Pakatan must buck up in Selangor

Several DAP grassroots leaders have sounded the alarm bells, telling Pakatan Rakyat to buck up or risk losing Selangor to the reinvigorated Barisan Nasional at the next general election.

at Free Malaysia Today

---

Several grassroots DAP leaders have voiced their concern over the declining support for Pakatan Rakyat, the loosely formed opposition coalition, especially among the Indian community in the state.

This has raised concerns if Pakatan, which has been administering Selangor since the 2008 general election, would be able to withstand the mighty Barisan Nasional (BN) election machinery at the next general election.

The matter, some DAP grassroots leaders said, was also raised at a closed-door meeting by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also Penang chief minister, with some 100 DAP grassroots leaders in Kelana Jaya last night.

DAP grassroots leaders, who attended the meeting, told FMT that Lim had pointed out that several strategies used by BN chief and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was gathering momentum, and was indeed winning the hearts and minds of the Indian community.

“Lim in general believed Selangor DAP lacked leadership compared to Penang and Perak in reaching out to the people, especially those in lower income group.”

“They (Indian voters) are not aware of what is happening around them and they are clueless of state government programmes in uplifting the socio-economic status of the Indian community in Selangor,” said a DAP leader after the meeting.

Prior to 2008, Malaysian Indians were staunch supporters of the ruling BN. But several unresolved issues led the community to throw its backing for the opposition at the 2008 general election. This coupled with several other reasons resulted in the BN suffering an unprecedented loss at the polls.

The BN lost Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor in 2008. It also lost its long-held two-thirds majority in Parliament. However, Perak is back in the hands of the BN after three state assemblymen pulled out and became independent state assemblymen in support of the BN.

Selangor main battle ground

There are 56 state seats in Selangor, which has about 1.56 million registered voters. Indian voters make up 220,000 or 14% of the total voters in Selangor.

Of the 56 seats, there are at least 20% Indian voters in at least 30 seats. This 20% could play a deciding role in the outcome of the 30 seats and ultimately decide on who forms the state government.

The DAP member said although Lim acknowledged that Pakatan in Selangor had initiated several programmes for the community since taking power, there are certain areas which need to be ironed out.

Lim is expected to hold similar meetings throughout the country although DAP believes that the “main battle” would be in Selangor as the BN wanted to capture the state at all costs.

“He (Lim) wanted the party to reach out to the people of Selangor by highlighting policies of the state government and its delivery system.”

“When people have better understanding of the delivery system, then there is no reason for them to reject the government which delivers,” he added.

Among DAP leaders who attended the meeting were Ronnie Liu, Teresa Kok, Tony Phua and Charles Santiago.

Majlis Pelancaran Buku Jingga yang Hambar-Mambar - Raja Azmi

Yang paling mencuit perhatian saya ialah penjelasan Khalid Ibrahim tentang isu kerajaan negeri Selangor membayar kos penginapan wakil-wakil PKR dari Sabah dan Sarawak semasa Kongres Kebangsaan PKR yang lepas. Menurut Khalid, pembayaran tersebut ialah sumbangan negeri Selangor kepada peningkatan proses demokrasi negara. Wakil-wakil tersebut kononnya telah didedahkan kepada proses pemilihan. Wow! Kata-kata yang sungguh indah, niat cukup murni. Tetapi hakikatnya menggunakan wang rakyat negeri Selangor untuk tujuan politik kepartian ialah satu bentuk rasuah. Tiada beza dengan budaya UMNO. Di mana perubahan yang dilaung-laungkan?

oleh Raja Azmi Raja Azman melalui e-mel

---

Saya telah menghadiri Majlis Pelancaran Buku Jingga di Stadium Malawati pada malam Sabtu lepas. Majlis tersebut diadakan sempena Karnival Sambutan Tiga Tahun Pentadbiran Kerajaan Negeri Selangor yang berlangsung pada 5 dan 6 Mac, 2011 di tempat yang sama.

Pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat yang dijadualkan berucap di upacara tersebut ialah Anwar Ibrahim, Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang dan Khalid Ibrahim.

Majlis bermula pada lebih kurang 9.30 malam setelah pemimpin-pemimpin PR, ahli-ahli exco dan SUK negeri Selangor mengambil tempat masing-masing di atas pentas. Kehadiran amat mengecewakan. Hanya kira-kira 1,000 orang berada di stadium ketika majlis dimulakan. Jangkaan hadirin menjangkau 10,000 orang nyata jauh meleset. Alasan yang diberi oleh Hasan Ali, selaku Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Penganjur, ialah ramai aktivis PR terlibat dengan pilihanraya kecil Merlimau dan Kerdau.

Daripada tinjauan rambang di kalangan para hadirin, majoriti adalah ahli-ahli PAS dari bahagian Sungai Burong yang dipimpin oleh Hasan Ali. Bakinya terdiri daripada kakitangan jabatan dan agensi kerajaan negeri Selangor yang telah dikerah untuk hadir serta penghulu-penghulu mukim yang dilantik oleh PR. Nampaknya tak banyak beza antara PR dan BN dalam cara mereka meramaikan hadirin di sesuatu majlis. Juga terdapat ramai remaja belasan tahun yang ditugaskan untuk mengedar risalah-risalah dan cenderamata.

Tujuan saya menghadiri majlis tersebut ialah untuk mendapat penjelasan terperinci tentang Buku Jingga. Malangnya, hasrat saya tidak tercapai, harapan hampa berkecai. Majlis penerangan Buku Jingga bertukar menjadi majlis pemujaan kepimpinan Khalid Ibrahim. Kejayaan demi kejayaan kerajaan negeri Selangor diomong-omongkan tanpa menyentuh walau sedikit pun kelemahan dan kepincangan pentadbiran negeri. Ucapan-ucapan hanya bersifat "masuk bakul, angkat sendiri".

Yang paling mencuit perhatian saya ialah penjelasan Khalid Ibrahim tentang isu kerajaan negeri Selangor membayar kos penginapan wakil-wakil PKR dari Sabah dan Sarawak semasa Kongres Kebangsaan PKR yang lepas. Menurut Khalid, pembayaran tersebut ialah sumbangan negeri Selangor kepada peningkatan proses demokrasi negara. Wakil-wakil tersebut kononnya telah didedahkan kepada proses pemilihan. Wow! Kata-kata yang sungguh indah, niat cukup murni. Tetapi hakikatnya menggunakan wang rakyat negeri Selangor untuk tujuan politik kepartian ialah satu bentuk rasuah. Tiada beza dengan budaya UMNO. Di mana perubahan yang dilaung-laungkan?

Majlis Pelancaran Buku Jingga tersebut gagal kerana tiada kerjasama ikhlas dari PAS dan DAP dalam mendokongi kempen Buku Jingga. Bilangan orang bukan Melayu yang hadir di majlis tersebut boleh dikira dengan jari. Ketua Umum PKR, Anwar Ibrahim menarik diri pada saat-saat terakhir setelah dimaklumkan bahawa Presiden PAS, Hadi Awang dan Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang telah menolak jemputan ke majlis tersebut. PKR telah diwakili oleh Wan Azizah Ismail, Hasan Ali mewakili PAS dan Tan Seng Giaw mewakili DAP.

Satu petanda amat membimbangkan yang dapat dilihat dari majlis tersebut ialah kecenderungan kerajaan negeri Selangor yang diterajui PKR dalam membazirkan wang rakyat. Majlis pelancaran itu diadakan semata-mata kerana ada peruntukan yang dapat digunakan dari bajet negeri Selangor. Oleh kerana jumlah hadirin yang rendah, banyak nasi bungkus yang dibekalkan terpaksa dibuang begitu sahaja.

Segala kos penganjuran karnival tersebut ditanggung oleh kerajaan negeri Selangor. Jika belanja jamuan menyambut ulangtahun ke-40 Yayasan Selangor mencecah RM800,000.00, bayangkan berapa juta wang rakyat telah dibelanjakan untuk karnival yang berlangsung selama dua hari.

Pembaziran wang rakyat ialah satu manifestasi penyalahgunaan kuasa. PKR sering mengecam UMNO kerana menyalahguna kuasa. Daripada insiden pembaziran kos penganjuran karnival ini, PKR dilihat sebagai "kata dulang, paku serpih; kata orang, sendiri yang lebih". Reformasi yang dijanjikan masih tinggal sebagai janji.

Jika objektif majlis tersebut untuk meraih sokongan rakyat kepada Buku Jingga, nyata majlis yang saya hadiri telah gagal sama sekali. Majlis-majlis sedemikian sepatutnya digunakan untuk menjelas dan mengupas "Janji-janji Reformasi Dalam 100 Hari" supaya rakyat dapat menghayati semangat reformasi yang terkandung dalam Buku Jingga. Setakat in, Buku Jingga hanya wujud sebagai sebuah mitos di awang-awangan kesedaran politik rakyat.



RAJA AZMI BIN RAJA AZMAN

Say What? Ketuanan Rakyat? - Aktivis Reformasi

What seems to have escaped the MB is that it also gives the impression of a government wanting to make wanton use of constitutional amendments to cover up its own leadership shortcomings and incompetence. How different then is a Pakatan Rakyat government from any other ruling party in its blase attitude towards the sanctity of the constitution?

by Aktivis Reformasi at AktivisReformasi.net

---

It has indeed been a strange and surreal one month in Selangor. You have the spectacle of a state government grappling with the problem of having as its top civil servant a person who is not to its liking. And all the time while doing this, it had neither the courage nor the honesty to admit what the real problem is. Thus, it is like trying to untie a bothersome knot without knowing where the ends of the rope are. You'll just end up looking like a fool.

The real problem that the Menteri Besar of Selangor has to contend with is not Mohd Khusrin Munawi, per se, but rather the poor relations that the MB has with the palace. Had the palace decided that it would agree with the advice of the MB to change the recent appointment of the state secretary after the slip-up caused by the MB's own tardiness in responding to the Public Service Commission's request for the state's list of nominees, the impasse would have been broken or wouldn't have arisen in the first place.

So because he didn't have the courage or the honesty to admit to his failings, the MB went about to untie the knot without knowing where the ends of the rope are. Muddle-headedness and blunders inevitably ensued.

The first was to succumb and dance to the opportunistic tune of his political detractors that anything which smacks of being critical of the palace constitutes sedition or derhaka (treachery). This is a total misreading of public sentiment on the matter. The MB seems to have forgotten that when Mahathir Mohamad pushed through the 1993 constitutional amendments on the role of the monarchy, cheered on by his ever so willing deputy Anwar Ibrahim, support for the amendments was enormous from both sides of the political divide. No one accused anyone of being treacherous. The public did and probably still do want the monarchy's role to be limited and better defined constitutionally.

In the present state secretary impasse, however, his detractors' opportunistic pro-royalty stance was vociferous enough to cow the MB into deciding that it was politically unpalatable for his party to even let out a whimper calling for the palace to stick to constitutional forms and conventions. From then on, everything that happened was in the realm of charades with all sides involved assiduously ignoring the elephant in the room; which was the deviation from constitutional conventions.

The second blunder was to personalize the impasse into the person of Mohd Khusrin. Despite its past disdain for his actions when he was the head of the state religious department, the state government should have had the discipline and clarity of thought to maintain that the issue at hand was not about the personality appointed but the manner by which the appointment was made. That is to say, had the best civil servant in the country been appointed as state secretary in the same said manner, the state government would still have objected because constitutional norms and conventions had not been abided with. But to take such a principled stand, sadly, seems to be a notion so very alien to a government which purports to be the champion of Reformasi and Ketuanan Rakyat.

The third blunder was to resort to amending the state constitution to grant more powers to the palace in the appointment of the top three civil service posts on the state. By what strange logic such a move would solve the MB's problematic relationship with the palace, no one could fathom. That the attempt would fail must certainly had been anticipated by the state government. So the exercise of a special sitting to amend the state's constitution could be put down as a feeble attempt in political point-scoring and to 'democratize' the impasse by trapping the state assemblymen from the opposition to declare whether they are 'pro-rakyat' or otherwise, in accordance to the MB's perverted sense of logic. That's putting it kindly.

What seems to have escaped the MB is that it also gives the impression of a government wanting to make wanton use of constitutional amendments to cover up its own leadership shortcomings and incompetence. How different then is a Pakatan Rakyat government from any other ruling party in its blase attitude towards the sanctity of the constitution?

After all have been said and done, the state government is back at square one and nowhere near solving the impasse. Astonishingly, the MB now appears amenable to having Mohd Khusrin as the state secretary. So what was the previous one month all about? One can only assume that he's finally realised that he has been trying to untie a knot without knowing where the ends of the rope are – and has only managed to look like a fool in the process.

If there is one lesson from all these, it is that if we want Ketuanan Rakyat and genuine Reformasi, we won't get it from spineless and gormless political leaders, such as the ones you have in the Selangor state government. My sympathies go out to all those honest folk who really thought those same politicians had the courage and competence to achieve those goals. God permitting, the truth about these pretenders to the throne will be revealed sooner rather than later.



AKTIVIS REFORMASI

Perhimpunan Hormati Suara Rakyat Selangor di Stadium Kelana Jaya

Kempen mendaftar pengundi baru di pintu masuk
Stadium Kelana Jaya. Ayuh ramai-ramai daftar
jadi pengundi (kalau belum daftar lagi).

Kempen 'Malaysians for Teoh Beng Hock'.
Keadilan mesti ditegakkan.

Preparing for the show!

4pm: crowd dalam 100 orang. Masih ada yang masuk.
Penganjur mengharapkan kehadiran dalam 10,000 orang.

Stage dah siap. VIP tak sampai lagi. 

Hujan sudah mulai turun di Stadium Kelana Jaya.
Yang hadir semua berpusu-pusu ke grandstand.
Sudah 4.30 ptg. Program belum mula lagi.

Tempat duduk VIP. Masih banyak kerusi kosong.

Persembahan dari Kumpulan Cempaka Drumcircle.
Musik untuk joget, tapi takda orang berjoget.
Hujan dah reda. Ramai turun ke padang.

Kereta para YB. Aktivis datang berkongsi duit petrol.

Faekah Husin, Setiausaha Politik MB Selangor
hadir menyampaikan salam Tan Sri Khalid,
yang tidak dapat hadir. Memang ada gaya MB. 

Prof. Aziz Bari beri penjelasan isu perlantikan
Setiausaha Kerajaan Selangor dari sudut undang-undang.
"Raja juga tertakluk pada undang-undang
walau berperanan pengimbang kuasa kerajaan." 

Presiden JIM & AJK Bersih 2.0,  Zaid Kamaruddin.
"Suara rakyat mesti dihormati pemerintah, parti-parti politik.
Kerana rakyat pilih kerajaan."

Hujan turun lagi. Penganjur minta crowd naik ke grandstand.
Yang tegar bukak payung. Hujan yang turun adalah lumrah alam,
tiada kena mengena dgn tulah/murka Sultan.

Kempen kumpul tandatangan untuk Teoh Beng Hock
dan pendaftaran pengundi baru giat dijalankan.

Persembahan musik oleh Sdr. Nik Jidin.

Pengerusi BERSIH, Dato' Ambiga bagi speech.
"Kita berhimpun tunjukkan hak kita sebagai rakyat."

Barisan pemimpin yang hadir.
Pemimpin, ahli Exco PKR tidak kelihatan.

Giliran Khalid Samad pula. "Dato' Ramly
(bekas SUK Selangor) khianat sebab bakar fail
untuk hilangkan bukti salahlaku UMNO".

MB Nizar berikrar akan turut bantu pertahankan hak
rakyat Selangor.  "Ampun Tuanku, sembah patik
harap diampun. Patik mohon sembah derhaka"

Haris Ibrahim: "Sultan jangan derhaka kepada rakyat".

Wakil mahasiswa berucap, lahirkan sokongan.
Program berakhir pukul 7 petang.

Ulasan langsung perhimpunan Hormati Suara Rakyat Selangor di twitter.com/salamreform

Section 52, PJ Land Development: PKNS's Reply Unsatisfactory - Pieter D'Cruz

I refer to the reply dated 11 January 2011 by Ms Azilah Arasad, a PKNS public relations officer to allegations which first appeared on 21 December 2010 about the PKNS land development project in Section 52, Petaling Jaya.

It has taken three long weeks for PKNS to reply but nonetheless they did and for that I thank them.

However, Ms Azilah's letter has not clarified matters by much because in the interim other allegations have come to the surface. Perhaps PKNS itself may not be in the position to provide a fuller explanation, so it is regrettable that political leaders named in the 21 December news report have thus far opted to remain silent. Rest assured that tongues will continue wagging and their credibility as politicians who believe in a transparent and accountable government is at stake.

PKNS's claim through Ms Azilah's letter that the state government was not involved in the series of transaction is a bit disingenuous. Nobody said it was wholly involved but as everyone knows, the Menteri Besar is the PKNS chairman and PKNS is a state GLC.

On the whole the explanation is somewhat pointless and self-defeating as the real issue has not been dealt with, that is, the benefactor and the real beneficiary from the whole deal remain as alleged.

What concerns voters is that the 'old way' of doing things under the BN state government is being perpetuated by the PR one, which came to power promising to end corruption and cronyism. Has it actually been keeping to that promise in this particular case? That is what the public want to know.

As someone who had voted for PKR in 2008, I have to say I am beginning to be disappointed. It's quite reasonable to believe that this PJ Section 52 PKNS land matter is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things that the state governing politicians wish to keep hidden from public view.

PIETER D'CRUZ

Kelana Jaya, Selangor

Keyakinan PR ke Putrajaya: Realistik atau fantasi? - Nazli Ibrahim

Gembar-gembur Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU-13) semakin hari semakin hangat diperkatakan dengan pelbagai versi dan spekulasi tarikh pembubaran parlimen sekaligus memberi laluan PRU-13 diadakan.

Antara spekulasi yang semakin kencang bertiup pada masa ini ialah jangkaan PRU-13 akan diadakan pada tahun ini khasnya setelah Perdana Menteri (PM), Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak memanggil ahli-ahli parlimen Barisan Nasional (BN) bermesyuarat baru-baru ini.

Dua parti utama ketika ini melahirkan keyakinan masing-masing untuk meraih kejayaan dalam PRU-13 itu nanti. Masing-masing BN dan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ketika ini mula mencongak kekuatan dan kelemahan mereka dan juga pihak lawan.

Di pihak PR pada masa ini sedang menjulang harapan dan keyakinan yang cukup tinggi untuk menyingkirkan BN daripada Putrajaya sekaligus buat pertama kalinya menamatkan dominasi 53 tahun BN.


PRU-13 peluang terbaik PR

Bagaimanapun, benarkah pada masa ini PR sedang berada di atas landasan yang betul untuk menerjah ke Putrajaya? Apakah faktor yang menyumbang kepada keyakinan mereka itu?

Pada masa ini faktor utama kelebihan PR bukanlah kekuatan PR itu sendiri tetapi ianya lebih merupakan kelemahan BN dengan pelbagai isu rasuah, penyelewengan, skandal dan yang paling utama keputusan-keputusan BN yang memberi kesan secara langsung kepada kehidupan rakyat negara ini.

Walaupun kerajaan berusaha menerangkan kepada rakyat negara ini tentang pemulihan ekonomi negara dengan menghidangkan angka-angka KDNK, indeks saham, unjuran pertumbuhan ekonomi dan sebagainya gagal menarik minat rakyat kebanyakkan.

Pada masa ini, perkara utama yang menjadi pertimbangan umum ialah tekanan terhadap kos sara hidup yang semakin memuncak sekaligus menjadikan ianya isu utama yang mempengaruhi undi dalam PRU kelak.

Tatkala BN di bawah pimpinan Najib masih lagi terus membuat keputusan yang kurang disenangi rakyat terbanyak dengan siri-siri kenaikan harga barangan keperluan, PR pula dilihat bijak memainkan peranan maksima bagi mendapatkan sokongan rakyat.

Malahan bagi sesetengah pihak, imej dan tindakan isteri PM, Datin Seri Paduka Rosmah Mansor sedikit sebanyak turut menambah memberatkan lagi langkah BN untuk terus berkuasa selepas PRU-13.

Bagaimanapun sedikit sebanyak konsep 1 Malaysia Najib mampu memulihkan kembali sokongan pengundi bukan Islam yang beralih kepada pembangkang akibat penolakan konsep ‘Islam Hadhari’ ketika era Tun Abdullah Badawi sebagai PM.

Sekiranya arus utama tsunami politik dalam PRU-12 lalu adalah manifestasi penolakan terhadap konsep Islam Hadhari Abdullah oleh golongan tersebut, maka sekurang-kurangnya Najib sedikit mampu menarik nafas lega dengan slogan 1 Malaysianya.


Faktor Anwar Ibrahim

Suka atau tidak, Anwar Ibrahim adalah salah satu faktor kelebihan bagi PR. Dalam keadaan kredibiliti beliau yang mulai terhakis disebabkan isu pemilihan PKR mahupun keputusan dan tindakan kontroversinya, beliau masih lagi merupakan salah satu sumber kelebihan PR.

Kejayaan pembangkang pada hari ini banyak dibantu oleh kekuatan pengaruh Anwar semenjak bermulanya penentangan Anwar terhadap BN apabila beliau dipecat sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Umno.

Bagaimanapun, imej Anwar pada masa ini, dilihat hampir menyamai imej lima tahun terakhir Tun Mahathir bergelar PM. Walaupun ketika itu Mahathir merupakan ketua yang mempunyai kekuatan tersendiri ketika mengepalai BN tetapi pada masa yang sama, sedikit demi sedikit beliau mula dianggap sebagai liabiliti kepada partinya itu.


Pengundi muda undi penentu

Anggapan PR bahawa majoriti anak-anak muda menyebelahi mereka hanyalah satu tanggapan berdasarkan kepercayaan terhadap mood anak-anak muda yang mahukan perubahan.

Hakikatnya, tiada parti yang boleh mendakwa peratusan sokongan kelompok ini akan memihak kepada mereka. Tambahan pula, kebanyakkan anak-anak muda ini merupakan pengundi baru dalam PRU-13 yang masih tidak dapat dicula undian mereka nanti.

Meskipun ada kajian-kajian yang dijalankan oleh badan-badan tertentu terhadap pendirian politik kelompok anak muda ini, ia masih tidak boleh dijadikan gambaran sepenuhnya mood kelompok ini.

Menurut hasil kajian penganalisis politik terkenal, Profesor Abu Hassan Hasbullah, golongan pengundi berumur 21 hingga 40 tahun ini merupakan kelompok penentu dalam PRU-13 nanti.


PR Pulau Pinang punyai kelebihan perolehi mandat semula

Salah satu faktor yang boleh dianggap sebagai kekuatan PR di peringkat pusat pada masa ini ialah dengan menjadikan contoh Kerajaan PR Pulau Pinang yang dianggap berjaya menguruskan pentadbiran negeri yang dianggap cemerlang berdasarkan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara dan terbaru Kajian Politik untuk Perubahan (KPRU).

Malangnya laporan dan kajian ini seboleh-bolehnya tidak dilaporkan oleh akhbar-akhbar arus perdana kawalan Umno dan BN.

Pada masa ini kerajaan PR Pulau Pinang dilihat mempunyai peluang yang cerah untuk memperolehi mandat semula dalam PRU-13 berbanding Selangor walaupun kerajaan negeri di bawah pimpinan Lim Guan Eng itu turut diserang dari segenap sudut.

Serangan bertali arus Umno terhadap kerajaan negeri dianggap tidak mampu memberi kesan yang maksima terhadap pengundi majoriti berbangsa Cina di Pulau Pinang berbanding serangan yang sepatutnya datang dari Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan).

Umno, dengan berbekalkan isu yang banyak menyentuh kepentingan kaum Melayu sahaja, maka isu yang dibawakan oleh Umno telah gagal menarik perhatian masyarakat bukan Melayu di Pulau Pinang.

Bagaimanapun Parti Gerakan yang sepatutnya memegang peranan sebagai penyerang utama bagi menarik kembali sokongan majoriti bukan Melayu Pulau Pinang bagi pihak BN berbanding Umno, ketika ini hanya mampu melancarkan serangan yang hambar.

Sebenarnya keadaan ini wujud apabila Lim sendiri agak bijak meminimakan kesilapan percaturan tatkala membuat keputusan-keputusan penting, mampu menutup titik-titik kelemahan yang ada dan akhirnya menyempitkan peluang serangan di pihak pembangkang negeri itu.

Secara umumnya, masyarakat Cina di Pulau Pinang dianggap tidak menghadapi sebarang masalah dengan kehadiran Lim Guan Eng sebagai Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang.

Bagi masyarakat Melayu dan India pula, pertambahan sokongan terhadap kepimpinan Lim dari golongan ini juga dikatakan meningkat ekoran beberapa pendekatan kerajaan negeri yang dilihat menguntungkan penduduknya.

Faktor kerajaan negeri yang berbelanja dengan berhemah, menaikkan peruntukan kepada Jabatan Agama Islam Pulau Pinang, sekolah agama dan madrasah, keupayaan memberi bonus tahunan, satu-satunya kerajaan negeri yang memberi bonus tahun baru hijrah dan lain-lain telah berjaya memikat hati pengundi golongan ini.


Kerajaan PR Selangor bermasalah pertahankan kerajaannya?

Kerajaan PR Selangor pula, walaupun bermula baik pada dua tahun pertamanya namun pada masa ini mulai dihantui dengan pelbagai kontroversi berhubung politik dalaman PKR.

Menjadikan keadaan lebih malang lagi apabila kerajaan PR Selangor bukan sahaja terpaksa menghadapi serangan tanpa henti dari pihak lawan dari luar, malahan kewujudan ‘parasit-parasit’ di dalam kem lebih banyak menyumbang kepada kerosakkan dalam parti.

Sekiranya PR gagal mempertahankan kerajaan di negeri terkaya negara ini, ianya bukanlah sekadar disebabkan serangan bertali arus atau kebangkitan Umno dan BN Selangor tetapi juga disebabkan pertelagahan sesama mereka sendiri.


Gangguan dalaman terhadap Khalid

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim dianggap oleh sesetengah pihak di Selangor gagal menjalankan tanggungjawab sebagai Menteri Besar dengan baik disebabkan terdapat gangguan daripada pihak dalaman PKR sendiri.

Antara teori yang menjelaskan keadaan tersebut ialah tindakan Khalid yang tidak bertanding dalam perebutan jawatan Timbalan Presiden PKR walaupun sebelumnya telah menawarkan diri untuk menyertai persaingan itu.

Khalid dikatakan menerima ‘wahyu’ supaya menyatakan kesediaan untuk bertanding jawatan Timbalan Presiden dengan tujuan memancing Datuk Zaid Ibrahim keluar dari pertandingan jawatan nombor dua itu sekaligus memberi laluan mudah kepada Azmin Ali.

Sebelum itu, Zaid berkata dalam satu kenyataan medianya, beliau akan menarik diri sekirannya Khalid turut menyertai persaingan tersebut dan memberi sokongan kepada Khalid.

Bagaimanapun helah tersebut tidak berkesan apabila Zaid masih meneruskan hasratnya untuk bertanding dan memaksa Khalid menolak pencalonan di saat-saat akhir bagi mengelak perpecahan undi di cabang-cabang negeri Selangor dan menjejaskan peluang kemenangan Azmin.

Dari sudut kelebihan yang ada pada kerajaan PR Selangor pula, pada masa ini tertumpu kepada beberapa program yang dijalankan oleh kerajaan negeri khususnya berkaitan isu kembalikan hak air Selangor yang masih belum dapat dimuktamadkan lagi.

Melalui isu air ini, masyarakat di Selangor lebih cenderung untuk memberikan sokongan kepada kerajaan negeri kecuali penyokong tegar dalam BN dan golongan kelas atasan.

Juga merupakan bonus bagi PR apabila bekas Menteri Besarnya, Dato Sri Dr Khir Toyo terjerumus dalam dakwaan kancah rasuah dan bakal didakwa pada bulan Jun nanti.

Harapan PR Selangor untuk kembali berkuasa selepas PRU-13 tetap masih ada walaupun mereka sendiri telah memilih jalan paling sukar dengan membiarkan permainan politik dalaman menguasai pentadbiran kerajaan negeri itu.

Who will lead Pakatan Rakyat? - Hussein Abdul Hamid

All of us want to lead!!!

Lady Macbeth: 
Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?

Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40

Has there has ever been any doubt that DSAI will lead PR into battle with BN? And if PR wins would it not be DSAI who will be Prime Minister? Any doubt in whose mind?

For me DSAI is where he is now by default. There is no one else. Let me rephrase that. There is no other Malay within PR that could seriously give DSAI a run for his money. Malaysia being what it is, it is politically incorrect not to have a Malay as Prime Minister! Sickening but true! Zaid had delusions of grandeur but his approach was flawed from day one. He simply could not play politics at street level. Azmin saw him as a threat and went about the business of neutralizing him with the practised ease of season politicians. Much like what Mahathir did to DSAI a while back.

Is DSAI the Leader PR must have? We now know that PKR is not the alternative to UMNO. What happened in PKR recent party elections is also what happens in UMNO elections but without its refinements and with some parts borrowed from MIC –overt intimidation and harassment of candidates and their supporters. One member one vote is a no brainer when only a very small number of members turn up to cast their votes – a damming indictment of what the members thought of their party elections. Semua telah di atur! Imagine this being allowed to happen on a national scale!

What about PKR in Selangor? Even with Khalid (a man scrupulously honest) Selangor has been beset with in-fighting from within PKR and attacks from UMNO and civil servants within the State government machinery that have managed to stifle many of Khalid’s initiatives to effect change in the state. Here my emphasis is more on UMNO being successful then on Khalid being able to counter these sabotage attempts.

It is PKR that must take responsibility for helping UMNO do their dirty work by not supporting Khalid endeavours to bring good governance to Selangor. Instead the party faithfuls are clamouring for Khalid’s removal from office because he refused to pander to their demands for contracts and business opportunity from the state government.

What we want to see from DSAI are solutions. Appointing Azmin head of Selangor PKR is not a solution to Khalids problem–it is another problem created! Having DSAI as Selangor’s Economic Advisor makes things more difficult for Khalid. Both these appointments weakens Khalid politically. DSAI as PKR defacto leader is failing Khalid. We are privy to all this shennagins. What do you think we make of it all? What will happen if DSAI is Prime Minister? If a Ketua Bahagian is at loggerheads with his MB, are they to go to DSAI over the head of the MB for sympathy and support? Imagine the chaos this will cause. You will be so busy sweating the small stuff that you will not have time to attend to national issue.

One reason why the Malays are unable to compete on a level playing field with others in higher education is because they are not proficient in English. As Minister of Education DSAI introduced Bahasa Melayu as the lingua franca. He did so for political reasons - to play to the gallery of those Penjuang Bahasa Melayu. We can now see what havoc it has wreck upon the ability of the Malays to cope when they go overseas to further their education.

Khalid is going ahead with the proposed constitutional amendment in Selangor because he said that UMNO committed treason in 1993 when they took away the Sultan powers on a number of matter – including the appointment of the SS. I suggest Khalid revisits 1993 and find out whom Mahathir sent to fight his battle with the Sultans for him – it was DSAI. And DSAI did the work of making the Sultan understand that UMNO will do what they want. DSAI then is guilty of treason. And who wants to give these Sultan back anything?

And now the elephant in the room that PR ignores. Sodomy allegations against DSAI. It is inconceivable to many of us that DSAI had committed sodomy–not when he has been through hell with Sodomy One. But what if he himself does not understand or know what he does? There have been too many smoking guns – Saiful and others included – to ignore this aspect of DSAI. I think it bears further investigations. There might be a medical explanation of this – a split personality syndrome perhaps – that there is a dark side of DSAI that even he himself does not know of – what else us!

I am speaking of these issues now because these are matters that must be spoken and discussed by all good men who have the interest of our country at heart. It is enough that we now have a Prime Minister who many of us feel is involved in the murder of Altantuya. We have an Ambassador in Washington that has questionable morality issue. And now a Minister in cabinet who has yet to clear himself satisfactorily of rape allegations. They all need to understand that these allegations will not go away without due legal process to clear themselves – the people demand this and it is the right thing to do.

So in as far as DSAI is concern we need to have answers before it goes any further or else we will have another Najib or JJ entrenched in high public office without the people having recourse to know if they are guilty or innocence – because their high office shields them from any judicial inquiry. We do not want that with Najib – nor do we want it with DSAI.

But what PR needs to understand is this. You can only win the 13th general election if you have the support of the people. In simple terms let me tell you this – you do not have it now in the numbers that you need to win!

Everyday BN is gaining ground. Everyday PR shoots itself in the foot with blunders and self inflicted rhetoric that reinforced the people’s conviction that politicians are too full of themselves to be able to look at the bigger picture of the people’s and national interest. They cannot see the forest for the trees.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. So please some wisdom and clarity of purpose from the leaders of PR that will tell us that you will put into a place in our country a transparent and genuine democracy with social justice and human development for all.

The 24th December Meeting Between PAS-UMNO Leadership: Views of a Staunch PAS Supporter - Wan Nasuha

I refer to the letters by Goh Soon Sin and Abas Azizan on the 24th December 2010 meeting between the PAS and UMNO leadership.

Both letters contain all kinds of accusations (Goh) and speculations (Abas).

I would like to categorically state here that it is wrong for non-Malays and non-Muslims to portray any move or effort to politically unite Malays/Muslims as a negative development. It has been my observation that very frequently the prospect of a united Malay/Muslim political front is depicted as a threat to the position of non-Muslims. This is unreasonable and it is a belief that is unfair to Malays/Muslims in general.

First, politics is not necessarily a zero-sum game whereby Muslim unity will automatically mean a setback to non-Muslims. There is no basis for such a view, in my opinion. In fact, many of the myriad problems of the nation can be resolved were the Muslims to unite. Excessive politicking can be avoided so that more time and energy can be devoted towards improving the socio-economic status of the rakyat, regardless of race and religion. The enhanced political stability of the country surely will benefit all, no matter Malay or Chinese or Indian or Kadazan etc.

Second, if non-Muslims truly believe that Muslim political unity is detrimental to them, this can only mean that all strategic and tactical maneuverings of non-Muslim parties have but one overriding objective which is to keep Malays politically split. Do the MCA, DAP, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and the others want Malays to arrive at that conclusion? If the answer is no, then surely it’s in everybody’s best interest to refrain from trying to negatively stigmatize any prospect of Muslim unity in this country.

Third, non-Muslim political parties, in the government and the opposition coalitions, very often adopt similar or common stands on issues deemed important by and for the benefit of the non-Muslim community. This they do openly and unabashedly. They consider it reasonable to expect Muslims to accept such commonality among the non-Muslim parties. That being the case, it is only reasonable when PAS and UMNO sit together openly to discuss common issues for the benefit of Muslims, for non-Muslims to accept such meetings with an open mind and not feel threatened by the joint PAS-UMNO action.

Tuan Guru Nik Aziz has confirmed that the said meeting actually had taken place and also unequivocally stated that he is not prepared to reveal the issues discussed. We should respect his stance on the matter.

It is common knowledge by now that Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim himself has had secret meetings with Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak in the not too distant past, all conducted without the prior knowledge of PAS and DAP. I cannot recall anyone demanding that he disclose the subject of his discussions with Najib.

As a staunch PAS supporter right from the beginning, I have to state herein the anxieties and concern that PAS supporters and members have with Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the turmoil within PKR and the sodomy charges against Dato' Seri Anwar.

PAS has had to compromise and drop some of the demands and objectives that the party traditionally held upon joining PR. DAP however since joining PR has not in the slightest toned down it’s ‘Malaysian’s Malaysia’ rhetoric and demands on issues such as local government elections which are hardly priorities for PAS. PAS meanwhile cannot even express any support for the idea of an Islamic state or the implementation of Islamic law since becoming part of PR. In short, in Pakatan Rakyat the compromising attitude and sacrifices of PAS have not been reciprocated in like manner by DAP.

I do not wish to elaborate at length on the internal problems of PKR. It is PAS’s official stand to respect and not to interfere in the internal affairs of PKR. However, as an ordinary observer, let me just say that the recent elections for party posts conducted by PKR has been known by all and sundry to be full of flaws and shortcomings. Till now, voices of dissatisfaction and unhappiness about the party elections can be heard coming from within PKR itself. To me, the cause of all these is the failure of leadership in PKR.

Currently, in the controversy regarding the appointment of the Selangor state secretary, only the PAS president has come forward to issue an official statement on the matter. In contrast, PKR’s de facto leader, president and deputy president, all three of them have remained mute and not issued any official party stance even though the Selangor MB is from their party. The Selangor MB is left alone to fend for himself in dealing with the issue. It is no surprise that he appears to be surrendering. Is the PKR leadership so frightened and cowardly to take a stand that might risk incurring royal displeasure? How can ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ be achieved if such is the attitude of the PKR leadership?

The failure of leadership in PKR, to me, has its root causes in the sodomy charges that Dato’ Seri Anwar currently faces. It is more than likely that the bulk of his mental and intellectual energy has to be devoted to the ongoing case, so much so that he cannot give the proper input to issues that are besetting the party and PR. He has often been depicted as the one individual who has managed to put together the parties within PR. However, his reputed influence does not appear to have been used to coax DAP into toning down their very vocal demands in issues which are not shared by Muslims. This seems to me to be due to his current sodomy trial.

The anxieties within PAS are that the problems plaguing PKR will adversely impact PAS, its partner in PR. On top of that, PAS supporters often wonder if it is reasonable or fair for a problem-ridden leader of a problem-ridden party to be chosen as the prime minister were PR successful in its bid for government.

These are my honest views that I wish to share with everyone.



WAN NASUHA BT. WAN HASSAN
(Translated from the original in Bahasa Malaysia)

Perjumpaan 24 Disember 2010 Pemimpin PAS dan UMNO: Pandangan Seorang Penyokong Kuat PAS - Wan Nasuha

Saya merujuk kepada surat-surat dari Goh Soon Sin dan Abas Azizan berkenaan perjumpaan yang dinyatakan di atas.

Kedua-dua surat tersebut mengandungi beberapa tuduhan (Goh) dan spekulasi (Abas).

Saya ingin katakan di sini bahawa adalah tidak wajar untuk orang-orang bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam untuk mengungkit atau cuba menggambarkan apa-apa usaha untuk menyatukan suara politik orang Islam/Melayu sebagai satu perkembangan negatif. Saya perhatikan kerap topik itu diutarakan sebagai sesuatu yang boleh menggugat kedudukan orang bukan Islam. Itu amatlah tidak wajar dan satu pendirian yang tidak bersikap adil kepada orang Melayu/Islam amnya.

Pertama, politik tidak semestinya satu ‘zero-sum game’ yang mana kalau orang-orang Islam bersatu, maka secara automatisnya orang-orang bukan Islam akan rugi. Pandangan sedemikian, pada hemat saya, tiada asasnya. Permasalahan negara mungkin akan banyak selesai sekiranya orang Islam bersatu. Politik berlebihan (excessive politicking) di dalam arena politik negara mungkin dapat dikurangkan supaya masa dan tenaga semua pihak dapat ditumpukan kepada penaikan taraf sosio-ekonomi rakyat jelata tanpa mengira kaum atau ugama. Penambahan kestabilan negara juga pasti akan menguntungkan semua, tak kiralah orang Melayu atau Cina atau India atau Kadazan dan sebagainya.

Kedua, andainya benar orang bukan Islam menganggap penyatuan orang Islam sesuatu yang akan merugikan orang bukan Islam, maka ini bermakna segala tindak tanduk parti politik bukan Islam adalah bermatlamat untuk orang Islam terus berpecah belah. Mahukah MCA, DAP, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP dan lain-lainnya sekiranya orang Islam membuat kesimpulan sedemikian? Sekiranya tidak, ada baik sekiranya penyokong-penyokong mereka tidak cuba memberi stigma negatif kepada apa-apa prospek penyatuan orang Islam di negara ini.

Ketiga, parti-parti politik bukan Islam, baik dalam barisan pemerintah mahupun pembangkang, kerap mengambil pendirian yang seiring dan sejalan dalam isu-isu yang mereka fikirkan akan menguntungkan orang bukan Islam, secara terang-terang dan tanpa segan silu. Itu sesuatu yang mereka anggap wajar diterima oleh orang Islam. Oleh itu, sekiranya PAS dan UMNO pula duduk semeja secara terang-terang untuk berbincang isu-isu yang akan menguntungkan orang-orang Islam, parti-parti bukan Islam wajar menerimanya dengan fikiran terbuka dan tidak merasa tergugat dengan tindakan PAS dan UMNO itu.

Tuan Guru Nik Aziz telahpun mengesahkan perjumpaan tersebut berlangsung dan terang-terang telah dia telah katakan bahawa isi perbincangan adalah sesuatu yang rahsia yang beliau tidak mahu hebahkan. Kita harus hormati pendirian beliau.

Kita pun semua tahu Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim sendiri pernah mengadakan pertemuan sulit dengan Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak pada suatu masa dahulu tanpa diketahui PAS dan DAP. Tidak pula kedengaran suara-suara yang mendesak Anwar untuk menerangkan apakah isi perbincangan beliau dengan Najib dalam pertemuan sulit itu.

Sebagai seorang penyokong kuat PAS dari mula, harus saya nyatakan perasaan bimbang dan tidak puas hati di kalangan keahlian dan penyokong PAS terhadap halatuju Pakatan Rakyat (PR), kemelut dalaman PKR dan tuduhan liwat terhadap Dato Seri Anwar.

PAS telah banyak melenyapkan tuntutan-tuntutan tradisonalnya sejak menganggotai PR. Akan tetapi parti seperti DAP tidak sedikit pun mengurangkan pendiriannya sejak jadi ahli PR. Ia masih kuat memperjuangkan ‘Malaysian’s Malaysia’, pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan dan lain-lain perkara yang susah untuk PAS anggap sebagai mustahak. PAS pula tidak boleh langsung bersuara tentang ‘negara Islam’ ataupun usaha menegakkan undang-undang Islam sejak menjadi ahli PR. Pokoknya, pengorbanan oleh PAS tidak dibalas dengan pengorbanan yang setimpal oleh DAP di dalam Pakatan Rakyat.

Kemelut dalaman PKR tidak perlulah saya huraikan dengan berjela-jela. Secara rasminya, memang PAS menghormati dan tidak pernah menyentuh tentang apa yang berlaku di dalam PKR. Bagaimanapun, sebagai seorang pemerhati biasa, biarlah saya katakan pemilihan jawatan parti untuk PKR yang telah dijalankan tahun lepas memang diketahui umum sebagai kucar kacir dan penuh kepincangan. Hingga sekarang masih kuat kedengaran luahan rasa tidak puas hati dari dalam PKR sendiri. Pada saya, ini semua berpunca dari kegagalan kepimpinan PKR sendiri.

Terkini, di dalam isu pelantikan setiausaha kerajaan negeri Selangor, hanya presiden PAS yang telah mengeluarkan kenyataan rasmi pendirian PAS berkenaan isu tersebut. Ketua umum PKR dan presidennya mahupun timbalan presidennya, ketiga-tiganya hingga sekarang membisu enggan memberi kenyataan rasmi walaupun MB Selangor adalah dari parti mereka sendiri. Maka terkonteng-kontenglah bersendirian MB Selangor menangani isu itu. Dia pun kelihatan macam dah ‘surrender’ dalam isu ini. Adakah kepimpinan PKR takut dan gentar untuk mengambil risiko memurkakan pihak istana? Macam manakah ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ boleh diperjuangkan sekiranya begitu sikap kepimpinan PKR?

Kegagalan kepimpinan PKR, pada saya, asal dan puncanya adalah tuduhan liwat yang terpaksa diharungi oleh Dato’ Seri Anwar. Kemungkinan besar tenaga intelek dan mental beliau terpaksa ditumpukan kepada kes liwat itu hingga tidak dapat diberi inputnya kepada isu-isu lain yang melanda PKR dan PR. Beliau sering diwar-warkan sebagai individu yang berjaya memantapkan talian parti-parti di dalam PR tetapi tidak pula pengaruh beliau digunakan untuk memujuk DAP supaya jangan terlalu lantang dengan tuntutan-tuntutan yang tidak dikongsi oleh orang Islam. Ini semua pada saya disebabkan oleh tuduhan liwat ke atas Dato’ Seri Anwar yang berlangsung sekarang.

Keresahan di dalam PAS ialah permasalahan di dalam PKR akan memberi impak negatif kepada PAS sebagai rakan juang di dalam PR. Di samping itu, orang PAS juga sering tertanya-tanya adakah adil atau munasabah pemimpin yang bermasalah dari parti yang banyak masalah dilantik menjadi perdana menteri sekiranya PR berjaya menubuhkan kerajaan.

Begitulah luahan hati saya buat renungan kita semua.



WAN NASUHA BT. WAN HASSAN

The Section 52, Petaling Jaya PKNS Land: The Real Story - Miskam Hj. Suparman

Since the news broke in the internet about alleged power abuse concerning the PKNS land at Section 52, Petaling Jaya (read this, this, this and this), none of the parties implicated has come forward to clarify matters. It’s as if there are skeletons in the closet which ought to be kept under locked. Because they have all chosen to remain silent, I, as an ‘insider’ familiar with the way things are done in PKR, feel obligated to reveal the truth to the public.

The land in question is Lot 12, Petaling Jaya, where the PKNS head office is located and its size is 9.85 acres. In 2005, the Selangor state government under Khir Toyo gave 8 acres of Lot 12 to Puncak Wangi Sdn Bhd (an Umno-linked company?). The remaining 1.85 acres was retained (perhaps to be bequeathed to Khir Toyo?).

The matter of converting the land use condition to that of ‘development’, however, was left outstanding.

In March 2008, the BN state government was replaced by the PR one led by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. Thus, any kind of “business deal” arranged by Puncak Wangi with all those individuals and bodies responsible for land development matters in Selangor before the PR takeover was left “hanging in the air”.

In view of the millions already spent by Puncak Wangi for it to be the favoured party of PKNS to the extent of being appointed the ‘taukeh’ for the PKNS-owned Lot 12 land, the company needed to develop the land immediately in order to recover its initial outlays.

The new Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, deliberately kept mum over applications for land use over the said land as in his opinion there was still scope for the people of Selangor to benefit and their interests protected over the land deal with Puncak Wangi.

Recognising the impasse with Khalid, the company realised that any further effort to solve the problem requires making whatever offers necessary to Khalid’s bosses to get them to instruct Khalid to favour Puncak Wangi. That was something Khalid refused to do as he knew the DAP excos were fully aware of the situation. Thus the Selangor state leadership crisis erupted, with Azmin Ali resigning in protest from the PKNS board of directors and by implication threatening Khalid’s position as the person favoured by PKR to carry on as the MB of Selangor.

Through an edict issued by the party’s God-given leader, it was made clear that an immediate solution must be found, even if it appears that PKR has made deals which it should not with ‘pirates’. Unless, of course, there are ulterior motives. A new agenda, perhaps?

The upshot was that Azmin Ali was appointed the Selangor PKR chief replacing Khalid, thus making Azmin the boss to Khalid within PKR. Khalid was allowed to continue as MB and he pursued efforts to include and protect the interests of the people of Selangor in the Lot 12 project and to uphold PKR’s honour and dignity by not being perceived to be giving in or selling out to pirates. Praise be to God that there is still such an individual who is conscious of his roots and religion.

Khalid’s latest offer was for PKNS to give the remaining 1.85 acres to Puncak Wangi to be developed and in return the company will grant a 30% share of the whole project (now enlarged to 9.85 acres) to PKNS. Whether this compromise will bring the desired economic and commercial benefits to the Selangor people, that’s for the analysts to study and decide.

What is clear and needs to be questioned is the appropriateness and wisdom of PKR in being the new buddy of Puncak Wangi, one of those companies which mushroomed during the Mahathir era and participated in the economic cronyism which caused the economic re-structuring, so desired by the rakyat under the NEP, to fail. In fact, eradicating the existence of crony companies such as Puncak Wangi and the conditions that caused them to exist was one of the campaign vows of PKR during the 12th general elections, a vow that was well received and taken to heart by the rakyat.

As a “reformasi party”, PKR promised to the people that PKR will not continue with the way BN has administered the country. “We don’t promise you to just do things better, we promise to do things different altogether”, thus declared the party’s God-given leader to the thunderous applause of the rakyat. So, what has happened?

Word has been going around that relating to the above deal, RM10 million was promised and of that, RM3 million has already been paid. To whom? PKR itself appears to be with no funds. So only God knows. And, of course, the person who gave and the one who received. Will DAP be keeping silent or has its silence been bought in the same manner? It’s the rakyat who as always are the victims. The greedy ‘crocodiles’ and unscrupulous ‘snakes’ of this country will continue to thrive as long as its Malay leadership will not walk its talk and ignores the rakyat’s trust.

Do not compare PKR with UMNO and say it is “the lesser of the two evils”. That was not the reformasi deal. The rakyat demand that promises are honoured by their leaders even one who is supposedly God’s gift to them.

Be wary of the prayers of those who have been victimised.



MISKAM HJ SUPARMAN
Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

Cerita sebenar tanah PKNS, Seksyen 52, Petaling Jaya - Miskam Hj. Suparman

Sejak berita mengenai penyelewengan tanah PKNS di Seksyen 52, Petaling Jaya, tersebar di internet, tiada pihak yang berkenaan tampil untuk membuat apa-apa penjelasan (sila baca di sini, sini, sini dan sini). Seolah-olah ada pekung yang hendak ditutup. Oleh sebab semua pihak yang berkenaan memilih untuk membisu, maka saya sebagai seorang ‘dalam’ yang arif dengan selok-belok PKR, merasa amat terpanggil untuk memberi gambaran yang sebenar.

Tanah yang terbabit ialah Lot 12, Petaling Jaya, di mana terletaknya ibu pejabat PKNS dan berkeluasan 9.85 ekar. Pada tahun 2005, kerajaan negeri Selangor di bawah pimpinan Khir Toyo telah menyerahkan 8 ekar dari Lot 12 kepada Puncak Wangi Sdn. Bhd. (sebuah syarikat tajaan UMNO?) Baki 1.85 ekar disimpan (mungkin untuk difaraidkan kepada Khir Toyo?).

Walaubagaimanapun soal syarat tanah untuk pembangunan masih belum dibereskan.

Pada Mac 2008, kerajaan BN tumbang digantikan dengan kerajaan PR yang diterajui oleh PKR di bawah pimpinan Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. Maka tergantunglah apa-apa jenis “business deal” yang telah disusun oleh Puncak Wangi dengan sesiapa yang bertanggungjawab dalam hal pembangunan tanah dalam kerajaan negeri Selangor sebelum ini.

Memandangkan berjuta-juta ringgit telah dibelanjakan oleh Puncak Wangi untuk diterima sebagai anak emas PKNS sehingga menjadi tauke tanah Lot 12 kepunyaan PKNS ini, Puncak Wangi perlu membangunkan tanah tersebut dengan serta-merta untuk pulangan bagi membayar balik wang yang telah didahulukan bagi tujuan itu.

Menteri Besar yang baru, Khalid Ibrahim kemudian sengaja menyepikan apa-apa permohonan syarat pembangunan tanah tersebut kerana pada pendapat beliau masih ada ruang untuknya membela kepentingan rakyat Selangor dalam kes penganugerahan tanah kapada Puncak Wangi.

Menyedari jalan buntu dengan Khalid, usaha penyelesaian memerlukan bos-bos Khalid ditawar dengan apa-apa sahaja untuk mengarahkan Khalid berpihak kepada Puncak Wangi. Khalid enggan berbuat demikian kerana sedar exco-exco DAP mengetahui keadaan sebenarnya. Maka timbullah krisis pimpinan PKR Selangor, dengan Azmin Ali meletakkan jawatan secara protes dari menjadi ahli Lembaga Pengarah PKNS dan sekaligus menggugat kedudukan Khalid sebagai orang pilihan PKR untuk terus menjadi Menteri Besar Selangor.

Dengan titah perintah pemimpin yang dianugerahkan Tuhan, satu penyelesaian yang segera perlu dihitungkan. Walaupun pada pandangan mata kasar PKR tidak patut berkompromi dengan lanun. Lainlah kalau ada udang disebalik batu. Agenda baru, mungkin?

Akhirnya, Azmin Ali dilantik menjadi Ketua PKR negeri Selangor bagi menggantikan Khalid (maka Azmin sekarang menjadi bos kepada Khalid dalam parti), dan Khalid dibenarkan terus menjadi Menteri Besar dan beliau berunding untuk memasukkan kepentingan rakyat Selangor dalam projek Lot 12, untuk menjaga air muka supaya tidak nampak sangat PKR melayan lanun. Syukur Alhamdullilah masih ada lagi hamba Allah yang sedar asal-usul dan agamanya.

Cadangan terbaru dari Khalid ialah PKNS menyerahkan tanah baki 1.85 ekar kepada Puncak Wangi dan Puncak Wangi menyerahkan 30% syer keseluruhan projek yang sekarang menjadi 9.85 ekar kapada PKNS. Sama ada kompromi ini memberi manfaat secara ekonomi dan komersial kapada rakyat negeri Selangor, terpulanglah kepada penganalisa membuat kajian ekonomi-politik terperinci.

Yang nyata untuk dipersoalkan ialah, adakah wajar PKR menjadi kawan baru kepada Puncak Wangi, satu daripada syarikat-syarikat yang tumbuh seperti cendawan dalam era Mahathir dan menyebabkan kronisma ekonomi sehingga menggagalkan penyusunan semula ekonomi seperti diharapkan rakyat melalui Dasar Ekonomi Baru. Malah, berjuang menghapuskan keadaan dan kewujudan perkakas-perkakas sumbang seperti Puncak Wangi telah menjadi bahan kempen PR di PRU12, yang mana disambut baik oleh rakyat.

Sebagai sebuah "parti reformasi", PKR berjanji kepada rakyat bahawa PKR tidak akan meneruskan cara pentadbiran BN. “We don’t promise you to just do things better, we promise to do things different altogether” jerit pemimpin anugerah Tuhan dan disambut oleh tempikan sokongan rakyat. Apa sudah jadi?

Desas-desus yang kedengaran sekarang ialah RM10 juta telah dijanjikan dan RM3 juta telah pun diberi. Kepada siapa? PKR masih tiada wang nampaknya. Wallah-huallam, hanya pemberi, penerima dan Allah Subhanalllahu wa taala sahaja yang tahu. Mungkinkah DAP akan berdiam diri? Atau didiamkan dengan cara yang sama? Rakyat tetap menjadi mangsa. Nampaknya buaya darat dan ular air boleh hidup di dalam atau di luar air bumi Malaysia selagi pimpinan Melayu cakap tak serupa bikin dan lupakan amanah rakyat.

Jangan bandingkan PKR dengan UMNO sebagai “lesser of the two evils”. That was not the reformasi deal. Rakyat tuntut agar janji-janji dikotakan oleh pemimpin walaupun kononnya dari penganugerahan Tuhan. Berhati-hati dengan doa orang yang teraniaya.



MISKAM HJ SUPARMAN
Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

Disneyland vs PKNS land - Pieter D'Cruz

It has been two days since the exposé of the shady dealings between Khalid Ibrahim, the Selangor Menteri Besar and Azmin Ali, the Deputy President of PKR over a piece of PKNS land in Section 52, Petaling Jaya. Two days and not a single word from either of them. The silence is deafening.

When Khir Toyo, the previous Menteri Besar, was alleged to use state funds to pay for a trip to Disneyland, PKR leaders went to town crying thief. Yet when the present Menteri Besar gave away PKNS land to a crony, the PKR leadership chooses to be quieter than a church mouse.

If the trip to Disneyland was brought to SELCAT, then shouldn’t the giving away of PKNS land merit the same treatment? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Unless, of course, one believes that corruption is kosher once blessed by a leader sent by God.

And they have the audacity to promise 10 reforms within 100 days if given the powers to govern the country. The only change to Selangor, a state that they have ruled for more than 1000 days, is a new line-up of cronies.

Yes, it’s the season for giving and forgiving but, no, giving away a piece of land owned by the rakyat is not on my gift list and hypocrites are not on my list of people to be forgiven.

Wishing Malaysians of the Christian faith, A Merry Xmas and all Malaysians, A Happy New Year. May the Good Lord bless and protect our beloved country.



PIETER D’CRUZ

Khalid & Azmin, minta jawab segera - Jaspal Singh Gill

Dua hari lalu saya telah menulis tentang dilemma yang saya hadapi untuk memutuskan mana satu untuk diundi pada pilihanraya yang akan datang – BN atau PR?

Hari ini, dakwaan telah dibuat melalui sebuah portal berita internet tempatan bahawa kerajaan negeri Selangor yang diterajui oleh PR telah meluluskan tanpa tender satu kontrak bernilai berjuta ringgit kepada sebuah syarikat yang tidak mempunyai track record untuk membangunkan sekeping tanah di Petaling Jaya. Juga didakwa syarikat itu mempunyai hubungan rapat dengan YB Azmin Ali, ahli dewan undangan negeri Hulu Kelang yang juga timbalan presiden PKR dan beliau telah mendesak YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, menteri besar Selangor, untuk memberi kontrak itu kepada syarikat tersebut.

Ini adalah dakwaan-dakwaan yang amat serius. YAB Khalid and YB Azmin mempunyai kewajipan untuk memberi jawapan dan penjelasan dengan serta merta. Keikhlasan mereka untuk menegakkan integriti, kebertanggungjawaban dan ketelusan kerajaan negeri, PKR dan PR sekarang menjadi bahan persoalan.

Saya berharap kedua-duanya tidak akan membisu sebagaimana parti mereka telah membisu apabila ditimbulkan dakwaan oleh ahli-ahli parti mereka sendiri berkaitan kepincangan pemilihan parti. Berdiam diri sedemikian hanya akan menambahkan kejelakan terhadap PKR.

Saya juga berharap parti-parti rakan, PAS dan DAP, akan mendesak kerajaan negeri Selangor untuk menjawab dakwaan-dakwaan terbaru ini. Desakan sedemikian adalah wajar sekiranya benar PR adalah gabungan sama rata antara parti-parti rakan.

Tidak ada gunanya berjanji untuk reformasi itu dan reformasi ini dalam tempoh 100 hari jika dipilih membentuk kerajaan federal sekiranya suatu perkara yang seratus-peratus di bawah tanggungjawab kerajaan negeri, seperti isu ini, lembab dan keberatan untuk ditangani oleh PR.

Saya harap kerajaan negeri Selangor atau YAB Khalid atau YB Azmin akan memberi penjelasan sebelum Hari Krismas. Sekiranya tidak, maka saya beserta keluarga dan sahabat handai akan mengambil keputusan untuk tidak mengundi PR pada pilihanraya yang akan datang.

Para pengundi sedang menyaksi – dan menunggu.


JASPAL SINGH GILL

Khalid & Azmin, please respond immediately - Jaspal Singh Gill

Only two days ago I had written about the dilemma that I have as an ordinary voter in deciding between BN or PR in the next general elections.

Today, it has been alleged through a local internet news portal that, first, the PR state government of Selangor has awarded without open tender a multi-million ringgit contract to develop a piece of Petaling Jaya land to a company with no known track record of property development and, second, the company is associated with the state assemblyman for Hulu Kelang, YB Azmin Ali who is also the deputy president of PKR and, third, YB Azmin had pressured the Selangor menteri besar, YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, to award the contract to the said company.

These are very serious allegations. YAB Khalid and YB Azmin have an obligation to respond to them without delay. Their sincerity about upholding the integrity, accountability and transparency of the state government, PKR and PR are at stake here.

I hope neither one would stonewall these allegations the way their party did to accusations by party members of irregularities in their recent internal elections. Such reticence would only cause more disenchantment with PKR.

I also hope its coalition partners, PAS and DAP, would prod the state government to reply to the allegations. Such prodding is the right thing to do if PR is truly a coalition of equals.

There is no point in promising to do this or that reform within 100 days of being elected the federal government if PR drags its feet over a matter, such as this, which is fully under the responsibility of a PR state government.

I hope the state government or YAB Khalid or YB Azmin will give an explanation before Christmas. Otherwise, I together with my family and friends will decide not to give our votes to PR in the next general elections.

The voters are watching.



JASPAL SINGH GILL

Cross your ballot and then your fingers? - Jaspal Singh Gill

The recent Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention has unveiled a list of ten items that a PR government would accomplish within its first 100 days of governing the country. And what a welcomed list of it is. Most, if not all, of those items are good things; very desirable things that no one would argue against. You’d be a fool to do so.

However, upon greater reflection, you can’t help but feel you’d be a bigger fool to decide here and now to give your vote to them solely on account of what they promise to do. They are after all politicians on a campaign and we all know the thing about campaign promises – they’re not worth the paper they are written on.

But what I found particularly risible is that one of the political parties making the promise of institutional reforms is PKR which since March 2008 has shown itself barely able to keep its own house in order.

The party’s own recent internal elections had been so poorly conducted it has become a showcase of sham and shambles. This was compounded by the less than enlightened attitude of the party towards those within its fold who criticised and highlighted the flaws in the process; so much so that one frustrated candidate decided to abandon contest and party altogether.

Apart from vote-rigging, leakage of ballot papers, furtive pressure on some unfavoured candidates to withdraw, among other reports of abuses in the party elections, there was even an alleged case of letter forgery with the intent of nullifying a member’s nomination to contest. With all these examples of either malice or incompetence now in public awareness, the party has the cheek to hold itself out to be the one eminently suited to undertake the reform of the nation’s vital institutions. If there is one thing that the PKR elections ought to teach all of us is that good intentions alone is not enough to bring the outcome that we want.

Many will of course argue that the incumbent BN government is a prime example of poor governance and ought to be voted out no matter what. Maybe so except that the alternative, especially PKR, has quite amply shown itself prone to poor governance even before it has taken over the reins of government, what more if it became the government.

To believe that there is no alternative to BN would be to give it full license to perpetuate the abuse of its mandate but to believe that PR, especially PKR, ought to be voted in no matter what, is to give full license to it to ignore its own flaws and shortcomings. There is no surer way to turn it into another Umno/BN once it is in power. Therein lies the dilemma for the non-politically affiliated voters amongst us.

There is the counter-argument that if PR is not up to the mark whilst in government, we, the voters, can always vote it out come the next general elections. Such an argument is based on the premise that Malaysia is a ‘perfect’ democracy. That is a premise not borne out by what has been observed of both the governing and opposition parties in action.

It is indeed a tough call and the last thing I would want to do is swallow the PR pledge of ‘100-day’ reforms hook, line and sinker.



JASPAL SINGH GILL

Anugerah Tuhan - Abas Azizan

Sungguh terharu hati saya apabila mendengar presiden PKR mengatakan bahawa ketua umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, adalah ‘anugerah Tuhan’. Memang banyak harungan dan cabaran hidup, mahupun kezaliman yang telah dilalui dan dihadapi oleh Datuk Seri Anwar. Setiap cabaran itu telah beliau hadapi dan tangani dengan penuh tekad dan tabah. Ketokohan beliau menyerlah setiap kali.

Bagaimanapun, perasaan terharu itu, apabila saya fikirkan dengan mendalam, mahu tak mahu, bercampur aduk juga dengan sedikit kekhuatiran.

Sememangnya Wan Azizah seorang isteri yang setia, yang mahu berdiri teguh di samping suaminya yang sekarang ini melalui kegetiran samada di arena politik negara ataupun di arena peribadi. Hakikat itu saya terima. Apa yang saya bimbang dan khuatirkan adalah dengan mengangkat Anwar sebegitu rupa, perkataan Azizah akan disalahtafsirkan sebagai mendewa-dewakan Anwar seolah Anwar adalah seorang yang maksum dan tidak pernah melakukan kesalahan. Sekiranya tanggapan ‘Anwar maksum’ ini menjadi realiti, itu adalah satu perkembangan yang amat tidak sihat di kalangan pengikut-pengikut Anwar.

Sayugia diingatkan, sebenarnya Anwar juga pernah melakukan kesilapan – banyak kesilapan di dalam likar-liku kehidupan beliau. Jauh sekali dari maksum ’anugerah Tuhan’ ini.

Beliau tersilap apabila gemar sangat menggaji orang-orang muda yang handsome dan tinggi lampai sebagai kakitangan pejabat beliau. Setelah pernah difitnah oleh Mahathir dengan dituduh dan dipenjara atas kesalahan seks luar tabii atau seks homoseksual, adalah silap untuk Anwar sekali lagi membiarkan pemuda-pemuda tinggi lampai dan handsome berkeliaran di pejabat beliau. Peluang telah terbuka untuk apa yang terjadi sebelumnya terjadi sekali lagi. Nah, sekarang timbul pula Sodomi 2!

Anwar tersilap apabila meminta maaf kepada beberapa pendokong Zionisma semasa melawat Amerika Syarikat beberapa bulan lepas. Kenapa perlu beliau meminta maaf tidak pula pernah diperjelaskan olehnya kepada rakyat di Malaysia. Beliau juga telah jelas tersilap sekiranya memikirkan laporan beliau meminta maaf itu tidak akan sampai ke telinga orang di Malaysia.

Anwar juga telah tersilap mengenai kes 16 September 2008. Tidaklah diketahui dan tak pernah pula beliau memberi penjelasan atas asas apa yang beliau percaya 30 orang wakil rakyat BN akan dapat dipengaruhi untuk melompat masuk ke Pakatan Rakyat dan seterusnya membuka laluan untuk Anwar menjadi perdana menteri negara.

Anwar telah mengumumkan, sebaik sahaja dilantik menjadi penasihat ekonomi negeri Selangor, bahawa beliau akan membawa berbilion-bilion wang pelaburan dari Timur Tengah ke negeri Selangor. Ini nampaknya adalah satu kesilapan sebab sehingga kini tak kelihatan pun pelaburan dari Timur Tengah itu.

Ini tidak lagi termasuk kesilapan-kesilapan yang pernah Anwar lakukan semasa beliau berada di dalam parti Umno. Dan sekira difikirkan betul-betul, kemasukan beliau ke dalam Umno dahulu itu pun boleh dianggap sebagai satu kesilapan. Mana pula boleh seorang ‘anugerah Tuhan’ masuk parti sekular? Insan yang sedemikian sewajarnya masuk ke parti yang sentiasa berusaha untuk redha Tuhan, iaitu PAS.



ABAS AZIZAN