31 March 2008

Samy Vellu......poooooorah....

Samy Vellu today called for the release of the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders held without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA).He will meet Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi soon to discuss this matter.He also urged Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy - who is currently in London on self-exile - to return to the country and be reunited with his family, saying that the latter should not be a political refugee.

On the political front, Samy Vellu took the opposition to task over the lack of Indians in their state executive councils.Responding to a question on multiracial politics, the veteran politician said the newly formed state governments should have given the Indians two exco positions."Why only one? he asked.
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Dont you think its a bit too late,Samy Vellu? You should have thought of that earlier when the Indian communities were clamouring for your help. The sudden change of heart, is more like a political "drama minggu ini" to show that you care for the Indians. Pooorraaaah....

Adai..for 30 years you were in the gomen have you ever thought of helping the Indian masses other than thinking of making big bucks? Its rather sickening to see after 4 months, you are asking the gomen to release the Hindraf 5. You wanna play politics again....tambi!! You talk as if you can bent the law and trying to take credit to be the hero of the Indians....pooorraaah....

Your argument on Indian representation in the opposition front also doesnt hold ground coz you are no better when you were in the gomen.

If I equate you to the pot calling the kettle black, people might construed as a bit too rude and offensive but thats what you are, Samy Vellu.

Before you rebuild the ruined MIC please return the monies of shareholders of the defunct Maika Holding to the people you stole from.....

cheers.

Mat Said pung kene ingak......


Majlis perlantikan Ahmad Said sebagai MB Terengganu telah diadakan di hadapan Pemangku Sultan Terengganu Tengku Muhammad Ismail Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin di Istana Maziah, Kuala Terengganu. Semua 22 wakil-wakil rakyat BN, awalnya menentang pelantikan Ahmad Said, menghadiri majlis angkat sumpah.Wakil-wakil rakyat PAS, yang diketuai presiden PAS Abdul Hadi Awang, turut menghadiri majlis. Abdul Hadi, wakil Rhu Rendang, sebelum ini adalah ketua pembangkang di Dewan Undangan Negeri.

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Mat Said pung kene ingak , Tuanku Sultan merupakang Sultan yang bijok dang menjadi payung rakyat bukang saje wat rakyak ganu tapi wat rakyak Malaysia bagai YDPAgong. Kalu Mat Said nok jadi lebih gebede dari si-yih dang puok-puok derhake tu ,mung pung kene njar kekgi....

Ingatloh Mat Said supaye jangang lupe daratang sebab nengok die berpeluk ngang yih. Gamoknye ,yih royak gini ... " Mat ,mung jangang ingak mung selamat agi. Pecoh kace pecoh gelah , ade ari nanti aku balah. Jaga mung ,Mat ."

Ngo kabo Mast Said nok mitok pandangang yih berkaitang calong exco .Mung jangang nok jadi yih exco di tranung lagi. Nanti mung pung kena njar oleh rakyak Ganu baru mung tau.

(Maaflah saya tak pandai loghat Ganu tapi ni saya pinjam dari pelayar Ganu Kite, maaf ya saya edit sikit..)

cheers.

29 March 2008

22 ADUN Terengganu bila nak letak jawatang....

Bila Ahmad Said dilantik menjadi Menteri Besar Terengganu, Rosol Wahid yang mewakili 22 Adun BN menyatakan mereka telah berikrar akan memulaukan majlis angkat sumpah Ahmad Said sebagai Menteri Besar yang dijadual diadakan di Istana Tamu, Kuala Terengganu keesokannya.



Rosol juga menegaskan bahawa kesemua mereka berdiri teguh di belakang Pengerusi Perhubungan Umno negeri, Idris Jusoh dan bersedia meletak jawatan sebagai ADUN jika jawatan Menteri Besar Terengganu tidak dikembalikan semula kepada Idris Jusoh.

Mesyuarat MT UMNO Khamis lalu yang dihadiri oleh semua ahli termasuk Idris Jusoh telah memutuskan untuk menerima Ahmad Said sebagai Menteri Besar Terengganu. Oleh yang demikian masalah perlantikan MB Terengganu pun selesai.Namun demikian ramai rakyat Terengganu berasa kecewa dengan tindakan 22 orang ADUN ini dan meminta sesuatu dilakukan kerana bukan saja mereka itu biadab tetapi telah menderhaka kepada Sultan mereka.


Kenyataan Rosol Wahid bahawa "mana-mana calon selain Idris, kami tidak akan terima. Malah ada di kalangan kami yang sanggup meletak jawatan jika Idris tidak dipilih. Oleh itu, bersedialah untuk menghadapi pilihan raya sekali lagi". (Mingguan Malaysia, 23 Mac 2008)

Sanggupkah kesemua 23 orang ADUN mengambil tindakan untuk mengosongkan kerusi masing dan biar diadakan pilihanraya kecil di 23 buah kerusi tersebut?

Cepatlah letak jawatang....

On another note....the BN government introduced a law to disallow resignation in order to seek new mandate. Under that law it penalizes any legislators who resign before their term ends. Anyone who resign will be barred from contesting in election for 5 years. So, do you think these 22 ADUN are going to take that risk?

Kalu dah letak jawatang cam mano nak cari makang......

cheers.

28 March 2008

Ku Li kena cabar Pat Lah sekarang.....

Mesyuarat MKT telah mengambil satu keputusan yang berani iaitu membenarkan Pat Lah dicabar untuk jawatan tersebut dalam pemilihan parti yang akan diadakan pada 16-20 Disember."Saya terpaksa menghadapinya... saya tidak boleh lari (daripada berdepan dengan cabaran)," kata Pat Lah dalam sidang akhbar selepas mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi petang tadi. Keperluan untuk mendapatkan 30% pencalonan daripada 191 bahagian masih kekal.

Pertandingan bagi jawatan presiden UMNO kali ini adalah berbeda dengan yang lepas,kerana dulu kedudukan Pat Lah sebagai presiden parti dan PM adalah sangat kukuh, tambah-tambah lagi setelah Pat Lah memenangi pemilu 2004 dengan majoriti yang paling besar pernah dimenangi oleh UMNO/BN.

Namun,kali ini keadaannya adalah berbeda. UMNO telah mengalami kekalahan yang paling teruk dalam sejarah pilihanraya, populariti UMNO dan Pat Lah menjunam bawah daripada 50%. Lima buah negeri dan Wilayah Persekutuan KL terlepas kepada pembangkan dan kuasa 2/3 majority BN juga hangus. Di samping itu Pat Lah juga menghadapi dengan masalah perlantikkan menteri besarnya di Perlis dan Terengganu di mana calon pilihan Pat Lah telah di tolok oleh istana. Secara tidak langsung moral Pat Lah sudah tercalar.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah telahpun mengumumkan hasratnya untuk mencabar jawatan presiden dalam pemilihan kali ini. Sama ada Ku Li boleh mendapat pencalonan sebanyak 30% adalah cerita lain. Inilah risiko yang akan dia hadapi jika dia mencabar Pat Lah pada bulan December ini.

Dalam tempoh dari sekarang hingga bulan December bermacam-
macam perkara boleh berlaku dan dalam jangkawaktu yang panjang itu akan memberi peluang kepada Pat Lah untuk "consolidate power base"nya.

Sebagai presiden parti Pat Lah sudah pasti akan menggunakan semua tenaga sama ada melalui menantunya Kairy Jamaluddin atau pun orang-orang suruhannya untuk bertindak dan memastikan agar pencalonan Ku Li oleh bahagian-bahagian tidak tercapai.

Kalau Ku Li bercita-cita hendak mengambil alih teraju kepimpinan UMNO, sekaranglah masanya dan jangan tunggu sampai bulan December ini. Ku Li hendaklah meyakinkan sebilangan besar daripada ahli-ahli parlimen BN yang menang itu untuk memihak kepadanya dan dengan sekali gus dengan pembangkang menggulingkan gomen Pat Lah.

Namun tindakan sebegini mungkin tidak akan menguntungkan Ku Li kerana matlamat Ku Li adalah untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri. Tetapi, dengan cara begini sajalah, peluang Ku Li untuk memimpin UMNO adalah yang terbaik baik daripada menunggu sampai dapat 60 pencalonan baru boleh bertanding dan itu pun belum tentu boleh menang.

Kini Pat Lah ibarat seekor kuda yang patah kaki sebelah, apakah dia sanggup berlari sepantas dulu, jika dikejar Ku Li? demikian juga dengan KuLi yang kini usianya sudah lanjut, mampukah dia mengejar Pat Lah? Yang tersenyum lebar nanti adalah Najib, tapi tak kan Mahyuddin akan berdiam diri......

cheers.

27 March 2008

Idris Jusoh lost his 'crown'.......

The Terengganu's Menteri Besar impasse has finally ended as Pat Lah had agreed with the Sultan's handpicked candidate Ahmad Said for MB, after Pat Lah's brief meeting with the king who is also the Sultan of Terengganu,and an endorsement from UMNO's supreme council. As expected.......



his highness the king stood his ground......





Pat Lah backed down.....




Idris Jusoh lost his "crown".......




and a sigh of relief for the rakyat around.....


Sources reports that three ADUN including Idris Jusoh who lost his 'crown' also lost their datukship. Read here.

Indirectly the king is telling Idris Jusoh to go and fly kite as there is nothing more to forgive and forget.......

Unconfirmed reports also suggest that the Sultan asked Abdullah questions pertaining to the distribution of the Petronas’ RM1 billion wang ehsan through Idris for development in the state.
The Sultan is also puzzled why the state remained poor despite the wang ehsan. Off course, Pat Lah and Idris Jusoh has to address this issue sooner or later, and they will be having restless nights ahead as their partnership of crime with the ever conniving SIL,Khairy Jamaluddin, son, Kamaluddin and their crony Patrick Badawi has being exposed in the open......

cheers.

26 March 2008

Pat Lah, jangan salahkan orang lain, pokoknya UMNO tu dah menopause ......

Pat Lah mendakwa pihak-pihak tertentu sedang mengeksploitasi krisis pelantikan MB Terengganu untuk kepentingan agenda masing-masing.Pat Lah diminta mengulas Ahmad Said, yang dilantik oleh pihak istana, yang mula menjalankan tugas rasmi walaupun belum mengangkat sumpah.

"Kita tahu keadaan di peringkat bawah. Ada pihak yang mengeksploitasi keadaan itu untuk kepentingan mereka. Jadi wujud macam-macam kekeliruan.

"Kita mesti bertenang dan pada masa yang sama tidak mengabaikan isu yang perlu ditangani," katanya lagi.

PM mengulangi kesediannya untuk menghadap Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong bagi menyelesaikan krisis pelantikan MB itu - perebutan antara Ahmad dengan Idris Jusoh.

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Pihak mana pula yang Pat Lah maksudkan yang sedang mengeksploitasikan perlantikanMB Terengganu itu, kalau bukan UMNO itu sendiri.

Bukankah UMNO yang mengadakan perhimpunan haram di hadapan istana ketika Ahmad Said sedang menerima perlantikannya sebagai MB?

Bukan UMNO kah terang-terang mengatakan bahawa mereka mahu Idris Jusoh saja dipilih untuk menjadi MB dan bukan calon lain?

Bukan UMNO kah yang memberi amaran hendak pecat Ahmad Said daripada UMNO jika dia menerima perlantikan ke jawatan MB?

Bukan UMNO kah yang menyuruh ahli-ahlinya mengantungkan sepanduk dan kain rentang di sana sini mengutuk istana kerana tidak memilih Idris Jusoh menjadi MB?

Bukan UMNO kah yang bangga dengan ketuanan Melayu, pembela institusi Sultan dan Raja Melayu tiba menjadi penderhaka besar kepada Sultan dan Raja serta bangsa Melayu?

Bukankah kain rentang berbunyi "Kami nak Idris, natang", yang bermaksud "kami hendak Idris, binatang" dalam loghat Terengganu perbuatan orang-orang UMNO?

Penyelesaian perlantikan MB ini mudah saja, PM bagi nama kepada Sultan dan kalau Sultan tidak bersetuju dengan orang yang PM pilih, bagilah nama lain. Pat Lah you mesti ingat jawatan MB ini bertukar ganti sekali dalam 5 tahun, sedangkan institusi kesultanan "is here to stay". Istana memainkan peranan sebagai semak dan imbang atau check and balance.Tetapi kerana Pat Lah ini degil maka berlakulah kacau bilau ini.

Ahmad Sabky Yusof, seorang peguam berkata, “Sepatutnya BN mengemukakan calon lain bukan berkeras untuk melantik Idris Jusoh sahaja.” Dia juga merasa hairan dengan sikap itu sehingga Pat Lah sanggup memperjudikan nasib sebuah kerajaan negeri miliknya.

Pat Lah... jangan salahkan orang lain, sebenarnya yang dok eksploitasikan situasi sekarang ini adalah orang-orang UMNO itu sendiri. Oleh kerana UMNO mahu pertahankan seorang pemimpin yang dikatakan begitu korup agar rahsia pakatan melakukan jenayah rasuah dan salahguna kuasa secara leluasa bersama dengan pemimpin nombor satu negara itu tidak terbongkar, maka mahu tak mahu Pat Lah mesti pastikan Idris Jusoh kekal menjadi Menteri Besar Terengganu.

Mahathir pernah berkata,"UMNO adalah parti perjuangan orang-orang Melayu yang harus diperkuatkan. Parti ini akan binasa apabila pemimpin kita menjadi pembohong,jahat,khianat, rasuah dan salahguna kuasa. Kita tak boleh sokong mereka. Oleh itu kita jangan beri undi pada mereka." Pat Lah, you patut ambil nasihat orang tua ini sebelum, bukan saja ketika mengambilkira memilih Idris Jusoh menjadi MB, malah untuk diri sendiri sebelum memimpin negara ini.

Bacalah rempah ratus dosa Idris Jusoh yang diadukan oleh rakyat Terengganu kepada Sultan mereka...baca di sini.




cheers.

25 March 2008

PAS boleh bantu Ahmad Said membentuk gomen...

Menteri Besar Terengganu,Ahmad Said akan mula tugasnya hari ini,walaupun dia belum mengangkat sumpah jawatan. Ahmad Said mengucapkan terima kasih kepada penyokong dan rakyat kerana sedia bersamanya."Tidak ada orang yang boleh mempertikaikan saya sebagai menteri besar. "Saya tidak pernah bermimpi hendak menjadi pemimpin Terengganu. Ini semua kehendak Allah," katanya, yang juga ketua bahagian Kemaman, di depan penyokongnya. "Saya akan bekerja (sebagai menteri besar) sebaik mungkin." tambahnya lagi.

Umno telah memberi amaran bahawa tindakan disiplin akan diambil terhadap Ahmad Said sekiranya dia menerima pelantikan jawatan tersebut.

Menurut sumber-sumber tertentu seramai 13 ADUN yang dulunya memihak kepada Idris Jusoh kini telah berpaling tadah dan mengatakan sokongan kepada Ahmad Said. Sejauh mana khabar-khbar angin ini benar....allahua'lam.

Apa yang jelas dalam kemelut politik antara Pat Lah dan pihak istana Terengganu ini, rata-rata rakyat Terengganu memihak kepada tuanku Sultan mereka, kecuali penyokong-penyokong UMNO totok yang masih berpegang kepada prinsip "hidup mati ku kerana UMNO"

Jika benar ada 13 orang ADUN yang akan menyokong Ahmad Said,sudah tentu kerajaan negeri yang akan dibentuknya itu boleh berdiri, dengan syarat 8 orang ADUN PAS boleh memberikan komitmen menyokong Ahmad Said. Dalam ertikata lain Ahmad Said + 13 ADUN UMNO + 8 ADUN PAS = 22, sedangkan ADUN UMNO hanya tinggal 9 + 1 MCA daripada bilangan seramai 32 orang ADUN dalam dewan undangan negeri tersebut.

Oleh kerana,UMNO telah mengugut untuk memecat Ahmad Said kerana menerima jawatan MB itu, UMNO juga terpaksa memecat seramai 13 orang ADUN UMNO lain yang menyokong MB Ahmad Said. Ini bererti mereka yang dipecat daripada UMNO itu akan menjadi wakil bebas dan bersama-sama 8 orang ADUN PAS boleh membentuk sebuah kerajaan negeri yang bukan lagi terdiri dari UMNO/BN. Ataupun kemungkinan formulanya berubah seperti berikut.....

14 BEBAS + 8 PAS = 22 vs 9 UMNO + 1 MCA atau
14 PKR + 8 PAS = 22 vs 9 UMNO + 1 MCA atau
14 PAS + 8 PAS = 22 vs 9 UMNO + 1 MCA

Sudah pasti dengan perkembangan ini nasib Idris Jusoh serta harapan Pat Lah untuk mengwujudkan sebuah gomen UMNO/BN yang dipimpin oleh Idris Jusoh akan berkecai.

Apakah langkah Pat Lah seterusnya jika senario politik Terengganu jadi sedemikian? Mungkinkah Pat Lah akan isytihar darurat di Terengganu bagi menangani krisis politik yang melanda dinegeri itu?

Hanya masa yang akan menentukannya dan bagi seorang desprado yang sudah hilang akal, akan melakkukan apa saja agar rahsianya tidak terbongkar......

cheers.

24 March 2008

Palace, Pat Lah and the Petroringgit.......

Terengganu is an oil producing state of Malaysia, and Pat Lah will do anything within his power to see that the state is ruled by UMNO. Pat Lah wants a Menteri Besar(MB) who will kowtow to his needs, even to the extent that he has to go against the wishes of the Palace. In short Pat Lah need Idris Jusoh badly as MB so that Idris Jusoh will continue to be partners in crime with Pat Lah plundering Terengganu's petroringgit.

Petro-money means alot to Pat Lah and UMNO, since Terengganu has being denied of its oil royalty payment, pending a court case filed by the former PAS government against Petronas. When PAS was in power in 1999, the oil royalty payment, over RM 800 million per year, was no longer given as payment to the Terengganu state government coffer as what the previous Wan Mokhtar's government used to enjoy.

It was changed to "wang ehsan" or gift payment, given by the Federal government to the the representative of its interest in the state. The parties that benefited are the UMNO liasion heads of Terengganu during the PAS rule and later to the UMNO MB, Idris Jusoh and his goons when BN took over in 2004. During the wang ehsan transaction many of these UMNO liasion heads became instant millionaires as a result of mismanagement and misappropriation of the wang ehsan distributions.

Some inside sources are asking the whereabouts of RM 3 billion of the wang ehsan that is still not being used and it is rumoured that about RM580 million of this wang ehsan is being stashed away in Idris Jusoh's oversea bank account. This info was leaked to the istana and from then its history....

When Idris Jusoh became MB, he demanded that the oil royalty be reinstated but to no avail. However, the royalty payments was later put to a different use i.e organizing the Monsoon Cup, that eventually turned out to be an annual event for the rich and famous. The mastermind behind this project is none other then Pat Lah's SIL,Khairy Jamaluddin and his crony businessman friend that goes by the name of Patrick Badawi who is now purported to be in control of the oil money? Patrick Badawi is too powerful and could insist on any projects he wants in the state without going thru proper channel or procedure, making Idris Jusoh look like a fool or a lame duck MB. This infuriated the istana as its petroringgit is being gobbled by Pat Lah's cronies while the poor rakyat suffers in pain. Read here , here,here and here.

Sensing that Idris Jusoh is only a pawn in Pat Lah and Patrick Badawi's cunning game of intrigue and deceit, the istana decided that a new MB should be appointed to replace Idris Jusoh.The same happened in Perlis when Shahidan Kassim was quietly asked to leave. But the only difference is that Shahidan Kassim didnt get enough support from the Perlis ADUN, while Idris Jusoh has the backing of 22 ADUN. Probably these ADUN are indebted to Idris Jusoh for the many thing Idris Jusoh has done for them. To make sure that these obligations are not cut off, the 22 ADUN got to make sure that Idris Jusoh gets the MB post with the full backing from Pat Lah and Patrick Badawi.

The istana is bent on appointing Ahmad Said as MB but for Pat Lah to sack him from UMNO, on the very day of his appointment as a move to stop him from becoming MB shows that Pat Lah and UMNO puts their own interest above the rakyat of Terengganu.

According to Pat Lah, should Ahmad be sworn in as MB, it would be "unconstitutional". Constitution expert Prof Abdul Aziz Bari pointed out the appointment of Ahmad, depending on the contents of the letter issued by the palace, was effective. The swearing in ceremony and all other rituals, in his opinion, are just there to clothe the decision of the palace, he told Malaysiakini. He also said that the unhappy BN assemblymen would have to wait for the first sitting of the assembly in order to pass a motion of no confidence against the party-less Ahmad.

“In such circumstance, the sultan or the regency council would then have to name another person who enjoys the support of the majority of the elected representatives or call for a snap state election,” he said.

He said that although there would be no state government to request for a dissolution, the palace can still call for a state poll based on the sultan's reserve powers.

There seems to be no winner in the current turmoil. While the istana having made a choice of Ahmad Said, only to see him being expelled from UMNO nor there is a possibilty of Pat Lah backing down. Revolting against the wishes of a ruler is 'menderhaka'. But its OK for UMNO to do so and Pat Lah is deem to be the next Hang Jebat. Waiting to see Hishamuddin unsheathing his keris sang saka in defence of ketuanan Melayu...and where is Khairy Jamaluddin & his UMNO youth mat rempit goons when UMNO is threatening the Malay sultanate of Terengganu....read here,here and here.

This stalemate might lead to a fresh elections to be called sooner or later. If so this happens my only wish is to see Idris Jusoh and his UMNO goons get trashed for good.

cheers.

23 March 2008

Idris Jusoh - kesetiaannya pada Sultan atau.....

Bernama melaporkan bahawa, isu pelantikan Menteri Besar Terengganu selesai hari ini apabila pejabat Sultan Terengganu mengumumkan Ahmad Said untuk memegang jawatan itu. Menurut kenyataan pejabat Sultan Terengganu hari ini,Ahmad Said,51, anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri kawasan Kijal akan mengangkat sumpah jawatan di Istana Tamu di sini pagi esok.

"Mengikut peruntukan Fasal 14 Perenggan (2) (a)Undang-undang Bagi Diri Kerajaan Terengganu (Bab 2), Majlis Penasihat Pemangku Raja dalam melaksanakan fungsi bagi pihak Pemangku Raja. "Dengan ini telah memilih untuk melantik Datuk Ahmad Said sebagai Menteri Besar Terengganu, untuk mengetuai Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu," kata kenyataan itu kepada Bernama hari ini.

Isu pelantikan Menteri Besar Terengganu telah berlarutan selama 14 hari selepas pilihan raya umum 8 Mac lepas. Pelantikan Ahmad Said ialah bagi menggantikan Idris Jusoh yang juga Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Terengganu dan wakil rakyat Jertih yang menjadi Menteri Besar Terengganu selama satu penggal sejak 2004.- Bernama
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Apabila Lim Kit Siang melarang ahli-ahli DAP daripada menghadiri upacara angkat sumpah MB Perak minggu lalu, ramai pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO serta media massa gomen menuduh Lim Kit Siang sebagai menderhaka kepada Tuanku Sultan Perak. Baca di sini. Sekarang ini siapa pula yang menderhaka? Apakah 22 ADUN yang menderhaka itu akan menyembah Tuanku Sultan Terengganu untuk memohon maaf?

Semua 22 ADUN Terengganu telah sebulat suara akan memboikot majlis mengangkat sumpah jawatan Menteri Besar yang dijadual berlangsung di Istana Maziah Kuala Terengganu dan bertegas mahukan Pengerusi BN negeri, Idris Jusoh memegang jawatan Menteri Besar.

Dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan petang tadi, Setiausaha Badan Perhubungan Umno negeri, Rosol Wahid berkata,"Kami Adun-Adun sebulat suara ingin menegaskan bahawa calon untuk Menteri Besar Terengganu adalah Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh. Tidak ada calon lain yang kami sokong, yang kami berdiri di belakang beliau. Jadi, mana-mana perancangan untuk menamakan selain daripada calon yang kami nyatakan tadi, maka kami tidak akan menerimanya dan kami tetap menolak dengan sebulat suara,"

Di Terengganu telah, naik beberapa puluh sepanduk menyatakan sokongan kepada istana. Sepanduk yang memuatkan antaranya perkataan "Daulat Tunku" dan kesediaan rakyat bersama istana itu bagaimanapun diturunkan selepas dua jam kemudian. Kain rentang itu yang dirampas awal pagi itu antaranya bertulis "Daulat Tuanku Selamatkan Terengganu Darul Iman" serta "Daulat Tuanku, Rakyat Berdiri di Belakang DYMM Tuanku".

Malah ada beberapa orang ADUN telah menyatakan kesanggupan mereka untuk meletak jawatan sebagai ADUN bagi membolehkan diadakan pilihanraya kecil. Kemelut ini tidak akan berakhir dengan perlantikan MB saja, kerana MB yang baru perlu mendapat sokongan ahli-ahli dewan yang lain. Tatkala Ahmad Said diumum untuk mengangkat sumpah sebagai MB, ada puak-puak tertentu telah meminta pihak BPR menyiasat salah laku Ahmad Said berkaitan dengan beberapa projeknya di Kijal.Baca di sini.

Mengapakah Tuanku Sultan Terengganu tidak mahu menerima Idris Jusoh sebagai MB walaupun namanya telah dicadangkan oleh Pat Lah? Inilah yang rakyat jelata ingin tahu.



Menurut sumber-sumber tertentu, baginda Sultan murka kerana peristewa Batu Buruk di mana rakyat Terengganu yang tidak berdosa di belasah teruk dan ada yang ditembak oleh pihak polis atas arahan Idris Jusoh. Di samping itu juga peristewa polis menggunakan kekerasan yang melampau di Rusila semasa hari mengundi juga disebut sebagai sebabnya. Ada pula sumber-
sumber lain mengatakan bahawa, Idris Jusoh lebih banyak menumpukan kesetiaannya kepada orang yang bernama Patrick Badawi yang sekarang ini sedang bermaharajalela membolot berbagai-bagai projek mega, termasuk festival Monsun Cup di negeri itu. Namun demikian, apa yang jelas ialah bila pihak istana berbalah dengan MB yang rugi adalah rakyatnya.

Sekiranya tindakan memulau ini diteruskan oleh ADUN UMNO, nescaya rakyat akan hilang kepercayaan kepada mereka. Jika ADUN UMNO ini hendak menguji populariti mereka sama ada mahu menyokong Idris Jusoh atau menurut kehendak pihak istana, adalah lebih baik semuaADUN yang terlibat itu letak jawatan dan adakan pilihanraya kecil. Baginda Sultan juga boleh atas nasihat MB baru itu membubarkan DUN, untuk mengadakan pilihanraya yang baru.

Setelah Pat Lah/UMNO gagal meletakkan Shahidan Kasim sebagai MB Perlis kerana ditolak oleh Raja Perlis, kini Pak Lah/UMNO cuba hendak menunjukkan siapakah yang lebih berkuasa, dalam menentukan pemilihan MB Terengganu....UMNO atau Sultan? Bukankah UMNO yang lantang berhujjah tentang,ketaatan kepada raja, keluhuran perlembagaan, dan sebagainya, tapi dalam situasi ini semuanya diketepikan kerana hendak tunjuk kuasa mereka itu yang mengatasi sesiapa saja. Cakap tak serupa bikin. Apakah UMNO mahu merderhaka kepada Sultan kerana hendak mempertahankan orang yang bernama Idris Jusoh? Apakah tidak ada orang lain lebih layak daripada Idris Jusoh?. Sama ada pendirian 22 orang ADUN benar-benar mencerminkan kehendak rakyat Terengganu atau tidak?.... allahu a'alam

Mudahan-mudahan kemelut yang sedang melanda arena politik di Terengganu itu akan berakhir secepat mungkin, jika tidak ia boleh mencetuskan satu lagi krisis perlembagaan di antara pihak istana dan badan eksekutif. Berita terbaru baca di sini dan sini.

cheers.

22 March 2008

Anwar di Mesjid Bayan Baru.......

Lebih daripada 10 tahun yang lalu ketika menjadi TPM, Anwar Ibrahim telah melakukan upacara pecah tanah Mesjid Bayan Baru, Pulau Pinang. Sejak daripada itu Anwar tidak dibenarkan melangkah masuk ke mesjid tersebut atas sebab-sebab keselamatan atau ??. Semalam, buat kali pertama beliau telah kembali ke Mesjid Bayan Baru untuk memberi ceramah Maulidul Rasul kepada hampir-hampir 2,000 orang yang mengisi dengan penuh sesak di ruang mesjid dan kawasan letak kereta mesjid tersebut.

Anwar Ibrahim,dalam ceramah Maulidul Rasul tersebut menyentuh beberapa hal berhubung dengan kebesaran Nabi Muhammad S.A.W serta sumbangan-sumbangan baginda kepada umat Islam. Ceramah Anwar juga diselang seli dengan isu-isu semasa terutama berkaitan dengan kejayaan pakatan pembangkang yang berjaya merampas 5 buah negeri di Semenanjung serta kejayaan pakatan pembangkang menafikan majoriti 2/3 BN dalam parlimen.

Anwar juga telah menyelar sikap media tempatan terutama akhbar-akhbar gomen yang masih tidak mahu menerima hakikat bahawa BN telah tewas dengan teruk. Anwar menegaskan bahawa akhbar-akhbar ini masih berfikir bahawa pilihanraya umum masih belum tamat. Sekarang ini, agenda mereka ialah cuba hendak membelah bahagi pakatan pembangkang yang telah berjaya menubuhkan gomen masing-masing di negeri-negeri yang ditawannya itu. Tegasnya lagi, sepatutnya media-media memberi tumpuan kepada Terengganu kenapa sehingga kini masih tidak mempunyai Menteri Besar, sedangkan BN menang dengan selesa di negeri itu?

Anwar juga berjanji bahawa Barisan Rakyat yang telah menang besar itu tidak akan mengecewakan rakyat yang memilihnya. Namun,Anwar berpesan bahawa rakyat perlu terima hakikat bahawa rakyat tidak akan mengalami perubahan-perubahan seperti yang dijanjikan itu dengan serta merta,kerana perubahan akan mengambil masa yang agak panjang.

Anwar juga mengingatkan rakyat bahawa sungguhpun pakatan pembangkang ini telah menawan 5 buah negeri, pihak gomen akan buat apa saja untuk memastikan pembangunan di negeri-
negeri ini akan diperlambatkan, termasuklah melewat-lewatkan pememberian peruntukkan kewangan. Namun begitu beliau akan berusaha mendapatkan pelabur-pelabur luar untuk melabur di negeri-negeri yang diperintah oleh pakatan pembangkang.

Berhubung dengan DEB,Anwar tetap menolak DEB ini kerana menurutnya dasar DEB itu tidak memberi faedah yang banyak kepada rakyat khususnya orang-orang Melayu yang miskin, sebaliknya DEB telah melahirkan kumpulan Melayu Umnoputra yang begitu gelojoh mendapatkan kontrak dan tender hinggakan dalam masa yang singkat menjadi kaya raya. Anwar berjanji akan melaksanakan Agenda Ekonomi Malaysia yang bukan saja menjaminkan hak-hak orang Melayu malah juga akan menangkat martabat orang-orang Cina,India dan bangsa-bangsa lain di negara ini.

Ceramah Anwar juga bukan saja dihadiri oleh orang Melayu saja,malah ramai orang Cina dan India turut serta mendengarnya. Apa yang kurang,adalah sistem pembesar suara yang sering terganggu. Walaupun skrin besar diletakan,tetapi semuanya dalam ruangan mesjid saja. Sepatunya skrin besar dan pembesar suara juga perlu dipasang di kawasan tempat letak kereta mesjid tersebut. Mungkin, AJK mesjid yang 'organise' acara ini menganggap bahawa negeri Pulau Pinang masih ditakbir BN oleh itu mereka membuat perancangan secara berhati-hati. Sekarang gomen Pulau Pinang adalah pakatan pembangkang dan JAIPP yang mengeluarkan permit jadi nak takut apa? Timbalan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, MP Bayan Baru dan MP Patit Buntar turut menghadiri majlis tersebut.

Itulah 'bahang ketakutan' yang masih membelenggui rakyat di sini ketika di bawah BN dulu yang terbawa-bawa hingga sekarang,walaupun mereka sedar bahawa BN ketika ini adalah pembangkang.

cheers.

21 March 2008

Mampukah Ku Li mencabar Pat Lah.....

Tengku Razaleigh berkata ketewasan besar-besaran Umno dan BN tidak boleh dibiarkan begitu sahaja.

"Siapa yang bertanggungjawab tidak boleh terus tidur," katanya.

"Rakyat sudah beri isyarat jelas dalam pilihanraya baru-baru ini, kenapa kita masih nak buat tak tahu dengan apa yang terjadi."

Beliau berkata keputusan plihanraya umum lalu itu tidak terjadi dalam sejarah Umno dan BN.

"Hilang lima negeri bukan benda yang remeh, kalau kalah satu kerusi pun dah kita anggap serius, ini lima negeri BN hilang ... (kita) tak nak buat apa-apa," tambahnya.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, telah mengisytiharkan kesediaannya untuk mencabar Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi bagi jawatan presiden Umno. Beliau akan bertanding menentang Abdullah jika pencalonannya cukup untuk melayakkannya bersaing merebut jawatan teratas Umno.

"Terpulang kepada bahagian-bahagian Umno, kalau mereka mencalonkan saya dan cukup 30 peratus maka saya sedia untuk bertanding jawatan presiden," katanya.

-------------------

Nama Ku Li ini adalah sinonim dengan skandal RM 2.5 juta Bumiputra Malaysia Finance(BMF). Sungguhpun Ku Li tidak terlibat secara langsung, namun kroninya Lorraine Osman yang merupakan pengerusi BMF pada tahun 80'an turut terlibat secara langsung. Lazimnya dikenali sebagai skandal Carrian yang membabitkan beberapa orang personaliti yang terkemuka antaranya George Chan telah sedikit sebanyak memberi kesan buruk kepada karier politik Ku Li. Nama Ku Li juga tercemar kerana setelah dia tewas kepada Mahathir semasa perebutan kuasa dalam UMNO, dia terus keluar UMNO dan menubuhkan Semangat 46,tetapi, memandangkan sambutan terhadap Semangat 46 itu agak dingin Ku Li balik menyertai UMNO.

Tengku Razaleigh gagal mencabar Abdullah bagi jawatan presiden pada 2004 setelah tidak berjaya mencapai 30 peratus pencalonan yang diperlukan untuk melayakkan beliau mencabar jawatan presiden parti.

Senario kali ini adalah agak berlainan, setelah performance UMNO dalam pemilu 2008 sangat mengecewakan, disertai dengan laungan bantahan daripada pelbagai pihak dalam UMNO yang mendesak Pat Lah bertanggungjawab ke atas kekalahan calon-calon UMNO serta kegagalan untuk BN mendapatkan 2/3 kerusi dalam parlimen. Ada yang meminta Pat Lah meletakkan jawatan.

Kalau Ku Li hanya berharap yang dia akan memperolehi pencalonan yang mencukupi bagi membolehkannya bertanding menentang Pat Lah untuk jawatan Presiden UMNO mungkin percaturan Ku Li amat silap sama sekali, kerana Pat Lah sebagai Presiden akan lakukan apa saja untuk menghalang percubaan Ku Li itu.

Sekarang,Pat Lah ibarat seekor kuda yang sudah patah kaki sebelah dan ramai ahli- ahli UMNO sudah bosan dengan gaya kepimpinannya, tambah-tambah lagi bila Pat Lah dikelilingi oleh orang-orang tingkat 4 JPM yang diketuai oleh menantunya Khary Jamaluddin. Jalan terbaik bagi Ku Li ialah mengadakan satu "revolt" dikalangan ahli-ahli Parlimen baru yang terpilih itu dan mengenakan undi tak percaya terhadap gomen Pat Lah. Untuk melakkukan itu Ku Li perlu menyakinkan parti-parti komponen dalam BN. Satu lagi cara ialah dengan membawa usul mengadakan EGM(mesyuarat tergempar) bagi UMNO. Sama ada usaha ini boleh dilakukan,sama-samalah kita tunggu dan lihat.

Pendek kata ini merupakan peluang terbaik bagi Ku Li untuk mencabar Pat Lah. Ramai tokoh-tokoh UMNO seperti Mahathir, Mukhriz, Rafidah Aziz dan beberapa yang lain sudah bersedia untuk memberi sokongan ke arah usahanya itu. Baca di sini. Sama ada Ku Li berjaya atau tidak,ini adalah peluang terakhir baginya kerana dengan usia 71 tahun mampukah Ku Li menanggung beban yang begitu berat....?

cheers.

20 March 2008

Rafidah is out but not without a fight......

Malaysia's former trade minister Rafidah Aziz expressed hurt Wednesday over being dropped from the new post-election cabinet after two decades in the job.

Rafidah said PM Pat Lah had told her of the decision only hours before it was announced, and that she was given no reason for being ousted.

"I wish Pak Lah had told me earlier on not to contest. He allowed me to contest. But I am also a human being," she said, using the prime minister's nickname.

However, the firebrand political veteran put on a brave face over the decision, saying she would now have more time to spend with her family and as head of the ruling party's influential women's wing.

"Thirty two years in government service and 20 years as minister, I am blessed and content," she said.

"I am so happy I served for so long, it's nothing to feel down about."

-----------------------------

Pat Lah would have retained Rafidah as a minister in the gomen if BN had won by a large margin and attained its 2/3 majority in Parliament. However,things didnt work out as expected, BN almost lost, and only with the help of Sabah and Sarawak, BN scrapped thru with a simple majority. A few senior ministers were trounced in their quest, that includes Samy Vellu, Zainuddin Maidin, Shahrizat Jalil, Kayveas, etc., however, what more humiliating is the lost of 5 states and the Federal Territory to the Opposition. Rafidah has been the Wanita chief since 1984, apart for one term from 1996 to 1999 when she lost to Siti Zaharah Sulaiman. For the first time the Wanita wing has no representatives in the cabinet.

Fearing more backlash, Pat Lah played safe by not including the AP queen and 7 other ex-ministers in his 2008 cabinet. Pat Lah feels that these ministers are more of a liability rather than an asset to his gomen. Pat Lah also took this opportunity to exclude many of Najib's men and instead placed a number of Khairy's goon instead, though the SIL wasnt given any cabinet post. This is Pat Lah's "UMNO AGM" cabinet, that is so precisely charted to ensure his victory in the upcoming party election later this year.

Knowing Rafidah, do you think this AP queen is going to take it without a fight? Sharizat Jalil was included at the very last minute after a protest by Wanita UMNO, but only as advisor to her former ministry with ministerial status.

Why did Rafidah decided not to give up her post, though rumours has it that she wanted to resign from her Ketua Wanita post earlier? According to some sources, she is not going to allow Azalina, the Tourism minister or any other Puteri UMNO leaders walk away with the Ketua Wanita post in the upcoming party elections later this year. They have this strained relationship for years and Rafidah thinks that Puteri UMNO is undermining Wanita UMNO's role.

Will Rafidah team up with Mukhriz and Ku Li, as Ku Li has already made his intention to mount a challenge against Pat Lah for the UMNO leadership?

Its anyone guess.....

cheers.

19 March 2008

"Muhamad son of Muhamad" jadi menteri....

Muhammad Muhd Taib @ Mat Tyson@ Muhamad son of Muhamad(mengikut Raja Petra), adalah bekas MB Selangor dan kini dilantik Pat Lah menjadi Menteri Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah. Dalam pemilu 2008 lalu namanya tidak disenaraikan untuk bertanding di Selangor kerana mengikut Mohd. Khir Toyo, bekas MB yang bawa penyapu itu, nama Mat Tyson tidak tersenarai kerana namanya tidak lepas dari tapisan BPR, kerana........


Dalam kesnya, PP vs Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib (Criminal Trial 45-28-98) yang diadili oleh Hakim Abdul Wahab Patail menyebut bahawa nilaian harta yang diistihar oleh Muhammad Muhd. Taib adalah sebanyak RM 30,831,306.15. Ini adalah harta yang dimaklumkan dalam kenyataan bersumpahnya.

Harta pegangan beliau melebihi RM 74,500,000.00 juta ringgit tidak termasuk tanah dan pegangan saham beliau. Tidak syak lagi kekayaan beliau bukan datang dari harta turun menurun keluarga,kerana pendapatannya sebagai MB banyak mana saja. Harta ini bukan harta turun temurun tetapi dari perlakuan rasuah dan mengsonglap harta negeri dan rakyat dengan menggunakan kedudukkannya sebagai MB dulu..

Hebat manakah Mat Tyson ini yang ditangkap di airport Brisbane kerana cuba menyeludup wang berjumlah lebih daripada 2.5 juta dalam pelbagai matawang asing pada lewat tahun 90an, difahamkan ianya hasil daripada skandal yang ada hubungkait dengan penerimaan wang bayaran saguhati untuk cadangan pembangunan tanah di salah satu mukim di Selangor. PM Mahathir ketika itu mengarah dia letak jawatan sebagai MB Selangor dan Naib Presiden UMNO sementara menanti kesnya selesai. Akhirnya Mat Tyson didapati tidak bersalah oleh makhamah di Australia,kerana Mat Tyson mengaku dia tak boleh baca dan faham bahasa omputih tu.

Sungguhpun kesnya disiasat oleh Peguam Negara setelah dia balik ke Malaysia,namun tidak ada bukti kukuh untuk mendakwanya. Muhammad Muhd Taib tidak berjaya membersihkan namanya dengan KES RASUAH. Pendakwaah secara selektif dan impak politik menyelamatkan Mat Tyson dari didapati BERSALAH. Namun demikian jumlah wang yang banyak yang ada padanya masih tidak dapat dijustifikasikan sehingga hari ini.

Sekarang Pat Lah pula telah memberi lesen baru kepada Muhammad Muhd Taib untuk merompak harta rakyak sekali lagi. Sekali ini lagi hebat bukan saja di Selangor malah di kawasan luar bandar dan wilayah. Agaknya bagi Pat Lah dan UMNO fikir bahawa orang yang dipalit dengan skandal rasuah adalah bersih daripada kacamata mereka. Biarlah rakyat mengadilinya sekali lagi.....

Dengar kata, Mat Tyson kini sedang mencari seorang juruterjemah bahasa Inggeris ke bahasa Malaysia kerana Muhammad Mohd.Taib ini tak tau dan tak faham Bahasa Inggeris langsung. Jadi sapa yang ingin menyertainya bolehlah hubungi menantu Pat Lah, Khairy Jamaluddin di tingkat 4 JPM,Putrajaya. Bacaan lanjut di sini,dan sini.

Pat Lah telah melantik Sharizat Jalil sebagai penasihat kepada Kementerian Wanita,Keluarga dan Pembangunan Komuniti dan jawatannya itu bertaraf Menteri. Apalah punya lol,kenapa tidak lantik saja Sharizat Jalil sebagai menteri dengan cara masuk kot pintu belakang, seperti Zaid Ibrahim atau Mashitah? Dr.Ng Yen Yen tu nak letak muka kat mana? Kalau ada apa-apa berkaitan dengan kementeruan tersebut Pak Lah nak rujuk siapa dulu?

Dengar kata wanita UMNO yang menjadi tulang belakang UMNO sekarang ini tidak diwakili dalam kabinet baru Pat Lah sebagai jawatan menteri, setelah mak cik tembam, AP queen Rafidah Aziz tidak dipilih menanggotai kabinet. Nak tau apa berlaku baca di sini, sini dan sini. Pokoknya hampir kesemua menteri-menteri Pat Lah,termasuk dirinya, sedikit sebanyak sudah terpalit dengan rasuah,salahguna kuasa dan skandal yang berbagai. Baca di sini,dan sini.

Yang nyata kabinet Pat Lah kali ini dikelilingi oleh orang-orang Pat Lah dan kroni-kroni menantunya Khairy Jamaluddin, sedangkan ramai orang-orang Najib sudah dibuang. Nampaknya Najib terkonteng-konteng seorang diri menunggu masa untuk dicantas.

Ahli Parlimen Jerantut, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar dan Ahli Parlimen Kimanis, Anifah Aman, masing-masing menolak pelantikan sebagai timbalan menteri yang diumumkan Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, semalam.Tengku Azlan, yang dilantik sebagai Timbalan Menteri Luar dan Anifah, Timbalan Menteri Pengangkutan, menemui Perdana Menteri, di sini, petang semalam bagi menyampaikan hasrat itu dengan alasan mereka sepatutnya dilantik sebagai menteri penuh. Mereka ini adalah orang Najib.

Pembentukan Kabinet Pat Lah ini juga adalah sebagai prelude kepada pemilihan jawatan dalam mesyuarat agung UMNO lewat tahun ini. Kedudukan Pat Lah yang begitu goyah memaksanya menyusun strategi supaya dia sendiri tidak akan tersungkur dalam mesyuarat agung UMNO nanti. Dalam pada itu Pat Lah masih tidak mahu bertanggungjawab atas kekalahan teruk UMNO dalam pemilu ke-12 itu, malah Pat Lah dengan bangga mengatakan bahawa dia menang dengan mandat besar. Berkecelaru betul otak Pat Lah ini.

Tetapi apakah Najib dan tokoh-tokoh UMNO lain akan berdiam diri bila kuda tunggangan mereka itu sudah patah kaki sebelah......

cheers.

DSAI - Back In the Light.....

Purged, jailed and humiliated in the late 1990s, Anwar Ibrahim has staged a remarkable comeback at the helm of an opposition insurgency.

By Lorien Holland and George Wehrfritz | NEWSWEEK,Mar 24, 2008 Issue

Anwar Ibrahim takes six calls in quick succession on three different mobile phones. Five days after Malaysia's general election—in which his coalition shocked observers by winning several key states and almost ousting the long-ruling party—he has segued from surprise victor to tireless political operative, ironing out disagreements and building bridges within the still-fractious opposition. Inside his low-key suburban office, tucked several kilometers away from Parliament in leafy Kuala Lumpur, Anwar's sense of purpose—destiny, even—is palpable. "Just listen to what the others have to say. Listen," he tells one caller. "Stay calm, go home and have some dinner, some Panadol, whatever you need," he tells another, adding, "If there are still strong views and you can't solve it, let me handle [it]."

The performance is vintage Anwar: the great conciliator doing what he does best. Barely a decade ago, this was the man who was going to help Asia and the West see eye to eye and bridge the chasm between Islam and other faiths. As Finance minister and then deputy prime minister of Malaysia in the late 1990s, Anwar was heir apparent to the strongman Mahathir Mohammed. But it was always an odd pairing. Mahathir was an angry anti-colonialist, forever railing against the West; he denounced Western pressure for democracy and human rights as cultural imperialism, an affront to more authoritarian "Asian values," and fiercely resisted international attempts to dismantle Malaysia's cozy and corrupt business culture after the Asian financial crisis. Anwar, by contrast, was a proud universalist, a personally pious Muslim who was also a relentless modernizer and whose penchant for quoting Gandhi and declaring the necessity of democracy and economic openness won him international acclaim. In speeches filled with terms like "civil society" and "freedom," Anwar opposed the notion that Asians were somehow destined for repressive rule and sought to turn regional vehicles like ASEAN into forces to promote liberty and justice. This won him widespread adoration—he was named NEWSWEEK's Asian of the Year in 1998—and made him a darling of the Davos set.

But it also led to his downfall. By 1998, Mahathir had had enough of his high-flying deputy, and after Anwar publicly broke with his boss over the response to the Asian financial crisis (which Anwar hoped to use to impose fiscal discipline and dismantle Mahathir's crony system), he was sacked and then jailed on what were widely seen as trumped-up corruption and sodomy charges. "It was a terrible time," Anwar admits in a NEWSWEEK interview, but not one he is not eager to revisit. Asked about Mahathir, over whom he would appear to have scored a historic reversal of fortune, Anwar won't take the bait, dismissing his former patron as old, ill and "not an issue for me … In order to succeed, we have to look beyond him."

Under Malaysian law, Anwar is barred from holding office until April 15. Yet clearly the rising fortunes of his party make him once again a potential prime minister, though this time around his ambitions appear focused solely on Malaysia, not Asia and the world. Asked if he was poised once again to act as a bridge figure between East and West, Anwar embraced that "important role" as one he had been "playing for a long time," but then quickly gave it a distinctly local focus: reassuring both Malays and non-Malays and getting them to work together in his party.

Thanks to widespread disgust with the lackluster performance of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, the three-party opposition more than quadrupled its presence in Parliament (going from 20 to 82 seats out of 222), and it now controls five of Malaysia's 13 states. The greater import is clear: even some members of Abdullah's camp are now calling for his resignation, and "Anwar has returned as a major force," says Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

But the opposition still has to parlay those results into effective control. For the moment, Abdullah remains in charge, if barely. Still, the election was a water- shed, the closest the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has come to defeat since independence in 1957. The best Abdullah could say about the drubbing was to call it "democracy at work," and Mahathir, who retired in 2003, called it "shocking"—adding, suggestively, "The Japanese would have committed hara-kiri."

The vote also represented a major challenge to Malaysia's wide-ranging race-based affirmative-action program, which, under Mahathir gave the country's ethnic Malay majority broad preferences over the long-dominant Chinese community in business affairs. Even if the fragile center now holds in Kuala Lumpur, UMNO will soon face unprecedented threats from state governments now controlled by the opposition. Following a pattern discernible elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Anwar and his allies are staging an assault on the cronyism and patronage of old and pledging social justice, openness, transparency, and anticorruption measures.

The new movement is something of a sequel to the failed Reformasi drive of the late 1990s. Launched by Anwar after his ouster in late 1998, it aimed to ignite a "people power" uprising of the sort that had toppled Suharto in Indonesia. But Reformasi fizzled after Anwar's criminal conviction; he ultimately served six years in prison.

Yet Malaysians' desire for change never died. Abdullah, handpicked by Mahathir on the assumption he'd be easy to control, actually took up the reform mantle himself at first, pledging sweeping change during the campaign of 2004. Abdullah vowed to promote moderate Islam to counter creeping fundamentalism, promised an anti-corruption campaign and suggested he might turn back Malaysia's race-based development policies. Voters responded well, especially when, in 2005, he began dismantling massive Mahathir-era infrastructure projects. But the electorate slowly soured on the new leader as scandal and indecisiveness hobbled his administration. "He did not deliver effectively, and Malaysians called him on it," says Welsh.

If anything, the opposition's triumph was even more significant than the raw numbers indicate. Anwar's People's Justice Party grabbed 31 seats—up from just one in 2004—and its victors included his wife and daughter. Opposition candidates dominated in peninsular Malaysia's west coast, seizing the key industrial states of Penang and Selangor. To reach voters, the opposition relied on bloggers, You-Tube and text messages sent to grass-roots organizers via cell phone: common tactics in places like Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea but new to Malaysia. Indeed, they took UMNO and its National Front coalition so much by surprise that the opposition nearly won the election outright. Anwar, for one, thinks it could have; during his NEWSWEEK interview, he hinted at fraud connected to the use of mail-in votes and the Election Commission's last-minute decision to scrap plans to stain the voters' fingers with indelible ink.

The electorate also broke with the race-based voting patterns of old. Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minorities, which make up a quarter and a tenth of the population, respectively, deserted government-allied ethnic parties in favor of Anwar's Justice candidates and those of center-left Democratic Action Party. The rebellion of ethnic Indians was particularly dramatic; many quit the pro-government Malaysian Indian Congress and the MIC's leader even lost his seat. "This is new territory" for the ruling party, says Garry Rodan, director of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. "The [party's] longstanding emphasis on ethnic identity to mask socioeconomic inequalities traversing ethnic groups has much less currency now."

Anwar's coalition deftly managed this feat by playing on one issue that united Malaysians whatever their race, sex or station: dismay at rising prices that have lead to hoarding of some staples like cooking oil. Jeff Ooi, a blogger turned parliamentary candidate, traded on this anger, writing in February that "now that the cost of living has gone up, unhappiness is fermenting." By promising to raise the people's concerns in Parliament, Ooi won a seat in Penang with an impressive 16,000-ballot margin (out of 46,000).

Now the opposition must quickly transform its promises into a cohesive strategy for governing. Given internal divisions, that won't be easy; the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party wants to establish an Islamic state, while the secular, center-left Democratic Action Party wants to abolish pro-Malay preferences. These divisions kept the opposition from uniting during the last election, in 2004. But Anwar and his Justice Party are hoping to provide a bridge; in addition to controlling the most seats, his party sits between its partners on most issues. Anwar himself is working overtime to find common ground, using his charismatic magic on all parties. Before the election, he managed to persuade the three factions to divvy up constituencies so as to avoid splitting the vote, and ever since he's been working his cell phones relentlessly, jawboning allies into submission. Though he lacks a formal position, Anwar hopes to enter Parliament soon: he plans to ask an ally to resign once his legal ban lifts, and then to run for the seat in a by-election.

Any number of things could disrupt his grand plans. His Islamic allies could prove too uncompromising, or Malaysia's economy could deteriorate—something the newly empowered opposition might be blamed for. On the first trading day after the election, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell by almost 10 percent, as investors dumped shares in companies with large government contracts.

Yet if he manages to hold on, Anwar's comeback will offer a powerful lesson on the dangers of complacency for long-ruling parties throughout Asia. The 4 million citizens of neighboring Singapore, for example, are already watching events closely, and comparing UMNO's fate to the city's own dominant political machine. Abdullah's shortcomings—scandals and political indecisiveness—have no obvious equivalents in Singapore. Yet UMNO's surprise setback "holds a lesson" for the city-state, one reader argued in a letter to The Straits Times last week. "Democracy's tool, the vote, is powerful and swift. A government chosen by its people must stay in touch with the ground. An incumbent who holds power for too long" could run into trouble fast if he becomes unresponsive, the writer warned.

That has been Anwar's point since the 1990s. With his nemesis, Mahathir, now reduced to carping from the sidelines, and the government coalition looking shakier than ever before, Anwar has again illustrated the fact that when fed-up citizens demand sweeping change, they can accomplish it. Anwar, of course, still has to turn promises into reality. But he's already made one thing very clear: if anyone can accomplish it, Anwar's the man.

Other articles in the Newsweek 2008 on Anwar and the 12th GE can be read here, here, and here.

cheers.

Zakaria’s legacy.....

This is an interesting article by Terence Fernandez in his Down2Earth column from the Sun......

WHEN I was woken up at 4.30am last Tuesday by an SMS from Norafiza Mahfuz, the public relations officer of the Klang Municipal Council (MPK), it was immediately apparent that this newspaper and I personally had an obligation to produce this article.

But it took a few days. Although it was necessary to record our “debt” to a man whose misdeeds had ironically contributed to our claim to fame and solidified our reputation for “telling it as it is”, this column had to be tempered with compassion and good taste.

It was not going to be an easy assignment, because while one cannot escape the truth, you never “diss” the dead.

But my better and brainier half has a knack for putting things into perspective: “all babies are cute and all dead people are good”.

Yes, Datuk Zakaria Md Deros is gone. He of the Istana Idaman fame; he who purchased low-cost land worth RM1.3 million for RM180,000 under his wife’s name; he who proposed that his son and daughter-in-law join him as councillors at MPK; he who operated an illegal satay house and tore down a business rival’s shed; he who owed RM22,000 in assessment for over 12 years; he who served as a senator while a bankrupt; he who ran an alleged illegal sand-mining business; he who faced over 30 charges from the Companies Commission.

The former Port Klang Assemblyman whose proxy in the recent general election was his daughter-in-law Roselinda Abdul Jamil (who lost to the PKR candidate) was defiant till the last.

His last days were filled with misery as he tried to come to terms with the fact that a state considered to be an Umno stronghold and to a larger extent Port Klang, to which, in his opinion, he had given his all, could be wrested by the opposition.

Traumatised by the loss of the state government to the PKR-DAPPAS coalition, he lamented “Negri kita diambil alih oleh orang asing” (our state has been taken over by outsiders). These were to be among his last words before collapsing and succumbing to a heart attack.

What was unfortunately lost on Zakaria was that the loss of Selangor was partly due to him, as he was after all, the poster boy for the excesses and abuses of those in power. Many called it defiance and sheer arrogance, but his sympathisers say he was just oblivious.

“In his mind, he was doing the right thing and he could not understand what all the fuss over his mansion was about,” said Faizal Abdullah, who quit as an MPK councillor after it was revealed that he too built a bungalow without approval.

Zakaria appeared bewildered as he tearfully thanked the press during a news conference at his home following reports of his unrestrained conduct for “educating me on right and wrong”.

But these, say critics were the words of a seasoned politician who knew exactly what he was doing. This second school of thought was probably a more accurate version of the man.

“I prefer to be called Abang Z,” he told reporters after an audience with the Sultan where he received a royal rebuke and risked being stripped of his Datukship.

Zakaria also evoked fear in almost all who he came in contact with. It was difficult to dig up dirt on his abuses, as many were terrified of co-operating.

When we front-paged a report on him defaulting on his assessment rates, Zakaria paid a visit to MPK and screamed at the staff, assuming that they had leaked the information.

Once, standing on top of the desk of a district officer, Zakaria shouted at the trembling man and forced him to approve a land transfer.

At the MPK, the man was king, dominating council meetings with even council heads cowering in apprehension. He controlled Umno councillors and even told them to walk out of committee meetings if the outcome was not to his liking.

“Buat apa lagi duduk dalam? Keluar semua!” (What more are you sitting in there for? Everyone get out!), he bellowed at one session, before all Umno councillors trotted out.

The only person who stood up to him was Datuk Teh Kim Poo, the Pandamaran assemblyman who also lost in the election. The two would go head-on with Teh challenging projects endorsed by Zakaria.

At the height of the Istana Idaman controversy, of which Teh had been a vocal critic, Klang police quickly took down banners carrying words bordering on racial incitement attacking Teh, the MCA and even the journalists who exposed it – Citizen Nades and yours truly.

It is understood that there is no love lost between Zakaria and Teh, but the two last met three weeks ago, photographed shaking hands at a pre-election function, proving that in politics there are no permanent friends or foes.

But one character who remained an adversary is Sungai Pinang assemblyman Teng Chang Khim of the DAP, who Zakaria slapped in 2000 during a break at the State Assembly, following a heated argument when Zakaria took offence to Teng’s use of the word “haram” when referring to illegal factories.

But whatever one says about Zakaria, for the many whom he had helped, Abang Z was Godsend. From getting job and university placements, housing, land grants and even financing his constituents’ children’s schooling, weddings and paying for funerals, Zakaria was the man who could get things done.

Just one phone call and the entire MPK team was at his doorstep to patch a pothole or tear down his rival’s satay stall.

And he is not one to take “no” for an answer.

“He would thrust the pen into the hand of an officer or minister, push the recommendation letter in their face and to the point of intimidation, would force them to sign it,” said Faizal. “Sain! Sain! Tak payah baca, ini orang saya, you sain aje! Sain! Aku cakap sain!” ( S i g n ! Sign! No need to read, this is my man, you just sign it! Sign! I said sign!)

Even Zakaria was aware of his lack of grace and had confided in a friend: “I am not an educated man. This is the only way I know how to do things”.

But in spite of these so-called limitations, the former railway gatekeeper was considered the most powerful man in Selangor – at one time even tipped to be mentri besar himself.

But he was more effective as “king maker” and contributed – in cash, kind and delegates to ensure his “men” sat in the State Exco and municipal council.

Klang was his own little kingdom with him as Umno chief, his wife Zizah Ngah Wanita Umno head, his son Zainuri Umno Youth chief and Roselinda heading the Puteri wing.

When his excesses came to light, even Prime Minster Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo were reluctant to remove Zakaria, with the PM labelling him “a good leader”.

To those who knew him personally, Zakaria was the jovial, simple Abang Z. A joker, who was the life of the party – generous to his friends, family, constituents, and those who did his bidding.

And he was a die-hard Umno loyalist, even threatening bodily harm to those who wanted to leave the party.

However, to the masses, Zakaria represented all that was wrong with Umno and the previous state government where there were different sets of laws for the well-connected and the ordinary man. And this is where Zakaria unwittingly provided the people with the reasons for bringing him and the state government down.

One must remember that Zakaria was not the only rogue politician. There were many more like him or worse, but the revelations of Zakaria’s misdeeds had inadvertently focused the rakyat’s lenses on those in public office and raised the benchmark on how these officials should conduct themselves; and at the same time compelling their leaders to rein them in.

The sad part of Zakaria’s story is that had he played his cards well and done things by the book, his would have been an inspirational rags-to-riches story.

It is unfortunate that his legacy will be that of the man whose unrestrained behaviour, abuse of the government machinery and exploitation of his position contributed to the fall of Umno in Selangor – the party and state he loved so dearly.

(Terence prays that Zakaria has finally found peace and clarity. He is deputy news editor (special reports & investigations) and is reachable at terence@thesundaily.com)

cheers.

Mukhriz is now at the mercy of Pat Lah.....

Umno Youth today decided to pass the buck back to PM Pat Lah regarding action to be taken against its errant youth leader Mukhriz Mahathir.

Following the Umno Youth executive council meeting, the movement’s chief Hishammuddin Hussein said no action will be taken against Mukhriz for writing a letter to Abdullah asking him to step down following the March 8 polls.

He said that Umno Youth has accepted the controversial letter as a personal missive which was leaked out to the general public.

"There are so many other more important issues faced by Umno Youth apart from Mukhriz," he told a press conference.

Last week, Abdullah, who is also Umno president, said he will leave it to Umno Youth and Hishamuddin to handle the matter.

In his March 12 letter, Mukhriz, the son of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, had urged Abdullah to accept responsibility for Barisan Nasional’s disastrous performance in the elections.

Met after the meeting, Mukhriz, who won the Jerlun parliamentary seat, said he sticks to the points raised in his letter.

"We want to become a party which is more relevant and accepted by the people. I am happy that there is room in Umno Youth to voice issues which are not agreed upon (by the others)," he added.

Muhkriz also said he had received many SMSes where “99 percent of which supported his action”.

"I have made my stand clearly before this and I have not changed my mind," he said. - Malaysiakini.

cheers.

18 March 2008

Pat Lah's cabinet.........

Pat Lah announced his new cabinet,trimming it from 32 to 27 members, of which more than half featured new faces. He also scrapped the post of parliamentary secretary and dropped big guns such as Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz (former International Trade and Industry Minister), Datuk Azmi Khalid (Home Affairs Minister) and Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis (Science, Technology and Innovations Minister)and Radzi Sheikh Ahmad(Internal Affairs).

The full list:

Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz
Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim
Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz

Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
Datuk Johari Baharom
Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim
Datuk K. Devamany
Datuk Hassan Malik

Finance
Minister - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Second Finance Minister - Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop
Deputies - Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Datuk Kong Cho Ha

Defence
Minister - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
Deputy - Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop

Internal Security and Home Affairs
Minister - Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
Deputies - Datuk Chor Chee Heong, Senator Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh

Housing and Local Government
Minister -Datuk Ong Ka Chuan
Deputies - Datuk Robert Lau , Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin

Works Minister
Minister - Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamad
Deputy- Datuk Yong Khoon Seng

Energy, Water and Communications
Minister - Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor
Deputy- Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
Minister - Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
Deputy - Datin Paduka Rohani Abdul Karim

International Trade and Industry
Minister -Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputies- Loh Wei Keong, Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan

Foreign Affairs
Minister -Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
Deputy- Tunku Azlan Abu Bakar

Education
Minister -Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein
Deputies -Datuk Wee Ka Siong, Datuk Razali Ismail

Higher Education
Minister - Datuk Khaled Nordin
Deputies - Khoo Kok Choong, Datuk Idris Harun

Transport
Datuk Ong Tee Keat
Deputy - Anifah Aman

Human Resources
Datuk S. Subramaniam
Deputy- Datuk Noraini Ahmad

Women, Family and Community Development
Minister-Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen
Deputy- Noriah Kasnon

National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage
Minister- Datuk Shafie Apdal
Deputy-Datuk Teng Boon Soon

Science, Technology and Innovation
Minister- Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
Deputy- Fadilah Yusof

Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development
Minister - Datuk Noh Omar
Deputy- Datuk Saiffuddin Abdullah

Natural Resources and Environment
Minister - Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas
Deputy - Datuk Abu Ghapur Salleh

Rural and Regional Development
Minister - Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib
Deputy- Tan Sri Joseph Kurup

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Minister - Datuk Shahrir Samad
Deputy - Jelaing Mersat

Plantation Industries and Commodities
Minister - Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
Deputy- Senator A. Kohilan

Youth and Sports
Minister - Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaacob
Deputy - Wee Jack Seng

Health
Minister - Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
Deputy- Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad

Information
Minister - Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Deputy- Datuk Tan Lian Hoe

Tourism
Minister - Datuk Azalina Othman
Deputy - Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abu Taib

FT
Minister - Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique
Deputy- M. Saravanan


As for mak cik tembam,the AP queen's departure......




and his beloved SIL.......




WHY?...WHY?...WHY?


cheers.