Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- SAPP-Pakatan: It just ain’t working out
- ‘Frightened Musa wants to save his skin’
- Rise of DAP’s young Turks
| SAPP-Pakatan: It just ain’t working out Posted: 17 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST SAPP president Yong Teck Lee is adamant that the party must stick to its principle that a Sabah-based party must take the majority of the state assembly seats. Calvin Kabaron, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Mistrust and uncertainty within Sabah's opposition politics could well indeed translate into a free-for-all fight at the coming general election. Yesterday Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) supreme council met in Likas near here and snippets leaked out indicated that things may not be going too well with its alliance with PKR-led Pakatan Rakyat. Insider information noted that party president Yong Teck Lee implied that if things don't work out as it should, then SAPP could well be on a collision course with its newly-found allies PKR and DAP in many seats. The former Barisan Nasional (BN) chief minister told his comrades that SAPP must stick to its "principle" that a local-based party must take the majority of the state assembly seats, something that PKR's Anwar Ibrahim had signaled to SAPP at one time that Pakatan would be willing to concede or consider. But, to many observers here, that was typical of Anwar's trademark style which was to entice Yong and SAPP to come aboard the Pakatan ship first. One SAPP leader told FMT that at yesterday's meeting Yong appeared adamant to go for majority state seats (60 in Sabah) purely on what he termed as "on the principle of Sabah autonomy". "That means he may even defy PKR's seat 'arrangement' with SAPP if the former repudiate," he said. PKR, emboldened by its recent coup of two BN's defector parliamentarians in Wilfred Bumburing and Lajim Ukin, is unlikely to concede much to Yong and Chinese-based SAPP. "Yong anticipates that where PKR would not contest (in Sabah), DAP would do so to take on SAPP just to frustrate SAPP and that Anwar could not do anything about it," the SAPP leader stressed. Meanwhile, over the weekend, another pivotal Sabah opposition leader, Jeffrey Kitingan, told the local press that he was scheduled to meet Yong today. He however cautioned supporters not to expect too much from the meeting. The State Reform Party (STAR) he leads in Sabah, while still open to work a minimum seat arrangement with SAPP, is actually poised to leave SAPP out after Yong made his own deals with Anwar on Sabah's seats. As of yesterday, an insider in STAR claimed that majority of its leaders, more than half are young Turks and many are green horns in politics, wanted their leader to be decisive instead of dragging until last minute to decide on seats and candidates. Many within STAR complained that Jeffrey's dragging his feet on candidacy and playing "openness" with other players had denied the party a more rigorous campaigning at the grassroots level. "It would be different if you know you are the candidate already, we can go straight away from house-to-house campaign already. "But with uncertainty, many potential candidates just shy away from too much promotion which is bad for the party which is already lacking in funds," said one potential candidate who requested anonymity. He alleged some very good potential candidates from STAR have yet to resign from their employment jobs, fearing they would not be fielded in the end.
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| ‘Frightened Musa wants to save his skin’ Posted: 17 Dec 2012 02:09 PM PST Prominent lawyer Rosli Dahlan, who has dealt with Musa Hassan first hand, has an answer as to why the ex-IGP is reappearing in the media spotlight, flanked by PKR members. Anisah Shukry, FMT Musa Hassan's sudden criticism of the government and the police is an attempt to reinvent his image and cosy up to Pakatan Rakyat out of fear that should the Barisan Nasional government fall, his head will be the first to roll, according to lawyer Rosli Dahlan. The prominent lawyer, who previously represented Musa's rival, ex CCID chief Ramli Yusuff, is currently pursuing a legal suit against Utusan Malaysia and 16 others in a case related to the former inspector-general of police's purported links with underworld figures. As such, Rosli has first hand experience with Musa and has nothing but scorn for the ex top-cop as well as his recent revelations of alleged ministerial interference and criminal elements in the police. "Musa is a manipulator, opportunist and a liar. He is a principal lecturer at UiTM in media warfare, so we should not be surprised that he is using the media to reinvent his image," he told FMT. "Clearly, Musa knows he will be in trouble if Pakatan forms the next government," added Rosli. Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain previously accused Musa of fabricating evidence in Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's 1998 black eye Incident. Rosli said Musa was also the investigating officer in Anwar's first sodomy charge and the incumbent IGP when the second sodomy charge was "orchestrated". "So it is no surprise that he now becomes a turncoat, against the government that gave him his mercurial rise to be IGP and enjoyed two extensions by contract in order to save his own skin," he added. Musa appeared at a press conference late last month with several NGO leaders linked to the opposition, fuelling speculation that he would be joining Pakatan Rakyat soon. The press briefing was organised by a new NGO called the Malaysian Crime Watch Task, or MyWatch, and was the setting for which Musa dropped the bombshell that ministers allegedly meddled in police investigations. Anwar later said that PKR was open to Musa joining them if he wished to do so, although Musa had firmly stated that he would remain neutral. Commenting on this, Rosli said: "PKR must not forget the history of this man; a leopard does not change its spots." "To me, for PKR to be a credible opposition, it shouldn't use characters who are known to have manipulated the system and fabricated evidence," he added. Rosli recounted that the ex-IGP's own aide, ASP Noor Azizul Rahim Taharim, had called Musa a "pengkhianat" (traitor) in a 2009 statutory declaration (SD). The document accused Musa of a slew of wrongdoings during his tenure and exposed how Musa had allegedly manipulated the police succession hierarchy with his associate, an underworld figure known as BK Tan, as well as silencing critics with transfers and trumped up charges. "Never before in the history of this country has an active serving IGP faced such an accusation from his own ADC (aide de camp)," said Rosli. "As for being a liar, it is not what I say, but the various people who have dealt with Musa including the damning judgment by Sessions Judge Supang Lian of the Kota Kinabalu court," he added. Rosli was referring to the 2007 case levelled by Musa against Ramli. Musa had accused Ramli of abusing his power in using a police Cessna plane for his personal benefit. However, the judge found that Ramli was in full uniform and was escorted by four other uniformed police personnel while conducting a border surveillance patrol. "If the prosecution was serious about finding out the truth, they should have called the two police pilots as the first and second witnesses. Instead, the pilots were called close to the end of the trial. DPP Kevin Morais also amended the charge several times. That is how insidious these people are," added Rosli. Ramli was eventually acquitted without his defence being called. When Musa became the final witness for the prosecution in order to rebut the other police witnesses who had given evidence supporting Ramli, the judge delivered the following stinging judgment against Musa: "[Musa's] evidence is unreliable and is to be disregarded and whatever he says in court lends to his discredit. I am in total agreement with the case for the defence that this lack of support of the evidence of [Musa] on this point lends to his discredit… I found however that the evidence of [Musa] on this to be unreliable and to be disregarded." According to Rosli that was a polite way of calling an active serving IGP a liar.
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| Posted: 15 Dec 2012 04:18 PM PST
The Lim family is still on top but the DAP election saw the young Turks pushing the old guards down the rungs and even out of the 20-seat central executive committee (CEC). Anwar had also skipped the PAS muktamar last month and the whispers of tensions over the issue of seat allocations between the three parties are getting louder. PKR vice-president Datuk Mansor Othman urged reporters not to read too much into it even though this is Anwar's homestate and his party will need the DAP's clout to win their seats in the general election. Joceline Tan, The Star THE emcee had said the CEC election result would be announced at about 6.30pm. An hour later, everyone was still waiting. The soft music that had been playing in the background was switched up and Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi's melodic voice came on. Ooi was staging a one-man concert from the Ubah truck parked outside the sports complex where the DAP congress was taking place. The man is wasting his time in politics. He should have become a pop singer he would have made more money and become even more famous than he already is. Everyone burst out laughing when Ooi stopped singing to ask whether the election results were in. The top DAP leaders had already come in from the tea break and were hanging about near the front of the stage, chatting and waiting. At about 8pm, Karpal Singh and his two sons arrived and soon after, the results came. It was a wonder that Karpal managed to look so calm. He must have had some inkling of the outcome. The outspoken lawyer had made a fantastic comeback to the No 3 spot from his previous 9th spot. It was a clear signal that delegates want him to continue speaking out on issues like hudud and the encroachment of PAS policies on non-Muslim lifestyles. Lim Kit Siang, despite his lack of a party post, remains the most well regarded person in the party followed by Guan Eng. The father-and-son pair will have to factor in what Karpal says, including his view on the one-man, one-seat policy in the general election. The outcome was described by some as a transition team. The young Turks are on the rise, with Chong Chieng Jen and Anthony Loke surging into the top five. The old guards like Tan Kok Wai, Fong Kui Lun and Ngeh Koo Ham slipped down the rungs as younger faces like Vincent Wu, Gobind Singh Deo and Tony Pua moved up. The three-way fight in Selangor saw Datuk Teng Chang Khim emerging victorious, moving from No 14 to the prestigious top 10. Rival Teresa Kok slipped from No 6 to No 18 while another rival Ronnie Liu lost. The power structure in Selangor has changed dramatically. "They are the new generation, you can ask for their vote but you cannot tell them how to vote," said a Perak leader pointing to the delegates. The delegates put Kit Siang right on top to show their appreciation while endorsing Guan Eng's quest to defend Penang. Another independent voice Dr Boo Cheng Hau moved up two slots from No 19 to No 17. The inclusion of Teng and Dr Boo in the CEC means that the party wants people who dare to question the leadership. The DAP transition is in place and the next echelon of leaders are up there. The leaders know the veterans have felt left out of the party's post-2008 success and these old-timers were brought on stage to receive mementos in the shape of the Penang ferry. The party is telling them they are still appreciated. It was a good move because these old soldiers will have to work the ground like never before in the general election. Size matters in politics and the opening event was jam-packed with delegates and observers, all of them in an upbeat mood. But the massive show of numbers could not hide the glaring absence of the man whom DAP is promoting as their next prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Neither Anwar nor his wife and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was present. Pakatan Rakyat's other prime minister candidate Datuk Seri Hadi Awang was also missing. PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar and secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali came instead. PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu popped in after lunch and received a big hug from Guan Eng. PKR was represented by Wanita chief Zuraidah Kamaruddin. Anwar had also skipped the PAS muktamar last month and the whispers of tensions over the issue of seat allocations between the three parties are getting louder. PKR vice-president Datuk Mansor Othman urged reporters not to read too much into it even though this is Anwar's homestate and his party will need the DAP's clout to win their seats in the general election. The other glaring aspect was DAP's attempt to ignore the elephant in the room; the party is clearly afraid to take a strong stand on the recent incidents of moral policing on non-Muslims in Kelantan. The furthest that Guan Eng went was to ask PAS to withdraw the summonses that had been issued against the hair salons. Guan Eng's speech ran on for almost 120 minutes mainly because he spoke in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese. Earlier this month, he had poked fun at the tears and emotion that flowed during the Umno general assembly. But now it was he who was all choked up as he vowed to stand up against Umno and to fight for equality of the races. His cheeks were wet and he could be seen wiping his nose. Some of the delegates looked on a little shocked but fortunately the mood lightened up after the speech when the party's highly entertaining video titled "Ubah Rocket Style", which showed DAP leaders doing the Gangnam Style, was unveiled.
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