major promises and biggest failures of his premiership.
Abdullah cannot be unaware that there is a world of a difference between last year’s general election result and the current political crisis in Perak engineered by Umno leaders.
Last year’s general election results were the outcome of the exercise of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Perak to elect the government of their choice, while the present attempt to oust the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat government by UMNO and Barisan Nasional is a most unethical and opportunistic power-play frustrating the verdict of the voters in the March 8 general election last year.
If Abdullah is sincere and serious in wanting to eradicate political corruption and introduce ethical and principled politics, which he had repeatedly professed publicly, he should dissociate himself from the coup d’etat orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister and the new Perak Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak through the defection of three and re-defection of one Perak state assembly person.
I call on Abdullah to support the dissolution of Perak State Assembly and the holding of state elections to resolve the political crisis in Perak and not to end his premiership with a constitutional scandal of two Mentri Besars in Perak.
Even if this is the only legacy of Abdullah in his five-year premiership, it will go a long way to strike a mortal blow at the bane of Malaysian politics – dishonest, unethical, immoral and money politics – and give meaning to the National Integrity Plan which he had launched with such fanfare five years ago but with so little results so far.
Although the Sultan of Perak has rejected the application of the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for a dissolution of the State Assembly, Nizar is still the legitimate Mentri Besar until he has been voted out by a “no confidence” motion in the Perak State Assembly.
Until such time, there is no vacancy in the post of Perak Mentri Besar.
Abdullah should advise Najib not to create a constitutional scandal of having two Mentri Besars in Perak and to fully respect the constitutional process and the people’s democratic right and mandate as expressed in last year’s general election – and the most democratic option is to return the mandate to the voters of Perak in a state-wide election to elect a new state government of their choice.
Ku Li: Not right way to take power
By Malaysiakini
Feb 5, 09 2:56pm
Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has warned party leaders that gaining the Perak state government without resorting to elections would result in enmity of the Perak voters come the next general election.
MCPXRazaleigh, who is also Gua Musang MP, said Umno and BN should try and win the hearts of the people and not gain the government by dubious means."If the Ruler decides not to accede to the MB's request for the dissolution of Parliament, and BN is invited to form a state government on the basis of these dubious crossovers, I think it would anger a large section of the Malaysian public," said the Kelantan prince in his blog."Our taking control without resorting to elections would cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back at the next election. Come the next general election, they are likely to reject both our state and parliamentary candidates with greater vehemence, and not just in Perak."Calling the BN celebration as "premature", Razaleigh said the constitution states the role of the Ruler in crisis must be respected.He said the Sultan of Perak is sworn to uphold and protect this constitutional process and the Ruler's powers and those of the legislative assembly act as checks and balances on each other to prevent abuse of power."Defections are not the basis for the formation of a government. Elections are.""Governments are formed after citizens have expressed their choice through free and fair elections. Our constitution specifies a formal process for the formation of a government," said the Gua Musang MP.Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is the newly-appointed Perak BN chief, called on Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to step down.Umno in critical conditionThis follows three assemblypersons, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (PKR-Behrang), Osman Jailu (PKR-Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP-Jelapang), declaring they are independent BN-friendly representatives. Nasaruddin Jamaludin who left Umno last week to join PKR has now rejoined Umno after 10 days.Razaleigh said there is also ethical and political issues which has to be resolved.Describing Umno as in critical condition, he said its biggest challenge both as a party and as the governing party is to tackle corruption at every level."We are under close public scrutinity in addressing this problem. Unless we implement radical reforms and are seen to be doing so, we are finished politically come next election," he said.The Kelantan prince questioned the calibre of the four elected representatives for the switch especially the two former PKR representatives who are charged with corruption."It is precisely this kind of open abuse of the public's trust for the sake of personal gain that causes people to hate Umno.""The circumstances of these defections, complete with mysterious dissapearances, sudden reversals, and weak explanations show ample signs of illegal inducement."Razaleigh said no matter what the truth of the matter is, let us not fool ourselves."People will not believe these crossovers were honest. This mistrust will taint any government formed on the back of these crossovers. Elections are the sole source of the government's authority in a democratic society and in the end we shall have to face elections," he said.
Feb 5, 09 2:56pm
Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has warned party leaders that gaining the Perak state government without resorting to elections would result in enmity of the Perak voters come the next general election.
MCPXRazaleigh, who is also Gua Musang MP, said Umno and BN should try and win the hearts of the people and not gain the government by dubious means."If the Ruler decides not to accede to the MB's request for the dissolution of Parliament, and BN is invited to form a state government on the basis of these dubious crossovers, I think it would anger a large section of the Malaysian public," said the Kelantan prince in his blog."Our taking control without resorting to elections would cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back at the next election. Come the next general election, they are likely to reject both our state and parliamentary candidates with greater vehemence, and not just in Perak."Calling the BN celebration as "premature", Razaleigh said the constitution states the role of the Ruler in crisis must be respected.He said the Sultan of Perak is sworn to uphold and protect this constitutional process and the Ruler's powers and those of the legislative assembly act as checks and balances on each other to prevent abuse of power."Defections are not the basis for the formation of a government. Elections are.""Governments are formed after citizens have expressed their choice through free and fair elections. Our constitution specifies a formal process for the formation of a government," said the Gua Musang MP.Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is the newly-appointed Perak BN chief, called on Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to step down.Umno in critical conditionThis follows three assemblypersons, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (PKR-Behrang), Osman Jailu (PKR-Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP-Jelapang), declaring they are independent BN-friendly representatives. Nasaruddin Jamaludin who left Umno last week to join PKR has now rejoined Umno after 10 days.Razaleigh said there is also ethical and political issues which has to be resolved.Describing Umno as in critical condition, he said its biggest challenge both as a party and as the governing party is to tackle corruption at every level."We are under close public scrutinity in addressing this problem. Unless we implement radical reforms and are seen to be doing so, we are finished politically come next election," he said.The Kelantan prince questioned the calibre of the four elected representatives for the switch especially the two former PKR representatives who are charged with corruption."It is precisely this kind of open abuse of the public's trust for the sake of personal gain that causes people to hate Umno.""The circumstances of these defections, complete with mysterious dissapearances, sudden reversals, and weak explanations show ample signs of illegal inducement."Razaleigh said no matter what the truth of the matter is, let us not fool ourselves."People will not believe these crossovers were honest. This mistrust will taint any government formed on the back of these crossovers. Elections are the sole source of the government's authority in a democratic society and in the end we shall have to face elections," he said.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Hard for PKR Duo to Contest Resignations
post info
By Anwar Ibrahim
From The NutgraphBy Deborah Loh
PETALING JAYA, 2 Feb 2009: It will be hard for the two former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblypersons in Perak to challenge their own pre-signed, undated resignation letters, a constitutional lawyer said today.
Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, the assemblyperson for Behrang, and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu, the assemblyperson for Changkat Jering, can deny having sent the letters all they want, but the law’s view is that they have given prior consent to the terms contained in the letter, senior lawyer Tommy Thomas told The Nut Graph.
“The law begins from the premise that as an adult, once you sign a document, even if it is undated, and you leave it in another person’s care, you have signified your consent. The law assumes you had the right to say no when asked to sign it,” Thomas said in a phone interview today.
“Pre-signed resignation letters are a common practice by political parties all over the world and have been used many times before. Even if the [assemblypersons] now deny quitting, the fact is they signed that letter.
“If they try to challenge it, the law will say, who asked you to sign it in the first place? It will also be difficult for politicians to prove that they signed it under duress,” Thomas said.
Thomas was asked to comment on the legality of the pre-signed resignation letters sent to the Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar yesterday.
Later the same day, Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman denied having sent the letters to Sivakumar, adding that they were not vacating their seats. Both are holding press conferences today to state their position.
Jamaluddin was the state executive councillor for the development, cooperatives, agriculture and trade committee. Mohd Osman was in charge of the tourism, human development and non-governmental organisations committee.
Both men were charged on 25 Aug 2008 for accepting bribes in relation to developing a piece of land in Seri Iskandar.
Their letters were faxed to Sivakumar after they were incommunicado for five days. PKR and state government officials said attempts to contact the duo were futile.
PKR “knew” of defection
PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali confirmed that all party representatives had signed such letters before the March 2008 general election.
“The letters state that they would resign and vacate their seat if they leave the party. But I don’t know who sent the letters to the Perak speaker. Jamaluddin’s and Mohd Osman’s letters are kept with the state party leadership,” Syed Husin said in a phone interview.
He said the PKR leadership “knew” that the two men had left the party because they did not respond to attempts to reach them, and based on statements by the Umno leadership that there were Pakatan Rakyat representatives ready to cross over.
“We did try to get their side of the story. I rang them up personally, so did (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, so did the Perak Menteri Besar and the state party chief, but they didn’t respond. Then, we knew things were going that way (that they were leaving) because of the things Umno was saying.
“If they want to fight it out in court, they can. We are ready to face a by-election,” Syed Husin said.
He also alleged that Umno had “coerced” Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman to leave PKR by promising that their corruption charges would be dropped
By Anwar Ibrahim
From The NutgraphBy Deborah Loh
PETALING JAYA, 2 Feb 2009: It will be hard for the two former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblypersons in Perak to challenge their own pre-signed, undated resignation letters, a constitutional lawyer said today.
Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, the assemblyperson for Behrang, and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu, the assemblyperson for Changkat Jering, can deny having sent the letters all they want, but the law’s view is that they have given prior consent to the terms contained in the letter, senior lawyer Tommy Thomas told The Nut Graph.
“The law begins from the premise that as an adult, once you sign a document, even if it is undated, and you leave it in another person’s care, you have signified your consent. The law assumes you had the right to say no when asked to sign it,” Thomas said in a phone interview today.
“Pre-signed resignation letters are a common practice by political parties all over the world and have been used many times before. Even if the [assemblypersons] now deny quitting, the fact is they signed that letter.
“If they try to challenge it, the law will say, who asked you to sign it in the first place? It will also be difficult for politicians to prove that they signed it under duress,” Thomas said.
Thomas was asked to comment on the legality of the pre-signed resignation letters sent to the Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar yesterday.
Later the same day, Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman denied having sent the letters to Sivakumar, adding that they were not vacating their seats. Both are holding press conferences today to state their position.
Jamaluddin was the state executive councillor for the development, cooperatives, agriculture and trade committee. Mohd Osman was in charge of the tourism, human development and non-governmental organisations committee.
Both men were charged on 25 Aug 2008 for accepting bribes in relation to developing a piece of land in Seri Iskandar.
Their letters were faxed to Sivakumar after they were incommunicado for five days. PKR and state government officials said attempts to contact the duo were futile.
PKR “knew” of defection
PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali confirmed that all party representatives had signed such letters before the March 2008 general election.
“The letters state that they would resign and vacate their seat if they leave the party. But I don’t know who sent the letters to the Perak speaker. Jamaluddin’s and Mohd Osman’s letters are kept with the state party leadership,” Syed Husin said in a phone interview.
He said the PKR leadership “knew” that the two men had left the party because they did not respond to attempts to reach them, and based on statements by the Umno leadership that there were Pakatan Rakyat representatives ready to cross over.
“We did try to get their side of the story. I rang them up personally, so did (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, so did the Perak Menteri Besar and the state party chief, but they didn’t respond. Then, we knew things were going that way (that they were leaving) because of the things Umno was saying.
“If they want to fight it out in court, they can. We are ready to face a by-election,” Syed Husin said.
He also alleged that Umno had “coerced” Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman to leave PKR by promising that their corruption charges would be dropped
How I Survived Gaza
by Golani Brigade Soldier
Eleven days ago today, Israel terminated an operation after having reached a state of cease-fire with a cowardly and murderous foe. We pulled out of Gaza. I pulled out of Gaza.
We were first called up on a Shabbat, right at the end of ten months of regular training and an extra two months of specialized training with the whole brigade in the Golan Heights. We were told that Israel was preparing for a possible conflict with Gaza. We were allowed to stay in phone contact at the beginning, and we listened for news from our families, always better informed than the army. We heard the bombs falling near the Strip, and readied our gear. And we waited. And waited. Every day another rumor came in.
“We’re going today”
“We’re going today”
We waited a week.
We were sent the following Shabbat.
The first time we came back out, after twenty four hours, our unit was under the impression that all the other units would be coming out as well. A little R & R, and then back in. But only our soldiers arrived at the base. The others were in till the very end.
The next two weeks we were deployed over and over again into neighborhoods whose names are ingrained as if from childhood memory, and we were told to ready ourselves for the final operational steps the army was preparing.
Thank God, for us, those steps never came. After fighting through less densely packed urban neighborhoods and villages, as an army, we never had to enter the tightly packed urban nightmares of the inner cities.
“The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops.”A cease-fire was signed, and we pulled out with hatches open on our vehicles, waving flags and flashing the peace symbol even though no one was there to photograph it. After all, we were one of hundreds of squads returning. There was no way to record every tank and APC that came home. But it was cathartic, and made it official.
I saw many things. I heard things. While I was in Gaza.
I saw soldiers who were virulently anti-religious don tzitit under their bullet-proof armor. As one soldier said, “Why do I put it on now, if I never wore it before? When do you ask your father for help? When you need it.”
I saw heroes. Boys just out of high-school, young men who should have been playing sports or starting families or going to college, loading weapons and placing armor on their fragile frames, securing helmets, and checking gear.
They suppressed the fear that lurked at the edges of their minds, and as a unit swept across the fence and planted unwavering lines of boots in the soil of Gaza. I watched them fight like grown men against evil.
The first night we went in, we were unable to wear bullet-proof armor in my unit, and had to settle for flak vests (we couldn’t wear armor when we first went in because, due to the weight we were carrying, it would have hampered our movements, creating a safety hazard). My young commander, who had an easy load to carry that wouldn’t interfere with his vest, still left without bulletproof armor. “If my men don’t, I don’t”. I told him the next day, I would have followed him through the entire Arab world if need be, my respect for him was so great. I saw my brave wife, Chana, who came down to volunteer, just to be close to me, braving rockets and missiles, and watched her help soldiers by handing out desperately needed winter gear and food. I watched Chabadniks who came to us every day and inspired the soldiers with song and mitzvot. I saw heroes praying for our safety, and feeding us, and caring for us.
I saw pain. Just today, I ran into yet another friend from another unit, who tells me, when asked how he is, “I am fine from the neck down.” Sixteen of his friends were injured in a blast on the first night. He lost many more before the end. He is still sweet, still charming, but his laugh is more weary, and his eyes are sadder. Another friend in a different unit lost two-thirds of his whole platoon when a bomb destroyed their house. He says he walked in, and he saw limbs moving or laying still, and bodies unattached to them, hurting, dead. He still hasn’t pulled back completely. A former commander of mine died, and a friend lost his arm and use of his legs, and is still in a coma.
I saw lies. The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. My feet were on the ground and I saw the truth. I saw that warnings were given, I saw the enemy that fought us. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. I saw that it was with sadness and great anger Israeli troops recognized the need to fire on people who crossed the red line, the danger zone which meant they saw us, and knew where we were. Old people mined with bombs, children armed with detonators, tunnels that opened in the ground to swallow our soldiers. I watched my commanders passing out all of our food to the children who were taken prisoner. I received the commands “closed to fire on the right” if our intelligence had reported civilians in the area. I watched us, more often then not, taking cover when supposed civilian positions fired on us from “the right”. Yet the world thinks it can bend the truth. We werenot allowed to fire on schools. We were told not to loot. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops, so that we could tell the world we were attempting to scare the enemy while limiting civilian losses.
Yet they won’t say that in the press.
You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
I saw cowardice. We listened with concern when Hamas threatened to use snipers and bombs on us, to fight us every step of the way with their fifteen thousand man army, and we watched videos of full brigades parading, waving their weapons and threatening Israel. But as we invaded, they fled.
They would attack in small groups, hit us with missiles and sniper fire, and then flee. The ‘warriors’ of Hamas were brave when their rockets fell unanswered on the schools of children and the homes of elderly, but they did not stand when the enemy called them up to answer for their crimes.
I saw miracles. Rockets that blazed past our houses, bullets that scarred the outside of windows we were watching from. A unit near ours that was walking in to Gaza had RPGs pass straight between their ranks without hitting a single soldier. Mines that didn’t explode, mortar rounds that landed next to friends that didn’t explode. RPGs that blazed into the earthen barrier directly in front of our APC, detonating before penetration.
The night walk through a neighborhood that wasn’t on the map, that was full of snipers and mines according to reports, that we walked through unawares, by accident, without harm or incident. And that was just what we knew.
I felt fear. Every time I entered, every time I squeezed the trigger, every time a missile landed nearby, I was struck with fear. It is a deep fear, hard to explain. Your body shivers as if you are frozen to the core. You find yourself staring at the ground, trying to adjust to the ringing in your ears. You freeze, and unless someone slaps you, or you manage to shake yourself, your eyes stay downcast, and you lay numb on the earth, waiting without realizing. Eventually, your training pulls you out and forces you to stay alert, your gun snaps up, and adrenaline masks the fear and hurt. You roll on seemingly fearless, with adrenaline telling you that you are invincible.
I have felt weakness. I have felt my supposedly mighty muscles shudder, felt my devastatingly powerful weapon shake in my hands, felt my heart hammer against my armor, felt my soul and mind search for some way to avoid pain and the nightmares that were becoming real.
I felt strength. I would have been lost, but for the words of my Rebbe. “Ein od Milvado” There is no one but Him. The mere utterance strengthened limbs, and a surge of faith and hope carried me through the invasion, through the detonations and whistling of ricocheting rounds and falling bombs. For I knew, for once KNEW and understood absolutely that I was in the hands of the greatest general on earth. A veteran of every war and every conflict, the ultimate warrior and defender of His people. I remember the joy that swept through the lines when they said the head commander was entering the field, because of his experience and strategies, everyone felt safer. It reminded me that an even greater Commander had been there all along. I understood the words of Tehilim 147, “Not in the strength of the horse does He desire, and not in the legs of man does He favor. God favors those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness.” My strength had failed me, yet when I begged God to allow me tobe a conduit for His strength, to be His shield and a sword for His people, I was able to stand and fight. Those nights, my body was there, but God fought on that field.
I am not free of sin, and was by no means worthy of the miracles that befell me. That God aided me; that my entire battalion walked out, against all odds, while every other unit suffered losses, without serious casualty or mental scarring, was a miracle beyond any. That I was able to feel His strength replace mine, a gift for which I was undeserving.
My strength lay in the thousands of people who prayed for me, who prayed for the wellbeing of the army, who cried for the return of the fragile and precious Jewish youth who fought like lions where men twice their age would have fled. You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
You, the people who pray and cry and feel you are not the front lines, are truly the army of Hashem. The IDF, as people should see, is merely the physical arm of what your prayers accomplish. You are the ones in the battle. We are the holding action, delaying the physical evil while you battle to clear the path for Moshiach. Never again will I feel a yeshiva student who learns all day is not brave for not being with us on this field.
Because I watched the words and letters that he learned and prayed march ahead of us, thousands deep, and millions strong, absorbing the bullets and metal meant for me. I thank you, humbly, warriors of my heart and faith. You let me come home to my wife.
During this war, we received a tremendous outpouring of love and support; letters, donations, food, and clothing. In specific, because I know them, although without diminishing the greatness of all the people I don’t know, I want to thank my mother and her tireless blogging efforts, my family for their support and letters, my wife for being brave beyond any woman or man I have ever known.
I want to thank Congregation Tiferes Yisroel for remembering an old neighborhood kid, and multiplying that to help all my brothers in uniform. I want to thank all of the community in Baltimore for the davening and love that we felt even in the heart of darkness.
I want to thank the little six-year old who wrote, “Dear IDF, I am proud of you.” I cried over that letter, my tears running through the pain and stress as we recovered from Gaza.
I want to thank the people who donated money for the vests that saved our lives, the people that gave us clothes to warm our bodies, candy to warm our hearts, and letters to warm our souls. You cannot know what one pair of socks, one chocolate bar, or one hastily written sentence can do to save the minds and hearts of your children from despair.
I am not as gifted with words as my mother, nor a hero as great as those who marched beside me or filled the air with prayer around me, but I hope from this letter, from my fumbling thoughts you can draw for yourself the love and hope I am trying to convey.
I have seen this people, my people, at its best and at its worst. I can see why Redemption will come soon. As a nation, we drew together. Disunity, differences in Kippot or sects fell away, and everyone reached out to help as best they could. No one said, “I have no part” or “This isn’t my war”.
May Hashem see the greatness of His holy, beautiful people, and allow me to sing that old song to my child, with absolute truth and great joy: “I promise, my little one, that this is the last war.”
Joshua Eastman made aliyah from Baltimore in 2005. He met his wife, Chana, on a trip back to Baltimore; and the two of them live in Givat Ze’ev. Joshua is currently a full-time soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. When he can get near a computer, he blogs about his life in Israel at “Through Josh-Colored Glasses,”
Eleven days ago today, Israel terminated an operation after having reached a state of cease-fire with a cowardly and murderous foe. We pulled out of Gaza. I pulled out of Gaza.
We were first called up on a Shabbat, right at the end of ten months of regular training and an extra two months of specialized training with the whole brigade in the Golan Heights. We were told that Israel was preparing for a possible conflict with Gaza. We were allowed to stay in phone contact at the beginning, and we listened for news from our families, always better informed than the army. We heard the bombs falling near the Strip, and readied our gear. And we waited. And waited. Every day another rumor came in.
“We’re going today”
“We’re going today”
We waited a week.
We were sent the following Shabbat.
The first time we came back out, after twenty four hours, our unit was under the impression that all the other units would be coming out as well. A little R & R, and then back in. But only our soldiers arrived at the base. The others were in till the very end.
The next two weeks we were deployed over and over again into neighborhoods whose names are ingrained as if from childhood memory, and we were told to ready ourselves for the final operational steps the army was preparing.
Thank God, for us, those steps never came. After fighting through less densely packed urban neighborhoods and villages, as an army, we never had to enter the tightly packed urban nightmares of the inner cities.
“The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops.”A cease-fire was signed, and we pulled out with hatches open on our vehicles, waving flags and flashing the peace symbol even though no one was there to photograph it. After all, we were one of hundreds of squads returning. There was no way to record every tank and APC that came home. But it was cathartic, and made it official.
I saw many things. I heard things. While I was in Gaza.
I saw soldiers who were virulently anti-religious don tzitit under their bullet-proof armor. As one soldier said, “Why do I put it on now, if I never wore it before? When do you ask your father for help? When you need it.”
I saw heroes. Boys just out of high-school, young men who should have been playing sports or starting families or going to college, loading weapons and placing armor on their fragile frames, securing helmets, and checking gear.
They suppressed the fear that lurked at the edges of their minds, and as a unit swept across the fence and planted unwavering lines of boots in the soil of Gaza. I watched them fight like grown men against evil.
The first night we went in, we were unable to wear bullet-proof armor in my unit, and had to settle for flak vests (we couldn’t wear armor when we first went in because, due to the weight we were carrying, it would have hampered our movements, creating a safety hazard). My young commander, who had an easy load to carry that wouldn’t interfere with his vest, still left without bulletproof armor. “If my men don’t, I don’t”. I told him the next day, I would have followed him through the entire Arab world if need be, my respect for him was so great. I saw my brave wife, Chana, who came down to volunteer, just to be close to me, braving rockets and missiles, and watched her help soldiers by handing out desperately needed winter gear and food. I watched Chabadniks who came to us every day and inspired the soldiers with song and mitzvot. I saw heroes praying for our safety, and feeding us, and caring for us.
I saw pain. Just today, I ran into yet another friend from another unit, who tells me, when asked how he is, “I am fine from the neck down.” Sixteen of his friends were injured in a blast on the first night. He lost many more before the end. He is still sweet, still charming, but his laugh is more weary, and his eyes are sadder. Another friend in a different unit lost two-thirds of his whole platoon when a bomb destroyed their house. He says he walked in, and he saw limbs moving or laying still, and bodies unattached to them, hurting, dead. He still hasn’t pulled back completely. A former commander of mine died, and a friend lost his arm and use of his legs, and is still in a coma.
I saw lies. The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. My feet were on the ground and I saw the truth. I saw that warnings were given, I saw the enemy that fought us. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. I saw that it was with sadness and great anger Israeli troops recognized the need to fire on people who crossed the red line, the danger zone which meant they saw us, and knew where we were. Old people mined with bombs, children armed with detonators, tunnels that opened in the ground to swallow our soldiers. I watched my commanders passing out all of our food to the children who were taken prisoner. I received the commands “closed to fire on the right” if our intelligence had reported civilians in the area. I watched us, more often then not, taking cover when supposed civilian positions fired on us from “the right”. Yet the world thinks it can bend the truth. We werenot allowed to fire on schools. We were told not to loot. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops, so that we could tell the world we were attempting to scare the enemy while limiting civilian losses.
Yet they won’t say that in the press.
You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
I saw cowardice. We listened with concern when Hamas threatened to use snipers and bombs on us, to fight us every step of the way with their fifteen thousand man army, and we watched videos of full brigades parading, waving their weapons and threatening Israel. But as we invaded, they fled.
They would attack in small groups, hit us with missiles and sniper fire, and then flee. The ‘warriors’ of Hamas were brave when their rockets fell unanswered on the schools of children and the homes of elderly, but they did not stand when the enemy called them up to answer for their crimes.
I saw miracles. Rockets that blazed past our houses, bullets that scarred the outside of windows we were watching from. A unit near ours that was walking in to Gaza had RPGs pass straight between their ranks without hitting a single soldier. Mines that didn’t explode, mortar rounds that landed next to friends that didn’t explode. RPGs that blazed into the earthen barrier directly in front of our APC, detonating before penetration.
The night walk through a neighborhood that wasn’t on the map, that was full of snipers and mines according to reports, that we walked through unawares, by accident, without harm or incident. And that was just what we knew.
I felt fear. Every time I entered, every time I squeezed the trigger, every time a missile landed nearby, I was struck with fear. It is a deep fear, hard to explain. Your body shivers as if you are frozen to the core. You find yourself staring at the ground, trying to adjust to the ringing in your ears. You freeze, and unless someone slaps you, or you manage to shake yourself, your eyes stay downcast, and you lay numb on the earth, waiting without realizing. Eventually, your training pulls you out and forces you to stay alert, your gun snaps up, and adrenaline masks the fear and hurt. You roll on seemingly fearless, with adrenaline telling you that you are invincible.
I have felt weakness. I have felt my supposedly mighty muscles shudder, felt my devastatingly powerful weapon shake in my hands, felt my heart hammer against my armor, felt my soul and mind search for some way to avoid pain and the nightmares that were becoming real.
I felt strength. I would have been lost, but for the words of my Rebbe. “Ein od Milvado” There is no one but Him. The mere utterance strengthened limbs, and a surge of faith and hope carried me through the invasion, through the detonations and whistling of ricocheting rounds and falling bombs. For I knew, for once KNEW and understood absolutely that I was in the hands of the greatest general on earth. A veteran of every war and every conflict, the ultimate warrior and defender of His people. I remember the joy that swept through the lines when they said the head commander was entering the field, because of his experience and strategies, everyone felt safer. It reminded me that an even greater Commander had been there all along. I understood the words of Tehilim 147, “Not in the strength of the horse does He desire, and not in the legs of man does He favor. God favors those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness.” My strength had failed me, yet when I begged God to allow me tobe a conduit for His strength, to be His shield and a sword for His people, I was able to stand and fight. Those nights, my body was there, but God fought on that field.
I am not free of sin, and was by no means worthy of the miracles that befell me. That God aided me; that my entire battalion walked out, against all odds, while every other unit suffered losses, without serious casualty or mental scarring, was a miracle beyond any. That I was able to feel His strength replace mine, a gift for which I was undeserving.
My strength lay in the thousands of people who prayed for me, who prayed for the wellbeing of the army, who cried for the return of the fragile and precious Jewish youth who fought like lions where men twice their age would have fled. You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
You, the people who pray and cry and feel you are not the front lines, are truly the army of Hashem. The IDF, as people should see, is merely the physical arm of what your prayers accomplish. You are the ones in the battle. We are the holding action, delaying the physical evil while you battle to clear the path for Moshiach. Never again will I feel a yeshiva student who learns all day is not brave for not being with us on this field.
Because I watched the words and letters that he learned and prayed march ahead of us, thousands deep, and millions strong, absorbing the bullets and metal meant for me. I thank you, humbly, warriors of my heart and faith. You let me come home to my wife.
During this war, we received a tremendous outpouring of love and support; letters, donations, food, and clothing. In specific, because I know them, although without diminishing the greatness of all the people I don’t know, I want to thank my mother and her tireless blogging efforts, my family for their support and letters, my wife for being brave beyond any woman or man I have ever known.
I want to thank Congregation Tiferes Yisroel for remembering an old neighborhood kid, and multiplying that to help all my brothers in uniform. I want to thank all of the community in Baltimore for the davening and love that we felt even in the heart of darkness.
I want to thank the little six-year old who wrote, “Dear IDF, I am proud of you.” I cried over that letter, my tears running through the pain and stress as we recovered from Gaza.
I want to thank the people who donated money for the vests that saved our lives, the people that gave us clothes to warm our bodies, candy to warm our hearts, and letters to warm our souls. You cannot know what one pair of socks, one chocolate bar, or one hastily written sentence can do to save the minds and hearts of your children from despair.
I am not as gifted with words as my mother, nor a hero as great as those who marched beside me or filled the air with prayer around me, but I hope from this letter, from my fumbling thoughts you can draw for yourself the love and hope I am trying to convey.
I have seen this people, my people, at its best and at its worst. I can see why Redemption will come soon. As a nation, we drew together. Disunity, differences in Kippot or sects fell away, and everyone reached out to help as best they could. No one said, “I have no part” or “This isn’t my war”.
May Hashem see the greatness of His holy, beautiful people, and allow me to sing that old song to my child, with absolute truth and great joy: “I promise, my little one, that this is the last war.”
Joshua Eastman made aliyah from Baltimore in 2005. He met his wife, Chana, on a trip back to Baltimore; and the two of them live in Givat Ze’ev. Joshua is currently a full-time soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. When he can get near a computer, he blogs about his life in Israel at “Through Josh-Colored Glasses,”
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