Chaos in the House: Pakatan MPs face suspension, WikiLeaks motion rejected

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: The BN-led government has  proposed that three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers be suspended for six months pertaining to the Apco row.

Read: Is BN aiming to regain two-thirds majority? 

The three - Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) and Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) - will likely face suspension for leaking details on the Rights and Privileges Committee probe on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Yesterday the committee had tabled a motion to suspend Anwar for the same period.

Anwar was hauled up before the committee for linking Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia brainchild to the One Israel campaign.

He also accused Apco Worldwide, a public relations company hired by the Najib administration, of having links with the Zionist state.

East Malaysia: the REAL Third Force in Malaysian politics

Yes, whoever gets to form the next federal government and whether it will be with a simple majority or a two-thirds majority will depend on East Malaysia. And those in Sabah and Sarawak know this. So, expect some surprises from East Malaysia over the next month or so.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Suspensions will give BN two-thirds majority

(Malaysiakini) - Pakatan Rakyat says the anticipated suspension of four of its MPs tomorrow will lead to BN regaining its two-thirds majority in Parliament. Rasah MP Anthony Loke said the implications of this are huge and the consequences dire for Pakatan.

"Maybe the BN will use this opportunity to amend the federal constitution or re-draw the electoral boundaries," Loke told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

A motion to suspend Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for six-months was tabled yesterday in a bid to censure him for claiming that Apco Worldwide - a public relations firm that advises the Najib administration - was linked to the Zionist regime of Israel. Following this, Anwar was referred to the rights and privileges committee, which recommended that Anwar be suspended, despite not giving him the opportunity to make his defence.

The committee's investigation has been criticised by three Pakatan MPs - Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang) and Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor). They have been accused of breaking the embargo on the committee's report and a motion, to be tabled today, aims to suspend them for six months as well.

Loke said speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had "allowed the federal government to use its majority as it likes. Tomorrow, they will pass a motion to suspend Anwar and now three more MPs from Pakatan. I see a hidden agenda here.”

“This will mean huge political implications for Pakatan in Parliament because now there are 76 MPs and if four are suspended for the next six months, we will lose our one-third strength in the House. We will only have 72 in MPs,” he said.

Read more here: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/150861

Bersekutu dissolved, new party launched for Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: A new political party, the Sabah People’s Front Party (SPF), has been set up here.

Its president, Berman Angkap, who held a media conference upon arrival from Kuala Lumpur today, asserted his party’s stance as an opposition party but said they had no plans as yet to work with other opposition parties in the State.

However, he appeared open to the idea saying, “what is important is that their ideology is similar to ours”.

Berman also announced the dissolution of Parti Barisan Rakyat Sabah Bersekutu (Bersekutu) which he had helmed and which had been around for about 20 years despite being regarded as a “mosquito party”.

He said SPF, which was formally registered by the Registrar of Society (ROS) on Dec 8, was formed to fulfill the wishes of Sabahans who wanted to have the State’s rights restored.

Dr Jeffrey set to quit PKR Thursday, December 16 ?

By Ezra Haganez
Kota Kinabalu, SABAH: Sabah PKR strongman, Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is expected to quit PKR this Thursday, December 16, 2010 !

His supporters said the announcement is expected to be made at his scheduled press conference at Dowish Restaurant in front of the famous KDCA-owned Hongkod Koisaan building in Penampang.

The auspicious December 16 is the last day of Jeffrey's two-month leave. The date was also chosen, according to supporters, because it coincides with the Boston Tea Party revolt against colonialism power in USA long time ago.

An aide of Jeffrey, Philip Among, said his boss is holding the press conference "to explain his political destiny and the future of his struggle" and also "to announce the setting up of a movement".

Philip, who quit PKR weeks ago, is facilitating the press conference, where scores of Jeffrey's ardent supporters are expected to turn up.

Jeffrey has been tight-lipped on his plan. And so are his lieutenants Danial John Jambun and Mozes Michael Iking. Both Daniel and Mozes, are still under suspension in PKR for their involvement in the attempt to register a PKR-breakaway Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) last year.

There had been talks also going round that he may lead a political party and work with a Sarawak-based party and AKIM, the peninsular-based party to be headed by Zaid.

Students fed with 'skewed' history, say textbook writers

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian students are being fed with a skewed version of our history, said two academicians who are contributors to history text books.

In a report by free morning paperThe Sun, Ranjit Singh Malhi and Ng How Kuen said history books were contaminated with factual errors and distortion to promote political interests.

Ranjit, author of secondary school history textbooks since 1990 and adviser to the Ministry of Education, claimed he had been labelled "anti national" for pointing out to officials about errors and distortions in the textbooks.

Freeze on native certificate: Govt flouting the law

By Charlie Rudai

KOTA KINABALU: The state government must lift the freeze on the issuance of native certificate as it is an infringement of the constitution and a burden to Sino-natives in Sabah.

VK Liew, the deputy minister in the PM’s department, said the constitution clearly states that a 'native' is a citizen if one is the child or grandchild of a person of a race indigenous to Sabah and born either in Sabah or to a father domiciled in Sabah at time of birth.

"It is a constitutional right of those who into this category. Such right cannot be denied because to do so is unconstitutional," he said, after officiating the Liberal Democratic Party's(LDP) 1Malaysia 1Hope Christmas celebration near here over the weekend.

Since the freeze on native certificate, which was to used to validate their status, Sino-natives in Sabah have been facing problems such as transferring properties to their children who do not possess the Native Certificate, said Liew who is LDP president.

Ansari, Thamrin in race to be Sabah PKR chief

By Luke Rintod of FMT
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PKR has again split into two camps over who will lead the opposition party in the state. The battle this time is between incumbent Ahmad Thamrin Jaini and lawyer Ansari Abdullah.

It appears that Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is no more in the picture either by design or default but supporters of the wily politician are backing Thamrin for the post of state PKR chief.

When the state liaison committee met here for the first time last night after the party congress last month, Jeffrey was not even mentioned by divisional heads aligned to him, to be considered for the post .

A divisional head who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the majority of the 23 (out of 25) divisions represented, wanted incumbent Ahmad Thamrin Jaini to be retained.

One Lady Sabahan's Open letter to the Malaysian Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak,

I write to you as a deeply concerned and saddened citizen of Malaysia.  For most of the 45 years of my life, I have been proud to be Malaysian.  Recently, I have become heartbroken to be Malaysian.  

I am profoundly grateful to write this with the support of both my local communities in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo and California, U.S.A., and a larger world community.  That said, I take full ownership of and sole responsibility for the views articulated in this letter; I express them from my stand as a mother, an earth citizen and a leader.

I founded and lead a public charity and non profit organization both in Malaysia and in the U.S., to bridge between worlds and build partnerships for ecological conservation.  I have been at the front lines of the founding and mobilization of Green SURF (Sabah Unite to RePower the Future), the civil society movement opposing the construction of the 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu, Sabah, on the edge of the Coral Triangle, one of three of the world's most bio-diverse ecosystems.  You know.  You signed the 6-nation declaration between Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Solomon Islands to collectively protect this 1.6 billion acres of ocean.  You also know of course of your pledge at Copenhagen to reduce carbon emission intensity by up to 40% by 2020.  You likely also know that the plant will displace fishing communities who have been there for a long time - irreparably contaminating their livelihoods forever.  And if you listened, you would also know that they do not want the "development" that your government is imposing on them.

Rosmah's son-in-law quits amid probe into his bogus degrees . WHAT A CHEAT !

The principal of a Malaysian-based college with links to the University of Wales has resigned amid a probe into his bogus qualifications.

Executive director of Fazley International College (FIC) in Kuala Lumpur , Fazley Yaakob – a pop star in Malaysia – stood aside and apologised for “embarrassment” the university had suffered, after he drew attention to allegations over his credentials.

The university suspended its links to the college – one of three Malaysian institutions with links to the Welsh body – after a BBC investigation revealed Mr Yaakob claimed to have a masters and a doctorate in business administration, but both came from a bogus university.

In his letter to the institution, Mr Yaakob wrote: “Though I hold a director’s position, I have never been a part of the academic team nor have I sat at any of the academic meetings.

“As such you can be assured that at no stage was the academic standards or the reputation of the university put at a compromise.

“Upon further reflection, I consider that to continue as a director could be damaging to the college, its student community and the dedicated staff who have worked hard to uphold the academic standards and integrity.”

Mr Yaakob – who has had four hit albums in Malaysia – said that he had decided to resign as it was clear that the controversy was “undermining the reputation and good relations between the college and university,” but that he would continue to fight to clear his name.

The benefit of being Malay first

 
ARE you Malay first? Or Malaysian first? That is the current rhetoric in some parts of our political landscape and is spurring some Malaysians to engage in a contest over what it means to be Malaysian.

For certain the question is not a new one. The DAP has for the longest time been brandishing the motto of “Bangsa Malaysia” in an attempt to dismantle the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s race-based politics. DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, for one, is nowhere close to letting up on this issue. He has demanded repeatedly for, especially, Umno politicians to declare if they are Malaysian or Malay first.

And while Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin seemingly failed the test question, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz recently scored some points by declaring he was “Malaysian first and Malay next”. But is the question really about which should come first? Why does it seem to matter so much? And which of the two labels — one about race and the other about citizenship — is more profoundly important to us as Malaysian citizens?