Anwar Ibrahim |
- Azeem Ibrahim: Malaysian Ruling Offers Hope of Change
- Testing Malaysia’s Promises
- Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim Di Masjid Kampung Baru
- Gov’t Urged to Freeze NFC Assets Before EGM
| Azeem Ibrahim: Malaysian Ruling Offers Hope of Change Posted: 12 Jan 2012 03:16 AM PST From ScotSman.com THOUGH his innocence was never in question, the acquittal in the Anwar Ibrahim trial (full story, page 23) came as a surprise to those of us who have been closely following events in Malaysia. In 1998, Anwar faced a similar ordeal, which landed him solitary confinement for 15 years. His real crime was launching a popular uprising against the rule of then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed. Viewed as a threat to the ruling party's status quo, Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister and finance minister, arrested and sentenced after a trial that was marred by political interference, falsification of evidence, blackmailing, coercion and torture of witnesses, harassment of defence lawyers, and refusal to admit witness testimony favourable to the accused. Anwar's current trial mimicked many of those irregularities and, therefore, left many of us expecting the worse in advance of today's verdict. In January last year I, along with my colleague Mehmet Celebi, penned a short report for the Obama administration on the background of the trial and why the United States must protest against this charade.? On examining all the evidence available to us and conducting a number of "off the record" interviews, it became very clear to us very quickly that the entire basis of the current trial was questionable. We therefore concluded that the continuation of this trial was a clear and present danger to democracy consolidation in a country regarded as being one of the only fully developed democracies in the Muslim world. An attribute that Dr Anwar himself could take credit for. The comeback kid of Malaysian politics represents a rare breed in Muslim politics. He is political figure who traverses the lines of Muslim traditionalism and liberalism more effectively than almost anyone else on the global scene today. In this year of the Arab Spring, a figure like Anwar, unburdened by the daily distraction of the trial, can be a potent and credible voice for reform in Malaysia and across the Muslim world. • Dr Azeem Ibrahim is a fellow and member of the board of directors at the Institute of Social Policy. He is not related to Anwar Ibrahim |
| Posted: 11 Jan 2012 11:41 PM PST From Wall Street Journal If electoral reforms don’t happen soon, the post-acquittal joy may quickly sour. The not guilty verdict handed down last Monday in the sodomy trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim made both sides, Prime Minister Najib Razak and the opposition, happy. Mr. Najib gets an immediate political boost by claiming a victory for the rule of law and an independent judiciary, while Mr. Anwar can focus on the election ahead. This good feeling, however, is likely to be short-lived. Serious challenges lie ahead. The first test of the post-verdict era will be whether the government chooses to appeal the acquittal. Defense experts successfully demolished the government’s DNA evidence, but the judge said during the trial that Mr. Anwar’s accuser was credible and reliable. With parliamentary elections looming, the government might conclude that forcing Mr. Anwar back into the courtroom will distract and pull him away from the campaign trail. On the other hand, an appeal would be polarizing and cost the government the support of centrists and independents. The second test will be whether the government implements key electoral reforms before elections are held. Mr. Najib’s government cracked down in July on Bersih 2.0, a coalition of organizations calling for free and fair elections. This demonstrated the ruling party’s fear that genuinely fair elections could cause them to lose power for the first time since 1957. However, after strong domestic and international criticism of its heavy-handed treatment of the marchers, the government backtracked and created a select parliamentary committee to propose election reforms. Among the proposals are using indelible ink to prevent voter fraud and allowing the opposition to have access to government-owned television and radio, which now act as propaganda outlets for the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO). The trouble is that so far, none of the proposals have been carried out. The only thing worthy of note is a court decision earlier this month ruling that the one million Malaysians who reside overseas have no right to vote. Expatriate Malaysians, it should be noted, are generally believed to lean toward the opposition. If UMNO fumbles electoral reform and squanders its newly earned goodwill, the opposition will get stronger. The growing pains and ideological differences that plagued the opposition coalition in years past have largely been overcome, and Mr. Anwar and his political associates express confidence that they could take power in a fair contest. In contrast, Mr. Najib faces a constant uphill battle. Many of the economic and political reforms that he proposed were not implemented because of right-wing opposition from inside his party. He is regularly undercut in public by criticism from Malaysia’s very vocal former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and in private by some of his most senior cabinet officers. The public sees corruption on the rise and feels that UMNO supporters increasingly believe making money from government contracts is business as usual. Many Malaysians now use the word “kleptocracy” to describe their ruling class. This perception further undermines Mr. Najib’s calls for reform, making it seem as if no UMNO leader wants to crack down on this abuse, given its importance to maintaining the support of their political base. This perception is compounded by the fact that Mr. Najib has remained largely silent on the latest scandal, in which one cabinet minister’s family allegedly used public funds, targeted to increase cattle production, to buy luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. These weaknesses compound UMNO’s fear of losing power and increase the risk of over-reaction. The party will not go down without a fight, and neither will its supporters in the bureaucracy, media, and business worlds, who fear losing access to the financial gravy train. Because of the high stakes, those who benefit from corruption will make an all-out effort to keep the opposition from coming to power. A return to Mahathir-style strong-arm tactics should not be ruled out. All this will make the coming election the most important in Malaysia’s history—and also its dirtiest. The international community needs to pay attention and hold Mr. Najib to his promise of political and electoral reform. Mr. Anwar’s acquittal is only the beginning of the country’s fight against political abuse and corruption. Mr. Malott was the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia from 1995-98. |
| Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim Di Masjid Kampung Baru Posted: 11 Jan 2012 11:37 PM PST Makluman Media Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim akan bersama menunaikan solat Jumaat, esok 13hb Januari,2012 di Masjid Kampung Baru |
| Gov’t Urged to Freeze NFC Assets Before EGM Posted: 11 Jan 2012 09:46 PM PST PKR has urged the government to freeze the assets of National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), prompted by fears that it may restructure itself this week, thus hampering police investigations on the company. Party strategic director Rafizi Ramli said he has obtained information that the NFC will be holding an emergency general meeting and a board member meeting sometime this week. He said that the EGM was called within a suspiciously short three- day notice, which he claims shows that something was brewing. “I understand among the agenda to be discussed including the takeover of the National Meat and Livestock Corporation, a company owned by Women and Family Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family. NFC is a GLC through a special share owned by the Finance Ministry. “I believe that the hurried action to call the NFC Board of directors and EGM may have untoward intention and may hamper on-going investigations by the authorities,” he said. Rafizi also said that they want prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also the Finance Minister not to sit on his laurels and intervene by freezing any activities and decision by the company from using the RM250 million fund given by the Malaysian government. He said the proper move for Najib to ensure corporate governance should be to appoint proper special administrators to run the NFC, as the company has hitherto shown several cases of questionable practise. Also present at the press conference is PKR’s investment and business bureau chairperson Wong Chen. |
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