Tag: UMNO

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Politics & government

[2065] Mengenai perlunya Permatang Pasir menolak simbol kepada budaya UMNO yang korup

Nampaknya, kompas moral parti UMNO berada di dalam keadaan yang sangat, sangat tenat. Dahulu, terlampau mudah untuk menunjukkan betapa UMNO mengamalkan budaya yang korup. Duit rakyat tidak dibezakan daripada harta parti dan kuasa kerajaan dipergunakan untuk kepentingan parti, malah, kepentingan peribadi ahli-ahli UMNO. Bukannya mereka ini berasa malu tetapi dengan megahnya menyatakan yang itu adalah hak mereka.

Semasa Perhimpunan Agung UMNO 2008 yang lalu, Ali Rustam yang didapati bersalah mengamalkan rasuah telah diberikan tempukan gemuruh. Adalah sangat pelik untuk meraikan seorang pesalah, tetapi, disebabkan perverse incentive yang wujud sewaktu itu, itulah yang berlaku.

Tibanya tampuk kepimpanan yang baru datang dengan budaya yang baru yang lebih bersih, kononnya. Apapun kebenarannya, itulah persepsinya di kalangan orang ramai yang mungkin duduk di atas pagar.

Sekarang, pilihanraya kecil bagi kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri Permatang Pasir mampu memperterbalikkan persepsi itu dan mengembalikan imej UMNO yang buruk itu.

Apa tidaknya?

Rohaizat Othman yang didapati bersalah menggunakan wang orang lain untuk kepentingan sendiri oleh Majlis Peguam langsung dilucutkan kelayakkannya untuk berfungsi sebagai peguam dipanggil hero oleh UMNO. Rohaizat Othman, calon bagi kerusi Permatang Pasir, dipanggil hero kerana, menurut UMNO, yang bersalah adalah rakan kongsinya dan Rohaizat Othman telah menyelesaikan masalah itu bagi pihak rakan kongsinya.[1]

Majlis Peguam menafikan cerita UMNO itu dan menekankan bahawa Rohaizat Othman secara peribadi bersalah dan bukan rakan kongsinya.[2] Berdasarkan kenyataan Majlis Peguam, jelas UMNO menipu.

Rakan kongsinya juga telah bersuara untuk menafikan cerita UMNO itu.[3]

[youtube]AfvXBHP5QpE[/youtube]

Apabila pesalah dipanggil hero, tidak hairanlah UMNO boleh mencalonkan seorang yang telah memecah amanah sebagai calon ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri.

Timbalan Presiden UMNO pula menyifatkan tindakan Majlis Peguam ke atas calon UMNO untuk kerusi Permatang Pasir sebagai tidak berat, bagaikan saman letak kereta.[4] Sebagai seseorang yang baru sahaja menyalahgunakan helikopter tentera milik rakyat Malaysia untuk kerja-kerja parti tanpa rasa bersalah,[5] kenyataannya — yang akan dikritik hebat di mana-mana negara maju dan demokratik — tidaklah menghairankan.

UMNO masih lagi mengamalkan budaya lamanya: budaya penyalahan guna wang rakyat untuk kerja-kerja sendiri dan meraikan pesalah.

Inikah apa yang pengundi Permatang Pasir mahu?

Jika jawapannya ya, maka dengan kesalnya barah UMNO sudah mula meresap ke jiwa penduduk Permatang Pasir. Yang salah diraikan, yang betul disalahkan.

Jika kompas moral Permatang Pasir menunjukkan ke arah utara, calon UMNO ini patut ditolak. Calon UMNO ini adalah satu simbol budaya UMNO yang korup yang perlu dikeluarkan daripada budaya Malaysia.

Bagi ahli-ahli UMNO yang mahukan UMNO yang bersih, mereka juga sepatutnya menolak calon yang tidak beramanah. UMNO akan kembali gemilang hanya apabila parti tua itu bebas daripada budaya yang disimbolkan oleh Rohaizat Othman.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[1] — Ahmad said in discharging his firm’s responsibilities, Rohaizat had refunded monies due to the cooperative and following this, the cooperative had written a letter to the disciplinary board on March 28 2008 to retract all complaints made against Rohaizat as all their claims had been settled.

This, he said, showed Rohaizat was a leader of quality and did not run away from problems, unlike his partner, and thus could be deemed a “hero”. [Rohaizat Was Not Involved In Transaction, Says Umno Information Chief. Bernama. Ogos 19 2009]

[2] — The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board struck Rohaizat Othman off the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors on 7 March 2008 after he was found guilty of misconduct. The Disciplinary Board’s decision arose from an investigation into the complaint lodged against Rohaizat Othman by the purchaser of a piece of real property. According to the complaint, Rohaizat Othman failed to refund almost RM 161,000 to the complainant after the transaction was aborted.

Rohaizat Othman appealed against the decision of the Disciplinary Board to the High Court, and the appeal was dismissed on 12 August 2009. He is therefore legally disqualified from practising as an advocate and solicitor.

The finding of misconduct is personal to Rohaizat Othman, as the Disciplinary Board would not hold a lawyer liable for the actions of his/her law partner(s). [Press Release: Clarification regarding Rohaizat Othman. George Varughese. Malaysian Bar Council. Ogos 18 2009]

[3] — PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 20 — The controversy surrounding Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman’s disbarment took a new twist today when his partner, the one Umno accused of taking their client’s money, appeared to deny the allegation.

Yusri Ishak alleged that the money was used by Rohaizat to help his friend-cum-client to finance a land transaction worth RM 130,000 which was to be reimbursed but the Umno politician’s friend had failed to do so.

Rohaizat then claimed the land, planning to sell it to remit the funds used to purchase it but to no avail, said Yusri, adding that that was one of the reasons why Rohaizat had failed to repay the co-operative.

He also said some of the co-operative funds had been used to help another of Rohaizat’s friends, a director in a housing development company, and also to manage the firm’s branch in Ipoh. [Rohaizat’s partner denies Umno’s accusation. Syed Jaymal Zahiid. The Malaysian Insider. Ogos 20 2009]

[4] — The deputy Umno president attempted to downplay the issue and said the campaign should not be burdened by the issues surrounding its candidate. [Muhyiddin calls Bar Council fines parking tickets. Syed Jaymal Zahiid. The Malaysian Insider. Ogos 19 2009]

[5] — PUTRAJAYA, Aug 18 — Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin dismissed a corruption complaint filed by PKR over his use of a military helicopter to attend Umno meetings in Sabah.

The deputy Umno president did not, however, offer any explanation as to why he used a military helicopter to fulfill his party duties.

”It (the allegations) does not scare me at all. It is a blatant example of how short on ideas Pakatan (Rakyat) are that they have to start coming up with something like this,” he told reporters here today when asked to comment on PKR’s recent allegations of corruption against him.

Yesterday, PKR Youth leaders lodged a complaint against Muhyiddin with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over his alleged abuse of government property for personal use.

This was first highlighted by the news agency Bernama when the DPM flew on a military helicopter to attend the Penampang UMNO division meeting in Sabah after he officiated another division party meeting in Kudat. [Muhyiddin: Corruption allegations don’t scare me. Shazwan Mustafa Kamal. The Malaysian Insider. Ogos 18 2009]

Categories
Politics & government

[2017] Of PAS-UMNO unity must remain dead if PAS is to live

The proposal to form a so-called unity government between PAS and UMNO finally finds its rightful place — in a dustbin. Nothing guarantees any PAS member from rummaging through the trash to rejuvenate the idea however. If the dream still lingers, I am here to offer a dire possibility. If PAS-UMNO unity comes true, PAS may break up as internal and external forces pull the political party in different directions.

Why is it a possibility?

PAS-UMNO unity will significantly affect the status quo balance of power. It will grant BN a proper majority in Perak. Selangor will suffer from a hung assembly. Other notable changes include the weakening of the opposition in many states and the absence of one in Perlis.

In sum, PAS-UMNO unity will be a major setback for Pakatan Rakyat.

That scenario has one caveat: it assumes all PAS members will remain united if the party defects from Pakatan Rakyat to work with UMNO. Given the kind of rift caused by the PAS-UMNO unity talks, that is a big assumption.

It is not every day one can expect Nik Aziz Nik Mat as the leader of PAS to tell off one of his prominent party members — Nasharuddin Mat Isa — to quit the party and join UMNO after Nasharuddin spoke warmly of the possibility of PAS-UMNO unity.

Later, 10 PAS members of Parliament went out to support Nik Aziz and to oppose any pro-UMNO activity within PAS.

The action of the 10 MPs is particularly revealing. For the more liberal members of PAS, or the Erdogans as they have come to be known, they have every incentive to not associate themselves with a pro-UMNO PAS. Many of the Erdogans contested in areas where voters come from diverse backgrounds. These Erdogans understand that they won on March 8, 2009 because they appealed to inclusive politics. They campaigned by convincing voters that PAS is for all and not just for the Muslims or the Malays, i.e. exclusive politics.

To have PAS working in concert with UMNO — as Onn Yeoh writes in The Edge[0] — amounts to betrayal of these voters. The very notion of unity between PAS and UMNO is based on the idea of exclusive politics, running contrary to the kind of campaign the Erdogans ran in the last general election. By the next election if the Erdogans are still part of a pro-UMNO PAS, these voters will not vote for the Erdogans. Hence, the future holds very little prospect for the Erdogans.

These Erdogans can of course undergo a rebranding exercise to adjust to exclusive-based politics that a PAS-UMNO coalition is expected to play. Notwithstanding the very appropriate accusation of hypocrisy that may come, these Erdogans will face stiff competition from the real conservatives within PAS as all compete for smaller pool of seats any exclusivist politician can expect to win. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to expect UMNO to surrender their seats to PAS in order to accommodate the Erdogans-turned-conservatives.

If PAS-UMNO unity happens, the only way for the Erdogans to secure their future is for them to demonstrate their commitment to inclusive politics and, inevitably, Pakatan Rakyat. This may translate into having the Erdogans or more generally the pro-Pakatan Rakyat members of PAS to either eject pro-UMNO members out of PAS, leave PAS in favor of PKR or even form a new party that DAP and PKR can work together under the banner of Pakatan Rakyat. In any case, the result will leave PAS utterly broken.

Only through this can they hope to secure their political future. The existing seat distribution formula within Pakatan Rakyat can continue to be used to accommodate these Erdogans, as long as they remain loyal to the coalition even as PAS finds itself in cahoots with UMNO.

For DAP and PKR, the stake is simply too high that both parties cannot allow PAS to defect so easily. It will in the best interest of PKR and DAP to embolden the Erdogans to mount a revolt against any movement towards PAS-UMNO unity, possibly leading to a breakup as described earlier.

The breaking up of PAS will limit any gain made by UMNO. It may prevent Selangor — the jewel of the crown — from experiencing a hung assembly. If Pakatan Rakyat is lucky, the maneuver can even prevent BN from gaining the coveted two-third majority in Parliament.

For PKR especially, there is an extra motivation to break PAS apart in case PAS-UMNO unity becomes a reality. PKR may enjoy an influx of high-quality members from PAS, especially if the pro-Pakatan Rakyat members of PAS decide to leave the party and not form a new party. PKR may need high-caliber individuals to strengthen its ranks and the Erdogan MPs do just that, if ever the Erdogans have a reason to part from PAS.

But, at the end of the day, the most preferable solution for DAP and PKR is to have PAS as a committed member of Pakatan Rakyat. Both DAP and PKR will want work to keep PAS within the young three-party coalition to build on the existing momentum. As we have seen, this is exactly the path taken by DAP and PKR.

As long as the most preferred option works, there is no need to resort to the second most preferred option. This is something everybody who wishes to see a strong PAS must understand.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

First published in The Malaysian Insider on June 24 2009.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

[0] — The much-hyped, but now abandoned, unity-government concept, first touted by PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang in March, and welcomed by all and sundry within Umno is a betrayal.

From Pakatan Rakyat’s perspective, it is a betrayal of voters’ trust. Malays who voted for PAS did so because they preferred it over Umno. Non-Malays who voted for PAS didn’t do so because they wanted PAS but because they rejected Umno. In either case, PAS teaming up with Umno is the last thing these Malay and non-Malay voters want. [Unity govt a betrayal all around. Oon Yeoh. The Edge. June 22 2009]

Categories
Politics & government

[1966] Of and then there are the independents

The concept duality is helpful in understanding context a particular issue is set in. Without the idea of cold, how does one define the idea of hot? Without evil, how does one appreciate good? Without tyranny, how does one taste the sweet nectar of liberty? While such monochromic perception has its advantage in rationalizing the world, one must not take it too far lest one falls victim of false dichotomy.

To commit such elementary fallacy is especially easy in a highly politicized environment with heightened blind partisanship. Blind partisanship begins with prejudice taking over as the prevailing sentiment as trust and assumption of good faith vanish. With humanity’s amazing ability at selectively accepting evidence only when it is convenient to do so, our capability to confirm our prejudice even as we are unaware of our own effort at the confirmation bias should not be underestimated.

However fallacious the process is, the so-called evidence provides the foundation for paths to the mind be shut. So strong the foundation becomes that criticisms along with evidence to contrary become a squash ball to a wall. The ball bounces off and the wall stands so proudly, rightly or wrongly.

So strong they hold on to their prejudice — and emboldened by their confirmation bias — that everything now is colored in only black and white in the dullest of manner. But dullness is of no concern when one is right or rather, when one feels that one is right.

It is a kind of intellectual arrogance, except that intellectual arrogance is a property of those who are rigorous — slow perhaps for all evidences has to be considered objectively and mental model has to be set out right but rigorous nonetheless — in their thinking process. Intellectual arrogance is of no property of simpletons who resort to logical fallacies just because fallacies are easy to do. That arrogance is of no property of those who seek to merely confirm their bias.

As their colorful world turns monochromic, it is all about us versus them. The like-minded people versus the different others.

Close as I might come, fret not for I am here today not to burst into a raving recluse lunatic that I am sometimes as I sit in a corner embarking on a soliloquy amid a world which at times appears beyond saving. I am not here today to expound organic politics and to soil divine rights despite the enjoyment that I derive from doing so.

No. No.

I am here today to celebrate valiant individuals and to ridicule dronish collectives. I am here today to demonstrate as arrogantly as I find possible why my arrogance will trump monochromic arrogance. I am here today to admonish those who horrendously unjustifiably adopt arrogant monochromic worldview that there are only two groups in the world; that it is all about us versus them; that it is all about Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

Yes, today is not all about abstract idea while the mind wonders in the clouds. Today is about a very real issue.

While BN does exhibit some waning in terms of arrogance, only a blind cow would think BN is finally beginning to adopt a humble outlook. Ignore the slogans from the top echelon of BN leadership because the true measure of an organization’s sentiment is to be seen at the grassroot. No sincerity from the leadership in advocating change can supplant the unmoving signal from the grassroot.

The grassroot of BN, specifically UMNO, are unambiguous in its signal. As the Democrats in the United States used to say prior to November 4 2008, they want more of the same. The grassroot of UMNO still have not learned enough lessons to comprehend that globalization is here and that globalization is going to dismantle their precious affirmative action by hook or by crook. The time is up and to hide behind that crumbling wall is folly.

When Reagan said out loud in Berlin in 1987, ”Mr. Gorhachev, open up this gate. Mr. Gorhachev, tear down this wall!” the communists understood that the end was near. If somebody is to say the same thing to the grassroot of UMNO, do they understand it at all?

For them, what worked in the past will work forever.

Whatever arrogance BN manages to dust off its back, Pakatan accumulates. After a wild success, many in Pakatan feel that they are beyond criticism. Even if those criticisms are justified, they implicitly assume that voters really have no choice but to stay which Pakatan because Pakatan is the lesser of the two evils.

Oh, the arrogance is so suffocating that I just wish a general election to come quick for me to prove that Sophie’s choice is but an eroded disk brake of no use any longer. Pakatan does not get a get-out-of-jail-free card any more. The time for free ride is over. No more handicaps. It is time for free and fair competition that is the essence of a proper democracy.

For far too many, in BN and Pakatan as well as their sympathizers, this environment of heightened blind partisanship has encouraged them to adopt a monochromic worldview; a worldview of us versus them. So strong they hold on to their view and so paranoid at that that any opposition towards their position is automatically categorized as ”˜them’, ”˜the other’. It is all about us and them. The other is Pakatan if they are BN; the other is BN if they are Pakatan.

I say this from personal experience. Every time I criticize Pakatan, I am called a BN lackey and everything I criticize BN, I am called a Pakatan apologist, or something to the same effect.

I cannot accept this outrageous accusation for I am independent of Anwaristas and Umnoputras.

No. I will not take that for since when this country of over 26 million Malaysians is cleanly divided between BN and Pakatan?

There are those that do not belong to either party but care nonetheless about the country. To them, to fight for the country does not necessarily mean automatically aligning to either party. No party has a monopoly over the country and these people know it. These people are the independents.

The independents are known for swinging. They walk around for options and shop only they are satisfied with the goods, very unlike blind partisans who will continue buy the same old good from the same vendor, regardless of quality of the good.

Yes, sir. The independents shop around and the independents are no blind partisans.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

First published in The Malaysian Insider on April 29 2009.

Categories
Politics & government

[1946] Of is the Mahathir effect a myth?

Within UMNO circle, there is a belief that UMNO lost Kedah in the last general election because of the Mahathir effect. They are convinced that this is proven by the fact that his son Mukhriz won in the most unlikely location while the whole state went to the other side; Dr. Mahathir is a Kedah native.

At that time, Dr. Mahathir had serious disagreement with UMNO and the people of Kedah — or at least UMNO Kedah — were with him and not with an Abdullah-led UMNO. They voted accordingly on March 8 2008. Hence, UMNO lost.

Today, even with the Mahathir cavalry came marching in, UMNO could not overturn the underlying trend that is moving against UMNO. What today brings is a conclusion unfavorable to the hypothesis of the Mahathir effect. Perhaps, an even more ominous conclusion for Dr. Mahathir: he was irrelevant in that election in Kedah.

A simply eyeballing on Bukit Selambau’s numbers can easily statistically dismiss the Mahathir effect.

Thus, the end of Dr. Mahathir’s influence among Malaysians.

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Liberty Politics & government

[1941] Of Dear No. 6…

Dear Sir,

I pray that this letter finds you in good health. With that good health, I do hope you will find in your good self some appetite and some time to read these words of mine.

On the last day of UMNO General Assembly held recently, I was in the Merdeka Hall listening to your speech as the new President of your party. Though perhaps I was the least enthusiastic and probably the most skeptical among the members of the floor, I did pay attention to what you said from behind a rostrum on a podium.

Save a black cat crossing your path, there are enough indications that you will be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia. Nothing is certain in this world, of course, but I would like to take the risk of congratulating your early. Congratulations, sir, on assuming the greatest office of this land.

It is the greatest office for no small reason. With that office, it is not too much to say that you will probably have more power than any other Malaysian has to affect the fate of our home, for better or for worse. I pray that it is for the better and I pray that you will have the strength to do so.

I am sure in the past months and even more so in the previous weeks, you have read and listened to aspirations of many Malaysians from all over. I am also sure many of these aspirations do not coincide with each other and some even contradict with each other. I appreciate this fact and I can imagine your exasperation of the word better amid a sea of competing ideals. Everybody has his or her own context when using that superlative that if it is to stand on its own, it will be ultimately vague.

Perhaps you do understand why there are contradictory dreams. But if you do not, this is the reason of why I am writing this humble letter to you. I would like to assure you that those contradictions are not signs of confusion or a sign of danger. Rather, very positively, it is only a sign of how diverse our society is.

Those are voices of the common people, be they are supportive of you, unsupportive of you, have yet to decide where to stand or simply could not care less of what is happening in the country as long as they are happy. Those voices are your sounding board.

Their opinions are your barometer. When they are uncomfortable with the direction you are leading them, many of them will find the courage to rise up to speak up. Many will even have the audacity to say it to your face. It can be harsh and sometimes, it can be unfair.

Though some might seem rude, trust me, for many of them, for many of us, this is not done out of spite. In many cases, those are honest opinions that we hold. Those opinions are about our joys, our fears, our hope and our disappointment.

There is no need to fear the diversity of opinions even when those opinions challenge norms so openly. In these days when international borders are coming down slowly but surely, challenges will be aplenty. It is only through that diversity will we be able to overcome those challenges.

It is worth noting that this diversity can only be sustained if there is openness to discuss legacy issues bedeviling us all. As we move forward and I believe you can agree with me, a rethinking of Malaysia is inevitable.

If there are those who came up to you expressing their fear that that openness will erode what they consider as pillars of this country, then be mindful that nothing last forever. To survive, we must evolve even if that comes at the price of making those pillars irrelevant. Those that refuse to evolve will be pushed to the margin and suffer the fate of so many species that roam this fair Earth today no more.

Sir,

It will be a mistake to silent others who disagree with you or those that challenge norms. Do that, and you will soon find yourself with court jesters with dangerous grupthink affliction. They are incapable of adapting to new environments that always seemingly conspire to bring down tall towers for which we have built.

Many in UMNO, as I have discovered, frighteningly, wanted you to return to old ways. They want change but in their minds, they want a return to the past, thinking that they could roll back the clock as if time would roll back with the small and big hands of the clock.

Unfortunately for many in UMNO, as evident during your party’s recently concluded general assembly, they have yet to grasp the lesson. Indeed, they are in danger of learning the wrong lesson.

The answer is not in the past as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, your former President, has made clear earlier. I kindly urge you to agree with the Prime Minister. He has made major mistakes along the way but at the end of the day, although it is too late for him, he finally recognizes the zeitgeist.

More importantly, it is not too late for you, sir. You have the opportunity to learn from his mistakes and make good out of it.

I am writing this not because I care for UMNO. The fate of UMNO or for any party for that matter is of little concern to me. If your party chooses extinction over survival, then it is extinction that your party will meet. What I am concerned with is the future of our country and ultimately, my future.

Selfish as I may seem to be, I believe deep in the heart of each and every one of us, the worry is the same. What will happen to me tomorrow?

I cannot get that question and many more out of my mind.

Be well aware, sir, that we can only find the answers if we continue to search for it. We can only find the answers if we do not shy away from asking tough questions even if these questions bring upon uncomfortable answers.

To ignore or suppress these questions is most unhelpful in prodding our country forward. To do so is to create a culture of fear in times when what we need is a kind of boldness to right our wrongs while rebuilding our foundation for new towers.

At risk here is more than the future of your political party. At risk here is the future of our country. A true statesman has the faculty to comprehend that implication and I trust that you are the statesman that you can be.

While you have possibly more power than any Malaysian to affect this country, you alone cannot move this country forward. This country can only move forward if all of us are engaged with each other. And in order for that engagement to happen, there has to be freedom.

So, I beg you to not take that liberty away. I plead to you not to take it away, even as others urge you to do so, so forcefully.

Thank you and congratulations, once again.

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

First published in The Malaysian Insider on April 1 2009.