Poster & Banner Kempen Pilihan Raya Kecil DUN Bukit Selambau

Anda dialu-alukan memaparkan poster dan banner kempen bersempena pilihan raya kecil Dun Bukit Selambau di laman web dan blog sebagai tanda sokongan terhadap calon Pakatan Rakyat, S. Manikumar.

PEJABAT DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

Najib frees ISA detainees, lifts paper suspension

The Malaysian Insider

By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — New prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tonight freed 13 ISA detainees and lifted the suspension of two opposition papers — Harakah and Suara Keadilan.

He also told Malaysians in his maiden address that the Barisan Nasional will comprehensively review the Internal Security Act.

“These decisions are timely as we move to enhance the confidence of our citizens in those entrusted with maintaining peace, law and order, while recognizing the need to remain vigilant of the very real security threats we continue to face as a young nation,” Najib said.

Najib had come into office under intense speculation that he would be more authoritarian than his predecessor and would crack down on the democratic space in the country.

In response, the then deputy prime minister appealed at the close of the Umno general assembly last Saturday to be judged by his actions.

His first announcements as prime minister tonight have defied earlier expectations. It may even take the wind out of several opposition sails as the abolishment or comprehensive review of the ISA is one of the main thrusts of the opposition and the suspension of the two party newspapers was also one of their main grouses against the government.

Najib had promised a lot of reforms but only in the days ahead will the nation get to see the full extent of changes under the son of Malaysia’s second prime minister.

But for tonight, his speech hit the right notes, as he stressed that nobody in the country, regardless of ethnic background, should feel marginalised or left behind.

“We must draw on talented people across our nation, regardless of their position or background, to re-energize a passion for public service. We must sow the seeds of goodwill and understanding in every corner of this land, so that we continue to harvest the fruits of progress and prosperity for all Malaysians,” he said.

He also said he will be seeking to engage people from around the country in formulating the priorities of the government. The nation’s youth, who have long felt disaffected by the veterans in the government, were given a special mention.

Najib, who takes office in the midst of one of the worst economic slowdowns the world has seen, promised to work hard to steer the country through the current crisis.

The new prime minister did take one swipe at the opposition: “We must reach out to the many who may have been disaffected and left confused by political games, deceit and showmanship,” he said.

But overall, the tone of the speech was hopeful as he stressed that he will work hard to realise the full potential of the country and committed himself to meet the needs, aspirations and concerns of all Malaysians.

He ended on a high note as he invited Malaysians to join him in renewing the country and build a “One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

“Let us begin this great journey together.”

In a separate telephone interview with RTM, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that Hindraf leaders, V.S. Ganapathy Rao and R. Kengadhedharan were among the 13 ISA detainees that would be released.

Others detainees to be released included Jemaah Islamiah members and foreigners.

Hamid said that the foreigners will be deported.

Motif Dr M kembali ke pangkuan Umno

Mohd Rashidi Hassan | rashidi@harakah.net.my

PERWAKILAN Perhimpunan Agung Umno, kononnya terharu apabila pemimpin-pemimpin Umno berhimpun di pentas Dewan Merdeka PWTC, meraikan tamatnya perseteruan antara dua bekas Presiden Umno, seorang yang lama dengan seorang lagi yang baru sahaja ‘dibekaskan’.

Ianya seumpama suatu kemenangan besar kepada Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak selaku Presiden Umno yang baru, seolah-olahnya beliau berjaya memupuk rasa persahabatan kepada dua pemimpin besar Umno’ yang hebat berseteru sekian lama.

Hebatnya perasaan Najib dan para perwakilan Umno, ditunjukkan media arus perdana besar-besaran, buat tatapan rakyat, supaya rakyat turut berkongsi sama dan menunjukkan bahawa Umno kini sudah kembali kukuh (consolidate) selepas berpecah sekian lama.

Usaha-usaha Umno untuk menyatupadukan barisan, bak kata Najib yang mahu kan ‘saf’ yang padu, merupakan suatu usaha murni bagi sebuah organisasi yang teruk berpecah akibat pelbagai faktor dalaman.

Bagi Umno, perseteruan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dengan Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, sudah sampai ke tahap kritikal, yang sedikit sebanyak telah mencalarkan imej parti itu di mata rakyat.

Mahathir yang memimpin Umno lebih 22 tahun, mengisytiharkan diri keluar daripada parti itu, selepas pelbagai nasihat, teguran dan kritikan beliau sejak tahun 2005 tidak dipedulikan pengganti beliau.

Justeru, dengan pengumuman Mahathir untuk kembali kepangkuan Umno, menyebabkan perwakilan Umno di Dewan Merdeka bersorak kegembiraan.

Selama hampir lima tahun Mahathir begitu jauh dan berkecil hati dengan Umno dan pemimpin-pemimpinnya yang tidak menghormati beliau kerana takut kepada Abdullah.

Mahathir sebelum ini, cukup marah kerana Abdullah banyak membatalkan atau mengagalkan projek-projek yang diusahakannya, termasuk Jambatan Kedua, Landasan Berkembar, Proton dan banyak lagi.

Beliau cukup tersinggung apabila ahli-ahli Umno menganggap kemenangan besar Barisan Nasional pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2004 lalu di bawah kepimpinan Abdullah, dianggap sebagai satu rekod yang lebih baik daripadanya (termasuk kejayaan BN merampas Terengganu dan hampir menumbangkan PAS di Kelantan).

Mahathir juga berterus terang mengecam hebat menantu Abdullah, Khairy Jamaluddin dan kroni-kroninya yang menguasai Tingkat 4 JPM serta akhbar NST, yang disifatkannya anasir-anasir yang merosakkan Umno dan negara.

Beliau juga cukup marah dengan ahli-ahli dan pemimpin Umno yang disifatkannya sebagai penakut terhadap kuasa dan pengaruh Abdullah dan Khairy, sehingga sanggup merasuah perwakilan Umno Bahagian Kubang Pasu untuk menghalangnya menjadi perwakilan.

Malah, secara terbuka dalam blognya Mahathir terus menerus menyerang Abdullah dan Umno dengan melemparkan pelbagai kritikan dan kecaman.

Bagaimanapun, hasil pertemuan di atas pentas Umno, Sabtu lepas, kedua-dua musuh yang berseteru itu dianggap sudah mula mahu berdamai.

Mereka bersalam-salaman dan berpelukan sehingga menyebabkan badut-badut yang berada dalam perhimpunan bersorak sehingga gegak gempita Dewan Merdeka.

Namun, lakonan di pentas Umno jelas tidak menjadi. Hanya dua hari selepas berpelukan dengan Abdullah, Mahathir terus menyerang Abdullah dan mengulangi kenyataannya dalam temuramah BBC bahawa beliau tersilap melantik Abdullah menjadi penggantinya.

Dalam temuramah itu juga Mahathir menyerang Khairy dan kroni-kroni Abdullah, yang didakwa beliau mempunyai pengaruh yang besar dalam kerajaan.

Serangan terbaru Mahathir terhadap Abdullah, hanya dua hari selepas berpelukan menyebabkan lebih 2000 perwakilan yang menghadiri perhimpunan Umno tergamam.

Perasaan keterharuan perwakilan Umno sudah menjadi tidak keruan. Jelas kepada rakyat bahawa gelagat pemimpin-pemimpin Umno yang berpelukan di Dewan Merdeka, hanyalah omong-omong kosong dan lakonan untuk mengaburi mata rakyat semata-mata.

Bagi Mahathir sendiri, beliau tidak mampu menyembunyikan kepura-puraan, motifnya adalah jelas, kemasukannya ke dalam Umno bukan lagi untuk menyerahkan ‘tengkuknya untuk disembelih’ oleh Abdullah dan kroni.

Mahatir mahu revenge terhadap Abdullah. Dia mahu memperbetulkan kesilapan Abdullah dengan menebus kembali kesilapannya melantik Abdullah. Dia juga mahu menghapuskan saki baki legasi Abdullah.

Abdullah kini telah pergi, yang tinggal hanya Khairy. Sebagai bapa Mukhriz, Mahathir sudah tentu tidak akan berdiam diri. Kemenangan Khairy menewaskan Mukhriz dilihatnya sebagai kemenangan Abdullah menewaskan Mahathir.

Awas Khairy, battle masih belum berakhir. Ianya hanya akan berakhir selepas Mahathir berjaya menghapuskan Khairy daripada Umno.

Perseteruan ini ternyata berterusan. Usaha untuk Umno consolidate sudah gagal, hanya dua hari selepas perhimpunan berakhir. Mereka memasuki Pilihan Raya Kecil Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang dan Batang Ai bukan sebagai sebuah pasukan yang bersatu._

Views : What’s so great about Najib?

Malaysiakini

Madhatter

I refer to the letter Najib’s leadership offers a new dawn for nation.

The writer is entitled to his opinion and I am entitled to mine. Does he consider Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the group of political analysts and doomsday narrators since he has been giving his opinion on Najib Razak also?

Tun has been warning Najib and and talking about doom and gloom and negative things about the government, and if the former premier can be giving his opinions why can’t other Malaysians?

The reason why so many are negative comments about Najib is simply because many Malaysians do not think he is fit to be the prime minister and the list of scandals warrant the criticisms.

Never in the history of the country has a future prime minister been so tarnished. If there is gloom it is because Najib had brought it upon his head.

So whose fault is it? Why does he not answer the Altantuya allegations himself but let the police do all the dirty work for him?

Even in the forthcoming by-elections, the police are trying to shield the BN candidates and have banned talk about Altantuya saying the cases are in court. There are laws against sub judice it seems. So typical of these people.

Najib does not need anyone to defend him. We should be defending those who cannot defend themselves instead of those who are powerful.

What’s so great about Najib? If he did not have a prime minister father like Khairy Jamaluddin had a prime minister father-in-law, do you think he would anywhere?

If we want to boast about credentials, there are more qualified people than Najib. Look at Zaid Ibrahim for example. Many other towering Malays are more qualified and capable than Najib.

Everyone including the police are on Najib’s side. But who is there to speak out for the poor opposition?

So we try to balance the scales of justice and give justice a chance. That is why our views matter. Spare a thought for those in the opposition.

Some people don’t deserve to be prime minister and Najib is one of them. Take away his father’s reputation and his fancy suits and you have an ordinary bloke who went into politics early.

What has he achieved? Like Abdullah he will give more promises but don’t expect anything to help the rakyat.

Obama brings Afghan plan to NATO allies

Associated Press

STRASBOURG, France – President Barack Obama took his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan on Friday to NATO leaders reluctant to commit significant new forces.

The 28-nation alliance is eager to quickly repair relations with a resurgent Russia, whose president cautioned NATO against further eastward expansion in a warning ahead of the alliance’s 60th anniversary summit.

Obama — who arrived in Strasbourg from London on Friday morning — was meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the formal start of the summit at a dinner at the German resort spa of Baden-Baden.

Sarkozy rolled out all the pomp possible for Obama’s visit, with a red carpet arrival with full military honors from a company of soldiers dressed in camouflage at the majestic 18th-century Rohan Palace, once home to the bishops of Alsace. Church bells pealed at the stroke of noon from the nearby Strasbourg cathedral, while helicopters helping ensure security droned overhead.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also were present, as was Sarkozy’s special envoy for Afghanistan, a sign that the conflict there would also likely come up for discussion.

NATO’s ability to succeed in a now-deadlocked war in Afghanistan will be seen as a crucial test of the alliance’s power and relevance. Although European governments have already made clear they are unwilling to deploy significant new ground forces, they have been more enthusiastic about increasing humanitarian and development assistance to the beleaguered government in Kabul.

In Washington, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the United States would ask its allies for more civilian help, including significant assistance to Afghan government ministries.

Other items on the packed agenda of the two-day summit include starting work on a new doctrine that will define the alliance’s role and values in the 21st century and choosing a new secretary-general. The leaders will formally welcome France back into NATO‘s military wing after a 43-year absence, a largely symbolic move championed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They will also welcome two new members from the Balkans — Albania and Croatia joined NATO this week.

While NATO leaders have emphasized that the meeting Friday and Saturday must be more than just a birthday celebration, no major breakthroughs are expected on key issues facing the alliance.

The two-day conference — co-hosted by the Rhine river cities of Strasbourg and Kehl, Germany — is the second of three major international meetings taking place in Europe this week.

Obama and the leaders of the Group of 20 nations made headway Thursday on tackling the world’s worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The U.S. president’s meeting with European Union leaders in Prague on Sunday also will focus on economic issues.

Ties with Russia have been strained over the alliance’s eastward expansion and last summer’s war between Russia and Georgia

The allies are expected to approve moves to normalize relations with Moscow, which were frozen following the Russia-Georgia war in August. Things have improved since then, and Russia has allowed NATO nations to use its territory to supply their forces in Afghanistan after the main supply route through Pakistan came under repeated Taliban attacks. But Moscow also wants an end to Bush-era plans to bring Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance, and to install a missile shield in eastern Europe.

And Russia vehemently opposes membership for Georgia and Ukraine, whose pro-Western leaders want to bring their nations into the alliance.

“NATO needs to think about preserving its unity and not harming relations with its neighbors,” the state-run RIA-Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.

The leaders may also announce a decision on NATO’s new secretary-general, who will succeed Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer whose term runs out Aug. 1.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has emerged at the leading candidate, despite opposition from Turkey. Fogh Rasmussen infuriated many Muslims by speaking out in favor of freedom of speech during an uproar over Danish publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Fogh Rasmussen’s Liberal Party said the Danish leader had confirmed for the first time that he was a candidate.

Turkey’s prime minister expressed strong opposition to Fogh Rasmussen’s candidacy but did not say whether Turkey would veto it.

The sites of the summit straddling the French-German border were swathed in police and security cordons as demonstrators from several countries poured in with a panoply of demands from pulling out of Afghanistan to building a new and more just world economic order. Up to 65,000 protesters may rally on both sides of the border, authorities said.

During clashes on Thursday and early Friday, French police detained 107 anti-NATO demonstrators for their for their role in violent clashes before the two-day summit.

Riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets forced hundreds of demonstrators off the streets of Strasbourg Thursday night back into a tent camp on the edge of the city. Demonstrators destroyed telephone booths and attempted to build barricades before they were stopped, a police spokesman said.

___

Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington, Deborah Seward in Strasbourg, Steve Guttermann and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

Enter Najib, with baggage — The Economist

The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 3 — One could certainly say that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was born to be prime minister. He is the son of Tun Abdul Razak, the second man to hold that job following independence from Britain, and the nephew of his successor, Tun Hussein Onn. Elected to Parliament aged 23, on his father’s death, he rose to become deputy to the outgoing prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However, Najib, who became the country’s sixth post-independence leader today, enters under a cloud of allegations, including ones linking him to a murder case, all of which he categorically denies. But some Malaysians will be wondering if he is a fit person to lead them.

Facing a revitalised opposition, in an election last year the governing coalition, led by Umno, lost the two-thirds majority it needs to change the constitution. Since then, the knives have been out for Abdullah. Despite his efforts to cling on he was forced to quit. The contest to succeed him as party president, and thus prime minister, at first promised to be lively. But party officials, fearful of the challenge from the opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (a former Umno deputy leader), chose to hang together rather than hang separately. By Nov 2 Najib had won enough nominations to block his only rival, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a former finance minister, from getting on the ballot-paper.

Like Abdullah before him, Najib comes to the job promising reforms, including of the system of preference for members of the ethnic-Malay majority for state contracts and jobs. Abdullah achieved little, though he allowed a bit more freedom of expression than had his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Expectations for Najib are lower still. It is possible, notes Edmund Gomez, a political scientist, that he will use the worsening economic outlook as a pretext for reverting to Mahathir-style repression.

Anwar has failed to carry out his threat to topple the government through a mass defection of parliamentarians. Even so, there is a palpable fin de régime air around Umno. Abdullah,Dr Mahathir and other leaders are publicly lamenting how corruption and cronyism are rife in the party. But his opponents say Najib is hardly the man to restore confidence. In the latest scandal to which they are linking him, the Defence Ministry (which he oversaw until recently) has deferred a big order for helicopters following questions about their high price. A parliamentary committee recently cleared the government of wrongdoing, but admitted not investigating whether “commissions” were paid.

In an earlier case, a company the opposition claimed was linked to Abdul Razak Baginda, an adviser to Najib, was paid juicy fees for services provided over a contract for the purchase of French submarines. A Mongolian woman, said to have worked as a translator in the negotiations, was shot dead and her corpse destroyed with explosives in 2006. Razak was put on trial over her killing, along with two policemen. The case has dragged on for months and seen various odd goings-on, including changes of judge, prosecutors and defence lawyers at the start of the trial. A private detective signed a statutory declaration implicating Najib, retracted it the next day, saying it had been made under duress. Calls by the victim’s family for Najib to testify were rejected. On Oct 31 the judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to make a prima facie case against Razak.

The policemen’s trial will continue. A blogger who linked Najib’s wife to the case is on trial for criminal libel. None of this, however, seems likely to interfere with Najib’s accession to the prime minister’s job. A bigger threat may yet emerge from the resurgent opposition and Anwar, who nurtures a long-thwarted ambition to take the job himself. — Economist

An Old Hand Will Be Malaysia’s New Prime Minister

Malaysia Today

Opposition members fear Mr. Najib’s rise could signal a return to the days of Mahathir Mohammad, who ruled Malaysia with a firm hand for 22 years. That could mean a crackdown on dissent and less transparency in government.

By Luke Hunt, Voice of America

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has resigned, and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak will replace him. During Mr. Abdullah’s administration, the ruling UMNO party saw its worst electoral performance in more than 40 years, and he agreed to resign in favor of his deputy. However, Mr. Najib brings with him his own political baggage.

Najib Razak, who takes office Friday, faces tough challenges as his UMNO party struggles to win over moderate Malays, the Chinese and Indian communities and young voters. UMNO, which has dominated Malaysian politics for more than 40 years, last year saw its worst election result ever.

Mr. Najib was elected UMNO’s head on Monday. As party chief, he replaces Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister. Mr. Abdullah resigned after five years in office. During his term, he failed to curb corruption and to bolster the flagging economy.

Opinion polls show the electorate is tired of corruption and wants a fresh face at the helm. This could put the Mr. Najib, 55, at a disadvantage.

He grew up in eastern Malaysia as part of the country’s political aristocracy. His father Abdul Razak was Malaysia’s second prime minister. After earning a degree in industrial economics from a British university, Mr. Najib returned home to win a seat in parliament at just 22 years of age. He has since served as defense and finance minister and has been the deputy prime minister for the past six years.

Din Merican, a retired central banker, diplomat and now a prominent Malaysian opposition blogger, says Mr. Najib’s government must address public concerns about corruption, and treat dissident voices, particularly bloggers, with respect.

“You see politicians overnight becoming multi-millionaires with huge contracts, inflated contracts, all these kinds of things,” said Merican. “That’s why the rallying cry is also for good governance, transparency and accountability.”

Opposition members fear Mr. Najib’s rise could signal a return to the days of Mahathir Mohammad, who ruled Malaysia with a firm hand for 22 years. That could mean a crackdown on dissent and less transparency in government. The new prime minister, however, vows to implement economic and political reforms.

Mr. Najib also faces questions about his behavior. His name has been linked to secret commissions involving the purchase of submarines from a French company. And opposition members say he has been connected to a glamorous Mongolian translator murdered near Kuala Lumpur.

However, Vejai Balasubramaniam from the University of Malaya argues that what matters most between now and the next election, not due until 2013, is the ailing economy.

“What I’m trying to say is, if Najib is able to bring about steady and more evenly developed economic growth then he should be able to carry the general populace behind him,” said Vejai Balasubramaniam.

Given the collapse in commodity prices, particularly palm oil, which is an enormous contributor to the Malaysian economy, this could be a tall order for the new prime minister.

Najib’s first test as PM on his “One Malaysian” concept – halt Umno’s irresponsible, destructive by-election campaign labelling majority of PR voters as anti-Sultan

Lim Kit Siang

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been sworn in as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, fulfilling the most famous political prophecy of RAHMAN on the first six Prime Ministers, although time will tell whether Najib will be the shortest-serving Prime Minister marking the end of the line of UMNO Prime Ministers in the country.

What is incontrovertible is that never before in the nation’s 53-year history has the ascension of a new Prime Minister in Malaysia been surrounded by so many questions, doubts and allegations raising serious questions about his suitability, credibility, integrity and legitimacy as in Najib’s case, not only among Malaysians transcending race, religion, political affiliation or region, but also internationally.

For the past month, Najib’s ascension as the new Prime Minister has been reported extensively in the international press and foreign countries, but there has not been one serious write-up which had not referred to the grave allegations hounding and haunting Najib, in particular the serious allegations about the C4 murder case of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shariibuu and the French submarine mega-defence commission.

These personal dilemmas of Najib have from today become national nightmares as they concern the honour of the highest political office of the land and that of the nation.

Is Najib just going to ignore these serious swirling doubts and allegations about his suitability, credibility, integrity and legitimacy as Prime Minister and soldier on regardless or is he finally going to end his denial and address these issues in a credible manner as by setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to put these doubts and allegations to rest, once and for all?

The timing of Najib’s takeover as Prime Minister could not have been worse, coming hours after Malaysia had been placed in the four-nation blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) for breaching international tax standards – as Najib had taken over the finance ministry since last September.

With the country facing the worst global economic crisis in a century, Malaysia needs a Prime Minister who can rally and mobilise Malaysians as one people to tide through a grave recession looming in the months ahead.

     To read further please go to :

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/

 

Anwar to spring big surprise ‘related to Najib’ tomorrow

The Malaysian Insider

By Shannon Teoh

SUNGAI PETANI, April 3 — PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is back in town and promises a big announcement in his ceramah tomorrow night that “is directly or indirectly related to Najib”.

Strategist Saifuddin Nasution told reporters this when quizzed over whether the “surprise announcement” would be on defections from Barisan Nasional.

The Machang MP’s statement is consistent with the amount of pressure Pakatan Rakyat has been heaping on newly-installed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

This includes a petition to the King stating Najib’s alleged involvement in the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shariibuu and huge commissions paid out in the government purchase of Scorpene submarines, signed by all 81 PR MPs.

“The announcement is based on initial reactions we have received concerning his appointment,” he added.

Saifuddin would not give details of the announcement but does not rule out the return of V. Arumugam, who vacated the Bukit Selambau seat, “as a possibility.” He did however say the announcement would “have a huge impact in the Bukit Selambau campaign and may be the deciding factor”.

Arumugam had vacated the state seat as well as his state executive council position while PR has been alleging that he was being induced by Barisan Nasional to cross over and added that his personal safety was threatened.

There were also rumours that Arumugam was forced to resign over claims of bigamy.

During the campaign period, rumours had also surfaced that Arumugam would return to clear the air over his resignation as he has been missing since he quit on Feb 8.

Saifuddin advised the media to be at the ceramah tomorrow night because “if you miss this, then your editors will be very angry”.

Umno treasurer gets RM1mil in libel damages against Raja Petra

Malaysia Today

(The Star) – Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd has won RM1mil in damages over two libellous articles published by Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin.

Senior Assistant registrar Nor Hatini Abdul Hamid ordered Raja Petra to pay RM500,000 in general damages, RM300,000 in aggravated damages and RM200,000 in exemplary damages.

Nor Hatini awarded the sum in her chambers on Thursday during an application for assessment in damages over the libel suit.

Azim obtained a judgement in default on Aug 8 last year upon the failure of Raja Petra to enter an appearance in the civil proceedings.