Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Azmin's ambition thwarted
- ROS: Many DAP members did not get notice on national congress
- Reverse takeover of Scope will not benefit Matang shareholders, says firm
- Shareholders stop reverse takeover of Scope Industries
- Stop being a ‘BN apologist’, Paul Low told
- Election Commission: Indelible ink reports can’t change GE13
| Posted: 30 May 2013 02:14 PM PDT
But now that Azmin's ambitions of being MB have been thwarted, what next? Tashny Sukumaran, The Star Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has chosen his exco list - an all-female cast from PKR, three DAP men and four representatives from PAS. Unsurprisingly, PKR deputy president and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Azmin Ali was not on the list. Following his thinly-veiled attacks on Khalid and comments on Selangor not needing a "lame duck" MB, Azmin would never have been considered for a position close to what is PKR's seat of power - Selangor. But now that Azmin's ambitions of being MB have been thwarted, what next? The Gombak MP has never been subtle about his grabs for power - from spats with PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, to sly comments about Opposition leader and party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's "nepotism". The 48-year-old Azmin even has a separate Twitter account for his office - @AzminAliOffice is the Twitter handle for "Pejabat Timbalan Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat" (Office of the PKR Deputy President). Even Wan Azizah, who reluctantly leads the party, doesn't indulge in such demonstrations of "power". The new exco list is also devoid of Azmin's supporters, and word on the ground is that Azmin is rapidly losing them following his recent complaints and contrivances regarding the position of Selangor MB. "Before, maybe some of the new exco members would support him," said a source close to the MB. "But after Azmin showed his true colours in the MB appointment fiasco - to the extent of calling another leader a lame duck - I doubt any true reformist would want to be aligned with him anymore. He's a lost leader," he said. A PKR party insider said that now the real concern was that of party elections. Azmin has already begun his campaigning, claiming nepotism was at work within Selangor's political ranks and that PKR "does not belong to a family". This is a far cry from the Azmin of yesteryear, who would even risk jail for his boss. His loyalty took him to the extent of being convicted for lying in court during Anwar's trial. He was later acquitted. Azmin has been close to Anwar since the age of 23, serving as his special officer in 1987 when the Permatang Pauh MP was Education Minister. When Anwar was convicted of sodomy and corruption, Azmin was one of PKR's founding members. But now the gloves are off. The party insider is confident that Azmin's days are numbered, despite having Anwar's ear and commanding healthy respect from other PKR members like women's wing leader Zuraida Kamarudin. Azmin is a strong politician, and the obvious horse to back for his experience and ruthlessness. "Everyone knows Wan Azizah is a reluctant politician, and that Nurul Izzah fought very hard during the party elections in 2010. If there's any nepotism, it's between Anwar and his ex-staff when he was in government, like Penang's Mansor Othman (Nibong Tebal MP, Anwar's officer when he was deputy prime minister). "His time is coming to an end. There's a limit to everything, and he's pushing it by condemning the family."
Anwar has thrown his support firmly behind Khalid because supporting his man Azmin would anger the public. A source has said Anwar bowed to Khalid's wishes regarding the state exco line-up, even angering members of his own party who he had promised would be rewarded for their loyalty. But the former Umno politician trusted the wrong man, and now has to lie in the bed he made with Azmin.
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| ROS: Many DAP members did not get notice on national congress Posted: 30 May 2013 02:10 PM PDT
(Bernama) - Investigations by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) found that many DAP members who were eligible to attend its national congress on Dec 15 last year did not receive notice on it, said ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman. He said this was found after investigations were made on complaints by DAP members on not being given the notice. "DAP members who did not receive the notice were denied the right to vote and choose the leaders they wanted at the congress," Abdul Rahman said in a statement here yesterday. He said that the ROS would continue investigations on other issues raised by complainants, and go through all documents submitted before arriving at a decision on the validity of the congress based on the Societies Act 1966. The election of DAP's Central Executive Committee at the congress became an issue after complaints were lodged by various members that the party did not give notice on it to 753 delegates who were valid voters.
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| Reverse takeover of Scope will not benefit Matang shareholders, says firm Posted: 30 May 2013 02:04 PM PDT
(The Star) - Holding company Lau Chek Min Sdn Bhd, which is the second largest shareholder of Matang Holdings Bhd, is against the reverse takeover of Scope Industries Bhd by Matang. Chairman Lau Liang Fook, whose company owned 1.1% or 1.472,500 million shares in Matang, said it was against the exercise as the shareholders would be at the losing end. "This is because there are four main issues that need to be addressed by the Matang board of directors (BOD). "One is that if the reverse takeover is approved, RM200mil cash should be returned to the shareholders but BOD failed to explain to us if this will take place," he told The Star before the start of an extra-ordinary general meeting at the Grand Paragon Hotel here. The EGM is held to decide on the reverse takeover of Scope Industries Bhd by Matang Holdings. Lau added that another issue was that Matang was valued below market price at RM48mil while their own valuation found that the company is valued at RM200mil. "Matang shareholders are on the losing side because they do not get their value of investment in Matang. "We also have a problem with a term which states that Matang shareholders cannot dispose of their shares in the next four years if the takeover is approved whereas this ruling is not imposed on Scope shareholders," he said. He added that even though Matang would emerge as the major stakeholder after the takeover, only three Matang directors would be appointed on the new board whereas Scope, the minority shareholder, can appoint five directors. About 500 shareholders are attending the EGM under tight security. They were greeted upon arrival by a banner which reads "MCA please protect 19,982 minority shareholders. Our voices must be heard." Groups of shareholders we heard talking in loud angry tones while others did not mingle outside but walked straight into the hall to wait for the meeting to start.
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| Shareholders stop reverse takeover of Scope Industries Posted: 30 May 2013 02:01 PM PDT
(The Star) - The reverse takeover of Scope Industries Bhd by Matang Holdings Bhd has been called off after shareholders voted against the proposal. The proposal was tabled and passed by a majority of the shareholders who attended an extraordinary general meeting here on Friday. One of the shareholders, former MCA vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai (picture), said: "Their main concern is that no valuation is being done on Matang and the four years ruling which prevents them from disposing their shares. "Anything can happen in the next four years and we don't want to take any risks," he said. He added there could be a possible tender offer for Matang. "This depends on the results of a meeting which will be held by the Matang directors soon," he said.
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| Stop being a ‘BN apologist’, Paul Low told Posted: 30 May 2013 01:52 PM PDT
(TMI) - Minister Datuk Paul Low was today ticked off for being an "apologist" for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and told to provide solutions that ensure greater government transparency for the country's future. Days after being named to the Cabinet, the new minister in charge of integrity and corruption continues to draw flak for his defence of the BN government, the latest over the country's poor scores and low ranking in the 2013 Revenue Governance Index (RGI) published earlier this month by the New York-based Revenue Watch Institute (RWI), a non-profit organisation which monitors policies in resource-rich countries in addressing poverty, corruption and violent conflict. "We call upon Datuk Paul Low not to become an apologist for the BN administration. "He should study the RGI report in detail, review all criticisms and propose all necessary transparency reforms needed for the Petronas Development Act to make Malaysia a shining example of good governance in the world," said the DAP's Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin, in a statement. Low had reportedly said that Malaysia's weak result was because the disclosures of overseas agreements makes up a "big item" in the index, pointing out state oil firm Petronas must respect the host government's requests for non-disclosure while carrying out its operation abroad. Yeo, the DAP's social media strategist, lashed out at Low, noting the latter's excuse was contrary to the RGI report that evaluates a country's quality of governance in resources based on four areas and that Malaysia had scored zero in several checklists, highlighting that most were related to the disclosure of operations and business activities within Malaysia. Yeo reminded the minister that Petronas was not the only state oil company with operations overseas, listing as an example Brazil's Petrobras which, she said, has operations in 24 countries, nearly similar to Petronas' operations in 22 nations. She pointed too that Brazil was like Malaysia, an emerging market in the world economy but the Latin American country had managed to rank 5th globally. "We do not expect Datuk Paul Low to be responsible for the past mistakes done by the BN government. "We do expect him to give solutions for greater transparency for the future," the Selangor state lawmaker said.
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| Election Commission: Indelible ink reports can’t change GE13 Posted: 30 May 2013 10:51 AM PDT
(The Star) - The Election Commission (EC) said police reports on the indelible ink would not be enough to dispute the results of the 13th general election, as the ink was only an additional element to the electoral process. EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar was responding to Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's police report on the indelible ink, made over three weeks after polling day on May 5. "He continues to harp on the indelible ink issue because Pakatan Rakyat is running out of ideas. "Pakatan's allegation that over 45,000 Bangladeshis were phantom voters has become a laughing stock because it does not make sense at all," Wan Ahmad said as reported by news portal, The Mole. He also described the allegation as "grasping at straws", adding that there had not been a single report to justify the claims. "Anwar made a police report and ordered his supporters to do the same simply because they wanted to ensure their petition would be supported by a strong cause. "The EC admits that there were cases in some areas that our workers had some problem with the ink. But as we said so many times, indelible ink was used as an added element to prevent multiple voting," he said. Wan Ahmad also said there was no way for voters to cast their ballot twice as their name would be checked and crossed by EC staff and political party agents. The EC has also reportedly set up a special task force to investigate the different quality of the indelible ink. "When we tested the sample, the quality was good. But things were different during polling day. So we will investigate this matter," Wan Ahmad said. At a rally last week, Opposition speakers had demanded re-election in constituencies where they claimed cheating had occurred on polling day, calling for EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and his team to resign. In response, Wan Ahmad said they had done their duty in accordance with the law, and even if they were willing to step down, the new faces would be subject to the same laws.
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