KUALA LUMPUR: Water cannons were turned on a group who came to the Brickfields police station to lodge mass police reports against the mistreatment of ISA detainee P. Uthayakumar who suffers from diabetes.
The crowd had refused to disperse despite repeated warnings from the police.
City police chief DCP Mohd Sabtu Osman said 17 people, including Kapar MP Manikavasagam, had been arrested for illegal gathering.
Among the arrested, three, including a woman, were sent to the hospital but police declined to comment.
Earlier Saturday, about 300 people, including several Members of Parliament, had gathered to make the police reports.
Police allowed about 50 people - five family members of Uthayakumar and five representatives each from the country’s nine states, including MPs - to enter the station to lodge the reports.
The rest outside were asked to disperse. Most of them did but about 30 refused to leave.
The Federal Reserve Unit, which was already on standby, began shooting chemical-laced water at the crowd. The 30 ran away and then came back. They were again shot at with water cannons.
They ran way again, regrouped and returned to face a third round of dousing before dispersing.
It took about 40 minutes for the FRU to disperse the crowd.
They have now established a safety perimeter around the police station.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said police had no choice as the crowd had ignored police advise to disperse as they were inconveniencing others at the Brickfields police station.
“We advised them on Friday and even appealed to them via the TV, newspapers and radio not to come in such large numbers to lodge the same report as we will investigate them as a single report.
“They refused to listen and seemed to want to create unnecessary problems for others.
“The police station is a security area and we cannot allow such huge numbers inside for security reasons,’’ he said.
Musa warned that police would not hesitate to take stern action against any illegal gathering.
Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo who arrived later said that the incident should not have happened as every citizen had the right to lodge a police report regardless of the number.
“It is clear there are different standards practised by the police when dealing with such matters,” he said.
By Lourdes Charles and M. Kumar, The Star
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Chitrakala says she is scared of Samy Vellu
P. Chitrakala Vasu, the woman at the centre of a row with Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu over missing MIED files and funds, has given the public a rare inside look into the dealings of the MIC president.
At a press conference today, she offered up a glimpse into how her former boss thinks, works and manages the millions that the government has allocated over the years to the MIC to alleviate Indian poverty.
But before opening the window into the world of Samy Vellu and his inner circle, Chitrakala said: “I am very scared of this man.
"He has got money, people. I am an ordinary person, I am very scared. He has got everybody with him; I don’t have anybody with me. But I thought going public is my best protection.”
She was once so close to Samy Vellu that she became the subject of gossip, suggesting she was having an affair with him.
“It is all lies but I was that close to him,” Chitrakala told the press conference at the crowded Lotus restaurant in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
She said Samy Vellu was now going after her and trying to pin on her all sorts of allegations of financial improprieties connected with MIED, the MIC arm that operates the AIMST University and other colleges.
“MIED is worth RM1 billion compared to Maika Holdings which is worth zero,” Chitrakala said, adding that her relationship with Samy Vellu started to sour after the March 8 general election as he became suspicious of everybody around him.
“He felt very insecure after losing in Sungei Siput and losing as minister. Not being a minister anymore and without it he was a nobody. He knew his days were numbered and he would be challenged for the president’s post. So he got very insecure and saw enemies everywhere,” she said.
One of the issues that arose was the future of MIED which, being worth RM1 billion, was the jewel in the crown of the MIC.
But Samy Vellu saw MIED as a different entity and having nothing to do with MIC or the Indian community.
According to her, he knew he could lose as MIC president but he wanted control of MIED.
“He did not want to let go of MIED. He wanted to remain as MIED chairman and chancellor of AIMST University,” said Chitrakala.
“The way to do it was simple, he wanted MIED removed from MIC,” she said. “MIED is for Indians. He wanted to divorce it from MIC. Legally it can be done but morally it is very wrong.”
“I cannot let what happened to Maika Holdings happen to MIED. I told myself that I have no strength to challenge Samy Vellu on this but my husband supported me,” he said.
One of the first acts Samy Vellu ordered, and over which Chitrakala baulked at, was an instruction to remove former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam as a director of MIED.
“After that Samy Vellu wanted to get rid of nearly everybody, all the 35 members of MIED. He even wanted to get rid of Palani (MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel). He marked a whole list of people for removal and asked me to do it.”
Chitrakala told Samy Vellu he could not do it. “I said MIED is not MIC where he can sack and put in anybody he likes at his whims and fancy. MIED is governed by company law and he can’t do as he likes.
“He got very angry with me,” she said.
Then Samy Vellu asked her to move the MIED office out of the MIC building in Jalan Rahmat here to somewhere else.
“I also disagreed but I did not say no directly. I just delayed the matter. People visit the MIC office for MIED help. We are tied together, we cannot be separated physically,” she said.
“So this is the background of why we had a falling out and finally the crunch was he tried to force me to make payments to AMIST University contracts without proper documentations,” she said.
"Samy Vellu also asked me to make advance payment to contractors."
The fight between the two even got down to little things like the wording on the plaque unveiled when AIMST was opened by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year.
The plague had the words: Malaysian Indian Congress, MIED presents AMIST University to all Malaysians.
“A few days later Samy Vellu called and ordered me to remove the words Malaysian Indian Congress. I asked why and he said MIED was not linked to MIC.”
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
At a press conference today, she offered up a glimpse into how her former boss thinks, works and manages the millions that the government has allocated over the years to the MIC to alleviate Indian poverty.
But before opening the window into the world of Samy Vellu and his inner circle, Chitrakala said: “I am very scared of this man.
"He has got money, people. I am an ordinary person, I am very scared. He has got everybody with him; I don’t have anybody with me. But I thought going public is my best protection.”
She was once so close to Samy Vellu that she became the subject of gossip, suggesting she was having an affair with him.
“It is all lies but I was that close to him,” Chitrakala told the press conference at the crowded Lotus restaurant in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
She said Samy Vellu was now going after her and trying to pin on her all sorts of allegations of financial improprieties connected with MIED, the MIC arm that operates the AIMST University and other colleges.
“MIED is worth RM1 billion compared to Maika Holdings which is worth zero,” Chitrakala said, adding that her relationship with Samy Vellu started to sour after the March 8 general election as he became suspicious of everybody around him.
“He felt very insecure after losing in Sungei Siput and losing as minister. Not being a minister anymore and without it he was a nobody. He knew his days were numbered and he would be challenged for the president’s post. So he got very insecure and saw enemies everywhere,” she said.
One of the issues that arose was the future of MIED which, being worth RM1 billion, was the jewel in the crown of the MIC.
But Samy Vellu saw MIED as a different entity and having nothing to do with MIC or the Indian community.
According to her, he knew he could lose as MIC president but he wanted control of MIED.
“He did not want to let go of MIED. He wanted to remain as MIED chairman and chancellor of AIMST University,” said Chitrakala.
“The way to do it was simple, he wanted MIED removed from MIC,” she said. “MIED is for Indians. He wanted to divorce it from MIC. Legally it can be done but morally it is very wrong.”
“I cannot let what happened to Maika Holdings happen to MIED. I told myself that I have no strength to challenge Samy Vellu on this but my husband supported me,” he said.
One of the first acts Samy Vellu ordered, and over which Chitrakala baulked at, was an instruction to remove former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam as a director of MIED.
“After that Samy Vellu wanted to get rid of nearly everybody, all the 35 members of MIED. He even wanted to get rid of Palani (MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel). He marked a whole list of people for removal and asked me to do it.”
Chitrakala told Samy Vellu he could not do it. “I said MIED is not MIC where he can sack and put in anybody he likes at his whims and fancy. MIED is governed by company law and he can’t do as he likes.
“He got very angry with me,” she said.
Then Samy Vellu asked her to move the MIED office out of the MIC building in Jalan Rahmat here to somewhere else.
“I also disagreed but I did not say no directly. I just delayed the matter. People visit the MIC office for MIED help. We are tied together, we cannot be separated physically,” she said.
“So this is the background of why we had a falling out and finally the crunch was he tried to force me to make payments to AMIST University contracts without proper documentations,” she said.
"Samy Vellu also asked me to make advance payment to contractors."
The fight between the two even got down to little things like the wording on the plaque unveiled when AIMST was opened by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year.
The plague had the words: Malaysian Indian Congress, MIED presents AMIST University to all Malaysians.
“A few days later Samy Vellu called and ordered me to remove the words Malaysian Indian Congress. I asked why and he said MIED was not linked to MIC.”
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
Samy Vellu in the case of the missing files and government funds
The murky financial dealings of MIC were laid bare today after a one-time loyalist implicated Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in mismanagement of party funds and misappropriation of government money.
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
P. Chitrakala Vasu, who is at the centre of a raging row with Samy Vellu over the MIED financial fiasco, alleged today that up to RM2 million raised for tsunami victims in 2004 was transferred from government accounts to a party foundation controlled by the MIC president.
She also alleged that lorry-loads of files were removed from the office of MIED, MIC's education arm of which she was once the chief executive.
MIED had raised millions of ringgit from the Indian community, in addition to receiving about RM300 million from government sources and a loan of RM220 million from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia, which is outstanding, for the construction of the AIMST university in Kedah.
Today, Chitrakala made public two reports she made earlier in the morning in Shah Alam urging police to probe the whereabouts of the MIED files and also RM2 million in donations collected in 2004 for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.
In her report, she claimed the RM2 million was deposited from the Works Ministry into the account of the Yayasan Pemulihan Social (YPS) of which Samy Vellu is chairman and Chitrakala the CEO. Samy Vellu was then the works minister.
“Some time in February 2008 (just before the March 8 election) Samy Vellu telephoned me and informed me that the Works Ministry Treasury would transfer RM2 million into the YPS account and asked me to place the money in fixed deposit,” she said in the report.
“He told me this money was for the people of Sri Lanka but since it was not used he was transferring to YSS for later use,” she said.
"The money was put in a CIMB fixed deposit account and was still there when I left on Jan 2, 2009,” she said in the report, adding that she was making the report to prevent Samy Vellu from using the money for any other “unauthorised purpose”.
She also fears she might be blamed if the money when “missing”.
In the second report, she urged police to investigate “missing” MIED files and gave details of a heated confrontation she had with Samy Vellu in his office on Dec 31, 2008 in the presence of MIC vice-presidents Datuk S. Veerasingham and Datuk S. Sothinathan.
“A heated argument broke out after Samy Vellu made baseless accusations and I told him I will see him in court but he replied court is not the place,” she said in the second report.
In the report, she said Samy Vellu allegedly told her that he would "make sure the police arrest and embarrass you”.
“Soon thereafter I was slammed with five show-cause letters and more followed after this,” she said.
“After I left on Jan 1 without even taking my personal belongings I learned lorries were used to remove files from the MIED office and taken to an undisclosed location on orders of Samy Vellu,” she said in the report.
At the press conference, Chitrakala said the police must investigate how so many files had gone missing and why she is being blamed for it.
“What secrets these files hide?” she asked.
“This is only the first part… there is more coming,” a defiant Chitrakala told a press conference at a restaurant here today.
“I was followed, photographed, harassed and threatened in the days leading to this press conference,” said a visibly angry Chitrakala, 38, who is married with four children.
Even major newspapers considered close to Samy Vellu were not invited to the event for fear the news would be leaked and she could be waylaid or the press conference somehow scuttled.
“He pushed me to the wall, he asked for this (revelations). I worked hard for him and protected him for 14 years but in the end he came after me and pushed me to the wall,” Chitrakala told The Malaysian Insider before the press conference.
“I am not afraid of him… I know the truth behind him,” she said, adding all the accusations Samy Vellu had made against her over the missing MIED files and for involvement in corrupt deals were false and designed to shatter her.
“He has to answer not me,” Chitrakala said, breaking down in tears at how she and her family now feared for their lives.
“He is powerful, he is big… we are nothing. But we have the truth, the people behind us. That’s why I am going public. The people have a right to know,” she said.
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
P. Chitrakala Vasu, who is at the centre of a raging row with Samy Vellu over the MIED financial fiasco, alleged today that up to RM2 million raised for tsunami victims in 2004 was transferred from government accounts to a party foundation controlled by the MIC president.
She also alleged that lorry-loads of files were removed from the office of MIED, MIC's education arm of which she was once the chief executive.
MIED had raised millions of ringgit from the Indian community, in addition to receiving about RM300 million from government sources and a loan of RM220 million from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia, which is outstanding, for the construction of the AIMST university in Kedah.
Today, Chitrakala made public two reports she made earlier in the morning in Shah Alam urging police to probe the whereabouts of the MIED files and also RM2 million in donations collected in 2004 for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.
In her report, she claimed the RM2 million was deposited from the Works Ministry into the account of the Yayasan Pemulihan Social (YPS) of which Samy Vellu is chairman and Chitrakala the CEO. Samy Vellu was then the works minister.
“Some time in February 2008 (just before the March 8 election) Samy Vellu telephoned me and informed me that the Works Ministry Treasury would transfer RM2 million into the YPS account and asked me to place the money in fixed deposit,” she said in the report.
“He told me this money was for the people of Sri Lanka but since it was not used he was transferring to YSS for later use,” she said.
"The money was put in a CIMB fixed deposit account and was still there when I left on Jan 2, 2009,” she said in the report, adding that she was making the report to prevent Samy Vellu from using the money for any other “unauthorised purpose”.
She also fears she might be blamed if the money when “missing”.
In the second report, she urged police to investigate “missing” MIED files and gave details of a heated confrontation she had with Samy Vellu in his office on Dec 31, 2008 in the presence of MIC vice-presidents Datuk S. Veerasingham and Datuk S. Sothinathan.
“A heated argument broke out after Samy Vellu made baseless accusations and I told him I will see him in court but he replied court is not the place,” she said in the second report.
In the report, she said Samy Vellu allegedly told her that he would "make sure the police arrest and embarrass you”.
“Soon thereafter I was slammed with five show-cause letters and more followed after this,” she said.
“After I left on Jan 1 without even taking my personal belongings I learned lorries were used to remove files from the MIED office and taken to an undisclosed location on orders of Samy Vellu,” she said in the report.
At the press conference, Chitrakala said the police must investigate how so many files had gone missing and why she is being blamed for it.
“What secrets these files hide?” she asked.
“This is only the first part… there is more coming,” a defiant Chitrakala told a press conference at a restaurant here today.
“I was followed, photographed, harassed and threatened in the days leading to this press conference,” said a visibly angry Chitrakala, 38, who is married with four children.
Even major newspapers considered close to Samy Vellu were not invited to the event for fear the news would be leaked and she could be waylaid or the press conference somehow scuttled.
“He pushed me to the wall, he asked for this (revelations). I worked hard for him and protected him for 14 years but in the end he came after me and pushed me to the wall,” Chitrakala told The Malaysian Insider before the press conference.
“I am not afraid of him… I know the truth behind him,” she said, adding all the accusations Samy Vellu had made against her over the missing MIED files and for involvement in corrupt deals were false and designed to shatter her.
“He has to answer not me,” Chitrakala said, breaking down in tears at how she and her family now feared for their lives.
“He is powerful, he is big… we are nothing. But we have the truth, the people behind us. That’s why I am going public. The people have a right to know,” she said.
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Malaysian Politics - Getting Murkier
“Malaysian politics is all about individuals rather than parties – and as a result character assassination is an effective tool here” - Political Analyst Shamsul Amin Baruddin
“It is getting harder to interpret political developments in the country with just about every one trying to stake a claim to the future. The disorder we’re experiencing is just that: random and inexplicable” Karim Raslan (The Star)
INTRODUCTION
Malaysia, known for its political stability for the last fifty years or so, had a big jolt in the last general elections (March 2008), when the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority besides losing control of four more states to the opposition in addition to the state of Kelantan. The ruling coalition won 63 % of the parliamentary seats in stark contrast to the 91 % of the seats it had won in 2004. Despite calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take the blame and step down, he continues as the Prime Minister, though under pressure more from his own party UMNO, has announced to hand over the reins to his deputy Najib Razak in March 2009, after the party general assembly and elections. Instances of defections, character assassinations, fiery speeches on Malay superiority, ban on popular movements, discussions on the NEP, religious assertion and increased use of Internal Security Act (ISA), have become a regular feature, sullying the Malaysian politics to an unprecedented level.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
The Prime Minister with his “Mr. Clean” image was more accessible and considered more “Islamic” than his predecessor but failed to deliver the goods. The last tenure was uneventful and the country’s economy stagnated though there were other extraneous factors. His management style and decision making were often questioned. He did not have an efficient team of advisors. He came under heavy criticism from his own predecessor, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who went to the extent of repenting for making him the Prime Minister. He could not rein in his own party members to work as one and failed to curb the Malay chauvinism for which the party and the ruling coalition had to pay a heavy price. His concept of Islam Hadhari does not seem to have clicked with the fairly conservative Muslim majority of the nation. The promised reforms of the police and judiciary had not made much headway. At the end of his last term people had started going to the streets for airing their grievances, which was something new to Malaysia.
Anwar Ibrahim
The former Deputy Prime Minister, who had spent six years in jail, was a free man but could not contest the last general elections (March 2008) since there was a ban on him to seek public office till April 2008. He deserves all the credit for bringing together the three opposition parties with different ideologies and racial composition to an alliance before the elections and for winning 82 of 222 parliamentary seats and thereby denying two- thirds majority to the ruling coalition.Despite fresh allegations of sodomy for which he was detained and later released on bail in July 2008, he won a by- election in August 2008 with a landslide victory and returned to the parliament to become the leader of the opposition. Anwar termed the accusation (of sodomy) against him as a ‘sickening’ government conspiracy to prevent his rise.He has his fair share of follies in trying to topple the ruling coalition by announcing the time frame for a specified number of parliamentarians from the ruling coalition joining the opposition. These dead lines could not be met and he has come under harsh criticism from the opposition parties for encouraging the trend of “party hopping”. Since then some of the legislators of the opposition have switched over to the ruling coalition, because of which, the Perak state had changed hands from the opposition to the ruling coalition in February 2009.Anwar is also being accused of criticizing the very same policies backed by him when he was in the Barisan Nasional Government in the 1980s and 1990s.There is an ongoing smear campaign against Anwar both from within and by the ruling coalition (ostensibly by his nemesis Najib Razak).The case against him for sodomy is still pending and he fears he may be rearrested at any time.
Najib Razak
He is the son of the country’s second premier Tun Abdul Razak and currently the Deputy Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.There are allegations that he is linked in the case of a Mongolian model who was murdered in 2006. Anwar had propped up a private investigator to spill the beans to the media that Najib was involved in sexual relationship with the model. The investigator, however, retracted the statement and Najib has also denied any involvement in the death of the model.In November 2008, he emerged as president elect of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). By the party’s convention, the prime minister’s post goes to the president. In obtaining 140 nominations from the 192 divisions, he has come out as the unopposed leader of the party with a mandate to retrieve the image of the party after the last poll debacle.Since his nomination as the next party president and in his capacity as finance minister he has started addressing the concerns of the party and the government and taking major decisions and interact with the media as prime minister-in-waiting.Najib is likely to continue with the affirmative action policies and pander to the Malay majority though at times he has toned down to placate the minorities by certain gestures such as apologising for the demolition of a Hindu temple.With Najib coming to power, “some in Malaysia are bracing for a return to ‘Mahathirism’, a leadership style that favours turbocharged, state-led industrialization and promotes ‘Asian Values’ as antidote to Western freedom. So far Najib has done little to dispel this impression” - The Economist He was in charge of the campaigning for two by- elections held since the last general elections and he failed in that as both seats went to the opposition. Though this went against his organizational ability, he managed a political coup in the state of Perak by enticing a few opposition legislators to switch over to the ruling coalition, a few independents to pledge their support and thereby regain control of the state by a slender margin. This has surprised the opposition and shocked the country with the games that are being played by the political parties. This has even dragged the Sultan of the State into limelight for the controversial decision to hand over power to BN instead of dissolving the house.
The Common Man
The common man in Malaysia is perhaps tired of the dirty politics that has gripped the country since March 2008 without any major effort from the government to alleviate his economic woes. The reduction in petrol prices have been in trickles as compared to the world market. Electricity charges have been hiked in July 2008 by over 20% though reductions have been promised. Instances of pressure on the opposition legislators to defect to the ruling coalition or the other way round is a regular feature in the news paper. The non-Malays are often reminded of the Malay superiority and that the affirmative action policies will continue irrespective of who is at the top. Personal assaults and slanderous campaigns against politicians for misuse of power and their private affairs are highlighted regularly in the media. Bloggers criticizing the government policies are being harassed or being tried under ISA. A recent case of an opposition woman legislator’s nude photographs being circulated on the internet has shocked the common man though the Deputy Prime Minister has reiterated that it was not politically motivated. To top it all, the constitutional crisis in the state of Perak, where both the ruling coalition and the opposition are at loggerheads, with the speaker suspending the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) and six other executive councilors, had been hogging the headlines of print, visual and online media for over a week.
The Ruling Coalition (Barisan National - National Front)
The ruling coalition called the Barisan National (BN) is made up of 14 national and regional parties. However the main constituents are the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) representing the Malays, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) representing the Chinese and the Malaysia Indian Congress (MIC) representing the Indians. Of late the Barisan National has acquired a damaging image that it can go to any extent to discredit the opposition. UMNO had its biggest set back in the general elections as the dominant partner of the ruling coalition by winning only 79 seats as against 109 in 2004. Dissensions and rifts within the party surface time and again though denied publicly. Dr. Mahathir, former prime minister, resigned from the party in 2008 citing the inept handling of the party by its leadership. Tengku Razaleigh Hamza, who failed in his effort to contest Najib for the top party post, has often openly criticized the functioning of the party. The general assembly scheduled for last November had to be postponed due to myriad party problems to March 2009 when the elections for the party president and the other office bearers will be held. Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) had its own leadership problems and in mitigating the particular problems of the Chinese Community. Its performance in the last elections was also dismal – winning 15 parliamentary seats as against 31 in 2004.Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has virtually been annihilated in the last general election. As per a media report, backing of the Indians to the ruling coalition had plummeted from 82 to 47 percent. The party managed to retain only 3 of the 9 parliamentary seats and 6 of the 19 state seats it contested. The President (Samy Vellu), Deputy President, two vice-presidents, the youth chief and women’s wing chief lost in the election. Ethnic grievances, highlighted by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and the negative response from the MIC to that, was one of the major reasons for the downfall of the MIC.Dato Seri Samy Vellu, despite being dethroned from his cabinet minister’s post, still hangs on to the post of party president (held by him since 1979) disregarding the clamour from the community for him to step down. He is not allowing any of his subordinates to come up and he is contesting for the president’s post in the party elections again in March. The party is ridden with factions, internal fighting and mismanagement of its investment and education wings.
The opposition alliance (Pakatan Rakyat – People’s Alliance)
The opposition alliance is made up Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) representing all the three races, Democratic Action Party (DAP) predominantly Chinese and Parti Islam se Malaysia (PAS) representing the Malays. The lack of experience of the opposition coalition is evidenced in the management of the states under its control. Besides lack of cooperation from the centre, it is facing an uphill talk to govern the states. Soon after the elections power sharing problems between the component parties in the states under their control came to the fore. The alliance has not been able to implement the pre election promises such as curbing of corruption, improvement of human rights and economic reforms by often taking refuge under the absence of ‘a level playing field’. PKR is the party that was being led by the wife of Anwar Ibrahim till he returned to active politics. It is the backbone of the opposition more because Anwar is the coordinator and the unifying force of these three disparate parties. The party is politically young with no able second rung of leaders. It could not field a Menteri Besar (Chief Minister of a State) despite the party having the maximum seats and giving the post to a PAS candidate. The party, in championing the cause of other races is facing the risk of alienating the majority Malays.DAP has some able leadership and has been the main opposition to the ruling coalition till Pakatan Rakyat was formed. DAP has always been opposed to PAS because of its ultimate aim of establishing an Islamic state. Hence co-operation between these two is more at the surface level and the alliance, more a marriage of convenience.PAS was being virtually wooed to join the UMNO (after the last elections) so that the Malay majority will have sufficient strength to tackle the others. Through this did not happen, the possibility will continue to be explored by Najib and his party. PAS, even though it has given up its demand for a Shariah-based Islamic state, has its own woes as it can not shed its conservative image with some hardliners at the helm.. PAS had flirted with UMNO in “Muslim Unity” talks and this has not gone well with the other two in the coalition –DAP and PKR. With all this they are not able to convince the other two races to come to their support in any joint effort.
Conclusion
As of now, the dust after the storm (March 2008 general election) has not yet settled down. There is a political quagmire with both the ruling coalition and the opposition trying to outdo each other and the general public caught in the cross fire.In this political battle the racial harmony which was juggled to balance all these years is getting distorted. The economy is weakening with less of foreign direct investment forthcoming. Even the monarchy and the political institutions are being questioned for their actions. Assertive articulation of deep seated discontent by the ethnic minorities is posing to be the biggest challenge to the new leader. There is more public unrest exhibited through demonstrations, street protests, and blogs. The country should bounce back, be it under Najib, Anwar or a third person at the earliest and become politically stable as before.
C.S.Kuppuswamy
“It is getting harder to interpret political developments in the country with just about every one trying to stake a claim to the future. The disorder we’re experiencing is just that: random and inexplicable” Karim Raslan (The Star)
INTRODUCTION
Malaysia, known for its political stability for the last fifty years or so, had a big jolt in the last general elections (March 2008), when the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority besides losing control of four more states to the opposition in addition to the state of Kelantan. The ruling coalition won 63 % of the parliamentary seats in stark contrast to the 91 % of the seats it had won in 2004. Despite calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take the blame and step down, he continues as the Prime Minister, though under pressure more from his own party UMNO, has announced to hand over the reins to his deputy Najib Razak in March 2009, after the party general assembly and elections. Instances of defections, character assassinations, fiery speeches on Malay superiority, ban on popular movements, discussions on the NEP, religious assertion and increased use of Internal Security Act (ISA), have become a regular feature, sullying the Malaysian politics to an unprecedented level.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
The Prime Minister with his “Mr. Clean” image was more accessible and considered more “Islamic” than his predecessor but failed to deliver the goods. The last tenure was uneventful and the country’s economy stagnated though there were other extraneous factors. His management style and decision making were often questioned. He did not have an efficient team of advisors. He came under heavy criticism from his own predecessor, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who went to the extent of repenting for making him the Prime Minister. He could not rein in his own party members to work as one and failed to curb the Malay chauvinism for which the party and the ruling coalition had to pay a heavy price. His concept of Islam Hadhari does not seem to have clicked with the fairly conservative Muslim majority of the nation. The promised reforms of the police and judiciary had not made much headway. At the end of his last term people had started going to the streets for airing their grievances, which was something new to Malaysia.
Anwar Ibrahim
The former Deputy Prime Minister, who had spent six years in jail, was a free man but could not contest the last general elections (March 2008) since there was a ban on him to seek public office till April 2008. He deserves all the credit for bringing together the three opposition parties with different ideologies and racial composition to an alliance before the elections and for winning 82 of 222 parliamentary seats and thereby denying two- thirds majority to the ruling coalition.Despite fresh allegations of sodomy for which he was detained and later released on bail in July 2008, he won a by- election in August 2008 with a landslide victory and returned to the parliament to become the leader of the opposition. Anwar termed the accusation (of sodomy) against him as a ‘sickening’ government conspiracy to prevent his rise.He has his fair share of follies in trying to topple the ruling coalition by announcing the time frame for a specified number of parliamentarians from the ruling coalition joining the opposition. These dead lines could not be met and he has come under harsh criticism from the opposition parties for encouraging the trend of “party hopping”. Since then some of the legislators of the opposition have switched over to the ruling coalition, because of which, the Perak state had changed hands from the opposition to the ruling coalition in February 2009.Anwar is also being accused of criticizing the very same policies backed by him when he was in the Barisan Nasional Government in the 1980s and 1990s.There is an ongoing smear campaign against Anwar both from within and by the ruling coalition (ostensibly by his nemesis Najib Razak).The case against him for sodomy is still pending and he fears he may be rearrested at any time.
Najib Razak
He is the son of the country’s second premier Tun Abdul Razak and currently the Deputy Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.There are allegations that he is linked in the case of a Mongolian model who was murdered in 2006. Anwar had propped up a private investigator to spill the beans to the media that Najib was involved in sexual relationship with the model. The investigator, however, retracted the statement and Najib has also denied any involvement in the death of the model.In November 2008, he emerged as president elect of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). By the party’s convention, the prime minister’s post goes to the president. In obtaining 140 nominations from the 192 divisions, he has come out as the unopposed leader of the party with a mandate to retrieve the image of the party after the last poll debacle.Since his nomination as the next party president and in his capacity as finance minister he has started addressing the concerns of the party and the government and taking major decisions and interact with the media as prime minister-in-waiting.Najib is likely to continue with the affirmative action policies and pander to the Malay majority though at times he has toned down to placate the minorities by certain gestures such as apologising for the demolition of a Hindu temple.With Najib coming to power, “some in Malaysia are bracing for a return to ‘Mahathirism’, a leadership style that favours turbocharged, state-led industrialization and promotes ‘Asian Values’ as antidote to Western freedom. So far Najib has done little to dispel this impression” - The Economist He was in charge of the campaigning for two by- elections held since the last general elections and he failed in that as both seats went to the opposition. Though this went against his organizational ability, he managed a political coup in the state of Perak by enticing a few opposition legislators to switch over to the ruling coalition, a few independents to pledge their support and thereby regain control of the state by a slender margin. This has surprised the opposition and shocked the country with the games that are being played by the political parties. This has even dragged the Sultan of the State into limelight for the controversial decision to hand over power to BN instead of dissolving the house.
The Common Man
The common man in Malaysia is perhaps tired of the dirty politics that has gripped the country since March 2008 without any major effort from the government to alleviate his economic woes. The reduction in petrol prices have been in trickles as compared to the world market. Electricity charges have been hiked in July 2008 by over 20% though reductions have been promised. Instances of pressure on the opposition legislators to defect to the ruling coalition or the other way round is a regular feature in the news paper. The non-Malays are often reminded of the Malay superiority and that the affirmative action policies will continue irrespective of who is at the top. Personal assaults and slanderous campaigns against politicians for misuse of power and their private affairs are highlighted regularly in the media. Bloggers criticizing the government policies are being harassed or being tried under ISA. A recent case of an opposition woman legislator’s nude photographs being circulated on the internet has shocked the common man though the Deputy Prime Minister has reiterated that it was not politically motivated. To top it all, the constitutional crisis in the state of Perak, where both the ruling coalition and the opposition are at loggerheads, with the speaker suspending the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) and six other executive councilors, had been hogging the headlines of print, visual and online media for over a week.
The Ruling Coalition (Barisan National - National Front)
The ruling coalition called the Barisan National (BN) is made up of 14 national and regional parties. However the main constituents are the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) representing the Malays, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) representing the Chinese and the Malaysia Indian Congress (MIC) representing the Indians. Of late the Barisan National has acquired a damaging image that it can go to any extent to discredit the opposition. UMNO had its biggest set back in the general elections as the dominant partner of the ruling coalition by winning only 79 seats as against 109 in 2004. Dissensions and rifts within the party surface time and again though denied publicly. Dr. Mahathir, former prime minister, resigned from the party in 2008 citing the inept handling of the party by its leadership. Tengku Razaleigh Hamza, who failed in his effort to contest Najib for the top party post, has often openly criticized the functioning of the party. The general assembly scheduled for last November had to be postponed due to myriad party problems to March 2009 when the elections for the party president and the other office bearers will be held. Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) had its own leadership problems and in mitigating the particular problems of the Chinese Community. Its performance in the last elections was also dismal – winning 15 parliamentary seats as against 31 in 2004.Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has virtually been annihilated in the last general election. As per a media report, backing of the Indians to the ruling coalition had plummeted from 82 to 47 percent. The party managed to retain only 3 of the 9 parliamentary seats and 6 of the 19 state seats it contested. The President (Samy Vellu), Deputy President, two vice-presidents, the youth chief and women’s wing chief lost in the election. Ethnic grievances, highlighted by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and the negative response from the MIC to that, was one of the major reasons for the downfall of the MIC.Dato Seri Samy Vellu, despite being dethroned from his cabinet minister’s post, still hangs on to the post of party president (held by him since 1979) disregarding the clamour from the community for him to step down. He is not allowing any of his subordinates to come up and he is contesting for the president’s post in the party elections again in March. The party is ridden with factions, internal fighting and mismanagement of its investment and education wings.
The opposition alliance (Pakatan Rakyat – People’s Alliance)
The opposition alliance is made up Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) representing all the three races, Democratic Action Party (DAP) predominantly Chinese and Parti Islam se Malaysia (PAS) representing the Malays. The lack of experience of the opposition coalition is evidenced in the management of the states under its control. Besides lack of cooperation from the centre, it is facing an uphill talk to govern the states. Soon after the elections power sharing problems between the component parties in the states under their control came to the fore. The alliance has not been able to implement the pre election promises such as curbing of corruption, improvement of human rights and economic reforms by often taking refuge under the absence of ‘a level playing field’. PKR is the party that was being led by the wife of Anwar Ibrahim till he returned to active politics. It is the backbone of the opposition more because Anwar is the coordinator and the unifying force of these three disparate parties. The party is politically young with no able second rung of leaders. It could not field a Menteri Besar (Chief Minister of a State) despite the party having the maximum seats and giving the post to a PAS candidate. The party, in championing the cause of other races is facing the risk of alienating the majority Malays.DAP has some able leadership and has been the main opposition to the ruling coalition till Pakatan Rakyat was formed. DAP has always been opposed to PAS because of its ultimate aim of establishing an Islamic state. Hence co-operation between these two is more at the surface level and the alliance, more a marriage of convenience.PAS was being virtually wooed to join the UMNO (after the last elections) so that the Malay majority will have sufficient strength to tackle the others. Through this did not happen, the possibility will continue to be explored by Najib and his party. PAS, even though it has given up its demand for a Shariah-based Islamic state, has its own woes as it can not shed its conservative image with some hardliners at the helm.. PAS had flirted with UMNO in “Muslim Unity” talks and this has not gone well with the other two in the coalition –DAP and PKR. With all this they are not able to convince the other two races to come to their support in any joint effort.
Conclusion
As of now, the dust after the storm (March 2008 general election) has not yet settled down. There is a political quagmire with both the ruling coalition and the opposition trying to outdo each other and the general public caught in the cross fire.In this political battle the racial harmony which was juggled to balance all these years is getting distorted. The economy is weakening with less of foreign direct investment forthcoming. Even the monarchy and the political institutions are being questioned for their actions. Assertive articulation of deep seated discontent by the ethnic minorities is posing to be the biggest challenge to the new leader. There is more public unrest exhibited through demonstrations, street protests, and blogs. The country should bounce back, be it under Najib, Anwar or a third person at the earliest and become politically stable as before.
C.S.Kuppuswamy
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