Rojak and Cocktail: Backstabbing again ?

Khairy accuses some Umno members of backstabbing party leaders

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin has accused some Umno members of playing the role of opposition and backstabbing party leaders.

“It is like our soldiers fighting on the frontlines and getting shot in the back,” he said when opening the Kota Melaka Umno delegates meeting here yesterday.

“By offering information to the opposition, it is like we are offering bullets and guns for them to shoot us,” he said, adding that the opposition often referred to Umno members who made attacking speeches against their own leaders.

“Where do we (Umno) put our faces? Why do we have to show our wounds to others? “ asked Khairy, adding there were more important issues to handle.

He said it was important for Umno to stay united and remain strong. “We should support the institution, not individuals.”

Khairy said the country needed leaders that are far-sighted and not those who merely want to be popular but not concerned about the future of the country, adding that the Government had reduced fuel subsidies and increased the price of petrol so that the future generation would not be burdened with debts.

At another function, Khairy maintained that he had suffered losses amounting to RM200,000 when he sold his shares in ECM Libra Avenue Bhd.

“I have done my calculations and I am sticking to the figure I quoted before,” he told reporters after opening the Sri Gading Umno Youth division meeting in Johor Baru.

“Why should I lie about my losses? he asked, referring to questions raised that he had actually lost much more in the transaction last week.

Khairy sold his stake of 10.2 million shares in ECM Libra Avenue, representing 1.23% of the company, for 65 sen a share.

He had bought the shares at 71 sen a share in December last year.

ECM Libra Avenue chairman Datuk Kalimullah Hassan had also reduced his stake in the company to 40 million shares or 4.8%.
(Source:The Star)

Indeed, why should he lied about his losses? he has used up all the money, or used the money for his own struggle as a UMNO youth deputy chief.

I quote An article by MGG Pillai entitled :"Can Pak Lah survive his son-in-law?" published on Feb 2006 :

PAK LAH IS IN DIFFUCULTIES because his son-in-law. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, does what he likes and any one who questions him can be entangled in libel suits. Mr Husam Musa, a PAS MP, asked a few questions, in an online PAS hewspaper, about his sudden wealth, and ECM Libra has sued both. The company has decided that asking Mr Khairy questions like Mr Husam's is a blight on it. But a defamation suit can take years in the Malaysian courts, particularly if Mr Husam and the PAS Publishing company defends it. The chances are good that it will last after Pak Lah leaves office. Tan Sri Vincent Tan sued me in 1993, I lost all the way to the federal court, but another federal court bench decided the bench headed by the then chief justice, who went to New Zealand on holiday with the lawyer for Vincent Tan, was flawed. I am still waiting for the federal court re-hearing. 12 years after i was sued. Mr Khairy could be in the same boat as Tan Sri Vincent. But Pak Lah is already saddled with the backlash over this.

Pak Lah is enamoured of Mr Khairy, and listens to him more than his advisers. This is not lost on UMNO members. It may be rumours, but the secrecy which cannot be questioned makes sure that many believe what they hear. Mr Khairy does not like others to question his background, neither would he say what it is. He cannot expect to be a Malaysian leader in secret and with his background unknown. The hagiographic details he has given or is written about him is not enough. He has not contested an election, his rise in UMNO is without contest. He would have contested in Negri Sembilan at the last general election, but his strong arm methods did not work there. More important, he is now regarded in UMNO as a 'menyampah', which makes him a liability to Pak Lah. The UMNO head office sees him a liability, and has written him off. He will bring down his father-in-law by his arrogance, his sudden rise to wealth, his secrecy, his penchant to sue. He hopes to bankrupt Mr Husam to disqualify him as Mentri Besar of Kelantan after the next election. But if this case comes to court, he might win but only at the cost of his secrecy. The libel suit is double edged.

Mr Khairy's blames Dato' Seri Khir Toyo for the floods in Shah Alam, and is to prevent him being challenged for the UMNO Youth presidency next year. But within UMNO he is seem as blaming an UMNO leader for mistakes the federal government has made. Why did not the federal government, run by his father-in-law, object to the exclusive housing project near Bukit Cheraka when it was being constructed? It cannot, because it has allowed the ridge above Taman Tun Abdul Razak, which Tun Mahathir when prime minister ordered stopped. The people look upon this attack of Datp' Seri Khir as infighting within UMNO. But the man who could challenge Mr Khairy in the UMNO elections is not Dato' Seri Khir but a deputy minister in the government linked to the deputy prime minister. What Mr Khairy has done is to ensure that the next prime minister is Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, with his deputy prime minister Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, who is UMNO Youth leader. UMNO headquarters believe it, and so do many Malaysians up and down the country.

Going after those who ask legitimate questions is not the way to worm one's way into the Malaysian consciousness. Mr Khairy is not born with a silver spoon, but he is worth more than RM500 million, most of which he had after his father-in-law became Prime Minister. He is regarded in UMNO as representing Singapore in selling Malaysian government assets to the island. If ECM Libra proceeds with the defamation suit, it would be asked to explain why asking questions of Mr Khairy, one of its directors, will damage it. But if ECM Libra is to succeed, it must win its defamation suit as quickly as possible. This is not likely, although both the PAS publishing company and Mr Husam are upset at the suit because it would be disastrous for them if they were to lose. But they should fight on, if at least to inform those in UMNO that they cannot bankrupt politicians because they ask inconvenient questions, as Singapore's PAP and its leaders are prone to do.

But even if ECM Libra wins lhe defamation suit, it would have lost. The company came into prominence after Pak Lah became Prime Minister. It has become a company to watch now because it is given government favours because it is linked to his son-in-law. It will not succeed on its own after Pak Lah is no more prime minister. Datuk Seri Najib would have nothing to do with ECM Libra if, as expected, he is the prime minister after Pak Lah. It would be to the next prime minister what Tan Sri Vincent Tan now is to Pak Lah in business opportunities. His father-in-law need not tell him to stay away. It is too late for that. Pak Lah's epoch as prime minister is over though he would linger on. He makes far too many mistakes. He has has his chief aide a son-in-law who has so damaged himself to UMNO rank and file. It does not matter if he is replaced. He has other problems on his plate, chief of which is his predecessor, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, who had warned him earlier not to like the perks of being prime minister over every thing else. He not only loves that, but he also tells trite slogans which mean nothing while he slacks in his jobs as prime minister, finance minister and internal security minister and as UMNO president. All he can now do is to leave gracefully unless he wants to be challenged at the UMNO elections next year.

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Mahathir Puts Malaysia Back on the (Wrong) Map:
William Pesek

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Journalists in Asia have missed Mahathir Mohamad.

The region has been pretty colorless -- leader-wise, that is -- since Malaysia's firebrand prime minister stepped down in 2003. His successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is the anti-Mahathir: press-shy, affable, soft-spoken and diplomatic.

Asia in general features a paucity of larger-than-life, charismatic leaders who speak their minds and, at times, dare to take on the global elites. Blandness often pervades the halls of power from Seoul to Singapore and from Beijing to New Delhi.

So you'll excuse us journalists for rejoicing at Mahathir's return to the spotlight. Yet many Malaysians are less than thrilled. Ditto for investors monitoring Asia's No. 10 economy.

Mahathir, 80, has returned with a passion to criticize his handpicked successor, and it's tantalizing this nation of 27 million people. Mahathir's gripe: Abdullah is reversing some of his decisions, including a massive project to build a bridge to neighboring Singapore.

``I gave him time,'' Mahathir said this month. ``I didn't say anything for two years. I was quiet. I observed his promises. I had high expectations. I expected his view to be different from me, but I don't see the government doing what it promises to do.''

The former premier's impolitic comments may prompt investors to avoid one of Asia's more under-appreciated economies. In recent years, most of the surprises in Asian markets came not from reports on growth or inflation, but politics. Asia has seen all too many market-shaking spats, scandals, disputed elections and impeachment efforts.

Slowdown Ahead?

And so Mahathir's rebukes of the prime minister are unsettling Malaysia's markets, too. ``It seems now to be having some effect on a domestic economy which is already slowing,'' Gerald Ambrose, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management's Malaysian business, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. ....(more)

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Mencari bukti Abdullah lebih demokratik berbanding Mahathir

(Oleh Ahmad Lutfi Othman-Harakah Daily)

Pemimpin yang mendakwa bersikap terbuka dan bersedia menerima teguran hanya akan teruji apabila kedudukannya terancam. Dalam keadaan biasa, siapa saja boleh mengaku berkepala dingin diasak kritikan, namun jiwa besar itu hanya disahkan selepas melalui situasi getir.

Memang benar Mahathir Mohamad melepaskan ramai tahanan ISA di hari-hari awal pemerintahannya. Tetapi Mahathir lebih diingati dengan rekod buruknya dalam Operasi Lalang 1987 selepas menahan tanpa bicara lebih 100 aktivis masyarakat.

Ia bermula selepas Mahathir hampir tewas kepada Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah dalam pemilihan sengit jawatan presiden Umno, 24 April tahun yang sama, apabila hanya dibezakan 43 undi. Sesuatu yang tidak kena berlaku dalam proses pertandingan itu.

Cara singkirkan Ku Li

Sejumlah perwakilan tidak sah turut mengundi dan selepas tidak berjaya diselesaikan di luar mahkamah, Hakim Harun Hashim memutuskan Umno sebuah parti haram. Dan ini pun yang dikehendaki Mahathir bagi
mengekalkan kedudukannya dan sekali gus menyingkirkan Ku Li.

Apabila kumpulan Umno 11 membuat rayuan, Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Salleh Abas mengarahkan sidang sembilan hakim Mahkamah Agung mendengarnya. Persidangan sembilan hakim itu satu rekod, dan ia begitu menggusarkan Mahathir kerana Perdana Menteri tahu komposisi hakim ketika itu menunjukkan majoriti daripadanya berani untuk membuat keputusan yang tidak memihak kepadanya.

Ramai pesalah bersedia untuk menunggu hidup mati mereka "ditentukan" para hakim, namun tidak bagi Mahathir. Malah beliau bertindak "membunuh" tiga orang hakim, Tun Salleh Abas dan dua hakim Mahkamah Agung lainnya.

Krisis politik 1987 juga menyebabkan beberapa akta drakonian dipinda untuk menyempurnakan lagi "kediktatoran Mahathir", antaranya ISA, Akta Polis serta Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan.

Negara diserahkan ke pangkuan rakyat

Ketika Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengambil alih kuasa, saya mengalu-alukannya sambil menyifatkan negara kini diserahkan kembali kepada rakyat. Sudah begitu lama Malaysia ditadbir oleh sekelompok kecil elit penguasa, malah saya kira, anggota kabinet sendiri jarang dirujuk, apatah lagi Parlimen dan majoriti rakyat.

Abdullah mengambil langkah awal yang tepat apabila membuat ucapan sulung di Parlimen selepas menerajui kuasa. Ia dianggap satu mesej untuk menunjukkan suara rakyat akan dirujuk oleh pemerintahan baru, terutama apabila menggubal dasar, rancangan atau undang-undang yang memberi impak besar kepada warga Malaysia.

Namun, seperti dijangka, kita tidak perlu menunggu lama untuk melihat kesan di sebaliknya. Pelbagai perubahan kosmetik seperti usaha memerangi rasuah dan mendakwa beberapa VVIP ke mahkamah hanya dibuat untuk mendapat mandat besar dalam pilihan raya Mac 2004.

Institusi Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) kekal dimonopoli mutlak Perdana Menteri, manakala barah korupsi menjalar ke peringkat lebih kronik.

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) pula tidak lebih seperti perkakas buat Umno-BN mengambil jalan mudah mengalahkan parti-parti pembangkang sebelum pilihan raya diadakan....(more)