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Let nine-judge Federal Court panel hear Nizar's objection

The request by the undemocratically ousted Perak menteri besar, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, for a nine-man Federal Court bench to hear his objection to Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir's reliance on Article 63 of the Perak Constitution to determine who is the rightful menteri besar of the state is a fair one.We earnestly hope that the Chief Justice will accede to this request in the interest of justice and fair play.

What is at stake is the very foundation of justice itself.What is to be determined by the Federal Court has far reaching-consequences for our democratic system of governance. It involves the fate of a democratically elected state government as reflected by the popular will of the people. When 53 per cent of Perakians have spoken authoritatively through the ballot box to determine who should govern the State of Perak, can that mandate be nullified through the unethical conduct of three dubious characters who have betrayed the trust of the electorate? Two of them are facing trials in a court of law after they have been charged with corruption, and this makes it reprehensible that these totally discredited characters should wield so much power now to frustrate the electoral process.

This very grave issue is so crucial that it is imperative to have the collective wisdom of nine judges to ponder over it so that justice will be better served.We also agree that a new bench of judges should hear this case so that Malaysians will be inclined to accept their decision. Malaysians look forward to the inclusion of the newly elevated judges – especially Sri Ram – so that the issue will be judged fairly and justly.

P Ramakrishnan

President

25 April 2009

After Penanti, yet another by-election?

Hamdan Ibrahim


I refer to Malaysiakini report


BN may not contest Penati says PM.To fight or not to fight. For the first time in our country's history, Umno has deemed it fit to consider not entering the ring for the vacant Penati seat as they will be the underdog against their PKR opponent. Surely after losing four straight by-elections in the peninsula, BN cannot afford to lose another by-election in Penati which is a PKR stronghold as the seat is under Permatang Pauh which is held by the de facto Pakatan Rakyat supremo, Anwar Ibrahim. It will be a suicidal attempt by the Umno candidate to go into the lion's den against their PKR opponent as the BN candidate will surely lose. The tide against the present government still remains unabated as the last four by-elections have shown.



Najib Razak, the newly-minted prime minister, must have read the sentiment on the ground correctly when he mentioned that BN might boycott the coming by-election in Penanti as it will be a waste of public funds for them to go ahead and contest. But he was less truthful when he says that by-elections should only be held due to the death or bankruptcy of the incumbents which render the seats vacant under the law. If BN had a chance of winning in the opposition stronghold of Penati, they will surely have their candidate fight for the seat. Our parliamentary law says when the incumbent lawmakers in the state assembly or parliament resign from office on their own free will, by-elections should be held within sixty days and the incumbents are barred from re-contesting the same seat for a period of two years. Unlike the US where when senators or congressmen resign or die in office, there won't be another by-election but their seats will be filled by the party they represented.



Maybe our election laws should be changed to follow the US system to stop the wastage of public funds in holding by-elections in the future. Surely under normal circumstances, with the government machinery at its disposal and election goodies that can be thrown at voters, the present government would be more than willing to take part in any by-election in order to increase their majority in the state assemblies or Parliament. Prior to the 2008 general elections, BN candidates normally won any by-election against their opposition rivals. But that was before as circumstances have changed in the opposition's favour as BN seems to have lost the people's support, losing four by-elections straight in the row in the past six months.PKR, the new kid on the block, seems to have many internal problems as compared to their Pakatan partners DAP and PAS.



Since winning big in the last general elections, their lawmakers have not been up to mark as one seat after another became vacant.Prior to that, two of their assembly persons from Perak were charged with corrupt practices and were subsequently charged in court for their abuse of power. Another bigwig in Penang had to leave his deputy chief minister's post due to inept leadership and he is also involved in a controversy which might land him in court if the MACC decides to charge him for graft. If Anwar Ibrahim and PKR are not careful and other lawmakers from the party resign due to personal reasons, the public might think that their elected representatives are not up to mark and the tide might turn against them. By-elections should be held for good reasons and not because the incumbents are beset with personal problems which can affect their work in their constituency.



As it is, right now, the people would rather have their lawmakers look into the state of the economy rather than having by-elections here and there which seem to be becoming a regular event.PKR cannot expect the people's support for them remain the same if dirty laundry among their party members are exposed to the public every now and then. PKR members, especially their law- makers, should have the discipline like their DAP and PAS counterparts.



Hopefully, the by-election at Penanti will be the last by-election due to the resignation of the incumbent for personal reasons. By-election fatigue seems to have crept in amongst the public who are more worried about their thinning wallets and do not want to be distracted by too many by-elections.

Mindraf: Does M'sia need another sectarian political party?

Saturday, 25 April 2009 19:32

Malaysia does not need another communitarian party that caters to the primary concerns of a particular ethnic or religious community, says Farish A Noor. We already forced have too many parties based on ethnic and religious loyalties, and yet another sectarian party like Mindraf will hardly bring us any closer to a Malaysia where identity is based on universal citizenship and equal rights.

As if the political landscape of Malaysia wasn't overcrowded already, there has come into the fray yet another sectarian community-based party, Mindraf (Malaysian Indian Democratic Action Front). Ostensibly set up by 'good samaritans' concerned about the plight of their community, Mindraf has announced its political ambitions with the aim of representing Malaysian citizens of South Asian origin.Now allow me to be blunt here: Malaysia does not need another communitarian party that caters to the primary concerns of a particular ethnic or religious community.

We are already forced to work on a contested landscape where there are too many parties that are based on ethnic and religious loyalties, and yet another sectarian party will hardly bring us any closer to realising the notion of a Malaysia where identity is based on universal citizenship and equal rights.If anything, the tendency of such sectarian parties is to further add to the process of divide and rule and to further entrench sedimented notions of ethnic-racial differences.

This comes at a time when a younger generation of Malaysians have demonstrated their ability to transcend the ethnic divisions that once haunted the generation of their parents. So while we hope and pray for a better, more united and colour-blind Malaysia, whose idea was it to create another ethnic-based party?The momentum for Mindraf was quite probably generated by the Hindraf movement, which had managed to challenge the hegemony of the MIC over the Malaysian Indian community for decades. But even then, Hindraf's appeal - as suggested by its name - was limited to Malaysians of the Hindu faith primarily. But some of us have maintained all along that the issues related to the Malaysian Indian community were issues that also affected Malaysians in general as well.

The destruction of Hindu temples during the Badawi period was a loss for all Malaysians, and not Hindus only.Over the past four years, we have see how some parties have gone out of their way to accommodate the concerns and needs of others: Pas, for instance, has stood up for the rights of non-Muslims to build temples and churches and has defended the right for non-Muslims to practice their faith. It is clear that for some leaders of Pas like Nik Aziz, it is better for Pas to be allied to PKR, PSM and DAP rather than Umno. So how much more accommodation does it take before the communitarians in our midst realise that we have to build a new non-racist Malaysia on the common platform of a universal citizenship?The other worry is that Mindraf may yet drain support and members from the other parties of the Pakatan, notably PKR and DAP.

At a time when we need to create an alternative mode of Malaysian politics that transcends the narrow, parochial and primordial sentiments of racial and religious solidarity, a party like Mindraf merely goes against the grain - and in fact confirms and further sediments the hegemony of divisive communitarian politics in Malaysia.It is also during times like this that I feel that all our efforts (not mine alone) to promote a new de-racialised non-communitarian politics in Malaysia have achieved so little, despite the energy and time invested. Honestly, we are not going to have a new Malaysian politics unless and until we think, live and behave like Malaysian-minded Malaysians. And that day has yet to come, my friends. Sadly.