Remember this
MAY 7 — Hee Yit Fong got the position and attention she craved for today. Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir received the guard-of-honour treatment he desired so much. And Barisan Nasional completed the sordid power grab in the state of Perak, earning the right to titles, perks and position but not what matters most to any government — legitimacy.
The three defectors (two who need some cover from serious corruption charges and one who was unhappy at being treated like a doormat by her comrades in the DAP) can enjoy their new-found status as kingmakers in the assembly.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the BN can at last calm the nerves of members and supporters who were beginning to believe that the coalition had lost its ability to win at any cost.
But at what cost? Was the prize so valuable that it was worthwhile trampling on the image and standing of the country’s important institutions, the Federal Constitution and the sense of right and wrong?
Surely not. Even the most myopic BN supporter has to agree that achieving power through the backdoor has come at a great cost to the judiciary, monarchy and the police, not to mention the new leaders in Putrajaya who have been trying to erase the negativity surrounding Umno with the 1 Malaysia concept.
• Impact on judiciary: It is a sad day that even before a court makes a decision, the public have discounted the impartiality of the panel. But this appears to be the case in Malaysia today. Such is the cynicism and scepticism here today that more attention is paid to the composition of the Federal Court than the legal arguments made in the Palace of Justice.
That is what happens when decisions by illustrious and respected judges on the doctrine of separation of powers is ignored. This is what happens when Article 72 of the Federal Constitution (which puts matters in the legislative assembly beyond the scrutiny of the courts) is treated like a footnote.
• Constitutional monarchy: One single incident has turned one of Malaysia’s most beloved families into villains. Instead of dissolving the assembly at the urging of Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak did the unthinkable — he asked Nizar to resign and installed BN as the new state government. By doing so, he refused to recognise that it is the right of Perakians to decide who represents them. He said recently that the Malay Rulers were above politics. Sadly, many Malaysians do not view the constitutional monarchy as honest brokers today.
• Police: Crime appears to be spiralling out of control in Malaysia, snatch theft victims are dying on the streets and the men in blue seem more interested in enforcing a dress code and arresting social activists and politicians on lame-duck sedition charges. Really, the reputation of the Royal Malaysian Police takes a beating every time they forget that their duty is to serve the Malaysian public. But still they persist in acting in a manner which alienates the same people who are paying their salaries.
So was it worth it? Was taking power through the backdoor worth it? Only Malaysians can provide the answer to that question. They should do so at the ballot box at every opportunity between now and the next general election.
Noooo…Hamidah Osman did not mean our Feather-Indian friend here…
The Prostitute of Jelapang
Posted by pervster on February 6, 2009
(Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Police arrested more than a dozen anti-government protesters in Ipoh today at a rally to coincide with the first sitting of the Perak state assembly since the state government was ousted in February.
Perak was one of the five states ruled by the opposition until a putsch organised by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who became prime minister a month ago.The PDRM is practicing the master’s policy of hate, racial abuse and jealousy policy…
Here are some of the questions and answers about what the protest could signal:UMNO now after its back to back defeat in the recent by-election and in realising the imminent defeat in any election under the stewardship of Najib Razak is left with no option but to cause a cross-over and avoid a by-election by any means
WHY PERAK?
The ousting of the state government appeared to be an attempt by Najib, who was then deputy prime minister, to show he would be a strong leader and came just a few months before he took power, replacing Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
It came after a series of by-election losses for the coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years.
The Perak takeover has a powerful mix of race, religion and royals. The Islamist opposition has even accused the new mentri besar of using black magic, which he denies, and the takeover is subject to court action.
A PERFECT STORM BREWING?
Politics are becoming increasingly bitter and the opposition questions Najib’s character and his ability to deliver reforms on racial equality and the economy.
Tensions look set to remain high with opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim due to appear in court in July on what he says are trumped-up sodomy charges.
Anwar was deputy prime minister until he was imprisoned in the late 1990s for sodomy and corruption. His jailing caused tens of thousands of people to protest and united the reformist opposition that is challenging the Barisan Nasional’s hegemony.
IS MALAYSIA THE NEXT THAILAND?
No. Street protests are not widespread and the BN has a firm grip on all state institutions as well as a wide range of laws to punish dissenters, including detention without trial.
For all that, simmering discontent between the majority Malays and smaller ethnic Chinese and Indian communities has broken out into street protests in the past and the recent series of arrests for sedition has ended any hopes that Najib could undertake serious political reforms to unite the country.
WHY SHOULD IT MATTER TO INVESTORS?
Reforming Malaysia’s race-based political system is one of the keys to unlocking economic reforms. A system of economic and social privileges for Malays has been blamed by many for hurting the country’s competitiveness and fostering corruption.
With rising political tensions, Najib may not be able to reform without risking a backlash from Malays, the core voter base of his party, Umno.
Malaysian bonds yield more than those in Thailand, largely reflecting the country’s rising budget deficit and bond issuance.
Malaysian five-year paper yields 3.813 per cent against 2.55 percent for 5-year Thai debt despite the country’s A-credit rating compared with Thailand’s BBB-rating.
Malaysia wants to attract more foreign investment, especially in the services sector so as to reduce its reliance on exports. The country is the third most export-dependent economy in Asia and has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
There has been some relaxation in rules that stipulate ethnic Malays must own 30 per cent of certain businesses. Moves so far have been to avoid antagonising Malays at a time when the country is entering its worst downturn since the 1998 Asian crisis.
Sivakumar being dragged out of the House (Pic courtesy of Sinar Harian
Supreme Court Finds “Good Faith” Exception to Fourth Amendment
It’s morning again in America. This week, the world celebrated as the U.S. closed the book on eight years of George W. Bush’s compassionate conservative governance. With the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th POTUS of these here United States, a new era of historic hope-and-change has dawnedTo trigger the exclusionary rule, police conduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion can meaningfully deter it, and sufficiently culpable that such deterrence is worth the price paid by the justice system. As laid out in our cases, the exclusionary rule serves to deter deliberate, reckless, or grossly negligent conduct, or in some circumstances recurring or systemic negligence. The error in this case does not rise to that level
Najib’s 1Malaysia shredded into smithereens by the disgraceful police lockdown of Ipoh and the scandalous spectacle of two Speakers and two Assemblies
By Lim Kit Siang
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia has been shredded into smithereens by the disgraceful police lockdown of Ipoh and the scandalous spectacle of two Speakers and two Assemblies – as if the constitutional scandal of two Mentris Besar is not bad enough for Perak and Malaysia!
It is unlikely that Najib will be able to live down the political baggage of having orchestrated the three-month Perak constitutional and political crisis and stalemate spawning two Mentris Besar, two Speakers, two Assemblies together with three renegade State Assembly members and a renegade State Assembly clerk unless he is prepared to act boldly to admit his colossal error and misjudgement and agree to the dissolution of the Perak State Assembly for the holding of Perak state-wide general election to return the mandate to Perakians.
For the sake of an unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab, Najib has brought important institutions of the country into greater disrepute, whether the police, the MACC, the judiciary and seriously impaired the vital doctrine of separation of powers.
Perakians, Malaysians and the world today witness another unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab – the office and powers of the Speaker when the Perak State Assembly has not officially met.
The mass arrests including Pakatan Rakyat MPs and State Assembly representatives in the police lockdown of Ipoh, turning the Perak capital into a war-zone, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms illustrating the ludicrous lengths of such a baseless police crackdown.
Lim Kit Siang
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