Human rights lawyer and activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar attempts to dissect some of the constitutional and historical issues surrounding the current political crisis in Perak.
Embattled but cool Nizar now M’sia’s politician to watch
Cool customer: Nizar attempted to report for work in a hugely symbolic gesture that raised his profile and won him new admirers Photo courtesy of Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi; More pictures here
IPOH, Perak, Feb 10 (IPS) – During a tense press conference, in the midst of the current constitutional crisis in this state, peninsular Malaysia’s second largest, a reporter’s MP3 recorder/handphone began ringing.
The embattled chief minister Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin picked up the phone and pretended to answer it. “Hello? Oh, it’s Barack Obama, thank you, thank you, thanks for your support. I appreciate that, Mr President. I think you are wonderful.”
The reporters burst out laughing.
‘Tea party’ against Tanjung Bunga hill-slope projects
Tanjung Bunga residents groups, alarmed by property development projects on steep hill-slopes, are coming together at the top of Jalan Chan Siew Teong in Chee Seng Gardens on Valentine’s Day to hold a ‘tea party’ from 4.00pm to 5.00pm
This message from the Tanjung Bunga Residents Association:
Even before the horrific landslide in Taman Antarabangsa, the residents of Chee Seng Gardens in Tanjong Bunga confronted the developers of a hillside construction project about an “accident waiting to happen”. A stop-work order was slapped on the construction site demanding that more retention ponds be built to avoid the floods that had frightened residents. Another stop-work order came later.
LIVE: 1,000 Umno supporters chant “Daulat Tuanku!”
Show of support: Representatives of Umno-linked groups and MIC pledge their support for the Sultan.
The crowd arrived in about half a dozen buses, and many sported yellow headbands bearing the words “Daulat Tuanku”
LIVE: 35,000 throng Nizar’s residence in show of support
Show of support: This is just a small section of the crowd at the MB’s residence tonight
4,000 join a Makkal Sakthi Thaipusam procession calling for the dissolution of the State Assembly and the release of ISA detainees
Kataks feel the heat: DAP supporters express their support for Nizar and demand the dissolution of the assembly
Nizar addressing the crowd at his official residence after midnight: “Keep praying for a favourable court decision”
LIVE: The ladies are waiting… but where is Najib?
The red carpet has been rolled out, the ladies are waiting… but where is Najib?
Opposite the Yok Choy School: A shrine mourning the “Death of Democracy”
Perak State Assembly Speaker V Sivakumar reveals his latest move Photo by Amiruddin
LIVE: Tumultuous scenes as Perakians roar and jeer
Thumbs down: KK town residents jeer as VIP vehicles emerge from the palace Photo by Anil Netto
Excellent photos by Amiruddin here.
Protesters outside the Masjid Ubudiah this afternoon calling for the dissolution of the state assembly Photos by Annuar Ismail
MB Nizar tries to enter the gate to the state government complex before being allowed in.
MB Nizar addressing a packed and dramatic press conference in the state government complex this morning
LIVE: A dark cloud descends on Ipoh
Pakatan Rakyat supporters gather at the Mentri Besar’s official residence tonight
Ipoh at 6.30pm. A huge dark cloud hangs over Ipoh as the rain pelted down
This time, although I will leave the readers’ comment feature on in the ‘live’ pane below, I will only approve a few selected comments to appear inside the pane so that the flow of the report is not disrupted. Remember, this is not a chat room. If you find your comment not appearing inside the pane, you can always add it at the end of this post in the usual way.
While Najib eyes Perak, the economy sinks…
Folks, we are in trouble.
Our Prime Minister is on his way out – even though more and more people now want him to stay on (for the time being!) given the choice of his successor.
The prime minister-to-be, his deputy, who is also Finance Minister, is now busy trying to topple the Perak state government. He is meeting the Perak Sultan tomorrow to try and persuade him to allow the BN to form the government.
So who is managing the economy now? Is it running on auto-pilot?
When I look at the economic figures, they look alarming. Total number of workers employed down, industrial production down, foreign reserves down, electrical and electronics exports fell 16 per cent (gulp!) …. and that’s just for November. Things have surely got worse by now. The scary part is we still have not reached the bottom of the pit (althougth The Edge, 2-8 Feb 2009, states boldly – and inexplicably – on its cover that “this year is expected to be better (for the KLCI)…”).
So with that in mind, I wrote this piece for Asia Times: