The first task that Najib Abdul Razak faced upon being sworn in as prime minister on May 6, 2013 after leading the BN to victory in the 13th general election, was to form the cabinet.
Constitutionally, the prime minister does not have a free hand in his choice of cabinet ministers. Article 43(2)(b) of the federal constitution provides that cabinet members shall be “members of either House of Parliament”.
Traditionally, the cabinet is dominated by members elected by the people to serve in the Dewan Rakyat. However, prime ministers often do appoint a few cabinet members from the Senate (Dewan Negara)…
I am the idiot Khir Toyo says made scapegoat by Najib’s anti-graft fight
“I don’t care anymore if a decision was made to imprison me as a symbol to show that Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak’s administration is transparent and wants to fight corruption,” Dr Khir wrote on his blog http://www.drkhir.com today.
Dr Khir also noted that he was charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) under the Penal Code, and not with corruption under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
“Throughout the trial, the testimony of the PKNS officer clearly shows that I supported many proposals to develop PKNS land. Some of my support letters were approved and some were rejected by the technical committee,” said Dr Khir, referring to the Selangor State Development Corporation, of which he was the chairman then.
“That’s why I was charged with criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code, and not corruption under the SPRM Act. Yet, SPRM proudly announces that its successful prosecution against me is proof that the government is serious in fighting corruption,” he added, referring to the MACC.advice to youIf all fail, join a vote bank. Go, build a slum. Blow up bridges in Najib’s cronies holding corporation
Former UEM and Renong Supremo Tan Sri Halim Saad revealed that he was denied the option to MBO and taking it private by then Economic Adviser to Government Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop. Instead Nor Mohamed induced Halim to leave the board of both companies, sold his holdings of and eventually both company were acquired by Khazanah Holdings Bhd.
Nor Mohamed also was instrumental on Federal Government spending of big monies on consultancy advice from firms such as Bina Fikir, Ethos and foreign firms for policies, strategies, blue prints, ‘rebranding’, ‘Wide Asset Unbundling’ and even operational programs. Telekom Malaysia’s operational issues were brought to McKinsey to be resolved. The National Automotive Policy introduced almost saw the slow demise of national car project Proton.
Till present day, no one knows who acquired Gevi SpA the brand owner MV Agusta from Proton for Euro one only back in end 2005. Husqavarna was hived off to BMW in 2007 for a substantial sum of money.
Corporate scandals such as the selling out of Avenue Capital to ECM Libra in 2006 and Parkway were under the watch of Nor Mohamed. A lot of bonds were arranged and issued by GLCs such as Telekom Malaysia and TNB during Nor Mohamed’s ‘reign of terror’ as the Second Finance Minister. He had an almost free range of authority and power restructure and strengthen the ‘NMY Empire’ since the Prime Minister and First Finance Minister PM ‘Flip-Flop’ Abdullah was incompetent and completely oblivion of the whole workings.
CIMB as it is presently was restructured from Commerce Asset Holdings Bhd. during Nor Mohamed’s ‘reign of terror’. Later it became part of Khazanah. CIMB’s most notable corporate advisory was the merger of plantations based conglomerates Sime Darby, Guthrie and Golden Hope arranged by Synergy Drive Sdn. Bhd., which was completed in late 2007.
Whether or not it was the right thing to do to deny Halim of the MBO of Renong and UEM based on his proposal can only be determined through time. What is important is that Nor Mohamed manipulated the circumstances to build the ‘NMY Empire’ via Khazanah and now Malaysians are paying for that. For all intent and purpose, Halim delivered. North South Highway, Bukit Jalil Stadium Complex, Putra LRT are projects that Halim initiated. What Nor Mohamed achieved from his corporate plays never did benefit Malaysians.
Maybe it was all the fault of the British director Danny Boyle who made the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Or maybe it was the fault of Vikas Swarup who wrote the novel Q&A on which the Hollywood film was based. Anyway, whoever’s fault it was, Slumdog got me into a pissing contest with Amitabh Bachchan, the point of which seemed to be to see who could piss the other guy off more.
I’d gone to see Slumdog, and while I didn’t feel that it deserved the Best Picture Oscar it was later going to get, I found it an enjoyable and upbeat film, made more so by the feistiness of the slum children characters. But there were a number of people who felt that Slumdog was yet another example of these wicked
Many couples go through a seven year itch; a “rough patch” in their marriage, caused by boredom, when some spouses desire the freedom of being single again.
In Malaysia, one can recognise the least productive and incapable BN politician by his “Five-Year Hitch”; the time frame needed to implement the tasks they promised to complete if they were to win GE-13.
Interestingly, these politicians have chosen an interval of five years, which is when the GE-14 would be called. The rakyat can see through the politicians’ tricks and yet, the Election Commission (EC) has denied claims that the electoral system would mean BN would rule in perpetuity.
These politicians have not shown evidence that they are capable of carrying out their tasks, but they are already canvassing for re-election in five years time, in GE-14.
Despite the promises they made when campaigning for GE-13, they have already come up with excuses. They have learnt from their mentor, the leader of Umno-Baru, Najib Tun Razak, that words speak louder than actions and the best phrase is “You help me, I help you.”
This year has yet to see the usual Malaysian election phenomenon, when turncoat politicians – “frogs” cross over to the ‘other’ side. They will probably make their moves soon.
Men who have lied to the rakyat, now have very senior roles in the Cabinet. Some of these men were not elected by the rakyat but secured a place in the Cabinet through deceit. Others who were once guilty of money politics, now draw a salary which is paid for by the taxpayer.
Both these sorts of men, have one thing in common; they are in charge of policies which will affect the rakyat.
The first to make his debut performance, barely two weeks after GE-13, was Hindraf’s P Waythamoorthy, a deputy minister in the Prime minister’s Department (PMD).
After his hunger strike, which he used to embarrass and weaken the opposition, Waythamoorthy announced that he would need five years to resolve the issue of stateless Indians. He made it clear that Hindraf had a mechanism to solve the problem and yet declined to give details. Does a plan even exist?
Is Waythamoorthy’s time to be spent resolving only the issue of the stateless Indian? In the five years that Waythamoorthy claims he will need to resolve the problem of the 300,000 stateless Indian, a few hundred thousand people from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar or Indonesia will have become fully fledged Malaysian citizens, without any problems.
Does Waythamoorthy realise that many Orang Asli, Penan and other indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are also stateless? These people cannot afford the long and expensive journey to town to register the births of their children. These people are also denied education, health and other benefits.
Illegitimate children of Muslim parents are also disenfranchised and might as well be considered stateless. They cannot attend school, or have a passport or enjoy the benefits all children should be entitled to.
Waythamoorthy should remove his blinkers and champion all needy people, regardless of their ethnic origin.
Patriotism and pride
The magic ‘five years’ of inactivity was mentioned again, the following week. This time, the International Trade and Industry (Miti) Minister Mustapa Mohamed announced that the government would reduce car prices by 20 – 30 per cent, in five years.
He said that the consequences of reducing excise duty and car prices would have a detrimental effect on jobs and that many businesses would have to shut. He warned Malaysians of the increased traffic on roads and the need to build more roads with tolls.
What he was trying to say was that Umno-Baru has no intention of helping the rakyat now or ever. What is more important is to continue propping up crony businesses and their lifestyles. The taxpayer’s money is used to bail-out and prop-up the failing Proton.
The hardest hit are the poor, who need a vehicle to move around. Cars are not cheap, petrol prices are rising and there is no efficient public transportation system. Most of the income of the poorer families is spent servicing debts.
The decline in probity of Najib’s Cabinet gained momentum when Paul Low, the minister in the PMD said that it was not necessary to form an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). He claimed that the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) could be used to lodge complaints against police.
He appears to have dismissed the views made the previous week by the former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who had questioned the capability of EAIC to handle complaints related to enforcement officers and the misconduct of government agencies.
The decline of our political class started when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was accepted back into the Umno fold, in the 70s by Abdul Razak Hussein, the second prime minister.
Mahathir changed the face of Malaysian politics. Older Malaysians recall the time when Mahathir was the Education Minister. He exerted greater control over the universities, he promoted the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) or National Civics Training Bureau series of training modules to further divide the nation. He claimed they instilled patriotism and pride.
Forty years ago, Mahathir curbed political activity, in campuses. To this day, students may not be involved in politics. If they fail to toe the line, they will suffer severe recriminations and the denial of assistance in education. Today, student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim is trying to reverse Mahathir’s evil legacy.
Stolen votes
Mahathir accelerated the moral decay of our political class and forced a drop in values in the rakyat. He is guilty of making Malaysians think that the only way to riches, is to get into politics, rather than to value hard work and be responsible.
The nation had a chance to restore its self-respect and reinstate the integrity of its government. They voted for the opposition coalition in GE-13, but their votes were stolen.
Mahathir created a class of politicians who lack integrity and breeding. They have no respect for public service and they do not know the meaning of honour.
Mahathir’s legacy lives on in Najib. If we want to restore our authority and make this nation great again, GE-14 is not the answer.
Umno-Baru is preparing to cheat again in GE-14, they will never relinquish power, willingly. The solution is to get rid of Umno-Baru now, while the rakyat still has the momentum for change.
Kadir also questioned Umno’s decision for a merger after Najib himself claimed that it had emerged as the strongest party after Election 2013.
“I don’t want to make the assumption that Najib has once more bowed down to demands from the Chinese, especially when he had blamed his own lacklustre performance in the May 5 polls on the Chinese tsunami,” Kadir added.
Barisan Nasional’s (BN) plan to reinvent itself as a single party without any component parties might receive resistance from Umno’s grassroots, former New Straits Times (NST) group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said today.
The political commentator claimed that only “dying” Chinese-majority BN parties such as the MCA, Gerakan and SUPP would be open to the idea, following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib’s announcement yesterday that Umno will set up a special laboratory to study the proposal in detail.Can the PM please describe the qualities that will be brought to the table by each of the selected individuals in the cabinet and help push his vision of transformation of the government, governance, politics, education and economy? After holidaying in London for a few years, Waytha came back unhindered, staged a ‘wayang kulit’ show and …Read more
“Maybe Najib can ‘pujuk’ (cajole) Umno’s leadership to entertain this idea, but I don’t think Umno’s grassroots will accept it. Umno is a grassroots party,” wrote Kadir in his blog.To you all Indians out there who fought for Hindraf & Waytha …. please look at your Indian political history, especially its MIC leaders. Many of them free-ride the poor naive Indians to get what they want for themselves only. Fighting for your own race is not the way. Indians should learn how to work … Read more WHY NAJIB A MALAY MUSLIM LEADER WANT TO ACCOMMODATE A HINDRAF VOWED TO
, Najib said that Umno remains the party of the people’s choice after winning 88 parliamentary seats in the election, from 79 in the 2008 general election.
“If compared with the opposition, they have 89 seats, meaning Umno alone can equalise the seats won by the opposition allies comprising DAP, PKR and PAS,” he told reporters after chairing an Umno supreme council meeting.
Kadir stressed that strong Bumiputera-based parties in Sabah and Sarawak should not be abolished just to entertain the idea from Chinese-majority BN parties which have been rejected by the Chinese in the polls.
Abolishing Umno would also turn its members and supporters away towards PAS since Malays would always feel the need for a Malay-Muslim party, he said.
Gerakan acting president Datuk Chang Ko Youn had pleaded last week for Umno, the MCA and MIC to drop membership based on race and for BN to move on towards a single-party system.
Chang also said the party had discussed forming an alliance with the MCA and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), but added that the issue was over BN’s membership and that a Gerakan-MCA-PPP union would happen only if the BN opens up direct membership.
This week, the MIC announced that it will discuss with political parties representing the Indian community or having many members from the community such as the PPP, the Indian Progressive Front Malaysia (IPF) and Makkal Sakthi on the possibility of merging all the parties concerned in the near future.The letter written byMuhyiddin to Najib . What was there in the letter that will take such a drastic step of not nominating Najib as the next UMNO PresidentDoes it mean that there is zero tolerance in the party for “viewpoint plurality” (rather than for corruption)? Can the party simply not discuss its internal problems, … Read more
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