Election 2013 broke every rule in the book, Bersih panel finds

By Pathma Subramaniam
The Malay Mail Online
March 25, 2014

SUBANG JAYA, MARCH 25 — Every single principle governing the running of a free and fair election was breached during last year’s May 5 federal polls, Bersih’s People’s Tribunal concluded in its findings released today.

Panel member former United Nations Special Representative and constitutional law expert Yash Pal Ghai said Election 2013 had fallen short of every aspect of democracy and violated the standard of free and fair elections.

He agreed that the election had been free to some extent because those who were registered voters were not blocked from casting their ballots but said this freedom was more in a “narrow sense” of the word.

During Election 2013, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) retained federal power with 133 seats to Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 89 seats despite losing the popular vote contest to the federal opposition, garnering just 49 per cent of the total votes cast.

“We have found ourselves compelled to reach a conclusion that there were multiple failings in the way GE13 was conducted and that virtually every tenet of free election was violated at some place and at some time,” said Yash Pal, who headed the tribunal.

“There were so many breaches of law, disregard of procedures that we have to conclude that elections were not free and fair,” he said, reading out the verdict and recommendation of the five-person panel.

The recommendations, which included proposed amendments to the constitutions on electoral reforms, were concluded after the panel considered sworn statements from 75 witnesses.

Of the 75, 49 appeared personally during public hearings from September 18 to 21 last year.

The panel also proposed reduce the voting eligibility age from 21 to 18 years, and called for equal voting access for Malaysians living abroad.

Yash Pal said the various complaints from individuals who never registered as voters and those who were transferred out of their voting districts, indicate a “deliberate act of fraud”.

“Registering one or two people in the wrong constituency might be carelessness; registering those who have not sought registration is suspicious,” said Yash Pal, adding that it is hard to exonerate the Election Commission (EC) of collusion as identification cards are required upon registration.

Noting the difficulty in ensuring an electoral roll is completely void of discrepancies, another panel member, lawyer Datuk Azzat Kamaluddin, said political parties should establish a specific unit to check the voter registry.

This, he pointed out, is to prevent from a complainant running into legal constraints when it comes to challenging discrepancies in the roll. The Election Act 1958 provides no legal avenue to those who want to challenge a gazetted electoral roll.

On the first-past-the-post electoral system practiced by Malaysia, Yash Pal labelled it questionable as it relies heavily on the fairness of delineated electoral boundaries, which has been repeatedly questioned by federal opposition lawmakers and activists here.

“Individual voters will not be equally represented if they are in constituencies with significantly different number of voters and the actual outcome of overall results can severely be affected by moving boundaries.

“A witness gave evidence that, on average, a vote for BN was worth 1.6 times a vote for PR, because PR-leaning constituencies are on average larger,” he said, adding that it does not reflect “the principle of one person, one vote, one value”.

In order to reduce the glaring ratio, the panel proposed amendments to laws defining the criteria on the size of urban and rural constituencies, crucial to the delimitation process.

The Electoral Integrity Project (EIP), a study by University of Sydney and Harvard University, recently showed Malaysia’s electoral demarcations as the worst of 66 countries in terms of fairness and integrity of its electoral boundaries.

Today, the Bersih panel mooted the idea of a Boundaries Commission, to avoid burdening the EC on the matter of drawing boundaries.

Former Indonesian Election Commission deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti Ramlan Surbakti suggested that the commission could be set up using the similar mechanisms used in Indonesia to select its EC.

According to him, anyone capable is allowed to apply to sit on the EC but the applicants are vetted by a committee formed by the Indonesian president and the names are then submitted to parliament for further scrutiny.

Apart from these recommendations, the panel also proposed a revamp of the EC members’ appointment process, equal access to the media and transparency on political funding.

The panel also suggested stricter regulations enforced on the caretaker government to stave off “promises designed to influence outcome of the elections”.

Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said the polls watchdog has requested for an appointment with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to deliver the report on the findings.

‘Search for MH370 a top priority’ – Obama

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Washington has placed the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jetliner a “top priority”.

The AFP news agency quoted Obama as saying this in his first on camera comments on the missing flight MH370 in an interview with Dallas television station KDFW at the White House.

“I want them to be assured that we consider this a top priority.

“We have put every resource that we have available at the disposal of the search process,” the president said.
According to the television station’s website, the exclusive White House interview by FOX4′s Clarice Tinsley was held Wednesday afternoon (local time).

The AFP reports also said that during the interview, the US leader also mentioned about the close cooperation between Washington and Kuala Lumpur over the missing jetliner.

“There has been close cooperation with the Malaysian government,” said Obama.
The United States has deployed, among others, a P8 Poseidon and a P-3 Orion surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft in the search operation.

According to AFP, Obama also said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and agencies or officials involved in aviation were at the disposal of the investigators.

The NTSB is an independent federal agency sanctioned by Congress to investigate every civil aviation accident in the US and significant accidents in other modes of transportation-railroad, highway, marine and pipeline.

President Obama expressed his deep sympathy to the family members of the passengers and crew of the missing plane.

“First of all we want to send out our thoughts and prayers to all of the families that have been affected, but particularly our American families, who I can only imagine what they’re going through with all of the uncertainty that’s taken place,” Obama said in the interview.

There were three Americans in the flight and one of them is Philip Wood, 50, of Keller, Texas.

The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappeared about an hour after leaving the KL International Airport in Sepang at  12.41am on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

Malaysia has said that the search for the missing aircraft remains Malaysia’s main priority focusing on diplomatic, technical and logistical challenges.

All 26 countries involved in the search and rescue (SAR) operation for the missing jetliner have verbally agreed to assist Malaysia, who had also sent formal written requests for their co-operation.

The search is now focused on two corridors, namely the northern corridor which stretches from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and the southern corridor which stretches from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Series of errors by Malaysia mounts, complicating the task of finding flight 370

March 16, 2014
👤by Super Admin

(The New York Times) - The radar blip that was Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did a wide U-turn over the Gulf of Thailand and then began moving inexorably past at least three military radar arrays as it traversed northern Malaysia, even flying high over one of the country’s biggest cities before heading out over the Strait of Malacca.

Yet inside a Malaysian Air Force control room on the country’s west coast, where American-made F-18s and F-5 fighters stood at a high level of readiness for emergencies exactly like the one unfolding in the early morning of March 8, a four-person air defense radar crew did nothing about the unauthorized flight. “The watch team never noticed the blip,” said a person with detailed knowledge of the investigation into Flight 370. “It was as though the airspace was his.”

It was not the first and certainly not the last in a long series of errors by the Malaysian government that has made the geographically vast and technologically complex task of finding the $50 million Malaysia Airlines jet far more difficult.

A week after the plane disappeared, the trail is even colder as the search now sprawls from the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to the empty expanses of the southern Indian Ocean. Nobody knows yet whether the delays cost the lives of any of the 239 people who boarded the flight to Beijing at Kuala Lumpur’s ultramodern airport here. But the mistakes have accumulated at a remarkable pace.

“The fact that it flew straight over Malaysia, without the Malaysian military identifying it, is just plain weird — not just weird, but also very damning and tragic,” said David Learmount, the operations and safety editor for Flightglobal, a news and data service for the aviation sector.

Senior Malaysian military officers became aware within hours of the radar data once word spread that a civilian airliner had vanished. The Malaysian government nonetheless organized and oversaw an expensive and complex international search effort in the Gulf of Thailand that lasted for a full week. Only on Saturday morning did Prime Minister Najib Razak finally shut it down after admitting what had already been widely reported in the news media: Satellite data showed that the engines on the missing plane had continued to run for nearly six more hours after it left Malaysian airspace.

Finding the plane and figuring out what happened to it is now a far more daunting task than if the plane had been intercepted. If the aircraft ended up in the southern Indian Ocean, as some aviation experts now suggest, then floating debris could have subsequently drifted hundreds of miles, making it extremely hard to figure out where the cockpit voice and data recorders sank.

And because the recorders keep only the last two hours of cockpit conversation, even the aircraft’s recorders may hold few secrets.

With so much uncertainty about the flight, it is not yet possible to know whether any actions by the Malaysian government or military could have altered its fate. Responding to a storm of criticism, particularly from China, whose citizens made up two-thirds of the passengers, Mr. Najib took pains in a statement early Saturday afternoon to say that Malaysia had not concealed information, including military data.

“We have shared information in real time with authorities who have the necessary experience to interpret the data,” he said, reading aloud a statement in English at a news conference. “We have been working nonstop to assist the investigation, and we have put our national security second to the search for the missing plane.”

Malaysia Airlines issued a similarly defensive statement late Saturday afternoon. “Given the nature of the situation and its extreme sensitivity, it was critical that the raw satellite signals were verified and analyzed by the relevant authorities so that their significance could be properly understood,” the airline said. “This naturally took some time, during which we were unable to publicly confirm their existence.”

Aviation experts said that a trained pilot would be the most obvious person to have carried out a complicated scheme involving the plane. Yet for a week after the plane’s disappearance, Malaysian law enforcement authorities said that their investigation did not include searching the home of the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

On Saturday afternoon, the police were seen entering the gated community where Mr. Zaharie was said to have lived, and Malaysian news media reported that they had searched his home. The police declined to comment, and it is not known whether the authorities made any effort to secure Mr. Zaharie’s home and prevent any destruction of evidence over the past week.

Mr. Najib said on Saturday that “the Malaysian authorities have refocused their investigation into the crew and passengers on board,” but Mr. Zaharie has not been accused of any wrongdoing. No information has been released yet on whether the homes of the co-pilot or flight attendants might be searched.

Even before the plane took off, Malaysian immigration officials had already allowed onto the plane at least two people using passports that had been logged into a global database as stolen, although there is no evidence that either person carrying a stolen passport was involved in diverting the plane.

A British Royal Air Force base in the colonial era, the Malaysian air force base at Butterworth sits on the mainland across from the island of Penang at the northern reaches of the Strait of Malacca. There, in the early morning hours of March 8, the four-person crew watching for intrusions into the country’s airspace either did not notice or failed to report a blip on their defensive radar and air traffic radar that was moving steadily across the country from east to west, heading right toward them, said the person with knowledge of the matter.

Neither that team nor the crews at two other radar installations at Kota Bharu, closer to where the airliner last had contact with the ground, designated the blip as an unknown intruder warranting attention, the person said. The aircraft proceeded to fly across the country and out to sea without anyone on watch telling a superior and alerting the national defense command near Kuala Lumpur, even though the radar contact’s flight path did not correspond to any filed flight plan.

As a result, combat aircraft never scrambled to investigate. The plane, identified at the time by Mr. Najib as Flight 370, passed directly over Penang, a largely urban state with more than 1.6 million people, then turned and headed out over the Strait of Malacca.

The existence of the radar contact was discovered only when military officials began reviewing tapes later in the morning on March 8, after the passenger jet failed to arrive in Beijing. It was already becoming clear that morning, only hours after the unauthorized flyover, that something had gone very wrong. Tapes from both the Butterworth and Kota Bharu bases showed the radar contact arriving from the area of the last known position of Flight 370, the person familiar with the investigation said.

Gen. Rodzali Daud, the commander of Malaysia’s Air Force, publicly acknowledged the existence of the radar signals for the first time on Wednesday, well into the fifth day after the plane’s disappearance. He emphasized that further analysis was necessary because the radar plots of the aircraft’s location were stripped of the identifying information given by the plane’s onboard transponders, which someone aboard the aircraft appeared to have turned off.

The failure to identify Flight 370’s errant course meant that a chance to send military aircraft to identify and redirect the jet, a Boeing 777, was lost. And for five days the crews on an armada of search vessels, including two American warships, focused the bulk of their attention in the waters off Malaysia’s east coast, far from the plane’s actual path.

General Rodzali went to the Butterworth air force base the day that the plane disappeared and was told of the radar blips, the person familiar with the investigation said. The Malaysian government nonetheless assigned most of its search and rescue resources, as well as ships and aircraft offered by other nations, to a search of the Gulf of Thailand where the aircraft’s satellite transponder was turned off, while allocating minimal attention to the Strait of Malacca on the other, western side of Peninsular Malaysia.

Malaysia under fresh fire over handling of plane crisis

The Malaysian Insider
March 16, 2014

China today criticised Malaysia's handling of the missing MH370 jetliner, saying it wasted precious time and resources by releasing 'dramatic information' on the plane a full week after it vanished. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 16, 2014.China spearheaded fresh criticism today of Malaysia's handling of the missing MH370 airliner drama, saying it "squandered" precious time and resources by releasing dramatic information on the plane's fate a full week after it vanished.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak revealed yesterday that an investigation indicates that flight 370 was deliberately diverted and flew for several hours after leaving its intended flight path, though he stopped short of saying it was hijacked.

The startling revelation after a week of confusion and competing theories, prompted questions over how long Malaysian authorities had been privy to the new data, and whether they had missed an opportunity to intercept the diverted plane.

"It is undeniable that the disclosure of such vital information is painfully belated," a scathing editorial by China's state-run Xinhua news agency said, noting the "excruciating" seven days it entailed for relatives of the missing.

Its suggested Malaysian officials were guilty of an "intolerable" dereliction of duty.

Two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing were Chinese.

There was particular anger and frustration that Malaysia had taken so long to cancel search operations in the South China Sea if it already knew the plane had doubled back and flown towards the Indian Ocean.

"And due to the absence – or at least lack – of timely authoritative information, massive efforts have been squandered, and numerous rumours have been spawned," the editorial said.

Najib revealed Saturday that the Boeing 777's communications systems had been manually switched off – one after the other – before the jet veered westward.

He cited satellite and military radar data that made investigators believe it had been deliberately diverted by someone on board and flown on for hours – either south into the Indian Ocean or north towards South and Central Asia.

"As the leader of the international search and rescue mission, Malaysia bears inescapable responsibility," it added.

There was similar outrage among users of the micro-blogging network Weibo – China's version of Twitter.
"The Malaysian government's behaviour in this affair can be summed up in one word: 'deceptive'," said one typical comment.


The now week-long search for the Boeing 777 initially focused on waters in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, where the plane disappeared from primary radar on March 8.

Much of the data confirmed by Najib had already been leaked in the US media, but it was only on Saturday that he announced the end of search operations in the South China Sea.

The prime minister insisted that Malaysia had not allowed national security concerns to prevent the "real time" sharing of confidential information with other authorities.

"We understand the desperate need for information... but we have a responsibility to the investigation and the families to only release information that has been corroborated," he said.

Malaysia Airlines also issued a statement defending the delay between acquisition of the satellite and radar data and Najib's statement.

"It was critical that the raw satellite signals were verified and analysed ... so that their significance could be properly understood.

"This naturally took some time, during which we were unable to publicly confirm their existence," the statement said, adding that validating new information before releasing it would remain "paramount".

But security and aviation experts continued to question why so many resources were deployed in searching the South China Sea for so long, and how the Malaysian military had failed to identify the plane as it backtracked over the peninsula.

"It is an astonishing failure of security," said Ajaj Sahni, executive director of India's Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.

"And it seems an astonishing failure of technology in every aspect that something like this could happen."

Terence Fan, an aviation expert at the Singapore Management University, said Malaysia's crisis management was flawed and had tested public confidence.

"Why did they need days to 'corroborate' from their own radar images that the airplane could have turned west?" Fan said.

"Couldn't they have known from day one that the different communications systems on the aircraft were turned off at different times?" he added. – AFP, March 16, 2014.

A nation responds to loss of MH370

by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
March 10, 2014

COMMENT The loss of MH370 will be a defining moment in the country’s history. While attention rightly focuses on comforting families, finding the plane and what has caused this tragedy, the event has shown the depth of caring among Malaysians.

Across faiths, ethnic groups and borders, Malaysians have reached out to each other and to friends. Pride has been put aside in accepting international help and social media on the whole has shared more messages of hope than division. In the shared sadness of loss, the tragedy had revealed and reinforced a strong sense of community.

The image of an interfaith prayer led by former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was perhaps the most powerful moment over the weekend, as it reflected what had been happening in society itself as Malaysians from all walks of life reached across their differences for those affected by the missing plane. It did not matter what word was being used, as the sentiment was the same. 

Crises like these reveal character. They tell us who can handle pressure, test leaders and what are the real priorities. The character that was revealed is a society that cares for each other.

Despite all of the anger and stupidity surrounding recent events – from red paint throwing to unjust legal decisions – the ties among Malaysians are strong and resilient.

The silent majority of people who go about their lives, take planes, go on vacation and work, came out this weekend in the phone calls made to each other, recollections of classmates and on Facebook. This same silent majority is the one who is fed up with politicians abusing power and attacking each other, and wants more emphasis on solving the country’s problems and more dignity in political engagement.

They put Malaysia, its citizens and visitors first. If anything, this is a silver lining of the tragedy.

Never the same

Crisis also bring changes. This loss will bring home how globalised the country is – and take away some of innocence of many Malaysians who have been gratefully largely sheltered. This event is a country’s shared trauma on many levels, and this involves careful outreach to children and others who need help to process and understand.

MH370 will likely bring small changes in everyday life. The area most affected will be travel, as it will introduce new security protocols and make the time of travel in airports longer. The changes will also extend to visas, code sharing and travel destinations.

This event will hit Malaysia in its Visit Malaysia year, and expectations need to be adjusted. People who travel are more likely to stay connected with loves ones, who are likely to worry a bit more. Despite this crisis, it is important to remember that air travel is still among the safest means to get around. 

The airline affected will face even greater challenges. MAS was in trouble before this terrible loss. The airline will now deal with even more scrutiny as it moves ahead. While its staff are valiantly working day and night to engage – and there will most certainly be lessons on how crisis management could have been improved – there are dark clouds on the horizon for the national carrier.

One of the most difficult tasks ahead will be strengthening the airline and this will involve more interventions than have happened so far, with security and safety a crucial element of this review and recovery effort.

Malaysia’s practices in immigration and security will also come under heavy scrutiny. The longer the uncertainty surrounding the flight’s status goes on, the more intensity and speculation. The government cannot ignore that something went wrong in its management in this area.

As a regular traveler, I see first-hand the pressures many of the immigration staff face in long hours and from long lines. The focus needs to be on the system as a whole, rather than the possible shortcoming of a few officers. The fault is with inadequate enforcement procedures from the top and leadership.

The loss of faith in security will require meaningful reforms and improvements in governance. This loss can be an opportunity to bring about much-needed changes in areas of rule of law, safety and security.

Dark side surfaces

There is more international attention on Malaysia than ever before. Not all of the intensity of exposure has been positive. MH370’s loss will also bring to the fore serious issues that are facing Malaysia in other areas of governance.

These include concerns with the illegal economy, human trafficking and corruption. It is estimated that Malaysia’s illegal economy is almost 20 percent of its economy. Illegal outflows of capital are massive, with the latest report of the Global Financial Integrity putting the country at the second highest in the world.

Legitimate concerns also have been raised about transparency, information-sharing, treatment of different ethnic communities and more. These issues have long been raised in the domestic arena, and will remain prominent.

In this age of globalisation, the actions at home are shared abroad. The ability of the government to manage messaging to an international stage in the age of social media is minimal. The impact on Malaysia’s economy longer term cannot be ignored. This is a wake-up call that more needs to be done to protect ordinary people and simple principles of fairness and dignity in governance can go a long way in this protection and protecting Malaysia’s national interest.

The choices ahead are stark – to continue to allow the dark forces to grow or to meaningfully address them. MH370 on many levels shows that the time for denials and dismissals is over. Approaches that emphasise particularism and exceptionalism do not help the country.

The tragedy has brought people together and put the interests of ordinary people centre stage. Malaysians should be proud of how they have come together and in the process have reminded their leaders of the real priorities to build their country and community.

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She can be reached at [email protected]

 

Pakatan Rakyat to make history with boycott of Parliament meeting

BY EILEEN NG
March 09, 2014

For the first time ever, the first day of Parliament meeting on Tuesday will be a walk in the park for government lawmakers as the opposition bench will be vacant following a planned boycott to protest Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's conviction on a sodomy charge.

Anwar (pic), who is the opposition leader, had announced that opposition MPs would only be present for the King’s traditional address to the parliament when he opens the second session of the second meeting on Monday but will not take part in the events after that, including the traditional banquet.

Anwar had said he did not want to rub shoulders with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and Chief Justice Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria, who will be attending the opening.

"I don't want to smile like a hypocrite with people who are cruel," Anwar had said during his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat convention in Shah Alam yesterday.

However, Anwar said he will write to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to inform that Pakatan MPs would not participate in the banquet.

"I would, however, inform the King that we would gladly participate if he invites us for another banquet that does not feature the PM and the CJ," he had said.

Anwar said on March 11, Pakatan MPs will be attending the nomination for the Kajang by-election which will now be contested by PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail after Anwar was disqualified following his sodomy conviction.

Later in the afternoon, the Pakatan Rakyat MPs will attend the Kuala Lumpur High Court for DAP veteran Karpal Singh's sentencing after the latter was found guilty of committing sedition against the Perak Sultan recently.

Earlier, prior to his conviction, the timing of the nomination, which clashed with the first day of Parliament sitting had not escaped Anwar's notice, and he had lambasted the Election Commission (EC) for "deliberately" choosing the date when it was well-known that the opposition leader will have the floor in Parliament.

"I will go to Parliament after nominations and will bring up the issues related to Kajang in my debate," he had said at one of his ceramah in the mixed urban seat.

Anwar aides had also assured that their boss will make it in time to Parliament.

"Nominations start at 8am and will end by 10am latest, while the debate begins at 11.30am. There's enough time for Anwar to be in Parliament," PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil had said.

Polling for the Kajang by-election is on March 23 after the sudden resignation of its previous assemblyman PKR's Lee Chin Cheh.

In Parliament, the Permatang Pauh MP is expected to touch on the raging racial religious issues and Pakatan Rakyat's olive branch to rival Barisan Nasional for a national consensus, despite the cool response from the ruling coalition.

However, as the content of the King's speech is so broad-based, MPs from both sides of the divide will take the opportunity to raise various issues and at the same time, take potshots at their opponents as the meeting will end on April 10.

Among the issues expected to be brought up in the month-long meeting are the rising cost of living, problems and delays associated with the construction of the low-cost terminal klia2, the water deal between Putrajaya and Selangor, and the controversial school-based assessment (PBS) system.

Expect fireworks during the tabling of the contentious motion on the boundary redelienation exercise as well as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which the opposition had always maintained the country was not ready for.

Opposition MPs and civil society groups had opposed the redelienation process, claiming that it is vulnerable to gerrymandering and malapportionment, while the Election Commission had stressed the exercise is needed to balance out parliamentary areas to ensure they do not burden the MP.

The plan is to ensure a constituency has 100,000 voters or less, and currently, among the areas with more than 100,000 voters are Seremban, Kapar, Serdang, Puchong, Gelang Patah, Pasir Gudang, Selayang and Gombak.

The last redelineation exercise was in March 2003. The redelineation should have been done in 2011 but it was deferred because of the 13th general election last year.

As for the GST bill, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah is expected to table it for readings and debate.

"Once tabled, it will be open for debate and it has to be passed into law this year as the GST is scheduled to be implemented in April 2015," deputy finance minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan was quoted as saying by English daily The New Straits Times recently.

Pakatan Rakyat MPs had fiercely opposed the Bill, to the extent of having nationwide roadshows to counter Putrajaya's media blitz to promote the GST, which will replace the current sales and services tax.

The GST Bill was tabled for the first reading in 2009 for implementation in late 2011, but was withdrawn during the second reading in 2010 following fierce public resistance.

In October last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the implementation of the broad-based consumption tax pegged at 6% in his 2014 Budget speech.

This Parliament sitting will also keep MPs from Sarawak busy as they will have to face the upcoming Balingian by-election, which was triggered with the resignation of its incumbent, former chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Taib had to give up the seat to accept the post of Yang di-Pertua Negeri, succeeding Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng.

Sarawak DAP chief and Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen said it would not affect Pakatan representatives' duties even if the by-election takes place during the parliamentary sitting. – March 9, 2014.


Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/

Mengapa Anwar diseksa begitu rupa?

Mengapa Anwar diseksa begitu rupa? – Wan Hamidi Hamid

March 08, 2014

Apabila “Langkah Kajang” diumumkan sebagai penjelasan mengapa Anwar Ibrahim perlu bertanding dalam pilihan raya kecil (PRK) Kajang, ada yang menyokong dan ada yang membantah, dan ada pula yang keliru.

Seperti mana yang dijelaskan oleh Pengarah Strategi PKR, Rafizi Ramli, langkah itu merupakan usaha mempertahankan Selangor daripada komplot Umno merampas kuasa, dan seterusnya menjadi platform Pakatan Rakyat menuju ke Putrajaya.

Banyak suara sumbang kedengaran di kalangan Pakatan Rakyat, khususnya dari PKR sendiri, yang tak puas hati, marah dan geram dengan keputusan Anwar.

Semua tahu ia bermula dengan sesuatu yang tak kena dengan Menteri Besar Selangor Khalid Ibrahim dan saingan politiknya Pengerusi PKR Selangor Azmin Ali merangkap orang nombor dua parti itu.

Lee Chin Cheh meletak jawatan sebagai Adun Kajang pada 27 Januari. Pada 5 Februari, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) menetapkan 23 Mac sebagai hari mengundi.

Sewaktu kalangan Pakatan Rakyat masih berbalah tentang Langkah Kajang, tiba-tiba Mahkamah pada 28 Februari menetapkan 6 dan 7 Mac untuk mendengar rayuan terhadap pembebasan Anwar dalam kes liwat II.

Semalam, pada 7 Mac, Mahkamah Rayuan mendapati Anwar bersalah. Dengan itu, Anwar yang sudah bebas daripada tuduhan pada 9 Januari 2012 oleh Mahkamah Tinggi kini dianggap bersalah pula atas tuduhan tersebut.

Semalam juga, Mahkamah menjatuhkan hukuman penjara lima tahun terhadap Anwar.

Sepatutnya Selasa ini, 11 Mac, Anwar akan mengemukakan borang pencalonan PRK Kajang. Kini keputusan Mahkamah menghalang Anwar daripada bertanding.

Jadi Anwar tak boleh bertanding dan tak boleh menang, dan tentunya tak boleh menjadi Menteri Besar Selangor; dan pastinya menyukarkan jalan ke arah Putrajaya.

Inikah yang dimahukan oleh segelintir dari kalangan Pakatan Rakyat?

Ketika kalangan Pakatan sedang berbalah dahulu, pimpinan Barisan Nasional (BN) amat bimbang dengan Langkah Kajang. Sewaktu kalangan Pakatan Rakyat beradu-domba, pimpinan BN mula mengorak langkah.

Ini bererti BN benar-benar takut dengan Langkah Kajang. Mereka bimbang kemungkinan Anwar akan mengorak langkah menuju Putrajaya. Kerana ia bererti berakhirnya era BN.

Kerana itu Anwar perlu dikorbankan demi mempertahankan kuasa Umno-BN. Kerana itu Anwar berterusan menjadi mangsa konspirasi BN yang menyeksa kehidupan politik dan keluarga beliau.

Sayangnya masih ada segelintir kalangan Pakatan Rakyat yang tak nampak, tak sedar dan mungkin tak peduli semua ini. Mungkin hati mereka berada di tempat lain. –Roketkini.com, 8 Mac, 2014.



Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/

* Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.