Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- ‘Rosmah, Dr M should stay out of politics’
- Penang PKR’s municipal councillor quits party
- DAP feud has PAS worried
- New Reality Voters Will Determine 13 General Election Outcome - Saifuddin
- DAP stay silent on hudud challenge
- Dr M against general offer for Proton
- After Umno attacks, Pakatan says must assuage ‘Malay fears’
- Dr M: Just say sorry, Ramasamy
| ‘Rosmah, Dr M should stay out of politics’ Posted: 13 Dec 2011 03:43 PM PST The Kita president says the former premier should realise his time in politics is over. (Free Malaysia Today) - Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not meddle in politics, said Kita chief Zaid Ibrahim. "Mahathir, now that he has retired, should stay out of politics. Once your time is over, it is over," Zaid said in response to a question at a forum entitled "13th General Election: Whose Vote Decides?" organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday. A polling agent raised the question of Rosmah's influence on her husband and if it may contribute to BN faring badly in the upcoming general election. The other speakers were Deputy Higher Education Minister and Umno supreme council member Saifuddin Abdullah, Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Universiti Malaya media studies senior lecturer Abu Hassan Hasbullah. Saifuddin came to the government's defence and dismissed the notion of Rosmah's influence on her husband and in the politics of the day. He cited the amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act, the government's transformation programmes and the repeal of the ISA as examples of how Najib acted independently without anyone's influence. Rosmah has been in the news for her alleged exhorbitant and extravagant spending since Najib came into power in April 2009. Abu Hassan weighed in by calling voters to reject individuals who misuse public funds. "Irrespective of whether they are wives or children of ministers, if they misuse public funds, they must be rejected," he said. The panellists, however, had different opinions on which group would be an influential force to decide on the fate of the next government. New reality voters Zaid said that the Malay votes would be a crucial factor. "They will determine the outcome as they are the biggest group. "The Malays would only be able to be a strong voter bloc if they were willing to reject the corrupt culture perpertrated by Umno whom he referred to as the 'biggest Malay party'."
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| Penang PKR’s municipal councillor quits party Posted: 13 Dec 2011 12:16 PM PST (The Star) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat member Lim Boo Chang announced he had resigned from the party and Penang Municipal Council councillor post Wednesday. According to him, he had tendered his resignation letters to the council and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail. Lim expressed his interest in returning to Gerakan. Lim, a Bukit Gelugor PKR chairman, is a familiar face in Penang politics for over 25 years. He joined PKR in June 2008. He was a former national Gerakan Youth chief and vice-president in the 1990s. He quit the party shortly after the 1999 polls when he successfully defended the Datuk Keramat state seat in Penang. About three weeks after his resignation, the two-term assemblyman joined MCA where he stayed for eight years. He was suspended from the MCA along with then Jawi assemblywoman Tan Cheng Liang in 2002 when the duo abstained from voting against a DAP-tabled motion during an assembly sitting. He resigned from MCA in early June 2008 and joined PKR.
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| Posted: 13 Dec 2011 09:56 AM PST (The Star) - Penang PAS is disturbed over the ongoing spat between DAP chairman Karpal Singh and his deputy secretary-general Dr P. Ramasamy. If this open-ended conflict worsens, it may impact the political support for the Pakatan Rakyat alliance, said state PAS deputy commissioner III Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa. Although PAS regards the issue as an internal matter of DAP, but as a Pakatan partner, it cannot help but feel concerned over what has transpired, Dr Mujahid, who is the Parit Buntar MP, said in an interview. "I am a nobody to advise the likes of Karpal, a veteran Opposition figure, or Dr Ramasamy, our Deputy Chief Minister II here. However, PAS hopes the matter can be resolved fast." Every political party that practises democracy could face conflicts and misunderstandings but what is important, is how the party resolves them, said Dr Mujahid. Penang Barisan Nasional secretary Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said that party leaders who espoused democracy should be able to stomach and not take offence to such trivial remarks as 'warlords' and 'godfathers'. "This is the impression that is formed by the public when they witnessed how the DAP leaders bickered among themselves during the Penang DAP convention (last Sunday)," said Dr Hilmi. Asked whether the perceived internal rift among the DAP leaders would give Barisan an advantage in the next general election, Dr Hilmi replied that it was still up to the voters to make their choice. "I am sure that they are wise enough to decide who they want to run the state government."
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| New Reality Voters Will Determine 13 General Election Outcome - Saifuddin Posted: 13 Dec 2011 08:24 AM PST (Bernama) -- Umno supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah has opined that the kingmakers in the 13th general election would be the group of "new reality voters". Saifuddin, who is also Deputy Higher Education Minister, claimed neither the Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat comprising the DAP, PAS dan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) had enough support to form the next government and were equally dependent on the group to give them the score.
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| DAP stay silent on hudud challenge Posted: 13 Dec 2011 08:07 AM PST (The Star) - HUDUD was brought up several times during the sitting with two MCA representatives challenging their DAP counterparts to make their stand clear. The issue was brought up by Dr Sheikh Ibrahim (PAS Sungai Abong), who said there was no harm in hudud. "When parties like the MCA belittle hudud law, they also belittle Islam," he said and was immediately interrupted by Datuk Tee Siew Kiong (BN Pulai Sebatang) who challenged DAP representatives to state their stand. "I guess DAP agrees with what PAS wants and that is why they are just keeping quiet," he said. Dr Lee Hong Tee (BN Jementah) also challenged DAP to make a stand on the matter. "Tell the people. Do you support PAS' hudud law or not?" Tee asked. He was interrupted by Dr Boo Cheng Hou (DAP Skudai) who started quoting from Buku Jingga. Dr Sheikh also said that only those who stole or were involved in bribes were scared of hudud. Tee, however, said the MCA was not afraid of hudud but added the Federal Constitution was sufficient and no additional law was needed. Meanwhile, at a press conference, the MCA backbenchers club again reiterated that DAP was just brushing aside the issue. "We need a concrete answer from them so that the people are not confused," said club chairman Datuk Ng See Tiong (BN Parit Yaani). He also urged the Opposition to stop harping on the same issues, including their statements on the state going bankrupt by March next year due to financial mismanagement. "I pose a challenge to him (Dr Boo). If the state goes bankrupt by midnight, March 12, I will resign. If it doesn't, he should resign," said Ng. He said Dr Boo should also apologise to karaoke singers in the state who were upset after he made a statement on Monday through a poem claiming they were liars.
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| Dr M against general offer for Proton Posted: 13 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Khazanah Nasional should not sell its entire stake in Proton as this would trigger a mandatory general offer and affect the potential buyer's ability to turn the national carmaker around, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. "I'm not okay with it... (because) the cost will be very high for whoever buys," the Proton advisor told reporters at the Palace of the Golden Horses today. "And when the cost is very high, turning it around becomes very difficult because whoever buys it will have to inject more money into Proton, maybe inject another RM2 billion." This high initial capital expenditure may affect Proton's revival plans in the long term unless the buyer was "very strong" financially and could manage spending well, Dr Mahathir pointed out. "I don't want Proton to be hurt. I don't care if others are hurt but not Proton," he stressed. The former prime minister added he did not favour any particular buyer, but said he would like the company with "the biggest amount of money" to purchase Khazanah's stake in Proton. "At the moment, Proton cannot make progress, introduce new vehicles and all that because of shortage of funds," he said.
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| After Umno attacks, Pakatan says must assuage ‘Malay fears’ Posted: 13 Dec 2011 07:57 AM PST (The Malaysian Insider) - Admitting that Umno's attacks can affect the opposition's Malay support base, Pakatan Rakyat leaders (PR) have said they will focus on alleviating fears that the dominant community's rights would be at risk under their rule. Top PR leaders who spoke to The Malaysian Insider said more needed to be done to create awareness among the Malays on how the pact's four states implemented policies that "empowered" the community, as well as a guarantee the community would not be sidelined. Umno intensified its attacks against the opposition two weeks ago through its general assembly that saw delegates and leaders accusing PR of being anti-Malay and Islam. "Umno is reverting back its age old policy of Malay agenda which has enabled it to maintain its traditional support base in the past. But Pakatan has not done enough to alleviate these Malay fears, despite how untruthful it is," Nurul Izzah Anwar told The Malaysian Insider. "Our message needs to be carefully catered to address Malay fears stemming from the use of politics of fear and race that the Umno-BN is currently using against us." The PKR vice-president said Malay support for PR has been noticeably affected since Umno's renewed attacks, and that PR's ceramah circuit was a way they could counter the "baseless" accusations. "Pakatan has policies, like in Penang for example, where 70 per cent of contracts go to deserving Bumiputera contractors based on an open tender system. We have these policies implemented but we need to address them, keep repeating it and remind people during ceramahs, perhaps through leaflets. "More often than not, politics is about perception," she said. One of the most common misconceived notions about PR, said Nurul Izzah, was that Malay rights and privileges would be in jeopardy should they take over Putrajaya. "We reiterate our commitment to defending the Articles spelled out in the Federal Constitution, including maintaining and protecting the special position of the Malays... I believe the policies enshrined in our Common Policy Framework (CPF) address the problems faced by many Malaysians, especially focusing on alleviating the poor — most of whom include Malays. "Steps proposed such as minimum wage legislation, focusing on and strengthening vocational and technical institutions, as well as returning the independence of various institutions to ensure we tackle graft, corruption and abuse of power accordingly, are crucial in changing current economic conditions and improving the overall welfare of the rakyat — Malays included," said the Lembah Pantai MP. She said this issue was an "on-going agenda" but became more important in light of the upcoming election. PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution agreed, saying coalition is already taking steps to counter Umno's claims.
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| Dr M: Just say sorry, Ramasamy Posted: 13 Dec 2011 07:39 AM PST All Karpal is asking for is an apology, the former Umno boss said. (Free Malaysia Today) - In a strange twist of events, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad advised DAP leader P Ramasamy to apologise to his chief, Karpal Singh. Referring to Karpal as "the godfather of DAP", the former Umno president wondered if the spat between the two DAP men was nothing more than political drama. "I don't know if it is not sandiwara (drama), but we all know that the godfather of the DAP is Karpal Singh." "Everybody knows that Karpal is the godfather, and you have to be nice to him. If you insult him, you must apologise," he told reporters at a press conference. He said this after officiating at the Sailing the Sand of Sahara event at the Palace of the Golden Horses. Mahathir was referring to the ongoing spat between DAP deputy secretary-general Ramasamy and DAP chairman Karpal. Ramasamy was first thrust into the spotlight for reportedly making a premature announcement on Nov 28 about the party's Indian candidates in the coming general election. Karpal then accused Ramasamy of acting like a party warlord by promising seats to DAP candidates of his choice. Annoyed, Ramasamy said that the party needed to get rid of its godfathers, apparently referring to Karpal.
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