13 killed, 83 injured as twin blasts rock Hyderabad

The Hindu Blast victims at Osmania hospital in Hyderabad. Photo: Nagara Gopa

Two powerful explosions ripped through crowded areas at Dilsukhnagar in the eastern part of the State capital on Thursday evening, killing 13 persons and injuring more than 83.

The first blast occurred at 6.50 p.m. on the city’s busiest road that links it with Vijayawada; as terrified people were scampering to safety, the second blast went off.

Authorities say the explosions were caused by improvised explosive devices that could have been kept on bicycles or packed inside frames of bicycles.

The twin blasts brought back painful memories of the August 25, 2007 IED attacks in Lumbini Park, in front of the State secretariat, and at Gokul Chat in Kothi that killed 44 people.

Incidentally, one of Thursday’s blasts took place near a crowded foot over-bridge, where security forces defused an IED five years ago. The device was to go off along with the blasts in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat.

Eyewitnesses at Anand Tiffin Centre, near the spot where the first blast took place, said someone began shouting about a bomb going off. Even as confused people watched, the IED detonated.

• 
  The Hindu A TV grab shows the blasts site at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad on Thursday evening. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

PPP and gang ambush Tamil daily

PPP members 'ambush' Malaysian Nanban HQ

Some 60 disgruntled People Progressive Party (PPP) members today "occupied" the headquarters of Tamily daily Malaysian Nanban to demand an apology over an article which allegedly defamed the party.

The five hour-long 'siege' which began at 2.30pm, saw the daily's reporter LK Raj - not the author of the allegedly defamatory article - assaulted, allegedly at the hands of several PPP members.

He claimed that he received five punches, injuring his head, his abdomen and right leg. He claimed that one assailant also made a death threat against him.

"The person threatened me, 'If you make police report, you will go missing'," he said when approached by reporters today.

He said that he feared for his life now that his identity will be  made known through the press.

PPP apologises

PPP members had gathered at the Malaysian Nanban office in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur to accompany their leader M Kayveas, who met the daily's officials.
Malaysian Nanban officials said that the group was abusive and aggressive towards the daily's staff.
Kayveas told reporters that his party would take action against the assailants if they were found to be party members.
“I apologise to the management on (over) the incident,” he told his supporters after meeting the daily's officials.
He told reporters later that his large group of supporters had came on the invitation of the daily's management.
Nanban to take legal action
However, Malaysian Nanban director Ahmad Mydin Sikandar Batcha refuted this, claiming that it was Kayveas that had sought a meeting over the article.

Ahmad Mydin told reporters that the PPP crowd had behaved in an unruly manner and that the meeting with Kayveas was not very cordial.

He explained that the article, which appeared yesterday, had posed the rhetorical question of whether "5kg of rice and mutton curry resolves Indian problems?".

He said that the article was referring to PPP functions in Malacca, Johor and Kedah where free food to distributed to the poor.

"It is our job to publish news which contain (the truth)... If they are not satisfied, take us to court.

"PPP is part of the ruling party... Kayveas is a lawyer. He should understand the law," he said.

Ahmad Mydin added that his company will take legal action against PPP for trespassing into their property.

Students: We're undeterred and shall return to Pekan

Despite the rough tactics allegedly employed by hooligans in Pekan, Gerakan Mahasiswa PRU13 (GM13) is undeterred and will still put up a candidate to contest against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his traditional parliament seat.

Its chairperson, Syis Abdul Kadir (left in photo), said we are undeterred and will return to the Pekan constituency.

“We are unperturbed... We retreated from Pekan because we do not want to quarrel with them and we are following the correct procedure, including lodging police reports. It is up to the authorities to investigate.

“We will return there for phase two when parliament is dissolved. Our stand is the same, and it has not changed. We will announce our candidate during nomination day,” he said in a press conference after handing over a memorandum and evidence of the attacks they faced to the police in Bukit Aman this morning.

Eight students accompanied Syis in handing over the memorandum, which included pictures of 16 individuals who were alleged to have attacked them.

A representative of the Bukit Aman corporate communications division, ASP N Kavetha, received the memorandum.

It was reported that the university students faced a spate of attacks and intimidation from unidentified individuals when they distributed leaflets to Pekan residents.

These include some youths had allegedly pulled the tudung (headscarves) of the female students while they were distributing leaflets.  

The leaflets state the students’ intention to contest in the general election and wanted voters to evaluate BN’s actions.

“There is nothing wrong in trying out a new government... If the new leadership does not perform to the people’s expectations, then the people can choose BN,” the letter reads.

Syis has asked the authorities to conduct immediate investigations following the evidence which was handed over to them.

“I hope the police will investigate the violence on the university students immediately. The local residents do not have a problem with us but we faced problems when we were in Pekan town, when some of them are seen coming out from the Pekan Umno headquarters,” he alleged.

Anwar admits some Pakatan government reps lack humility

 SUBANG JAYA, Feb 21 ― Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim admitted today that he has observed a lack of humility in the attitudes of some state leaders in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) governments, despite their inexperience in running administrations.

The opposition leader reminded PR leaders the importance of being humble and learning to listen, saying this would come in handy should the opposition pact realise its dream of wresting federal power in Election 2013.

“Experience is important, yes. But if you lack the experience, you must have the humility to learn.

“I notice, even in PR governments... in the states... leaders at certain levels, they lack humility,” he said at the launch of PKR’s new think-tank Institut Rakyat at Empire Hotel here.

Anwar (picture) said this when responding to an observation from the audience that a majority of PR leaders, save for Anwar himself, lack government experience.

The member of the audience had also asked the PR de facto leader how it planned to run the federal government should it capture Putrajaya in the coming polls, pointing out that to date, the pact has only been churning out newly thought-up ideas that may not be so easily implemented immediately.

Anwar, in admitting to PR’s lack of administrative experience, said one of the best ways to ensure the transition process is smooth would be by listening to advice from the country’s civil servants.

The former deputy prime minister, whose government stint was rudely cut short in the late 1990s by a sodomy charge and six-year jail sentence, sang high praise for certain civil servants whom he had dealt with during his time.

He said PR leaders must understand the mechanics in running a government and the civil service, which was the backbone of any administration whether federal or state-level, could help them.

“Some [civil servants] have... I can see, they are adversely affected by all the corruption and abuse.

“But by and large, I would say, in my experience in six ministries, I’ve seen some really excellent, dedicated civil servants,” he said.

“More so when I was in the Ministry of Finance... remarkable, impeccable credentials.”

Anwar said that if PR’s administrators possess the right attitudes and are humble enough, they should take the time to learn and listen from the civil service.

He cited examples from his experience in the federal government, saying some civil servants would dare to privately approach him in his office to state their disapproval of certain Cabinet decisions.

“If you are like (former prime minister Tun Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad), then you would be asked to leave the office,” he said.

“But if you have the patience and humility... then you would say, okay, alright, I can adjust, or no, I disagree, or I will bring it to Cabinet.... at least you are willing to hear them out.”

Anwar said encouraging connectivity between the government, the civil service and the Malaysian public in general is important in ensuring that the administration is constantly kept on its toes.

“So for those who lack the experience, then they cannot lack humility,” he said.

‘Mahathir should debate Anwar’

Academicians say such a showdown might answer a lot of questions and separate the truth from the spin.

PETALING JAYA: With Najib Tun Razak staunchly refusing to accept Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s challenge to a debate, some local academics are now interested in seeing a showdown between former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and his one-time deputy.

Prominent historian Khoo Kay Kim told FMT that Malaysians were keen to know the truth behind the fallout between the two, especially now that a general election is imminent.

“People want to know what happened between them, and a debate like this might answer their questions,” said Khoo.

“People know that Mahathir picked Anwar and gave him a high position in Cabinet. They were very close. But then their relationship broke down and Anwar was thrown into prison.

“People want to know what happened, and they will only understand what truly transpired if they come out and speak together in public.”

Khoo said that the information gleaned from the proposed debate could help the public differentiate the truth from the spin and in deciding which coalition to vote for in the general election.

“Otherwise, we can only rely on rumours. So a debate like this may help people to understand better which party is telling the truth.”

Anwar, who is PKR’s de facto leader, served directly under Mahathir as the Deputy Prime Minister and Umno Deputy President from 1993 to 1998. He was considered Mahathir’s closest ally and future successor until he was unceremoniously sacked and sentenced to prison in 1999 on charges of corruption and sodomy.

Anwar’s abrupt downfall in an otherwise stellar political career led to the Reformasi movement and the birth of opposition party PKR, which, along with its allies PAS and DAP, gained a significant political foothold following the 2008 general election.

Since Anwar’s release from prison in 2004, he and Mahathir have been trading potshots over issues ranging from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis to the citizenship-for-votes issue that is the subject of an ongoing public inquiry.

But they have not come face to face in a public debate.

‘Personal topics will emerge’

Khoo predicted that should such a debate take place, the public could expect an interesting battle.

“Once they meet each other openly, there will be very personal questions thrown in. Things people don’t know may come out, and it will be very interesting.”

He said that Anwar would likely bring up “all aspects of his relationship with Mahathir” that many Malaysians might not be aware of.

“Mahathir is very clever;” Khoo said with a chuckle. “You can’t catch him because he knows how to twist and turn. If he cannot answer, he will say I cannot remember.”

But he added that Mahathir was not likely to agree to such a debate.

“I’m not sure such a debate would happen. I think Anwar would be eager to debate with Mahathir, but I think Mahathir would not be interested.”

Khoo also said he was unable to predict who would win in the debate, adding that they were “equally good” as public speakers.

But Professor James Chin of Sunway Monash University said he was sure that Anwar would emerge victorious.

“Anwar is a very well known debater,” he said. “When he debated with the sports minister, the latter got hammered.”

He agreed with Khoo that Malaysians would benefit from a public showdown between the two because both had “lots of things to hide”.

“Mahathir and Anwar have both said the other is behind the Project IC in Sabah,” he said. “So this would be an opportunity for them to prove who is actually telling the truth.”

Mahathir has accused Anwar of being the main man behind the project, saying the latter at times acted without orders from him.

But Anwar has claimed innocence and accused Mahathir of founding the task force which granted citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Chin pointed out that this would also be the first opportunity for Anwar to engage with Mahathir since he was imprisoned in 1999.

‘Distracting’

But Lim Teck Ghee, the director of the Centre for Policy Initiatives, said a debate between Anwar and a BN leader would be more useful because Mahathir no longer represented BN.

“Unless Mahathir wants to take over from Najib or wants to go into election, I don’t see any usefulness in a debate between them,” he said.

“Mahathir has his own agenda; he doesn’t speak for BN nor does he lead it. He is simply an individual, a private citizen, and he should behave like any other private individual.”

Lim added that such a debate could even be “distracting” compared to a debate between Anwar and Najib.

“It’s unfortunate that Najib is refusing to engage in a national debate with Anwar because debates are now done all over the world.

“It is not good for Najib to avoid this. If he’s confident that BN is doing well, he should be willing to debate.”

However, Chandra Muzaffar, the president of International Movement for a Just World, insisted that debates between any individuals were not at all necessary.

“I don’t think a debate would generate more light than heat,” said the pro-BN scholar. “I don’t think it would help at all because of the very nature of it.

“A debate is polarised, with two sides saying two totally different things and we end up with two sides scratching at one another. A debate is just the public asserting a position from a certain perspective.”

Instead, he said, the public needed all actors involved to be more ethical in presenting the facts.

“I think the real challenge is to separate facts from fiction, the spinning, the deliberate attempt to distort. I don’t think this is helping the rakyat, this sort of spin and distortion, people making use of the new media.

“We need to bring back ethical standards in public discourse to present what is really happening and look at both sides of the picture.”

DAP MP seeks court’s help on dubious voters

Klang MP Charles Santiago files a court application to compel the Election Commission to clean up its electoral roll for the Klang parliamentary seat.

PETALING JAYA: Klang MP Charles Santiago today filed a judicial review at the Shah Alam High Court for an order to compel the Election Commission (EC) to clean up the electoral roll at his parliamentary constituency.

The judicial application is also to compel the EC to reply to a letter sent by Santiago on Dec 21, 2012 on the said matter.

Speaking to FMT after filing the application, the DAP leader said that he had listed several examples in his court papers to prove there were discrepancies in his parliamentary constituency electoral roll, also known as P110.

Among others, Santiago said that on his check, he found 3,457 names missing from the current Klang electoral list. These were voters in 2008.

“I also found 2,195 names transferred out from P110 to other areas. There is also a resident in Teluk Pulai who got herself registered as a voter without her own knowledge,” he said.

Santiago added that he had mentioned the discrepancies to EC chairman Abdul Aziz Yusoff last year during a meeting at the Parliament.

Although Abdul Aziz had promised to look into the matter initially, Santiago claimed the former backtracked later by saying that the EC had no power to remove names from the electoral roll.

“And when I spoke about this matter to EC commissioner P Manoharan, he told me that the officer in charge was now busy with the royal commission proceedings in Sabah.

“So now I’m trying to get the court to compel EC to take action. This problem can be solved fast as it only involves about 6,000 names,” he said.

Housebuyers won’t endorse BN, Pakatan

The Block E buyers action committee of Petaling Jaya Selatan 1 (PJS1) say both have failed to resolve their housing woes since 2003.

PETALING JAYA: The Block E (PJS1) buyers action committee has decided not to endorse any candidate from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat in the coming general election.

“What happened all these years is enough. Both have failed us. We will also try to convince our family and friends to do the same.

“The Parliament will be dissolved soon. You (politicians) will come down from your high horses soon to our humble homes for our votes,” said committee chairman M Sugumaran.

This morning, the committee went to the Selangor state secretariat to meet Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to get details on how the state government planned to resolve their woes.

The meeting was arranged about two weeks ago by both parties.

However, the committee was told by the MB’s private secretary, only known as Nor Zaton, that the meeting was cancelled as Khalid had a meeting with the Sultan of Selangor.

Although Sugumaran admitted that he received a call from an officer attached with the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) on Tuesday informing him that the meeting was cancelled, he claimed that the local council did not give anything in black and white.

“I told the MBPJ officer to give us something in writing as many took leave for the meeting. They needed something to back their leave application. But we didn’t receive it. So we came anyway just in case the officer gave us wrong information,” he said.

When the matter was pointed out to Nor Zaton, Sugumaran claimed that the former pinned the blame on MBPJ but refused to mention what action would be taken against the local council.

Sugumaran said that it was easy for those sitting in posh offices to arrange and cancel a meeting as they pleased as it was not their lives that was affected.

“They are not the ones staying in public housing schemes and dilapitated long houses. They are not the ones paying for unbuilt houses,” he added.

About 200 buyers of the low-cost housing scheme were left in a lurch when developer Peter Brickworks Sdn Bhd reneged on its promise to build a fifth block of the low-cost housing project in 2003.

Three years ago, the Selangor state government announced that it will build the houses for them but to date, nothing has come forth.

Jui Meng: Karpal ruined Pakatan unity

(The Star) - Johor PKR chairman Datuk Chua Jui Meng says he is disappointed with DAP chairman Karpal Singh and has claimed that the latter destroyed the relationship within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

China Press reported Chua as saying that he was shocked that Karpal had brought up the issue that he was a former MCA member when the DAP leader recently suggested an inquiry into claims made by Dr Boo Cheng Hau.

Dr Boo, the Johor DAP chairman, had a few days earlier released a statement in Chinese accusing Chua of being behind vicious attacks against Johor DAP.

Dr Boo claimed that he “deeply believed” that Chua was the “black hand” behind all the anonymous attacks against Johor DAP.

In the China Press report, when asked whether the DAP leaders had tacitly given the nod to Dr Boo to attack him, Chua said “you will get an answer by reading Karpal's statement”.

Chua added that PKR and PAS top leaders had never issued statements which would tarnish the relationship within Pakatan except for Karpal's remarks after the incident.

Chua said he was not surprised by the criticisms made by Dr Boo and claimed that the latter had criticised him and Johor PKR several times.

Chua said he had tolerated Dr Boo and Fernandez who continued to destroy the relationship among component members in Pakatan as he wanted to protect the cooperation among the three parties.

Chua said Johor DAP had boycotted other parties in the Pakatan in the past few months.

Sri Lanka's Ominous Authoritarian Turn

Rajapakse cracks down

(Asia Sentinel) The International Crisis Group's call for international action will probably be ignored
The Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka, more than three years after the end of the devastating civil war that paralyzed the country for 22 years, has instituted a virtual reign of terror against not only its defeated Tamil minority but against many of its own citizens in the south, critics say.

The government's repressive nature is hardly news. Virtually since the defeat of the Tamil separatists in 2009, the government has continued to crack down on any dissent. In January, the parliament, dominated by Rajapaksa's followers, impeached chief justice Shiran Bandaranayake, eliminating the last institutional check on the executive branch.

The government consistently denies any wrongdoing. However, according to a report released this week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), the Rajapaksa regime "has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain, threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections."

ICG called for international action to halt the slide to tyranny: "Strong international action should begin with Sri Lanka's immediate referral to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group and a new resolution from the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for concrete, time-bound actions to restore the rule of law, investigate rights abuses and alleged war crimes by government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and devolve power to Tamil and Muslim areas of the north and east."

That is unlikely to happen. Human rights groups say the Rajapaksa government, now that its power base is unthreatened, has systematically annulled a wide range of human rights, including turning a blind eye to the murder of dissidents and independent journalists. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, "Sri Lanka remains a highly restrictive and dangerous nation for the press." As many as 20 journalists have gone into exile over the past five years, with nine killed since the end of hostilities in 2009.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch, in an earlier report, called attention to similar human rights abuses, including the beating with iron bars of Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan, editor of a Jaffna-based newspaper. The report also pointed out that there has been no government accounting for the deaths of tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils in the wake of the surrender by the Tigers.

Sri Lanka is faced with two worsening and inter-connected governance crises, the ICG said. "The dismantling of the independent judiciary and other democratic checks on the executive and military will inevitably feed the growing ethnic tension resulting from the absence of power sharing and the denial of minority rights. Both crises have deepened with the Rajapaksa government's refusal to comply with the United Nations Human Rights Council's March 2012 resolution on reconciliation and accountability."

Although the government claims to have implemented many of the recommendations of a truth and reconciliation commission established at the urging of the Human Rights Council, there has been no meaningful progress on the most critical issues, the ICG says.

"The government has conducted no credible investigations into allegations of war crimes, disappearances or other serious human rights violations," the report said. "There has been no progress toward a lasting and fair constitutional settlement of the ethnic conflict through devolution of power, the military still controls virtually all aspects of life in the north, intimidating and sidelining the civilian administration, more than 90,000 people remain displaced in the north and east, amid continued land seizures by the military, with no effective right of appeal and no fair process for handling land disputes."

Government security forces have broken up peaceful Tamil protests in the north, detained students on questionable charges of working with the defeated Tamil Tigers and actively harassed Tamil politicians, the report says, responding with force to protest and dissent on the part of its own citizens in the south as well, deploying troops to prevent the newly impeached chief justice and supporters from visiting the Supreme Court while pro-government groups have attacked lawyers protesting the impeachment.

"Analysts and government critics have warned of Sri Lanka's growing authoritarianism since the final years of the civil war, but developments over the last year have worsened the situation," the report says. "The president's willingness and ability to push through the impeachment - in the face of contrary court rulings, unprecedented opposition from civil society and serious international concern - confirms his commanding political position."

The impeachment completes what the ICG called a "constitutional coup" initiated in September 2010 by the 18th amendment, which removed presidential term limits and the independence of government oversight bodies. The government in 2010 jailed Saranath Fonseca, the commanding general who defeated the Tamil Tigers, when he sought to declare his candidacy to run against Rajapaksa.

"The consolidation of power paves the way for moves that could further set back chances of sustainable peace." The report continues. "The president and his two most powerful brothers - Defense Secretary Gotabaya and Economic Development Minister Basil - have signaled their intention to weaken or repeal the provinces' already minimal powers. As the government makes explicit its hostility to meaningful power sharing between the center and the Tamil-speaking north and east, Tamil identity and political power are being systematically undermined by the military-led political and economic transformation of the northern province."

Ominously, sectarian violence has also begun to spread, with a recent upsurge in attacks by militant Buddhists on Muslim religious sites and businesses. The government has done little to discourage these attacks.

"Should such provocations continue, the remarkable moderation of Sri Lanka's Muslims could face serious tests," the report notes. "Given the country's history of violent resistance to state power perceived as unjust, the authoritarian drift can only increase the risk of an eventual outbreak of political violence."

Sri Lankans of all ethnicities who have struggled to preserve their democracy deserve stronger international support. The Human Rights Commission's 2012 resolution was an important first step, but more is needed, the report continues.

"This should begin with a stronger HRC resolution in March 2013, which must demand concrete reforms to end impunity and restore the rule of law; mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor violations and investigate the many credible allegations of war crimes committed in the final months of the war by both sides; and, where possible, identify individuals most responsible."

The ICG published a list of specific demands on the government including implementing core recommendations of the truth commission, strengthening the rule of law, greater accountability, devolution of power and national reconciliation, through a process that includes opposition political parties and independent civil society representatives of all ethnic communities, meaningful reconciliation and others.

However, given the overwhelming sway of the Sri Lankan government, it is unlikely that any of the recommendations will be heeded. Likewise, recommendations to the Human Rights Council to attempt to deal with the situation are likely to be ignored by the government if they are put in place, as are recommendations to the Commonwealth Secretariat.

PKR Unveils Think-Tank to Help Make Better Policies

PKR has launched its new think-tank today with the aim to help them make policies that are “directed towards social justice and a sustainable future”.

In addition, it would also run programmes to educate youths on being more effective in their activism.

The think-tank, dubbed ‘Institut Rakyat’, featured many prominent thinkers in its eight-member advisory panel.

These include former UN Research Institute for Social Development board member and economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram, constitutional law expert Azmi Sharom, Malaysia CEO of the Year 2010 award winner Stanley Thai, and media professor Zaharom Nain.

“They are the ones, with their expert advice, professional experience, intellectualism and scholarly experience, who will give directions to the think tank,” said Institut Rakyat director Wong Hoy Cheong.

“We need evidence-based policies, not policies that are created, and then followed by ‘evidence’ pulled out of thin air to support it.”

Other notable figures in the institute include suspended Bank Islam economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin who serves as the institute’s research consultant, and former Maybank CEO Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah who serves as a director.

The institute is chaired by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy Syed Husin Ali, a former senator.

Although PKR-linked, Wong said the institute is dependent on donations from well-wishers and does not receive any funding from neither the party nor any government.

‘Offering critical analysis and commentary’

Meanwhile, the PKR de facto leader said the institute would be independent despite its relationship with his party during his keynote speech at the launch event in Subang.

“The paramount role of a policy studies institute is to offer critical analysis and commentary in order to influence them to meet the requirements of good governance.

“The establishment of this institute, being affiliated with PKR, grants the risk of being reduced to a self-serving mouthpiece.

“Hence it is of the greatest consequence that it should be independently run and that it performs the task it is set out to do in its charter, which among others is to advise and critique without fear or favour.

“To remain true to this, it must listen to the voice of the people. It must promote the culture of the ruling political coalition from the government – and I am anticipating an imminent victory, God willing,” Anwar (right) said.

He added that young leaders in the party have long lobbied with the party’s ‘old guard’ for a party-linked think tank just as other parties have done, but with freedom to do its own research.

“This is a rather unique event in my political experience, which is that I have to succumb to the pressure of the youth from time to time to create new institutes and new ideas,” he said while thanking those involved in the lobbying.

49-Day Countdown to 13GE: Najib has presented me with a dilemma – is the Election Integrity Pledge worth signing when the Prime Minister can sign it with such aplomb, contempt and cynicism?

By Lim Kit Siang
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has presented me with a dilemma – is the Election Integrity Pledge proposed by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) worth signing when Najib could sign it with such aplomb, contempt and cynicism after his four-year premiership witnessed corruption in Malaysia plunging to its worst depths in the nation’s 56-year history.

In Najib’s four years as Prime Minister, Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) plunged to its lowest rankings in the past 18 years, i.e. No. 56 in 2009 and 2010, No. 60 in 2011 and No. 54 in 2012, as compared to Malaysia’s No. 23rd ranking in the first TI CPI in 1995, No. 37th placing in 2003 when Tun Dr. Mahathir stepped down as Prime Minister after 22 years of authoritarian and corrupt rule and No. 47 ranking in 2008 after five years of Tun Abdullah’s “Mr. Clean” premiership.

It is incontrovertible and undeniable that corruption under Najib’s four-year premiership is the worst under any Prime Minister in the nation’s 56-year history, as apart from being worse than the Mahathir and Abdullah eras, no one has ever suggested that corruption under the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein were ever more serious than under their successors.

What makes a meaningful signing of the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge even more questionable is the presence of the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who had put Malaysia on the international radar of anti-corruption campaigns after the allegations in the ground-breaking and explosive report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) last September which estimated the assets of Taib Mahmud’s family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion), with the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia’s richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion.

Najib not only failed to show any seriousness or commitment in the battle against corruption by setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the BMF report to clear Taib’s name but even more important to vindicate Malaysia’s reputation, he as good as directed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to leave the BMF report alone by publicly dismissing its allegations of grand corruption against the Sarawak Chief Minister.

If the Sarawak Chief Minister was present at Najib’s Election Integrity Pledge signing ceremony yesterday, why was the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, another Barisan Nasional leader who has put Malaysia on the world radar in international anti-corruption campaigns, absent?

In my speech in Parliament on the 2013 Budget last October, I had spoken about the “test of the trio” as to whether there is real political will in the Najib premiership to combat “Grand Corruption” by VVIPs, and I had named Taib, Musa and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

But there is only complete silence from Najib on the “test of the trio” in the battle against “grand corruption” in Malaysia.

What credibility and legitimacy could Najib’s signing of the Election Integrity Pledge inspire and generate when the 66th UMNO General Assembly last December was such a dismal failure as far as fighting corruption and ensuring election integrity in the 13th General Elections are concerned?

A month before the 66th UMNO General Assembly, China’s outgoing President and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Hu Jintao warned at the 18th CCP Congress that corruption could trigger the collapse of the Party and the fall of the State – a theme which was taken up in the first speech of the new Chinese Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state”.

There was more reason for Najib than Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping to give priority to the grave problem of corruption as in the last two decades, China had been making measurable progress in the battle against corruption while the reverse is the case for Malaysia.

In fact, if the trend of China’s improvement in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the past 18 years (1995-2012) and Malaysia’s regression continues unchecked, China will be placed in a better position than Malaysia in the TI CPI in being internationally regarded as being less corrupt in less than five years.

But the 66th UMNO General Assembly only provided further evidence that although Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the four-year Najib premiership, Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.

This was why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman successfully performing the “disappearance” act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million “political donation to Sabah UMNO” which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.

There was also the spectable of the the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister’s family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

It was at the 66th UMNO General Assembly that some Sabah UMNO delegates told online news portals that although they full support Musa Aman, they were in the dark about the RM40 million “political donation” to Sabah UMNO and they wanted Musa to personally explain the issue.

However, there were also Sabah UMNO delegates who dismissed the controversy on the ground that the RM40 million donation was pittance compared to the millions UMNO dished out during elections – with one Sabah UMNO delegate revealing that in the Putatan constituency in his home state, UMNO would have to spend up to RM6 million during the polls.

With 26 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah (and Labuan) and at the average of RM6 million per constituency, the total election expenses would exceed RM150 million at the parliamentary level – which would more than doubled when the election expenses in the state assembly constituencies are taken into account.

With UMNO/BN spending at least RM300 million in Sabah, another RM300 million in Sarawak, and similar election expenditures for the 165 Parliamentary seats and 441 State Assembly seats in the eleven states in Peninsular Malaysia, we are looking at the UMNO/BN coalition spending billions of ringgit in the 13GE to retain power and recapture two-thirds parliamentary majority at the federal level, as well as regain the four Pakatan Rakyat states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah and ,maintain its unconstitutional rule in Perak.

With the UMNO/BN set to spend billions of ringgit in the 13GE, what is the use of Najib signing TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge? I will discuss with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang whether under these circumstances, there is any purpose in our signing the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge.

The Economist Intelligence Unit Says Barisan Nasional Will Win 13th General Election

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which is part of the respected London-based magazine, 'The Economist', predicts that the Barisan Nasional (BN) will win the 13th General Election (GE13) based on its successful track record, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's reform agenda and his successful economic leadership.

For international observers, the outcome of the upcoming polls is already clear, that the BN will be victorious, the EIU said.

It also said the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has been making "costly promises" to gain power, and these were a big stumbling block.

On all these counts, Pakatan Rakyat comes a distant second, prompting the EIU to predict BN will be the winner.

The EIU, a think-tank which offers regular country, industry and risk analysis, said that "it is clearly not feasible" for Pakatan to implement all of its campaign promises.

"For example, providing free secondary education would cost the government RM43 billion, while abolishing car duty would cut tax revenue by RM4.6 billion a year," it said.

The EIU pointed out that Pakatan had broken many of its earlier promises, including financial assistance for pre-school education, for university students, senior citizens and the disabled; free healthcare for those over 65; lower property taxes; and assistance for home buyers.

On all these counts, Pakatan's populism has remained just hot air.

In Selangor, for example, BN claimed that Pakatan has implemented only 15 per cent of its 31 election pledges, RM2.4 billion worth, made in its 2008 general election manifesto.

"Selangor Menteri Besar (Tan Sri Abdul) Khalid Ibrahim commented that a manifesto is not a promise but conceded that voters may think otherwise," the EIU noted.

Compared this with BN's successful track record in fulfilling its promises, and you have a clear difference in approach.

For instance, Najib has promised Penang 20,000 affordable houses and a monorail service to ease traffic congestion, and if BN comes to power in the state, voters can be sure that these plans would be implemented.

"The stakes are high for both (BN and Pakatan)...the bidding war is likely to continue as both sides make preparations for what is being billed as one of the hardest-fought elections in Malaysia's history," the report said.

"Both will need to appeal to young, first-time voters, given that nearly three million people in this crucial voting block have been added to the electoral register since the last election," it added.

The EIU claimed the "bulk of this group" was undecided about which party to vote for and could swing the outcome of the election.

Najib needs to win big in order to secure the future of his reform agenda, while on the other hand, the opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, wants to be the first to break the BN's stranglehold on power.

Meanwhile, Umno is upbeat with only weeks left for the polls, as Najib said the party machinery was in the final stages of its preparations.

"We have received the audit report on our machinery and from there I can say our preparations are satisfying.

At the same time, I hope the efforts to strengthen our preparations will continue to be carried out by leaders at the state level," he told reporters after the Umno supreme council meeting last Friday.

Najib, who is also Umno President and BN Chairman, made the selection of winnable candidates the focus of his strategy, making it clear that the BN should field candidates with the best chance of winning, regardless of which BN component party had kept the seats previously.

Another key reason for the ruling coalition's strong morale is the "gravity defying" growth of 5.2 per cent that the country is enjoying under Najib's leadership, along with a jump in domestic and foreign investments. And to top it all, per capita income hit US$9,700 from US$7,500 in 2010.

The EIU agrees with the upward trajectory: "Following an estimated expansion of 5.2 per cent in 2012, we expect GDP to grow at the same rate during the 2013-17 forecast period."

Growth figures announced yesterday by the Statistics Department showed that the economy accelerated to 6.4 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2012 and supporting the full year growth to expand by 5.6 per cent from 5.1 per cent a year earlier.

Against such a backdrop, the EIU said: "No wonder the writing is on the wall for Pakatan as it tries to cobble together some opposition unity between its squabbling leaders before the polls."