Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Justice Denied Again

2009-12-02T02:53:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on December 01, 2009

Comment From Din Merican

Justice is being once again denied when the High Court Judge, Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah, today dismissed Anwar Ibrahim’s application to strike out the sodomy charge (Sodomy 2) This was not unexpected by Anwar himself and his legal team, although their grounds for their application were valid, that is, the medical reports by four (4) medical specialists,not one (1) showed no penetration. What stronger evidence is needed than that!

The Hon’ble Judge, however, felt otherwise. He is of the view that “only a full trial could determine if there was actual penetration as charged by the prosecution”.It does not take a legal genius to know that the medical report is crucial in determining whether or not a “sexual act” (in this case, sodomy) was committed.

I fear that during the full trial slated for January 25-February 25, 2010 new “evidence” may be manufactured by the persecution to convict and send Anwar back to Sungei Buloh. This fear is not without foundation.

It was well known that evidence had been fabricated against Anwar in 1998. In addition, the fixing of the trial dates even before the Appeals Court makes its decision on a related matter (Anwar had sought to obtain further documents and evidence from the prosecution pertaining to Sodomy 2) is rather unusual. In his reaction to the decision, Anwar said this of the judge, “The very least is for him to respect his own previous decision that allowed us access to the documents and give time for the Federal Court to hear and decide on the matter.”

In the light of the above, it would appear to me at least that Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah is under some external pressure to get on with the case, thereby preempting the Appeals Court. This again calls into question the state of our Justice System when it can succumb to some “voices from heaven”.—Din Merican

Anwar’s Application to strike out the sodomy charge denied by The High Court

by Hafiz Yatim

The High Court today dismissed an application by Anwar Ibrahim to strike out the sodomy charge he is facing. The court then set trial dates from January 25 to Feb 25, 2010 for the case to continue.

This morning, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled that only a full trial could determine if there was actual penetration as charged by the prosecution.

Anwar’s defence team had argued that the sodomy charge could not stand as medical reports showed no penetration on the victim. “While the medical reports may ’state no conclusive clinical findings to suggest penetration of the anus/rectum’, this court however cannot cancel the charge,” said Mohd Zabidin, before a packed court room, which included former MCA vice-president Chua Jui Meng, who recently joined PKR and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

“Witnesses have to be called in to testify to attest to the matter. The matter has to go through full trial to also consider the forensic evidence, to determine the case ,” he added.

Zabidin said this evidence and report would be useful to the defence team in creating doubts over the testimony of the witnesess on the incidence of penetration. Anwar had previously failed in his attempt to remove the prosecution team from the case.

Allegations against the Attorney General

Anwar, 62, was charged with allegedly sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, last year. He had claimed trial on March 10, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court against this charge. He was initially charged with the offence at the Sessions Court, before the case was transferred to the High Court.

Justice Zabidin, in his 14-page judgment also touched on Anwar’s defence team’s submission that the prosecution had acted ‘mala fide’ in preferring the charge. He said the allegation is mainly against Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail.

“They argued that the prosecutors in this present case had realised the role the AG had played then in 1998. They listed the role played by Abdul Gani in twisting and fabricating evidence against Anwar in 1998.

“Despite this, there is no evidence to suggest that the same scenario is happening in this present case. Just showing Abdul Gani’s (left) role in 1998 is insufficient. That the present batch of prosecutors may have knowledge of this does not mean they (prosecutors) would be biased.

“It is also insufficient for the court on the balance of probabilities at this level, to decide that the charge faced by the accused is a result of mala fide,” he said.

Thus, Zabidin said Anwar’s application to set aside or quash the charge under Section 377B of the Penal Code is dismissed. Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh indicated to Zabidin that they will appeal today’s decision. Lawyer Sankara Nair told reporters later he would file the notice of appeal tomorrow.

Anwar Unhappy with Trial Dates

Meanwhile, Anwar said he was disappointed with the manner the High Court judge fixed the trial dates without considering the fact that an appeal is pending at the Federal Court on a related matter. Anwar said that he was waiting for the Federal Court to hear his appeal to obtain further documents and evidence from the prosecution.

“The judge has decided to fix hearing dates in total disregard to our appeal on the matter. This is a first – there is ‘no need to wait for the Federal Court, let us proceed with the hearing’.

“Previously he had decided for us in gaining evidence from the prosecution and now he has decided against us by fixing the trial date.

“The very least is for him to respect his own previous decision that allowed us access to the documents and give time for the Federal Court to hear and decide on the matter,” he said.

Anwar also said while the court had verifed the medical reports from four specialists who said there was no penetration, this is the first case in the world where prosecution has been allowed to go on despite the reports stating there was no penetration.

He said today’s decision was also perplexing in that while the judge seems to have agreed on the role played by Abdul Gani in fabricating evidence, he decided that the present batch of prosecutors would not be influenced by bias.

“However, we have evidence that solicitor general 2 Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin was involved in the Sukma Darmawan (right) case, where evidence was also fabricated and in the end Sukma was cleared.

“I’m worried that this prosecution, led by UMNO, is withholding vital evidence directed to hurt my case. If such evidence is provided to the defence, I’m prepared to have the case proceed tomorrow,” said the opposition leader.

Describing today’s judgment as disturbing, Anwar said the medical evidence was conclusive and the judge seemed to have acknowledged that but he had hinted there maybe some other evidence to be adduced.

“This is the first case in the history of modern times that you prefer a charge of sexual abuse ignoring medical evidence that conclusively states there was no tear or penetration.”

“I think we are in for a tough battle. We will fight them because we have compelling evidence and facts to support us. But the manner the prosecutors and court want to proceed with the case seems a bit worrying to me and my team of lawyers,” he said.

The defence earnestly asked Justice Zabidin to set mention dates instead of trial dates during proceedings, because of pending cases at the Federal Court. However the judge refused and fixed the hearing next month.

Sankara said his team would be studying on whether to apply for a stay of the hearing pending the appeal of related cases.

Anwar Pushes Amendments To Guarantee Oil Royalties

2009-12-02T02:51:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on December 01, 2009

From The Malaysian Insider

By Leslie Lau

Sila lihat juga Laman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR , Dec 1 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) has given notice in Parliament of an attempt to table a private member’s bill to amend the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 to guarantee oil producing states revenue from oil royalties from the federal government.

The proposed changes to the law are not likely to be debated in Parliament because the government does not customarily allow the opposition to table law, and will move to block such an attempt.

But the Opposition Leader appears to be using his proposed amendments to apply further pressure on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration to deal with the flap over oil royalties.

Anwar’s amendments seeks to define in clear terms what is meant by “offshore,” which is a crucial element in the current dispute between Putrajaya and the PAS-led Kelantan state government.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers are demanding that oil royalties be made to Kelantan but Najib has only promised “goodwill payment” through federal government projects.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s attitude is different for states held by the federal ruling coalition such as Sarawak, where oil royalties are paid directly to the state.

Anwar is now seeking through the private members bill to define “offshore” as referring to a portion of area in the open sea that falls within the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

He claims that that the three nautical miles boundary only came to the picture by way of inference due to the ambiguity in the definition of the word “offshore”.

The BN government, he claimed, was using the definition of “territorial waters” contained in the Energency Ordinance Act 1969.

Najib has said that Kelantan was not entitled to royalty as the oil is extracted beyond state waters or beyond three nautical miles from the shore.

This argument was again used as the government’s defence in not giving Kelantan royalty by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz when pressed by the opposition in Parliament last week.

Anwar had also recently invited founding chairman of national oil company Petronas Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to join a bilateral parliamentary caucus to make amendments to the PDA and ensure relevant state administrations receive oil royalty.

Tengku Razaleigh’s involvement in the opposition campaign to get oil royalty for Kelantan formally started last Wednesday when he said that the state had the right to receive profit from its oil.

The former finance minister was involved in the drafting of the law and the opposition has argued that the law was drafted to ensure that oil-producing states receive a five per cent royalty.

Tengku Razaleigh has said that it was Kelantan’s “constitutional right” to receive Kelantan, which is under PAS control, will instead receive “goodwill payment” for its oil.

Tengku Razaleigh said yesterday that the Najib administration’s refusal to pay the fee to Kelantan has cast serious doubt on the Putrajaya’s “respect for the sanctity of contracts and the rule of law” and has implications beyond just that state.

“Let’s not talk about attracting FDI and increasing domestic investment to take our economy to a higher level when we do not respect our basic obligations,” the Kelantan prince wrote in his weblog yesterday.

This is the second such criticism that the government has reneged on its agreements, the first being for its 20-year-long refusal to allow Communist Party of Malaya chief Chin Peng from returning home under the Hatyai peace accord signed on Dec 2, 1989. The 85-year-old has sued to return home but the courts have ruled against him while the government said it can’t forgive him for his war against the state that killed thousands.

The DAP has criticised the ruling Barisan Nasional for the Chin Peng snub, while its Pakatan Rakyat ally, PAS which has ruled Kelantan since 1990, has asked the Gua Musang MP to head a caucus to press for Kelantan to get the oil royalty for oil and gas extracted off its shores. Tengku Razaleigh has yet to decide but his party leaders have cautioned him against doing so.

Anwar’s Trial Set In January

2009-12-02T02:50:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on December 01, 2009

From The Malaysian Insider

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Exactly like 10 years ago Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today failed to escape trial for sodomy.

High Court judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah here tossed out the PKR adviser’s bid to strike out the sodomy charge against him and fixed the trial to be from January 25 to February 25 next year.

The judge said that the High Court has “inherent powers” to set aside the charge against Anwar but ruled that the latter must prove his claims of bad intent and political conspiracy on the part of the Attorney-General’s office.

Zabidin added that it was up to the prosecution to decide how they wanted to prove penetration occurred.

The 62-year-old grandfather stands accused of sodomy for the second time in his life; this time, it is with a former male aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24.

Anwar’s defence lawyers had earlier argued that the charge was a baseless political conspiracy because several government and private doctors had in their reports not found any signs of forced penetration on Mohd Saiful.

But the public prosecutor, led by Solicitor General II Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden, had last week claimed they had extra medical evidence to show Mohd Saiful had been sexually involved with his ex-boss.

Yusof drew the court’s attention to a government-run Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) report which noted finding “a mixture of male DNA from two individuals” through a swabbing of Mohd Saiful’s anus.

The senior lawyer from the Attorney General’s Chambers added that it had more such forensic and oral evidence to support the sodomy charge.

Anwar was arrested and subsequently charged with committing sex against the order of nature on August 7 last year, just before he bounced back into Parliament after taking back his old Permatang Pauh

seat in a by-election.

The former deputy prime minister had spent six years behind bars for the crime a decade ago before the conviction was reversed.

Despite having assembled some of the finest legal eagles in the city, such as Raja Aziz Addruse, 73, to challenge this second charge against him, Anwar failed to stop the case before it goes to trial.

If the ambitious Anwar is found guilty and convicted this time, he may spend up to 20 years behind bars, which would really snuff out his bid to take over Putrajaya with political allies DAP and PAS.

Anwar will appeal against the High Court’s rebuff at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya tomorrow, his lawyer, Sankara Nair, told reporters later.

“We’re quite in a quagmire,” Nair said, looking disturbed.

“How can we craft our defence unless we have all our data?” he added, noting that the High Court judge had chosen to brush aside the defence team’s request to stay the trial until the Federal Court had disposed

of Anwar’s related appeal to get extra evidence he claims is key to proving he is innocent.

Sankara said that a normal appeal takes about two months to be heard.

He was also upset that Zabidin had ticked off Karpal’s call to push the trial to a later date.

Sankara said Anwar’s chosen lead counsel, Raja Aziz Addruse, is currently abroad and was only due to return in February.

Sankara added that the defence may also try to rope in the Federal Court to stay the start of trial if their appeal for more proof is not heard before Jan 25.

Anwar himself was highly disgusted by Zabidin’s ruling.

The federal lawmaker pointed out that the High Court judge had earlier noted an accused person’s fundamental rights to fully defend himself under Malaysian law, but appeared to be pedalling backwards when he fixed trial to start despite knowing of the pending appeal.

“The judge should at least respect his own decision and allow our appeal at the Federal Court,” Anwar told reporters outside the courtroom later, surrounded by his wife and supporters.

“This is the first case in the history of modern times that you prefer a charge of sexual abuse ignoring medical evidence with a conclusive finding of no trace of penetration,” the Permatang Pauh MP pounded.

Anwar continued hitting out against Zabidin, noting the judge had showed a tendency to “protect the prosecution” and repeated his allegation that the present team of lawyers from the Attorney General’s Chambers, especially the Solicitor General II who is heading the charge, was involved in cooking up sodomy evidence in Sodomy I involving Anwar’s Indonesian adopted brother Sukma Darmawan.

Anwar foresees a “very tough battle” ahead but stressed that he is prepared to fight the sodomy charge to the bitter end “because we have compelling arguments and facts”.

Ku Li: Oil caucus is about national interest

2009-12-02T02:48:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 30, 2009

From Malaysia Kini

By S Pathmawathy

Veteran parliamentarian Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today reminded those who cautioned him against participating in an oil royalty caucus mooted by the opposition that he is capable of deciding for himself.

“I don’t have to think too much about it… I am aged, an adult (and) I can think,” he told reporters in the Parliament lobby.

The Gua Musang Umno MP was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s remark that Razaleigh should think carefully whether to accept the invitation by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“It is better that Razaleigh carefully analyses (his decision) because even though it involves the state of Kelantan, (the caucus) is sponsored by the opposition and Anwar himself is behind it,” Muhyiddin had said.

The deputy premier added that it was not a common policy for Barisan Nasional legislators to partake in such a caucus.

Razaleigh was involved in drafting the Petroleum Development Act in 1974. He was the then finance minister and the first chairperson of national oil company Petronas.

The Umno politician’s personal stand is that the oil royalty belongs to the people.

This is about national interest

“What does principles have to do with it? We are taking about national interest,” he said.

“(The Public Accounts Committee) PAC chair is member of BN, his deputy is (from) DAP. Back then when there was a body on the United Nation’s human rights, (Mohd) Nazri (Abdul Aziz) was the chair and (Lim) Kit Siang was the deputy. What is wrong with it?” he asked.

Razaleigh also stressed that he wants fair representation from all parties.

“There wasn’t any misunderstanding, I think he (Muhyiddin) probably didn’t get what I was telling him properly.

“I have not accepted or rejected the invitation so let me consider it. But I would like to have fair representation of MPs from all states, particularly oil producing states,” he said.

Razaleigh explained that there was no urgency in him giving an answer or in setting up the caucus as when the outcome of the caucus is agreed upon by the federal government, the royalty has to be backdated from the time of petroleum exploration in the concerned states.

“I don’t think anybody (would) lose except that the government should honour and respect the agreement that was signed. Similarly Petronas must carry out its obligation,” he said.

“There was no wang ehsan (goodwill payment) in the agreement, I made the agreement and there was no wang ehsan. Wang ehsan is for those who are begging for alms. This is the public’s right,” he added.

Appeal against Anwar’s sacking on Thursday

2009-12-02T02:46:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 30, 2009

From Malaysia Kini

Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his sacking from the government in 1998 will be heard by the Federal Court on Thursday.

Claiming that he had been unlawfully dismissed over trumped up sodomy charges, Anwar has named the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the government as respondents in the suit.

When the matter was up before the apex court this morning, Anwar’s lawyer Karpal Singh had urged Federal Court judge Hashim Yusoff to disqualify himself from the case as the judge had previously presided over Anwar’s sodomy case at the Court of Appeal.

Justice Hashim who is the second judge in the three member bench at the Federal Court agreed to the request.

“If you want me to recuse myself, I will,” he said, which prompted Chief Judge of Malaya Alauddin Md Sheriff to ask Karpal if he wanted to proceed with the appeal without Hashim’s presence or wanted a postponement so that a replacement judge could be found.

Continuing with a new judge

Karpal then asked for a short adjournment to seek instructions from Anwar, who was also present in court with his wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Besides Alauddin and Hashim, the third judge on the panel was Abdull Hamid Embong.

After consulting with Anwar and informing the court’s deputy registrar, the apex court then agreed to fix to hear the matter on Thursday with another judge replacing Hashim.

Senior federal counsel Kamaluddin Md Said appeared for Dr Mahathir and the government.

Pakatan Rakyat and the Making of a Two Party System

2009-12-02T02:43:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 28, 2009

keynote address by Anwar Ibrahim at IKD Symposium on 21 November 2009.

It is a great honour to stand before you to talk about what can be described as a revolution in the collective consciousness of this nation. Last March, by the stroke of the pen, the people of Malaysia shattered all of the preconceived notions that denied the possibility of political change. In place of these old assumptions a new memory of our nation’s heritage and the self-image of its people has emerged.

Until now many of our elected representatives have failed to uphold the mantle of public office. Their interest has been an exercise in greed and avarice and not what Vaclav Havel described as a heightened responsibility for the moral state of society, and to seek out the best in that society and to develop and strengthen it. For it is only with leaders of such caliber that we can expect a government that is fair and abides by the Rules of Law, outlined in a Constitution that grants legitimacy to the very existence of that government. Anything short of this would be an injustice that approaches tyranny.

We had been weaned for many years on the notion that submissiveness and frailty were a prerequisite for the stability of the nation. Our diverse ethnic makeup, rather than an asset, was treated as a powder keg that could be ignited by the slightest spark. Economic development was not compatible with the freedoms that have been established in other democratic nations. On the contrary Malaysian democracy would be circumscribed by profoundly un-democratic rules. There was a freedom of speech but only on certain subjects. The freedom to associate was granted, but only with approved license. Due process, a fair and an impartial judiciary were granted only insofar as they did not encroach upon the vested interests of the rich and powerful. These measures were taken unscrupulously in the name of security and peace.

of democracy, there is no monopoly on the principles of political freedom and liberty. The tradition of public discussion can be found across the world such that Tocqueville in his observations on American political culture said that democracy can be seen as part of “the most continuous, ancient and permanent tendency known to history.” What Locke said in the 18th century we can find explicit precursors in the Muslim tradition. Consider the Prophet Muhammad’s Last Sermon in which he asserts the importance of property rights and the sanctity of contracts, women’s rights and racial equality. Remember this was 1400 years ago! The narrative does not stop there. al-Shatibi, the Andalusian legal scholar, articulated more completely the maqasid al-Sharia, the Higher Objectives of the Islamic Law, which sanctify the preservation of religion, life, intellect, family, and wealth; objectives that bear striking resemblance to Enlightenment ideals that would be expounded centuries later.

This is of course all theoretical. Even the Malaysian Constitution talks about equal protection under the law and proposed a system of checks and balances on power. Yet 52 years later, and after nearly 700 amendments to the original text of that document, few would argue that the original spirit of the Constitution remains intact. The upshot is that Malaysia’s experience as a pseudo democracy has been a utter disaster.

A nation blessed with vast wealth and a people with the ability to learn and excel has been left in the lurch by decades of failed policies. Hope in a brighter future has been snuffed out by the blunt instrument of state power and the cancer of corruption. Certainly the thin veneer of success has been made our country appealing to the eye. As far as developing countries go we are far ahead of the pack. But when we look under the hood, as Malaysian citizens must do on a daily basis, we are confronted with myriad contradictions – a crumbling education system, second rate health care, massive shortcomings in public transportation and crime rates which are perpetually on the rise.

It is no surprise when we see recent figures citing nearly 800,000 Malaysians professionals now working abroad.

The idea of a two party system has been talked about ad infinitum since the Spring of last year. The excitement many have expressed over the advent of this new dimension in Malaysian politics might suggest that the mere existence of a viable second party is itself the holy grail of a democratic state. Some might even draw the conclusion that once in power this alternative voice would swiftly rectify the monumental ills that have been heaped upon Malaysian society by the Barisan Nasional.

A vibrant opposition is of course synonymous with democracy itself. Yale based political scientist Ian Shapiro has contended that “democracy is an ideology of opposition as much as it is one of government”. Yet we would be in a state of self-deception, however if we pinned the hopes for healthy democracies on just one of its attributes. The same mistake has already been made with elections. The mere happening of elections says little about the condition of democracy unless we know that they are conducted fairly and freely and there is a level playing field on which all political views can compete.

In Malaysia multiple parties have existed for many years and the opposition has held seats in Parliament since the very first days of the Federation. We cannot say that the two party system was borne on March 8th for its existence coincides with the birth of the nation itself. The two party system that we recognize today is something different from the style of political participation that is already in place. The difference, simply stated, is greater space that is afforded to public deliberation, the exchange of ideas and the possibility of new choices and alternatives.

In this light, our fundamental concern is not with political parties but rather with accountability. A society, according to ibn Khaldun, must be able to combat the corrosive effects of unmitigated power, corruption and moral decadence. Otherwise it may succumb to what Thomas Jefferson time and again warned, that the abuse of unlimited powers by elected despots would lead to a time “when corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government, and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price.”

To understand these concepts better it may be wise to map out the province of liberal democracy and reiterate the role of the opposition, lest we place the cart before the horse. The main pillars on which democratic societies are built are liberty, social pluralism and political constitutionalism. The intent of these values and the institutions that mediate the relationship between the citizen and government is to guard against the exercise of tyranny. Lord Acton was right when he spoke of the corrupting influence of power.

When bestowing upon a political entity the power to make laws and to coerce citizens to obey those laws, safeguards must be put in place. Herein we look at Constitutions to delineate the extent of the government’s power to impose laws, and also at the edifice built around the exercise of that power so that there is adequate protection from its abuse.

Constitutions define for us the Rule of Law and the parameters within which government can operate. Dicey stipulates that it is the Rule of Law which would ensure that “powers of officials, and official bodies of persons entrusted with government, are not exceeded and are not abused, and that the rights of citizens are determined in accordance with the law enacted and unenacted.” The Rule of Law is therefore a two way street – defining for us the limitations of government and the rights of the citizen.

With these fundamentals in place we would then look at the branches of government which are created not only to carry out the business of the state but also to act as further restraints on its power. In the case of the Executive, we are all well acquainted with the phenomenon of power run amok.

Countries that masquerade as democracies often pay lip service to freedom and justice, while power is consolidated in the hands of a few elites who plunder the country’s wealth at the expense of the masses. They are able to quash opposition by invoking draconian laws and have made frequent use of preventative detentions to muzzle dissident voices. Herein lies a pivotal role of the opposition in a liberal democracy which is to be the voice of public reason and ensure that the “exercise of public political power is fully proper” and it can only be so if and “when it is exercised in accordance with a constitution the principles and ideals of which are endorsed by common human reason”.

A strong legislature is a sword that can cut both ways as well. It was Tocqueville who said, “the concentration of power [in the legislature] is at once very prejudicial to a well conducted administration and favorable to the despotism of the majority.” Once again Malaysia offers sundry examples of a legislature which, despite allowing for some semblance of multi-party participation, acts as a rubber stamp on legislation presented by the majority. Despite the rules and traditions of the Westminster system, common sense and precedent dictate that even with a clear majority in the legislature there should be a meaningful debate on issues. The Parliament should be used effectively as a constant critique of policy, executive power and the institutions of governance.

Where the legislature may exceed its bounds in passing into law edicts that transgress the bounds of the constitution, it is the role of the judiciary to interpret redress mistakes that may have been made by legislators. For this to happen the judiciary must be independent of influence from the other branches and from vested interests in the society at large. In resolving disputes between the people and the government, judges must act impartially. They must administer justice according to law, not according to the dictates of political masters.

A strong opposition must demand these prerequisites from the executive and legislative branches until such time as they are implemented.

Another crucial criterion for constitutional government is that the discretion of law enforcement agencies must not be allowed to pervert the cause of justice. The office of the Public Prosecutor, the police and the anti-corruption agency, all these bodies, play essential roles in the preservation of the rule of law, failing which they are easily used to pervert the law. As absolute power corrupts absolutely, the arrogance of power left unchecked renders these agencies absolutely impermeable to public opinion and criticism.

While there has been a sea change in the political landscape, Malaysia has not changed overnight. Despite the euphoria of last March, and the clear progress that is being made in the Pakatan states, we still face a federal government mired in corruption. The media is shackled and unfree – incapable of fulfilling the sacred and solemn mandate bestowed upon the noble profession of journalism.

The work is clearly unfinished. For the two party system to survive, let alone thrive, certain constraints must be lifted such as the limited access granted to the information held tightly by government ministries. We know that under the guise of national security many a scandal and abuse has gone unreported and this is contrary to the spirit of public disclosure and accountability. The institutions are in desperate need of reform so that they serve the common good and not the parochial interests of political and corporate elites.

The renewal in consciousness that has given hope to generations both old and new must be made a reality through action. At a very fundamental level this would require fuller and more profound political participation. Voting, as it turns out, does matter. The millions of currently unregistered voters in this country, by most estimations, will play a key role in the next general election. But, they can only do so if they exercise that right.

There is space now for the governments in power in the Pakatan states to carry forward this spirit renewal and renovation. Our governments must adhere strictly to the Rule of Law. We should strive to exceed the daily routine of dispute resolution and the issuance of licenses but govern with enlightenment. Our policies must emphasise good governance, the sanctity of the family, tolerance towards diversity, compassion for the weak and the unfortunate and the safeguarding of our environment and natural resources.

In between elections the new consciousness that has emerged must be nurtured. Civil society has space to grow and new associations can form and take part in the process of educating and empowering the public. In these states we must demonstrate that the pursuit of excellence and the cultivation of innovation and creativity across all sectors will yield enormous benefit for the society. And for this to happen we must retrieve, revive and reinvigorate the spirit of liberty, individualism, humanism and tolerance.

Thank you.

How the gov’t ‘looted’ up to US$100 bil

2009-12-02T02:41:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 28, 2009

From Malaysia Kini

The multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone scandal may be big, but it is only the latest in a long line of scandals going back to the early 1980s.

MCPX
Time magazine quoted Daniel Lian, a Southeast Asia economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore, saying that the country might have lost “as much as US$100 billion since the early 1980s to corruption”.

The scandals listed below are only a small sample of the looting of the country’s coffers:

In July of 1983, what was then the biggest banking scandal in world history erupted in Hong Kong, when it was discovered that Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF), a unit of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd, had lost as much as US$1 billion which had been siphoned off by prominent public figures into private bank accounts.

The story involved murder, suicide and the involvement of officials at the very top of the Malaysian government. Ultimately it involved a bailout by the Malaysian government amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mak Foon Tan, the murderer of Jalil Ibraim, a Bank Bumi assistant manager who was sent to Hong Kong to investigate the disappearance of the money, was given the death sentence, and Malaysian businessman George Tan who had participated in looting most of the funds, was jailed after his Carrian Group collapsed in what was then Hong Kong’s biggest bankruptcy, and a handful of others were charged.

No major politician was ever punished in Malaysia despite a white paper prepared by an independent commission that cited cabinet minutes of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad giving an okay to a request to throw more money into the scandal in an effort to contain it.

That was just the first Bank Bumi scandal. The government-owned bank had to be rescued twice more with additional losses of nearly US$600 million in today’s dollars.

Ultimately government officials gave up and the bank was absorbed into CIMB Group, currently headed by Nazir Razak, the sitting prime minister’s brother.

Bank Negara lost RM20 bil

That scandal, which stretched over several years before its denouement in 1985, set the tone for 24 years of similar scandals related to top Malaysian officials and was the first to prove that in Malaysia, you can not only get away with murder, you can get away with looting the treasury as well.

Perwaja Steel, for instance, lost US$800 million and its boss, Eric Chia, a crony of Mahathir’s, was charged with looting the company. He stood trial, but was acquitted without having to put on a defense.

In the mid-1980s, the Co-operative Central Bank, a bank set up to aid the Indian smallholder community, had to be rescued by Bank Negara, the country’s central bank, after hundreds of millions of ringgit in loans granted to a flock of Umno and MIC politicians became non-performing.

Some had never been serviced at all. Although the chief executive and general manager were charged with criminal breach of trust, none of the politicians were ever charged.

Before that, the Malaysian government was believed to have lost US$500 million in an attempt at Mahathir’s urging to corner the London tin market through a company called Maminco, driving the world price of tin from US$4.50 per tonne to US$7.50.

It then sought to cover up the loss by establishing a US$2 company called Mukawasa from which allocations of new share issues to the government’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) were diverted. Mukawasa expected to sell the shares at a windfall profit to hide the tin speculation.

Mahathir also was behind an attempt by the then governor of Bank Negara, the central bank, to aggressively speculate in the global foreign exchange market. Bank Negara ended up losing an estimated RM20 billion. The governor, Jaffar Hussein, and the head of forex trading, Nor Mohamed Yakcop were forced to resign.

‘Malaysia’s Enron scandal

There have been many other political and financial scandals since. In 2005, Bank Islam Malaysia, the country’s flagship Islamic bank, reported losses of RM457 million mainly due to provisioning totaling RM774 million as a result of bad loans and investments incurred by its Labuan branch.

Cumulatively, Bank Islam ran up non-performing loans of RM2.2 billion, partly from mismanagement and poor internal controls but also “years of regulatory indifference fueled by the misconceived notion of an untouchable Bank Islam because it was a favourite child of the Malaysian government, being the first and model Islamic bank in the country and region,” according to a December 19, 2005 article in Arab News.

“Bank Islam had a reputation in the market for being the spoilt child of the Malaysian Ministry of Finance; and the perception of the bank was more of a Muslim financial fraternity or government development financial institution,” the report said.

In 2007, in what was called Malaysia’s Enron scandal, the publicly traded Transmile Group Bhd, whose chairman was former MCA president and cabinet minister Ling Liong Sik, was caught having overstated its revenue by RM530 million.

A pretax profit from RM207 million in 2006 was actually a loss of RM126 million, and a pretax profit of RM120 million in 2005 was a loss of RM77 million, causing the government postal company Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd to warn that its earnings for the 2006 financial year might be affected by the reported overstatement, as the postal group owned 15.3 percent of Transmile.

Bailouts and more bailouts

Over the years 2001 to 2006, the government had to spend billions to rescue seven privatised projects including Kuala Lumpur’s two public transport systems, the perennially ailing Malaysia Airlines, the national sewage system and a variety of others that, in the words of one study, “had been privatised prematurely.”

The government also repeatedly bailed out highway construction concessionaires, all of them closely connected to Umno, to the tune of another RM38.5 billion.

In 2008, it was revealed that Rafidah Aziz, who had served as trade and industry minister for 18 years, had been peddling approved permits for duty-free car sales and allegedly lining her pockets.

Two companies which didn’t even have showrooms – one of which belonged to the husband of Rafidah’s niece – received scores of permits.

Although Rafidah came in for heavy criticism from within Umno, she remained in office until she was defeated in party elections.

In the 1960s, federal prosecutors in the United States who were attempting to jail the late labour boss Jimmy Hoffa for looting the Teamsters Pension Fund of millions of dollars with his cronies were puzzled by the fact that their revelations appeared to have little effect on the union’s rank and file.

It was because no matter how much money Hoffa and his cronies stole, there was always money left because the fund was so rich. That appears to be the case with Malaysia.

Two different parts in Bala’s SD, explains PI’s lawyer

2009-12-02T02:39:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 28, 2009

From Malaysia kini

The first statutory declaration signed by controversial private eye P Balasubramaniam consists of two parts – one on what was told to him and the other involves what he personally saw himself.

According to Balasubramaniam’s lawyer, Americk Singh Sidhu (left), the first part involves statements that the private investigator was in a position to ascertain their truth.

“He was therefore alluding to the fact that these statements were made to him, but was not alluding to the truth of those statements.”

This include where Balasubramaniam said he was told about the fact that Najib and murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu had a relationship.

“The second part of Bala’s first SD reflects what he experienced himself. This would be not be regarded as hearsay evidence.”

Examples are the message Balasubramaniam saw on Abdul Razak Baginda’s mobile phone on the day the political analyst was arrested.

The SMS message, purportedly from Najib Abdul Razak, informing Razak Baginda that the then deputy prime minister was “seeing the IGP (inspector-general of police) at 11am that day and to be cool”.

Razak Baginda, known to be Najib’s close confidant, was later freed from the charge of abetting the murder of his former lover Altantuya.

Americk also said that the Altantuya trial raised more questions than answers and where certain evidence was not brought to court.

“As the matter stands, we have two highly trained members of the Special Action Force killing a Mongolian national for no apparent reason. This is what was bothering Bala at the time he made his first SD.”

The following is the final of a three-part interview:

Malaysiakini: When you recorded Bala’s first SD, did you feel he was telling you the truth?

Americk: I have said this before. I have no reason to doubt the contents of Bala’s first statutory declaration (SD). However, it must be borne in mind that there are actually two parts to Bala’s first SD.

The first part involves statements that Bala says were told to him by third parties. Bala himself cannot verify the truth of these statements. That is why I said at the first press conference that these statements reflect exactly that.

All Bala was saying is that these statements were made to him and that he perceived them with his own senses. He was therefore alluding to the fact that these statements were made to him, but was not alluding to the truth of those statements.

In legal parlance these statements were hearsay and would not be admissible as evidence in a court of law until and unless they could be supported by other independent evidence and even if they were, the weight of this combined evidence is something a judge would have to consider before accepting or rejecting it.

Examples of statements under this category would include the following:

1) That Altantuya had a relationship with Najib.

2) That Razak Baginda was introduced to Altantuya by Najib at a diamond exhibition in Singapore.

3) That Altantuya was promised a commission of US$500,000 for her services in the Scorpene submarine deal.

The second part of Bala’s first SD reflects what he experienced himself. This would be not be regarded as hearsay evidence. Examples of these statements include the following:

1) That he had contact with Altantuya on a number of occasions in October 2006.

2) That Razak Baginda hired him to keep Altantuya away from him.

3) That he saw Azilah (Hadri) and Sirul (Azhar Umar) bundle Altantuya into a car outside Razak Baginda’s house on the night of Oct 19, 2006.

4) That Altantuya, at that time and place, had asked Bala to arrange for her to see Najib.

5) That Bala had, on Oct 21, 2006, received a call on his mobile phone from Musa (Mohd) Safri whilst he was outside the front gate of Razak Baginda’s house, asking to speak to the police officer who was there attempting to persuade three of Altantuya’s friends to disperse.

6) That Bala had given evidence for the prosecution in the Altantuya murder trial and had not been asked a number of very pertinent questions.

7) That Bala had himself seen a message on Razak Baginda’s mobile phone (the day Razak Baginda was arrested), purportedly from Najib, informing Razak Baginda that he was “seeing the IGP at 11am that day and to be cool”.

It is also pertinent to note that Razak Baginda (left) had every opportunity of denying all Bala had said in his first SD, at the press conference he called after his acquittal. However, he chose not to say anything except that he had given his statement to the police.

If there is any doubt as to the veracity of Bala’s first SD, this can be tested by comparing it to two other statements recorded from him.

The first statement was recorded by the investigating officers in the Altantuya murder case. This is the statement Bala complained of in his press conference and first SD. He alleged that all ‘sensitive’ information he had given the police was erased from that statement.

The second statement was given to senior federal counsel Sallehuddin (Saidin) just prior to the commencement of Altantuya’s murder trial. It must be remembered Sallehuddin was one of the prosecutors on the first prosecution team but dropped when the second prosecution team was mustered.

According to Bala, this second statement is 76 pages long and details everything that appeared in his first SD.

If the police are really keen in looking into this whole matter again to determine the truth, my suggestion would be to obtain copies of both these statements and compare them to the contents of his first SD. After all, they were prepared by the prosecuting authorities and should be readily available to the police.

What prompted Bala into making the first SD?

As Bala pointed out, he was a little frustrated that the police had not investigated the murder properly and that the prosecution had not conducted their case appropriately. He had been called to give evidence as a prosecution witness but was not asked a number or relevant questions.

He felt the police and the prosecution were trying to cover up the possible involvement of other parties in this murder.

There is no doubt Azilah and Sirul shot Altantuya in the head and blew her body up with C4 explosives. The court has already found them guilty.

There is also available on the Internet a full confession under s.113(1)(a)(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, signed by Sirul and dated the 9.11.2006 (Travers report no. 7380/06) in which he has detailed the circumstances in which he and Azilah committed this murder.

There is also a mention of a promise of a reward of RM100,000 for these services. This statement was recorded by one inspector Nom Phot Prack Dit at Bukit Aman. This statement was not allowed to be tendered at the murder trial.

Azilah and Sirul did not give evidence under oath in their defence and therefore avoided any cross-examination on motive.

As the matter stands, we have two highly trained members of the Special Action Force killing a Mongolian national for no apparent reason.

This is what was bothering Bala at the time he made his first SD.

In his experience as a police officer attached to the Special Branch, he found it rather odd that two policemen would kill someone without receiving instructions to do so from their superiors.

In this case Azilah (right) and Sirul were Najib’s bodyguards and were supposed to take instructions from Musa Safri, Najib’s ADC (aide-de-camp).

Bala felt Musa Safri, at least, should have been called to the stand to testify.

Do you think the Altantuya murder trial was conducted in a fair manner?

Fair to who?

I think the first question that ought to be asked is why it was necessary to change all the players in this trial even before it started? No doubt this is the prerogative of the accused in their choice of counsel, and of course the Attorney General’s Chambers in the appointment of prosecutors it feels more suitable. Of course a judge can be changed as well, but all three parties at once seems a little odd.

As the trial proceeded, it became obvious that there was a concerted effort by the prosecution and the defence to prevent any highly fragile evidence from being adduced. This became even more obvious during the questioning of Altantuya’s cousin, Burmaa Oyunchimeg, by Karpal Singh, who was holding a watching brief for Altantuya’s family.

Burmaa (left), whilst being questioned by the prosecution had mentioned a photograph shown to her by Altantuya that showed Altantuya, Razak Baginda and a senior government official at a meal. The prosecution and the defence vehemently objected to the eventual answer that Burmaa gave, ie that the senior government official was Najib.

This episode begs the question as to whose interests the defence was supposed to have been protecting? Certainly not their own clients.

It is also interesting to remember Sirul’s statement from the dock at the end of the trial. He said, and I quote, “A black sheep that has to be sacrificed to protect unnamed people who have never been brought to court or faced questioning”.

I think that says it all.

Le Danger du Clivage Ethnique

2009-11-19T02:04:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 18, 2009

From Le Temps

Malaisie mercredi18 novembre 2009
Par Arnaud Dubus, Kuala Lumpur

Rencontre avec le chef de l’opposition Anwar Ibrahim dont le parti a enregistré de récents succès électoraux. Pour l’ancien vice-premier ministre qui a passé six années en prison, les réformes du nouveau premier ministre Najib Razak ne s’attaquent pas aux faiblesses intrinsèques du système de discrimination positive

Pour ses ennemis politiques, il est «l’homme des Américains» ou «l’homme des juifs». Musulman cosmopolite, familier des cercles de l’élite internationale, Anwar Ibrahim est un politicien sous pression. Comme leader de l’opposition parlementaire, l’ancien vice-premier ministre porte sur ses épaules les espoirs d’une transformation de la Malaisie, dirigée depuis l’indépendance en 1957 par une coalition centrée sur l’Organisation nationale unie des Malais (UMNO), en une société harmonieuse où chacune des trois communautés ethniques (65% de Malais, 25% de Chinois et 8% d’Indiens) verrait ses droits respectés.

«C’est dur d’être dans l’opposition dans ce pays. Vous êtes constamment en état de siège», confie-t-il, entre deux séances parlementaires. Il parle d’expérience: il a passé six ans en prison (1998-2004), condamné pour sodomie et abus de pouvoir, un jugement largement reconnu comme étant le fruit d’un règlement de comptes politique. Depuis son retour en politique, début 2008, le Parti de la justice et du peuple, qu’il dirige, et la coalition d’opposition Pakatan Rakyat ont enregistré plusieurs succès électoraux, privant, pour la première fois en cinquante ans, la coalition gouvernementale de la majorité symbolique des deux tiers des sièges au parlement.

«Impression» de changement

Devant ce désaveu, le gouvernement, sous l’égide du nouveau premier ministre Najib Razak, a tenté de redresser la barre en initiant une réforme interne de l’UMNO, parti sclérosé et gangrené par la corruption, et en aménageant la politique de discrimination positive, laquelle accorde depuis 1972 des privilèges aux Malais. Pour ce faire, Najib a habilement pillé dans le programme présenté par l’opposition pour redorer le blason de son propre parti.

Ces réformes laissent Anwar sceptique. «Najib a vu que nos propositions étaient soutenues par la population. Quand il est arrivé au pouvoir [ndlr: en avril dernier succédant à Abdullah Ahmad Badawi], il a opéré des ajustements en lançant la campagne One Malaysia, sur la suggestion d’Epco, une firme israélienne de relations publiques qui avait conçu la campagne One Israël pour le travailliste Ehoud Barak en 1999. Le concept est attractif car il intègre toutes les communautés. Je dois reconnaître que Najib arrive à créer l’impression qu’il essaie de faire des changements.» Pour le chef de l’opposition, les positions fondamentales de l’opposition et du gouvernement restent toutefois clairement opposées. «Nous sommes pour un gouvernement démocratique et libéral, dit Anwar. Aucune des règles de base de la démocratie n’est suivie en Malaisie, excepté pour les élections. Et encore. Même chose pour la liberté de la presse.»

Pour le leader de l’opposition, les réformes de Najib ne s’attaquent pas aux faiblesses intrinsèques du système de discrimination positive en place. «Je suis pour la discrimination positive pour les pauvres, sans références aux races. Mais la politique de discrimination positive basée sur les races demeure. Najib a juste opéré quelques ajustements.» Pour l’opposant, la politique de discrimination positive n’est pas condamnable en soi, mais elle ne doit pas être basée sur des critères ethniques. «Je suis contre toute politique d’assistance basée sur les races, car ces programmes ouvrent la porte aux abus. Seuls les riches en bénéficient. A Kuala Lumpur, 70% des pauvres sont Malais, 20% Indiens et 10% Chinois, ce sont eux qui doivent être aidés», assène-t-il.

Poids des divisions

La Malaisie semble de fait avoir bien du mal à échapper au poids des divisions entre communautés. A Kuala Lumpur, l’une des capitales les plus modernes d’Asie du Sud-Est, les Malais, les Chinois et les Indiens cohabitent pacifiquement, mais ne se mélangent pas. Anwar pense que cette permanence des clivages risque de poser de sérieux problèmes pour le pays à l’avenir. «Lorsque ma fille cadette a amené sa proche amie chinoise chez nous, celle-ci m’a dit que c’était la première fois de sa vie qu’elle entrait dans une maison malaise. Je trouve que c’est étrange, car j’ai été élevé sur l’île de Penang où mes voisins étaient chinois et indiens et où, dans les années 1950 et 1960, les communautés se mélangeaient beaucoup. C’est différent à Kuala Lumpur. Il y a de la tolérance, du respect, mais pas cet esprit de vouloir vivre ensemble, du moins pas encore. Et je pense que nous devons faire des efforts pour instiller cet état d’esprit», dit-il. Son parti est le seul dont les membres et les députés sont issus des trois communautés. «C’est une expérience très audacieuse. Si nous pouvons transférer cet état d’esprit au niveau des Etats et des districts, le pays ira de l’avant», estime-t-il.

Tribunaux islamiques

La multiplication d’incidents témoignant d’une montée de l’islam ultraconservateur inquiète aussi le chef de l’opposition, lequel se définit comme un strict musulman. Un de ces incidents concerne le cas d’une jeune musulmane condamnée par un tribunal islamique à être frappée à coups de cane de rotin pour avoir bu de la bière. «Vous pouvez être conservateur, mais vous devez vous assurer que l’application de la loi est juste et transparente. Dans le cas de cette femme, c’est particulièrement hypocrite, car on sait que de nombreux leaders politiques boivent de l’alcool dans le confort des hôtels cinq étoiles», dit-il. A ses yeux, l’UNMO tente, par ce rigorisme de façade, de se faire passer pour un parti islamique, afin de récupérer l’électorat malais conservateur qui l’a déserté lors des derniers scrutins.

Kenyataan Media YB Nurul Izzah

2009-11-19T02:03:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 18, 2009

Press Release by YB Puan Nurul Izzah Anwar (18 November 2009)

In a written answer to my question addressed to the Minister of Finance – “What is the rationale for Terengganu Investment Authority(TIA) to be taken over by Minister of Finance Inc, become a federal entity known as 1Malaysia Berhad, and reports directly to the Prime Minister?” – it was replied that this is done to “ensure that there will be a boost in economic development and the wealth can be equally distributed to fellow Malaysians regardless of race and ethnicity “for 1Malaysia”.

I take this as an absolute sham and an affront to the commons sense!

Is the PM trying to say that the state and an independent board of directors cannot do the same? Is this an allusion that only the PM can ensure that wealth generated from the fund reaches the people under a fair and equal distribution mechanism?

On the contrary, this is a blatant attempt by the PM to have direct intervention in the management of the wealth fund.

Recall that the initial plan in setting up the Terengganu Investment Authority(TIA), a sovereign wealth fund, in May 2008, was to ensure that the state invest its wealth, especially oil royalty, for its own people, without any political intervention.

It was stated that the TIA would “incorporate a triple-tier check and balance system comprising a board of directors who CANNOT hold positions in the government or occupy ANY political positions”. In fact, when the YDP Agong Sultan Terengganu mooted the idea, it was stated that the fund will “manage the state’s long-term oil royalty revenue to ensure sustainable income for the Terengganu people after oil and gas reserves run out”.

Taking over and naming it 1Malaysia Development Berhad is a blatant display of federal BN led control and centralization. This move contradicts the very initial plan it had which was to be free from any political manipulation and marks the end of an independent and professional management of the fund.

It is much feared, especially looking at the current distortion of facts pertaining the royalty issue vis a vis Kelantan, (now that the PM says it was never a royalty, but only a ‘compassionate payment’), and the sudden departure of IRDA’s CEO, what assurance do we have that the PM will not use 1Malaysia Development Berhad as another vehicle of patronage to reward a certain class of persons, whereas the true and rightful beneficiaries of the fund – the Terengganu people, are denied from what is essentially theirs.

Resensi Buku: K Street Capers(Firma Bejat Melabur Di Asia Tengah)

2009-11-19T02:02:00.002+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 17, 2009

From The New York Observer

Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists
Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship
By Ken Silverstein
Random House, 195 pages, $24

Two years ago, when I was a press officer for the United Nations in Iran, government agents tried to sting us. In an effort to discredit the U.N., every week I was visited by two fat, profoundly bearded and poorly dressed “TV producers”; they offered us unprecedented access to large national audiences on the condition that we weave criticism of the regime into our work. Of course, we turned them away and thus preserved our organization’s ability to remain in the country as a neutral aid rather than a propagandist for regime change.

Ken Silverstein, Washington editor for Harper’s, tells in Turkmeniscam of another sting, one that he concocted to snare four of the capital’s major lobbying firms. He induced these firms to vie for a fake but hefty contract to publicize the “strengths” of the Stalinist dictator of the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan. Two of the firms, APCO Worldwide and Cassidy & Associates, tripped over themselves in their eagerness to champion one of the world’s most repressive regimes. In so doing, they became would-be accomplices of a demented, plundering despot.

Some of the lobbyists came from careers as high-ranking government insiders from both parties. In earlier life, they might have been Wilsonian idealists, but now, as deceptive denizens of K Street, they’re deeply into realpolitik, hustling for a fat paycheck by trying to make a tyrant palatable to U.S. policy makers.

AFTER CONSIDERING VARIOUS possible “clients,” Mr. Silverstein settled on a corrupt country with a “bloodcurdling” record on political rights and civil liberties—and an interest in rapprochement with the West. Then, with a cover story, business cards, a bogus Web site (that linked to nothing), vague allusions to Middle Eastern players and a sharp new suit from Hugo Boss, he wormed his way into the confidence of top lobbyists. He had the help of a seemingly knowledgeable and elegant-looking sidekick who, in his one verbal contribution to negotiations, blathered on nonsensically. Mr. Silverstein feared the jig was up, but the conferees reacted with sage nods of approval along with offers to build a useful coalition among politicians and the chattering classes.

From these interactions, Mr. Silverstein secretly recorded the particular tactics and inducements that lobbyists deploy to handle advocacy, policy change, damage control, reputation management and investment promotion. One of the prospective lobbyists tempered his pitch with a caveat—“Anyone who tells you they can get a congressman to do what you want ought not to be believed, but we can get in the door and make the case”—and yet, in the absence of rounded information and against a backdrop of longtime interactions, many legislators and other policy actors accept the case as made.

If Mr. Silverstein’s sting came easily, so did the lobbyists’ blandishments—they know how to win earmarks, to craft perceptions and to turn negative images into positive ones. Mr. Silverstein doesn’t make the argument that lobbyists are engaged in something of a carefully orchestrated sting themselves, but their handiwork smacks of swindle. That is, legislators, diplomats and the media are goaded into buying into a varnished depiction of the horrific situation in the “client” country.

GROWING OUT OF AN article last year in Harper’s, Turkmeniscam is a nimble contribution to the literature on the maneuvers of high-priced and impactful wheelers and dealers in the nation’s capital. As such it viably offers a supplement to this year’s important investigation by The Washington Post into Gerald Cassidy of Cassidy & Associates, a kingpin of domestic lobbyists.

With windbags and shills dominating the cast of characters, Mr. Silverstein’s clever exposé has some of the fun of an Elmore Leonard novel. He has an eye for the shady gesture, the persuasive detail and the big picture. The reader may wish that his sting could have been somehow prolonged so that we could see what documents and activities APCO Worldwide and Cassidy & Associates would have hatched for Turkmenistan. But Mr. Silverstein’s budget was small and his timeline short.

And his methods proved controversial: When his article first appeared in Harper’s, other inside-the-Beltway reporters joined lobbyists in criticizing the “unethical” tactics of his master-of-disguise investigative journalism. In rebuttal, Mr. Silverstein points to his field’s long but now largely dormant tradition of undercover reporting. He also is eloquent in criticizing the expectation that reporters merely “repeat the spin from both sides. … ‘Balance’ is not fair. It’s just an easy way of avoiding real reporting … and [of] shirking our responsibility to inform readers.”

Stings are sometimes necessary if you want to get the whole story. The Iranians found them useful in ferreting out our non-subversive intentions; when we didn’t go for the easy critique they tried to plant, they came to quasi-trust us. By the same token, Mr. Silverstein’s trick is most useful and necessary for showing how lobbyists’ gloss can trump context and integrity.

Government Admits Spending To Boost Najib Administration

2009-11-19T01:59:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 17, 2009

The Malaysian Insider

By Adib Zalkapli

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (picture) confirmed in Parliament today that the government had engaged Apco Worldwide, an international public affairs and media relations company, to boost its image overseas.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the contract is worth some RM20 million but Koh, in a written reply to a question from DAP’s Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching, did not divulge the exact amount.

“Apco Worldwide was tasked with promoting and improving Malaysia’s image overseas,” said Koh, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He justified the appointment by asserting that a foreign firm would ensure that the country’s communication practice was in line with international standards.

To justify the hefty fees it is charging, The Malaysian Insider understands that Apco Worldwide staff are now generating press releases and conducting media training for the government.

Because of the value of the contract, Apco Worldwide has set up an office for the first time in Malaysia. Its personnel are mainly from the United States, and the main focus of their job remains to improve Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s image.

It is also understood that the government has hired a separate firm in the United States to act as its lobbyist with the Obama administration.

“Appointing an international communication firm is a common practice by governments of other countries,” Koh said in his written reply to Parliament today.

He also said that inaccurate reports in foreign media had affected the international community’s confidence in the country as a stable investment, trade and tourist destination, resulting in the need to appoint Apco.

“Apart from Apco, the ministry and government agencies also appoint other local and international firms, for short and long term to provide communication services,” he said.

“Because the expenses for this service depend on the implementation of the programmes and communication projects planned from time to time according to needs, the total cost cannot be determined for the time being.”

The Malaysian Insider had reported in July that Apco was also tasked with promoting Najib’s image for his first 100 days in office and later to boost the administration’s standing worldwide.

Najib is not the first prime minister, however, to use expensive foreign help to boost his image and that of his administration.

Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also used a foreign-based public relations firm to help project a positive image of himself as a progressive Muslim leader, and Malaysia as a modern Muslim nation.

The Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration had used disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Anwar To Table On Oil Income Distribution

2009-11-19T01:57:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 17, 2009

From The Star

OPPOSITION leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will table a Private Members Bill to seek power to transfer the distribution of earnings of the country’s oil extraction income from the Federal Government to the state authorities.

He said checks were made on existing laws, including amendments, on oil extraction, profits and income in which state powers were transferred to Petronas.

He said he would table the Bill to ensure income from oil extracted from Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak would be equally distributed to the states.

“At the same time, I will ask that the distribution be made according to accepted regulations to ensure that transparency is maintained,” Anwar said when debating the Budget 2010 at the committee stage.

Anwar said the Petroleum Deve-lopment Act maintained the state’s right to petroleum royalty.

It was reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had said that the Federal Government would pay a compassionate fund beginning next year to Kelantan for oil extracted from waters off the state.

Malaysia Seen As More Corrupt Than Ever

2009-11-19T01:55:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 17, 2009

From The Malaysian Insider

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 – Malaysia is now seen to be more corrupt than ever, anti-graft watchdog Transparency International said in its global corruption perception index 2009 launched today.

Malaysia now ranks 56 out of 180 countries in the world with a corruption index score of 4.5 out of 10, with 10 being the least corrupt, said the world corruption watchdog. Last year, it placed 47 with a CPI score of 5.1.

The three least corrupt countries in the world are, in order, New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore.

In an immediate reaction, DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang called Malaysia’s ranking the worst in 15 years and said it was a major blow to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration.

“This is a national shame and major blow for Najib’s premiership,” the Ipoh Timur MP said in a statement.

He said that he had expected poor results for Malaysia both in CPI ranking and score, with the country slipping further in ranking from 47 to perhaps 50 and score a lowest CPI of 4.8.

“But my worst fears had been exceeded when the Berlin-based TI just announced that Malaysia had plunged nine places from last year’s 47th CPI ranking to 56th position while Malaysia CPI index score plunged to the lowest in 15 years to 4.5,” he added.

Malaysia’s previous worst scores below 5 were 4.8 in 2000 and 4.9 in 2002.

Lim said the mysterious death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock on July 16 at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Selangor head office was among the major factors for Malaysia’s worst-ever TI CPI ranking and score.

“Will there be any response from Najib to the shocking TI CPI 2009 ranking and score?” he asked.

Kenyataan Akhbar Pejabat Menteri Besar Negeri Selangor

2009-11-19T01:53:00.002+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 14, 2009

PRESS STATEMENT

NOV 13, 2009

SELANGOR APPOINTS ANWAR IBRAHIM AS ECONOMIC ADVISOR

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim yesterday announced the appointment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the state’s economic advisor. The Menteri Besar made the announcement in his winding speech of the state budget 2010 at the State Assembly here today.

He said Anwar will be sitting at the state economic advisory council for the state’s economic stimulus package. The council was formed last April in to assist the state in implementing its the stimulus package which includes cleaning and developing the Klang River, urban renewal, restructuring of Selangor water industry, enhancement of paddy yield, reviving abandoned housing projects, expanding transportation system and reviving abandoned housing projects.

There are eight other members in the council which include Tan Sri Ramon Navaratman, Tan Sri Clifford Herbert, Datuk Zainal Putih, Dr Barjoyai Bardai, Datuk Paul Low, Prof Sieh Mei Ling and Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff.

Later at a press conference, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid also said that Anwar will also play a key role in promoting Shah Alam as an Islamic investment hub for the region.

“I have met Anwar and he has consented to the appointment with a token monthly allowance of RM1. His experience cannot be doubted as he has been the Deputy Prime Ministe and Finance Minister. He is now a director for a fund management company in United States, an adviser for a large Islamic bank in Bahrain and economic adviser to a country in Europe,” said Tan Sri Abdul Khalid.

PRESS SECRETARIATE

SELANGOR MENTERI BESAR’S OFFICE

Corruption in the BN government …comment by ilham73i

2009-11-02T01:19:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 01, 2009

From steadyaku47

Where are the promised changes and betterment for the people?

Corruption in the BN government was clearly shown in the recent Auditor-General’s Report which revealed the astounding RM1.14bil loss in the electrified double-tracking project from Rawang to Ipoh, the purchase of a single laptop for RM42,320 and a nine-inch computer monitor for RM8,500 as well as a RM7.1bil loss that was possibly due the government’s Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd’s failure to fulfil its bond commitments.

Besides the loss of funds, corruption has also caused thecollapse of buildings like stadium and the mosque in Terengganu.

Umno & Co divide and rule concept had served their personal coffers

for many years and succeeded in blacking out the truth to the people.

This is why for 51 years of their rule, the Malays are still poor and in fact,

at least 90 per cent of the hardcore poor are Malays.

One PR State Gov, even in its infancy, showed a sterling performance as proven in the A-G’s report.

The report praised its administration and showed how a people-centric government had managed to save RM36mil and increase the state’s assets by 21.1 per cent or RM178mil.

PR parties will come up with a new plan and a new front

that would benefit the people.

PR wants the people to have ownership in their own states,

in the place that they live.

Thanks to LGE.

ilham73i

FORUM BELANJAWAN PAKATAN RAKYAT 2010

2009-11-02T01:17:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 01, 2009

MENSEJAHTERAKAN RAKYAT

TARIKH :
SELASA, 3 NOVEMBER 2009

MASA:
8.00 – 11.30 MALAM

TEMPAT:
DEWAN BANQUET
MAJLIS BANDARAYA PETALING JAYA
JALAN YONG SHOOK LIN,
PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR

AHLI PANEL :

1. YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM (PKR)
2. YB DATO’ SERI HAJI HADI AWANG (PAS)
3. YB TONY PUA KIAM WEE (DAP)

PERASMIAN OLEH YAB MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR,
TAN SRI KHALID IBRAHIM

10 resolusi perkukuh Pakatan di Perak

2009-11-02T01:16:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 01, 2009

Dari Harakah Daily

Oleh Dzulfikar Mashoor

Kepimpinan PAS, DAP dan PKR peringkat negeri sebulat suara bertekad memperkukuhkan Pakatan Rakyat melalui 10 resolusi bersama demi menumbangkan Barisan Nasional melalui pilihanraya akan datang.

Menteri Besar Pakatan Rakyat Perak, Datuk Seri Ir. Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin menegaskan bahawa usaha mengukuhkan Pakatan Rakyat itu termasuk menghapuskan segala prasangka dan prejudis sesama rakan-rakan parti dalam Pakatan.

“Kita juga akan terus mengamalkan prinsip membuat keputusan secara kolektif melalui meja rundingan untuk menyelesaikan apa juga cabaran, kerana Umno senantiasa mengintai peluang untuk memecahkan Pakatan yang mendapatkan mandat rakyat,” jelasnya.

Ujarnya lagi, semua parti dalam Pakatan bersetuju untuk menubuhkan Majlis Muafakat Pakatan di setiap peringkat.

“Kita (Pakatan) kalau boleh disetiap ranting, ditubuhkan jawatankuasa…di setiap cawangan dan kawasan ditubuhkan sekretariat untuk semua pemimpin setiap peringkat berusaha bergerak dengan Majlis Muafakat Pakatan,” tegas Nizar lagi.

Beliau yang juga AJK PAS Pusat menegaskan bahawa Majlis Pakatan yang dibentuk itu mesti sedaya upaya menghapuskan doktrin perkauman sempit (oleh) Umno dengan meningkatkan hubungan sesama rakyat, kakitangan kerajaan, ahli politik, badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dan pihak istana sendiri.

Ketiga-tiga parti juga diminta fokus memilih calon yang lebih berwibawa dan berintegriti demi memastikan calon-calon tersebut kelak mampu menang majoriti di peringkat Dun dan Parlimen.

Pakatan Rakyat Perak juga bersetuju menjadikan prinsip 5K – Keadilan, Kewibawaan, Ketelusan, Kebajikan dan Kebebasan sebagai asas bekerja dan amalan sekiranya diberi peluang memerintah kerajaan Perak kelak.

Untuk memenangi pilihanraya peringkat negeri kelak, Majlis Muafakat Pakatan juga bertekad turut menjelajah ke seluruh kawasan untuk menyampaikan maklumat kepada rakyat, di mana usaha mengadakan program penerangan secara bersama dipertingkatkan.

Jelas Nizar lagi, Pakatan Rakyat Perak mencadangkan gagasan Pakatan Rakyat segera didaftarkan di peringkat nasional dengan menggunakan suatu logo.

Bercakap dalam kenyataan media itu, Pengerusi DAP Negeri Ngeh Koo Ham dan Pengerusi Majlis Pimpinan Negeri (MPN) PKR Mustafa Kamil Ayub.

Dipercayai 10 resolusi tersebut dibuat sebagai persiapan awal Pakatan Rakyat untuk menempuhi pilihanraya kecil yang boleh berlaku bila-bila masa.

Gagasan 10 resolusi itu juga menjadikan Pakatan Rakyat Perak sebagai model pada Pakatan de negeri-negeri lain dan nasional kelak.

Wawancara Majalah Diplomat

2009-11-02T01:14:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on November 01, 2009

From The Diplomat

Let’s start by talking about the current situation in Malaysia. In a recent interview you described it as being almost a failed state, particularly in the context of its neighbours. What makes you say that and what in your opinion has caused that situation?

The issue of governance and in terms of failing to deal with the issue of endemic corruption, the judiciary is still questionable, so their decisions and independence and the absence of control; the media is so pervasive. For example, in the latest campaign there is a resurgence of the communist party. These are signs, you know, that [Malaysia] is becoming so authoritarian and so repressive. Why is there a need now to have a massive campaign in the government-controlled media – which is entirely, fully controlled by them – to suggest that there is a resurgence of communism?

There has also been a great deal of talk in Australia in particular about this being the Asia-Pacific Century. Do you agree with that? How do you see Malaysia benefiting from any possible shift in global economic and political power?

Well, I don’t have an issue against that, in terms of there’s a need to fortify and even strengthen the economic cooperation within the region. I think we should be all-encompassing in the region. So I think that now there has been eagerness, particularly in the light of the latest financial and economic crisis. But we have to move on first by putting our own house in order. Yes the impact is felt by all countries and the countries have to take measures with these stimulus packages, but the way it is being done is questionable. It must be transparent. And [in Malaysia] we have to look at how it’s being done in Malaysia compared to China. China focussed 40 per cent [of its stimulus] on infrastructure in the earthquake-affected areas; another 30 per cent on rural infrastructure…

I am no great friend of China, but still there are issues that I think we have to look [at] and study. Now compare this to Malaysia. Out of the $70 billion so-called package, the funds allocated for infrastructure per-say is only $15bn. But I charge there are embellishments to push the figure upwards: $10bn for the stockmarket; another $15-20bn for bank guarantees in case there are problems. So you are not talking about a proper stimulus package; we do not know where it is spent or how it is going. Even at a time of crisis, I would use this creative destruction because you can use this to improve and build anew, not to fortify and strengthen the auxiliary and corrupt practices.

So is there a real danger in your eyes of Malaysia slipping behind its neighbours, particularly in light of the current global financial crisis?

In terms of the fundamentals, I must admit that Malaysia is on a much stronger footing, partly because of better infrastructure and the financial services. In light of the last crisis of 1997-98, I think some of the measures have been adopted to strengthen the position of the financial institutions, including the banking sector. That I concede, and I think is something positive that will help us. Similarly there are a lot of reserves, which are quite strong, although, I think, slipping really fast.

Our concern is more with the issue of governance. If you fail to improve the institution of governance, including the casting of an economic policy and preparedness to move so that Malaysia becomes more competitive, then we will certainly lose out. In some sectors we have lost out even to Indonesia and Thailand, to China, of course, and even Vietnam now. So I think that we have to depart from the obsolete economic policies. Now I think some positives measures have been implemented – in the services sector, for example. But liberalising and bringing in foreign investors [counts for nothing when you] fail to deal with the more substantive issues, like the need for affirmative action. Then these policies can never be fully endorsed by the general public.

I am for the market economy and for liberalisation, but we cannot ignore the grinding poverty and we cannot ignore the importance for affirmative action based on need, not on race. And more important still, the need to strengthen the system of government; the judiciary must be independent. The media must be free. How do you then evaluate and assess the success of policies if the statistics are all questionable. The government says ‘Our growth is two per cent, inflation is 2.5 per cent.’ [But those figures are] generally not well accepted. The people still have doubts and questions and are cynical, and this is dangerous in a modern government.

So is a fundamental overhaul needed in Malaysia? Not just a change of political party being in power, but in terms of overhauling the judiciary, overhauling the bureaucracy in order to eliminate an endemic culture of nepotism and corruption and cronyism?

Yes. But what has this result been instead? Racism – the problem of the Chinese and the Hindus. And then there is this new threat, including communism. Some rural sectors remember what it was like to suffer under militant communist activities in the ’50s and ’60s.

Last year you set a number of deadlines for the transfer of power. That was when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was there. Now that there is a new, or relatively new, prime minister in Najib Razak, are you still confident that transfer will happen in the next year or two?

We have to hope it will happen. We have won every single by-election [since the general election], despite the fact that we have to struggle without any exposure in the media. In the mainstream media in this country – TV, newspapers – you cannot see any photograph of myself or my wife or my daughter at all. To win under those trying circumstances, with questionable conduct of the election commission and the judiciary is extraordinary. So I’m still optimistic that given the chance, we would prove ourselves.

Quite clearly your opponents aren’t going to give in without a fight. You’re currently facing renewed allegations – similar allegations to the ones that were eventually dismissed after you spent six years in solitary confinement. It must take an enormous personal, physical and emotional stress on you and your family.

Yes, this isn’t an easy thing, particularly when it becomes so vicious and scurrilous a personal attack and dealing with exactly the same players. It is tough, but I am confident enough that it will be a very good fight inside and outside the court. But I’m not too optimistic about the issue of the conduct and independence of the court based on the previous decision and the influence the executive has on the courts.

What is of course is disconcerting to us and other opposition leaders is that the personal attacks on me and others have increased, using all agencies. The media has always been controlled, but the manner is different. We thought things might change with the new prime minister and his pronouncements of change and the separation of powers, but the media has become a sort of propaganda tool for the ruling party.

You’ve clearly got the ruling party and the prime minister rattled at the minute, because as you say, you’re winning by-election after by-election and clearly the general sense in the country is of the desire for change from all the people; from the native Malays, and also the Chinese, Indian elements of the population as well. Which must give you confidence and a degree of strength as you’re going through this?

Yes, it does. But it’s also becoming a joke – all this time and resources being spent to deflect from the central issue of poor governance. It’s strengthening our opposition forces.

If your worst-case scenario eventuates and you’re found guilty and sent to prison, what will that mean for those opposition forces? Will they be able to survive, to progress, without your unifying presence?

I have been told by very reliable sources that close to the ruling clique that one way out for that clique is to send me back to prison. I don’t know whether that involves Najib himself; I just hope that sanity prevails. But the fact that they proceed with charges so frivolous is shocking to say the least. But, of course, they’ve done it before. This is clearly a politically machination by a desperate group, so I have to be very prepared to fight.

But assuming the worst does happen – and I don’t believe it will happen because now I am even better prepared [with medical reports from government doctors] – we have made preparations to ensure the opposition coalition survives.

The Role of the Opposition in a Liberal Democracy

2009-10-15T22:18:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 15, 2009

Speech by Anwar Ibrahim at the 12th Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture in Sri Lanka on 16th October, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed a great honour for me to be here this evening on the occasion of the 12th Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture. At the same time, I stand before you humbled by the task at hand. So, let me begin by first paying tribute to the memory of Premier Dudley Senanayake. In this regard, I think I can do no better than to laud his political ideals, ideals which still resonate with us, indeed with anyone who believes in freedom and democracy.

May I be as bold as to consider Dudley a Liberal Social Democrat, that is, more ‘Liberal’ than ‘Social.’ Nevertheless, there is no question that he was a de facto social democrat in as much as he espoused the principles of social justice and put them into practice. That would include affirmative action for the poor and the marginalized and promoting land ownership and housing for the needy. His economics heralded an era of transformation and his phenomenal contribution to agriculture is legendary. As for his predominantly liberal bent in politics, that would be reflected in our discourse this evening.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The subject at hand may appear to some as having been flogged to death in as much as the landscape of liberal democracy is considered to be well traversed and the role of the opposition in such a system is self-evident.

Be that as it may, at the risk of being regarded as trying to reinvent the wheel, let me attempt to map out the province of liberal democracy and reiterate the role of the opposition in such a democracy. Let me begin with the doctrine that regards three central values as being foundational for a liberal democracy, and these are liberty, social pluralism and political constitutionalism. These values as we know are also central to liberalism itself but in the context of the discourse on democracy, our concern lies more with fundamental freedoms and the practice of constitutional government.

From Dicey we have the traditional conception of constitutionalism, which places the rule of law as being pivotal. According to him, “…the rule of law is as valuable a principle today as it has ever been. For it means that the courts can see to it that powers of officials, and official bodies of persons entrusted with government, are not exceeded and are not abused, and that the rights of citizens are determined in accordance with the law enacted and unenacted.”

That would appear to be much less a definition than an indictment against executive abuse. By most accounts, the rule of law stipulates that government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand. This would make it possible to foresee with fair certainty how the authority will use its coercive powers in given circumstances, and to plan one’s individual affairs on the basis of this knowledge. That is why the rider by Dicey is so central because the coercive powers referred to must be based on laws that meet the criterion of justness.

In other words, the rule of law requires the application of moral standards to legislative output. And this is because every individual possesses rights founded on justice which are inviolable. The positivity of law is not sufficient to establish its lawfulness. If laws are unjust then the rule of law itself is in jeopardy.

The rule of law therefore means the exercise of publicly justifiable power. Whether or not it is justifiable, that is the question the opposition must ask and answer. Herein lies a pivotal role of the opposition in a liberal democracy which is to be the voice of public reason and ensure that the “exercise of public political power is fully proper” and it can only be so if and “when it is exercised in accordance with a constitution the principles and ideals of which are endorsed by common human reason”.

Preventive detention laws are a classic instance of the exercise of political power not in accordance with constitutional principles. They offend against human dignity and violate our fundamental rights. Yet such laws and such powers continue to be used arbitrarily even in liberal democracies such as the United Kingdom and the United States.

The constitutional principles endorsed by human reason to safeguard our liberties are then violated with impunity by the powers that be. The use of such oppressive laws for whatever reason, let alone for the purpose of silencing political dissent, makes a mockery of the institution of liberal democracy. Clearly, it is incumbent on the opposition to challenge the use of such powers and to work relentlessly to have such laws abolished.In this regard, as the leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Malaysia, I daresay that we are doing precisely that by campaigning for the abolition of the Internal Security Act.

In a nutshell therefore, the rule of law is the use of law to curb the abuse of law-making power. Upon this principle, power and authority are therefore predicated. It is a powerful weapon, both in legal and political argument, which can be employed judicially in the interpretation of constitutional principles so as to check excesses of the legislative and executive arms of government. Of course, the principle does not warrant that every trivial issue be accorded the process of being litigated all the way to the highest appellate court. Even the administration of justice is subject to the law of diminishing returns.

And that leads us to the position of the judiciary in a democracy. Without a doubt what comes to mind in an instant is the paramount importance of not mixing justice with politics, that is to say, the judiciary must remain independent. Under no circumstances should it be under the control or influence of the Legislature, let alone the Executive. There is a saying that when the law is subjugated to the chicanery of politics, that is, where the judges are subservient to the political masters, the administration of justice becomes farcical and perverse. We have seen what happened in Pakistan not too long ago. We see it happening in sham democracies masquerading as liberal democracies. And of course we see it being played out ad nauseam from where I come.

The opposition must therefore play the role of ensuring the separation of these powers. It is their duty to see the existence of a transparent court system and a process of accountability. No doubt, this is easier said than done. This is because in reality leaders of the opposition are the very people who will be the victims of the use of judicial high-handedness. They will be the first to be prosecuted for political reasons and they will be condemned even before the trials begin.

Instead of being the ultimate guardians of our liberty from executive tyranny, the judiciary is then transformed into principals in the destruction of the very process it was entrusted to protect. Indeed, the undermining of judicial independence by political interference has negative repercussions not only on society at large but on the nation as a whole. Very often the inability to assert independence seems to be inversely proportional to the degree of integrity.

Therefore there is no overstating the role of the opposition in reminding judges of the legitimate expectations of the people as to their competency, dedication and impartiality. In resolving disputes between the people and the government, judges must act impartially. They administer justice, according to law, not according to the dictates of political masters. The rule of law means citizens can enjoy the fruits of liberty and other freedoms without being molested by the arbitrary use of political power. Police officers may not stop and search individuals just so that they may prevent them from attending rallies organized by an opposition party. If they do so, the people can expect the courts to invoke the rule of law to strike down such acts. The rule of law therefore will be seen in proportion to the effectiveness of the judiciary’s deliberations against executive power.
Another crucial criterion for constitutional government is that the discretion of law enforcement agencies must not be allowed to pervert the cause of justice. The office of the Public Prosecutor, the police and the anti-corruption agency, all these bodies, play essential roles in the preservation of the rule of law, failing which they are easily used to pervert the law. As absolute power corrupts absolutely, the arrogance of power left unchecked renders these agencies absolutely impermeable to public opinion and criticism. Once again, the role of the opposition as the conscience of the people in this regard is of paramount importance if democracy is to mean anything.

The very root of this problem goes to the question of accountability. We have seen how civilisations collapse from within as a result of corruption and moral decadence, and a disintegration of the institutions of accountability. Thomas Jefferson time and again warned against the abuse of unlimited powers by elected despots and foretold that there would come a time “when corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government, and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price.” In our time these same sentiments were expressed with greater vigour and tenacity by the great freedom fighters, from Simon Bolivar to Sun Yat Sen, and from Nehru, from Dudley and from Mandela.

This links us back to our earlier postulation about liberal democracy and that is that political liberty is the area within which a man can act unobstructed by others. However, we must not forget that at the heart of this political liberalism lies the need for a social contract that enables such liberty. Such a contract, needless to say, must be rooted in a deal that legitimises power and holds accountable all those who exercise it. In this regard, the opposition must demand transparency in all government actions and dealings, leave no stone unturned in its quest for a fair and free media and constantly guard against the rise of despotism and tyranny.

Respon Kepada Artikel “Apa Signifikan Keputusan Bagan Pinang”

2009-10-15T22:17:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 15, 2009

Dari Azmin Ali

Saya membaca dengan tekun komen-komen pengunjung blog saya dan juga teman-teman facebook. Sindiran ringkas yang saya lontarkan dalam blog saya bertajuk “Apa signifikan keputusan Bagan Pinang” telah mengundang maklumbalas dari pembaca. Saya merasa terpanggil untuk memberikan respon.

Pakatan Rakyat perlu ‘go back to the drawing board’ dengan membuat post-mortem dan melakukan muhasabah secara adil dan berlapang dada. Memang benar suara rakyat Bagan Pinang yang kecil dari segi jumlah pengundi tidak semestinya mewakili sentimen rakyat Malaysia tetapi Pakatan Rakyat perlu memberikan perhatian serius terhadap suara kecil ini dan tidak melihatnya sebagai keputusan yang terpencil atauisolated case.

Pimpinan tertinggi Pakatan Rakyat di peringkat Pusat, Negeri dan Daerah khususnya perlu berpegang teguh dan menjunjung kerangka besar agenda perjuangan Pakatan Rakyat. Pembentukan Pakatan Rakyat adalah diasaskan kepada prinsip dan isu bersama yang antara lainnya termasuk demokrasi, hak asasi manusia, good governance, ketelusan dan pertanggungjawaban, kebebasan sistem kehakiman dan usaha memerangi rasuah.

Apabila kepimpinan memahami dan menghormati prinsip bersama ini maka tidak timbul watak-watak yang cuba menjadi jaguh dalam mempertahankan ideologi dan kepentingan serta agenda peribadi. Keyakinan rakyat akan terhakis apabila melihat pimpinan bercakaran di dada-dada akhbar. Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat telah berulang kali memberikan peringatan kepada pimpinan untuk tidak ‘washing the linen in public’. Media yang dikuasai oleh UMNO dan Barisan Nasional adalah musuh kita. Mereka mengupah ramai ‘spin doctors’ untuk memutar belitkan kenyataan Pakatan Rakyat dan membohongi rakyat. Mengapa segelintir pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat sukar memahami perkara yang semudah ini ?

Penyelesaian yang terbaik ialah melalui semangat muafakat dan ‘consultation’ dalam Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat di semua peringkat. Struktur organisasi Pakatan Rakyat juga perlu dimantapkan bukan sahaja di peringkat Pusat tetapi sehingga peringkat Daerah dan Cawangan.

Dasar-dasar Pakatan Rakyat dalam isu-isu penting seperti ekonomi, pendidikan, agama, budaya, keselamatan dan hubungan antarabangsa juga perlu diperjelaskan kepada rakyat melalui majlis-majlis penerangan dan edaran risalah yang menarik dan berfakta.

Pakatan Rakyat dibentuk bukan untuk memperbetulkan UMNO dan Barisan Nasional semata-mata tetapi Pakatan Rakyat perlu menjana perubahan total dan mengangkat agenda reformasi dalam sistem kenegaraan demi kesejahteraan rakyat Malaysia.

Justeru itu, Pakatan Rakyat perlu mengukuhkan pentadbiran dan menambahbaik sistem penyampaian di Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Kedah dan Kelantan. Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di empat buah negeri ini perlu menjual produk kejayaan mereka atau ‘success story’ menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum ke 13. Keupayaan Pakatan Rakyat mentadbir dan mengurus ekonomi dan permasalahan rakyat di empat buah negeri ini pastinya akan meningkatkan keyakinan rakyat Malaysia untuk membawa Pakatan Rakyat di persada Putrajaya. Insya Allah.

Saya masih yakin bahawa rakyat Malaysia khususnya generasi muda mahu perubahan dan akan mendukung usaha Pakatan Rakyat untuk membina Malaysia Baru yang lebih sejahtera dan makmur untuk semua rakyat Malaysia.

AZMIN ALI

Menghimbau Epik Ramayana & Mahabharata

2009-10-15T22:15:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 15, 2009

Penganut Hindu kini mulai sibuk menyediakan kelengkapan bagi menyambut hari Diwali atau Deepavali. Cumanya di sini sambutan Onum lebih besar berbanding Diwali.

Pengalaman di Kerala; utamanya di Calicut dan Mallapuram ketika ini mengingatkan saya kepada kajian lama Amartya Sen mengenai tahap pendidikan asas di Kerala yang pernah suatu ketika mengatasi pencapaian di New York sekitar tahun 1970-an.

Cukup mengasyikkan tatkala menyorot kembali permuafakatan di antara Muslim dan penganut Hindu, saat itu tidak berlaku sebarang pergaduhan atau rusuhan agama kerana masyarakat kebanyakan mengamal sikap keterbukaan dan menerima percanggahan pendapat sebagai suatu proses mencari persefahaman.

Manakala penyerapan perubatan moden dan Ayurveda dapat dihayati dengan baik serta diterima semua sebagai warisan tempatan.

Menjelang Diwali, maka saya teruja mengembara ke dalam dunia Ramayana dan Mahabharata yang penuh mitos, dengan mengadunkan peranan Tuhan mereka yang dianggap kudus tetapi juga bersifat fana, dan juga persoalan nilai kemanusiaan dan haiwan.

Kisah pertembungan dan wacana segar saperti yang berlaku di antara Krishna dan Arjuna telah menyebabkan ianya menjadi sebuah kisah yang kekal relevan hingga kini. Pokoknya karya besar tersebut mampu menjadi teladan hidup dan tritis sosial yang bermakna.

Saya sengaja menjemput saudara menghimbau kembali persoalan Diwali dengan ucap selamat, keraian persaudaraan dan usaha memupuk persefahaman yang abadi.

Buat semua yang meraikan hari Deepavali, saya mengucapkan Deepavali Nal Valthukal!

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Georgetown’s Common Word conference raises awareness on urgent need to work together

2009-10-15T22:14:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, 2009

From Middle East Online

By John L. Esposito – WASHINGTON

The just-completed Georgetown’s Common Word conference, Oct. 7-8, occurs at a time when the need for serious engagement and cooperation between Muslims and Christians is more urgent than ever.

Islam and Christianity are far and away the two largest global religions (1.5 and 2.1 billion). Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Today, more than ever before, they co-exist or encounter each other in 57 Muslim countries and in Europe and America and beyond. Despite significant doctrinal differences, they also they share much in common in matters of faith, values and interests. If religion has too often been part of the problem, it must also be part of the solution.

In contrast to the past, the world of the 21st century is both transformed and threatened by the impact of globalization, a source of integration and fragmentation in international affairs, economic and social development, and inter-religious or multi-religious affairs. Today, President Barack Obama and European leaders are faced with the fallout from eight years of Bush legacy that led many Muslim critics of the US-UK war on global terrorism to charge it was a war against Islam and Muslims, an attempt to redraw the map of the Muslim world. Obama, in his inauguration and subsequent addresses to Muslims from Ankara and Cairo, has sought to recast America’s image among its Muslim and non-Muslim allies. His commitment to the importance of a multi-lateral approach with its emphasis on diplomacy in the pursuit of peace and justice — in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, were among the reasons for the recent and surprising award of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition and encouragement of Barack Obama’s fresh international vision in American foreign policy.

The Common Word Muslim initiative and the response by major Christian leaders and other global leaders to the document, “A Common Word Between Us and You,” reflects the deep awareness of today’s precarious and dangerous world of global politics and the need for Muslims and Christians to work together. As the CW document reminds us: “Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.”

“A Common Word: A Global Agenda for Change” was call to action. Sponsored by the Office of the President of Georgetown University, the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, and the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, it was the next step in the ongoing process of this groundbreaking initiative. Conferences at Yale and Cambridge universities and the Vatican had brought together global religious leaders and academic experts who explored the theological and scriptural bases and implications of the foundation of A Common Word, the two great commandments, Love of God and Love of Neighbor, based directly Christian, Muslim and Jewish Scriptures.

At Georgetown we addressed the “So what factor?” How do we respond to and put “Love of Neighbor” into action to address the many shared challenges and threats we face in our world? How do we transform a common word into common works?

Critical to realizing the purpose and goal of A Common Word is applied theology, transforming belief and dialogue into action. Conference encounters and their final reports alone, however good and important are too easily archived and do not in themselves change minds and hearts and transform societies. Words must be accompanied by action and deeds; visions must be implemented by concrete and, where possible, joint-efforts and projects.

Although convinced of the importance of this initiative, we were astonished at the incredible response. The acceptance rate from the global leaders invited ranged between 90-95%! Our opening session drew a capacity audience in Gaston Hall of 750; subsequent sessions averaged 500 to 600 participants. Media coverage included the Washington Post-Newsweek’s On Faith, Al-Jazeera English, Al-Arabiyya, BBC, and many others.

In addition to prominent religious leaders and academics, key participants included practitioners: political leaders, social activists, leaders of major NGOs and others who came together to discuss and develop a “global agenda for change.” Among the religious dignitaries were: the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theofilos III, the Grand Muftis of Egypt and Bosnia, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, and Mustafa Ceric; Professor Ingrid Mattson, President of the Islamic Society of North America; Theodore Cardinal McCarrick and Archbishop Celestino Megliore; the Anglican bishop of London, Richard Chartres, Nigeria’s Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon and Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop the Evangelical Lutheran Church and President of the Lutheran World Federation. They were joined by former prime ministers, Britain’s Tony Blair and Norway’s Kjell Magne Bondevik, Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, the twentieth sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and the presidents of major Christian and Muslim NGOs and organizations.

During our two days together we listened to and learned about the good practices, their challenges and accomplishments that already exist. Ken Hacket and David Robinson, leaders of Catholic Relief Services and World Vision, spoke of their global outreach and work in Muslim communities; Amr Khaled, charismatic preached and founder of the Right Start Foundation spoke of RSF’s many projects in the Arab world and Europe; Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director, Gallup Muslim Studies, reported on a major youth project, “Muslim Americans Answer the Call”; Fr. Eliseo Mercado and Amina Rasul-Bernardo spoke of their use of A Common Word in the Southern Philippines; Pastor Bob Roberts and Dr. Chris Seiple spoke of their respective partnerships and projects with Muslims in the Afghanistan and the Northwest Frontier Province. Presentations and discussions were open and frank, highlighting important accomplishments, issues and problems; areas of agreement and difference; and especially the need to recognize that differences of faith need not be an obstacle to partnership and collaboration in areas of mutual concern.

At the end of our conference, after two long and exhausting 10 hour days, we held a wrap-up discussion: “Where Do We Go from Here?”. While conferences like religious services often witness a good number of participants who hastily depart before the end, we were deligthed to see a full contingent and in fact had to finally cut off our session. After a summary of the key take-aways from our panels and leaders’ and members of the audience reactions, we turned to what we could and would do to promote the ideas and initiatives discussed and then identified areas and projects to be pursued and developed in future. Many asked that contact information be provided for future collaborations and follow-up workshops, regionally and locally. These recommendations and others were taken up the next day and will be at future meetings by the Executive Committee of THE C-1 WORLD DIALOGUE: Improving relations between the Western and Islamic Worlds, whose co-chairs are Dr. Ali Gomaa Grand Mufti of Egypt and Dr. Richard Chartres, the Anglican Bishop of London.

John L. Esposito is University Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think.

A Common Word Between Us and You

2009-10-15T22:12:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, 2009

Plenary address by Anwar Ibrahim at the “Common Word Between Us and You” Conference on Muslim Christian Relations in the 21st Century at Georgetown University on October 7, 2009

[See photos from the event here]

In Love’s Labours Lost, the Bard tells us that:

… when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods
Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony
Act IV, Sc. III

There are few universities that have demonstrated as profound and enduring a commitment to interfaith work and civilizational dialogue as Georgetown. Where there is a clear lack of institutions focused on the nurturing of the ideas and values that would create such understanding between the Muslim world and the West, I commend John Esposito’s vision and commitment in heading the Prince Alaleed Center for Muslim Christian Understanding. Just after the Center was established in 1993 I remember delivering a lecture here on the need for civilisational dialogue where we asserted that the way forward was the pursuit of a convivencia: a harmonious and enriching experience of living together among people of diverse religions and cultures. I returned to Malaysia after that speech inspired by this spirit of engagement and keen to apply it to our Asian context where the prominence of a Muslim-Christian dialogue was of lesser importance to the other major civilizations which intermingled in my country. Within two years hosted the first ever conference on Islam and Confucianism that brought together such intellectual luminaries as Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Tu Weiming and over 1000 participants from across Asia and led to the establishment of a permanent center of Islam and Confucianism at the University of Malaya.

The encounter between East and West has for generations been caught within the vortex of competing essentialisms. Some in the East professed undying adherence to a way of life perceived as superior and more fulfilling thus rejecting categorically any foreign elements. Others overwhelmed by the dazzling splendour of Western civilization forswore their own culture and traditions and condemned their own people for backwardness. The folly of such extremes is apparent to us now. And yet while the civilizing mission of the West is over and forgotten, its legacy remains with us in the form of mistrust and apprehension between peoples and civilizations. A sinister strand of this age-old debate has recently surfaced that pits a violent and anti-modern Islamic world against the enlightened society of the West. One wonders whether after so many years and so many attempts to build bridges of understanding, are we really making any progress?

Fifteen years ago I spoke here at Georgetown University calling for the need for civilisational dialogue to overcome extreme positions and forge a new synthesis in the relation between East and West. The way forward was the pursuit of a convivencia: a harmonious and enriching experience of living together among people of diverse religions and cultures. If anything the 20th century showed us not only the marvels of technology but the fragility of the human condition so susceptible to ethnocentrism and fanaticism. A global village would come to fruition not only because of the advance of technology, but through the spread of ideas of justice and virtue and not merely tolerance of our collective differences. Huston Smith referred to this as shifting the centres of concern, from the self to family to community to nation and finally to humanity, thus overcoming the vices of selfishness, nepotism and parochial nationalism. Perhaps this is one interpretation of the Qur’anic injunction of li-ta’arafu.

Only a few years after that speech the tragedy of 9/11 struck. I was in solitary confinement at the time and only learned about the attacks through missives smuggled into prison by my lawyers and interspersed reports of the more friendly guards I sensed immediately the magnitude of the repercussions of this event. Certainly the work we had all done to broaden civilisational dialogue suffered a crippling blow and trust among our peoples would erode in the ensuing cycle of violence. But 9/11 and the subsequent attacks in Europe and Asia have highlighted the need for Muslim societies to address their internal social and political development. Economic development is alone not the only solution. A proper orientation must be developed for Muslim engagement with the world at large and within their own societies. Governments that monopolise the public discourse through draconian laws create breeding grounds for further discontent and marginalization.

The challenges before Muslims, like people of other traditions in Asia today, are indeed great. They must endeavour to alleviate ignorance, disease, and destitution. They have to battle corruption and arrest moral decay. They have to strengthen the institutions of civil society to ensure order and stability, as well as protect the individual from the unwarranted denial of his rights. Indeed, these are the imperatives of all the great religious traditions, and one could do no greater disservice than to invoke the name of tradition to justify excesses, injustices and authoritarianism in society. In this regard, the renewal of traditions must mean reliving their ideals — truth, justice and compassion — and not resurrecting past aberrations, of the depraved and the decadent.

Herein lies the new opportunity for engagement in this century. While there is still much effort to apply to the theme of understanding and dialogue on issues of theology and belief, there is certainly an opportunity in this historical moment to join forces around those universal values that unite humanity in the pursuit of freedom and justice.

The core problems of poverty, hunger and illiteracy afflicting the developing world still loom large on the global agenda. Joining these perennial challenges are the struggle for a clean environment, the attempt to abate the spread of nuclear weapons and upheaval of economies around the globe now subject to.

The Common Word Conference in this light is a remarkable achievement. The understandings forged thus far in a series of high level debases among global spiritual communities will leave an enduring legacy for future generations. But the work does not stop here in the ivory tower of this auspicious institution. On the contrary, our message of peace and of justice must reach deeper into the societies that we collectively represent. In our work to advance the higher ideals of humanity lies the point of convergence between East and West, where the twain shall meet.

The Meeting That Wasn’t

2009-10-15T22:10:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, 2009

From Washington Post

By Fred Hiatt

“Our concern is that the Obama administration is perceived to be softening on human rights.”

If that comment came from a human rights lobbyist, you might not pay too much mind. But I heard it from Anwar Ibrahim, a Malaysian leader who is one of the world’s foremost spokesmen for Islamic democracy — and who is himself under threat from authorities at home. If Anwar says that people throughout Asia and the Middle East are wondering about President Obama’s commitment to human rights, the administration ought to pay attention.

Obama has committed himself to the cause of democracy in every major foreign policy address of his young presidency. He has met with freedom fighters, in Moscow and elsewhere. In announcing Friday that he would accept the Nobel Peace Prize, he saluted, obliquely but unmistakably, the democracy marchers of Tehran and a former Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who, for her courageous advocacy of democracy, languishes under house arrest in Burma.

But Obama’s choice last week not to meet with the Dalai Lama, an advocate of freedom, broke with bipartisan tradition and — following several other seemingly small decisions and ambiguous administration statements — reverberated across the globe. In an odd way, it showed the flip side of the willingness that he expressed, especially during the campaign, to meet with the enemies of freedom.

Both positions in their way reflect the president’s self-confidence, his impatience with show and pretense, and his disdain for aspects of his predecessor’s policy. Both have a compelling logic. But both also carry dangers.

When Obama suggested early on that he would meet with an Ahmadinejad or a Kim Jong Il, he was rebuking what he saw as George W. Bush’s diplomatic arrogance. But he was also rejecting protocol and hang-ups about status: If America is so powerful, why should we be afraid to meet with anyone? And why would anyone worry that meeting with Hugo Chávez, or accepting an anti-American book from him, could influence Obama for the worse?

But Obama discovered quickly that, whatever it meant to him, allowing Chávez to shake his hands and press him with gifts had significance throughout a continent. A meeting with Obama would be a coup for Kim, not to be given away for nothing. A debate, as proposed by Ahmadinejad, would benefit Iran’s regime but not America. And so the administration, like that of Bush’s second term, is trying to steer the bad guys of the world into discussions with the United States and its allies — the six-party talks on Korea, the P-5 plus 1 on Iran — and away from one-on-one diplomacy.

Some of the impulses behind the non-invitation to the Dalai Lama are similar. It’s not that they’ve given up on the Tibetan cause, administration officials say, but that they want achievements, not gestures. Bush could feel good about himself for inviting dissidents into the White House, but what did he accomplish? By postponing a meeting that administration officials fear would inflame China’s leaders, Obama will get a chance to raise the issue with them in quiet conversation. If he gets nowhere, officials say, there will be ample time to welcome the Dalai Lama to the White House.

That again may reflect Obama’s self-confidence: He knows how he feels about human rights, so why should he have to thump his chest and prove it to the world? Why not try to get something done?

Yet as with Chávez’s small public relations coup, such calculations on the Dalai Lama may underestimate the impact in the world. China unabashedly browbeats other governments that dare meet with the Dalai Lama or other dissidents. When Denmark once supported a U.N. resolution criticizing China’s human rights record, a Chinese government spokesman likened Denmark to “the bird that pokes out its head” and said the resolution “will, I think, in the end become a rock that smashes on the Danish government’s head.”

Once they see Washington deferring, fewer governments elsewhere may dare poke up their heads. On such matters, many nations still look to America to lead.

Throughout the autocratic world, there are people fighting back — priests and poets, honest reporters, incorruptible lawyers. Most of us will never know their names. But they watch what happens in the White House. When a dissident is turned away, they take note. When a dissident is welcomed, they take heart. To them, no gesture is empty.

“Of course, your government has to decide what is the best strategy,” Anwar said during a visit to The Post last week. “But the perception also is important. Because once you give a perception that you are softening on human rights, then you are strengthening the hands of autocrats to punish dissidents throughout the world.”

Tanggungjawab Melawan Kebatilan

2009-10-15T22:09:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, 2009

Kupasan Surah An Nur dan Surah Yusuf oleh Sheikh Ighsan Hendericks tengahari semalam di kediaman saya sangat mengesankan. Majlis dihadiri beberapa teman dan pimpinan parti seperti Dr Badrol Amin, Datuk Nazri Abdullah, Sdr Tian Chua, Sdr Sivarasa dan Sdr Shamsul Iskandar. Menggali tradisi seumpama al Quran al Kareem beserta hadith Rasulullah S.A.W sebagai asas perjuangan menuntut perubahan dan menegakkan Keadilan, kemudiannya disokong pula hujah tersebut dengan pengalaman menentang apartheid di Afrika Selatan, sahabat saya dari Afrika Selatan itu ternyata mengusik sanubari mereka yang hadir terutamanya ketegasan beliau mengenai Keadilan dan Islam tidak boleh dipisahkan.

Kisah Nabi Yusuf yang dibuang saudaranya ke dalam perigi dan kemudiannya dianugerahi Allah Taala kepimpinan demi menjamin kesejahteraan manusia juga menjadi iktibar kepada semua. Sheikh Ighsan menegaskan adalah menjadi satu kewajipan untuk memenuhi tuntutan kepimpinan demi menghapuskan kebatilan serta kezaliman. Kisah ini menyorot saya ketika membentangkan belanjawan 1998 dengan menukilkan ayat 46-48 dari Surah Yusuf. Tujuh tahun makmur dan tujuh tahun yang gersang. Mudah-mudahan kita memperoleh pengajaran untuk sentiasa bersiap siaga menghadapi sebarang jerebu ekonomi.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Pendedahan: Siapa Pengkhianat Agama, Bangsa & Negara

2009-09-06T05:28:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 05, 2009

Dari Kerajaanrakyat.com

Salaam semua Pengunjung dan Penitip Bicara Minda Kerajaan Rakyat yang saya kasihi.

Apa yang termasuk dalam ramuan sebuah perjuangan adalah menuntut kesabaran, keta’akulan, perancangan, kesefahaman dan pengorbanan. Perjuangan menuntut “Kemerdekaan” daripada regim UMNO yang rakus, zalim dan kejam ini walaupun getir dan penuh dengan ranjau berduri tetapi kejayaan yang sukar telah semakin hampir.

Walau apapun jika kita tersilap satu langkah, padahnya amat parah.

Perjuangan ini bukan untuk DAP.
Perjuangan ini bukan untuk PAS.
Perjuangan ini bukan juga untuk KeADILan.

Ini adalah perjuangan RAKYAT demi meleraikan rantai yang mencengkam kita sejak lebih 52 tahun lalu.

Gabungan tiga parti utama dalam Pakatan Rakyat adalah inspirasi pemimpin dan individu tertentu yang prihatin terhadap penderitaan RAKYAT dan kasihkan kepada negara kita, Malaysia yang tercinta.

Sepanjang tempoh Malaysia di bawah pemerintahan regim zalim UMNO/Perikatan dan kemudiannya UMNO/BN, berjuta billion wang rakyat dan harta negara telah samada terlepas atau dilepaskan, tergadai atau digadaikan, terjual dan dijual kepada bangsa dan negara asing. Pemimpin UMNO dan sekutunya telah jelas memperlekeh dan meremehkan segala kepercayaan dan pengharapan yang telah disandarkan oleh rakyat kepada mereka selama ini.

- Singapura hilang dari peta negara
- Pulau Batu Putih diberi percuma kepada Singapura
- Hasil balak dirompak ikut selera mereka
- Hasil minyak dijoli ikut nafsu mereka
- Anak-anak hilang dipandang enteng
- Pendidikan dan perubatan diperdagangkan oleh kroni mereka
- Rakyat dicukai, wang Rakyat mereka tibai

Saudara yang saya kasihi,

Demi menapak dan mengukuhkan perjuangan ini, Kerajaan Rakyat telah menaskahkan sebuah catatan: “Pendedahan: Siapa Pengkhianat Agama, Bangsa & Negara”.

Buku yang mengandungi 230 muka surat ini membongkar dan mendedahkan siapakah pengkhianat sebenarnya..!!!

Terkandung di dalamnya huraian dan penjelasan yang tiada dikabarkan oleh semua akhbar arus perdana. Tertitip juga di dalamnya penjelasan pimpinan RAKYAT yang prihatin terhadap permasalahan RAKYAT. Dipapar penjelasan dari Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tentang situasi politik negara bangsa. Dicatat komentar dari ‘Penitip Bicara Minda’ di lelaman Kerajaan Rakyat.com.

Buku ini diharap bakal menjadi penyambung bicara minda untuk disampaikan ke seluruh pelusuk negara.

Saudara yang saya kasihi, saya pohon jasa dan bakti kalian untuk dapatkan naskah ini dan sampaikan kepada saudara, jiran dan keluarga semasa balik berhari raya nanti.

Kerajaan Rakyat mengalu-alukan sokongan kalian sebagai bakti dan bukti perjuangan luhur kalian untuk mengedarkan seberapa banyak naskah yang terdaya. Hubungi kami melalui email: kerajaan.rakyat@gmail.com untuk kaedah mendapatkan naskah ini.

Kerajaan Rakyat merakamkan jutaan terima kasih dan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan kepada semua PENITIP BICARA MINDA di lelaman ini kerana banyak titipan kalian yang telah kami muatkan dalam “Pendedahan: Siapa Pengkhianat Agama, Bangsa & Negara”

Salaam Takzim. Salaam Perjuangan.

Acara Anwar Ibrahim di Johor, 6 September 2009

2009-09-06T05:26:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 05, 2009

AHAD 6 SEPTEMBER 2009

———-

i) 5.30 – 6.30 PTG – PERASMIAN PEJABAT PKR CABANG SIKIJANG DAN DIALOG BERSAMA RAKYAT

TEMPAT: TAMAN INDAH, BUKIT SIPUT , SEGAMAT

———-

ii) 7.15 – 8.00 MLM – BERBUKA PUASA DAN SOLAT MAGHRIB

TEMPAT: RUMAH KETUA CABANG PKR SEGAMAT

———-

iii) 7.30 – 11.00 MLM – JAMUAN DAN CERAMAH

TEMPAT: DEWAN SIANG HAI KEE RESTAURANT

PENCERAMAH :

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YBHG DATUK SERI CHUA JUI MENG

3) YB V. SIVAKUMAR (SPEAKER PERAK)

4) YBHG DATUK SS SUBRAMANIAM

———-

iv) 8.30- 9.30 MLM – SOLAT ISYAK DAN TARAWIKH

TEMPAT: MASJID KAMPONG JAWA, SEGAMAT

———-

v) 10.00-12.00 MLM – CERAMAH PERDANA – “MENUJU KEARAH KEBANGKITAN RAKYAT JOHOR”

TEMPAT: MARKAZ PAS, PARIT SULONG

PENCERAMAH:

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YBHG DATUK SERI CHUA JUI MENG

3) YBHG HASMI HASHIM

4) YBHG CIK GU FAISAL ABD RAHMAN

SELANGOR MAHU BATAL PERMOHONAN PEGUAM NEGARA

2009-09-06T04:57:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 04, 2009

–KENYATAAN MEDIA–

Kerajaan Negeri Selangor hari ini telah memfailkan afidavit jawapan kepada permohonan Peguam Negara Tan Sri Gani Patail untuk membatalkan satu pekeliling yang mengarahkan pegawai dan kakitangan kerajaan membantu siasatan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM)pada waktu pejabat dengan kehadiran peguam.

Afidavit tersebut telah ditandatangani oleh Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim dan difailkan di pejabat pendaftar Mahkamah Tinggi Shah Alam pada 3pm.

Afidavit yang telah difailkan mempunyai dua tujuan iaitu menentang permohonan yang difailkan oleh Peguam Negara, dan keduanya menyokong permohonan kerajaan Negeri Selangor untuk membatalkan tindakan Peguam Negara malalui satu Saman Dalam Kamar yang juga telah difailkan pada hari ini.

Afidavit setebal 55 mukasurat antara lain menyatakan bahawa pekeliling bertarikh 28 Julai 2008 telah dikeluarkan setelah mendapat nasihat daripada Penasihat Undang Undang Negeri dan dikeluarkan bagi tujuan untuk membantu siasatan SPRM dan bukan sebaliknya.

Menteri Besar juga telah berkata dalam afidavit tersebut bahawa Peguam Negara tidak mempunyai hak memulakan prosiding (locus standi) untuk memfailkan permohonan tersebut kerana pekeliling tersebut hanya berkait langsung dengan SPRM, sebuah badan berkanun, dan bukan Peguan Negara.

Afidavit tersebut juga memperincikan kacau ganggu yang dilakukan oleh SPRM terhadap pentadbiran Negeri Selangor dan bahawa kaedah siasatan yang diguna pakai oleh SPRM tidak mengikut lunas undang-undang sepertu siasatan melalui panggilan telefon tanpa notis, kunjungan mengejut tanpa pengenalan diri, tuntutan dokumen tanpa notis dan soal siasat saksi yang kadang kala menjangkau tempoh lewat malam.

Menteri Besar juga menyatakan bahawa pekeliling itu tidak mencabar peruntukan siasatan SPRM, tetapi sebenarnya peruntukan di dalam Akta SPRM itu yang mencabar peruntukan perlembagaan yang menekankan hak kehidupan dan kebebasan (right to life and liberty), hak untuk mendapat khidmat guaman pilihan (right to counsel of choice) dan hak kesamarataan (right to equality).

Keranamu UMNO:setiap anak Pahang tanggung hutang!

2009-09-06T04:56:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 04, 2009

Dari Malaysian Insider

Oleh Zukri Aksah

Akibat dari jumlah hutang kerajaan negeri Pahang yang begitu besar, setiap rakyat Pahang, sama ada tua, muda, besar, kecil atau masih di dalam buaian sudah terpaksa menanggung hutang sebanyak RM3,370 seorang.

Inilah yang berlaku di Pahang ekoran saman terhadap kerajaan dan juga hutang yang terpaksa ditanggung oleh kerajaan negeri.

The Malaysian Insider sebelum ini telah melaporkan perihal tindakan dua buah syarikat, Spag’n Plantation Sdn Bhd dan Upayapadu (M) Sdn Bhd, yang menyaman Kerajaan Negeri Pahang, Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri Pahang dan Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Pahang kerana ingkar janji dengan saman masing-masing berjumlah RM209 juta dan RM24 juta.

Sebelum laporan tersebut, Kerajaan Negeri Pahang juga telah diheret ke mahkamah oleh Seruan Gemilang Makmur Sdn Bhd (SGM) kerana tuntutan hutang penghakiman berjumlah RM63 juta. SGM diberitakan telah mendapat perintah mandamus bagi memaksa Menteri Besar Pahang melunaskan bayaran ini.

Tuntutan hutang juga memaksa anak syarikat Kerajaan Negeri Pahang, Astana Golf & Country Club disita kerana kegagalan membayar tunggakan pinjaman berjumlah RM40 juta.

Terbaru, seperti didedahkan oleh Ahli Parlimen Indera Mahkota dari PKR, Azan Ismail, SGM sekali lagi telah mengemukakan saman kepada Kerajaan Negeri Pahang, kali ini saman ingkar janji yang berjumlah lebih RM100 juta.

Sebuah lagi syarikat, Asia Chart Sdn Bhd pula telah membuat dua saman berasingan terhadap Kerajaan Negeri Pahang dengan nilai hampir RM200 juta. Kedua-dua saman ini, menurut Azan telah difailkan di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuantan kira-kira dua minggu yang lalu.

Dalam pendedahannya, Azan menaksirkan bahawa jumlah keseluruhan saman yang diterima oleh Kerajaan Negeri Pahang pimpinan Umno dan BN, termasuk tuntutan dari pelbagai pihak ketika Pahang masih di bawah teraju Tun Khalil Yaakob, adalah dalam lingkungan RM5 bilion.

Bagi Azan, ini melambangkan sikap Kerajaan Negeri Pahang pimpinan Umno dan BN yang tidak bertanggungjawab serta memperjudikan masa depan negeri dan rakyatnya.

Azan tidak menjumpai alasan lain mengapa berlakunya sebegitu banyak tuntutan hutang terhadap Kerajaan Negeri Pahang, selain kerana masalah rasuah, kronisme, penyelewengan dana dan salahurus hasil negeri, sepanjang Pahang dikuasai oleh Umno dan BN.

Sementara kalangan pemimpin Umno dan BN mengumpul kekayaan dan mengagih laba dari kontrak demi kontrak yang diagih sesama sendiri, hak dan nasib rakyat Negeri Pahang diketepikan, keluh Azan.

Bila negeri mula menghadapi masalah, yang menjadi mangsa adalah rakyat, rakyatlah yang akan menanggung bebannya melalui kenaikan cukai tanah, cukai pintu dan sebagainya.

Kapal Selam Scorpene Yang Dipalit Kontroversi

2009-09-06T04:55:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 04, 2009

Maka berlabuhlah kapal selam kontroversi jenis scorpene dari negara Peranchis itu di pesisir negara kita. Sekian lama menjadi bahan bicara rakyat, kemunculannya di perairan negara mengungkit kembali kontoversi dan skandal yang tercetus. Saya dan pasti ramai lagi rakyat Malaysia masih diselubungi pelbagai pertanyaan berhubung pembelian kapal selam ini.

Selaku Ketua Pembangkang di Dewan Rakyat ketika membahaskan Peruntukan Jabatan Perdana Menteri 2009 pada tanggal 5hb November 2008, telah mengungkapkan antaranya pembaziran termasuklah pemberian komisyen besar berjumlah RM 510 juta kepada syarikat Perimekar.

Agak mendukacitakan apabila kapal selam yang dirundung pelbagai skandal ini diberi nama bersempena seorang pejuang kemerdekaan; almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman Putra al Haj. Saya secara peribadi merasakan ini merupakan satu penghinaan kepada Bapa Kemerdekaan tersebut.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Doa Kami Buat Rakyat Indonesia

2009-09-06T04:54:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 03, 2009

Sedih saya apabila diberitahu korban gempa bumi berskala 7.3 richter mencecah 46 orang dan menjejaskan 1300 buah rumah. Gempa yang berpusat dari sekitar kabupaten Tasik Malaya itu dirasai kuat di Jakarta, Bandung dan Surabaya.

Saya menyeru kepada masyarakat antarabangsa agar bersiap sedia menghulurkan bantuan apabila keadaan memerlukan.Kepada teman-teman di Indonesia, kami di Malaysia, inshaallah akan berusaha membantu dan berdoa moga Allah SWT akan senantiasa memelihara kita semua dari sebarang kecelakaan serta kemalangan.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Umno Gagal Bayar Hutang?

2009-09-06T04:53:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 03, 2009

Dari Malaysiakini

Oleh Hafiz Yatim

Election campaign material supplier Elegant Advisory Sdn Bhd who is suing Umno over a RM218 million breach of contract was today allowed to change its statement of claim to name a new defendant.

Following this, the company replaced Umno’s former treasurer Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi with former Umno administration and finance secretary Ishak Abdul Rahman as the new defendant.

The company was also ordered by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Anandham Kasinater to pay costs of RM5,000 within 14 days to Abdul Azim for wrongly naming him as a defendant. The present Umno treasurer is Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Anandham, who heard the matter in chambers, also fixed next Thursday, Sept 10, to decide on Umno’s application to strike out the suit.

Elegant Advisor had filed the suit against Umno in June 2008 claiming RM218,013,475 as compensation from Umno for supplying election campaign materials for the 2004 general election.

The materials include posters, banners, buntings, flags, souvenirs, mineral waters and other transportation costs.

In July last year, Elegant Advisory obtained a judgment in default against Abdul Azim after his representatives were not present in court. However, Abdul Azim managed to set aside the order on Jan 21 this year.

At the same time, the court also ruled that the company should have named another Umno public office bearer and not the party’s treasurer as defendant. This was the cause for the company to amend its defendants’ list today.

Was there a contract?

Umno was represented by Mohd Hafarizam Harun while Ahmad Termizi Abdullah appeared for Elegant Advisory.

Hafarizam submitted that the matter could not be argued in the court as the issue in this case had been litigated and decided in an earlier suit filed by four sub-contractors against Umno.

There was also no privity of contract in this case, he added.

Ahmad Termizi however responded that based on the facts of the case, there was a valid contract between the parties in accordance with section 71 of the Contracts Act 1950.

He also said that there was no overlapping suit here as the earlier case involved different plaintiffs and different invoices of payment.

Pendakwa Tangguh Lagi!

2009-09-06T04:51:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 03, 2009

Kegagalan pihak pendakwa untuk menyediakan sijil berkaitan hari ini menyebabkan perbicaraan ditunda ke tarikh 3hb November 2009. Tidaklah mengejutkan pula sekurang-kurangnya buat saya apabila pendakwa memohon penangguhan atas alasan rayuan mereka menolak keputusan hakim menyerahkan sebahagian dokumen.

Tuntutan mereka itu akan didengar oleh Mahkamah Rayuan tanggal 23 Oktober nanti. Sementara itu esok, 3hb September, inshaallah saya akan hadir ke Mahkamah Tinggi Kuasa-Kuasa Khas dan Rayuan di Kompleks Mahkamah Jalan Duta pada jam 2.30 petang bagi mendengar permohonan untuk mengenepikan pasukan pendakwaan.

Manakala itu, “secara kebetulan” pula tarikh 3hb November merupakan hari mahkamah tinggi kuasa-kuasa khas mendengar permohonan saya untuk mengenepikan pertuduhan ini selepas pihak pendakwa secara sengaja tidak menyediakan kepada mahkamah laporan perubatan dari Pusrawi dan Hospital Kuala Lumpur yang jelas menafikan pertuduhan fitnah ke atas diri saya.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Mungkinkah nasib UMNO sama dengan LDP?

2009-09-06T04:43:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 02, 2009

Dari Malaysian insider

Oleh Zamri Omar

Akhirnya setelah memerintah Jepun selama 54 tahun, Parti Liberal Demokratik (LDP) tumbang pada tangan Parti Demokratik Jepun (DPJ). Di Malaysia Umno yang memimpin Perikatan dan Barisan Nasional telah memerintah selama 52 tahun, sama usia negara mencapai kemerdekaan, adakah ia mampu mengatasi keupayaan LDP?

Dua tahun lagi ialah 2011, begitu hampir dengan pilihan raya ke-13, suatu yang kritikal bagi Malaysia, adakah negara ini kekal memilih Barisan Nasional atau beralih ke Pakatan Rakyat. Jika diukur dengan LDP, maka masanya sampai bagi Malaysia memilih Pakatan Rakyat. Tetapi tidaklah semudah itu, tentunya Jepun adalah berbeza. Ketahanan Barisan nasional adalah lebih ampuh daripada Jepun.

Ini kerana amalan politik Jepun dan Malaysia jauh berbeza. Walaupun LDP memerintah 54 tahun, ia adalah sebuah parti liberal dan demokratik dalam negara yang juga liberal dan demokratik. Jepun dari satu segi telah dipaksa oleh Amerika Syarikat yang menakluk negara itu selepas Perang Dunia Kedua untuk menjadikannya liberal dan demokratik.

Dalam perlembagaan baru yang digubal atas penyeliaan Amerika, Jepun menjadi liberal dan demokratik di mana semua parti politik dibenarkan ditubuhkan kecuali parti berbentuk fasis dan ultra-nasionalis. Maka dalam keadaan ini, parti-parti kiri termasuk Parti Komunis Jepun (JCP) turut dibenarkan ditubuhkan.

Tentulah keadaanya berbeza daripada Malaysia. Negara ini tidak boleh dikatakan liberal dan demokratik dalam erti kata seperti di Jepun dan negara-negara maju yang lain. Memang benar dalam Rukun Negara disebut bahawa matlamat Malaysia antara lain adalah untuk mewujudkan masyarakat liberal dan demokratik, tetapi hakikatnya tidak begitu.

Amalan liberal dan demokratik di Malaysia mempunyai makna tersendiri yang tentu di Barat, termasuk Jepun tidak menganggapnya sebagai demokratik dan liberal. Keadaan ini berlaku walaupun Jepun adalah sebuah negara Asia yang masyarakatnya tidaklah boleh dianggap begitu liberal dan demokratik berbanding dengan negara-negara Barat.

Maka LDP perlu diakui sebagai parti yang berjaya membawa Jepun ke arah demokrasi setelah pemerintahan fasis semasa dan sebelum Perang Dunia Kedua. Selain itu, LDP telah berjaya membawa kemakmuran ekonomi di Jepun setara dengan negara-negara maju lain. Tetapi lebih penting lagi, ia berupaya mengekalkan kuasanya selepas 54 tahun tanpa menekan pesaing-pesaing politiknya dengan pelbagai akta yang tidak bersifat liberal atau demokratik.

Berbeza dengan Malaysia. Negara ini lahir selepas dijajah oleh fasis Jepun. Kalau Amerika yang menawan Jepun selepas kejatuhan fasis memperkenalkan perlembagaan aman dan demokratik, perkara yang sama tidak berlaku di Tanah Melayu, Sarawak dan Borneo Utara. Ketiga-tiga wilayah ini hendak dikekalkan sebagai tanah jajahan Britain apabila mereka memperkenalkan Malayan Union dan Sarawak serta Borneo Utara dijadikan tanah jajahan mahkota menggantikannya daripada menjadi tanah syarikat Inggeris.

Sikap Britain dan penjajah Barat di Asia Tenggara seperti Perancis dan Belanda mendorong pihak komunis antarabangsa di Moscow menjadikan isu penjajahan sebagai laungan perjuangannya bagi menentang sistem kapitalisme dan imperialisme pimpinan Amerika. Maka parti-parti komunis diarahkan bangkit dan memperjuangkan kemerdekaan.

Ia berlaku di Vietnam, Hindia Timur Belanda dan juga Tanah Melayu apabila Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) bangkit menentang Britain dengan menggunakan senjata di bawah laungan perjuangan kemerdekaan. Atas desakan ini, Britain dan penjajah lain menimbangkan bahawa adalah lebih baik diwujudkan negara-negara merdeka yang menjadi sekutu mereka daripada wilayah-wilayah ini tumbang menjadi komunis.

Maka perang menentang komunis dilakukan di Tanah Melayu dengan nama darurat. Sokongan juga diberikan pejuang-pejuang kemerdekaan yang bukan komunis. Malah sistem politik tradisi yang telah dimansuhkan melalui Malayan Union dipulihkan dan diperbaiki melalui pengenalan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.

Walaupun asas kepada Perlembagaan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu adalah liberalisme dan demokratik tetapi ia diketatkan dengan kerangka tradisional kerajaan-kerajaan negeri Melayu serta peruntukan-peruntukan yang membolehkan adanya undang-undang yang jauh daripada apa yang disifatkan sebagai liberalisme dan demokratik.

Akta seperti Akta Keselamatan dalam negeri (ISA) dan Akta Mesin cetak digubal daripada suasana menentang komunisme. Maka tidak hairanlah kongkongan adalah kuat terhadap kepelbagaian politik di mana parti-parti kiri, bukan saja PKM diharamkan atau pemimpin-pemimpinnya ditangkap hingga parti lain tidak dapat beroperasi.

Maka vakum politik inilah diisi dengan mudah oleh Umno. Pada awalnya iaitu tahun 1955, pihak penjajah juga tidak tahu sama ada rakyat, iaitu kebanyakannya orang Melayu akan menyokong Umno atau Parti Kemerdekaan Malaya (IMP) pimpinan Datuk Onn. Kedua-duanya tidak banyak berbeza. Perikatan Umno-MCA-MIC adalah tidak banyak berbeza dengan IMP.

Maka apabila Umno menang, parti ini terus memegang kuasa. Walaupun kemudian negara mencapai kemerdekaan, undang-undang, dan lebih penting lagi amalan serta sikap politik yang bersifat mengongkong. Justeru walaupun Tanah Melayu mencapai kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos 1957, amalan mengongkong ini masih berterusan. Ia diteruskan antara lain kerana masih berlaku darurat. Dalam erti kata bahawa kemerdekaan sebagai kebebasan, hari itu tidak memberi makna besar.

Akhirnya Darurat berakhir pada tahun 1960, iaitu dua tahun selepas kemerdekaan. Terdapatlah tambahan kebebasan. Tetapi peraturan dan banyak undang-undang darurat masih dikekalkan kerana saki-baki komunis masih ada. Yang pasti parti komunis walaupun dalam bentuk damai tidak diizinkan. Ini berbeza daripada Jepun dan India di mana parti-parti komunis mereka bebas. Rundingan Baling yang merupakan kunci kepada kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu menafikan komunis daripada hak menubuhkan parti politik.

Namun begitu, Umno sebagai kerajaan telah menggunakan ISA yang bagi aktivis pembangkang sebagai menekan mereka. Pemimpin-pemimpin PAS, Parti Rakyat dan Parti Buruh telah ditahan di bawah ISA. Politik tekanan ini membuatkan Umno berada dalam kedudukan kuat.

Justeru hari ini walaupun Umno ditekan dengan kebangkitan pembangkang tetapi banyak undang-undang warisan Darurat masih ada. Justeru, Umno tidak akan jatuh secepat LDP. Ini kerana selama ini ia memerintah dengan menolak nilai liberalisme dan demokratik, tidak seperti LDP. Maka pada tahun-tahun mendatang, keadaan lebih kritikal dan peralihan antara sistem satu parti kepada sistem dua parti adalah lebih memeritkan berbanding dengan Jepun.

Anwar di Mahkamah Tinggi, 3 September 2009

2009-09-06T04:41:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 02, 2009

Anwar Ibrahim akan hadir di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuasa-Kuasa Khas dan Rayuan di Kompleks Mahkamah Jalan Duta esok 3hb September 2009 (Khamis), bermula jam 2.00petang. Mahkamah antara lain akan mendengar permohonan Anwar untuk mengenepikan pasukan pendakwaan tersebut kerana bahaya berat sebelah.

PEJABAT DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

KOTA SIPUTEH:UMNO tewas kali ke-8?

2009-09-06T04:40:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 02, 2009

Dari Harakah Daily

Oleh Abdul Aziz Mustafa

Tindakan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) mengumumkan tiada kekosongan bagi kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kota Seputeh akan menjadi bahan gelak ketawa dunia sekaligus menjadikan Umno kalah kali ke lapan walaupun tiada pilihan raya kecil diadakan bagi kerusi tersebut, kata Naib Presiden PAS, Datuk Mahfuz Omar.

“Walaupun tanpa pilihan raya, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) menang kali kelapan setelah menang 7-0 ke atas Umno dan Barisan Nasional (BN) dalam semua pilihan raya kecil selepas pilihan raya umum 8 Mac tahun lalu,” kata beliau.

Keputusan SPR itu, katanya, membuktikan dengan jelas bahawa Umno tidak bersedia menghadapi menghadapi rakyat di dalam pilihan raya.

“Umno amat jelas dilanda ketakutan setelah kalah 7-0.

“Ia semakin menggeletar menghadapi rakyat ketika tsunami revolusi pilihan raya di Jepun yang menyaksikan kemenangan Parti Demokratik Jepun (DPJ) menyingkirkan pemerintahan Parti Liberal Demokratik (LDP) sejak Perang Dunia Kedua,” kata Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena itu.

Tindakan mengelakkan pilihan raya kecil di Kota Siputeh itu juga mencatat sejarah yang memperlihatkan SPR terpaksa memberikan alasan yang akan menjadi bahan tertawa dunia, katanya.

“Alasan SPR itu pasti akan menjadi bahan ketawa dunia. Alasan kartun.

“Selepas ini para kartunis bolehlah mencipta watak kartun ala Upin dan Ipin di mana Umno dan SPR menjadi watak utamanya.

“Amat malang bagi demokrasi negara ini apabila SPR menjadi watak kartun untuk menemani Umno yang menggeletar ketakutan untuk menghadapi pilihan raya dan kuasa rakyat,” katanya.

Mahfuz menyifatkan SPR sengaja mencari-cari alasan apabila mendakwa bahawa Datuk Abu Hassan Sarif masih kekal sebagai ADUN Kota Siputeh kerana beliau tidak menghadiri dua mesyuarat berturut-turut di dalam dua penggal yang berbeza dan bukan dua mesyuarat di dalam satu penggal yang sama.

“Peruntukan mengenai perkara itu tidak langsung memberikan kefahaman bahawa seseorang ADUN hilang jawatannya jika tidak menghadiri dua mesyuarat berturut-turut di dalam satu penggal yang sama,” kata beliau.

Seksyen 51 Perlembagaan Negeri memperuntukkan mana-mana anggota DUN yang tidak hadir sidang Dewan dua kali berturut-turut hilang keanggotaannya dan hendaklah mengosongkan kerusi yang disandang.

Sepatutnya, kata beliau, Umno yang mencabar keputusan Speaker yang mengisytiharkan kekosongan kerusi tersebut dan bukannya SPR pula yang menjadi mahkamah yang mentafsir dan membuat keputusan sebelah pihak.

Mengenai surat cuti sakit ADUN Kota Seputeh ayang diterima oleh SPR, Mahfuz mempersoalkan keengganan SPR menyiasat surat cuti sakit itu.

“Adakah ADUN tersebut mendapat surat cuti sakit? Sedangkan, akhbar Sinar Harian edisi tempatan melaporkan beliau menghadiri satu majlis pada tarikh yang dimaksudkan itu,” beliau mempersoalkan.

Mahfuz mempersoalkan mengapa SPR tidak mengambilkira persetujuan Speaker untuk membolehkan seseoran ADUN tidak menghadiri sidang DUN.

“Kalaupun ada surat cuti sakit, seseorang ADUN mesti menyerahkan surat itu kepada Speaker dan Speaker pula mesti memberi persetujuan untuk membolehkan ADUN berkenaan tidak menghadiri sidang DUN,” katanya.

Sebelum ini Speaker DUN Kedah, Datuk Dr Abdul Isa Ismail telah menghantar surat kepada SPR berhubung kedudukan Abu Hassan dari Umno yang hilang keanggotaannya di dalam dewan itu.

Surat Dr Abdul Isa itu memaklumkan bahawa Abu Hassan hilang keanggotaan setelah dua kali gagal menghadiri sidang DUN pada 19 April dan 9 Ogos lalu.

Abu Hassan, ketua Umno bahagian Jerlun menyandang kerusi DUN Kota Seputeh selama empat penggal berturut-turut.

Acara Anwar Ibrahim di Perak, 5 September 2009

2009-09-06T04:39:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 01, 2009

SABTU 5 SEPTEMBER 2009

6.30-8.00 MLM – TAZKIRAH, BUKA PUASA DAN SOLAT MAGHRIB

TEMPAT : SURAU AL-AMALIAH, TAMAN SENTOSA, KAMPAR

8.30-10.00 MLM – SOLAT ISYAK, TARAWIKH DAN TAZKIRAH.

TEMPAT : MASJID JAMEK, PEKAN GOPENG

7.30–11.00 MLM – CERAMAH UMUM – “ THE WAY FORWARD FOR MALAYSIA”

TEMPAT : DEWAN TOO BOW KEONG, IPOH

PENCERAMAH:

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YBHG DATUK SERI CHUA JUI MENG

3) YB LEE BOON CHYE

4) YB TIEN CHUA

5) YB SIVARASA

10.00-12.00 MLM – PIDATO RAMADHAN –

TEMPAT: SURAU NURULHUDA, BATU 6, TAMBUN, IPOH

PEMIDATO:

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YBHG MUSTAFA KAMIL AYUB

3) USTAZ DR KHAIRUDDIN ABDUL MALIK

4) USTAZ ZULKIFLI IBRAHIM

Anwar di Mahkamah Tinggi, 2 September 2009

2009-09-06T04:38:00.002+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 01, 2009

Anwar Ibrahim akan hadir ke Mahkamah Tinggi di Kompleks Mahkamah Jalan Duta esok 2hb September 2009 (Rabu), bermula jam 9 pagi. Mahkamah antara lain akan mendengar permohonan Anwar untuk mengenepikan pertuduhan fitnah terhadap beliau.

PEJABAT DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

Tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy

2009-09-06T04:36:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 01, 2009

Tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy
September 1, 2009

The notion of civic duty in a democratic polity must have taken its promptings from Pericles who held that the man who claims that politics is not his business in reality has no business.

The life of Senator Edward Kennedy embodied the truth of this Periclean notion. Three deaths in his family, suffered in the course of public duty, would have been sufficient inhibition to take a pass on destiny’s call to serve.

Instead Edward Kennedy derived strength from Hemingway’s view that life breaks everybody but afterwards, “many are strong at the broken places”. Edward Kennedy mined strength from the broken places, and despite human failings, proved resilient in answering the call of public service.

His record in the upper legislature of national politics in the United States was powerful testimony that the presidency of the nation was not the only vehicle for influencing the course of national history.

While Senator Kennedy will be remembered most for his decades long fight for social justice issues in the United States, Malaysians will not forget his equally fierce defense of marginalized and oppressed peoples around the world.

His opposition to the Vietnam War after witnessing, among other things the cruelty heaped upon civilian populations was admirable as was his opposition to the war in Iraq and ardent calls for the withdrawal of American troops.

I was personally touched by his vocal advocacy of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and castigation of those who hid behind the veil of constructive engagement to justify their continued involvement with an unjust regime.

Not only America but the world has lost a statesman of exceptional valour and commitment to the cause of peace and freedom. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was undoubtedly a great democrat, a true servant dedicated valiantly to the values of fairness and justice, and one of the most ardent advocates of human rights and democracy.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
Malaysian Opposition Leader

Polemik Indonesia: Keangkuhan Pemerintah Malaysia Tidak Mewakili Sikap Rakyat Malaysia

2009-09-06T04:35:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 01, 2009

Sebagai respon dari persoalan tarian dan penindasan rakyat Indonesia, disertakan di bawah ini kenyataan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang bertarikh 28 Jun 2009:

Sahabat karib saya dari Jakarta menelefon menyesali sikap membisu saya berdepan dengan pendedahan kes penderaan terhadap pekerja Indonesia. Teguran ikhlas teman tersebut diterima baik.

Namun perlu dijelaskan bahawa secara konsisten saya lantang sekali membicara nasib Tenaga Kerja termasuk dari Indonesia (TKI) atau ungkapan pemerintah Malaysia Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin (PATI) dan Pekerja Asing (PA).

Lantaran gesaan tegas saya, pimpinan UMNO menuduh saya “anti-nasional”. Seandainya kita pertahankan prinsip keadilan, keluhuran Perlembagaan (UUD) dan negara hukum, maka setiap kes penderaan dan penindasan ditangani sebaiknya menurut jalur hukum.

Persepsi bahawa kita angkuh (arogan) malah mirip mendukung tindakan zalim dan ganas terhadap pekerja agak meluas di Indonesia. Mungkin saja anggapan sademikian keterlaluan.

Namun tidak dapat disangkal dari tindakan perundangan merotan PATI, kenyataan sombong para menteri, tuduhan pencerobohan di perairan Indonesia, layanan buruk malah kes-kes penderaan ke atas warga asing termasuk dari Indonesia, India, Myanmar dan Bangladesh akan memperkukuh gambaran negatif terhadap negara.

Pertama, hukuman rotan (cambok) ke atas pekerja daif tetap dianggap zalim dan tidak berperikemanusiaan. Bayangkan sekiranya pekerja Muslim Algeria di Perancis, atau pelajar Malaysia tanpa visa di England dihukum rotan, hiruk-pikuklah dunia Islam dan kempen boikot barangan Inggeris di Malaysia.

Kedua, kenyataan angkuh yang menyentuh sensitiviti jiran harus diwaspadai. Saya masih ingat peristiwa lagu ‘Rasa Sayang Eh’ dulu! Atau seolah-olah rasuah (korupsi) itu lumrah di Indonesia dan tidak di Malaysia. Pastinya lebih canggih di sini!

Ketiga, isu sempadan dan ketegangan lainnya harus dirunding segera di antara pimpinan kedua negara terlibat.

Dan akhirnya isu penderaan pekerja, kaedah kemasukan dan sindiket agen pekerja, penipuan dan cara mengaibkan mengusir pekerja pulang wajar ditangani dengan lebih telus dan adil. Kita harus akui kecuaian, rasuah malah kelecehan sebahagian agensi penguatkuasaan.

Rakyat Malaysia sendiri mencurigai kecekapan sebahagian pasukan polis manakala gerombolan penjenayah kongsi gelap, ah long, kumpulan samseng atasan terlibat!

Semoga Allah SWT memberikan kita kekuatan memperjuangkan keadilan.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Harga Minyak Naik: Hadiah Merdeka Dari UMNO-BN

2009-09-06T04:34:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on September 01, 2009

Usai 52 tahun dahulu, Almarhum Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy pernah menyatakan bahawa tanah air ini merdekanya separuh masak. Jika dipaut kalimah itu dengan realiti negara masa kini,ianya boleh ditelusuri dengan mendalam.

Tahun ini sambutan kemerdekaan berslogankan 1Malaysia: Rakyat Didahulukan Pencapaian Diutamakan. Obsesi ini tidak akan padam, itu hakikat dan boleh diterima pakai meskipun kosong rohnya.

Pelbagai mantera diseru, termasuklah memecahkan tembok perkauman, membaikpulih jambatan kepercayaan dan mendahulukan kepentingan rakyat.

Tetapi yang dihadiahkan kepada rakyat kini ialah kepala lembu dan kenaikan harga minyak menjelang jam 12 tengah malam ini.

Di sebalik kemurungan ekonomi mengasak rakyat tanpa henti, tekanan demi tekanan seumpama ini terus dilaksanakan oleh Umno-BN tanpa mengambil kira keadaan rakyat yang rencam. Apakah di mata mereka rakyat akan terus angguk-angguk dan geleng-geleng tanpa pertimbangan?

Merdeka ini bukan lagi separuh masak, tetapi kian basi dek penangan percaturan politik sempit dan menindas.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Semangat Kemerdekaan Menyanggah Perhambaan dan Membina Keyakinan Baru

2009-09-06T04:32:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 31, 2009

Apabila mendekati tarikh 31hb Ogos, ingatan kita akan mengimbas kembali rentetan peristiwa dan perjuangan rakyat yang berkemuncak dengan Kemerdekaan. Tarikh tersebut terungkap sebagai tarikh keramat, menjanjikan kebebasan daripada cengkaman penjajah dan menyelamatkan martabat hidup rakyat.

Persoalan yang menerjah kita semua ialah; bagaimana kita menghayati makna tarikh tersebut hari ini. Pergulatan ini menjadi penentu kepada persoalan makna diri kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia.Tekad baru untuk memahami makna diri Malaysia sebagai bangsa merdeka juga menuntut kita untuk memahami bagaimana kita menjadi tidak merdeka; bagaimana kita hilang kemerdekaan sebelum kita memperolehinya kembali.

Lebih dua ribu tahun yang lalu, Brutus bertanya warga Kota Rom “siapakah yang begitu hina sehingga mahu hidup sebagai hamba ?” Ceasar mahu memiliki kuasa yang tidak terbatas. Nafsunya sebegitu besar dan mahu memastikan Rom dalam genggamannya.

Pertentangan antara Brutus dengan Ceaser adalah pertentangan antara kebebasan menentang nafsu kekuasan tidak terbatas. Sejak negara kita merdeka kita masih bergelut dengan pertentangan ini. Kebebasan – kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan media, kebebasan institusi kehakiman sentiasa mahu disekat oleh penguasa. Oleh itu kita menginsafi hanya bangsa yang pernah melalui gelita penjajahan akan mengerti makna cahaya kemerdekaan. Bagitu juga, hanya diri yang pernah kebebasannya diragut akan menghargai nilai kebebasan.

Syarahan Perdana Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas yang berjudul Islam Dalam Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Melayu juga menghuraikan dengan panjang lebar peranan paksi tauhid sebagai aqidah menambat keyakinan baru yang menolak faham tahyul dan perhambaan, seterusnya menjadi pelantar kepada pemikiran yang berakar dengan tradisi aqliyah dan mencernakan budaya segar dengan bahasa Melayu sebagai pertuturan kepustakaan(lingua franca) rantau ini. Ratusan tahun berlalu yang sewajarnya tambah memperkukuh dan memantapkan semangat dan keyakinan baru tersebut.

Cantik sungguh puteri Palembang,
Sayang bersunting bunga pudak;
Betapa keras dilambung gelombang,
Kucacak tiang, kulayar jua.

Manakala melangkaui separuh abad kemerdekaan, kita rakyat Malaysia sewajarnya mempunyai kesedaran betapa Bahasa Melayu bukan sekadar bahasa pasar, bahasa komunikasi basahan untuk berjual beli. Bahasa Melayu adalah bahasa ilmu, bahasa tamadun dan bahasa untuk mengungkapkan pengalaman kemanusian yang paling mendalam dan luhur. Bahasa Melayu telah menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian untuk umat Islam, makanya Bahasa Melayu juga seharusnya menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian umat Budha, Hindu, Kristian dan lain-lain keyakinan.

Bahasa Melayu yang saya sebutkan di sini bukanlah bahasa milik orang Melayu semata-mata. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik rakyat dan bangsa Malaysia yang berketurunan Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Dayak dan lain-lain. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik semua rakyat Malaysia.

Kemerdekaan mestilah tidak terperangkap dengan bahana dari politik sempit dan kelam sesebuah parti politik tertentu. Kemerdekaan perlu di lihat dari perspektif rakyat keseluruhannya ; perjuangan pelbagai kaum, menggunakan pelbagai wadah, dan melibatkan pelbagai aliran pemikiran. Sejarah ternyata mengajar kita bahawa Perjuangan Menuntut Kemerdekaan menerbitkan kesatuan semangat untuk menentang penjajah dan imperialisme Barat ketika itu.

Generasi terdahulu yang sama-sama berjuang untuk kemerdekaan, dan mereka yang menempuh zaman mudanya di masa awal kemerdekaan menjadi saksi kepada kepelbagaian aliran dan wadah perjuangan rakyat. Tetapi penulisan sejarah kemerdekaan yang disampaikan kepada generasi hari ini masih belum berlaku adil kerana fakta yang bercampur propaganda. Ini merupakan beban dan tanggungjawab kepada ahli-ahli sejarah kerana tanpa pensejarahan yang adil, kita tidak akan dapat melihat dan menemui makna dan rupa diri bangsa kita yang sebenarnya. Nama pejuang kemerdekaan seperti Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Ustaz Abu Bakar Baqir, Dr Burhanuddin al Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Mat Salleh, Panglima Rentap dan Rosli Dhobi tidak sewajarnya digelapkan dari sejarah menuntut kemerdekaan.

Kemerdekaan adalah untuk kebebasan dan keadilan. Inilah yang dijanjikan kepada kita pada 31 Ogos 1957. Sekiranya kita mahu berdegil untuk meneruskan saki baki peninggalan feudal, atau mahu memperkokohkan lembaga-lembaga sistem otoritarianisme, sudah pasti kita menjadi bangsa yang terpinggir. Bangsa Malaysia tidak miskin dengan sumber daya manusianya. Dengan paras pembangunan yang telah dicapai dan kekayaan yang kita miliki Malaysia boleh menjadi negara yang besar. Dan kita perlu yakin bahawa Malaysia boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar. Tetapi kita tidak boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar sekiranya rakyatnya tidak bebas dan merdeka.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

—————————————————————————–

As we approach 31st August, our memories are triggered back to a series of events, primarily the people’s struggle for independence. That day is a day of hope, promising freedom from colonial captive and reclaiming the dignity of the people.

A question that we ask ourselves today is; how do we appreciate the meaning of Merdeka? This struggle has become a reason to question our identity as the proud people of Malaysia. A resolution to understand Malaysia as an independent nation also requires us to understand how it feels to be dependent; and how we have lost our independence even before it was returned to us.

More than two thousand years ago, Brutus asked the people of Rome “Who is here so base that would be a bondman?” Ceasar thirsts for unlimited power. His appetite for power was so strong that he wanted the whole of Rome to be within his grasp.

The fight between Brutus and Ceasar was a fight between freedom and the desire for unlimited power. Since gaining independence, our country is still struggling. Struggling for the freedom of expression, the freedom of mass media, the freedom of the judiciary without bending to the whims and fancy of the government. We realise that only a nation that has been through colonisation will understand the meaning of independence and also that only when freedom is taken away, then the true value of independence is understood.

The series of primary lectures by Associate Professor, Dr Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas titled “Islam Dalam Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Melayu”, rejects extensively deviant teachings and slavery, following which encourages new age thinking in accordance with the traditions of aqliyah and the absorption of the Malay language as the lingua franca of this journey. The hundreds of years passed have also further strengthened and solidify spirits of the said new confidence.

The beautiful Princess Palembang,
with her flowered earrings;
No matter how hard the waves bounce;
I will strive and I will sail.

However, having gone past half a century of independence, we the people of Malaysia have realised how the Malay language is not only a colloquial one or a mere communication tool for trading. The Malay language is a language of understanding, a language of civilisation and a language to express the noble and meaningful human experiences. The Malay language has become an intellectual and spiritual language for the disciples of Islam; and can also be used as the intellectual and spiritual language for the disciples of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and other beliefs.

The Malay language does not only belong to the Malays. This language belongs to people of Malaysia – the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks and all other races. The Malay language belongs to the citizens of our beloved country.

Independence should not be trapped within the political realm or a particular political party. Independence needs to be seen from the people’s perspective as a whole; the fight for all races, and involving all streams of thoughts. History has thought us that the fight for independence invokes unity against colonialism and the western imperialism at that time.

The earlier generation who were there to witness the formation of independence, understood first hand the struggles of our forefathers. Unfortunately, the history of independence in our books today, have been tainted by propaganda. This has become a burden to historians because without a full and transparent documentation of our past, we will not understand the true identity of our nation. Names of fighters of independence such as Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Islamic theologian Abu Bakar Baqir, Dr Burhannudin al Helmy, Ahmad Beostamam, Mat Salleh, Panglima rentap and Rosli Dhobi who valiantly fought for our country, should not have been deleted from our history books.

Independence is for freedom and justice. This was promised to us on 31st August 1957. If we are stubborn to carry on governing with feudalistic ways, or if we do not oppose the authoritarian institutional system, we will surely be a nation that is marginalised. The Malay language is not lacking of human resources. With the level of development that we have achieved and the wealth that we own, Malaysia can be a developed nation. But until we are truly independent and free, that goal will remain a dream.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Penggunaan ISA Secara Double Standard Dipersoalkan

2009-09-06T04:31:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 31, 2009

Kenyataan Media

30 Ogos 2009

Penggunaan ISA Secara Double Standard Dipersoalkan

Merujuk kepada laporan berita yang disiarkan dalam mukasurat pertama Sinar Harian hari ini (30 Ogos) bertajuk ”ISA kepada yang terlibat: Exco”, ingin saya memperjelaskan pendirian saya seperti berikut:

1) Tajuk berita yang disiarkan adalah mengelirukan atau misleading kerana saya tidak pernah menyarankan agar Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri(ISA) digunakan ke atas mereka yang menyertai perhimpunan itu.

2) Ketika ditemui wartawan, saya mempersoalkan double standard yang diamalkan oleh pihak pemerintah kerana kelihatan hanya menggunakan ISA ke atas pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat yang didakwa menimbulkan isu perkauman sepertimana dilalui oleh Exco Kerajaan Negeri Teresa Kok tahun lepas, tetapi tiada tindakan dikenakan ke atas pimpinan atau penyokong Barisan Nasional yang menjurus kepada ketegangan perakuman sepertimana disaksikan dalam perarakan kepala lembu di depan Bangunan SUK pada Jumaat lalu.

3) Adalah jelas bahawa ISA digunakan oleh pihak pemerintah hanya untuk memburukkan imej pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat. Untuk menghalalkan penggunaan ISA, pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat dikaitkan pula dengan isu ketegangan perkauman.

4) Maka saya tetap berpegang kepada pendirian bahawa ISA harus dimansuhkan kerana ISA telah memberi kuasa yang terlalu besar kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri sehingga bertindak secara selektif serta menafikan hak perbicaraan dan hak untuk membela diri seseorang.

5) Dengan ini saya berharap pelaporan berita ke atas isu pemindahan kuil dari Seksyen 19 ke Sekysen 23 ini tidak teralih dari masalah pokoknya, iaitu isu perancangan komuniti yang bakal diselesaikan dalam pertemuan dengan penduduk Seksyen 23 pada 5 September nanti.

YB RODZIAH ISMAIL
ADUN Batu Tiga
Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor

Politik Kepala Lembu ?

2009-08-31T03:47:00.002+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 30, 2009

Daripada Blog Azmin Ali

Saya terpanggil untuk membantu memanjangkan kupasan sahabat saya, Dr. Muhammad Nur Manuty berhubung isu kepala lembu yang diusung oleh segelintir manusia upahan yang gagal mengawal nafsu amarah mereka. Kupasan ini cukup menarik dan mudah difahami bagi mereka yang berpegang teguh kepada tuntutan Al Quran. Saya bersetuju dengan Dr. Muhammad Nur Manuty, tindakan provokatif ke atas agama lain seperti ini boleh mencetuskan reaksi dan ketegangan yang tidak perlu sama sekali dalam masyarakat Malaysia yang majmuk dan harmoni. Bukankah Islam itu merupakan agama pelindung dan rahmat untuk sekalian alam?

Garis panduan mengenai hal ini telahpun digariskan oleh Allah SWT di dalam Al Quran yang bermaksud :

“Dan janganlah kamu memaki sembahan-sembahan yang mereka sembah selain Allah, karena mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan.” ( Al-An’am: 108 )

Melihat kepada ironisnya peristiwa yang terjadi, kita mengesyaki bagaikan ada pihak tertentu yang mengambil kesempatan untuk memenuhi agenda politik tersirat yang telah dirancang lebih awal. Usaha UMNO untuk merampas kerajaan Negeri Selangor dengan apa cara sekalipun menuntut semua pihak supaya berhati-hati dan berwaspada.

Dengan kejadian ini, KEADILAN menuntut agar tindakan segera hendaklah diambil terhadap pihak yang bertanggungjawab mencetuskan provokasi ini. Undang-undang (penal code) yang sedia ada mempunyai ruang untuk maksud ini. Siasatan tegas perlu dibuat without fear or favor ; siapa sebenarnya mereka (khususnya kewujudan individu yang tidak dikenali bersama kepala lembu), siapa di belakang mereka dan apakah matlamat mereka sebenarnya ?

KEADILAN memohon kesabaran dan ketenangan semua pihak. Suasana dialog dan mesyuarah dalam menyelesai segala kemelut yang berlaku hendaklah disuburkan. Ini sudah pasti dapat meningkatkan persefahaman dan saling menghormati di antara satu sama lain.

AZMIN ALI

Bye Bye IGP, Happy Retirement

2009-08-31T03:46:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 30, 2009

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The IGP actually retired way back in September 2007. The Abdullah Badawi government, however, extended his service on contract basis for another two years. Those two years will expire in two weeks time on 14 September 2009. We hear the government wants to extend his contract, yet again. This means the Chinese underworld will continue to run the police force and decide on who gets transferred, promoted, demoted, and thrown into jail. Yes, they even throw police officers that do not ‘cooperate’ into jail. And, today, we offer the evidence of that.

Some of the names on these documents have been blacked out, for obvious reasons. Rest assured we have the un-blacked out version in our safekeeping, which can be revealed if the government challenges these documents as fakes, ‘poison pen’ letters, or lies. And if the IGP gets an extension on his contract, then the un-blacked out version will surely surface to ensure that we embarrass the Malaysian government to the maximum. The world will be told that the Chinese mafia runs the Malaysian Police Force.

Sila klik di sini untuk membaca selanjutnya

Mendoakan Keamanan dan Keadilan Sejagat

2009-08-31T03:44:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 29, 2009

Umrah dan i’tikaf di Baitullah adalah kegiatan keruhanian unggul. Jemaah tidak sering terganggu dengan perihal luar, kemelut politik, perniagaan atau urusan keluarga.

Namun ketika saya dan Azizah di perkarangan Masjidil Haram, seorang kenalan Arab Makkah menyapa saya dan memaklumkan serangan nekad pengganas di ruang Majlis Kerajaan Saudi di Jeddah yang turut mencederakan Putera Muhammah Bin Naif, Timbalan Menteri Keselamatan Arab Saudi.

Gerombolan pengganas sademikian, betapa sekalipun slogan “jihad” yang dijeritkan lebih mencedera malah merusak imej murni Islam dan penganutnya.

Manakala berlakunya serangan gerombolan pengebom di Jakarta bulan lalu, korban nyawa rakyat dan harta, pastinya memberikan kesan negatif terhadap imej umat dan ekonomi negara.

Namun kita perhatikan tekad memuncak di kalangan rakyat terbanyak bukan sekadar mengutuk serangan malah mendukung langkah keselamatan menjamin kesejahteraan rakyat.

Saya mengesan perasaan yang sama di kalangan jamaah yang berkumpul di Mekah dari seluruh pelusuk dunia – mengutuk pengganas, melahirkan simpati kepada mangsa, dan lebih berani serta tegas menolak keganasan.

Kita mendoakan kehazrat Allah SWT agar dikurniakan keamanan dan keadilan sejagat.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

————————-

Performing pilgrimage and self-reflecting at Baitullah (the house of God) is highly a harmonious activity. The congregation should not be distracted by secular activities, such as the political crisis, businesses or family matters.

Whilst Azizah and I were in the area of Masjidil al-Haram, a Makkah Arabian approach me and informed me that Prince Muhammah bin Naif, the deputy minister of security is injured following the headstrong attacks by terrorists at the Saudi Government’s Council Hall in Jeddah.

This group of terrorists, screaming chants of “jihad” repeatedly, further tarnishes the pure image of Islam and its followers. Whereby the attacks by this group of bombers, at Jakarta last month, sacrificing the lives of the people and properties, has surely given a negative effect for the image of people and the country’s economy. Therefore we have to observe that most of the people have not only criticise the attacks but also made a step forward for safety and also to guarantee the welfare of the people.

I had detected the same feelings in the midst of congregation at Mekkah from all around world, criticizing terrorists, expressing sympathy for the victims, and also boldy and firmly rejecting terrorism. We pray to Allah swt for peace, harmony and justice as whole.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Kerajaan Negeri Selangor Kecam Tindakan Hina Agama

2009-08-31T03:43:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 29, 2009

KENYATAAN MEDIA

—29 OGOS 2009—SHAH ALAM: Kerajaan Selangor kesal terhadap tindakan menghina, menghasut dan menimbulkan kemarahan dalam kalangan penganut agama lain yang diapi-apikan oleh segelintir kumpulan pembantah yang berarak membawa kepala lembu sebagai tindakan membantah pembinaan kuil Hindu di Seksyen 23, di sini.

Pada ketika rakyat Selangor sedang bersiap-sedia untuk menyambut Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan Ke-52, sikap tidak bertolak ansur terhadap agama orang lain yang masih wujud dalam kalangan segelintir warganegara Malaysia itu, sangatlah dikesali.

Kejadian dan tindakan menghina agama orang lain itu menyebabkan seluruh negara ini dilihat undur kebelakang dalam usaha mewujudkan rasa hormat terhadap kepelbagaian agama dan adat resam dalam kalangan penduduk pelbagai keturunan. Walhal usaha tersebut, sebenarnya sudah dilakukan sejak kemerdekaan tahun 1957 lagi, demi pembinaan satu negara bangsa yang memperlihatkan persamaan visi dan identiti.

Seterusnya, Kerajaan Negeri berharap semua rakyat supaya bersikap matang dan tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan sikap tidak bertanggungjawab segelintir pembantah tersebut kerana ia dikhuatiri boleh mewujudkan ketegangan antara kaum. Dalam hal ini, walaupun kita wajar mengecam tindakan mereka yang tidak bertanggungjawab tersebut, namun kita lebih baik menyerahkan kepada pihak berwajib untuk mengambil tindakan.

Sehubungan ini, Kerajaan Negeri meminta supaya pihak polis segera mengambil tindakan secara adil dan melakukan penyiasatan termasuk mengambil tindakan terhadap pihak-pihak yang mengugut para pemimpin Kerajaan Negeri.

Kerajaan Negeri juga sudah mengarahkan Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) supaya mengadakan perbincangan terbuka pada Sabtu, 5 September 2009, yang dihadiri oleh penduduk sebenar Seksyen 23, pegawai-pegawai MBSA dan pegawai-pegawai Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS).

Perbincangan itu nanti bukan sahaja mendengar luahan pendapat masyarakat setempat tetapi juga memberikan peluang kepada pihak Kerajaan Negeri untuk menjelaskan fakta sebenar dan alasan yang menyebabkan keputusan menempatkan semula kuil Hindu di Seksyen 19 ke Seksyen 23.

Sementara menunggu tarikh perjumpaan tersebut, Kerajaan Negeri menggesa supaya penduduk Seksyen 23 bertenang dan tidak membiarkan diri mereka dipengaruhi oleh fakta-fakta yang tidak benar yang sengaja diapi-apikan oleh kumpulan yang memang berniat jahat terhadap keharmonian rakyat dan kestabilan politik Kerajaan Negeri Selangor.

Sekali lagi, marilah kita sama-sama memelihara sikap bertimbang rasa, rasional dan saling hormat menghormati kerana inilah cara terbaik bagi menyelesaikan hal ini.

TAN SRI DATO’ ABDUL KHALID IBRAHIM
DATO’ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

Persoalan Kuil Seksyen 19 dan Tindakan Pewaris

2009-08-31T03:37:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 29, 2009

Oleh Khalid Samad

Dari khalidsamad.com

Kerajaan BN telah meninggalkan banyak perkara yang perlu diperbetulkan oleh kerajaan PR selepas kami mengambil alih. Selain dari penyelewengan dan salah guna kuasa yang menjadi bagaikan ‘signiature’ BN, terdapat juga persoalan projek-projek terbengkalai, projek-projek di lereng bukit yang tidak patut diluluskan tetapi diluluskan, penduduk rumah setinggan, kemiskinan bandar dan ‘lain-lain’. Di antara yang ‘lain-lain’ itu adalah persoalan kuil-kuil yang bertaburan yang telah tidak diurus dengan baik apatah lagi bertanggung jawab oleh BN.

Kebanyakan dari kuil-kuil ini merupakan kuil yang telah dibina semasa tempat berkenaan merupakan estet getah pada tahun-tahun sebelum Malaya merdeka. Apabila estet itu diambil-alih untuk dijadikan kawasan perumahan, pada tahun-tahun selepas merdeka, pekerja-pekerja ladang dipindahkan tetapi kuil mereka dibiarkan di tempat asal. Ianya tidak dipindahkan bersama penduduknya. Akhirnya penduduk asal terus mengunjungi kuil tersebut sambil kawasan persekitaran dibangunkan. Kuil mereka juga terus dibangunkan mereka.

Kesudahannya adalah seperti apa yang terdapat di Seksyen 19, Shah Alam! Rumah-rumah yang didiami orang Melayu berhampiran dan berhadapan kuil. Keadaan ini lebih merumitkan apabila penduduk memberitahu bahawa semasa membeli rumah-rumah mereka, PKNS telah menjamin bahawa kuil berkenaan tidak akan lagi berada disitu apabila rumah mereka siap. Namun, di bawah BN, janji seperti biasa tinggal sebagai janji. Masalah ini telah wujud selama 20 tahun lebih dan apabila PR mengambil alih, kami terpaksa menyelesaikan masalah yang diwujudkan BN ini. BN hanya pandai menimbulkan masalah tetapi buntu untuk mencari penyelesaian.

Dasar kerajaan PR adalah mudah. Pertama, kuil-kuil yang lama ini perlu dipindahkan ke satu tempat yang lebih sesuai. Tempat perlu dikenal pasti oleh PBT dan semestinya dipersetujui oleh pengguna kuil berkenaan. PBT perlu mengambil kira segala permasalahan yang akan dihadapi oleh pengguna kuil hasil dari pemindahan tersebut. Sambil itu, pembinaan kuil baru, selain dari hasil perpindahan, juga dihentikan.

Pada Khamis 8hb Januari, sambil saya menghadiri mesyuarat berhubung penduduk Rimba Jaya yang telah dirobohkan rumah-rumah mereka oleh kerajaan BN (masalah yang diwarisi lagi!), saya mendapat maklumat dari seorang penduduk Melayu Seksyen 19 bahawa ada sekumpulan Melayu telah datang untuk menimbulkan ketegangan di kuil tersebut. Selepas mesyuarat berkenaan saya bergegas ke sana dan mendapati sekumpulan orang, kebanyakan mereka orang luar, berkumpul berhampiran kuil tersebut. Mereka ingin membina ‘gelanggang silat’ di tepi kuil dan akan mengadakan kenduri untuk merasmikan pembukaan gelanggang tersebut pada hari Sabtu 10hb ini. Untuk kenduri itu mereka akan tumbangkan 2 ekor lembu! Seterusnya mereka akan menjamu penduduk dan orang ramai di depan kuil berkenaan. Gelanggang mereka akan dibina tanpa membuat apa-apa permohonan kepada phak berkuasa kerana kata mereka, kuil tersebut juga tidak mendapat kebenaran!

Orang yang mengetuai kumpulan tersebut datangnya dari Melaka! Dia menyatakan dia ‘mewakili rakyat’ dan tindakan ini terpaksa mereka ambil melalui persatuan NGO mereka yang bernama ‘PEWARIS’ kerana kerajaan PR masih berhoneymoon. Dia berkata penduduk sudah hilang kepercayaan kepada kerajaan dan oleh itu penduduk memanggil mereka turun. Amat jelas, soal gelanggang silat dan sebagainya hanya satu helah. Sebenarnya mereka mahu provoke pihak kuil berkenaan.

Saya menyatakan ‘wakil rakyat’ di sini adalah saya, bukan dia (mungkin dia ingat dia masih di Melaka). Sekiranya dia ingin mewakili rakyat, dia patut turun bertanding dalam PRU yang akan datang. Saya juga memberitahunya bahawa yang ‘berhoneymoon’ selama 50 tahun adalah BN! Saya menjelaskan bahawa pihak kerajaan sedang menguruskan perkara ini dan kita harus diberi masa. Kalau BN tak dapat buat apa-apa dalam tempoh 20 tahun lebih, semenjak rumah-rumah mula didiami, takkanlah saya tidak boleh diberi tempoh setahun, kata saya lagi. Malahan, tambah saya, pada bulan 5 atau 6 tahun lepas, saya telah bertemu dengan penduduk di dewan Masjid Sek. 19 dan berbincang dengan mereka dan memohon tempoh setahun. Mereka telah bersetuju.

Orang Melaka ini terus menuduh bahawa PR mendiamkan diri bila orang India membina kuil-kuil baru di merata Shah Alam. Saya nyatakan tiada kuil baru dibina dan dia gelakkan saya. Saya beritahu dia, “tunjuk saya di mana kalau kamu bercakap benar!” Dia pun terus ke keretanya, minta saya ikut di belakang sambil dengan penuh keyakinan mengatakan, “mari, saya tunjuk awak”! Maka saya mengekorinya; hai orang Melaka ini yang menganggap dirinya lebih tahu Shah Alam dari orang Shah Alam. Akhirnya dia bawa saya ke sebuah kuil di tepi landasan keretapi di Seksyen 15. Saya beritahu dia kuil itu telah ada di situ “sebelum kamu dilahirkan ke dunia ini”. Dia diam dan terus kembali ke kuil Seksyen 19.

Tidak puas hati lagi dia mencabar saya sebaik sahaja kita sampai di Seksyen 19, “awak orang Melayu, orang Islam, kenapa awak sibuk sangat nak membela kuil ini”? Saya jawab, “kerana Islam mengajar saya supaya bertindak adil terhadap semua manusia. Mereka, walaupun bukan Islam, ada hak dan Islam menuntut kita menghormati hak mereka”. Dia diam. Seterusnya dia berkata dia tak tahu sangat soal agama ini.Saya menambah lagi, “kita marah bila Israel mengasari ummat Islam di Gaza, jangan kita pula mengikut perangai Israel”.

Melihat dia mula teragak-agak saya pun menyatakan bahawa saya tahu Pewaris dan Pekida adalah NGO yang adik beradik. Penaung Pekida adalah PM maka semestinya begitu juga Pewaris. Kedua-dua NGO ini dikuasai oleh ahli UMNO. Saya tahu juga bahawa tindakan mereka ini, pada masa ini, ada hubung kait dengan PR kecil KT. Mereka ingin menimbulkan ketegangan dan masalah kaum supaya dengan itu mereka boleh menjaja keseluruh negara bahawa PR telah gagal menyelesaikan masalah ini di Selangor; dan Selangor sekarang ada masalah perkauman. Dia diam dan selepas itu dia menegur saya kerana buruk sangka, tetapi dia tidak menafikannya.

Dengan itu saya berundur. Saya memberitahu pegawai Polis dan juga pihak penguatkuasa MBSA yang berada di sana bahawa ini tugas mereka. Mereka kena menjaga keselamatan dan keamanan. Saya difahamkan walaupun gelanggang tidak dibina, namun mereka ingin teruskan kenduri mereka. Mereka kata mereka akan menjemput saya sekali. Saya menjawab, ikut undang-undang. Kalau pembinaan gelanggang dapat kelulusan MBSA, saya datang.

Kalau tidak, program Aman Palestine di stadium Melawati pada 10hb jam 10 pagi adalah tempat yang lebih afdal bagi saya untuk hadir, begitu juga dia!

WalLahu ‘Alam

PKR Kutuk Tindakan Kumpulan Menghina Agama Hindu

2009-08-31T03:36:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 29, 2009

28 Ogos 2009 — Parti Keadilan Rakyat mengutuk sekeras-kerasnya tindakan sekumpulan 50 orang yang kononnya mewakili penduduk Seksyen 23 di Shah Alam yang telah mengarak dan bertindak menghina kepala seekor lembu dalam memprotes isu penempatan semula sebuah kuil Hindu.

Tindakan mereka ini dengan jelas bertujuan untuk mengaibkan dan menimbulkan kemarahan penganut Hindu yang menganggap lembu sebagai binatang yang suci.

Keadilan menegaskan bahawa tiada anggota dari Parti Keadilan Rakyat yang terlibat mahupun dibenarkan untuk menyertai protes seperti ini.
Agama Islam tidak pernah mengajar penganut Islam untuk mencemuh mahupun menghina agama atau kepercayaan orang lain malah telah melarang sekali orang-orang Islam berbuat sedemikian.

Keadilan juga percaya bahawa tindakan ini berupa satu cubaan untuk mewujudkan kemarahan dan kebencian di antara orang-orang Islam dan Hindu sekaligus mencetuskan perbalahan kaum dan agama dan suasana yang tegang di Selangor lantas memberi peluang untuk UMNO untuk merampas balik Selangor sebagaimana yang dilaung-laungkan kononnya atas nama bangsa dan agama.

Keadilan menyeru pihak berkuasa mengambil tindakan yang tegas untuk menjaga keamanan dan keharmonian dan tidak memandang remeh terhadap perbuatan yang jelasnya salah disisi undnag-undang dan berbentuk provokasi dan menggugat ketenteraman awam dan hubungan antara kaum/agama.

Keadilan juga kesal kerana pihak polis Selangor gagal menghalang kejadian ini dari berlaku dan sebaliknya Ketua Polis Selangor menyatakan bahawa tindakan boleh diambil hanya sekiranya terdapat laporan polis. Ini jelas menunjukkan sikap sambil lewa pihak polis seolah-olah membenarkan atau mengalakkan perkara sebegini.

Keadilan meminta semua pihak yang berkenaan untuk bertenang dan berwaspada supaya tidak terperangkap dengan reaksi yang boleh diambil kesempatan oleh pihak UMNO yang berusaha untuk menjatuhkan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor dengan mencetuskan insiden-insiden berunsur perkauman dan agama.

Latheefa Koya
Ketua Penerangan
Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Permatang Pasir: PR Menang Di Semua Saluran

2009-08-31T03:34:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 27, 2009

Dari Merdeka Review

Lim Hong Siang

Pakatan Rakyat berjaya menyapu bersih semua saluran pengundian di DUN Permatang Pasir semalam, sementara menjauhkan jurang antara PR dengan BN dengan rekod 6-1, dalam pilihan raya kecil sejak Malaysia dilanda tsunami politik pada 8 Mac 2008.

UMNO-BN yang tidak meletakkan calon dalam pilihan raya kecil DUN Penanti, 31 Mei 2009, walau bagaimanapun mengekalkan rekod kekalahan 6 kali berturut-turut di Semenanjung Malaysia selepas PRU ke-12, dalam pertembungannya dengan Pakatan Rakyat.

Kemenangan mutlak PAS-PR

PAS dari PR semalam bernafas lega, apabila menundukkan calon UMNO-BN dengan kemenangan mutlak di kesemua saluran pengundian. Menurut keputusan terperinci yang terpapar, BN hampir menembusi saluran pengundian kedua di Permatang Ara (97% pengundi Melayu) dengan 287 undi, bagaimanapun tidak kesampaian apabila PAS-PR memperolehi satu undi lebih daripadanya.

Begitu juga apabila UMNO-BN dihampakan dengan 10 undi sahaja, di saluran pengundian kedua di Kampung Pelet, kawasan yang terdiri daripada 72% pengundi Melayu. PAS-PR memperolehi 185 undi, berbanding UMNO-BN dengan 175 undi.

Antara sembilan daerah mengundi, PAS-PR menang dengan margin majoriti yang paling selesa di Cross Street, dengan menyapu 75% undi. Cross Street terdiri daripada lebih 80% pengundi bukan Melayu. Sebaliknya, di daerah mengundi yang terdiri daripada 93% pengundi Melayu, Kubang Semang, menyaksikan PAS-PR merangkul 74% jumlah undi.

Di daerah mengundi seperti Sama Gagah, Permatang Pauh dan Permatang Tengah, PAS-PR berjaya mencatat nisbah jumlah undi 7:3, berbanding UMNO-BN.

UMNO-BN hanya mampu merapatkan jurang di daerah mengundi seperti Permatang Ara (43% undi), Kampung Pelet (42% undi) dan Bukit Indera Muda (40% undi). Dari struktur kaum pengundi, kawasan tersebut adalah kawasan Melayu majoriti, dengan Permatang Ara 97% pengundi Melayu, Kg.Pelet 72% pengundi Melayu dan Bukit Indera Muda 96% pengundi Melayu.

Pengundi muda tetap memihak PR

Walau bagaimanapun, PR kekal dengan kelebihannya di saluran pengundian ketiga dan keempat, memperlihatkan sokongan pengundi muda terhadap pakatan politik baru ini. Walaupun di kawasan yang majoritinya pengundi Melayu, misalnya di ketiga-tiga daerah pengundian di mana UMNO-BN “berjaya merapatkan jurang”, golongan pengundi muda tetap bersama PR. Di Permatang Ara misalnya, UMNO-BN kalah dengan satu undi di saluran pengundian kedua, tetapi kalah dengan 152 undi majoriti (PAS 349: BN 197) di saluran ketiga.

Di daerah mengundi Permatang Tengah misalnya, dengan majoriti 89% pengundi Melayu, jumlah undi di saluran pengundian ketiga, keempat dan kelima menyaksikan bagaimana UMNO-BN tewas dengan 491 undi majoriti, apabila PAS-PR memperolehi 804 undi dan UMNO-BN mendapat 313 undi.

UMNO-BN dijangka tidak berubah

Jelas, kelebihan UMNO-BN hanya pada saluran pengundian pertama dan kedua, iaitu golongan pengundi yang umurnya lebih lanjut, di kawasan pengundi Melayu majoriti. Peningkatan sokongan Melayu mungkin tidak jelas, khususnya di kubu politik Anwar Ibrahim. Tetapi, mungkinkah keputusan ini cukup untuk memberangsangkan pemimpin UMNO?

Pengarah Strategi PKR, Tian Chua meramalkan bahawa UMNO-BN akan terus dengan propagandanya seperti “Anwar pengkhianat”, “DAP hina Islam” dan sebagainya, memandangkan peningkatan undi 1% pun mungkin memberi kepuasan kepada UMNO.

“Sememangnya kami (PR) juga bimbang akan kehilangan undi Melayu, tetapi selagi kami mengambil pendekatan yang sederhana, mengekalkan sokongan dari struktur pengundi yang sedia ada, maka UMNO-BN akan musnah dengan sendirinya,” jelas Tian Chua kepada MerdekaReview.

Kelas pekerja bersama PR

Ahli Parlimen Batu ini mengingatkan bahawa golongan yang tidak mengundi semalam adalah dari kelas pekerja, yang tidak mempunyai cuti, malah mungkin keberatan untuk balik mengundi kerana tambang kenderaan yang mahal.

Beliau yakin bahawa penurunan peratus pengundian sebanyak 10%, dikenalpasti sebagai pengundi pekerja yang akan mengundi untuk PR. Maka, kemenangan PAS-PR semalam mengukuhkan keyakinan PR bahawa strategi dan pendekatan yang sama wajar diteruskan, untuk berdepan dengan PRU ke-13.

Cuma, bagaimana pula dengan UMNO-BN?

Malaysian Opposition Wins Bellwether Vote

2009-08-31T03:32:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 27, 2009

From AFP

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s opposition has scored a much-needed victory in a by-election which it said Wednesday showed it had the momentum to dislodge the coalition that has ruled for half a century.

Analysts said that the vote in Permatang Pasir in northern Penang state proved that Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance was working together effectively despite tensions between its three disparate members.

They said it was also a blow for Prime Minister Najib Razak who came to power in April with plans to claw back voter support after his Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst ever results in national elections last year.

“The strong and decisive victory… is a devastating blow to Najib,” said veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang after the Pakatan Rakyat retained the seat by a convincing majority in Tuesday’s ballot.

The opposition has now won seven of eight by-elections held since last year’s national polls, in a major boost for the alliance of the Islamic party PAS, the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party, and Anwar’s Keadilan party.

The latest vote in mid-July saw the opposition suffer a sharply reduced majority, in a result the Barisan Nasional hailed as a sign its support was rebounding.

But Lim said that Tuesday’s ballot showed there was still “momentum for national change set off 18 months ago by the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections”.

Political analyst Shaharuddin Badaruddin who observed the vote in Permatang Pasir said the result showed that Barisan Nasional’s once formidable election machinery was broken.

“The success here was critical to the survival of the Pakatan Rakyat,” he said. “If (the government) had managed to reduce their majority, definitely that would have been trouble for Anwar Ibrahim.”

“If Pakatan Rakyat was collapsing you could see that from the vote, but its support is intact,” he said. “So there is no impact from their squabbling, they have shown they can settle their problems.”

Shaharuddin said the by-election also indicated that Najib’s much-vaunted “One Malaysia” policy, which is aimed at winning back support from minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, has not been well received.

“I don’t think the people really understand what they mean by One Malaysia,” he said.

Malaysia’s minority communities swung towards the opposition in the 2008 national elections, which handed Anwar’s alliance an unprecedented one-third of seats in parliament and control of five of 13 states.

Getting Rich in Malaysia Cronyism Capital Means Dayak Lose Home

2009-08-31T03:30:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 27, 2009

From Bloomberg.com

By Yoolim Lee

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — After a stomach-churning takeoff from a 550-meter runway at Long Banga airstrip on the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo, the 19-seat plane soars over a green tropical wilderness. This is one of the world’s last remaining virgin rain forests.

About 30 minutes into the flight to the bustling oil town of Miri, the lush landscape changes, and neatly terraced fields of oil palms take the place of jungle. Twenty years ago, this was forestland. Now, those forests are lost forever.

The shift from rain forest to oil palm cultivation in Malaysia’s Sarawak state highlights the struggle taking place between forces favoring economic development, led by Sarawak state’s chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, and those who want to conserve the rain forest and the ways of life it supports.

During Taib’s 28-year rule, his government has handed out concessions for logging and supported the federal government’s megaprojects, including the largest hydropower site in the country and, most recently, oil palm plantations. The projects are rolling back the frontiers of Borneo’s rain forest, home to nomadic people and rare wildlife such as orangutans and proboscis monkeys.

At least four prominent Sarawak companies that have received contracts or concessions have ties to Taib or his family.

Transforming Malaysia

The government of Malaysia plans to transform the country into a developed nation by 2020 through a series of projects covering everything from electric power generation to education. The country’s gross domestic product, which has been growing at an average 6.7 percent annual pace since 1970, shrank 6.2 percent in the first quarter.

In Sarawak, Taib’s government is following its own development plans that call for doubling the state’s GDP to 150 billion ringgit ($42 billion) by 2020. Sarawak Energy Bhd., which is 65 percent owned by the state government, said in July 2007 it plans to build six power plants, including hydropower and coal-fired generators.

The state government also wants to expand the acreage in Sarawak devoted to oil palms to 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) by 2010, from 744,000 at the end of 2008, according to Sarawak’s Ministry of Land Development. Companies that formerly chopped down hardwood trees and exported the timber are now moving into palm plantations.

Lawsuits Filed

Meanwhile, many of the ethnic groups who have traditionally lived from the land in Sarawak — known as Dayaks — have filed lawsuits that aim to block some projects and seek better compensation.

Sarawak’s ambitions could be hindered by a lack of good governance, which would shut out overseas investors, says Steve Waygood, head of sustainable and responsible investment research at Aviva Investors in London, which manages more than $3 billion in sustainable assets.

“Even just the perception of corruption can lead to restricted inflows of capital from the global investment community into emerging markets such as Sarawak,” says Waygood, who wrote about reputational risk in a 2006 book, “Capital Market Campaigning” (Risk Books).

“The largest and most responsible financial institutions are very careful to avoid funding unsustainable developments,” he says.

Unilever, which buys 1.5 million tons of palm oil a year — 4 percent of the world’s supply — for use in products such as Dove soap and Flora margarine, announced in May that it would buy only from sustainable sources.

No Direct Purchases

“Unilever does not source any palm oil directly from Sarawak,” says Jan Kees Vis, Unilever’s director of sustainable agriculture. “We buy from plantation companies and traders located elsewhere.”

He says Unilever has committed by 2015 to buy all of its palm oil from sources certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a group representing palm oil producers, consumers and nongovernmental organizations that seeks to establish standards for sustainably produced palm oil. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a government-supported group of Malaysian plantation companies, is a member of the RSPO.

About 35 percent of the world’s cooking oil comes from palm — more than any other plant, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And 90 percent of the world’s palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Skittles and Soap

The oil is an ingredient used in everything from Skittles candy to Palmolive soap to some kinds of biodiesel fuel. Palm oil futures have climbed 45 percent this year as of Aug. 24 on concern that dry weather caused by El Nino may reduce output. Crude oil prices rose to a 10-month high of $74.24 a barrel, spurring demand for biodiesel.

Malaysia lost 6.6 percent of its forest cover from 1990 to 2005, or 1.49 million hectares, the most-recent data available from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization show. That’s an area equivalent to the state of Connecticut.

Neighboring Indonesia lost forestland at the fastest annual rate among the world’s 44 forest nations from 2000 to 2005, Amsterdam-based Greenpeace says.

“Palm oil is the new green gold after timber,” says Mark Bujang, executive director of the Borneo Resources Institute in Miri, a city of about 230,000 people in Sarawak. “It has become the most destructive force after three decades of unsustainable logging.”

While Malaysia’s palm oil exports have more than doubled to a record 46 billion ringgit in 2008 from 2006, according to the country’s central bank, the gain has come at a price.

Displaced People

Development projects and palm plantations have displaced thousands of people, some of whom have lived for centuries by fishing, hunting and farming in the jungle. Almost 200 lawsuits are pending in the Sarawak courts relating to claims by Dayak people on lands being used for oil palms and logging, according to Baru Bian, a land rights lawyer representing many of the claimants.

A handful of activists have been found dead under mysterious circumstances or disappeared, including Swiss environmental activist Bruno Manser, who vanished in the jungle in 2000.

Cutting down rain forests to cultivate palms in Sarawak has consequences far beyond Malaysia, says Janet Larsen, director of research at the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute.

The forests that are being destroyed help modulate the climate because they remove vast stores of carbon from the atmosphere. Chopping down the trees ends up releasing greenhouse gases.

‘Lungs of the Planet’

“These last remaining forests are the lungs of the planet,” Larsen says. “It affects us all.”

Chief Minister Taib, 73, has multiple roles in Sarawak. He’s also the state’s finance minister and its planning and resources management minister — a role that gives him the power to dispense land, forestry and palm oil concessions as well as the power to approve infrastructure projects.

Until last year, Taib held the additional role of chairman of the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp., which fosters wood-based industries in the state.

Anwar Ibrahim, the former Malaysian finance minister who’s the head of the country’s opposition alliance, sees parallels between Taib’s rule and those of other long-standing leaders in Southeast Asia, such as former Indonesian President Suharto and former Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos.

“It’s an authoritarian style of governance to protect their turf and their families,” says Anwar, who was fired as deputy prime minister by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 and jailed on charges of having homosexual sex and abusing power. The sodomy conviction was overturned in 2004.

‘Driven by Greed’

Sim Kwang Yang, an opposition member of parliament for Sarawak’s capital city of Kuching from 1982 to 1995, agrees with Anwar’s assessment. “It is crony capitalism driven by greed without any regard for the people,” he says.

Taib’s adult children and his late wife, Lejla, together owned more than 29.3 percent of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd., the state’s largest industrial group, with 40 companies involved in construction, property development, road maintenance, trading and financial services, according to the company’s 2008 annual report.

Local residents jokingly say that the company’s initials, CMS, stand for “Chief Minister and Sons.”

In total, CMS has won about 1.3 billion ringgit worth of projects from the state and the federal government since the beginning of 2005, according to the firm’s stock exchange filings.

Taib declined to comment for this article. In an interview he gave to Malaysia’s state news agency, Bernama, on Jan. 13, 2001, Taib said CMS’s ties to him had nothing to do with its winning government jobs.

‘Not Involved’ in Contracts

“I am not involved in the award of contracts,” he said. “No politician in Sarawak is involved in the award of contracts.”

He told Bernama he doesn’t ask for special treatment of his sons. “I never ask anybody to do any favors,” he said.

Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, the elder of Taib’s two sons, is CMS’s deputy chairman and owns 8.92 percent of the firm, according to the annual report. Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, the younger son and CMS’s chairman until 2008, holds an 8.94 percent stake.

Taib’s two daughters and his son-in-law are also listed in the annual report as “substantial shareholders.”

Taib’s History

Taib, a Muslim who belongs to the Melanau group — one of about 27 different ethnic groups in Sarawak — entered politics at the age of 27 after graduating from the University of Adelaide in Australia with a law degree in 1960.

He held various ministerial positions in Sarawak and Malaysia before taking over in 1981 as the chief minister from his uncle, Abdul Rahman Yaakub. Rahman, now 81, ruled Sarawak for 11 years.

Taib, who has silver hair, appears almost daily on the front pages of Sarawak newspapers, sometimes sporting a goatee and a pair of rimless glasses, at the opening of new development projects or local events.

He lives in Sarawak’s capital city of Kuching, an urban area of about 600,000 people on the Sarawak River. Its picturesque waterfront is dotted with colonial buildings, the legacy of British adventurer James Brooke, who founded the Kingdom of Sarawak in 1841 and became known as the White Rajah. Brooke’s heirs ruled the kingdom until 1946, when Charles Vyner Brooke ceded his rights to the U.K. Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia on Sept. 16, 1963, along with other former British colonies.

Cousin’s Role

At Taib’s mansion, which overlooks the river, he receives guests in a living room decorated with gilt-edged European-style sofa sets, according to photos in the July to December 2006 newsletter of Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd., which changed its name to Naim Holdings Bhd. in March.

Naim is a property developer and contractor whose chairman is Taib’s cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi. He is also chairman of state power company Sarawak Energy and timber company Ta Ann Holdings Bhd., and is on the board of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp. and Sarawak Plantation Bhd.

Naim and CMS jointly built Kuching’s iconic waterfront building, the umbrella-roofed, nine-story Sarawak State Legislative Assembly complex. Naim has won more than 3.3 billion ringgit worth of contracts from the state and the federation since 2005, its stock exchange filings show.

Companies Respond

Ricky Kho, a spokesman for Naim, said the company declined to comment for this article. Naim’s deputy managing director, Sharifuddin Wahab, said in an interview with Bloomberg News in July 2007 that the chairman’s family ties weren’t why the company won government contracts.

“We have been able to execute our projects on time, we stick to the budget and the quality of what we hand over to the government is up to their expectations, if not more,” he said.

“Our teams have always acted professionally” when working with the government, whether on large or small projects, CMS’s group managing director, Richard Curtis, said in an e-mail. “CMS is governed by the strict listing regulations of the Malaysian stock exchange,” he said, adding that the chairman and the group managing director are both independent.

“The large projects carry with them an equally large risk, including a huge reputational risk, particularly for crucial projects by the government,” he said. “It is the government’s prerogative and discretion to award projects using a variety of approaches that includes open and closed tenders as well as directly negotiated processes, to the contractors and developers they feel will deliver the project as promised.”

Malaysia’s reputation as a place to conduct business has deteriorated in recent years, according to Transparency International, the Berlin-based advocacy group that publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index.

‘Monument of Corruption’

Transparency ranked the country 47th out of 180 in 2008, down from 43rd in 2007. Transparency also has singled out the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam, under construction on the Balui River in Sarawak, as a “monument of corruption.”

The index lacks fairness, says Ahmad Said Hamdan, chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, because it doesn’t take into consideration the size of the population of the countries in the ranking, for example.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement in civil service in the past 10 years,” he says.

Dead Fish

Early this year, hundreds of dead fish started floating on the muddy river near the Bakun dam site. The fish were killed by siltation, which was triggered by uncontrolled logging upstream, Sarawak’s assistant minister of environment and public health, Abang Abdul Rauf Abang Zen, says. He says the Bakun dam has very strict environmental assessments and isn’t to blame for the siltation.

In January, Tenaga Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state- controlled power utility, and Sarawak Energy said they won approval from the national government to take over the operation of the hydropower project through a leasing agreement. Sarawak Energy also won preliminary approval to export about 1,600 megawatts of electricity from the 2,400-megawatt Bakun project, once it begins operating, to Peninsular Malaysia. The remaining power will go to Sarawak.

Taib announced a plan called New Concept in 1994. The aim was to bring together local people, with their customary rights to the land, and private shareholders, who would provide capital and expertise to create plantations. The plan called for companies to hold a 60 percent stake in the joint ventures, the state to own 10 percent and the remaining 30 percent to go to local communities in return for a 60-year lease on their land.

‘Emotional’ Disputes

That time period equals about two complete cycles of oil palm development. An oil palm typically matures in 3 years, reaches peak production from 5 to 7 years and continues to produce for about 25 years, says Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, a commodities analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Singapore.

The policy has led to some disagreements. In his interview with Bernama in 2001, Taib said land acquisitions by the state have led to “emotional” disputes because some people seek too much compensation.

“We are not allowed to pay more than market value,” he told Bernama. He said people need to prove that they have traditionally lived in an area — for example, by providing an aerial photograph — in order for the state to grant them title to the land.

“If there are disputes, they go to the court,” Taib told Bernama.

Some local people say they received no compensation at all for their land. In Kampung Lebor, a village about a two-hour drive from Kuching, 160 families, members of the Iban group that was formerly headhunters, live in longhouses and survive by fishing and some farming. The Iban are Sarawak’s largest single group of Dayaks, who make up about half of the state’s 2.3 million population.

Land Overlap

In mid-1996, the state handed out parcels of land that overlapped with the community’s customary hunting and fishing areas to the Land Custody and Development Authority and Nirwana Muhibbah Bhd., a palm oil company in Kuching.

In mid-1997, the authority and the company cleared the land with bulldozers and planted oil palm seedlings, according to a copy of Kampung Lebor’s writ of summons filed to the High Court in Kuching.

Government ‘Cruel’

“The government is cruel,” says Jengga Jeli, 54, a father of five in Lebor. “Fruit trees have been cut down. It’s become harder to hunt and fish. Now we are forced to get meat and vegetables from the bazaar, and we are very poor.” Jengga’s village filed a lawsuit in 1998 against Nirwana, LCDA and the state government in a bid to get compensation.

The case was finally heard in 2006 and is now awaiting judgment, according to Baru Bian, who is representing the Iban in Kampung Lebor. Reginal Kevin Akeu, a lawyer at Abdul Rahim Sarkawi Razak Tready Fadillah & Co. Advocates, which is representing Nirwana and LCDA, declined to comment.

The cases show that the development projects, including plantations and dams, haven’t helped poverty among the local people, many of whom live without adequate electricity or schools, says Richard Leete, who served as the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from 2003 to 2008.

Poverty Remains

“This is the paradox of Sarawak — the great wealth it has, the natural resources in such abundance, and yet such an impoverishment and the real hardship these communities are suffering,” says Leete, who chronicled Malaysia’s progress since its independence from Britain in his book “Malaysia: From Kampung to Twin Towers” (Oxford Fajar, 2007). “There has no doubt been a lot of money politics,” he says.

In the rugged hills about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Kuching, some 160 Bidayuh families, known as the Land Dayaks, are clinging to their traditional habitat, while a dam is under construction nearby. They live by farming and fishing.

With only a primary school in the village, children have to go to boarding schools outside the jungle to get further education, crossing seven handmade bamboo bridges and trekking two hours over the hills when they return home.

The state has offered the Bidayuhs 7,500 ringgit per hectare, 80 ringgit per rubber tree and 60 ringgit per durian fruit tree in compensation for their native land, says Simo ak Sekam, 48, a resident of Kampung Rejoi, one of four villages in the area. In Rejoi, about half of 39 families have refused.

Bamboo Bridges

“We don’t want to move because we are happy here,” Simo says. “We feel very sad because our land will be covered with water. The young generations won’t know this land. They won’t see the bamboo bridges.”

The builder of the local reservoir is Naim Holdings — the company headed by Chief Minister Taib’s cousin. The government awarded Naim the 310.7 million-ringgit contract without putting it out for bids. Naim’s statement announcing the deal in July 2007 said it won the job on a “negotiated basis.”

One of the most threatened groups is the Penan, nomadic people who live deep in the jungle on the upper reaches of the Baram River. On a steamy equatorial morning in late October 2007, Long Kerong village leader Kelesau Naan and his wife, Uding Lidem, walked two hours to their rice-storing hut. Kelesau, who was in his late 70s and who had protested logging activity in their area, told Uding he’d go check on an animal trap he had set nearby. He never came back.

Skull and Bones Found

Two months later, his skull and several pieces of his bones, along with his necklace made of red, yellow and white beads, surfaced on the banks of the Segita River. Inspector Sumarno Lamundi at the regional police station says the investigation is ongoing.

It was just the latest tragedy among activists working for the Penan since the early 1990s, when rampant logging took place. At least two other Penan were found dead, including Abung Ipui, a pastor and an advocate for land rights for his village. His body was found in October 1994 with his stomach cut open.

Manser, the Swiss activist for the rights of the Penan, vanished without a trace from the Borneo rain forests in May 2000 and was officially declared missing in March 2005.

Kelesau’s death has made the Penan willing to stand up for their survival.

“We are scared of something terrible happening to us if we don’t resist,” says grim-faced Bilong Oyoi, 48, headman of Long Sait, a Penan settlement close to Long Kerong.

Penans’ Resistance

Bilong, who wears a traditional rattan hat decorated with hornbill feathers, says his group is setting up blockades to resist logging activities. They are also working with NGOs to get attention for their plight and filing lawsuits.

With the help of the Basel, Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund, an NGO set up by the late activist, Bilong and 76 other Penan sent a letter — which some signed using only thumb prints — to Gilles Pelisson, the chief executive officer of French hotel chain Accor SA.

The letter urged Accor to think twice about partnering with logging company Interhill Logging Sdn. to build a 388-room Novotel Interhill in Kuching. The Penan community says Interhill’s operations in Sarawak have a devastating effect on them. Accor responded by sending a fact-finding mission to Sarawak to investigate Interhill’s logging activities.

“If the worst-case scenario occurs and if no action plan is implemented, we will not continue with our partnership,” Helene Roques, Accor’s director for sustainable development in Paris, said in June. In mid-August, she said she expects “good results” by the end of September.

Rio Tinto Venture

No foreign investor has made a larger bet on Taib’s development plans than Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit of London-based mining company Rio Tinto Plc. A joint venture between Rio Tinto and CMS for a $2 billion aluminum smelter has been negotiating power purchase agreements with Sarawak Energy for more than 12 months, according to Julia Wilkins, a Rio Tinto Alcan spokeswoman in Brisbane, Australia.

CMS meets Rio Tinto’s requirements as a joint-venture partner, she says. “CMS is a main-board-listed company with its own board of directors,” she says. “It has a free float of shares in excess of the minimum market requirement. The chairman and the group managing director are both independent.”

Malaysia grants special economic advantages to the country’s Malay majority and the local people of Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo, collectively referred to as Bumiputra — literally, sons of the soil.

Still, the country is leaving behind many of its ethnic minorities, says Colin Nicholas, a Malaysian activist of Eurasian descent who has written a book about the mainland’s oldest community, “The Orang Asli and the Contest for Resources” (IWGIA, 2000).

‘Completely Powerless’

One person trying to help the Dayaks is See Chee How, 45, a land rights lawyer who became an activist after meeting Sim, the former opposition member of parliament in Kuching.

In 1994, See witnessed an attack on Penan demonstrators who’d erected a roadblock to prevent logging trucks from driving through their land. A 6-year-old boy died after security forces used tear gas on the demonstrators, he says.

“They were completely powerless,” recalls the soft-spoken, crew-cut See, sporting a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, in his office above a bustling market in Kuching. “They were depending on logging trucks to move around because their passageways had been destroyed by logging trails.” See now works with Baru Bian, 51, one of the first land rights lawyers representing the Dayaks in Sarawak.

Lawsuits and Votes

Nicholas says Sarawak’s people have to fight for their rights not only through lawsuits but by voting.

“The biggest problem we have with indigenous people’s rights is that we have the federal government and state government run and dictated by people who have no respect or interest for indigenous people,” he says. “We need a change of government.”

The prime minister’s office declined to comment.

Opposition leader Anwar says change is possible. His alliance won control of an unprecedented five states in Peninsular Malaysia in a March 2008 election. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition has lost at least four regional polls held this year.

“I think this is a turning point,” Anwar says.

Still, Taib’s coalition won 30 of Sarawak’s 31 seats in March 2008 parliamentary elections. That helped the ruling National Front coalition led by then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi retain a 58-seat majority, ahead of Anwar’s People’s Alliance. Sarawak is due to hold the next election by 2011.

Taib defended his government’s program to turn forestlands into oil palm plantations as a way of improving living standards for the Dayaks at a seminar on native land development in Miri on April 18, 2000.

“Land without development is a poverty trap,” he said, according to his Web site. Many Dayak people, who have seen their land transformed as a result of Taib’s policies and companies linked to him, say they are still waiting to see their share of wealth.

Menghayati Ramadhan di Bumi Mekah

2009-08-31T03:29:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 28, 2009

Sebaik selesai menghadiri upacara perasmian seminar bank Islam di Jeddah, saya bersama dengan Lembaga Bank Barakah, di antara bank Islam ulung dengan rangkaian 300 cawangan di 12 buah negara.

Saya dan Azizah seterusnya menunaikan umrah seawal pagi. Suasana malam di Mekah hening walaupun sesak dengan jutaan umat bersempena Ramadhan. Penghayatan ibadah tawaf dan sa’i menyebak perasaan.

Ada beberapa nukilan mengenai ibadah tersebut dan ibadah haji yang diolah olih Dr. Ali Shariati, sarjana Iran dan El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) yang memaparkan sosok keruhanian dan masyarakat yang menyegarkan.

Alhamdulillah, berbakikan beberapa hari lagi di Mekah, kami berdua terus dengan amal tanpa diganggu dengan acara lainnya.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

——————————

After attending the opening ceremony of the seminar by Bank Islam at Jeddah, I was with the board of al-Baraka Bank, one of the longstanding Islamic Banks comprising of 300 branches in 12 countries.

Azizah and I had performed our prayers at mecca that morning. The night’s atmosphere at Mecca was clear despite being congested with people. Emotions were overwhelming with a thorough comprehension of the practice of Tawaf and Sa’i. The few quotes regarding the practice of tsb and pilgrimage by the Iranist literalist, Ali Shariati and Abdul Malik Asshabaz (Malcolm x) had brought out spirituality and a refreshed society.

The remaining days at Mecca, we shall proceed with good deeds without distraction of other activities.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Berlepas Ke Jeddah Menghadiri Mesyuarat Perbankan Islam

2009-08-27T04:59:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 26, 2009

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim berlepas ke Jeddah jam 8.00 malam tadi bagi menghadiri mesyuarat sebuah bank Islam. Beliau dan Datuk Seri Wan Azizah kemudiannya dijadualkan ke Tanah Suci Makkah untuk menunaikan umrah sehingga 30 Ogos 2009.

PEJABAT DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

Kenyataan Media: Kemenangan Calon Pakatan Rakyat Dalam PRK DUN Permatang Pasir

2009-08-27T04:58:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 25, 2009

—KENYATAAN MEDIA UNTUK EDARAN SEGERA—
25 Ogos 2009

Alhamdulillah, saya panjatkan kesyukuran atas kemenangan calon Pakatan Rakyat dalam Pilihanraya Kecil DUN Permatang Pasir hari ini.

Meskipun berbulan-bulan diasak fitnah sebagai pengkhianat bangsa dan berhadapan pembelotan, jelas kemenangan hari ini membuktikan rakyat menolak politik acuan pimpinan UMNO-BN yang memecahbelahkan.

Penghargaan yang tidak terhingga saya ucapkan kepada seluruh jentera pilihanraya kecil yang tetap bersabar mengharungi kepayahan dalam bulan Ramadhan ini. Kepada YB Tuan Haji Salleh Bin Man, tahniah diucapkan atas kejayaan ini. Maka bermulalah tugas untuk menunaikan amanah dan mandat yang diberikan oleh rakyat.

Kemenangan dengan majoriti meyakinkan ini ternyata menzahirkan keyakinan rakyat Malaysia terhadap Pakatan Rakyat, juga hasrat mereka yang sentiasa bergelora mahukan Perubahan dan melihat masa depan Pakatan Rakyat yang lebih gemilang.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
Ketua Pembangkang
Dewan Rakyat Malaysia

————————————-

—25 August 2009— I am extremely grateful of Pakatan Rakyat’s victory at the Permatang Pasir’s by-election. For the several months that I have been attacked with slanders of being a traitor to my own race and deserting them, today’s victory proves that the people have rejected the political tools that the UMNO-BN leadership had used to create disunity.

I wish to extend my greatest appreciation to entire machinery of the by-election, who has patiently faced hardship in this holy month of Ramadhan. Well done to YB Haji Salleh Man for his victory, and do achieve the expectations of trust and mandate given by the people.

This majority win evidently assures the people’s confidence towards Pakatan Rakyat, their strong desire for change and a bright future for Pakatan Rakyat.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
LEADER OF OPPOSITION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tangkas Menyerbu Untuk Mengampu

2009-08-27T04:56:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 25, 2009

Seusai menunaikan tanggungjawab sebagai pengundi di kawasan DUN Permatang Pasir, saya dan Azizah berlepas pulang ke Kuala Lumpur. Berdasarkan gerak kerja yang mantap, semangat berkobar-kobar jentera pilihanraya dan penerimaan masyarakat setempat terhadap mesej yang disampaikan, inshaallah, kemenangan akan berada di pihak Pakatan Rakyat.

Dalam perjalanan pulang, saya diberitahu Kementerian Dalam Negeri telah bertindak menyerbu pejabat majalah satira terbaru, Gedung Kartun, pagi ini. Majalah tersebut diusahakan oleh kartunis terkenal, Sdr Zunar, bersama 15 tenaga kreatif lainnya. Malahan Sasterawan Negara A. Samad Said turut menyumbang sebuah rencana untuk keluaran sulungnya.

Pantas dan tangkas sekali aksi Kementerian Dalam Negeri menyekat edaran satira yang memuatkan lakaran Dato Sri Najib bersama bendera dari Mongolia itu. Walhasil, kita tidak melihat ketangkasan serupa apabila menyiasat salah guna kuasa membabitkan pemerdagangan manusia dan menteri gagal memberikan penjelasan yang memuaskan berhubung laporan bank-bank kita digunakan dalam transaksi pembelian senjata antara Korea Utara dan junta Myanmar.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

———————————

Soon after fulfilling our responsibility as voters at the Permatang Pasir state by-elections, Azizah and I left for home to Kuala Lumpur. Looking at our effective workforce, our high-spirited campaign machinery and our campaign message that was widely accepted by the people, god willing, victory will be on Pakatan Rakyat’s side.

During the journey home, I was told that the internal state affairs had invaded the offices of new humour magazine, Gedung Kartun. The magazine is the brainchild of famous cartoonist, Sdr Zunar, together with his 15 other creative team members. National laureate, A. Samad Said had also contributed an article to its first issue.

Their quick and swift action had obstructed the distribution of the caricature of Dato’ Seri Najib with the Mongolian flag. However, we do not see such quick and swift action when investigations are carried out for the abuse of power involving human trafficking. The ministry had also failed to provide a satisfactory explanation in regards to reports that Malaysian banks were used for the purchase of weapons between North Korea and the Burmese Junta.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Anwar Denies Secretly Meeting PM

2009-08-27T04:55:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 25, 2009

From The Star

By Derrick Vinesh

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied a report that he had a private meeting with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Prime Minister’s residence in Putrajaya recently.

Anwar said he had met Najib privately in the past, but not recently.

“Who said that (I met with the Prime Minister)? Did Datuk Seri Najib say that?” he told reporters after casting his vote at SK Seri Penanti, Permatang Pasir here on Tuesday.

Anwar said on Tuesday that he meets Najib often during the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

On Monday, an online news portal reported carried a report on a purported secret meeting between Anwar and Najib last month.

It alleged that Najib had asked for the Opposition to work closely with the Government.

It also claimed that Najib had wanted to send the message that as prime minister, he was willing to work with the Opposition.

The portal claimed that Najib had told Anwar that it was important for foreign investors to have confidence in Malaysia.

The portal also quoted a report from an English daily online on Tuesday as saying that political sources from the Najib and Anwar camps had confirmed that the two politicians met at the prime minister’s residence.

According to the daily, the sources remain vague about what transpired at the session, which lasted just over an hour.

Anwar: We Have To Improve!

2009-08-25T05:31:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 24, 2009

From Malaysiakini

By S Pathmawathy

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim admitted that there are flawed characters in PKR following the resignation of Lunas state assembly representative Mohd Radzhi Salleh.

“In all humility I must concede that given the circumstances during the last election… we had to rush through the names and probably there was some flaws in terms to filtering process,” said Anwar.

He said this when asked why such incidences consistently kept cropping up within PKR.

“We have to improve to make sure that candidates must be of good if not impeccable credentials and loyal to the party and the struggle,” he added.

Only in February, Pakatan lost its majority in the Perak state assembly and the state was in chaos after two PKR and one DAP state assembly representatives quit their respective parties and declared themselves BN-friendly independents.

They trio – Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang), Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and former deputy speaker Hee Yit Fong (Jelapang) – then pledged their support to BN.

Anwar who attended a buka puasa function at a surau in Kampung Paya in Permatang Pasir today, said that they have been having problems with Radzhi for the past several months.

“There were discipline problems, financial issues and (he had also) made excess claims on funds… at that time he was also being investigated by the MACC, but now there might not be any investigations as he is no longer in PKR,” said Anwar.

Warning after complains from fourth wife

He also revealed that the party had received information that Radzhi was engaged in talks with former Kedah BN Menteri Besar Mahdzir Khalid.

“That was when I raised the issue in parliament on the effort to bribe our representatives,” said Anwar.

The Pakatan leader, who was also accompanied by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, added that Radzhi was also facing personal issues.

“We received several complaints from his fourth wife, who has now dragged him to court… that was when the party had issue a stern warning to him,” said Anwar.

He added that the state liaison meeting last week decided to suspend the Padang Serai PKR division which includes Lunas.

“We have also received reports of several state assembly representatives that the Lunas assemblyperson has been asking them to crossover to Umno,” said Anwar.

That was the reason why Kedah PKR chief Ahmad Kassim said it was best Radzhi resigns as a state assemblyperson, he added.

“We took action, just like the way we raised the issues related to (Permatang Pasir BN by-election candidate) Rohaizat Othman… we are consistent and that is why we took action.”

Salleh to take over Islamic Religious Council?

Rohaizat was disbarred from law practise after he was found guilty of misconduct involving RM161,000 owed to Koperasi Pekebun Getah Negeri Pulau Pinang Berhad.

Pakatan’s campaign in Permatang Pasir has been based on Rohaizat’s marred reputation and that he is not trustworthy.

Meanwhile, Anwar said that if PAS candidate Mohd Salleh Man (left) wins the majority in the by-election, he would be recommended to replace Shabudin Yahya (Permatang Beranang-BN) as the Penang Islamic Religious Council president.

Although, DAP had taken over the state’s administration from BN’s Gerakan, the post has been occupied by Shabudin since before the general election last year and the appointment was made by the Agong.

“At this moment although Pakatan has been in power for one and half years the post is still helmed by Shabudin.

“In normal cases the shift happens in the beginning but we decided to wait until his tenure comes to an end in the coming months before the transition takes place,” said Anwar.

He also made the announcement that Aug 25 will not be declared a public holiday, but appealed to employers to allow their employees to take time off to vote.

Malaysia’s Port Storm

2009-08-25T05:29:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 24, 2009

From The Asia Sentinel

Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission has been tireless in the pursuit of wrongdoers, particularly those from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition that controls Selangor, Malaysia’s richest state. But somehow – perhaps just an oversight – the MACC has been dawdling for five years on a case that appears to be one of the biggest scandals ever to hit a country that has generated some spectacular ones.

That is the RM7.45 billion (US$2.12 billion) cost to turn Port Klang, the seaport 70 km. west of the capital of Kuala Lumpur, into a national transshipment hub to rival the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. Its directors say it is likely to default on billions of ringgit in loans, with the possibility, according to an auditor’s report, that accumulated interest could drive the cost to a whopping RM12.45 billion.

Conceived in 1999, the Port Klang Free Zone was yet another massive development scheme put forward by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad although he had left office before the real carnival began. The project appears to have ignited a virtual feeding frenzy for politicians from the Barisan Nasional, or ruling national coalition.

The port development was awarded as a turnkey project without competitive bid to well-connected political cronies of the United Malays National Organisation and the Malaysian Chinese Association, the two biggest components of the Barisan Nasional. Project outlays, originally projected at RM1.95 billion, ballooned to RM3.52 billion, with interest accounting for another RM3.9 billion by 2012. The parties to the contract have fallen on each other, describing illicit payments and filing lawsuits. The squabble appears set to wreck what is left of the MCA, already in disastrous shape after the electoral drubbing it took in March 2008 elections.

The case stands in vivid contrast to the MACC’s zeal in prosecuting opposition politicians from the Selangor state government. As many as six or seven have had their office records dealing with constituency expenditures taken away for investigation. The most publicized of those was State Executive Councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah, whose aide, Teoh Beng Kock, died on July 16, either by suicide or other means, after undergoing a marathon questioning session in the MACC offices over RM2,400 worth of flags the lawmaker handed out to his constituents during a Merdeka (Freedom) Day celebration.

An anonymous letter written on MACC stationery was released to the press last week, accusing Hishamuddin Hashim, an MACC deputy director for Selangor state, of conspiring with Mohammad Khir Toyo, a leading United Malays National Organization politician and former chief minister in Selangor state, to start corruption probes into opposition politicians. Khir Toyo has denied the charge. Opposition Democratic Action Party officials have been accused of fabricating the letter. Its origin is currently under investigation by police.

Certainly, there appears to be plenty about the Port Klang development for the MACC to investigate. The project is mired in controversy and name-calling, with Tiong King Sing, the head of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, the company given the turnkey contract to build the massive facility, saying he had paid RM10 million in three installments to Ong Tee Keat, the head of the MCA. Tiong is a leader of the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party and head of the influential Backbenchers Club in the Dewan Dakyat, or parliament. Ong, also the transport minister, is offering to sue Tiong for his assertion that he had channeled money to Ong. Other MCA stalwarts are seeking to oust Ong from his leadership position, further fracturing the party.

Kuala Dimensi in turn is wholly owned by Wijaya Baru Sdn Bhd, which is the main contractor to Kuala Dimensi. Wijaya Baru is controlled by Wijaya Baru Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Azim Mohd Zabidi, the former UMNO treasurer, is chairman of Wijaya Baru Global Bhd. Chor Chee Heung, former deputy was former deputy home minister under Mahathir, who was home minister and fiance minister at the time. Chor was the Wijaya Baru Global non-executive deputy chairman from April 2004 till July 2007.

“This Port Klang FreeTrade zone is a colossal mess, with billions upon billions gone missing. It was earmarked for the MCA and the Chinese community,” said a lawyer with links to the United Malays National Organization. “Many MCA/Chinese contractors benefitted from the deal. It has an issue for the last six years, but only now has it become explosive.”

Opposition member Ronnie Liu , a DAP official, Party, lodged a police report with the MACC on the scandal as early as 2004. The DAP has lodged a series of other reports in the intervening years, said a spokesman for the Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition coalition headed by Anwar Ibrahim. None of the requests, the spokesman said, elicited any response from the authorities. Recently Ahmad Said Hamdan, the chief commissioner for MACC, declined to answer questions in a parliamentary accounts selective committee hearing into the Port Klang scandal, saying the case is still under investigation.

The story was broken wide open, however, with the recent publication of a 51-page confidential report into the port’s finances by the international accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The report, dated Feb. 3, was “not intended for general circulation or publication. It must not be reproduced, republished, copied, distributed, excerpted, disclosed, quoted, alluded or referred to, whether in whole or in part, to any other party in any way without prior written consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (PwCAS).” However, selected parts were indeed excerpted, disclosed, quoted, alluded or referred to by the opposition, and since been given wide distribution.

Among other things, according to the report, which was obtained by Asia Sentinel, “…significant project costs, weak governance and weak project management have severely undermined the viability of the project. It is imperative that (the Port Klang authority) take immediate actions to restructure the (ministry of finance) soft loan of RM4.632 billion to avoid a potential default in 2012. The Government of Malaysia would need to make a concerted effort to turn the Port Klang Free Zone into a viable venture.”

The report names a veritable rogue’s gallery of MCA and other officials involved in the development of the project including two former transport ministers, Ling Liong Sik, the former MCA head, and Chan Kong Choy; three former Port Authority chairmen, the former UMNO treasurer Azim Mohd Zabidi, the first woman general manager of the authority, O.C.Phang and the project executor, Tiong King Sing.

In addition to awarding the contract to Kuala Dimensi without competitive bid, the land purchase was never vetted by the Malaysian cabinet, although it cost RM1.088 billion against a market value of the land was only RM442 million. Kuala Dimensi “may have overcharged PKA for interest by between RM51 million and RM309 million in connection with the purchase of the land,” the report said.

According to another report, The 1,000 acres for the port were purchased by the government from Kuala Dimensi at RM 25 per square foot, or RM 1.8 billion inclusive of interest, giving Kuala Dimensi a capital gain of RM 993 million because it in turn had purchased the land from the Pulau Lumut Development Cooperative for only RM 95 million — RM 3 per square foot. An UMNO assemblyman, Abdul Rahman Palil, was both the Pulau Lumut Development Co-operative chairman and a port director in 2002 when the land for the free zone was sold to the port authority. The then-transport minister rejected an assertion by the Malaysian Attorney General that the land could be acquired for “public purpose” under the Land Acquisition Act at RM 10 per square foot.

As a result, the report said, interest on a soft loan from the Ministry of Finance “will increase the project outlay from RM4.947 billion to RM7.453 billion. Unless the MOF soft loan is restructured, total outlay for the project will increase to RM12.453 billion.

And, five years into the project, it remains only 14 percent occupied and “revenue generated is inadequate to cover its operating expenses.” The zone is expected to be in cash deficit from 2012. The MACC said recently that it had formed a 30- member panel to investigate further.

Johor Terpaksa Membayar Ganti Rugi Kerana Muhyiddin?

2009-08-24T03:32:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 23, 2009

Dari Malaysian Insider

Oleh Abu Bakar Mohd Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Ogos 21 — Walaupun Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin menyatakan bahawa beliau tidak pernah menjual tanah walau seinci pun kepada Singapura, tetapi beliau didakwa pernah terlibat dalam usahasama dengan syarikat dari negara itu menukar status tanah di Johor untuk memajukannya.

Dakwaan itu terkandung dalam fakta kes saman Stamford Holdings Sdn Bhd ke atas Muhyiddin dan rakan-rakannya.

Walaupun fakta kes tersebut tidak menunjukkan Muhyiddin menjual tanah kepada Stamford, tetapi ia menyatakan kesanggupan pihak yang disebut mewakili Muhyiddin berkerjasama dengan syarikat itu untuk membuat keuntungan dengan memajukan tanah di Johor.

Mengikut dokumen Majlis Peguam, syarikat tersebut ialah syarikat Singapura.

Asian Wall Street Journal 16/6/95 melaporkan, di dalam dokumen Stamford kepada mahkamah, pada penghujung 1989 syarikat itu bersetuju dengan Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary dan Datuk Yahya Talib untuk menubuhkan syarikat usahasama bagi membangunkan 1,766 ekar tanah syarikat itu.

Dokumen itu menyatakan, menurut AWSJ, Syed Mokhtar dan Yahya adalah pihak “yang bertindak untuk diri mereka sendiri dan Muhyiddin”

Menurut dokumen itu juga, pihak yang diwakili oleh Syed Mokhtar dan Yahya melabur RM1.8 juta di dalam usahasama tersebut, iaitu 30 peratus dari ekuitinya. 70 peratus lagi dipegang oleh Stamford.

Syarikat usahasama itu kemudiannya menguasai hartanah itu dan mengemukakan permohonan baru untuk menukar statusnya bagi kegunaan industri.

Kerajaan Johor pula meluluskan permohonan itu dengan “begitu pantas”, dakwa Stamford di dalam samannya di mana ia juga mendakwa kumpulan Syed Mokhtar telah “meraih keuntungan bersih sebanyak RM83.2 juta”.

Masalah di antara kedua-dua pihak tercetus apabila, menurut dokumen mahkamah Stamford, kumpulan Muhyiddin menjadi “begitu tamak”.

Mereka mahu mewujudkan usahasama kedua di mana mereka mahu menguasai 70 peratus saham dengan membayar RM74,100 setiap hektar kepada Stamford bagi baki 2,672 hektar miliknya.

Bila Stamford berkeras mahu mengekalkan 70 peratus pegangannya dan dibayar RM185,250 bagi setiap hektar tanahnya, salah seorang rakan Muhyiddin memberi amaran kepada syarikat itu bahawa dokumen pengambilalihan tanah sudah pun berada di meja Muhyiddin yang ketika itu Menteri Besar Johor dan beliau boleh “mendatanganinya bila-bila masa”.

AWSJ melaporkan, Muhyiddin sendiri mengugut Stamford pada bulan Disember 1992 dengan mengingatkan salah seorang pengarahnya bahawa “masa semakin singkat”.

Keadaan semakin tidak memihak kepada syarikat tersebut apabila Julai 1994, kerajaan Johor mengambilalih tanah tersebut bagi pihak Perbadanan Kemajuan Ekonomi Islam Negeri Johor.

Tindakan itu memaksa Stamford menyaman Muhyiddin, Syed Mokhtar dan Yahya kerana kerugian yang ditanggung akibat apa yang didakwanya sebagai konspirasi untuk mengambilalih tanah itu melalui Akta Pengambilan Tanah.

Stamford mendakwa ketiga-tiganya menyalahgunakan peruntukan akta itu untuk mengambilalih 6,544.4172 ekar tanah di mukim Tebrau, Johor Baru melalui perbadanan itu.

Kes itu diselesaikan apabila Mahkamah Tinggi mengarahkan kerajaan Johor membayar RM313.25 juta kepada Stamford manakala sebuah lagi syarikat, Kelana Ventures Sdn Bhd diarahkan membayar RM92.12 juta.

Dalam kempen pilihan raya kecil Manek Urai baru-baru ini, Naib Presiden PAS, Salahuddin Ayub menuduh Muhyiddin mengkhianati hak orang Melayu ketika menjadi Menteri Besar Johor dan mengetuai Umno negeri itu.

“Bagaimana Umno hendak menjadi parti yang membela orang Melayu sedangkan mereka sendiri yang menggadai dan menjual tanah rezab Melayu kepada orang asing dari Singapura?” beliau mempersoalkan.

Beliau menjelaskan bukti mengenai perkara itu didedahkan pada persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Johor.

“Tanah Rezab Melayu ini satu-satunya hak bagi orang Melayu. Umno tidak boleh jawab, dan ini bukan fakta yang saya pungut atau dengar di tepi jalan lalu dibawa ke dalam ceramah, tidak.

“Ini bukti yang kita bawa dalam persidangan DUN Johor baru-baru ini di mana Umno dan anggota DUN Johor dari Umno tidak boleh jawab,” katanya.

Sehubungan itu, beliau berkata Umno tidak seharusnya diberikan peluang untuk terus hidup.

Baru-baru ini Muhyiddin dilaporkan kesal dengan tohmahan pembangkang kononnya beliau pernah menjual sebidang tanah kepada Singapura semasa menjadi Menteri Besar Johor.

Katanya fitnah itu sengaja dilemparkan kepadanya bagi menaikkan kebencian rakyat kepada beliau dan kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Saya ingin menjelaskan bahawa saya (semasa menjadi Menteri Besar Johor) tidak pernah menjual tanah walau seinci pun kepada Singapura dan ini adalah fitnah semata-mata,” kata beliau pada ceramah Perdana di Tanjong Putus sempena pilihan raya kecil Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Permatang Pasir.

Mengkhianati Amanah Rakyat Hanya Menggamit Jalan Buntu

2009-08-24T03:31:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 23, 2009

Hari ini saya difahamkan Adun Lunas Sdr Radzhi Salleh telahpun mengisytiharkan keluar dari parti. Pimpinan parti sememangnya memandang serius prestasi beliau yang terbukti lemah sepanjang menjawat jawatan dalam kerajaan negeri. Turut mengecewakan pimpinan ialah tuntutan perbelanjaan beliau yang tidak munasabah dan masalah perkahwinannya di Thailand. Amaran keras telahpun diberikan agar segera meningkatkan prestasi kerja dan memperkukuh khidmatnya di kawasan. Nampaknya nasihat dan amaran kami tidak beliau endahkan, lalu mengambil tindakan mengistiharkan keluar dari parti hari ini. Apapun alasan yang diberikan oleh beliau, saya berharap Sdr Radzhi sedar bahawa jangan sesekali bertindak mengkhianati amanah rakyat. Kerana “sesiapa yang menyemai angin, dia pastinya menuai badai.”

Berhubung kedudukan Sdr Razhi selaku Ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Negeri Kedah, saya yakin YAB Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Ustaz Azizan akan membuat keputusan yang terbaik selepas membuat pertimbangan sewajarnya. Seperti yang dijangkakan, mendekati tarikh mengundi Selasa ini, pastinya ada serangan bertujuan mengalih pandangan bersertakan cita-cita menggugat kerjasama kempen Pakatan Rakyat di Permatang Pasir. Adakah episod ini membabitkan tawaran sogokan jutaan ringgit? Saya tidak yakin SPRM yang dicurigai kewibawaannya mampu menjalankan siasatan tanpa ditunjuki serta berupaya memberi sebarang penjelasan memuaskan.

Izinkan saya menghimbau peristiwa pada tarikh 15 Disember 2008 yang menyaksikan ahli-ahli Dewan Rakyat mula menyertai perbahasan rang undang-undang Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia, dengan harapan akan wujud sebuah institusi bebas memerangi rasuah serta penyalahgunaan kuasa. Ternyata ada banyak kelemahan yang ketara terkandung di dalam rang tersebut, malahan telah kami perbahaskan dengan sabar agar ianya dapat diperbaiki demi kemaslahatan negara dan rakyat.

Dinukilkan peringatan Sayidina Ali r.a kepada Malik Ashtar ketika berbahas buat menjadi peringatan kepada diri saya dan rakan-rakan ahli Dewan Rakyat semua agar tidak memandang enteng tanggungjawab yang dipikul, kerana sesungguhnya jawatan ini adalah amanah dan bukannya satu keistimewaan.

Selepas berbahas panjang lebar, makanya Dewan Rakyat meluluskan satu Akta Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia 2008. Riuh rendahlah kononnya kita menuju ke satu era baru yang menjanjikan perubahan. Tidak sampai setahun wujudnya SPRM, institusi tersebut terpalit dengan pelbagai tuduhan yang serius seumpama kematian Teoh Beng Hock serta skandal Zon Bebas Pelabuhan Klang(PKFZ)

Hatta pendedahan saya ketika menjunjung kasih titah Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong juga menemui jalan buntu. Laporan Adun Kulim, Sdr Lim Soo Nee bahawa bekas Menteri Besar Kedah Dato Mahadzir Khalid cuba menyogok beliau dengan jumlah wang sekitar RM 4-5 juta untuk menyertai barisan nasional seumpama mencurah air di daun keladi.

Rakyat turut marah apabila SPRM gagal bertindak terhadap penyelewengan pimpinan umno-bn yang dikatakan memiliki mahligai jutaan ringgit, pembelian pangsapuri mewah menggunakan duit kerajaan negeri dan kemungkinan terlibat menggadai tanah berpuluh ribu hektar kepada negara asing. Timbul pertanyaan kepada rakyat jelata adakah SPRM yang asas penubuhannya untuk berfungsi sebagai sebuah badan bebas dari kongkongan telah menjadi satu lagi perkakas pemerintah?

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Kenyataan PKR Kedah Berhubung Pengisytiharan Keluar Adun Lunas

2009-08-24T03:30:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 23, 2009

23hb Ogos 2009-Pihak Parti Keadilan Rakyat menerima maklum bahawa Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) kawasan Lunas yang juga Exco Kerajaan Negeri Kedah, YB Mohammad Radzhi Salleh ADUN daripada PKR dan memegang portfolio Exco Pelancongan dan Pembangunan Masyarakat Serta Sumber Tenaga Manusia dalam kerajaan negeri Kedah telah mengumumkan pendiriannya itu pada sidang media di Kuala Lumpur, hari ini mengisytiharkan dirinya keluar parti dan menjadi ADUN Bebas.

Bagi pihak Parti Keadilan Rakyat Kedah kita amat kesal dengan sikap yang tidak bertanggungjawab ini. Telah menjadi satu kebiasaan apabila ada pilihanraya kecil, akan ada isu-isu lompat parti. Kita menjangkakan ini adalah sebahagian daripada tindakan yang dirancang oleh Barisan Nasional untuk memanipulasi isu menjelang pilihanraya kecil Permatang Pasir pada 25 Ogos nanti

Prestasi lemah beliau dalam kerajaan negeri juga amat mengecewakan pimpinan parti, ini termasuklah tuntutan perbelanjaan beliau yang tidak munasabah, dan masalah perkahwinannya di Thailand yang kini sedang dalam proses di Mahkamah. Kami juga telah memberi amaran keras kepada beliau untuk membuat perubahan prestasi kerja beliau dan khidmatnya di kawasan, namum beliau tidak bersedia untuk melakukan perubahan yang membuatkan ia mengistiharkan keluar dari parti hari ini. Ekoran daripada itu juga Cabang Padang Serai telah digantung oleh MPP dan diambil aleh pengurusan dan pentadbirannya oleh Majlis Pimpinan Negeri sehingga mesyuarat agung cabang yang akan diadakan nanti. Keputusan ini dibuat pada mesyuarat MPP 26 Julai 2009 yang lalu.

Sehubungan dengan itu kepimpinan PKR Kedah berdiri teguh mendokong dan menyokong kepimpinan YAB Datuk Seri Ust. Azizan bin Abd. Razak sebagai Menteri Besar dan selanjutnya mencadangkan kepada YAB Menteri Besar untuk memohon pekenan KDYMM Tuanku Sultan Kedah mengugurkan jawatan beliau sebagai Ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri. Pimpinan Parti Keadilan Kedah juga dengan ini mendesak YB Radzi juga untuk meletak jawatan sebagai ADUN Lunas.

Sekian,

(YB. HJ. AHMAD BIN KASIM)
Pengerusi,
Majlis Pimpinan Negeri,
Parti Keadilan Rakyat Negeri Kedah Darul Aman.

Acara Kempen DSAI Di Permatang Pasir 24 Ogos 2009

2009-08-24T03:28:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 23, 2009

6.30 – 8.00 MLM – TAZKIRAH , BUKA PUASA DAN SOLAT MAGHRIB

TEMPAT: MASJID PERMATANG PASIR

—————————————–

8.42 – 10.30 MLM – SOLAT ISYAK, TARAWIKH DAN TAZKIRAH

TEMPAT: MASJID PERMATANG PAUH
—————————————–
9.00-12.00 MLM – CERAMAH- GRAND FNALE

TEMPAT: TAMAN CERMAI – SAMA GAGAH

PENCERAMAH :
1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
2) YB AZMIN ALI
3) YB SAIFUDIN NASUTION
4) YBHG DATO’ SERI CHUA JUI MENG
5) YBHG DATO’ ZAID IBRAHIM
6) YBHG SHAMSUL ISKANDAR
7) YB SIM TZE TZIN
8) USTAZ MOHD SALLEH MAN (CALON)

Pejabat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Demi Bahasa, Suaranya Naik Menjulang di Permatang Pasir

2009-08-24T03:27:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 22, 2009

Dari Harakahdaily

Oleh Azamin Amin

PERMATANG PASIR,22 OGOS: Setelah matanya berair,perit dan sakit terkena gas pemedih mata, dia sudah tidak berganjak. Biarpun sudah berusia 75 tahun, dengan ‘kedegilan’ dan cekal hati,dia terus bangkit berjuang, bercakap dan bersuara ‘tanpa’ henti.

Dia tidak punya sebarang kepentingan, bukan untuk meraih keuntungan tetapi hanya dengan tujuan yang satu- niat suci sayangkan bahasa tercinta, Bahasa Melayu yang telah dihina.

Itulah sikap dan denyut nadi pejuang sejati A. Samad Said, yang kembali turun, bersama rakyat, menyemarakkan api membantah tindakan kerajaan dan pemimpin Melayu meminggir bahasa sendiri melalui dasar pengajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) yang telah ‘mengorbankan’ kebijaksanaan pelajar melayu,utamanya di desa nun jauh di sana.

Tanpa jemu,beliau kembali muncul dengan ’surah’ yang sama – kecewa dengan sikap sambil lewa kerajaan mendengar rintihan rakyat dan pejuang bahasa. Sekaligus memberi amaran,untuk menganjurkan kalikedua himpunan besar-besaran memabnath dasar itu.

Lalu di Permatang Pasir, Pak Samad tanpa segan silu, berada di pentas PAS bagi menyampaikan mesej dan isyarat jelas kepada kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) dan para pemimpin Umno agar mansuhkan dasar yang merosakkan anak bangsaitu.

“Suara seniman tidak diendahkan pemimpin Umno.Justeru saya akan terus bersuara dimana-mana pentas yang menjemput saya.

“Jika mereka boleh melaksanakan dasar PPSMI dalam masa 6 bulan,kenapa mengambil masa 3 tahun untuk mansuhkan.

“RM5 billion diperuntukkan tetapi tidak pernah saya dengar ada dana sebanyak itu untuk bahasa Melayu,”ujarnya di sidang media di Pusat Khidmat Dun PAS Permatang Pasir pada sebelah pagi,21 Ogos.

Hadir sama,mendengar luhan hati Sasterawan Newgaraituialah Naib Presiden PAS, Dato’ Mahfuz Omar, Setiausaha Agung PAS Dato’ Mustafa Ali, Timbalan Pesuruhjaya PAS (2) Pulau Pinang dan calon PAS yang tidakasing lagi, Ustaz Salleh Man.

Beliau sebelum itu menyifatkan keputusan kerajaan menangguhkan pemansuhan dasar PPSMI di semua peringkat sehingga tahun 2017 sebagai “penghinaan berterusan” terhadap bahasa kebangsaan dan mengulangi pendiriannya ketika berceramah di UPU Tanah Liat,pada sebelah petangnya.

Beliau sempat menutup kalimah perjuangan itu dengan dua bacaan sajak yang cukup menusuk dan begitu dalam maknanya sehingga suara’keramatnya’itu disambut sorai ramai para pengundi,penyokong dan peminatnya.

Sajak itu dilihat mengkritik pemimpin yang kononnya membela Melayu tetapi hanya pandai berkata-kata dan secara sinis mempersendakan watak-watak pemimpin itu.

“Saya terdengar ada pemimpin yang menyatakan bahawa pimpinan PAS tidak melakukan apa-apa..tetapi yang lebih parah lagi ialah ada pemimpin yang sama dan parti yang sama tidak juga melakukan apa-apa selama lebih 50 tahun.”

Sajak itu cukup memukau hadirin, termasuk Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng, AJK PAS Mohammad Sabu, Ketua Wanita DAP, Chong Eng, calon PAS, Ustaz Salleh Man dan ahli Parlimen Jerai, Firdaus Jaafar.

Malam ini, Pak Samad dan beberapa exco Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI (GMP) dijadual berkempen di pentas PAS bagi mendesak pemansuhan segera dasar kontroversi itu.

Kehadiran Pak Samad itu nyata memberi nilai tambah yang besar kepada kempen PAS kerana beliau sangat dikenali sebagai budayawan agung yang menolak penggadaian bahasa Melayu yang dilakukan Umno dan BN.

Dan selain kemunculan tokoh terkenal itu melaungkan masa depan bahasa, kehadiran beliau lebih memberi inspirasi kepada anak-anak muda untuk terus berjuang kerana di usia 75 tahun itu Pak Samad masih bersemangat dan menggigit nurani pemimpin negara dan rakyat jelata.

Pesanan Tok Guru Buat Pengundi DUN Permatang Pasir

2009-08-24T03:25:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 22, 2009

“Padahal mereka tidak disuruh kecuali supaya menyembah Allah dengan memurnikan (mengikhlaskan) ketaatan kepadaNya dalam (menjalankan) agama dengan lurus.”
(Sebahagian dari Ayat 5 :Surah Al Bayyinah)

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh

Tuan/Puan bakal-bakal pengundi sekalian,

Alhamdulillah. Menjelang 1 Ramadhan 1430, genaplah 8 warkah rayuan pengundi yang telah saya tulis dan tandatangani. Entah apalah rahsia yang tersimpan dalam lipatan perbendaharaan ilmu Allah yang Maha Luas itu sehingga berlaku 8 pilihan raya kecil sejak Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12, tiada siapa jua yang mampu menekanya. Apa yang hanya boleh kita baca dari 7 pilihan raya kecil yang telah berlalu, parti yang bertanding dari Pakatan Rakyat (PR) telah menang sebanyak 6 kali berturut-turut. BN cuma menang 1 kali; itupun di Batang Ai,Serawak. Ini realiti dan ini kenyataan.

Pada kali ini Kerusi Permatang Pasir menjemput kita sekali lagi untuk turun ke gelanggang. Walaupun dengan penuh berat, kita terpaksa melepaskan Allahyarham Dato’ Hamdan kita untuk kembali menemuiNya. Bagi kita yang hidup, tuntutan sambungan jihad demi sebuah tanggungjawab wajib diteruskan. Sudah 3 penggal calon kita bersusah payah untuk mengangkat Islam dan sudah 15 tahun rakyat di Permatang Pasir memperbaharui kepercayaan agar PAS terus menerajui kerusi Dewan Undangan di Permatang Pasir ini.

Jika dibaca nilai istiqamah pengundi di sini di masa-masa lalu, ia jelas menunjukkan betapa tingginya iltizam, kenyakinan dan komitmen mereka. Walaupun mereka tentu boleh faham bahawa apalah sangat memberi kemenangan kepada PAS di kerusi ini dari segi memerintah negeri, namun pada saya, majoriti yang diraih Allahyarham pada 8 Mac 2008, melebihi 5,000 undi adalah teramat mahal. Bagi pengundi Islam tanpa mengira bangsa, mereka tentu ingin merakamkan sokongan mereka kepada sebuah gerakan Islam yang membawa perjuangan Islam syamil yang sebenar. Mereka tidak sanggup memangkah parti Umno yang mengamalkan Islam dari klon sekular; agama suku dan politik suku. Mana boleh diasingkan iman dengan Islam dan Islam dengan politik? Islam jenis sekular yang diperjuangkan oleh Umno inilah yang saya namakan sebagai Islam palsu. Sebagaimana adanya wang palsu, rambut palsu atau kad pengenalan palsu; begitu jugalah dengan Islam palsu. Benda palsu; nampak macam sebenar tetapi ia tetap tidak asli. Bagi yang ahli, dia akan tetap tahu membezakan antara bunga hidup dengan bunga plastik. Dengan keadaan tidak tulin itulah timbulnya keraguan. Soalnya bolehkah yang diragu-ragu (syak) itu dibawa untuk mendapatkan anugerah Syurga Allah di akhirat kelak? Saya bercakap dari sudut aqidah dan kaedah. Jika buat begini ia boleh jadi begini. Jika tidak sempurna wudhu’, amalan sembahyang tidak diterima. Jika tolak Islam dari Allah, maka dengan apa nak digantikan? Ini bukan soal saya mendahului Tuhan atau lebih tahu dari Tuhan. Ini soal kaedah. Saya percaya, para pengundi Islam di DUN Permatang Pasir boleh dengan mudah memahami persoalan ini.

Manakala bagi pengundi bukan Islam pula pada umumnya, saya seakan boleh menyelami keresahan yang sedang bergolak di hati saudara saudari sekelian. Di sana ada tuduhan rasuah berjumlah RM10 juta yang katanya melibatkan pemimpin MCA. Di sana juga ada kes kematian misteri seorang anak muda bernama Teoh Beng Hock sewaktu berada di dalam siasatan (custody) SPRM. Di sana juga ada kes kematian Kugan sewaktu berada di dalam tahanan polis. Dengan insiden stadium runtuh dan gelanggang akuatik yang tidak selamat di Terengganu, keretakan yang berlaku di lebuh raya MRR2 serta LDP dan skandal di PKFZ Pelabuhan Klang yang bernilai berbilion ringgit, ramai pemimpin Umno yang kena gantung dan disabitkan kesalahan mengamalkan politik wang termasuklah Ketua Menteri Melaka yang masih ada sekarang, buruknya layanan ke atas rakyat yang berhimpun secara aman untuk mengangkat nota bantahan ISA kepada DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agung, cederanya Sdr. Wong dan Gobalakrishnan di tangan SPRM dan Polis – pengamal undang-undang, para pencinta demokrasi dan pejuang hak asasi tidak mempunyai lain-lain harapan pemulihan untuk negara kita. Apa yang ada hanya satu sahaja iaitu mengekalkan kerusi yang sudah dikuasai oleh PR dan dapatkan sebanyak mungkin kerusi-kerusi tambahan dari Umno/BN jika berlaku lagi pilihan raya kecil. Ini adalah langkah persiapan untuk mengambil alih kerusi, kemudi di Putrajaya tidak lama lagi. Hanya melalui cara ini sahaja Malaysia akan memperkukuhkan sistem dua parti yang boleh menyemak Institusi Kehakiman, pelaksanaan “rule of law” dan perjalanan demokrasi. Melalui laluan baru inilah, Malaysia akan menjalani proses tajdid, transformasi dan reformasinya yang sebenar. InsyaAllah, ini akan berlaku tidak lama lagi.

Melihatkan trend sokongan non-muslim kepada calon Parti Islam SeMalaysia dan PR, khususnya di Parlimen Permatang Pauh yang telah memenangkan Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan di Parlimen Bukit Gantang yang telah memenangkan Dato’ Seri Nizar Jamaludin baru empat lima bulan yang lalu, saya cukup mempunyai keyakinan. Mari kita sama-sama perbesarkan majoriti kita di DUN N11 ini agar menjadi kekal, tidak kurang dari 5,000 undi, sekurang-kurangnya untuk ujian pada 25 Ogos 2009. Tinggalkan Umno dengan syurga politik wangnya. Mari kita terus istiqamah untuk tetap berada di tengah-tengah gelora kesedaran rakyat demi menafikan Umno/BN yang sudah laih dan kehilangan stamina mulai sekarang.

Jangan tertipu lagi untuk percayakan slogan-slogan baru yang dikitar semula. Dulu Islam Hadhari. Kini One Malaysia pula. Esok entah apa pulalah. Umno ni nak jadi apa, entahlah. Nak kata udang pun tidak. Ikan pun bukan. Ingatlah pesan pepatah Melayu: Jika sudah kepalanya ular, mustahil ekornya belut.

Akhir kata, gunakanlah kesempatan membuang undi pada kali ini dengan penuh cermat. Walaupun kita berpuasa dan kemungkinan kita boleh jadi letih tetapi tidakkah Peperangan Badar yang berlaku dalam bulan Ramadhan itu pernah membawa kemenangan yang besar? Tiada perbuatan yang lebih mulia pada hari mengundi di bulan Ramadhan pada kali ini melainkan memangkah parti yang boleh membela maaruf dan kebaikan; sekaligus menolak kemungkaran, rasuah, kezaliman dan ketidak adilan. Undilah Sdr. Saleh bin Man. Undilah PAS dan PR demi keadilan Islam.

“Ya Allah, saksikanlah. Hamba sesungguhnya sudah menyampaikan.”

NIK ABDUL AZIZ BIN NIK MAT
Mursyidul Am PAS
Merangkap Menteri Besar Kelantan
Tanggal : 1 Ramadhan 1430 / 22 Ogos 2009.

Acara Kempen di DUN Permatang Pasir,Ahad 23 Ogos 2009

2009-08-24T03:24:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 22, 2009

6.30-8.00 MLM – TAZKIRAH, BUKA PUASA DAN SOLAT MAGHRIB
TEMPAT: SURAU KAMPONG PAYA

———

7.00-11.00 MLM : PROGRAM MASYARAKAT TIONGHUA
JAMUAN MAKAN MALAM “SUPER SUNDAY”
TEMPAT: DEWAN UPLIFTING SOCIETY – TANAH LIAT
PENCERAMAH: 1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
2) YB LIM KIT SIANG
3) YB LIM GUAN ENG
4) YBHG DATUK CHUA JUI MENG
5) YB NGA KONG MING
6) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

———

8.42-10.00 MLM – SOLAT ISYAK, TARAWIKH DAN TAZKIRAH
TEMPAT : MASJID INDRA MUDA

——-

10.00-12.00 MLM– CERAMAH 1
TEMPAT: KAMPONG PETANI
PENCERAMAH: 1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
2) YB DATO’ SERI ZAHRIN HASHIM
3) YB DR HATTA RAMLI
4) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

——-

10.00-12.00 MLM – CERAMAH PERDANA
TEMPAT : TANAH LIAT MK 8

PENCERAMAH: 1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
2) YBHG DATUK CHUA JUI MENG
3) YB DR MUJAHID YUSOF
4) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

Putar Belit: Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Mahu Saman Akhbar!

2009-08-24T03:23:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 21, 2009

nukilan Annual Bakhri Haron

Mengikuti penjelasan balas Tok Guru Nik Abdul Aziz semasa menangani isu “ahli Umno tak masuk Syurga” cukup menarik. Ia seakan-akan atau hampir seiras dengan hantaran “peluru buatan” yang diletupkan kepada khalayak sebelum ini iaitu “cakap saya( Nik Aziz) mesti didengar” (Utusan Malaysia, Jun 2009) yang berakhir dengan permohonan maaf secara terbuka oleh akhbar ejen Umno itu. Ramai pemerhati meramalkan fitnah dan putar belit dalam pusingan ini mungkin boleh berakhir secara “sad ending” juga. Ini mudah dijangka sebaik saja meneliti reaksi Timbalan Presiden Umno yang melatah diluar dari sukatan.

Anehnya, cukup dengan satu signal bahawa Majlis Fatwa perlu membuat keputusan yang dikeluarkan oleh Muhyidin Yasin pada pagi 19 Ogos 2009, pada keesokan harinya yakni pada 20 Ogos 2009, pihak Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan telah memutuskan “bahawa kenyataan Menteri Besar Kelantan (Nik Abdul Aziz itu) salah dan seleweng”. (Berita Harian, muka depan, 20 Ogos 2009). Amboi, segeranya !

Tidakkah terfikir oleh para Mufti kita yang menganggotai Majlis Fatwa untuk meneliti terlebih dahulu apa yang sebenarnya diucapkan oleh Menteri Besar Kelantan sewaktu sidang akhbar, selepas proses penamaan calon pada 17 Ogos itu ? Kandungan bunyinya adalah seperti berikut:

‘‘Tiada sebab langsung orang Islam tolak Islam. Islam yang dibawa oleh UMNO ini Islam kacukan, Islam plastik. Macam duit palsu, ubat palsu, makanan palsu. Ini Islam palsu yang dibawa UMNO.

‘‘Islam ini tidak boleh bawa ke akhirat, tidak boleh bawa ke syurga, dia boleh bawa dekat pintu kubur. Bertengkar atas muka tak habis-habis dengan Melayu sendiri boleh bertengkar.’’ (Sumber: Utusan Malaysia, muka depan 21 Ogos 2009). Di peringkat ini, bolehkah agaknya jika saya bertanya samada Majlis Fatwa telah membaca transkrip ini sebelum memutuskan bahawa Mursyidul Am PAS telah salah dan seleweng?

Mari kita cuba baca buat kali kedua dan seterusnya jika masih kurang jelas. Kemudian, jika perlu mentelaah, bukalah buku-buku yang ditulis oleh Yusuf Al-Qardhawi atau Syed Naquib Al-Attas mengenai Islam, nasionalisme dan sekularisme. Tolak jauh-jauh pengaruh emosi. Gunakan aqal, iman dan taqwa sepenuhnya dalam semangat objektiviti yang sehabis murni untuk menilai letak duduknya kata-kata ini. Bersifat cerewet dan teliti, mana yang kononnya Nik Aziz itu telah memborong bahawa semua ahli Umno tak masuk syurga? Mana pula perkataan yang kononnya Nik Aziz itu telah menyamakan Islam Umno itu dengan Islam cara Palestin? Ini sah fitnah. Fitnah !

Dalam hubungan ini,tidakkah pula terlintas kepada pihak Majlis Fatwa untuk meneliti kandungan penjelasan Menteri Besar Kelantan yang telah dibuat pada 18 Ogos 2009 yakni satu hari selepasnya terlebih dahulu sebelum membuat sebarang pendirian? Ia ada dikeluarkan oleh TV3 sebahagiannya pada malam itu juga dan Astro Awani pada malam yang sama. Inilah apa yang dikatakan orang, pentingnya kita untuk tidak tergopoh-gapah, banyakkan bersabar, bertenang, dan lebih berfikir dalam berzikir. Apa gunanya terlalu cepat jika boleh membawa silap !

Untuk bersifat adil kepada semua yang tidak mempunyai Internet atau tidak melanggani Astro termasuk Majlis Fatwa demi meneliti apa yang sebenar dan sebetulnya diucap oleh Mursyidul Am PAS, izinkan saya membuat kutipan dari jawapan beliau secara verbatim. Dalam siaran yang telah dimuatkan ke dalam “youtube”, ia sepenuhnya berbunyi seperti berikut:

“ Saya nak sebutlah mula-mula sekalinya, saya baca dua buah akhbar perdana hari ini dan ada perkataan Palestin. saya nafi sekeras-kerasnya. ini nak melaga-lagakan saya dengan Palestin pula. tak betul. siapa dia yang buat kerja ini, wallahhua’lam.

Yang keduanya perkataan “ahli umno tak masuk syurga.” saya tak biasa guna ahli umno, saya guna penyokong umno. ahli lain, penyokong lain.

Yang ketiganya, memang mana-mana orang Islam yang asingkan iman daripada islam tidak akan masuk syurga. Orang yang asingkan iman dengan islam yakni yang berpada dengan islam sahaja tanpa iman, mustahil (akan) masuk syurga. Sebab itu, Quran menetapkan perkataan ikhlas. Ikhlas dan iman lebih kurang sama. jadi “wama umiru illa liya’ budullah hamukhlisin” , tidak ada benda yang aku suruh kepada manusia kecuali satu,(iaitu) mengabdi kepada aku dengan ikhlas. ikhlas ini (perkara yang) terlibat dengan hati. Hatilah tempat duduk iman.

Jadi, mana-mana gerakan orang Islam yang hanya mementingkan Islam sahaja, tanpa iman, mustahil masuk syurga. Itu yang saya kata hari ini. jadi ini bukan fatwa baru. Surat khabar sebut fatwa baru Nik Aziz. Itu mengumpat kita panggil. Nak melaga-lagakan (dan bersifat) mengumpat, itu bukan fatwa baru.

Di zaman Nabi Muhammad SAW sendiri masih hidup lagi pun, sudah ada orang yang hendak mengasingkan Islam dengan iman iaitu Abdullah bin Ubai. Abdullah bin Ubai ini bersembahyang bersama dengan Nabi, dengar ceramah Nabi bahkan keluar berperang bersama dengan Nabi dan mengaminkan doa bersama Nabi.

Tapi dia senyap-senyap dia buat satu gerakan lain dan dia buat sebuah masjid. Dalam Quran sebut benda ini “dhirar “. Masjid itu akan dibakar. Diruntuhkan dibakar, kerana apa ? Ini kerana usaha dia hendak mengasingkan berpada dengan Islam tidak mahu bersertakan dengan iman. Ini tidak boleh. sekular sebut islam tak apa la. Tak tahu iman dimana. Itu sekular. Islam tidak begitu. Islam ini komponen bagi iman . Islam mengajar kita (supaya kita) mesti sebatikan Islam dengan iman, sebagaimana sebatinya tubuh dengan roh. Tubuh kita ni sebati dengan roh.

Itu agak saya tahu dah. Otak umno dan otak orang PAS sama saja. Sama bodoh sama cerdik belaka. Tapi nak buat modal ni dalam pilihanraya (Permatang Pasir) ini kerja bodoh orang panggil. Nak tunjuk kebodohan kita dalam berpolitik. Sebab itu saya kata nak bersatu PAS dengan UMNO tak ada cara lain, daripada hanya UMNO tukar dasar daripada kebangsaan kepada Islam, itu baru bersatu. Ketika itu tak tahu PAS dimana UMNO dimana, Melayu muslim belaka, muslim yang mukmin. dengan cara lain, perpaduan dengan pakatan (kerajaan perpaduan), tak usah lah. Kami dah serik dah.

Soalan press : kalau dia tarik balik ?

Tok Guru : Terserah kepada lawyer lah. Lawyer pandai lah buat, kalu dia mintak maaf. mintak maaf jadi begitu, tak mintak maaf jadi begini.

Yang akhir sekali saya nak sebut, ialah tolong merdekakan fikiran kita daripada menjadi pak turut manusia kepada pak turut Nabi Muhammad. Tolong merdekakan fikiran kita daripada menjadi pak turut sesama manusia. Turut orang Eropah manusia juga .
Turut orang putih manusia juga. Tolong merdekakan jadi pak turut manusia sama manusia kepada menjadi pak turut Nabi Muhammad saw. Kerana Nabi Muhammad (saw) ini orang kalu kira orang engineer yang bertauliah. Bukan nak baiki kereta, bukan nak baiki motor, tapi nak baiki manusia. tak ada orang boleh baiki manusia selain daripada golongan Nabi-Nabi dan Nabi Muhammad (saw) ini adalah Nabi. Baginda ialah engineer bertauliah daripada Allah swt. Apa saja kerosakan manusia, kita kena tanya Nabi Muhammad (saw).

Menyentuh tentang Mufti Perak, sepatutnya sebelum seorang mufti membuat kenyataan kalau boleh tanya saya dulu. Tanya tuan punya cakap. Tak boleh kita turut surat khabar. Surat khabar hari ini (adalah) surat khabar arus perdana. Ia surat khabar UMNO. Jadi, macam mana kita nak buat kenyataan berdasarkan apa yang surat khabar (paparkan).”

[ Kenyataan akhbar Tuan Guru Dato’ Menteri Besar di Pejabat Menteri Besar, Kota Darul Naim, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, bertarikh 27 syaaban 1430/18 Ogos 2009. (Selasa) ]

Bagi Tuan Guru, beliau tiada masalah untuk meneliti fatwa Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan yang menjatuhkan hukuman ke atas beliau sebagai bersalah. Bahkan,beliau menegaskan bahawa jika Majlis itu perlukan penjelasan, mereka boleh menulis surat atau datang sendiri untuk bertanya khabar demi mendapatkan penjelasan dan mencari kebenaran. Walaubagaimanapun, seperti yang beliau terasa terkilan dengan sikap mufti Perak, maka begitulah juga dengan sikap Majlis Fatwa yang menggunakan akhbar perdana sebagai satu-satunya sandaran primer, yang seterusnya hanya kembali kepada satu keputusan yang diambil kira-kira lapan tahun yang lalu iaitu pada 23 Mac 2001. Bahkan Nik Abdul Aziz turut menegaskan dalam sidang akhbar beliau dalam isu ini pada 20 Ogos 2009 di Pejabat Menteri Besar iaitu beliau sedia untuk menyertai perbincangan ilmiah atas perkara ini jika Majlis Fatwa masih merasakan ia perlukan penjelasan. “Demi mencari kebenaran, saya bersedia untuk berdepan dalam semangat dakwah, insyaAllah”, tegas beliau.

Sementara itu, dalam perkembangan yang sama, ada satu lagi berita dari Bernama online diatas tajuk “Penduduk Permatang Pasir jangan emosi” pada 20 Ogos 2009. Berita ini, saya kira perlu dipandang serius dan perlu difatwakan oleh Majlis Fatwa. Dalam berita itu, Bernama memetik Timbalan Presiden UMNO sebagai berkata bahawa “Beliau (Muhyiddin) menyelar kenyataan Mursidul Am PAS dengan menegaskan bahawa “Ini soal politik. Bila politik dicampur aduk dengan agama…bahaya” (Sumber: Bernama online, 20 Ogos 2009)

Jika tidak silap saya, pegangan yang memisahkan agama dari politik ini disebut jumhur ulama’ sebagai faham sekular. Dalam konteks ini, jika Majlis Fatwa boleh bertindak sedemikian segera atas kenyataan Tok Guru Nik Aziz, maka tidakkah Majlis yang sama berhasrat mengeluarkan apa-apa fatwa ke atas Muhyiddin? Jika semalam, bagaikan Superman, Majlis Fatwa boleh terbang sepantas kilat untuk menjengkal muka Tok Guru justeru mematuhi arahan atasan, maka jangan salahkan rakyat jika mereka menunggu reaksi yang sama dari tuan-tuan mufti sekalian. Nyatakanlah. Salah? Tak salah? Seleweng? Tak seleweng? Perlu bertaubat? Tak perlu bertaubat?

Dalam konteks PRK Permatang Pasir, bagi pengundi Islam, mereka tentu ingin merakamkan sokongan mereka kepada sebuah parti Islam yang membawa perjuangan Islam syamil yang sebenar. Mereka tidak sanggup memangkah parti Umno yang mengamalkan Islam dari klon sekular; agama suku dan politik suku. Mana boleh diasingkan iman dengan Islam dan Islam dengan politik? Islam jenis sekular yang diperjuangkan oleh Umno inilah yang Tok Guru namakan sebagai Islam palsu. Sebagaimana adanya wang palsu, rambut palsu atau kad pengenalan palsu; begitu jugalah dengan Islam kacukan. Benda palsu; nampak macam sebenar tetapi ia tetap tidak original. Bagi yang ahli, dia akan tetap tahu membezakan antara bunga hidup dengan bunga plastik. Dengan keadaan tidak tulin itulah timbulnya keraguan. Soalnya bolehkah yang syak itu dibawa untuk mendapatkan anugerah syurga Allah di akhirat kelak? Tok Guru bercakap dari sudut kaedah. Jika buat begini ia boleh jadi begini. Jika tidak sempurna wudhu’, amalan sembahyang tidak diterima. Jika tolak Islam, bermakna kufur. Demikianlah seterusnya. Ini soal kaedah. Orang kufur tidak akan masuk Syurga. Ini bukan soal Tok Guru mendahului Tuhan atau lebih tahu dari Tuhan,wal iyazubillah. Saya percaya, para pengundi Islam di DUN Permatang Pasir secara khusus dan umat Islam pada umumnya boleh dengan mudah memahami persoalan dan mantik di sebalik persoalan ini.

Pendek kata, pada saya, polemik ini menyentuh hanya satu persoalan sahaja iaitu memilih sebuah kemurnian antara Islam asli bawaan Nabi-Nabi dengan Islam sekular yang hanya “menoleh pandangan daripada alam-alam lain yang ghaib kepada alam tabii belaka,dan khusus kepada dunia ini sahaja”(Lihat Al-Risalah,Prof. Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, halaman:197). Jika kita boleh sama-sama menerima bahawa salah satu wajah utama sekularisme itu ialah faham yang memisahkan agama dari pemerintahan dan ia adalah sesat, maka demikian jualah status letak duduknya mana-mana aliran pemikiran dan isme yang tumbuh dari pasu itu.

Jangan sampai orang boleh hilang hormat terhadap ahli ugama kerana terlalu kerap menukar topi menurut selera elitis kuasa dan para ningrat. Hal ini sering disebut dengan sinis oleh William Shakespeare dalam tulisan beliau berjodol “Much Ado About Nothing.” Beliau mengungkap kira-kira begini. ” He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat”.

Paling tidak, bersikap jujurlah terhadap ilmu kalaupun tidak malu kepada orang. Sebaik-baiknya, malulah kepada Tuhan.

Annual Bakri Haron

21 Ogos 2009

17 pengkhianatan Umno kepada Melayu

2009-08-24T03:22:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 21, 2009

Dari Harakah daily

Oleh Afyan Ali

Dalam kesibukan Umno melaung-laungkan ‘Anwar Pengkhianat’, mereka lupa bahawa Umnolah yang sebenarnya pengkhianat kepada orang Melayu.

Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, AJK PAS Pusat menyenaraikan 17 pengkhianatan Umno kepada orang-orang Melayu yang bermula semenjak zaman pemerintahan Mahathir lagi.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika berucap di dalam Majlis Hi-Tea anjuran PAS Kawasan Gombak untuk mengutip dana bagi PAS kawasan berkenaan di Markaz Tarbiah PAS Pusat, Taman Melewar.

“Jangan kita lupa, Umno telah melakukan pelbagai pengkhianatan terhadap orang-orang Melayu semenjak pemerintahan Dr Mahathir sehingga sekarang di bawah Najib,” kat Kamaruddin.

“Pada zaman Dr Mahathir, beliau telah menghapuskan imuniti raja-raja Melayu. Institusi Raja Melayu adalah simbol ketuanan orang Melayu dan Umno telah merosakkannya,” katanya.

Seterusnya, pengkhianatan Umno yang kedua, dengan merosakkan sistem kehakiman negara yang juga dilakukan oleh Dr Mahathir.

Beliau telah campur tangan di dalam sistem kehakiman negara, yang menjadi simbol kedaulatan undang-undang negara dan krisis ini membawa kepada pemecatan Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Salleh Abbas.

Kemudian, selepas pilihanraya umum 1999 yang menyaksikan Terengganu jatuh ke tangan PAS, kerajaan Umno menarik balik royalti minyak di sana.

Walhal, majoriti besar rakyat negeri Terengganu adalah daripada orang-orang Melayu dan Umno sanggup berbuat demikian demi membalas dendam akibat kalah teruk dalam pilihanraya berkenaan.

Pada zaman Dr Mahathir juga, pengkhianatan ke empat yang Umno lakukan adalah dengan memperkenalkan dasar Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran Sains dan Matematik di dalam bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) yang secara terang melanggar Perlembagaan Malaysia dan Dasar Bahasa Melayu.

Ia secara lansung melemahkan pencapaian anak-anak Melayu di dalam kedua-dua subjek berkenaan; Sains dan Matematik.

Kemudian, pengkhianatan ke-5 Umno apabila menarik geran peruntukan untuk Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) yang menjadi tempat belajar anak-anak orang Melayu.

“Seterusnya, pengkhianatan Umno terhadap orang Melayu apabila memperkenalkan dasar meritrokrasi,” kata Kamarudin yang juga anggota Parlimen Tumpat itu lagi.

Jika dahulu, anak-anak Melayu berpeluang menyambung pelajaran ke menara gading, tetapi sekarang peluang tersebut semakin tipis apabila dasar meritrokrasi diperkenalkan oleh Dr Mahathir.

Berikut adalah 17 pengkhianatan Umno terhadap orang Melayu

1. Melemahkan institusi raja-raja Melayu yang menjadi simbol ketuanan Melayu.

2. Melemahkan sistem kehakiman negara.

3. Menarik balik royalti rakyat petroleum rakyat Terengganu yang majoriti orang Melayu.

4. Memperkenalkan PPSMI; menghapuskan bahasa Melayu.

5. Menarik peruntukan geran kepada Sekolah Agama Rakyat, tempat belajar agama anak-anak Melayu.

6. Memperkenalkan meritrokrasi; mengurangkan peluang belajar anak-anak Melayu.

7. Memperkenalkan PTPTN dan mengurangkan biasiswa kepada anak-anak Melayu.

8. Persempadanan semula pilihanraya pada 2002; mengurangkan kawasan majoriti orang Melayu.

9. Menafikan hak royalti rakyat Kelantan yang majoriti Melayu.

10. Memperkenalkan Islam Hadhari yang mengelirukan orang Melayu.

11. Menyenaraiawamkan syarikat TH Plantation yang dahulunya dimiliki 100% oleh Tabung Haji dan dimiliki oleh orang Melayu. Tetapi sekarang orang bukan Melayu boleh memiliki saham TH Plantation.

12. Menggabungkan syarikat-syarikat konglomerat orang Melayu iaitu; Sime Darby,Guthrie dan Golden Hope, dan sekaligus mengurangkan peluang orang Melayu daripada tiga syarikat kepada satu syarikat sahaja.

13. Memetik kenyataan Mufti Perak, Datuk Harussani ? 250 ribu orang Melayu murtad. Semua ini adalah di bawah pemerintahan kerajaan Umno.

14. Mewujudkan Wilayah Iskandar yang menjadi zon bebas, maka orang-orang Singapura boleh masuk secara bebas ke sana.

15. Krisis Menteri Besar di Perlis dan Terengganu apabila Umno sendiri yang menentang keputusan Sultan di negeri berkenaan.

16. Membubarkan Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan yang menjadi sumber bantuan usahawan-usahawan Melayu.

17. Memperkenalkan liberalisasi ekonomi, maka sekaligus menghapuskan Dasar Ekonomi Baru yang tujuannya membantu ekonomi orang-orang Melayu Bumiputra.

Ramadhan Kareem!

2009-08-24T03:20:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 21, 2009

Daripada Uthman bin Abi al-‘As, telah bersabda Rasulullah SAW: “Puasa itu perisai, yang akan melindungi seseorang hamba daripada api neraka”. (Hadith)

Alhamdulillah, tahun ini kita masih dikurniakan kesempatan untuk menemui Ramadhan al-Mubarak. Ramadhan diinsafi sebagai bulan tarbiyah dan bulan tazkiyyah, memberi ruang untuk dimanfaatkan oleh umat Islam seluruhnya bagi meningkatkan amal ibadat kepada Yang Maha Esa. Ditegaskan oleh Allah SWT di dalam Al-Quran lewat ayat 183 Surah Al-Baqarah:

“Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Diwajibkan kepada kamu berpuasa sebagaimana telah diwajibkan atas orang-orang sebelum kami, supaya kamu menjadi orang yang bertaqwa..”

Ibadah puasa harus dihayati melangkaui takrif menahan diri dari lapar dan dahaga. Puasa merupakan satu terapi untuk kita bemuhasabah. Ia menuntut kesabaran dan memberi kekuatan pada mereka yang memanfaatkannya sebaik mungkin. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi ada mengatakan, “puasa itu merupakan penawar bagi mereka yang kurang kesabaran dan kurang ketahanan walaupun digabungkan masalah dua orang dalam satu individu”.

Semoga Ramadhan ini memberi kekuatan kepada kita untuk terus memperkemaskan diri untuk memanjat tangga keimanan ke arah mencapai redha Ilahi, inshaAllah.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

——————

Alhamdulilah, this year we have been given the opportunity once again, to embrace the month of Ramadhan al-Mubarak. Ramadhan is not only the month of “tarbiyah” (self-development) and “tazkiyyah” (purity), but it is also a period of self improvement for all the followers of Islam so as to amplify the good practice of worship to the one and only Allah. This is affirmed by Allah SWT in the Al-Quran Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 183;

“Oh you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those who came before you that you may keep your duty to your Lord…”

The experience of fasting goes beyond refraining yourself from food and drinks. Fasting is a therapy for us to be level-headed. It teaches patience and gives strength to those who are wise enough to appreciate the benefits of this holy act. Bedjuzzaman Said Nursi said, “fasting is the antidote to those who are impatient and lacking of self control despite combined with the problem of two in an individual”.

We wish that the holy month of Ramadhan will grant us the strength for continuous self-improvement so as to inch nearer with faith to the destination of God blessing.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Acara Kempen Pakatan Rakyat di DUN Permatang Pasir, 22 Ogos 2009

2009-08-24T03:19:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 21, 2009

6.30-8.00 MLM – TAZKIRAH, BUKA PUASA DAN SOLAT MAGHRIB

TEMPAT: MASJID JAMEK AL-FALAK PENGKALAN TAMBANG
——–

8.30- 10.00 MLM – SOLAT ISYAK, TARAWIKH, DAN TAZKIRAH

TEMPAT : MASJID HAJI SAAD, KAMPONG PELET

———–

8.00-11.00 MLM – PROGRAM MASYARAKAT TIONGHUA

TEMPAT: KAMPONG CROSS STREET

PENCERAMAH : 1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YB CHONG ENG

3) YB TAN HOCK LEONG

3) YB SIM TZE SIM

4) YB LOW CHOO KIANG

5) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

———-

10.00 – 12.00 MLM – CERAMAH PERDANA

TEMPAT : PERMATANG JANGGUS

PENCERAMAH: 1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YB SALAEHUDDIN AYUB

3) YB MAHFUZ OMAR

4) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

Baitulmal Pembangunan Tidak Akan Menyentuh Wang Zakat

2009-08-24T03:17:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

–KENYATAAN MEDIA–

20 OGOS 2009

Kerajaan Negeri Selangor menyokong penuh titah DYMM Sultan Selangor semalam bahawa kutipan zakat di Selangor hanya boleh digunakan untuk membantu umat Islam dan pembangunan ummah di negeri ini.

Sepertimana yang dititah oleh Tuanku Sultan semalam, Kerajaan Negeri juga berharap Majlis Agama Islam Selangor, Lembaga Zakat Selangor dan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor dapat bersama-sama berganding bahu untuk memastikan pengurusan zakat dijalankan dengan baik dan sempurna.

Kerajaan Negeri juga berpendapat laporan mengaitkan titah Tuanku Sultan dengan rancangan Dato Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim untuk menubuhkan Baitulmal Pembangunan adalah tidak benar. Ini adalah kerana titah Tuanku tidak ada kaitan dengan isu Baitulmal Pembangunan.

Sepertimana yang dijelaskan kepada umum dan media sebelum ini, dana Baitulmal Pembangunan yang dirancang tidak akan menyentuh wang zakat yang dibayar oleh umat Islam di negeri Selangor. Hanya “modus operandi” kutipan dana ini akan berlandaskan sistem kutipan zakat sepertimana yang dijalankan oleh Lembaga Zakat Selangor.

Pejabat Menteri Besar telah pun mendapat nasihat dan cadangan dari pejabat Mufti Selangor bagaimana Baitulmal Pembangunan ini boleh dijalankan.

“Seperti rancangan pembangunan yang lain, Kerajaan Negeri akan mengambil pendapat daripada semua pihak yang terlibat sebelum keputusan muktamad dibuat,” kata Tan Sri Abdul Khalid.

Perlu ditegaskan disini bahawa, rancangan ini masih diperingkat kajian dan kerajaan Negeri Selangor hanya akan meneruskannya jika kerajaan Persekutuan meneruskan sikap tidak adil mereka dalam saluran dana pembangunan untuk Negeri Selangor.

SEKRETARIAT AKHBAR
PEJABAT DATO’ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

Mahathir Dan Muhyiddin Tunduk Kepada Tuntutan Lee Kuan Yew?

2009-08-24T03:14:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

Dari Malaysiakini

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin kesal dengan tohmahan pembangkang kononnya beliau pernah menjual sebidang tanah kepada Singapura semasa menjadi menteri besar Johor.

Katanya, fitnah itu sengaja dilemparkan kepadanya bagi menaikkan kebencian rakyat kepada beliau dan kerajaan BN.

“Saya ingin menjelaskan bahawa saya (semasa menjadi menteri besar Johor) tidak pernah menjual tanah walau seinci pun kepada Singapura dan ini adalah fitnah semata-mata,” kata beliau pada ceramah di Tanjong Putus sempena pilihan raya kecil DUN Permatang Pasir di Bukit Mertajam malam tadi.

Timbalan perdana menteri berkata pembangkang membuat fitnah itu kerana tidak tahu sejarah sebenar wujudnya sebuah pusat penyelenggaraan air di kawasan Sungai Lingiu di Bandar Tenggara, Johor.

“Saya terpaksa menjawab kerana pembangkang telah membuat fitnah… apa yang berlaku sebenarnya ialah semasa saya menjadi menteri besar, satu hari saya menerima panggilan daripada Dr Mahathir (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad),” katanya.

Muhyiddin berkata perdana menteri ketika itu Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah memanggilnya secara mengejut ekoran kunjungan Lee Kuan Yew, perdana menteri Singapura ketika itu, ke Kuala Lumpur untuk berbincang mengenai dua perkara iaitu saluran gas dan bekalan air.

Katanya, dalam pertemuan antara Dr Mahathir, Tun Daim Zainuddin (menteri kewangan ketika itu), Lee dan beliau di Kuala Lumpur itu, perdana menteri Singapura telah mendesak mahukan bekalan air yang cukup dari Johor.

“Lee Kuan Yew sehingga berkata Singapura sanggup berperang jika Malaysia tidak mahu menyalurkan bekalan air yang cukup dan kesal dengan projek saluran air dari Sungai Lingu itu telah lama tergendala.

“Saya menyatakan bahawa kita tidak mempunyai wang dan Lee Kuan Yew berkata Singapura sanggup menganggung semua kos dan setelah siap kelak, bangunan dan harta yang dibina itu adalah milik Malaysia sehingga hari ini, jadi Singapura cuma mengeluarkan wang,” kata beliau.

Muhyiddin berkata isu kononnya beliau menjual tanah kepada Singapura sebenarnya adalah satu dakwaan yang bodoh dan dilemparkan oleh orang yang tidak tahu sejarah.

Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa agar rakyat tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan pelbagai dakwaan pembangkang semasa kempen pilihan raya kecil DUN Permatang Pasir itu.

Kenyataan Penuh Bekas Rakan Kongsi Rohaizat Menafikan Tuduhan Umno

2009-08-24T03:13:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

Pada tahun 2002, Koperasi Pekebun Getah Pulau Pinang Berhad mencadang membeli sebidang tanah untuk meluaskan perniagaan mereka dan telah melantik Firma Guaman Saif Ariff and Rohaizat untuk menguruskan pembelian tanah tgersebut.

Saya dan Rohaizat telah berbincang dengan lembaga pengarah koperasi tentang syarat syarat perjanjian jual beli. Setelah semua dipersetujui saya telah menyediakan perjanjian jual beli tanah tersebut.

Untuk tujuan pembelian ini, koperasi telah memohon pinjaman RM320,000 dari Jabatan Pembangunan Koperasi. Pinjaman tersebut telah diluluskan dan wang tersebut dideposit ke dalam akaun klien di firma guaman.

Namun atas sebab masalah komunikasi dengan penjual, yang tinggal di Acheh, jual beli tersebut telah tidak disempurnakan.

Dalam pada itu, koperasi memerlukan sejumlah wang untuk tujuan pengembangan perniagaan mereka. Yusri telah menandatangan satu cek berjumlah RM100,000 atas nama koperasi dan diberikan kepada pihak koperasi. Maka baki RM220,000 masih tersimpan di dalam akuan firma.

Sementara itu, seorang pelanggan, kenalan Rohaizat yang telah membeli sebidang tanah dengan harga RM130,000 telah memohon jasabaik firma (guaman) untuk membiayai bayaran baki RM100,000. Beliau terdahulu telah membayar RM30,000 kepada penjual.

Firma telah bersetuju untuk meminjamkan RM100,000 yang diambil dari wang koperasi kepada pelanggan (tersebut) untuk menyempurnakan jualbeli tanah tersebut dengan syarat beliau membayar balik pinjaman.

Setelah pelanggan gagal membayar balik pinjaman, Rohaizat telah berbincang dan bersetuju untuk mengambil alih milik tanah berkenaan dan melupuskan pinjaman tersebut.

Malangnya, firma gagal menjual keseluruhan tanah (tersebut) sebagai pecahan lot dan tidak dapat membayar kembali wang koperasi yang telah digunakan.

Sebahagian daripada baki dalam akaun pelanggan dan akaun syarikat telah digunakan untuk memberi pinjaman kepada salah seorang pengarah sebuah syarikat pemaju perumahan yang juga kenalan Rohaizat yang menghadapi masalah kewangan yang teruk dan juga untuk pengurusan cawangan baru firma di Ipoh.

Saya bertanggungjawab menguruskan cawangan firma di Ipoh, sementara Rohaizat menumpu sepenuhnya di firma Butterworth.

Saya tidak lagi memantau akaun-akaun pelanggan di cawangan Butterworth sehinggalah saya meninggalkan firma pada November 2003.

Merujuk kepada kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Ahmad Maslan seperti yang dilaporkan oleh Utusan Online bertarikh 19 Ogos 2009 bahawa Rohaizat tidak mempunyai apa-apa penglibatan dan tidak tahu menahu tentang perkara tersebut, saya ingin tegaskan bahawa ia adalah satu pembohongan.

Ini adalah kerana segala urusan pembelian tanah tersebut dan penggunaan wang koperasi di buat dengan pengetahuan dan penglibatan Rohaizat seperti yang dijelaskan di atas.

Mana mungkin pengaliran keluar dan masuk wang dalam sesuatu akaun syarikat tidak diketahui oleh Rohaizat yang juga penandatangan yang sah untuk akaun-akaun tersebut.

Sepatutnya Rohaizat menceritakan perkara sebenar dan tidak meletakkan tanggungjawab dan kesalahan hanya kepada rakan kongsi untuk membebaskan dirinya sendiri.

Merujuk kepada kepada kenyataan Ahmad Maslan yang mengangkat Rohaizat sebagai “wira” kerana membayar balik wang koperasi baru-baru ini, saya ingin tegaskan sesungguhnya beliau sewajarnya menyelesaikan pembayaran pada 2003 lagi ketika cawangan Ipoh telah menjana pendapatan yang agak lumayan.

Seyugia diingatkan bahawa cawangan Ipoh ditubuhkan dan diuruskan dengan sebahagiannya menggunakan wang dari akaun klien koperasi pekebun getah Pulau Pinang.

Layakkah title itu diberikan oleh Ahmad kepada Rohaizat? Saya percaya Ahmad Maslan tidak sedar akan kedudukan sebenarnya atau lebih malang lagi kalau beliau sengaja berpura-pura tidak tahu?

Wirakah Rohaizat ketika enggan, cuai, dan gagal menghadirkan diri di hadapan Majlis Peguam pada 14 September 2007 untuk memberi penjelasan ke atas satu kes besar yang beliau hadapi.

Dakwaan Ahmad Maslan bahawa Rohaizat tidak mempunyai apa-apa penglibatan atau pengetahuan mengenai transaksi jual beli tanah itu, menggambarkan Rohaizat selaku senior partner di dalam firma tersebut, tidak tahu apa-apa tentang urustadbir pejabat.

Apakah dakwaaan Ahmad Masalam ini lojik dan munasabah? Transaksi sebesar ratusan ribu yang dijalankan rakan kongsinya, didakwa tidak diketahuinya?

Tidak masuk akal langsung sebagai seorang yang berpendidikan tinggi!

Saya berharap dengan penjelasan ini, saya dapat membersihkan diri saya daripada dikambinghitamkan dalam kes kecuaian Rohaizat yang membawa kepada pembatalan pendaftaran beliau sebagai penguambela dan peguamcara.

Rohaizat’s partner denies Umno’s accusation

2009-08-24T03:12:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

The Malaysian Insider

PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 20 — The controversy surrounding Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman’s disbarment took a new twist today when his partner, the one Umno accused of taking their client’s money, appeared to deny the allegation.

Yusri Ishak alleged that the money was used by Rohaizat to open up a branch of the firm in Ipoh and said that the Umno politician cannot deny involvement in the case.

The 38-year-old lost an appeal on Aug 12 against being struck off the rolls of the Malaysian Bar after he blamed his partner for the matter which the Bar Council said involved RM161,000 in client’s money.

Rohaizat is facing PAS’s Mohd Salleh Man Mat Aji in a straight fight for the Permatang Pasir state seat on Aug 25, the country’s eighth by-election since Election 2008.

Umno has dismissed the issue, saying Rohaizat has paid back the money and it is not a criminal case, accusing the opposition of playing up the issue.

Rohaizat was disbarred last year after he was found guilty by the Bar Council’s disciplinary board of misconduct of failing to return the money to the Penang Rubber Smallholders’ Cooperative.

Fitnah Dan Adu Domba Perkauman Politik Pimpinan Umno-BN

2009-08-24T03:10:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

(video ehsan TV Pas)

Selepas saya menjadi sasaran fitnah, serangan pimpinan umno-bn beralih pula kepada Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz. Segala macam tuduhan dihamburkan oleh media milik penguasa kepada ulama tersebut. Pimpinan umno dan konco-konco mereka sanggup memutar belitkan fakta hatta memintal fitnah asalkan matlamat untuk memenangi pilihanraya kecil DUN Permatang Pasir terpenuhi.

Apatah lagi bila tersepit dihimpit kecuaian sendiri ketika memilih calon, segala upaya dan jentera propaganda digembeling merekayasa fiksi politik. Adu domba dilatari politik perkauman sempit biar rakyat terus berpecah, sedangkan pimpinan umno seharusnya sedar, merekalah yang menyebabkan terbit rasa curiga dalam masyarakat. Walhasil merekalah yang terkait dengan pelbagai tuduhan penyelewengan amanah rakyat.

Manakala itu Pakatan Rakyat tetap terus beriltizam untuk membawa Perubahan dan arus Politik baru sunggupun berulang kali tuduhan yang tidak berasas dilemparkan kepada kami. Saya yakin rakyat akan membuat pilihan yang tepat memandangkan mereka tidak sanggup dipermainkan lagi.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

——————————

After being the target of slander, the Umno-BN leadership has now shifted their attacks from me to Tok Guru Nik Abdul Aziz. All sorts of accusations have been scattered by the government-owned media against the Islamic theologian. Umno leadership and its members are willing to bend truths and twist facts, even of a respected religious scholar, just as long as their aim to win the state constituency by-election of Permatang Pasir is fulfilled.

What more when they find themselves cornered by their own negligence in choosing a candidate, all efforts and propaganda machinery are engaged to create a fictional political story to serve as diversion. The Umno leadership should realise by now, that they are the ones who are raising doubts amongst fellow Malaysians with their narrow-minded racial politics

In the mean time, Pakatan Rakyat remains determined to bring forth change and a new political wave, despite the repeated and baseless accusations thrown at us. I am confident the people will make the right choice, for they no longer want to be taken for fools.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Salute To Kim Dae Jung

2009-08-24T03:08:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 20, 2009

August 19, 2009

The name of Kim Dae-Jung, the former President of the Republic of Korea who died in Seoul yesterday, will resonate wherever in Asia people struggle against the fetters imposed by authoritarian regimes.

He was a leader who was willing to risk his life so that his countrymen would be free of the chains imposed by military regimes that ruled Korea from the 1960s onwards.

His courage in the face of danger to life and liberty shone like a beacon throughout the period of his struggles and, without doubt, the memory of its example will continue to inspire those on the continent who battle to free their societies from oppressive controls.

Kim Dae-Jung will also be remembered for his firm rejection of the argument, espoused by sundry Asian autocrats, that societies imbued with Confucian values are apt to prioritize social order and prosperity above the disorderly freedom of contentious democracies.

It was an argument he rebutted as intellectually shoddy and scorned for its implication that Asians would acquiesce to curtailments to their rights as long as their stomachs were full and their streets free of strife.

His name will occupy an imperishable niche in the history of the struggles waged by national patriots who were prepared to pay the highest price so that their people could enjoy the full measure of their humanity under freed polities.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Raja Aziz Addruse is Anwar’s new lead counsel

2009-08-24T03:07:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 19, 2009

Malaysiakini | August 19, 2009

Former Bar Council president Raja Aziz Addruse will now head the defence team in Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial.

The prominent lawyer replaces Sulaiman Abdullah, another former Bar Council president, who has excused himself due to health reasons.

Raja Aziz is also one of the three Malaysians to have been appointed commissioner of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists.

He will be joined by an all-star cast of lawyers including Param Cumaraswamy (former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers), DAP chairperson Karpal Singh, CV Prabakharan and Sankara Nair.

“In making this announcement, our client, his wife and his family would like to express their deepest and most sincere gratitude to Sulaiman for having rendered exemplary services to our client and would like to wish him all the best,” Nair said in a statement today.

Anwar’s trial is scheduled to resume on Sept 2 with an application for a judicial review to quash a written statement by the prosecution.

Anwar is appealing against a High Court order which prevents him from obtaining documents from the prosecution that are he deems crucial to his defence.

Samy Vellu wants to stay till 2015

2009-08-24T03:06:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 19, 2009

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who is battling to stay in power against the wishes of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the Indian community, says he will stay on as party president until 2015, well past his 11th term as president.

In March Samy Vellu was “elected” unopposed as party president for a three-year term which expires in 2012, after his sole challenger Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan was disqualified because he did not have the required nominations.

His decision to stay on until 2015 is also well past the due date of next general election which must be called by 2013 but is expected much earlier.

The 2015 time frame indicates Samy Vellu wants to re-contest in the Sungei Siput parliamentary constituency, which he had held since 1974 but lost to Parti Sosialis Malaysia leader Dr M. Jeyakumar last March.

“He wants to stay, win back Sungei Siput and retire in a blaze of glory,” said an MIC leader who attended the Sepang MIC meeting on Monday where Samy Vellu declared he would stay on

His declaration was front paged by the Makkal Osai Tamil daily today.

“We are all shocked by the declaration. He has the MIC in his grip and nobody dares challenge him. If he wants to stay then he stays…who can stop him?” the MIC leader said.

“The party leadership is in the grip of the Yes-men…the rest of us are all spectators,” the MIC leader said.

At the function to open the new Sepang MIC building, MIC sources said, Samy Vellu also lashed out at money politics and how certain leaders were simply buying up votes for as much as RM1,000 a delegate.

He did not name any person but it is no secret that some of the candidates contesting for the various posts are either multi-millionaires themselves or having the backing of millionaires.

Non-stop dinners at posh restaurants are the order of the day with cash in envelopes, air tickets and other “presents” thrown in to sweeten the high-end food.

Cash-poor contestants often wait outside these restaurants and meeting places to give leaflets to departing delegates.

Their main platform is reform but no one has yet spelled out what action they would take largely for fear Samy Vellu might come down hard on them.

One vice-presidential candidate was even issued with a show-cause letter for publicly saying the MIC needs “more wise men, not Yes-men.”

Samy Vellu also told the meeting he would double the MIC’s 3,000 branches to 6,000 over the next few years and warned branch leaders against getting carried away.

Tomorrow Samy Vellu is making public his “preferred” list of candidates for all posts, which MIC officials say would be a mixture of old and new faces.

All other contestants, and there are many this time, would be pitting themselves against the “preferred” candidates.

An anti-Samy Vellu movement is gathering force in the MIC and if it holds until polling on September 12, many of his candidates are going to crash.

Saturday is nomination day and all camps are mustering their supporters to rally for a big show.

Umno Double Standard?

2009-08-24T03:05:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 19, 2009

Dari Malaysiakini

Calon yang dipilih untuk bertanding dalam pilihanraya mesti mempunyai rekod yang bersih kerana “kita meminta rakyat meletak kepercayaan kepadanya sebagai ketua mereka”, kata bekas naib presiden Umno, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

“Kita juga berkata calon tersebut mewakili kita. Saya rasa sedih kerana terpaksa menyebut perkara yang sudah nyata itu,” tulis Tengku Razaleigh yang juga ahli parlimen Gua Musang dalam blognya.

Beliau merujuk kepada pemilihan Rohaizat Othman – yang telah dibatalkan lesen guamannya – sebagai calon BN dalam pilihanraya kecil DUN Permatang Pasir.

Majlis Peguam telah membatalkan lesen guamannya pada 7 Mac 2008 ekoran dikaitkan dengan kes pecah amanah wang anak guam. Rayuan Rohaizat ke Mahkamah Tinggi juga ditolak pada 12 Ogos lalu.

Menurut Tengku Razaleigh perkara itu seumpama itu tidak akan melayakkannya menjadi calon bagi jawatan awam dalam mana-mana parti politik.

Sehubungan itu, beliau mempersoalkan apakah Umno kekurangan calon sehingga terpaksa memilih Rohaizat bertanding di Permatang Pasir.

“Apakah salahlaku kewangan seumpama itu sudah menjadi perkara biasa sehingga tidak lagi menjadi faktor dalam memilih calon yang sesuai.

“Pemimpin parti yang memilih dan menyaring calon-calon mesti sudah tahu kecacatan itu tetapi menganggap salahlaku kewngan itu sebagai satu perkara yang remeh,” tambahnya.

Menurut Tengku Razaleigh lagi, kejujuran merupakan syarat minimum untuk memegang jawatan awam.

“Apa jua pun kebaikan-kebaiakan yang lain yang dimilik calon berkenaan, beliau tidak boleh dipertimbangkan sekiranya beliau gagal ujian ini.

“Calon yang hendak kita pilih bertanding dalam pilihanraya mesti mempunyai rekod yan bersih kerana kita meminta rakyat meletakkan keyakinan mereka kepadanya sebagai pemimpin mereka.

“Dan kerajaan yang demokratik akan runtuh tanpa mendapat keyakinan rakyat,” tambahnya.

Oleh itu, Tengku Razaleigh berkata, dengan meletak seorang yang telah dilucut kelayakannya menjadi peguam, maka Umno menonjolkan imej bahawa ia mengamalkan kod moral yang berbeza dengan yang diamalkan oleh rakyat Malaysia.

“Satu set peraturan untuk Umno dan yang lain pula untuk orang lain,” katanya.

Kim Dae Jung: Sosok Berani Melawan Kezaliman

2009-08-24T03:04:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 19, 2009

Semalam saya menerima berita sedih dari bumi Korea Selatan. Mantan Presiden Kim Dae Jung telah pun meninggalkan kita buat selama-lamanya. Mendiang dihormati sebagai pejuang yang tidak pernah kenal erti takut menentang kezaliman rejim Park Chung Hee dan Chun Doo Hwan.

Makalah Journal of Democracy (Jilid 17 tahun 2006) memuatkan esei tulisan saya yang berjudul Universal Values and Muslim Democracy, yang mana antara lain turut menyentuh sumbangan Kim Dae Jung dan sarjana terkenal seumpama Amartya Sen serta Tu Wei Ming yang berjaya membongkar kerapuhan hujah “Nilai Asia.” Mendiang berusaha keras memastikan prinsip dan semangat demokratik mengakar kukuh di dalam institusi kenegaraan serta norma masyarakat yang tidak terpisahkan.

Kita kehilangan seorang lagi pemimpin yang sentiasa beriltizam mewujudkan sebuah negara yang makmur sejahtera dan tidak pernah gagal melindungi hak rakyatnya. Saya mengambil kesempatan ini untuk merakamkan ucapan takziah kepada seluruh keluarga beliau dan moga teladan yang ditunjukkan sepanjang perjuangan mendiang boleh dijadikan iktibar buat semua.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

—————————————–

Tonight, once again, unfortunate news has dawned upon me, invoking great sorrow within me. This sad news comes from the South of the Korean peninsular. Former president Kim Dae Jung passed away today. The respected deceased, as a fighter, had never known the meaning of fear in his fight against cruelty under the regime of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan.

Volume 17 of the Journal of Democracy year 2006 carried my essay, titled “Universal Values and Muslim Democracy”. My essay, amongst others, touches on the contribution of Kim Dae Jung and well known scholars, such as Amartya Sen and Tu Wei Ming, who succeeded in exposing the weaknesses of the “Nilai Asia” slander. The deceased strived hard to ensure that the principles and the spirit of democracy is strongly rooted in the national institution and is alive amongst the united people of South Korea.

The world has lost a leader who has always been determined to create a country that is prosperous, peaceful and without failures so as to protect the rights of the people. I want to take this opportunity to send my condolences to his entire family and hope that his journey as a fighter be a great inspiration to all.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ekonomi Negara Di Persimpangan: Beranikah Untuk Berubah?

2009-08-19T03:45:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 19, 2009

Ramai dari kita sedar jualan dari sektor pembuatan merupakan di antara pemacu utama pertumbuhan ekonomi Malaysia. Oleh itu tidak hairanlah timbul rasa gusar di kalangan usahawan dan pengilang tempatan apabila prestasi nilai jualan sektor pembuatan tahun ini merudum sebanyak 25.5%. Sedangkan pada bulan Jun tahun 2008 sektor tersebut mencatatkan nilai jualan sebanyak RM 52.7 billion.

Menurut Jabatan Perangkaan Negara, nilai jualan sektor pembuatan merosot terkesan dari kelembapan 75 industri dalam sektor tersebut. Antaranya industri produk petroleum bertapis, pembuatan komputer dan peranti komputer, pembuatan besi asas dan keluli, pembuatan plastik serta pembuatan kimia perindustrian asas.

Apa yang lebih merisaukan saya, kesan buruk dari merosotnya prestasi industri-industri terbabit adalah berkurangnya peluang pekerjaan serta munculnya masalah pengangguran. Sekiranya kita membuat perbandingan di antara tahun ini dan sebelumnya, ternyata jumlah bilangan pekerjaan mencatatkan penurunan sebanyak 7.8% bersamaan 79 298 orang.

Angka-angka tersebut memperlihatkan kepada kita betapa negara ini masih teruk terkesan akibat dari krisis kewangan yang melanda keras tempoh hari. Langkah pembetulan mestilah merangkumi sekurang-kurangnya tiga perkara iaitu cepat, tepat dan berani. Tindakan pantas seiring dengan ketepatan membaca arus pergolakan mahupun gejolak kegawatan membolehkan permasalahan dapat segera dikoreksi.

Apa yang dikesalkan, kita sebenarnya berupaya untuk mengelak dari terjerumus merasai beban kedudukan ekonomi seperti sekarang sekiranya pimpinan serta pengurusan ekonomi negara cepat mengenalpasti kegawatan yang tiba dan bertanggungjawab menyampaikannya sesegera mungkin kepada rakyat.

Haruslah juga ada keberanian untuk kembali mengungkap dasar yang sudah lama dilaksanakan serta menawarkan ide baru. Pastinya akan ada pertentangan dari mereka yang gentar dan alah kepada Perubahan. Hakikatnya saranan serta cadangan yang kita tawarkan kepada rakyat Malaysia diakui berkesan oleh mereka yang pada mulanya seumpama sapi naik minyak.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Kenyataan Majlis Peguam Berhubung Tuduhan Terhadap Calon umno

2009-08-19T03:44:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

In response to inquiries from the media, we wish to clarify Rohaizat Othman’s status as an advocate and solicitor.

The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board struck Rohaizat Othman off the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors on 7 March 2008 after he was found guilty of misconduct. The Disciplinary Board’s decision arose from an investigation into the complaint lodged against Rohaizat Othman by the purchaser of a piece of real property. According to the complaint, Rohaizat Othman failed to refund almost RM 161,000 to the complainant after the transaction was aborted.

Rohaizat Othman appealed against the decision of the Disciplinary Board to the High Court, and the appeal was dismissed on 12 August 2009. He is therefore legally disqualified from practising as an advocate and solicitor.

The finding of misconduct is personal to Rohaizat Othman, as the Disciplinary Board would not hold a lawyer liable for the actions of his/her law partner(s).

George Varughese
Secretary
Malaysian Bar

18 August 2009

Muhyiddin jadikan harta kerajaan harta partinya

2009-08-19T03:42:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

Oleh Zukri Aksah

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Timbalan Presiden Umno, baru-baru ini terselamat dari terlibat dengan tragedi apabila helikopter Nuri milik TUDM yang dinaikinya terpaksa membuat pendaratan cemas di Tuaran disebabkan cuaca buruk.

Sambil mengucapkan syukur atas terhindarnya Muhyiddin dari tragedi, Saudara Ahmad Nizam Hamid, Penasihat Undang-Undang PKR Negeri Pahang sempat melontar persoalan yang terbit berikutan kejadian tersebut.

Ini kerana Muhyiddin menaiki helikopter Nuri milik TUDM tersebut untuk ke Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kota Kinabalu setelah selesai merasmikan Persidangan Perwakilan Umno Bahagian Kudat. Pada petang hari yang sama, Muhyiddin dijadual akan merasmikan pula Persidangan Perwakilan Umno Bahagian Penampang.

Nizam mempersoalkan kenapa Muhyiddin dibenar bagi menggunakan helikopter milik tentera, milik kerajaan untuk kerja-kerja partinya, Umno?

Walaupun beliau berjawatan dalam kerajaan sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri, tetapi itu tidak pula pernah memberinya tiket untuk turut mendapat keistimewaan kemudahan kerajaan dalam menjalankan tugasnya sebagai Timbalan Presiden Umno.

Lainlah kalau Muhyiddin boleh membuktikan yang Umno telah menyewa helikopter tersebut dari TUDM untuk kegunaannya di Sabah.

Nizam menambah, sikap Muhyiddin mungkin gambaran sikap Umno keseluruhannya, yang sudah tidak dapat membezakan di antara harta peribadi dan harta kerajaan, harta kerajaan itu harta parti, Umno itu kerajaan, kerajaan itu Umno.

Sikap yang melambangkan bahawa Umno secara dasarnya tidak pernah berubah, walaupun telah terpukul teruk dalam pilihanraya umum yang lalu.

Jika Umno, seperti yang ditunjukkan Muhyiddin, secara berterusan menggunapakai harta kerajaan bak harta sendiri dan harta parti, tanpa sedikitpun ada rasa bersalah, maka jelaslah Muhyiddin bagi Nizam, sebenarnya adalah pengkhianat, mengkhianati amanah negara yang telah mempertanggungjawabkan kedudukan Timbalan Perdana Menteri ke bahunya. Dengan menyalahgunakan kedudukannya, Muhyiddin telah “mencuri” harta negara untuk digunakan bagi kemudahan diri dan partinya.

SPRM sepatutnya boleh membuka fail siasatan terhadap Muhyiddin berdasarkan laporan akhbar. SPRM sepatutnya boleh menyerbu ke pejabat Muhyiddin dan mengheret setiausaha peribadi atau pembantu khas beliau di hadapan orang-ramai. Tegas Nizam, perbelanjaan minyak dan lain-lain berkaitan juruterbang serta seumpamanya boleh sahaja mencecah RM150,000 jika mengambil contoh skandal yang didakwa melibatkan Presiden MCA, Ong Tee Keat yang gagal menjelaskan bil penggunaan jet persendiriannya.

Simpul Nizam, bagi pemimpin Umno seperti Muhyiddin, istilah pertanggungjawaban dan memegang amanah secara jujur tiada dalam kamus hidup dan politik mereka. Tanggungjawab moral bagi pemimpin seperti ini hanyalah retorik pidato dalam siaran media dan kempen pilihanraya. Mereka, ujar Nizam lagi mencuri, menggadai dan menyalahguna harta negara, kemudiannya melepaskan tanggungannya ke pundak rakyat. Lebih teruk ia dilakukan tanpa sedikit pun rasa bersalah dan menyesal.

Acara Kempen Pakatan Rakyat di DUN Permatang Pasir, 19 Ogos 2009

2009-08-19T03:41:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

RABU, 19 OGOS 2009

———-

CERAMAH 1

MASA: 8.00 malam – 11.00 malam

TEMPAT: DEWAN UPLIFTING SOCIETY KG CROSS STREET

PENCERAMAH:

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YAB LIM GUAN ENG

3) YB CHONG ENG

4) YB JEFF OOI

5) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

———-

CERAMAH 2

MASA : 9.00 malam – 12.00 tengah malam

TEMPAT: JDM PEKAN PERMATANG PAUH (RUMAH PAK GHOUSE)

PENCERAMAH:

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YB MAHFUZ OMAR

3) YB SAIFUDDIN NASUTION

4) YB MUJAHID YUSOF

5) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

———-

CERAMAH PERDANA

MASA: 9.00 malam – 12.00 malam

TEMPAT: BUKIT INDERA MUDA

PENCERAMAH :

1) YB DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

2) YBHG MOHAMAD SABU

3) YB PROF MANSOR OTHMAN

4) YB ABDULLAH SANI

5) USTAZ SALLEH MAN (CALON)

Kepada Yang Bukan Dato’ Onn… Siri Politik Melayu (2)

2009-08-19T03:40:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

Dari PerakExpress

OLEH Hasmi bin Hashim

Kalau lelaki-lelaki berselempang merah yang bersatu sepertinya sebuah rejimen tentara meneruskan serangan ke bandar Pengaram, dikhuatiri keluarga Dato’ Onn anak-beranak habis dibunuh—barangkali dibakar hidup-hidup di rumah mereka oleh segelintir Cina yang dipercayai Komunis, yang, mengepung sejak dini hari.

Sepuluh batu di belakang, di Pekan Semerah, sudah ‘banjir’ pekan sebatang itu dengan apa yang saya dengar sebagai “darah Cina.”

Cek Ijam ada di sana, kala Dato’ Onn merayu agar jangan diteruskan niat membunuh segala Cina di Bandar Pengaram.

Salleh pun muncul tiba-tiba, dari celah-celah, apabila berlangsung proses yang seperti sebuah negosiasi dan rundingan dengan Dato’ Onn. Ketika Salleh muncul, Cek Ijam mendengar seketika. Kemudian dia ‘mengundur’, melangkah agak ke belakang daripada tegaknya mula-mula yang tak jauh daripada di mana Dato’ Onn berdiri—sementara dialah yang dikatakan mengepalai secara rahsia ‘perang’ itu.

Sejak itu, Salleh mula diangkat sebagai jagoan Melayu Semerah; Melayu Batu Pahat.

Nama Salleh disebut sebagai “Panglima.”

Nama Cek Ijam tersorok. Tak pernah terdengar, sehinggalah umur saya 32 tahun… begitu lama bukan? ~ Tapi, tugas membawakan sesuatu yang benar, takkan pernah punya tarikh hujungnya.

“Tak boleh putus air sembahyang sepanjang bertempur,” kata Cikgu Baharum. Disensengkannya lengan baju, kiri-kanan.

“Kalau putus?”

“Kalau putus, terjun dalam parit dan niat ambil air sembahyang semula…” jelasnya lagi. Sepanjang jalan menuju bandar Batu Pahat dari Semerah, dilintangi parit-parit seperti anak sungai setiap sebatang. Ada juga yang agak besar seperti di kampung saya sendiri, Parit Kuda, yang tak sampai sebatu jauhnya dari paya bakau dan Selat Melaka. Begitulah di setiap kampung di daerah kami dipisah-pisahkan oleh parit-parit. Satu kampung: satu parit.

Tak boleh buat apa-apa yang salah dan berdosa. Misalnya? “Misalnya mencuri,” Cikgu meneruskan cerita.

Ada… ada seorang kawannya yang teringin sangat hendak makan durian. Ada buah yang mereka nampak tepi jalan yang bukan milik mereka.

“Diambilnya buah durian itu,” tambah Cikgu, “dikopek dan dijamah…’jangan-jangan kata aku’.”

“Apa jadi?”

Saya sebenarnya sudah mendengar akibat buruk yang dikatakan balasan ‘tunai’ Tuhan. Tak tunggu-tunggu. Di situ juga ditimpa bencana.

“Dia jamah seulas… bukan seulas sangat, tapi hanya secebis dan hanya di hujung bibirnya dirasa durian itu…”

“Apa jadi?”

“Manis bukan main, kata kawan aku…”

“Apa jadi?” saya mendesak.

“Apa jadi? Tummm!”

“Berdentum bunyi tembakan… peluru lintas kena bibir. Depan mata. Aku nampak. Bibirnya berdarah, luka,” cerita Cikgu Baharum lagi.

Kawannya luka pada bibir… bibir yang tadinya menjamah durian yang bukan miliknya, yang bukan lagi manisnya. Dia telah dianggap mencuri… mengambil yang bukan haknya.

Berdentum dada saya mendengar dan membayangkan bagaimana peluru itu melintasi tak jauh daripada di mana Cikgu Baharum berdiri.

Memang, ada yang mati—ada kes di mana lelaki Selempang Merah terbunuh ditusuk peluru Komunis.

“Dia curi basikal ketika kami menyerang di Pekan Parit Jawa beberapa hari sebelum itu… disorokkannya basikal itu dalam semak. Bila-bila, katanya, dia hendak datang dan ambil semula—tak siapa tahu. Tapi tak sempat. Mati ditembak tak lama selepas itu,” tegas Cikgu dengan biji matanya sedikit berair, merah.

“Hei orang-orang Semerah!” ~ suara Dato’ Onn, yang, seakan terus berkumandang.

Memang berderau sebab mengetahu tentang rahsia Ayat Ampat. Juga daripada mana asal-usulnya. Bukan seperti segala cerita yang terdengar sebelum ini, termasuk yang kadang-kala terdengar di dalam mensyuarat agung Umno cawangan—ada yang menyatakan punca ‘ilmu’ Panglima Salleh adalah daripada isterinya.

Isterinya itu perempuan Tanah Seberang—dari Sumatera kata sesetengah orang tua-tua. Tak boleh jijak tanah. Pantang! Kalau turun ke tanah, perlu berlapik kain merah… Kalau tidak, segala ilmu Salleh pun jadi tawar.

Saya lebih yakin, Ayat Ampat itu datangnya daripada Cek Ijam. Usulnya, Tok Janggut.

Saya lebih percaya ayat itu ayat pemberani untuk tujuan bertempur. Saya lebih percaya segala kebesaran Tuhan daripada segala yang misteri dan tak terjawab dek karena ‘politik-kekuasaan’ manusia yang mahu menggunakan kisah “Perang Banjar” (atau “Perang Parang Panjang”) itu sebagai modal dakyah menyelimuti parti yang penuh dengan busung kebaculan. Berabad-abad.

Saya kata pemimpin Umno bacul. Saya kata, mereka tak pernah berani berhadapan dengan orang yang berkuasa untuk menyetakan kebenaran. Anwar difitnah pada 1998. Mereka lari dari Anwar, walaupun di kalangan orang yang paling rapat dan ‘menjual’ nama Anwar sebelumnya. Mereka tak pernah berani bercakap benar di depan Dr Mahathir Mohammad, sehingga ke sudah… walaupun mereka tahu betapa segala kerosokan ini dilakukan oleh Dr Mahathir ketika itu. Mereka asyik, terus menjilat…

Alih-alih, ada yang coba menghimpun orang-orang Melayu di seluruh daerah Batu Pahat dan serata Johor petang Jumaat, 14 Ogos 2009 lalu. Mereka war-warkan yang akan turun 5 ribu orang. Yang datang, hanya sekitar 500 orang.

Mereka coba membakar dada orang Melayu konon dengan tuduhan ‘durhaka’ kepada Sultan Melayu dan ‘pengkhianat bangsa’. Mereka coba mengumpan kononnya perhimpunan itu juga bertujuan memperingati usaha Dato’ Onn menghimpun orang Melayu demi menuntut kemerdekaan.

Mereka lakukan semua ini tanpa pernah menjawab, siapa yang ‘menggadai’ Temasek ke luar Tanah Melayu… sehingga tak diketahui anak-anak hari ini, dari mana asalnya nama “Teluk Belanga”? Usman Awang, dalam puisinya “Melayu Johor”, yang serangkap begini bunyinya:

Melayu Johor
Telah terlalu banyak kita kehilangan
Sawah ladang bertukar tangan
Pekan dan bandar kita menumpang
Teluk Belanga entah ke mana
Yang tinggal hanyalah pakaian
Sedarah sedaging hampir hilang
Yang ada hanyalah setulang
Selat Teberau kian sempit
Hati rindu jauh tergamit.

Ya..! Siapa pula yang cuai dalam tugas sehingga Malaysia terlepas Pulau Batu Puteh? Lagi, misalnya siapa yang memungut wang ringgit orang Johor, termasuk di kalangan Melayu miskin untuk dimasukkan ke dalam sebuah saham amanah negeri (Amanah Saham Johor:ASJ), yang kemudiannya merudum rugi? Rugi sehingga begitu ramai rakyat yang muflis dan bankrup. Tergadai tanah dan harta benda. Tergadai rumah dan bertabrakan keluarga.

Saya tidak menafikan betapa Dato’ Onn adalah antara manusia yang tentunya mengerti akan makna sebuah kesatuan nusa bangsa—betapa gusarnya hati beliau apabila ahli keluarganya dikepung puak pengganas dan pelampau hari itu.

“Tolonglah! Jangan menyerang sehingga ke Bandar Pengaram… keluarga saya sudah dikepung!” laungnya.

Aduhai, sampai bilakah mampu mereka memesong dan menyembunyikan kenyataan ini? Justeru memang ada beda antara “mencintai bangsa sendiri,” dengan orang “menanamkan kebencian ke atas orang lain.”

Tulis Usman sebagai sirih penangguh cerita:

Anak Johor
Luka di Tanjung Putri
Parutnya di Parit Raja
Muka biar berseri
Mulut biar berbahasa.

Kepada Yang Bukan Dato’ Onn…Siri Politik Melayu 1

2009-08-19T03:39:00.000+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

Dari PerakExpress

OLEH Hasmi bin Hashim

Sebelum ahli-ahli Umno akar umbi itu turun ke Dataran Pengaram petang ini, dan melaungkan “Anwar pengkhianat bangsa!”, saya perlu ceritakan tentang inspirasi perjuangan Dato’ Onn Jaafar—nama yang selalu diingatkan kepada saya sejak kecil. Sebuah sisi sejarah yang barangkali tidak ahli-ahli Umno itu tahu, selain kepatuhan melulu kepada pemimpin-pemimpin yang mahu meneruskan angkara murka.

Petang itu, Dato’ Onn bersama beberapa pengikutnya menahan pasukan lelaki Melayu yang kemudiannya dikenali sebagai “Selempang Merah” daripada meneruskan niatkan ke bandar Pengaram. Kata orang tua-tua, habis sudah orang-orang Cina dibunuh dalam amukan itu—“Perang Parang Banjar”. Peristiwa itu juga dikenali sebagai “Perang Banjar.”

“Hai orang-orang Semerah!” laung Dato’ Onn apabila melihat pasukan Selempang Merah sudah ramai berkumpul di hadapannya.

“Hai orang-orang Semerah, tak usahlah diteruskan untuk menyerang bandar Pengaram…” kata Dato’ Onn lagi.

Mereka memang menuju ke Batu Pahat, untuk membunuh segala Cina—sebagai satu tugas balas dendam kepada pengganas Komunis yang sebelumnya dikatakan telah membunuh orang-orang kampung; orang-orang Melayu.

“Keluarga saya sudah dikepung…”

Rupa-rupanya di Batu Pahat, di kediaman Pegawai Daerah (Dato’ Onn ketika itu adalah pegawai daerah Batu Pahat), sepasukan orang-orang Cina—ada juga yang menyatakannya sebagai pengikut Komunis—telah mengepung keluarga Dato’ Onn. Mereka dikatakan mengugut agar Dato’ Onn bertemu dan menahan “orang-orang Semerah” daripada meneruskan niat menyerang dan membunuh segala Cina di Batu Pahat.

Rundingan pun berlangsung. Sejak kecil saya mendengar nama seperti Panglima Salleh, atau Kyai Salleh. Dia adalah orang yang sama, walaupun ada panggilan “Penglima”, ada panggilan “kyai”. Orang tidak menyebutkan nama Chek Jam. Ada yang memanggilnya dengan nama Cek Ijam. Dia juga orang yang sama, walaupun panggilannya berbeza.

Ada tiga watak penting di sana. Dato’ Onn. Ada Salleh, dan ada Ijam.

Memang di kalangan pemimpin Umno, baik di Batu Pahat, baik di Parit Sulong mahupun di serata daerah berdekatan, mereka selalu mendendangkan nama Panglima Salleh sebagai pejuang—yang membangkitkan semangat orang-orang Melayu agar menuntut bela. Agar, dikatakan, membela nasib bangsa.

Orang melupakan nama Chek Jam—seorang alim, kaum Banjar. Hanya sebelum Pilihanraya Umum lalu, apabila saya menyelusuri rumah orang tua-tua meminta restu untuk bertanding sebagai calon Keadilan bagi kawasan Semerah, barulah terbuka cerita. Cerita tentang Chek Jam.

Orang alim ini pernah berguru dengan Tok Janggut, di Kelantan. Dia jualah yang mengajarkan apa yang dikenali sebagai “ayat empat”: empat yang Quran bagi tujuan perang. Menimbulkan rasa yakin diri, kalau ayat itu dibacakan. Memang ada cerita yang menyatakan bahawa dengan amalan Ayat Empat, maka pengamalnya akan kebal! Wallahu-alam…

Sejak di zaman kanak-kanak, apabila saya mendengar cerita orang tua-tua bagaimana keberanian ‘tentera’ Selempang Merah, saya terkagum. Kadang, tercetus di dalam hati saya, saya mahu menjadi pejuang dan penglima gagah berani berperang sepertimana datuk nenek moyang kami.

Setiap sejarah begitu akan, lazimnya, bercampur dengan tokok tambah asam garam pemanis cerita…

Misteri daripada Panglima Salleh mendapatkan Ayat Empat terjawab oleh seorang tua—namanya Cikgu Baharum. Dia orang Pas pertama di Semerah. Orang yang bekorban begitu banyak untuk menghidupkan Pas. Hari ini pun, setiap petang, dia selalu minum kopi di warong Hashim, di Pasar Pekan Semerah.

Semangatnya tak pernah luntur, walaupun umurnya lebih 70. Sewaktu dia bercerita dan ‘membongkarkan’ cerita tentang Chek Jam, saya tidak dapat membayangkan bagaimana dia siap berdiri-diri, melakonkan gaya Dato’ Onn ketika berucap di hadapan orang-orang Semerah agar tidak terus mara ke Pengaram.

Yang utama, persoalan lama yang membuntui fikiran saya terlerai—dari mana lelaki-lelaki berselempang merah itu mendapatkan ayat pemberani, iaitu Ayat Empat.

“Dari Chek Jam, dan dia dapat daripada Tok Janggut sewaktu berguru agama di Kelantan,” begitu jelasnya. Begitu munasabah, dan tidak mungkin daripada orang lain. Tetapi…

Tetapi Chek Jam mati. Dia dibunuh ketika sembahyang subuh di surau. Ada perbalahan di sana.

“Berita dia,” kata Chek Jam sepertimana diceritakan kembali Cikgu Baharum, “kalau dia nak kalahkan dan bunuh aku, cocok di tapak kaki aku!”

Cikgu Baharum bangun daripada kerusi. Saya masih duduk. Masih mahu mendengar. Katanya, waktu Perang banjar itu tercetus, umurnya baru 16 tahun. Dia sendiri dapat membunuh beberapa orang. Saya juga mendengar, ada anak-anak kecil yang turut dibunuh, karena anak-anak bayi Melayu juga dibunuh… di lambung di di tadah dengan pisau bronet di hujung senapang Komunis.

Kata Cikgu Baharum, “Islam sebenarnya tidak mengizinkan di dalam keadaan apapun, termasuk perang, untuk kita membunuh anak-anak kecil.” Dia sedikit tunduk kali ini. Wajahnya merenung jauh ke luar tingkap. Ada perasaan yang dalam yang dia simpan.

Cikgu Baharum juga mengenang-ngenang kawan-kawannya yang lain, barangkali yang telah melakukan salah dan dosa di dalam Perang Banjar.

“Kau tanyalah Cina-Cina tua di pekan, mereka memanggil perang itu sebagai ‘Perang Banjar’… bukannya ‘Perang Parang Panjang’ macam yang kita tahu sekarang!”

“Kenapa?” tanya saya.

“Sebab Chek Jam itu orang Banjar…” jelasnya lagi.

Maknanya bukan orang Jawa, dan bukan juga orang Melayu biasa yang mengajarkan ilmu perang—sepertimana yang sering dibangga-bangga oleh segelintir pemimpin Umno peringkat daerah. Perang berkenaan, nampaknya sudah menjadi tidak lebih daripada laksana dakyah dan propaganda Umno sekian lama, untuk mengukuhkan parti dan mengikat sokongan orang-orang Melayu.

Cikgu Baharum kembali duduk. Saya di dekatnya. Hampir maghrib.

Kelakuannya seperti riak yang terbayang di mata saya—seperti Dato’ Onn yang baru sahaja selesai bercakap di hadapan orang-orang Melayu. Orang Semerah…

Umno Represented By Disbarred Lawyer

2009-08-19T03:38:00.001+08:00

As posted at Anwar Ibrahim on August 18, 2009

From Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 – Nearly as soon as he filed his papers to contest the Permatang Pasir by-election yesterday, Umno candidate Rohaizat Othman ran into controversy.

Rohaizat, 38, was bombarded with questions from reporters after it became known that he was disbarred as a lawyer last year over allegations of fraud that implicated his law firm.

According to the Malaysian Bar website, he was disbarred on March 7 last year. This means that he cannot practise as a lawyer or appear before a court, but he is allowed practise syariah law.

It also does not preclude him from standing as an election candidate, but it is certainly not an advantage.

He and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) Penang commissioner Mohd Salleh Man,

52, were the only two who registered as candidates for the by-election on Aug 25.

The by-election for this state seat on mainland Penang was called after the previous PAS assemblyman died, making it the country’s eighth by-election since the general election took place in March last year.

The opposition will certainly capitalise on the controversy to illustrate their claim that Barisan Nasional (BN) is a patronage machine which disregards moral principles routinely.

Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is the party’s Penang state chief, insisted that Rohaizat was innocent of the alleged fraud in his firm.

“This is an issue of public perception. We will explain to the voters what really happened,” Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid said.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin told The Straits Times that it was Rohaizat’s business partner who was involved in the fraud and who dragged the entire firm into the mess.

He said Rohaizat had settled the problem after his partner disappeared.

Rohaizat, who graduated from the International Islamic University in 1995, has stopped practising law.

The controversy will be fodder for the opposition, which has the upper hand going into this contest.

This state seat is part of the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat held by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

But the opposition is also on the defensive after nearly losing the most recent by-election in Kelantan last month. The PAS candidate won the Manek Urai seat – also a stronghold – by a mere 65 votes.

“In the aftermath of the Manek Urai state by-election and the steps taken to reform and change the country, the winds of change are beginning to blow and I think it has reached Permatang Pasir,” Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.

Political analysts are not as confident, although many believe that the BN may be able to slash the majority.

The Manek Urai by-election showed that internal bickering among parties can severely damage their electoral showing.

The opposition is also fending off accusations that it has sacrificed Malay interests to win support from the minority communities.

“It will be a test as to whether the attacks against the Pakatan will stick. It is significant as this is the power base of Anwar,” said law professor Abdul Aziz Bari.

Permatang Pasir is not as Malay-dominant as the Manek Urai. Of its 20,290 voters, about 72 per cent are Malays, 26 per cent Chinese and almost 2 per cent Indians. But the Malay votes are large enough to be visible, especially as the Chinese voters are expected to remain in favour of the opposition. The number of Indian voters is negligible.

The campaign kicked off yesterday with a noisy nomination process filled with the chanting of slogans, the waving of banners – and the wearing of face masks due to the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.

There was a brief scuffle when police tussled with opposition MP N. Gobalakrishnan outside the nomination centre. The Parti Keadilan Rakyat supreme council member had failed to heed two warnings by the police to stop using a loudspeaker to make provocative remarks. He was handcuffed and taken away. – The Straits Times