Aarvidi’s Weblog

There were high expectations that Zaid Ibrahim will be a different breed of politician. Actions by him outside the government, and as a new broom when he was appointed as a Senator; his statements and comments were intelligent and worthy. Now that he has warmed the seat long enough, and learned the trade he is becoming just another politician, advising people what is correct without a thought if such statements will pass the test of correctness.

What is he talking news not digested by the people, what is there to digest when a Commission of inquiry releases its report and the recommendations. What is there to hide. It is an open secret, and the only surprising outcome of the recommendations is the righteousness of the committee to report the true facts and not garbled rubbish absolving the participants from blame. I think the people are wise enough to digest this type of report. Zaid need not worry.

Was his utterance a balanced statement. The people lack digestive juice, but what about the person/persons who leaked out the recommendations. Forget about the people who made the report, does Zaid think it is only the newspapers and online newspapers who are at fault. You don’t clap hands using one hand, similarly there must be this other party to complete the action.

Politicians are people who couch their statement in diplomatic terms - neither hot or cold and the people will have to chose one. But your statement is blatant gibberish in that it is not a statement at all, if you did not quote the whole picture. This is the malady of our politicians now, who imagine the people are half-baked, which they are not, and in future please think before you speak. Digestion and diplomacy are incompatible.

I can go on, unnecessary unease, misinterpretion, they are the trade marks of politicians who think they are politic but earn a good chuckle from the public. Please don’t fall into this trap.

KOTA BARU: The Federal Government has to control leakages of sensitive information because it can lead to unnecessary unease among the public if the information is released prematurely or if it becomes misinterpreted.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said nowadays there are a considerable level of leakages and the Government is concerned and there is need for tighter control.

“It is the practice of any responsible Government. There is some information that is not ready to be digested by the public ,” he said after opening the National Banks Employees Union (NUBE) sports carnival at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia here Saturday.

On the lodging of police reports against newspapers for publishing the Royal Commission of Inquiry Report on the V.K. Lingam video clip before it was made public, he said: “I am not the person who asked for a police report to be lodged. The media should refer to the rightful parties.”

Zaid said the parties who lodged the report had perhaps felt an offence was committed.

“It was not my idea. Before anyone can lodge a report, he must have a valid reason. Anyhow, the police must study the matter before they can determine if there is basis for an investigation to be conducted.”

The media should not worry if they feel no offence was committed.

On the price of the report, Zaid said the Inquiry’s recommendation only costs RM160 while the full report, which include the evidence, is priced at RM541.60, which is based on printing costs.

The question of reaping a profit does not arise, Zaid said.

To a question that Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat had called for the Malay Rulers to step forward and explain the basis of Malay supremacy in the Federal Consititution, Zaid said there now exist various interpretations of race supremacy.

“Whatever it is, people must respect the Constitution.”

Zaid said he would advise anybody engaged in such debates or polemics to refer to the Federal Constitution.

“We must respect the laws of the land. If we reject it then the country would be unsafe. The laws are there for reference.”

Anybody can demand their rights but use the constitution as a guide, Zaid said, adding that the rights of everyone including Malays, Chinese and Indians are enshrined in the constitution.

Zaid: Information leaks can lead to public unease

Mahathir welcomed the investigation of the allegations against him. He says he wants expose more conflicts faced by the judges. I remember the evidence he gave at the inquiry and basically his statements were:

• he could not remember or recall things
• he reiterated he did not have to tell anyone, why he made the decisions

Now he wants to be charged so that he can spill the beans. It is hard to believe he has regained his memory, once it is established he has got a case to answer. He should have been more helpful at the onset to reveal things which he alone knows.

He now says he has been implicated in the case, but why was this not mentioned at the inquiry.

We have to wait for Gani Patel to decide whether he would be charged.

Source: Malaysiakini

Imagine the cabinet, a group of senior ministers, including the Prime Minister and his Deputy had made the dastardly decision to deprive the voters of using the indelible ink and also telling a white lie. They have acted against the people and country and should rightly apologise to the nation. In fairness, the amount of RM2.4 million should be collected from all the members who were present at the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet also made mince meat of the Police, unless of course the Police were told by the Cabinet the decision was theirs.

The victim was Rashid the Election Commission chairman, and he bore the insults and curses of the people. The cabinet should also apologise to him.

Not only that, the whole world is going to be amused that such a decision was made and the way it was camouflaged to say the exercise could not be carried out because of intended sabotage. Where is the integrity and trust of the government. How many more of cases of this nature are lurking behind the decisions of the cabinet. The dignity of the cabinet is sullied.

Lies and more lies all along.

Source: Malaysiakini

Technorati Tags: Cabinet,Badawi,Najib,Election,Rashid,White Lies

This is the million dollar question. Will Ghani Patel do a good job? After all the evidences are found in the Royal Commission report. I hope the AG acts promptly, and results can be seen. The case of JJ, nothing is known yet.

Sedition Act 1948 ! Prevention of Corruption 1961 ! Legal Profession Act 1976 ! Official Secrets Act 1972 ! Penal Code ! Mahathir Mohamad and friends may be charged in court !

Jail ? Jail ? jail ? Fine ? Fine ? Fine ? Former chief justices Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim ! Eusoff Chin ! Senior lawyer VK Lingam ! Former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (All bloggers are jobless and lying women) ! Business tycoon Vincent Tan (of the setting SUN) !

Serve you all right for your “insidious movement” to involve your (not so good) selves in the appointment of judges, especially the appointment of Ahmad Fairuz as President of the Court of Appeal and later Chief Justice.

Yahoo ! Malu ! Malu ! Malu ! Shame ! Shame ! Shame !

But wait a minute…will anything come out of the 191-page Lingamgate report, released by the government today? Fat hopes ! As I read the news … gone are my high hopes …

“The report is advisory in nature so (the AG) will have to investigate them later” (Law minister Zaid Ibrahim).

It sounds just like previous SUHAKAM (National Human Rights Commission) reports which never saw the light of day. They were never raised or debated in Parliament, nor were they ever paid heed to by the government, rendering the human rights body a ‘toothless tiger”. But we never meant to give them “teeth”, said the government.

Then came another blow … guess who is the AG (who has to investigate the matter) ? Lawyer Haris Ibrahim echoed my exact sentiments when he said…“Good Lord, no!” - coz it’s the notorious Abdul Gani Patail !

This chief legal officer of the government, with no evidence, had a hand in denying us the use of indelible ink at the last elections.This same officer was also seemingly eager to find at the earliest that there was no wrongdoing disclosed in the Lingam video! He was probably all in favour of a NFA ( no further action )!And he’s to now investigate Dr M and the others implicated!

His notoriety is known in other cases, for example, the Altantuya’s case and alleged corruption of ministers and police force:

And on July 27, Attorney General Abdul Gani simultaneously absolved both the Inspector General of Police and the former Director General of the Anti-Corruption Agency of spectacular corruption charges just two weeks after he had done the same for the deputy minister of internal security, the cabinet member in charge of the police force. These cases have kicked off a firestorm in Malaysian cyberspace, with bloggers scornfully charging that the judicial system is corrupt (Asia Sentinel: Rot and More Rot in Malaysia’s Judicial System).

In fact the man’s reputation goes back as far as the controversial Anwar Ibrahim trials:

Abdul Gani Patail is today tapped as Malaysia’s top legal officer. The legal fraternity, and the rest of the country, cannot but be flabbergasted by this astounding appointment.

This is, after all, the man - who as chief prosecutor in former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s trials - was unable to get the dates of the alleged sodomy acts right, not once but twice. This is the man who was responsible for parading the infamous semen-stained mattress during the court hearings (Steven Gan).

Need I say more?

Justice itself has fallen victim with this appointment (of Gani as Attorney General). Whatever hope there may have been for change has been brutally reversed. Sadly, it is back to the bad old days. This appointment has starkly emphasised the government’s complete contempt for public opinion and for our shared values in the notion of fairness and justice.

Aliran President P Ramakrishnan may have said this in November 2001, but how it still rings true until today.

Should we give the AG and the royal commission Lingam report a chance? You tell me !

* * * * * * *

Brief background of the controversial Lingam Tape case which saw

the integrity of the Malaysian judiciary go down the drain, 20 years ago until today …

Gani to investigate Mahathir et al? Come on! « * SUSAN LOONE’s blog *

This is a worthy move in Selangor. What about other Pakatan Rakyat states. Will Ronnie consider publishing the details of tenders awarded in the respective web sites of the various councils.

ASSEMBLYMEN and politically-appointed local councillors will no longer be allowed to sit on the tender boards of the various local councils in Selangor.

State Local Government Committee chairman Ronnie Liu said this was to free local authorities from the element of corruption.

Liu: The tender boards will comprise local councillors appointed from outside political circles.

In the past, he said that there were all sorts of allegations from the public that elected representatives strongly influenced decisions on the awarding of contracts.

“State assemblymen from the ruling government used to sit on the tender boards and we cannot allow this to go on, to ensure there is good governance of the local councils,” he said.

He added that local politicians who represented various parties would also be left out of the tender boards.

Liu said tender boards would comprise local councillors appointed from outside political circles, including professionals and members of non-governmental organisations.

“This goes to say that we are not only appointing members of the public into the local councils but also giving them more powers than those appointed from political circles,” he said.

Besides these people, Liu said, the council presidents and mayors of the respective councils would chair the tender boards.

He said this reflected the Pakatan Rakyat government’s aim of freeing Selangor from corruption and ensuring things were done the right way.

“These people will have a very heavy responsibility on their shoulders and I am confident they will deliver,” he said.

Meanwhile, Liu said he has directed council presidents and mayors of the 12 local councils in Selangor to make public the details of tenders awarded by them.

He said he informed them of the new guidelines at his monthly meeting with them on Tuesday and they were agreeable.

“The list of the contracts awarded, with the name of the companies, and the date of payment made and the amount will be stated on the public board of each council.

“The list must also state if the payment has not been made and this will enable the councils to be transparent so that the public will be kept informed,” he said.

Assemblymen no longer allowed to sit on tender boards