
The founding PKR president chose to focus on the possibility of snap polls and railed against BN while appealing for party unity after a fractious inaugural direct elections for new office bearers.
“We gather here today at the last congress before the 13th general election if the rumours are true. Either way, we have no choice but to prepare adequately because it is our responsibility to defend the people,” she said during her keynote speech at the party’s 7th national congress.
“Ensuring the interest of the people and country is our greatest responsibility. Even more so when the people are suppressed by the high living costs. The Federal government is never tired over its mega-sized economic plan which began with NEM then switch to ETP and then became EPP. While millions of taxpayer’s money is wasted for consultants to select these capital letters but the impact to the people is very small,” she added.
The wife of party de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also questioned the rationale behind PNB’s 100-storey building when many of the public are still living in poverty.
“Their (BN) economic planners seem to be separated from the reality of those living under hardships. As they sink into their dream to building a 100-storey building in their meeting rooms, the poor in the urban and rural areas cannot afford a single house. Not only are the numbers of low-cost or affordable housing are not sufficient, even when their application is received they still have to face many obstacles,” she said.
She also ridiculed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s high-income economy as foreign direct investment into the country continues to plunge.
“We just saw the entry of foreign direct investment into the country declined by 81 per cent from RM23.47 billion in 2008 to RM4.43 billion in 2009. This is the lowest FDI for the last 20 years except in 2001 when the country recorded RM1.54 billion in FDI.
“World Investment Report 2010 also recently reported that the country experienced a marked decline in FDI inflow and an increase in FDI outflow reflects investor’s uncertainty in the management of our economy,” Wan Azizah said.
She stressed that the members must capitalize on BN’s shortcomings by continuing to place public welfare as a priority in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states.
“Main issues plaguing the people like housing and employment must be tackled by PKR and Pakatan Rakyat. Malaysia needs radical reforms to resolve problems faced by the people and not depend on cosmetic transformation behind expensive public relation campaigns,” she added.
She also reminded members to not use BN-controlled media to voice their grievances.
“Do not give our neck to enemy media by exposing our weaknesses. Let us solve our problems by not jeopardising the party. Every one of us is not important but the party is more important. We do not want to see this party weak and divided. If there is any concrete evidence that is practices which are against our policies and regulations, we will act firmly regardless the individual,” she added.
In a veiled attack against former member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Wan Azizah stressed those that want to join PKR must understand the party’s principles.
“This is the people’s party. PKR has fundamental struggles which are very clear. Anybody that wants to join this party must understand and appreciate the idealism of our struggle. If not, we fear that our journey will be short-lived,” she said.
Wan Azizah called on the delegates to unite after the party experienced a fractious election.
“Our friends who did not win (in the party election) have also contributed significantly in raising the dignity of our party to a higher pinnacle. Those that won should appreciate others that lost. It does not matter who the winners are because we all need to have a winning psychology in facing the coming 13th general election,” she said.
This year’s congress will endorse a new leadership line up voted in by members since the start of party election last month.
On Sunday Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali would end his service as deputy president and replaced with Azmin Ali who defeated Mustaffa Kamil Ayub.
The four elected vice-president posts would be filled by Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Penang Deputy Chief Minister Mansor Othman.
Zaid dropped out of the PKR deputy presidential race and resigned from the party.
He said his exit was due to the party leadership that “actively condones malpractices and electoral fraud to achieve its designed objectives”.
Heads must roll if BJP wants to keep moral high ground
The government on Friday hinted at the possibility of the media-lobbyist nexus being examined by either the ethics or privileges committee of Parliament.
Senior sources dropped broad hints that either of the two committees could go into the whole gamut of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephonic conversations with media personalities.
This was the first government response to the Opposition's demand that the media's role in corporate lobbying come under the JPC scrutiny. The timing, too, was significant -- before yet another meeting with the Opposition on Monday to end the current impasse in Parliament.
The previous two meetings called by Pranab Mukherjee had not yielded any results as the deadlock continued. According to sources, Mukherjee will hold yet another round of discussion with the BJP-led Opposition in an attempt to explore some fresh meeting ground.
While the matter needs to be referred to the privileges committee by the House, the ethics committee could take note of it on its own.
However, the government left no doubts that a JPC was out of question even if that meant the rest of Parliament's winter session being wasted away. "Their intention is to turn the JPC into a political battle which has to be fought politically," parliamentary affairs minister P K Bansal told reporters.
The ruling coalition sees the JPC demand as an attempt to target PM Manmohan Singh and made it clear that it would oppose the move precisely on that ground.
Bansal said if the Opposition was keen to engage the PM in a discussion and ask questions to him, they should agree to a House debate. He recalled that when Congress had been in Opposition, its demand for a JPC probe into the Tehelka expose and coffin scam had been turned down by the Vajpayee government.
yesterday it was an open secret that corruption ruled the roost in the corridors of power. That no file moved in government departments till palms were greased. That those at the helm broke rules to favour relatives and friends. That private players faced red tape and were most often forced to pay hefty bribes to get their projects cleared. And that most netas clamoured for ministerial berths and lucrative portfolios only to amass wealth and property. Even the soft-spoken Ratan Tata disclosed that an unnamed aviation minister had sought a bribe when he wanted to launch an airline in 1990s.
Senior sources dropped broad hints that either of the two committees could go into the whole gamut of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephonic conversations with media personalities.
This was the first government response to the Opposition's demand that the media's role in corporate lobbying come under the JPC scrutiny. The timing, too, was significant -- before yet another meeting with the Opposition on Monday to end the current impasse in Parliament.
The previous two meetings called by Pranab Mukherjee had not yielded any results as the deadlock continued. According to sources, Mukherjee will hold yet another round of discussion with the BJP-led Opposition in an attempt to explore some fresh meeting ground.
While the matter needs to be referred to the privileges committee by the House, the ethics committee could take note of it on its own.
However, the government left no doubts that a JPC was out of question even if that meant the rest of Parliament's winter session being wasted away. "Their intention is to turn the JPC into a political battle which has to be fought politically," parliamentary affairs minister P K Bansal told reporters.
The ruling coalition sees the JPC demand as an attempt to target PM Manmohan Singh and made it clear that it would oppose the move precisely on that ground.
Bansal said if the Opposition was keen to engage the PM in a discussion and ask questions to him, they should agree to a House debate. He recalled that when Congress had been in Opposition, its demand for a JPC probe into the Tehelka expose and coffin scam had been turned down by the Vajpayee government.
It all got bigger and spilled out. When scams broke out in quick succession in the last few months, everyone nodded to say, 'We knew that this was happening'. Be it about the money laundering during Commonwealth Games, violation of rules for 2G spectrum auction, bungling in allotment of flats meant for Kargil victims or denotification of land to favour kith and kin... But what surprised everyone was the stern action taken against the high and the mighty. Bigwigs Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja and Ashok Chavan were shown the door. None believed this could happen. We have to wait and see whether these worthies and their cronies will be prosecuted and punished after a thorough investigation.
One may say that the Congress and the UPA government had no option but to sack these three worthies in the wake of continued media exposes and opposition pressure. But, what has the BJP done to set its own house in order? Nothing. Its government in Karnataka is neck-deep in land scams. Yeddyurappa has denotified large tracts of land, running into crores of rupees, to benefit his relatives, friends and senior ministerial colleagues. Not a day passes without a skeleton or two tumbling out of Yeddyurappa's cupboard. Added to this is lust for power among party MLAs and continued dissension. The BJP's image has taken a severe beating.
What does Yeddyurappa have to say? That he was only following the tradition of his predecessors. That his sons were prepared to return the land. And that a judicial inquiry would be ordered into all denotifications from S M Krishna's time. A language reminiscent of what A Raja said about spectrum allocation before he was forced to exit. He has also written to the high command that some party bigwigs at the national level were in cahoots with his detractors to malign him and topple his government.
Sadly, the opposition is in a state of flux. The Congress is down in the dumps after a series of election losses. Even the much-hyped padayatra to expose illegal mining failed to bring in votes. The JD(S) is left licking its wounds after its strategy to lend support to BJP rebels to topple the Yeddyurappa government bombed. Thus, unlike at the national level, the opposition in Karnataka hasn't succeeded in cashing in on media exposes to corner the government over the scams.
With bigger scandals engaging the nation's attention, the Yeddyurappa government's wrong-doings have unfortunately gone almost unnoticed, except within the state's borders. The BJP top brass is shooting itself in the foot by choosing to ignore the scams in its own backyard. It is losing a great opportunity to spread its wings in the South. A big shake-up, even it means a change of leadership and sacking of a few ministers, is vital to bring it back to health. This will help strengthen the party's fight against the UPA at the national level. Otherwise, its moral stance over national scams may sound hollow.
PARTING SHOT
Suddenly righteous?
Our beleaguered CM says: "I may have committed small mistakes while denotifying land but I will ensure that such mistakes do not happen again... Trust me, I swear on Lord Nanjundeshwara that I will not buckle under pressure from vested interests to denotify land in future." Doesn't this remind of the saying 'sou choohe khake billi haj ko chali'!
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