It’s time to storm the Bastille

Malaysian Today

I call upon all Malaysians who wish to uphold the kedaulatan of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia to converge onto Ipoh on 7 May 2009 as a show of support to Nizar Jamaluddin and the Pakatan Rakyat government of Perak.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kenyataan Media YB V.Sivakumar, Yang Dipertua Dewan Negeri Perak

7 Mei 2009 telah ditetapkan sebagai tarikh Persidangan Dewan Negeri Perak. Perkara ini tidak dirunding dengan saya terlebih dahulu. Saya tidak mengetahui tentang tarikh itu sehingga saya diberitahu oleh ADUN-ADUN yang lain. Notis dikeluarkan oleh Setiausaha Dewan En. Abddullah Antong. Saya telah mengantung tugasnya sebagai setiausaha Dewan Negeri sebelum persidangan ‘bawah pokok’ yang dibuat pada 3 Mac 2009.

Notis yang sama juga telah diberikan kepada saya oleh Setiausaha Dewan. Siapakah yang memberi arahan kepada Setiausaha Dewan untuk mengeluarakan Notis. Arahan itu sepatutnya datang daripada pejabat Speaker. Tetapi, Speaker sendiri tidak tahu tentang tarikh persidangan tersebut. Mungkin sayalah yang terakhir dimaklumkan tentang tarikh persidangan. Bukankah ini satu tindakan yang aneh. Speaker dihina sekali lagi.

Pada protokolnya, Spaeker yang harus memberi arahan kepada Setiausaha Dewan untuk mengeluarkan notis. Tetapi, di sini, speaker pula menerima notis yang sama seperti ADUN-ADUN yang lain.

Adakah ini merupakan usaha-usaha untuk memperkecilkan atau memperbodohkan institusi Speaker? Pada pandangan saya, ini merupakan satu lagi tindakan untuk menghina Speaker Dewan Negeri.

Sanggupkah Pandekar Amin, Speaker Dewan Rakyat berdiam diri jika Setiausaha Dewannya mengeluarkan notis memanggil Dewan Rakyat bersidang tanpa berunding dengannya? Bukankah hak Speaker untuk mengetahui terlebih dahulu segala apa yang berkaitan dengan Dewan. Apa gunanya institusi Speaker apabila semua keputusan dibuat oleh Pihak yang lain. Ini merupakan campurtangan eksekutif yang nyata. Sekali lagi doktrin pengasingan kuasa dicabuli.

Saya akan menulis surat kepada Istana untuk mendapatkan kepastian tentang tarikh persidangan yang ditetapkan. Saya tidak ditunjukkan apa-apa bukti tentang penetapan tarikh persidangan oleh Istana. Oleh yang demikian, tarikh persidangan itu mungkin perlu ditangguhkan sehingga saya mendapat kepastian tentang tarikh tersebut.

Saya juga mengantung tugas En Abdullah Antong sebagai Setiausaha Dewan. Beliau akan digantikan dengan Tuan Haji Misbah sehingga suatu tarikh yang akan diberitahu kelak.

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To read further please go to :

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/20778/84/

The Penanti doublespeak — The Malaysian Insider

The Malaysian Insider

Question: When did a group of politicians and lawmakers who have presided over billions of ringgit in wastage and leakages and who usurped power in Perak develop a conscience about prudent spending and democratic practices?

Answer: When they realised the futility of contesting a by-election in Anwar Ibrahim territory and the danger of allowing the political temperature in the country to keep on throbbing.

The latest news out of the Barisan Nasional camp is that they may not contest the Penanti seat in Penang, left vacant by the resignation of Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, the incumbent who has been damaged by a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission probe and countless complaints of incompetence and truancy.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that if there was a consensus among BN parties, the ruling coalition may not field a candidate in the by-election. This is not the first time that the BN has contemplated giving a free victory to the opposition.

After Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail made way for her husband in Permatang Pauh last year, similar noises were made by BN politicians, arguing that they did not want to become pawns in a political game.

Fearful of coming across as cowards, BN fielded Datuk Ariff Shah and he was trounced by Datuk Seri Anwar. It is almost certain that any candidate BN puts up in Penanti will be beaten soundly. This state seat is part of the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency.

Voters here have been bribed, cajoled and threatened since 1998 but have stayed loyal to Anwar and his family.

In addition, the Umno machinery in this constituency is a mess. There are about three or four warlords here and all of them have been working furiously to undermine each other.

Under such conditions and given that this is Anwar territory, it would have been a steep climb for Umno/BN to field a candidate and expect to stop the Pakatan Rakyat juggernaut from notching its fifth consecutive by-election victory in Peninsular Malaysia, following Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau.

Let’s face it, the last thing the new Najib administration needs is another defeat and another reminder that a significant number of Malaysians support Pakatan Rakyat. The new leadership wants a change in the news cycle, a drop in the political temperature and a rolling boulder to stop the opposition momentum.

It yearns for a return to the mundane and ordinary. That is why government lawyers have been pushing the courts to resolve the Perak crisis ASAP.

Perhaps that may explain why the Federal Court moved with unusual haste to hear two cases related to the power grab.

The BN has attempted to occupy the high ground on the Fairus resignation and the need for a by-election, arguing that it was a waste of taxpayers’ money and counter to the principles of parliamentary democracy.

Let’s examine some of their reasons for challenging the need for a by-election:

? The mainstream media went to town detailing the cost of holding by-elections, saying that the five by-elections cost taxpayers RM33.4 million and making the case that the funds could be better utilised.

There are gaping holes in the argument. RM33.4 million is small change for a government which is ticked off every year by the Auditor-General for wasting hundreds of millions on suspect projects. RM33.4 million is small change for ruling coalition politicians who regularly pad government contracts.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of the RM33.4 million was incurred by the police. In many of the by-elections, the police contingent outnumbered party workers on both sides of the political divide.

It is hard to fathom why 6,000 police personnel were stationed in Kuala Terengganu and Bukit Gantang. The opposition is convinced that the show of force was meant to intimidate their party workers and dissuade the electorate from attending political rallies.

Clearly, the number of police personnel could have been reduced to 1,000 personnel in both constituencies and the cost would have been slashed considerably from the final bill of RM11.5 million in Kuala Terengganu and RM7 million Bukit Gantang.

? BN politicians also lashed out at PKR for forcing Fairus to resign as state assemblyman, arguing that it was against the principles of parliamentary democracy.

A few of them noted that Fairus had betrayed the voters by resigning, pointing out that once you offer yourself as a candidate, you should be committed to working for the whole duration to serve the people.

This would have been an acceptable argument had it escaped the lips of Barack Obama, Tun Dr Ismail or someone with moral standing.

But standing on a pedestal and preaching about high principles is not an option available to guys who encouraged the defection of three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers and then took over power unconstitutionally in Perak.

If principles of parliamentary democracy mattered, then BN leaders should have given Messrs Hee, Jamaluddin and Osman a tutorial on a simple concept called loyalty to constituents.

The tutorial would have gone something like this: if you offer yourself as a candidate on one ticket, you should serve on that ticket for the whole term.

Anwar is pushing for a by-election because once again he has been found wanting in his choice of candidate.

Like Jamaluddin and Osman, Fairus liked the position but not the concept of work. Like the two former PKR men, he too is likely to be charged in court soon with corruption. It would have been untenable for Fairus to remain a lawmaker with a corruption charge over his head.

The by-election strategy is Anwar’s preferred method of replacing the controversial with the credible.

Activists may be charged over Altantuya ‘hearse’

Malaysiakini

Eight PKR Youth members may be charged in court next Tuesday over the display a number of photographs and an effigy of slain Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu on their cars.

The eight – from Perak, Terengganu and Sarawak – were arrested on April 7, which was polling day, when their cars were making the rounds in the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency.

One of the cars had a effigy of a mock coffin tied to the roof, plastered with pictures of Altantuya, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Contacted today, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar said the eight had been ordered to appear at the Taiping Magistrate Court as part of their police bail condition.

However, Shamsul said he was still in the dark as to what charges, if any, would be laid against the eight.

Shamsul also accused the authorities of applying double standards when making their decision on which court cases could be raised in electoral campaigns.

He was referring to BN’s liberal use of sodomy charges against PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim, a matter pending in court, as a major campaign issue in the Permatang Pauh by-election last year.

“It is very clear that the move to arrest people displaying pictures of Altantuya is politically motivated. If Barisan Nasional were to use similar court cases against opposition figures, the police would not take action,” said Shamsul.

‘It’s an international issue’

“By barring us from raising the issue, the police are taking sides. We wanted to show the public the injustice that has been done to Altantuya,” he said.

Shamsul added that the Altantuya issue has also recently attracted worldwide attention.

He was referring to the international media coverage on the matter when Najib was sworn in as Malaysia’s sixth prime minister.

In addition, French newspaper Liberation has also reported lurid details of Altantuya’s alleged connections with Najib and how she was murdered.

Najib has repeatedly denied any links with Altantuya, who was reported to have a role in the arms purchase in France several years ago, when the former was defense minister.

Dakwaan Campur Tangan Terhadap Kuasa Speaker Silap: Ngeh minta Nazri teliti kenyataan bekas Hakim Rayuan

Suara Keadilan

Anna Yusof

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 April (SK) : Tindakan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz yang mengulas kenyataan Pengerusi Dap Perak Ngeh Koo Ham yang menyatakan bahawa beliau membuat kenyataan bodoh sebagai satu serangan peribadi.

“Itu merupakan satu kenyataan bodoh daripada seorang peguam bagi saya,” kata Mohamed Nazri yang dipetik dari laporan Bernama hari ini.

Menurut Bernama, Mohamed Nazri berkata Ngeh sebagai seorang peguam sepatutnya menghormati keputusan mahkamah dan bukannya mengeluarkan kenyataan bodoh mendakwa bahawa mahkamah telah mencampuri hal legislatif.

“Kalau kenyataan saya bodoh maka sepuluh lagi peguam lain yamg menyokong kenyataan saya juga bodoh termasuk termasuk bekas hakim mahkamah rayuan N.H Chan seperti yang beliau jelaskan dalam kenyataannya,” jelas Ngeh kepada Suara Keadilan

Dalam kenyataan yang sama, Mohamed Nazri berkata “Dia (Ngeh) sepatutnya sebagai seorang peguam mesti menghormati keputusan mahkamah. Kalau dah peguam tidak menghormati, macam mana rakyat biasa akan akur kepada setiap keputusan yang dibuat mahkamah. Pada saya tidak syak lagi keputusan mahkamah itu adalah tepat dan betul,” katanya.

Dalam laporan berkanaan menyatakan bahawa dakwaan Ngeh,  keputusan Mahkamah Persekutuan membatalkan tindakan Speaker Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) Perak V. Sivakumar menggantung Menteri Besar Perak dan enam Exco daripada menghadiri persidangan Dewan sebagai satu bentuk campur tangan kuasa seseorang Speaker adalah satu kenyataan yang silap.

Beliau membidas Ngeh dengan berkata tidak timbul soal badan kehakiman mencampuri hal legislatif berhubung keputusan itu kerana mahkamah sebenarnya adalah tempat terbaik untuk mendapat penyelesaian berkenaan dengan tafsiran sesuatu perlembagaan ataupun undang-undang.

“Untuk menjadi seorang peguam, kami telah dididik untuk menggunakan perkataan yang tidak berbaur penghinaan kepada sesiapa, jika tidak bersetuju dengan sesuatu pendapat maka kami akan berkata ‘tidak bersetuju’ atau ‘bersetuju’ dengan pendapat dan bukannya berkata sebarang pendapat itu ‘bodoh’,” jelas Ngeh.

“Ini adalah satu serangan peribadi terhadap saya,” tegas Ngeh

Ngeh mengesa Nazri memahami artikel 72 (1) Perlembagaan Persekutuan seperti kenyataan yang di buat bekas hakim mahkamah rayuan N.H. Chan sebelum membuat sebarang kenyataan dengan serangan peribadi seperti itu.

Petikan dari kenyataan N.H.Chan berbunyi:-
(This is a perverse judgment of the Federal Court. It is perverse because it is a decision that was made in blatant defiance of Article 72(1) of the Federal Constitution which says, “The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court”. The judges of the Federal Court have failed the people and the Government of this country when they chose to ignore the law of the Constitution of Malaysia. In other words the judges have refused to do justice according to law.

Incidentally, ultra vires does not mean “outside the law”. It means “outside one’s jurisdiction, beyond the scope of one’s power or authority”.)

“Ini adalah keputusan yang bertentangan dengan Mahkamah Perekutuan. Ini bertentangan kerana keputusan yang dibuat dalam secara kasar dan kurang tepat dalam artikel 72(1) dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang berbunyi – “kesahihan dalam mana-mana perbicaraan dalam persidangan pembuntukan undang-undang persidangan dalam negeri tidak boleh di pertikaikan dalam mana-mana mahkamah”.

“Hakim mahkamah persekutuan telah mengecewakan rakayat dan kerajaan di negaran ini dengan menafikan hak rakyat apabila beliau (hakim) membelakangi undang-undang perlembagaan Malaysia. Dalam kata lain hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan tidak berlaku adil mengikut undang-undang.

Kebetulan, ultra vires dalam konteks ini tidak bermaksud ‘diluar perundangan’ tetapi bermaksud ‘diluar bidang kuasa pentadbiran perundangan, melampaui skop kuasa mahkamah.”

Menurut Nazri “undang-undang tidak berhajat memberikan seseorang Speaker dengan satu kuasa yang tidak terbatas, lebih-lebih lagi jika tindakan Speaker itu jelas tidak mengikut undang-undang dan peraturan yang ada.”

“Kita semua tahu daripada segi prosedur, itu (tindakan menggantung) salah tapi dia (Sivakumar) kata dia betul. Jadi untuk menentukan siapa betul siapa salah, kita pergi ke mahkamahlah untuk mendapat tafsiran sebenarnya berkenaan dengan perlembagaan dan juga peraturan Dun.

Nasihat Ngeh supaya Nazri meneliti kenyataan Hakim Chan sebelum melatah.

Tok Guru Nik Aziz, Nga Kor Meng di Melewar 19 April ini!

Harakah Daily

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 April (Hrkh) – Mursyidul Am PAS, Dato’ Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat bersama Setiausaha DAP Perak yang juga Ahli Parlimen Taiping, Nga Kor Meng akan bersemuka dengan para penyokong Pakatan Rakyat di Markaz Tarbiyyah PAS Taman Melewar, 19 April ini.

Demikian kenyataan ringkas Timbalan Yang Dipertua PAS Batu, Hj Suhaimi Abdul Rahman kepada Harakah.

Mereka katanya, akan menyampaikan ceramah pada “Himpunan Rakyat Meraikan Kemenangan Dua Bukit” bagi menceritakan lebih lanjut, pahit getir sepanjang berkempen di Bukit Gantang.

Program anjuran PAS Kawasan Batu itu bermula jam 9.30 malam itu turut menampilkan bekas pensyarah Sains Sosial dan Antropologi Universiti Malaya, Ann Wan Seng. Orang ramai dijemput hadir.

Selain kisah Nga membaca ayat al-Quran sewaktu berkempen di Bukit Gantang telah menimbulkan kontroversi, dan satu laporan polis dibuat oleh proksi Umno; perkembangan terkini di Perak juga akan dikupas oleh beliau pada program itu, ujar Suhaimi.

Tok Guru Nik Aziz antara pemimpin utama PAS yang membela Nga dalam isu membacaan ayat al-Quran. Kesempatan itu juga, Nga diberi penghormatan untuk melancarkan sebuah novel terbitan Anbakri Publika Sdn. Bhd. berjudul “Bidadari Dari Timur”.

Novel tersebut juga, akan dilancarkan oleh Tok Guru Nik Aziz di Dewan Kedah & Johor Bangunan PWTC antara jam 12 hingga 1.00 tengahari sempena Pesta Buku Antarabangsa 2009 yang diadakan di ibu negara. – tmj/azm _

Pakatan to fight BN all the way for Perak

The Malaysian Insider

By Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — The move to suspend Perak state assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri today is a signal that neither the Speaker V. Sivakumar nor the Pakatan Rakyat is going to concede control of the legislature to the Barisan Nasional without a fight.

The issue was debated long and hard by top PR leaders in Penang today and the decision is to fight BN every inch of the way.

A number of PR leaders feel that since they consider the upcoming assembly “illegal,” their attendance may legitimise it.

But after heated debate the decision was taken to attend the assembly or otherwise it was felt BN would have a free hand to do what it liked.

A senior PR leader who attended the three-hour meeting said they would fight BN every step of the way.

“We have Plans A, B and C,” the leader said, promising a “climatic” outcome to the May 7 face-off between PR and BN.

The suspension of Abdullah by Sivakumar today is the first move by PR in what has become a game of wits.

Sivakumar first suspended Abdullah on March 3 for failing to take his instruction and he suspended him again today for sending out notices to all representatives for the assembly to convene on May 7.

“I am the Speaker and I am acting in accordance with all the rules and regulations of the Perak constitution,” Sivakumar said when contacted.

He declined further comment, citing possible legal complications.

Earlier, he told reporters in Ipoh that he had appointed Mohd Misbahul Munir Marduki as secretary of the state assembly.

He said the “purported sitting” on May 7 should not proceed pending further clarification.

Meanwhile, Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran said Sivakumar was neither informed nor consulted on the May 7 sitting.

“This act of calling an assembly sitting over the head of the Speaker is not only blatant but a direct usurpation of the powers of the Speaker by the mentri besar,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“This is a coup… no less. This is against democracy,” he said.

He also said the courts had no business ruling on issues involving the legislature as the constitution clearly bars any interference by the judiciary.

“We are surprise and shocked by recent court decisions,” he said.

On Thursday, the Federal Court lifted Sivakumar’s suspension of the MB and his six executive councillors from the state legislature.

The ruling has sparked controversy because it appears to ignore the principle of separation of powers and constitutional provisions which say proceedings of the legislature cannot be questioned in a court of law.

Although Sivakumar has suspended Abdullah and appointed another secretary who is presumably favourable to him, it remains unclear if the suspension will stop BN from convening the assembly sitting.

It is learned that the first matter on the agenda is the removal of Sivakumar as Speaker because being hostile to the BN, he can — theoretically — use the powers of his office to ruin any moves by BN to claim legitimacy in its power grab.

When the assembly first convened after the March 8 general election last year the first matter in the order of business was the election of a Speaker.

That part of the assembly was chaired by Abdullah and Sivakumar was elected Speaker.

Sources said that since the first matter is the election of a new Speaker, either Abdullah or even the Deputy Speaker, the former DAP assemblywoman Hee Yit Fong, could chair proceedings.

They said a separate lawsuit to determine whether BN’s Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir or PR’s Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin is the legitimate MB could be brought forward to the end of this month.

If the court holds that Zambry is the lawful mentri besar, it would remove the final legal hurdle for BN.