Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Najib to face-off Anwar?
- Deepak to sue Rosmah, government for RM3b over business losses
- Xenophon to be deported tonight, says Anwar aide
- Pakatan has psychological edge over BN
- Aussie senator Xenophon detained at airport
- BN confident of 145 federal seats in GE13
| Posted: 15 Feb 2013 10:11 PM PST
The stage is set for an exciting encounter between two sworn political foes. Leven Woon, FMT Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim may come face to face with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at a Chinese New Year open house in Kajang tomorrow — and deliver highly charged political speeches. The event is organised by Dong Zong, a Chinese education pressure group. Anwar today said he would not avoid meeting Najib if both were to share the same stage at the gathering. Both Najib and Anwar have agreed to attend the event. Said Anwar: "What's the problem [meeting him]? My battle is not personal, I'm not going to fight with him," he said when asked by reporters whether he would meet Najib. He was attending a Chinese New Year function at the Batu constituency here. The encounter will whip up a frenzy of interest as the two top leaders have never met outside of Parliament since 2008. According to media reports, Najib has informed Dong Zong about his attendance on Thursday. Yesterday, Anwar confirmed he would also be attending. The open house is scheduled to begin at 10am at the Dong Zong headquarters in the premises of the New Era College. Both Anwar and Najib are expected to deliver highly politically-charged speeches, should they appeared at the occasion at the same time. Anwar said he will not be worried if Najib were to announce that the government will recognise the Chinese independent schools' Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) at the function tomorrow. He said Pakatan has already pledged to recognise the UEC three years ago. "Recognising UEC is a common policy approved by the three parties in Pakatan three years ago. Najib will only now be responding to it, a month before the general election, and that is the big difference," he said. However, he added that the recognition of Chinese independent schools and UEC comes with the condition that the students must be able to master Bahasa Malaysia.
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| Deepak to sue Rosmah, government for RM3b over business losses Posted: 15 Feb 2013 03:52 PM PST
(TMI) - Carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan will file a RM3 billion lawsuit against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and the federal government next week in a bid to reclaim losses suffered from a series of business projects that have soured. Deepak (picture) revealed his legal action plan in an interview with a news portal that was also uploaded to YouTube yesterday, a move that could hurt Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition's chances in Election 2013. He told The Malaysian Insider today that his lawyer, Sivarasa Rasiah, would provide more details on Monday. "We are launching a legal case against Datin Seri and the government of Malaysia," he said in the nine-minute clip, referring to Rosmah. The businessman was recently tangled in another court suit with Senator Datuk Raja Ropiaah Abdullah's firm, Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd, which he had accused of cheating him out of millions of ringgit in a land deal. Deepak's Astacanggih Sdn Bhd had agreed to buy three parcels of land in 2007 for RM13 million and a RM72 million bank guarantee for a land bond from Raja Ropiaah, who was awarded a RM100 million privatisation deal for the development of the defence research centre called Pusat Pengajian Pertahanan Nasional (Puspahanas). The land was supposed to be placed in a special purpose company called Cebur Megah as government rules does not allow land in privatised projects to be sold by the winning party. The land is still in government hands as the defence project has yet to take off. The Selangor Wanita Umno chief had allegedly sold one parcel for RM2 million in cash and a RM16 million overdraft facility in a "joint venture" with Guppyunip Sdn Bhd, a company specialising in plasticware, prompting the carpet dealer to put a caveat on the land in Bukit Raja and lodge a police report last July.
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| Xenophon to be deported tonight, says Anwar aide Posted: 15 Feb 2013 03:49 PM PST
Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, who is now being held by Immigration officials as a "security risk", will be deported tonight from the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal here, an aide to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said. Anwar's chief of staff Ibrahim Yaacob told The Malaysian Insider that Home Ministry officials have met Australian High Commissioner Miles Kupa at the airport and have decided to send Xenophon (picture) back to Australia on a 10pm flight. "He'll be deported tonight. No reasons given," Ibrahim said. He added that other Australian MPs including Mal Washer, John Williams and Steve Georganas, who were due to arrive here tomorrow, have cancelled their plans. Ibrahim had earlier said Xenophon had flown in this morning to meet Anwar as well as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz and Election Commission (EC) officials next week to discuss the country's electoral system. Australia's Foreign Ministry has expressed its disappointment with Xenophon's detention and demanded his release. News of Xenophon's detention has also been picked up by the Australian press. "I am effectively a prisoner here," he was quoted as saying in the Australian newspaper The Sunday Mail. The paper reported the Australian lawmaker managed to slip through a phone call when he was left unattended in the interrogation room. "I'm being held in an area with all these holding cells which are full of women. They have basically told me I am an enemy of the state. They are trying to get me on the next plane out of here and back home. "I was even meeting members of the government, I mean, the whole situation is ridiculous, we are meant to be the closest of friends with Malaysia," he told the paper. "We are meant to be having a people swap deal on asylum seekers but so far it looks like the only person being swapped is me," he was quoted saying.
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| Pakatan has psychological edge over BN Posted: 15 Feb 2013 03:38 PM PST
BN's scare tactics is an admission of fear of Pakatan's growing strength, claims Penang DAP. Athi Shankar, FMT GEORGE TOWN: With the 13th general election just weeks away, Pakatan Rakyat has already claimed a psychological political victory over Barisan Nasional. Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the scare tactics employed by BN was an admission of Pakatan's growing strength. He added that Pakatan needed to win at least 130-odd parliamentary seats to form a stable federal government. His said BN's repeated attempts to instil fear of possible chaos if the people voted for change is a psychological boost to Pakatan. This terror tactic is actually a confession of BN's own anxiety over Pakatan's growing political strength, support and ability to take over the federal reins, he said. "BN leaders actually fear and acknowledge that Pakatan can capture the government although we ourselves are sceptical about it. "This has given Pakatan a psychological edge over BN," said Chow, who is also a DAP central executive committee member, when launching the Jelutong parliamentary constituency election operation centre here today. Present were DAP Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun and the constituency's three assemblymen – Jagdeep Singh Deo (Datuk Keramat), Koid Teng Guan (Sungai Pinang) and Danny Law Heng Kiang (Batu Lanchang). Also in attendance were state DAP secretary and Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik and PKR Jelutong division secretary Khairil Annuar. Chow, however, admitted that Pakatan's goal of toppling BN was not easy given that BN is not a pushover but a formidable opponent. He said Pakatan comprising of DAP, PKR and PAS must increase its current parliamentary tally to between 40 and 50 seats in the polls. "If Pakatan can win at least some 130 seats, we can have a stable and comfortable government. "More seats won, the better it is," said Chow, a state executive councillor, and also the Tanjung MP and Padang Kota assemblyman.
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| Aussie senator Xenophon detained at airport Posted: 15 Feb 2013 03:02 PM PST
The Independent senator Nick Xenophon arrived here for meetings with Minister in Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz and the Election Commission. K Pragalath, FMT Independent Australian senator Nick Xenophon who flew into Malaysia early this morning was denied entry and is being detained for "security reasons". He arrived at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Sepang at 6.40am and was stopped by immigration officials. "He was denied entry on security grounds and will be deported to Australia," said Ibrahim Yaacob, who is Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's chief of staff when contacted. He added that the senator is expected to be deported at 10pm. Ibrahim and Australian High Commissioner Miles Kupa have met Xenophon who is in a detention facility at the airport. According to Ibrahim, Xenophon and three other Australian parliamentarians are scheduled to have a meeting with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz, the Election Commission (EC) and non-governmental organisations that would be observing the upcoming 13th general election on Tuesday. "He has an appointment with Nazri on Tuesday at 3pm. Since Xenophon has been denied entry, three other parliamentarians who were originally supposed to arrive here tomorrow have cancelled their trip," he said. Xenophon is no stranger to Malaysia. He previously led an international fact-finding mission to observe the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 last year. The delegation found that the protest was peaceful until it was provoked by the police. The group also criticised the mainstream media for their biased reports. Subsequently, Xenophon lodged police reports against three Umno-linked newspapers – New Straits Times (NST), Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian – that described him as anti-Islam based on a critical speech he made against Scientology in 2009. Utusan Malaysia had replaced the word "Scientology" with Islam when reporting on the matter. Utusan's report was also reported in NST and Berita Harian. 'Gross abuse of power' Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim condemned Xenophon's detention, saying it is a violation of international protocol and an abuse of power. "This act of detention and deportation for partisan political reasons is a gross abuse of power. It is also clearly a violation of international protocol in the treatment of visiting law-makers from abroad, particularly from member countries of the Commonwealth," he said in a statement. He also took Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to task for the detention.
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| BN confident of 145 federal seats in GE13 Posted: 15 Feb 2013 09:36 AM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident of winning at least 145 parliamentary seats in Election 2013, including recapturing several Umno seats lost in 2008, say sources. The Malaysian Insider understands that BN's projections are about 10 seats above surveys done by Malaysian intelligence agencies, which say the ruling coalition is only sure of 135 seats, five below the 140 won in Election 2008. BN now has 136 seats in the 222-seat Parliament. "We can win at least 145 seats according to briefings made to the leadership," a BN source told The Malaysian Insider. The number is still below the key two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat that BN has enjoyed until the elections in March 2008, and used to push key laws without support from the opposition bench. BN will need to win 148 seats to have the super-majority in the coming elections which must be called by April 28.  Najib is also bidding for his first personal mandate in the coming general election. "PM Najib has expressed confidence that we can win in most of the seats we had lost as they are all Umno seats," said another source, who attended a briefing recently. BN's historic losses of the parliamentary super-majority and four states in Election 2008 were widely blamed on former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who resigned in April 2009 in favour of Najib. Since then, Najib has introduced a slew of initiatives and has promised a slate of "winnable candidates" to win over support for BN, which has ruled since independence as the three-party Alliance before enlarging itself to include other parties in 1974 and changing its name. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bn-confident-of-145-federal-seats-in-ge13/
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