Rabu, 18 Mei 2011

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim

PKR Hadapi Risiko Diharam, Sidang Media Tengah Hari

Posted: 18 May 2011 06:57 PM PDT

Dari Malaysian Insider

Di sebalik spekulasi pilihan raya umum ke-13, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) – komponen Pakatan Rakyat, berhadapan dengan risiko kemungkinan dibatalkan pendaftaran, dipercayai berkaitan dengan pemilihan secara langsung akhir tahun lalu.

The Malaysian Insider difahamkan PKR telah menerima surat berkaitan dengan tindakan itu daripada Pendaftar Pertubuhan (RoS) awal bulan ini.

"Saya dimaklumkan RoS sudah keluarkan surat untuk membatalkan pendaftaran, surat diterima baru-baru ini, saya tak pasti tarikhnya," kata sumber.

Sumber itu berkata berdasarkan surat RoS, PKR didakwa melanggar beberapa peruntukan perlembagaan part itu, yang ditubuhkan April 1999.

Bagaimanapun katanya, PKR mempunyai alasan kukuh yang ia tidak melanggar sebarang peruntukan dalam perlembagaannya.

Setiausaha Agung PKR Saifuddin Nasution Ismail akan mengadakan sidang media mengenai isu itu tengah hari ini.

"Kami tak terkejut dengan tindakan RoS ini, tunggu sidang media nanti," katanya lagi.

PKR, yang awalnya dikenali sebagai Parti Keadilan Nasional (Keadilan) ditukar nama semasa selepas proses penggabungan empat tahun kemudian.

Ia mengadakan pemilihan secara langsung peringkat pusat menggunakan kaedah satu ahli satu undi, yang turut menyaksikan masalah dan aduan.

Sejak selepas pilihan raya umum 2008 PKR juga tidak kesunyian daripada kritikan daripada pesaingnya termasuk menggesa agar RoS mengambil tindakan ke atas parti itu.

Parti itu yang menyaksikan prestasi terbaik pada pilihan raya umum 2008 menerusi kerjasama dengan PAS dan DAP turut berhadapan dengan tindakan beberapa wakil rakyat, di kedua-dua peringkat Parlimen dan Dewan Undangan Negeri, keluar atau melompat parti.

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Agenda Buku Jingga Lebih Realistik Dalam Menangani Isu IC

Posted: 18 May 2011 01:15 AM PDT

Dari KeadilanDaily

Aktivis masyarakat Sabah, Dr Chong Eng Leong yakin agenda Buku Jingga yang ditawarkan Pakatan Rakyat di negeri itu mampu menyelesaikan Projek IC di Sabah.

Menurutnya, Agenda Jingga yang dikemukakan itu realistik.

"Suruhanjaya untuk menyelesaikan 'Projek IC Sabah' seperti yang termaktub dalam agenda 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat merupakan penyelesaian terbaik isu ini yang wujud sejak puluhan tahunlalu," kata D r Chong dalam sidang media di Ibu Pejabat Parti KEADILAN Rakyat di Petaling Jaya tengah hari tadi.

Turut hadir dalam sidang media itu adalah Ketua Wanita KEADILAN, Zuraida Kamaruddin, dan ahli Majlis Pimpinan Pusat, Khalid Jaafar.

Exco AMK Pusat, Noor Azwan Ramli yang turut hadir pada sidang media yang sama berkata, AMK akan menubuhkan jawatankuasa khas bagi menangani taktik BN memperalat warga asing yang diberi taraf warganegara sebagai pengundi untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat. Jawatankuasa itu akan bermesyuarat pada 29 mei ini, kata Noor Azwan.

"Hasil mesyuarat itu kelak akan diangkat ke pengetahuan Biro Politik KEADILAN.

"Fokus jawatankuasa ini dengan membawa saksi,membuat laporan polis dan mengadakan kempen agar warga asing tidak terlibat,"katanya.

Beliau seterusnya menjelaskan, warga asing sendiri mendakwa ditipu Umno dan kroninya dalam sindiket ini.

"Ada warga asing memberitahu kita, mereka diperdaya membayar sejumlah wang tertentu untuk mendapatkan kad pengenalan dengan syarat mengundi BN. Namun, selepas bayaran dilangsaikan, ejen itu terus hilang," katanya.

Sehubungan itu, beliau meminta warga asing bekerjasama dengan Pakatan Rakyat dengan membekalkan maklumat mengenai sindiket itu.

WikiLeaks And The Altantuya Murder

Posted: 17 May 2011 08:40 PM PDT

From Asia Sentinel

Cables show the US embassy in KL feared “prosecutorial misconduct” during the sensational 2009 trial

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closely followed the trial of the accused killers of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and frequently discussed whether current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing, according to diplomatic cables supplied to Asia Sentinel by the WikiLeaks website.

The diplomats, like much of the public, also speculated that the trial was being deliberately delayed and feared what one cable calls “prosecutorial misconduct” that was being politically manipulated. The embassy officials based their concerns on sources within the prosecution, government and the political opposition.

The cables also draw attention to an intriguing allegation that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have attempted to use the proceedings to implicate Najib, a claim that was quickly hushed up in the Malaysian press.

Altantuya was murdered in October 2006 by two of Najib’s bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. who stood trial and were pronounced guilty in April 2009. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib’s best friends and Altantuya’s lover, was accused of participating in the murder but was freed without having to put on a defense.

The murder has been tied closely to the US$1 billion acquisition of French submarines by the Malaysian ministry of defense, which Najib headed as defense minister during the acquisitions. Altantuya reportedly acted as a translator on the transaction, which netted Razak Baginda’s company a €114 million “commission” on the purchase. Reportedly she had been offered US$500,000 for her part in translating. After she was jilted, she vainly demanded payment. A letter she had written was made public after her death saying she regretted attempting to “blackmail” Razak Baginda.

French lawyers are investigating whether some of the €114 million was kicked back to French or Malaysian politicians. Despite the scandal, the US government has not publicly backed away from Najib. In April 2010, Najib visited the White House and was praised by President Barack Obama for the parliament’s passage of an act allowing Malaysian authorities to take action against individuals and entities engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also called attention to Najib’s connection to the Altantuya case.

A Jan. 24, 2007 cable, marked “secret,” wrote that “Perceived irregularities on the part of prosecutors and the court, and the alleged destruction of some evidence, suggested to many that the case was subject to strong political pressure intended to protect Najib.”

In a Feb. 1, 2008 cable, the embassy’s Political Section Chief, Mark D. Clark, wrote that a deputy prosecutor had told him “there was almost no chance of winning guilty verdicts in the on-going trial of defendants Razak Baginda, a close advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, and two police officers. She described the trial as interminably long.” (That, of course, turned out to be wrong. Sirul and Azilah were ultimately convicted and have appealed their sentence)

Clark called the trial a “a prosecutorial embarrassment from its inception, leading many to speculate that the ineptitude was by design. On the eve of the trial,Malaysia’s Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail dropped his lead prosecutors and replaced them with less experienced attorneys. Similarly, a lead counsel for one of the defendants abruptly resigned before the trial ‘because of (political) attempts to interfere with a defense he had proposed, in particular to protect an unnamed third party.’”

The protracted nature of the case, Clark continued, led “at least one regional newspaper to speculate that ‘the case is being deliberately delayed to drive it from public view. Malaysia’s daily newspapers rarely mention the case’s latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case. Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before the anticipated general elections.”

A January 2007 cable called attention to Razak Baginda’s affidavit confirming that he sought the help of Musa Safri, later identified by reporters as Najib’s aide-de-camp, in ridding him of the jilted woman, and in other cables pointed out that Musa had never been called for questioning.

In another cable, dated May 16, 2007, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a deputy home affairs minister in former Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi’s cabinet told US Embassy officials that he was “certain that government prosecutors would limit their trial activities to the murder itself and the three defendants; prosecutors would not follow up on allegations of related corruption or other suspects.”

In a Jan. 27, 2007 cable, marked “Secret,” embassy officials wrote that “In December we heard from one of (Anwar’s) lawyers that Razak Baginda’s wife was in contact with Anwar and Wan Azizah, suggesting one possible source for Anwar’s information.”

Razak Baginda’s wife, during one of his first appearances in court, screamed that her husband “doesn’t want to be prime minister.” That was taken by observers as a reference to the fact that Najib reportedly had been having an affair with Altantuya but passed her on to Razak Baginda because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when he succeeded Abdullah Badawi as premier. Najib has offered to swear on the Koran that he had never met the woman.

However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.

In a telephone interview on May 9, Anwar, however, told Asia Sentinel that Razak Baginda’s wife was not the source of his knowledge of Najib’s connection and that instead he had been told of the connection by Setev Shaariibuu, Altantuya’s father, who said he had wished to present evidence of Najib’s involvement, but was not allowed to do so. Multiple attempts to contact Setev by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful.

Almost immediately after he made the statement, Balasubramaniam was picked up and driven to a police station, where he was forced to withdraw the statement and write a new one saying Razak Baginda had told him nothing of the sort. Balasubramaniam fled Malaysia for India. He later said Najib’s brother, Nizam, and wife, Rosmah Mansor, had met with him and that he was offered RM5 million (US$1.48 million) to forget his statement connecting Najib to Altantuya. Balasubramaniam displayed a flock of checks drawn on the account of an associate of Najib’s wife. The former private detective has made a a series of statements from outside the country about Najib’s involvement.

A February 2008 cable from Political Section Chief Clark gives a hint that Abdullah Badawi himself may have been trying to get rid of Najib by forcing Razak Baginda to implicate him in the murder.

“In the latest turn of the ongoing Altantuya murder trial (reftels), accused political insider Abdul Razak Baginda, who has remained calm and composed through most of the proceedings, unleashed an emotional tirade shortly after the February 20 noon recess on the trial’s 90th day,” Clark wrote. “Referring to the Prime Minister by his nick-name ‘Pak Lah,’ Razak reportedly exclaimed: ‘You can die, Pak Lah! (in Malaysian – Matilah kau, Pak Lah!) I’m innocent!’ according to unpublished journalist accounts.

“Local newspapers and the government news service Bernama reported the fact of the outburst, but did not print Razak’s statements. The short-lived exception was the English language newspaper The Sun, which included the quotations from Razak in its early morning February 21 edition. Sources at newspaper confirmed to us in confidence that the Ministry of Internal Security compelled The Sun to withdraw and recall thousands of copies of their first run paper in which the original quote was included. Prime Minister Abdullah serves concurrently as Minister of Internal Security.”

During the trial, Clark wrote, Razak Baginda, “appeared uneasy throughout the morning session of court on February 20. Razak’s father, Abdullah Malim Baginda had whispered something to him shortly before the trial had begun for the morning and apparently upset the accused. Razak had remained quiet throughout the morning hearings, but just after the noon recess was called and as he was leaving the courtroom he kicked and banged the door and yelled “You can die, Pak Lah! Die, Pak Lah! I am innocent. I am innocent.” He was later seen crying before his lawyer while his mother attempted to comfort him.”

“Speculation is rife in Malaysia’s on-line community concerning what it was that set off Razak Baginda outburst, including conspiracy theories alleging the Prime Minister’s office had urged Razak to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak …in return for sparing Razak a guilty verdict and its mandatory death sentence,” officials wrote.

The cable goes on to write, “Regardless, the Internal Security Ministry would want to limit any possibly inflammatory reference to the Prime Minister at the trial, and particularly at this juncture due to the proximity of Malaysia’s general election to be held on March 8. Any connection between the Prime Minister and the murder trial would be scandalous. The GOM (government of Malaysia) reportedly has worked hard to ‘drive (the case) from public view’ … and is not about to allow the case to influence the coming elections.”

BN Lemah! Keterlaluan PM Tuduh Rakyat Ketagih ‘Candu Subsidi’

Posted: 17 May 2011 08:09 PM PDT

Dari Malaysian Insider

Wakil rakyat Pakatan Rakyat (PR) mendakwa Barisan Nasional (BN) sebenarnya telah gagal mengatasi ketagihan subsidi menerusi pendekatan-pendekatan alternatif sambil mencela pentadbiran Najib hanya menyalurkan "candu subsidi" yang memanfaatkan kroninya.

Beberapa pemimpin PR yang dihubungi juga mendakwa kos hidup semakin meningkat sedangkan kadar upah tidak bergerak telah menyebabkan rakyat terpaksa bergantung pada subsidi.

Malah, mereka juga memberi amaran bahawa tindakan menarik balik subsidi akan menyebabkan rakyat muflis, sebaliknya kerajaan perlu menggalakkan daya saing dan mengatasi manipulasi harga barangan.

Sehubungan itu, wakil rakyat PR mengesyorkan agar pentadbiran Najib menggunakan pendekatan holistik untuk memotong subsidi, dengan menggunakan sistem penstrukturan total dan mengurangkan subsidi bagi korporat besar berbanding pengurangkan skim dinikmati golongan miskin.

Kerajaan juga perlu melaksanakan majlis gaji minimum untuk menggalakkan gaji dan menyediakan sistem pengangkutan awam lebih baik untuk mengelakkan pergantungan pada kenderaan sendiri dan mengurangkan penggurangan minyak.

Ahli Parlimen PAS Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (gambar) berkata, penggunaan istilah "candu" oleh Perdana Menteri Datu Seri Najib Razak bagi menggambarkan pergantungan pada subsidi adalah tidak adil memandangkan pentadbirannya tidak banyak bertindak bagi mengurangkan keadaan itu.

Katanya, dalang mengakibatkan manipulasi pasaran adalah kerajaan itu sendiri dengan memberi subsidi dan geran dalam jumlah besar kepada syarikat dan kroni.

"Dan, di satu sebelah, mereka menghukum dan mengaibkan rakyat dengan mengatakan mereka ketagih pada candu subsidi, yang mana ia tidak seberapa jika dibandingkan dengan apa yang mereka berikan kepada kroni-kroni mereka," katanya.

Justeru, Dzulkefly juga menggesa kerajaan agar mempertimbangkan dasar-dasar yang diketengahkan oleh PR dalam Buku Jingga mereka di mana ia mengesyorkan penstrukturan holistik dalam sistem subsidi.

"Kami dalam PR faham bahawa pendekatannya bukan dengan mudah memutuskan subsidi… kami meminta agar diadakan penstrukturan holistik sistem subsidi.

"Cara mereka (BN) hanya sedikit demi sedikit, kaedah jangka pendek, jika mereka teruskan akan memaksa yang miskin terdedah kepada kesan ekonomi global," kata beliau.

Dalam ucapannya di London kelmarin, Najib berkata subsidi bahan api ibarat "candu" kepada ekonomi Malaysia dan perlu dikurangkan secara berperingkat-peringkat untuk mengawal defisit bajet.

Najib yang juga Menteri Kewangan berkata, pentadbirannya telah memperuntukkan subsidi bernilai RM11 bilion tahun ini tetapi paras itu telah mengalami kenaikan, sehingga mencecah RM18 bilion ekoran harga minyak mentah antarabangsa yang begitu tinggi.

"Subsidi, pada keseluruhannya, seperti candu. Sekali anda ambil candu sukar untuk mengikis tabiat buruk; sekali anda memberi subsidi, sukar untuk diambilnya tanpa beberapa kos politik," kata beliau di Pusat Pengajian Islam Universiti Oxford.

Dzulkefly, wakil rakyat Kuala Selangor berkata, penarikan balik subsidi total akan menyebabkan kos-kos tidak adil ke atas kumpulan-kumpulan sensitif seperti kumpulan berpendapatan rendah.

"Ini seolah-olah dasar neokonservatif memperkayakan kroni dan kumpulan berkemampuan tetapi pada masa yang sama memangsakan kumpulan miskin.

"Tanya Najib, menerusi cara ini, bukankah ia memburukkan lagi ketidakaseimbangan pengagihan kekayaan dan ekuiti?" kata beliau.

"Mereka tidak serius dalam matlamat mereka menstruktur semula subsidi di negara ini," kata Setiausaha Publisiti DAP Tony Pua yang bersetuju dengan Najib bahawa subsidi adalah umpama "candu" kepada ekonomi Malaysia tetapi mempersalahkan kerajaan atas kegagalannya menyediakan alternatif yang betul kepada pengguna sebelum mengurangkan akses kepada "candu subsidi".

Pua juga mendakwa pentadbiran Najib menggunakan pendekatan salah dengan memotong subsidi rakyat miskin tetapi pada masa yang sama memberikan subdisi dalam jumlah yang besar kepada sektor korporat.

"Sebenarnya, apa yang dilakukan oleh Najib ialah menjadikan candu ini eksklusif kepada kroni-kroni BN," kata Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara ini kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Katanya, dalam usaha mengurangkan beban ketagihan kepada candu subsidi, alternatif-alternatif yang lebih baik harus diadakan seperti sistem pengangkutan awam.

"Pada peringkat sekarang, rakyat Malaysia menggunakan jumlah minyak pada amaun yang banyak, bukan kerana kita membayar harga lebih rendah berbanding dengan harga pasaran tetapi juga kerana kita tiada alternatif lain, terpaksa memiliki kenderaan kerana lemahnya infrastruktur pengangkutan," kata Pua.

Justeru beliau mengesyorkan agar kerajaan mempertimbangkan pemotongan subsidi kepada korporat besar seperti Pengeluar-pengeluar Tenaga Bebas (IPP) dan pemegang konsesi tol daripada hanya membebankan golongan miskin.

Ahli Parlimen DAP Klang Charles Santiago bersetuju dengan Pua sambil menambah, salah satu sebab mengapa rakyat Malaysia pada umumnya ketagih subsidi ialah kerana kadar upah yang tidak bergerak.

Katanya, 34 peratus pekerja Malaysia memperoleh gaji bulanan di bawah garis kemiskinan RM700.

"Antara tahun 2000 dan 2010, gaji hanya mengalami kenaikan 2.6 peratus, bermakna sepanjang 10 tahun lalu, kenaikan gaji tidak bergerak dan gaji kita tidak sepadan dengan kenaikan kos," katanya lagi.

Justeru beliau mengesyorkan agar kerajaan membentangkan rang undang-undang majlis gaji minimum ketika sesi Parlimen akan datang dan menetapkan gaji minimum antara RM1,500 dan RM2,000.

Sebagai tambahan, katanya, program bantuan tunai seharusnya dilaksanakan untuk melengkapkan peranan majlis itu, menyasarkan kumpulan miskin dan mereka yang berpendapatan bawah RM1,000 setiap bulan.

"Akhirnya, perlu ada usaha besar di pihak kerajaan untuk mengurangkan rasuah di mana kerajaan kehilangan wang dalam jumlah yang banyak, memotong perbelanjaan besar seperti subsidi korporat-korporat besar dan mengawal aliran keluar wang haram," katanya lagi.

Katanya, jika kerajaan mahu mengurangkan manipulasi pasaran dan menggalakkan saingan, ia seharusnya menggunakan pendekatan yang sama ke atas syarikat-syarikat besar seperti IPP dan pemegang konsesi tol.

"Biar mereka bersaing di ekonomi global. Mereka juga seharusnya berdaya saing… jika mereka tidak boleh melakukan, maka sesuatu yang menyedihkan," katanya lagi.

Pengarah Komunikasi PKR Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad berkata, kerajaan tidak harus menghukum rakyat atas ketidakupayaannya mengimbangkan bajet menerusi pemotongan subsidi, yang diperlukan oleh kumpulan sasaran.

Katanya, ketika ekonomi berada dalam kedudukan baik antara 2003 dan 2008, kerajaan telah gagal untuk memotong perbelanjaan, sebaliknya mengadakan projek-projek infrastruktur besar, sekali gus menyebabkan defisit bajet meningkat saban tahun.

Kata Adun Selangor ini, kerajaan tidak seharusnya mempersalahkan rakyat atas kelemahan mereka dan kegagalan melaksanakan strategi menggalakkan pertumbuhan yang dinamik ekonomi.

"Rakyat menderita ekoran inflasi yang tinggi, tiada gaji minimum, harga hartanah pula melambung… jadi mengapa membebankan rakyat," katanya.
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