Aru's escape hatch from bigamy claim
By Frankie D'Cruz February 11, 2009 Categories: News

Parti Keadilian Rakyat’s assemblyman from Kedah, V. Arumugam, is believed to have hatched a plan to resign his post to crawl out of a morality wormhole.

His strategy: Resign as Bukit Selambau State assemblyman and pin the blame on the Barisan Nasional for pressuring him to cross over.

Then, declare that he was offered RM5 million to defect. Then, make a police report alleging an attempt to kidnap him and threats to his family and support staff.

Arumugam, 55, who was also a State executive councillor in the Pakatan Rakyat-led Kedah government, is now under fire from both his party and BN leaders.

A PR leader told Malay Mail yesterday that it was a lame excuse for a man who was embroiled in a morality issue for allegedly marrying another woman through customary rites without divorcing his wife.

PR leaders said they were having problems explaining his sudden disappearance as no one believed he was a BN target.

Arumugam is thought to be in India to “think things over”.

A PR leader, who requested anonymity, said: “Arumugam doesn’t have the calibre or credibility to command RM5 million to defect to BN.

“He’s not a people’s man. He was just there by default,” he said. “He’s not a hero. He is in this dilemma because his wife lodged a report accusing him of bigamy. He did himself in.”

BN leaders say his resignation was a ploy to enrage the voters of Bukit Selambau and punish BN during the by-election.

“Arumugam was never a notable State assemblyman and we are shocked at the insinuations that such a huge sum was offered to a nobody to cross over,” said the source.

“Why would anybody offer a nobody with hardly any influence RM5 million? He’s problemridden.”

Arumugam, sources said, had never had time for his constituents.

“The constituents hardly know him and that clearly shows that he has no experience as a people’s representative.

“So, when news of his alleged bigamy leaked out, he panicked and started blaming everyone except himself.”

Arumugam was implicated in a recent petition to the Sultan of Kedah that a married State executive councillor was involved with another woman.

The petition was submitted by a group of people claiming to represent residents of Taman Ria in Sungai Petani.

How the tables have turned
Sharing the nation
By ZAINAH ANWAR
Sunday March 30, 2008

EVERY domination bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The fall from power of once dominant political parties (and they can rise again), such as the LDP in Japan, the KMT in Taiwan, the Congress Party in India, and the PRI in Mexico, shows that the exercise of power by its very nature eventually leads to a process of disintegration of the ruling group.

The dictates of power alienate the dominant party’s electoral support base and create factions and frictions within itself that leads to its own decline.

That this finally happened to Barisan Nasional (BN) was a long time coming. The first writing on the wall emerged in 1987-1988 following the bruising leadership battle between Team A led by then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Team B in Umno, led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa Hitam.
Orderly process: Members of the public waiting to cast their votes at the recent general election. This time around, the electorate was in no mood to wait for the promised change to come or to even acknowledge that some change has indeed taken place. - Filepic

Public disenchantment with the BN was set in place with the slide towards autocratic rule then. The leadership challenge laid to rest the promise of a “bersih, cekap, amanah” government that had swept the public imagination in the 1982 general election.

The deregistration and split in Umno, the sacking of the Lord President and five Supreme Court judges (three were eventually reinstated), the detention under ISA of over 100 political and civil society leaders under Operation Lalang, the closure of newspapers, the amendments to several laws to close the doors of judicial review – all set in motion the wave of disaffection with the BN leadership and its strong-arm rule.

These events entrenched a decided slide towards authoritarianism and the shrinking of the public space in Malaysian politics. The 1990 general elections saw PAS win over Kelantan, in alliance with Tengku Razaleigh’s breakaway Semangat 46, thus ending 12 years of BN rule that it has not been able to reverse.

But this was seen as only a hiccup by the political elite as new heights of economic success and wealth created by Dr Mahathir’s modernisation vision led to a new sense of well-being and confidence. This led to unprecedented popular support for the BN government in the 1995 general election.

All was forgiven or forgotten, for there was wealth, prosperity and stability to be enjoyed by everyone. Semangat 46 dissolved itself and its Umnoputras at heart joined the father party for a piece of the political and economic pie.

But the financial crisis and the sacking and mistreatment of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 changed the public mood once again. All the sins of the past were revisited. The electorate was poised to repudiate BN.

The party still won 77% of the parliamentary seats in the 1999 elections, but Umno suffered its worst ever result then, its seats declining from 94 to 72, while PAS emerged with the leadership of the Opposition, winning 27 seats. Two states fell to the Islamist party and the BN’s popular support declined by 10%.

In a long analysis of the election results, I identified the litany of disgruntlements that the Government could no longer sweep under the carpet.

There was palpable demand for greater transparency and accountability, independence of the judiciary, a free and responsible press, a more participatory and open political system, an end to police abuse and misuse of power, and an end to the intricate web of business and politics that bred cronyism and corruption and where big business always triumphed over community and environmental interests.

The message was clear then. The Malaysian electorate wanted to see change in the way this country was governed, how the law was applied, how politics was conducted and how business was run.

Umno and BN needed to go back to the drawing boards to reinvent themselves to respond to the changing demands and priorities of a well-educated, critical, politically conscious, Internet-savvy, upwardly mobile, younger generation of Malays and Malaysians.

But this process of renewal did not take place and the eventual denouement of a dominant party that refused to change was postponed for another electoral round. For when Dr Mahathir chose Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as his successor, the electorate was swept by the new leader who promised to be the Prime Minister of all Malaysians, who promised to eliminate corruption and to introduce open tendering for government contracts and who regarded the NGOs as the eyes and ears of the government, instead of the pet poodles of the West as so derisively dismissed by the past administration.

When BN went to the polls in 2004, the new Prime Minister personified that change clamoured for by the electorate.

Those who voted for PAS and other opposition parties in 1999 returned to BN. A kinder, gentler Malaysia and a more open and democratic Malaysian politics were in store as the avuncular Pak Lah won public acclaim and led BN to its greatest electoral victory, winning 199 of 219 parliamentary seats.

So where did it all go wrong in those short four years?

Much has been written. While many of us shared in the Prime Minister’s vision of a democratising, transparent and accountable government and his promise of an inclusive rule for all Malaysians, his failure to deliver on much of this grand vision and his inability to take charge of his change agenda in the face of resistance from powerful centres of power within Umno and its BN partners, within the civil service, the police, and even within his own Cabinet, eventually led to a massive loss of confidence.

It was not supposed to be business as usual. But on the ground, it was much too much of the same thing.

Change, of course, takes time. But given the erupting series of issues of public concern, from snatched bodies to the Lingam tapes, from rising crime to rising prices, local development without public representation, political leaders behaving badly, and allegations of corruption and cronyism that did not abate, the electorate was in no mood to wait for the promised change to come or to even acknowledge that some change has indeed taken place.

As a Muslim democrat who believes in women’s rights and human rights, the turning point for me was the Umno general assembly of 2006. I wrote then of the barefaced racial and religious supremacist oratory at the general assembly that scared and alienated many Malaysians.

The reaction was immediate. I met people who were already planning to spoil their ballot papers or vote for the Opposition.

For many moderate Malaysians, that was the point when Umno crossed the line. A party that prided itself as the bedrock of centrist politics, that from its birth held an inherent belief in the politics of accommodation necessary for this divided multi-ethnic multi-religious society to survive, had presented an extremist face to Malaysians.

That fateful assembly was of course the culmination of over a year of demonising of moderate voices in Islam, of the Government ignoring the demands for respect for the rule of law and fundamental liberties guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, of the failure of the political, administrative and judicial authorities to uphold the law and deal with compassion and fairness the heart-wrenching cases of conversion and religious rights and freedom that saw families torn apart and ethnic minorities feeling assaulted by a seemingly hegemonic majority.

At the local level, my pro-establishment neighbourhood saw its green lungs disembowelled for a mini-Manhattan of skyscrapers, a hotel and shopping complex in the heart of Pusat Bandar Damansara (PBD).

A strip of green hill along Jalan Beringin, which was preserved as a green lung in the original development plan because of its steep gradient, was stripped bare to build multi-million dollar bungalows.

All protests by the community fell on deaf ears as the combined might of City Hall and greedy developers railroaded neighbourhood associations. A meeting at City Hall between the residents association and the developers was deliberately scheduled for the day after Christmas, without prior notice to the residents association.

Thus our voice went unheard, approvals were finalised, and the tree cutting and earthworks began almost immediately.

At a May protest rally against the intensive development in PBD, the Tan Sris, Datuks, and professionals of Damansara, many of whom were Umno, MCA and Gerakan members, were already talking of boycotting the elections or spoiling their ballot papers; many then could still not bring themselves to vote for the Opposition.

But the warning was clear. “Don’t turn us into your enemy,” one Umno member boomed at the rally.

The belief that the mighty BN could never fall because it controlled all levers of power, and the Opposition could never win because it was an unviable alternative, has bred an arrogance of power among many in Government that bordered on contempt for dissenting sentiment.

Many BN political leaders responded to protests and criticisms by taunting the electorate to vote them out if we did not like their policies; they contemptuously dismissed human rights and women’s rights activists by telling us that our voice and our issues did not matter to their constituents in the kampung. When it suited them they saw themselves only as jaguh kampung, conveniently ignoring the national agenda and the national mission.

Even as late as the campaign period, one Chief Minister dismissed the Hindraf rally and the issues raised as irrelevant to his constituency. They even dismissed the new media as irrelevant because their kampung folk don’t own computers and don’t read the Internet.

They were even blissfully ignorant of the power of the SMS as a medium of political persuasion. They had nothing to worry about, they thought, as they controlled radio, television and the mainstream newspapers. Little did they know that the electorate had switched off. Far more accurate results were coming through their SMS than anything any of the television stations could offer that March 8.

They thought they were the Masters of the Universe and therefore they had nothing to learn from anyone. How so out of touch they were.

While Opposition party politicians were busy making new friends and allies, learning about human rights, women’s rights, Islam and democracy, framing their message to capture public angst, updating their blogs, websites, facebook accounts, getting their message out, raising funds and mobilising the crowds through the Internet and SMS, many of the BN politicians remained smug in their imagined invincibility of incumbent power and money, and the roar of their SUVs.

How the tables have turned. Once Umno could put up a banana stump and it could win an election. Now the Opposition can put up a motley of bloggers, activists, petty traders and amateur videographers to stand for a seat and they can win.

Malaysians finally wanted their vote to make a difference.When leaders fail to lead, the rakyat will show them the way. The decline of a dominant party and the new era of more competitive multi-party politics bring much uncertainty, but with it the potential for the strengthening of Malaysian democracy.

If the Opposition does not get its act together, the protest vote of 2008 could remain just that, a protest. But should the Opposition show the political will to submerge its discordant ideologies and ambitions and merge into a genuine multi-ethnic democratic alternative and prove that it can govern well, and the BN has the courage and imagination to reinvent itself, then Malaysian democracy could possibly return to the original trajectory planned by its visionary founding fathers – that of a democratic, modern, pluralist, secular state that celebrates the strength of its diversity through a national life and politics that promotes co-existence and accommodation and eschews a winner-takes-all mentality.

That is the most optimistic outcome.

The jury is very much out on whether our political leaders, be they in the BN or the victorious Opposition alliance, have it in them to see clearly the path the rakyat have already taken.

Zainah Anwar is an activist on women’s issues and was the face of Sisters in Islam for two decades

No rush for hubby to contest, says Azizah
Beh Lih Yi | Mar 27, 08 4:48pm

Opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim has no plan to stand in a by-election immediately after the ban from active politics against him is lifted on April 15, according to his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

"It may not be as urgent as we thought it to be. If we had been government, yes, it would have been urgent for him. Now as the opposition leader, he can take a longer time," she told Malaysiakini in a 45-minute interview at her office in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Instead, she added, Anwar’s priority now would be to form the next government which came amid claims of elected parliamentarians from the ruling BN are in talks to defect to the oppositions.

The opposition is short of 30 seats to get a simple majority to form the government.

Wan Azizah, an ophthamologist-turned-politician, officially heads the PKR - where Anwar is the de facto leader.

Anwar is banned from active politics for five years as a result of his conviction on corruption charges. The ban will be lifted on April 15.

First female Opposition Leader

Wan Azizah, 55, was initially expected to make way for her husband after mid-April by relinquishing her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat - which she held since 1999 - and allow Anwar to make a comeback to Parliament.

But she hinted in the interview that she may not do so after all, as Anwar may seek to contest elsewhere, where the party’s MPs are ready to give up the seat for the PKR de facto leader.

There is also another possibility that Anwar will contest in a seat which is not held by the opposition at the moment, if BN’s victory is successfully challenged via election petition.

"I did mention I was going to step aside for Anwar but there are some views that is just one option. There are other views why don’t we get another seat for Anwar and he may not take just Permatang Pauh," said Wan Azizah.

The ever soft-spoken politician is also set to make a record with her impending appointment as the first female Parliamentary Opposition Leader when the new Parliament session commences, succeeding DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.

By convention, the opposition party with the highest number of seats is named the Opposition Leader in the House.

In the March 8 general election, Wan Azizah’s PKR won 31 seats, DAP 28 and PAS 23. The multi-racial based party had only won one parliamentary seat - held by Wan Azizah - during the 2004 election.

PKR, DAP and PAS leaders have agreed to make Wan Azizah the next Opposition Leader until Anwar wins a parliamentary seat.

Wan Azizah described her new role as an "honour for Malaysian women".

"I thank them (the three parties) for the trust but I also feel the burden in that sense filling in the shoes after Lim Kit Siang, Ustaz Fadzil Noor, Ustaz Abdul Hadi Awang and Asri Muda before that," she said.

Always known for her non-confrontational approach in parliamentary debates, Wan Azizah quipped that she will try to be more outspoken in assuming her new role.

She has unveiled a five-point ambitious agenda to boost economic growth and fight corruption earlier as the nation’s first female Opposition Leader. She also hoped her new role will help to inculcate more gender sensitivity during parliamentary debates.

"When they see me, they will have a little bit more restrain, it comes naturally because when you have a motherly image, men tend to be a bit more well-behaved," she noted.

‘Mommy’s love can’t be questioned’

Meanwhile, Wan Azizah said she did not encourage her children to be in active politics.

"I don’t encourage them but I give them a choice. They make their own choices and if they like to, I won’t stop them, I support them," said the mother of six, whose eldest daughter Nurul Izzah is the newly-elected MP for Lembah Pantai.

Nurul Izzah, who contested for the first time, defeated the popular ex-minister of women, family and community development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Wan Azizah conceded she "wasn’t very happy" at first with her daughter’s plan to take on the well-known and "giant" Sharizat.

"But she made her choice and once she made her choice, being a mom, you support your daughter, because mommy’s love is something that you can’t question too much," she stressed.

Q&A First Madam Opposition: It's a daunting task
Beh Lih Yi | Mar 27, 08 5:26pm

The nation’s first female parliamentary Opposition Leader tells Malaysiakini about her new role, the need to strengthen ties of the three opposition parties, the possibility of her not quitting politics as yet and the opposition’s First Family in the 45-minute interview. Malaysiakini: Let’s talk about your appointment as the first female parliamentary Opposition Leader in the country after the three opposition parties gave their backing to you.

Wan Azizah: It is a daunting task, it is also an honour for Malaysian women (to have a woman) for the first time to hold the post in the Malaysian Parliament. It augurs well for democracy in the country. I am grateful that the three parties agreed that I take the position. I thanked them for the trust but I also feel the burden in that sense filling in the shoes after Lim Kit Siang, Ustaz Fadzil Noor, Ustaz Abdul Hadi Awang and Asri Muda before that. There has been a history of very good Opposition Leaders and I have to fill in the shoes. I hope there is a bit more of gender sensitivity (in the House with a) woman opposition leader.

There have been a lot of sexist remarks made in the House in the past.

By virtue of me being a woman, being there and (having) a motherly image, that would probably put them (the MPs) in their places. When they see me, they will have a little bit more restrain, it comes naturally because when you have a motherly image, men tend to be a bit more well-behaved.

Compared with Lim or Hadi, who have a rather tough image as Opposition Leaders, you are often seen as soft-spoken. Would you change your style?

No, I think you can be soft-spoken and have your feminity, yet getting your message across. It's just different styles. You can bring home your message justly but firmly.

Like it or not, you have not been seen as outspoken in Parliament.

It’s my first time as the Opposition Leader. I have never been confrontational, that is part of my weakness in that sense because usually the Opposition Leader has this image of (giving) fiery speeches like how Mr Lim Kit Siang has served his term. Give me a chance, probably I will develop a different attitude now. There was only one (PKR’s) seat in 2004 and before that (1999) I was a first-time MP. Now in my third term, I’ll be more experienced. I’ll be a little bit more outspoken, I think (grins).

As the new Opposition Leader, how are you going to strengthen the cooperation among the three opposition parties in Parliament? It was seen as slightly lacking in the last term because prior to that, we understand that the parties will usually meet to coordinate with each other on issues raised in Parliament, something like a pre-council meeting. Any immediate plan to strengthen the ties of the parties in Parliament?

There is a different scenario pre-election and post-election. For post-election, we have already broken the two-thirds majority of BN and the reality is we have to work together because that will be the way forward for a two-party system that hails well for the future of Malaysian politics. The three parties themselves realise this (so) the working (model) will be on such that we will work on this and therefore we will take on the government much better. If we work separately, it will not be a force to be reckoned with by the BN government. Now that we are together, we see that the BN will have to be on their toes. After 50 years of being in power, they have became complacent, sometimes arrogant and quite insensitive to the need of the rakyat.

Is there a need to formalise the cooperation of the three parties?

It has already been working. We have a different scenario now, PKR being the youngest party among (the three) but DAP and PAS have been around (for years), they know the scenarios have changed (and we have) to work together towards a two-party system, which is actually the way forward. I have been through this in 1999 - as a novice then and new to this game - (but) we have worked together before.

How about a formal structure? Is there a possibility to go back to Barisan Alternatif, which would also include the DAP?

DAP has come to terms. They were with us in 1999, although now we don’t use (the term) Barisan anymore - we agreed on that - but we have came together after the results. Look at Penang, DAP also knows in the working of a government, they also need us (PKR) to make it work. In Perak too, even though the DAP has the most seats, yet the (state’s) constitution also is such that we have to work together, it has to be a multi-ethnic (coalition government), so reality checks in. DAP has come to terms with that, we have been working together before that - Yes, (it was) on-and-off, hot-and-cold sometimes, but we are here together.

But in Penang, the sole PAS state assemblyperson has been more or less excluded from the DAP-PKR coalition government?

No, he is included, he (his seat) is in the Permatang Pauh constituency, so he has been taken care off.

So you do agree that there is a need to formalise the structure of cooperation among the opposition parties?

It can be better.

As the Opposition Leader, you may be the target of the backbenchers in the House on the different stands of PAS and DAP on issues like the New Economic Policy (NEP) and Islamic state. How would you address that?

We are a democratic country, they have different views and ideologies. PAS has its ideology and it has been like that since PAS was established. They talk about Islam, we accept that. DAP too talks about a secular state. We (nevertheless) have the Federal Constitutional and (what is) under the constitutional framework, that will be how (my) answer should be.

From one seat to 31 seats and the biggest opposition party, is that something that you are still trying to adjust to?

You don’t really need much adjustment. Of course it was quite a low morale (in 2004), we have only one seat, I was the lone ranger then. Going to Parliament also not very much bersemangat (not in high spirit) (laughs). Now suddenly we have a change, it’s exciting time, altogether we have 82 seats in Parliament, a lot of us who were in the wilderness are now in the limelight. You can see there is a (possibility) of changing the government, you never thought of that.

We should not give up hope, we should try, we give credit to the electorates because they can see it. Many young people have made the change, politically being sensitised and awakened. It’s an exciting time. I am quite happy to be in this position now and with the back-up behind, I think I can do it.

The election results nevertheless also show that the oppositions can’t keep on using the argument that the Election Commission is not free and fair.

I thanked the electorates but why the EC stopped the indelible ink (implementation at eleventh-hour)? Why are we having evidence that one name appears 47 times on the electoral roll? Why people over 100-year-old were all over the electoral roll? In Permatang Pauh, they chased away five Indonesians and Pakistani (who intended to pose as voters to vote). Thank God to the people for voting the oppositions en bloc, therefore the electoral fraud cannot overturn.

You have listed five issues as your agenda, would you like to elaborate?

Our economy competitiveness has dropped, we want more investors to come in, we should embark on measures to boost (the competitiveness) again. What has happened over the years, our voters have felt it too and that’s why voters give their fresh mandate and reduced the support to BN. Now we have Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan - these are important states and these are the places where we can actually invest in to boost up the economy.

On the corruption index, what we can go after is what he (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) promised when he took office, to go after the big fish - where are the big fishes that were supposed to be caught? What are the measures that you do then? What are the measures to prevent anymore people from being victims of crime? After 50 years, what about our national integration? What about the Malays still feeling marginalised and think they still need the NEP? We have other races and we are all Malaysians. We have to build our nation together now, this integration of being truly Malaysians will help to boost the economy as well.

Then we have the media. Malaysiakini is almost spearheading media freedom, I thank it for that, it has been kept up to this level now and progressing very well. Now the internet has became very important to us.

Also, there is the issue of the ISA (Internal Security Act) detainees. We have human rights but the record is not that great comparatively. ISA has always been used against political dissidents, (Hindraf legal adviser and newly-elected Kota Alam Shah state assemblyperson) M Manoharan especially has to be freed unless you charge him in open court. What crime has he done? I also feel that the environment itself is a very big issue, we have laws but the enforcement is something else.

On ISA, you have called for the release of Manoharan and four others Hindraf leaders but there has been question on why (husband and PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim is rather quiet on that? Was that due to the whispering campaign on the ground that he was pro-Hindus or pro-Hindraf?

He has - even though I think there is no formal statement - but he has spoken about it and he always call for the ISA to be repealed and all ISA detainees to be released. It is just that through me, we have both came out with the statement. The (rival’s) election campaign before said that Anwar was pro-Hindraf, he is actually pro-Malaysians, pro-human rights. He actually said we do not agree with all what Hindraf is seeking but their basic right to speak and association, we have to give them that, as it is enshrined in our constitution.

You have always preferred to take a backseat in politics and it has been 10 years since you first thrust into politics. With your new role as the parliamentary Opposition Leader now, it looks like you however will not be able to take a backseat anytime soon.

Perhaps it was a repeat of 1998. I was a politician’s wife, I was happy doing my work in the hospital and I was happy just making coffee then. I was thrust into this limelight and having to deal with so many things, my life was kind of in a turmoil.

My husband went to jail, having all these terrible, terrible crimes thrown at him. My children were young, the youngest was six. It was a difficult time but I went through it. Now it’s a different scene, my husband is out, I can bank on him to help me. I have so much goodwill among friends who assured they will help me out. My role will be together with the rest, I have a group of MPs behind me now. In any debate, there will be so many debaters who can do well. It will be like I am there also, but I have a lot of help.

So you won’t quit politics anytime soon?

I did mention I was going to set aside my seat for Anwar, but of course there were views that is just one option. There are other views like why don’t we get another seat for Anwar and he may not take just Permatang Pauh. There are few other seats the MPs are actually willing to give up the seat for him. Quitting politics? In the first place I was quite accidental (to enter politics), it will be alright if I just fade away with the sunset.

Having said that, this won’t be your last term?

Given a choice, I will prefer to go back and lead a not-so-political life. But sometimes providence says I am together with a politician husband, now my daughter (Nurul Izzah) a MP, so basically I will be there to help out if the need arises. Being an Opposition Leader is something that I would like to do my utmost.

It appeared quite certain earlier that you would be the one to give up your seat for Anwar.

Yes, that’s right. (But) we also have a few other people holding both Parliament and state seats, so that is another option (for Anwar to consider to stand in a by-election).

About Anwar’s plan, there is talk now that Anwar feels he is not in a hurry to stand in a by-election immediately after April 15.

Yes, it may not be as urgent as we thought it to be. If we had been government, yes, it would have been urgent for him. Now as the opposition leader, he can take a longer time.

Meaning his priority now is to form the next government than to stand in the by-election?

I think so. We have enough opposition MPs at the moment, Anwar can then go to other work, try to formalise this coalition.

Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin has said there are 16 BN MPs who have approached PKR and keen to cross over to the opposition?

I believe he has his sources, I was not in the discussion, I am not in the know at the moment so I think we leave it as that.

Are you concerned with the perception that despite you officially being the party president, you are not in the know of some party matters?

Anwar is the de facto leader, I accept that and he has proven himself as the leader. Just because the government did not allow him to contest and I am in the position, I will take whatever responsibility that is for me to fulfill. I am a doctor, if I want to go to a doctor, I want a doctor who has clinical acumen, with experience and all that. I am not a political leader, he has experience, we get his advice and decisions. He has proven himself, I have no problem with that.

You have no problem with Anwar and to a certain extent, your daughter, overshadowing you?

I am really proud of my husband and daughter. I am the mom - it is not overshadowing me, there is nothing to overshadow - they are to serve the country. I am so proud and thank God for this opportunity for them to do so.

Do you encourage your children to be in active politics after having gone through the trauma for your family during Anwar’s sacking?

(Sighs) No, I don’t encourage them but I give them a choice. They make their own choices and if they like to, I won’t stop them, I support them. When Izzah wanted to contest (in Lembah Pantai), I wasn’t very happy because she was going to take on a giant (ex-minister Sharizat Abdul Jalil), a well-known woman minister. It’s not easy, she is a novice - not quite a novice - but she is young and inexperienced. I am a mom, I want to protect my daughter until the end of my life. But she made her choice and once she made her choice, being a mom, you support your daughter, because mommy’s love is something that you can’t question too much.

How about other children, are they keen to be in politics?

(Second daughter, Nurul) Nuha, she is sometimes interested, sometimes not, she haven’t make up her mind. My son is not interested. The youngest two (daughters) are still in school. They really love to go and support their sister, dad, we are happy to be in that way.

How would you address the criticism of political dynasty in the case of your family?

I don’t see it as a political dynasty. I suppose (political dynasty is) if you are in government and you are in power then you dispense the power down the road. Now we don’t actually have power, we are opposition, quite in a wilderness and nothing much. I don’t consider it as a dynasty,.

How life has changed for you being a grandmother?

When she (Nur Safiyah, Nurul Izzah’s daughter) was first born, it was a very emotional moment for me. I took care of Nur Safiyah, clean her and bathe her, it is such an enjoyable experience. It has been six months and she has grown. It is an enjoyable experience being a grandmom (also) because I am not responsible for her in a sense. Last time as a mom, you are more tense, you are responsible for the children, now I can just pass her over to her parents if I have something to do (laughs).

Your family remains a close-knit family, how do you keep that up with the fact three of the family members are now full time in politics?

We have no real family programme, not so much planning. It’s not easy but I pray a lot.

Selangor exco: 5 non-Malay, 4 women
Andrew Ong and Ng Ling Fong | Mar 21, 08 1:00pm

Selangor's 10-member state executive council looks likely to open a new historical chapter with half of its line-up being non-Malays.

Also the council - which is the administrative body of the state - will also make history with the inclusion of four women in the team.

Malaysiakini has learnt that Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has submitted the final list of state exco members to the palace this morning.

Of the 10 executive councillors, PKR will have four posts, DAP (3) and PAS (3).

It is understood that PKR have been allocated four exco positions in which two members - Dr Xavier Jayakumar (Seri Andalas - right) and Elizabeth Wong (Bukit Lanjan) - are non-Malays.

Three more non-Malays in the list are Ronnie Liu (Pandamaran), Teresa Kok (Kinrara) and Ean Yong Hian Hua (Seri Kembangan) from DAP.

Earlier, it was reported that the palace would prefer that there be a minimum six Malay exco members, to reflect the state’s racial composition, but would however accept an exco with five Malays and five non-Malays.

Four women in exco

Two Malays expected to represent PKR in the exco are Yaakob Sapari (Kota Angerik) and Rodziah Ismail (Batu Tiga).

PAS, which has been given three exco positions, is expected to be represented by Dr Hassan Ali (Gombak Setia), Dr Halimah Ali (Selat Kelang) and Iskandar Abdul Samad (Cempaka).

The swearing-in for the state exco members is expected to take place on Monday. A rehearsal to take place later this afternoon.

Four of the executive councillors will be women. The last exco line-up had only one woman.

The exco line-up however, is expected to be without veteran Selangor opposition leader Teng Chang Kim (right) who is the most experienced member in the Selangor legislature.

Teng had served as state assembly opposition leader since 1995 when he won the Bukit Gasing seat.

In 1999, he was elected Bandar Kelang assemblyperson and later the Sungai Pinang assemblyperson in 2004. During the recent general election he retained the Sungai Pinang seat with a higher majority.

It is learnt that Teng will be made speaker of the state assembly. However, this will require prior approval from the Selangor sultan.

It is also not clear whether Khalid will be naming either one or two deputy mentri besars, if at all.

The sultan has expressed his wish to see a Malay deputy MB, while predominantly Chinese DAP - being the second biggest party after PKR - is pressing for its representative to be picked as Khalid's deputy. 

Hindraf wants Mano as MB

Meanwhile, four Hindu Rights Action Force leaders presently being detained under the Internal Security Act in Kamunting today urged that their fellow detainee and Kota Alam Shah state representative M Manoharan is appointed as a deputy menteri besar in Selangor.

The four - P Uthayakumar, R Kenghadharan, V Ganabatirau and T Vasantha Kumar - said they unanimously believed that Manoharan (left) should represent the Indian community in the new state government.

The five of them were arrested under the ISA on Dec 13 for allegedly being a national threat in mobilising the Indian community to air their grievances against the government.

“Hindraf has contributed enormously in the last election to ensure the victory for DAP, PKR and PAS,” they said in a March 19 joint-statement which was smuggled out of the detention centre.

“Manoharan, being a Hindraf leader and a DAP stalwart should be given due recognition by appointing him to the post of deputy menteri besar,” they said, adding that the appointment would make “his unlawful detention less painful”.

Manoharan won the Kota Alam Shah seat with a 7,184 majority while remaining under detention.

Wanita Umno: No to EGM, no to Azalina
Azreen Madzlan | Mar 21, 08 4:17pm

Wanita Umno today decided not to support Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's call for an Umno emergency general assembly (EGM) on May 11.

The wing's chief, Rafidah Aziz, said that although the wing respected the former Umno vice- president's suggestion, the focus now, however, was to make the party stronger following the battering it received in the recently held general election.

"Now it's not the time for anyone to ‘menangguk di air yang keruh' (take advantage). It is time for the party to gel together."

"We have lost 5 states, don’t worsen the situation." said Rafidah at a press conference after chairing the wing's exco meeting this morning

She said Razaleigh’s call was not even discussed at the Wanita exco meeting as it was not relevant.

"To us, if the party is strong, it doesn’t matter who calls for an EGM. It’s not an issue." she elaborated.

Razaleigh, who has offered himself as a candidate for the Umno presidency, has called for a special general assembly to discuss Umno's bad showing in the recent polls.

Under the party's constitution, at least 50 per cent of Umno's divisions must agree to such an assembly before it can be convened.

Azalina’s claim disputed

Rafidah also rejected claims made by former Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman that she was the representative of the Wanita wing in the recently announced new cabinet line-up.

"Ask her, which division does she represent in the Wanita wing?" retorted Rafidah.

Rafidah said Wanita Umno would not question whether the wing was represented in the cabinet because the unity of its 1.3 million members was much more important.

Following the unveiling of the new cabinet on Monday, Wanita Umno had voiced its disappointment over its non-representation as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had dropped both Rafidah (right) and Shahrizat Abdul Jalil from his line-up.

He then subsequently appointed Shahrizat, the deputy Wanita chief, to be his special advisor on women, family and community development matters, giving her ministerial status.

Azalina, named the tourism minister in the new cabinet, had told reporters today at a separate function that the question of the Wanita wing having no cabinet representative ‘did not arise’ as she was automatically a member of Wanita Umno having surpassed Pueteri Umno’s age limit of 40 years of age.

However, one Wanita Umno exco member, when met after Rafidah’s press conference, said although Azalina was now automatically a Wanita member, she couldn’t claim to represent Wanita in the new cabinet because she was not a Wanita Umno exco member.

‘Wanita will rise again’

Today’s three-hour Wanita Umno exco meeting analysed the election defeats of the wing’s candidates in five states and moves to mobilise its members to go to the ground together with the other Barisan Nasional component parties to regain support.

Deputy Wanita Umno chief, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the exco was strongly supporting Rafidah in her role as the wing’s chief.

She added although many parties wanted to see her and Rafidah at each other’s throats, such a scenario would never happen as all Wanita Umno members were solidly with Rafidah.

"We must now plan how to win the next general election. Barisan Nasional is still relevant. Do not underestimate Wanita," said Shahrizat (left).

She also expressed her disappointment with an English newspaper columnist which had portrayed her relationship with Rafidah as damaged, saying it was a total fabrication.

Rafidah, meanwhile, said she and other Wanita members would go down to the grassroots to restore public confidence in Wanita Umno. She also praised the spirit shown by Wanita members following the shocking results of the March 8 polls.

'A challenge'

"We’re both out of cabinet, we lost our posts (referring to Shahrizat) and as a normal human beings we should have been demoralised. I was expecting questions like ‘What do I do next?’ but they (the Wanita exco) are all ready to get back to work," she said.

Rafidah said the elections defeats suffered by Umno were a challenge, adding the losses ‘have brought us together’ and that Wanita Umno would rise again.

"I’ll be busier than before," said Rafidah, nicknamed the ‘Iron Lady’.

 PAS and Umno dance into each other's ground

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 – Just how far is Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) willing to go to win over Malaysia’s political middle ground? Pretty far, judging by some of its actions since March 8.

Party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang sounded like a true-blue reformer at Stadium Melawati in Shah Alam on Monday night; MP Khalid Samad did what no other Muslim politician has done before and spoke to Christians in a church and Kedah MB Datuk Azizan Abdul Razak assured Sikh leaders that longstanding issues over temples in the state would be resolved.
Just how far is Umno willing to change to meet the demands of a more discerning middle-class? Not very far, judging by events since the party and its partners in the Barisan Nasional coalition were stunned in Election 2008.

The party is in full swing blame-mode, looking for individuals to blame for its rejection, rather than examining why Indians, Chinese and urban Malays were willing to give their votes to a collection of political novices. There is a legitimate concern that the party is going to become more nationalistic and narrow-minded as it seeks to regain its secure footing in Malaysian politics.
An Umno division leader from Johor told The Malaysian Insider: “There is a danger that we could miss the opportunity to reform, with the focus being on party elections. But it is difficult to talk about being relevant to Malaysians when we are debating our relevance to Malays.’’

There is a greater danger of Umno becoming more like the PAS of old – a party straitjacketed by dogma and a conservative spine. If it does go down that path, it will have a difficult time convincing Malaysians who have voted for change that it is worthy of their support.

There was a time when every reference to PAS was coupled with its plan to set up an Islamic state and its fixation on hudud.

When Anwar Ibrahim began cobbling together the PKR-PAS-DAP alliance he made it clear to PAS leaders that they should drop the Islamic state platform if they were serious about winning non-Malay support. They did so and left it out of their election manifesto, encouraged also by PAS election strategist Husam Musa who felt that the party would be confined forever to the sidelines if it only appealed to Muslims.

It is still too early to say if the more moderate approach by PAS is driven by political expediency or will it be part of a permanent and genuine desire to reshape the party and reach out to all Malaysians.

But the success of the political experiment has somewhat liberated PAS. Ironically, because of their strong religious credentials, their politicians seem willing to take chances which the more “progressive’’ Umno politicians were unwilling to do.

So when Khalid Samad visited the Church of Divine Mercy and thanked the congregation for supporting him, he was breaking new ground. Even Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have been afraid to step onto church grounds lest he is accused by his party of being a supporter of Christianity. When he agreed to attend the Christmas celebrations last year, his officials were pleased that the function was in a hall next to the Archbishop’s residence.

In contrast, Khalid seemed at ease as he assured the Catholic audience that PAS would be fair to all religions. He noted that Parti Islam SeMalaysia’s name conjured up fear and frightening images among non-Muslims. But in 18 years, the PAS government in Kelantan had not discriminated against non-Muslims, he said.

For the Christian community which has felt that its space and freedom of worship were being eroded under an increasingly arrogant Barisan Nasional, those soft tones by Khalid have been reassuring.

Also pleased was the Sikh community in Kedah. For years, they have complained about the status of temples in the state. Now, the new Kedah MB Azizan Abdul Razak has assured the Sikh community that he would personally resolve land-status issues. Azizan belongs to the conservative religious class of the party.

The leader of that class is Abdul Hadi Awang. He has called Umno politicians infidels, and has made even the younger members of the party cringe with his fire-and-brimstone style. Yet, look at how he has been happy to play second-fiddle to Anwar and tone down his rhetoric.

Last night, he told 25,000 people that the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition would focus on reforming the judicial system, abolish the Internal Security Act and several other legislation, make the Anti-Corruption Agency independent and revamp the Election Commission. Missing was any reference to the Islamic state.

What PAS has succeeded in doing over the past 12 months is convince even its long-time critics that it is a more palatable option to Umno’s arrogance and its narrow-minded approach to religious and race issues. If PAS can move further to the middle ground and be a responsible member of the People’s Pact, it will be able to win over more non Malays.

On Saturday, the MIC branch in Simpang was dissolved and 110 of its members quit the party to become members of the PAS Supporters Club.

Bukit Gantang MP Roslan Shaharom, speaking at a temple, said the welfare of the former MIC branch members and members of the Indian community would be taken care of.

"We will take care of you because any problems affecting the Indian community will also affect members of the other communities," he said. More than 95% of the Indian voters in this constituency voted for him.

 I am here, I am here, I am here, I won't resign, says Abdullah

PUTRAJAYA, April 2 — Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today scoffed at speculations he will step down as prime minister.

Abdullah reiterated his stand that he would not run away from his responsibility as prime minister.

"I am here. I am here. I am here. They make all the speculations that I want to run away, I've resigned. Why should I resign," he said after meeting with Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said at his office here.

"My Government has got a strong majority (although) not the two-thirds (majority), but very strong...that is the stand of support. Why I must run away from my entrusted responsibility."

Abdullah was asked to comment on the speculations brought on by prominent Umno members, including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, calling for his head after Barisan Nasional's poor showing in last month's general election.

The BN lost its perennial two-third majority in parliament and relinquished control of Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kedah, besides failing to regain Kelantan from PAS.

Abdullah's absence from the public eye lately also lent credence to the such speculation.

Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib came to the support of his boss. He said: "It is very unfair to repeatedly ask the prime minister to resign...we have won 140 seats in Parliament compared to 82 by the Opposition...we are only eight seats short of a two-third majority.

"If the prime minister is the cause of our defeat, then we should have lost the whole country to the Opposition. We lost because there were many other contributory factors like the use of blogs and websites to run down the BN."

He said the use of the information and communications technology like the Internet and short-messaging service (SMS) played a crucial role in last month's general election.

"Among other contributing factors were dissatisfaction over candidates picked by BN and Malaysian Indians rejecting the government outright. The move to tarnish the prime minister's name has been going on for a while now and this is being done by an influential retired politician. He even said don't vote for the party but for the candidate. That's not fair," he said, referring to Dr Mahathir's caustic denunciations.

Muhammad said it was important for BN, especially Umno, to find tne root causes for the defeat in the five states and remedy the situation as soon as possible.

"If losing seats is the criteria for a prime minister to resign, then Dr Mahathir should have resigned when during his tenure the BN had lost in Sabah and Terengganu once while it failed to regain Kelantan from PAS.

"Now Pak Lah's work is to rehabilitate Umno and BN. We need to create a level playing field. We also need to use the blogs and the Internet effectively."

He said Dr Mahathir was still very influential, especially after being in power for 22 years, before passing the baton to Abdullah in 2003.

Instead of helping the BN to get back to its feet, the former prime minister was criticising the ruling coalition.

Asked on the claim by Dr Mahathir that Umno leaders were now muzzled and had become "yes men" to Abdullah, Muhammad said the Cabinet still functioned the same way as it did when Dr Mahathir was the prime minister.

"He also alleged that the BN candidates from Umno were picked by someone else but let me assure you that the names of potential candidates were picked by the state liaison chiefs.

"Almost all the names forwarded to the prime minister were allowed to contest. This (the call by Dr Mahathir to Abdullah to step down) is like our own silat master hitting us when we are fighting with someone else. It is very bad for Umno and BN," he said.

Asked if Umno would take disciplinary action against Dr Mahathir for his outburst, Muhammad said this was very unlikely as the former prime minister was "invincible".

"We've taken disciplinary action against many people but this time we are facing an invincible man. He is openly supporting the Opposition, that is too much," said the newly-appointed Selangor Umno and BN chief, succeeding former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo.

Muhammad, himself a former Selangor Menteri Besar, said there was no reason for Umno to abolish the quota system for nominations to party posts for the election of president, deputy president, vice-presidents and supreme council members.

"This year is election year, it would be like we are in a football match, but the referee stops the match and enlarges the goal post, then allows the match to resume. That would not be right," he added.

Under the quota system, a candidate intending to vie for the president's post must garner at least 58 nominations or 30 per cent of Umno divisions in the country. — Bernama

Voting for gender justice
Jacqueline Ann Surin

(Jan 17, 2008):“WHICH political party, from either the Barisan Nasional or the opposition, has fielded 50% women candidates in the elections? Or even the minimum 30% the government has committed to?” Zaitun Kasim asks.

The answer is a dismal “none”.

In 2004, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry announced a programme towards achieving at least 30% participation of women at decision making levels, in line with the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which Malaysiaratified in 1995.

But despite having a highly-educated population of women, and steady economic growth, Malaysian women remain politically sidelined.

The percentage of women representatives in state assemblies was 4.8% in 1990, 6.3% in 1995 and 5.8% in 1999. In the Dewan Rakyat, women’s representation was 6.1% in 1990, 7.8% in 1995, and 10.4% in 1999 (the first time in Malaysian history the percentage of women MPs hit double digits).

The latest statistics shows that currently only 6.9% of state assembly members and 9.6% of MPs are women.

“It’s not enough to pay lip service to gender issues,” Zaitun argues, adding that no Malaysian political party has an active policy about fielding women candidates. “And in winnable seats, too.”

Indeed, joining a political party does not guarantee that a woman will be given a seat. After the 1999 elections, Umno Wanita permanent chairperson Tan Sri Aishah Ghani said the 12 women candidates the party fielded was the highest number in the party’s more than 50-year-old history.

Zaitun stresses it’s also disingenuous to say that political parties cannot field more women candidates because the women they approach have family commitments or are uninterested.

“That’s a fatalistic argument. Why don’t our political parties and the government start saying instead that they will help women overcome the barriers they face?” Zaitun says, noting that Sweden and Rwanda, for instance, have almost achieved 50% women representation in government (see http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm).

In the 1999 general election, in response to these issues, politicised Malaysians banded together under the Women’s Candidacy Initiative (WCI), and with some cooperation from opposition political parties, fielded Zaitun as the first ever independent candidate to run on a gender platform.

She challenged MCA incumbent Datuk Chan Kong Choy in Selayang and while she failed to secure the parliamentary seat, she garnered 43% of the votes and reduced Chan’s majority from 38,627 in the 1995 elections to 8,835.

At the end of last year (2007), WCI was revived under the name of WCI2. The group is likely to field at least one candidate in the next elections, widely expected to be held this year (2008).

“Last year alone was a really good example of why we need good, gender-sensitive MPs. We had the ugliest display of what it means to have sexist MPs,” she says, referring to the “bocor” remarks in Parliament by Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers Datuk Mohd Said Yusof and Datuk Bung Mokthar Radin.

Additionally, at last year’s Umno general assembly, Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin, who is the Jerai MP, was reported to have said, “Yes, we can see a tunnel in her skirt” after an Umno delegate complained that AirAsia stewardesses’ skirts were too short.

At the same time, women political leaders who lack a gender perspective have no qualms telling women what they should wear and how to please their men, as was the case late last year (2007) with Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen.

Far more worrisome, says Zaitun, is when MPs and senators are told to toe the party and government line and are coerced into voting against their conscience, which is what transpired in 2006 when Parliament passed amendments to the Islamic Family Law that were deemed unjust to women.

Zaitun argues that when women and women’s interests are constantly subordinated to the party structure, gender issues and women’s representation will always fall off the radar even though women are usually the most marginalised and affected by social and economic injustices.

She says WCI2 hopes to continue raising awareness about women’s issues and not just when it’s seasonally vogue to do so, and to reinforce the message that concerned citizens can be political without joining a political party. “WCI showed Malaysians it was possible to run a good campaign as an independent without a formal political party structure.”

Already, Zaitun says, others, including men, who are thinking of running as independents are consulting with WCI2. “We also have women who say they want to run in the elections after this next one and want to help out in WCI2 so they can learn the ropes,” Zaitun adds.

Indeed, WCI2 has garnered twice the number of people in its core group compared to the same period in 1999, out of which more than ten are men.

“We’ve expanded the possibilities and enlarged people’s imagination,” Zaitun says. “And the more we do this, the more we make politics accessible to all of us.”

Judge: It isn't me
 WEB EDITION :: Local News

» Senior judge implicated in video clip denies discussing judicial appointments with
   senior lawyer.
» Lawyers plan march to demand royal commission of inquiry

A SENIOR judge implicated in a video clip which showed a senior lawyer discussing judicial appointments over the phone has denied that he was the person on the other end.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said that the judge had contacted him to make the denial.

"The judge called me to deny that he was the one talking to the lawyer," he said in Kuala Kangsar after a break-of-fast event on Saturday night. He did not say when the judge contacted him.

Nazri, who is in charge of law and legal matters, said it was important to establish the authenticity of the controversial video clip released by the Opposition last week. The video was purportedly recorded in 2002 and showed the senior lawyer discussing the elevation of several members of the judiciary.

"(Based on the video clip) we only see one person talking ... we don’t know who was on the other end. He (the judge allegedly speaking to the lawyer) has denied (it)," he said.

The revelation of the video has prompted calls for an investigation. The Bar Council plans a march to submit a memorandum to the prime minister on Wednesday, calling for the cabinet to discuss the setting up of a Royal Commission.

It also plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 6 to discuss the issue further and refer the senior lawyer to the legal profession’s Disciplinary Board.

Judge said it’s not him: Nazri
KUALA KANGSAR: A senior judge said to have engaged in a telephone conversation with a lawyer, allegedly discussing judicial appointments, has denied that he was the one contacted by the lawyer featured in the video clip released by Parti Keadilan Rakyat last Tuesday.

Given the rising concern over the state of the judiciary following the release of the video, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Tsu Koon called yesterday for immediate action to address the concern and cautioned that if this was not done, it could harm the credibility and integrity of the judiciary.

In a Bernama report, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the judge implicated in the clip had contacted him to make the denial.

"The judge called me to deny that he was the one talking to the lawyer," he told reporters after handing Amanah Raya Berhad tithe and breaking fast at Taman Kuala Kangsar mosque here on Saturday night.

He did not mention when the judge contacted him

Mohamed Nazri, who handles the portfolio on law and legal matters, said what was important at this stage was an investigation to establish the authenticity of the video clip.

"(Based on the video clip) we only see one person talking. We don’t know who was on the other end. He (the judge allegedly speaking to the lawyer) has denied (it)," he said.

Police have started an investigation to ascertain the authenticity of the video clip before taking further action.

Mohamed Nazri also questioned the motive of the people who exposed the clip as they have released it to the media first before handing it to the police and the Anti-Corruption Agency.

"If they want to uphold justice or want to clean up the judiciary, the police and ACA can investigate. Why go to the media? The intention is questionable – for political (mileage) or for a clean judiciary?" he asked.

He warned that legal action can be taken against people resorting to action that could erode public confidence in the judiciary.

The eight-minute video showed the lawyer discussing the appointment of the judge as the Court of Appeal president and later being elevated as the chief justice, and the appointment of several other judges.

On Saturday, the Bar Council convened an emergency meeting to discuss the video clip and called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the matter.

According to news reports, its chairwoman, Ambiga Sreneevasan, said the commission should also investigate all the problems concerning the judiciary.

On Wednesday, the Bar Council will organise a march from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, where it will submit a memorandum to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, calling for the cabinet to discuss the setting up of the commission.

It also plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 6 to discuss the issue further and refer the lawyer to the legal profession’s Disciplinary Board.

Abdullah had said on Friday he viewed the issue seriously and had asked the police to investigate it as soon as possible.

He said the video clip could harm the good name of the judicial system.

"You cannot take it lightly and the matter must be addressed promptly," Abdullah, who is also the internal security minister, said.

In Batu Pahat yesterday, Koh said Malaysia has a good judicial system and legal framework that were well understood by foreign investors compared to other developing countries.

"This has become an advantage for the country to attract foreign investments. But once we lose credibility, it is going to affect our ability to woo investors," he told reporters after opening the Johor Gerakan delegates conference.

Updated: 02:25PM Mon, 24 Sep 2007

Live bullet fired at ceramah crowd
Sep 9, 07 2:50pm       

Opposition parties PAS and PKR are claiming that the police used unprecedented violence - including firing live bullets - to disperse a ceramah in Pantai Batu Buruk, Terengganu, late last night.

Party sources told malaysiakini that two individuals have been seriously injured as a result of being shot.

Terengganu police chief Ayub Yaakob, in a specially arranged press conference this afternoon, confirmed that one live bullet was fired by one of his officers.

Ayub said the officer, who is from the Federal Reserve Unit, was set upon by a group of men in the vicinity of the ceramah.

"At about 11.45pm last night, the officer Azmi Hussein, 29, was doing his duty near the Permai Inn car park when he was surrounded by 20 men who proceeded to threaten and assault him," Ayub was reported as saying by Bernama.

He said that the FRU personnel was pushed to the ground and attacked by the crowd, leaving the FRU officer with no choice but to draw his weapon and fire a shot to defend himself.

Ayub said that the crowd dispersed soon after the shot was fired, allowing the FRU personnel to escape from the area.

The state police chief added that as a result of the single shot, two men from the group were hurt - one in his shoulder and another in his neck.

They are currently undergoing treatment at the Kuala Terengganu Hospital.

Four police personnel were also injured after being attacked by the crowd, claimed Ayub.

However, several eyewitnesses told malaysiakini that more than one shot was fired at the crowd last night.

They also claimed that several members of the public also suffered injuries as a result of police violence. At least 23 opposition supporters have been arrested.

Makeshift stage torn down

The stand-off between the police and the crowd of 500 people started following the refusal by the authorities to ban a ceramah organised by polls watchdog Bersih.

The police said that the organizers had no permit to conduct the ceramah. Among those who were to address the crowd were PKR treasurer Khalid Ibrahim and PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu.

Bersih, a coalition of opposition political parties and non-government organisations which campaigns for free and fair elections, is organising forums to raise awareness on the subject nationwide.

According to sources, the application for the permit to organise the forum had been sent to the police prior to the event and Bersih had assumed that the event would be given the green light and decided to proceed with it.

The situation turned unruly when the police and the local authorities prepared to tear down the makeshift stage at about 10pm.

Eyewitnesses also said that the police also shot tear gas and fired water cannons to disperse the crowd.

According to state police chief Ayub, his men had to use tear gas and water cannons after the crowd turned aggressive and started hurling stones at them.

The police also claimed that a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Federal Reserve Unit personnel who were brought in to control the crowd.

'Permit originally granted'

In an immediate reaction, PKR information chief Tian Chua said that while the opposition has come "to expect such injustices from the current government, the sheer amount of violence is appalling".

He observed that such high-level of violence had not been used to break up a peaceful gathering in an "extremely long time".

"The shooting, gassing, beatings and arrests of scores of people whose only 'crime' was to seek alternative views and information clearly indicates that the BN government has reached the heights of desperation," said Chua.

"The extremely last-minute decision of the police to revoke the permit for the gathering which they had originally granted is not only unreasonable but also highly suspect, and points towards political meddling."

He called on the government to order an independent inquiry into the incident.

"We also call upon all Malaysians, who wish to preserve their rights to gather peacefully and seek alternative views, to voice up our unequivocal condemnation of police brutality."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak defended the police action, saying it was their duty to ensure law and order.

"This is within the jurisdiction of the police. The government did not give any instruction to the police," Bernama quoted him as saying.

Shot man in 'critical condition'

PAS leader Syed Azman Syed Ahmad one protestor who was shot was in hospital in a critical condition.

He said the violence erupted after police fired tear gas and used water canons to break up the peaceful gathering.

According to Syed Azman, the situation became tense when police refused to allow speakers to proceed.

"The police gave orders to arrest me and the other speakers. At this point, the police fired tear gas at a nearby group and used water canons to disperse the crowd," he said.

Of the 23 people arrested last night, 19 of them were freed on police bail by the Kuala Terengganu Sessions Court today. Four, however, have been remanded for further investigations.

PM blames PAS for Kuala Terengganu riot
Sep 11, 07 6:26pm

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today blamed an opposition party for inciting a riot in Kuala Terengganu on Saturday night.

He said that the opposition could have prompted the riot after not being able to bring development to the state during the five years it was in power.

While he did not name the opposition party, it was evident that he was referring to PAS which had ruled the state from 1999 to 2004 before it was wrestled back by the BN.

Abdullah claimed that the rioting was a deliberate tactic by the opposition party.

"This is proof of their irresponsibility and are devoid of ideas to develop the state," he was quoted as saying by Bernama in Kuching, Sarawak.

The prime minister was also reported as saying that the opposition party had purposely intended to smear the BN government with the riot because they had no chance to win in the next general election.

Seven people were injured, two with gunshot wounds, in the riot which started following a police refusal for a ceramah to proceed.

The ceramah was organised by polls watchdog Bersih, which is a coalition made up opposition parties and NGOs to campaign for free and fair elections.

Opposition supporters openly clashed with police who were trying to disperse the gathering at Jalan Sultan Mahmud in Pantai Batu Buruk.

The riot was sparked when police ordered the crowd of 500 people to disperse peacefully.

The police claimed that they were verbally abused by the aggressive crowd, with stones, homemade bombs and Motolov cocktails being hurled at police.

Police have arrested 23 people in connection with the riot. The two men who were shot are still undergoing treatment in hospital.

The police have claimed that gunshots were fired in self-defence by a police personnel who was being attacked by a crowd.

No ISA for rioters

Abdullah, who is also Internal Security Minister, however, said police would not invoke the Internal Security Act against the rioters who have been detained but would deal with them under normal police procedures.

He said the incident, which saw the burning of the national flag, showed the opposition had bad intentions probably after seeing the people happy and grateful to the government as they ushered in the 50th independence anniversary celebrations.

PAS however claimed that the violence which rocked the Kuala Terengganu ceramah was instigated by police agent provocateurs. 

The opposition party also accused political secretary to Internal Security Minister Wan Mohd Farid Wan Salleh of having a hand in it.

However, Mohd Farid denied this when contacted later.

DAP, Dong Jiao Zong in deputy minister Zam’s crosshair
Susan Loone
Nov 20, 02 08:09am       

Newly appointed Deputy Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said today that he would dedicate his life to fighting "extremism and chauvinism".

"Our real enemy, the enemy of this country and our people, is extremism and chauvinism. Only Barisan Nasional has been able to fight this," he stressed during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Zam, as he is better known, named opposition party DAP and two Chinese education movements collectively known as Dong Jiao Zong, as "extremist and chauvinist”.

DAP and Dong Jiao Zong, like religious extremists must be eradicated too, he added.

Zam, 63, whose new appointment was announced yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Department, was editor-in-chief of Utusan Group before being appointed as a senator in 1998, and as parliamentary secretary to the Information Ministry last year.

Over the past year, he has been campaigning fiercely against PAS, projecting the opposition party as religious extremists through public broadcast stations RTM1 and RTM2.

Recently, however, the focus has since turned to DAP and Dong Jiao Zong, in a nightly segment called Bahaya Cauvinisme (Dangers of chauvinism) on RTM’s prime time TV news.

The five-minute clip depicted the two organisations as “anti-Malay, anti-national and unpatriotic” for their opposition to the government’s move to switch to English as the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics next year.

Right of reply

In a press statement yesterday, DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang called on the Cabinet, which is meeting today, to allow DAP and Dong Jiao Zong right of reply on the same medium.

When asked today, Zam initially said he would not give them the right of reply on television, saying "we will only be listening to the same tune".

However, he later changed his mind and told reporters "maybe I will consider it".

"They say they are not chauvinist but that is from their own perspective. From the perspective of the government, they are chauvinist.

"They (Dong Jiao Zong) have not been able to accept Bahasa Malaysia as the official language or Malay special rights even from the beginning. They have also been the cause for the split in MCA in 1959,” he alleged.

"In fact, Tuanku Abdul Rahman (first prime minister) had said if we do not achieve Merdeka, he will blame them for it," he added.

A journalist’s role

On his new appointment, Zam said the news was “shocking and I thought it was a joke”.

He said he was grateful to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his appointment which he called a "recognition to journalists" in the country.

He also praised Information Minister Khalil Yaacob for his "vast understanding about the duties of a journalist".

"Journalists have ego, we are trained to have social standing, to have skills to be friendly and to be trusted by people. We have to educate ourselves every day by reading newspapers and listening to the radio, or else you are not a journalist," said the former journalist who started out at 18 years old as an Utusan Melayu stringer in Alor Star.

When asked about journalism ethnics and non-partisanship, Zam said he believed in such things and had never thought about joining politics but decided to do so after he "saw the truth".

"I have seen with my own eyes how this country was built. I’ve had 30 years in jounalism to know the government’s policies. To know the ethics and taboos in journalism," he said, adding that his departure from Utusan Group was a "blessing".

A journalist’s role

Meanwhile, in an earlier press conference at the same venue, newly appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, said he was surprised by his appointment and thanked Mahathir for his trust in him.

The 52-year-old said he was unfazed by his "fast-track" appointment as he has been active in politics for a long time before joining the government as senator in 2000 and later as deputy minister in the same ministry last year.

The businessmen-turned-politician is Umno executive secretary and Federal Territory Umno liaison chief. He was elected to the Umno supreme council in 1993 and served as Umno Youth treasurer in 1998. He became the Federal Territory Barisan Nasional chairperson in November last year.

Tengku Adnan said he has yet to be informed of the scope of his new duties.

"It depends on the boss. The boss assesses our performance and decides. I will just accept," he said.

Zam and Tengku Adnan will receive their letters of appointment tomorrow from the Yang di-Pertuan Agung, together with Dr Jamaludin Jarjis, 51, who has been appointed as the second finance minister.

Biodata calon Ijok & alahai Noraini rambutnya perang...
Ahmad Tajdid
Thu | Apr 19, 07 | 02:20:29 PM
Selasa 1 Mei 2007 | 13 Rabiul Akhir 1428 Hijrah

Ketua Puteri Umno, Datuk Noraini Ahmad muncul di Ijok dengan imej baru. Jika dalam pilihan raya kecil Dun Pengkalan Pasir, Kelantan, beliau bertudung litup dan berbaju kurung; di Ijok, ketua sayap ketiga Umno itu berpakaian ranggi dan berambut perang (blond).

Mengapa perlu ada dua identiti dalam dua tempat berasingan, Noraini lebih faham. Tidak payahlah nak bercakap tentang kewajipan menutup aurat, Setiausaha Parlimen Jabatan Perdana Menteri yang juga pemuka wanita Umno, Dr Mashitah Ibrahim lebih maklum daripada kita semua!

Penampilan baru Noraini itu hanyalah isu sampingan. Apa yang cuba diketengahkan dalam komentar ini adalah kenyataan Noraini bahawa calon BN 'lebih baik' dari calon KeADILan dan mampu menang dalam pilihan raya kecil DUN Ijok, 28 April ini.

Menurut Noraini seperti dilapor Bernama, jentera BN yang bergerak secara bersepadu sudah pasti akan bergabung tenaga untuk membawa kemenangan kepada calon BN iaitu K.Parthiban.

"Calon parti pembangkang memang berpengalaman tapi dia dikenali dalam dunia korporat sahaja. Calon kita juga ada pengalaman luas dan kita akan pastikan dia menang nanti," katanya kepada pemberita selepas melancarkan jentera Puteri Umno untuk pilihan raya kecil DUN Ijok, 18 April lalu.

Betulkah dakwaan Noraini bahawa calon BN lebih baik? Bagi membantu pembaca membuat keputusan, berikut adalah maklumat berhubung dua calon yang bertanding:

Calon BN, K. Parthiban
K. Parthiban, 38, ialah seorang anak tempatan. Dilahirkan pada 6 Okt, 1968 di Ladang Raja Musa, Kuala Selangor.

Parthiban dilaporkan aktif dalam MIC sejak 1989 dan jawatan tertinggi parti yang disandangnya adalah Setiausaha MIC bahagian Tanjung Karang. Walaupun bertugas sebagai kakitangan kerajaan kumpulan A yang dilarang aktif dalam politik, Parthiban nampaknya kebal daripada peraturan am itu.

Jawatan akhir yang disandangnya ialah pegawai Ko-Akademik di Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah Kuala Selangor.

Sebelum menjadi pegawai Ko-Akedemik, Parthiban ialah Penyelia Sekolah Tamil serta guru di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Abdul Aziz, Kuala Selangor, di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Desa, Tanjung Karang, dan di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ghandiji, Tanjong Karang.

Beliau mendapat pendidikan awal di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ladang Raja Musa, Kuala Selangor pada 1975 sebelum melanjutkan pelajaran ke Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sulaiman Shah, Batang Berjuntai pada tahun 1981.

Parthiban kemudian melanjutkan pelajaran tingkatan enam di Institut BB, Batang Berjuntai dan kemudiannya mengikuti kursus sijil perguruan asas Bahasa Tamil di Maktab Perguruan Seri Kota, Kuala Lumpur pada 1991 hingga 1993.

Calon BN itu juga menyandang jawatan utama dalam beberapa pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) termasuk sebagai Presiden Majlis Gabungan Persatuan-persatuan Belia Daerah Kuala Selangor.

Beliau juga presiden Kelab Bola Sepak Permatang; pengerusi kepada Persatuan Belia Hindu (HYO) Tanjung Karang dan Rukun Tetangga Raja Musa, Kuala Selangor; setiausaha Persatuan Pelajar Sri Sakti Kuala Selangor; selain pernah menjadi setiausaha Kelab Belia Tamil Kuala Selangor dari 1990 sehingga 2001.

Beliau juga ialah ahli panel Mahkamah Juvana Kuala Selangor dan ahli panel pelawat Hospital Tanjong Karang.

Parthiban, berkelulusan sarjana dalam bidang Pengurusan Pendidikan Universiti Malaya, serta Sarjana Muda Sains dengan Kepujian (B.Sc.(Hons) ) dari universiti yang sama.
Jawatan-jawatan penting dalam politik yang masih disandang ialah pegawai khas kepada anggota Parlimen Tanjung Karang, wakil peribadi kaum India ADUN Permatang, anggota jawatankuasa BN Tanjung Karang dan Ketua Cawangan MIC Kampung Bukit Belimbing.
Parthiban juga ialah anggota Majlis Daerah Kuala Selangor.

Dengan pelbagai jawatan politik dan NGO yang disandang, bagaimana agaknya calon BN itu mampu melaksanakan tugasnya sebagai seorang kakitangan kerajaan yang cemerlang, gemilang dan terbilang?

Calon KeADILan, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim
Abdul Khalid, 61, bukanlah nama asing dalam bidang korporat dan politik negara.
Bekas ketua pegawai eksekutif (CEO) Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) dan Kumpulan Guthrie itu kini menyandang Bendahari KeADILan Pusat dan Pengerusi Perhubungan KeADILan Selangor.

Abdul Khalid dilahirkan di Kampung Jalan Raja Abdullah, Jeram, Kuala Selangor dan merupakan anak watan kebanggaan penduduk di kawasan tersebut dari dulu hingga kini.
Khalid mendapat pendidikan awal di Sekolah Melayu Jeram sekitar 1956 dan menduduki peperiksaan Special Malay Class. Beliau seterusnya menyambung pelajaran di sebuah sekolah Inggeris di Kampung Kuantan.

Lulus dengan cemerlang Ijazah Sarjana Muda Ekonomi daripada Universiti Malaya, Khalid kemudian memperoleh Sarjana Pentadbiran Perniagaan daripada Universiti Queensland, Australia.

Beliau kini menjawat Pengerusi Dana Amanah Mellenia Berhad dan ahli lembaga pengarah Sirim Berhad. Reputasinya di peringkat antarabangsa menjadi faktor pelantikannya sebagai penasihat Bank Pembangunan Islam Jeddah, sebuah syarikat pelaburan kewangan Islam yang tersohor.

Khalid juga menjawat Fellow Institut Penyelidikan Strategik dan Antarabangsa Malaysia (ISIS), Majlis Produktiviti Kebangsaan dan Ahli Kehormat Majlis Penasihat Perniagaan Persidangan Ekonomi Asia-Pasifik (APEC).

Bekas guru dan pensyarah institut pengajian tinggi ini memegang jawatan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif di Permodalan Nasional Berhad (1979-1994) dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif di Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad (1995-2003).

Penduduk Kuala Selangor selalu mengingati jasa Khalid Ibrahim yang membina pusat latihan penyelenggaraan jentera perindustrian dengan kerjasama UMW Berhad di Kuala Selangor. Pusat tersebut telah membantu memberi latihan kepada remaja miskin dari kawasan sekitar termasuk Ijok, sebelum diserapkan sebagai tenaga kerja di UMW Berhad. Pusat tersebut mula beroperasi dari tahun 1994 sehingga kini.

Khalid Ibrahim juga memperkenalkan Program Rakan Jaya Diri yang khusus untuk melatih pelajar-pelajar yang tercicir dari persekolahan. Mereka diberi peluang di Guthrie Berhad, dan diajar kemahiran komunikasi dan kemahiran asas pejabat bagi memudahkan mereka diserapkan berkerja di mana-mana syarikat.

Kedua-dua program ini berjaya menaik taraf kehidupan penduduk sekitar Kuala Selangor termasuk Ijok.

Apa sebab Khalid bertanding?
Khalid mengambil keputusan bertanding di DUN Ijok dengan alasan kawasan itu masih ketinggalan daripada segi pembangunan.

Menurutnya, sungguhpun Selangor diisytiharkan sebagai negeri maju, secara keseluruhannya Ijok masih ketinggalan daripada segi pembangunan.

"Saya pernah berbasikal ke Sekolah Melayu Jeram sekitar 1956 dan kemudian menyambung pelajaran di Sekolah Inggeris Kampung Kuantan dan kini saya dapati keadaan di Ijok ketika saya bersekolah sehingga sekarang tidak banyak berubah.

"Masih banyak kampung yang masih tidak mempunyai kemudahan asas seperti bekalan elektrik dan air bersih," katanya pada suatu sidang akhbar mengumumkan pencalonannya di lobi bangunan Parlimen, beberapa hari sebelum penamaan calon.

Daripada pemaparan biodata calon-calon tadi, siapakah yang anda fikir layak untuk mewakili DUN Ijok?

Pastinya ia suatu pilihan yang mudah. Paling tidakpun, ia tidak sesukar antara memilih watak wanita salihah bertudung litup Ketua Puteri Umno di Pengkalan Pasir dengan watak ranggi dan berambut perang Noraini Ahmad di Ijok!

8 Lojing firms to be charged
2007/04/23

KOTA BARU: Eight companies operating in Lojing Highlands will be charged soon for flouting conditions in their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Natural Resources and Environmental Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Sazmi Miah said this would be done in a fortnight.

He said three companies were initially to be charged but that this list had been expanded to eight.

Sazmi, who is Machang MP, said there was evidence that five other companies were also responsible.

"We feel that it will be unfair to charge three first, so we will do it all in one go," he told a press conference here. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid recently said that three logging companies would be charged soon for failing to report their logging activities.

If found guilty, the companies could face fines up to RM100,000 each while the directors could also face jail terms of up to five years.

Sazmi urged the state government to penalise the companies concerned.

"If the state is serious in acting against those involved in environmental degradation, I suggest they stop all work at the sites and relook all the concession agreements."

Sazmi also criticised the state government for giving logging concessions in Lojing to three companies belonging to the same holding company which was owned by foreigners.

"Although there is no ban against foreigners doing business in the country, the state government must practise transparency."

Kes Subashini: Satu ketidakadilan pada orang Islam, kenapa didiamkan?
Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Wed | Apr 18, 07 | 05:44:23 PM
 
Kes Subashini v Saravanan membuka sekali lagi lembaran baru pertembungan bidang kuasa Mahkamah Syariah dan Mahkamah Sivil di negara ini.
 
Secara ringkasnya fakta kes ini adalah seorang wanita Hindu , Subashini Rajasingham telah berkahwin dengan seorang lelaki Hindu bernama Saravanan Thangathoray pada tahun 2001.
 
Hasil perkahwinan mereka terdapat dua orang anak iaiti Dharvin Joshua berumur 3 tahun dan Sharvind berumur 1 tahun. Saravanan kemudiannya telah memeluk agama Islam dengan nama Islamnya Muhammad Shafi.
Memandangkan isterinya kekal dalam agama Hindu, Muhammad Shafi tidak mempunyai pilihan selain daripada pergi ke Mahkamah Syariah Wilayah Persekutuan untuk mendapatkan perintah pembatalan perkahwinannya dengan isterinya yang masih beragama Hindu.
 
Menurut undang-undang Islam, perkahwinan Muhammad Shafi adalah dikira terbatal secara automatik apabila beliau memeluk Islam tatkala isterinya enggan masuk Islam dan kekal dalam agama Hindu.
 
Bagaimanapun di dalam undang-undang yang sedia ada Muhammad Shafi perlu mendapatkan perintah Mahkamah terlebih dahulu bagi membatalkan perkahwinannya dengan bekas isterinya tersebut kerana Seksyen 46 ( 1 ) Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam ( Wilayah Persekutuan ) 1984 memperuntukkan bahawa:
 
“ Jika salah satu pihak kepada sesuatu perkahwinan itu murtad atau memeluk satu kepercayaan lain daripada Islam , maka perbuatan yang demikian tidak boleh dengan sendirinya berkuatkuasa membubarkan perkahwinan itu melainkan dan sehingga disahkan demikian oleh Mahkamah.”
 
Muhammad Shafie tidak mempunyai pilihan selain daripada pergi ke Mahkamah Syariah kerana meskipun perkahwinannya dengan bekas isterinya dikawal oleh Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang ( Perkahwinan dan Penceraian ) 1976 ( selepas ini dirujuk sebagai Akta tersebut ) , Akta tersebut sendiri menghalang Muhammad Shafie untuk memfailkan petisyen penceraian di Mahkamah Tinggi ( Sivil ) kerana berdasarkan seksyen 51 Akta tersebut diperuntukkan:
 
“ Jika satu pihak kepada sesuatu perkahwinan telah masuk Islam maka pihak yang satu lagi yang tidak masuk Islam boleh mempetisyen untuk penceraian.”
 
Berdasarkan seksyen 51 Akta tersebut adalah jelas Muhammad Shafie dihalang oleh undang –undang sivil sendiri untuk memfailkan petisyen penceraian di Mahkamah Sivil.
 
Seksyen 51 digubal di atas falsafah bahawa memasuki agama Islam dikira satu kesalahan matrimonial dan yang demikian pihak yang masuk Islam dinafikan haknya untuk mendapatkan remedi di Mahkamah Sivil.
Di dalam kes Pedley v Majlis Agama Islam , Pulau Pinang ( 1990 ) 2 MLJ 307 Y.A Hakim Wan Adnan menyatakan bahawa “ satu perkahwinan bukan Islam tidak dibubarkan apabila satu pihaknya memeluk Islam. Ia hanya memberi alasan kepada satu pihak satu lagi yang tidak masuk Islam untuk memfailkan petisyen penceraian ( di Mahkamah sivil ).
 
Meskipun di dalam kes tersebut Kadi Besar memutuskan bahawa perkahwinan di dalam keadaan tersebut akan dibubarkan mengikut undang –undang Islam, Hakim Wan Adnan menyatakan; “ pernyataan Kadi Besar itu tidak akan menjejaskan keadaan Plaintif di dalam pandangan undang-undang peribadinya dan undang-undang sivil negara.”
 
Kesan ketara seksyen 51 dalam konteks kes ini adalah perkahwinan antara Muhammad Shafie dan Subashini akan terus wujud selagi mana Subashini tidak memfailkan petisyen penceraiannya di Mahkamah Tinggi dan ini mendatangkan satu ketidakadilan kepada pihak yang masuk Islam.
 
Meskipun di dalam kes ini Muhammad Shafi telah mendapatkan perintah pembubaran perkahwinannya dengan Subashini di Mahkamah Syariah namun ianya tidak berkesan membubarkan perkahwinannya ke atas Subahsini , Ini kerana menurut seksyen 4 atau 8 Akta tersebut perkahwinan tersebut , jika sah hendaklah berterusan sehingga dibubarkan
 
( a ) dengan kematian salah satu pihak ;
 
( b ) dengan perintah sesuatu Mahkamah yang mempunyai bidangkuasa yang layak ; atau
 
( c ) dengan dikri pembatalan yang dibuat oleh sesuatu Mahkamah
“Mahkamah” di dalam seksyen tersebut ditakrifkan sebagai Mahkamah Tinggi atau Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi.
 
Di dalam kes ini bagaimanapun Subashini telah memfailkan petisyen penceraian di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur bagi membubarkan perkahwinannya dengan Muhammad Shafi . Sebelum petisyen penceraian tersebut didengar, Subahsini telah membuat permohonan bagi mendapatkan perintah injunksi bagi :-
 
a.Menghalang Muhammad Shafi mengislamkan anak –anak mereka ;
 
b.Menghalang Muhammad Shafi untuk memulakan atau meneruskan prosiding berhubung dengan perkahwinan mereka dan anak-anak mereka di Mahkamah Syariah .
 
Mahkamah Tinggi yang mendengar permohonan injunksi tersebut meskipun pada awalnya membenarkan injunksi diberikan secara ex parte telah membatalkan perintah injunksi tersebut atas alasan-alasan berikut :-
 
a.Injunksi tidak boleh diberikan ke atas apa-apa prosiding di Mahkamah Syariah di bawah seksyen 54 (b) Akta Relif Spesifik 1950 kerana Mahkamah Syariah bukan Mahkamah yang lebih rendah daripada Mahkamah Tinggi ;
 
b.“Subject matter” bagi permohonan injunksi tersebut adalah termasuk dalam perkara yang berkaitan undang-undang Islam maka berdasarkan Perkara 121 ( 1A ) Mahkamah Sivil tidak mempunyai bidangkuasa untuk mendengar permohonan tersebut.
 
Subashini telah memfailkan rayuannya di Mahkamah Rayuan dan di Mahkamah Rayuan dua orang Hakim ( Hakim Dato’ Suriyadi dan Dato” Hassan Lah ) telah memutuskan menolak rayuan Subashini manakala Hakim Gopal Sri Ram memberikan keputusan yang menentang ( dissenting judgment ).
 
Keputusan Mahkamah Rayuan khususnya keputusan Hakim Dato’ Hassan Lah telah dikritik secara bertalu-talu oleh pihak bukan Islam dan juga sesetengah orang Islam sendiri kerana Hakim tersebut telah memberikan satu pandangan bahawa Subashini masih mempunyai peluang ( recourse ) untuk pergi ke Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah jika beliau tidak berpuas hati dengan keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah kerana di bawah Akta Pentadbiran Undang-Undang Islam ( Wilayah Persekutuan )1993 iaitu di bawah seksyen 53 terdapat peruntukkan yang membenarkan Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah untuk menyemak keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah yang membenarkan permohonan Muhammad Shafie .
 
Yang Arif Hakim Hasan Lah di dalam penghakimannya menyatakan;
“ I think the wordings in that section ( section 53 ) is wide enough to enable the wife to apply to the Syariah Appeal Court to exercise its supervisory and revisionary powers to make the ruling on the legality of the husband's application and the interim order obtained by the husband on the ground that the Syariah Court had no jurisdiction over the matter as she is not a person professing a religion of Islam. The wife could have done that rather than asking the Civil Court to review the Syariah Court's decisions”.
 
Kritikan yang dibuat oleh pihak-pihak bukan Islam adalah Mahkamah Syariah tidak layak sama sekali mengadili orang bukan Islam dan cadangan Dato Hasan Lah adalah bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang memperuntukkan bahawa bidangkuasa Mahkamah Syariah hanya ke atas orang Islam sahaja.
 
Kritikan tersebut secara jelas mengabaikan atau mengenepikan perkara –perkara berikut :-
 
a.Cadangan Hassan Lah adalah bagi memberikan ruang untuk Subashini mendapatkan peluang untuk meminta Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah , sekiranya beliau tidak berpuashati , melihat atau menyemak legaliti keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah.
 
Dalam melakukan hal tersebut Subashini hanya perlu menulis surat kepada Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah untuk meminta Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah menyemak kembali keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah yang membenarkan permohonan Muhammad Shafi
 
b.Tidak langsung membicarakan peruntukkan seksyen 51 Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang ( Perkahwinan dan Penceraian ) 1976 yang menghalang sama sekali Muhammad Shafi memfailkan penceraiannya dan mendapatkan perintah-perintah yang berkaitan ( ancillary orders ) di Mahkamah Sivil yang mana seksyen 51 ini adalah satu diskriminasi yang ketara ke atas orang Islam dan boleh dihujahkan bercanggah dengan Perkara 8 Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang memperuntukkan persamaan di sisi undang-undang ( equality before the law ).
 
c.Memaksa untuk Muhamad Shafie untuk tunduk dan menyerah diri kepada bidangkuasa Mahkamah Sivil ke apabila Muhammad Shafie dijadikan Responden di dalam petisyen penceraian yang difailkan oleh Subahshini di bawah seksyen 51 Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang ( Perkahwinan dan Penceraian ) 1976 sedangkan berdasarkan seksyen 3 ( 3 ) Akta tersebut secara jelas memperuntukkan bahawa Akta tersebut tidak terpakai kepada orang Islam tetapi enggan mengarahkan Subashini untuk tunduk kepada Mahkamah Syariah bagi mencabar keputusan Mahkamah Syariah .
 
d.Tidak langsung mengambil kira kritikan Hakim Dato Suriyadi di dalam penghakimannya kepada pihak-pihak yang menjadi pemerhati di dalam kes tersebut seperti Sisters In Islam, Woman's Aids Organization ( WAO ), Woman's Centre for Change ( WCC ), Bar Council dan yang lain yang meskipun diberi peluang untuk mengemukakan hujah mereka telah tidak membuat persiapan yang mencukupi ( ill prepared ) di dalam mengemukakan hujah bagi membantu Mahkamah.
 
Hakim Dato Suriyadi menyatakan, “ Well-intentionned third parties, championing certain views did not contribute much to the proceeding before us due to their ill preparedness.”
 
Kesimpulannya kes Subahsini ini merupakan satu lagi plot baru pihak-pihak tertentu memanipulasi keadaan bagi mewujudkan satu rasa tidak puas hati di kalangan bukan Islam khususnya terhadap peranan Mahkamah Syariah dan perlaksaaan undang-undang Islam di negara ini.
 
Dalam banyak keadaan isu-isu seperti ini disensasikan dengan diputarbelikan atau disembunyikan fakta atau isu yang sebenar. - mks.
 
Ketua Penerangan,
Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat.

Jurisdiction fault-line: Who is to blame?
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
Apr 12, 07 12:51pm Adjust font size:

In the wake of the raging debate over yet another legal controversy, the 'Civil-Syariah Courts jurisdiction fault-line' has again been brought to the fore. It has caused this nation undue strain and subjects her peace-loving plural citizenry to immense distress, every time it is has to be brought under emotive scrutiny.

One needs to only peruse the many writings now abound, to surmise the greatest loser, every time a display of this 'obvious lacuna' in jurisdiction (borrowing from Justice Suriyadi to mean gap or loophole) takes centre stage in national politics. I will have to defer pronouncing this 'judgment', if it still remains within your 'blind spot'.

Many could recall that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in the face of intense rage over the controversial burial of the late M Mohammad Moorthy, assured everyone that while Article 121(1A) would not be amended, "only laws that create problems and misinterpretations should be studied. (Bernama, 20, Jan, 2005). For the record, the comment was also made in relation to a joint memorandum submitted by 10 non-Muslim cabinet ministers to him, urging him to review laws related to conversion of religion.

It has been more than a year since then. One cannot recall any amendments to any law or any debate amongst law-makers in parliament to remedy the situation.

After the legal dispute of the distressed widow S Kaliammal with the Federal Territory Religious Department (Jawi) over her late husband's burial, the heat was arguably temporarily dissipated by the timely 'landmark judgment' on Nyonya Tahir's status as a non-Muslim by the Syariah Court, at the time of her death.

Thereafter, other less high-profile cases appeared on stage, but one couldn't miss the controversy caused by the case of the late Rayappan Anthony, whose family was subjected to distress and humiliation caused again by the ambiguous religious belief of the demised person resulting in a legal battle over which court has jurisdiction over the deceased
person.

On hindsight, the tragedy could have been avoided, provided there was political will and commitment to see to the effective management of the dual legal-system. Both prerequisites were evidently wanting and the rest is history.

Latest test

R Subashini vs T Saravanan is the latest case that places the fault-line of the dual-legal system to test. Subashini, a 28-year-old Hindu woman married T Saravanan, also a Hindu, in a civil ceremony in 2001. The couple has two sons; Dharvin Joshua, 3, and Sharvind, 1.

Later, their marriage broke apart. Saravanan meanwhile embraced Islam, and changed his name to Muhammad Shafi Saravanan. Shafi thereafter applied to have the marriage dissolved under the Syariah Court.

The wife then presented a petition for divorce and applied to the High Court for an injunction restraining the husband from (i) converting the children to Islam and (ii) continuing with any proceedings in any Syariah Court.

Shafi claimed that Dharvin converted to Islam along with him in May 2006 about which Subashini claimed no knowledge of. Earlier, the High Court had passed down its decision to set aside the injunction granted to her last year (ex-parte) to enable Subashini to temporarily stop Saravanan from commencing with the proceedings in the Syariah Court, but later withdrew the injunction after hearing from Shafi (inter-parte). She turned to the Court of Appeal to overturn the High Court's decision.

On March 13, in a 2-1 majority decision passed down by the Court of Appeal, Subashini was told that she had to seek recourse through the Syariah Appeal Court to stop her estranged husband from dissolving their marriage in the Syariah Court, and converting their children to Islam without her permission.

The Court of Appeal judges who dismissed Subashini's application were Justices Suriyadi Halim Omar and Hasan Lah. The presiding judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice Gopal Sri Ram, dissented.

Subsequently, Subashini applied for an interim injunction to restrain her former husband from proceeding with his case at the Syariah Courts pending the disposal of her application to the Federal Court to hear her appeal of the Appeal Court's earlier decision.

On March 29, the Court of Appeal 'reviewed and reversed' their decision again by a 2-1 majority. Shafi will have to wait for the apex Federal Court to hear the appeal by his wife.

Government to blame

Be that as it may, the writer undividedly lends total support to the call made by both Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Anwar Ibrahim and to some degree DAP chairperson Karpal Singh that the government must be blamed and taken to task for perpetuating injustices caused by this 'conundrum'.

At the heart of this debate, though not quite openly admitted, is again the controversy caused by the amendment dating back to 1988. In the case of Subashini, the issue of directing non-Muslims to seek remedy in the Syariah Courts has become very contentious and in fact the very bone of contention.

It has become evident that the lacuna has placed great difficulty on the part of the judges to adjudicate justice and preside on precarious 'overlapping' jurisdiction of this nature particularly when it involves both Muslims and non-Muslims contending at the same time.

However, going by the words of Abu Talib Othman, the drafter of Article 121(1A), the Article "did not take away the rights of non-Muslims and never intended to deny or deprive non-Muslims the right to seek justice in a civil court."

Lest we have forgotten, it is perhaps pertinent to remind that as far as Muslims are concerned, Article 121(1A) saves, as it were, the High Court from trespassing on the Syariah Court's jurisdiction. Repealing 121(1A), to the Muslims, is perceived as dismantling the Syariah Court, a decision not quite welcome, given the already very limited role and
jurisdiction of Islam in the Federal Constitution.

Though well meaning, the many unforeseen controversies subsequent to its implementation, overwhelmingly underscores the need for its effective administration in dispensing justice, be it judiciously or if need be, heatedly or fiercely revisited by both the legislative body and the
judiciary. If they need to iron (read 'fight') it out, so be it!

Of late the establishment of a Constitutional Court to resolve, inter alia, controversies of this nature, has been mooted. It deserves immediate attention by both institutions. That said, no one should doubt that the buck must stop at the Executive ie the PM. In view of his ineptness, this has regrettably, become the greatest stumbling block to seeking a resolution to this lacuna.

By perpetuating the incompetence of the current leadership now into his fourth year, the nation is again confronted with a looming constitutional crisis every time a 'lacuna' of this nature raises its ugly head. To accuse the Umno-led government of 'benefitting politically' from this lacuna may be both presumptuous and unsolicited. But state it I must.

Most unbecoming, though lamentably true, is the fact that while many suffered grievously from these predicaments, it is Islam and the Muslims that are taking the brunt of this controversy and seem as its greatest losers. Muslims are now unfairly perceived as imposing the Islamic laws on adherents of other faiths. This has further distorted the perception and stereotyping of Islam and the Muslims. This is deplorable at best, diabolical at worst, much as it equally undermines genuine efforts toward rebuilding national integrity.

The writer takes liberty to represent (all) truly practicing Muslims, regardless of their political persuasions, that we are most willing and committed to end this ignominy. Everyone must be accorded justice and equality before the law and have their rights protected as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

 DR DZULKIFLI AHMAD is Director, PAS Research Centre.

Don't question Pak Lah's battle against graft Malaysiakini

Yoges Palaniappan

Apr 10, 07 5:09pm

Do not question the prime minister's commitment in combatting corruption in the country, warned Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz in Parliament today.

"We hope everyone, including the opposition front, do not use graft issues against the government as this will only strengthen the wrong perceptions others have on our country," said the Padang Renggas representative in his winding-up speech on the motion of thanks on the Royal address.

"It will also affect the flow of foreign investors to our country," he added.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) however responded by saying that the country was facing the worse crisis of corruption in 50 years of independence and 40 years of the formation of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

"We have serious corruption allegations against many top officials like judges, deputy internal security minister, the Sabah chief minister , the Sarawak chief minister and the ACA chief himself. How can you be so proud?" asked Lim.

"Don't you think that the government must work harder in fighting corruption," he asked.

Nazri replied that he was neither proud nor ashamed, and that the government was working towards its goal to eradicate graft.

"We cannot simply arrest innocent people just because we're fighting corruption. We must not only catch those who accept bribes, but also those who offers bribes," he added.

Lacking political will

Lim argued that the government needed political will to eradicate corruption.

In recent months, a litany of corruption allegations have surfaced against top level politicians and high-ranking civil servants.

The latest involved allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who was implicated in a scandal allegedly involving RM32 million in kickbacks paid by Japanese shipping companies for state timbers. 

Another chief minister, Sabah's Musa Aman, had also been allegedly mired by a host of accusations involving graft and abuse of power. 

These two scandals came in the wake of explosive allegations of corruption involving Anti-Corruption Agency chief Zulkipli Mat Noor, who has since step down, and Abdullah's deputy in the Internal Security Minister, Mohd Johari Baharum.

Both individuals, who have denied the allegations, are currently under investigations.

Brain drain - no need to panic 

On another matter, Lim said that the exodus of the smart ones from the country looking for better opportunities elsewhere was alarming.

"We used to be better than Japan and Singapore, but now we're lacking behind because of brain drain that is due to discriminations in the country," said Lim.

He also drew attention to a recent remark by the Perak Regent Raja Nazrin Shah who urged the government to instil "a sense of belonging" to all Malaysians to lower the rate of brain drain.

To this, Nazri replied that although he agreed with Nazrin, the brain drain was however not the result of any lack in sense of belonging.

Brain drain, said Nazri, was the result of "money sense".

"They leave to make money but they will return. You don't have to press the panic button yet," he said.

Pecat Mufti: Pemuda PAS buat laporan polis
Basiron Abdul Wahab
Thu | Apr 05, 07 | 04:46:19 PM
 
TEMERLOH, 5 April (Hrkh) - Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat hari ini membuat laporan polis terhadap Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) berkaitan usul memecat Mufti Perak, Dato' Seri Harussani Zakaria yang diluluskan oleh Konvensyen Gerakan Wilayah Persekutuan pada 1 April lalu.
 
ImageSetiausaha Jabatan Undang-undang dan Hak Asasi Manusia Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat(Juham) , Abdullah Abdul karim menyifatkan tindakan parti Gerakan Wilayah Persekutuan meluluskan usul tersebut sebagai 'kurang ajar' kerana cuba mencampuri urusan umat Islam yang tiada kaitan dengan parti itu dan menghina Sultan Perak sebagai Ketua Agama Islam.
 
Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas membuat laporan berkenaan di ibu pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Temerloh, beliau berkata, parti Gerakan hendaklah memohon maaf kepada Mufti Perak, Dato' Seri Harussani Zakaria dan Sultan Perak.
 
Katanya, kenyataan pada 1 April lalu sebagaimana tersiar di dalam ahkbar The Star bertarikh 2 April muka surat 3, jelas menunjukkan parti itu cuba mengaitkan Mufti Perak dengan isu penyebaran SMS kononnya Dato' Azhar Mansur telah murtad pada tahun lalu adalah tidak berasas. Ini kerana Musfti terbabit tidak pernah disabitkan dengan sebarang kesalahan itu.

Juham, kata Abdullah berpendapat bahawa usul yang diluluskan oleh Gerakan itu terjumlah kepada penghinaan terhadap kedudukan agama Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan di mana segala bidang kuasa berkaitan dengan hal ehwal Islam termasuk berkaitan dengan pelantikan dan pemecatan Mufti adalah berada di bawah kuasa Raja-raja Melayu selaku Ketua Agama Islam negeri-negeri sebagaimana diperuntukan oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Kata beliau, tidakan parti itu melulus dan menghebahkan usul tersebut adalah suatu penghinaan terhadap preogatif Ke bawah Duli yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Sultan Perak.
Tambah beliau, Implikasi daripada usul itu boleh menyebabkan timbul kebencian masyarakat bukan Islam terhadap institusi Islam seperti Mufti dan dalam hal ini parti Gerakan adalah pihak yang mengapi-apikannya.

Menurut Abdullah sehubungan itu Juham membuat laporan polis dan mendesak polis menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap parti Gerakan Wilayah Persekutuan di bawah Seksyen 298A Kanun Kesiksaan (disebabkan usul dan kenyataan akhbar yang dibuat di Wilayah Persekutuan) , Akta hasutan serta lain-lain peruntukan undang-undang yang releven.
 
"Kita mendesak polis menyiasat dan mangambil tindakan terhadap parti itu di bawah Seksyen 298A kanun Kesiksaan, Akta hasutan dan sebagainya," tegas beliau.
 
Mengiringi Abdullah termasuklah Ketua Dewan Pemuda PAS Temerloh, Ustaz Johari Ishak; Setiausaha Kerja Dewan Pemuda PAS Pahang, Mazlan Ardy dan AJK PAS kawasan Temerloh Syed Hamid Mohamad. - mks.