Guan Eng moves to create post of state opposition leader

PENANG, Nov 12 – The Penang State Assembly will table a motion to create the post of opposition leader at its meeting which begins tomorrow.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said there was a need to create the post, especially in a democratic country like Malaysia.

"The appointment of the opposition leader is in line with the spirit and concept of the democracy system practised by the state government," he told reporters here today.
He said the opposition leader would receive a monthly allowance of RM1,000.
Lim hoped that other states which were under the Barisan Nasional would follow suit, although there was an opposition leader in Parliament.
Meanwhile, the chief minister said Penang could expect more Canadian companies to invest in the state next year.

This follows a meeting with Canadian High Commisioner David Collins to enhance business relations.
Collins, who is in his first official visit in Penang, said he was reforming the business relationship with the Penang Government.
He said many Candian companies were keen to invest here, especially in technology, aerospace, tourism and the oil and gas industries. – Bernama

Mahathir said ISA could be used against corrupt UMNO members

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 12 - Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today suggested the Internal Security Act (ISA) should be used against corrupt Umno members.He also backed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the best candidate in the race for the Umno deputy presidency while suggesting that the other two challengers are involved in money politics.

"That's a good way to use ISA, not for some writer who writes nonsense," he said of corrupt Umno members and also in an apparent reference to Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin, who was released recently from ISA detention.Dr Mahathir, who has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks, said there is "a strong possibility that Umno deputy presidential candidates are involved in money politics.

""Because some people who were at the bottom during the first week, suddenly shot up," said Mahathir when asked to comment whether the contest for the Umno deputy presidency is tainted with money politics.The contest for the party's deputy presidency is now a three way tussle between Muhyiddin, who garnered 92 nominations, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam and Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib.Ali and Muhammad received the minimum nominations, 39 on the last weekend of the Umno divisional meetings.

Ali now has 48 nominations while Muhammad, 45."Everybody knows that Umno leaders are using money, when the election comes, the people will reject them. Not everyone is but the majority is. So you can be an Umno leader, but the people will reject you. When we have lost, there is no point in becoming Umno president," said Mahathir."Who wants to elect somebody who bought his way up," he added"When you know somebody who has got very bad history and still getting support.

That history I think has relevance to the support," he said when asked about the three cornered fight for the deputy presidency.However he said among all the three candidates, Muhyiddin is the most qualified.He recommended that all party leaders be investigated and removed from the party if found guilty."We need to clean up the party. Now you see the opposition is very quiet and Umno is seen as a very corrupt party, so opposition will talk about how they are not corrupt," said Mahathir.He said that Umno leaders who are involved in money politics should be thrown into prison.

HA...HA...HA...KALAU AKU LA TANGKAP DIA NI DULU YANG MENYEBABKAN UMNO LINGKUP

Contest exposes schisms in Malaysia ruling party

The Associated Press

Published: November 10, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Three politicians have qualified to contest the No. 2 post in Malaysia's ruling party — a key job that has usually been filled by unanimous nomination and never in a three-cornered fight.

During monthlong party caucuses that ended Sunday, an unprecedented three candidates secured enough nominations to contest the deputy leader's post of the United Malays National Organization party on March 26, 2009.

The winner will also become Malaysia's deputy prime minister.

The intense fight expected for the post indicates growing factionalism in UMNO, a party once seen as a unified monolithic power center that has run the government since 1957.
The favorite to win is Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who will be challenged by Rural Development Minister Muhammad Muhammad Taib and Malacca state chief minister Mohamad Ali Rustam.

Mohamad Mustafa Ishak, a political analyst at North Malaysia University, said Monday the fact that Muhyiddin's two challengers received enough nominations shows that party members are no longer willing to simply endorse a candidate that top leaders have chosen.
"Given the current scenario, it shows that democracy is alive and kicking in UMNO. ... Clearly now it's the grass roots that determine" who is a good candidate, he said.

Muhyiddin won more than 90 nominations from the party's 191 districts, far higher than the required 38. But Mohamad Ali and Muhammad also collected more than 40 nominations each.
In most past elections, the post was filled either unanimously or sometimes in two-cornered contests.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has announced he will not defend his position in the March elections, told reporters Sunday that a three-cornered fight was good for the party even though it may lead to factions. He called on party members to unite after the elections.
"I hope it will not lead to a split in the party," he said.

UMNO is the central pillar of the 13-party National Front coalition but holds most Cabinet posts and virtually all political power.

Vote-buying claims flood Malaysia's ruling party

Vote-buying claims flood Malaysia's ruling partyBy SEAN YOONG - Associated Press Writer© AP

2008-11-12 10:14:06 -
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's ruling party is probing hundreds of claims that candidates jostling for key posts have bribed voters in an electoral campaign that has sparked fears of factional fighting, a senior party official said Wednesday.Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, the United Malays National Organization's secretary-general, said officials were investigating about 300 complaints of vote-buying, but he stressed that many might be false accusations.

We are checking the authenticity of the reports. If there are offenses, then the people involved will not be spared,» Tengku Adnan told The Associated Press.The complaints underscore suspicions that corruption has burgeoned across the ranks of UMNO, which began nationwide caucuses last month ahead of a March ballot to elect top office-bearers.Party members have accused candidates of paying huge sums and feting voters at lavish feasts in exchange for their endorsements. Securing top party posts is considered a stepping stone to plum appointments in the Cabinet and government organizations.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other top party officials have voiced concerns that the intense lobbying for posts might spark bitter divisions that would weaken the party after 51 years of uninterrupted rule.With more than 3 million members, UMNO is Malaysia's dominant political force representing majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

It spearheads a governing coalition that is struggling to regain public confidence after demoralizing losses in March general elections.Jostling for key UMNO posts intensified after Abdullah recently announced plans to hand power to his deputy, Najib Razak.Najib is set to take over the ruling party presidency in March, but there are wide-open contests for nearly every other prominent position in the party, which holds most Cabinet posts and virtually all political power.

HIDUP MELAYU,HIDUP DEB,HIDUP UMNO......

Melayu paling ramai pendapatan bawah RM1,000

Oleh WAN SYAMSUL AMLY


KUALA LUMPUR 11 Nov. – Kaum Melayu merupakan kumpulan terbesar dalam senarai penduduk negara ini yang pendapatannya di bawah RM1,000 sebulan.
Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk S. K. Devamany berkata, berdasarkan Penyiasatan Pendapatan Isi Rumah (HIS) yang dijalankan Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia pada tahun lalu, sebanyak 301,000 isi rumah kaum Melayu memperoleh pendapatan di bawah RM1,000 sebulan.
‘‘Sebanyak 495,500 isi rumah yang mempunyai pendapatan di bawah RM1,000 sebulan secara keseluruhannya.
‘‘Pecahan itu merangkumi 50,900 isi rumah kaum Cina, India (29,000), Kadazan (29,300), Orang Asli (7,500) dan lain-lain (78,800),” katanya semasa menjawab soalan Dr. Micheal Jeyakumar Devraj (PKR- Sungai Siput) pada sidang Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Beliau berkata, bagi kumpulan berpendapatan antara RM1,001 hingga RM2,000 pula, keseluruhan bilangan isi rumah ialah 1,695,900 isi rumah dengan 976,500 daripadanya adalah Melayu, 338,300 (Cina), 125,300 (India), 38,800 (Kadazan), 9,800 (Orang Asli) dan 207,200 untuk kaum-kaum lain.
Dalam pada itu katanya, sebanyak 1,144,700 isi rumah memperoleh pendapatan antara RM2,001 hingga RM3,000.
‘‘Seramai 614,700 daripada mereka adalah orang Melayu, 300,800 (Cina), 121,500 (India), 15,300 (Kadazan), 2,500 (Orang Asli) manakala 89,900 isi rumah daripada kaum-kaum lain.
‘‘Bagi pendapatan antara RM3,001 hingga RM4,000 terdapat sebanyak 743,000 isi rumah dengan 380,500 daripadanya adalah Melayu, 234,700 (Cina), 73,300 (India), 8,900 (Kadazan), 1,000 (Orang Asli) dan 44,600 kaum lain.
Katanya, seramai 497,800 isi rumah memperoleh pendapatan antara RM4,001 hingga RM5,000 pula dengan 254,700 daripadanya adalah Melayu, 166,600 (Cina), 44,800 (India), 6,900 (Kadazan), 200 (Orang Asli) dan 24,600 kaum lain.
‘‘Bagi pendapatan antara RM5,001 hingga RM10,000, ia membabitkan seramai 914,200 isi rumah.
‘‘Daripada jumlah itu, 419,200 adalah Melayu, 368,400 (Cina), 76,800 (India), 13,400 (Kadazan) dan 36,500 lain-lain kaum.
‘‘Sebanyak 235,300 isi rumah memperoleh pendapatan antara RM10,001 hingga RM20,000 dengan 85,700 adalah Melayu, 118,700 (Cina), 23,400 (India), 800 (Kadazan) dan 6,700 kaum lain,” jelasnya.
Sementara itu, terdapat 49,500 isi rumah yang memperoleh pendapatan melebihi RM20,000 sebulan dengan 16,500 adalah Melayu, 27,900 (Cina), 3,600 (India) dan 1,500 dari kumpulan etnik lain.