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Karpal, Mahathir exchange letters on 1988 judicial crisis

Anil Netto

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9 Apr 2008

On 27 March 2008, the MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh, wrote to former premier Mahathir about the 1988 judicial crisis. “It is not the present Government which should apologise, but you yourself personally,” wrote Karpal. “Your culpability in the events leading to the dismissal of these three judges cannot have any justification in law or otherwise.”

“The necessity for you to apologise cries to high heaven. Your acts caused the judges concerned and their families untold pain and suffering.”

Karpal said he was writing to find out whether Mahathir was prepared to tender an unqualified and unconditional apology to Salleh Abas, George Seah and the family of the late Wan Suleiman Pawanteh, “who was one of the finest judges the judiciary ever had”.

It is imperative that the spirit of Wan Suleiman be appeased, he added. “This is the least you can do in your lifetime to atone for your actions for what transpired twenty years ago.

In an extraordinary letter to Karpal on 3 April 2008, Mahathir responded with guns blazing:

YB Mr Karpal Singh

Member of Parliament, Bukit Gelugor

Yang berhormat

Thank you for your letter.

You and my other detractors will never believe me whatever I may say. You are moved by pure hatred and I cannot respond to people who can never accept reality.

My conscience is clear. I have done what was my duty and I owe nobody any apology. I am sure you will make use of this letter to dirty my name further. That is your right. I think you are the most contemptible of politicians and individuals.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

Karpal responded today in a press statement:

I stand by what I have stated in my letter. I refer, in particular, to the last paragraph of Dr Mahathir’s letter where he calls me “the most contemptible of politicians and individuals.”

As Dr Mahathir is much older to me, I do not propose to hurt his feelings in the vein by which he has described me.

I would advise Dr Mahathir to take my views in his stride. I assure him I don’t hate him.

Karpal Singh

Ordinary Malaysians can gauge for themselves Mahathir’s role in this whole sordid affair.

Why not let Tun Salleh provide an eye-witness account of what transpired. This account is based on his private notes and was reproduced in Aliran Monthly, soon after his dismissal in 1988:

When I arrived at the Prime Minister’s Department I was met by a policeman who took me by lift to a waiting room. After waiting for about two or three minutes, I was shown into the Prime Minister’s Office by an officer, whom I did not recognise. There I found YAB Perdana Menteri (then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad) seated at his table with YAB Encik Ghafar Baba, Timbalan Perdana Menteri (then deputy prime minister) and Tan Sri Sallehuddin Mohamed, Ketua Setiausaha Negara (the then chief secretary to the government) seated at the same table opposite the Prime Minister. When I entered the room I gave the Prime Minister and the others my salam very loudly and he replied my salam. (Peace be on You).

After I had taken my seat, the Prime Minister told me that he had an unpleasant duty to perform and on being asked what it was, he replied that he had been asked by (the then) DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong to tell me that I should step down. I then expressed my surprise in an Islamic way saying “Glory to God, who is free from any partnership.” Then I asked him for the reasons and in reply he said that he was not prepared to argue with me, but finally he said the reason was that I had written a letter to DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong regarding the state of relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive. I told him that I wrote the letter simply because Judges, at a meeting on 25 March 1988, had informed me that they were very concerned about the present situation and asked to express their views through me. YAB Perdana Menteri then said that I made speeches indicating that I am biased and I am not qualified to sit in UMNO cases. I told him that I said nothing of that and the speeches I had made only dealt with the criticisms levelled at the Judiciary. I am not at all biased or bipartisan in political matters. While all this was going on, YAB Encik Ghafar Baba kept his head down while Tan Sri Sallehuddin was writing in a note book, which he was then holding.

When finally I said I would not resign, he told me that if I stepped down I would be given everything that I was entitled to. I told him that I was entitled to nothing since I was not yet 60. Obviously, he was surprised when told I was not 60 yet. Finally, he said that if I did not step down he would institute a Judicial Tribunal with a view to removing me. I told him I would not resign because if I did, I could not show my face to anyone and I might as well die.

He said that I could see the Agong if I wanted to and he would not stop me from doing so.

I told him that I would not be resigning and he could do what he pleased with me, including going ahead with the Tribunal. As there was nothing else to discuss, I finally said “Datuk, I should not waste anybody’s time”, and I shook his hand, also Encil Ghafar Baba’s and Tan Sri Sallehuddin’s. None of these three looked me right in my face and I could detect Encik Ghafar Baba was strangely silent and Tan Sri Sallehuddin only caught me by the side of his eyes but he too appeared to be subdued.

The Prime Minister himself, from the beginning to the end, did not even look me in the eye. He was looking down at his table all the time.

I left his room and I only saw one policeman outside his room who appeared surprised to see me there. When I went downstairs there was nobody even to see me off and no one called for my driver. I had to go out to look for my driver.

My future is tied up with the fate of this country. I come from an unknown family and I have reached the top of my profession. I have no desire to leave until I have reached the age of 65 like my predecessors, except the Sultan of Perak, who vacated the job because of a call of duty to be the Ruler of Perak. I leave my fate to the judgment of Allah and as it is Friday, I wish to quote the Quran, which says, “No misfortune will fall on us except what has been decreed by Allah. He is our protector and in whom the believers should place their trust.” This passage from the Quran struck my heart as I entered the door of the Prime Minister’s Office and it remained with me during the course of our discussion till the end, and to my exit from his room.

You be the judge!

Patrick Lim and Penang Turf Club: The plot thickens

Anil Netto

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8 Apr 2008

20

So the Penang Turf Club held its AGM yesterday, and I gather a lot of questions were raised. But so far I haven’t seen any public comments made by Turf Club officials.

A reliable source told me that the original agreement between the Penang Turf Club and Abad Naluri has actually lapsed as Patrick Lim had failed to deliver the replacement race-course in Batu Kawan as scheduled. Apparently, a supplementary agreement was entered into earlier this month to allow for an extension of three years so that it now ends in 2011. (The report below indicates that the deadline is now 2011.) And there is no clause in this supplementary agreement pertaining to an extension, which means it can be extended again in 2011.

If there was indeed an extension, on what basis did the outgoing committee negotiate an extension? All Patrick Lim’s Abad Naluri has done is pay RM10 million of the original sum of RM488 million for the Batu Gantung land. As alluded to earlier, Patrick Lim has not paid a single sen on the Batu Kawan racecourse land (see report below). Why, he probably hasn’t even signed the S&P with the PDC for the Batu Kawan land. Tell us, who was really behind the Batu Kawan land deal…

The Penang Turf Club owes the public an explanation. So does Patrick Lim. I hope Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will also reveal the outcome of the State Government’s investigation into the case soon. There needs to be a thorough investigation into the whole deal and how the land status was quietly rezoned from recreational status to “mixed development”.

As one concerned Penangite noted, the vested interests behind the PGCC deal stand “to lose an enormous investment unless they can pull something off. They have friends in high places who are allied with them in the PGCC enterprise and the new men in Komtar are going to come under great pressure to compromise. The problems of Equine/Abad Naluri must not be allowed to become Penang’s problems.”

Let’s hope the new state government does not compromise with those responsible for this stinking deal. It is worth remembering that the state allocated the 230-acre Batu Gantong site to the Penang Turf Club in 1935 for a nominal sum of RM250,000 for recreational use – and not for property development or for private gain. It is time for the Penang State Government to regazette the land back to recreational use, before anyone else gets any other “bright” ideas.

This is a report from theSun:

Turf Club will not extend deadline to Abad Naluri

Regina William, Bernard Cheah, Opalyn Mok and Husna Yusop

PENANG (April 7, 2008): The Penang Turf Club (PTC) today gave advance notice that it will not extend the deadline given to a property developer for the completion of the new racecourse in Batu Kawan after March 30, 2011.

In the club’s annual general meeting, members agreed that Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd will have to make good the agreement signed on March 23, 2003, for the completion of the new racecourse on the mainland by that date.

PTC member Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping, who spoke to reporters after the AGM, said no extension will be given after that.

“Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd has to build the new racecourse to the satisfaction of PTC members and if they don’t deliver, there will be no extension given. If halfway through the period and nothing is done, a RM10,000 penalty will be imposed each day.

“Members raised the issue about the new racecourse following latest developments and we were told that Abad Naluri has yet to complete the sale and purchase agreement with the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and has yet to pay a single sen to PDC; hence they don’t even own a square inch of land in Batu Kawan,” Tan said to reporters after the AGM.

The deal was for Abad Naluri to complete the racecourse after which the PTC land on Jalan Batu Gantong would be transferred to Abad Naluri for the development of the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project.

He said Abad Naluri paid PTC RM10 million on March 23, 2003, after signing the agreement but has yet to pay the rest of the amount due to PTC.

The PTC was bought by Abad Naluri at RM488 million. The deal was that Abad Naluri would build the RM375 million racecourse in Batu Kawan and the rest was to be paid in cash to the PTC.

Tan said members asked why no approval had been given for the PGCC project even though it was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in October 2007.

“Yet why was this not questioned by the Securities Commission? Nothing on this project has been submitted to the Commission,” he added.

Work on the RM25 billion PGCC project, which is included in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) blueprint, was supposed to start early 2009.

In December 2002, the PDC board approved the sale of 300ha in Batu Kawan to Syarikat Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd.

According to its principal agreement dated Jan 16, 2004, about 180ha was targeted for mixed development and the remainder for the proposed new racecourse.

To date, only land clearing and earthworks at the site had been done in December 2005. The site is located right next to that for the second Penang Bridge which links Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung on the island.

At its launch, Abdullah had said there should not be any unnecessary delays in the issuance of approvals for the project.

However, following public outcry against the project, earlier this year, ex-Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the developer had been asked to scale down the project and amend its development plans.

The fate of the project is now hanging in the balance following the trouncing of the Barisan Nasional in Penang. After he took over as Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng had said no approval had been given for the project at all, and as such the question of reviewing the project did not arise.

“Wang ehsan” model for Pakatan-controlled states?

Anil Netto

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7 Apr 2008

39

The Star carries an alarming report today, the latest in developments which suggest that the BN-controlled Federal Government is looking into alternative models to by-pass the state governments in allocating federal funds to the various Pakatan Rakyat states.

Federal Govt mulling over project mechanism in Pakatan states

JITRA: The Government is seeking a suitable mechanism to ensure the smooth implementation of federal projects in Pakatan Rakyat-held states, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum.

Mohd Johari, who said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had appointed him to monitor the implementation of these projects, said the Government wanted the people to receive the benefits.

Mohd Johari, who is Kubang Pasu MP, said the Prime Minister’s Department was studying the mechanism used in Sabah, Kelantan and Terengganu to be implemented in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

“So far, we have found that the mechanism used in Terengganu is the most suitable for these states. However, we need to improve on the mechanism,” he told reporters at a thanksgiving feast organised by him and Bukit Kayu Hitam assemblyman Datuk Mohd Zaini Japar.

Mohd Johari also said the department would re-structure the village development and security committees in Kedah so that they could continue to give their services to the people.

He said they would receive allowances from the federal government in the same way that they received the allowance when Barisan Nasional ruled Kedah.

The BN must realise that federal money is the people’s money. After all, the money comes from the people (and companies) through various taxes and from OUR (not the BN’s) petroleum resources.

It is an insult to the people to think that only the BN can ensure that federal funds is used for the people’s benefit. From experience, many ordinary people felt otherwise and that is why the voted in droves for opposition parties.

It is about time that reforms are instituted to de-centralise the allocations of federal funds so that state governments, elected by local residents, have a greater say in how they are disbursed. “No taxation without representation.”

Unfortunately, the BN seems intent on moving us in the opposite direction, where state governments have less and less say in how the people’s money is being spent. If they think that is going to win back support for the BN from the people, they’ve got another thing coming… Political Tsunami II, perhaps?

Pas MP receives standing ovation in Shah Alam Catholic Church

Anil Netto

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5 Apr 2008

32

The MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from Pas, received a standing ovation and thunderous applause from 350 parishioners of the Church of the Divine Merch in Shah Alam. He had offered to meet the parishioners for a dialogue session on 27 March.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support,” he said, adding that he had achieved a majority of 9,314 votes in Shah Alam.

“On the part of Pas, we will now be a coalition government. Our policies will be based on consensus. There will be no attempts by any member within Pas to impose any form of law on the general public. We will be fair and just.”

We will do as required by the community and what is good for the community, he added. “We will carry out our duties based on good governance, transparency and accountability. I hope you will continue to give us your support and your suggestions and we will try to be worthy of your trust.”

“Wall of sound” confronts Blair at Westminster Cathedral

Anil Netto

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4 Apr 2008

7

I used to walk along the aisles of the magnificent Westminster Cathedral, the “mother church” of the Catholic community in the UK, in awe of its unusual Byzantine style, its heavenly choirs and the majestic organ music that reverberated across its cavernous interior. The Cathedral has been described as “a very special place of prayer, a refuge from the busy city, a space to find one’s own thoughts.”

But last night how the Cathedral must have groaned and sighed as Tony Blair, the war criminal, took to the pulpit to preach on “Faith and Globalisation”. The former British premier converted to Catholicism last year but has so far not publicly apologised for the invasion of Iraq despite huge anti-war demonstrations and opposition from Pope John Paul II in 2003. More than a million Iraqis have died since the invasion.

As for other casualties, The Canadian reports:

While large U.S. media organizations like CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX and the New York Times document that about 4,000 US military personnel have lost their life, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs data documents a death toll of over 74,000 U.S. military personnel from Iraq Wars, as of May 2007. Award-winning investigative journalist Dahr Jamail documents that the U.S. political-military-industrial complex is apparently pursuing a “divide and rule” strategy by actually arming the same groups, that are labelled as “extremists” or “terrorists” against a stated objective of “stability” and “peace” in Iraq.

Anti-war protesters, including Catholics, turned up outside the Cathedral yesterday to let Blair know exactly how they felt.

Will Penang follow Selangor in banning hill-slope development?

Anil Netto

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3 Apr 2008

9

Today’s entry is from a guest writer in Penang, someone concerned about the unchecked property development in the state and its devastating impact on the environment:

Heartening news today from Selangor where the new state government has announced a ban on development of hillslopes of 26 degrees gradient or more. When will Penang follow Selangor’s lead?

Those who have not driven out to Batu Ferringhi recently will be in for a shock when they see what is happening to the hill slopes above Moonlight Bay, which now perhaps deserves the name Moonscape Bay! For months bulldozers and earth-movers have denuded the hills of tree cover up to the crest line to reveal acres of bare red lateritic soil on slopes which must well exceed 26 degrees.

Approaching this scene from town the driver is welcomed by a large billboard with the words “A short drive up to paradise”(Someone sure has a warped sense of humour! — Anil). Today, when I visited the site to show a friend, the whole hillside had been draped in blue plastic sheeting, surely an acknowledgment by the developer that the work has created a massive environmental and safety problem.

And further along the Batu Ferringhi road as you approach the Fort Auchry army camp on the right, dark green construction fencing has been erected along the left-hand side of the road for a project bearing the name “Plenitude”, evidently another scheme to build on fragile hillslopes still covered with jungle.

Let’s hope the new state government takes note and puts a stop to such rapacious property development projects.

Patrick Lim’s horses of card come tumbling down

Anil Netto

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2 Apr 2008

24

The Dream: Abad Naluri’s “cardboard horses” in Batu Kawan

It all seems to be going wrong for Patrick Lim. And not just on the East Coast.

First, his RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre project has all but been killed off as a result of a concerted campaign by Penang civil society groups to save the Turf Club land on the island.

Then, the Penang state government fell to opposition hands with even the Chief Minister soundly defeated. (The last time someone tried to muck around with a treasured landmark in Penang was in the late 1980s, when Vincent Tan’s Berjaya was eyeing Penang Hill. Civil society groups rose up in arms and mobilised the Penang people to oppose the greedy development. Perhaps that contributed to then chief minister Lim Chong Eu’s stunning defeat – and a setback for the Penang BN – in the 1990 general election. Some people never learn from history…)

Now, Patrick Lim’s Equine/Abad Naluri has failed to deliver the new race-course in Batu Kawan on the mainland that it was supposed to build for the Penang Turf Club. In 2004, Abad Naluri entered into an agreement to acquire the Penang Turf Club site in Batu Gantung on the island for RM488 million. As part-payment in kind, it was supposed to build a “state of the art” race-course in Batu Kawan worth about RM375 million and hand it over to the Turf Club by 2007, whereupon Abad Naluri would pay the balance of about RM100 million to the Turf Club. That clearly has not happened.

And the reality: After four years, this is all they have to show

In fact, this is what the Batu Kawan race-course site looked like when I checked it out yesterday. Even the land-filling work, I believe, is being carried out by the Penang Development Corporation (so the purchase price of the land will very likely be a bit higher than that of unfilled land).

Not a living creature in sight. Wait a minute, what’s this….

I looked for horses at the site – but all I could see were… cows!

Apparently, there is a principal agreement for 750 acres of the Batu Kawan land between the PDC and Abad Naluri. This agreement is believed to have a life-span of seven years and was also entered into in 2004; it includes the pricing and covers both the racecourse site and the land for Abad Naluri’s housing projects in Batu Kawan, a source familiar with the deal told me.

It would be interesting to find out what kind of pricing is in the Principal Agreement, because the land in the local area is now said to have gone up to around RM15-16 per square foot. If the proposed second Penang Bridge project nearby goes ahead, the price could well rise further.

Although the terms for the acquisition of the 300-acre racecourse site are said to have been finalised with the PDC, the actual Sale and Purchase Agreement between PDC and Abad Naluri has not yet been signed, from what I hear. The Penang State Government should check on this. If it is true, the PDC should hold back from signing it and instead allow the state government to review its options in the best interest of the people.

This is where the Second Penang Bridge is supposed to start on the mainland. Notice the clearing between the trees in the distance

Actually, Abad Naluri’s race-course site in Batu Kawan sits on prime land. It is just 0.5km away from the site where the proposed Second Bridge is supposed to land on the mainland. (Both sites actually share the same construction dirt track used by lorries and four-wheel-drives. It was a bumpy ride, believe me!) The ground-breaking ceremony of the second bridge site was officiated by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in 2006.

On the other side of the Second Bridge site lie Equine/Abad Naluri’s office, show units and more prime land belonging to the firm

Abad Naluri’s land in Batu Kawan really could not get much closer to the site of the proposed second bridge. How was it able to buy land with the proposed bridge set to land right smack in between its new racecourse and property development sites? At what price? Tell me it was all just a happy coincidence…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

At the Penang Turf Club, questions are swirling around ahead of an AGM on 7 April.

As Abad Naluri has failed to deliver the new racecourse on time, the principal agreement between Penang Turf Club and Abad Naluri for the sale of the Batu Gantung land has lapsed, according to a source. Even as I write, the source tells me that the Club and Abad Naluri are renegotiating a fresh deal to extend the time frame for handing over the Batu Kawan race-course by three years.

Lots of other questions are also being asked by members of the Turf Club. Has Abad Naluri actually paid the PDC for the Batu Kawan land? How much is due to PDC for the land? Has the ownership title of the Batu Kawan site even been transferred to Abad Naluri?

Have PDC and the state authorities approved the conversion of the Batu Kawan land for use as a race-course? What about the layout plan conversion? Has the planning permission application been submitted?

Obviously, there has been little progress on the Batu Kawan race-course, so there’s no need to ask if the architects have certified the progress of the construction of the new race-course!

One source told me the Turf Club was supposed to have set up a project team to audit the progress of the Batu Kawan race-course construction. If the team has been set up, what are their findings? Is there a penalty clause in the principal agreement (between Abad Naluri and the Penang Turf Club) for late handover of the Batu Kawan racecourse?

Of course, questions are also being raised about the extent to which the proposed – but hopefully aborted – Penang Outer Ring Road project will impact on the Penang Turf Club’s existing site.

If the Turf Club does come up with a new agreement with Abad Naluri, will it take into account the appreciation of the land since 2004, when the land was deemed to be worth RM43psf or RM488 million? The land value is now said to be worth at least RM250psf. Can Abad Naluri afford that?

Penang Turf Club members will surely want to know whether the Club had officially complained to Abad Naluri about the launch of the PGCC by Prime Minister Abdullah last year at a time when the land ownership of the PGCC site had not yet even been handed over to Abad Naluri. What has the Securities Commission got to say about the much-trumpeted launch of the PGCC last year?

Questions, questions…. It should be an interesting Penang Turf Club AGM to say the least!

What is fascinating is that it looks like Abad Naluri has spent very little cash so far on both the existing race-course site and the Batu Kawan new race-course site (if it is true it has not paid the PDC for that). Yet, it has very nearly acquired two vast tracts of prime land on the island and on the mainland! Amazing…

But it looks like it’s “game over” for Patrick – unless the Penang Turf Club inexplicably grants him a three-year extension!

Now we have a God-sent opportunity to stop these deals in their tracks and work towards the creation of a People’s Park in Penang on the existing Turf Club site. Here’s what the new Penang state government should consider:

In view of Abad Naluri’s failure to deliver the completed racecourse in time, take back the Batu Kawan land, especially if no S & P has been signed.

Scrutinise the whole deal and find out how Equine/Abad Naluri was able to acquire 750 acres of prime land in Batu Kawan. Who exactly was the driving force behind the deal?

Re-gazette the Penang Turf Club’s existing land back to permanent recreational status so that no other developer can grab hold of it in future.

Offer the Batu Kawan land to the Turf Club in exchange for the State taking over the existing Turf Club site on the island. If the Second Bridge does start in Batu Kawan, the mainland race-course will sit on prime land. Even if the Second Bridge is aborted, Batu Kawan remains an upcoming township and land prices there should rise.

Turn the existing Turf Club land into a People’s Park. And don’t forget to set aside land for a second People’s Park in Batu Kawan as well.

Anti-war protesters to blare music during Blair talk

Anil Netto

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31 Mar 2008

2

I must say this sounds like it’s going to be an unusual – if noisy! – anti-war protest directed at Blair. Spotted this on the Indymedia UK website:

Sounding Out Tony Blair

Stop the War Coalition | 31.03.2008 14:13 |

SOUNDING OUT BLAIR: Westminster Cathedral : 42 Francis Street: London SW1
Thursday 3 April 2008 at 7.00 pm (assemble from 6.30 pm)

A nun with a buglar alarm is one of many Catholics who will join the Stop the War protest outside Westminster Cathedral on Thursday 3 April, when Tony Blair gives his lecture on ‘Faith and Globalisation’. The protest aims to sound out Tony Blair with musical instruments and sound-making implements of every kind — drums, trumpets, saxophones, violins, cymbals, whistles, sirens, horns, rattles, cowbells, saucepans and cans. At least two choirs and musical ensembles of every type will be attending, along with numerous individual musicians, drummers, percussionists and students from the Royal Academy of Music.

Brian Eno will be joining the protest, which will be preceded by a silent vigil organised by the Catholic organisation Pax Christi from 6.30 – 7.0 pm. Others include: students from Royal College of Music, Caryl Churchill, Band ‘The Rub’ – a cycled-powered DJ system!, Peace Not War musicians, Voices in the Wilderness, Pax Christi, Senior Catholic journalists, Strawberry Thieves choir, Raised Voices choir, Catholics with banner with Pope John Paul II peace quotes, Stop the War London groups …. and Royal National Institute for the Deaf contacted us to recommend earphones for participants! Perhaps though we should offer them to the audience who will have to listen to Tony Blair.

**************
“Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God” – Benjamin Franklin

Rough music is the term which has generally been used in England since the end of the seventeenth century to denote a rude cacaphony, with or without more elaborate ritual, which usually directed mockery or hostility against individuals who offended against certain community norms.

A definition of the term from 1811 said it involved the use by the rebellious and disaffected populace of: Saucepans, frying-paps, poker and tongs, marrow-bones and cleavers, bulls horns, &c. beaten upon and sounded in ludicrous processions.

In ‘Customs in Common’ E P Thompson wrote: “I find much that attracts me in rough music. It is a property of a society in which justice is not wholly delegated or bureaucriticised, but is enacted by and within the community. Where it is enacted upon an evident malefactor – some officious public figure or a brutal wife-beater – one is tempted to lament the passing of the rites …. Rough music belongs to a mode of life in which some part of the law belongs still to the community and is theirs to enforce. It indicates modes of social self-control and the disciplining of certain kinds of violence and anti-social offence (insults to women, child abuse, wife-beating) which in today’s cities may be breaking down.”

Substitute the last eight words above with “which in today’s politicians may be breaking down” and there you have it.

Stop the War Coalition
e-mail: office@stopwar.org.uk
Homepage: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

Can Abdullah save Umno and the BN?

Anil Netto

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30 Mar 2008

15

I have been wondering about Zaid’s remarks on the 1988 Judicial Crisis. Has he really turned over a new leaf compared to the immediate aftermath of the 1988 crisis, especially in the light of his statements that he has apologised?

This report from The Star:

Zaid: I never endorsed Lord President Salleh Abas’ dismissal
By SHAHANAAZ HABIB

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister-in-charge of law Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has denied ever supporting the sacking of Lord President Tun Salleh Abas in 1988.

“In fact, I say to you today that it was not right,” he said.

However, as the Muslim Lawyers Association president then, he had said that it was legal, according to the Constitution, for Tun Hamid Omar, Salleh’s number two, to chair the tribunal set up to try Salleh.

But while Hamid’s appointment was legal, it was morally wrong and a conflict of interest for Hamid to have accepted the tribunal chairman post as he had stood to gain from Salleh’s dismissal, said Zaid.

“Whether he used that position to benefit from it only God knows,” he said yesterday at a press conference.

In 1988, Salleh as Lord President wrote to the King on behalf of all judges expressing disappointment over the then prime minister (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s accusations against the judiciary.

Salleh was then suspended and sacked by a tribunal chaired by Hamid who later became Lord President.

Zaid said yesterday that he had opposed the Bar Council’s boycott of Hamid as Lord President then but stressed it would be wrong for anyone to construe that as his endorsement of Salleh’s dismissal.

“I don’t recollect ever having said that the grounds of dismissal were fair or just.”

A friend of mine said Zaid’s comments reminds him of Bill Clinton’s response to whether he smoked marijuana when he was young: he said he took puffs of it but did not inhale!

Okay, he has apologised – but Zaid is being a bit disingenuous here. He should have known that Hamid would benefit from his position on the tribunal then. Any independent observer would say that Hamid had to know that if Salleh was sacked, he (Hamid) would take over as Lord President. It was as simple as that. And Mahathir – along with the challenge to his position within Umno – was instrumental in triggering the whole crisis, no doubt about that. Anyway, let’s wait and see what Zaid has in store for the judiciary.

A political analyst friend of mine wrote a response to my recent Asia Times piece, which I have adapted into an interview format:

Q: Should we rely on Zaid to reform the judiciary?

Analyst: People can change, and that’s good. But it does appear that too many have forgotten Zaid’s early incarnation as the Muslim lawyers association president. It was then a breakaway faction from the Bar Council, constituted on racial-religious lines. And I don’t think it an accident that Sulaiman Abdullah has welcomed his remarks most warmly, including the remark of his intending to stay around for a long time to see through the reforms — that’s a comment left by Sulaiman on the Bar’s website carrying the report on Zaid.

I think we should call for the tribunal proceedings to be released in full. That would be a start.

What do you think of the proposed regional economic corridors? Are they a more effective alternative to Mahathir’s model of development and all his mega projects?

The Corridors — they are the ultimate in patronage/corruption. We think Mahathir’s mega-projects were bad? They are nothing compared to these Corridors. Don’t know about SJER and NCER, but there wasn’t even a proper study done for Score (the Sarawak one); it just came out of the blue. ECER was done by Petronas in-house, by someone who really isn’t equipped to do the necessary background work.

And we are committing RM1.2 trillion to them! The strange thing about the Corridors is that I’ve been trying to find out who the consultants were — heck, they call in consultants for smaller things — and it seems no one knows. Also been rummaging around to get hold of the background technical reports; again, no luck. So maybe they just don’t exist.

What are the chances of Abdullah pushing through meaningful reforms to improve his – and Umno/BN’s – present dismal position?

Come on — if he didn’t, or couldn’t do it, when he was riding high with that huge mandate, there’s no way he can do it now. Look at Mahathir, who was a much more tough-minded character — after he was weakened by the Anwar affair, he was a lame duck, biding time. All the earlier moves towards dismantling NEP restrictions came to a screeching halt.

Is Abdullah more open to press freedom than Mahathir?

…what i heard was that (during Abdullah’s tenure) there were more instructions to the editorial rooms on coverage of stories than ever before. In Mahathir’s time, it wasn’t so much instructions, as that either people had been removed — serving as examples — or else there was just all this second-guessing and of course the closure (of more independent-minded newspapers) in 1987 to serve as instruction.

What do you think of Anwar forcing a by-election after his ban on politics expires in April?

I think we should say no to anyone stepping down to force a by-election. These things are costly affairs. Let him bide his time, spend it providing the leadership to pull together the state governments, setting the overall tone. Then next round he can go in, or if there’s a necessary by-election.

How was it those in the BN were unaware that they were heading for a major setback? Didn’t they know?

(I) just heard from someone (who chatted with someone close to the ruling elite just before polling day that)… (those close to the top felt that there) was no way they would lose the two-thirds (majority). They knew Kelantan was gone, but that was it.

… the content of that conversation bore out my earlier fears that this was a dry run for Umno going it alone. They thought they had the Malay vote — somehow they couldn’t read it — and (there was this view held by certain quarters) that in ten years time, the Chinese would only be (a much smaller minority) of the population.

… perhaps that shows up their incompetence — but it’s indicative that they were calculating that even without the Chinese vote, they could do it. Their calculation was that they would have 40 per cent of the Indian vote — and it appears they weren’t far off overall — and 40 per cent of the Chinese vote — on which they were optimistic. They figured the top MIC guys would go, but figured the MCA and Gerakan guys would pull through.

Problem of course is that global percentages are useless in elections, as each seat is fought on its own. So they probably got 60 per cent of the Indian vote in Johor and possibly in Malacca and Negri Sembilan, but in the seats in the rebel states, where Indian votes played a big role, they generally got less than 40 per cent.

A vulnerable Abdullah casts a wary eye at rivals

Anil Netto

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29 Mar 2008

7

From now onwards, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will be casting a wary eye on all sides as rivals such as Tengku Razaleigh and Anwar sense his considerably weakened position, never mind that the BN is just eight seats short of a two-thirds majority.

After all, under his stewardship, the BN lost five states and received less than 50 per cent of the popular vote in the peninsula – its worst ever performance.

Meanwhile, folks like Khairy, Patrick Lim and even Nazri have been ever so quiet….

The only hope for Umno is if it introduces wide-ranging reforms. But the KL-based political commentator mentioned in the article below told me that Umno is incapable of that, so deep is the rot.

Here is an article I wrote for Asia Times:

Knives out for Malaysia’s Abdullah
By Anil Netto

PENANG – Malaysia’s politics is still in flux after this month’s watershed general election in which opposition parties made their sharpest inroads into the government since the country gained independence in 1957. And the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, comprised of 13 component parties, is still struggling to come to terms with the implications of the setback.

Although BN parties won 140 of Parliament’s 222 seats, it lost five states to the opposition, including three of the wealthiest and economically important ones in the federation. Now the ruling coalition is being unnerved by talk of possible defections of its parliamentarians to opposition ranks, which now has 82 seats.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who predicted the BN would garner a two-thirds majority at the polls, looks considerably weaker inside his once dominant United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party. Full article