What is Umno’s latest weapon now? It’s the cultivation of the royal houses in the country.
If PKR isn’t blind, they will see where the HRH Sultan of Selangor is going with his majesty’s overt political tones.
Umno is now working overtime to drum in this fallacious idea that if others come into power the very future of the royal houses, the symbol of Malay existence, will be wiped out.
“We will win, because we are right,
and because reason is on our side.”
How can Pakatan neutralise this powerful move which is also a powerful idea?
By having someone from the royal line to talk to the rulers. Who can talk to the rulers on equal terms other than Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li)?
He’s a royalty himself and commands respect and deference among the royal houses.
Tengku Razaleigh will represent the second coming of a Tengku Abdul Rahman figure but this time, putting Malaysia on the right footing.
There’s a practical side also as to why Tengku Razaleigh is the ultimate playmaker for the Pakatan people if the bigger picture is to oust Umno and the BN government.
The bigger picture, I repeat once more, is to secure the interest of the country, not to secure the interest of one Anwar Ibrahim.
Pakatan must win over fence-sitters
It’s for better and participative democracy, the rule of law, and disciplined and better governance.
Why Tengku Razaleigh? Because it’s important for the Pakatan to gain the allegiance and support of the 20 percent fence-sitter voters.
This section of the public has a different psychology. They want to know who the next prime minister is.
Is the next premier going to be more acceptable than the present one?
They want certainty and some confidence in the person. That person must have substance, experience, standing and respect all around.
Furthermore, the fence-sitters will demand to see some clarity.
These are mostly apolitical and can be persuaded only if the person designated has the qualities and the wherewithal to become prime minister.
If we put Anwar up, they may as well say, if the thing ain’t broken, why fix it?
Whether we like it or not, the 20 percent fence-sitter voters are not exactly enamoured with the idea of having Anwar as the premier. They might as well stick with Najib.
Is Tengku Razaleigh too old? Well, Dr Mahathir Mohamad remained prime minister until nearly 80.
Deng Xiaoping became leader of China in his late 70s. Many leaders become head of states at late ages.
They have the stamina, wisdom and experience. Malaysia is in need of someone of that stature.
There’s no past tense when it comes to political relevancy and making sense.
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His name is Dato’ Mohd.Ariff Sabri bin Hj. Abdul Aziz. He was ADUN of Pulau Manis, Pekan.( 2004-2008) From 2000-2004, Ketua Penerangan UMNO Bahagian Pekan, under Dato Sri Najib. Studied Economics at University Malaya and University of Manchester(Owens). Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz want to clear In that article, I suggested that Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah …Read more DATUK MOHD ARIFF SABRI ABDUL AZIZ LICKING NAJIB’S DICKY AND ROSMA’S DESIGNER VAGINA
We have what appears to be one of the most inept, corrupt and foolish governments Malaysia has ever had the privilege of seeing in power. But is it really all that bad? Or is it that this government simply has no clue as to what to do or say in moments of crisis? Every time one occurs, as indeed one did in KUALK LUMPUR last week, the nation Marches helplessly as its leaders make a fool of themselves. Having been a journalist for three decades, one has seen worse, far worse governments, though not perhaps as corrupt. But never have I seen one that has both its feet so firmly in its mouth.
Almost everyone who speaks for the UMNO has zero communications skills and, curiously, none of them, from the Prime Minister downwards, have chosen a single convincing person to speak on their behalf. Their speech writers are lousier. More often than not, they make things worse by what they say.
One would like to assume that the Najib administration has the best and brightest from among the government ranks to be ministers.
A view of Fayyadh’s head after the police attack in the KL Sentral tunnel during the Bersih rally July 9 2011
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his three-party alliance could win general elections widely expected next year because its support has risen after a government crackdown on a rally for electoral reforms.
Anwar said in an interview that the recent opposition-backed demonstration had stirred public anger and greater political awareness over allegations of electoral fraud and the government’s refusal to allow large-scale street protests. Police fired tear gas and detained more than 1,600 people on July 9 when at least 20,000 Malaysians defied government warnings by marching in Kuala Lumpur to demand more transparency in election laws. ”We have gained new momentum,” Anwar told AP. “If we can sustain and increase this level of support … there are huge possibilities we can make it, we will win” the next elections.
Surendran had accompanied Anwar’s bodyguard Fayyadh Afiq Albakqry to the Dangi Wangi police headquarters to lodge a report on the incident. Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah and other PKR lawyers were also present.
Police have denied they were involved and the ‘KL Sentral underpass incident’ a figment of the Pakatan Rakyat’s imagination. The police are also probing complaints against themselves for police brutality during the Bersih rally, where thousands were injured and one left dead.
PKR has accused the police of attempting to murder Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim during the July 9 Bersih rally
Party leaders said that FRU personnel had fired tear gas canisters into a tunnel that Anwar, his bodyguard and other Bersih supporters were marching through.
They said policemen had aimed to kill Anwar who was pulled back and protected by his bodyguard who took a canister directly to his face, shattering his cheekbone.
“They aimed directly at Anwar’s head and a direct hit from one of these canisters can kill. We want this case classified as attempted murder,” PKR vice president N Surendran told reporters.
The 64-year old Anwar is well-known to be a thorn in the flesh of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s BN ruling coalition. A former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar is regarded as a prime mover behind the Pakatan Rakyat coalition and the glue that holds the three parties PKR, PAS and DAP together.
In the runup to the rally, Najib and other BN leaders have accused him of master-minding the Bersih rally.
Lethal gas
The bodyguard had sustained serious injuries and had to have 5 titanium plates inserted into his cheek. He was only discharged from the hospital just a day ago.
Almost a dozen canisters were fired into the tunnel and three, including Fayyadh and PAS’s Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad were hit directly in the head.
“The amount of tear gas fired could also have caused the air in the tunnel to become lethal if those gathered were not able to get out,” Surendran said.
Police denial
A Bar Council report has accused the police of having “arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively” fired from water cannons and launched tear gas canisters at close range and at eye-level to the demonstrators.
Bersih is a coailition of 62 top NGOs, whose aim was to gather citizens to march for free and fair elections. They and most Malaysians blame Prime Minister Najib Razak for reneging on his word to give them access to any stadium of their choice. The U-turn forced them to take to the streets after they had agreed to hold their raly in a stadium. – Malaysia Chronicle
Last modifie
Anwar’s alliance captured slightly more than one-third of Parliament seats in 2008 polls, the worst electoral result for the long-ruling National Front since independence from Britain in 1957.
Anwar said he expects Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold early elections before the government’s mandate expires in mid-2013. Most analysts predict Najib will seek a fresh mandate early next year amid signs of a strengthening economy.
Najib has invested heavily in what the government calls an “economic transformation plan” since he took office in April 2009. But Anwar said that “other than slogans, there have been no changes.”
“People are clearly clamoring for justice and democratic rule. The ruling clique is in the last stages of resisting at all cost but I don’t think they can withstand the onslaught of the people and also the historical reality. Even the most authoritarian rule in the Middle East is changing,” Anwar said.
He said his alliance is in much better shape compared to 2008 and has demonstrated strong leadership in four states that it wrested from the National Front in 2008.
But he added that the opposition faces a struggle for support among the ethnic Malay Muslim majority in rural parts of Malaysia.
Many among the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities have become strong opposition supporters in recent years, mainly because of complaints that the National Front discriminates against them in affirmative action policies that benefit Malays in business, housing, education and other sectors.
“We need to focus on the rural heartland, we need to go down to the ground and talk to” Malays, Anwar said.
The opposition leader stressed that he won’t let his ongoing sodomy trial distract him too much.
Anwar, 63, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of sodomizing a 25-year-old former male aide in 2008. He claims the charge is politically motivated but the government denies it.
“I don’t like the idea of being sent to jail again but some of my friends said it may help the cause,” he said, laughing. “I have decided to stay and fight, to endure the consequences.”
It is Anwar’s second time being embroiled in a sex trial. He lost his post as deputy premier in 1998 after being charged with sodomizing his family’s ex-driver and abusing his power to cover up his actions – both of which he denied. He was freed in 2004 after six years of imprisonment when a court overturned the sodomy conviction.
Anwar Ibrahim keeps pushing the reformasi cause overseas.
comment: The date is March 18, 2010. The place the London School of Economics, where Anwar Ibrahim is giving a lecture on ‘Religion and Pluralism in a Divided World’.
Two hours before the lecture started, the crowd had started to assemble. Half an hour before the doors opened, we were ushered towards the lower basement of the Sheikh Zayed Theatre.
The queue was already snaking its way from the door of the lecture theatre and up the stairs to the main reception. I was in the first hundred but I understand that a lot of people had been turned away. The capacity of this lecture theatre is just under 600 people. Last year, the hall was also oversubscribed when Anwar gave his talk.
This is my first time at a lecture by Anwar. Most people I spoke to were Anwar supporters, who were quick to point out that they had come, mainly for the man, and not so much the lecture topic ‘Religion and Pluralism in a Divided World’.Nevertheless, they were looking forward to the question-and-answer session at the end.
A rough breakdown of the crowd is: 85 percent in their early 20s, seven percent in their 30s, five percent in their 40s and 50s, and three percent in their 60s.It would appear that they were 60 percent Chinese, 25 percent Malay, 10 percent Indian, and five percent Caucasian. They were mostly Malaysians although there were some Singaporeans too.
A lot of students were from other universities, King’s College, School of Oriental and African Studies, Brunel. There was a sizeable portion of older people, mainly Malaysians living in UK. Some had come from as far as Birmingham and Newcastle.
Many of those from outside London expressed regret that they were unaware of Anwar’s second lecture in London the following evening. Had they known, they would have made arrangements for an overnight stay.
No signs of jet lag
The lecture started promptly at 5.05pm. And when he and his entourage entered the theatre, the whole place broke into thunderous applause. He clearly had mass appeal.
It is impossible to believe that he had only just flown in from Kuala Lumpur. He looked fresh and showed no signs of jet lag.
It is impossible to believe that he had only just flown in from Kuala Lumpur. He looked fresh and showed no signs of jet lag.After the introduction from professor John Sidel, Anwar took to the podium and introduced the various members of his entourage – Azmin Ali, Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, and former senator David Yeoh.
He informed us that he had spent the morning in meetings with ex-Vice President Al Gore and Mary Robinson, former President of the Republic of Ireland.
A transcript of his talk, I am told, will be posted on his website. His opening sentence was a poem from TS Eliot. Throughout his talk, there were various references to past scholars, religious figures, and authors, as well as various books and publications.
It was peppered with personal anecdotes and humour and was very entertaining. He talked about the inclusivity of Islam about 30 years ago in Malaysia and how the current state of Islam, in Malaysia, had somewhat declined, culminating with the recent issues involving the word ‘Allah’, caning of women and the power of the syariah courts.
The main message was that the UMNO leaders were the ones to be educated about Islam. Hypocrisy, double standards were evident. And he bemoaned how Malaysia was not emulating its neighbour Indonesia, or Turkey – two predominantly Muslim nations, blazing the trail with reforms.
Visible impact
Finally, just as in his opening, he ended his talk with TS Eliot’s ‘Little Gidding’:
What we call the beginning is often the end,And to make and end is to make a beginning
The end is where we start from.
The talk was under half an hour with the rest of the time devoted to questions, which he fielded at a brisk pace. The questions ranged from ASEAN’s role in Burma and the silence on the treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi, apostasy, Anwar’s own failure as Deputy Prime Minister to abolish the ISA, Anwar the young man who was more of a firebrand compared to the older Anwar who was less idealistic, the Orang Asli issue, Malay Muslim women as third-class citizens in Malaysia, Malaysia as a secular or an Islamic state and the last question for which, he says, he would answer at his next lecture in London (as we had run out of time).
The questioner wanted to know if Anwar had any weaknesses and if he felt any need to apologise. Needless to say, many other people did not have the opportunity to put their question to him. He may not have gone into great depth and detail when answering the questions, but the crowd forgave him for that, and he received rapturous applause at the close of the lecture.
The most visible impact was his ability to engage and command attention with the young and old. Without doubt, he has charisma. Another startling observation was how pockets of people went away into little discussion groups in the various cafes and pubs in the area, still discussing the talk.This, I take to mean that he stimulates thought. I know, because I overheard them.
No one knows the importance of one vote than Rajasthan Congress president C P Joshi who lost the election in Nathdwara constituency by a single vote, defeated by BJP rival Kalyan Singh Chouhan. C P Joshi not only missed the chance to become an MLA but also lost his chance to become chief minister as he was the main contender for the post.
In India, voting percentage has been on decline and this has worried politicians and intellectuals alike. Rural India has larger share in total percentage of votes. Educated, urban middle class only likes to give opinions about sad state of country, corruption and immoral politics. But when it comes to act even in form of voting, they fail miserably. Worst terrorist attack, water logging and numerous other problems failed to move residents of Mumbai. Mumbai recorded only 45.98% in 2009 assembly election despite the fact that film stars and celebrities campaigned hard to promote voting and came out to vote in large numbers. Colaba area that witnessed terror at Taj Mahal Hotel, Nariman House and Cafe Leopold during the 26/11 attacks recorded dismal 36 percent voting. Nearly 11 months after the attack in and around Nariman House, the turnout was dismal.
Muslim backwardness is now well known and documented fact. In spite of all the problems and issues Muslim participation in election is always below the average. Low turnout of Muslim voters is one of the reasons for drop in Muslim representation in Lok Sabha and in assemblies. The last general election saw Muslim representation dropping from 37 to 30, whereas there are around 80 constituencies with sizeable Muslim population.
More or less similar situation is present in state assemblies. Bihar, which is going to poll in few days time, has only 15 Muslim MLAs. Out total 243 seats, 54 seats have sizeable Muslim population. Thirty seats of them have Muslim population between 20 to 30 percent and remaining seats have more than 30 percent.
The seats with 20-30 percent Muslim population have 16 BJP MLAs in the outgoing Assembly and in the 30 to 40 percent range, BJP has managed to win 5 seats. In seats having 40 percent and above Muslim population BJP has 2 MLAs. Araria with 59 percent Muslim population is represented by Pradeep Kumar Singh of BJP and Kasba seat with 45 percent Muslim population is represented by Pradip Kumar Das of BJP. Muslim apathy toward BJP is well know but still BJP comfortably winning Muslim dominated seats is something to ponder on.
BJP candidates defeated Afaque Alam of RJD in Kasba and Moidure Rahman of Congress in Araria by 6009 and 3151 votes respectively in the October 2005 Assembly poll.
BJP win from Muslim dominated seats is often attributed to the fact that many Muslim candidates jump in fray and this leads to division of votes. Parties will give tickets to Muslims in these seats either to attract Muslim votes or to spoil chances of other Muslim candidates. It will be Muslims duty to understand the motive of parties and choose the right candidate. Muslims are themselves to blame if BJP is able to snatch these seats from Muslims.
This time too, Shahnawaz Alam of LJP and Md. Afaque Alam of Congress are in fray from Kasba. In Araria, Zakir Hussain Khan of LJP and Moidure Rahman of Congress are in the fray. To take the advantage of division of votes, BJP has fielded Narayan Jha from Araria and sitting MLA Pradip Das from Kasba.
Effect of division of votes can be minimised by voting sensibly and heavily. It should be every Muslim priority to increase Muslim representation. Muslim representation has reached alarming level. Common man’s anger against elected representative is justified due to fact that majority of them just disappear after winning and lack of constructive work in their area. It is possible that Muslim MLAs will not do much for community after getting elected but their mere presence does make difference at local level administration.
Muslims should vote in large number not only to increase representation but also to keep the importance of their vote intact. BJP star campaigner Narendra Modi was refused entry in Bihar by Nitish Kumar as this could have polarised Muslim votes. Another star campaigner and hero of Ram Mandir movement L K Advani is not campaigning in the first phase where majority of seats are having large Muslim population. During campaigning leaders like Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav, Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan are accompanied by person sporting beard and skull cap like Abu Talib Rahmani and Ghulam Rasool Baliavi, just to show their pro Muslim image. It is different matter that many Muslims will not consider them as their leader. In this battle for survival, RJD-LJP alliance has realized the importance of Muslim votes and offered Deputy Chief Ministership and 15 percent reservation to Muslims. Even BJP has joined this race for Muslim votes when its state president C P Thakur appealed to Muslims.
It is unfortunate that everyone except Muslims realizes the importance of votes. In democracy, number only matters and counts. If Muslims, even with number on their side, are failing then they are themselves to be blamed. Right to complain comes with right to vote. One act of voting has affect on everyone’s life for next five years. It is too important to miss. Every vote counts and if you do not believe it, ask Mr. C P Joshi.
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