Anwar Ibrahim |
- Blackout 505 tampil tiga tuntutan
- ‘Black505’ to go on until all demands are met, says PKR
- Malaysia — Slaying the Tiger Economy
- ‘Police harassing those filing reports on indelible ink’
| Blackout 505 tampil tiga tuntutan Posted: 29 May 2013 12:46 AM PDT
Perhimpunan Blackout 505 akan meneruskan gerakan mereka sehingga Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) bersetuju untuk melaksanakan tiga tuntutan reformasi awal yang dikemukakan. Pengarah program Blackout 505, Datuk Johari Abdul berkata, kehadiran rakyat di perhimpunan itu adalah lambang baru kesedaran politik rakyat yang mewakili suara 51peratus rakyat yang menyokong PR. “Kita menuntut tiga perkara asas reformasi pilihan raya, pertama seluruh anggota SPR sekarang meletak jawatan kerana gagal memastikan PRU13 berjalan dengan telus, cekap, tanpa keraguan dan memenuhi janji mereka kepada rakyat seperti tuntutan Bersih. “Kedua, adakan pilihan raya semula di 30 kawasan Parlimen yang diragui bila mana bukti kukuh. Ketiga, menangguhkan sebarang bentuk pindaan undang-undang pilihan raya dan persempadanan semula sehinggalah anggota SPR baru yang berwibawa dan dipersetujui oleh semua pihak mengikut konsesus rakyat,” katanya pada sidang media di pejabat PKR hari ini. Menurut beliau, konsesus itu perlulah diwakili oleh PR dan NGO.
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| ‘Black505’ to go on until all demands are met, says PKR Posted: 28 May 2013 11:25 PM PDT The "Black505" rallies to protest against alleged electoral fraud during Election 2013 will continue next month and be held every week until all PKR's demands are met, the party said today. This comes even as Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders and analysts criticised the rallies and called for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to accept the results and move on towards nation building efforts instead. "There is no such thing as nation building if the nation is built on fraud and cheating," PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli told reporters here. PKR's Datuk Johari Abdul also explained that top of their list of demands was for all Election Commission (EC) members to quit for their purported failure in ensuring a transparent election. A new set of EC members should be appointed, but only after consultations together with PR and civil societies, he said. The rallies are also to call for fresh elections in all 30 parliamentary seats where results were disputed. In addition, any amendments to election laws and redelineation of constituencies must only be carried out after the new EC members have been elected. PKR announced today that four "Black505" rallies will be held next month in Perlis, Sungai Petani, Kota Baru and Batu Pahat. |
| Malaysia — Slaying the Tiger Economy Posted: 28 May 2013 07:06 PM PDT “The ruling BN coalition lost the popular vote, gaining only 47%, and turned in its worst electoral result ever as it was largely abandoned by minority Chinese and rejected by voters of all races in urban areas.”
The outcome of the recent election in Malaysia has been a huge disappointment to democratic economic reformers. Malaysia has been continuously running budget deficits since 1998 with government debt rising to US$164.6 billion in the third quarter of 2012, bringing Malaysia’s debt-to-revenue ratio to a level similar to that of Italy’s. After 55 years of one-party administration by the ruling coalition, it was considered to be high time that Malaysia had an alternative new vision. However, not only does it look like more of the same, but the greatly reduced majority for the ruling party makes it likely that any reforms will be postponed until October or November. This is when new party leadership elections will take place and Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to answer to the traditionalists in his party for its poor electoral showing. The ruling BN coalition lost the popular vote, gaining only 47%, and turned in its worst electoral result ever as it was largely abandoned by minority Chinese and rejected by voters of all races in urban areas. The result should be seen as a message from voters tired of corruption and patronage politics and also a rejection of the BN’s austerity plans for balancing the budget with a new consumption tax and lower food and fuel subsidies. Malaysia has been recognized for its strong “tiger” economy, growing at 5% in 2013 and surprisingly resilient at a time of negative developments internationally. This is despite dismal export performance because of the recession and stagnation in Europe and the slow economic growth in the US. Consumer confidence is expected to continue holding up and the inflation rate is stable in spite of higher food prices and is expected to remain at between 2.3 percent and 2.8 percent until 2016. Unemployment figures are low and expected to remain around 3 percent. However, the underlying structure of the Malaysian economy is based on its relationship with its international trading partners and the domestic economy needs to be backed by the more lucrative external market. A vulnerable domestic economy must be strengthened if it is to continue to withstand the current global economic downturn and the status quo will no longer serve Malaysia well. Malaysia had hopes of economic reform with the emergence of a strong political opposition under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim whose issues based campaign pointed to the need for ongoing reform. Institutional shortcomings that constrain the country’s prospects for long term economic expansion include the prevalence of corruption and lack of transparency and a judicial system that is vulnerable to political interference. These are pressing issues that the government must address if it is to maintain competitiveness and achieve growth potential. The folly of reducing taxes has contributed to the budget deficit, and Malaysia’s rate of 26 percent seems reckless when compared with Thailand’s 37%, where the GDP has also been growing at a healthy rate. The present government’s appetite for debt has been escalating since 2008, negating the effects of inward foreign investment. This has been justified as government spending on commercial enterprises to stimulate the economy, but too often has been seen as funding large-scale projects that reward political crony capitalists and support their companies. The strain of debt load inevitably becomes significant and falls on the wage-earning people. Austerity measures such as cutting public services like health care will be deeply unpopular and a lower standard of living will be seen as divisive and unjust in view of the wealth of the lightly taxed super rich bracket. Tackling debt should be a major subject of policy discourse in Malaysia but not on the backs of working families. Chinese economists who have studied Malaysia have concluded that the country will be unable to move ahead into a higher income level while it remains held back by a lack of tertiary industry, an education system that is falling behind in technological expertise and a restrictive low-wage economic model. Malaysia’s dependence on cheap uneducated foreign workers has depressed local wages and productivity growth. The closely contested general election brought these issues to the forefront. An awareness across the political divide of the need for Malaysia to continue its economic expansion and attract further in¬vestment should play a key part in future policy-making. The Inter¬national Monetary Fund (IMF), has forecast 5.1 per cent growth for 2013, although exter¬nal factors, such as slower than expected expansion in the US or China, along with the threat of continued recession in the euro¬zone, could affect the country’s economy. The so-called New Economic Model proposed by the existing government will never produce the promised high-income status for Malaysians in 2020 unless there is a change in the management of Malaysia’s resources based on the wellbeing of future generations. Malaysia’s rapid economic growth may well be coming to an end, as natural resources are being depleted and the workforce has reached a limit of productivity. A new era of social justice underpinning economic decisions was envisaged by the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition. Their failure to gain enough seats was particularly galling given that the election laws favour the ruling party and electoral fraud, abuse of power and control of the Elections Commission made it almost inevitable. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim may have lost this election but he has certainly won the fight for change and social justice and he has a much stronger presence now to challenge the status quo, work for electoral reform, to put an end to corruption and to influence the restructuring of the economy for a more sustainable future for Malaysia’s people. |
| ‘Police harassing those filing reports on indelible ink’ Posted: 28 May 2013 09:50 AM PDT Several people who lodged police reports over the easily washable indelible ink used in the 13th general election have been subjected to harassment and intimidation by the police, PKR Youth says. The photographs of the complainants were taken and they were also questioned as to whether they were paid to lodge their reports, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin told a press conference today.
“I want to ask the new inspector-general of police (Khalid Abu Bakar) and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi whether this will be the standard procedure for the authorities to take pictures of complainants, up close,” asked Shamsul Iskandar, who is also a lawyer. “Such a practice (of intimidation) should stop as this is a violation of the due process of the law.” PKR embarked on a nationwide campaign yesterday, asking people with complaints that the indelible ink used in the May 5 general election can be washed off easily to file police reports. They have been asked to do this within a week. PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim lodged a police report on this matter yesterday. Rightfully, said newly-elected Bukit Katil MP Shamsul Iskandar, the police should just accept the reports filed and investigate them, not harass or scare complainants by taking their pictures. “Ten complainants in Gombak were subjected to having their pictures taken and in Hulu Klang, there were four,” said the PKR Youth chief. Shamsul Iskandar noted that this action by the police was a strange move and in some places, the complainants were also questioned by the Special Branch officers who took their statements. ‘Stop intimidation and scare tactics’ He also said that some of the complainants told him that the police asked them who instructed them to lodge their reports.
Shamsul Iskandar urged the police to cease immediately their harassment tactics, for their duty should be to investigate why the ink does not lasts long as it is supposed to A complainant in Brickfields also claimed the police officer questioned him on whether he had been paid by anybody to lodge his report. Another complainant who had tried to lodge a complaint in Damansara was told to lodge the report in Jinjang, since she had voted there. However, she lodged her report in Damansara, since she worked in that area. Normally, the police are required to accept any report made and if the incident did not take place in the locality the report was made, that report would be referred to the station where the incident occurred.
Ramli said the people should not be afraid of lodging police reports as they can go to any police station to lodge any kind of report. “I do not have the information on this so far. I do not have anybody coming forward to complain to me, except from you (Malaysiakini). I will check on such complaints, if there is anything. “There should not be any fear at all. The people can just walk in and say, ‘I want to lodge a report’. (There is) nothing that bars anyone from lodging any report at all,” Ramli added. |
Shamsul Iskandar (left) said such action on the part of the police constituted harassment, since there was no cause at all for the pictures of the complainants to be taken.
“Imagine this happening in Selangor. What will happen if such scare and intimidation tactics take place in the other states?” he said, adding that he would lodge a report in Malacca tomorrow to see if this also happened there.
Asked to comment on the complaints of harassment from people filing reports on the indelible ink used in GE13, Bukit Aman public relations chief ACP Ramli Mohammed Yusof (left) said he was not aware of the matter.| You are subscribed to email updates from Anwar Ibrahim To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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