Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Jawatankuasa Hak Sivil Dewan Perhimpunan Cina KL & Selangor dan Jawatankuasa Masyarakat Sivil Pusat Pembangunan -Mengecam Penahanan Ahli Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (HRP) oleh Polis
15hb Februari 2011
Kenyataan Media Bersama
Jawatankuasa Hak Sivil Dewan Perhimpunan Cina KL & Selangor (CRC-KLSCAH)
Jawatankuasa Masyarakat Sivil Pusat Pembangunan Kebudayaan Lim Lian Geok (CSC-LLG)
“Mereka Cintai Negara Dengan Cara Lain” – Mengecam Penahanan Ahli Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (HRP) oleh Polis
Jawatankuasa Hak Sivil Dewan Perhimpunan Cina KL & Selangor dan Jawatankuasa Masyarakat Sivil Pusat Pembangunan Kebudayaan Lim Lian Geok mengecam penahanan ahli-ahli Parti Hak Asasi Manusia oleh polis. Tindakan ini mencabul hak-hak asasi rakyat untuk menganjur perhimpunan aman dan kebebasan bergerak. Kami berpendapat salah guna kuasa polis telah mecapai satu tahap serius yang membimbangkan, kerajaan harus meminda Akta Polis dan menubuh Suruhanjaya Bebas dan Salah Laku Polis (IPCMC) segera supaya salah guna kuasa polis dihentikan.
Aktiviti Konvoi bantahan buku “Interlok” HRP sebenarnya tiada perbezaan dengan aktiviti konvoi gantung bendera orang awam ketika Hari Kemerdekaan, mereka cuma menunjukkan perasaan mereka terhadap isu-isu yang diprihatinkan. Kelakuan mereka adalah sama dengan orang awam biasa, mereka mencintai Negara kita dengan cara berlainan. Menunjukkan perasaan secara terbuka, menyebarkan pemikiran sendiri di tempat awam adalah biasa dalam satu masyarakat demokratik. Pihak polis sering menyekat hak-hak kebebasan bersuara organisasi masyarakat sivil, itulah sebab kedudukan demokrasi Malaysia semakin menurun dalam satu laporan demokrasi yang dikemukakan oleh The Economist baru-baru ini.
Kami menyeru kerajaan menangani saranan “Membantah Perkauman” dan “Anti-Interlok” HRP dengan langkah-langkah bertamadun dan dialog, bukanlah guna kekerasan dan penindasan memaksa suara rakyat dilenyapkan. Kami amat khuatir terhadap kesihatan dan keselamatan 22 ahli HRP yang menjalankan mogok lapar ( hunger strike) di lokap polis di Negeri Sembilan selepas penahanan mereka dipanjangkan. Kerajaan harus melepaskan 22 ahli HRP serta merta dan tanpa syarat berdasarkan semangat humanisme dan menghormati hak demokratik rakyat. Jika tidak, slogan Perdana Menteri Najib Razak “Rakyat diutamankan” akan terus dicemarkan.
Punca masalah ini ialah polis diberi kuasa terlalu besar, amalan penyalahgunaan kuasa yang tidak disekat selama ini turut merosakkan pasukan polis kita. Selain daripada penindasan terhadap perhimpunan aman, kes-kes salah guna kuasa polis terhadap Chia Buang Hing, A. Kugan dan Aminul Rasyid juga merisaukan rakyat. Kami menggesa kerajaan memansuhkan seksyen 27 Akta Polis yang menyekatkan kebebasan dan menubuh IPCMC serta merta, memulangkan hak asasi manusia dan menjamin keselamatan rakyat Malaysia, mencegah sesesiapa menjadi mangsa salah guna kuasa polis yang seterusnya.
[Kenyataan Media ini dihantarkan oleh Ng Yap Hwa, 012-2658448, Senior Executive Pusat Pembangunan Kebudayaan Lim Lian Geok, sebarang pertanyaan sila hubungi saya]
Yo
Bukan Pinjaman tetapi biasiswa kepada mahasiswa
PERKASA gesa pinjaman automatik pada siswa Mesir
Presiden Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA) menggesa kerajaan memberikan pinjaman bagi membiayai mahasiswa negara ini di Mesir secara automatik di semua peringkat.
Presidennya Datuk Ibrahim Ali berkata, ini kerana golongan Melayu dan Bumiputera dijamin kemudahan itu, termasuk biasiswa seperti termaktub dalam hak-hak istimewa dalam Fasal 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. - malaysiakini
Presidennya Datuk Ibrahim Ali berkata, ini kerana golongan Melayu dan Bumiputera dijamin kemudahan itu, termasuk biasiswa seperti termaktub dalam hak-hak istimewa dalam Fasal 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. - malaysiakini
Saya benar-benar hairan dengan sikap PERKASA yang mencadangkan bagi menambah beban para pelajar Malaysia di Mesir dengan memberikan hutang kepada mereka agar dapat membiayai pengajian mereka di sana .
Sepatutnya PERKASA mengambil sikap dengan mencadangkan kepada kerajaan supaya memberikan biasiswa agar hak mereka sepertimana yang dinyatakan oleh Fasal 153 diaplikasikan . Bukan terus membebankan mereka dengan pinjaman seperti yang dicadangkan .
Bukan sahaja kepada pelajar di Mesir sahaja yang perlu diberikan biasiswa tetapi termasuk juga kepada di negara-negara lain dan yang menuntut di dalam Malaysia . Fasal 153 tersebut telah lama dinafikan oleh kerajaan UMNO/BN dan kini para mahasiswa kita berdepan dengan bebanan hutang PTPTN selepas tamat pengajian mereka .
Dalam suasana kenaikan harga barang makanan dan keperluan , pinjaman kereta , sewa rumah dan ditambah lagi dengan bebanan pembayaran hutang PTPTN yang perlu dilunasi . Itulah dilema yang dihadapi oleh anak-anak muda hari ini yang bergelar graduan universiti dan kolej .
Pembaziran dan keborosan berbelanja wang rakyat yang diamalkan oleh DS Najib Razak dan Rosmah Mansor termasuk ketirisan , kebocoran dalam urustadbir pemerintahan DS Najib Razak serta pimpinan UMNO sama ada di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri penguasaan mereka adalah sangat melampau dan keterlaluan sehingga kita berdepan dengan hutang negara yang paling tinggi dalam sejarah iaitu RM 362.39 billion .
Negara mempunyai dana yang hebat . Daripada hasil petrolium , kerajaan persekutuan memperolehi 44% daripada keuntungan PETRONAS . Kenaikan harga petrolium di arus antarabangsa sudah pasti PETRONAS memperolehi keuntungan yang berlipat kali ganda . Sepertimana yang dilaporkan oleh PETRONAS , bahawa mampu mencatatkan keuntungan sebelum cukai sebanyak RM80 bilion bagi seluruh tahun kewangan berakhir 31 Mac 2011.
Hasil pungutan cukai yang dilaksanakan oleh Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri ( LHDN ) dilihat memberangsangkan dan dapati bilangan pembayar cukai semakin bertambah tahun demi tahun, begitu juga dengan kutipan hasil. Sebagai contoh, pada 2007 hasil kutipan negara adalah sebanyak RM77 bilion, pada 2008 sebanyak RM90 bilion dan 2009 sebanyak RM88 bilion.
Belum lagi dimasukkan dengan keuntungan-keuntungan lain daripada pelbagai sektor termasuk pelancungan , pertanian , perindustrian , perusahaan dan sebagainya . Yang sudah pasti akan memenuhi kantung perbendaharaan negara .
Justeru negara mempunyai kemampuan dalam mempertingkatkan pendidikan rakyat dengan memberikan biasiswa terutama kepada golongan berpendapatan rendah dan miskin tanpa mengira bangsa . Bukannya membebankan mereka dengan hutang atau pinjaman .
Saya terlalu marah dan geram dengan sikap berpoya-poya DS Najib dan Rosmah serta pimpinan negara yang menggunakan wang rakyat untuk kesenangan dan kepentingan mereka sendiri . Sepertimana yang dilaporkan oleh YB senator Dr. Syed Husin Ali bahawa sepanjang 19 bulan DS Najib menjadi Perdana Menteri , dalam siri lawatan beliau ke luar negara telah membelanjakan RM 8,724 ,894.91 iaitu RM 31,840.50 sehari .
DS Najib lebih rela meluluskan pembinaan Menara Warisan dengan kos RM 5 billion . Rosmah Mansor berpoya-poya di luar negara sepertimana lawatannya ke Dubai dan Arab Saudi dengan membelanjakan RM 100,000.00 semalam tinggal di hotel mewah .
Rasuah dan penyelewengan terus membaham wang rakyat tanpa ada perasaan bertanggungjawab . Bayangkan kalau dengan RM 8,724,894.91 berapa orang mahasiswa dapat diberikan biasiswa , daripada hangus begitu sahaja diratah dengan rakus oleh seorang yang bergelar Perdana Menteri .
Sepatutnya PERKASA mengambil sikap dengan mencadangkan kepada kerajaan supaya memberikan biasiswa agar hak mereka sepertimana yang dinyatakan oleh Fasal 153 diaplikasikan . Bukan terus membebankan mereka dengan pinjaman seperti yang dicadangkan .
Bukan sahaja kepada pelajar di Mesir sahaja yang perlu diberikan biasiswa tetapi termasuk juga kepada di negara-negara lain dan yang menuntut di dalam Malaysia . Fasal 153 tersebut telah lama dinafikan oleh kerajaan UMNO/BN dan kini para mahasiswa kita berdepan dengan bebanan hutang PTPTN selepas tamat pengajian mereka .
Dalam suasana kenaikan harga barang makanan dan keperluan , pinjaman kereta , sewa rumah dan ditambah lagi dengan bebanan pembayaran hutang PTPTN yang perlu dilunasi . Itulah dilema yang dihadapi oleh anak-anak muda hari ini yang bergelar graduan universiti dan kolej .
Pembaziran dan keborosan berbelanja wang rakyat yang diamalkan oleh DS Najib Razak dan Rosmah Mansor termasuk ketirisan , kebocoran dalam urustadbir pemerintahan DS Najib Razak serta pimpinan UMNO sama ada di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri penguasaan mereka adalah sangat melampau dan keterlaluan sehingga kita berdepan dengan hutang negara yang paling tinggi dalam sejarah iaitu RM 362.39 billion . Negara mempunyai dana yang hebat . Daripada hasil petrolium , kerajaan persekutuan memperolehi 44% daripada keuntungan PETRONAS . Kenaikan harga petrolium di arus antarabangsa sudah pasti PETRONAS memperolehi keuntungan yang berlipat kali ganda . Sepertimana yang dilaporkan oleh PETRONAS , bahawa mampu mencatatkan keuntungan sebelum cukai sebanyak RM80 bilion bagi seluruh tahun kewangan berakhir 31 Mac 2011.
Hasil pungutan cukai yang dilaksanakan oleh Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri ( LHDN ) dilihat memberangsangkan dan dapati bilangan pembayar cukai semakin bertambah tahun demi tahun, begitu juga dengan kutipan hasil. Sebagai contoh, pada 2007 hasil kutipan negara adalah sebanyak RM77 bilion, pada 2008 sebanyak RM90 bilion dan 2009 sebanyak RM88 bilion.
Belum lagi dimasukkan dengan keuntungan-keuntungan lain daripada pelbagai sektor termasuk pelancungan , pertanian , perindustrian , perusahaan dan sebagainya . Yang sudah pasti akan memenuhi kantung perbendaharaan negara .
Justeru negara mempunyai kemampuan dalam mempertingkatkan pendidikan rakyat dengan memberikan biasiswa terutama kepada golongan berpendapatan rendah dan miskin tanpa mengira bangsa . Bukannya membebankan mereka dengan hutang atau pinjaman .
Saya terlalu marah dan geram dengan sikap berpoya-poya DS Najib dan Rosmah serta pimpinan negara yang menggunakan wang rakyat untuk kesenangan dan kepentingan mereka sendiri . Sepertimana yang dilaporkan oleh YB senator Dr. Syed Husin Ali bahawa sepanjang 19 bulan DS Najib menjadi Perdana Menteri , dalam siri lawatan beliau ke luar negara telah membelanjakan RM 8,724 ,894.91 iaitu RM 31,840.50 sehari . DS Najib lebih rela meluluskan pembinaan Menara Warisan dengan kos RM 5 billion . Rosmah Mansor berpoya-poya di luar negara sepertimana lawatannya ke Dubai dan Arab Saudi dengan membelanjakan RM 100,000.00 semalam tinggal di hotel mewah .
Rasuah dan penyelewengan terus membaham wang rakyat tanpa ada perasaan bertanggungjawab . Bayangkan kalau dengan RM 8,724,894.91 berapa orang mahasiswa dapat diberikan biasiswa , daripada hangus begitu sahaja diratah dengan rakus oleh seorang yang bergelar Perdana Menteri .
Deaths reported in Iran protest
Iranian Students' News Agency. "At Monday's rally ... two people were martyred and many were wounded; one person was shot dead," Kazem Jalali said. It was unclear how the second protester died. So far, Iranian police have confirmed that one person was killed during clashes and blamed an outlawed group for shooting into the crowd. "One person was martyred by Monafeghin [the People's Mujahedeen of Iran - PMOI] in the shooting at yesterday's events," Ahmad Reza Radan, deputy police chief of Iran, said on Tuesday, adding that nine security personnel were injured. Earlier, the semi-official Fars news agency reported that a bystander had been shot dead and several wounded by protesters. But the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which includes the PMOI, denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying "those in power crushed the demonstrators, firing live rounds and tear gas at them". The Associated Press news agency had quoted witnesses saying that at least three protesters had been injured by bullets while dozens more were hospitalised after being beaten. Dorsa Jabbari, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, confirmed reports that security forces used tear gas, pepper spray and batons against the protesters. As with other foreign media, she was prohibited by government order to witness the demonstrations. Death penalty During Monday's protests, thousands of people descended on central Tehran in support of the uprisings across Arab nations. But Iranian politicians have called for opposition leaders to be handed the death penalty following the protests, accusing them of fomenting unrest. "Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried," politicians were quoted as saying by the official Irna news agency.
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, a judiciary spokesman, said: "Those who created public disorder on Monday will be confronted firmly and immediately." Human-rights groups have criticised Iran's crackdown on protesters, while Western governments have voiced their support for the demonstration. Amnesty International, the UK-based rights organisation, condemned authorities for making dozens of arrests, saying the crackdown was aimed at blocking the work of activists and stifling dissent. "Iranians have a right to gather to peacefully express their support for the people of Egypt and Tunisia," Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy director, said. Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, urged Iran to refrain from using force against protesters, while Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, backed the rights of people to protest. "We wish the opposition and the brave people in the streets across cities in Iran the same opportunity that they saw their Egyptian counterparts seize in the last week," Clinton said. One-day event An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said comments from US officials were designed to distract from the changes going on in the Middle East. Monday's marches were organised as a one-day event and it is unclear if further protests will take place later in the week. A message posted on by the organisers of the demonstrations on the 25 Bahman Facebook site seemed to indicate that there might be more protests. "The 25 Bahman group will try to announce the programme for of protests for tonight and tomorrow shortly," it read. The current security clampdown is reminiscent of the one that crushed a wave of protests after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, in June 2009. There was few mentions of Monday's demonstrations on state-run television stations or websites. | |||
Source: Al Jazeera and Agenices | |||
MCLM wants a single coalition to oust BN
Raja Petra: MCLM has been hard at work with the Sarawak National Party (Snap) in Sarawak and the United Borneo Front (UBF) in Sabah in trying to build an alliance with forces in Sabah and Sarawak.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) issued a guarantee today that it would work with all opposition parties as a single coalition to oust Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.MCLM founder Raja Petra Kamarudin said that the London-based movement would first form a pact with opposition parties in Sabah and Sarawak before forming a cooperation with Peninsular Malaysian parties to ensure straight fight with BN.
“Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan have 57 seats in Parliament. As I said in my earlier article, Sabah and Sarawak are critical to our having a chance of forming a reform government in Putrajaya post 13th general election,” said Raja Petra in an article published by Free Malaysia Today.
“MCLM has been hard at work with the Sarawak National Party (Snap) in Sarawak and the United Borneo Front (UBF) in Sabah in trying to build an alliance with forces in Sabah and Sarawak. We hope in the coming days that we will be able to announce the formation of such an alliance,” he added.
Out of the 57 seats in East Malaysia only Kuching, Sibu and Kota Kinabalu are held by the opposition, DAP. The rest are under BN control, which gave BN the majority it needed in the 222-member Parliament to form the government.
“Should a Snap-UBF-MCLM alliance be successfully forged, MCLM hopes to be able, with its alliance partners, to work out a further alliance with the other non-Barisan Nasional parties in Sabah, Sarawak, and Semenanjung with one objective in mind: to forge a coalition to displace Barisan Nasional in the next election and to install a pro-reform federal government in Putrajaya,” said Raja Petra.
MCLM is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with Snap and UBF which was founded by former PKR vice-president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who quit the party recently.
“It is hoped that with these alliances in place, straight fights in the forthcoming 13th GE will be assured and that any three-corner contests are Barisan Nasional’s own doing,” said the founder of Malaysia Today political website.
Raja Petra also stressed that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) cannot overthrow BN on its own and must with group such as MCLM.
“Realistically, Pakatan Rakyat cannot do this on its own. In fact, no one political party can do this on its own. What is needed is a collective of all pro-rakyat, pro-reform political parties working together with the Third Force, made up of reform-oriented NGOs and the rakyat who are ready to work for change,” said Raja Petra.
The MCLM had offered four candidates to contest against BN in the 13th general election and plans to introduce 30 before the dissolution of the current Parliament.
The movement emerged after PKR lost six of its MPs who became BN-friendly independents following disagreement with the federal opposition leaders.
The MCLM’s initiative however has not been welcomed by PR leaders, with PKR deputy president Azmin Ali saying that the potential candidates would only be accepted if they are willing to toe the party line.
Third Force candidate won’t compromise stand for seat
“As far as I am concerned, I’m going in as an independent,” the 37-year-old lawyer and son of the late MGG Pillai, a noted journalist, told The Malaysian Insider in response to PKR’s announcement that it will only consider candidates from non-Pakatan Rakyat (PR) groups if they agree to the coalition’s policies.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had said the party is open to candidates from organisations such as the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) so long as they stick to its policies.
“We can discuss with them. But if they still want to be independent, what’s the point?” the Gombak MP had said of MCLM, which has said they will offer 30 “defection-proof” candidates to PKR.
Sreekant, who is one of the five hopefuls who have been named by MCLM to date, said PKR was entitled to set up its own rules and structures but questioned the sudden introduction of party policy.
If elected, MCLM said that its candidates will decide on issues based on their conscience rather than the coalition’s consensus.
He noted that the other two PR partners had fielded non-member candidates before without any strings attached and named the late Zaitun “Toni” Kassim as an example.
The civil activist had, in 1999, stood in Selayang as an independent candidate on a DAP ticket.
Sreekant said he was not worried that he would lose the chance to contest because of this.
His fellow election candidate hopeful Malik Imtiaz Sarwar declined comment except to say he is “happy that PKR is open to the possibilities. There is much to talk about though.”
The MCLM is understood to have 17 potential candidates to offer to date, with several likely to stand for federal seats in Sarawak.
The outfit’s president, Haris Ibrahim, said he will be announcing a few more names this week.
The MCLM and two Sarawak-based political groups, Snap and United Borneo Front (UBF), are expected to scheduled to hold a joint news conference at its headquarters here tomorrow.
Azmin, who is also election director, said that PKR’s top leadership including de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held a meeting with PSM over the weekend to discuss seat allocation for the next general election.
“They have been loyal to us, more so than some of those who ran and defected. So, we have no problems giving them another two seats as long as they continue to stand with us,” he said of the party that had also contested in 2004 and 2008 under PKR’s symbol.
PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim won the Kota Damansara seat in the Selangor state legislative assembly admitted meeting Anwar but declined to comment when contacted today.
“We’ve decided not to make any comments until our meeting tomorrow,” he said, adding that the issue would be among the top topics of discussion.
Of the four candidates who ran in 2008, PSM claimed two victories as Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj won PSM’s first-ever parliamentary seat by defeating then-MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in Sungai Siput while PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim won the Kota Damansara seat in the Selangor state legislative assembly.
PKR’s chief strategist Rafizi Ramli had told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview that it was wary of accepting candidates offered by MCLM because it wanted to avoid making the same “mistake” of 2008 where it had picked candidates who could not withstand the pressure and challenges of being a lawmaker.
Since then, six of its MPs have left within a year.
The latest defections from the party are Sabah PKR chief Pajudin Nordin who joined Umno and Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim left last November during the party’s fractious elections and is now helming Parti Kita.
D-Day for former Batu Estate workers
Their homes will be demolished by DBKL even though a High Court judgment in 2003 decided otherwise.
KUALA LUMPUR: Batu Estate’s ex-workers are facing their D-Day tomorrow as Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) safety and enforcement department decided in favour of Mayland Developers Sdn Bhd to demolish their homes located next to Putramas Condominium.Notice of the demolition has already been issued to the 38 former workers.
Yesterday, the ex-estate workers submitted a memorandum to DBKL and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to stop the demolition.
Representative V Thilagenthiran questioned DBKL’s involvement in the dispute between Mayland and the workers, some having lived there for the past 70 years.
“Why is DBKL interfering in the matters of two parties over a private land?” he asked.
“The demolition would violate a High Court judgment that we are the rightful residents in October 2003.”
DBKL’s assistant administrative officer, Sa’adiah Hashim, however, maintained that the homes of the ex-Batu workers were squatters.
“Our job is to demolish the squatters,” she said when met at the department.
Thilagentiran later had a meeting with DBKL’s operations enforcement officer, Osman Ismail, which was constantly interrupted by Sa’adiah.
“She claimed that we received between RM10,000 and RM30,000 as compensation to leave but we did not,” Thilagenthiran said.
Since 2003, Mayland was supposed to take up further court proceedings if it wanted to evict the ex-Batu estate workers “with full hearing and not summarily disposed of”, but the developer had resorted to intimidating the workers, using gangsters since mid last year, alleged Thilagenthiran.
Previously, local MIC representatives lobbied the ex-workers to accept the RM30,000 and flats meant for squatters.
Failure to do so prompted Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Deputy Minister M Saravanan to rope in DBKL which issued a demolition notice in October 2010.
But the demolition did not take place after a verbal assurance from the Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin’s private secretary, Shazril Fazira Faridam.
Cops probe mentally ill man ‘executed’ claim
The police are recording statements from witnesses after a police report was lodged by the deceased’s brother.
PETALING JAYA: An investigation has been launched into the allegation that a mentally ill man was “executed” after being provoked by several policemen in Bahau last week.
Speaking to FMT, Negri Sembilan police chief Osman Salleh said they were recording statements from witnesses.
“We will investigate all complaints no matter what,” he said. “Once we collect the information, we will proceed with the next course of action.”
Previously, the police said Ahmad Harfidz Abu Bakar was shot dead after he had attacked a police sergeant with a parang.
The police had apparently gone to the house after Harfidz’s mother complained that he was running amok.
However, the deceased’s brother Ahmad Hairail Adzuan filed a police report the next day, claiming that his brother was shot at point blank range after being provoked.
The police’s version stated that he was shot from a distance of three metres.
According to Hairail, his mother had called the police to coax Harfidz to go for his medical treatment.
However, Harfidz, whom he described as docile, panicked and locked himself in the room after seeing two patrol cars arrive at the house.
Hairail said when his brother came out of the room after the police had used a taser gun on him, the sergeant had allegedly said, ‘Awak ada parang, saya ada pistol, siapa lagi power’ (you have a parang and I have a gun. Who is more powerful?) and shot him, which led Harfidz to swing his parang at the officer.
PETALING JAYA: An investigation has been launched into the allegation that a mentally ill man was “executed” after being provoked by several policemen in Bahau last week.
Speaking to FMT, Negri Sembilan police chief Osman Salleh said they were recording statements from witnesses.
“We will investigate all complaints no matter what,” he said. “Once we collect the information, we will proceed with the next course of action.”
Previously, the police said Ahmad Harfidz Abu Bakar was shot dead after he had attacked a police sergeant with a parang.
The police had apparently gone to the house after Harfidz’s mother complained that he was running amok.
However, the deceased’s brother Ahmad Hairail Adzuan filed a police report the next day, claiming that his brother was shot at point blank range after being provoked.
The police’s version stated that he was shot from a distance of three metres.
According to Hairail, his mother had called the police to coax Harfidz to go for his medical treatment.
However, Harfidz, whom he described as docile, panicked and locked himself in the room after seeing two patrol cars arrive at the house.
Hairail said when his brother came out of the room after the police had used a taser gun on him, the sergeant had allegedly said, ‘Awak ada parang, saya ada pistol, siapa lagi power’ (you have a parang and I have a gun. Who is more powerful?) and shot him, which led Harfidz to swing his parang at the officer.
Malaysia Getting Election Fever?
Najib and Taib: fun in Sarawak
Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud Friday is expected to call for the dissolution of the East Malaysian state's assembly, according to local media.
The polls, which must be held in prior to the expiry of the state assembly's term in July, have long been regarded as a precursor to national elections, which must be held before the end of 2013 but are expected sooner to give Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak another five-year term in office. Much depends on the prevailing atmosphere once the Sarawak elections are held, along with a continuing series of by-elections brought on by heart attacks, scandals, defections and other political problems.
By rights the 74-year-old Taib, who has ruled Sarawak for 30 years, should face the strongest challenge of his career, if not the threat of criminal investigation, although the political wisdom is that his Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak can be expected to pull out a victory over the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party, with or without him.
Over several months last summer, a Sarawak-based NGO called the Sarawak Report issued a series of exhaustively detailed reports documenting through officials records in the United States. Canada and the United Kingdom Taib's vast personal holdings, including a Seattle, Washington home for which he appeared to have paid US$1 to a company to which he granted lucrative timber concessions. The stories, reprinted by Asia Sentinel, can be found here, here, here, and here.
News reports over the past several months have quoted sources within the Barisan Nasional as hoping Taib would step down because of the scandals attached to his name and that of his family. The Sarawak Ngo's reports included repeated requests to Malaysian authorities to investigate what appeared to be 30 years of looting the state for its timber and other natural resources. However, nobody ever answered the NGO's requests for a probe of Taib's immense overseas assets. It is clear that the national government values the political security it gets out of Taib's Sarawak political apparatus over any questions of integrity.
Although some observers expect early national elections as well, sources within the United Malays National Organisation, the country's biggest ethnically-based political party, told Asia Sentinel that Najib would prefer to hold off national elections until later in the year to allow the economic stimulus from a panoply of economic projects to kick in, including the beginning of construction of highways, a mass rapid transit system for Kuala Lumpur, a 100-storey office building and other projects.
Malaysia's politics have been tumultuous for almost three years, since the opposition Pakatan Rakyat troika of parties broke the 50-year two-thirds stranglehold on the Dewan Rakyat, or national parliament, by the Barisan Nasional, the national ruling coalition. The heart attack death on Feb. 10 of Zaharuddin Abu Kasim, a Pahang state assemblyman representing UMNO, clears the way for the 16th by-election since national elections stunned the Barisan Nasional in 2008 national elections.
The opposition continues its precarious hold on more than a third of the Dewan Rakyat. But how long that will continue is not known. While the most recent by-elections have mostly gone to the parties that held them previously, the percentage of votes going to the Barisan have steadily gone up.
Certainly Najib has a tailwind from a strengthening economy and a perception that he is an activist, compared to his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. His personal approval rating remains extremely strong at 69 percent according to a Merdeka Center poll which was released on Christmas Eve, despite long-running allegations of massive kickbacks paid on defense purchases when he was defense minister, not to mention widespread continuing questions over complicity in the 2006 murder of a Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu, the jilted lover of his best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda. Even among ethnic Chinese, Najib's approval rating remains a strong 54 percent.
UMNO, however, enjoys no such cushion. Polls show approval of the political party at just 22 percent after a vast number of scandals demonstrating the lips-and-teeth relationship of successful Bumi businessmen to the party. Only 6 percent of Chinese place any trust in the party. It is thus questionable at the moment whether UMNO could win back the Barisan's two-thirds majority. The two other main parties in the Barisan coalition, the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress, may be in even worse shape, given huge scandals in both.
To prime the economic pump, Najib has allocated nearly RM100 billion (US$32.8 billion) to a series of ambitious projects under his 10-year Economic Transformation Program. The total ETP, as it has become known, is estimated to cost a whopping RM443 billion. But there are deep concerns about the ETP from a lot of different angles, including whether the spate of enormous projects might drive up the economy initially, but could result in overinvestment followed by prolonged periods of low investment and low growth.
For instance, there is apprehension among analysts whether Kuala Lumpur needs another skyscraper, especially one that will be 100 storeys high and built by the government. The iconic twin towers have been largely filled by Petronas and other government offices. Former Prime Minister Mahathir, who built them, has expressed concern in his blog, Che Det, whether the proposed one is viable. Real estate analysts fear a coming property glut.
The other concerns revolve around who will get the contracts to build the projects. Far too often, government contracts have provided a cornucopia of goodies for what has become known universally as the UMNOcrats. At least 23 of Malaysia's biggest companies have been vehicles for UMNO to siphon off vast amounts of money as Mahathir's plans to industrialize the country went awry.
Today a new group of UMNOcrats appears to be on the march, closely related to Najib. The entity being watched most closely is 1Malaysia Development, a sovereign wealth fund that was somehow transformed out of a Terengganu wealth fund into a vehicle to advance Najib's government investment projects. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, is said to be very closely connected to it and other projects.
Mahathir himself, apparently without irony, complained recently to local media that the party that was under his tutelage for 22 years – and created the kleptocracy that is now UMNO -- is a party of "contracts, APs and licences."
However, the opposition led by Anwar is in disarray, with frequent defections, the biggest one by Zaid Ibrahim, who left UMNO two years ago to join Anwar in PKR. However, Zaid re-defected some months back, charging that the party was undemocratic, and founded Kita, or the people's Welfare Party.
Anwar himself is not only involved in a marathon trial over sodomy charges by a former aide but has been barred along with three members of his coalition from participating in the Parliament for six months on charges that he lied in criticizing the government over Najib's "One Malaysia" slogan, which he said had been copied from the "One Israel" political alliance of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak in 1999. The sodomy charges have led some within his coalition to ask whether he is too preoccupied to continue to lead.
So if and when the national elections take place, as they must, it appears there are plenty of wild cards among two coalitions that face continuing trouble, in a country where racial tensions continue to tighten. In an op-ed article in the Wall Street journal last week, former US Ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott (1995-1998) said racial tensions are worse than they were when Najib took office, and perhaps as bad as they have been since July 1969 race riots took the lives of hundreds on both sides of the ethnic divide. A survey of sources in Kuala Lumpur makes it difficult to believe he isn't right, despite the scorn heaped on him by the country's mainstream press, which is controlled by the main political parties.
Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember his astounding meeting before Operation Lalang giving assurance of no ISA arrests
By Lim Kit Siang,
Yesterday, despite denials by DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh (who was one of the seven DAP MPs detained by Tun Mahathir’s Ministerial order in 1987) and I that there had been such a meeting or assurance before the Operation Lalang crackdown, the former Prime Minister stuck to his version, saying:
“This happened 20 years ago. I remember distinctly having the meeting. I don’t really remember the faces of those who were there, but I am quite certain that Karpal Singh was not there and that Lim Kit Siang was there.”
This is most untypical of Mahathir, who is credited with elephantine memory except when for political reasons he chose to be a victim of amnesia – as during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape Scandal in January 2008 where he said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times!
Could it be possible that he had “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” and he could not remember their faces except mine – or when, where or who else from his side who were present or party to the meeting?
Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember this astounding meeting before Operation Lalang mass arrests where he allegedly “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” – not only the who, but all other details as to the where, when and how the meeting came about, together with eye-witness accounts.
There is no reason why any Opposition leader should hide the truth of such a meeting and assurance of no-ISA detentions if they had actually happened, for it would have been the chief reason for the ISA detainees and the civil society to argue against their detention in national and international campaigns – but which was never used during the entire Operation Lalang period as nobody knew about it.
I had mentioned that after my Operation Lalang release from Kamunting Detention Centre in May 1989, I had met Mahathir in the Prime Minister’s Office where I had asked him point-blank why the Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had not been detained for escalating the racial tensions in the country in Oct. 1987 while innocent ones were made victims of Operation Lalang.
The first question I would have popped to Mahathir at that meeting would be to ask him why he had broken his word why he had failed to honour his assurance to opposition leaders that there would be no ISA detentions, if Mahathir had indeed met with opposition leaders and given such an assurance before the launch of Operation Lalang.
This speaks volumes and the more interesting question is why Mahathir is now trying to rewrite history to clear himself of the infamy of the Operation Lalang mass crackdown.
Yesterday, despite denials by DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh (who was one of the seven DAP MPs detained by Tun Mahathir’s Ministerial order in 1987) and I that there had been such a meeting or assurance before the Operation Lalang crackdown, the former Prime Minister stuck to his version, saying:
“This happened 20 years ago. I remember distinctly having the meeting. I don’t really remember the faces of those who were there, but I am quite certain that Karpal Singh was not there and that Lim Kit Siang was there.”
This is most untypical of Mahathir, who is credited with elephantine memory except when for political reasons he chose to be a victim of amnesia – as during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Videotape Scandal in January 2008 where he said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times!
Could it be possible that he had “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” and he could not remember their faces except mine – or when, where or who else from his side who were present or party to the meeting?
Mahathir should make a greater effort to remember this astounding meeting before Operation Lalang mass arrests where he allegedly “met all of the opposition members and assured them that they would not be arrested” – not only the who, but all other details as to the where, when and how the meeting came about, together with eye-witness accounts.
There is no reason why any Opposition leader should hide the truth of such a meeting and assurance of no-ISA detentions if they had actually happened, for it would have been the chief reason for the ISA detainees and the civil society to argue against their detention in national and international campaigns – but which was never used during the entire Operation Lalang period as nobody knew about it.
I had mentioned that after my Operation Lalang release from Kamunting Detention Centre in May 1989, I had met Mahathir in the Prime Minister’s Office where I had asked him point-blank why the Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had not been detained for escalating the racial tensions in the country in Oct. 1987 while innocent ones were made victims of Operation Lalang.
The first question I would have popped to Mahathir at that meeting would be to ask him why he had broken his word why he had failed to honour his assurance to opposition leaders that there would be no ISA detentions, if Mahathir had indeed met with opposition leaders and given such an assurance before the launch of Operation Lalang.
This speaks volumes and the more interesting question is why Mahathir is now trying to rewrite history to clear himself of the infamy of the Operation Lalang mass crackdown.
Suzanne Mubarak, ex-’First Lady’
Anyone want to join The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement?
“Our collective vision of peace is one that goes beyond the absence of war or the silencing of guns. It entails creating the conditions that lead to the foundation of secure societies — societies that are empowered to assume a major role in defending and preserving peace,” said Suzanne, the founder and president of the movement – and now ex-First Lady of Egypt.
I wonder if she is in good health now.
The privately owned news website Al Yaum Al Sabeh said first lady Suzanne fainted twice (alamak, drama-lah!) because of a heated argument between son’s Alaa and Gamal over the text of Mubarak’s final speech. Read all about the heated argument in this AFP report on the Yahoo! website.
With family and friends like that acting as advisers, no wonder Mubarak was so out of touch with reality.
Suzanne has a degree in political science and a master’s degree in sociology and yet, she could not sense the seething rage in Egypt. Or maybe she did but hubby just wouldn’t listen?
Befitting her status then as ‘First Lady’, she took an active interest in improving the lives of children through education and won several international awards for her work. According to Wikipedia:
Suzanne was the technical advisor for the ‘National Council for Motherhood and Childhood’ in Egypt. Is that why hubby kept referring to Egyptians as “my children”?
Here are a couple of reasons why the Mubarak family were so reluctant to say maa alsalamah (Egyptian for goodbye, adios, selamat tinggal) to the people of Egypt. Take a peek at their two opulent palaces courtesy of hunterwalker.tumbler.com
Photo courtesy of jehanara.wordpress.com
“Our collective vision of peace is one that goes beyond the absence of war or the silencing of guns. It entails creating the conditions that lead to the foundation of secure societies — societies that are empowered to assume a major role in defending and preserving peace,” said Suzanne, the founder and president of the movement – and now ex-First Lady of Egypt.I wonder if she is in good health now.
The privately owned news website Al Yaum Al Sabeh said first lady Suzanne fainted twice (alamak, drama-lah!) because of a heated argument between son’s Alaa and Gamal over the text of Mubarak’s final speech. Read all about the heated argument in this AFP report on the Yahoo! website.
With family and friends like that acting as advisers, no wonder Mubarak was so out of touch with reality.
Suzanne has a degree in political science and a master’s degree in sociology and yet, she could not sense the seething rage in Egypt. Or maybe she did but hubby just wouldn’t listen?
Befitting her status then as ‘First Lady’, she took an active interest in improving the lives of children through education and won several international awards for her work. According to Wikipedia:
- The 1989 UNICEF Executive Board conferred upon Mrs. Mubarak its highest honour, the “Maurice Pate Award”, in recognition of her dedication and efforts for child survival, protection and development.
- Given the highest Award in 1989 by the Rehabilitation International Centre for her outstanding services and support to disabled children.
- Given an Honorary Fulbright Award, in recognition of her efforts in the field of child development and education.
Suzanne was the technical advisor for the ‘National Council for Motherhood and Childhood’ in Egypt. Is that why hubby kept referring to Egyptians as “my children”?
Here are a couple of reasons why the Mubarak family were so reluctant to say maa alsalamah (Egyptian for goodbye, adios, selamat tinggal) to the people of Egypt. Take a peek at their two opulent palaces courtesy of hunterwalker.tumbler.com
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
G'kan snipes back at MCA over Kepong seat row
Ong Thean Lye, political secretary to Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon (right) has come to his boss' defence over Chua's earlier statement attacking Koh over the seat traditionally belonging to Gerakan.
“Dr Chua should look before shooting and check his facts and chronology of events, before shooting his mouth off especially at fellow BN component leaders,” said Ong in a statement.
The debacle erupted on Saturday when the Kepong Umno division chief Rizuan Hamid said that MCA should contest in the seat instead of Gerakan, since the latter had never won a once since they first contested in 1975.
Koh retaliated that it was improper for any component party to demand for seats and that Rizuan should have voiced his concerns through party channels instead.
'Chua thanked Umno'
Ong, who is also the Gerakan central committee member, today pointed out that Chua himself was quick to thank Umno Kepong profusely for the suggestion regarding the seat.
“If Chua (left) cared to check, he would have noticed that Koh first strongly criticised Rizuan, on openly proposing for MCA to take over the Kepong seat from Gerakan. Koh only targeted Umno, without even mentioning MCA at all,” said Ong.
“It is only after Chua himself profusely thanked Umno Kepong, as reported in the media on 13 February, that Koh, in response to media query on the same day, said that it's not right for Chua to put open pressure on Gerakan through Umno.”
“More importantly, Koh has always emphasised that seat allocation should be discussed amongst component leaders and with the prime minister, but not openly. Chua said the same, but, by gleefully thanking Umno and saying that MCA is ready to take over Kepong, Chua is not practising what he preaches.
“Therefore, Koh didn't jump to conclusions, as alleged by Chua. It was Chua who first jumped with joy on Rizuan's comment,” said Ong.
He also reminded Chua that Koh openly defended the MCA president in early December last year, when the latter was under attack from several top Umno leaders in response to his 'junior partner' speech at the BN Convention.
The Kepong seat in Kuala Lumpur is currently a DAP stronghold, with MP Tan Seng Giaw (right) holding the seat for seven consecutive terms since 1982, making him one of the longest serving MPs in the country.‘Please, give me back my baby’
A mother who is pining for a three-year-old 'missing' daughter, is hoping that a charitable organisation will help rescue her from bankruptcy.
IPOH: Valentine’s Day is meaningless to 36-year-old M Indira Ghandhi who has not seen her three-year-old daughter since her husband drove off with her two years ago.
Indira, a mother of three, has not only been denied access to her third child, Prasana Diksha ,by her estranged husband who converted, but is also facing the problem of having been made a bankrupt by him.
Desperately missing Prasana, who turns three on April 1, Indira is grappling with depression and financial instability.
“There is no Valentine’s Day celebration for me and my family as I have not seen my youngest daughter for the past three years.
“It is pure mental torture and agony that my husband is inflicting on me and my children. He has destroyed the peace and happiness of my family,” she said.
Relating her problem to FMT, an emotional Indira said she is now unable to withdraw her life savings, engage a lawyer to fight for the custody of her third child or apply for any form of loans including housing and car.
Her husband’s failure to meet the instalments on their family car, which is registered in her name, has resulted in her being made a bankrupt.
It has also dashed her dream of securing a diploma and then degree in pre-school teaching in a bid to improve her financial standing.
Her bigger fear is that she might now lose her current job as a kindergarden teacher as a result of the bankcruptcy.
Dire straits
Indira currently earns RM700 a month in her day job as a teacher and supplements this income by giving private tution which brings her an additional RM800 a month.
She juggles rent, provisions and her two children’s educational needs on RM1,500.
“Where am I to get the money to pay the remaining RM50,000 for the car loan when I cannot even meet my daily expenses with the present monthly income of RM1,500?” she said.
Indira is hoping that some charitable organisation will come to her rescue to settle the car debt and free her from bankruptcy so that she can pursue her education and improve her economic standings.
Indira has been waging a legal battle for the past two years with her husband Mohd Riduan Abdullah @ K Pathmanathan, 42, for the custody of Prasana. She has custody of the two elder children Tevidarsiny,14, and Karan Dinesh,13, while Riduan, upon conversion, took away Prasana when she was a toddler.
She is also battling to quash the certificates of conversion to Islam of her three children which Riduan had done secretly without her knowledge.
Indira’s application to quash the conversion order is coming up for hearing in the Ipoh High Court on March 30.
It has been an uphill battle for Indira to secure custody of Prasana and to revert her children’s documentation to their original religion.
A ploy
According to Indira, her family life has drastically changed and the future was bleak, especially after her husband failed to meet the car payments.
She said that in 1999 her husband had bought the Proton Wira car with registration number AFN 387 for RM58,000 but only paid about RM8,000 before he left with Prasana and the car to Kelantan where he is believed to be in hiding now.
Indira and her family used to stay in Jelapang, but they have since shifted to a rented house in Taman Pertama in Buntong.
After failing to contact her at her old address, the car’s bankers CIMB, took legal proceedings to declare her a bankrupt.
Indira, however, only became aware that she was declared a bankrupt, when on Jan 25, the officials at Maybank told her that she could not withdraw any money from her savings which had been frozen by the bankruptcy office.
Three days later, on the instructions of her lawyer M Kulasegaran, she lodged a police report against her husband for not paying the car instalments and making her a bankrupt. She made the report at the Ipoh district police headquarters.
When contacted today, Kulasegaran said the bankruptcy move by Riduan maybe a ploy by him to delay returning the third child as ordered by the Ipoh High Court on March 11 last year.
Indira, a mother of three, has not only been denied access to her third child, Prasana Diksha ,by her estranged husband who converted, but is also facing the problem of having been made a bankrupt by him.
Desperately missing Prasana, who turns three on April 1, Indira is grappling with depression and financial instability.
“There is no Valentine’s Day celebration for me and my family as I have not seen my youngest daughter for the past three years.
“It is pure mental torture and agony that my husband is inflicting on me and my children. He has destroyed the peace and happiness of my family,” she said.
Relating her problem to FMT, an emotional Indira said she is now unable to withdraw her life savings, engage a lawyer to fight for the custody of her third child or apply for any form of loans including housing and car.
Her husband’s failure to meet the instalments on their family car, which is registered in her name, has resulted in her being made a bankrupt.
It has also dashed her dream of securing a diploma and then degree in pre-school teaching in a bid to improve her financial standing.
Her bigger fear is that she might now lose her current job as a kindergarden teacher as a result of the bankcruptcy.
Dire straits
Indira currently earns RM700 a month in her day job as a teacher and supplements this income by giving private tution which brings her an additional RM800 a month.
She juggles rent, provisions and her two children’s educational needs on RM1,500.
“Where am I to get the money to pay the remaining RM50,000 for the car loan when I cannot even meet my daily expenses with the present monthly income of RM1,500?” she said.
Indira is hoping that some charitable organisation will come to her rescue to settle the car debt and free her from bankruptcy so that she can pursue her education and improve her economic standings.
Indira has been waging a legal battle for the past two years with her husband Mohd Riduan Abdullah @ K Pathmanathan, 42, for the custody of Prasana. She has custody of the two elder children Tevidarsiny,14, and Karan Dinesh,13, while Riduan, upon conversion, took away Prasana when she was a toddler.
She is also battling to quash the certificates of conversion to Islam of her three children which Riduan had done secretly without her knowledge.
Indira’s application to quash the conversion order is coming up for hearing in the Ipoh High Court on March 30.
It has been an uphill battle for Indira to secure custody of Prasana and to revert her children’s documentation to their original religion.
A ploy
According to Indira, her family life has drastically changed and the future was bleak, especially after her husband failed to meet the car payments.
She said that in 1999 her husband had bought the Proton Wira car with registration number AFN 387 for RM58,000 but only paid about RM8,000 before he left with Prasana and the car to Kelantan where he is believed to be in hiding now.
Indira and her family used to stay in Jelapang, but they have since shifted to a rented house in Taman Pertama in Buntong.
After failing to contact her at her old address, the car’s bankers CIMB, took legal proceedings to declare her a bankrupt.
Indira, however, only became aware that she was declared a bankrupt, when on Jan 25, the officials at Maybank told her that she could not withdraw any money from her savings which had been frozen by the bankruptcy office.
Three days later, on the instructions of her lawyer M Kulasegaran, she lodged a police report against her husband for not paying the car instalments and making her a bankrupt. She made the report at the Ipoh district police headquarters.
When contacted today, Kulasegaran said the bankruptcy move by Riduan maybe a ploy by him to delay returning the third child as ordered by the Ipoh High Court on March 11 last year.
Press statement on HINDRAF March on 27/2/11 and Letter to IGP
PRESS STATEMENT 15 Feb 2011IGP REQUESTED TO PROVIDE SECURITY FOR THE 27TH OF Feb 2011 Peaceful People’s March in Solidarity against UMNO’s racism
We are planning a march of justice and democratic minded patriots of our country to show our united opposition against the unjust racist system that pervades every aspect of life in Malaysia. This system creates situations like we have on our hands today with the introduction of the Interlok novel into the SPM curriculum.
On the 11th of February, Hindraf representatives have made an application for a police permit for this People’s March from KLCC to the Dang Wangi Police Station. We have done this even though we consider the Police Act to be contrary and ultra vires the Federal Constitution, so we give the Police no reason to avoid their responsibilities.
Knowing how the Police have responded to such applications in the past, we now feel that the Inspector General of Police has to personally get involved to ensure that the marchers are given the security they need. This is an entirely lawful act and as the senior most public servant in the security service of the nation, he is personally obliged to ensure that no untoward incident occurs during the march. We expect 3rd party agent provocateurs who may be likely employed by UMNO, like the known 3 LINE and Pekida underworld gangs and UMNO’s outsourced far right extremist wing the Perkasa to cause trouble on the said day.
However if he refuses to do the necessary, we will hold the IGP of Malaysia responsible for any untoward incidents that may occur during the march and he will be liable for negligence in failing to provide protection to innocent civilians protesting peacefully on this first SOLIDARITY MARCH AGAINST UMNO RACISM.
We attach the letter we have sent to him to this effect.
P.Waytha Moorthy
Chair
HINDRAF
Thousands rally across Yemen
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across Yemen for the fourth straight day, demanding political reforms and the downfall of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country's long-serving president.The 3,000-strong throng of demonstrators in the capital, Sanaa, comprising students, human rights activists and lawyers clad in black robes, clashed with police and pro-government supporters on Monday.
Rival groups, armed with clubs and rocks, were seen facing off after supporters of Saleh reportedly confronted the protesters.
At least three people were injured, including one stabbed with a traditional Yemeni dagger, in fighting outside Sanaa's university where protesters chanted: "A revolution of free opinion ... A revolution of freedom ... We should be allowed to decide."
Further chants of "After Mubarak, Ali" and "No corruption after today" reverberated around the city.
"It's very tense on the streets here," Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting form Sanaa, said.
"The anti-government protests are gathering momentum, despite the huge concessions given by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who said that he will step down in 2013, and that his son, General Ahmed Abdullah Saleh - who was being groomed to take over - won't inherit power.
"Thousands of young Yemenis are saying: 'We won't trust Ali Abdullah Saleh, because we trusted him in the past, particularly in 2006, when he said he was about to resign - only for him to continue and to ask for the constitution to be amended to allow him to be appointed for life'."
Public squares blocked
Protesters have been using social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, in an attempt to mobilise people throughout Yemen, an impoverished country at the south of the Arabian peninsula.
But state forces have blocked access to public squares, several coincidentally named "Tahrir Square" - both in Sanaa, and around the country.
The move was an apparent attempt to prevent the world's media from linking the protests with those that took place in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, our correspondent says.
Several checkpoints have appeared on streets leading to Sanaa's presidential palace, and many have been blocked with razor wire.
"What we are seeing is thousands of pro-government protesters - and people are saying these are government officials and policemen disguised as civilians - armed with batons, attacking the pro-democracy protesters and dispersing the crowd using violence," our correspondent said.
Unrest spreads
While it is possible to find Yemenis who say Saleh, 64, is "the best we've had, and after him would be chaos", thousands have hit the streets in protests across the country, including in Aden and Taaz, a southern city, Al Jazeera's Ahelbarra said.
At least 12 people were injured as police shot tear gas to break up protests in the southern city of Taaz, where human rights groups say protesters were also given electric shocks by security officials.
And in Aden, dock workers stormed the offices of the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation, seizing its chairman, Mohamed Bin Aefan, and other senior corporate figures, they said.
"We have had it with corrupt officials and it's time to tell them to leave," Ali Bin Yehya, a port worker, said.
"What happened in Egypt and Tunisia motivated the workers to demand their rights."
Opposition groups appear to have backtracked on an agreement made on Sunday to meet with Saleh to find a political settlement to the crisis, our correspondent said.
The groups had also aimed to establish a coalition "government of national unity" - after their supporters pointed to the success of Egyptians in overthrowing Hosni Mubarak from power, Ahelbarra said.
The US connection
Saleh has reportedly cancelled a planned trip to the US at this moment of unrest, and will be visiting tribal areas in a bid to convince community leaders not to join the ongoing protests.
Military ties between the US and Saleh's administration have grown stronger in recent months, as the country struggles with the increasing militancy of a secessionist movement in the south, as well as unrest provoked by rising food prices, unemployment reaching 40 per cent - and demands for human rights to be recognised.
The US is shortly to embark on a $75 million project to train Yemen's counterterrorism unit, US officials say.
Saleh became leader of North Yemen in 1978 and has ruled the Republic of Yemen since the north and south merged in 1990.
Source:Al Jazeera and agencies
Interlok: Bishop calls for wisdom of sensitivities
(Malaysiakini) There is an urgent need for the wisdom of sensitivity to override other imperatives in the controversy over the literary textbook 'Interlok', said the head of the Roman Catholic Church of Melaka-Johor Diocese.
Bishop Dr Paul Tan, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, speaking as the bishop of Melaka-Johor Diocese, said a literary text that is commended for the edification of youth in a multi-racial society should adhere to supra-partisan, supra-racial standards and values.
"By those standards, 'Interlok' won't qualify as a recommended text because there is legitimate cause for concern that it gets its history and sociology wrong," opined Bishop Tan, in comments made to Malaysiakini.
"'Interlok' has got its history and sociology wrong in much the same that a local preacher of the Muslim faith has got her facts wrong about St Valentine's Day and its supposed connection to Christian lifestyles," he elaborated.
"The ease with which some with a pedagogical role in Malaysian society get their historical and sociological facts wrong is a symptom of the gulfs that prevail and the difficulty that people of goodwill face when attempting to bridge them," he remarked.
"In situations such as this one, if you persist with a text like 'Interlok', you will only freeze people in the mental and cultural ghettoes they find themselves in and as consequence, you will make racial stereotyping easy and the desire to discover the difference between appearance and reality that much harder to promote," he expatiated.
Novel's subliminal message
Tan said he found in conversations with Hindu Malaysians a sense of their being selected for cultural and religious pummeling as a consequence of the results of the 12th general election of March 2008.
"There is a feeling that a minority is being specially selected for psychological punishment as a result of the way the vote went in the last general election.
"The book 'Interlok', in its historical and cultural miscues, is seen as a text that was selected for the goal of conveying the message that a subject people ought to compare their current status with the servitude they supposedly endured in the past," commented Bishop Tan.
He held the subliminal message of the novel was that the Indian minority in Malaysia ought to compare their plight in the light of times past and times present.
"This is a highly subjective ethos which is not suitable for the edification of youth who at the school-leaving stage ought to be fed with reading material that projects universal values and themes," he said.
He also said putting one's religion, culture and ethnicity above others goes against all sense of a desire to dialogue, understand and accept others as they are, which is the foundation of the unity of a people.
For that reason, Bishop Tan said the Education Ministry should reconsider the selection of 'Interlok' as a literary text for Form 5 students and replace it with a choice that elevates rather than estranges our youth.
Bishop Dr Paul Tan, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, speaking as the bishop of Melaka-Johor Diocese, said a literary text that is commended for the edification of youth in a multi-racial society should adhere to supra-partisan, supra-racial standards and values.
"By those standards, 'Interlok' won't qualify as a recommended text because there is legitimate cause for concern that it gets its history and sociology wrong," opined Bishop Tan, in comments made to Malaysiakini."'Interlok' has got its history and sociology wrong in much the same that a local preacher of the Muslim faith has got her facts wrong about St Valentine's Day and its supposed connection to Christian lifestyles," he elaborated.
"The ease with which some with a pedagogical role in Malaysian society get their historical and sociological facts wrong is a symptom of the gulfs that prevail and the difficulty that people of goodwill face when attempting to bridge them," he remarked.
"In situations such as this one, if you persist with a text like 'Interlok', you will only freeze people in the mental and cultural ghettoes they find themselves in and as consequence, you will make racial stereotyping easy and the desire to discover the difference between appearance and reality that much harder to promote," he expatiated.
Novel's subliminal message
Tan said he found in conversations with Hindu Malaysians a sense of their being selected for cultural and religious pummeling as a consequence of the results of the 12th general election of March 2008.
"There is a feeling that a minority is being specially selected for psychological punishment as a result of the way the vote went in the last general election.
"The book 'Interlok', in its historical and cultural miscues, is seen as a text that was selected for the goal of conveying the message that a subject people ought to compare their current status with the servitude they supposedly endured in the past," commented Bishop Tan.
He held the subliminal message of the novel was that the Indian minority in Malaysia ought to compare their plight in the light of times past and times present.
"This is a highly subjective ethos which is not suitable for the edification of youth who at the school-leaving stage ought to be fed with reading material that projects universal values and themes," he said.
He also said putting one's religion, culture and ethnicity above others goes against all sense of a desire to dialogue, understand and accept others as they are, which is the foundation of the unity of a people.
For that reason, Bishop Tan said the Education Ministry should reconsider the selection of 'Interlok' as a literary text for Form 5 students and replace it with a choice that elevates rather than estranges our youth.
Malaysia arrests Indian activists over book ban (HindustanTimes)
Malaysian police arrested 65 members of a Indian rights group who want the government to drop a textbook from the school curriculum over a reference to the caste system, an activist said on Monday. “Sixty-five people were arrested on Sunday inthree states for demonstrating and handing out pamphletsagainst the use of the book “Interlok,” S Jayathas, from the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) said.
“We were detained unlawfully,” he said, adding that police had freed most of the protestors Sunday but were still holding 28 in the southern Negeri Sembilan state.
Jayathas said the arrests will not deter Hindraf from organising a February 27 rally outside the iconic Petronas Twin Towers to demand the textbook is dropped from the curriculum.A police spokesman said that 59 people were arrested for taking part in an illegal assembly and all had been released on Sunday.
The book is now compulsory reading for high school students in multiracial but predominantly Muslim Malaysia.The Malay-language novel has prompted angry protests from elements of the nation’s Indian community, who say it is offensive.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in January moved to end the row, saying the book will be used in schools but with amendments so as not to hurt the feelings of the Indian community.But the controversy stirred by the book points to the country’s strained race relations.
“Interlok”, written by a national laureate, covers the history of relations between of Malaysia’s three main ethnic groups — Malays, Chinese and Indians — from the 1900s until independence in 1957.
The Malaysian Indian Congress party, the third largest component party in the ruling coalition, has called for the novel to be withdrawn or to remove the passages touching on the caste system and other areas deemed offensive.
The caste system divides Hindus into four main groups according to their work and social status and is banned in India but still pervades many aspects of daily life, especially outside the cities.
Ethnic Indians make up less than 10 percent of Malaysia’s 28 million population and have long complained that they are disadvantaged by policies helping majority Muslim Malays.
New Sabah PKR leadership expected in April
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The protracted leadership crisis in Sabah PKR is expected to end in an April convention with the 11-man presidential council making way for a new state leadership.
Party deputy president Azmin Ali has confirmed that members of a new liaison committee for the troubled state chapter will be selected and appointed during the convention, likely to be held in the first week of the month.
The Malaysian Insider understands however that the council will only be dissolved at the behest of party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (picture), who currently chairs the body.
Wan Azizah had formed the council earlier this month after she was forced to intervene in the prolonged leadership tussle in Sabah.
“If she agrees, the council will be dissolved and we can finally appoint new members of the state leadership. Hopefully, this will be a smooth process,” said a party source.
The transition plan is set to be in tandem with the party’s preparation for the coming general election, said to be held by year-end.
Azmin also confirmed that every state is expected to prepare its list of potential candidates for the polls by March 20.
The Malaysian Insider also understands that members of the presidential council were finalised during the party’s state leadership meeting last night and should be announced tomorrow.
“It was accommodated,” said the party source when asked if the appointments had been based on consensus by Sabah PKR leaders.
The source added that the council was an “issues-based” body with each member holding specific portfolios like education, youth, security and others.
It is believed that former Sabah PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini, an influential leader of one of the factions in the state, has been commissioned to hold a post in the council.
Sabah PKR has been plagued by a crisis for years and has seen a succession of five state chiefs since 2006 — including the latest chief, Pajudin Nordin, who defected to Umno this month.
Following the departure of Awang Tengah Amin as state chief in 2006, every other successor has failed to command enough support to unite the feuding factions.
First to follow was Ansari Abdullah, today PKR’s Tuaran division chief, but his appointment came under strong opposition from former vice-president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
Next, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s right-hand man Azmin Ali was made state chief, resulting in an even louder chorus of disapproval from state leaders.
In 2009, Thamrin was roped in to lead the state but this was yet again rejected as the appointment had not been based on consensus from local leaders.
Supporters of Thamrin’s greatest rival, Ansari, then began to rally for the former’s removal, leading to the shocking appointment of Pajudin, whose name had never been on the list of potential candidates.
The recent events also led to the exodus of several leaders and members from the state chapter, including Jeffrey, who then went on to form a new political platform — the United Borneo Front — along with his supporters.
With his departure, the faction fighting in the state leadership continued between Thamrin and Ansari until Pajudin’s appointment on January 9.
The appointment, made by the national leadership, was highly-criticised as state leaders argued that Pajudin, the Tuaran deputy chief was a proxy for Ansari, who is the division’s chief.
It is also believed that Pajudin’s appointment had been rushed and had not been based on consensus. This was later admitted by Anwar, who claimed that Pajudin’s name had merely been a “test suggestion” by Wan Azizah.
Pajudin’s attempts to unite the party factions later flopped and 18 out of the state’s 25 division chiefs signed a resolution urging the national leadership to take over the state chapter.
When Wan Azizah waded into the crisis, an unhappy Pajudin then defected to Umno, complaining that the national leadership should stick to its promise of autonomy for Sabah.
He said that Sabah PKR would likely remain in shambles as its federal leaders never listened to the views and requests of the state members.
He also predicted in an interview with The Malaysian Insider that the party was likely to fail, yet again, in the coming general election to capture a single seat in Sabah.
“Looking at things now, the general election seems to be drawing near. Probably in June or July. But in the present situation, they cannot face the polls. They are not ready in Sabah as they are too busy fighting,” he said.
He revealed that the state had no machinery for the polls or any idea about who should stand as candidates.
“I have been there for 12 long years so I know what has been going on,” he pointed out.
Party deputy president Azmin Ali has confirmed that members of a new liaison committee for the troubled state chapter will be selected and appointed during the convention, likely to be held in the first week of the month.
The Malaysian Insider understands however that the council will only be dissolved at the behest of party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (picture), who currently chairs the body.Wan Azizah had formed the council earlier this month after she was forced to intervene in the prolonged leadership tussle in Sabah.
“If she agrees, the council will be dissolved and we can finally appoint new members of the state leadership. Hopefully, this will be a smooth process,” said a party source.
The transition plan is set to be in tandem with the party’s preparation for the coming general election, said to be held by year-end.
Azmin also confirmed that every state is expected to prepare its list of potential candidates for the polls by March 20.
The Malaysian Insider also understands that members of the presidential council were finalised during the party’s state leadership meeting last night and should be announced tomorrow.
“It was accommodated,” said the party source when asked if the appointments had been based on consensus by Sabah PKR leaders.
The source added that the council was an “issues-based” body with each member holding specific portfolios like education, youth, security and others.
It is believed that former Sabah PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini, an influential leader of one of the factions in the state, has been commissioned to hold a post in the council.
Sabah PKR has been plagued by a crisis for years and has seen a succession of five state chiefs since 2006 — including the latest chief, Pajudin Nordin, who defected to Umno this month.
Following the departure of Awang Tengah Amin as state chief in 2006, every other successor has failed to command enough support to unite the feuding factions.
First to follow was Ansari Abdullah, today PKR’s Tuaran division chief, but his appointment came under strong opposition from former vice-president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
Next, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s right-hand man Azmin Ali was made state chief, resulting in an even louder chorus of disapproval from state leaders.
In 2009, Thamrin was roped in to lead the state but this was yet again rejected as the appointment had not been based on consensus from local leaders.
Supporters of Thamrin’s greatest rival, Ansari, then began to rally for the former’s removal, leading to the shocking appointment of Pajudin, whose name had never been on the list of potential candidates.
The recent events also led to the exodus of several leaders and members from the state chapter, including Jeffrey, who then went on to form a new political platform — the United Borneo Front — along with his supporters.
With his departure, the faction fighting in the state leadership continued between Thamrin and Ansari until Pajudin’s appointment on January 9.
The appointment, made by the national leadership, was highly-criticised as state leaders argued that Pajudin, the Tuaran deputy chief was a proxy for Ansari, who is the division’s chief.
It is also believed that Pajudin’s appointment had been rushed and had not been based on consensus. This was later admitted by Anwar, who claimed that Pajudin’s name had merely been a “test suggestion” by Wan Azizah.
Pajudin’s attempts to unite the party factions later flopped and 18 out of the state’s 25 division chiefs signed a resolution urging the national leadership to take over the state chapter.
When Wan Azizah waded into the crisis, an unhappy Pajudin then defected to Umno, complaining that the national leadership should stick to its promise of autonomy for Sabah.
He said that Sabah PKR would likely remain in shambles as its federal leaders never listened to the views and requests of the state members.
He also predicted in an interview with The Malaysian Insider that the party was likely to fail, yet again, in the coming general election to capture a single seat in Sabah.
“Looking at things now, the general election seems to be drawing near. Probably in June or July. But in the present situation, they cannot face the polls. They are not ready in Sabah as they are too busy fighting,” he said.
He revealed that the state had no machinery for the polls or any idea about who should stand as candidates.
“I have been there for 12 long years so I know what has been going on,” he pointed out.
Toe party line to get our seats, says PKR
Azmin said PKR now has more credible candidates as there was more interest to run for opposition parties. — File pic
“We can discuss with them. But if they still want to be independent, what’s the point?” the Gombak MP said of MCLM, which has said that it will propose 30 “defection-proof” candidates to offer to PKR.
If elected, MCLM said that its candidates will decide on issues based on their conscience rather than the coalition’s consensus. It is only offering candidates to PKR, not other PR parties such as the DAP and PAS.
Azmin, who is now also election director, said that PKR’s top leadership including de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held a meeting with PSM over the weekend to discuss seat allocation for the next general election.
“They have been loyal to us, more so than some of those who ran and defected. So, we have no problems giving them another two seats as long as they continue to stand with us,” he said of the party that had also contested in 2004 and 2008 under PKR’s symbol.
Of the four candidates who ran in 2008, PSM claimed two victories as Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj won PSM’s first-ever parliamentary seat by defeating then-MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in Sungai Siput while PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim won the Kota Damansara seat in the Selangor state legislative assembly.
Chief strategist Rafizi Ramli also admitted that it was wary of accepting candidates offered by MCLM because it wanted to avoid making the same “mistake” of 2008 where it had picked candidates who could not withstand the pressure and challenges of being a lawmaker.
He said that while the party was “open” to MCLM’s offer and accepted the movement’s criticisms against the party, PKR will in the end make its own choice and will choose its own party members who have had experience being grassroots leaders as well as being involved in politics.
“While we are open to suggestions, the candidates must subscribe to our struggle. We are a political party with structure and rules. We have already gone through a painful experience with the ‘frogs’ where in the past we took people who were less experienced and they jumped (at the first given opportunity).
Rafizi said PKR was wary of accepting candidates offered by MCLM. — File pic
The latest defections from the party are Sabah PKR chief Pajudin Nordin who joined Umno and Padang Serai MP N. Gobalakrishnan. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim left last November during the party’s fractious elections and is now helming Parti Kita.
“We must be careful, we must make sure this does not happen twice. So when MCLM keeps harping on suggested candidates, we are glad to work and discuss, but then again that candidate must be our party member, understand our struggle, obey our party discipline, or otherwise we will just go back to square one,” said Rafizi.
Azmin also said that compared to 2008, the party now has more credible candidates as there was more interest to run for opposition parties.
“Before the 2008 election, we could not find candidates because people were still afraid and we were a small party with only one MP,” he said.
Rafizi said there was doubt within the party as to whether MCLM’s candidates would be able to work well on a grassroots level as most of them were upper middle-class lawyers.
“I’m sure you understand that these lawyers may not be able to work well with people. I myself struggle when it comes to connecting with the grassroots. You see, the expectation of an elected representative in Malaysia is not the same as the US.
“It is unfair (for MCLM) to talk down to PKR as if we are so crappy ... we have some credible strengths,” he said.
He said PKR needed to focus on the upcoming general election and should not “operate” at the mercy of some “pressure groups.”
The MCLM has insisted it was trying to help the opposition pact regain momentum in the coming elections.
Its president, Haris Ibrahim, has moved to quell public scepticism that its independent candidate initiative would cause a vote split with the PR and derail the drive to topple the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
The MCLM wants to replace the current batch of PKR MPs who are not performing as lawmakers with those the London-based group sees as responsible representatives committed to drawing up laws in the public interest.
The civil society initiative has so far named lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Sreekant Pillai, former All Women’s Action Society president Haslinah Yacob and dentist Dr Nedunchelian Vengu as their independent candidates to date.
Haris had stressed that the independent candidates had each been subjected to a stringent background check by hired private investigators and were required to sign a statutory declaration disclosing all their assets.
The Malaysian Insider understands it has 18 such candidates on its books at the moment.
Investors, says Chinese group
Najib launched Teraju, a new unit created to enhance Bumiputera economic participation, last week. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The “shift in emphasis” away from the New Economic Model’s (NEM) initial focus on productivity and meritocracy to Bumiputera interests will leave Malaysia’s foreign direct investments (FDI) trailing behind regional rivals, a Chinese association said.
Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) president Tan Yew Sing said the formation of the Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) “diluted” the NEM and would likely send the wrong message to foreign investors who had been hopeful of reform.
“Now, with this wrong image, I hope it doesn’t affect our country,” said Tan, who admitted he was surprised by Teraju’s formation.
While he agreed that there was a need for wealth to be spread out more equitably, Tan said it was more important that this be done based on need and not “skin colour”.
He said since the majority of those households in the lowest income bracket were Malay, a needs-based approach would invariably benefit Malays to a greater degree.
Tan nonetheless said he still had “high hopes” that the Najib administration would review its implementation of the NEM and specify a more concrete time frame for the implementation of economic reforms.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has come under fire recently over the launch of Teraju, a new unit created to enhance Bumiputera economic participation, which Pakatan Rakyat (PR) claimed contradicted the spirit of the NEM.
DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua accused Najib of abandoning the purpose of the NEM, which is to restructure the affirmative action programmes to benefit the bottom 40 per cent of income earners regardless of race.
When launching Teraju last week, Najib had said that the unit will lead, co-ordinate and drive Bumiputera economic participation through new and existing initiatives, propose institutional reform to increase effectiveness and act as the secretariat for the Bumiputera Agenda Supreme Council (MTAB) which oversees Bumiputera economic development.
Najib had in the past promised that reforms to the economy would still see to the needs and interests of the Bumiputera community, which comprises the majority Malay population as well as indigenous people such as the Orang Asli.
He had said Bumiputeras account for 73 per cent of the 2.4 million households in the lowest 40 per cent income bracket.
In 2009, Najib had done away with regulations requiring a 30 per cent Bumiputera stake in 27 service and financial sub-sectors and limited the purview of the Foreign Investment Committee that oversees Bumiputera equity.
A 30 per cent Bumiputera stake in the national economy has been an objective of the government since the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1970.
Official statistics state that Bumiputera-held equity in the country stands at 18.7 per cent as of 2004.
PAS may stay out of Kerdau fray
Talks are making the rounds that voters in Kerdau may go to the polls on the same day as Merlimau, which is not good news for PAS.
KUALA LUMPUR: PAS may stay out of Kerdau state seat by-election in Pahang if the Election Commission (EC) decides to hold the polls simultaneously with Merlimau in Malacca.
The EC has fixed Feb 26 for nomination and March 6 for polling for the Merlimau state seat by-election.
It will not be a surprise if voting in Kerdau is held on the same day as Merlimau given that simultaneous polling had been conducted for Galas state seat in Kelantan and the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat in Sabah in November, last year.
PAS may not have the energy to take part in two simultaneous by-elections considering that the Islamist party was mauled by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Tenang, Johor, only three weeks ago.
In fact, the party was toying with the idea of staying away from Merlimau but changed its mind when PKR asked PAS to stand in for the unregistered alliance of Pakatan Rakyat.
The party has yet to recover from its “injuries” sustained in Tenang and now it has to fight the BN again in Merlimau. Many of its members feel the party is in no position to enter the Kerdau fray in its current worn-out state.
It is not so much the physical endurance that the party is afraid of but the psychological effect another defeat would inflict on its members.
Repeated defeats will bring down morale and erode confidence no matter how strong and united the party is.
And if the EC decides to hold Merlimau and Kerdau polls at the same time, PAS will obviously face logistical problems besides the financial burden.
Awkward position
Then there is this row over Valentine’s Day, with its Youth wing advocating “moral policing” to curb vices it deems is associated with the celebration. But some leaders have distanced themselves from this conservative stance to be in tune with their allies DAP and PKR.
The fortune of PAS is at its lowest ebb, so contesting the Kerdau state seat, which is also a BN traditional bastion, will further expose its weaknesses which in turn will put the party in an “awkward” position in Pakatan.
So far, PKR has been the weakest link in the alliance but if PAS continues to be defeated in a series of by-elections, the party may find itself taking PKR’s place.
PAS saw its support plummet in Felda settlements in Tenang while the hoped-for Chinese votes also evaporated when the community returned to the BN fold.
In Merlimau, PAS is not expected to make any headway in garnering Malay votes since the late state assemblyman, Mohd Hidhir Abu Hassan, had done a good job in servicing the community.
As for the Chinese votes, PAS is relying on DAP to deliver them but the Chinese vote bank will not help the party to win, not even reducing the BN majority.
With Merlimau a “write-off”, PAS will surely not want Kerdau to be another “stinging slap on its face” that will undermine its image not only within its own ranks but also with the public at large.
Thus, PAS members who are wise and are not in the decision-making body have whispered “let PKR take Kerdau”.
KUALA LUMPUR: PAS may stay out of Kerdau state seat by-election in Pahang if the Election Commission (EC) decides to hold the polls simultaneously with Merlimau in Malacca.The EC has fixed Feb 26 for nomination and March 6 for polling for the Merlimau state seat by-election.
It will not be a surprise if voting in Kerdau is held on the same day as Merlimau given that simultaneous polling had been conducted for Galas state seat in Kelantan and the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat in Sabah in November, last year.
PAS may not have the energy to take part in two simultaneous by-elections considering that the Islamist party was mauled by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Tenang, Johor, only three weeks ago.
In fact, the party was toying with the idea of staying away from Merlimau but changed its mind when PKR asked PAS to stand in for the unregistered alliance of Pakatan Rakyat.
The party has yet to recover from its “injuries” sustained in Tenang and now it has to fight the BN again in Merlimau. Many of its members feel the party is in no position to enter the Kerdau fray in its current worn-out state.
It is not so much the physical endurance that the party is afraid of but the psychological effect another defeat would inflict on its members.
Repeated defeats will bring down morale and erode confidence no matter how strong and united the party is.
And if the EC decides to hold Merlimau and Kerdau polls at the same time, PAS will obviously face logistical problems besides the financial burden.
Awkward position
Then there is this row over Valentine’s Day, with its Youth wing advocating “moral policing” to curb vices it deems is associated with the celebration. But some leaders have distanced themselves from this conservative stance to be in tune with their allies DAP and PKR.
The fortune of PAS is at its lowest ebb, so contesting the Kerdau state seat, which is also a BN traditional bastion, will further expose its weaknesses which in turn will put the party in an “awkward” position in Pakatan.
So far, PKR has been the weakest link in the alliance but if PAS continues to be defeated in a series of by-elections, the party may find itself taking PKR’s place.
PAS saw its support plummet in Felda settlements in Tenang while the hoped-for Chinese votes also evaporated when the community returned to the BN fold.
In Merlimau, PAS is not expected to make any headway in garnering Malay votes since the late state assemblyman, Mohd Hidhir Abu Hassan, had done a good job in servicing the community.
As for the Chinese votes, PAS is relying on DAP to deliver them but the Chinese vote bank will not help the party to win, not even reducing the BN majority.
With Merlimau a “write-off”, PAS will surely not want Kerdau to be another “stinging slap on its face” that will undermine its image not only within its own ranks but also with the public at large.
Thus, PAS members who are wise and are not in the decision-making body have whispered “let PKR take Kerdau”.
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