Archive for category Anwar Ibrahim
Written by theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 16 May 2013 21:04
The recent one-week (May 6-13) poll conducted by The Edge’s online business portal (theedgemalaysia.com) on the political future of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was hijacked by parties believed to be cyber-troopers.
Before this survey, polls conducted by theedgemalaysia.com would normally attract 2,000 to 4,000 respondents whose responses were largely consistent with The Edge’s independent-minded readers, who form the majority of our readers.
On Tuesday May 14, when The Edge’s online editor Ho Wah Foon saw that the one-week survey had attracted 12,736 responses which were overwhelmingly one-sided, she immediately took down the poll. Read the rest of this entry »
by Kee Thuan Chye
THE young are not happy with the result of the 13th general election (GE13) held on May 5. I saw that for myself at the ‘Black 505’ rally in Penang on May 11, at which most of the participants were young people – of all races.
They came by the tens of thousands, carrying Pakatan Rakyat and Malaysian flags, blowing vuvuzuelas … and sporting banners that spoke of the unity they profess: “We are Malaysian – Malay, Chinese, Indian.” For them, the race-based politics of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is anathema.
In that sense, the ‘Black 505’ rallies, which have since been held in Selangor, Penang and Perak to tremendous responses have become more than just demonstrations of disgust at the alleged electoral fraud of GE13; they are also manifestations of a real sense of unity among like-minded Malaysians. Read the rest of this entry »
By JOE COCHRANE
New York Times
May 10, 2013
JAKARTA, Indonesia — If there was a moment after the nail-biting national election on Sunday when Malaysians could envision a respite from five years of political turmoil, it did not last long.
Within hours of the election commission’s announcement early Monday that Prime Minister Najib Razak’s governing National Front coalition had won a majority in Parliament, Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, declared that the voting was rigged, said he would contest the results and called for nationwide protests.
The prime minister’s office countered that Mr. Anwar was a poor loser stirring up unrest, while the police warned that the opposition leader and dozens of other people who spoke at a protest rally in a packed soccer stadium just outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday night could be charged with sedition.
Such tit-for-tat exchanges between the government and the opposition were commonplace after the 2008 election and in the campaign for the vote last Sunday. But analysts say that the continuing political attacks and threats of protest this time are raising the specter of a potentially explosive showdown fueled by ethnic tensions laid bare again in the vote and longstanding animosity between Mr. Najib and Mr. Anwar.
“In a way, it’s escalated things,” said Simon Tay, the chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “And with an escalation, you’re not sure of what the results will be.” Read the rest of this entry »
10 May 2013
On Sunday, after a hotly contested general election, a record electoral turnout and over half a century of essentially one-party rule, the Malaysian people edged toward change _ but chose not to make the leap.
The campaign saw the ruling Barisan National (BN or National Front) emphasise stability, continuity and economic growth, and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR or People’s Alliance) urge the end of corruption, the institution of minority rights and dealing with issues over the cost of living. In a contest that always seemed too close to call, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has held on to power, taking the prize from the indefatigable Anwar Ibrahim and his PR.
The election confronted Malaysia with big choices. While the Najib government led a tactical retreat on some elements of the old order, Mr Anwar called for its sweeping rejection.
Malaysia struggles with breaking through the “middle-income trap”. Wages have climbed to the point where the country can no longer compete internationally in labour-intensive manufacturing yet skills and systems haven’t improved so that Malaysia can compete effectively in the same product lines as more advanced countries.
Without further reforms, it is difficult to see how Malaysia can escape from this middle-income trap. Much of the struggle to find a way through has to do with escaping the legacy from the old order _ a “New Economic Policy” framed over 40 years ago that entrenched discrimination against minorities (including the significant entrepreneurial classes) and affirmative action through government-linked corporations (and systemic entrenchment of political patronage and corruption). Read the rest of this entry »
by Koh Jun Lin
May 6, 2013
DAP’s newly-crowned Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has condemned BN head Najib Abdul Razak for attributing the coalition’s worst showing in a general election to a “Chinese tsunami”.
He said it was in fact a “Malaysian tsunami”, and that Pakatan Rakyat could not have achieved its results without the backing of Malaysians of other races.
“In many parts of the country, Pakatan won seats in areas that were previously considered as BN strongholds and took down many big BN guns in Malay-majority areas,” he told a press conference today.
To back his claims, Lim listed several Malay or bumiputera-majority seats that Pakatan had won, or retained with an increased majority. Read the rest of this entry »
by Bridget Welsh
May 5, 2013
GE13 SPECIAL On this historic day of GE13, Malaysians are bravely stepping into the unknown. Some are already queuing up to vote, and yet others are waiting for the crowd to disperse before heading out to the polling stations. Every Malaysian knows today will not be an ordinary day.
There are four intense but quiet battles taking place that will shape whether May 5 will indeed bring about change.
The first battle is a personal one, national in scope, taking place deep in the hearts of every Malaysian. It is a contest over what sort of country Malaysia should be. Many Malaysians are voting for a different moral foundation for the country’s politics.
The anger and sense of disbelief of BN governance runs deep, from the issues of corruption to its racial polemics. While there are many Malaysians who strongly support the status quo, among this group are many who question whether something is not quite right.
Indeed, today the country will be voting for its soul. Read the rest of this entry »
by Stuart Grudgings, Reuters
May 5, 2013
Malaysians vote on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world’s longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies.
Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.
The historic result signalled a breakdown in traditional politics as minority ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indians, as well as many majority Malays, rejected the National Front’s brand of race-based patronage that has ensured stability in the Southeast Asian nation but led to corruption and widening inequality. Read the rest of this entry »
by Susan Loone
May 4, 2013
Pakatan’s prime minister-designate Anwar Ibrahim has vowed that his political opponents will not face “retributive justice” should he assume power in Putrajaya tomorrow.
His political enemies, among others, is his former boss,ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad.
“I have no intention of taking revenge against him nor will we be conducting any investigation on him,” said Anwar at a press conference in Kubang Semang today.
“However, this does not mean that the wealth of Petronas will continue to remain a monopoly in the hands of his cronies,” he was quick to add.
“Such ill gotten wealth must be returned to the people,” he stressed.
“I can understand his hysterical outburst recently but no one said we will go after him,” he quipped. Read the rest of this entry »
by Mark Baker
Editor-at-Large, The Age
Anwar Ibrahim once seemed a certainty to rule Malaysia. Then came his arrest and imprisonment. Now, with his party shaking up the establishment, is he set to finally fulfil his ambition? By Mark Baker.
It’s nearing midnight in Penang. In a park surrounded by decaying concrete apartment blocks, a swelling crowd waits patiently amid the sticky heat and pungent aromas of food stalls, traffic fumes and open drains. This is a poor Malay neighbourhood, but there are Chinese and Indians here, too, a representative cross-section of multiracial Malaysia.
Suddenly a slim figure in dark trousers and white shirt emerges from the darkness through a side gate and the crowd erupts in jubilation, clapping, cheering and sounding horns. A squad of armed security men guides him through the crush and up towards the fluorescent glare of a makeshift stage. “There have been attacks by provocateurs at other meetings. We have to be careful,” says a senior aide. Read the rest of this entry »
From Sakmongkol AK47
Free Malaysia Today
April 12, 2013
The return of Lim Kit Siang to Johor should not matter to Umno and BN. Why should it cause worry? Isn’t it mathematically impossible for PR to go from 1 seat to 15 parliamentary seats? The Johor Chinese are different. They have an unshakeable allegiance to the state. So the Johor Chinese are by definition, naturally indifferent to what is happening around in the country.
The Chinese are a very practical people, says Chua Soi Lek. He must of course be referring to their apparent indifference to his sexual escapades. By that reasoning, the Chinese must also be indifferent to whatever stories are said of Anwar Ibrahim and they should be indifferent to Najib’s overextended and boring self-praising assessment of his Alphabet Soup vision. Ah Jib Gor does what Ah Jib Gor does best – tell tall stories mostly about himself.
Being practical they want to know, whether we can establish a good government. One that will practise good governance, consists of good, selfless and dedicated people. They want to go about making wealth under a government that upholds the rule of law. Which in turn require that the institutions that safeguard the rule and implementation of law be strong and independent and are established on principles of integrity. The Chinese want to live peacefully with the other major races in Malaysia. These are hallmarks of practical people.
I don’t think being practical means, they accept corruption, wheeling and dealing with the powers that be, accepting hegemony from others. If they are like that – that’s not being practical but being sly and acting like hustlers. The things that made the Chinese practical is economic independence. So being practical as in economically independent, the Chinese can exercise wider choices. They will chose to side with Pakatan Rakyat. That’s practical and acknowledging reality. Read the rest of this entry »
By John Berthelsen | TUESDAY, 09 APRIL 2013
One if Anwar wins, the other if Najib does
For the first time ever, according to sources in Kuala Lumpur, the Royal Police have formulated two contingency plans for the night of Malaysia’s 13th general election, expected to be on April 27 or after.
The first, a source said, is “how to whisk the Prime Minister from the Putra World Trade Center where the Barisan Nasional is holding its election night celebration, back to Sri Perdana, the Prime Minister’s residence, safely in the event that the Barisan Nasional loses, or if there is trouble.” The second, the source said, is how to bring Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim from his home to the palace to be sworn in if the opposition were to win.
Implicit in both of those plans are questions whether there will be violence started by the losing side.
Both plans are unprecedented because there has never been a time in the 57-year history of the country when anybody thought the opposition might actually win. It still may not. But the fact that the plans are in place is an indication that even the police think the election is too close to call.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Koh Jun Lin
Apr 6, 2013
The country would be saved if there were more people like Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The patron of the Malay supremacist group said this today when endorsing Ibrahim to contest the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat under BN’s ticket.
“This is repayment, because in BN we repay good deeds… God willing if he is made a candidate, I would go to Pasir Mas to campaign.
“Perkasa is no small ‘party’, it has 400,000 members. It is probably bigger than PAS, but is not greedy.
“If there are many people like Ibrahim, this country is saved,” he said amid the cheers of a 3,000-strong audience.
Mahathir was speaking at Perkasa’s ‘Save Selangor Rally’ today held on a waterlogged field in Shah Alam. Read the rest of this entry »
— Gerhard Hoffstaedter and Greg Lopez
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2013
APRIL 1 — The Malaysian government and its multiple state governments have become caretaker governments and elections will have to be called before June 28 if the country wants to maintain the semblance of an electoral democracy.
Everything is at stake at these elections. Malaysia has been ruled as a country by one coalition since independence in 1957 and its hold on political power has been tenacious. The economy and society remain formidable.
Opposition coalitions have tried at every election to make inroads in a system clearly stacked against them. In 2008, there was a real breakthrough, with the opposition capturing five out of the 13 states of the federation and breaking the ruling coalition’s psychologically important two-thirds majority it had become accustomed to.
It is not easy to categorise the two opposing coalitions and its members, as they are disparate, complex, and, with multiple agendas, often fractured. The ruling coalition is run by Umno, with other constituent parties largely serving the Chinese and Indian populations as well as some indigenous communities of Sabah and Sarawak. Read the rest of this entry »
Invitation to Mahathir to contest in Gelang Patah and let the voters of Johore decide whether Gelang Patah should be mine or his “political kubur”
Tun Mahathir has come to Johor to help UMNO/Barisan Nasional fight Pakatan Rakyat’s Battle of Gelang Patah, which seeks to create a political tsunami from the south spreading to the rest of Malaysia, crossing the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak, to effect the first peaceful and democratic transition of federal power in the nation’s 56-year history.
In his speech in Johor Baru last night, Mahathir urged Johor folk to end my political career in Gelang Patah in the 13GE, saying:
“If he wants to contest in Penang, Malacca, we can understand but want to attack Umno’s fortress in Johor is stupid, doesn’t make sense.”
He further said:
“Lim Kit Siang wants to come here (to contest). I urge the people of Johor, all communities should pool their energy to ensure that the state of Johor will be the ‘burial ground’ for Lim Kit Siang’s politics.
“We must ensure that he (Kit Siang) loses in Johor. The state of Johor will continue to become the ‘fixed deposit’ for BN (Barisan Nasional).” Read the rest of this entry »
by Mohd Farhan Darwis
The Malaysian Insider
April 01, 2013
JOHOR BARU, April 1 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told Johor folk last night to end Lim Kit Siang’s political career in Gelang Patah in Election 2013 as Barisan Nasional (BN) brought out the veteran leader to defend its political fortress from an opposition onslaught.
In his usually truculent self, the country’s longest-serving prime minister also took swipes at other opposition leaders such as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, saying the 13th general election was the occasion to end Kelantan mentri besar’s political career
“Now Lim Kit Siang wants to come to Johor as it’s easy for him to win anytime he wants. Johoreans must crush him to the end… to ensure it is his last day in politics,” Dr Mahathir told thousands at a people’s housing project launch organised by Pulai Umno outside Hospital Permai near here.
Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 29, 2013
QUESTION TIME On the eve of the general election, it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on how independent are we really.
What a moment it must have been when Malaysia (then Malaya) achieved independence from the British on Aug 31, 1957 and the flag of the newly independent country was raised.
At five years old, I was too young to remember what it was like then but have vague memories of my brother getting lost on a family visit to Kuala Lumpur town during the celebrations and being taken care of by policemen, before he was reunited with our parents.
It must have held so much hope for Malayans of all races and religions who put aside their differences to work for the formation of a new nation.
Tunku Abdul Rahman declared himself the happiest prime minister in the world and was proud of the fact that independence was achieved via negotiation without a single drop of blood being shed.
To be sure there were differences and in the years before independence there was much debate and agonising over how a disparate country of Chinese and Indian immigrants, many of whom had nowhere else but Malaya to call home, were to be integrated with the majority Malay community.
But there was a plan and everyone stuck to it and the country became independent. The communist threat had been beaten back although it would take until the sixties before they were more or less completely vanquished.
We were independent but how free were we? And did not independence mean freedom as well? Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 23rd 2013 | KUALA LUMPUR
– A two-year election campaign nears its climax
WITH a tight election coming up, it is politics as usual in Malaysia—only more so. This month alone has seen the opposition accused of colluding in a foreign invasion of the state of Sabah in Borneo; the death of a private investigator, reviving stories of the grisly murder in 2006 of a beautiful Mongolian woman linked to a friend of the prime minister, Najib Razak; the leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, denying that he was one of two men appearing in grainy pictures online in an affectionate clinch; and a film shot on hidden cameras that appears to show large-scale corruption in the government of the other Malaysian state in Borneo, Sarawak.
Sailing blithely above the mud and filth that make Malaysian political waters so murky, Mr Najib went on national television on March 19th to deliver the scorecard on the “transformation programme” his government has implemented. He had a good story to tell, of robust economic growth of 5.6% in 2012, poverty virtually eliminated, inequality reduced and 400 legal cases against corruption initiated. And he was able to announce that a scheme to give cash handouts to poorer households will become an annual event.
All should be set fair, you might think, for Mr Najib’s ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN), to romp home again at the election, as it has done in every ballot since independence in 1957. Mr Najib is expected to dissolve parliament any day now, with the voting to follow in mid-April after a brief official campaign period (the unofficial one has now lasted two years or more). If he does not dissolve parliament, its term will expire at the end of April, and the election must then be held by the end of June.
In fact, the outcome is in doubt, for the first time in Malaysia’s history. Read the rest of this entry »
By Kee Thuan Chye
Mon, Mar 11, 2013
How do you decide what is truth and what is falsehood as the build-up to Malaysia’s 13th general election hots up? So many bizarre twists and turns have emerged in recent days that Malaysians must be in a state of shock and awe.
First, businessman Deepak Jaikishan openly alleged that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in forcing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to make a second statutory declaration to contradict his first, which had implicated Najib in the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Then Bala returned from exile earlier this year to affirm that he stood by his first statutory declaration, reinforcing the revelations made by Deepak about how the second declaration came about.
The latest twist is Azlan Mohd Lazim’s announcement that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is innocent of the charge of having sodomised Azlan’s son, Saiful, and that Anwar is the victim of a political conspiracy. Taking everyone by surprise, including apparently Saiful as well, the father attests that his son was “used by several unscrupulous individuals”, including a special officer of Najib’s, to tarnish Anwar’s image. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 12, 2013
The present Umno-BN government of Najib Abdul Razak is living on borrowed time. It doesn’t want to admit it but its legitimacy is now totally in question because constitutionally, its full term has expired.
The people’s patience is tested to the limit here by the audacity of a government that goes on ruling without a mandate.
A number of bogus analysts and self-appointed doomsday prophets, especially those driven by very personal agendas, have warned that Malaysia will descend into political and economic chaos in the event of a Pakatan Rakyat victory.
On the other hand, the more genuine and independent observers have expressed greater optimism. For instance, the original ‘Dr Doom’, Prof Roubini, says that our economy will stay robust even with a change in government.
We know that a mandate for change is not limited to the political sphere though it is true that without that mandate, economic management itself will be off to a false start.
When Indonesia made that break from military autocracy to constitutional democracy, much of the focus of the free world was on how its economy would weather the transition.
And in their case, transition would stretch for years and indeed the fruits of that initial process of political upheaval are for all to see.
In the case of the Arab Spring, the major worry remains the lack of clearly defined policies that would set the road map to economic recovery and growth.
They are still finding their way and it won’t be an easy way but that is no excuse for rejecting freedom and democracy.
Certainly, political stability is a key factor, and I might just emphasise the most crucial factor in setting the direction and objectives of economic management. Read the rest of this entry »