Rabu, 9 Mac 2011

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim


Dr M A ‘Blatant Liar’ With ‘Selective Amnesia’

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 01:51 AM PST

From Malaysian Insider

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lashed out at Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed over various accusations made against him in the former prime minister's newly-published autobiography.

"Dr Mahathir: (a) blatant liar (with) Selective amnesia.." Anwar told The Malaysian Insider via email today.

The country's longest-serving PM said in his autobiography out today that Anwar did not deny accusations of sodomy before being sacked as deputy prime minister and should have succeeded him as prime minister if not for his own actions.

Dr Mahathir, who stepped down in 2003, said that when Anwar was hauled up before the Umno supreme council, he "never once referred to the question of homosexuality, focusing only on the affairs with women."

In the book, Dr Mahathir also claimed that he had met four girls who said they were propositioned by Anwar for sex.

In response, Anwar said that Dr Mahathir's allegations were not new, and that he had consistently denied them since before he was sacked as deputy prime minister.

"I had denied the allegations publicly (refer to media) since 1997.

"His ref(erence) to the 4 women — I denied," said the PKR defacto leader.

Anwar also said that it was within the context of his denial in propositioning the four women for sex that he did not comment on the sodomy accusations.

"In that context I didn't mention "sodomy," Anwar told The Malaysian Insider.

Anwar was subsequently sacked from government before being charged and jailed for sodomy and corruption.

In his book, Dr Mahathir wrote that he had dismissed Anwar as deputy prime minister and likely successor for two reasons- "he was unsuitable to continue serving in the government and he was unsuitable to succeed me as prime minister."

Anwar however claimed today that his sacking as DPM was due to decisions made by him as the country's number two leader at the time.

"The reason for dismissal:

My decision for price waterhouse coopers to investigate financial malfinance of Tan Sri Eric Chia and Perwaja," said Anwar.

Anwar also said that Dr Mahathir saw his as a threat at the time, and was afraid of being challenged, as he (Anwar) knew about the corruption within Dr Mahathir's own family.

" (The) fear of being challenged;

Shares and contracts to Mokhzani (Mahathir) and Mukhriz (Mahathir) and bailout for Mirzan (Mahathir)," Anwar added.

Dr Mahathir, who was PM from 1981 to 2003, wrote that when Anwar "declared that he had done nothing unusual and insisted that everyone, including all the supreme council members, had done such things" when defending himself before Umno's top leadership.

In the book titled "A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad," he said that he had first been told about Anwar's alleged homosexual activities in the early 1990s by then police chief Tun Hanif Omar.

Now the parliamentary opposition leader, Anwar was found guilty of corruption in 1999 and sodomy the next year.

He was jailed for six years before the Federal Court overturned his conviction for sodomy.

Four years later, he led the opposition pact to record gains in the March 2008 general election, denying Barisan Nasional its customary two-thirds majority of Parliament and seizing five states.

Anwar is now being tried for sodomy again, nearly three years after his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan first claimed to be the Permatang Pauh MP's victim.

MP KEADILAN Keluar Parti Untuk Bayar Hutang RM1.4 Juta

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 01:22 AM PST

Dari Keadilan Daily

Setiausaha Agung KEADILAN, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail mempersoal tindakan Ahli Parlimen KEADILAN yang keluar parti, baru-baru ini , disebabkan menerima wang dari pihak tertentu untuk membuat bayaran hutangnya.

"Cek pertama adalah cek tunai berjumlah RM700,000 dengan tarikh 12 Januari beralamat di sebuah bank di Ipoh manakala cek kedua adalah cek yang mempunyai tarikh sah laku sehingga 15 Mac dengan jumlah RM700,000.

"Cek itu beralamat syarikat milik Ahli Parlimen yang juga alamat kediamannya sendiri. Ia dibayar kepada tuan punya tanah dengan jumlah RM1.4 juta. Persoalannya, dari mana datangnya duit ini?" soalnya sambil menunjukkan bukti salinan bayaran cek berkenaan.

Terdahulu, Saifuddin berkata, Ahli Parlimen yang keluar KEADILAN itu membeli tanah pada 2010 dengan harga RM1.5 juta tetapi gagal membuat bayaran dalam masa 60 hari mengikut perjanjian.

"Saya mendapat salinan perjanjian antara Ahli Parlimen ini dengan pihak yang memiliki tanah. Perjanjian itu dibuat pada Mei 2010. Bayaran mesti dibuat, namun beliau tiada wang," katanya kepada KeadilanDaily di lobi Parlimen, hari ini.

Menyatakan maklumat itu diperoleh daripada pihak tertentu yang bersimpati dengan KEADILAN, Saifuddin berkata: "Kita ada dokumen dan mereka datang menemui saya menyerahkan bukti.

"Selepas membuat kajian, ia memang sah. Data itu adalah dokumen asal dan saya buat salinan.

"Tindakan ini dilakukan oleh mereka yang tidak tahan melihat lakonan Ahli Parlimen kononnya keluar parti mendakwa kononnya KEADILAN tidak membela rakyat," katanya yang sudah menjangka tindakan individu itu untuk keluar parti.

"Namun, mereka khianat sebab bertanding dan menang atas tiket KEADILAN. Kita sentiasa mempertahankan bahawa mereka yang mengkhianati parti adalah kerana mereka dibeli," kata Saifuddin.

Program Lawatan Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim ke Sabah

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:43 PM PST

11 Mac 2011 (Jumaat)

Ceramah dan Forum Tanah Adat: Isu, Polisi dan Cabaran di Sabah

Lokasi: The Palace Hotel, Karamunsing, Kota Kinabalu

Program:

2.00 – 2.45 ptg – Perasmian oleh YB Tian Chua

3.00 -3.45 ptg – Pembentangan Kertas Kerja 1 –

Hak Tanah Adat: Undang-Undang, Dasar & Cabaran

Pembentang – Datuk Kong Hong Ming

3.45 – 4.15 ptg – Pembentangan Kertas Kerja 2 –

Hak Tanah Adat – Dalam Kontex Risiko Tuduhan Jenayah

Pembentang – Mr. Ram Singh

6.00 – 6.45 ptg – Pembentangan Kertas Kerja 3 –

Tanah Adat Orang Asli di Negeri Selangor: Dasar &
Perlaksanaan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor di bawah Pakatan Rakyat

Pembentang – YB Elizabeth Wong

6.45 – 7.30 mlm – Pembentangan Kertas Kerja 4 -

Isu PTI & Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI)

Pembentang – Dr. Chong Eng Leong

8.15 – 9.30 mlm – Ceramah Perdana Oleh Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

10.00 mlm – Mesyuarat Perhubungan KeADILan Sabah Bersama
Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Program Jelajah Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim Ke Selangor Sempena 3 Tahun Pemerintahan Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:39 PM PST

10 Mac 2011 (Khamis)

Program 1
9.00-12.00 malam – Ceramah – Ubah Sekarang / Selamatkan Malaysia

Lokasi: Stadium Jugra, Telok Datok, Banting

Penceramah:
1. YB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim
2. YB Saifuddin Nasution
3. YB Khalid Samad
4. YB Manickam
5 . YB Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
6. YB Abdullah Sani

Program 2
9.00-12.00 malam – Ceramah – Ubah Sekarang / Selamatkan Malaysia

Lokasi: Dewan Sukan Sri Andalas, Taman Sri Andalas, Kelang

Penceramah:
1. YB Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim
2. YB Azmin Ali
3. YB Saifuddin Nasution
4. YB Tian Chua
5. YB Ng Swee Lin
6. YB Xavier Jayakumar

The Great Subsidy Debate

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:38 PM PST

By Rafizi Ramli

Lately, subsidy has become somewhat a swear sword along the nation's corridors of power. Subsidy is primarily blamed for the nation's ballooning fiscal deficit that threatens to march Malaysia down the same path that Greece and Ireland had taken recently. The removal of subsidy thus has become a great national mission.

It is good that Malaysians are becoming more aware of the pros and cons of a social system that relies heavily on subsidy. A continuing reliance on subsidy to keep fuel prices down; or an expectation that our fuel prices will remain at today's prices for a foreseeable future is of course unrealistic for the simple reason that hydrocarbon resources are finite. Even if we have much larger oil and gas reserves that can last another 100 years, it is imprudent to waste it as cheap fuel given that it will become more costly to produce a barrel of oil twenty years from now. Any right thinking Malaysians understand that gradually we will live without fuel subsidy.

Where we differ is the manner the great national debate on subsidy is being selectively approached by the government, especially vis-a-vis the huge gas subsidy given to the energy sector and the amount of debt servicing charges the public has to absorb each year. Both feature prominently in any solution to reduce fiscal deficits.

For the record, the national budget for 2011 allocates 8.7% out of the total RM212 billion operational budget for debt servicing charges for all the loans taken and guaranteed by the Federal Government. This works out to be RM18.4 billion of interest and principal payments annually. The number should strike a chord instantly for those who are familiar with the mathematics of subsidy in Malaysia, because it is a lot higher than the fuel and food subsidy that the Federal Government bears each year.

When the crude oil price shot through the roof in 2008, the total fuel subsidy borne by the government was RM15 billion (based on data released by Pemandu). In normal circumstances when crude oil price hovers in between US$65 to US$85 per barrel, the estimated fuel subsidy is in between RM9 billion to RM11 billion annually.

Therefore, this is a fact – even when the crude oil price repeats the dramatic increase of 2008 (which we have not seen so far), the total fuel subsidy borne by the government is still lower than the debt servicing charges. In normal circumstances, Malaysia spends double the amount of public money servicing the debts that the Federal Government has accumulated over the years; which has reached RM407 billion by the end of 2010.

Thus, while it is right to focus on subsidy removal as a means to reduce the national fiscal deficit, the public must be bolder to press for a concrete plan to reduce our debt servicing charges over the years. Debt servicing is a bigger culprit and it is about time that the public calls a spade a spade, especially in light of the government's mad rush to issue bonds to fund for the billions worth of mega projects announced under ETP. A pre-occupation with subsidy removal to the point that we lose sight of the imprudent debt raised annually by the Federal Government is a mistake we cannot afford as a nation.

Is there a necessity for austerity measures to trim down the national budget, so that we scale down the annual borrowing to fund the budget deficit? Can we live with a period of modest economic growth while we tackle the problem of high debt level? I do not have the answer to this but eventually we will arrive at a junction when we cannot avoid the questions anymore, so it is best to start the public discourse now. Either way, every Malaysia will agree that eliminating corruption and shoddy government procurement practices will go a long way to manage the reliance on debt.

The other economic question that should be weighed heavily in any national debate on subsidy is the RM19 billion-question on gas subsidy provided to the energy sector each year. It is a sore point to PETRONAS which complains annually on this as it is akin to burning RM19 billion of good money for the sake of keeping the electricity tariff artificially low. Even if we have an abundance of gas reserves (which we don't), burning that amount of natural gas each year is environmentally harmful and economically wasteful when it can fetch a much higher price if utilised differently (either as LNG or feedstock for processed chemicals).

The proponent of the RM19 billion gas subsidy to the energy sector will argue that it is necessary to help the rakyat, as the cheaper tariff benefits the rakyat directly. That is a political argument that goes along the same breath as the economic argument that an energy subsidy is necessary to make Malaysia competitive as a manufacturing hub.

Personally, there are loopholes in both arguments.

A research by Jeff Rector of Stanford University discovered that the rakyat (non-business and non-industry users) consumes only 19% of the total electricity generation in Malaysia in 2005. TNB has also made a few changes to the public tariff structure since then that in all probability there will not be a sudden tariff hike for low capacity users such as the public if the gas subsidy is phased out.

The industrial and commercial sectors have the right to be jittery when any proposal to phase out the gas subsidy to the energy sector is made, because they stand to bear the full brunt having consumed 81% of the total electricity generation. But this is where the practical and philosophical questions on gas subsidy require an in-depth discussion(which has been conveniently ignored by the government):

Firstly – there is a big disconnect between the drive towards a high income economy driven by higher innovation and creative capital; with the insistence that our industrial sector will continue to be protected in the form of cheap electricity tariff paid for by the state. An economy that can still benefit greatly from state give-outs(either in the form of bloated state contracts or state subsidies)will resist any attempts at structural reforms, as it is only natural that human beings will choose an easier option. Why go through the pains of economic reforms to change the structure of the economy, when our industry can still make tonnes of money producing products with lower technology and creative contents because the state subsidy distorts the manufacturing costs?

Secondly – even if in the end, there is a consensus that our industry still requires some form of subsidy to maintain its competitiveness,the economic and tariff data clearly show that the RM19 billion gas subsidy does not translate to cheaper tariff. There is a huge leakage and this leakage must be plugged immediately.

Thailand is a good example of how cheaper tariff can be achieved without spending too much on "corporate subsidies" in the form of massive gas subsidy to the energy sector annually. Gas price sold to the energy sector in Thailand is tightly pegged to the market price of gas sourced domestically and from long term supply contracts of neighbouring suppliers (such as Myanmar). On top of the raw gas price,the formula also includes charges for pipeline tariff, marketing margin and indexed to consumer price index, foreign exchange movement
and producer price index. The long and short of it is the power producers in Thailand pay a market price for the gas – almost at RM31per mmbtu when the crude oil reaches US$100 per barrel mark (compare that with the RM10.70 per mmbtu sold to the energy sector in Malaysia).

Interestingly (and unfortunately), Thailand's electricity tariff is a lot cheaper than Malaysia's in spite of Malaysia's heavy subsidy system in place to supposedly keep the electricity tariff low. A residential consumer in Thailand only pays 18 sen per kWh for the first 150 kWh used; compared to Malaysia's tariff for equivalent usage of 22 sen per kWh. That is a difference of 22% higher tariff in Malaysia.

Similarly, retail customers under the category of "low voltage commercial tariff" also pay higher tariff in Malaysia compared to the equivalent electricity consumption in Thailand. The tariff is 37 sen per kWh in Malaysia, 48% higher than Thailand's tariff of 25 sen per kWh for the same category of consumption.

The list of comparison can go on and on.

It is good that Malaysians are more aware of how our economy is run or where the taxpayers' money is being spent. It is encouraging that people begin to think long term and question the viability of a social system that hinges heavily on subsidy.

But any discussion on subsidy removal must be honest and fair to everyone. For the time being, the deafening silence on the RM19 billion gas subsidy that seems to benefit only a minor section of the society, or the complete black out on the worrying level of public debt; is entirely unfair to the country and future generation.

Mission Achieved: Anwar Dragged Through Mud

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:16 PM PST

‘The prosecution is not worried about the DNA evidence being expunged because they have created a doubt – that Anwar did sodomise Saiful.’

Prosecution will not appeal ruling

Multi Racial: It unlawful extraction of evidence is inadmissible and it was a landmark ruling by the Federal Court then the prosecution should know about it.

The question is that why they still proceed? Well, there are only two possible answers. Either that are inefficient or they did it deliberately to have this part of the evidence reported to the public.

This is to give the opportunity to BN control media to paint the guilty picture so that many rural folks will see it that way. If the latter is true then it is politically motivated and got nothing to do with the case. The government and the police knew all along they got no case on Anwar Ibrahim.

Kgen: One would expect the prosecution to appeal all the way to the Federal Court and they had never failed to win. That they do not want to appeal shows that the verdict was pre-planned. Umno may have realised that it is against their interest to jail Anwar.

With the DNA evidence disqualified the prosecution has no case so we can expect Anwar to be acquitted for lack of evidence. However Umno has achieved its purpose of dragging Anwar through mud.

JBGUY: The whole trial was a sham. The prosecution is not worried about the DNA evidence being expunged because they are banking on the fact that they have created a doubt – that Anwar did sodomise Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. This is all Umno needs to refer to this in the GE campaigns by saying that Anwar got away through a technicality.

Now, naturally most people who are not exposed to the BN Machiavellian moves may buy into this and believe this lie. So Anwar, you are checkmated despite your innocence. How I wish people would use their heads to think for themselves but knowing the people in this country that’s unlikely.

Peter Clement Goh: With this ruling, Umno still wins, the West will look at the judiciary as “fair”, but since the evidence already shows that the DNA of those three articles match the one planted into Saiful’s arse, Anwar will still be “guilty” by those in Malaysia who see the print media as gospel truth. It looks like no matter which way the verdict goes, Anwar’s credibility is now down the drain.

Cala: Who is Saiful? When the evidence relating to the DNA found in three items (a mineral water bottle, a ‘Good Morning’ towel, and a toothbrush) had been expunged by the court, only Saiful’s testimony can wage a challenge to the defence, said Karpal.

But is Saiful a credible witness? Is he a reliable person? Do you trust him? Did he behave as someone who was a victim of sodomy? He said he went to the bathroom and came out clad in a towel before the said encounter with Anwar;

Secondly, he was seen entertaining some guests in Anwar’s office the day after the said incident. If you are puzzled by Saiful’s action as usual behaviour, what then had caused his attitudinal change?

How do you explain that? Could it be that there was an incentive offered to him so huge that he could not possibly refuse?

Anonymous_3f94: It should be obvious to everyone by now that Anwar’s blood from Sodomy I was mixed with Saiful’s semen and inserted up Saiful’s rectum with the use of a plastic syringe. This is the plastic object referred to when Saiful told the first doctor he saw at Hospital Pusrawi that his anus had a plastic object inserted.

Saiful is not gay, but because the plot had to be adhered to with the corresponding juicy payoffs, he allowed the officer (assigned to him by Najib Razak) to insert the syringe up his rear end at a room at the Concorde Hotel when he met him after meeting Najib, and before going to the hospital.

That also explains the apparent presence of Anwar’s DNA at the front (not the back) of Saiful’s underwear as the liquid from the syringe could easily have been jettisoned forward, when Saiful was bending over, with the officer manipulating the syringe from behind him. The dripping of excess fluid would fall onto the front, and not the rear of his underpants.

Lim Chong Leong: The night is still young. They will plant some other damning evidence some place else. Umno is dead set on getting rid of Anwar, so this is not the end of the persecution.

At the same time, Najib can say the police may be slightly dirty but the judiciary and the attorney-general are clean. We must remember that the big picture includes Altantuya Shaariibuu, Scorpene, space tourists, PKFZ, BMF, Proton, MAS, APs, Sime Darby, Perwaja, and on, and on, and on.

2CTS WORTH: Prosecution will not appeal? I thought this is the ace up their sleeves. Appeal cannot be allowed? This is incredulous. At last some order is being adhered to, or is it? I am dying in suspense.

So even if it’s illegal, it’s admissible?

Kyw: If they had not obtained Anwar’s DNA legally or illegally, how are they going to implant it into Saiful’s anus? Now the question is: Did Amwar’s DNA really reside there or was it implanted by those ‘kidnappers’?

Since they had not arrested Anwar legally, all these must have been done illegally. As such, we must give Anwar the benefit of the doubt.

Annachan: Anything that can become law or is passed by Parliament to become law must have its indispensable elements of morality. Law without morality cannot be enforced in any part of the world.

Morality is about right or wrong, good or bad, the right to go on living and not the right to interfere with another person’s right or to kill him. Any law that is not imbued with morality cannot stand alone and cannot even exist.

If any judge were to allow an illegal piece of evidence or an illegally obtained evidence to stand in court, then that country is an uncivilised country. The judges and the lawyers who represent that court is not learned in the law. That court will be the laughing stock of the world.

Dicey Rules: It looks to me like “procurement (of evidence) by deception”. It involves the misuse of official power and the misrepresentation of official purposes.

If you take home a government pencil and use it for your own purposes, that is the appropriation and “conversion” of public resources to an illicit private use. It is in principle the same (but in practice far worse) with the grabbing for personal or partisan use of official power and authority.

Here, in this instance, it’s not just a pencil that has been grabbed to write a shopping list. It is the procurement (without any adequate safeguard or protection for the integrity of the chain of transmission and custodianship) of apparent evidence in a strategy of illicit entrapment.

From its origins, from the very outset, this stratagem is fatally tainted. Any court that can find this move permissible is not in the business being an honest arbiter but of self-serving arbitrariness. Try arguing otherwise!

Hibiscus: Such a blatant gross injustice to a political leader who has a very large following. This is like the government is telling the rakyat not to trust the law to provide justice. This affront to justice is tempting the creation of a climate for anarchy.

I fear to think that if BN loses the next GE, it will precipitate unrest by convicting and jailing DSAI (Anwar), thus giving it the reason to impose emergency rule.

Ah Hoe: The aim of the trial was two-fold – firstly, to distract Anwar from the political process of building up a challenge to Umno, and secondly, to discredit Anwar as a leader of good morals. In both, I’m afraid they have succeeded.

Kenyataan Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail Tentang PRK Kerdau dan Merlimau

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:14 PM PST

Keputusan pilihanraya kecil di Merlimau dan Kerdau yang baru sahaja berlangsung pada 6 Mac lalu sememangnya telah diduga. Selain menyedari dua DUN tersebut adalah kubu kuat BN kita dapati imbuhan keterlaluan telah dilemparkan kepada pengundi. KEADILAN mendesak supaya SPR dapat bertindak dengan bebas dan berkecuali serta peka terhadap aduan-aduan yang diajukan oleh kedua-dua belah pihak secara adil dan telus.

KEADILAN mengucapkan tahniah dan syabas kepada petugas PR yang terpaksa menongkah arus dengan berhadapan jentera gergasi BN. Apatah lagi seluruh jentera kerajaan diguna sewenangnya. Media arus perdana pula kekal tempang dan begitu mudah diperkudakan.

Pakatan Rakyat akan mengorak langkah bagi menghadapi pilihanraya Sarawak dan PRU13. Gerakerja tersusun di setiap peringkat perlu dimulakan sekarang. Kemenangan dua PRK ini pastinya menjadikan BN selesa dan memanggil PRU13 seawal mungkin. PR harus terus mendekati rakyat kerana kesejahteraan rakyat tidak memadai dengan gula-gula pilihanraya. Apa-apapun, kita harapkan SPR akan lebih telus dan bebas lantas mengizinkan sistem demokrasi di negara ini dilaksanakan sebaik mungkin. Amat penting untuk kita menyelamatkan negara demi kesejahteraan berpanjangan.

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail

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