Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- No free ride for Najib in Sabah
- Pakatan Rakyat: A new kind of opposition in Malaysia
- Courts sending out mixed signals over statutory rape
- Corbett Report Radio 205 – Spotlight: Malaysia with Nile Bowie
- Did Taib ‘surrender’ oil right to BN?
- Weary nation keeps guessing
- Political heat to rise further
- Not a sweet dream but a nightmare
- Will SNAP ‘succeed’ SPDP in BN?
| No free ride for Najib in Sabah Posted: 31 Aug 2012 03:45 PM PDT It has now become a trend where every time Najib comes to Sabah, Pakatan top leaders will also be around town at the same time. Luke Rintod, FMT KOTA KINABALU: If the number of Peninsular Malaysia VIPs heading to Sabah today is any indication, the state holds a major trump card going into the impending general election that has to be called by mid next year. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak arrives in the state today, but Pakatan Rakyat top guns are hot on his heels and they will also be here from this weekend until mid-September to put a damper on his party and raise the stakes on what Sabah leaders can demand in return for support. As Najib touches down in Sandakan for a two-day visit, PAS president, Hadi Awang, is scheduled to grace Sabah's Pakatan Rakyat Aidilfitri celebration at Sulaman Central not far from Kota Kinabalu. Sabah Pakatan liaison chief, Ahmad Thamrin Jaini, when contacted, said Hadi is also scheduled to be at a Himpunan Hijau gathering in Beaufort, later this evening. Beaufort is supposedly the bastion of Lajim Ukin who left Umno recently to align himself with Pakatan. According to Thamrin, Sabah Pakatan would also be holding a Malaysia Day Celebration on Sept 15 where PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim would be present to deliver a speech together with DAP's Lim Kit Siang and other Pakatan leaders. Though general election is not due until April next year, these Peninsular-based warlords had off late increasingly made Sabah their priority as the state, which has 25 parliamentarians out of a total 222, could well tilt the equation at the federal level after the election. It has now become a trend where every time Najib, who is also Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president, comes to Sabah, Pakatan top leaders would also be around town at the same time, grabbing attention from Sabahan electorates. Meanwhile, a FMT survey found out that giant billboards costing thousands of ringgit featuring pictures of Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have sprouted along the 75km-road from the state capital to Kota Belud where the couple are expected to attend a Hari Raya do on Sunday.
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| Pakatan Rakyat: A new kind of opposition in Malaysia Posted: 30 Aug 2012 02:26 PM PDT
Keith Leong, The Malaysian Insider Malaysia's next general election — when it occurs — will be the most intensely-fought in the federation's history. There has been much speculation if and how the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition — comprising Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's PKR, the long-standing DAP and the Islamist PAS — also arguably the most successful and long-lasting in Malaysia's history will be able to hold on to and indeed improve on the historic gains it won in the 2008 elections. In my recently-published book "The Future of Pakatan Rakyat: Lessons from Selangor", I argue that changes in Malaysia's political landscape and the opposition parties themselves mean that a united and coherent opposition is possible in Malaysia and that — whatever happens in the next general election — Pakatan Rakyat has provided a template for a style of politics outside of the parameters set by the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. Opposition pacts in Malaysia — including the Gagasan Rakyat and Barisan Alternatif opposition alliances cobbled together to fight the 1992 and 1999 general elections — often collapsed soon after despite making some gains. As James V. Jesudason argued very persuasively in his chapter "The Syncretic State and the Structuring of Oppositional Politics in Malaysia" in Garry Rodan's seminal "Political Oppositions in Industrialising Asia" (1996), this was due to the "syncretic" nature of the Malaysian state. He defined Malaysia's "syncretic state" as "a product of a particular historical-structural configuration that has allowed the power holders to combine a broad array of economic, ideological, and coercive elements in managing the society, including limiting the effectiveness of the opposition as a democratising force." To my mind, this means that successive BN administrations continued the colonial British practice of "divide and rule", whereby the various ethnic groups in Malaysia were kept apart politically, economically and socially. Whereas this was used by the imperial power to justify its presence, as a "honest broker" between the various races, it has been adapted by the BN to argue that its continuance in office as essential to maintain harmony between Malaysia's ethnic groups, whose interests at times seem irreconcilable. BN's success can be attributed to their forging a syncretism in their style of government that was able to straddle these competing interests. They were able to squelch dissent by simultaneously using coercion such as the application of the now-dead and unlamented Internal Security Act (ISA) but also selectively co-opting oppositional groups like absorbing the opposition Gerakan in 1969. BN's hold on power was also helped by the inability of Malaysia's opposition parties to come up with coherent alternatives to BN's syncretic state. First, because parties like the DAP, PAS and S46 were themselves largely composed along Malaysia's ethno-religious lines, they could be portrayed as "extreme" in these matters compared to BN. PAS's heartland was and is Malaysia's rural Malay-Muslim communities, while S46 appealed to their urban counterparts. The DAP, whilst theoretically multiracial, was and is largely Chinese or Indian in composition. This meant that they could never command as large a vote bank as BN, whose emphasis on economic development and political stability had cross-ethnic appeal. With the power of state patronage behind it, BN could effectively outbid all three parties in addressing ethnic aspirations, depicting itself as looking after the interests of all races. Furthermore, the opposition's very different ideologies meant that it was very difficult to form permanent alliances between them. As we know, two previous attempts to form an alliance, the Gagasan Rakyat and Barisan Alternatif, eventually collapsed after PAS and the DAP were unable to agree with the former's quest to create an "Islamic state" in Malaysia. Jesudason argued that Malaysia's opposition parties tend to withdraw to their own ethnic constituencies to shore up support after brief attempts at co-operation. The very fact that Malaysia's oppositional parties are primarily ethnic parties reinforces the notion of the syncretic state. Jesudason accused Malaysia's opposition parties of doing nothing to close the ethnic cleavages that perpetuate BN's rule by championing ethnic-based platforms. This in turn renders them vulnerable to BN's practice of coercion and co-option. For instance, opposition leaders who question Malaysia's constitutional settlements can be silenced via the various security laws. Conversely, the ruling regime can then win over Malaysians who may feel threatened by the perceived "extremism" of the opposition, for instance, non-Malays wary of PAS's political Islam or Malays worried about the DAP's vision of a "Malaysian Malaysia". These factors, along with what Jesudason called the "enfeeblement" of class politics in Malaysia (i.e., the perceived pliancy of its middle class), have conspired to prevent broad-based and permanent oppositional alliances against Barisan and perpetuated its power. Subsequent events however have suggested however that Barisan's "syncretic state" is breaking down. As Jesudason himself hypothesised but thought unlikely, Barisan's hold on power would continue as long as its Umno lynchpin was able to remain united, it's governments able to manage Malaysia's complex ethno-religious identities, as well as provide continued economic growth. The record will show, however, that all of these contingencies have come to pass: Umno's unity was shattered (the sacking of Anwar and the spat between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), it lost its ability to deal effectively with Malaysia's communal relations (the Hindu temple demolitions in Selangor, as well as the race-baiting against the Chinese Malaysian community by certain Umno leaders) as well as the loss of performance legitimacy regarding the economy (the Asian financial crisis of 1998 and the subsequent, numerous corruption scandals). The rise of the social media also meant that BN could not present selective messages, at least to Malaysia's urban middle class, as effectively as it had in the past. Reformist elements in the opposition, on the other hand, spent the years after their drubbing in the 2004 general election regrouping and rebuilding. The release of Anwar in 2004 and his recommitting of the PKR to a multiracial, "Ketuanan Rakyat" brand of politics gave the opposition a bridge that could unite both its secular and Islamist elements. Anwar's adoption of ketuanan rakyat was also a turning point as it presented Malaysians with a Malay leader who had a vision for the country's future that all communities could equally accept. The DAP too has and continues to make an effort to recruit not only technocrats (such as businessmen like Tony Pua and, more recently, academics like Ong Kian Ming), but also to try and shed perceptions that it is a "Chinese chauvinist" party and reach out to the Malay community. It has launched Roketkini, a Malay-language online news portal, as a companion to its already multilingual Rocket organ and has promised to field more Malay candidates in the next election. It is too early to tell if the Malay community will embrace these initiatives, but the unease by which they have been greeted by Umno suggests that it may not be completely futile. PAS, too, has undergone remarkable changes. Whilst it's harping on the Islamic state and imposition of the hudud laws did much to turn off non-Muslim voters in the past, its setting forth of its "Caring Nation" agenda which emphasises its interpretations of Islamic notions of democracy, good governance and development suggests that it is attempting to present an more universalistic, or at least nuanced version of its struggle. Furthermore, the fact that it's technocratic (i.e. lay, non-ulama) "Erdogan" fact triumphed in its 2011 party polls and are now clearly driving the party also indicates that it is more responsive to the social changes in Malay society, which is rapidly urbanising and becoming more complex.
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| Courts sending out mixed signals over statutory rape Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:36 PM PDT
The Star NOW that their trials are over, former national youth squad bowler Noor Afizal Azizan can go on to fulfil the promise of his bright future and electrician Chuah Guan Jiu can focus on his fixed job and many years ahead. Through it all, no one spoke of the 13-year-old girl Noor Afizal took to a hotel to spend the night with, or the 12-year-old schoolgirl who was "coaxed" to go to her 21-year-old electrician boyfriend's flat instead of to school because he said he was too sick to take her. These were prepubescent girls who were deemed to have consented to sex with the older boys they were dating and Court of Appeal president Justice Raus Sharif wrote in his written judgment that Noor Afizal had not "tricked the girl into submitting to him". In the electrician's case, Sessions judge Sitarun Nisa Abdul Aziz also thought the "sexual act was consensual", even though DPP Lim Cheah Yit recounted how the girl had repeatedly asked Chuah to take her to school. If she did give consent, there was certainly trickery and fraud involved. The fact remains that the girls were 12 and 13, children barely out of primary school. They are not old enough to be able to legally buy cigarettes, or even obtain medical treatment if they had contracted sexual transmitted diseases. The law on statutory rape was meant to protect these very girls. Section 375(g) of the Penal Code states unequivocally that a man has committed statutory rape if he has sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years of age, with or without her consent. It is rooted in the presumption that girls below 16 have not attained the mental maturity to consent to sex, and this law was enacted to protect children from abuse. It places the onus on those around her to not have sexual intercourse with her, even if she gives consent, because she is not deemed mature enough to give consent. In other words, the older guys should have known better. Noor Afizal and Chuah were found guilty of raping the underaged girls, but were not jailed. They were bound over for five years and three years respectively on a RM25,000 good behaviour bond. The public uproar has been over how these young men got away with a slap on the wrist, and how the emphasis has been on not blighting their future. Our teenagers are growing up inundated with overt sexual messages from the media and the Internet, without the benefit of a full-fledged sex education curriculum, or avenues to get answers. Clearly, our young people are having sex with each other but there is a line drawn by the law. And that is sex with girls below 16 children is off limits, even to their peers. By letting Noor Afizal and Chuah off lightly, are the courts sending out mixed signals? Are they saying these two girls aged 12 and 13 are capable of giving consent for sex, and are they saying future good behaviour is sufficient punishment for having sex with minors? What is the message that teenage boys and younger men are getting? At the root of it all, this is about protecting our children boys and girls. A 12-year-old girl was lured by a man twice her age into his flat, and coaxed into having sex with him, and he got away with a promise to behave himself for the next three years. Where does that leave her? What about her worth? What are we doing for these two girls? How do we protect other naive young girls from being sweet-talked by an older teen into a sexual relationship if he knows he could be found guilty of statutory rape but walk away with a promise to behave? If we do not uphold unequivocally our intolerance of sex with underaged girls, what does that say about us?
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| Corbett Report Radio 205 – Spotlight: Malaysia with Nile Bowie Posted: 29 Aug 2012 12:59 PM PDT
(The Corbett Report) - We are keeping an eye on the different politics in Malaysia specifically the nefarious activities to prop up the opposition. Tonight we talk to Nile Bowie of NileBowie.blogspot.com about the latest developments in Malaysia. From the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the foreign-funded political opposition to the latest activities in the South-China Sea, we explore the stories that are making news across the country and around the Asia-Pacific region. We are keeping an eye on the different politics in Malaysia specifically the nefarious activities to prop up the opposition. Listen or watch the video at: http://www.corbettreport.com/corbett-report-radio-205-spotlight-malaysia-with-nile-bowie/ |
| Did Taib ‘surrender’ oil right to BN? Posted: 28 Aug 2012 02:55 PM PDT Taib Mahmud was the federal-level Primary Industries Minister in charge of oil and gas when the Petroleum Development Act 1974 was passed by Parliament. Free Malaysia Today KUCHING: Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's turnaround on the oil royalty issue after 31 years in power and the fact that he preferred "private" and "amicable discussions" with the federal government have raised more questions. Uppermost on the list is whether Taib and his predecessor and uncle, Abdul Rahman Yakub, had knowingly "surrendered" Sarawak's rights over oil and gas to the federal government. Sarawakians who have read Taib's biography – "A Soul You Can See" – written by Douglas Bullis and who remember their history, would recall that Taib was the federal-level Primary Industries Minister who was in charge of the nation's oil and gas resources. This being the case, was Taib responsible for the lopsided oil agreement and the Petroleum Development Act passed in Parliament in 1974? The Act was passed following a confrontation between Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and oil companies over oil price policies in 1973. Expounding on the 1973 "crisis", Taib was quoted by Bullis as saying: "By 1973 I realised Malaysia and the oil companies were headed for a confrontation over their purchase price policies. "There was too much take and too little give, and Malaysia's people have an ethic based on balance," Taib had said in page 88 of the book. "Eventually I came up with the idea that we should base Malaysia's oil concession policy on shared production agreements. "Naturally I was snubbed by oil companies who claimed the Malaysian government was moving towards nationalisation." Taib's silence Bullis said that it was obvious that Malaysia's post-1974 policy on taking control of Malaysia's petroleum interests from oil companies was largely Taib's works. It is well known in Sabah that its then chief minister Mustapha Harun and his successor Fuad (Donald) Stephens refused to sign the oil agreement giving 5% of oil royalty to Sabah, but Sarawak under Abdul Rahman was said to be "too willing" and signed the agreement. But the question is: Did the nephew and the uncle "surrender" Sarawak's rights over oil and gas to the federal government in order to please the then prime minister Abdul Razak in return for political and financial support? Sarawak was at that time in turmoil following the sacking of its chief minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan in 1966. At the time there were incessant allegations by the Parti Pesaka anak Sarawak president Temenggong Jugah anak Barieng that the Ibans were shabbily treated by Abdul Rahman and Taib. Abdul Rahman was also facing an "internal rebellion" against his leadership from within Pesaka, which had by then (in 1973) merged with Parti Bumiputera to form Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB). At the point of signing the oil agreement, Sarawak was said to be politically unstable and needed the support of the federal government.
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| Posted: 28 Aug 2012 02:47 PM PDT Why is the prime minister still toying with the polls date if he is so popular judging by the large numbers who attend his official functions? Selena Tay, FMT For readers who enjoy the 13th general election date-guessing game, the latest from the rumour mill is that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is now also considering an October/early November date besides the September option. "However, the October or November date is dangerous for him as that is the Haj season and holding the polls during the Haj season will ruin his image as a Muslim leader as it infringes on Muslim sensitivity," said PAS strategist and Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad. PAS Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad concurred, saying that "if the Barisan Nasional government holds the general election during the Haj season, it will only serve to reveal the true colours of Umno which claims to champion Islam". Besides, why is the prime minister still toying with the polls date if he is so popular judging by the large numbers who attend his official functions? Why is he still dragging his feet over the election date? Moreover, Najib has also urged the rakyat to stick to certainty with the BN government which has a proven track record instead of choosing the opposition and uncertainty. An important point to note is that it was the prime minister himself who has proclaimed that this date-guessing is a national past-time. "By certainty does the prime minister mean that we must stick to the certainty of rising corruption and soaring crime rate? "It is certainly the ultimate in stupidity if, by certainty, we must stick to the same trajectory leading to the abyss of destruction. Is this what the prime minister meant when he said that we must stick to certainty?" asked Dzulkefly. Dzulkefly also said that Najib has really no choice but to use the September date if he still wants to hold the polls this year because holding the polls during the Haj season will make him lose his credibility as a Muslim leader. Or else, Najib should just simplify matters and hold the general election next year. But the major problem with holding the polls next year is that the global economic climate has become unstable. Economy looks bleak Dzulkefly also said that the current macro-economic figures of growth cannot be used to predict the health of the nation's economy in the long term as US, Europe and even economic powerhouse China are experiencing a slowdown. "Malaysia's economy is powered by domestic consumption and right now the number of non-performing loans of individuals is steadily rising. This is an unhealthy trend. In addition, Malaysia's debt ratio which stands at RM653 billion is now at a very dangerous level as it has risen past the 55% benchmark of the GDP, which is the level set by Parliament that the nation must not surpass," he added. This shows that the situation in Malaysia is not what it seems. There is more to it than meets the eye where economic figures are concerned. Besides, statistics are always debatable. One can always present one set of figures to debunk another set of figures. Meanwhile, the federal government is daily issuing statements proclaiming the healthy state of the nation's economy. Does this sound reassuring? Be that as it may, Najib is cornered where the general election date is concerned and it is due to his own doing. He has lost the element of surprise in the game that he himself initiated. Henceforth, the polls can be held anytime and Pakatan Rakyat is now standing ready. Also, the Royal Commission of Inquiry set up to look into the problem of the illegals in Sabah obtaining citizenship needs six months to complete its work and the same can be said of the Oil Royalty Payments Committee. Both the RCI and the Oil Royalty Payments Committee will only complete their work next year. Lacking innovative ideas The federal government is also lacking innovative ideas on running the nation. When Pakatan or the rakyat bring up an issue, sometimes the government will respond and react. Otherwise, there is total silence as in the case of the dirty electoral rolls. Nothing exciting or awe-inspiring is coming from the BN leaders.
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| Political heat to rise further Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:42 PM PDT In the months leading up to the 13th general election, mud-slinging, allegations and all sorts of political brick-brats will be thrown about. S Retnanathan, FMT After more than a month of lull due to the fasting month and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the country's political temperature is expected to rise further as political parties go, presumably, into the last lap before the 13th general election. Both sides of the political divide are expected to crank up their engines in an effort to woo voters, especially fence-sitters, before registered Malaysians go to the ballots to pick 222 members of parliament and and 505 state assemblymen. The Sarawak state election for 71 seats was held in April, 2011 and would not be held simultaneously with the general election. Political parties, be it the ruling Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat – a coalition made up of PAS, DAP and PKR – are expected to up the tempo to win the hearts and minds of voters and signs are abound that they would use the next few months to run down each other and prove that they can or should govern the nation for the next five years. Prime Minister and BN chief Najib Tun Razak has yet to make any significant announcement on the date of the crucial election although political pundits had began the guessing game on the date of the polls since late last year. The ruling BN won 140 parliamentary seats at the last election while the opposition mustered 82 seats. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had said just before the fasting month that Pakatan is poised to form the next federal government, winning more than 100 seats. Whether this prediction would come true depends on this last lap. Najib has until March next year to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh polls. "He now has two options. Go for full term or dissolve Parliament after tabling the 2013 Budget. If he does the latter, then we are looking at October or November election. If he misses this, then election would be next year," a BN component party head told FMT. Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, is expected to table the 2013 Budget late next month in Parliament. Many are expecting him to use the budget to bolster support for the ruling coalition. "The budget would be a sweetener. It would be a people's budget. I am certain he would give out incentives, subsidies and such. He would also announce one or two drastic measures to bolster support. It would be good for the people. "Although the opposition would criticise this move as campaigning, it is Najib's right as prime minister. It has happened before during the time of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He tabled the budget and subsequently called for election. We think Najib would take the same route," said the leader, who declined to be named. It would also be interesting to see if the opposition-ruled states would dissolve their State Legislative Assemblies when Najib dissolves Parliament before March next year. Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor are in the hands of the opposition. Pakatan had said that it would follow the federal dissolution if BN decides to call for polls after September this year and this is more likely to happen. Although BN has been on the receiving end – and in some cases back-peddling – on issues brought up by the opposition, it has begun firing against Pakatan, targeting mismanagement of states ruled by the opposition. Starting from Kedah, the BN claimed that the state was lagging in development and the bickering among Pakatan partners is a cause for concern. The PAS-led government in the northern state is also unstable after rebels in the party, who are also state assemblymen, openly asked Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak to step down. The BN is also firing salvos against the Kelantan PAS-led government, complaining of slow development and the lack of proper basic amenities. Over in Penang, the state government spearheaded by DAP is also under fire for various allegations of mismanagement. So far, DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been on top of things, deflecting a barrage of criticisms thrown against the state government. Selangor, the state led by PKR's Khalid Ibrahim, is reeling from revelations of mismanagement in the state government-owned Talam Corporation. The problem with Pakatan-ruled states is that there is no concerted effort to deflect criticisms. "The state organs are not utilised to the fullest due to politics. They should answer all issues brought up. They should not push them under the carpet or just blame the previous BN-led state governments. They should stand up and defend themselves. So far only Penang is doing it but in doing so, it blames the former state government for almost everything," a political observer noted. While Pakatan had made inroads into Sabah by enticing two BN MPs to jump ship last month, it is very unlikely to create a huge dent on BN in the land below the wind.
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| Not a sweet dream but a nightmare Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:36 PM PDT When BN took over the state government in 1994, it promised a new Sabah within 100 days, but 18 years later, Sabah is the poorest state in the country. Raymond Tombung, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Barisan Nasional's "Janji DiTepati" slogan won't sell in Sabah, claims opposition State Reform Party deputy chairman Daniel John Jambun. "There's just too long a list of unfulfilled promises by BN. I could list it out and it will fill a book. But for now I can list seven reasons why the slogan will be rejected," he said. Topping Jambun's list is Sabah's security within Malaysia. He said when Sabah was invited to join in the formation of Malaysia, the rationale bandied about at that time was the supposed threat from the Philippines, which had been claiming Sabah, and the threat by Sukarno's Konfrontasi to "Ganyang Malaysia" before the cockerel crowed on the dawn of Sept 16, 1963. "The fear at that time was that without Malaysia, Sabah would be invaded and colonised by Indonesia. "But strangely history has shown that these threats didn't go far as proven by the fact that Brunei not only survived but prospered. "And when we became part of the federation, we didn't really get the security that we were promised. "Ironically, it was the Filipinos and Indonesians who actually invaded Sabah, not as military forces, but as illegal immigrants. All the security forces of Malaysia – the army, the border police, the immigration officials – couldn't or wouldn't stop them! "Where was the promise to guarantee us security?" he asked. Not an equal-partner nation Next on the list was the peninsula's promise not to "colonise" Sabah. "(Former chief minister) Donald (Fuad) Stephens' biggest worry was that Sabah would escape from the clutches of British colonialisation and fall into being a colony of Malaya. "But Tunku Abdul Rahman made a promise [to him] that Sabah and Sarawak would not become the 12th and 13th states of Malaya. "But now this is what had happened. We are now unitary states instead of being independent, equal-partner nations in the federation as was originally understood. "The promise not to colonise Sabah was flagrantly broken," Jambun said. The third reason Jambun pointed out was the federal government's non-compliance with the terms of the Malaysia Agreement signed in 1963. He said there was no compliance by the federal government on the five constitutional documents and/or constitutional conventions (the Federal Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement, the 20 Points, the IGC Report, and the Oath Stone) which formed the basis for Sabah and Sarawak's equal partnership as nations in Malaysia. (The Oath Stone was erected in Keningau town to acknowledge Sabah's acceptance of joining the federation.) The fourth point was that no proper constitution was drafted or passed. "What we have is actually the constitution of the federation of Malaya amended to become what is now the 'Federal Constitution', which is the real reason why it is not called the 'Malaysian Constitution.' "When they came up with the decision to use the Malayan constitution as the basis for the [Federal] Constitution we have now, there was already a hidden agenda. "We were played out from even before the start of Malaysia," Jambun said. Rights denied "The 20-Point Agreement has many points which promised certain rights and autonomy for Sabah. "These have now been taken away, eroded or simply denied, often without any proper legal process. "That's why we no longer have freedom not to have any official religion, no longer have the right to arrange our own education system, to determine our own immigration rules and to retain the collection of our own taxes and use the money in accordance with our own economic plans. "The 20-Point Agreement in fact is a list of not only broken promises but a list of rights and autonomy which were taken away unceremoniously," Jambun said. The sixth reason, he added, was that Sabah was not consulted when the decision was made to expel Singapore from Malaysia.
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| Will SNAP ‘succeed’ SPDP in BN? Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:31 PM PDT Sarawak National Party has written to BN chairman Najib Tun Razak to enquire about its membership. Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: If Sarawak National Party (SNAP) leaders chose to return the party to the Barisan Nasional fold, then it must be prepared to face the wrath of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) who have threatened to resign enmass in protest. A senior SNAP leader, who delined to be named, told FMT that if SNAP president Stanley Jugol went ahead with his plans, then there will be 'war' within the party. "If Jugol insists in joining BN, then many of us will resign from the party… There is no point in returning to the fold of Barisan Nasional. "Firstly, they will bully you and treat you even worse than a dog. "Secondly, SNAP is not likely to be allocated a seat to contest in the next general election if they join BN," he said. The leader was commenting on reports that SNAP is studying the possibility of rejoining BN. Jugol had reportedly said that SNAP was "mostly likely" to rejoin the BN instead of Pakatan Rakyat, which it had unsuccessfully engaged with last year. Asked to elaborate on SNAP's intention, Jugol admitted that he had written a letter to the chairman of the Barisan Nasional to find out the status of SNAP membership with BN. He said that it was vital to know if SNAP's status was still intact following the deregistration of the party in 2002 and the ensuing court cases which later rejected the decision of the Registrar of Societies to deregister the party. Jugol reasoned that SNAP has never been expelled from BN nor did it quit the coalition. Collective decision According to Jugol, the answer from the BN chairman is important, because if the membership was still intact, then SNAP should be invited to attend BN functions and meetings. "So far there is no reply from the BN chairman. "But it is wrong to say that SNAP insists in rejoining, because the power of acceptance is with BN. "Suppose BN rejects our application, then we feel 'malu'. What we want to find out is whether we are still with BN. That is all," he said. And if the membership was no longer there, then the party would consider as one of its options to apply rejoining the BN. "This is one of the options which we have discussed in our central executive committee (CEC) meeting last month," he said. The other options are to maintain its status quo as an independent opposition party or apply to join Pakatan Rakyat (PR). "There is nothing definite yet. We are still studying the options," Jugol said. On the threats of resignation by some CEC members, Jugol said that whether the party would rejoining BN or align itself with Pakatan Rakyat, it would be discussed with the CEC members. "All of us will decide what to do. It will be a collective decision," he added. SNAP was given a new 'life' by the Court of Appeal in June 2010 after it was deregistered in November 2002 following a serious leadership tussle. The tussle then was between a group led by the president James Wong and secretary-general Justine Jinggut, and another led by deputy president Peter Tinggom and by vice-president William Mawan Ikom (now president of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party). After SNAP was deregistered, its position and role in the BN was taken over by the SPDP. SPDP was registered soon after SNAP was declared illegal by the ROS.
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