PAS, PKR, DAP leaders urge Nasha-Nik Aziz reconciliation

Senior PAS leaders have urged deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa to meet and clear the air with the party spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat after a public spat over unity talks with arch rival Umno.

“I believe that Tok Guru has no hatred towards Nasharudin as a person. His statement is made out of love, just like how when a father occasionally beats his son, it is out of love for the son’s future,” vice president Mahfuz Omar told reporters on the sidelines of Parliament on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Nik Aziz - the senior-most leader in PAS - had given Nasharudin a public scolding after the latter welcomed a suggestion from Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold unity talks.

“If it is true that Nasharudin supports the formation of a unity government, it is best that he joins Umno by quitting his PAS post and as an MP for Bachok. Don’t cause problems in the party,” Nik Aziz had said.

Nasharudin had said PAS would not join Umno or Barisan Nasional but would offer recommendations on political and economic issues to the government.

“I think the issue of PAS joining Umno or Barisan does not arise, but we see there are recommendations that we can give to the government to improve the economic and political situation,” said the newly-elected deputy president.

Neither PKR nor DAP wishes any acrimony between the two PAS leaders

Innocuous as Nasharudin’s comments may have been, there is nevertheless concern that he and PAS president Hadi Awang could steer the Islamist party towards Umno and its BN coalition.

According to Mahfuz, the Nik Aziz-Nasharudin spat will be discussed at a meeting slated for Monday. Hadi is due to return from London on Sunday.

Another PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub urged Nasharudin to “show his respect” to Nik Aziz and meet him to sort out the issue, which was starting to trouble the party grassroots.

Meanwhile, the Muslimat or women’s wing expressed their support for Nik Aziz and reiterated they would stand by a decision taken at the party’s recently-held annual congress to stay within the Pakatan Rakyat.

Kota Raja MP and Muslimat information chief Siti Mariah Mahmud also called on members to “remain calm and not to be worried by attempts by some parties to break up the Pakatan and create disunity within PAS”.

Meanwhile, top leaders from PKR and DAP have stood up to the test, with both Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang seeking to soothe the ruffled feathers between Nik Aziz and Nasharudin.

Of greater concern to them was that acrimony was not allowed to set in between the two, rather than avoiding an imminent break-up of the Pakatan as portended by the Umno-controlled press.

This, they said, was the least likely to happen.

“As far as DAP is concerned, we are always prepared to talk to anyone on matters of national interest. We are Malaysians and we are prepared to talk to anyone on what is of concern to all Malaysians,” said Kit Siang.

“I think Nik Aziz should talk to his leaders on this matter and I believe it can be resolved,” said Anwar. (SK)

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Set up Royal Commission to probe Najib -PAS

Islamic-based PAS has asked the Malay Rulers’ Council to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe if Prime Minister Najib Razak was indeed involved in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“Reports alleging the existence of a relationship between Najib and Altantuya through the purchase of a fleet of submarines have been reported in India, Australia, Korea, Thailand, etc,” PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar wrote in the official party letter to the Council.

“This shows that Najib’s credibility as a prime minister has been openly questioned at the international level.”

PAS also urged the Rulers to grant the request as soon as possible as it was the only way to let the international community know that Malaysia was prepared to answer all allegations.

“These reports have been featured by no less than 19 international media organisations, and all of them depict the prime minister as a person who is corrupt and involved in abuse of power, sex scandals as well as the murder of the Mongolian model,” PAS said.

Otherwise, the negative publicity surrounding Najib and his lack of credibility could tarnish the country’s reputation and that of the Rulers’ themselves.

Foreign investors would also lose confidence in Malaysia’s legal system as Altantuya’s family has threatened to take the case to the International Court of Justice, PAS pointed out.

“We are also worried that if Altantuya father, Setev Shaariibuu, is unsatisfied with the Malaysian High Court, he may bring the case to the International Court of Justice.”

Not so easy for Najib and Dr M to gag the foreign media

The 28-year old Altantuya, who was pregnant when she was killed in 2006 by two elite policemen from Najib’s security detail, has haunted the newly-appointed prime minister but did not prevent him from taking over the country’s top job earlier this month.

Najib has denied all allegations including that she was his mistress at one time before she became the lover of his close associate, Razak Baginda. But with too many questions and coincidences surrounding her gory killing, the speculation has refused to die down.

The 55-year old Najib has now resorted to suppressing the media to prevent the stories from spreading. Soon after he took over as PM, the government ordered four local TV stations to stop mentioning Razak Baginda’s name, his name and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s name in their coverage of the murder case.

However, the Malaysian prime minister was not able to silence the international media.

While Najib’s mentor, ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad, has accused the foreign press of a plot to demonise and topple him, the 83-year old has quietly omitted that perhaps part of the reason for the heightened international attention is that French shipbuilder Armaris is also involved.

To reward Malaysia’s order of three high-cost submarines, including two Scorpenes, Armaris paid a 114 million euros (about RM530 million) as commission to Najib through his intermediaries Razak Baginda and Altantuya, according to French newspaper Liberation.

The order was placed during Najib’s tenure as defence minister. Critics in Europe have asked if it was proper for Armaris to have paid out such money.

In Malaysia, there is also a growing movement to demand why the government has not carried out detailed investigation as the commission is huge and could have been used to reduce the acquisition price, saving tax payers some RM500 million. (SuaraKeadilan)

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Nizar wants Perak Assembly to be postponed

PUTRAJAYA, — Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin wants the May 7 Perak State Legislative Assembly to be postponed, pending the outcome of his lawsuit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Nizar noted his political rival faction, the Barisan Nasional (BN), may feel pressured to hold an assembly before May 13 because they consider it the deadline to prevent the State legislature from being automatically dissolved.

“For Pakatan Rakyat, we have already had a legal assembly below the tree on March 3, so for us Pakatan Rakyat, we can have one before September.

“But Barisan Nasional is quite worried because they feel pressured to have one before May 13,” he told reporters at the Palace of Justice here after the Federal Court unanimously ruled today to reject his political rival Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir’s bid to fast-track the resolution of their dispute on who is the lawful mentri besar of Perak.

The five-man bench decided the High Court had to clear up the various disputed issues raised by Nizar first before it could make a decision on the case.

“Today’s decision showed the May 7 assembly should be delayed,” Nizar pointed out.

“When we talk about today’s decision by the Federal Court, it shines a light at the end... that the final remedy should be the dissolution of the assembly,” he added.

The 52-year-old newly-elected MP for Bukit Gantang looked very tense before the court hearing this morning, smiling tightly and speaking in curt tones to reporters who approached him.

But he was all smiles when the court ruled in his favour. Leaping from his seat in the public gallery, he rushed to hug Sulaiman Abdullah, a senior lawyer and one-time Bar Council president who had argued his case in court.

Nizar is suing Zambry for usurping the office of the mentri besar, which he claims is unlawful as he has not quit the post officially.

He has consistently resisted efforts to drag in the Perak Sultan into a legal battle, despite attempts by certain political quarters to do so.

Asked if he regretted having to file his affidavit revealing the details of his meeting with the Sultan of Perak in early February, Nizar said he had been reluctant originally but indicated he had been forced to “respond because those facts are what I’m going to say.”

He noted “the public will know what transpired between myself and Tuanku so they will make the judgment.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want the court to decide for the people. The government of the day must be decided by the rakyat. The court is just a way for us to seek a solution,” Nizar said.

His lawyer Sulaiman highlighted that they wanted to avoid “a hasty solution” which may lead to more complicated problems later on.

“Our view has always been go through the proper route: Go through the High Court, go through the Court of Appeal and finally come to the Federal Court with all the issues settled,” said Sulaiman, who welcomed the Federal Court’s stand that the High Court should settle all disputes before letting the apex court make the ultimate decision.

“It is not an immediate issue of who runs Perak that matters. These are fundamental issues that will arise for the country for many, many years to come and unless we get it right at the beginning, we are going to face a lot of problems in future,” he said. (TMI)

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