Malaysia #GE13: US notes concern about irregularities

Published by The Straits Times Singapore on 8 May 2013.

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The White House on Wednesday congratulated Malaysia's prime minister on his coalition's election victory but urged the government to address concerns about election irregularities.

"We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "We look forward to the outcome of their investigations."

Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition extended its 56-year rule but recorded its worst-ever election performance in Sunday's election. His party won 133 seats in Malaysia's 222-member parliament, seven fewer than in 2008 and short of the two-thirds majority it had hoped for.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's People's Alliance won 89 seats, a big increase from seven in 2008. Mr Anwar has said the result was tainted by electoral fraud and scheduled a large rally in Kuala Lumpur to press for electoral reforms.

The Malaysian government rejected charges of electoral fraud and has accused Mr Anwar of seeking to cause unrest with the rally.

The election was one of the most closely contested in Malaysia in years and Mr Najib is expected to face a party leadership challenge that may cost him his leadership by the end of the year because of the weak showing.

He had hoped to strengthen the ruling coalition's majority in parliament with the help of a strong economy, reforms to roll back race-based policies and US$2.6 billion (S$3.2 billion) in spending programmes benefiting poor families.

Mr Najib is now seen as having a difficult time in persuading his allies to press ahead with economic reforms and the phasing out of policies favoring ethnic Malays over other groups.

Link:

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/se-asia/story/malaysia-ge13-us-notes-concern-about-irregularities-20130508

Malaysia's Multi-Ethnic Coalition Near Collapse

Written by John Berthelsen. Published by Asia Sentinel on 5 April 2013.

UMNO may have to go it alone as Chinese, Indian parties crumble.

Regardless of who wins Malaysia's 13th* general election, expected to be held on April 27, the historic multi-ethnic coalition that has ruled the country since independence will have likely collapsed.

"Whatever the results, the Barisan coalition will cease to exist as we know it because the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian Congress will be wiped out," a Kuala Lumpur-based businessman told Asia Sentinel. "Assuming UMNO forms the government with Sabah and Sarawak parties, there will be no Chinese and Indian representatives in the government. And that is not a good scenario to have."

The Barisan and the opposition, made up of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headed by Anwar Ibrahim, the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party and the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia are embroiled in what is being called the closest election in the country's history, with both sides predicting victory. One opposition strategist said the race would probably come down to a margin of 10 seats either way in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, or parliament. 

For most of the time from its 1957 inception as an independent nation, the country has been governed by a carefully engineered amalgam of ethnic parties led by the United Malays National Organization, the Malaysian Chinese Association, the Malaysian Indian Congress and, to a lesser extent, Gerakan, which has faded in recent years.

However, in the debacle of the 2008 election, the MCA was left with just 15 seats in parliament. Gerakan, the second mostly Chinese ethnic party, ended up with just two seats. The MIC was left with three. UMNO won 78.

In the upcoming polls, political analysts say the MCA could see its total seats fall to just one or two, roiled as the party is by years of major scandals and political infighting that once impelled one of the contending factions to secretly film party leader Chua Soi Lek having a sex romp in a hotel room in a vain effort to drive him from politics. The resurgent opposition Democratic Action Party expects to claim the vast majority of Chinese voters. Gerakan, whose base is in Penang, which is controlled by the DAP, could be wiped out completely, the analysts say. The MIC is equally riven by scandal and infighting, with its members and leadership gravitating away towards the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf. 

This is not a scenario conjured up by the opposition. It has been discussed within UMNO councils for months as the party has watched the other components of the Barisan drift into disaster. It is at least partly responsible for the rise in race-baiting in recent months as UMNO and its attack-dog ancillaries such as the Malay supremacy NGO Perkasa raise the spectre that ethnic Chinese, and particularly Chinese Christians in a Muslim country, will take over the reins of power. 

Ethnic Malays make up 50.4 percent of the population, Chinese 24 percent and Indians 7.1 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook. UMNO sees its chance to keep its leadership of the country intact by winning every available ethnic Malay vote and hopefully luring ethnic Indians back into the fold. 

Thus indigenous tribes, most of them in East Malaysia, with 11 percent of the population, probably hold the key to the 2013 election, most political analysts feel. The states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan control 57 of the 222 seats. The 165 peninsular seats are almost equally divided between the Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat.

As the MCA in particular descended into chaos, an UMNO operative told Asia Sentinel months ago that UMNO basically decided it would have to go it alone in the 13th general election. While the other ethnic parties will field candidates in the election, UMNO will try to take as many constituencies dominated by ethnic Malays as possible and hope the component parties can have some impact.

If not, the 57 East Malaysia seats -- depending on how the parties controlled by the current chief ministers fare in the election -- will control peninsular Malaysia's destiny. In both Sarawak and Sabah, the bonds of loyalty that keep elected lawmakers tied to particular parties are slippery indeed. In one case in the 1980s, when the opposition unexpectedly took control of the statehouse in Kota Kinabalu, the victorious coalition locked their winning members behind a chain link fence to keep them from being bribed away by the losers. 

Should the collapse scenario actually take place, it will produce a "mono-ethnic and unelectable opposition that will be constrained to the Malay belt" in the Peninsula, where 20 million of the 28 million Malaysians make their home -- without the help of the East Malaysian states. Both chief ministers have been implicated, although not indicted, in scandals involving untold amounts of money in bribery for timber sales. They would be pleased to talk to the opposition in exchange for immunity from prosecution. 

If UMNO is to rebuild the coalition, win or lose it means its gamble to conduct the election by appealing to the fears or prejudices of its Malay constituency has failed the country at large, and that it must regain the trust of the complex ethnic mosaic that makes up the rest of the country.

"What's left is UMNO seats, high Malay-majority seats," said an opposition political operative. "They might be propped up with some Malay seats in Sarawak, and some Sabah UMNO seats. If they lose, they would have to reconstitute. They have to start moderating their line and to try to get back the support of the minorities. Assuming they hold power, I would assume over the next five years they would have to reconstitute." 

It is unsure what the implications are for Malaysian society as a whole. Tension has simmered for decades, since 1969 riots took the lives of hundreds on both sides of the ethnic divide, exacerbated by the New Economic Policy created in 1971 to give economically disadvantaged rural Malays a leg up. Malays get the majority of government jobs and places in universities. The country has been on a 30-year campaign to ensure rising ethnic Malay ownership of the commanding heights of the business community. 

So-called Ali Baba companies dot the landscape, with the "Ali" being an ethnic Malay usually sitting behind a polished and empty desk, while "Babas," a nickname for Straits-born Chinese, run the business from the backroom. Billions have been wasted on government-linked companies given to UMNO cronies to run into the ground. An explosive report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released today said as much as RM200 billion* was funneled out of Malaysia last year to Singapore, an astonishing burst of capital flight.

"Malaysia's system of holding back the dynamic Indian and Chinese minorities has turned it into a bastion of mediocrity in a fast-growing region," Wall Street Journal columnist Hugo Restall wrote in an editorial today. "The country's best and brightest leave because the cronyism and racial quotas in education and employment hold them back."

*Corrections. Typo. Originally read 12th general election. Originally read US$200 billion. We apologize for the errors.

Link:
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5317&Itemid=178

Anwar menang saman terhadap Utusan

Oleh Aisha Geoffrey. Diterbitkan oleh Keadilan Daily.

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Januari 2013: Ketua Umum KEADILAN, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini menang kes saman fitnah RM50 juta terhadap Utusan Melayu Bhd dan ketua pengarangnya berhubung artikel berkaitan temu bualnya yang disiarkan oleh BBC tahun lalu. Keputusan penghakiman itu dibacakan Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur, Datuk VT Singham di sini pagi ini.

Utusan didapati bersalah memfitnah Anwar kerana menuduh beliau menyokong pergerakan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transeksual (LGBT). Singham memutuskan artikel itu bersifat fitnah dan bertujuan menjatuhkan reputasi Anwar sebagai pemimpin politik. Beliau berkata, keputusan itu dibuat kerana mengambil kira fakta dan bukti yang dibentangkan sepanjang perbicaraan, menunjukkan Utusan dipunyai oleh Umno.

“Artikel tersebut adalah terpesong, tidak tepat dan di luar maksud yang diperkatakan,” kata Singham dalam penghakimannya. Keputusan itu merujuk artikel bertajuk ‘Tolak Anwar-Hassan’ yang disiarkan muka depan akhbar kawalan Umno itu pada 17 Januari 2012.

Anwar memfailkan fitnah terhadap Utusan dan Ketua Pengarangnya, Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak 20 Januari tahun lalu, yang didakwanya telah mencetak dan menerbitkan berita berhubung komen beliau bersama BBC mengenai undang-undang berkaitan dengan homoseksual.

“Mahkamah berpuas hati (dalam artikel tersebut) bahawa ini adalah fitnah kepada plaintif,” kata Singham. Menurutnya, Utusan tidak mengamalkan kewartawanan yang bertanggungjawab. Sedangkan katanya, defendan mempunyai peluang untuk membetulkan fakta selepas Anwar menghantar notis peguam untuk keterangan.

“Wartawan dan editor mempunyai hak untuk menyiarkan berita, tapi bukan fitnah, atau berita palsu,” tempelak Singham dalam penghakimannya. Katanya, hakim memainkan peranan penting dalam memastikan kebebasan badan kehakiman.

“Keadilan perlu dilaksanakan tanpa dipengaruhi mana-mana pihak mahupun parti politik, semua keputusan perlulah selari dengan fakta yang dibentangkan,” jelas Singham. Beliau mengarahkan Utusan membayar gantirugi kos sebanyak RM45,000 kepada Anwar manakala pampasan damage (teruk) ditetapkan ke satu tarikh kemudian.

Link: http://www.keadilandaily.com/anwar-menang-saman-terhadap-utusan/

#RCISabah: Citizenship-for-votes probe stirs outrage

By Julia Zappei. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 23 January 2013.

For years, charges have swirled that a secret Malaysian scheme gave citizenship to huge numbers of illegal migrants in a politically important state in exchange for votes for the ruling coalition. Now, an inquiry is finally airing detailed allegations that have the government on the defensive ahead of elections that pose the greatest threat yet faced by the ruling bloc that has controlled Malaysia for 56 years.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry opened last week with ex-officials admitting they gave citizenship to Filipinos and Indonesians in resource-rich Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on jungly Borneo island. One former official said some 100,000 identity cards (ICs) were handed out in 1993 ahead of a crucial state election, Malaysian news reports said. Another admitted signing hundreds of thousands of ICs in the 1990s.

The testimony has revived accusations of treason against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is alleged to have masterminded the scheme to shore up support for his government. As head of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, Mahathir dominated Malaysia for 22 years with his famously hardball political tactics until he resigned in 2003.

Current prime minister Najib Tun Razak is now battling to rally support for the BN ahead of polls he is expected to call within months, in an era when the coalition’s power grip has slipped. But outrage over “Project IC”, as the alleged scheme is widely known, is undercutting his claims that the national electoral roll is free of fraud.

The opposition and election-reform advocates allege massive fraud in voter rolls nationwide and have seized on the testimony as proof of government vote-tampering. “What we are concerned about is that this is still going on. That’s what we want to stop,” S Ambiga, head of the clean-elections activist coalition known as “Bersih”, or “Clean”, told a press conference Tuesday.

The outlines of “Project IC” have been whispered about for three decades and have bolstered the view of Sabah as a reliable “fixed deposit” of votes for the BN to help it weather challenges elsewhere. The government allegedly targeted Muslims from neighbouring Indonesia and the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines.

Sudden growth in population

More than half of Malaysia’s 29 million people are Muslim ethnic Malays, but indigenous tribes, many of them Christian, predominate in Sabah. They have bridled at the foreigners, blaming them for crime, drug abuse and economic competition, and alleging their homeland was being stolen.

Najib last June gave in to calls for an inquiry, but the move could backfire, said Ibrahim Suffian, head of independent polling firm Merdeka Centre, calling the revelations “explosive”. “It probably will create a wave of resentment and dissatisfaction among native Sabah voters. This confirms their worst fears,” he said.

The population of Sabah, a region of rugged mountains and powerful rainforest rivers that is about the size of Ireland, has surged from some 600,000 citizens in 1970 to more than three million — more than double the national growth rate.

Malaysia’s opposition alleges some 700,000 may have illegally received ICs. A one-time battleground state, Sabah has been pro-BN since the mid-1990s. The once all-powerful BN suffered a shock setback in 2008 national elections, and analysts predict a close fight with a formidable opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy premier, raising fears that government fraud could play a role.

Najib insists the national electoral system is clean and has highlighted recent reforms such as plans to use indelible ink to prevent multiple voting. “Let the commission do its work and find out,” Najib was quoted as saying by state media, warning against a rush to judgement in Sabah.

Mahathir, still a vocal and influential conservative figure, has denied the existence of “Project IC,” but admitted at a press conference last week that foreigners in Sabah were given citizenship, saying no laws were broken. No one has yet directly implicated him before the commission, but witnesses said last week they were directed by officials close to Mahathir. There has been no testimony yet suggesting “Project IC” was still active.

Hearings will continue for weeks, with some 170 witnesses expected to testify. The commission has until late March to investigate. The commission’s final recommendations are not legally binding, but could lead to pressure for a crackdown on illegals. -AFP

Link: 

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/01/23/citizenship-for-votes-probe-stirs-outrage/

Related reports:

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=46666:own-up-dr-m-rci-testimony-confirms-hes-responsible-for-sabah-citizen-for-sale-problems-azmin&Itemid=2

Two of Mahathir's closest confidantes - Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin, his political secretary at that time, and Megat Junid, the late former Deputy home Minister - were implicated by witnesses who testified before the RCI a day ago.

"After receiving instructions from then-Sabah NRD chief Abdul Rauf Sani, we were ordered to go to KL and were placed at Pak Aziz Shamsuddin's residence in Kampung Pandan," Malaysiakini reported Yakup Damsah, who was the Tamparuli NRD chief at that time, as saying.

According to Yakup, they were tasked to sign the identity cards that were to be issued to the immigrants, which were subsequently laminated at the NRD headquarters in Petaling Jaya and shipped to the Kota Kinabalu NRD for distribution. "We were briefed about our special assignment by a person not known to us, named 'Mat Nor'. He told us to issue blue identity cards to the immigrants," Yakup added.

He told the RCI his group signed a total of 40,000 blue identity cards within a month, based on the filled up application forms provided to them. "We did not look at the forms in detail, we just signed... We know that they were immigrants, mostly Indonesians and Filipinos, but we did not know whether they were legal immigrants or not," he said.

Yakup also said the intent of their action was to increase the number of Muslim voters in Sabah and to ensure that these people would vote for Umno in the 1994 Sabah state election.

As for the late Megat Junid, former Sabah NRD Ramli Kamaruddin told the RCI  he received personal instructions from the deputy home minister to issue identity card receipts to immigrants using the details of people who were already in the electoral roll but had never voted before...

"These are the real traitors of the country. People who sell citizenship for the sake of political power," Azmin slammed Mahathir and the latter's Umno party.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/01/23/anwar-no-problem-testifying-in-rci/

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said he would have no problem testifying in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing the ‘Project IC’ in Sabah. “I have no problem whatsoever. I knew for a long time the project was under the prime minister, that it did not involve a Cabinet process, so it is the full responsibility of the prime minister and finance minister.

Walk For Freedom 2011

Lawyers end march, say to keep up pressure on assembly law

The Bar Council warned the Najib administration today it will “continue knocking on the doors of Parliament” if the Peaceful Assembly Bill is passed without public consultation.

Malaysian Bar President Lim Chee Wee urged the government to consider the council’s proposed alternative to the government’s original Bill, which he described as an “unjust law made in haste ... which will impose unreasonable and disproportionate fetters on freedom of assembly”.

“The Bar will continue knocking on the doors of Parliament if the Bill makes it to the statute books in its current form. We will not give up hope,” he vowed during a brief press conference in Parliament here.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/lawyers-end-march-say-to-keep-up-pressure-on-assembly-law

Bar Council presents alternative assembly bill

The Bar Council has made public its alternative to the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill, saying it takes “significantly different approaches” from the one the Dewan Rakyat passed today.

The council said in a media statement that its draft, also called the Peaceful Assembly Bill, complied with international conventions. It gives every person, regardless of age, the right to assemble peacefully.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/29/bar-council-presents-alternative-assembly-bill/

More than 2,000 lawyers gather to protest Assembly Bill

More than 2,000 lawyers from the 14,000-strong Bar Council turned up for the much-anticipated protest despite the short notice given. They began begin their 2.5km 'Walk for Freedom' to Parliament at around 12.30pm.

On reaching the august House, president of the Bar Lim Chee Wee and 9 others were allowed into the lobby. They handed over a copy of the Bar's alternative Bill to Deputy Minister Liew Vui Kong, plus a letter reiterating their call to MPs to vote wisely on the Bill.

“We are not anti-government or pro-opposition. We are anti-injustice and anti-unconstitutionality. We are pro-justice and pro-rule of law. We have always worked closely with the government,” Lim said.

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=23657:more-than-2000-lawyers-gather-to-protest-assembly-bill-walk-to-begin-soon&Itemid=2

Lawyers march against Assembly Bill

More than 1,000 members of the Bar Council marched to the Dewan Rakyat today to protest the proposed the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011.

Led by their president Lim Chee Wee, they asked MPs not to pass the controversial Bill, claiming that it would curtail the right to peaceful assembly.

Lim said that Malaysia was founded on public demonstrations, citing founding father Onn Jaafar’s leading of the Malayan Union against the British.

He also pleaded to the MPs not to rid Malaysians the right to assemble peacefully “with the stroke of a pen”.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/29/lawyers-march-against-assembly-bill/

Malaysia passes ban on street protests

Malaysian and international rights groups describe it as repressive because it bans street rallies and imposes tough restrictions and penalties for demonstrators.

The law was announced only last week, and some critics say the vote was rushed without proper public consultation.

About 500 lawyers and their supporters marched to parliament hours before the vote, urging lawmakers to reject the bill and chanting "freedom to the people'' before police stopped most of them from entering the complex.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2011/11/201111299054994173.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=SocialFlow&utm_term=tweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount#.TtTR3pmqa6A.facebook

Malaysia’s ruling coalition advances ban on street protests criticized as repressive

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition says the Peaceful Assembly Act is intended to strike a balance between public order and the right to peaceful assembly. The act passed easily in Parliament’s lower house after the boycott, and the law is expected to be enforced after Parliament’s upper house, also dominated by the National Front coalition, approves it as early as next month.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/500-malaysian-lawyers-activists-stage-protest-march-against-govt-plan-to-ban-street-ralllies/2011/11/29/gIQA2il36N_story.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Opposition MPs walk out, refuse to vote on Peaceful Assembly Bill

Opposition MPs staged a walkout during the debate on the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 on Tuesday, claiming that the Government was rushing the bill through.

The entire bench stood and left the House at around 3pm after the Speaker allowed the debate to continue despite calls for it to be suspended and for the bill to be referred to a Parliamentary Select Committee.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/29/nation/20111129153616&sec=nation

Peaceful Assembly Bill passed

KUALA LUMPUR: The Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 was passed by Parliament Tuesday after six amendments were made to the bill.

The bill was passed with no dissenting votes after the Opposition refused to take part in the debate and staged a walkout.

The walk-out was staged before Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri tabled six amendments to the bill.

The bill was passed before Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had allowed just three Opposition MPs to debate the proposed law.

The Opposition had asked for it to be retracted and put before a Parliamentary Select Committee for review.

The six changes include Sub-Clause 9 (1), where the 30-day notice period required to be given to the police was changed to 10 days.

Under Clause 12 (b), objections against a proposed assembly must be lodged with the police in writing within 48 hours, instead of five days.

For Clause 14, the change included the provision for police to give a reply to organisers within five days instead of 12.

In Clause 16(a), appeal against the rejection of an application or the exercise of police discretionary orders to organisers can be done within 48 hours of receipt, instead of four days while under Clause 16(b), the Home Minister is to answer any appeals within 48 hours of receipt instead of six days.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/29/nation/20111129164017&sec=nation

Hello MP, kami sedang perhatikan cara awak undi

Meminjam konsep bekas presiden Majlis Peguam, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan yang mahu setiap ahli parlimen "bertanggungjawab kepada pengundi mereka", warga maya melancarkan kempen mengingatkan wakil rakyat mereka bahawa corak pengundian mereka berhubung rang undang-undang kontroversi itu akan juga ditentukan pada pilihan raya akan datang.

Melalui kempen yang dikenali sebagai '#HelloMP' warga maya memuat-naikkan gambar mereka memegang sehelai kertas dengan nama kawasan pilihan raya dan wakil rakyat, menggesa mereka menolak rang undang-undang itu di Facebook.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/182714

Govt paranoid, says Ambiga

BERSIH chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan claims the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 is a "paranoid" Bill.

Asked if the proposed legislation was a retaliation against Bersih 2.0, she said: "I do not know whether it is a direct retaliation.

"I think it is a paranoid Bill. I think the government seems to fear the idea of the rakyat expressing themselves."

Ambiga said this before the Bar Council organised walk from Lake Gardens to Parliament building yesterday.

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/86739-bar-courting-trouble

Konvensyen Parti Keadilan Negeri Johor