Najib brokers peace deal for strife-torn MIC

Palanivel confirmed that the president and deputy president posts would be unopposed. (left).
Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said he will abide by the PM's request. (right)

There will be no contest for the top two MIC posts after the contenders agreed to a peace deal which party sources claim was brokered by Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.

The source revealed that Najib had met party president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam and vice-presidents Datuk M. Saravanan and Datuk S.K. Devamany at his residence in Putrajaya on Sunday.

Najib was said to have advised them to concentrate on strengthening the party and avoid a contest which could result in “open warfare” in the party.

The source said the posts of party president and deputy president would not be contested this year.

The presidential election is scheduled for September 22 and the election for other national office bearers — deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 Central Working Committee members — is to be in November.


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DAP leaders to meet members personally to explain need for party re-election

DAP leaders will go down to the ground to explain to members and supporters the rationale behind their decision to hold fresh party elections.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced this in a statement today, adding that the tour will begin after the 2008-2011 Central Executive Committee (CEC) meets coming Thursday.

Lim reiterated that the decision to hold new polls to elect the CEC was made so that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) would not have any reason to de-register the party.

"The bitter and painful decision made by party leaders in an emergency meeting of the 2012-2015 CEC on Wednesday night to hold re-elections was solely to prevent RoS from being given another opportunity to abuse their powers by de-registering the party.

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Karpal: I’ll declare assets when CM asks for it

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has no problem declaring his assets and will do so when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng calls for all local MPs to declare their assets.

“I have always advocated that all elected representatives publicly declare their assets. I welcome and fully support the Chief Minister’s recommendation that MPs in Penang declare their assets, and I will do so in due time,” he said yesterday.

However, the Bukit Gelugor MP said he would not respond to every single call from other parties and individuals such as Penang Bar Committee criminal law chairman Ranjit Singh Dhillon over the issue.

“I do not have the time to respond to this kind of people,” he said.


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DAP's Phee has most assets, while PAS man owns only car and motorcycle

DAP Sungai Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh probably has the most in terms of assets among Penang’s Pakatan Rakyat’s assemblymen, with eight properties including joint properties, some of which are in Hamilton, New Zealand.

According to his asset declaration, Phee, who is a state exco member, jointly owns houses (inherited) and land in Hamilton, an apartment in Pantai Molek, Butterworth, a house in Taman Dalia, a shophouse in Bandar Mutiara (inherited), land in Teluk Air Tawar, a penthouse in Bagan Ajam and bungalow land in Batu Kawan.

Phee also owns shares in 24 companies and unit trust shares in six companies.

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Penang Pakatan reps declare assets

All Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen in Penang have declared all the assets that they own.

Last year, only the state executive councillors were instructed to make a public declaration of their assets.

However, the declaration does not cover the properties owned by the assemblymen’s spouses and children.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that Penang is the first state in the country to introduce this practice.

“We are fulfilling the Pakatan’s election manifesto. We had promised that the declaration of assets would be extended to all assemblymen,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.

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Little chance of setting up new party if DAP de-registered, says RoS

If the Registrar of Societies (RoS) decides to de-register DAP, its members have been told not to harbour hopes of setting up a new party, The Star reported today.

RoS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said they would not likely entertain requests for a new party.

“They can apply. But the right to approve is with the RoS. We did not even entertain 29 applications to set up new parties submitted over the last five years," he said.

Abdul Rahman was commenting on a plan by DAP members to set up a new party if DAP was de-registered, following complaints of election fraud in the party's central executive committee (CEC) election in December.

The director-general, when asked, said it was up to the party members to determine if the party should call for a fresh CEC election, adding that the party was now in limbo as the CEC was not recognised.

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Putrajaya misused three laws in GE13, says Forum Asia

The panelists at the Asian Solidarity and Human Rights forum held in Kuala Lumpur today.





Putrajaya had misused three laws, the Sedition Act 1948, Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, during the May 5 general election for selective prosecution and punishment, according to regional human rights group Forum Asia.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia) said in its preliminary report that the laws were technical and hard to understand for the purpose of prosecution and punishment.

"We raised our concerns against these problematic laws which gives the power to the government to carry out selective prosecution and punishment, towards certain individuals.

"The government's promise to carry out reforms runs contrary to what they are doing," Forum Asia representative Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.


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EC cleaning up electoral rolls, says it will issue regular reports

Stung by repeated criticisms over tainted electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) has formed an internal committee to clean up the voter lists with the first report to be released later this month.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (pic) said the committee began work after the May 5 general elections and would ensure the rolls for the next elections would be reliable and free from controversy.

"It is the EC's main priority to review the electoral rolls which has been said to be problematic by certain quarters.

"EC officials from all states are working together to clean up the electoral rolls and the committee will issue a report this month and from time to time," Wan Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider in Kuala Lumpur.

Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 and other civil groups have been asking for the rolls to be cleaned up since Election 2008, after allegations surfaced of phantom voters and foreigners in the lists based on identity cards issued by the National Registration Department.

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It’s official, Pakatan goes to court to dismiss all GE13 results

Pakatan Rakyat today went for the jugular – asking the High Court to set aside results of all 222 parliamentary seats in GE13, disband the discredited Election Commission and order fresh polls.

This unprecedented move, probably the first in any Commonwealth country, was made necessary because the indelible ink fiasco caused massive cheating, destroyed the integrity of GE13, and deprived the opposition pact of a legitimate opportunity to form the federal government of Malaysia, said Pakatan Rakyat in a suit which was filed this morning.

It noted that some 30 parliamentary seats were lost by Pakatan Rakyat by fewer than 10 per cent of the votes.

“Therefore even if a small percentage of dishonest voters were able to wrongfully vote more than once because of the deliberate failure of the EC to implement indelible ink, they were sufficient to affect the results in a significant number of seats,” said the opposition in a statement of claim.


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Five MCA division chiefs want Dr Chua to resign immediately

Five MCA division chiefs have called on their president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to resign over his haphazard implementation of the party's stand not to take up government positions following its dismal general election performance.

They said Dr Chua was not walking the talk in implementing a resolution, which called for non-acceptance of government posts at all levels.

"Meanwhile he continues to offer random interpretations on the non-acceptance of government posts," they said in a joint statement.

The leaders who took the joint stand against Dr Chua are Titiwangsa chief Datuk Alex Chuah Poh Kiang, Datuk Kuan Peng Soon (Teluk Intan), Datuk Yap Ke Huat (Kuala Krau), Datuk Eng Fook Heng (Paya Besar) and Tan Chong Seng (Kuala Selangor)

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Tengku Zaihan pledges to do his best

The Barisan Nasional candidate for the Kuala Besut by-election Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman, 37, pledged to do his best to fulfill the responsibilities as an assemblyman if he win the seat on July 24.

The former Besut Drainage and Irrigation Department district engineer said he understand that he has been trusted with the huge responsibility of carrying the legacy of the BN leadership in Kuala Besut.

"I will continue the service that BN had provided and follow the development plans of the late Dr A Rahman Mokhtar," he said.

He said the fact that he was born in a fishermen family in Kampung Nail here will give him an advantage in wooing the voters.

"Furthermore, I had worked here as the DID district engineer for five years," he said.


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Perkasa threatens Umno again

For the second time in a week, Perkasa warned the government that they will lose the support of the Malays and Bumiputera if their demands are not met.

The Malay rights group expressed its anger that the government has fulfilled less than 15 per cent of its demands but had given in to the demands of groups representing other races.

Just last week, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali warned the government that it risked losing the group's support if it continued to prioritise other races over the Malays.

"The patience of the Malay people also has a limit, do not push it," Ibrahim warned.

Yesterday, it was the turn of the group's general-secretary Syed Hassan Syed Ali, who said: "If the government continues to remain mum on the demands made by Perkasa, the communities whose rights we are championing may decide to shift their support elsewhere.

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GE13: MACC says no proof of vote buying in Penang

The Penang Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) has recommended to the Attorney-General to close all seven cases of alleged vote buying in the state during the 13th general election, due to a lack of evidence.

Its director Datuk Samarajoo Manikam said details obtained from the witnesses did not show any offence against the MACC Act 2009.

"Therefore, we recommended to the Attorney-General late last month to close all seven cases, and I believe they have accepted our recommendations," he told reporters after a dialogue with heads of department and political parties in a hotel here Tuesday.

He said some of the witnesses could not provide details of who issued the alleged vouchers and how they were being distributed.

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In the Christian part of the Malaysian nation, a growing distance from Barisan

New churches, still yes, but only in industrial and remote areas, no longer the type of prime spots the old ones sprouted on.

Wild charges of the "Christianisation" of Muslims.

The ban on the word "Allah" for non-Muslims.

Election fraud. And until it was pulled back yesterday from Parliament, the government’s new Bill to allow one parent alone to convert their young child to Islam, even against the wishes of the other parent.

These are issues which have made the Christian part of the Malaysian nation feel increasingly alienated.

To be sure, this is not a recent phenomenon. Even before the general election in 2008, there was some friction between this group that makes up about 10 per cent of the population and the Barisan Nasional government.

Unresolved questions surrounding conversion to Islam and cases of authorities insisting on Muslim burials for converts whose families were kept in the dark over the change of religion were already festering sores.

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Election officer arms PKR’s Rafizi with another dart for EC

PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said the call by a senior election officer in Sabah to re-register voters was further proof that the electoral system was flawed.

"I want to hear what the Election Commission chairman and his deputy have to say to this," he said.

Rafizi was commenting on the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah where the state's election director Datuk Md Idrus Ismail, when giving evidence, said the 13 million voters nationwide must be registered again as the electoral roll was tainted.

Rafizi, who is also Pandan MP, said this clearly showed that the organisation and execution of the 13th general election was highly questionable.

"There are many questions being raised on the ballot paper, the ballot boxes and the indelible ink.


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Sarawak CM Taib Mahmud will go when he wants to

Taib Mahmud has been chief minister for 32 years

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, 77, has hinted many times over the past few years that he may be stepping down soon.



But MPs from his Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) believe it may not be anytime in the near future and he will only step down when he decides on his successor.

"He has been indicating he wants to leave. It's a matter of time. He has said he's grooming successors," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri.

The Batang Sadong MP, however, told The Star Online that Taib could serve for another three years, until the Sarawak state elections were held.


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'Indelible ink to be used during Kuala Besut by-election'

Indelible ink will be used during the Kuala Besut by-election although several weaknesses were identified regarding its usage in the 13th general election, said Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

He said the use of indelible ink has become part of the country's election regulations and should be continued or else it could nullify an election or make it invalid.

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'Opposition has failed to prove polls allegations'

Parties are welcome to challenge election results in court, Najib tells BBC World

KUALA LUMPUR: THE government has nothing to hide about the process and outcome of the May 5 general election in spite of recent pressure mounted by certain quarters about the matter.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in an interview with the BBC World on Tuesday, said the government, under the ruling coalition, was open to reviewing the matter as long as it was done according to the country's legal provisions.

"I wish to maintain the election was free, fair and transparent. And up to today, there have been no real reports that they (the opposition) could substantiate (the) allegations.

"We are prepared to (answer questions) but (only) as long as we go through the courts.

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Forget reconciliation, says Perkasa chief, move on

Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali has described the government's call for national reconciliation as an insult to the public's intelligence.

"The general election is over, those who won should be congratulated and those who lost should accept the result.

"There is no such thing as national reconciliation. It is just rhetoric," said the Malay rights group leader.

To stress his point, Ibrahim then quoted Napoleon: "Do what I asked you to do, not do as I do". He then urged the government to get on with the job of running the country.

"Those who talk the most are usually the most immoral and corrupt. There are the ones who say do not send your children abroad to study, do not go overseas on holiday, stay in Malaysia.

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Sultan of Johor: Stop bickering about Tee’s appointment

The Sultan of Johor wants all parties, to stop bickering about Datuk Tee Siew Kiong’s appointment as the state executive member.
A statement issued by Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar via his private secretary Jaba Mohd Noah said – “Tee’s appointment as an executive member was the Sultan’s choice and it was his right to choose his line-up of the state executive council members under Phase 4 Section II of the Johor State Constitution 1895.

“All parties including MCA party members and leaders are asked to respect Sultan Ibrahim’s decision (of appointing Tee) and should stop questioning his capacity as the Sultan of Johor.

Sultan Ibrahim appointed Tee, as he wanted a representative from all the races to represent his multi-racial subjects.

Also stated was that Sultan Ibrahim is not required to seek anyone’s opinion or suggestion before appointing his preferred state executive council members' line-up, nor does a need arise for him to explain the reason he appointed Tee.

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