Penolakan usul tergempar - Ada udang di sebalik...

Pada 30 Mei 2012 yang lalu, rakyat Malaysia telah dikejutkan dengan skandal penjualan dokumen sulit pertahanan negara, iaitu penilaian Tentera Laut Di-Raja Malaysia (TLDM)  terhadap kapal selam kelas Scorpene, didakwa telah “dibeli” oleh sebuah syarikat pertahanan Perancis.

Laporan yang didedahkan oleh peguam Perancis, Joseph Breham, yang mewakili pertubuhan hak asasi manusia, SUARAM, mendakwa syarikat berkenaan telah membayar €36 juta (RM142 juta) kepada Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd, dikatakan untuk kerja-kerja "kejuruteraan komersial".

Dokumen rahsia oleh TLDM tersebut adalah satu penilaian untuk tempahan kapal selam berkenaan, yang merupakan laporan yang sangat sulit dan memungkinkan keselamatan pertahanan negara tergugat jikalau jatuh ke pihak musuh.

Oleh kerana pihak-pihak yang bertanggungjawab - termasuklah Datuk Sri Najib Razak, yang merupakan Menteri Pertahanan pada waktu itu - masih belum memberikan jawapan yang memuaskan mengenai hal ini, pada 7 Jun lalu saya telah memfailkan satu usul tergempar agar Dewan Rakyat dapat membincangkan hal penjualan rahsia pertahanan negara, yang merupakan satu tindakan khianat tertinggi terhadap kedaulatan dan kepentingan Malaysia.

Penolakan usul ini oleh Speaker pada pagi semalam tidak memungkinkan perbahasan dilaksanakan bagi mendesak kerajaan Malaysia khususnya Perdana Menteri dan juga Menteri Pertahanan memberi penjelasan sebaiknya bagi membersihkan nama mereka, menjelaskan peranan Terasasi (Hong Kong) Limited yang selama ini tersorok daripada pengetahuan umum dan memperbaiki imej Malaysia yang tercalar angkara kontroversi ini.

Alasan yang digunapakai oleh Speaker menggunakan Peraturan Mesyuarat 23 1. (h):  sesuatu pertanyaan itu tidak boleh dikeluarkan dengan tujuan hendak mendapat buah fikiran atau hendak mendapat penyelesaian berkenaan dengan perkara undang-undang yang belum menjadi masalah atau kerana hendak mendapat jawab dalam perkara yang dimisal-dimisalkan sahaja.

Jelas bahawa masalah yang menjadi persoalan dalam usul yang saya bawa ini bukan sekadar perkara undang-undang yang belum menjadi masalah ataupun perkara yang dimisal-misalkan sahaja. Masalah berkait dengan pembayaran komisyen bernilai Euro 36 juta oleh syarikat pertahanan Perancis Thint Asia kepada Terasasi (Hong Kong) Limited ini, yang mempunyai dua orang Pengarah iaitu Abdul Razak Baginda dan ayahnya Abdul Malim Baginda untuk sesalinan laporan penilaian rahsia Pertahanan Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia. Maklumat ini kita perolehi menerusi Joseph Breham, peguam SUARAM yang merujuk kertas siasatan dokumen rampasan polis Perancis dan badan kehakiman Perancis.

Kedua, usul yang dibawa bukan sekadar untuk meminta buah fikiran daripada kerajaan, tetapi menuntut penjelasan, sehaluan dengan apa yang telah dibangkitkan oleh Ahli Parlimen Malta Evarist Bartolo dalam sidang parlimen Malta 5 Jun lepas.
 
Ketiga, tanggungjawab kerajaan Malaysia tidak boleh dilangsaikan apabila dakwaan rasuah yang melibatkan pelbagai negara khusus dalam operasi anti-rasuah yang melibatkan Malaysia-Perancis-Pakistan-Malta-Luxembourg dan Hong Kong. 

Tambahan lagi, Malaysia sudahpun meratifikasi konvensyen United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Justeru, Malaysia tidak boleh lari daripada tanggungjawab membantu membawa mereka yang bersalah ke muka pengadilan, lebih-lebih lagi dalam kontroversi pembayaran rasuah untuk pembelian senjata yang melibatkan Perdana Menteri kita sendiri.

Keempat, kenyataan Menteri Pertahanan yang disiarkan pada 8 Jun 2012 jelas menunjukkan wujudnya elemen yang mencurigakan bila beliau mengakui kewujudan dokumen pertahanan sulit dalam kenyataan berikut, walau pihak beliau tidak menerima sebarang maklumat berhubung penjualan dokumen rahsia:

“Bagaimanapun, memang ada dikesan maklumat itu keluar (dari Malaysia) namun kita sedang memantau perkembangannya.”

Manakala yang paling parah, Perdana Menteri yang merupakan Menteri Pertahanan dalam penjualan kapal selam Scorpene masih membisu seribu bahasa.

Akhir kata, kami akan meneruskan usaha membawa isu penjualan rahsia kerajaan ini menerusi:

1) Laporan-laporan polis yang dibuat oleh Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) dan Angkatan Muda KEADILAN Malaysia di seluruh Malaysia.

 2) Memorandum yang disertai oleh Kelab Kebajikan Veteran & Pesara Tentera (KERABAT) dan Majlis Rundingan Keselamatan Keadilan menuntut penjelasan dan siasatan terhadap isu ini termasuk mengeluarkan KERTAS PUTIH kepada Perdana Menteri kerana jawapan Menteri Pertahanan tempoh hari bahawa siasatan akan hanya dibuat jika terbukti aktiviti menjual rahsia itu berlaku dan dalam nada yang sama pula mengatakan bahawa sudah pun dikesan maklumat itu telah dikeluarkan dan sedang dipantau; amat mengelirukan.

Mungkin Parlimen menolak usul ini tetapi saya percaya Perdana Menteri tidak akan menghampakan rakyat dan akan menjalankan tanggungjawab yang sewajarnya demi keselamatan negara termasuk keselamatan nyawa-nyawa anggota tentera dari diancam akibat angkara khianat menjual rahsia negara.- Nurul Izzah, malaysiakini

Najib 'missed opportunity' to clear name over Scorpene...

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the Defence Ministry lost an opportunity to clear themselves over the alleged sale of military secrets, said Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The prime minister and the ministry could have answered the allegation had her emergency motion on the matter been debated in the Dewan Rakyat, she said in a statement yesterday.

Nurul Izzah (left in photo) had filed the emergency motion in the House to force a debate on the topic, but it was rejected by speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

"The debate would compel the government - especially the prime minister and the defence minister - to explain themselves to clear their names."

She said one of the issues which needed clarification was the role of Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd in the controversy.

Nurul Izzah said the circumstances of the allegation on the sale of a ‘top secret' evaluation document of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on the Scorpene-class submarines also demanded an explanation from the government.

This was especially so since Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has admitted that "information" had been leaked, added Nurul Izzah.

"It is very suspicious that the defence minister is investigating information leaked from Malaysia despite the fact that he denies there was a sale of naval secrets," she said, referring to Ahmad Zahid's June 8 statement.

'Wrong rule applied'

Pandikar Amin (right) yesterday rejected Nurul Izzah's motion by invoking Standing Order 23 (1)(h), arguing that:

"A question shall not be asked (in Parliament) for the purpose of obtaining an expression of opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition."

Commenting on this, Nurul Izzah said her question was not related to an "abstract legal case", "hypothetical proposition", nor was it an "expression of opinion".

She contended that her emergency motion was to seek detailed explanation from the Defence Ministry on the commissions paid for the two Scorpene submarines purchased by Malaysia and the sale of secret military documents.

Nurul Izzah based her motion on the revelation by French lawyer Joseph Breham that French shipbuilder DCNS had paid 36 million euro (RM142 million) to Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd, supposedly for "commercial engineering" works.

Breham, who is representing Kuala Lumpur-based human rights group Suaram in a French lawsuit over the matter, claimed that the sum was for a copy of the RMN's evaluation for the purchase of the submarines.

Terasasi is a company co-owned by Najib's former confidante Razak Baginda and Razak's father, Abdul Malim Baginda.- malaysiakini

MP mahu Anifah perjelas siasatan Scorpene

Ceramah Saifuddin Nasution di Lembah Pantai

'Anifah, tell us what you know about Scorpene probe'...

An opposition MP wants Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman to brief Parliament on the French investigation into alleged corruption over Malaysia's purchase of the two Scorpene-class submarines.

"I call upon him to brief the Parliament in detail over what the probe has revealed to date, to what extent evidence has been obtained and whether it reflects any wrongdoing on part of our officials in the said transaction," Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said in a statement today.

The DAP lawmaker was responding to Anifah's statement yesterday that the probe "is not a serious issue" that Malaysia should focus on.

Gobind said he wants the minister to explain why he thinks this is not a serious matter.

"It is a matter of public concern. He must give us reasons in full," Gobind said, adding that Anifah "is walking on thin ice" by making such a statement.

"Firstly, he should tell us how much he knows about the probe and how he has come to know those details, given the fact that Malaysia is currently not participating in the probe in France.

"It is refreshing to hear that the minister seems to know the issues in the probe. But his remarks don't add up."

Anifah had also told reporters yesterday that Malaysia would make the necessary preparations to defend herself during the trial. However, he has yet to receive any information from the French Embassy.

This has not gone down well with Gobind, a lawyer by profession.

"This defies logic. There is a probe going on that involves the nation. Surely we cannot just sit back and wait for the French Embassy to brief us?" he asked.

Gobind urged Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, as first legal officer, to intervene and advise Anifah that the proper approach, especially in a case like this where the country's reputation is at stake, is to take stock of the situation from the very outset.

"We should and must participate and have our own representatives defending us and regularly updating us as to the findings of the inquiry. We should be on top of things.

"Anything short of this would appear to be an obviously negligent handling of the matter, for which the government must in the end be fully prepared to account for."

Local human rights NGO Suaram had filed a suit over alleged kickbacks from French defence contractor DCNS to Malaysian parties in the purchase of the two submarines.

Suaram's lawyer Joseph Breham recently revealed that French prosecutors have found that a company owned by a person closely-linked to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had sold confidential documents to DCNS for 36 million euro (RM142 million).
 
The company, Hong Kong-based Terasasi Ltd, belongs to Najib's associate Abdul Razak Baginda and Razak's father Abdul Malim Baginda.

Suaram also revealed that French investigators found fax correspondence indicating that Najib could have asked for US$1 billion for another company owned by Razak, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, for the duration of the company's stay in France.

This was allegedly in exchange for a meeting with Najib.

Najib has been silent on the matter while the Royal Malaysian Navy and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin have declined comment.

Najib, Razak and Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have been named in the list of seven witnesses proposed by Suaram, which was accepted by French investigating judge Roger Le Loire.

However, this does not mean that all seven will be subpoenaed to testify during the inquiry.- malaysiakini

How Najib Is Damaging His Reformist Reputation...

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak appears determined to give himself a political black eye. On June 13, government prosecutors will haul into court 10 leaders of Bersih, a coalition of civil society groups campaigning to clean up the country’s corrupt elections commission.

The government is demanding damages for destruction to public property during a clash between Bersih demonstrators and police in Kuala Lumpur on April 28. At least 100,000 people marched for clean elections in the Malaysian capital that day, while tens of thousands more joined protests in 11 other cities across the country and 80 cities around the world. Whether or not the government wins compensation in court, however, no amount of money will undo the damage it is inflicting upon its own reputation by pursuing the case.

The April 28 demonstrations were a stunning show of discontent in a country where protests are rarely tolerated. In half a century, Malaysia has advanced from a poor British colony with a plantation economy to an ambitious, middle-income nation with science parks, cybercities and skyscrapers.

But in a trade-off typical of Asia, the Barisan National coalition, which has ruled the country since independence in 1957, curtails civil liberties and keeps a tight rein on political opposition in exchange for delivering prosperity. That governing model, however, contains the seeds of its own decay.

Malaysia’s successful development “translates into a better-educated electorate who have more sophisticated demands and expectations,” political scientist Prof. Farish Noor tells TIME.

Keenly aware of the escalating problems, Najib has tried to present himself as a reformer. The steps he has taken so far, however, haven’t done much to improve BN’s image as increasingly corrupt, ill-equipped to deal with global economic complexities and out of touch with the aspirations of significant segments of the population.

In 2008, BN was shocked when opposition parties captured five of the country’s 13 states in national elections—the worst showing in the coalition’s history.

If voters are more dissatisfied now, they are also more frustrated: few can see how real change can be achieved as long as the BN controls access to the media and elections continue to be riddled with irregularities.

Najib’s attempts at reform “ring hollow when the electoral system remains flawed,” Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan, Bersih chairperson one of the defendants in the case brought by the government, tells TIME. “The stark reality is that genuine reform will not benefit those in power.” Read here.


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