UMNO PERLU BERUBAH UNTUK TERUS HIDUP-AHLI PARLIMEN TERMERLOH


Oleh Amiruddin Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 –

Kata seorang timbalan menteri dari UMNO dalam buku terbaru hasil karangannya bahawa parti UMNO harus berubah atau menghadapi risiko untuk kehilangan pengundi semenjak pilihanraya umum lalu

Saifuddin Abdullah berkata bahawa parti UMNO harus lebih bersikap terbuka dan harus juga berdebat secara terbuka dan juga berbincang dengan rakan lainnya dalam Barisan Nasional.

Dalam tulisannya beliau menjelaskan bahawa hanya sedikit sahaja yang dijalankan oleh UMNO dalam mengadakan pembahruan , dan untuk mendapatkan semula sokongan dari akar umbi Barisan Nasional seharusnya lah lebih bersikap terbuka dan menjadi kerajaan yang jujur dan bertanggungjawab.

Beliau yang juga timbalan menteri dalam buku tulisannya “new politic atau politik baru” mempunyai bukti bahawa beliau bukannya mahu menentang partinya , namun menjelaskan bahawa tujuannya adalah untuk menyedarkan pemimpin UMNO bahawa protes yang ditunjukkan rakyat dan ini sudah tentunya menguntungkan Pakatan Rakyat yang pada mulanya hanya dalam bentuk protes dan kemudiannya bertukar menjadi sokongan yang jitu jika kerajaan masih tidak berubah sikap


Beliau menjelaskan bahawa kerajaan bukan seharusnya hanya bersikap retorik dalam menjalankan sesuatu perkara. Kerajaan harus kembali kepada asal usul perjuangannya membantu rakyat . Kita harus memahami bahawa sikap rakyat telah berubah, dunia juga telah berubah. Maka kerana itu kita harus juga berubah dalam menjalankan sesuatu perkara.Saya tidak menayatakan bahawa saya menentang perjuangan parti, akan tetapi sebagai seorang yang bertanggungjawab, saya menyarankan kepada parti untuk terus bergerak ke depan.

Beliau menyatakan bahawa pengalaman beliau dalam membentuk sebuah Majlis Perbandaran Termerloh yang mana menjemput ADUN PAS Kuala Semantan, Saya di halang oleh ahli parti saya supaya tidak memasukkan nama beliau dalam senarai ahli majlis perbandaran.

“Saya kira ini bukanlah satu perkara dimana dalam membentuk ahli majlis untuk memberi perkihmatan kepada maysrakat Soal parti haruslah di buang ketepi demi bekhidmat kepada rakyat”. Jelas Saifuddin


Untuk menjadi johan dalam segala bidang, segala fahaman kolot kepartian dan perdebatan tentang apa yang di perkatakan mengenai parti bahawa UMNO hanya lah lebih mementingkan satu kaum sahaja adalah tidak benar. Maka kerana itu perdebatan terbuka mengenai parti adalah perlu untuk membuka mata dan tanggapan salah masyaraklat terhadap UMNO.
BLOGGER SAID
JAGA-JAGA NANTI KENA TINDAKAN DISIPLIN...HA...HA...HA

PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Dec 18



Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:06pm IST

PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Dec 18



Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers.



Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.




-- The passing of the Bills to set up the Judicial Appointments Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will correct any misconception the public still have on the integrity of the two institutions, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.



-- Sime Darby Bhd (SIME.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) wants to acquire a stake in IJN Holdings Sdn Bhd which operates the national heart institute, Institut Jantung Negara (IJN), the company said.



BUSINESS TIMES (http://www.btimes.com.my/)



-- The government may implement a so-called "strategic package" to drive the economy and woo foreign investors, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Amirsham A. Aziz.


-- The government-owned Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd has acquired its maiden water assets for 889 million ringgit ($252 million) from the Malacca state government.
THE NEW STRAITS TIMES (http://www.nst.con.my/)



-- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his final mission before he hands over power to his deputy is to cool racial and religious tensions in the country.



The cabinet last week approved the formation of a Malaysian-Japanese University to boost educational co-operation between the two countries, Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Noh Omar said.



THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (http://www.theedgedaily.com/)



-- Bursa Malaysia Bhd (BMYS.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to launch two palm oil indices - one domestic and the other regional - in the first half of next year as part of its strategy to enhance the country's profile as the centre for commodity products, said its Chief Executive Officer Yusli Mohamed Yusoff.



THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)
-- The government plans to buy all water works assets in West Malaysia from both private and state-owned water utility firms by end of next year - an exercise that would cost up to 15 billion ringgit, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said.
THE SUN (http://www.sun2surf.com/)



-- Pirates seized a Malaysian tug boat with a crew of 11, a Turkish cargo ship, a yacht crewed by just two people and a Chinese fishing boat on Wednesday, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre.



-- Malaysia's 2.5 billion ringgit seafood export industry is on the verge of a collapse with no concrete help thus far from the government following a ban on Malaysian seafood by the European Union (EU) in June, said Malaysian Frozen Foods Processors Association President Ch'ng Chin Hooi.



** Looking for more information from local sources? Reuters Business Briefing has 13 Malaysian sources including Business Times Malaysia. For details of the product please call your local help desk (PHONE/HELP).


Malaysia PM defends his judicial reforms


18 Dec 2008, 0848 hrs IST, AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia's prime minister has defended a new law aimed at promoting judicial independence even though it gives him the final
say in appointing senior judges including the chief justice. Malaysia's Parliament passed the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill late Wednesday, hours after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in an interview that the legislation will rid the country's judiciary of its "negative perception.

" The bill is a highlight of Abdullah's reforms program, which he is pushing through before handing over power to his deputy Najib Razak in March. This week Parliament also passed a bill to set up a new anti-corruption agency. "Since I am retiring earlier than I was planning to do all these things have to be done very quickly,"


Abdullah said in the interview, adding that the drive against corruption and creating "a judiciary of integrity" were the cornerstones of his election campaign in 2004. "If that can be fulfilled that's good enough. It doesn't matter whether you do it in a hurry or not," he said.


The reputation of Malaysia's judiciary has suffered from a series of scandals including a secretly taped video showing a lawyer allegedly brokering the appointment of senior judge in a telephone conversation with someone who was later appointed the chief justice. At present the prime minister appoints the judges at his discretion without the need to justify his choice or consult others. The recent appointment of a former ruling party lawyer as the chief justice has also triggered opposition criticism about the independence of the judiciary.


The Judicial Appointments Commission calls for setting up a nine-member panel of judicial and nonjudicial persons who would recommend to the prime minister a set of names for the job of senior judges. However, the prime minister has the prerogative to reject the recommendations and ask for fresh names until he picks one that he thinks is a suitable candidate. Abdullah said the judicial commission will lend "more transparency" to the system, insisting that no prime minister would misuse his power. "I am sure the prime minister will not do anything that will ultimately put him in bad light.


His reputation will be at stake," he said. Opposition leaders say the country cannot rely solely on the prime minister's fear of sullying his reputation to have an independent judiciary. They say the prime minister should have no role at all in picking judges. The new law "is totally unsatisfactory and unequal to the task to restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the Malaysian judiciary," Lim Kit Siang of the opposition Democratic Action Party said.


During the interview, Abdullah also said his final mission before retiring is to cool racial and religious tensions in this multiethnic country at a time of a deepening financial crisis. Abdullah agreed to step down four years before the end of his term after facing a virtual rebellion from colleagues, shocked by the tremendous gains made by the opposition in March elections. The results robbed the ruling coalition of a two-thirds majority for the first time in four decades.


It was attributed to anger among minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who complain of discrimination in jobs, education and other areas by the majority Malays who dominate the government. They say their religious rights have also become secondary to Islam.