Saturday, November 29, 2008

Zaid Ibrahim makes appearance at PKR congress - Star

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB, WANI MUTHIAH, TEH ENG HOCK and NURBAITI HAMDAN

SHAH ALAM: Nov 29, 2008

Former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who is an Umno member caused a stir Saturday by showing up at the PKR national congress opening.

He however denied that he had joined PKR or any other opposition party.

“Yes, yes, I am still in Umno. I have not been sacked yet,” he said Saturday when approached by reporters.

On Friday night, he was seen at the DAP victory dinner in Penang which fuelled talk that he was going to join the Opposition.

Zaid who recently received a show-cause letter from Umno said he was still waiting for the response from the party.

On why he was present at the PKR congress, Zaid said it was because he was invited to it and because he was interested in politics.

On whether it showed he supported Pakatan Rakyat, he said repeatedly “it just shows I’m interested in politics.”

On whether it was right for him to be present at a congress which openly slammed Umno, Zaid said, that was normal in politics.

“The Opposition is not an enemy. They are just people with different views so I don’t regard them as an enemy. They ‘bantai’ (slam) Umno and Umno slams them. It’s part of the game,” he said.

On whether he had any fear that Umno would now be forced to take action against him for showing up at the opening of the PKR congress which featured Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the keynote speaker, he said, “I think I don’t have that much fear. I fear more for my health. I am not well.”

Others present at the opening of the congress were DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Teresa Kok, Dr Chen Man Hin, PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Nizar Jamaluddin, PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar and SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

SAPP recently left Barisan Nasional but it has not joined Pakatan Rakyat as yet.

Selangor MB wants people to prosper - Star

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB, WANI MUTHIAH, TEH ENG HOCK and NURBAITI HAMDAN

SHAH ALAM: Nov 29, 2008

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said Selangor, which was now a PKR frontier, would continue to serve the people and work towards improving their living standards.

“Our hopes and aspirations for Selangor by 2011 is for the state to continue developing and its people prospering,” said Khalid Saturday in his speech at the PKR 5th Annual Congress.

He added that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition would strive towards ensuring that the combined income of each family in Selangor would surpass RM1,500 monthly.

Given this, added Khalid, Selangor residents will be regarded as being well-off by 2012 as they would be earning more than RM750 which is the poverty limit stipulated by the Federal Government.

Selangor was the only one among the five Pakatan Rakyat-governed states that was being helmed by PKR.

Khalid also urged PKR members and supporters below the age of 45 to acquire further education or skills to enable them to compete fairly in the employment field.

“I urge everyone to have a proactive attitude by ensuring that they will not be left behind in efforts to improve their earning capacity and living standards,” he said.

Khalid also said PKR must continue to cultivate tolerance and goodwill with its Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners PAS and DAP.

“We in PKR also hope that our comrades in PAS and DAP have the same intent towards us in PKR,” added Khalid.

He said outside forces, such as Umno, appeared to continue thrashing the good relationship shared by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners.

“There is news almost everyday either instigating or alleging that there are cracks in the partnership,” he said.

Khalid admitted that many challenges awaited PKR including the creation of a new common culture with coalition partners that prescribed to different philosophies and policies.

PKR wants to take Sarawak from Barisan - Star

SHAH ALAM: Nov 29, 2008

PKR has set its sights on wresting Sarawak from Barisan Nasional in the next state election and the work will begin next month.

De facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he had heard the outpourings and cries coming from the state and directed party leaders to go down to the ground in Sarawak starting next month to “do battle” to win the state.

“I am sure DAP and PAS will help. There is a big change coming there,” he said in his keynote address at the PKR national congress on Saturday.

Anwar said Sarawak was a state rich in petroleum, gas, timber and other natural resources but its people remained poor and were hungry for change.

Sarawak had its state election in May 2006 and its next election is due in 2011.

Touching briefly on the Sept 16 self-imposed deadline that had passed for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to take over the Federal Government, Anwar said the transition of government was not a personal political game but it involved many bodies like the police, military, judiciary, civil service and the media.

“True, it did not come to fruition on Sept 16 but believe me their (Barisan) political game cannot jeopardise the strength of the people’s spirit when they come together,” he added.

Anwar said PR will not be apologetic for fighting for the rights of all people regardless of race and religion and that one community’s cries and grievances is felt by all.

He said never in the country’s history have the people been so bold as to come forward against Barisan as seen in the March 8 general election where even in non-Malay constituencies like Kota Raja, the PAS candidate won.

Anwar said he was proud of the performance of the PR government in the five states (Perak, Penang, Kedah, Selangor and Kelantan) it governs and said that a lot of change had already taken place in the short time. He acknowledged that there were some problems among PKR, PAS and DAP but said that all three parties in PR should look at the bigger agenda.

Earlier, Ngemoh assemblyman (Sarawak) Gabriel Adit, who joined PKR with 12,000 supporters recently told the Congress that help was needed to unseat Barisan in Sarawak.

“This is a very big challange as Barisan in Sarawak is very strong, so we need all the PKR members from the Peninsular to come to Sarawak to defeat Barisan,” he said.

Adit added that Sarawak has a chief minister who had been around for far too long as 27 years in power was too much.

Speaking to reporters later, PKR vice-president Azmin Ali said focusing on Sarawak did not mean that PKR was giving up on taking over the Federal Government through crossovers.

He said the takeover plan was still on.

“But we are expecting early elections in Sarawak. We expect it in the second quarter of next year,” he said.

He added that all PKR MPs and assemblymen will be in Sarawak from the second week of December to make a breakthrough and bring change.

“If the people decide on change, there is no way to stop the mood on the ground,” he added.

PKR wants to restore immunity of monarchy

DAULAT TUANKU

SHAH ALAM: Nov 29, 2008 By SHAHANAAZ HABIB, WANI MUTHIAH, TEH ENG HOCK and NURBAITI HAMDAN

PKR wants to restore the power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in relation to the law-making process.

Party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail said PKR wanted the King to have the power to reject bills tabled in Parliament.

She said the party wanted to return the immunity of the monarchy based on the spirit of Constitutional Monarchy (Raja Berperlembagaan), but this did not mean that they were pushing for rulers to be exempt from criminal and civil laws.

She said the party wanted to restore the power of the King to reject bills proposed by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

In January 1984, the Federal Constitution was amended to allow the King to only delay legislation by a month. The bill would then be sent back to Parliament with his objections, and then be resubmitted to him. If the King still opposed the form in which Parliament had passed it, he could only delay the bill for another month before it was gazetted as law.

PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali explained that the Constitution was amended in the past to limit the power of the King in this aspect.

“The Ruler can reject it (the bill), but after a certain time, the Prime Minister can submit it again and even if the Ruler rejects it, the bill still becomes law,” he said.

In her policy speech at the PKR national congress on Saturday, Dr Wan Azizah said the Umno leadership transition plan will not bring any positive changes to the nation’s damaged main administrative system, such as the judiciary, police, Anti-Corruption Agency and Parliament.

“It is not too much for me to say that the transition will bring about an administration which is more like the old ruling regime, with widespread use of the ISA (Internal Security Act),” she said.

She also touched on employees’ welfare, where the Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor government is going to introduce a RM1,000 minimum wage policy for workers in both the civil and private sector.

“We will also strive to prepare free health services, exempting children of the low-income group from education costs, and making available affordable homes,” she said.

On Sabah and Sarawak, she said PKR was committed to allocating 20% of petroleum royalties to the locals as well as give them a more active role in the Federal Government if the party managed to take over the federal administration.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Bastard: Tindakan tegas untuk Tajuddin - Malaysiakini

Nov 7, 08 7:12pm

Pakatan Rakyat mendesak tindakan tegas diambil terhadap ahli parlimen BN Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman kerana menggunakan perkataan biadap dalam sidang Dewan Rakyat kelmarin.

"Untuk menjaga kemulian dan maruah parlimen, ahli-ahli parlimen DAP dan Pakatan akan mendesak tindakan paling keras diambil terhadap Tajuddin bagi perilaku kasarnya apabila menuturkan perkataan bastard (anak haram) dan bloody bastard di Parlimen terhadap seorang ahli parlimen lain.

"Perkataan sebegitu tidak patut didengar sekali lagi dalam dewan Parlimen Malaysia," kata ahli parlimen popular DAP Lim Kit Siang.

Kelmarin, Tajuddin menyerang seorang wakil DAP M Kulasegaran denga kata-kata kesat itu selepas wakil Ipoh Barat mendakwa penduduk India di kawasan pemimpin Umno itu membencinya.

Setelah ditegur yang dipertua dewan Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, beliau menarik balik kata-kata itu.

Dalam kenyataannya hari ini, Lim berkata, Tajuddin patut digantung sekurang-kurangnya setahun kerana menggunakan perkataan tersebut, memandang beberapa wakil pembangkang dikenakan tindakan keluar dewan atas kesalahan kecil.

Semalam dua wakil rakyat DAP Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah) dan Chong Chieng Jen (Bandar Kuching) digantung sehari daripada menghadiri sidang dewan kerana membantah keputusan Pandikar Amin berhubung kata-kata Tajuddin.

Selasa lalu, Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) digantung kehadirannya kerana membantah langkah pembentangan pakej rangsangan ekonomi RM7 bilion, yang didakwa melanggar peraturan tetap Dewan Rakyat, oleh Menteri Kewangan Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) digantung dua hari kehadirannya kerana menuduh yang dipertua dewan membuat keputusan "main-main" berhubung kenyataan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz yang didakwanya menghina orang buta.

Lim menambah, jika Tajuddin dibiarkan lepas daripada sebarang tindakan, kata-kata carutan akan lebih sedang dilontarkan di dalam Parlimen.

Ahli parlimen Ipoh Timur berkata, penarikan balik kata-kata Tajuddin tidak dapat menghilangkan kerosakan yang ditimbulkan.

No transfer for Anwar's sodomy case - Star

KL Sessions Court denies transfer

KUALA LUMPUR: By JANE RITIKOS Nov 7, 2008

The sodomy trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stays in the Sessions Court.

Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah on Friday ruled that the certificate signed by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to transfer the case to the High Court was invalid. She fixed Nov 14 for mention of the case.

Komathy Suppiah said the decision did not impinge on the absolute authority the AG under the Federal Constitution in the conduct of criminal prosecutions.

“However, this case raises a unique situation where it is evident that any involvement by the AG would seriously undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.

“That is the compelling and overriding factor that warranted the Prime Minister’s promise which this court is prepared to uphold,” she said.

Anwar is on trial for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26.

On Sept 10, the prosecution tendered a certificate signed by Abdul Gani, requiring the court to transfer the case to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Anwar had questioned the validity of the certificate due to the police report he had lodged against the Attorney-General over tampering of evidence in the investigation of the “blackeye” incident when he was arrested in 1998.

In response, the Prime Minister gave assurance that the AG would have no role in the case.

Komathy Suppiah cited two grounds to support the submission that the certificate was invalid - legitimate expectation arising from the Prime Minister’s promise and the rule against bias.

On the prosecution’s arguments that the Prime Minister’s promise was not binding on the AG, she said the Prime Minister gave his assurance and intended it to be taken seriously.

She pointed out that the AG took the assurance seriously as shown when the Solicitor-General led the prosecution team when Anwar was first charged in the court.

“That assurance, in my view, created a legitimate and reasonable expectation in the accused and the public that (the AG) will not be personally involved in this case,” she added.

The prosecution had contended that the Prime Minister was not legally competent to give the assurance and being a politician, he could have given the promise to please the people he was addressing.

Komathy Suppiah said it must be accepted that there was “no love lost” between Anwar and Abdul Gani and the defence contended that this had put the AG in a position of conflict of interest.

She said the AG was exercising a quasi-judicial power when he signed the transfer certificate and as such, “the rule against bias would disqualify him from issuing the certificate. For the reasons I have stated, I find the certificate to be invalid.”

Senior DPP Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden said the prosecution would seek a review.

Outside the court, Anwar told reporters that he was pleased that the judge had “taken pain to hear arguments from both sides”.

'Rulers may disagree with govt leaders' - Star

KUCHING: Nov 7, 2008

The Rulers shall not agree with advice given by government leaders which goes against the spirit of the constitution, rule of law and universal principles of justice, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah said Thursday night.

“Generally, the Rulers act based on the advice by government leaders elected by the people. Nevertheless, the Rulers cannot accede to acts which do not symbolise justice or sanction moves which do not mirror truth.

“The Rulers’ views, observation and counsel in the administrative affairs of the country touching on the question of integrity which encompasses justice, law, judiciary, misappropriation, power abuse, corruption and wealth distribution, are with the desire to strengthing the Government so that it is stable and receives people’s trust,” he said at a dinner in conjunction with the National Integrity Day here.

To ensure the Rulers’ integrity is not questioned and the throne remains respected, Raja Nazrin said, the Rulers shall always be intelligent and wise, master knowledge, understand the surroundings and changes, and possess a group of advisers comprising experts and people knowledgeable in the relevant fields.

“This will enable the Rulers to fulfil their roles with integrity and make the smart, accurate, just and fair decisions,” he said.

Present were Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi.

Raja Nazrin said the Rulers are part of national institutions whose role is to strengthen the democratic system by carrying out the check and balance responsibility and the function as an independent tribunal for the legislative, executive and judiciary branches.

As a source of reference should a crisis occur, he said, the Rulers function as the balancing mechanism which safeguards national stability, protects people’s wellbeing, ensures justice, enhances the Government’s integrity and strengthens the democratic practice in the country.

“The Rulers have a role as the pillar of stability - source of justice, thrust of unity - hence enhancing the level of people’s confidence in the systems of governance and society based on democratic practices, rooted on the doctrine of the separation of powers.

“The Rulers have constitutional responsibilities and the responsibilities need to be carried out intelligently so that it can help build a high-integrity country,” he said.

Raja Nazrin said the institution of Rulers shall have the role and function to productively and constructively contribute to the nation.

“The Rulers reside at a special position, have the opportunity to give smart views to influence and determine the direction of the nation positively and constructively through counsel, encouragement, persuasion, reminder and admonition,” he said.

To strengthen integrity practice, Raja Nazrin said, the Rulers shall hold consultations and negotiations, gather opinions and be open minded to assess each advice rationally, objectively and fairly. - Bernama

Court frees Raja Petra - Star

SHAH ALAM: Nov 7, 2008

LONG LIVE RAJA PETRA

Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin and wife Marina Lee Abdullah leaving the Shah Alam High Court after he was released from ISA detention on Friday

The High Court here Friday released Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after allowing his application for a writ of habeas corpus.

Justice Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad held that the grounds for his detention by Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar under Section 8 of the ISA did not come within the scope of that section.

He then ordered that Raja Petra, 58, who has been held at the Kamunting detention camp in Taiping, Perak, since Sept 12, be brought before the court at 4pm for his release.

Raja Petra, 58, had applied for the writ of habeas corpus seeking his release on the grounds that his detention under the ISA was unlawful and unconstitutional. He named Syed Hamid as the respondent.

Raja Petra’s wife, Marina Lee, and their two daughters, Suraya, 34, dan Sarah, 19, and other family members cried and hugged each other after the judgment was delivered.

Meanwhile, his supporters in the gallery clapped and cheered.

Raja Petra was represented by counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Ashok Kandiah and Azhar Azizan Harun, while senior federal counsel Abdul Wahab Mohamad appeared for the prosecution.

Raja Petra was detained on the same day as Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, also under the ISA. Both have since been released. - Bernama

Court orders Raja Petra's release - Malaysiakini

Hafiz Yatim | Nov 7, 08 9:46am

The Shah Alam High Court this morning ruled that the detention of well-known blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin under the ISA was illegal and ordered his immediate release.

MCPXJudge Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad said that Raja Petra's detention was unconstitutional.

He said the Home Minister had not followed proper procedure under Section 8 of the ISA to issue the detention order against Raja Petra.

The judge also ordered that Raja Petra, editor of the popular Malaysia Today website, be produced in court by 4pm today after which he should be immediately released.

More news at: www.malaysiakini.com