Anwar Ibrahim |
- [KENYATAAN MEDIA] Penahanan Anti-Demokratik Atas Arahan Ketua Menteri Sabah Diselar
- Time on whose side?
- [PRESS STATEMENT] MP PENAMPANG CONDEMNS NURUL IZZAH DEPORTATION FROM SABAH
- Did Anwar’s Tweet Change the Course of History?
| [KENYATAAN MEDIA] Penahanan Anti-Demokratik Atas Arahan Ketua Menteri Sabah Diselar Posted: 31 May 2013 03:26 AM PDT 31 MEI 2013 Semalam, 30 Mei 2013, saya telah ditahan apabila kad pengenalan saya diambil di pintu masuk imigresen untuk menghalang saya daripada memasuki negeri Sabah, walaupun hak saya selaku warganegara Malaysia termaktub di bawah Seksyen 67 Akta Imigresen 1959/63: 67. Hak untuk masuk ke Negeri Malaysia Timur bagi menjalankan hak-hak politik. Seksyen 66 (1) hendaklah tidak berkuatkuasa dalam hubungan dengan seseorang warganegara yang memasuki Negeri Malaysia Timur hanya untuk menceburkan diri dalam aktiviti politik yang sah; tetapi beban membuktikan bahawa seseorang itu berhak memasuki Negeri Malaysia Timur di bawah seksyen ini terletak ke atasnya. Lawatan saya ke Sabah adalah untuk menghadirkan diri dalam program Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sabah di samping menyambut pesta Kaamatan bersama warga tempatan. Alasan yang diberikan atas penahanan saya adalah atas arahan Pejabat Ketua Menteri Sabah. Saya juga difahamkan ada nama-nama lain, termasuk aktivis tempatan beserta ahli politik Pakatan Rakyat yang akan juga dinafikan kemasukan ke dalam negeri Sabah atas arahan Pejabat Ketua Menteri Sabah. Sebagai seorang Ahli Parlimen Malaysia, dan warganegara Malaysia, tindakan menyekat kemasukan yang tidak rasional dan bersebab ini merupakan salah guna kuasa yang melampau dan cukup anti-demokratik. Permohonan saya untuk mendapatkan senarai nama mereka yang terlarang ditolak atas sebab-sebab kerahsiaan. Tiada alasan lain diberikan dalam tangkapan dan penafian masuk saya ke Sabah. Sekiranya saya dianggap mengancam keselamatan warga Sabah, maka kemukakan rasional serta penjelasan atas dakwaan tersebut. Rasional yang sama juga perlu diberikan dalam kes YB Tian Chua, Ahli Parlimen Batu dan Naib Presiden KEADILAN, yang juga dinafikan kemasukan pada 7 April yang lalu. Isu keselamatan negara dan persempadanan tidak boleh sama sekali dipolitikkan. Malang, tindakan menghalang saya daripada masuk ke Negeri di Bawah Bayu ini berlaku di kala Sabah berhadapan dengan kebolosan sempadan – termasuklah pengeluaran kad pengenalan secara haram seperti yang sedang disiasat oleh Suruhanjaya Siasatan DiRaja Sabah. Seharusnya tumpuan kerajaan negeri adalah mengawal selia masalah kebolosan yang mendesak ini, bukan menyalahgunakan kuasa dengan menafikan hak demokrasi dan aktiviti politik pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat demi mempertahan kedudukan UMNO mahupun BN. Justeru itu, isu keselamatan dan kedaulatan negara sepatutnya tidak diperlekehkan dengan menjadikan ia alat politik menindas rakyat. KEADILAN akan menghantar surat rasmi ke Pejabat Ketua Menteri Sabah untuk mengemukakan aduan rasmi serta mendapatkan penjelasan sepenuhnya mengenai isu ini. KEADILAN akan turut meminta senarai nama-nama mereka yang dihalang memasuki negeri Sabah, serta sebab-sebab mereka dihalang. Pada masa yang sama, YB Darrell Leiking, Ahli Parlimen Penampang, akan mengetuai sebuah jawatankuasa guaman di Sabah untuk mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Ketua Menteri yang akan difailkan di Kota Kinabalu kelak. Nurul Izzah Anwar Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai Naib Presiden KEADILAN |
| Posted: 30 May 2013 07:18 PM PDT Angry at an unjust defeat, Malaysia's opposition has reasons to be hopefulIN JAIL, Anwar Ibrahim read a lot of Shakespeare. To understand Malaysian politics, the opposition leader says, you have to know Macbeth, a tragedy of overweening political ambition. For the government, the ambition defacing the country's politics is that of Mr Anwar himself, to become Malaysia's prime minister. He had promised to retire if he lost the general election held on May 5th. "But we won," he says. That is not how the government sees it. Though the opposition coalition which Mr Anwar leads, Pakatan Rakyat, got 51% of the votes, it won only 40% of the seats in parliament. Years of gerrymandering favour the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957. Mr Anwar also alleges outright electoral fraud. He has been leading protest rallies around the country against the "theft" of the election. In his Sisyphean struggle to reach the peak of Malaysian politics, he has come close before. In the 1990s he was deputy prime minister and prospective leader of the government he was to turn against. For a moment in 1998 it seemed as if a people-power movement might sweep him to office. Instead, he spent six years in jail on charges of sodomy (later overturned). After the previous election, in 2008, he again seemed on the brink, claiming enough members of parliament were ready to defect from the government to give Pakatan a majority. It came to naught. So, most likely, will his current campaign. Pakatan is to file petitions challenging the result in as many as 31 of the 222 constituencies. But this drawn-out process is not likely to overturn the result, and neither is a lawsuit against the election commission—for allegedly defrauding the nation by marking voters' fingers with "indelible" ink that soon rubbed off. The rallies' purpose, admits a leader of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), one of Pakatan's three components, is "to keep the torch alight". That is helped by anger at the arrest of three opposition leaders and a student activist under a sedition law the government had promised to repeal, and by raids on opposition newspapers. No opposition leader wants the torch to light a conflagration on the streets in the hope of toppling the government in a Malaysian spring. Yet Mr Anwar argues that the rallies must continue nonetheless: "If we don't force them to change now," he says of the ruling coalition, "they will never change." For all that, it seems likely that the protests will eventually peter out and that Pakatan will have to knuckle down to another stint in opposition. Whether the next election will be fairer is another matter. Two of the biggest injustices are unlikely to go. The media, except online, are slavishly pro-government. Constituency boundaries are to be redrawn this year. But the opposition trusts neither the election commission, which will propose changes, nor the government, which will approve them. Pakatan suffers friction among its disparate members—the Islamic, ethnic-Malay PAS, Mr Anwar's multiracial Keadilan and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), whose support comes mainly from the ethnic-Chinese minority, about a quarter of the population. Barisan, a coalition dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), may try to split Pakatan, by tempting the DAP or PAS, or both, into the government. Mr Anwar says that, since the election, Barisan has already been trying to woo him. It has also emerged that, before an election he expected to win, he signed a secret agreement with his nemesis, the UMNO leader and prime minister, Najib Razak. Under the deal, brokered by Jusuf Kalla, a former vice-president of Indonesia and an old friend of both men, they promised that they would eschew personal mudslinging during the campaign, that the loser would accept the outcome, and that the winner would govern in a spirit of "national reconciliation". Mr Anwar excised another clause promising a government of national unity. He says that he feared UMNO would not willingly give up power. Mr Anwar says the agreement was invalidated by government cheating at the polls. As it happens, Mr Najib never physically signed the deal, saying he needed to consult his coalition. But he did at least mention "national reconciliation" in his victory speech. Reconciliation seems distant. And Mr Najib's problems may be even bigger than the opposition's. Unusually for a victorious incumbent, he argues for a change in "our attitude, strategy, programmes and approach". A radical idea has been floated: turning the Barisan coalition, whose Chinese and Indian bits took a hammering at the election, into a proper, multi-ethnic party. And to show that he means to deal with corruption—the biggest reason for Barisan's waning popularity—Mr Najib has appointed to his cabinet Paul Low, a former head of the Malaysian arm of Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog. Mr Low says his job requires "changing the system". The system will resist. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow Mr Najib has his job by dint of his leadership of UMNO. He comes up for re-election at a party congress later this year. His predecessor as prime minister and party leader was ousted by colleagues. By contrast, Mr Najib, more popular than his party, may survive. "I think the party will support him because of a lack of an alternative," is the ringing endorsement from Mahathir Mohamad, who once dominated Malaysian politics. But UMNO hardliners may make reform difficult. Having lost the Chinese vote, for example, they may oppose further erosion of affirmative-action policies favouring ethnic Malays. The opposition, meanwhile, is confident. Barisan is also losing the votes of growing numbers of city-dwellers and of the young. Pakatan has the momentum. Mr Anwar, however, is 65. With no obvious successor, he seems in a hurry. Lim Guan Eng, the DAP's leader, is upbeat about the opposition's hopes: "The future is not theirs; it's ours." But it is not necessarily Mr Anwar's. |
| [PRESS STATEMENT] MP PENAMPANG CONDEMNS NURUL IZZAH DEPORTATION FROM SABAH Posted: 30 May 2013 09:43 AM PDT MP Nurul Izzah Anwar was on her way to celebrate Kaamatan with her fellow Malaysians when she was held back by Sabah Immigration allegedly under Sabah Chief Minister Department’s instruction before being forcibly deported back to Semenanjung Malaysia. I condemn this act, more so because Izzah was visiting Sabah to celebrate Pesta Kaamatan in her personal capacity. It makes it all political with no purpose and hurt our state’s reputation as hosts. Nurul Izzah arrived at Kota Kinabalu Airport around 645pm via Air Asia on 30th May 2013 and was to return back on the evening of 31st May 2013 to Semenanjung Malaysia. Immigration Department Sabah informed YB Nurul Izzah that the Chief Minister’s department had decided to bar her and many more personalities from Peninsula Malaysia from entering Sabah henceforth. The right of entry is Sabah Government’s constitutional right but it should not be abused, more so since there are evidence (as revealed in the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry) that illegal immigrants have entered and not confronted by the same level of scrutiny as the re-elected parliamentarian of Lembah Pantai and my party’s (KeADILan) vice-president. Why is it that Malaysians joining a festive celebration with fellow Malaysians especially the Kadazans from Sabah and in Sabah now a reason for denial of entry? I personally met at the airport while waiting for YB Nurul Izzah the many Malaysians from West Malaysia (who took the same flight with YB Izzah) who had told me that they came to Sabah to join in the Kaamatan festivity at KDCA, Penampang. They were equally concerned that YB Izzah was detained by Sabah Immigration and this has indeed shamed us in Sabah. Nurul Izzah is an elected MP, a mother of two, a loving wife and poses no threat at all to the security of my state. The Sabah Immigration Department and those instructing it to carry this order should be ashamed of themselves. I challenge the Chief Minister and the State Cabinet to explain to the people of Sabah and Malaysia as a whole why this act had happened. DARELL LEIKING |
| Did Anwar’s Tweet Change the Course of History? Posted: 30 May 2013 09:37 AM PDT At the current age of 87, former premier Mahathir is running out of time. He needs to position his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, at least as UMNO deputy president before he kicks the bucket. He deliberately lobbied two of his "budak suruhan" (boy-servants), Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin, to be fielded as candidates in the 13th General Election, knowing well in advance that they would be roasted like Kenny Rogers Roasters. Both candidates who made headlines due to their racism can only survive in rural UMNO stronghold, not urban Shah Alam nor PAS's area Pasir Mas. And why would Mahathir send both to the slaughterhouse? Mahathir believed BN would win hands down. Opposition would need the help of all the Gods combined in the universe to win the just concluded 13th general election. Based on the strong assumption that more Malays, Indians and Chinese would vote for BN as compared to 2008 tsunami, the hope of regaining two-thirds majority was very real. Hence Mahathir's dilemma – if Najib could regain the lost two-thirds majority, the latter would be invincible and this will definitely strengthen the then caretaker prime minister's grip on the throne. He needs to somehow weaken Najib by sending the much tainted Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin. Najib can win but cannot do so with a landslide victory. Meanwhile, Najib thought he would do better than his predecessor sleepy head Abdullah Badawi. Even if he couldn't regain two-thirds majority, he should have no problem getting more than 140 parliamentary seats achieved by Badawi. He was ill-advised by his team of advisors – that he couldn't possibly do any worse than Badawi considering the free flow of money, food, beers, sexy ladies, lucky draws and whatnot to the Chinese voters especially in Penang. For the first time in their lifetime, the Chinese were treated like a King and Penang island was transformed into heaven. Najib also put on Chinese costume and played drum like a clown during Chinese New Year to amuse the Chinese. He believed he was freaking popular with the Chinese and he particularly proud of his "Ah Jib Gor" Chinese name. He promised new Chinese schools wherever he went. Underground betting was also doing brisk business with RM100 win for RM1 bet in favour of Lim Guan Eng's defeat. According to rumour mill, the stake was so high that you can sell your vote for as much as RM6,000 a piece in Penang. Then came the mega crowd to almost every single opposition's ceramah. But these opposition ceramahs attracted mainly the Chinese especially towards the end of the campaign period. With every new ceramah, the Chinese participants increased greatly. While Najib rubbished such pattern as a new threat, Mahathir was quite worried about the Chinese swing. That was why he put on "TSI" (Turbocharged Stratified Injection) mode and screamed every day till foam at mouth about Malay losing power. If Mahathir did nothing, the rural Malays could have given landslide victory to opposition. Najib would be biting his index finger in disbelief till today. Still, Mahathir miscalculated the quantum of the Chinese swing.
The swing of Chinese votes easily breached 90% in most of the constituencies, something which is as rare as finding dinosaur fossils in Malaysia. So whileMahathir lied about not expecting Najib to do worse than Abdullah Badawi, he was honest about didn't expect the Chinese to dump BN in such a scale. That was why he was emotional and upset about the Chinese, so much so that he didn't hold back in accusing the Chinese "rejected the hand of friendship" extended by (UMNO) Malays, never mind it was not true in the first place. He was seen openly and deliberately provoking Malays against the Chinese. Obviously it would be to BN's advantage if Malays start to distrust the Chinese.
Najib needs to survive his next test – UMNO election – hence his parroting about ungrateful Chinese was expected. Actually, Najib is still in a daze, not knowing the root cause of the Chinese' rejection despite all the goodies and entertainment given to them (*grin*). You don't need to be a genius to predict that Chinese will once again become UMNO's punching bag in its coming general assembly. In fact, Mahathir thought it would be a waste of time to recapture Chinese votes by way of sweet-talk them. If the only way to divide the Malays and Chinese is to play racist card again, so be it. The Chinese needs to be intimidated in order for them to go back in droves to BN's arm like herd of sheep.
Anwar Ibrahim realizes that Mahathir's latest extreme racial game will have a huge impact on his coalition and he needs to diffuse it fast. If the Chinese do not get the backing from their Malay comrades, they would be too scare to throw their support for PR again in the future. Pakatan Rakyat would be history come next 14th general election. That was why Anwar called for a mega rally, the first after election, to rubbish the "Chinese Tsunami" scare tactictrumpeted by both Mahathir and Najib. Some speculated the reason why police flip-flop about permit requirement for yesterday's rally, held in Kelana Jaya stadium, was to embarrass Anwar Ibrahim as the spooked Chinese and partners, DAP and PAS, would most probably not present.
However, despite last minute notice, the stadium was packed to the brim.Social media research group Politweet.org estimated the crowd size in and around the stadium at between 64,000 and 69,000, given that the stadium capacity is about 25,000. Some claimed there were easily 100,000 people who answered the call last night, with thousands more stuck in traffic and couldn't make it to the stadium. If Anwar and Najib administration's objective was to test the waters as to the relevance of Pakatan Rakyat post 13th general election, the people particularly the young chaps have overwhelmingly given their endorsement to the leadership of Anwar to continue the struggle, judging from Wednesday's mind-boggling success.
Psychologically, Anwar Ibrahim knew Najib administration would be very careful not to add fuel into the already furious opposition supporters. It would be suicidal to deploy police or FRU and start arresting the public, or to spray them with water cannon, and in the process agitates the situation. It's always better to let these frustrated people scream till their lungs burst in the stadium. They need to release their steam. Anwar was actually praying for a police crackdown, the more brutal the better, because then he can easily put the blame on Najib's administration and attracts more sympathizers. Too bad Najib didn't give Anwar the bullet.
Anwar can now replicate the same rally to other towns throughout the country in order to push the momentum going. Armed with 51.4% of popular votes against BN's 48.6%, Anwar is set to spread the message of PR's victory being stolen. Anwar knows that the "flames of desire" amongst the youngsters is his only hope if he still wish to become the country's 7th prime minister. If there's one person who knows how to rally people by taking advantage of their sentiments, that person has to be Anwar Ibrahim. Pakatan Rakyat can also take comfort from White House's congratulatory announcement that comes with a note about irregularities.
As much as Mahathir hates to admit it, this war is far from over. Unless PAS or DAP defects from the current coalition, the future doesn't look good for BN, if they still intends to recapture Selangor or Penang state. Just like the excessive parties thrown in by BN during the campaign, playing too much racism toys could backfire badly. Mahathir made his biggest mistake by picking Anwar Ibrahim from Abim movement (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia) to be nurtured as future prime minister. Will he make another fatal mistake by playing racial card only to unite all the multiracial technology-aware voters instead?
Do you know why Anwar tweeted that his coalition PR has won the election just after two hours into the counting process? On its own, PR couldn't posibly win the election. At best, it could force BN into chaos with a single digit majority win. What gave Anwar the confidence of tweeting such message was his pact with Sarawak and Sabah greedy politicians in the BN coalition. Anwar had been having tons of meetings with these politicians especially the corrupted Sarawak Chief Minister. With double digits frogs ready to jump, depending on the "rewards", Anwar was damn sure he would be the country's 7th prime minister.
Again, Anwar couldn't keep his cool and his early tweet raised red flags. BN's war room's director Mahathir was notified of this troubling tweet message and the old fox decided to triple BN's insurance coverage. Massive frauds or not, BN just couldn't take lightly of Anwar's tweet hence the extraordinary delay in releasing the results. That was why you saw only the BN's parliamentary scoreboards kept churning new score while the opposition PR's own scorecard practically didn't move at all. In certain seats, requests for recount was ignored totally. The priority was to ensure Election Commission announce officially that BN has win the election with comfortable majority seats. Thereafter PR can have the remaining leftovers (*hats off to genius BN*).
Nevertheless, Mahathir was right when he questioned Najib's strategists, whose ideas may have contributed to BN's poor performance. If only Najib has strategists such as DAP's Liew Chin Tong – one of the brilliant architects who proposed and justified that the war should be brought to BN's stronghold, Johor. But considering how Najib was obsessed with becoming popular as if he was running for the President of the United Malaysia, it wasn't hard to guess what type of strategists that fit his bill. Najib's advertising and marketing method was "overkill" to the extent people got sick and tired with its propaganda.
Najib and Mahathir should realize that by cursing and victimizing the Chinese is not a long-term solution, unless of course they've given up on their future votes in totality. Still, what do they plan to do next? Close all the Chinese schools, force all of them into unemployment and stop providing them electricity, gas and water as punishment for being naughty? And in return the Chinese stop paying taxes? Gimme a break. It's better to hedge on more funds – Malays, Chinese and others – rather than to burn the bridge with the Chinese and rely on one less fund in its next general election.
Najib administration has to remember that urban Malays were also in the same boat as the Chinese in rejecting his coalition. It's time for BN to really ponder on its next course of direction. Will there be more Bersih 4.0 till version 8.0 rallies, assuming it would be an annual event? Surely Ambiga knows Election Commission would not give a hood even if they organize rallies on weekly basis. Perhaps overwhelming internationally political pressure could move the stubborn Election Commission. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Anwar Ibrahim To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan