Dr M speaks (writes) out..

Below is Tun Mahathir’s take on the Pak Lah-palace tiff over the Terengganu MB post. The former premier also speaks about his ‘clean’ legacy, on why people have no faith in the government, on the recent calls made for him to apologise to Salleh Abas and as well as his sharp rebuke against Zaid Ibrahim.

The article is also available here

Ask Commission to apologise

By Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

PETALING JAYA (March 27, 2008): A Concerned Malaysian has expressed his worry over the role being played by Sultans in the appointment of the Mentri Besar.

His Royal Highnesses have clearly refused to take the advice of the Chief Minister i.e. the Prime Minister. Instead, they have chosen on their own a member of the state legislature to head the Government.

We hear a lot of opinions on the propriety of the action by the Sultan. Some say he has the right to do this while others point out that as a constitutional ruler, he could not do this.

The Constitution says that the Ruler or Head of State must choose the elected member who enjoys the support of the majority of members in the legislative body to be the Prime Minister or the Mentri Besar. Subject to this provision, the Ruler it is who chooses and appoints the Prime Minister or Mentri Besar.

The Prime Minister, as Prime Minister, has no role in the choice of the State Mentri Besar or Ketua Menteri. His naming of candidate who should be the Mentri Besar is purely a party matter. Obviously, if the State is captured by the Opposition Party, he cannot name the candidate.

However, if the Ruler chooses someone who does not enjoy majority support, he could be deposed at a sitting of the legislative body through a vote of "no confidence".

After that, another member can be appointed by the Ruler to take his place. But if for some reason, there is no other candidate or the candidate with majority support is considered unsuitable by the Ruler, a new Government cannot be formed. The Ruler may then dissolve the legislative body and a new election may be held.

This new election may lead to the same impasse. The Ruler may not like the member with majority support.

However, it should be noted that this kind of thing had never happened during the premiership of the four previous Prime Ministers. Concerned Malaysians should wonder why.

Is it just that the particular Ruler is being difficult, unwilling to accept the principles of democracy, wanting to return to feudalism and the absolute authority of the monarch?

I do not think so. There must be a reason why the Ruler refuses to accept the candidate named by the party. But the Ruler chooses not to reveal the reasons and indulge in public debates. He merely expresses his displeasure by refusing to do what normally the Rulers would do.

Concerned Malaysians must ask what has the particular candidate done which is so wrong that it incurs the displeasure of the Ruler.

There are lots of talks in the town. Terengganu is blessed with petroleum deposits. It should get 5% of the total earning from oil production. The Federal Government; fearing the previous PAS government might use this money wrongly had withheld payment.

But when the Barisan Nasional (BN) regained Terengganu the money, now called "Wang Ehsan", was lavishly spent by the Federal Government on Terengganu. It is not a small sum. Over these years "Wang Ehsan" totalled several billion.

We know that since the BN regained Terengganu in 2004, all kinds of projects have been developed in Terengganu. This includes The Monsoon Cup, luxury housing for sale to foreigners, Crystal Mosque and theme park, university, etc. Some of these projects are very good but many are totally unnecessary and wasteful.

But what the Terengganu people are saying is that all these mega projects costing billions of Ringgit have been contracted out to people outside Terengganu. Terengganu contractors got practically nothing.

But additionally, they say the contracts all went to one person and they are suspicious that behind this person are members of the first family.The rumours also say that the previous Mentri Besar was responsible for these things happening and of course, they think that he might have benefited financially.

The rumours went on to say that the Prime Minister might have influenced the Mentri Besar into doing wrong things. These are all rumours. It will be quite impossible to prove anything as the perpetrators are skilled in hiding themselves.

This is not good for a Government keen to abolish corruption and be transparent. To clear its name, an investigation should be made.

But the public is leery of investigations by Government agencies and departments. Even Royal Commissions are not highly regarded. The people believe, not true of course, that the Government has been interfering with the work of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), the Police and the Attorney General (A-G)'s Chambers. The say this is borne out by the results of investigations by these agencies.

When a Deputy Minister was accused of accepting money for the release of a detainee, the A-G said there was no case because the detainee said he did not give any money to the Deputy Minister. It is so easy. If you have a case involving someone, all the enforcement agencies need to do is to ask him whether he was involved. If he says "no", then there is no case.

For some reason, judges are finding that people accused of murder are not guilty because of insufficient evidence by the police. Yet people who are totally not involved in a case, who were not accused of any misdeeds and who did not appear in court at all and been given a hearing are found guilty and publicly condemned.

The public cannot be blamed for not having faith in Government agencies doing investigations. The public cannot be blamed for suspecting cover-ups by the Government or worse still the Government may be using these enforcement agencies to threaten people.

To clear its good name, the Government should get credible foreign agencies to do the investigation. Of course, they must be given full access to the documents etc.

Now my detractors are going to say I did worse things when I was Prime Minister. Well, if that is so, let us have the foreign agencies investigate me also. I am aware that people are looking into possible misdeeds by me during my 22 years so as to threaten me and ask me to shut up. So far they have not found anything.

Not only have I not taken anything that was not due to me while I was Prime Minister but I have given back to the Government and the people everything that I had received as gifts during my tenure of office.

The Government had offered me land in Kedah and Langkawi and I had refused to accept. I have a 5-acre plot in Putrajaya which I paid for even though the Government was offering it to me free.

Unless there is a frame-up, I think there should be nothing to pin on me. Even other accusations against me, including the dismissal of judges, were not my doing and I do not feel obliged to apologise. Ask the Tribunal to apologise.

The person asking that the Government should apologise for what happened to Tun Salleh Abbas may have forgotten that as President of the Muslim Lawyers Association, he fully supported the action that was taken. He castigated the Bar Council for condemning Tun Hamid Omar over the dismissal of judges. Now he wants to be more correct than correct. I wonder why.

The Terengganu palace wins

Umno Supreme Council just decided that it would unanimously support the palace-backed Ahmad Said as the new Terengganu menteri besar.

Apparently the council, headed by party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, directed former MB Idris to accept Ahmad’s appointment.

Abdullah himself said that the next task was to appoint the exco members to get the state administration running.

Well, until yesterday Abdullah was still insisting that Idris should be the MB, even calling Ahmad’s appointment unconstitutional. The party was suppose to sack Ahmad today.

And then came the meeting with the King/Sultan of Terengganu yesterday morning. What transpired at the meeting, no one can be sure but when Abdullah came out of the meeting, he knew he had to back down.

And when the matter was discussed at the council meeting today, sources say that none of the council members objected Ahmad’s appointment. Does this mean only Abdullah was against it, along with Idris?

Whatever it is, the council is likely to have a new member, Ahmad, in his capacity as the state Umno chief. I expect him to replace Idris for the position too.

So it IS bye, bye Idris, and hello Ahmad.

And for Abdullah, he has to keep a straight face even when he knows full well that he had been given a body blow by the royal palace.

Replacing ‘Raja Idris’ with ‘Plain’ Ahmad

[For obvious reasons, I am going to blog this entry by being mindful of the defamation laws, sedition act as well as the treason act.]

According to sources today PM met with the king, who is also the sultan of terengganu, to talk about the menteri besar issue in terengganu.

PM wanted to stress to the king as to why his man Idris Jusoh (IJ) should continue to be the MB. Apparently the king was not interested to hear anything and told PM to have a meeting instead with the royalty’s chosen candidate, Ahmad Said who had assumed office yesterday.

It seems that the PM even put forward a third person as a neutral candidate but the king was adamant of having his man in place. For all it seems, it looks like the PM had to backdown and let the terengganu palace has its way.

The PM also met with IJ and it seems it was a fruitful meeting, according to people close to IJ.

Whatever it is, the matter will be clearer after the Umno supreme council meeting tomorrow when the party is to decide if they want to sack Ahmad.

If they do, then the sign is clear that Umno is ready to battle it out with the terengganu palace. But if they back Ahmad for the post, then we know it is the palace that has won. As a compromise Umno might allow IJ to continue being the party's state chief. The palace has no say in this.

So why is the sultan so against IJ?

Many sources say it has to do with the manner he has been channelling the RM1 billion Petronas wang ehsan in favour of the Putrajaya-backed mega projects (read: monsoon cup, the islam hadhari village and the crystal mosque among others) and not to help alleviate poverty in the state.

Apart from that, it is the issue of IJ being a small-time Raja in the state by not paying any attention to the 11-year-old regent, his advisory council or his father who works as the king in KL. Apparently many religious (Islamic) projects were approved by the MB without consultation with the palace.

And then we have the issue of the Umno-led state administration making a mockery of democracy by using the police to forcibly remove people in Batu Buruk last year and in Marang on election day. Apparently the sultan was upset with the manner democracy was abused on those two days by the Idris government.

And the finally, it seems (I repeat IT SEEMS) the sultan is also unhappy that outside power brokers (Putrajaya fourth floor, Patrick Badawi and others) and IJ are making tonnes of money in the state via mega projects and the sultan feels left out, unlike in other states where his fellow brothers enjoy a good business patronage.

Thus the idea that is being floated is that by removing IJ, the sultan can ensure that wang ehsan is distributed equally to everyone in the state; people would be treated with respect by the police and the Umno politicians; mega projects that have no beneficiary to the state can be stopped; the sultan, his son and the advisory council will be made to be more useful; and finally, the palace coffers will be full again!

Now you get it as to why all the fuss about replacing ‘raja’ Idris with the ‘plain’ Ahmad?

It is in this game that PM has fallen in, either to protect his own financial or political interest, or to stand firm against a royalty who is keen to get back what he has lost by taking Putrajaya for a ride.

What? IPCMC on the top menu?

Prime Minister Abdullah said today that the bill for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) will be tabled in the coming parliament session.

The PM said the draft of the bill was ready and was to be tabled in the cabinet before parliament was dissolved for the general election but he held it back because of the GE.

Isn’t that strange?

What about the IPCMC-style Special Complaints Commission Bill 2007 which was tabled for the first reading on Dec 13 in the Dewan Rakyat by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz?

On Dec 14, the then opposition leader Lim Kit Siang called the SCC bill as a fake IPCMC and pointed to the explanatory statement in the bill which confirmed that the bill was a watered-down version of the much-anticipated IPCMC.

This WAS definitely before the GE, which was held on March 8 this year.

So what is the PM trying to do here with today’s announcement? Has he forgotten about the SCC bill? Or is he trying to regain the people’ trust by putting back the IPCMC back into the frontline as a populist move?

Whatever it may be, he need not be sneaky about doing what is good for the rakyat.

A game which Pak Lah can never win

It is now 16 days since the general election. All states have had their menteri besar sworn in but for Terengganu.

The state, although won comfortably by BN with 24 out of 32 seats, seems to be embroiled in a crisis on the choice of the MB. The palace is clearly keen on Ahmad Said, PM Abdullah wants Idris Jusoh.

Constitution says palace has the right, political power says Abdullah has the mean.

However the latest seem to indicate that the palace is indeed winning. Even the 13 of the original 22 who backed Idris and Abdullah are now supporting Ahmad, it is reliably learnt.

Only Abdullah and Idris are steadfast in holding that it should be them who should rule Terengganu.

A win for the palace in the battle means a loss of face for the prime minister. Actually it is the second blow for him from the royalties.

Remember Perlis? The Raja there held on to appoint his own man despite Abdullah insisting that it should be Shahidan Kassim. In the end the Raja won, and had his man sworn in, sending Shahidan into oblivion and Abdullah into his own hole.

Now Terengganu sultan looks set to deliver the second blow. Even if Abdullah uses his political muscle to get Idris appointed despite all, he would still look bad for being a traitor to the sultan!

His new-found nemesis Tengku Razaleigh said this today:

“The Prime Minister's actions suggest stunning ineptness in managing fundamental relationships and straightforward functions of government.

This storm in Terengganu is just the latest in a series of crises brought on by an apparent failure to understand how state powers work relative to federal ones.”

Abdullah can never win this game. He can compromise though by giving in to the sultan’s choice.

What is stopping him? Lost of face? Or lost of business ventures (for cronies and family)?

This show of wealth is utterly vulgar

The images you see here are not from some English castle, belonging to some white lord.

It is actually from much closer to home - in Klang to be precise. This is the humble abode that the late Zakaria Deros built.

One does wonder where he got the money from?

His day-time job was a state assemblyman (until he was dropped), Klang council member (until he was forced not to accept nomination) and a satay seller (a successful one as well until his illegal satay stall was demolished).

So how did he manage to build this mansion (read: palace)? Was he a true NEP success story?

The previous BN government had been silent on Zakaria’s wealth. I hope the new PKR-led government would look into how he became so vulgarly rich.

The fact that he is dead (just days after the GE) should not stop the state government to look into any possibilities of corruption, cronyism and also if all papers are in order to build a palace in a low-cost housing area.

Illegally gained money should be accounted for; illegally built structures should be torn down (remember the many Hindu temples?).

p/s: these are just some sample images of the palace. There’s more in the Internet.

(pls click on the image for bigger view)

Why an advisor on family matters?

I still wonder why the PM appointed Shahrizat Abdul Jalil as his special advisor on women and social development affairs. He has also given her a ministerial status with the appointment.

OK, she was an unfortunate loser in the GE. But still, being made an advisor for family matters? Why did he do it? To ensure that Umno Wanita has some representation in the government?

If that’s the case, by right, he should have made Rafidah his special advisor, in charge of international trade and free trade talks. I bet she will do a better job in these than the minister who replaced her at MITI.

While I was wondering on Shahrizat’s appointment, I came across a blog posting by Mahathir’s daughter.

She said:

“The PM also seems unaware that there is a Majlis Penasihat Wanita (formerly known as the National Advisory Council for the Integration of Women in Development (NACIWID)) which comprises of women appointed by the government to advise it on women's issues.

It used to be an independent body until a few years ago when Shahrizat decided to chair it herself. If you've never heard of it, that's understandable as it really doesn't get to do much advising and whatever advice it does give tends to not get heeded much.

I've been a member of it for some years and have always been frustrated by its redundancy. Guess now it'll be even more redundant.”

With this new knowledge, I am even more bewildered as to why Pak Lah made Shahrizat his special advisor. A case of political patronage perhaps?

The comeback kings

The comeback kings

Done:
1. Muhammad Muhd Taib: Almost lost it all - power, authority, support and money after the then Selangor MB was caught red-handed in Brisbane with loads of money in 1996. Political wilderness followed and then suddenly he was made the Umno information chief in 2004. That started his comeback. In Nov 2006, he was made a senator, prompting many to believe he was on his way into the cabinet. However he was not given a seat for the 2008 GE - he says he wasn’t given one by Khir Toyo - but that did not stop PM to make him the rural and regional development minister in his latest cabinet. And then came the coup de grace last night when he replaced the sulking Khir as both Selangor Umno chief as well as the state’s BN head. It took him 12 years to pay for his mistake but now he is back in the inner circle.

Possible:
2. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah: The Kelantan prince yesterday humbly offered himself to challenge Abdullah for the Umno presidency post, all in the name of healing the party. Once before he challenged the party president - Mahathir in 1987 and caused the party to split. He formed Semangat 46, went to the opposition before finally patching up with Mahathir and returning to Umno in 1996. In 2004 he wanted to challenge Abdullah but failed to get enough nominations. That put to rest his intention to be the party’s leader. He is back at it again now. His problem will be in getting the required nominations. If he gets that, then it’s a zero-sum-game. Anything can happen with delegates and he might just end up achieving his dream. Not a comeback king yet but a possibility is there.

Soon:
3. Anwar Ibrahim: He is riding on such a wave, no one will be shocked or surprised to see him back in the pedestal of power sooner than later. After April 15, he will be eligible to contest and a win is a granted thing. That means, he IS on his way to the parliament. That by itself is a massive comeback for a man who was dropped from the second highest office in the nation straight into the cells in Sungai Buloh. In between he had to live with the stigma of being labelled a sodomite. But his ride is not about to end as the opposition leader. Many of his backers are very confident that in the next 18 months, he WILL be the prime minister. Works are being done for him to garner enough support from BN turncoats to crossover. Never mind the next GE in 2013. Come mid-2009, Anwar’s comeback would have been complete!

A first in Putrajaya

On a day when political manoeuvring were taking shape in Putrajaya, a different kind of activity occurred at dusk yesterday in this administrative capital.

A Bernama report late yesterday on this caught my attention. It was about an accident in Putrajaya which killed two people and leaving two seriously injured.

Accident in Putrajaya? Two dead? Wow! This must be a first in the place!

How did this happen in Putrajaya, a place where there is NO traffic jam? The place has only 6,608 registered voters, meaning the same number of vehicles on average. The road system is excellent, and wide. So how did it happen?

Apparently the victim’s - a cop - car skidded, hit the road divider and landed on the other side of the road before colliding with an oncoming car with a couple in it while it was raining heavily. The cop and his civilian passenger died on the spot.

What intrigues me is this: Was he over-speeding in the rain until he lost control of his car? And as a cop, was he abusing his position to over-speed, if he was?

Perhaps the Putrajaya traffic chief or the two remaining victims can shed some light on this.

Is Umno getting weaker?

Why do I ask this question? Just look at what happened today alone:

1. Radzi Sheikh Ahmad quits as Umno sec-gen, 24-hours after he was dropped from the new cabinet line-up. He says he can’t work effectively as he is no longer in the cabinet - how to read this? That you need a cabinet post to work your party post? Is he just sulking? OR has he been dropped from both cabinet and party post as a result of his role in the Perlis infighting?

2. The dropped tourism minister and a big player from the Lingam tape Tengku Adnan says he is the new Umno sec-gen. OK, if Pak Lah wants this man to be the sec-gen, its his prerogative but interestingly Tengku Adnan said Abdullah told him YESTERDAY about the post. Hmm! Radzi made his “shocking announcement” to quit today but the post was already made available yesterday. So did Radzi quit or was he pushed?

3. Iron Lady Rafidah called for a PC to explain her future after being dropped from the cabinet. She revealed that PM only informed her yesterday morning that she was being dropped. An hour later he made his cabinet announcement. Well she could be right to wonder if the PM has no guts to tell her beforehand of his plans. Or is it just a case of PM making last minute adjustments to put out a fresh looking cabinet to impress the public?

4. Veteran Umno man Tengku Razaleigh said he will contest for the presidency post in the coming party polls to heal the party. Whether he gets sufficient nominations is another question. The important thing is that Pak Lah has a challenger. Would there be more to come?

5. All these comes in the heels of Anwar claiming that he has enough BN backbenchers willing to crossover to PKR, to allow the opposition coalition to form the government with a simple majority.

AND what is PM’s reaction to all of these?

Simple: “This government is very strong, we have the support too.”

Does anyone buy that? Only time will tell.

Phew! What an election!

Wow! Did anyone predict this? I know! I know! The various polls were quite indicative but really, was anyone expecting this?

What a result? A total blow out for the ruling BN. Serves them right for their cockiness and over confidence.

But first things first:

Firstly, I am sorry over my failure to blog during the GE. The reasons are simple: I have been super busy working during the election with my news organisation. Secondly, I was not just heading the election team in my news organisation, I was also busy writing articles and analyses. It would have been (possibly) a conflict of interest if I had also blogged about the GE.

OK, with that out of the way, lets come to the second issue - regarding my last entry that Samy Vellu will not lose in Sungai Siput. How way off was I? Well he lost and I am glad to acknowledge that it was I who asked the question to Dr Mahathir, whose answer did much damage to SV! If you don’t believe me, look at the video of the Mahathir interview in the news organisation which I work.

Anyway, lets come back to the GE. Wow! Thank god for the Makkal Sakthi - not just the Indians, but also the Chinese AND the Malays. What a swing!?

The BN government always said that don’t street protest, show it in the ballot boxes. He! He! The voters DID show it in the ballot boxes.

The BN government also maintained that the silent majority was with it. How wrong were they? It was the silent majority which actually swung the votes to the opposition.

Never before have we seen such a swing away from the ruling party. Five states - six if you include KL - with the opposition, a strong parliament, and a humbled ruling party IS good news indeed for us.

Today’s cabinet decision also had some surprises - of those dropped and those invited into the inner circle of government.

Changes are bound to happen after this historic election, for the good, I am sure.

Just as I said to my team of journalists on election night, let’s be proud of the changes that we brought and let’s enjoy our place in this historical moment.

Long live Malaysia!