Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Pakatan now ready to form federal govt, says Anwar
- Name non-Malay PM, MCA Youth dares PKR
- Guan Eng says ‘political reality’ to have Malay PM
- PKR Youth chief slammed over ‘only Malays for PM’ remarks
- Group protests against Assembly Bill
- ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ goes against principles: Chandra
- Opposition cause of poor racial ties, says Chua
| Pakatan now ready to form federal govt, says Anwar Posted: 27 Nov 2011 06:10 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Pakatan Rakyat was now ready to form the federal government after helming five states following the landmark 2008 election. He said that if the electoral pact had taken Putrajaya three years ago "we may have been careless" but governing the states it won three years ago provided a "training ground" for the fledgling coalition. "The party has struggled and suffered not one or two years, but over 10 years. If in 1999 we had won, we were not ready," the PKR de facto leader said of the election that followed immediately after his sacking as deputy prime minister. "In 2008, it was our first test to form state government. If we had formed federal government, we may have been careless. It is a training ground. "We cleaned out the defectors, the dirty things from the party," he added, referring to the six MPs and five assemblymen who have left PKR since the 12th General Elections. Two assemblymen who left PKR in February 2009 had caused the fall of PR's Perak administration. Anwar said that three years ago, the party had "no strength in Sarawak... Sabah was a mess."
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| Name non-Malay PM, MCA Youth dares PKR Posted: 26 Nov 2011 04:35 PM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - MCA Youth today dared PKR to name a non-Malay candidate for prime minister, turning the tables on the opposition party's previous challenge for Umno to guarantee a Malay premier. "The fact that PKR and DAP constantly portray themselves as so-called multi-racial parties is a joke, as it is evident that both parties are still very much operating based on race," MCA Youth vice-chairman Yoo Wei How said in a statement today. "This is obvious when PKR said that Anwar (Ibrahim) would be the prime minister and Lim Kit Siang as the deputy prime minister." He said by making race a consideration when choosing holders of top positions, the two parties were being racist. PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had dared Umno to amend the Federal Constitution to state that the prime minister must be Malay because "history shows Umno is willing to sell out everything." Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, however, moved to clarify yesterday that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would not support any move by Umno to amend the Constitution to guarantee a Malay prime minister. The PKR de facto leader explained that his party youth wing's challenge Umno to do so was merely a part of PKR's "strategy" and was neither a "Keadilan nor Pakatan Rakyat stand." Today, Yoo pointed out that the PKR national leadership consists mostly of Malays, while DAP sported a mainly Chinese line-up. "If PKR and DAP are really indeed multi-racial political parties, why not announce PKR information chief Tian Chua as their candidate for prime minister with DAP national chairman Karpal Singh as the deputy prime minister?" Yoo asked. "Therefore, it is a lie that these two parties are multi-racial as claimed and they are in fact deceiving the people simply in order to gain the votes so that they can take over the federal government," he added. Umno has repeatedly accused Pakatan Rakyat (PR) of selling out the Malays to Chinese and foreign interests, insisting that the country's largest ethnic group can only be protected if Barisan Nasional (BN) remains in power.
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| Guan Eng says ‘political reality’ to have Malay PM Posted: 26 Nov 2011 04:34 PM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Lim Guan Eng rubbished talk today of amending the Constitution to guarantee a Malay prime minister, claiming Malaysians have accepted the "political reality" that the post "must" be given to the country's largest ethnic community. He said suggesting such amendments was "racist and superfluous" as it treated non-Malays as if they were second-class citizens. "No non-Malay political leader has even talked about wanting to be prime minister because Malaysians accept the political reality that the prime minister of Malaysia must come from the Malay community," he said in a statement here. On Friday, PKR Youth challenged Umno to amend the Constitution to guarantee a Malay prime minister but Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim later clarified that this was neither his party's stand nor that of Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Lim (picture) pointed out that the highest political posts now available to non-Malays were ministers and the Penang chief minister's position, which he now holds. But the DAP secretary-general said that although the Malays dominated top leadership posts, including positions in the civil service, police and army, his party and the Penang government had never threatened to usurp power from the community. "DAP has never carried out such a campaign because DAP considers all Malays as Malaysians who have an equal right as any other Malaysian to be in these sectors," he said. "This is evident in the open tender system where 70 per cent of Penang government contracts are won by Malays, proving the Malay contractors are competitive; only Umno crony contractors are useless," he said. Lim also recalled Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's controversial "Malay first and Malaysian second" declaration last year, saying it showed that "1 Malaysia" was an empty slogan designed to win votes. Lim claimed the slogan would be rapidly discarded after the next general elections. "What is surprising is that Muhyiddin does not consider illogical or inconsistent with pursuing a strictly racial Malay agenda with the agenda of other non-Malay Malaysians," Lim said, adding that the deputy prime minister "even pursues DAP leaders are Chinese chauvinists even though DAP has fought for all Malaysians". "DAP is no threat to Malays. Only Umno is a threat to Malays and Malaysians with its open acceptance and defence of repressive violation of basic human rights, corruption and abuse of power."
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| PKR Youth chief slammed over ‘only Malays for PM’ remarks Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:59 PM PST (The Star) - The PKR Youth chief has been roundly criticised for his challenge to Umno to amend the Federal Constitution to ensure only Malays can be prime minister. MCA Youth secretary-general Datuk Chai Kim Sen said Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin's call would undermine national development and unity. "In a multi-cultural country like Malaysia, Shamsul's remarks will cause racial prejudice to spread,'' said Chai in a statement. Shamsul Iskandar had made the challenge at the PKR Youth Congress in Johor on Friday. He said Umno should do this to prove its claim of being a party that championed Malay rights. Shamsul claimed the challenge was not aimed at stirring racist sentiments but was about justice. Asked if PKR would amend the constitution, Shamsul said it was only a challenge to Umno and PKR was comfortable with the current constitution. Chai said both the ruling and opposition coalitions should be responsible in ensuring racial harmony and social stability. "Although they are not yet in charge of the Federal Government, they are already making racial statements. "I feel Shamsul just wants to grab this opportunity to appear as a hero in the media," he added. Chai also urged Pakatan Rakyat leaders to take a collective stand on Shamsul's statement. "Will any disciplinary action be taken or will the issue be swept under the carpet like always?'' asked Chai. DAP Rasah MP Anthony Loke said Shamsul's statement was unnecessary. "I don't agree with it because it reflects negatively on Pakatan Rakyat," he said, adding it was a political reality that a Malay is PM. Loke also said Malays were not in danger of losing their political power as they were the majority. "We accept this fact and to ask for the Federal Constitution to put in such a criteria is not progressive,'' he added. Loke's party colleague Jenice Lee also tweeted her dissatisfaction with Shamsul Iskandar's statement. Lee said she was disgusted with the youth leader's statement. "We are all Malaysians!'' retorted the Teratai assemblyman.
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| Group protests against Assembly Bill Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:57 PM PST (The Star) - A group gathered at KLCC park to protest the proposed Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011. Dressed in yellow and carrying yellow balloons, the group assembled at the park at about 2pm yesterday and chanted slogans against the proposed Bill. They were told to disperse by the police and KLCC security personnel at about 2.45pm.  Peaceful demo: The group protesting at KLCC park yesterday. Also present were Klang DAP MP Charles Santiago and Segambut DAP MP Lim Lip Eng. Campaign organiser Wong Chin Huat deemed the Bill unconstitutional. "We are here to illustrate that we as Malaysians can gather peacefully without disrupting public order," he said. On whether the amendments to reduce the advance notice period from 30 days to 10 days was acceptable, Wong said it was not. "There are countries where organisers only need to give notice to the police a day before a gathering. An acceptable period should be one or two days," he added. Meanwhile, a group of people gathered at Dataran Merdeka for a candlelight vigil at about 8pm. They marched to the Bar Council about 200m away and dispersed 30 minutes later.
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| ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ goes against principles: Chandra Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:50 PM PST (The Star) - The concept of "Malaysian Malaysia" goes against the principles of moderation, 1Malaysia Foundation chairman Prof Dr Chandra Muzaffar said. Dr Chandra said some of today's politicians were still promoting the concept which was mooted by former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew back in 1964.  Personal touch: Muhyiddin handing over a gift to Dr Chandra during the launch of the 'Understanding of Wasatiyyah and 1Malaysia' seminar at Putra World Trade Centre yesterday. "The Malaysian Malaysia idea is a concept that is unfair and it goes against the principles of wasatiyyah, or moderation," said Dr Chandra, when speaking at the "Understanding of Wasatiyyah and 1Malaysia" seminar at PWTC here yesterday. The seminar was organised by Umno in conjunction with its general assembly next week. He said the concept rejected and denied the basic rights of Malays and bumiputras in Sabah and Sarawak, as provided for in the Federal Constitution. He also warned the 500-strong audience, mostly delegates of the coming Umno general assembly, of politicians who were prepared to go against the Federal Constitution just to please people of certain races so that they could win votes. He said the concept of a middle ground, which was often likened to the concept of wasatiyyah, should not be confused for allowing mismanagement and bribery provided it did not involve large sums of money. "This concept cannot be abused to allow practices that are clearly prohibited by the religion. This concept makes it clear what is right and what is wrong," he added. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, when closing the seminar, said Malaysia had remained peaceful because the majority of the people believed in the moderate approach in their daily lives rather than being extreme when practising their culture and religion. This, coupled with good understanding of the culture and religion of others, had ensured that the people continued to enjoy progress and lived in harmony, he said. "Through wasatiyyah, we have learned to think and act wisely without being extreme, too rigid or overly liberal. We are taught not to be a fanatic or to be so obsessed that we close our minds to other views, thoughts and opinions," he said. Explaining the concept of wasatiyyah in the Government system, Muhyiddin who is also Umno deputy president, said it had helped spur development in an effective manner because the people's wellbeing was always top priority when implementing policies.
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| Opposition cause of poor racial ties, says Chua Posted: 26 Nov 2011 10:12 AM PST (The Star) - KLANG: Racial harmony in the country has gone downhill since the 2008 general election, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. Blaming Pakatan Rakyat politicians for the cause of the declining goodwill among the people, he said the Opposition continued to politicise issues regarding race and religion even after gaining control of several states. "What we have seen since the last general election is non-stop politicking from the Opposition. "They use every opportunity to turn everything into racial and religious issues. "There's no denying the relationship among Malaysians of different backgrounds since March 8, 2008 is not as good as before. "There's a lot of suspicion towards each other. This is unhealthy and uncalled for," Dr Chua told a crowd of devotees at the Kuan Tian Kheng temple anniversary celebration in Pandamaran, near here, last night. Singling out PAS, he said the party tended to politicise religious issues. He also said the Pakatan parties were not being truthful when they said hudud law would not affect non-Muslims. "A PAS leader has said they would shut down the Genting Highlands resort because of its gambling outlet. "If that happens, thousands – including non-Muslims – will lose their jobs. "Who said it won't affect them?" Dr Chua asked, adding that DAP had kept silent on this matter. He said religious freedom was a fragile thing and every section of society must do their part to protect it. "The government of the day must practise moderation and the rakyat must practise tolerance and acceptance," he said. |
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