House divided cannot stand - Anwar’s real enemies in Kajang by-election are not independents, MCA or even UMNO but PR/PKR internal feuds and infighting

Media Statement by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 28^th February 2014:

It is now one full month since the announcement by the Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be the Pakatan Rakyat candidate in the Kajang by-election which will be held in three weeks’ time on March 23, 2014.

In the past 31 days, political temperatures and election fervor had steadily mounted, with a whole slate of issues, national, state and local, being canvassed.

The Kajang by-election promises to be the “by-election of the century” in Malaysia,  deciding not only on who will be the elected representative of the Selangor state assembly seat of Kajang, the political leadership in Selangor but most important of all, the political configuration of the federal centre of power in Putrajaya in the immediate future.

The by-election on March 23 will not only determine the future of Kajang and Selangor, but the future of Malaysia and her 30 million people – not only for 2014 but for the coming years and decades.

All the three Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, PAS and DAP must be fully united and inspired by the common goal of creating a new Malaysia where all her citizenry, regardless of race, religion or region, are united with one common vision for an united, harmonious,  free, democratic, just, competitive, progressive and prosperous Malaysia.

The three Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, PAS and DAP must not only ensure that Datuk Seri Anwar wins in the Kajang by-election on March 23, but wins with a resounding and thunderous majority which will immediately send out a message to all nooks and corners of Malaysia that Putrajaya awaits change in the 14GE.

Just a simple victory in Kajang is a defeat. We must aim for a historic victory, which will redound to greater political and electoral achievements and accomplishments in the years rolling up to the end of this decade.

There are however reasons for concern at some of the developments in Pakatan Rakyat and PKR in  Selangor in the past month.

Datuk Seri Anwar’s real enemies  in Kajang by-election are not the  independent candidates, MCA or even UMNO but PR/PKR internal feuds and  infighting.

We must never forget what Abraham Lincoln said: A house divided against itself cannot stand!

In the Kajang by-election, we can only suffer defeats and setbacks of our own making.

At stake in the Kajang by-election is not just Anwar’s personal political future, but the future of Pakatan Rakyat, three million Selangorians and 30 million Malaysians.

Let us face up to the harsh reality that a defeat in the Kajang by-election – in failing to achieve a resounding and historic victory – cannot be ruled out.

It is imperative that all the three Pakatan Rakyat parties of PKR, PAS and DAP must take immediate measures to close ranks, put aside our differences, ensure that we do not shoot ourselves in the foot and deny our children and children’s children the one chance in more than half-a-century for political change in Putrajaya.

                                              

-  Lim Kit Siang

1MDB must explain why it is still unable to finalise its accounts for the year ending March 2013 and why KPMG, its external auditors since its inception, has suddenly resigned

 

 

 

Media statement by Tony Pua, Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara and DAP National Publicity Secretary on Thursday, 20 February 2014 in Kuala Lumpur

 

 

As of yesterday, 19^th February 2014, when I checked with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has yet to file its accounts for its financial year ending March 2013.  The last available accounts was dated 31 March 2012.  It is both shocking and suspicious that an multi-billion ringgit entity 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance has failed to produce its audited financial statements after nearly a year.

The directors of 1MDB have clearly run afoul of the Companies Act 1965 by failing to hold the company’s Annual General Meetings, file its Annual Returns to the Registrar of Companies together with their Audited Financial Report within the specified time period.

Clause 169(1) of the Companies Act says that “the directors of every company shall… once at least in every calendar year at intervals of not more than fifteen months, lay before the company at its annual general meeting a profit and loss account for the period since the preceding account (or in the case of the first account, since the incorporation of the company) made up to a date not more than six months before the date of the meeting.

Under Clause 171(1), the Act dictates imprisonment for 5 years or RM30,000 “if any director of a company fails to comply or to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance by the company with the foregoing provisions of this Division or has by his own wilful act been the cause of any default by the company thereunder, he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.”

What rings the loudest alarm bells however is the sudden resignation of the company’s external auditors, KPMG, who has audited the company since its inception.  Instead, Deloitte Malaysia has been appointed its new auditors.

It was KPMG, who in 1MDB’s first financial statement in 2010 raised an “emphasis of matter” over the US$1 billion (RM3.29b) investment in a mysterious joint-venture (JV) with PetroSaudi International Ltd, which was subsequently converted into a US$1.2 billion (RM3.95b) loan within a period of less than 6 months. 

While the “emphasis of matter” was removed in subsequent financial accounts as the JV was servicing the loan with interest payments, it was also highlight that 1MDB extended an additional US$700 million (RM2.3b) in loans to the JV, despite receiving less than US$200 million in interest between 2011 and 2012.

Through a series of complicated financial engineering in the latter part of 2012, the loan was prematurely terminated and redeemed. However, the repayment of US$2.32 billion (RM7.93b) was made in a perplexing manner in a “seggregated investment portolio” based in Cayman Islands.

To date no one has been able to verify with any certainty who the investment portfolio manager is, the fund’s performance or for that matter, if the money actually exist.  The “investment” in Cayman Islands raises highly suspicious questions as 1MDB is desperately trying to raise funds through new bond issuance in Malaysia to funds its aggressive acquisitions of independent power producers as well as its mega-projects in Bandar Malaysia and Tun Razak Exchange.  In fact, 1MDB is already laden with an estimated more than RM40 billion in debt, and hence such investments is a luxury that 1MDB does not have.

As a matter of public accountability, in line with Dato’ Seri Najib’s Razak’s call for transparency and government transformation, 1MDB must provide detailed and immediately clarification for the above matters.  Most urgently, 1MDB must remove any doubts that the resignation of an internationally reputable auditor is due to an unverifiable US$2.32 billion parked at an anonymous “seggregated porfolio fund” in the highly secretive Cayman Islands, which is better known as a tax haven for global money launderers.

If 1MDB fails to provide satisfactory answers to the above scandal, then Malaysians are likely to be witnessing the seeds of the single largest financial scandal in the country, which makes the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone catastrophe look like child’s play.

 

Tony Pua

Sdr Karpal's sedition charge

Will Karpal be fourth-time lucky?

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
February 18, 2014

 Veteran opposition lawmaker Karpal Singh's political career hangs in the balance as he faces his first criminal conviction this week after beating three previous charges in more than 40 years of politics.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur will rule on Friday whether the Bukit Gelugor MP is guilty of sedition, an offence which carries a maximum RM5,000 fine or three years' jail, or both if convicted, in a case involving the Perak sultan.
Under the Federal Constitution, an elected representative is disqualified from office if fined more than RM2,000 or jailed for a term exceeding one year.
"I am aware that a conviction will bring an end to my political career but I have done what was expected of me.
"I have no regrets," the 73-year-old lawyer told The Malaysian Insider.
He said there was nothing to worry about as the conviction "did not a carry a death sentence".
Karpal is charged with uttering seditious words against Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah at his legal firm in Jalan Pudu Lama in Kuala Lumpur on February 6, 2009.
He was alleged to have said that the removal of Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as menteri besar of Perak by the ruler could be questioned in a court of law.
Karpal's defence is that he offered a legal opinion and not a threat to the ruler, who was once the lord president of the then Supreme Court.
"Obviously, this is a serious charge but we have put forward the best defence to secure an acquittal," said the lawyer who conducted his case with the assistance of his four children.
In the submission at the close of the defence's case last month, his son Gobind had submitted that Karpal did not question the ruler's prerogative to appoint a menteri besar, but his contention was that such power could only be exercised when there was a vacancy.
"The law allows for rulers to be sued and it is for this reason that a Special Court was set up in 1993," Gobind had said.
Karpal's legal team also contended that the charge was framed with bad faith as there were others who made worse seditious remarks but no action was taken against them.
Deputy public prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin said Karpal had uttered seditious words and his intention was irrelevant for the prosecution to prove.
"He has questioned the prerogative of the sultan under the Constitution," she said, adding the statement was made in the midst of a tense political crisis then.
She said the lawyer's words had the tendency to create hatred towards the ruler.
Karpal was first acquitted without having his defence called in June 2010.
In January 2012, the Court of Appeal ordered Karpal to enter defence after the public prosecutor's appealed was allowed.
The national DAP chairman's legal team is expected to mitigate for a lighter penalty.
Trial judge Azman Abdullah could impose a fine of less than RM2,000 if the wheelchair-bound Karpal is found guilty and, thereby, enable him to remain an MP.
This had happened to former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who was fined RM1,800 after he was found guilty of corruption.
Karpal has two more rounds of appeal in the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court if he is convicted and the punishment is severe to the extent of losing his public office.
But many among the public and supporters hope that Karpal, dubbed the “Tiger of Jelutong”, will be fourth-time lucky.
Karpal had been charged three times in the past but none succeeded in ousting him from office.
The only time he was out of Parliament was when he lost in the 1999 general election or suspended from the assembly.
On the first occasion, he was charged with taking part in an unlawful procession, refusing to disperse on police order and assaulting a police officer in the course of the public servant carrying out his duty.
That happened in Alor Star in 1984.
Karpal was acquitted of the first two charges but was fined RM250 for assaulting the police officer. The public prosecutor appealed against the sentence but the High Court dismissed it.
He was also charged with participating in an illegal assembly together with his comrade, the late P. Patto in Kampar, Perak, in 1990.
Again, both men were acquitted by a magistrate and the public prosecutor's appeal was also dismissed.
Karpal, who represented former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the latter's sodomy trial of 1998, was also charged with sedition.
He had  produced a pathology report confirming high levels of arsenic had been detected in Anwar's body, and accused the authorities of poisoning the former deputy prime minister.
Karpal had told the court then: "It could well be that someone out there wants to get rid of him... even to the extent of murder... I suspect people in high places are responsible for this situation."
This accusation in court led to Karpal being charged in 2000 but the prosecution subsequently withdrew the charge. – February 18, 2014.

霹州行动党谴责枪手泯灭人性 倪可敏吁全国总警长亲自关注黄光忠命案

(怡保 21 日讯) 

霹州行动党主席倪可敏今日指不明枪手乱枪谋杀该党哲仁新村支部筹委会主席黄光忠的命案是在挑战警方与整个国家的法治，他呼吁全国总警长丹斯里卡立亲自关注这起震惊全国的命案。

倪可敏今日指出，该党上下对哲仁新村支部筹委会主席黄光忠在住家门前被不明枪手乱枪谋杀的事件深表震惊与痛心，并要全国警方严打走私军火以安民心。倪氏说，巳故黄光忠是个讲义气、乐善好施、热心社会的好人，黄氏的不幸去世对村民及行动党都是一个重大的损失。

                                                行动党严厉谴责枪手泯灭人性

倪可敏表示，行动党严厉谴责枪手泯灭人性，这种草菅人命的行径是蔑视法律、无法无天的做法。

                                                  去年发生愈50宗枪杀事件

也是太平区国会议员的倪氏指出，2013年国內发生愈50宗枪杀事件，去年8月更曾发生连继7天7宗枪杀命案，这证明我国的军火法令已经失效、军火走私更达到猖獗地步。

倪可敏说，这起枪手乱枪谋杀、草菅人命的命案巳在素来民风淳朴的哲仁新村引起恐慌，警方高层必须即刻行动以给死者一个交代。他说，该党州领导层巳亲自向內政部长拿督斯里阿末查希反映事件的严重性，要求部长高度关注及監督警方的调查工作以将凶徒繩之以法。

倪可敏指他明日將亲自出席死者的葬礼以向死者家属表达哀悼及慰问。

DAP calls for the Formalisation of “Keeping UMNO out of Sarawak” arrangement

(11-2-2014)

I, as DAP Sarawak Chairman and a Sarawakian, call for the formalisation of the agreed understanding amongst the BN component parties, i.e., that UMNO stays out of Sarawak.

Following the statement by Taib “to keep Sarawak for Sarawakians”, Shafie Apdal’s statement “UMNO stays out of state” and Zahid Hamidi’s statement that UMNO will respect the “political mould” of Sarawak, the only outstanding thing that needs to be done is to put into writing and to formalise this political arrangement which all Sarawakians, including the BN and Pakatan Rakyat want.

The fact that UMNO is not wanted in Sarawak has long been in existence. I was suspended from the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sarawak because of the simple reason that I likened Abang Johari to UMNO politicians, saying that he acts like a UMNO politician. My suspension bears testimony that UMNO is so repulsive to Sarawakian that to say “a person is like UMNO politician” warrants a suspension from DUN Sarawak.

The rejection of UMNO by Sarawakians is not so much of it being a “West-Malaysia” based party, but because of its brand of “3R” politics, ie. playing up the issues of “race, religion and rulers”. Such racial politics has no place in Sarawak.

At least, it is now openly admitted by the Sarawak BN leaders that UMNO is not welcomed in Sarawak and UMNO leaders (both Sahfie Apdal and Zahid Hamidi are the vice presidents of UMNO) have also openly stated that UMNO will not encroach into Sarawak politics.

However, words of mouth and comments in media by ministers have no force of law. For example, even the so-called 10-point solution by the Cabinet in respect of the “Allah” issue was not adhered to by some government departments, what more to say, mere media statements by some ministers.

Nothing short of a formal motion tabled and passed in DUN Sarawak will ensure that UMNO will not come into Sarawak in the longrun. If Sarawak Barisan Nasional is serious about keeping UMNO out of Sarawak, this is the most opportune time to have such a motion being tabled in Sarawak DUN. A special DUN sitting can even be convened specifically to have such a motion tabled and passed for the benefit of all Sarawakians.

Although my earlier motion in DUN Sarawak to reject UMNO was not accepted by the BN members during the previous DUN sitting, we DAP will nevertheless put aside partisan politics and support any motion tabled by the BN to reject UMNO in Sarawak.

Chong Chieng Jen
DAP Sarawak State Chairman
Member of Parliament for Bandar Kuching
Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri for Kota Sentosa

The Minister of Education should listen to the feedback of Suara Guru-Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) on the School Based Assessment (SBA) instead of threatening their representatives such as transferring Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari, the head of the working group, with a 24 hour notice

Media Statement by Dr. Ong Kian Ming, MP for Serdang, on the 22^nd February, 2014 in Kuala Lumpur

 It was reported yesterday that the head of the NGO – Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) – Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari – was given a 24 hour transfer notice to a rural school in Pahang.[1] It is not hard to imagine that this sudden transfer had something to do with Mohd Nor’s activities in advocating for the abolishment of the School Based Assessment (SBA) or Pentaksiran Berasakan Sekolah (PBS).

While the philosophy underlying the SBA may have been good, like many things in Malaysia, it was badly implemented right from the start. SBA was introduced at the Primary school level in 2011 and at the secondary school level in 2012. Teacher complaints about not being able to key in the grades of the students through the online management system (Sistem Pengurusan Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah or SPPBS) were common. These complaints grew as more and more students started to be assessed under the SBA. With approximately 450,000 students in each level from Primary 1 to Form 3, the number of students that were supposed to be assessed under SBA grew from 450,000 in 2011 to approximately 3.2 million in 2014 (1.8 million from Primary 1 to 4, 1.4 million from Secondary 1 to 3 including Remove classes). The Ministry seems to have been totally unprepared for the volume of users needed to input the grades of more than 3 million students on a weekly / monthly basis.[2]

I have heard horror stories about how teachers have to get up at 2 or 3 am just to input the grades because the system has less traffic during these hours. Worse still, I have received complaints about how teachers would ‘lose’ the grades of their students after they have keyed them in. The helpdesk for the SPPBS also seems incapable of addressing many of the complaints of the teachers. Since the SPPBS has been suspended until April 1^st, 2014, teachers have had to record the SBA scores of their students manually.

Even the Deputy Minister of Education, P.Kamalanathan, had trouble with the SPPBS, needing 2 minutes to key in the grades of one student using SPPBS.[3] Assuming the system doesn’t ‘hang’, a teacher with 3 classes of 30 students each for just one subject would need 3 hours a week minimum just to key in grades.

More worrying for students, parents and teachers is that PMR will be abolished this year and there is little clarity as to how SBA will replace PMR. For example, while it has been announced that the SBA will have four components – school assessment, central assessment, assessment of physical, sports and co-curricular activities and psychometric assessment – what is not clear is the weightage of these four components, what are the subjects which will be centrally assessed, how the Ministry plans to compare results across schools especially for the ‘streaming’ process, just to give a few examples.

Rather than turning a deaf ear to the criticism of the SBA by NGOs such as SGMM and the Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE), the Ministry should listen to their views and work with them in order to address the education crisis which is facing our nation.

Given the many problems associated with the SBA, I call upon the Minister to suspend the SBA and to revert back to an exam based system, especially for the Form 3 cohort this year. In the meantime, the Minister should set up a special taskforce to re-examine the suitability of the SBA for the Malaysian education system and whether it will help address the crisis of confidence in our education system that has seen our PISA and TIMSS ranking plummet to an all-time low.

I also call upon the Minister to immediately revoke the transfer of Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari as a show of good faith that the Ministry has no intention of punishing those who have criticized the SBA but is willing to hear their views and work with them.

The award of “Project 3B”, a 2,000MW coal-fired power plant to 1MDB despite its higher bid is nothing less than a backdoor bailout for the financially stricken company

 

Media statement by Tony Pua, Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara and DAP National Publicity Secretary on Friday, 21 February 2014 in Kuala Lumpur

 

 

The Edge Financial Daily reported on its front page yesterday that “1MDB gets 3B power project”.  The paper confirmed that “the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry (KeTTHA) has notified the Cabinet that the 2,000MW coal-fired power plant known as Project 3B is to be awarded to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), according to sources”.

If the sources are credible, then 1MDB has won the contract despite the fact that its bid at 25.65 sen per kWh is higher than that submitted by another tenderer, YTL Power at 25.23 sen per kWh.  The difference of 0.42 sen per kWh is estimated to constitute a difference of RM2 billion over the 25 year concession period.

What is more disturbing is the fact that based on documents sighted by The Edge, “the EC’s technical evaluation committee had recommended YTL Power as the preferred bidder for the tender in December last year”.

The clear cut desperate attempt to award 1MDB the concession despite its higher prices which will result in higher electricity prices is clearly to prop up 1MDB, which is labouring under a mountain of debt estimated in excess of RM40 billion.

1MDB has since 2012 pursued a reckless acquisition strategy to takeover independent power producers with expiring contracts at very high premiums, financed almost entirely with loans.  1MDB acquired Tanjong Energy Sdn Bhd for RM8.5 billion, Genting Sanyen for RM2.35 billion and Jimah power plant for RM1.2 billion, costing a total of RM12.05 billion.

However, as reported by the latest issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly, the cashflow generated by these acquisitions barely covers the annual RM650 million interest expense to finance the loans it took.  It does not take a financial genius to wonder how 1MDB will be able to repay the principal of these multi-billion ringgit loans.

1MDB’s energy misadventures compounded the company’s US$2.32 billion (RM7.63b) “investment” scandal in a mysterious and anonymous Cayman Island “seggregated portfolio fund”, which resulted from an aborted joint-venture investment with PetroSaudi International Limited.  It appears that the financial shenanigans have resulted in KPMG, 1MDB’s external auditors preferring to resign than to sign off accounts which it is unable to satisfactorily verify.

Therefore it seems to be the strategy for the Najib administration to award a new IPP concession to 1MDB, even if it means higher electricity costs for the man-on-the-street, in order to bailout the debt stricken company and cover up to some extent, the massive deficits in the company.

KeTTHA issued a statement late yesterday to refute my suggestion that the Energy Commission has decided to award the Project 3B to 1MDB, despite The Edge clearly having information to the contrary.  I am not only ready to be proven wrong, I also hope that will am wrong in thinking that the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak will prioritize bailing out 1MDB over lower cost of  electricity to ordinary Malaysians.

I hope that right-thinking Ministers who are genuinely concerned about the burden ordinary Malaysians face as a result of the higher cost of living will speak up and object to the bid which will cost more, and pick the concessionaire who will charge less.  Only then can the Barisan Nasional government live up to it’s discredited motto “People first, performance now”.

The Cabinet can be assured that if the higher bid is selected, the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat will ensure that all Malaysians discover that the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his cabinet are completely insincere in wanting lower costs for the rakyat, and is only keen to prioritize the profits, and bailing out those connected to the administration.

 

Tony Pua