Malaysiakini.com : Zambry, 6 exco, 3 bebas diarah keluar

Persidangan DUN Perak yang dinanti-nantikan - menentukan hidup mati pentadbiran menteri besar Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin dan kestabilan kerajaan pencabarnya Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir - bermula seawal menjelang subuh hari ini apabila sekumpulan 200 penyokong PAS mengadakan solat hajat di Manjoi, beberapa kilometer dari pusat bandar Ipoh.

Berikut perkembangan terkini di Perak:

10.35am Kedua-dua kumpulan wakil rakyat BN dan Pakatan terus bertegang. Speaker terus mengulangi bahawa usul yang dibawa Zambry untuk menggantikan beliau terbatal dan tidak sah.

Speaker mengarahkan pengawal keselamatan dewan menghalau keluar tujuh wakil rakyat BN, termasuk Zambry, dan tiga bebas. Pengawal bagaimanapun enggan berbuat demikian.

10.20am Suasana kecoh di dalam dewan apabila kedua-dua kumpulan wakil rakyat BN dan Pakatan Rakyat masing-masing bangun untuk campur tangan keputusan Speaker, V Sivakumar.

Sekumpulan ADUN Pakatan menghalang setiausaha dewan Abdullah Antung - yang juga digantung tugasnya - duduk di depan Speaker untuk memulakan persidangan.

Mereka menggesa Abdullah agar tidak campur tangan dengan alasan beliau hanya seorang kakitangan kerajaan.

Tindakan itu mendorong wakil-wakil rakyat BN bangun dan turut berhujah. Kedua-dua pihak saling bertengkar dan menjerit-jerit. Suasana dewan menjadi tidak tentu hala.

Bagaimanapun tiada pergaduhan fizikal berlaku.

Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir cuba berkata sesuatu tetapi Speaker menjawab bahawa beliau enggan mendengarnya. ADUN-ADUN Pakatan juga cuba menghalang Zambry bercakap.

Menteri besar BN cuba membawa usul menggantikan Speaker tetapi ditolak.

10.19am Dua ahli parlimen Pakatan Rakyat ditahan polis berdekatan DUN Perak kerana memasuki kawasan larangan polis 500 meter dari bangunan tersebut.

Wakil rakyat PAS bagi Parit Buntar, Mujahid Yusof Rawa dan wakil PSM bagi Sungai Siput, Xavier Jeyakumar antara ADUN dan ahli parlimen pembangkang yang telah ditahan.

9.55am Speaker DUN V Sivakumar mengarahkan Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir dan enam exconya - yang digantung oleh jawatankuasa khas dewan tersebut - keluar.

Beliau enggan memulakan persidangan jika ketujuh-tujuh itu enggan mematuhi arahannya. Wakil-wakil Pakatan Rakyat menepuk meja sebagai tanda sokongan.

Tindakan tersebut bermakna Speaker - yang mempunyai kuasa tersendiri dalam cabang legislatif - tidak mengiktiraf keputusan mahkamah yang telah membatalkan penggantungan yang dibuat oleh DUN.

Sivakumar, yang mengetuai jawatankuasa hak dan kebebasan DUN Perak, juga mengarahkan tiga ADUN bebas meninggalkan dewan.

Ketiga-tiganya dianggap telah meletakkan jawatan awal Februari lalu, sebelum rampasan kuasa BN.

Wakil-wakil Pakatan Rakyat menepuk meja dan menjerit "keluar" ke arah 10 ADUN tersebut, tetapi mereka masih berdegil.

ADUN Pakatan dan BN masing-masing menjerit ke arah satu sama lain.

Speaker DUN terus mengarahkan 10 ADUN itu meninggalkan dewan. Kedua-dua pihak BN dan Pakatan masih saling jerit-menjerit ke arah satu sama lain.

9.45am Ketua Pemuda PAS Salahuddin Ayub, yang juga ahli parlimen Kubang Kerian, ditahan polis di belakang bangunan utama pentadbiran Perak - yang menempatkan DUN.

9.30am Raja Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah tiba untuk memeriksa perbarisan di luar dewan DUN.

Kedatangan baginda disambut dengan rasa hormat semua ADUN Pakatan Rakyat, mereka semua berdiri, tidak seperti sikap mereka Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir yang menerima penghormatan itu.

9.24am Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir tiba untuk memeriksa perbarisan di luar dewan DUN sebelum pembukaan rasmi sidang.

Beliau berjabat tangan dengan Speaker DUN V Sivakumar, juga seorang ADUN DAP bagi Tronoh.

9.23am Bilangan anggota polis yang kebanyakan berpakaian biasa - dalam vest kuning bertulisan "polis" - semakin ramai di bangunan Umno.

Suasana tenang, helikopter kelihatan mengawal dari udara.

9.00am Ahli parlimen PKR-Ampang, Zuraida Kamaruddin [foto, serba hitam] dan ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong - yang ditahan - dibawa di dalam trak polis.

Mereka menjerit "1Black Malaysia", "bubar DUN" dan "reformasi."

8.50am Sekurang-kurangnya 11 orang ditahan polis, termasuk ahli parlimen PKR-Ampang, Zuraida Kamaruddin, ADUN Teratai (Selangor) Janice Lee [foto, tersenyum] dan ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong.

8.40am Semua lebih kurang berada di perkarangan lobi bangunan Umno Perak, beberapa kilometer dari bangunan DUN. Sepanduk yang direntang berbunyi, antaranya, "kami anti penderhaka, pertahankan hak rakyat, biarkan DUN bersidang dengan aman."

Mereka juga melaungkan "daulat tuanku."

8.35am Mohamad Nizar dan semua ADUN Pakatan masuk ke Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan. Semua pengawal peribadi mereka disekat masuk di pintu utama. Pemandu dibenarkan masuk.

8.30am Semua ADUN Barisan Nasional tiba di Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan dalam sebuah bas. Mereka disambut oleh sekumpulan penunjuk perasaan yang berpakaian hitam di luar bangunan tersebut - yang menempatkan DUN Perak.

Tiga orang ditahan polis, termasuk ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong.

7.55am Kira-kira 100 penyokong BN berkumpul di bangunan Umno, beberapa kilometer dari bangunan DUN Perak.

7.45am Kawalan keselamatan ketat di Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan - yang menempatkan DUN Perak - bagi menghadapi sebarang kemungkinan pada hari pertama persidangan yang akan dibuka secara rasmi oleh Raja Muda Perak.

RPK vs JJ

From the 12th to the 22nd September 2008, I was detained at the Police Remand Centre (PRC) where most ISA detainees spend their first 60 days of detention. Suddenly, on the morning of the 22nd, I was told that my interrogation, which was held from the 17th to the 21st, is going to end and that they have to finalise their report that same day.

That was the first surprise.

I was supposed to sign my statement the following day -- on the 23rd. Instead, I was packed off to Kamunting the morning of the 23rd without being allowed to sign the statement cum confession.

That was the second surprise.

What was it that the higher-ups were so scared about that they wanted to keep my confession cum statement from those who were supposed to review it and decide whether I can be released or should be sent to Kamunting for further detention? I really don’t know because they never told me.

Anyway, here is part of my interrogation by the Special Branch -- what they asked and what I replied.

The last time you were detained for 54 days, is that correct?

Yes, it was from 11 April to 6 June 2001. I think it was about 54 days.

You were not sent to Kamunting right?

That’s correct.

That’s because you cooperated. So if this time you also cooperate then there is a good chance you will also not be sent to Kamunting. You might be allowed to go home like the last time.

(I just nod)

We find your Statutory Declaration very hard to believe.

Why do you say that?

Well, we don’t think what you said about Rosmah being at the murder scene is correct.

How do you know?

It is highly unlikely. Rosmah is very rich. She has plenty of money. Why would she want to take the risk of going there personally? She can pay someone to do the job. No need for her to go there herself.

Well, that’s what I was told, that she went there personally.

We don’t think so. It doesn’t make sense for her to go there herself.

Okay, if you say so, but I know what I was told.

Who told you? Lt Kol Azmi Zainal Abidin. He is the number two in the Special Branch of the Military Intelligence.
Yes, we know who he is.

So, that means you can ask him yourself then since you know him.

But how do you know he was telling you the truth? He could be setting you up.

I admit I don't know Lt Kol Azmi that well. But he is always in Ku Li’s office. He is very close to Ku Li. And Anwar Ibrahim also knows him very well.

So you are not really that close to Lt Kol Azmi. That means you don’t know whether you can trust him. We feel he is setting you up as the fall guy.

Maybe if I had to just trust him then I wouldn't dare take that risk. I mean; I don’t know him well enough to trust him all the way. But the person who introduced us is a very old friend. I’ve known him for about 45 years, longer than I’ve known my wife. And I trust my friend. My friend gave me his personal assurance that the story is legit.

Who is that friend?

Nik Azmi Nik Daud. We call him Bull. He works for Ku Li. I also asked Din Merican to check with Anwar whether I can trust Lt Kol Azmi with my life. Those were the exact words I used.

What did Anwar say?

Anwar replied you should never trust anyone with your life. However, Lt Kol Azmi’s information is very reliable. I also asked John Pang, who also works for Ku Li, to check with Ku Li whether Lt Kol Azmi’s information is reliable. I told John what Lt Kol Azmi told us and asked him to inform Ku Li about it. John confirmed that Lt Kol Azmi told Ku Li the same thing and that the information is reliable.

So that is why you signed the Statutory Declaration?

No. Actually, initially, I wanted to just write an article, like usual. But Bull asked to meet first before I write anything. So we met early April at La Bordega in Bangsar. Bull suggested I should instead sign a Statutory Declaration, as that would be stronger. They can ignore my article but they can’t ignore a Statutory Declaration.

Then you signed it?

No. I still did not sign it yet. I was worried about the repercussions. We would be forcing the government to act and they might come down hard on me. As Bull said, they can ignore my article but they can’t ignore a Statutory Declaration. Bull called for a second meeting on the Sunday before I signed the Statutory Declaration. We met at the Selangor Club Dataran Merdeka for lunch.

And then?

I told Bull I was a bit worried about signing a Statutory Declaration because the government will surely arrest and charge me if I do. I felt an article would be safer. But Bull disagreed. He felt an article was not strong enough. Bull said if anything happens to me they would go to court to testify that what I had signed is the truth. Bull assured me they would not allow me to rot in jail. So, on the 18th June, I signed the Statutory Declaration.

Are you sure they will come forward to testify in your trial?

That’s what Bull told me and I trust him. As I said, I’ve known him for 45 years.

Okay, let’s see whether they do or not. But we think they will not. They will not come forward to testify at your trial.

Maybe. Maybe what you say is true. I don’t know. Let’s see. After all I have already been charged and my trial will soon start. Let’s see whether they keep their word and testify at my trial. But I am confident they will because they have given me their assurance.

We believe you have been set up as the fall guy. Maybe they want to get rid of you.

I don’t think so. Anyway, we will know soon enough once my trial starts. It is going to be a most interesting trial indeed once the truth surfaces. Don’t you think so?

Didn’t Najib’s people approach you to make a deal? You mean to buy my silence? Yes, they did. Who? Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis. JJ? Yes. When? It was not long after I was charged for sedition, before I signed the Statutory Declaration. JJ phoned and said he wanted to meet. I knew he was working for Najib so I agreed. We met at the car park outside Kelab Taman Perdana. My wife drove me there and waited at a distance. She was worried that it may be a trap and she wanted to be cautious in case they were setting me up, or something like that. JJ arrived about 6pm and asked me to get into his car. He was alone. I waved to my wife and signalled her to go home and she wrote down JJ’s car number plate in case I disappeared or whatever. We drove to a roadside stall in Jalan Ipoh and sat there and talked. JJ told me that Najib had asked him to meet me to make a deal. I asked him whether Najib really knows we are meeting and whether he had endorsed or sanctioned the meeting and JJ replied that our meeting was on Najib’s instructions. We spent about an hour talking. The bottom line is he wanted me to stop writing about Najib and Altantuya. He also asked me whether I could delay my sedition trial until Najib becomes the Prime Minister. Once Najib is installed as Prime Minister they will drop the charges against me. I will also receive a monthly allowance of RM30,000 for my cooperation. He didn’t say for how long though. I asked him how to delay the trial and he replied I can always get a medical certificate to confirm I am not fit enough to attend trial. I told him if I delayed the trial then the legal costs would increase and he offered to pay all the legal fees. He asked me to get my lawyers to issue an invoice and he would pay the cost, whatever it may be. I told my lawyers about this incident so that at least some other people know about it.

So, what happened to the deal?

Soon after that I signed my Statutory Declaration. That was my way of saying no deal. After that they arrested me and charged me for criminal defamation. I suppose that was their way of replying to my reply.

Wouldn’t it have been better for you to accept the deal? After all, Najib is soon going to be the Prime Minister.

Maybe. But it’s too late now isn’t it? I have already burned my bridges behind me.

The above is a small portion of my questions and answers session with the Special Branch over the five days of interrogation. This, plus a lot more, was compiled into a report, which I was supposed to sign on the morning of 23 September 2008 -- but which never materialised for some strange reason. I am probably the first ISA detainee in almost 50 years who made a statement (confession) but was never asked to sign it.

The cat and mouse game with the Royal Malaysian Police

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I was made to sit for an IQ test. I just enjoyed these tests because I had already done many before that. You see, my parents subscribed me to the Junior Readers Digest and every month, whenever I received my copies, I would relish reading them from cover to cover. One of my favourite chapters was the one on IQ tests.

Some questions were in text format and others in graphics form. Invariably, you are asked to solve puzzles and problems and how to get over sticky situations. My favourite question was the one about the bridge closing at 7.00pm and a guard being placed in the middle of the bridge to prevent anyone from crossing it. Those on the left bank would not be allowed to cross over to the right bank and vice versa.

The question was: you arrived at the bridge at 11.00pm and found the guard asleep in the middle of the bridge. If you crossed the bridge the guard would wake up and catch you trying to cross and will force you to go back the way you came. So how are you going to cross the bridge to get home?

Hmm….this was one tricky question. I pondered for a while and my reply was I would quietly creep across the bridge and just before I reached the guard I would turn around and walk back the way I came. I would then make a lot of noise, which would wake the guard up. The guard, seeing that I was trying to sneak across the bridge, would chase me and catch me and force me to return to the opposite direction. And the opposite direction is where I actually wanted to go in the first place.

So that would be how I would get to cross the bridge and go home. But this would mean the guard would have to be not too bright and can be easily fooled. He sees you heading back from where you came and he would think that you came from the other direction. So he would force you back to the opposite direction, thinking this is where you came from rather than this is where you actually wanted to go in the first place.

Confusing? Not really. All you need to do is to create the impression that you are coming from one direction whereas you are actually coming from the opposite direction. And when they force you to return to the direction they thought you were coming from, you end up, with their help, heading for the direction you really wanted to go.

And this is the cat and mouse game that one has to play with the officers in blue from the Royal Malaysian Police.

The officers in the Malaysian police force rejoice when they think they have got you covered and have figured out your every move. They monitor your movements, your phone calls, those of your friends, and whatnot. If they don’t get what they want they will dig deeper. And maybe, in the end, they will find what they want to know. So you need to give them something to work on. Let them think they have got you, whereas it is you who have got them.

For example, on 10 April 2001, the police picked up four people under the Internal Security Act -- Tian Chua, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais and Ezam Mohd Nor. The police had been following me for three days and I knew I was also about to be picked up.

I got into my car and with my wife driving we went to our daughter’s apartment. My wife noticed we were being followed.

That evening, my wife went out to buy some ice cream and she saw a bunch of police officers loitering at the entrance. She knew they were waiting for me.

The next morning, we left the apartment, and about one kilometre down the road, they stopped our car and took me in. I could have sneaked out the back and would have been able to give them the slip, but it was crucial that we find out what their game plan was.

To cut a long 54-day story short, Anwar was facing nine criminal charges and was already convicted for the first and was facing trial for the second. He was eventually found guilty for both and his jail sentences were made to run consecutive rather than concurrent. The first conviction attracted a six-year jail sentence and the second nine years. Together with the seven months remand period during the trial, Anwar was given a 15 years and seven months jail sentence. And he still had seven more trials to go through.

Anwar was probably going to be in jail for at least 100 years, which meant he was going to die in jail.

My interrogation took 54 days and my signed ‘confession’ was more than 200 pages. There was a lot they asked me and a lot I told them. The most crucial piece of information they wanted was how did Anwar manage to run the Reformasi Movement from behind the high walls of the Sungai Buloh Prison? They knew the Reformasi Movement was being guided and run by Anwar. They just did not know how it was being done.

I was posed this question and I spilled the beans. I could not hold anything back. The information just flowed.

We meet Anwar in court during his many trials and that is when he dishes out his instructions. In fact, not only the Reformasi Movement, but also the party itself is run in this manner. We look forward to his trial dates because that is when we are able to meet Anwar and receive instructions from him.

Three days later, the Special Branch officers came to see me, bringing a copy of a newspaper. “Read this,” they told me.

It was the newspaper headline about the government dropping the balance seven charges against Anwar.

“So, now there are no more trials. Anwar will no longer be going to court. So how are you people going to meet him now?”

“Aiyah,” I said, with a very disappointed and dejected look on my face. “Now the link to Anwar has been severed. There would be no way we can continue meeting him to get further instructions from him.”

I sat back and looked my Special Branch officers in the face. They had this very pleased look, as it they had pulled off the coup of the century. These are five very happy Special Branch officers. They even offered me a cigarette and ordered some Kentucky Fried Chicken for my lunch. They had broken the link of communication between Anwar and the outside world. That is the end of Anwar’s communication network.

The Special Branch officers were probably made to sit for a course where they studied how Chin Peng communicated with his guerrillas in the Pahang, Perak and Kelantan jungles, plus those along the Malaysian-Thai border. I, in fact, discussed this with them and knew of the ‘dead letter boxes’ and all such primitive communication methods of 50 years or so ago.

The Special Branch knew that I knew. And I knew that the Special Branch knew that I knew. So they wanted to know how much of these tactics were being used to enable Anwar to communicate with the outside world and thereby organise his Reformasi Movement and other political activities.

Well, I could not hold anything back. I spilled my guts out and told them everything. And the result of that was they dropped the balance seven charges against Anwar so that he can be cut off from the outside world and can no longer direct things from behind the high walls of the Sungai Buloh Prison.

But that was not really how it was done. And of course I can’t tell you how it was done in case we need to do it again. But what matters is that they believed this was how it was done and they dropped the seven charges against Anwar to ‘plug the holes’.

They were one happy bunch of Special Branch officers the day they broke the news to me that they had dropped the balance seven charges against Anwar. And I had to pretend I was so disappointed and unhappy that they had outsmarted us.

Yes, I bet those Special Branch officers did not have to sit for IQ tests when they were 11 or 12 years old. If not they would have had to figure out how to cross the bridge after 7.00pm when the guard is sitting right in the middle of the bridge to stop anyone from crossing. And then they would have figured out you need to fool the guard by pretending that you are crossing from one direction whereas you are actually crossing from the opposite direction. Then they would have known that, if you can successfully fool the guard, he would actually assist you to cross to the side, where you actually wanted to go.

Yes, there is more I want to reveal. But let this suffice for today. In the next article we shall talk more about how to play cat and mouse games with the Malaysian police. No, nothing that has happened thus far is anything we did not want to happen. They think they have us on the run. They think they have sent us underground. Is that so? Lt Col George Armstrong Custer also thought he had the Indians on the run. By the time he realised it was the other way around, it was too late. Little Bighorn was Custer’s last stand and where the Seventh Calvary met its doom.

More later, and stay safe till then.

Malaysiakini.com : Dr Mansor calon PKR di Penanti

Seperti yang diduga, Timbalan Pengerusi PKR Pulau Pinang, Datuk Dr Mansor Othman, 58, tahun dipilih sebagai calon PKR bagi pilihanraya kecil DUN Penanti bulan depan.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 03Pemilihannya diumumkan oleh Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di hadapan lebih 1,000 penyokong yang memenuhi Yayasan Aman, di Penanti malam ini.

Antara pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat yang hadir ialah Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang yang juga setiausaha agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng; Presiden PKR, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; Pengerusi PKR negeri yang juga ahli Parlimen Bayan Baru, Zahrain Mohd Hashim; pengerusi DAP negeri dan exco kerajaan negeri, Chow Kon Yeow dan bekas timbalan ketua menteri, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

Sejak Fairus mengosongkan kerusi tersebut pada 16 April lalu, tercetus spekulasi menyatakan bahawa Anwar akan memilih Dr Mansor bertanding di kerusi tersebut.

Dr Mansor, bekas profesor di Universiti Sains Malaysia, merupakan setiausaha politik Anwar ketika beliau menjadi timbalan perdana menteri dalam kerajaan pusat BN.

Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) telah menetapkan 23 Mei sebagai hari penamaan calon manakala pengundian pada 31 Mei depan.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 01Pada 8 April lalu, Fairus meletakkan jawatan sebagai timbalan ketua menteri 1 selepas beliau disiasat berhubung dakwaan rasuah membabitkan operasi kuari di Pulau Pinang.

Bagaimanapun, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPR) menyatakan tidak cukup bukti untuk mendakwa Fairus terhadap tuduhan tersebut.

Minggu lalu, Fairus mengulangi keputusannya untuk meletak jawatan wakil rakyat DUN Penanti.

Baca berita penuh

History of RPK's Malaysia Today

source - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/21109/84/

Soon after that, Anwar Ibrahim was released from incarceration. There was jubilation all around. My wife, Marina, and I stood on the steps of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, quite amused at the chanting and cheering going on. My phone rang but I could not hear properly because of the noise. I handed the phone to Marina, who has better hearing than me. “It’s the BBC from London,” she told me as she handed me back the phone.

“Hold on,” I shouted into the phone. “It’s so noisy here. Let me move to a quieter place.”

Marina and I quickly walked to the side of the Palace of Justice where it was quieter and I spoke to the chap from the BBC.

“We heard Anwar has just been released. Can we get your statement?”

“Sure, but why me?” I asked.

“Well, you are the Director of the Free Anwar Campaign and you run the freeanwar dot com website. I suppose you are now out of a job since Anwar has just been released. What do you plan to do now?”

“I suppose you could put it that way,” I laughed. “I must be the only Director who got retrenched from his job because he is successful.”

The BBC chap laughed and asked, “So what do you intend to do now, now that you have been retrenched?”

“I am going to now focus fulltime on the new website I just started three weeks ago.”

“Oh, what is it called?”

“Malaysia Today. It’s at malaysia dash today dot net.”

“You said you started this website three weeks ago? Does this mean you anticipated that Anwar would be released?”

“Yes, I did. In fact, that was one of the first articles I wrote on Malaysia Today. I said that Anwar would be released with a two-one verdict and that the lady judge would be the sole dissenting voice.”

“How did you know? Do you own a crystal ball?”

“It’s my business to know. That is what I do. I find out what people don’t know or try to hide and publish the story, while crossing my fingers in the hope that I am right.”

“So what do you hope to achieve with your new website?”

“Let me put it this way. It took us six years to free Anwar from jail. But only Anwar is free. Malaysians are not yet free. And Malaysians will never be free until they can be allowed freedom of expression and freedom of choice. It may take us 60 more years to free Malaysians, I don’t know. I may even never see that happen in my lifetime. But that is the mission and vision of Malaysia Today, to free Malaysians by allowing them freedom of expression. Freeing Anwar was phase one. Phase two is to free Malaysians.”

“Thank you Raja Petra. And I wish you luck in your new endeavour. Can we call you again if we need anything further?”

“Sure, no problem. Bye.”

That was my ‘interview’ with the BBC on the steps of the Palace of Justice on the morning of 2 September 2004. Malaysia Today was then only 20 days old. But Malaysia Today was created with a vision and a mission. It is not, as the government said, a hobby of bored and unemployed housewives. Malaysia Today was created to gain back the territory that we lost in the March 2004 general election when Barisan Nasional performed its best ever in the history of Malaysian elections.

“What do you think we are going to see?” Marina asked me. “This is going to involved a hell of a lot of work. And you are going to suffer all sorts of hassle from the police. Is it going to be worth it?”

“Hun (we call each other Hun, which is short for honey, not hantu),” I told Marina. “Come the next election, in 2008 or 2009, Malaysia Today is going to be the weapon we use to hit Barisan Nasional where it hurts most. We are going to engage Barisan Nasional in the cyber-world and use hit and run guerrilla tactics. They will be running around in circles trying to duck our hit and run attacks but they will not be able to do anything about it. By then the Internet will be the most powerful ‘terrorist’ weapon in the elections. And we will be there, ready to take on Barisan Nasional in 2008 or 2009.”

Yes, in 1998, when we first started using the Internet to fight Barisan Nasional, there were only 280,000 Internet subscribers against 8 million registered voters. Today, ten years on, there are almost 16 million Internet subscribers against 12 million registered voters.

Over the last ten years, the number of registered voters increased only 50%. However, in that same period, the number of Internet subscribers increased 328.9% (according to the official statistics). Today, the Internet reaches 62.8% of the Malaysian population. Malaysia has more Internet subscribers than it has voters. (See the statistics below).

Yes, that was our plan back in 2004 when we launched Malaysia Today. No, Malaysia Today is not a newspaper. And it is not in the same league as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider. Malaysia Today is a guerrilla outfit. We are cyber terrorists. Our job is to hit the government whenever and wherever we can. And if hit and run is what it takes, then hit and run is what it will have to be.

We almost succeeded in meeting our aspirations in March 2008. But, in our books, that is a job only half done. We have to finish the job. We have to complete what we started back in 1998. And the completion would be when Barisan Nasional has been brought down from its high horse and made to eat humble pie. We will consider to have met our objective when the government admits that it serves the people, and not the people who serve the government.

On a slight digression, when I was in Kamunting from September to November last year, Marina sent me loads of books to read and one of those books was The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It was a most interesting book and took me only a day to finish. I must say that book gave me new insight into guerrilla warfare.

The government calls the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers cyber terrorists. Actually, I had never thought of it that way. I suppose, under the circumstances, since we have been classified as cyber terrorists, then we have no choice but to act as one. And terrorists must master the art of hit and run.

Malaysiakini.com : Hari mengundi DUN Penanti 31 Mei

Hari mengundi bagi kerusi DUN Penanti ditetapkan pada 31 Mei dan hari penamaan calon jatuhnya pada 23 Mei, umum Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR).

Kerusi itu dikosongkan oleh bekas timbalan satu ketua menteri Pulau Pinang, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin pada 16 April lalu susulan siasatan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM).

Bekas ADUN PKR itu bagaimanapun tidak diseret ke mahkamah kerana SPRM tidak mempunyai cukup bukti untuk berbuat demikian.

Pengerusi SPR Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof berkata ia melarang penggunaan pondok panas dan perayu undi dalam pilihanraya kecil kali ini.

Ditanya sebab suruhanjaya itu melewatkan pengumuman tarikh-tarikh tersebut walaupun bermesyuarat Rabu lalu, beliau berkata ia tidak kena-mengena dengan mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi (MT) Umno, Jumaat lepas.

Malaysiakini.com : PKR pecat 16 ahli lawan calon parti

PKR memecat 16 ahlinya di Kedah dan Sarawak yang terlibat mencabar calon-calonnya pada pilihanraya DUN Bukit Selambau dan DUN Batang Ai awal bulan ini.

Keputusan itu yang berkuatkuasa serta-merta dibuat sebulat suara dalam mesyuarat Majlis Pimpinan Tertingginya semalam, kata Timbalan Presiden PKR Dr Syed Husin Ali.

"Mereka ini bertanding sebagai calon menentang calon parti, menyokong calon yang menentang calon parti, mengkritik parti melalui media dan mengisytiharkan diri keluar dari parti dalam ceramah atau melalui media," katanya.

"Mereka melakukan kesalahan-kesalahan tersebut dalam pilihanraya kecil Bukit Selambau dan Batang Ai baru-baru ini."

Nama (dan bahagian) mereka seperti berikut:

1. Moganakumar Subramaniam (Merbok)
2. Jayagopal Andaikalam (Pokok Sena)
3. Abdul Hamid Othman (Padang Serai)
4. Roslan A Hamid (Padang Serai)
5. Abu Bakar Din (Baling)
6. Abdul Wahab Mat Isa (Sik)
7. Mustafa Hassan (Sik)
8. Kalaivanar Bala Sundram (Jerai)
9. Deivanai Krishnan (Jerai)
10. Abu Bakar Hamid (penaja Pendang)
11. Ahmad Ayub (penaja Pendang)
12. Azhar Ahmad (penaja Jerlun)
13. Dr Ambrose Labang (Julau)
14. Wong Kee Kai (Julau)
15. Rajang Unau (Julau)
16. Kudik Untung (Julau)

Anwar, jangan urus PKR sebagai "kedai runcit", nasihat Raja Petra

Editor Malaysia Today terus menulis walaupun dalam buangan kendiri

(mStar Online) - Editor Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, yang telah dikeluarkan waran tangkap oleh mahkamah kelmarin, terus memuatkan tulisan beliau sambil menggesa pengunjungnya agar memberi komen yang konstruktif, bukannya ulasan yang boleh 'memusnahkan' laman web tersebut.

Malah, Raja Petra yang kini berada dalam "buangan kendiri" di luar Selangor ekoran perselisihan dengan Kerabat Diraja negeri itu menekankan, Malaysia Today bukan merupakan laman web yang propembangkang ataupun antikerajaan semata-mata.

Selain itu, dalam tulisannya semalam beliau menggesa Penasihat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim supaya tidak menguruskan parti itu seakan-akan sebuah kedai runcit.

Beliau mengemukakan pandangan itu bagi mewajarkan bahawa Malaysia Today bukan laman web yang memuji atau mengecam satu-satu pihak sahaja.

"Tidak... Malaysia Today bukan propembangkang dan antikerajaan semata-mata.

"Apatah lagi bukan kesemua negeri berada di bawah Barisan Nasional (BN). Beberapa negeri berada bawah Pakatan Rakyat.

"Jadi, Pakatan Rakyat juga kerajaan. Dan, kita juga mengkritik kerajaan-kerajaan negeri, bermakna Paktan Rakyat," katanya.

Walaupun Pakatan Rakyat hanya berusia setahun, berbanding BN, terdapat aspek yang sudah cukup untuk dikritik.

Sebagai contoh katanya, Anwar, yang juga Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat, mengendalikan PKR sebagai 'entiti kawalan peribadinya'.

"Kemungkinan 10 tahun lalu, pada 1999, ia mungkin boleh diamalkan. Ketika itu, Parti Keadilan seperti kedai runcit. Jadi anda boleh kendalikan parti seperti kedai runcit," katanya.

Bagaimanapun menurut beliau, sepanjang satu dekad yang lalu PKR telah berkembang daripada sebuah "kedai runcit menjadi pasar raya besar."

"Tetapi Anwar masih menguruskan parti ini seperti kedai runcit, bukan seperti pasar raya besar yang ia telah berkembang sehingga sekarang," katanya lagi.

Beliau tidak merujuk kes-kes khusus bagi menggambarkan amalan "kedai runcit" di pihak Anwar, bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan sehingga 1998.

Sambil menekankan ia sebagai satu kegagalan Anwar, Raja Petra menulis lagi, "beliau (Anwar) menganggap beliau sebagai pemimpin seorang yang bagus."

"Seorang pemimpin yang bagus bukan hanya mengendalikan partinya seorang diri. Seorang pemimpin yang bagus adalah pemimpin yang menguruskan orang dalam parti," jelas Raja Petra yang pernah digambarkan sebagai penyokong kuat Anwar dan PKR serta Pakatan Rakyat.

Oleh itu tambah beliau, Anwar mesti belajar untuk menguruskan orang-orang di bawahnya dengan baik.

"Terdapat ramai yang berbakat dalam partinya. Turunkan tanggungjawab kepada mereka dan biarkan mereka menguruskan parti menggunakan kebijaksanaan dan pertimbangan masing-masing," katanya.

Mahkamah Sesyen di sini mengeluarkan waran tangkap terhadap Raja Petra selepas beliau tidak hadir untuk perbicaraan kes hasutannya kelmarin.

Hakim Rozina Ayob juga mengeluarkan surat tunjuk sebab kepada isteri Raja Petra, Mable @ Marina Lee, selaku penjamin.

Peguam Raja Petra, J. Chandra memberitahu mahkamah bahawa beliau tidak dapat menghubungi anak guamnya dan tidak dimaklumkan mengenai sebab penulis blog itu tidak dapat hadir.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, Raja Petra menulis alasannya pada blognya pagi kelmarin dengan menyatakan bahawa diri dalam buangan daripada negeri Selangor kerana ada isu dengan Sultan Selangor.

Raja Petra, 59, didakwa menerbitkan satu artikel bertajuk ""Let's Send Altantuya Murderers To Hell" yang mengandungi ayatayat menghasut di laman web http://www.Malaysia Today.com.Dia didakwa melakukan perbuatan itu dirumahnya di No.5, Jalan BRP 5/5, Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh, pada 25 April tahun lepas.

Rozina menetapkan 22 Mei untuk sebutan kes.

Najib wajib bersihkan jika mahu sokongan rakyat!

Razak Baginda terlepas.
2 org UTK bakal diC4kan.

Tapi 2 soalan masih belum terjawab.
1. Siapa yang arahkan untuk membunuh?
2. Siapa yang arahkan rekod kemasukan ke Malaysia dihapuskan?

Jika Najib boleh jelaskan kepada rakyat berserta dengan bukti kukuh. Beliau akan mendapat semula sokongan rakyat!

Hukuman bunuh untuk 2 org UTK ini tidak akan menghilang rasa sangsi rakyat. Najib belum membersihkan kredibilitinya selagi 2 soalan di atas belum dilangsaikan.

Selagi teka-teki tak dijelaskan selagi itu politik negara ini akan bergolak.

Malaysiakini.com : Sidang tergempar tidak sah, kata Setiausaha DUN Perak

Kemelut politik yang melanda negeri Perak, selepas Barisan Nasional (BN) menubuhkan kerajaan negeri baru awal bulan lalu, terus berlanjutan.

Hari ini, Setiausaha Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak, Abdullah Antong Sabri berkata cadangan Speaker V Sivakumar untuk memanggil satu sidang tergempar Selasa ini adalah tidak sah.

Katanya, ia tidak boleh diadakan kerana tidak mendapat perkenan
Sultan Perak berdasarkan Perintah Tetap Dewan Negeri serta
Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan.

Abdullah menegaskan demikian dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan di Kuala Lumpur hari ini.

Sebelum ini, Sivakumar dilaporkan berkata sidang tergempar itu tidak memerlukan perkenan Sultan Perak terlebih dahulu kerana notis 14 hari hanya perlu dikeluarkan dalam keadaan DUN bersidang biasa dan bukannya untuk sidang tergempar.

Sivakumar memanggil sidang tergempar itu untuk membincangkan dua notis usul yang diterimanya berhubung krisis peralihan kuasa
kerajaan negeri itu.

Keluar notis

Sehingga hari ini, Datuk Seri Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin masih mengakui beliau merupakan menteri besar Perak yang sah.

Manakala menteri besar BN, Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir mengangkat sumpah awal bulan lalu, selepas BN menubuh kerajaan baru di negeri itu.

Sementara itu, dalam kenyataan tersebut, Abdullah berkata mengikut Perintah Tetap Dewan Negeri (PT) 8(1) yang perlu dibaca bersama-sama dengan Perkara XXXVI(1) Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan berkehendakkan perkenan
Tuanku Sultan untuk memanggil apa-apa sidang Dewan Negeri sama ada dalam keadaan biasa atau tergempar.

Menurutnya, beliau telah menerima arahan dari Sivakumar supaya
mengeluarkan notis segera untuk mengadakan sidang tergempar DUN Selasa ini melalui urat Sivakumar yang bertarikh 25 Februari 2009 yang turut disertakan notis usul aripada Anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Teja dan ADUN Titi Serong.

Abdullah berkata, walaupun ia sidang tergempar, "dalam apa jua pun keadaan, saya hendaklah menghantar notis bertulis tersebut berserta dengan warta pemasyhuran memanggil dewan kepada tiap-tiap anggota DUN menarik perhatian mereka kepada pemasyhuran tersebut.

"Permasyhuran memanggil dewan dibuat oleh DYMM (Duli Yang Maha Mulia) Sultan. Ini adalah berdasarkan PT 1 (Perintah Tetap DUN) yang mengatakan "maka Setiausaha Dewan hendaklah membacakan Pemasyhuran DYMM Seri Sultan Perak Darul Ridzuan memanggil mesyuarat.."

Kuasa mutlak

"PT 10 (1) mengatakan " Penggal Dewan hendaklah diadakan pada
waktu dan tempat sebagaimana yang ditetapkan oleh DYMM Seri Sultan Perak Darul Ridzuan dari semasa ke semasa melalui perisytiharan dalam Warta," katanya.

Beliau berkata berasaskan PT 10 (1) itu, kuasa mutlak untuk memanggil sidang DUN adalah kuasa Sultan Perak dan ia tidak boleh dipertikaikan.

"Ini adalah kerana Perkara XXXVI(1) Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Perak Darul Ridzuan memberi kuasa yang jelas kepada DYMM Sultan Perak untuk memanggil DUN bersidang," katanya.

Beliau berkata, Perkara XXXVI (1) memperuntuk "DYMM hendaklah dari semasa ke semasa memanggil bersidang Dewan Negeri itu dan tidaklah boleh membiarkan tempoh enam bulan berlalu di antara perjumpaan yang akhir lepas dalam satu persidangan dengan tarikh yang ditetapkan bagi perjumpaan yang pertama dalam persidangan yang di hadapan."

Abdullah berkata peruntukan di atas adalah peruntukan Perlembagaan yang merupakan Undang-Undang Tertinggi di negeri Perak dan jelas menunjukkan kuasa untuk memanggil sidang DUN adalah kuasa Sultan Perak.

Khamis lalu, Sivakumar menerima dua usul dengan yang pertama daripada ADUN Titi Serong, Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah daripada PAS, adalah bagi dewan menyatakan sokongan kepada Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin sebagai Menteri Besar, manakala usul kedua oleh Chang Lih Kang (PKR-Teja) yang memohon supaya dewan itu dibubarkan untuk membolehkan pilihanraya negeri diadakan.