Jerit cyclists reach Parliament House

Kekuasaan polis ganti keluhuran Perlembagaan

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, HARAKAH

Jika hobi boleh didefinisikan sebagai satu amal perbuatan yang berterusan yang dilakukan dengan penuh keceriaan, maka kerja menangkap dan menahan orang yang terlibat dengan perhimpunan boleh dikatakan sebagai hobi pihak polis di negara ini.

Tetapi hobi itu sendiri ada yang baik dan ada yang tidak baik. Menangkap orang yang hanya berhimpun secara aman sudah pasti adalah satu hobi yang tidak baik.

Bercakap tentang perhimpunan aman di negara ini ianya dikawal oleh Perkara 10 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ia adalah hak yang asas yang dijamin oleh undang-undang tertinggi di negara ini. Secara teorinya apabila sesuatu hak itu dijamin dan dilindungi oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan kita boleh katakan hak tersebut adalah satu hak yang amat penting.

Tidak sepertimana di England di mana Parlimen adalah kuasa yang tertinggi di negara tersebut, di negara ini Perlembagaan Persekutuan diisytiharkan sebagai undang-undang tertinggi di negara ini (lihat Perkara 4 Perlembagaan Persekutuan).

Tetapi itu hanya di dalam teori. Kata-kata manis sering diabadikan di dalam teori. Tetapi apa yang penting adalah perlaksanaannya secara praktikal. Dari segi praktisnya jaminan dan perlindungan hak berhimpun secara aman di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan tidak memberi nilai apa-apa.

Benar, ianya tidak memberi nilai apa-apa. Secara praktisnya, apa yang berlaku adalah kuasa polis amat besar di dalam isu perhimpunan. Ketinggian kuasa polis (police supremacy) hakikatnya menggantikan ketinggian Perlembagaan Persekutuan (constitutional supremacy).

Bagaimana ini berlaku? Sebahagian kesalahan itu bolehlah kita kaitkan dengan penggubal Perlembagaan Persekutuan itu sendiri. Meskipun Perlembagaan menjamin hak rakyat untuk berhimpun secara aman namun penggubal Perlembagaan masih merasakan perlunya memberikan kuasa kepada Parlimen (elemen lain selain dari Perlembagaan) untuk menghadkan hak berhimpun secara aman di dalam Perlembagaan itu.

Walau apa pun niat penggubal Perlembagaan itu, apa yang pasti mereka tidak sedar apabila Parlimen dikuasai oleh parti yang sama untuk tempoh yang panjang, hak berhimpun tersebut dengan mudah dinodai oleh Parlimen itu sendiri.

Memandangkan Parlimen sering dikuasai oleh BN sejak pilihan raya umum yang pertama, ahli-ahli Parlimen BN menggunakan kuasa yang diberikan oleh Perlembagaan untuk menghadkan hak berhimpun tersebut. Maka digubalnya satu akta untuk tujuan tersebut iaitu Akta Polis 1967.

Seksyen 27 dimasukkan di dalam Akta Polis tersebut. Seksyen tersebut bukan sekadar menghadkan hak berhimpun tetapi sebaliknya 'membunuh' hak berhimpun itu.

Hak rakyat untuk berhimpun di mana-mana bahagian di dalam negara kini bergantung kepada belas ikhsan seorang Ketua Polis Daerah (KPD). Bayangkanlah hak berhimpun yang dijamin oleh undang-undang tertinggi di negara ini kini ditentukan oleh sekeping permit yang dikeluarkan oleh seorang KPD yang amat berkuasa dan sering menyalahguna kuasa. Fakta bahawa KPD adalah proksi BN adalah suatu yang sukar nak dipertikaikan.

Sebagai satu contoh lihat sahaja satu diskriminasi pihak polis. Perhimpunan menyokong ISA yang dianjurkan oleh badan-badan pro-Umno di Jalan Tun Razak pada 23 November tidak langsung diganggu oleh polis, jauh sekali pesertanya ditangkap. Sebaliknya perhimpunan menentang ISA anjuran Pakatan Rakyat dan Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) yang dibuat di sebelah malam pada hari yang sama di padang Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya menyaksikan ratusan kehadiran polis bertopi merah dan berakhir dengan tangkapan sembilan orang termasuk Ketua Pemuda PAS Pusat, Salahudin Ayub dan Naib Presiden PAS, Mohamad Sabu atas alasan tiada permit.

Kita pun tidak pasti pada malam itu adakah rakyat berhimpun tiada permit atau hakikatnya polis yang berhimpun tiada permit!

Terdapat dua bentuk perhimpunan di dalam Akta Polis 1967. Pertamanya perhimpunan di tempat awam yang memerlukan permit polis di bawah seksyen 27 Akta Polis. Keduanya perhimpunan di premis persendirian yang tidak memerlukan permit dan ianya di kawal oleh seksyen 27A Akta Polis.

Dalam banyak keadaan, pihak KPD sering tersalah anggap bahawa Akta Polis memberikan kuasa yang amat luas kepada mereka untuk memberikan atau tidak memberikan permit. Hatta Akta Polis membenarkan perhimpunan yang diberikan permit dibatalkan permitnya tanpa sebarang alasan perlu diberikan.

Sering kali pemberian permit dinafikan di atas alasan yang diulang-ulang iaitu menjejaskan keselamatan negara sedangkan apa yang berlaku ianya menjejaskan keselamatan Umno dan BN! Pernah berlaku di Negeri Sembilan polis membatalkan permit kerana perhimpunan diadakan berhampiran kawasan perkuburan. Pernah juga berlaku perhimpunan yang nak di buat di Muar dan di Klang, KPD meminta tuan rumah mengemukakan geran tanah. Minta permit dah macam buat pinjaman di bank!

Sebagai peguam dan aktivis politik saya mempunyai pengalaman yang agak banyak dengan Akta Polis. Alhamdulillah, setakat ini hampir semua kes mahkamah berhubung permit dimenangi oleh PAS. Sebagai aktivis politik pula saya sendiri sudah dua kali dimasukkan ke dalam lokap di bawah Akta Polis.

Pengalaman mengendalikan kes perhimpunan haram di bawah Akta Polis memberi keyakinan kepada saya bahawa pihak polis khususnya KPD tidak mempunyai pengetahuan yang mendalam berkaitan Akta ini.

pengalaman menyoal Ketua Polis Daerah

Saya pernah menyoal balas seorang KPD di Mahkamah dan bertanyakan dia perbezaan seksyen 27 dan seksyen 27A Akta Polis dan dia tidak boleh menjawab. Saya katakan kepada KPD tersebut bagaimana beliau boleh memproses permohonan permit jika beliau sendiri tidak tahu seksyen 27 dan 27A Akta Polis.

Dalam satu perbicaraan di mahkamah, saya menyoal seorang KPD tentang bentuk perhimpunan yang memerlukan permit. Dia menjawab perhimpunan yang dihadiri oleh tiga orang atau lebih. Saya pun bertanya jika saya, isteri saya dan anak saya berhimpun di rumah adakah saya perlu dapat permit?

Dia menjawab: "Oh! Perhimpunan yang perlu permit mesti dihadiri oleh empat orang."

Saya bertanya lagi: "Baiklah, jika empat orang, saya tambah satu lagi anak saya. Adakah masih perlu permit?"

KPD itu tidak dapat menjawab dan beliau ditertawakan oleh polis-polis yang ada di Mahkamah dan juga oleh tuan Majistret sendiri.

Polis mungkin berkuasa menangkap dan menahan rakyat yang tidak berdosa yang berhimpun secara aman. Tetapi apabila berada di Mahkamah saya berani mengatakan polis adalah saksi yang paling tidak berkuasa dan paling teruk apabila memberikan keterangan mereka di Mahkamah di dalam kes-kes perhimpunan haram.

Yang terbaru apabila Dr Hatta dan seorang lagi aktivis KeADILan didakwa terlibat di dalam perhimpunan haram (perhimpunan protes kenaikan harga minyak) di bawah seksyen 143 Kanun Keseksaan.

Kami sebagai peguambela dengan mudah berhujah dan berjaya meyakinkan Mahkamah bahawa pertuduhan itu tidak sah dan dakwaan ke atas Dr Hatta patut dibatalkan. Hujah kami, perhimpunan haram di bawah seksyen 143 mestilah mempunyai 5 orang ke atas dan memandangkan hanya dua orang sahaja di dakwa maka pertuduhan itu tidak sah. Mahkamah bersetuju dengan kami dan memerintahkan Dr Hatta di bebaskan tanpa dibicarakan.

Untuk pasukan polis, janganlah membuang masa mengganggu perhimpunan aman rakyat. Bukankah lebih baik tenaga dan masa anda ditumpukan kepada menangkap para penjenayah yang sebenar. Di situlah letaknya kemuliaan uniform anda!-

The cat and mouse game

It appears very much so like they are trying to prevent Gan from testifying. He was the one who made the police report against me and the prosecution has already examined him. So it is now our turn to cross-examine him but the prosecution seems to be preventing that from happening.

NO HOLDS BARRED(Malaysia Today)

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I know I have been rather quiet the past week. Sorry about that. I was trying to finalise my new book so that it can meet my launch schedule, which should be some time after Chinese New Year around late January 2009 or so.

The focus of the book will be the decade of the fight for change, which started on 20 September 1998 and peaked on 8 March 2008. No, it is not about Anwar Ibrahim or the REFORMASI Movement, although they are mentioned in passing. It is about how the Malays and a small percentage of Chinese and Indians ‘woke up’ in 1998, and about how the balance of the Chinese and Indians finally woke up a decade later -- and about how, once the Chinese and Indians woke up, they created a Tsunami of historic dimensions. I suppose this gives new meaning to the saying: better late than never.

The book will be partly a ‘recycling’ of some of my old articles related to the issue with some parts newly written. It also features a section by Zaid Ibrahim, basically his open letter to the Prime Minister and two of his latest speeches on the Internal Security Act, human rights, rule of law, and so on. In a way, my section and the section by Zaid are not quite related -- mine is mainly on the elections and Zaid’s is on those issues I mentioned above -- but the two issues are certainly part and parcel of the pursuit for political reforms and cannot, therefore, be detached from each other.

Three others have thus far agreed to also write a chapter each but I shall keep their names as a surprise for now. I also welcome any others who would like to contribute a chapter, as long as it is within the theme of the book.

Anyway, enough about my new book! Since my court case this morning, plus tomorrow, has been postponed, I suddenly have two free days on my hand. So I thought before I get back to my book I shall write at least one article. Once I start looking at my book I shall be so engrossed I can’t even hear my wife screaming at me: ‘The police want to see you’.

And that was what happened on Monday. Or was it Tuesday?

See, I told you. Once I start writing, or reading, I totally lose track of time and place. And that is why I read a book a day (two or three days a book if the book is thicker) while under ISA detention from September to November. That is how I ‘transfer’ myself out of Kamunting into another world. I don’t even realise I am in Kamunting once I bury myself in my books.

Anyway, either on Monday or Tuesday, a policeman came to my house to serve me a subpoena to appear in court from the 22nd to the 24th December. I refused to accept the subpoena and spend three days squatting in court, not knowing when and if I will be called to testify. As it is, my own case has been postponed time and again and I am yet to know when we are going to see the end of it. Furthermore, I have not been informed as to which case this is. They think they can just send me a subpoena and order me to appear in court and I will jump like an obedient puppy. No way, Jose (pronounced Hoozay for the less well-read readers of Malaysia Today), I am no puppy.

So I chased the policeman away and told him to confirm the exact time and date they need me in court and I shall make a grand entrance, on the dot, and not a millisecond sooner. And if in five minutes of my grand entrance they do not summon me to the stand, then I am going to make a hasty exit and do something else more worthwhile with my time -- like sitting in Bangsar to watch the girls in their miniskirts walk by.

My sedition trial in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court 3 this morning was, again, a disaster. Again, it was postponed, this time to the 10th, 11th and 12th of February 2009. Commissioner Gan, the Investigating Officer in the Altantuya murder, was, yet again, MIA (missing in action). The last time he was said to be sick but did not produce a medical certificate. Only when the court insisted on a medical certificate did they quickly come up with one.

Even then, the medical certificate did not say what sickness was ailing him and whether it was serious enough to cause him to be bedridden -- and therefore not fit enough to come to court. He could have suffered only a splinter in his little finger, which would mean there should be no reason he could not attend court. The judge, however, gave Gan the benefit of the doubt and let him off the hook that time.

Today, the court was told that Gan had gone for training but they did not know where and what the training was all about. The prosecution said they wanted to amend the charges against me and the court then read out the new charges. I refused to reply to the charges and instead protested that the prosecution is delaying the trial and would be seeking a postponement, yet again. I demanded to know why Gan was not in court as he should have been.

The judge told me to just reply to the charges and I replied, “Not guilty,” and in the same breath lodged my protest to the court.

The judge then asked the prosecutor as to what happened to Gan but they could not reply. She also asked whether the subpoena had been served on Gan and the prosecutor replied that it may have but he does not know and does not have any confirmation.

The judge then called for a short recess and asked the prosecutor to find out. When court resumed, the prosecutor said that Gan had gone to Taiwan for a course. They did not, however, know when he had gone to Taiwan or what course he was taking. The prosecutor also confirmed that the subpoena had not, after all, been served on Gan because he had skipped the country before they could serve it on him.

One of my lawyers, Gobin Singh Deo, then stood up and took the prosecutor to task. Gan, being a very senior police officer (rank of Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner or something like that), knows the procedure. The court has priority over a course or training program and Gan knew that my trial would resume today. He, therefore, should have been in court and not in Taiwan (to learn how to plant vegetables or whatever).

Gobin then retorted that it appears like the prosecution is intentionally delaying my trial until after March 2009 (meaning, of course, after Najib takes over as Prime Minister) and the prosecutor quickly jumped to his feet and protested. Gobin then said if this is not true why is the prosecutor so fast on his feet?

Yes, I smell a rat. It appears very much so like they are trying to prevent Gan from testifying. He was the one who made the police report against me and the prosecution has already examined him. So it is now our turn to cross-examine him but the prosecution seems to be preventing that from happening.

We will now have to wait until February to get our hands on Gan. And we are going to do that. There is no way in hell the prosecution is going to keep Gan away from us. We want him on the stand where Gobin can tear him to pieces. He made a police report against me and he wants me sent to jail. He was the one who investigated the Altantuya murder. We want the world to know how the investigation was conducted and how much of what they discovered was hidden from the public, even if I have to lose my case in the process and get sent to jail for two years.

Before I sign off, I want to thank all those who sent in donations to Michal for his and his wife’s medical treatment. In about three days or so, slightly over RM75,000 went into his son’s, Kevin’s, bank account. This is most generous indeed and just goes to show how compassionate Malaysians can be if they want to.

I shall make sure that the bank statement plus the medical bills are published so that you can see how much came in and how the money was spent.

I also want to offer my condolences to the family of Syukree Hussain who died of a heart attack two days ago. This young man just started working for Malaysia Today as a freelance reporter and you may have read some of his pieces, all in Bahasa Malaysia. He was supposed to have joined us in Terengganu from the 5th to the 18th January so that we could update you with daily news reports on the by-election. He had promised to write four or five items a day. Alfatihah to comrade Syukree Hussain. As they say: only the good die young and you were certainly very young to have died so suddenly. But then that is God’s design and who are we to question God’s wisdom? Till we meet again, Syukree. It was a very short association that we had but it will be one that will forever be in my memory. May you rest in peace.

Jerit cyclists hailed as future leaders

Jerit's cry for better laws heard on last day of Parliament

Several cyclists of the Jerit (Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas or Oppressed People Network) ride for change campaign riding into Parliament with Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers this morning. More than 100 cyclists were allowed into Parliament under police escort as they ended their 16-day journey from Johor Baru and Alor Star. — Picture by Choo Choy May

By Debra Chong(Themalaysianinsider)

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 - Close to 100 cyclists from a people's rights network coasted into the Parliament compound today, amid a federal government frenzy to pass the Prime Minister's reform bills before the year is out.

Their mission: to hand over to PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi a laundry list for better laws to safeguard the public.

The cyclists from the Oppressed People's Network, better known by their Malay acronym Jerit (Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas), wanted the federal government to remove the Internal Security Act, set up a minimal wage law, stop privatising basic amenities and restore elections at the local government level.

They also demanded comfortable housing for squatters in the cities and better price control for goods.

The coalition of five groups representing youths, environmentalists, factory workers, estate workers, urban squatters and villagers failed to meet up with Abdullah.

But they managed to pass their demands to a proxy, Senator T. Murugiah and to each of the three parties in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

While Murugiah, a deputy minister in the PM's Department, reportedly told Jerit national coordinator Kohila that the federal government would "look into it", the PR MPs responded more actively.

Many turned up to escort the Jerit cyclists from the Parliament gate to an annexed hall behind Parliament House.

Some, including Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena), M. Manogaran (DAP-Teluk Intan) and Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju), even rode alongside them.

Another Jerit coordinator, M. Sarasvathy, said with the laws and policies were even more important than ever considering the global economic slump.

It was only a matter of time before Malaysia was dragged into it, she noted.

How then will the people survive, the social activist questioned.

It had been a long and uphill task for Jerit to reach Parliament, both literally and metaphorically.

The coalition had banded together five years ago to pressure the federal government over the same issues.

They started their cycling campaign for change 16 days ago, from as far north as Alor Star in Kedah and Johor Baru, to the south.

Along the way, they claim they had been repeatedly harassed by the police force.

They had been stopped, arrested, and had their bicycles and cameras snatched away, said Ong Su Phin, a Jerit cyclist from Penang.

Pulling out a rather tatty slip of folded paper from his pocket, the young man said it was a bail sheet issued by the police in Rawang.

He said the police had taken away his bicycle as well as those belonging to the rest of the Jerit campaigners when they had stopped for an evening meal there five days ago.

When they reported to the police station nearby, those aged 18 and above were put in the lock-up and released only in the wee hours of the morning.

Each was issued a bail sheet, compelling them to report back to the station.

"I still don't know what I did wrong," Ong said, pointing to a blank spot on his bail sheet where the offence was to be listed.

MACC/JAC Bills – don’t count chickens before they are hatched

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah should not count the chickens before they are hatched as he did yesterday following the passage of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Bills when he indulged in the following hyperbole:

MACC – “They (foreign investors) will know there is no corruption or very little of it”; and

JAC – “we will bring back the confidence of the public in the judiciary”.

As I said during the debates on the MACC and JAC Bills, nobody in Government really believe

(i) that the MACC could check the rot of corruption in the country and catapult Malaysia into the stratosphere among the world’s ten or twenty least corrupt nations, with the MACC able to rival the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong or the Corrupt Practices Investigation Board (CPIB) in Singapore; and

(ii) that the JAC could fully restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary after two decades of erosion and devastation or even to prevent in future the repetition of controversial appointments like the Zaki Azmi appointment as Chief Justice.

After the 1988 “mother of judicial crisis” which saw the sacking of the Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah, the country had seen the appointment of six heads of the judiciary in the past 20 years, three of whom had brought shame and scandal to the institution of the judiciary in the country and the world spanning 17 years in the past two decades.

Could the JAC ensure that this long dark chapter of the Malaysian judiciary could never happen again?

The MACC and JAC Bills should pave the way for the restoration of public confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of key institutions in the country, but the signs are not there that this will be the case, with big question marks about the professionalism and integrity of key institutions remain unanswered – including those concerning the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General.

In these circumstances, instead of counting the chickens before they are hatched, what should concern Malaysians is chickens coming home to roost as a result of the MACC and JAC Bills.

Jerit cyclists reach Parliament - minus wheels

1212: Some 120 Jerit supporters are now in Parliament, where they will be having lunch before handing over their memorandums to a rep from the BN and Anwar.

1145: About 30 participants of the Jerit cycling teams are now in Parliament to hand in their memorandum amidst a heavy police presence, including a helicopter clattering overhead.

Earlier they were barred from cycling to Parliament.

“The OCPD told us we could head to Parliament, but not on our bicycles,” says Jerit coordinator Rani Rasiah.

“We decided to test this by asking one of the cyclists to ride, but he was stopped. It looks as if cycling is now banned as it could be a threat to security.”

Hunger Strike Update -Jayathas taken to hospital on 4th day!!

Hindraf coordinator S Jayathas who has been on a hunger strike with 14 others to protest the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) was admitted to hospital today, organisers said.

P Waytha Nayagi, another participant in the hunger strike which began on Sunday, said Jayathas was taken by ambulance to hospital.
She said that Jayathas, 41, collapsed while performing a special 24-hours prayer or yagam which started at 8.30am today.
The hunger strike is being staged at a small Hindu temple in Seri Gombak. Participants are consuming only water.

"Jayathas became weak after four days. He also missed two rounds of dialysis treatment. He is a kidney patient," Waytha Nayagi said.
"He missed his treatment on Monday and today... his last dialysis was on Friday and he was very weak," she added.She said that Jayathas avoided his dialysis treatment as he would have to consume food after undergoing the treatment.She also told Malaysiakini that Jayathas had initially refused medical care because he wanted to continue with the strike but the others had convinced him to change his mind. Undergoing dialysisWhen contacted at about 4pm, Jayathas told malaysiakini that he was being treated at the emergency ward in Selayang Hospital."I'm feeling much better now and I will be undergoing dialysis in a while," he said.Explaining his earlier condition, Jayathas said that he first felt giddy while performing the prayers and that his legs began to cramp.

"My blood had become toxic because I had avoided the (dialysis) treatment," he said.Nevertheless, he is determined to continue the strike once he is well enough to return to the temple.The strike began on Sunday at the Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple in Seri Gombak to commemorate the first anniversary of the detention of five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under the ISA.
Waytha Nayagi is the sister of P Uthayakumar, one of Hindraf 5, who are being detained without trial.
The five, one of whom is a state lawmaker, were arrested last December after enraging the government by mounting a mass rally alleging discrimination against Indian Malaysians.
Ending the fast tomorrow
Waytha Nayagi said the group would end their hunger strike tomorrow.
"But we will continue our struggle in other forms until the ISA is abolished and all detainees are freed," she said.

The strike was initially planned to take place in Shah Alam but the organisers failed to secure the location.Waytha Nayagi explained that they had also approached over 30 temples in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor but were denied permission."They were afraid and some of them were threatened by the police...when they (temples) face demolition, makkal sakthi (people power) is always there... that's the irony of this, you see," she added.

The yagam is being held for "divine intervention in securing our goals", said Waytha Nayagi.
Indians make up less than eight percent of the population of 27 million.
The ISA, a relic of the British colonial era when it was used to fight a communist insurgency, allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial.
The government says it is a vital tool to fight terrorism, but rights groups say the law has been improperly used to silence government critics, and that detainees are mentally and physically tortured.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said last week that since he took over the portfolio in March, the number of ISA detainees - most of them alleged Islamic militants - had been reduced from 70 to 46.

(with additional details from AFP report)

HIndraf leader and Jerit (Slideshow)

SEKALI LAGI - HARI HARI AKHIR SEORANG DOLAH

DARI JELEBU

Hishamuddin Rais

Tiga bulan lagi Dolah akan berundur. Ini hakikat.

Cerita-cerita dongeng telah mula keluar mengatakan bahawa Dolah akan terus menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia walau pun dia bukan lagi presiden gerombolan United Malays National Organisation. Ini cerita karut.

Dalam politik Malaysia ini terlalu banyak cerita-cerita karut. Saya telah mengatakan bahawa penganalisa politik di Malaysia ini tidak menggunakan kelas dan asas ekonomi apabila membuat pandangan.

Politik ialah ekonomi. Kuasa politik ialah kuasa ekonomi. Perebutan kuasa ialah perebutan kelas. Sejarah manusia ialah sejarah pertempuran satu kelas melawan satu kelas yang lain.

Gerombolan United Malays National Organisation bersama MCA mewakili kelas komprador dan borjuis nasional. Parti politik ini wujud untuk mempertahankan kepentingan ekonomi kelas mereka. Dalam negara mereka berkuasa penuh. Tidak ada kumpulan yang dapat melawan kuasa ekonomi mereka.

Yang menjadi musuh dan boleh bersaing dengan mereka hanyalah kaum pemodal antarabangsa. Justeru kita terbaca suara mereka menentang kemasukan WTO, IMF, Bank Dunia, FTA dan segala macam bentuk peraturan yang dipaksakan oleh kuasa imperial Anglo-Amerika. Sekali sekala akan kedengaran bunyi 'nasionalisma' dalam suara mereka terutama apabila kuasa imperial Anglo-Amerika memaksa semua kontrek-kontrek besar wajib ditenderkan ke pasaran terbuka. Inilah sifat dan watak komprador dan borjuis nasional.

Parti Pas pula adalah parti yang mewakili borjuis kecil – kontrektor kecil, peniaga-peniaga kecil atau tuan empunya warong. Lihat sahaja Harakah dan perhatikan dengan teliti apa bentuk iklan yang muncul dalam akhbar parti ini - minyak urut tenaga batin, minyak lintah, penerbangan Umrah, buah kurma dan sebagainya. Semua ini adalah bentuk perniagaan yang tidak menggangu atau bersaing dengan kepentingan ekonomi kuasa imperial Anglo-Amerika.

DAP adalah parti Pas untuk orang Tionghua. Dari pandangan dan analisa kelas Pas dan DAP tidak banyak berbeza. Keluarkan retorik agama dan ayat-ayat bahasa Arab maka kita akan memahami intipati ucapan Hadi tidak banyak bezanya dari isi ucapan Lim Kit Siang atau Karpal Singh.

Manakala PKR adalah parti yang mewakili satu kelas yang tidak yakin akan mendapat perlindungan dalam Pas atau DAP. Sebahagian dari anggota PKR gagal untuk menerbus masuk untuk menjadi komprador dan borjuis nasional. Parti ini ingin melakukan reformasi untuk membuka jalan baru dalam hal agihan ekonomi. PKR ingin menjalankan reformasi dalam tradisi sosial demokrat – ertinya membetulkan struktur ekonomi yang dianggap tidak adil. Jika diagihkan secara adil mereka merasakan diri mereka juga akan mendapat peluang yang sama.

Semua parti-parti politik ini adalah parti politik yang dinaungi oleh falsafah ekonomi kapitalis.

Sesudah 8 March yang lalu, kepentingan kelas kaum komprador dan borjuis nasional gagal di pertahankan oleh Dolah. Para kontrektor, tuan empunya syarikat ekspot/impot, tuan empunya kilang, pemilik bangunan, tukang pemungut sewa, tukang cari kontrek dan bank-bank tempatan – merasakan bahawa Dolah tidak ada keupayaan untuk mempertahankan kepentingan ekonomi mereka. Justeru, Dolah wajib diberhentikan.

Lalu kita berheboh-heboh tentang cara dan gaya Dolah hendak di ketepikan. Drama politik ini dilihat lebih menarik kerana ada unsur pesta-pestaan. Tetapi ini bukan intipati apa yang sedang berlaku. Pengenepian Dolah hanyalah manifestasi dari perancangan untuk mempertahankan kuasa dan kepentingan ekonomi kelas komprador dan borjuis nasional.

Pembuangan Dolah tidak ada sangkut paut dengan kepentingan Melayu atau Islam. Melayu dan Islam ini hanyalah gula-gula dan warna-warna untuk mengindahkan kueh yang hendak dijual. Ekonomi kapitalis tidak ada bangsa dan agama. Ringgit, dolar dan dinar kiblatnya ialah keuntungan. Sistem ekonomi kapitalis akidahnya ialah untuk mendapat keuntungan maksima. Untung ialah rukun iman dan shahadah sistem ekonomi kapitalis.

Justeru cerita-cerita dongeng yang mengatakan Dolah akan terus menjadi PM adalah penganalisaan yang salah. Kelas kompardor dan borjuis nasional apabila terasak mereka akan merancang. Kaum pemodal ini tidak mungkin dengan hati terbuka akan meninggalkan berbilion- bilion ringgit harta kekayaan mereka.

Mereka akan mencari wakil-wakil yang baru untuk terus mempertahan kepentingan ekonomi mereka. Wakil yang mereka yakini pada ketika ini ialah Najib Razak. Suara dan lagu yang dinyanyikan oleh Najib cukup merdu untuk telinga mereka.

Najib bernyanyi untuk meneruskan projek mega. Projek mega bermakna kontrek-kontrek akan bertaburan lagi. Najib juga memiliki rekod membeli kapal selam, kereta kebal dan jet pejuang. Najib ketika menjawat Menteri Pertahanan telah juga merancang untuk membeli Eurokopter. Semua pembelian senjata ini memiliki serampang dua mata. Pertama : kaum komprador dan borjuis nasional dapat komisen. Kedua: ketika membeli senjata, Najib dapat juga membeli sokongan dari kuasa imperial - tuan empunya industri persenjataan antarabngsa.

Memang betul ada perbezaan antara Dolah dengan Najib. Mereka mewakili kumpulan mereka sendiri. Kaum komprador dan borjuis nasional memang sentiasa berebut harta kekayaan sesama sendiri. Berebut dan merebut adalah hukum ekonomi kapitalis. Tetapi dalam kes Dolah, dia tidak mendapat sokongan yang ampuh dari kaum komprador dan borjuis nasional.

Dolah yang belum lama berkuasa maka belum sempat memunculkan komprador dan borjuis nasional yang besar, gah dan setia. Tony Fernandes, Partick Badawi, Kalimullah, Khairy Jamaluddin dan Kamaluddin Badawi adalah 'anak-anak kecil' berbanding dengan Daim, Ananda atau Vincent Tan yang menyokong Najib.

Akhir-akhir ini dongeng yang Dolah akan terus menjadi PM ini dikaitkan pula dengan bil rasuah dan bil perlantikan hakim yang sedang dibentangkan di parlimen. Dari dongeng ini kita mendengar bahawa Dolah ingin memerangkap Najib melalui bil ini. Ini karut. Orang yang berdongeng ini TIDAK membaca bil-bil ini

Jika bil ini diluluskan ianya akan memusatkan kuasa kepada sesiapa sahaja yang akan menjadi PM. Susuk yang bertanggung jawab untuk mendakwa dalam kes rasuah masih lagi Peguam Negara. Ini cara lama yang tidak ada apa-apa perubahan. Apabila Peguam Negara dapat dirasuah maka kes tidak akan sampai ke mahkamah. Ini cerita lama macam kes Anwar Ibrahim dahulu. Dalam bil baru perlantikan hakim pula kata muktamad masih lagi di tangan Perdana Menteri. Tidak ada perubahan hakiki.

Malah bil-bil ini akan memusatkan kuasa kepada sesiapa yang akan menjadi PM. Dalam masa terdekat ini susuk yang akan menjadi PM ialah Najib Razak. Justeru dongeng yang mengatakan Dolah hendak perangkap Najib ini adalah karut. Dari bil ini jelas kelihatan bahawa Najib akan lebih banyak mendapat kuasa.

Bil-bil ini adalah hadiah untuk Najib dari Dolah agar anak dan menantunya tidak akan diganggu gugat.

KAMUS POLITIK:

Komprador - kapitalis rakyat tempatan yang menjadi ajen kaum kapitalis antarabangsa.

Borjuis nasional - kapitalis rakyat tempatan yang besar muncul dari sokongan kerajaan yang cuba bersaing dengan kapitalis antarabangsa.

15 on hunger strike over ISA

HINDRAF LETTER TO PM & DP

HINDRAF
C/o 28 Museum Street
London WC1A 1LH
____________________________________________________________________
YAB Dato Seri Abdullah Badawai
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Block Utama
Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya
Email: reduceredtape@pmo.gov.my
Tel: 03 8888 8000 Fax: 03 8888 3444

YAB Dato Seri Najib Razak
Deputy Prime Minister
Aras 4, Blok Barat, Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya

Dear YAB,
Not Tamil and Chinese Schools but Institutional race, religious and supremacist plans, policies and programmes that is causing racial and religious polarization, disharmony and disunity.

We refer to the above matter and to Datuk Mukhriz’s statement (NST 2/12/08 at page 8) that vernacular schools are causing racial and religious polarization in Malaysia. It is the UMNO controlled Malaysian Government’s institutional race, religion and supremacist based national development plans, policies and programmes that is the root cause and the present day major cause of polarization, disharmony and disunity in Malaysia despite 51 years of independence.

May we draw your kind attention that this current UMNO’s policies using race religion and Malay Supremacy as the basis is not only unfair and unjust but is also obsolete especially when the world and the people of the most powerful country in the world has actually elected the son of an immigrant slave ancestry black and “muslim” as the President of the United States of America.

In Malaysia the non malay muslims are not even allowed to become a District Officers. The Indians in particular are excluded and segregated from almost every aspect of the country’s national development plans, policies and programmes beginning from the Permata, kemas and other kindergardens to fully residential Mara and elite schools to University and UITM intake to government contracts, heavy lorry and bus permits, to Felda, Felcra Risda Agropolitan land schemes for the landless, to licences, permits, business opportunities to civil service GLC corporations corporate and business employment and top jobs etc. and almost every aspect of day to day life has been made into institutional race, religious and further expanding day by day.

When this segregation and exclusion stops, Tamil and Chinese schools will die a natural death. In the 1950’s and 1960’s most of the Indians and Chinese and even the Malays preferred the then English schools any way. Because then there was equality and equal opportunities.

Kindly reevaluate your race religious and Malay Supremacist based policies which is taking up so much of the nation’s energy - focus should be used to progress.

Kindly revert to us accordingly.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully

………………………………………………………….

P Waytha Moorthy
Chairman HINDRAF

Hindraf hunger striker taken to hospital

Police: No bicycle convoy when handing over memo

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — The police will not stop unregistered body “Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas” (Jerit) from handing over a memorandum to Parliament tomorrow provided it does not involve a parade or bicycle convoy to the extent of disrupting public order.

Kuala Lumpur Deputy Chief Police Officer Datuk Abu Samah Mat said it was up to Parliament whether to accept the memorandum but it would be against the law if it involved a large group of people and in the form of a procession.

“Until today, we have not received any application for a permit from the ‘Rakyat Pengayuh Perubahan’ cycling campaign organiser.

“Therefore, the procession is not allowed at all,” he told reporters after launching the Occupational Health and Safety Campaign at Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station today.

He said the police would take firm action on the organiser and participants if they were adamant about wanting to stage a cycling procession to Parliament.

Abu Samah said his men would not hesitate to take action similar to what the Selangor police did recently which included arresting people under the Child Act if children below 18 years old were involved.

He said the police had made preparations and ever ready as usual with precautionary measures including the possibility of mounting up roadblocks.

Meanwhile, Sungai Siput Member of Parliament Dr D. Jeyakumar said the “Rakyat Pengayuh Perubahan” campaign in Rawang on Monday, organised by Jerit, did not exploit children.

He told reporters at Parliament lobby that the 28 children aged below 18 years old took part after obtaining consent from their parents.

“While in detention in Rawang, I called their parents to pick up their children. But I was surprised when they said that if their children were happy with me they would allow them to continue cycling and they also trusted me.

“The children have obtained consent letters from their parents to join the campaign to bring forward people’s issues,” he said.

He also said that a memorandum would be presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Parliament tomorrow on the objective of the campaign.

He also denied that Jerit was an unlawful organisation.

“Jerit is not a new body. It was set up in 2002. It is not true to say Jerit is an unlawful organisation because it has been registered as a non-governmental organisation,” he said.

Yesterday, Selangor Chief Police Officer Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said Dr Jeyakumar could face action under Section 32 of the Child Act 2001 for exploiting children in the illegal assembly.

Police were also considering taking action on the parents for allowing the 28 children to take part in the cycling campaign, he said.

On Monday, the police arrested Dr Jeyakumar, Rawang Assemblyman Gan Pei Nei and the 28 children for taking part in the Jerit campaign in Rawang. — Bernama

IPF set to become second Tamil voice in BN

By Baradan Kuppusamy

DEC 17 — The impending admission of the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) into the Barisan Nasional coalition is a significant political event for the Tamil working classes as it gives them, after nearly two decades of trying, a second voice outside of the MIC, in the ruling BN coalition.

Consequently they could have a voice in the government and Cabinet as well, breaking the monopoly held by MIC and its president since 1979, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who attended the IPF AGM on Sunday, said the possibility of IPF being accepted into BN was "very bright."

"I am looking forward to welcoming the IPF, which has always been our friend, soon," he said when opening the 16th annual general meeting of IPF.

Adnan said he did not see "many difficulties" in IPF being accepted as a member since it had always shared and believed in the Barisan spirit.

"As Barisan and Umno secretary-general, I fully support the IPF application," he added indicating the MIC has been told its strong opposition to admitting the IPF is no longer acceptable.

This is the clearest and most open acknowledgement by the BN that the IPF has great potential to win over the Tamil working class, unlike the MIC, whose leadership and programmes are more attuned to the middle and upper classes.

When admitted, IPF could get its "fair share" of the perks, including another Tamil minister.

IPF insiders said this would likely happen with a new Cabinet expected to take shape after Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak assumes the premiership soon after the Umno general assembly in late March.

The BN has long wanted to admit the IPF into its coalition knowing the widespread support it enjoys among the Tamil working class.

This was especially the case after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over in 2003 and actively campaigned for the admission of IPF.

He was especially close to IPF founder, the late Tan Sri M. G. Pandithan, and sympathized with his desire to join the BN, but was unable to overcome the strong opposition from MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

The BN swallowed, lock stock and barrel, Samy Vellu's mantra that, "the MIC is the sole and only Indian representative" and suffered as a consequence in the voter backlash in March.

As a consequence of that alienation not only did the Tamil working class flee to Hindraf but they also voted opposition in overwhelming numbers helping the Pakatan Rakyat win handsomely in the election.

With that Indians as a whole gained greater representation in state governments and their numbers were boosted in parliament. With IPF's admission the numbers are expected to rise again.

After the defeat, the BN now has compelling reasons to finally overrule any opposition from the MIC and admit the IPF without delay to regain ground lost by the MIC and its discredited leadership.

BN insiders said the coalition has promised "strong financial and organizational" support to the IPF to re-organize, strengthen itself and form new branches across the country to win back the Tamil masses.

In that job the IPF would eventually come head to head with supporters of Hindraf and the Makkal Sakthi movement, which although banned, enjoys strong emotional support from Tamils.

Unlike the MIC whose leadership is upper caste and discredited, the IPF originally was a working class movement for the "oppressed and suppressed" and with this history it is able to better communicate with the Tamil working class.

In fact IPF members were once the Tamil working class backbone of the MIC that was disconnected from the MIC body when Samy Vellu foolishly sacked Pandithan in 1989.

Pandithan formed IPF and took in into the Gagasan Rakyat coalition led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and together came within a whisker of toppling BN in the 1990 general election.

Although it is unrealistic for the BN to expect Tamil voter support in the numbers it had enjoyed before March 8, but by admitting the IPF and strengthening it financially, it stands to gain crucial mileage in the years ahead.

It all depends on how well the IPF settles its internal squabbles and how well its new leader Puan Sri Jayashree, wife of Pandithan, consolidates and leads the party.

Thus far she has shown a surprisingly keen political sense to disarm, destabilise and defeat her political enemies and has styled herself as an Indira Gandhi of Malaysia.

Her political enemies have been attacking her as an upper caste woman "inappropriately" leading a working class movement. They also attacked her for being a woman.

To boot, they say, she is not a Tamil but a Malayalee and not Malaysia-born.

Nevertheless BN membership would significantly raise her political profile and that of the IPF and there is nothing like success to silence the critics.

They are expected to fall in line now that the party is slated to take its seat on the big BN table.

Trouble-free ride for Jerit cyclists

JERIT FINAL DESTINATION - PARLIAMENT TOMORROW

JERIT cyclists campaigners are on their final journey and their visit to Parliament tomorrow - 18 Dec 2008 will fulfill their agenda to show the public the awareness of their cause. But the question that most Malaysians fear is, will this 'useless and corrupted' BN government with the assistance of our 'incompetent and one-sided' police force allow these cyclist to reach Parliament House.

Despite all odds, they have been cycling for past 15 days, and will reach their final destination - Parliament House, tomorrow.

Malaysians must be proud of these achievers who have fought all odds, to show their plight which they had set out to do.

What would be the reaction of Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar tomorrow?

We need to wait and see the FUN tomorrow.

news n photo courtesy of Susan Loone's blog

Nota Ucapan DSAI Mengenai Suruhanjaya Perlantikan Kehakiman

RANG UNDANG-UNDANG SURUHANJAYA PELANTIKAN KEHAKIMAN 2008

LATAR HUJAH

Badan Kehakiman merupakan salah satu daripada tiga cabang utama dalam pemerintahan yang berteraskan sistem demokrasi berparlimen yang seharusnya bebas daripada pengaruh dan campurtangan Eksekutif.

Selain dilindungi kebebasannya, badan kehakiman harus berwibawa serta tidak tergugat dari segi keyakinan rakyat terhadap kebebasan dan kewibawaannya.

Jika kebebasan badan kehakiman dicabuli, kewibawaannya dipertikaikan dan keyakinan rakyat terhadapnya terjejas, maka sistem keadilan kita menjadi pincang dan kedaulatan undang-undang [rule of law] menjadi ranap merudum, justeru rakyat jelata terdedah kepada penindasan, kezaliman dan salahguna kuasa pemerintah tanpa pembelaan menurut hukum dan nilai-nilai keadilan.

Continue reading ‘Nota Ucapan DSAI Mengenai Suruhanjaya Perlantikan Kehakiman’

Hands off IJN, please

(Rocky Bru)Anyone with a heart will be alarmed with Sime Darby's proposal to take over the IJN and turn it into its own revenue generator. The IJN, of National Heart Institute, was built for the rakyat. The reason why the Government set it up when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was PM was because most people could not afford to go to private hospitals.
85 per cent of IJN's patients are poor people. Which means that their bills are sponsored/subsidized by the Government.

I doubt that Sime Darby, the world's largest merged plantation entity, is interested in the IJN for CSR reasons.

My question is, who's idea is it to hive off IJN to Sime? The Edge's Financial Daily today, on it front page, carries the report "Sime Darby eyes IJN", with a sub-heading "Health Ministry objects to MoF's proposal to hive off heart hospital".

MoF's proposal? The Minister of Finance Inc owns 99 per cent of IJN.

Extract:

"Many of IJN's doctors are leaving because the remuneration is not attractive enough. With Sime Darby in the picture, the doctors would be better paid ...".

Is that so? I asked the IJN people and what they told me was:

"Of course, there is turnover but none of our consultants has left us. What's more important is that the hospital's service is not adversely affected by it".

According to my sources, the IJN knows nuts about the MoF's proposal. Over to the Minister of Finance, then ...

Read the original scoop by SimeDarbyWatch, here.

p.s. Read this piece on Sime's Motor Division gets panicky as well.
I thought after the Sime Bank's RM400 million fiasco in the 1990s, which brought many people to their knees, the corporation was going to stick to what it knows best? I've just learned that healthcare is now a core business of Sime's ...

Janji PM tertunai...rang undang2 impiannya lulus tanpa pindaan perlembagaan

Agenda Daily

Jelas tampak ceria wajah Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sebaik sahaja keluar Dewan Rakyat, malam Rabu selepas dua rang undang-undang bagi mereformasi pencegahan rasuah serta institusi kehakiman lulus selepas tiga hari dibentang serta dibahaskan di parlimen.

Janji Perdana Menteri sejak 2004 untuk menambahbaik dua badan berkenaan tertunai walaupun ada pihak menganggapnya perkara itu agak mustahil.

Ini kerana kerajaan Barisan Nasional tidak mempunyai majoriti dua pertiga dalam parlimen selepas pilihan raya umum Mac lalu dan kebiasaannya kelulusan undang-undang seperti ini perlu pindaan perlembagaan dengan sokongan majoriti.

Bercakap di lobi parlimen ketika lintas dalam Berita RTM1 selepas dewan ditangguhkan jam 8 malam, Abdullah sekali lagi menjelaskan bahawa rang undang-undang yang diluluskan Selasa dan Rabu, amat penting bagi negara dan kerajaan kerana ada hubung kait dengan membasmi rasuah dan pelantikan hakim.

Rang Undang-Undang Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) 2008 diluluskan semalam manakala Rang Undang-Undang Suruhanjaya Perlantikan Kehakiman (SPK) 2008 lulus malam Rabu.

Mengulas mengenai perkara itu, Abdullah gembira kerana banyak pihak menganggap kerajaan tidak dapat meluluskan undang-undang sebegini kerana kerajaan kini lemah dan tiada kekuatan.

“Bagaimana nak lulus undang-undang ini kerana orang anggap perlu pindaan perlembagaan sedangkan Barisan Nasional tak ada kekuatan dua pertiga itu di parlimen,” katanya.

Menurut Perdana Menteri, kerajaan dapat mengambil pendekatan baru dengan undang-undang tanpa perlu pindaan perlembagaan.

Katanya, ini membuktikan kekuatan kerajaan serta ahli-ahli parlimen BN yang menyokong sehingga rang undang-undang itu mendapat kelulusan.

Seperti dikatakannya sebelum ini, Abdullah melihat reformasi ini sesuatu yang penting yang mengambarkan kesungguhan dan iltizam kerajaan bagi menghapuskan rasuah dan memberi semula kepercayaan besar kepada pihak pencegah rasuah.

Mengenai pelantikan hakim pula, beliau yakin rang undang-undang baru itu akan mengembalikan keyakinan yang tinggi oleh rakyat pada sistem kehakiman di negara ini.

“Tentulah pemilihan calon pegang jawatan tertentu di mahkamah akan dapat dijalankan dengan baik. Kita dapat buktikan kewibawaan hakim dan rakyat tak akan ragui lagi sistem ini,” ujarnya.

Menurut Abdullah, usaha ini juga dapat menarik pelabur-pelabur ke Malaysia kerana mereka tahu rasuah sudah berkurangan di negara ini.

“Mereka juga akan yakin dengan system kehakiman di negara ini,” ujarnya.

Sebelum ini katanya, persepsi negatif terhadap dua agensi ini cukup kuat dan langkah ini dapat menghapuskan pandangan tidak baik seperti itu.

Beliau menganggap rang undang-undang yang diluluskan itu bukan sahaja membuktikan kejayaan kerajaan BN tetapi tingkat integriti serta keyakinan rakyat kepada dua sistem tersebut.

Kedua-dua undang-undang itu akan dijangka berkuatkuasa awal tahun 2009.

Perdana Menteri sebelum ini berjanji melakukan reformasi serta menambahbaik dua institusi penting negara itu selain bidang penguatkuasa sebelum peralihan kuasa kepada timbalannya, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Beliau juga tidak menganggap mahu meninggalkan legasi dengan reformasi itu sebaliknya mahu menunaikan janji serta mengembalikan keyakinan rakyat terhadap kerajaan BN dan agensi-agensi berkenaan.