Anwar: Najib’s tough stand masks fear

The government’s crackdown on dissent in recent weeks reflected the hardline political stance of the current Putrajaya administration, charged Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The PKR chief pointed out that the police force’s tough action to clampdown on peaceful gatherings, candlelight vigils, protests and even DVD screenings demonstrated the intolerant politics of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak

Condemning yesterday’s police raid on DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya, he said it reflected Barisan Nasional’s fear on the emergence of Pakatan Rakyat as genuine and viable alternative government-in-waiting.

He said the DAP’s office was raided merely because the party was part of Pakatan set up.

“That’s the only crime DAP has committed,” Anwar, the Permatang Pauh member of parliament, told some 5,000 people at a Penanti by-election rally in Berapit, Penang last night.

The Pakatan leader said the series of arrests on civilians, lawyers, human rights activists and politicians in recent weeks have testified Najib’s hardline stance to clampdown on constructive dissent and criticism.

“He is playing it rough and tough. Why he is so rough? Does he have something to hide?

“This country shall be administrated according to the rule of law, not the law of Umno jungle,” he told a cheering crowd.

We will not be cowed

Police raided the DAP main office in search of documents believed to be related to the arrest of 16 party activists in Ampang on Thursday night for holding a candlelight vigil.

dap raid 230509 computerThis is the first time in DAP’s 42-year history that the police have raided the party headquarters.

A furious DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng slammed the Selangor police for conducting the raid and said the security force should have better used its resources to combat rising crime rate in the state.

“We did not steal, rob or kill anyone with C4 explosives. We had only exercised our rights to express our struggle to restore democracy in Perak.

“The police raid is uncalled for,” blasted a furious Lim at the same rally.

However, Lim, the Penang Chief Minister, warned the federal government that the DAP and Pakatan, and general public would not be cowed by the police intimidation.

“We will not compromise on our stance and struggle to restore democracy and hold a fresh state election in Perak.

“We will fight on,” he told an applauding crowd.

The police crackdown

Since May 5, the police have made 126 arrests - starting with Bersih activist Wong Chin Huat for urging people to wear black to protest the Perak government takeover by Barisan Nasional.

In three previous vigils, police arrested 27 people, including the still-detained 16.

A fourth candlelight vigil scheduled to take place outside DAP service centre in Cheras last night was aborted after the police issued severe warnings that all participants would be arrested.

Almost 70 people including Pakatan elected representatives were detained on May 7, after gathering outside the Perak secretariat building.

Five lawyers were arrested by Brickfields police after attempting to provide legal assistance to the 15 who were nabbed during a candlelight vigil in the federal capital in support of Wong, who himself was detained under the Sedition Act.

A police team also raided and seized DVD screening the May 7 Perak assembly fiasco, audio-visual equipment, and detained a technician at a DAP dinner in Sitiawan two weeks ago.

Anwar called on Penanti voters to give PKR a massive win in the by-election to send a strong message that “the people are against hardline politics.”

“Penanti by-election shall be a referendum on Najib’s rough politics and Perak political impasse,” he thumbed home his message.

Penanti poll will see PKR candidate Mansor Othman squaring it up against independent candidates Nai Khan Ari Nai Keow, Aminah Abdullah and Kamarul Ramizu Idris in a four-cornered fight.

Polling is on May 31.

Courtesy Of Malaysiakini

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Malaysia new Mahathirsm

KUALA LUMPUR, — In 2001, as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's long tenure as prime minister was in its final years, we wrote that Malaysia was "in danger of stepping back from the world of democracy and the Internet into a darker age of racial conflict and government repression." Eight years later, with the economy deteriorating and politics in turmoil, that threat looms again.
Dr Mahathir's protege, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is set to be elected today as leader of Umno, the leading party in the coalition that has governed the country since independence in 1957. Next week he is expected to take over as prime minister, replacing the moderate and mostly ineffective Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. During his six years in office, Abdullah made scant progress in efforts to end political corruption, liberalise the economy and reform the judiciary. The unpopular premier led Umno to a dismal performance in elections a year ago.

Najib's ascension to power has been marked by a government crackdown on Umno's political opponents and on free speech. On Monday, police fired tear gas on a rally in Kedah as opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was speaking to the crowd. Also this week, reporters from popular online media, including Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider, were denied credentials by the party to cover the Umno party congress taking place in Kuala Lumpur.

Most worryingly, the government this week shut down two opposition party newspapers. The ban is for three months — long enough to get past the April 7 by-elections for three parliamentary seats that the opposition is keen to snag. It's also long enough to get past the expected verdict next month in a sensational murder trial to which the opposition links Najib; Najib vehemently denies any involvement and says he did not know the victim. As reported in a Journal news story this week, Anwar said he believes the papers were shuttered in part to keep them from repeating allegations of corruption in weapons purchases when Najib was defence minister. Najib has denied allegations of corruption.

The government's new restrictions on the press come on the heels of Umno's

moves against the opposition party in Perak, where it recently persuaded three state assemblymen to switch alliances, thereby shifting the state government's balance of power in Umno's favor. The Sultan of Perak validated the move, the opposition contested it and a court case is under way. But a lawyer who said the sultan's decision was unconstitutional and suggested he might sue the sultan was charged with sedition last week. Six Internet users who made critical comments on the sultan's website were also charges with insulting the sultan under the country's new cyber law.

In Dr Mahathir's era, the Umno-led government could get away with such tactics. Under his watch, the country saw opposition media silenced and political dissidents jailed. But in today's Malaysia, where voters are beginning to realise the power of the ballot box, it's a risky political gambit. Anwar led his opposition coalition to victory in five of 13 states last year and since then has also won two parliamentary by-elections. So far Anwar has been unable to win enough defections from Umno to dissolve the government and call new elections. If he succeeds — and if he can get past his July trial for sodomy — he could eventually win the premiership. Anwar denies the charges and says they are politically motivated, a charge the government denies.

In the meantime, Umno's moves against the opposition and the press suggest that rather than listening to voters, the ruling party may be growing less tolerant of dissent. Add in the ethnic tensions in Malaysia's multiracial society — and Umno's favoured system of preferences for native Malays — and it's a potentially combustible mix.

Malaysia can't afford political upheaval now. The country's economy is being hit hard by the global recession. GDP growth is forecast to contract this quarter after growth of just 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, and unemployment is rising. Foreign investors perceive political risk in a country that still locks up its citizens under colonial-era laws like the the Internal Security Act. Voters may decide to take it out on Najib, who was finance minister under Abdullah, if they don't see improvement in the economy.

Najib seems to understand that Malaysians want something new. In a speech on Tuesday at the party conference, he promised to end corruption and the politics of patronage and pursue reform; he called for "renewal and regeneration" for Umno. "Economic progress and better education have directly resulted in the birth of a class of voters who are better informed, very demanding and highly critical," he said. "If we do not heed this message, their seething anger will become hatred and in the end this may cause them to abandon us altogether."

Najib, the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, entered Parliament at the age of 22. Now 55, he has been groomed for this moment for all of his political life. If the soon-to-be PM truly wants to change his country for the better, he'll make good on his word, squelch his inner Mahathir, and lead Malaysia down the path of more transparent government and basic freedoms. — Wall Street Journal

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DrM mocks BN over Perak Deadlock

KUALA LUMPUR, – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has ridiculed Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi for asking Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir to lodge a police report against the Perak State Assembly Speaker.

Writing in his popular chedet.cc blog, he said that while it was possible for the Speaker to commit a crime, “the suspension of any assemblyman is not a crime which the police can take action against.”

Known for his acerbic criticism, the former prime minister has been a thorn in Abdullah’s side in recent years.

But in previous remarks, he has also expressed his disapproval over Barisan’s move to court the defections of the two former PKR Perak assemblymen – Osman Jailu and Jamaludin Mohd Radzi.

The resignation from PKR of the two men and their backing for Barisan Nasional (BN) sparked the downfall of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Perak government but it has also drawn criticism because the two men are facing graft charges in court.

In his latest blog post, Dr Mahathir poured scorn on Abdullah’s suggestion for Zambry to lodge a police report against Speaker V Sivakumar over the suspension of the Perak MB and his entire state executive council.

“If the decision of the Speaker can be considered a crime, then what will happen when the Parliamentary Speaker suspends opposition members for whatever reasons?

“And this happens frequently. Will opposition members lodge police reports? If they can, then can we consider the police to have powers over the Parliamentary Speaker?”

The former PM also commented on Zambry’s statement that he would attend the state assembly sitting despite the suspension.

He said that under the legislature’s standing orders, the Speaker can direct officers of the assembly to remove Zambry.

“Also, where will Zambry sit? What if Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin sits in the mentri besar’s chair? Will the Speaker ask his officers to force Nizar to vacate the chair?

“Let us all as citizens watch what happens next.” (TMI)

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Majority of Perakians reject BN - Survey - Malaysiakini

IPOH— If the Barisan Nasional and the Perak royal household had any lingering doubts about negative public sentiment towards the change of the state government, here is a message: doubt no more.

A survey of registered voters in Perak on Feb 8 showed that:

• 74 per cent of the respondents feel that the state assembly should have been dissolved after the defection of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers

• 76 per cent of the respondents felt that the "people, through elections, should decide on who forms the government"

• 62 per cent of the respondents felt that the "role of the palace in this decision" means it does not recognise the will of the people

• 66 per cent of the respondents do not accept state governments formed through the defection of state assemblymen

• 59 per cent of the respondents feel that the political crisis in Perak would decrease support for Barisan Nasional.

Taken together, the poll by the Merdeka Centre suggests that Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and the BN may occupy the seat of government but a significant number of Perakians may not accept their legitimacy to hold power.

The political crisis unfolded in Perak when three Pakatan Rakyat legislators became independents and said that they would back the BN.

This wiped away the three-seat majority which enabled Pakatan Rakyat to rule the state since March last year.

After interviewing the three and the 28 BN representatives, Sultan Azlan Shah decided that BN had the majority in the state assembly. This was a controversial decision given that Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin and Pakatan Rakyat felt that the correct decision should have been for the Ruler to allow for the state assembly to be dissolved for fresh elections.

There is a roiling debate even among lawyers on the Sultan's decision, with the majority saying that he should have either agreed to the dissolution of the House or held off making any decision until a vote of no confidence against Nizar was taken in the assembly.

The survey findings indicate that many Perak voters also feel that the Ruler may have erred.

Some 507 registered voters were interviewed by telephone and the sampling was done randomly. The margin of error was about 4.5 per cent. (TMI)


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Making Sense Of The Perak Controversy - Malaysiakini

Before embarking on an analysis of the state of play in Perak, it would be of value to consider the objective facts:

Two assemblymen signed undated resignation letters as a condition to their being nominated by their political party for a state election. For this, the party also gave them full support, financial and otherwise. They won their respective seats;
The undated resignation letters were submitted to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The Perak Constitution allows members of the assembly the option of resigning their membership “by writing under his hand addressed to the speaker”;
The party opted to submit the resignations of the two assemblymen. It is not apparent what prompted this;

The speaker has accepted the resignations and communicated the fact of the resignations to the Election Commission. The speaker has taken the position and ruled for the purposes of the assembly that the resignations have taken effect and by-elections be held. He will treat the assemblymen as no longer being members of the assembly for the purposes of proceedings in the assembly;

The two assemblymen dispute the validity of the resignation. They do not contend that the resignations letters were not under their hand. They contend that the resignations were procured through duress;

The Election Commission has decided that the resignations are doubtful and as such not true resignations.
From the above, it could be said that the following questions arose when the controversy first erupted:

The legal value or validity of the resignations. There is no authoritative decision of the courts on this point. A 1982 decision of the then Federal Court (Datuk Ong Kee Hui) observed that such resignations could be viewed as being contrary to public policy in view of elections at both the state and federal level being of individuals as opposed to political parties. A question of honouring the wishes of the electorate, that is the electing of the individual as opposed to the party, arises. The Federal Court did not decide on the point as the Member of Parliament concerned did not seek to invalidate the resignation nor had the speaker been joined as a party. The point is as such open to argument.
Whether the resignation letters were procured under duress;
However, these questions have been overtaken by events, in particular the decision of the speaker to accept the resignations and give effect to them. The speaker may be wrong but until he is shown to be wrong through valid process — either in the assembly (to the extent that such process is available) or through the courts — the speaker’s decision must stand.

In this regard, the Election Commission is charged with the conduct of elections. It could be argued that in order to do so, the Election Commission must have the power to determine whether an election is needed in the first place. Where state and federal elections are concerned, this is established by the dissolution of the assemblies and Parliament respectively. However, where casual vacancies (through death, resignations or disqualifications) arise, the situation is more nuanced.

The Perak Constitution (Article 36(5)) provides that a casual vacancy shall be filled within 60 days from the date on which it is established by the Election Commission that there is a vacancy. Vacancies caused by death and disqualifications are easily established. Where the latter is concerned, the matter is decided by the assembly itself, which in law is taken to have final say (save where there is a matter of legal interpretation). In the ordinary course resignations are similarly uncomplicated; the speaker receives the letter of resignation and communicates the fact to the Election Commission which establishes the vacancy based on the speaker’s declaration. From this, it is apparent that the vacancy is established by reference to the position taken by the speaker. This is consistent with the basic principle of parliamentary democracy that it is the speaker who regulates the assembly.

The question that arises is therefore whether this process is derailed by a dispute as to the validity of the resignation. In my view, it should not be, and the Election Commission must act accordingly. I say this for two main reasons. First, the scheme explained above.

Secondly, it is not for the Election Commission to embark on a fact-finding or adjudicative process as, amongst other things, it does not have the power to do so. In denying the position the speaker has taken, the Election Commission is in effect asserting that that the speaker is wrong. The Election Commission cannot do so. If there is a question as to the correctness of the speaker’s position, then it must be challenged through proper channels.

Seen from this perspective, this unprecedented and very curious action of the Election Commission regrettably raises questions as to its motives. It must be taken to appreciate the precarious position it has left Perak in, one which looked upon objectively appears to have been made more accommodating to the machinations of the Barisan Nasional. I note that by-elections would be inconvenient for Umno which is scheduled to have its assembly in March. It is as such open to question as to whether the Election Commission has conducted itself in the independent manner the Federal Constitution requires of it.

Where this leaves the Perak government is an open question. It could seek a ruling of the court as to the correctness of the decision made by the Election Commission and an order to compel the latter to conduct the by-election. This would be a time-consuming affair and occasion a delay that can only work against the interests of the state. The razor-thin margin is undermining stability and it is more probable than not the attention of those who make up the state government would be focused more on preserving their government than the affairs of the state.

The Election Commission’s stance and the underlying events would afford sufficient cause for the menteri besar to request that the Sultan dissolve the assembly and call for fresh elections. All things considered, this may be the best way to protect the interests of Perak. In these difficult times, governments should be focused on what needs to be done rather than politics.

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar is the current president of the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM) and a lawyer.

(TheMalaysianInsider)

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