Dr Mahathir’s slogan of “clean, efficient and trustworthy” was once exciting. But it turned out to be a joke of “corrupt, ineffective and non-trustworthy”. Meanwhile, Abdullah’s “work with me, not work for me” was once impressive, too. But it was halted because of UMNO’s internal resistance.
By LIM MUN FAH/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Dail
THE OLD SLY OLD FOX IS ON PROWL AGAIN, THIS TIME BEGING FOR VOTES FOR Altantuya’s GHOST MURDERS
He is a pioneer of all corruptions and deceits. Where did he obtain all his millions I ask him? As a tongue twister he can say anything he wants. He could turn black into white and vice-versa. He could also turn a live monkey into a dead one. You see , he is like David Copperfield. He is that capable but come to serveing the nation he is always last. When come to serving the people he said the Malays were useless and lazy. When come to the Sultans he clipped their power because they were the pain in his neck,do you guys remember? He pocketed millions and perhaps billions of commission during his tenure. He was a damn bloody good saleman during his cabimet days............Remember the Lingam case..Correct...correct..
Just ignore him...We are looking at the future not remembering a nightmare...A cold shoulder will teach the asinine a lesson he'll never forget...we don't want him any longer...Tun M appearance will make voters even more determined to ensure PKR win, for the voters know very well what Tun M stands for.If what Rahim Thamby Chik says about Mahathir being UMNO's secret weapon is true, then the Bukit Selambau by-election will not only be a referendum on Najib but also on Mahathir. Does Thamby Chik not know this secret weapon has been backfiring for some time now? But the thick-skinned Apa Nama Ni will also find excuses, blame others, even if UMNO loses.
Three days before he took the office, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made a high profile visit to the country’s leading Chinese-language paper Sin Chew Daily. He promised not to take any highhanded action against the media.
The first day after he has taken the office, Najib announced the release of 13 Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees, adding that the government will review the act. At the same time, the three-month ban on PAS’ Harakah and PKR’s Suara Keadilan has as well been lifted.
A day after becoming the Prime Minister, Najib paid a visit in mufti to places representing the three major races, Malay, Chinese and India, in Kuala Lumpur. His first stop was Petaling Street, the KL’s Chinatown.
| "He must be resolute and courageous in framing a more transparent, reasonable and fair policy." |
A few days later, Najib will announce the line-up of his Cabinet – a smaller team that may again surprise the people.
No matter how he was criticised by the Opposition, Najib’s actions have indeed made some kind of “shocking” effects. His every move is as well “breathtaking”.
This is the success of Najib’s think-tank. It is said that the think-tank has framed a “hundred day’s reform” plan for Najib.
“People First. Performance Now.” The slogan has no doubt a good start for Najib’s leadership. However, he does not have a long honeymoon period. He must show more his leadership characteristics and with more sincerity and goodwill, to regain the public’s support which the party has lost in the 8 March general elections.
Compared to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib seems not strong enough; and while compared to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib does not look soft enough either. He is now facing three by-elections, political chaos and challenging economic crisis. Would he really be able to turn the crisis into a turning point and create a new situation for Malaysia?
Dr Mahathir’s slogan of “clean, efficient and trustworthy” was once exciting. But it turned out to be a joke of “corrupt, ineffective and non-trustworthy”. Meanwhile, Abdullah’s “work with me, not work for me” was once impressive, too. But it was halted because of UMNO’s internal resistance.
If he does not wish to repeat the same mistakes, Najib must first dare to walk out from UMNO’s ruling pattern of authority and privileges, get rid of the impediments of the party’s internal vested interest group and conservative forces. He must be resolute and courageous in framing a more transparent, reasonable and fair policy. Only by this, he can truly reset the future rules and orders of Malaysia.
In short, the success or failure of the reform lies in the implementation of the “new policy”, instead of beautiful slogans!
a public denial during a recent by-election, when even the name of Allah was invoked. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Some seriously troubling questions in Malaysia Kim Quek, Asia Sentinel An unbelievable spectacle took place in the bizarre murder trial of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaaribuu on June 29. Karpal Singh, the lawyer for the victim’s family, attempted to ask a question about a “government official” allegedly seen in a photograph with the victim. At that point, both the prosecutor and the defense lawyer sprang to their feet in unison to block the question. This resulted in a shouting match, with Singh on one side, the victim’s cousin on the stand, and the combined forces of the prosecution and defense blocking the line of questioning. Earlier, a similar division of forces occurred when a Mongolian witness – a girlfriend of the victim told the court that immigration entry computer records of the deceased and her two Mongolian companions, including the witness, had been mysteriously erased. When Singh asked the court to take proper note of this highly irregular event, both the prosecution and defense objected to the evidence as irrelevant, and insisted that it be expunged. Now, isn’t that a strange phenomenon? A prosecutor is supposed to seek justice for the deceased victim’s family against the murderers, so how come the prosecutor is now ganging up with defense lawyers to oppose the victim’s family lawyer? Is this a case of prosecutor vs. defense or a case of prosecutor plus defense vs. victim’s family? Obviously, the prosecution and defense seem to have plenty of common interests. What are those common interests? The answer may lie in the identity of that “government official” that allegedly appeared in the photograph with Altantuya that both prosecution and defense tried so hard not to allow into court.
The picture On Day 10 of the trial, Altantuya’s cousin Burmaa Oyunchimeg testified that after Altantuya returned from France, she went to Hong Kong to meet Burmaa, and showed her a photograph of Altantuya and her lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, who is accused of conspiring in her murder, and “a government official” taking a meal together. Answering Singh later, after the shouting match in the court had subsided, she said this “government official” was Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. She could distinctly remember the name, she said, because it bears a similarity to Altantuya’s acknowledged lover’s name, and she even asked Altantuya whether they were brothers. Burmaa further added that the photo had also been shown to Altantuya’s father. Now, the revelation of Najib in the photo would not have caused such a sensation if not for the deputy prime minister’s oft-repeated denial of any knowledge of Altantuya, including a public denial during a recent by-election, when even the name of Allah was invoked. What does Najib have to say now that his denial is directly contradicted by the witness Burmaa? His press secretary Tengku Sarifuddin Tengku Ahmad issued a brief statement on June 30 saying that the deputy prime minister had declined to comment for two reasons. One, any comment might be sub judice, since the case is in court, and, two, Najib had already repeatedly denied an acquaintance with the girl in the past, “as such, the issue over the picture does not arise,” the spokesman said. Sub judice? That’s ridiculous. How could a simple statement like “I have never had my photo taken with Altantuya” be sub judice? In fact, being the number-two leader in the government, Najib is absolutely duty-bound to say outright whether he was ever photographed with Altantuya, in view of the serious implications of Burmaa’s allegation. The issue over the picture does not arise? Equally ridiculous. In fact, the opposite is true. Precisely because of Najib’s past denials, it is all the more imperative that Najib must stand up now to clarify. Guilty conscience? There is only one explanation for Najib’s past denials and his present silence: A guilty conscience. If Najib’s conduct with respect to the case had been above-board, there would be no reason for him to deny an acquaintance with his friend Abdul Razak’s friend Altantuya. Similarly, if the allegation of the picture is false, it is inconceivable and totally incomprehensible that Najib should have chosen not to refute Burmaa’s allegation. In fact, Najib seems so worried about the publicity of the picture that his secretary called editors in the local press and requested them not to blow up the issue. This resulted in the explosive story being absent from the local headlines the next day. (In one Chinese paper – Guang Ming – the Najib story hit the front page in the evening edition, but disappeared completely by the next morning). And of course, Anwar Ibrahim’s criticism of the trial and his specific call on Najib to clarify the issue of the picture during a press conference was generally blacked out. However, despite such new suppression, irreversible damage is done. There is little doubt that Najib is deeply troubled and his political position seriously weakened. Manipulation That this murder case has been subjected to serious political manipulation has been obvious from the very start, when the police commenced their highly questionable investigation, right through to the present trial when the conduct of lawyers for both sides appear increasingly dubious. Instead of the prosecutor seeking the truth and the defense lawyer fighting for the accused, both seem preoccupied with an overriding mission – to prevent the whole truth from emerging. Their combined efforts to cover up the issue of the immigration record and the identity of Najib Razak in the picture are just two examples of such conduct. The highly irregular nature of this case was also marked by frequent and mysterious changes of legal personnel, resulting in a complete changeover of the defense team, the prosecutors and the judge even before the hearings began. These weird phenomena were crowned by the shock appearance of a new team of prosecutors who were appointed only hours before the hearing was supposed to begin, thus necessitating an impromptu postponement of the trial for two weeks. None of these changes of legal personnel has been properly explained, except for the resignation of Abdul Razak’s first lawyer; Zulkifli Noordin, quit, he said, because of “serious interference by third parties”. Under these circumstances, the public must brace itself for more aberrant scenarios from this court, while Najib and his supporters may have to keep their fingers crossed in the days ahead when many more witnesses have yet to walk through what must appear to Najib as a minefield. On a more serious note, this unseemly trial does not exactly add credit to Malaysia’s system, whose already wretched image has just been further mauled by the shameful finale of another sham trial – that of Eric Chia of Perwaja Steel fame. After seven long years of investigations and three years of court hearings, that case was thrown out due to lack of prima facie evidence. With that, the long-drawn out Perwaja Steel saga ended without finding any culprit for the mountain of losses (more than RM 10 billion) suffered by taxpayers. There has been a spate of criminal cases being dismissed of late due to inadequate investigations and poor prosecution, indicating that the downward slide of our criminal justice system, which began in the Mahathir era, has gotten worse under Abdullah Badawi’s leadership. With the criminal justice system in a shambles, the rule of law is in jeopardy. And that is an important benchmark to judge the efficacy of Abdullah’s administration vis-à-vis his reform agenda. Kim Quek is a Malaysia-based commentator. |
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