Isnin, 10 Jun 2013

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim


PKR: Zahid spent over RM200k while campaigning

Posted: 10 Jun 2013 01:04 AM PDT

Malaysiakini

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi violated the Election Offences Act 1954 by spending more than the ceiling sum of RM200,000 in his campaigning during the 13th general election, PKR has alleged.

“There is a video circulating (on the Internet) that shows Zahid saying that he gave RM100 and a 5kg bag of rice to 24,000 people in Bagan Datoh,” PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli said today.

At a press conference at party headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Rafizi said according to his calculation, the expenses for that one act of largess alone would be more than RM200,000.

This, he claimed, was a violation of the rules for candidates in the Election Offences Act.

Based on this, PKR will file an election petition this week.

Rafizi said he would reveal the related evidence linked to this petition – and others – at a press conference on Wednesday.

PKR has signalled its intention to file 18 more petitions, while Pakatan will file 35 in all.

Malaysiakini has not been able to locate the video or to contact the minister or his aides for comment on this PKR allegation.

[KENYATAAN MEDIA] #Black505 Padang Merbok Pada 22 Jun 2013, Tidak Ada Alasan DBKL Tidak Memberi Kebenaran

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 10:29 PM PDT

Pakatan Rakyat telah memberikan notis untuk mengadakan perhimpunan aman #black505 di Padang Merbok yang mulanya dijadualkan pada 15 Jun 2013 dalam tempoh 10 hari seperti yang dituntut oleh pihak berkuasa. Penganjur juga menerima nasihat kepimpinan Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) untuk tidak mengadakannya di Dataran Merdeka, walaupun itu adalah tempat perhimpunan yang dituntut oleh banyak pihak.

Saya mengambil kira rayuan pihak-pihak yang telah pun mempunyai perancangan program di Padang Merbok pada 15 Jun 2013. Setelah berbincang dengan IPD Dang Wangi, penganjur membuat keputusan untuk menukar tarikh perhimpunan aman #black505 Padang Merbok ke minggu yang seterusnya iaitu pada 22 Jun 2013 bermula jam 12 tengahari.

Permohonan kepada DBKL untuk menggunakan Padang Merbok pada 22 Jun 2013 telah pun dibuat pada hari Jumaat 7 Jun 2013, iaitu 2 hari selepas permohonan pertama dibuat. DBKL juga telah mengesahkan bahawa semasa permohonan dibuat pada 7 Jun 2013, tidak ada mana-mana pihak yang membuat permohonan mengadakan acara di Padang Merbok pada 22 Jun 2013.

Oleh itu, tidak ada lagi alasan untuk DBKL dan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan bermain politik dengan melengah-lengahkan permohonan ini. Saya ingin mengingatkan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan bahawa majoriti besar rakyat di Wilayah Persekutuan bersama-sama Pakatan Rakyat dan beliau perlulah menghormati hasrat rakyat Wilayah Persekutuan yang mahu berhimpun secara aman di Padang Merbok yang merupakan padang milik rakyat.

Notis kepada IPD Dang Wangi akan dibuat esok dalam tempoh 10 hari seperti yang dituntut oleh PDRM.

Ini adalah ketetapan akhir dan tidak akan ada sebarang perubahan selepas ini tidak kira apa alasan yang diberikan oleh DBKL.

Perhimpunan aman #black505 akan diadakan pada tarikh 22 Jun 2013 (Sabtu) bermula jam 12 tengahari di Padang Merbok. Rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan kebenaran dan menolak penipuan pilihanraya diseru turun beramai-ramai untuk menuntut 3 perkara:

1.       Keseluruhan ahli SPR meletakkan jawatan serta-merta dan ahli-ahli SPR yang baru akan dilantik secara bersama dengan Pakatan Rakyat dan kumpulan civil society yang mewakili rakyat;

2.      Pilihanraya semula di 30 kawasan Parlimen bila mana dibuktikan berlaku penyelewengan;

3.      Hentikan sebarang usaha untuk meminda undang-undang pilihanraya atau persempadanan semula sehinggalah ahli-ahli SPR baru yang adil dilantik secara bersama seperti tuntutan (1)

 

RAFIZI RAMLI

Pengarah Strategi KEADILAN

Ahli Parlimen Pandan

 

10 JUN 2013 

[KENYATAAN MEDIA] 25 Petisyen Pilihanraya Parlimen Difailkan

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 10:27 PM PDT

Saya boleh mengesahkan bahawa bermula hari ini, ketiga-tiga parti Pakatan Rakyat akan memfailkan petisyen pilihanraya di kawasan-kawasan Parlimen berikut:

DIFAILKAN OLEH PKR

1.      P014 Merbok

2.      P018 Kulim Bandar Baru

3.      P026 Ketereh

4.      P029 Machang

5.      P053 Balik Pulau

6.      P072 Tapah

7.      P075 Bagan Datok

8.      P075 Bagan Datok (petisyen perbelanjaan melebihi RM200,000)

9.      P092 Sabak Bernam

10.  P118 Setiawangsa

11.  P140 Segamat

12.  P144 Ledang

13.  P146 Muar

14.  P158 Tebrau

15.  P159 Pasir Gudang

16.  P168 Kota Marudu

17.  P177 Beaufort

18.  P182 Pensiangan

19.  P220 Baram

DIFAILKAN OLEH PAS

1.      P093 Sungai Besar

2.      P096 Kuala Selangor

3.      P119 Titiwangsa

4.      P161 Pulai

DIFAILKAN OLEH DAP

1.      P078 Cameron Highlands

2.      P142 Labis

Ini bermakna 25 petisyen membabitkan 24 kerusi Parlimen telah dan akan difailkan bermula hari ini sehingga hari Rabu. Bagi kerusi Bagan Datok, selain petisyen pilihanraya, satu petisyen berasingan difailkan berhubung kesalahan calon BN, Dato' Seri Zahid Hamidi melanggar had perbelanjaan RM200,000 yang dibenarkan untuk sesuatu pilihanraya.

Selain 24 kerusi Parlimen ini, Pakatan Rakyat juga memfailkan 10 petisyen pilihanraya bagi kerusi DUN di seluruh negara (9 DUN yang ditandingi PAS dan 1 DUN yang ditandingi PKR).

Serentak dengan petisyen-petisyen ini, PKR juga akan memfailkan tindakan undang-undang berikut dalam tempoh 3 minggu dari sekarang:

1.      Saman terhadap Pengerusi SPR, Timbalan Pengerusi SPR dan ahli-ahli SPR diatas kegagalan melaksanakan dakwat kekal;

2.      Petisyen pilihanraya menuntut mahkamah menyemak senarai pengundi yang dicemari pengundi hantu di Sabah berdasarkan keterangan yang dibuat di Suruhanjaya Diraja setakat ini dan kajian dalaman PKR;

3.      Tindakan undang-undang bagi mengisytiharkan pindaan Seksyen 9A yang menghalang kesahihan daftar undi dicabar dimahkamah bertentangan (ultra vires) dengan Perlembangan. Pasukan PKR yang akan memulakan tindakan undang-undang ini akan diketuai oleh Prof Dr Aziz Bari, pakar perlembagaan.

 

RAFIZI RAMLI

Pengarah Strategi KEADILAN

Ahli Parlimen Pandan

 

10 JUN 2013 

Malaysia’s ‘Berlin Wall’

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 09:07 PM PDT

Malaysiakini

Dataran Merdeka is symbolic. It is our metaphorical Berlin Wall and its significance cannot be exaggerated.

Umno Baru leaders and the police have refused to allow the use of Dataran Merdeka for the 'Black 505' rally in Kuala Lumpur on June 15.

NONEEtched in the memories of older Malaysians is the lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Malayan flag at midnight, at the Selangor Club padang as Dataran Merdeka was then known. The younger generation would have learnt about its historical role.

When the 154.5km Berlin Wall – a concrete structure built by the East Germans to divide the east from the west – came down, the city of Berlin was reunited, communist rule in eastern Europe fell and the process of re-unification of East and West Germany started.

If the opposition coalition were to hold this rally at Dataran Merdeka, it would score a great moral victory, just as Bersih did. The violence during the Bersih 3.0 rally was perpetrated by the police. A weak regime is one which does not know how to use arguments and discussion as weapons, but resorts to violence.

If the place that is connected with Merdeka and the Tunku were to become the focal point for the 'Black 505' rally, attention would be focused on the reasons for the rally, and Umno-Baru would be forever linked with cheating in elections. Umno-Baru is desperate to deny the opposition the publicity.

A common tactic of Umno-Baru is to give the rally organisers the runaround. Even when Umno-Baru lies, it fails to do it with a concerted effort. When the opposition coalition applied to use Padang Merbok as an alternative venue, the Dang Wangi district police chief Zainuddin Ahmad claimed that another event was scheduled to take place there.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar claimed that the opposition's application was incomplete, while Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor claimed that indoor venues and closed spaces, like stadiums, would be more suitable.

He said: "…..But to me, Padang Merbok is an open space… when it comes to open spaces, we will not give (our permission) because we know the law and abide by it."

If Tengku Adnan claims to be well-versed with the law and would happily abide by it, what explanations can he give for alleged widespread electoral fraud and cheating during GE13?

How does he explain the money politics which is synonymous with his party Umno-Baru? Can he account for the increasing acts of police brutality which suggest that police personnel are breaking the law and getting away with murder?

Don't expect reform

Some of you may disagree with street protests but only the naïve would think that GE14 could be the solution. The electoral boundaries are being skewed in Umno Baru's favour by the Election Commission (EC), even as you read this. Umno Baru and the EC will never negotiate or reform.

How much longer have the marginalised Indians to suffer? How many more election promises will their self-appointed leaders be taken in by? This minority government promised that they would implement many reforms before GE13 if elected; but after the election, they say the implementation will take five years.

azlanIn GE11, the EC made a last minute claim that the indelible ink would prevent Muslims from performing their prayers.

In GE12, the EC claimed that there was a national security scare and certain parties were planning to sabotage the elections by marking the fingers of people before they could vote. It was claimed that several people had been arrested while trying to smuggle election ink into Malaysia.

In GE13, the EC diluted the ink, saying it could be harmful.

In GE14, the EC will be just as creative.

It is ironic that, in 2010, Najib Abdul Razak had warned delegates at the BN convention, held in Wisma MCA, that the opposition coalition was attempting to take over Putrajaya and that the federal government had to be protected from the greedy and the power crazy.

He said: "BN is a responsible coalition. You can place your hopes and trust in us. The people can trust us to do not only what is right, but what is in their best interests."

Around the world, repressive regimes have been toppled by non-violent civil resistance movements – Chile, Poland, South Africa, the Philippines. Armed resistance is not the answer, as military training and the supply of weapons is expensive. Nor should we expect foreign countries to intervene; they have to protect their own interests.

Only we can help ourselves. This sham Malaysian democracy can expect more marches and more resistance from the rakyat.

If Najib continues to exploit the rakyat, it is possible that even the police and security personnel will shift their allegiance and loyalty, as happened in Egypt.

In the current economic climate, the rakyat is forced to tighten its belt further. Graduates are finding it more difficult to get jobs, unlike politicians' children who are given choice appointments or who become directors of companies with a paid-up capital of RM2, which receive multi-million ringgit government contracts.

Young adults cannot afford to live away from home. Skilled workers are refused employment, as foreign workers, both legal and illegal, are cheaper.

Symbols of oppression

As living conditions become more intolerable, NGOs, human rights activists, students, opposition politicians, religious organisations and the rakyat will unite as one movement against oppression.

Najib can arrest a few such as Adam Adli, Haris Ibrahim, Tian Chua, Safwan Anang or Tamrin Ghafar, but more leaders will emerge.

Thirty-nine years ago, the education minister who gagged our academia and students with the Universities and University Colleges Act was Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Today, Najib will attempt to do the same.

In the Tunisian uprising, Mohammed Bouazizi immolated himself, when the police stopped him from making a living as a street pedlar to feed his family. He became the symbol of the Jasmine revolution.

In the recent protests in Turkey, 'The Woman in Red' whose face was sprayed with tear-gas has become a global symbol of police brutality and oppression. The demonstrations, which began as a protest against the redevelopment of a park, have escalated into public fury against the creeping Islamicisation and the increasing authoritarian rule of the government.

In Malaysia, we are not short of symbols of oppression. Two National Union of Bank Employee (Nube) officials, vice-president Abdul Jamil Jalaludeen from Pulau Tikus, Penang and general treasurer Chen Ka Fatt, from Ipoh Garden in Ipoh, were sacked from Maybank because they made a stand against its treatment of workers.

In the late 1970s, as Minister for Trade and Industry, Mahathir clipped the power of unions.

Today, Najib honours Abdul Wahid Omar, who was CEO of Maybank, by making him a minister in the PM's Department.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi may order a crackdown on activists and opposition leaders. In doing so, he will only unleash a more determined rakyat who will retaliate with more marches, boycotts and strikes.

Najib may try to prevent the rakyat and the 'Black 505′ rally from entering Dataran Merdeka, but he cannot curb our resolve to fight oppression. Perhaps, we should occupy Dataran Merdeka, our metaphorical Berlin Wall.

Najib may surround Dataran Merdeka with razor wire, but he cannot imprison our minds.

Government coercing voters to back BN with selective aid, says Pakatan

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 08:50 PM PDT

TMI

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is coercing voters to support the government by punishing opposition backers through selective aid, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have said.

The federal opposition blasted Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his promise to provide greater assistance only to those who backed BN in Election 2013, saying the move was aimed at "victimising" voters in a bid to sustain its political dominance.

"It is not surprising as this has always been the way of BN which is to victimise those who vote against them and help those who back them," PAS central working committee member Khalid Samad told The Malaysian Insider.

 "That is how they ensure they stay in power. By victimising the voters. They will maintain an economic condition so that the Malays will continue to back them," the Shah Alam MP added.

On Saturday, Muhyiddin was quoted as saying that the BN administration will direct "greater assistance" towards the communities that backed it during the general election in a move that gave out mixed signals over the Najib administration's seriousness in pushing for national reconciliation.

The clear message is that the majority of the Malays, Indians, Bumiputeras, Orang Asli, Siamese community as well as those in Sabah and Sarawak still support the BN.

"We will continue to give them greater assistance; that is what we will do," the deputy prime minister was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama at a BN thanksgiving function in Kundang Ulu, Johor, in an apparent continuation of the vilification of Chinese voters following the general election.

The DAP's Rasah lawmaker Anthony Loke said it was obvious that Muhyiddin's statement was aimed towards the Chinese community of which majority of them had voted for the opposition in the last national polls.

"This shows that he wants to penalise the Chinese community.

"What he said goes to show that he is not a deputy prime minister for all Malaysians but only for BN. After all, he is famous for making that statement that he is 'Malay first, Malaysian second'," Loke told The Malaysian Insider.

The DAP central executive committee member cited analysis that pointed to an increased shift in Malay support towards the opposition and demanded to know why was the government only punishing the Chinese.

"It's a very stupid statement and very irresponsible. He is saying something completely different from Najib who is pushing for reconciliation and so on and yet he is making all these divisive statements," he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had spoken of a need to reconcile the country immediately after the polls outcome was announced, but it was not a theme that was universally accepted in the BN coalition.

Right-wing elements in Umno along with party mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia have sought to frame the May 5 polls as a Chinese-versus-Malay vote, after Najib's reference to a so-called "Chinese tsunami" following the election.

Utusan Malaysia had front-paged an incendiary headline titled "Apa lagi Cina mahu?" (What more do the Chinese want?) while tabloid Kosmo! took the blame game further with an even more overt title, "Pengundi Cina bersikap talam dua muka (Chinese voters are two-faced)", a day after polling.

However, analysts instead pointed to a growing urban-rural divide as well as the ascendancy of a "Bangsa Malaysia" who did not vote along racial lines, as the main factors for the outcome.

Khalid said Muhyiddin's statement reveals BN's true nature and said that until this government is voted out, discrimination against anyone who opposes it will continue.

"That is why we are here. To oppose them. After so long in power they still do not understand that the money belongs to the rakyat. Of course not everyone will vote for them but when they are elected into power, they must serve everyone," he said.

Despite the burgeoning of right wing elements within BN, several leaders have rejected the attempt to pin the blame for the ruling coalition's worst-ever electoral showing solely on the Chinese community.

BN won 133 seats in the 222-seat federal Parliament, seven fewer than in the 2008 polls.

An apparent crackdown against opposition politicians and activists for sedition, however, has cast doubt over the government's commitment to reconciliation.

Jelajah #Blackout505 Ke Perlis, Kedah Dan Kelantan

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 08:45 PM PDT

Perlis: 10 Jun 2013 – Isnin
8.30pm – 12.00pm : Belakang Public Bank, Jln Raja Syed Alwi Kangar Perlis.

Kedah: 11 Jun 2013 – Selasa
8.30pm – 12.00pm : Taipan Square, Bandar Puteri Jaya, Jln Kuala Ketil, Sungai Petani.

Kelantan : 12 Jun 2013 – Rabu

7.30pm – 12.00am : Padang Majlis Daerah Ketereh

PEJABAT DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

In Halim Saad suit, Pakatan suggests a Mahathir legacy of graft and cronyism

Posted: 09 Jun 2013 05:09 AM PDT

The Malaysian Insider

Tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad's massive legal suit against the government underlines the widespread corruption that typifies the Mahathir-era where the line between business and politics was blurred to help the ruling Umno amass an empire of wealth, said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders.

Opposition leaders believe the suit, set to be one of the biggest corporate battles in the country, will also test the Najib administration's seriousness in tackling high-level corruption as they expect the legal battle to expose more gruesome details on Umno's dirty corporate ties.

"This is yet another legacy of Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad)," DAP lawmaker Liew Chin Tong told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the longest-serving former prime minister whose administration had spearheaded a Bumiputra corporate advancement project that helped create a pool of Malay tycoons like Halim.

"When it comes to corruption and cronyism, we know Umno is corrupt and filled with cronies. What we want to know now is, who is getting all that money. That's what the people want to know," he added.

Halim has mounted a massive legal challenge against the government to demand full settlement of an over RM2 billion deal that forced him to relinquish his controlling stake in Renong Bhd more than a decade ago.

According to digital business magazine, The Edge Review, Halim, once the sole corporate nominee of the ruling Umno, was offered RM1.3 billion in cash and property as well as control of a private waste management company, roughly valued at RM2 billion, in exchange for his disposal of Renong in the 2001 agreement.

Citing people familiar with Halim's suit, the magazine reported that the business magnate had since only received RM165 million despite giving up his business empire and is seeking the remainder.

The move comes as a shock since Halim's tenure in Renong was marred by questionable decisions. It is widely perceived that he had failed to rein in Renong's growing debts, which allegedly forced the government to take over his stake in the conglomerate through state investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

Liew said the Halim saga was among the many failures of Dr Mahathir's Bumiputra corporate advancement project, citing other controversies like the legal battle between national carrier MAS and its former chief executive officer Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli and the Forex scandal in 1983.

Opposition leaders believe the suit will test the Najib administration's commitment to tackling high-level corruption. — file pic"Unfortunately, since Mahathir retired, we are still dealing with these issues after 10 years. I feel it is time the suggestion to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry be executed to investigate all financial legacies related to Mahathir," he said.

The Edge Review had said that the suit would expose for the first time the "behind-the-scenes dealings in several multibillion dollar transactions and contract awards that shaped corporate Malaysia between the mid-1980s and the early part of this decade".

It also quoted industry observers as saying that Halim's suit will provide insights into how Umno created a political moneymaking machine around Renong and its associated concern, United Engineers Malaysia Bhd (UEM).

"It will offer Halim's account of how he ceased to be a business nominee of Umno and also provide a personal confession of the gruelling years the businessman went through as he battled to keep debt-laden Renong afloat," the magazine wrote.

PKR's newly elected Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen echoed the view and said the suit will help shed light on Umno's corporate links and how it helped the ruling Malay party amass massive wealth to sustain its dominance.

"This case will expose a system where an Umno sole corporate nominee helped shape and protect the party's empire.

"Furthermore, it would also highlight the dubious relation between Umno and businesses. What Halim Saad said is true, the nominal system had encouraged the culture of opaqueness in business and politics," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Wong, who is in charge of opposition party PKR's investment portfolio, also noted how the case would show if the government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would act on those involved in the fiasco.

"It will test if they are as transparent and accountable as they say they are".

The opposition claimed that those behind the costly policy failures of the Mahathir administration have not only escape punishment but are compensated heftily in some cases.

The most notable case is the out-of-court settlement between MAS and Tajuddin, another Bumiputra corporate posterboy of the Mahathir era.

Halim was taken by former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin under his wing to become Umno's sole corporate nominee in 1984. — file picThe move has been described as an attempt by the government to cover up details found in Tajudin's affidavit in support of his counter-claim where the embattled tycoon purportedly revealed much of the inner workings behind the purchase of MAS.

Opposition leaders noted that the same could happen with the Halim suit as the tycoon's exposes on the Umno-Renong link could force the government to concede and seek a settlement outside of court.

"I hope this case will not imitate the Tajuddin Ramli case where it was settled out of court. Until today, the people are asking what happened and how much of taxpayers' money was paid to him," PAS chief economist Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider.

According to The Edge Review, Halim had tried to pressure the government into paying a full settlement from the Renong deal but in 2010, Dr Mahathir told him the agreement would not be honoured.

Businessmen familiar with the situation say that Dr Mahathir told Halim that he had been informed by (Tan Sri) Nor Mohamed (Yakcop) that the assets taken over by Khazanah belonged to Umno," it added.

The Edge Review said Halim then met with Nor Mohamed, then a minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, who confirmed Dr Mahathir's words.

According to the magazine and StarBiz, Nor Mohamed, the Malaysian government and state-owned strategic investment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd have been named as defendants in the multibillion-ringgit suit that was filed in April this year.

In the statement of claim sighted by StarBiz, Halim is alleging that the parties had signed the 2001 and/or another 2003 agreement with him with "an intent to deceive him or induce him to enter into both agreements".

Unfortunately, since Mahathir retired, we are still dealing with these issues… I feel it is time the suggestion to set up a RCI be executed to investigate all financial legacies related to Mahathir. — Liew Chin Tong

Dzulkefly said the only way to unravel the fiasco was to conduct a forensic audit on the suit. I think what the people want to see is if their money is not freely gambled," he said.

The former Kuala Selangor lawmaker also called on Putrajaya to expose all corporate transaction data involved in the Renong deal.

"Is the money belonging to the government-linked company Umno's money? And not the people's?" He said.

Halim, who was in 1984 taken by former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin under his wing to become Umno's sole corporate nominee, had built Renong and UEM into Malaysia's largest conglomerate, with ventures in the banking, construction, telecommunications, real-estate development and tolled-roads industries.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 led to the fall in Renong's share prices and according to The Edge Review, exposed the conglomerate's poor cash flow and large debt burdens.

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