Ku Li says Sodomy II challenges confidence in government

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (picture) said parts of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ongoing sodomy trial is posing a serious challenge to public confidence in the government as it was being held in a politicised environment with unbalanced pre-trial publicity.

In a statement today, the Kelantan prince noted that “public confidence is essential to the basic functioning of government” amid speculation that Anwar is facing the sodomy charge due to his coalition pact’s historic sweep of four states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

He noted that the trial was being conducted in an overwhelmingly politicised environment, adding “part of its context is the earlier trial of Anwar on the same charge, a trial which was perceived worldwide as politically motivated”.

“We do not longer live in an insulated world,” said the veteran Umno leader popularly known as Ku Li.

He also said pre-trial publicity by the local mainstream media has been “so blatantly unbalanced as to convey the impression that the media are pursuing a political agenda”.

“Since the local mainstream media is either government owned or tightly controlled, this translates into the impression that the government itself has an interest in its outcome.

“Many Malaysians believe that sections of the executive and political establishment have an interest in this trial. There does not seem to have been any attempt to remove this suspicion,” Razaleigh said.

“In such circumstances the principle that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is breached,” the former trade minister added.

He also cited that as in the case of the constitutional crisis in Perak and in the openly illegal denial of oil royalty payments to Terengganu and now to Kelantan, “we as Malaysians suffer when our Government loses credibility domestically and internationally”.

PDRM Shows Efficiency?

Law Enforcement Agency,Police The Raja Malaysia halts Dato'Sri Anwar Ibrahim's speech but arrested the microphones.Wonder if the microphones will be haul up to court?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA4ih1Fqnws

Kit Siang speaks his mind.

AG Gani Patail should initiate contempt proceedings against Nazri while MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/ Sarawak BN and other Umno Ministers should repudiate Nazri’s stand in Cabinet tomorrow that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy

I was completely astounded and outraged by de factor Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’ statement yesterday that it is too late for dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy, which had sparked a spate of arson and vandalism against churches, surau and a Sikh temple since the beginning of the year.

Nazri reiterated that it was not the fault of the government but that of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam who had brought the matter to court.

If anybody is to be blamed for the Herald litigation, it is the government which had allowed the Home Ministry to violate two decades of religious equilibrium on the issue with its ban in 2007 on the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic weekly, forcing on the Roman Catholic church the final remedy and recourse of the courts.

But it is what Nazri said about the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan and her judgment which completely floored rational and reasonable Malaysians, as no Law Minister or a de facto one had done more than Nazri to attack the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of a judge when his first task should be to start the very difficult and arduous process to restore national and international confidence in the Malaysian judiciary after suffering more than two decades of usurpation, emasculation and rape by the Executive.

Nazri launched a most improper, unwarranted and unprecedented attack on Lau, not only saying that her Dec. 31 decision was wrong, but also maligning and besmirching her judicial competence and role by declaring that she is not a Muslim and had improperly ruled over a matter that concerned the “akidah” (faith) of the Muslim community.

This is the first time that I know of a judge being attacked on the ground of her religious credentials rather than her judicial competence and temper – and coming from the de facto Law Minister, it must be regarded most seriously as a totally unacceptable attack on the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary.

Nazri said: “You must study the psyche of the Malays. The Chinese can be Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, no problem, but the Malays, the race itself is defined in the Constitution.

“Who is a Malay? In the Constitution, a Malay is one: a Muslim; two: speaks Malay and three: practises Malay culture. In the Constitution, there can’t be a Malay who is not a Muslim. Anything at all, any suspicion will confuse the ordinary Malays. They become so protective because Malay and Islam cannot be separate.”

What is Nazri trying to say? Is he laying down a new law that in multi-religious and multi-racial Malaysia where the Constitution recognizes Islam as the official religion but guarantees freedom of religion for all other faiths, non-Muslim and non-Malay judges must be excluded from adjudicating certain cases like the Herald “Allah” case allegedly because it concerns (i) the “akidah” of the Muslim community; and (ii)the Malay psyche?

Fifty-two years after Merdeka and 46 years after the formation of Malaysia, is the country going backwards with a further dichotomy of the judicial system where there is new division of cases which is to be adjudicated solely by judges who fulfill the two conditions of being Muslim and Malay because they fall into the category of (i) akidah of the Muslim community; and (ii) the Malay psyche?

Will the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court – should be the appeal on the Herald’s “Allah” case reach that level – be constituted solely with Muslim and Malay judges to take into account Nazri’s extraordinary objections?

These are dangerous perversion and subversion of the Constitution.

Nazri has clearly committed grave contempt of court on more than one ground. Is the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail prepared to act in the public and national interest to institute immediate committal proceedings to cite Nazri for contempt?

The time has also come for MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak and the other Umno Ministers to declare their stand on Nazri’s constitutional perversion.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional and other Umno Ministers should endorse Nazri or get the Cabinet tomorrow to repudiate Nazri’s stand that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy.

Let them at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow either endorse or repudiate Nazri’s position that:

1. Reject inter-religious dialogue as the route to resolve the “Allah” controversy on the ground that it is “now too late”;

2. Dismiss Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s Dec. 31 decision and judgment on the ground that she is not a Muslim, had improperly decided over a matter that concerned the “akidah” of the Muslim community as well as disregarded the Malay psyche.

3. Implication that there must be a new dichotomy in the judiciary with a new category of cases concerning (i) the Muslim “akidah” and (ii) the Malay psyche which must be adjudicated solely by Muslim and Malay judges.

On the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility, no Minister can now keep quiet on this issue with its many far-reaching socio-economic and nation-building repercussions.

What is the use of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and other Ministers talking about inter-religious dialogue and council if the Herald controversy is to be completely excluded from any proposed religious dialogue on the ground that “it is too late”, when it should the first priority item of the agenda of any inter-religious dialogue or council to demonstrate that the government is serious and sincere to want to make them work and succeed?

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Najib’s 1Malaysia is now hanging in the balance, facing its most critical test – whether it could withstand the severe test of the “Allah” controversy and salvage its credibility in the first 12 months of the Najib premiership.

If the first year of the Najib premiership is to see Malaysia riven by even more new divisions at any time in the nation’s history, whether a land divided by the use of the word “Allah”, allowed to be used by Christians in East Malaysia but not in West Malaysia or a judiciary where there is a new category of cases concerning (i) the akidah of Muslims and (ii) the Malay psyche which could only be adjudicated by Muslim and Malay judges, then it is time for Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan to be given a decent burial before the completion of Najib’s first anniversary as the country’s sixth Prime Minister in April this year.

Are there any Cabinet Ministers who are prepared to resign and quit the Cabinet and Najib government on a matter of principle if the Cabinet refusesd to repudiate and dissociate itself from Nazri’s stand?

Government flinches on Anwar trial

Yesterday the Federal Court postponed its decision on the Anwar Ibrahim appeal for additional discovery by nine days to January 29th. This forces a one-week delay in the start of the sodomy trial to February 2.

The Federal Court’s decision came as a surprise given its Monday morning rejection of a defense request to postpone today’s hearing.

It has also led some observers to the conclusion that the Federal government, seen to be the unseen hand behind the prosecution of Anwar, has flinched.

Since early December the Court has been seen to be on a fast track to start the trial on January 25th. Due process in the final appeal for discovery was almost cast aside in the interests of expediency and the scheduling today’s hearing was also regarded as fast tracking an appeals process which has favoured the prosecution at every stage.

Some are asking why reject the defense’s request for postponement on Monday and then postpone the case two days later?

Behind the scenes there is still little consensus on whether or not this trial will end badly for BN. Some in the ruling coalition believe a repeat of the 1998 Reformasi demonstrations is unlikely and a swift and clean conviction would elicit minimal public outrage. Others are not so sure, and are fearful that Anwar Ibrahim’s ability to mobilize huge mass demonstrations from behind bars is even greater today.

Given the negative publicity that nation has endured since Najib’s premiership began, the country can hardly afford another major international fiasco.

First was the blitzkrieg on Najib and his alleged ties to the Altantuya murder and submarine scandal. Subsequently there have been a number of embarrassing headlines including the women sentenced to caning for alcohol consumption, the cow head incident, and most recently the attacks on Churches and the quarrelling over the prohibition of non-Muslims using the world Allah.

The United States issued a travel advisory to citizens traveling in Sabah, following the Church attacks. Its criticism of some Malaysian policies has been harsh in the recent past.

Splayed across the headlines of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Financial Times, these images are wholly inconsistent with PM Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and offer bad publicity for a nation whose economic livelihood depends on the continuous flow of foreign direct investment.

With Anwar’s trial looming, it is accepted that there will be a heavy price to pay in the international community given Anwar Ibrahim’s impeccable networking with world leaders and the international media, the legacy of his botched 1998 trials and the dark cloud still hanging over Malaysia’s troubled judiciary since the Lingam tape controversy demonstrated pervasive corruption in the Malaysian courts.

It is also believed that Prime Minister Najib has come under intense international pressure during his current road trip to end what is perceived as the ongoing judicial persecution of Anwar Ibrahim. Efforts by Malaysian ambassadors to justify the case have been largely rebuffed and some world leaders have made personal calls on the Prime Minister to urge him to change course.

The postponement can therefore be seen in the broader context of the UMNO’s inability to commit fully to the political risk of Sodomy II.

Kenyataan Media Dari YB Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Kami mengecam serangan ke atas saudara kami penganut agama Kristian dan ke atas beberapa gereja di Malaysia. Serangan terbaru ke atas All Saints Church di Taiping juga merupakan satu serangan terhadap salah satu warisan negara.

Sebagai sebuah negara kita masih bergelut untuk menjunjung semangat perpaduan yang dicita-citakan oleh pejuang kemerdekaan negara ini. Saya menyeru agar kita semua akur dengan Perkara 11 Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang menjamin kebebasan beragama dan hak penganut agama-agama itu untuk menjaga hal ehwal agama mereka masing-masing. Ketika ini semangat musyawarah dan dialog mestilah mengatasi suara-suara mereka yang mahu memecah belahkan kerukunan rakyat serta meniup api permusuhan di negara ini.

Rakyat Malaysia mestilah bersatu menentang mereka yang mahu memperalatkan sentimen perkauman sempit dan agama untuk menyemarakkan kebencian demi laba politik puak-puak tertentu. Kita mestilah memperkukuh tekad mempertahan kebebasan beragama.

Kejadian ini merupakan satu ujian terhadap keazaman semua agama dan kepercayaan yang mahukan keamanan dan rasa saling hormat menghormati. Kita seharusnya sedar Tuhan yang kita sembah merupakan, Tuhan yang sama, Allah SWT, Tuhan yang memelihara dan mentadbirkan sekalian alam.

Sejarah menunjukkan kepada kita selama 14 abad ini, Muslim yang bertutur dalam bahasa Arab, penganut Kristian dan bangsa Yahudi, masing-masing menyembah Tuhan yang dikenal sebagai Allah. Sementara diakui keresahan umat Islam di Malaysia terhadap penggunaan kalimah Allah di kalangan penganut agama lainnya, tindakan seumpama menyerang gereja dan mengadakan protes hanya membantut usaha mencari penyelesaian. Jalan terbaik adalah melalui rundingan dan dialog antara agama.

Saya mengajak umat Islam untuk kembali kepada ayat al Quran yang menyeru kita untuk hidup dalam kerukunan dan saling mengenali di antara agama.

“Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): "Wahai Ahli Kitab, marilah kepada satu Kalimah yang bersamaan antara kami dengan kamu, iaitu kita semua tidak menyembah melainkan Allah " (Ali-Imran, 3:64)

Dan sepertimana yang termaktub di dalam surah al- Ankabut:

Dan janganlah kamu berbahas dengan Ahli Kitab melainkan dengan cara yang lebih baik, kecuali orang-orang yang berlaku zalim di antara mereka; dan katakanlah (kepada mereka): "Kami beriman kepada (Al-Quran) yang diturunkan kepada kami dan kepada (Taurat dan Injil) yang diturunkan kepada kamu; dan Tuhan kami, juga Tuhan kamu, adalah Satu; dan kepadaNyalah, kami patuh dengan berserah diri (al-Ankabut, 29:46)

Nabi Isa al Masih merupakan antara Rasul Ulul Azmi yang begitu dikasihi umat Islam. Saidina Umar r.a yang melawati Gereja Holy Sepulcher pada tahun 638 masehi, menggesa umat Islam untuk menghormati tempat peribadatan dan suci penganut agama Kristian. Oleh itu adalah tidak munasabah apabila pihak Polis teragak-agak untuk memberi jaminan keselamatan kepada gereja-gereja di seluruh negara.

Api kebencian ini bolehlah ditudingkan kepada kegagalan Barisan Nasional yang diketuai Umno. Propaganda Umno yang berteraskan perkauman sempit terutamanya apabila berhadapan dengan isu penggunaan kalimah Allah serta retorika media yang dikongkong kerajaan, seperti Utusan Malaysia, yang meniupkan api kebencian, sewajarnya dipersalahkan berikutan dari serangan tersebut. Provokasi mereka bukan sahaja salah dari sudut undang-undang malah menzahirkan kempen 1Malaysia yang tidak tuntas serta bermuka-muka.

Walaubagaimanapun saya terharu dan gembira kerana serangan tersebut dikecam keras oleh organisasi Islam dan pimpinan umat. Saya juga menyambut baik saranan wakil-wakil penganut Kristian yang menyeru agar sentiasa bertenang dan menolak sebarang tindakan pembalasan serta keganasan.

Kejadian mutakhir ini menuntut kita agar segera memberi perhatian terhadap keperluan dialog antara agama. Semangat persaudaraan yang disarankan agama kita serta Perlembagaan Persekutuan perlu disemarakkan. Pakatan Rakyat akan berusaha memastikan dialog dan rundingan diadakan di semua peringkat seluruh negara. Saudara kita yang beragama Kristian perlu merasa selamat dan aman serta sedar bahawa kebebasan mereka untuk beragama adalah dijamin di negara ini.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ketua Pembangkang

Pakatan Rakyat mengutuk serangan ke atas gereja

Kami mengutuk tindakan pihak tertentu yang menyerang 3 gereja di sekitar Lembah Klang awal pagi tadi. Serangan tersebut adalah satu perbuatan yang dikecam semua agama dan peradaban.

Perbuatan seperti itu tiada tempat dalam mana-mana negara pun di atas dunia ini. Kami percaya ianya berpunca dari politik amarah yang sempit, ditambah dengan unsur provokasi jahat yang semakin menular dan runtuhnya rasa saling hormat menghormati dalam negara kita yang tercinta ini.

Setiap rakyat dalam negara ini, tanpa mengira agama, kaum, keturunan dan etnik seharusnya dapat menikmati keamanan spiritual dan fizikal mereka. Seharusnya sebarang perbezaan pendapat dan pandangan tidak terus dilebarkan. Kami yakin sebarang perselisihan dapat diselesaikan dengan menumpukan usaha untuk membawa semua pihak ke meja rundingan.

Oleh yang demikian, seluruh kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat dengan tegas meminta supaya individu atau mana-mana kumpulan yang menyebarkan api kebencian dan kekerasan sebegini agar dihukum dengan setimpalnya.

YB DATO SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen Malaysia

Ketua Umum PKR

YAB LIM GUAN ENG

Setiausaha Agung DAP

YB DATO' SERI TUAN GURU HAJI ABDUL HADI AWANG

Presiden PAS

PENJELASAN MENGENAI ISU KALIMAH “ALLAH"

Merujuk kepada kenyataan kami pada 22 November 2009 mengenai perkara di atas, maka BIPPA PKR sekali lagi ingin menjelaskan pendirian kami mengenai hal ini.

Kami berpendirian bahawa, keinginan masyarakat bukan Islam menggunakan kalimah “Allah” sebagai Tuhan adalah suatu perkembangan yang positif dan perlu diterima secara terbuka dan tidak perlu pihak-pihak tertentu mengambil kesempatan untuk menjadikan isu ini sebagai agenda politik untuk menampakkan bahawa merekalah jaguh dalam mempertahankan Islam di negara ini.

Sesungguhnya, kami melihat fenomena ini adalah manifestasi dari fitrah insani bahawa manusia memperakui penciptaan dunia oleh Allah SWT sebagaimana firmannya yang bermaksud:

"Dan jika kamu tanya mereka (orang kafir) siapakah yang mencipta langit dan bumi? Mereka akan berkata Allah..." (Al Quran, Az-Zumar (39):38).

Adalah jelas bahawa penggunaan kalimah Allah untuk mengiktiraf dan membesarkan Allah sebagai Tuhan, adalah hak asasi setiap insan. Ini adalah serasi dengan peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan Perkara 3 (1) yang menjamin kedudukan Islam sebagai agama rasmi Persekutuan dan lain-lain agama boleh diamalkan dengan aman dan damai. Sesungguhnya, ini juga bersesuaian dengan muafakat Pakatan Rakyat yang diputuskan baru-baru ini.

Selanjutnya, kami berpandangan perjuangan untuk menegak makruf dan mencegah mungkar akan menjadi lebih mudah dan selesa berasaskan firman Allah:

"Katakan wahai Ahli Kitab, mari tegakkan kalimah yang sama antara kami dan kamu iaitu bahawa kita tidak akan menyembah selain Allah dan tidak mensyirikkan (associate) Allah dengan satu apapun serta janganlah ada antara kita yang mengambil tuhan-tuhan selain Allah. Dan jika mereka berpaling maka katakanlah bahawasanya kami adalah orang Islam (menyerah diri pada Allah)" (Surah Ali `Imran(3):64).

Sehubungan itu, demi menjaga keharmonian dan kesejahteraan negara semua pihak perlulah menyelesaikan konflik ini dengan menyuburkan budaya dialog antara agama secara matang dan bijaksana (hikmah) sebagaimana saranan Allah mengenainya (Al Nahl: 125 dan Al Ankabut:46).

Dr. Muhd Nur Manuty

Pengerusi Biro Pemahaman dan Pemantapan Agama (BIPPA)

05 Januari 2010

USE OF WORD “ALLAH”

We refer to our previous statement dated 22 November 2009 pertaining to the above matter. Biro Pemahaman dan Pemantapan Agama (BIPPA), Parti KeADILan Rakyat once again would like to affirm our view on the issue.

It is our view that the wish of the non-Muslims to call their God as “Allah” is a positive turn of events and should respectably be recognized. There is no necessity for any factions in the society to take advantage of the current circumstances and turn the dispute into a narrow political propaganda to show off as if they are really the champion and guardian of Islam in this country.

Certainly, we view this phenomenon as a manifestation of the inherent human nature to reckon that this universe is undoubtedly the creation of Allah.

If indeed thou ask them who it is that created the heavens and the earth, they would be sure to say: "Allah." … (Az Zumar 39:38)

It is without doubt that to worship and glorify Allah as the God is a fundamental right of every person. This is parallel to the provision of the Federal Constitution, Article 3(1) which guarantee the status of Islam as the Official Religion of the Federation while at the same time concede that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony. Unmistakably, it is also consistent with the recently affirmed Declaration of Understanding of the Pakatan Rakyat.

Additionally, we are of the opinion that the strive to advocate virtues and prevent misdeed (amar makruf nahi mungkar) will be eased. Allah says:

Say: "O people of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say: ye! "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's will)." (Ali Imran 3:64)

Therefore, to maintain harmony and peace it is crucial for all parties to resolve the conflict by encouraging the culture of interfaith discourse with the highest level of maturity and wisdom. Allah commands:

Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth, best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. (An Nahl 16:125)

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation) unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say "We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)." (Al Ankaboot 29:46)

PROF DR MUHD NUR MANUTY
Chairman of Biro Pemahaman & Pemantapan Agama
05 January 2010

SABAH PKR CONVENTION 2009 : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Nobleman

“Ini adalah konvensyen terbaik yang pernah diadakan di Sabah”said Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his closing address on Sunday at Atlantis Restaurant to the cheering crowd of more than 1500 party leaders.

The State PKR Chairman Saudara Ahmad Thamrin Jaini and Datuk Kong Hong Ming the chairman of the Organizing Committee were beaming. Christina Liew wept uncontrollably but only God knows why, as she has a very poor command of the National Language. So it can’t be the speech delivered by Anwar. Newcomer Datuk John Ghani who was seated next to her looked confused. He must be wondering why...!!Keningau Divisional Chief, Gapari @ Jeffrey who was still on sabbatical leave sat impassively without betraying his emotion.

Among the crowd were John Jinus Sibin, Jeffrey Yap, Hj Awang Bakar, Peter Linuk, Adris Taripin, Amirbeck bin Laja and their fellow AJKs from Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Tenom and Batu Sapi Divisions. The party owes them unspeakable gratitude for holding the forts when the going got tough-all the fanfare of ultimitums. These were the good guys.

“ Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan telah membuat keputusan untuk berbuat demikian,saya menghormati keputusan dia,tetapi bukan bererti saya bersetuju dengan tindakan dia. Hak dan kebebasan untuk membuat keputusan adalah di tangan kita sendiri dan perlu di hormati. Keputusan yang saya buat ini adalah atas dasar prinsip moral dan maruah. Sebab itu saya meneruskan perjuangan saya didalam PKR dibawah pimpinan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,John Jinus Sibin Setiausaha Bahagian”. That was his sms to Hj Ansari Abdullah on the 5th. November, 2009 at 1.59pm.

On the first day of Ramadhan, while Muslims elsewhere were celebrating Hari Raya to commemorate their victory over human weaknesses and desires, a memorandum was crafted to humiliate Pakatan Rakyat Whip and Party Vice President YB Azmin Ali, the Sabah State PKR Chief. PKR Sabah was tested to the brink as the oncoming drama unfurled. It had to wither it's most bitter and painful storm since it's inception in Sabah in late 1999.

On the day of the convention, PKR Sabah had survived the onslaught by its own so-called leaders because there were those in the Division level who had the guts to stand up and defend the struggles of the Party. To these Borneo warriors, the Party and its objectives are more important than individuals, whoever there are.

John Jinus Sibin and his colleagues in JKC Keningau had prevented the party from being dissolved. “Once Keningau is dissolved, Kota Kinabalu will also be dissolved” so say Christina Liew in Malaysiakini. Earlier she had resigned as a member of the Party’s Central Committee on the ground that her mother were ashamed that she was not reappointed as Deputy Chairman of Sabah PKR.

However, when she tabled the motion to the committee members of Kota Kinabalu Division for it to be dissolved, Jeffrey Yap and the other committee members opposed the motion. No other member of the Divisional Committee supported her. For all these transgressions against the Party, she was rewarded with the appointment of Deputy Chairman PKR Sabah. Her partner in crime, Gapari @Jeffrey Kitingan was reinstated as nominated Vice President. Christina’s Mother will be celebrating like Santa Claus this Christmas.

Gosibin the acting Chief of Tenom with his “Kadoh Agundung” hairstyle and Datuk Nahalan Damsal were nowhere to be seen. Sylvester was busy carrying his computer, chair and table from the Papar division office as he and Evelyn Gobili had just taken their “sabbatical leave.” Daniel John and Moses Iking must be occupied with Parti Cinta Sabah. They were “the bad” guys.

There are other good guys, like members of the Organising Committees for the dialogue, convention and dinner including Dr Roland Chia, Ronnie Klassen, Jonathan Yassin and Datuk Chau Chin Tang the moderators. The eloquent speeches of YB Zuraidah Kamaruddin the Wanita Chief, YB Tian Chua the Director of Strategy and Hj Ansari Abdullah at the Convention and YB Tian Chua and Dato Chua Jui Meng at the Dinner made the Convention a memorable curtain closer for a stormy 2009 for Sabah PKR. The highlight was of course from the ever charistmatic leader of Pakatan Rakyat, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

I leave it to you to decide who are “the ugly” but while doing so, please do not forget “the good” guys like John Jinus Sibin and the rest.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Ku Li: BN has destroyed Malaysia’s future

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (pic) today painted a bleak future for Malaysia under the Barisan Nasional government, saying it had squandered the nation’s oil wealth to the tune of “billions and billions” of ringgit.

The former Finance Minister said Petronas’s oil profits had been used “to bail out failing companies, buy arms, build grandiose cities amidst cleared palm oil estates.”
“Instead of helping eradicate poverty in the poorest states, our oil wealth came to be channeled into our political and politically-linked class,” the first Petronas chief and former Umno Vice President said in a speech at a one-day summit for Young Corporate Malaysians today.

He said the Petronas money had been used as a slush fund to prop up authoritarian rule, to corrupt the entire political and business elite and to erode constitutional democracy.
The Gua Musang MP, who agreed to head the Parliamentary Caucus to look into the oil royalty issue proposed by Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim earlier this month, told the summit that Petronas has contributed 40 percent of the national budget over the years.

But such a great reliance on oil income is getting untenable. “The oil that was meant to spur our transition to a more humane, educated society has instead become a narcotic that provides economic quick fixes and hollow symbols such as the Petronas Towers,” he said.
He said the future for Malaysians looks bleak with the government seeking to broaden the tax base by introducing a goods and services tax (GST) where Malaysians are required to pay an additional tax on top of income tax.

Malaysia is now caught in a middle-income trap, stuck in the pattern of easy growth from low-value-added manufacturing and component assembly and unable to make the leap to a knowledge-intensive economy, Tengku Razaleigh added.

The text of Tengku Razaleigh’s speech reads:

‘In a speech I made in April this year, I spoke of where we stand in our developmental path and what I felt we must do to move forward.I need to revisit that argument in order to develop it further.We are stagnating. The signs of a low-growth economy are all around us. Wages are stagnant and the cost of living is rising.

We have not made much progress in becoming a knowledge and services based economy.
According to the World Bank, Malaysia’s share of GDP contributed by services was 46.2 percent in 1987. Ten years later, that share had grown by a mere 0.2 percent.

Between 1994 and 2007, real wages grew by 2.6 percent in the domestic sector and by 2.8 percent in the export sector, which is to say, they were flat over that 13-year period.
Meanwhile, our talent scenario is an example of perverse selection at its most ruinous. We are failing to retain our own young talent, people like yourselves, let alone attract international talent to relocate here, while we have had a massive influx of unskilled foreign labour. They now make up 30 to 40 percent of our workforce.

Alone in East Asia, the number of expatriate professionals here has decreased. Alone in East Asia, private sector wage increases follow government sector increases, instead of the other way around. We are losing doctors and scientists and have become Southeast Asia’s haven for low-cost labour.

I said that we are in a middle-income trap, stuck in the pattern of easy growth from low-value-added manufacturing and component assembly and unable to make the leap to a knowledge-intensive economy.
Regional competitors with larger, cheaper – and dare I say – hungrier labour forces have emerged. China and India have risen as both lower cost and higher technology producers, and with giant domestic markets.

The manufacturing sector which propelled the growth we enjoyed in the 90s is being hollowed out. There is no going back, there is no staying where we are, and we do not have a map for the way forward.
I am glad that the characterisation of Malaysia as being in a ‘middle-income-trap’ has been taken up by the government, and that the need for an economic story, or strategy, for Malaysia is now recognised.
We stand in particular need of such a model because we are a smallish economy. We cannot be good at everything, and we don’t have to be.

We need only make some reasonable bets in identifying and developing a focused set of growth drivers. It is not difficult to see what the elements of such a growth strategy might be. Whatever we come up with should build on our natural strengths, and our strengths include the following:
+ We are located at the crossroads of Asia, geographically and culturally, sitting alongside the most important oil route in the world.

+ We have large Muslim, Chinese and Indian populations that connect us to the three fastest growing places in the world today.

+ We have some of the largest and oldest rain forests in the world, a treasure house of bio-diversity when the greatest threat facing mankind as a whole now is ecological destruction, and the greatest technological advances are likely to come from bio science.

+ We have the English language, a common law system, parliamentary democracy,good schools,an independent civil service and good infrastructure.

These advantages, however, are declining. Our cultural diversity is in danger of coming apart in bigotry, our rain forests are being logged out and planted over, our social and political institutions are decaying.I have spoken at length on different occasions about the causes and consequences of institutional decline. The decline in our society and indeed in our natural environment, originates in a decline in our basic institutions.

The link between these is corruption. The destruction of our ecosystem for example, is made possible by corrupt officials and business people.The uncontrolled influx of unskilled labour is a direct result of corruption.

These are problems we need to be aware of before we speak glibly about coming up with new strategies and new economic models. We need to understand where we are, and how we have gone wrong, before we can set things right.

You are young, well-educated Malaysians. Many among you have left for other shores. Record numbers of Malaysians, of all races, work abroad or have emigrated. Among these are some of our best people.They sense the stagnation I described.

There is a certain lack of energy, ingenuity and “hunger” in the climate of this country that young people are most sensitive to. In the globalised job market, young people instinctively leave the less simulating and creative environments for those that have a spark to them.
How did we lose our spark as a nation?

We have a political economy marked by dependence on easy options and easy wealth. Like personal dependencies, these bad habits provide temporary comfort but discourage the growth of creativity and resilience.I mentioned our dependence on low-cost foreign labour.

The other dependence is something I played a part in making possible.This is a story I want to leave with you to ponder in your deliberations today.

Our nation is blessed with a modest quantity of oil reserves. As a young nation coming to terms with this natural bounty in the early 70s, our primary thought was to conserve that oil.
That is why, when Petronas was formed, we instituted the Petroleum Development Council. Its function was to advise the prime minister on how to conserve that oil and use it judiciously for national development. We knew our reserves would not last long.
We saw our oil reserves as an unearned bounty that would provide the money for modernization and technology.

We saw our oil within a developmental perspective. Our struggle then, was to make the leap from an economy based on commodities and low-cost assembly and manufacturing to a more diverse, economy based on high income jobs.
Aware that we had an insufficient tax base to make the capital investments needed to make the leap, we planned to apply oil royalties to what you would call today strategic investments in human capital.

Whatever money left after making cash payments, allocations for development funds, etc, was to be placed in a Heritage Fund for the future.The Heritage Fund was for education and social enrichment.

In working out the distribution of oil between the states, who had sovereign rights over it, and the federal government, we were guided by concerns for equity between all Malaysians, a concern to develop the poorer states (who also happened to be the oil rich states) and a concern for inter-generational equity.That oil was for special development purposes and it was not just meant for our generation.

Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaya to form Malaysia because of the promise of development funds. Yet today, despite being their massive resources, they are some of our poorest states.
Instead of being our ace up the sleeve, however, our oil wealth became in effect a swag of money used to fund the government’s operational expenditure, to bail out failing companies, buy arms, build grandiose cities amidst cleared palm oil estates.

Instead of helping eradicate poverty in the poorest states, our oil wealth came to be channeled into the overseas bank accounts of our political and politically-linked class.
Instead of being the patrimony of all Malaysians, and for our children, it is used as a giant slush fund that has propped up authoritarian rule, eroded constitutional democracy and corrupted our entire political and business elite.

Our oil receipts, instead of being applied in the manner we planned upon the formation of Petronas, that is, according to its original developmental purpose, became a fund for the whims and fancy of whoever ran the country, without any accountability.
The oil that was meant to spur our transition to a more humane, educated society has instead become a narcotic that provides economic quick fixes and hollow symbols such as the Petronas towers.

Our oil wealth was meant to help us foster Malaysians capable of building the Twin Towers than hire foreigners to build them, a practice in which we preceded Dubai. I would rather have good government than grand government buildings filled with a demoralized civil service.

It is no wonder that we are no longer productive, no longer using our ingenuity to devise ways to improve ourselves and leap forward.
Malaysia is now an “oil cursed” country. We managed to arrive at this despite not having a lot of oil.When I started Petronas in 1974, I did not realise I would see the day when I would wish we had not uncovered this bounty.

The story I have told is a reminder of the scale of the challenge of development. My generation of young people faced this challenge in the 60s and 70s. You face it now.The story tells us that development is about far more than picking strategies out of a box.
You have kindly invited me to address a seminar on strategies for reinventing and liberalizing Malaysia’s economy. But the story of our squandered oil wealth reminds us that it was not for want of resources or strategies that we floundered.

Our failure has been political and moral. We have allowed greed and resentment to drive our politics and looked the other way or even gone along while public assets have been stolen in broad daylight.

I encourage you to take up the cause of national development with the ingenuity that earlier generations of Malaysians brought to this task, but the beginning of our journey must be a return to the basics of public life: the rule of law, honesty, truth-telling and the keeping of promises.

The Malaysia we need to recover is one that was founded on laws and led with integrity. With the hindsight of history we know such things are fragile and can be overturned in one generation, forgotten the next.

Without a living foundation in the basics you might sense an air of unreality around our talk of reinventing ourselves, coming up with “a new economic model” and liberalizing our economy.

So before we can reinvent ourselves, we need to reclaim our nation. That larger community, bound by laws, democratic and constitutional, is the context of economic progress, it is the context in which young people find hope, think generous thoughts and create tomorrow

PKR may take SESB and Felda to court

Courtesy of Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah is thinking of going to the courts to stop the construction of the proposed coal-fired power plant in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu.

It is considering initiating legal action, firstly against Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), in support of the green non-governmental organisations' effort to stop the building of the plant.

Its Supreme Council member, Haji Ansari Abdullah, said the party's Sabah legal bureau which is chaired by Datuk Chau Chin Tang and of which he is also member, will hold a meeting to discuss this sometime next week.

"The meeting is for us to consider bringing up a suit against the SESB as well as the State and Federal governments, Felda particularly," he told a press conference at his office here Thursday.

Ansari said the party cannot sue but would identify people who are prepared to come forward.

"We are going to consider this step, as part of our contribution to the effort to stop Sabah turning from 'green to black' because of the plan (coal-fired power plant) É at the moment our first intention would be on the SESB and Felda, and followed by others later," he said.

Ansari said one of the things they would highlight is the agreement between the State Government and Felda sealed on Dec 4, 1979, He claimed what is happening now is "against the letter and spirit of this agreement."

Showing a copy of the agreement signed by then Chief Minister Datuk Harris Salleh, he said if they followed what had been agreed to the State government about 13,000 Sabahan families would have been saved from poverty now.

"But it did not happen as agreed and because today is the 30th anniversary of this agreement, we will treat this suit matter as a 'birthday gift' to Felda," he said.

Ansari explained that on that said date of the agreement some 200,000 hectares were given to Felda for them to develop a settlers scheme for the benefit of at least 13,000 Sabahan families (assuming each family receives 15 acres).

"But now after 30 years Felda turned it into a commercial plantation É and further than that they now also want to build a power plant there, which is actually not the reason the land was given to them," he said.

"So we have a moral duty (to do something about this) É as a political party we are morally obliged to ensure that the State that we hand over to our children will be something similar to what we inherited from our forefathers É nobody has the right to destroy what we have been blessed with in Sabah," he added, claiming Felda Sahabat is now like another state within a state guarded by its very own policemen.

Should the plant be built, he said, it would destroy the image of Sabah as a green and beautiful state which is already well known worldwide apart from its many potentials.

Meanwhile, Ansari said he has filed a writ against Sohon Singh, Joe Fernandez and Steven Gan, who is editor-in-chief of news portal Malaysiakini over a news article published in the Malaysiakini news website on him titled "Sabah PKR Division Chief Runs to China from Debt".

"This because there was no apology forthcoming from them," he said. The writ was filed at the High Court here Thursday.

Another BN "Fixed Deposit"

New Straight Times – 25 Nov 2009 – carried an article: Salman Majid was declared a Malaysian citizen by the High Court in KL on 24 Nov 2009.

The Court ruled that the Immigration Department Director-General failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Salman had obtained his Malaysian identity card fraudulently. Salman’s counsel were Karpal Singh and Ramkarpal Singh, and his witness was former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Harris Mohd Salleh.

Salman Majid, 47 years old, was detained for 199 days by Immigration authority in KLIA in March 2005. His Malaysian IC and passport were confiscated and Malaysian citizenship revoked. The reason for the revocation was that he was born in Pakistan but he falsified his Statutory Declaration (Sijil Akuan) in the 80’s when applying for his Sabah Blue IC by stating that he was born in 1962 in Ranau, Sabah.

He was released from detention after a senior politician sent a letter to the Home Ministry confirming that he had been a “loyal voter”.

After released he filed suit against the Government for wrongful revocation and detention and sought a Court declaration that he was a Malaysian citizen in possession of Malaysian identity card and passport.

Salman said to reporters outside the court room: “I have always regarded myself a Malaysian since I’ve been living here for the past 24 years and have voted in three general elections. Three of my six children were born here.”

Court trial is about submitting evidence to prove one’s argument.

One wonders why couldn’t the Malaysian Immigration Department and Malaysian Government provide the necessary evidence?

Salman was allegedly born in 1962 in Ranau.

Did he have birth certificate?

If not, was a “late birth- certificate” applied for?

Was the Sijil Akuan signed by an authorised Native Chief?

If so, is the Native Chief still alive now?

Who were Salman’s parents? What were his parents doing in Ranau then?

Where did Salman attend schools?

But Salman said that he was in Malaysia only for the past 24 years. Where was he in the other 23 years? So did he attend school in Sabah? If not, why not?

Only three of his six children were born in Malaysia. Where were the other three born?

What was the citizenship of his children? If Malaysian, what were their respective IC numbers?

What is his wife’s citizenship? Where did they get married?

One would think that the Immigration Department should be in the position to ask all above at least and more. But they failed. One wonders if the Immigration Department was under directive not to provide the necessary evidence. From my investigations the Project ICs issued to foreigners fraudulently had their numbers as follows: H0288001 to H0384000 and H0480001 to H0576000; and many more not detected yet by me.

Salman Majid was a carpet importer and labour supplier. He had an IC with the number H0352141 – and his new IC number is 620202-12-5053, coded 12 which indicates Sabah-born Malaysian.

“Loyal voter” – is this referred as the BN “fixed deposit” that BN could not afford to lose them? In Sabah there are evidence to show that at least 70,000 Project IC holders are registered in Sabah electoral rolls.

Dr. Chong Eng Leong

“Minister-in-the-dark” caught in the limelight

OUR learned-and-honorable Plantation and Commodities Minister, Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok was in the limelight recently, again for the wrong reason. This time he was accused of lying about the minimum wage of plantation workers, by Sungai Siput MP, Dr D Jeyakumar. (read the attached full story below)

While I’m not a fan of Dompok, I would humbly appeal to Dr Jeyakumar to give our innocent-looking Dompok a break, if not forgive him. This is because like what he recently claimed on the controversial proposed Kaiduan Dam project in his Penampang constituency, Dompok was probably also “in the dark” over the real situation and plight of plantation workers.

The other reason could be because Dompok could have mistaken that he was talking about plantation workers in Sabah, a majority (believe to be more than 90%) who are foreigners, illegal immigrants included.

But having said that, I somehow wondered whether Dompok was really always “in-the-dark”, or just that he wished the people would think so and forgive him for his slow response to their plight, just like in the case of the Kaiduan Dam issue.

Hence, my question to Dompok is – when are you going to come out from the dark and start shedding some light?

Jeyakumar: The minister did lie

Sungai Siput parlimanetarian Dr D Jeyakumar did not budge from his stand that Plantation and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok lied about the minimum wage of plantation workers.

Jeyakumar, the MP from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), said the minister mislead and misrepresented facts when he told Parliament on Oct 19 that the net income of an oil palm harvester was about RM1,700 and a rubber tapper's around RM870 a month.

Dompok, in a written reply to Mas Gading BN parliamentarian Dr Tiki Lafe, said that the earnings per worker was well above the poverty line which is at RM720 per month.

"How about single mothers working as weeders in the rubber estates or oil palm plantations?" asked Jeyakumar (right).

"What makes us angry is that he is hiding the facts? The majority of workers in estates are women and earn an income of about RM500 a month but that was not reflected," he said.

"Dompok's answer referred to harvesters and tappers and not the weeders, who form the majority workers in the estates now," said Jeyakumar.

"How many locals are working in the estates now? And you talk about just two categories and avoid the major one where Malaysians work," said Jeyakumar, referring to those employed as weeders.

"His answer is misleading and is bad for people in the estates. Those wanting to help them are getting the wrong information. The ministry is doing them a disservice, and we are very unhappy," he stressed.

Improbable figures

Jerit coordinator Y Kohila too, said the answer in Parliament was misleading. The question was how many Malaysians are dependent on the plantation industry and how much they were earning?

"The Minister's answer was about 600,000, where a tapper earned around RM870 and a harvester around RM1,700. This is definitely misleading as rubber estates have dwindled.

"And a rubber tapper definitely does not earn RM870 a month. Secondly, harvesters earning up to RM1,700 are mainly subcontractors," she said.

"Workers earn around RM13.70 a day including other allowances. Taken into consideration are market prices and the height of trees. They earn only around RM500 to RM600 a month," added Kohila (left).

She added that there are few locals who are employed as harvesters and usually the job is contracted out with higher payment to subcontractors and foreign workers who are able put in 12 hours a day.

"The deputy minister says that if 78 tonnes are harvested a month, a salary of RM1,700 is achievable. This may be true but it means working more than 12 hours a day from 6am to 7 to 8pm daily for a month and harvesting about 200 fruits.

"Not only that, workers are supposed to pick up the dropped fruits, clear the dried branches and leaves. Doing all this and harvesting 3 tonnes a day is not possible under normal circumstances," said Kohila.

KEENGGANAN POLIS (PDRM) MENYIASAT DAN BERTINDAK PUNCA PENGGUNAAN SIJIL ANAK NEGERI PALSU (SAN) BERLELUASA DISABAH

Isu penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri telah menambah hangatkan senario politik Negeri Sabah bilamana pada 17hb Novembr 2009 Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Sekong, Datuk Samsudin Yahya (kiri), membangkitkannya di Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah.

Sabah negeri dibawah bayu yang belum lagi reda dengan isu penggunaan kad pengenalan dikeluarkan kepada kaum pendatang daripada Filipina dan Indonesa kini telah di kejutkan lagi dengan isu sijil anak negeri yang kesahihannya diragui.

Pihak Polis bersama beberapa agensi lain termasuk Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah (SPRM) digesa supaya menyiasat Adun Sri Tanjung, Jimmy Wong Sze Phin(kanan) yang didakwah oleh Ahli Dewan Undangan negeri Kawasan Sekong sebagai penipu kerana memiliki Sijil Anak Negeri yang kesahihannya meragukan demikian kenyataan, dibuat oleh YB Datuk Samsudin Yahya, disiar di muka depan Akhbar New Sabah Times, memberi gambaran peri pentingnya isu tersebut yang telah lama menghantui rakyat sabah.

Penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri dimiliki oleh gulongan yang tidak berhak memiliki nya bukan masalah baru kepada rakyat Sabah. Pengeluarannya telah dibekukan diera Kerajaan Parti Berjaya memerintah disebabkan adanya penyalahgunaankuasa dalam proses pengeluarannya.

“Sebagai formula memelihara hak kaum anak negeri daripada terjejas akibat pengeluarannya yang didalangi segelintir Ketua Daerah dan Ketua Anak Negeri tidak bertanggungjawab Kerajaan Parti Berjaya telah membekukan pengeluarannya sejak tahun 1983” demikian kenyataan yang pernah dibuat bekas Ketua Daerah Sandakan OKK Hassnar Hj Ebrahim (kiri).

Ramai daripada kalangan pemimpin masyarakat Sabah pernah menyoal penggunaan sijil anak negeri palsu tetapi setiap kali isu tersebut dimatikan begitu saja menyebabkan sebilangan besar rakyat Sabah daripada keturunan anak negeri menerima nasib ibarat sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga”. Padah kesan penggunaannya ramai kaum anak negeri telah hilang tanah milik mereka yang dikeluarkan geran taraf Native Title kerana geran mereka diambil oleh gulungan tauke tauke yang ada hubungan dengan kakitang diJabatan Tanah dan Ukur.

Walaupun ianya merupakan satu jenayah dan seorang Menteri BN pernah memberi jaminan kepada rakyat bahawa mereka yang menggunakan sijil anaka negeri palsu akan diserah kepada Polis tetapi sehingga kini tidak ada satupun dari kalangan mereka yang memiliki dan menggunakan sijil anak negeri yang kessahihannya diragui telah diheret dan diddakwa diMahkamah untuk diadili.

“keengganan anggota PDRM (kanan) menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan keatas aduan kaum anak negeri terhadap gulungan yang memiliki sijil anak negeri yang kesahihannya diragui adalah punca penggunaan sijil anak negeri palsu berleluasa diSabah” ujar En Zainuddin Hasssan ketua Penerangan AMK negeri Sabah.

“AMK menyeru Kerajaan BN jika mereka tulus hendak memperjuangkan hak kaum anak negeri yang kini tertindas akibat penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri yang dikeluarkan kepada mereka yang tidak berhak - jangan hanya tumpu kepada pemilikan sijil sedemikian oleh pemimpin pembangkang sahaja. Banyak Tauke - tauke proksi BN dan UMNO telah merampas ribuan ekar Tanah orang kampong dengan mengunakan Sijil Anak Negeri serupa! Apakah mereka diberi kekebalan dan imuniti daripada kerajaan dan tidak boleh diambil tindakan Undang Undang?” Tambah En Zainuddin hassan

Sabahkini.net telahpun menyiarkan tindakan seorang wanita berbangsa Sungai daripada daerah Kinabatangan, Puan Rosmina Binti Nazry, melaporkan kepada Polis akan perbuataan seorang wanita berbangsa Cina tetapi memiliki serta menggunakan satu sijil Anak Negeri yang tidak ada rekod diMahkamah Anak Negeri Kota Kinabalu. Malangnya aduan Puan Rosminah Bte Nasry kepada Polis tidak hendak disiasat oleh Polis walaupun telah diadu secara resmi di Balai Polis daerah Sandakan.

Ketua Penerangan AMK PKR Sabah, Zainuddin Hassan (kanan) mencabar Kerajaan BN dan Polis, SPRM agar jangan berat sebelah hanya kerana terdapat sijil yang dimiliki oleh seorang ahli pembangkang sahaja. Terdapat ramai gulongan tauke- tauke dari Sabah yang menyokong Barisan Nasional juga memiliki sijil yang kesahihannya diragui tetapi enggan diambil tindakan oleh kakitangan Kerajaan BN Sabah walaupun aduan demi aduan telah dibuat.

“Siasat semua laporan yang pernah dibuat oleh kaum anak negeri Sabah kalau memang PDRM jujur hendak menangani perkara ini dan bukan meneguk diair keruh untuk mencari untung peribadi. “ Tambah En. Zainudin Hassan

Reconciling with Jeffrey may doom PKR in Sabah

By Wong Choon Mei

As top PKR leaders in Kuala Lumpur mull the fate of their Sabah ‘strongman’ Jeffrey Kitingan (left), a storm of protest is building up in his home state, where many of the party rank-and-file are demanding that he and several division leaders linked to him be shown the door and quickly too!

These protesters – believed to represent the majority in Sabah PKR - fear that KL may recapitulate and reject Jeffrey’s recent resignation as vice-president and supreme council member. Such a decision will only bode disaster for the party and prolong a power tussle amongst the state division leaders, they claim.

Indeed chances are high that KL will opt for what it perceives to be political expediency, although party insiders reassure it will retain Jeffrey without bowing to the demands of his camp, which include rescinding the appointment of Thamrin Jaini (left) as the new state chief.

“Actually, what Jeffrey wanted was to be the state PKR chief and later on the Sabah chief minister. His supporters orchestrated the move that got Azmin Ali replaced but KL appointed another Sabahan, Thamrin, instead of him. So Jeffrey resigned as veep in a bid to force KL’s hand but although KL may reject his resignation, it will still stick with Thamrin,” an insider said.

The younger brother of current Sabah deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin, Jeffrey gave up his PKR posts along with Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew (right) last month. The two accused the national leadership of racial favoritism and being insensitive to the wishes of the Sabah people. Both however remained as party members.

Dooming the PKR

Simmering infighting between division leaders in Sabah PKR finally broke out openly last month, dragging the entire party down in the esteem of voters both in East Malaysia and the peninsula.

Counter-accusations were leveled at Jeffrey and his camp for putting his political ambitions above party interests including spreading a spate of negative and false news that painted several leaders such as Azmin Ali (left) and former state chief Ansari Abdullah (right) in a bad light. According to the state information bureau, Ansari has now threatened to sue a journalist and the editor-in-chief of news portal Malaysiakini for defamation and RM10 million in damages if they did not apologize over several articles published recently.

But short of a bold and clear-cut decision from the national leadership in KL, the infighting will continue in Sabah, a state in which PKR can ill afford to allow instability to foment and fester.

Indeed, its 25 parliamentary seats will be vital in deciding who wins the federal government at the next general election – the Pakatan Rakyat or the Umno-Barisan Nasional.

“For PKR to win Sabah, the reform agenda must be renewed, rejuvenated and rebuilt. And this can only happen if there is the will to revamp thoroughly and quickly,” said state Director Of Communications Ronnie Klassen.


While many would like to see Christina retained, they are convinced that Jeffrey’s shelf life as a leader is past and long expired. They see in him a troublemaker and a spoiler, who can only doom the party’s chances.

“KL has to take a firmer stance and kick Jeffrey out once and for all. The moment he confirms he will stay on, PKR and Pakatan will have lost Sabah and Malaysia once again,” said Hassanar Ebrahim, a veteran political watcher.

An unusual quiet

But since holding peace talks with national strategy director Tian Chua (left) two weeks ago, Jeffrey has been toeing the line and keeping an unusually low profile, sparking speculation that a face-saving reconciliation was being worked out for the Sabah leader.

According to the party grapevine, Tian is believed to have told Jeffrey that he would not be offered the post that he covets above all else – the chief ministership of Sabah.

“Even if PKR wins, Jeffrey has been told in no uncertain terms that he won’t get the chief minister’s job although he may be made a minister in the federal cabinet. The job that he wants most will go to another Sabahan, not him,” a party source said.

Why then would Jeffrey - who has warned that he may form his own party - agree to stay on in PKR? Already, his supporters have threatened to resign en-masse if Thamrin is not dropped.

Could Jeffrey have finally realized that his political star is waning and it might best to give up his party-hopping ways and soldier on in the PKR after all? Or are there other reasons, ulterior motives even?

“His camp gave KL two weeks to accede to their requests and it is now three weeks. Why isn’t he keeping his word and leaving to form his own party as he has threatened to. It is actually the best thing he can do for Sabah PKR. Leave and let the party rebuild itself before it becomes too late," said Hassanar.

A new political reality

Indeed, the flamboyant and wealthy Jeffrey has failed to impress as a party administrator, achieving little success despite his decades in the political arena.

Instead he has attracted unflattering speculation including controversial rumors that he was a Trojan horse planted by the BN to wreak destruction and infighting in the PKR – much like PAS’s Hassan Ali in Selangor.

Although, in the eyes of KL, PKR may still need Jeffrey for his Kadazan-Dusun-Murut links, many Sabah leaders insist his departure will not be missed at all. They believe he has the support of only eight out of the state’s 25 divisions.

Some are even willing to bet that if he leaves, more Sabahans will join the PKR, especially the Muslims whom they say have kept their distance because of his fiery communal rhetoric. Jeffrey had in the past centred his political platform around a tooth-and-nail fight for KDM rights, stepping on the toes of other ethnic groups in the process.

But a new political reality has dawned and taken hold since. Bitten repeatedly by bad experiences, Sabahans have become more sophisticated and demanding of whom they want to lead their state out of poverty, suppression and blatant abuse of power.

Also, due to re-bordering by the BN, they now have 60 seats in their state assembly compared to 48 previously. Of the 60, 35 are Muslim-majority constituencies, eight are Chinese and 17 are KDM. This compares against the eight Chinese, 20 Muslim and 20 KDM before.

“The mood of the people has changed vastly. PKR itself espouses priority on a needs-based methodology and not on a race-based one,” said Hassanar (right).

“The situation in the peninsula has opened up the minds of Sabahans. If one Jeffrey supporter leaves today, 10 others including many from the KDM community will join PKR tomorrow. There is no need for KL to worry about letting Jeffrey go. In fact, by letting him stay, it may be barking up the wrong tree.”

(Wong Choon Mei is the former chief editor of Suara Keadilan)