Thursday, 12 February 2015
Reports: US aide worker Kayla Jean Mueller ‘given’ to ISIS commander
According to the jihadist group, Kayla Mueller was killed last Friday when Jordanian bombs rained down on northern Syria, flattening a building where she had been housed.
US President Barack Obama yesterday confirmed Ms Mueller’s death but said there was no proof to back up ISIS’s claims she perished during air strikes.
Today, new details emerged of Ms Mueller’s captivity, with “counterterrorism officials” saying it was likely she had been forced to wed.
“ISIS didn’t see her as a hostage or a bargaining chip,” one unnamed official told ABC News.
Ms Mueller’s family told the media on Friday that ISIS had referred to their daughter as a “guest” in private communications.
The US has limited intelligence on Syria and is forced to rely on drones and satellites for surveillance. Most of the time they had no idea of Ms Mueller’s whereabouts but occasionally her name would be overheard in phone calls between fighters, or a sensitive site was mentioned that indicated she was still alive.
There were also sightings of Ms Mueller in the company of an ISIS commander who was under surveillance. He appeared to have custody over her, possibly as a result of forced marriage, another official told ABC. She had also been seen alone.
Other sources told ABC News the US lost track of the young woman after militants demanded a $US6.6 million ransom, with a threat of execution, only to let the deadline pass — apparently without incident.
Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said the group was well known for the “practice of essentially selling off, or putting young women and girls in the company of ISIS militants.”
It is understood that Ms Mueller was briefly able to communicate with some male hostages by passing them handwritten messages but was mostly kept away from them.
n a heartbreaking letter written last year and released by her family today, Ms Mueller said she was “in a safe location, completely unharmed (and) healthy. I have been treated with the utmost respect (and) kindness”.
Over the weekend, Ms Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, were emailed at least three photographs showing their deceased daughter. The correspondence has since been authenticated.
Two of the photographs showed Ms Mueller wearing a black Muslim head covering and another showed her wrapped in a white burial shroud, the New York Times reported.
Injuries to her face were clearly visible but it is not yet known if they are consistent with a bomb attack, as ISIS claims.
Jordanian and American authorities have both rejected responsibility for Ms Mueller’s death, saying the militants had not produced proof to back their assertions.
Polis tahan wanita dipercayai kurang siuman berjalan bogel di ibu kota
Polis menahan seorang wanita warga Indonesia, dipercayai kurang siuman, yang berjalan dalam keadaan bogel di ibu kota, Jumaat lepas.Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Kuala Lumpur SAC Zainuddin Ahmad berkata wanita berusia lingkungan 20-an itu kemudian diserahkan kepada Hospital Kuala Lumpur untuk mendapatkan rawatan mental.
Dalam kejadian kira-kira pukul 12 tengah hari Jumaat lepas, wanita itu berjalan dari Masjid Negara ke Kampung Attap sambil menanggalkan pakaiannya satu persatu.
"Kami mendapat maklumat berkenaan daripada polis trafik yang bertugas ketika kejadian," katanya ketika dihubungi Bernama hari ini.
Beliau berkata hasil siasatan ke atas wanita berkenaan, polis mendapatinya mengalami tekanan perasaan sehingga menyebabkan dia bertindak sedemikian.
Baru-baru ini sebuah video berdurasi 12 saat menjadi viral di laman sosial WhatsApp yang memaparkan seorang wanita bogel berjalan di tengah-tengah jalan raya di ibu kota. – Bernama, 11 Februari, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/polis-tahan-wanita-dipercayai-kurang-siuman-berjalan-bogel-di-ibu-kota#sthash.fq9zGAhp.dpuf
Azmin denies talk he is next opposition leader
Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali today dismissed rumours that he is the most likely person to take over Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's position as opposition leader, saying that the matter is still open for discussion.The PKR deputy president, echoing DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's remark on the issue, insisted that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership has yet to discuss Anwar's replacement.
"We will have a meeting to discuss the question, tentatively this Friday," he said.
"We have many leaders in Pakatan Rakyat... Many of them are able and competent enough to lead PR and as opposition leader."
"We will discuss it this Friday. Decision will be based on consensus of all Pakatan leaders." he added.
Lim said today in Penang that DAP still saw Anwar as the Permatang Pauh MP until the Dewan Rakyat Speaker declares the seat vacant in Parliament in two weeks’ time.
"As long as he is MP, he remains the opposition leader of the Parliament and leader of PR." he said, dismissing talks about finding Anwar's replacement as mere speculation by the media.
With Anwar's guilty verdict yesterday, talks have been rife that PR needed to find a candidate to replace Anwar to ensure the survival of the coalition after two parties; DAP and PAS, in recent weeks, have been trading barbs over local council elections and hudud law issues.
Analysts believed because of this, the likely candidates will be from PKR, which is seen as the “middle ground” party in the coalition.
They mentioned two names; PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Azmin.
Meanwhile, Azmin today said apart from continuing as the opposition leader, Anwar will also stay on as the Selangor economic advisor.
"Remain... why not, he can convey his messages through lawyers, family. Certainly we need his advice," said Azmin when asked about the matter.
On a separate note, Azmin said he has no plans to reveal the names of the buyers of the Datum Jelatek project saying that it would be unfair to do so.
"It's not that we can't reveal, but is it fair? Is it fair to reveal the names of people buying properties? If you buy a car or property would you want me to reveal your name? Certainly not," he said.
He added that the Datum Jelatek project will continue and the state government will not entertain objections that are racist and extremist in nature.
"More importantly we must reject accusations from one or two people who play up religious and race sentiments."
The Federal Court yesterday dismissed Anwar's final appeal against his conviction and jail sentence for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 26, 2008.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, who led a five-member panel, delivered the judgment and upheld the five-year jail term imposed by the Court of Appeal on March 7 last year. – February 11, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/azmin-denies-talk-he-is-next-opposition-leader#sthash.Fc771X95.dpuf
Gov't clears air on PMO's lightning-quick response
Critics said the Prime Minister's Office's (PMO) statement issued 15 minutes after the Federal Court upheld the opposition leader's sodomy conviction raised questions on collusion between the state and the judiciary.
"It's
clear that the politicians, lawyers, communications teams and
journalists involved with this case prepared text for guilty and not
guilty verdicts."Similarly, the government prepared a statement in advance for either outcome. This is entirely standard professional practice, especially in a case that involves public interest.
"To suggest otherwise is intentionally misleading," a government spokesperson told Malaysiakini in an email communique.
The government's quick response raised eyebrows with critics saying it is out of the ordinary for the state to make timely comments on matters of public interest.
For example, critics claimed that when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on March 8 last year, the PMO had dragged its feet.
However, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak held a press conference on the same evening (March 8).As for flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukranian airspace on July 17 last year, the critics claimed that the PMO took a few hours to issue a statement.
But Najib held a press conference in the wee hours of the morning after learning about the plane's fate.
Critics also pointed out that when the east coast was ravaged by floods last December, the PMO had only responded several days later.
Anwar's driver: Nothing happened when we slept...
Dark. Bleak. Grim.
These are the words that flashed through one's mind when arriving at newly-incarcerated Anwar Ibrahim's residence in Segambut last night.
Although informed that Anwar's family members and supporters would either be at the PKR headquarters or at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, the darkness and silence around the house still struck as oddly disconcerting.
Nevertheless, it was only natural to talk to Anwar's staff who had been stationed at the guard post of the house.
Asked
about the guilty verdict of the Federal Court for Anwar in his Sodomy
II conviction yesterday, Anwar's driver said it was impossible for him
not to be affected by the outcome.
"Of course I am sad, I have been with him for 32 years," Abdullah Sani, 55, told Malaysiakini.
"We have even slept together in the same room and nothing happened!
"And I am more handsome than Saiful," Abdullah, a father of seven, quipped, much to my amusement.
He also denied that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who accused Anwar of sodomy, was ever Anwar’s aide.
"He was just Anwar's former aide Rahimi Osman's friend. He followed Rahimi everywhere and always took the opportunity to make it look as though he is close to Anwar," Abdullah said.
Accused by village folk
Meanwhile, one of Anwar's aides, Baderol Hisam Yusof, said he had always been accused by his village folk of having been sodomised by Anwar.
"Oh well, I am willing to be sodomised by Anwar because at least I get to become a millionaire," he said, alluding to allegations that Saiful was "bought" by the BN government to end Anwar's political career.
On a more serious note, Baderol (right) said that he would not want to work with Anwar if he indeed was a sodomiser.
"Also, why is it that it was Saiful, who was allegedly sodomised, when there are other bodyguards who are more good looking than he is?" Baderol asked.
Admitting that although their salaries were not high, Anwar's driver and bodyguards said they just wanted to help, however they could, Anwar and his family.
"They are good people. Where can you find such an employer who mostly repeats prayers (berzikir) in the car?" Baderol said of Anwar's wife, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The 42-year-old, who had served Anwar between the years 2002 and 2004 before he resumed working for Anwar last year, also lamented that Anwar's guilty verdict was a "sentence" for all his workers as well.
"So what do we do now? For the younger bodyguards who just got married and have young children, what do they do?"
Abdullah, on the other hand, said he was especially woeful, and he noted that Wan Azizah had her own personal driver.
‘Easy’ for those who don’t like him...
Meanwhile, Baderol said it was simply "easy" for those who did not like Anwar to jail him.
"Do they think that by putting him in jail, the country's economy will improve?
"The government's policies have never changed since the first sodomy case until now. They view Anwar as a burden while we view him as an idol," he said.
Commenting on the Federal Court's unanimous decision, Baderol said that in itself was proof that the problem lies with the judiciary.
"It is so obvious when the verdict is 5-0 in convicting Anwar. It just shows something is corrupted. Are you trying to fool the rakyat?"
As for the general public, Baderol had only this to say.
"People should not just rely on what they read and see. I say this because I see that there is no effort to come and get to know more (of the truth).
Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria (left) in declaring the guilty verdict yesterday said there is “overwhelming evidence” that Saiful was sodomised by Anwar as there is “substantial scientific and corroborative evidence”.
However, Justice Arifin said the five-year jail sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal would not be enhanced.
Anwar was sent to the Sungai Buloh Prison yesterday to begin his sentence.
These are the words that flashed through one's mind when arriving at newly-incarcerated Anwar Ibrahim's residence in Segambut last night.
Although informed that Anwar's family members and supporters would either be at the PKR headquarters or at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre, the darkness and silence around the house still struck as oddly disconcerting.
Nevertheless, it was only natural to talk to Anwar's staff who had been stationed at the guard post of the house.
Asked
about the guilty verdict of the Federal Court for Anwar in his Sodomy
II conviction yesterday, Anwar's driver said it was impossible for him
not to be affected by the outcome."Of course I am sad, I have been with him for 32 years," Abdullah Sani, 55, told Malaysiakini.
"We have even slept together in the same room and nothing happened!
"And I am more handsome than Saiful," Abdullah, a father of seven, quipped, much to my amusement.
He also denied that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who accused Anwar of sodomy, was ever Anwar’s aide.
"He was just Anwar's former aide Rahimi Osman's friend. He followed Rahimi everywhere and always took the opportunity to make it look as though he is close to Anwar," Abdullah said.
Accused by village folk
Meanwhile, one of Anwar's aides, Baderol Hisam Yusof, said he had always been accused by his village folk of having been sodomised by Anwar.
"Oh well, I am willing to be sodomised by Anwar because at least I get to become a millionaire," he said, alluding to allegations that Saiful was "bought" by the BN government to end Anwar's political career.
On a more serious note, Baderol (right) said that he would not want to work with Anwar if he indeed was a sodomiser."Also, why is it that it was Saiful, who was allegedly sodomised, when there are other bodyguards who are more good looking than he is?" Baderol asked.
Admitting that although their salaries were not high, Anwar's driver and bodyguards said they just wanted to help, however they could, Anwar and his family.
"They are good people. Where can you find such an employer who mostly repeats prayers (berzikir) in the car?" Baderol said of Anwar's wife, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The 42-year-old, who had served Anwar between the years 2002 and 2004 before he resumed working for Anwar last year, also lamented that Anwar's guilty verdict was a "sentence" for all his workers as well.
"So what do we do now? For the younger bodyguards who just got married and have young children, what do they do?"
Abdullah, on the other hand, said he was especially woeful, and he noted that Wan Azizah had her own personal driver.
‘Easy’ for those who don’t like him...
Meanwhile, Baderol said it was simply "easy" for those who did not like Anwar to jail him.
"Do they think that by putting him in jail, the country's economy will improve?
"The government's policies have never changed since the first sodomy case until now. They view Anwar as a burden while we view him as an idol," he said.
Commenting on the Federal Court's unanimous decision, Baderol said that in itself was proof that the problem lies with the judiciary.
"It is so obvious when the verdict is 5-0 in convicting Anwar. It just shows something is corrupted. Are you trying to fool the rakyat?"
As for the general public, Baderol had only this to say."People should not just rely on what they read and see. I say this because I see that there is no effort to come and get to know more (of the truth).
Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria (left) in declaring the guilty verdict yesterday said there is “overwhelming evidence” that Saiful was sodomised by Anwar as there is “substantial scientific and corroborative evidence”.
However, Justice Arifin said the five-year jail sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal would not be enhanced.
Anwar was sent to the Sungai Buloh Prison yesterday to begin his sentence.
Kit Siang: M’sia in the doghouse after Anwar
DAP veteran has a dream despite setbacks for the country and the Opposition Alliance.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is in the international doghouse again over the rule of law, democracy and human rights, a terrible ordeal for the country after it recently secured a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and was elected as chairman of Asean.
“The 5-0 unanimous decision of the Federal Court on Tuesday in rejecting Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal was a disservice to Malaysia’s international reputation and its Vision 2020 for developed nation status,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.
He was lamenting the fact that Anwar will be 72 years before he is released. “He will be disqualified from holding elective office for another five years after his release, unless the Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) government is toppled in the 14th General Election.”
The unprecedented statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, minutes after Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria announced the court’s unanimous rejection of Anwar’s appeal, but before sentencing had been announced, added Lim, only escalated national and international doubts about whether there was true independence of the Judiciary and rule of law in the country.
The heart-rending scenes of Wan Azizah Ismail, Nurul Izzah and her five siblings, and Anwar’s grandchildren in the Federal Court when Anwar’s appeal was dismissed and the sentence passed, continued Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, brought back similar heart-breaking memories 17 years ago in the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur.
At that time, he recalled, the victim of persecution was Lim Guan Eng, then MP for Kota Melaka, who was being punished for championing the rights of a 15 year-old Malay girl in Melaka. “He lost his final appeal and was immediately sent off to Kajang Prison to serve his 18-month jail sentence.”
The whole Lim family was in court, said Lim in walking down memory lane, “but we were utterly helpless like Azizah and her family in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on Tuesday”.
“The battle for justice, freedom and human dignity, the causes which Anwar had dedicated his entire life, must burn stronger in the hearts and souls of all Malaysians until such injustices and abuses are nightmares of the past.”
He reiterated his take at the “Rakyat Hakim Negara” dinner in Petaling Jaya on the eve of the Federal Court decision on Anwar’s case, that “Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was the embodiment of Anwar’s greatest success in the national agenda for change”.
PR scored unprecedented victories first in the 2008 and then in the 2013 General Elections, said Lim. “Anwar was denied his destiny as the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia because of an undemocratic electoral system. PR secured 52 per cent of the national vote.”
The three allies in PR — DAP, PKR and PAS — as well as countless NGOs and NGIs (Non-government individuals) who had given unstinting support to PR in the past seven years, pleaded Lim, “must all be prepared to walk the last mile to ensure the success of the Opposition Alliance”.
“Let me repeat the pledge I made on behalf of DAP on the eve of Anwar’s third incarceration”.
”We do not hide the fact that PR is afflicted with our greatest crisis since our formation seven years ago, even more challenging than the first crisis PR faced in September 2011, which nearly led to the end of PR.”
If PR had broken up over the hudud controversy in September 2011, reminded Lim, then the historic result of the 13th General Elections in May 2013, which saw PR winning 52 per cent of the electoral vote and reducing Najib’s Federal administration into a minority government, would not have been achieved. “PR won 89 Parliamentary seats and 229 state assembly seats outside Sarawak.”
“If PR now breaks up before the next polls, it is anybody’s guess as to what would be the outcome in the 14th General Elections to be held in three years’ time,” warned Lim.
“It is precisely because PR embodies the hopes of generations of Malaysians for change and Malaysia’s rendezvous with greatness, that DAP leaders are prepared to walk the last mile to make Pakatan Rakyat work.”
This, continued Lim, is also the common sentiments and commitments of PKR and PAS leaders on the unprecedented promises and challenges presented by the PR experiment.
PR’s greatest tribute to Anwar is its two fundamental principles.
“PR can only sustain and succeed if we adhere to two fundamental principles which had been the secrets of PR’s success in the past six years.”
The first, he said, was strict adherence to the PR Common Policy Framework which had formed the bedrock common principles of the three parties in the alliance.
The second, he said, was the operational principle of consensus in the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council as the highest policy-making body for PR.
“The greatest tribute we can pay to Anwar, starting on his third incarceration, was to reaffirm these two fundamental principles which held the secrets of PR’s success,” said Lim. “It will lead PR from strength to strength.”
“Our political opponents in Umno/BN fear most, and are trying their utmost to destroy, PR’s integrity and viability based on the two fundamental PR principles.”
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is in the international doghouse again over the rule of law, democracy and human rights, a terrible ordeal for the country after it recently secured a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and was elected as chairman of Asean.
“The 5-0 unanimous decision of the Federal Court on Tuesday in rejecting Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal was a disservice to Malaysia’s international reputation and its Vision 2020 for developed nation status,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.
He was lamenting the fact that Anwar will be 72 years before he is released. “He will be disqualified from holding elective office for another five years after his release, unless the Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) government is toppled in the 14th General Election.”
The unprecedented statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, minutes after Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria announced the court’s unanimous rejection of Anwar’s appeal, but before sentencing had been announced, added Lim, only escalated national and international doubts about whether there was true independence of the Judiciary and rule of law in the country.
The heart-rending scenes of Wan Azizah Ismail, Nurul Izzah and her five siblings, and Anwar’s grandchildren in the Federal Court when Anwar’s appeal was dismissed and the sentence passed, continued Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, brought back similar heart-breaking memories 17 years ago in the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur.
At that time, he recalled, the victim of persecution was Lim Guan Eng, then MP for Kota Melaka, who was being punished for championing the rights of a 15 year-old Malay girl in Melaka. “He lost his final appeal and was immediately sent off to Kajang Prison to serve his 18-month jail sentence.”
The whole Lim family was in court, said Lim in walking down memory lane, “but we were utterly helpless like Azizah and her family in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on Tuesday”.
“The battle for justice, freedom and human dignity, the causes which Anwar had dedicated his entire life, must burn stronger in the hearts and souls of all Malaysians until such injustices and abuses are nightmares of the past.”
He reiterated his take at the “Rakyat Hakim Negara” dinner in Petaling Jaya on the eve of the Federal Court decision on Anwar’s case, that “Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was the embodiment of Anwar’s greatest success in the national agenda for change”.
PR scored unprecedented victories first in the 2008 and then in the 2013 General Elections, said Lim. “Anwar was denied his destiny as the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia because of an undemocratic electoral system. PR secured 52 per cent of the national vote.”
The three allies in PR — DAP, PKR and PAS — as well as countless NGOs and NGIs (Non-government individuals) who had given unstinting support to PR in the past seven years, pleaded Lim, “must all be prepared to walk the last mile to ensure the success of the Opposition Alliance”.
“Let me repeat the pledge I made on behalf of DAP on the eve of Anwar’s third incarceration”.
”We do not hide the fact that PR is afflicted with our greatest crisis since our formation seven years ago, even more challenging than the first crisis PR faced in September 2011, which nearly led to the end of PR.”
If PR had broken up over the hudud controversy in September 2011, reminded Lim, then the historic result of the 13th General Elections in May 2013, which saw PR winning 52 per cent of the electoral vote and reducing Najib’s Federal administration into a minority government, would not have been achieved. “PR won 89 Parliamentary seats and 229 state assembly seats outside Sarawak.”
“If PR now breaks up before the next polls, it is anybody’s guess as to what would be the outcome in the 14th General Elections to be held in three years’ time,” warned Lim.
“It is precisely because PR embodies the hopes of generations of Malaysians for change and Malaysia’s rendezvous with greatness, that DAP leaders are prepared to walk the last mile to make Pakatan Rakyat work.”
This, continued Lim, is also the common sentiments and commitments of PKR and PAS leaders on the unprecedented promises and challenges presented by the PR experiment.
PR’s greatest tribute to Anwar is its two fundamental principles.
“PR can only sustain and succeed if we adhere to two fundamental principles which had been the secrets of PR’s success in the past six years.”
The first, he said, was strict adherence to the PR Common Policy Framework which had formed the bedrock common principles of the three parties in the alliance.
The second, he said, was the operational principle of consensus in the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council as the highest policy-making body for PR.
“The greatest tribute we can pay to Anwar, starting on his third incarceration, was to reaffirm these two fundamental principles which held the secrets of PR’s success,” said Lim. “It will lead PR from strength to strength.”
“Our political opponents in Umno/BN fear most, and are trying their utmost to destroy, PR’s integrity and viability based on the two fundamental PR principles.”
Three court cases that affect Najib’s credibility
Doubts have been cast as to the fairness of the Malaysian justice system, says blogger Shahbudin.
FMT
PETALING JAYA: A persistent critic of Najib Abdul Razak has pointed out that government prosecutors treated Anwar Ibrahim differently from the way they treated Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of the Prime Minister.
Prosecutors did not appeal the October 2008 High Court decision that acquitted Abdul Razak of a charge of abetting in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, but they promptly appealed when Anwar was acquitted of sodomy in March 2014.
This casts doubt on the fairness of the Malaysian justice system, says Shahbudin Husin in his latest blog posting.
He says the government’s handling of the two cases, as well as the case of the policemen sentenced to death for the “murder without a motive” of Altantuya, may yet prove to be Najib’s undoing.
The three cases, he adds, leave serious doubts as to the credibility of Najib’s claims of his respect for justice and his espousal of moderation.
“They are the fires that rage in the tinder within the rakyat’s heart and will in time bring everything down,” he warns.
“When one considers the three cases together, whether one is thinking inside the box, outside the box or beside the box, one cannot escape the feeling that there are clear departures in the administration of justice in Najib’s era.
“Only those without a thinking box will affirm and praise the Najib administration’s so-called dedication to moderation and justice.”
Shahbudin acknowledges that Anwar’s conviction yesterday has not been greeted with the kind of noisy protests associated with the birth of the Reformasi movement, but he warns that it would be wrong to assume that his supporters are resigned to his fate.
“The sadness and sympathy with Anwar is being felt everywhere, waiting only to be expressed at the next general election,” he claims.
“In truth, it is Najib who stands to lose the most from Anwar’s conviction.”
FMT
PETALING JAYA: A persistent critic of Najib Abdul Razak has pointed out that government prosecutors treated Anwar Ibrahim differently from the way they treated Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of the Prime Minister.
Prosecutors did not appeal the October 2008 High Court decision that acquitted Abdul Razak of a charge of abetting in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, but they promptly appealed when Anwar was acquitted of sodomy in March 2014.
This casts doubt on the fairness of the Malaysian justice system, says Shahbudin Husin in his latest blog posting.
He says the government’s handling of the two cases, as well as the case of the policemen sentenced to death for the “murder without a motive” of Altantuya, may yet prove to be Najib’s undoing.
The three cases, he adds, leave serious doubts as to the credibility of Najib’s claims of his respect for justice and his espousal of moderation.
“They are the fires that rage in the tinder within the rakyat’s heart and will in time bring everything down,” he warns.
“When one considers the three cases together, whether one is thinking inside the box, outside the box or beside the box, one cannot escape the feeling that there are clear departures in the administration of justice in Najib’s era.
“Only those without a thinking box will affirm and praise the Najib administration’s so-called dedication to moderation and justice.”
Shahbudin acknowledges that Anwar’s conviction yesterday has not been greeted with the kind of noisy protests associated with the birth of the Reformasi movement, but he warns that it would be wrong to assume that his supporters are resigned to his fate.
“The sadness and sympathy with Anwar is being felt everywhere, waiting only to be expressed at the next general election,” he claims.
“In truth, it is Najib who stands to lose the most from Anwar’s conviction.”
Anwar has 14 days to seek pardon from Agong
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has discussed the pardon application with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
FMT
GEORGE TOWN: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, incarcerated Tues on a sodomy charge, will automatically lose all his positions unless he files for a pardon from the Agong within 14 days.
Besides being Opposition Leader, these positions include Permatang Pauh MP, de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), head of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Economic Adviser to the Selangor Government.
DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng, in stressing these areas, read out Article 48 (1) of the Federal Constitution which states the conditions under which an MP would be disqualified.
“So, we must wait until the Agong accepts or rejects his petition,” said Lim who is also Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP.
He conceded that “it all depends on whether Anwar wants to seek a pardon from the Agong.” Anwar has consistently maintained that he’s innocent of the charges.
Lim disclosed that he has discussed the possibility of a pardon with Anwar but declined to the contents of the discussions. He stressed that his party would stand solidly behind Anwar and his family.
DAP is expected to concede if PKR President Wan Azizah contests in Permatang Pauh and wins the seat. In that case, she would be appointed Opposition Leader.
Pakatan Rakyat will meet on Fri to discuss the jailing of Anwar and its implications on the three-party Opposition Alliance.
FMT
GEORGE TOWN: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, incarcerated Tues on a sodomy charge, will automatically lose all his positions unless he files for a pardon from the Agong within 14 days.
Besides being Opposition Leader, these positions include Permatang Pauh MP, de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), head of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and Economic Adviser to the Selangor Government.
DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng, in stressing these areas, read out Article 48 (1) of the Federal Constitution which states the conditions under which an MP would be disqualified.
“So, we must wait until the Agong accepts or rejects his petition,” said Lim who is also Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP.
He conceded that “it all depends on whether Anwar wants to seek a pardon from the Agong.” Anwar has consistently maintained that he’s innocent of the charges.
Lim disclosed that he has discussed the possibility of a pardon with Anwar but declined to the contents of the discussions. He stressed that his party would stand solidly behind Anwar and his family.
DAP is expected to concede if PKR President Wan Azizah contests in Permatang Pauh and wins the seat. In that case, she would be appointed Opposition Leader.
Pakatan Rakyat will meet on Fri to discuss the jailing of Anwar and its implications on the three-party Opposition Alliance.
Disabled man charged with throwing slipper at cop
He allegedly committed the offence during the Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves recently.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: A disabled man pleaded not guilty in the Selayang magistrate’s court here today to a charge of throwing a slipper at a police officer’s head during the Thaipusam festival, earlier this month.
M Krishnan, 57, who appeared in court wearing lock-up attire and carrying a walking stick allegedly committed the offence at the Mariamman Temple in Batu Caves, Selayang, here at 10.20am on February 3.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur Hafizah Rajuni offered bail at RM2,000 with one surety and an additional condition that the accused must report to the nearest police station once a month.
The accused’s counsel, Akmal Jusoh, pleaded for the bail to be reduced on the grounds that his client was a disabled card holder and it was unlikely he would flee.
Magistrate Namirah Hanum Mohamed Albaki allowed bail at RM1,500 with one surety and fixed April 1 for mention.
– BERNAMA
FMTKUALA LUMPUR: A disabled man pleaded not guilty in the Selayang magistrate’s court here today to a charge of throwing a slipper at a police officer’s head during the Thaipusam festival, earlier this month.
M Krishnan, 57, who appeared in court wearing lock-up attire and carrying a walking stick allegedly committed the offence at the Mariamman Temple in Batu Caves, Selayang, here at 10.20am on February 3.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur Hafizah Rajuni offered bail at RM2,000 with one surety and an additional condition that the accused must report to the nearest police station once a month.
The accused’s counsel, Akmal Jusoh, pleaded for the bail to be reduced on the grounds that his client was a disabled card holder and it was unlikely he would flee.
Magistrate Namirah Hanum Mohamed Albaki allowed bail at RM1,500 with one surety and fixed April 1 for mention.
– BERNAMA
Acrimonious Split Rattles Malaysian Premier’s Family
Feud reportedly sparked by PM Najib’s wife
By Asia Sentinel
The announcement last week by top Malaysian banker Nazir Razak of his intention to file defamation charges against bloggers believed connected to a close friend of his brother, Prime Minister Najib Razak, has laid bare what has been whispered about for months in Kuala Lumpur.
There is a growing, acrimonious rift in the Razak family, much of it over the deeply indebted government-backed investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and Najib’s siblings’ relationship with the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, partly because of her ostentatious flaunting of enormous wealth. Rosmah, in addition to concerns about her behavior, is believed to have convinced her husband to initiate the 1MDB fund, which is backed by the Ministry of Finance.
One of the questions circulating in Malaysia’s business community is whether the family feud might result in problems for CIMB, the fast-growing Malaysia-headquartered bank that Nazir heads and which has become one of Southeast Asia’s leading financial institutions. Observers say CIMB owes at least some of its rapid growth to its connections to the family and hence to UMNO. “Its political connections are probably no longer a slam dunk asset for Nazir,” a business source with connections to the government told Asia Sentinel.
“The brothers openly criticize Rosmah at dinner functions and family events,” a well-wired source told Asia Sentinel. “I have heard them myself. Nazir’s family has moved to Oxford, where he spends 60 to 70 percent of his time. His elder brother Nizam spends time with his family in Boston. The two elder brothers Johari and Nazim also cannot get along with Rosmah.”
It was Nazim, according to two sworn declarations, one by a business associate of Rosmah and the other by the late private detective Perumal Balasubramaniam, who played a role in forcing Bala, as he was known, out of the country in 2008 after he issued an initial statement that Najib himself had been the lover of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian woman murdered in 2006 in one of Malaysia’s most notorious killings and who was peripherally involved in a massive bribery case involving the sale of French submarines to Malaysia. After Bala made the statement, he was told to get out of Malaysia and was given a hefty bribe to do so. Allegedly it was Nazim, a Kuala Lumpur architect, who took Balasubramaniam to the Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur to write a statement recanting his version of the relationship between Altantuya and Najib.
The acrimony is so bad that some of the family have spent their Hari Raya holiday – the celebration at the end of the fasting month – in Phuket and Singapore to avoid going to the prime minister’s obligatory open house, the source said.
The squabble has broken into the open at a time when Najib is under attack from a wide variety of sources including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who pushed out Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in 2009 to replace him with Najib.
1MDB and the Penang-born tycoon whose brainchild it was – and his connection to the Najib family – were the subject of a long and critical New York Times article on Feb. 8. The article has since served as red meat to the Mahathir forces and Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister who is said to be eyeing Najib’s job.
Hints of the rift began in January 2014 ,when Nazir wrote a long article in Kinibiz, the business edition of the widely read independent online publication Malaysiakini, which is highly critical of the government.
In the article, Nazir wrote a remembrance of his father, Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s second prime minister, titled “Remembering My Father, Tun Razak.” Among other things the father was said in the article to have refused to use public funds to build a swimming pool for his children at the government-owned prime minister’s residence. He personally paid his family’s expenses on government trips, Nazir said, and was committed to national unity between the three major ethnic groups, the Malays, Chinese and Indians.
The article stood as an obvious public rebuke to the prime minister, who has been accused of remodeling the the prime minister’s residence at vast public expense at the urging of his wife, using the government’s public jet for private junkets and refusing to rein in Malay superiority NGOs such as Perkasa and ISMA, whose strident rhetoric has led to a poisonous racial situation.
“Nazir has long worried about the negative influence of Rosmah, in particular, on Najib and has complained to friends and associates about it,” said a longtime western political analyst in Kuala Lumpur. “Of course, Rosmah knows this and despises Nazir in return and badmouths him to Najib. So it goes.”
In another article, printed last week in Kinibiz, Nazir said that after the first article appeared anonymous attacks began on his family and his children from bloggers believed to be connected to Taek Jho Low, the flamboyant young Penang-born financier who has parlayed his UK school connections into what appears to be a vast fortune – and embroiled Najib in government debt generated by 1MDB, the subject of an extensive Asia Sentinel report on Dec. 8, 2014.
Jho Low, as he is known, became a friend of Rosmah’s son Riza Aziz during his school days in the UK at Harrow, while Riza was at nearby Haileybury. After first vainly approaching the Sultan of Terengganu to use the state’s oil revenues to start a sovereign investment fund, Jho Low turned to Najib, then the defense minister. On Jho Low’s advice, 1MDB appears to have invested vast amounts in a series of misguided adventures.
In Kinibiz last week, Nazir said the attacks, constituting “lies and slander,” cross the line. His statement follows a series of comments by businessman and publisher Tong Kooi Ong, who had also been subjected to anonymous blog attacks that Tong claimed were due to The Edge Malaysia newspaper’s extensive and biting coverage of 1MDB.
The Edge Malaysia is part of The Edge Media Group, which Tong owns. On Feb. 6, Tong said he had ascertained the identity of the blogger going by the name ‘ahrily90’ and had served a legal letter to Jho Low, who has previously denied any links to the attacks.
The announcement last week by top Malaysian banker Nazir Razak of his intention to file defamation charges against bloggers believed connected to a close friend of his brother, Prime Minister Najib Razak, has laid bare what has been whispered about for months in Kuala Lumpur.
There is a growing, acrimonious rift in the Razak family, much of it over the deeply indebted government-backed investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and Najib’s siblings’ relationship with the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, partly because of her ostentatious flaunting of enormous wealth. Rosmah, in addition to concerns about her behavior, is believed to have convinced her husband to initiate the 1MDB fund, which is backed by the Ministry of Finance.
One of the questions circulating in Malaysia’s business community is whether the family feud might result in problems for CIMB, the fast-growing Malaysia-headquartered bank that Nazir heads and which has become one of Southeast Asia’s leading financial institutions. Observers say CIMB owes at least some of its rapid growth to its connections to the family and hence to UMNO. “Its political connections are probably no longer a slam dunk asset for Nazir,” a business source with connections to the government told Asia Sentinel.
“The brothers openly criticize Rosmah at dinner functions and family events,” a well-wired source told Asia Sentinel. “I have heard them myself. Nazir’s family has moved to Oxford, where he spends 60 to 70 percent of his time. His elder brother Nizam spends time with his family in Boston. The two elder brothers Johari and Nazim also cannot get along with Rosmah.”
It was Nazim, according to two sworn declarations, one by a business associate of Rosmah and the other by the late private detective Perumal Balasubramaniam, who played a role in forcing Bala, as he was known, out of the country in 2008 after he issued an initial statement that Najib himself had been the lover of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian woman murdered in 2006 in one of Malaysia’s most notorious killings and who was peripherally involved in a massive bribery case involving the sale of French submarines to Malaysia. After Bala made the statement, he was told to get out of Malaysia and was given a hefty bribe to do so. Allegedly it was Nazim, a Kuala Lumpur architect, who took Balasubramaniam to the Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur to write a statement recanting his version of the relationship between Altantuya and Najib.
The acrimony is so bad that some of the family have spent their Hari Raya holiday – the celebration at the end of the fasting month – in Phuket and Singapore to avoid going to the prime minister’s obligatory open house, the source said.
The squabble has broken into the open at a time when Najib is under attack from a wide variety of sources including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who pushed out Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in 2009 to replace him with Najib.
1MDB and the Penang-born tycoon whose brainchild it was – and his connection to the Najib family – were the subject of a long and critical New York Times article on Feb. 8. The article has since served as red meat to the Mahathir forces and Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister who is said to be eyeing Najib’s job.
Hints of the rift began in January 2014 ,when Nazir wrote a long article in Kinibiz, the business edition of the widely read independent online publication Malaysiakini, which is highly critical of the government.
In the article, Nazir wrote a remembrance of his father, Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s second prime minister, titled “Remembering My Father, Tun Razak.” Among other things the father was said in the article to have refused to use public funds to build a swimming pool for his children at the government-owned prime minister’s residence. He personally paid his family’s expenses on government trips, Nazir said, and was committed to national unity between the three major ethnic groups, the Malays, Chinese and Indians.
The article stood as an obvious public rebuke to the prime minister, who has been accused of remodeling the the prime minister’s residence at vast public expense at the urging of his wife, using the government’s public jet for private junkets and refusing to rein in Malay superiority NGOs such as Perkasa and ISMA, whose strident rhetoric has led to a poisonous racial situation.
“Nazir has long worried about the negative influence of Rosmah, in particular, on Najib and has complained to friends and associates about it,” said a longtime western political analyst in Kuala Lumpur. “Of course, Rosmah knows this and despises Nazir in return and badmouths him to Najib. So it goes.”
In another article, printed last week in Kinibiz, Nazir said that after the first article appeared anonymous attacks began on his family and his children from bloggers believed to be connected to Taek Jho Low, the flamboyant young Penang-born financier who has parlayed his UK school connections into what appears to be a vast fortune – and embroiled Najib in government debt generated by 1MDB, the subject of an extensive Asia Sentinel report on Dec. 8, 2014.
Jho Low, as he is known, became a friend of Rosmah’s son Riza Aziz during his school days in the UK at Harrow, while Riza was at nearby Haileybury. After first vainly approaching the Sultan of Terengganu to use the state’s oil revenues to start a sovereign investment fund, Jho Low turned to Najib, then the defense minister. On Jho Low’s advice, 1MDB appears to have invested vast amounts in a series of misguided adventures.
In Kinibiz last week, Nazir said the attacks, constituting “lies and slander,” cross the line. His statement follows a series of comments by businessman and publisher Tong Kooi Ong, who had also been subjected to anonymous blog attacks that Tong claimed were due to The Edge Malaysia newspaper’s extensive and biting coverage of 1MDB.
The Edge Malaysia is part of The Edge Media Group, which Tong owns. On Feb. 6, Tong said he had ascertained the identity of the blogger going by the name ‘ahrily90’ and had served a legal letter to Jho Low, who has previously denied any links to the attacks.
An open letter to Ismail Sabri
But politics aside, I write this not as a political opponent - not today, but only as a mere Malaysian who has seen how demoralised and worn out most Malaysians have become because of the hatred, fear and lies that seem to perpetuate our country.
It fills me with great sadness that our beloved country is slowly but surely heading down a path our founding fathers fought hard against. When they created the federation, they had a vision where Malaysians could live together in harmony and prosper together.
And here we are in 2015, just five years shy from Wawasan 2020. Can we safely say that we can truly become a developed nation by then? Are we comfortable with stripping away our ethnicity in order to achieve the glorious concept of a Bangsa Malaysia? Are we at ease with each other’s religious differences and are we able to prevent any inkling of religious supremacy?
A majority of Malaysians, especially the Malay/bumiputeras, still live in economic disparity. We see the system perpetually abused the cronys, the elite and the opportunists. Our founding fathers created a system that ensured help was given to those who needed it the most it but somehow, somewhere along the way, the system became corrupted. Now those who really are in need of such assistance have been neglected, ignored and rendered insignificant.
Our economy is not where it was two decades ago. Malaysia was once known as the one of the Rising Tigers of Asia but due to severe mismanagement and abuse, we lost the chance to pursuit the same riches Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea now boasts.
The unemployment rate of our country now stands at 2.07 percent, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2012 - or so we have been told but surely, for a country with vast resources and opportunities, shouldn’t these figures decrease?
With many economists predicting 2015 will be a fiscally challenging year for Malaysians, we are faced with the colossal feat of preparing for the worst and I dare use the word “worst” because we are confronted with a rather bleak future. The implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) will no doubt trigger inflation and this alone will lead to an adverse domino effect.
Trapped in a low-income cycle
You see, Malaysians are trapped in a low-income cycle; according to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), approximately 62 percent of monthly contributors earn less than RM2,000 and 96 percent below RM6,000. We are very far from achieving the high income nation our prime minister envisions.
Most of us can’t afford to buy houses and are neck deep in car loans and student loans. We are made to spend more, pay more while our salaries are inexplicably low.
The structure that exists in this country only seemingly benefits those who are already well off and those who are in the good books of the elite few. Our national debt now stands beyond 55 percent and the household debt has increased to more than 87 percent which happens to be one of the highest in the world.
We still want to know the relevance of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and what has happened to the RM42 billion that rightfully belongs to all of us and not just to the elite.
Arrogance is a trait no leader should embody. As a matter of fact, arrogance is detested in Islam. In the Qur'an, verse 17:37 states: “And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can neither rend nor penetrate the earth, nor can you attain a stature like the mountains in height.”
Leadership stresses upon the importance of guidance and humility - not someone who constantly berates and abases the people he or she is meant to serve; compassion is about selflessness and empathy - authentic values all leaders must have. A leader is often thought to be someone mentally and emotionally strong, kind, and thoughtful and has a sense of articulate elegance when they communicate.
The true face of racism and bigotry does not bear the image of DAP, PKR, PAS or anyone who dare speak up against tyranny but rather, is only the manifestation of hard right wing insecurities - founded on the unbearable fear of losing every ounce of power and influence, and your remarks, my esteemed minister, simply reflects the indoctrinated prejudices that your group believes in.
Our problems are not the Chinese businesses or the Chinese middlemen but only the system that has failed this nation. Leaders must never demonise fellow citizens by pitting us against one another nor should they ever attempt to stoke the fire of discontent and exploit the hopelessness some marginalised communities might have. Most of us felt your comments, which targeted some Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity were uncalled for and rude.
A minister should always refrain from saying hurtful things and must always be made to remember that with great power comes a great responsibility and your responsibility is to lead by example, so please stop the name calling, stop the slander and start figuring a way out of this quagmire.
SYERLEENA ABDUL RASHID currently serves as Bukit Bendera Dapsy secretary, Bukit Bendera DAP Wanita political education director and is an MPPP councillor.
Press Release | Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim: Prosecuted or Persecuted?
The
Malaysian Bar refers to the decision of the Federal Court on 10
February 2015 with respect to the appeal by Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim
against his conviction and sentence to five years’ imprisonment by the
Court of Appeal for a charge under section 377B, read together with
section 377A, of the Penal Code.
The
parties in the appeal were previously given a full hearing before the
Federal Court between 28 October 2014 and 7 November 2014. Having
listened to both parties and considered their arguments and submissions,
the Federal Court had adjourned the matter for consideration and
deliberation. On the morning of 10 February 2015, the Federal Court
delivered an extensive judgment and affirmed the conviction and sentence
of five years’ imprisonment of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The
Malaysian Bar has not yet had the opportunity to peruse the extensive
written grounds of judgment of the Federal Court, and makes no comment
at present as to the grounds for the affirmation by the Federal Court of
the conviction and sentence of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, save to say
that in a criminal trial and any appeals arising therefrom, the accused
need only raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case. Where
there is any such reasonable doubt, the accused must be acquitted. The
hearing of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal was extensively reported in
the media, and thus the decision of the Federal Court has come as a
surprise to many.
Sections
377A and 377B of the Penal Code criminalise sodomy and oral sex
(fellatio). Section 377B provides that whosoever voluntarily commits
the acts described in section 377A shall be punished with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to twenty years, and shall also be liable to
whipping. However, section 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides
that no male above the age of 50 years shall be punishable with
whipping.
It
is notable that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was not charged under section
377C of the Penal Code for forced sodomy or sodomy rape, although there
may appear to have been some allegation of coercion made in the
proceedings. Section 377C provides for essentially the offence of
sodomy rape, and states that whoever voluntarily commits sodomy “on
another person without the consent, or against the will, of the other
person, or by putting the other person in fear of death or hurt to the
person or any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a
term of not less than five years and not more than twenty years, and
shall also be liable to whipping”.
It
may be said that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been convicted of an
offence, sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, and will be disqualified
from being a Member of Parliament with respect to a charge that seems,
on its face, to be a victimless offence.
This
has also given rise to questions or concerns as to why the complainant,
Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who was alleged to have been a participant
in the act of sodomy, was not charged for abetment under sections 377A
and 377B, read together with section 109, of the Penal Code.
Further,
the charge against Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim is based on a provision of
the Penal Code that has rarely been used. Given this, it is remarkable
that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been prosecuted and convicted twice
for an alleged offence of sexual acts between adults wherein the charge
does not contain elements of coercion.
It is a strange world that we live in.
These glaring anomalies fuel a perception that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been persecuted, and not prosecuted.
Christopher Leong
President
Malaysian Bar
11 February 2015
PUTRAJAYA,
Feb 11 (Bernama) -- The power tariff for consumers in Peninsular
Malaysia will be reduced by 2.25 sen/KWH from March 1 to June 30 this
year following a review of fuel and other generation costs.Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said this was decided during the Cabinet meeting today after it was informed that the cost of Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) savings could be passed on to consumers in the form of cheaper tariff amounting to RM726.99 million after taking into account the drop in global fuel prices and generation costs.
He said the savings of ICPT costs would reduce the electricity bill for domestic users using in excess of 300 kWh a month and all consumers in other categories such as commercial and industry.
"Nevertheless, domestic consumers using below 300kWh of electricity a month are not affected by the decision," he told a media conference related to ICPT and electricity tariffs here today.
The ICPT mechanism allows Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to reflect changes (either an increase or reduction) of the uncontrollable fuel costs in the electricity tariff every six months. In the event of a reduction in fuel costs, TNB will also pass-through the reduction to customers.
Following the move, he said domestic users could see savings from RM13.50 to RM45 in their monthly bills.
"The savings will depend on the amount of (electricity) usage," he said.
Ongkili said the basis of the ICPT savings totalling RM726.99 million among others was due to greater usage of coal as fuel as compared other fuels like Medium Fuel Oil (MFO) and distillates, besides coal-fired plants being more efficient in power generation.
He said the ICPT cost saving was translated into a tariff reduction of 2.25 sen/kWH which amounted to 5.8 per cent of TNB's average tariff of 38.53 sen/kWH.
On domestic users using less than 300kWH monthly, he said they were not affected by the reduction because the Lifeline Band 0-200kWH had remained at 21.8 sen/kWH since 1997 while for the 201-300kWH band, the rate had been maintained at 33.4 sen/kWH since 2009.
"There about one million domestic users in the lifeline band with monthly bills RM20.00 and below which are borne by the government. As such, they are not involved in the tariff reduction," he said.
In the meantime, Ongkili said the Cabinet also agreed that the average tariff rate of 34.52 sen/kWH be reduced by 1.20 sen/kWH for Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan for the same time period, which is a drop of 3.5 per cent from the current average tariff rate.
The decision involved all domestic users using more than 300kWH of electricity a month and all consumers in other categories such as commercial and industry, he said.
The government approved a power tariff hike in Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan amounting to five sen/kWH from the average rate of 29.52 sen/kWH to 34.52 sen/kWH with fuel and tariff subsidies effective Jan 1, 2014.
He said the giving of subsidy was because the revenue collected by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) could not meet its operational costs.
Ongkili said the reduction in tariff meant that the Federal Government was forced to maintain the estimated annual fuel subsidy of RM260 million.
The government has also approved an allocation of RM2.3 billion in the form of grants to develop 81 electrical infrastructural projects in Sabah for the period 2015-2020 including projects to reduce SAIDI (frequency of electricity supply disruption).
Ongkili clarified that the ICPT mechanism was not implemented in Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan.
For Sarawak, he explained that the electricity supply industry, including issues relating to electrical tariff, was not supervised by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, according to Section 1(2) of the Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 447).
Asked why the reduction was only up to June 1, Ongkili said the market was still volatile.
"The government has made a commitment of no upward review this year. We are commited to that policy. No increase this year.
"If we need further downward reviews... we will cross the bridge when the time comes," he added.
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