Dr. A. X. Jayakumar

We apologise for the delay with the pics, but after a tiring week, here are the pics from the angkat sumpah ceremony. We were not ever allowed to take pictures of the official swearing in.

The ceremony took place at the  Balairung Seri, Istana Alam Shah in Klang. The ceremony began at 10am and ended at 12pm, after which we were all invited to a sit down lunch with the King.

Above : Balairung Seri, Istana Alam Shah Klang (Yes its all in GOLD!!)

Before leaving for the palace.
With the SONGKOKs on.

(L-R) : Razak b Ismail (Personal Assistant to YB (P.A.))

Dr Xavier Jayakumar

Syed Putra (Ketua Penerangan -in charge of DUN affairs)

Ravi - Security & escort

March 11, 2008 - PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA

KeADILan’s economic agenda received a resounding mandate on March 8th when Malaysians went to the polls and quadrupled the number of seats held by the opposition in Parliament, awarding us with 50% of the seats in West Malaysia. After a decade of economic mismanagement, unchecked inflation in recent years and lagging competitiveness vis-a-vis Malaysia’s neighbours, we are confident that under our leadership and working closely with our partners, we will begin to implement policies to ensure a stronger and more vibrant economy in Malaysia.

Looking to the future, the coalition, using its control of five key states, Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan, will implement business-friendly, free-market policies to stimulate growth, attract foreign investment and promote greater accountability and transparency in business dealings.

One of our priorities in the upcoming weeks will be to initiate dialogues with the foreign investment community already present in Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan to ensure investor confidence remains strong during the transition period and also to identify areas of concern that our new governments will address in enhancing and improving their operations and performance in Malaysia.

Our no-tolerance policy on corruption will have a major impact in reducing transaction costs and building confidence in small and medium enterprise. We also plan to divorce government employees from doing business with the government thereby reducing incentives for cronyism and insider deals which are plaguing the current administration.

The Malaysian Economic Agenda which was a cornerstone of KeADILan’s election promises can be implemented at the state level to reduce race-based affirmative action policies and begin to implement a more competitive, merit based system. This will immediately increase foreign investment, improve the state’s tax revenue and begin to promote more equity and income parity. Furthermore we will honour our promise to protect the marginalized from each ethnic community.

The unexpected margin of our victory caught the nation and the region by surprise. A short term adjustment in the KLSE and weakening of the Ringgit is expected but will not persist unless Barisan Nasional chooses to pursue a regressive policy of punishment, and withholds its commitments for development allocations to the now opposition controlled states. We would warn Barisan Nasional however, that doing so will further alienate its position with the people.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
Advisor, Parti KeADILan Rakyat

The HIndraf wanted to give roses to the PM on Sat 16 Feb 2008. Needless to say the roses never got to the PM. But what is most upsetting is the level of violence and utter disregard for Article 10 Federal Constitution : The right to assemble peacefully. Many CHILDREN !! were hosed down with tear gas as well.

The SPR announced today that :-

Nomination Day : 14th February 2008 (Sunday)

Election Day : 8th March 2008 (Saturday)

Campaign - 13 days

It was stated by the PM today, that the SPR (Election COmmission) will be having a press conference tomorrow at 11 am (Thursday the 14th February), with regards to the dates for nomination and election.

Thus far, some sources have speculated that the 21st February - Nomination Day

& the 2nd of March - Election Day

Yesterday on Tuesday 12th February, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, openly denied that he would dissolve Parliament today. See Malaysiakini

However earlier today, at Putrajaya, he announced, the dissolution of Parliament, and the calling of the nations 12th General Elections.

We feel, that there was no point in denying the obvious. The element of surprise is no longer there, as everyone had their bets placed on either today or the 23rd of February. Abdullah Badawi, should have realised that being open and transparent, means being open about EVERYTHING!!

We fear and we forewarn people, that this time around more than in 2004, the BN coalition will run a mud-slinging campaign to degrade and belittle the opposition. In addition, they will play the politics of FEAR. They (the BN), have no other alternative, because they cannot stand up to the issues that the opposition is bringing forward. They can’t answer for social inequality, crime, rising prices, the inevitable fact of future oil price hike . .. hence they do what they do best, LIE, CHEAT and instill FEAR.

We hope that this time around, you analyse your candidates, see what they’ve done in the past 4 years, what have they stood for,how have they represented you….and then make a choice.

The only way we achieve greater democracy in this country, is through the minds of the people.

Escalating threats to fundamental rights in Malaysia (courtesy of AI)

Amnesty International Malaysia condemns the arrests of participants near the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) in last Saturday’s planned protest against price hikes organized by the Coalition Against Inflation (Protes). We also take great concern over the selective prosecution initiated against a journalist for
allegedly obstructing a police officer from carrying out his duties.

Amnesty International views these actions as a clear abuse of power that disregards the right of the public
to hold peaceful assemblies and their right not to be subjected to torture, or cruel and inhuman, or
degrading treatment.

Furthermore, the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials spells out in Article 5 that no
law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment or invoke superior orders or exceptional circumstances, such as a threat to national security, to justify these actions.
We are also very concerned over the continuous act of obtaining blanket unilateral restraining orders
against the general public as a means to crack down against public assemblies. Amnesty International
Malaysia is of the view that the act of obtaining such restraining orders is a serious abuse of the legal
process. This is because such applications are made and granted based solely on one party’s prejudice that undermines the subjected parties’ right to be heard in an open court.

The court order also gives the police unlimited powers and enables greater abuse of power as it subjects the general public to great risk of arbitrary arrest, detention as well as torture and other form of ill
treatment, and selective prosecution. Amnesty International Malaysia views that the court order
undermines the fundamental freedoms of assembly and movement guaranteed in our Federal Constitution.
We would also like to express serious concern over the arrest and detention of a journalist from the web
newspaper Malaysiakini.com. Amnesty International Malaysia views his arrest as a serious failure to
respect and recognize the professional function of a journalist in his or her cause of duty. We regret that
the police decided to respond to queries by a journalist with a charge of obstructing a police
officer from performing his duties.

We view that the charge against the Malaysiakini journalist is another act of intimidation to undermine
media freedom and the rights and freedoms of journalists to report without intimidation and threats
of arbitrary arrest, detention and selective prosecution.

In light of the fact that more demonstrations are likely in the lead up to elections expected early this
year, Amnesty International Malaysia demands that the Government of Malaysia fully respect the fundamental rights of all people and implement the recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Police to amend Section 27 of the Police Act and to implement the draft 2005 Independent Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill immediately.

Released by

K.Shan
Campaigns Co-ordinator
Amnesty International Malaysia

Media Release24 November 2007

BERSIH Condemns Crackdown on HINDRAF Leaders and Planned Rally

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) condemns the arrest of Hindu Rights Action Front (HINDRAF) leaders (two of whom were later freed on bail) under the Sedition Act and the police prohibition of the planned HINDRAF rally on Sunday. Both actions are clear violation of key civil liberties and basic freedoms guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

BERSIH stresses that when citizens want to peacefully assemble, the police’s responsibility is to ensure order and security, and not to stop the assembly. The roadblocks set up to stop both the BERSIH rally three weeks ago and the coming HINDRAF assembly which cause massive traffic jams, inconvenience and economic losses are completely unnecessary and unjustifiable.

The Government should instead do some soul-searching to look into the causes of such intense discontent amongst marginalized Indian Malaysians. Suppressing or demonizing such discontents will only harm rather than help the nation-building process.

BERSIH’s defence of HINDRAF’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly is entirely on principled grounds. For the record, HINDRAF is not an endorsee of BERSIH and its coming rally has no connection with BERSIH. A coalition of 70 organizations from all cultural, ideological and geographical backgrounds, BERSIH champions political reform for the benefit of all Malaysians regardless of creed and class.

BERSIH believes the marginalization of communities, like the Indian working class, is largely the result of a flawed electoral process which has resulted in unresponsive and irresponsible governments at federal, state and local levels. Joining forces with other Malaysians to demand for democratization would serve their interests better than a communally-articulated cause which can be easily demonized by the state.

Coalition For Clean And Fair Elections (BERSIH)

4A Jalan Sepadu, Taman United, Off Jalan Klang Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (03) 79806571 Fax: (03) 79802697 URL: www.bersih.org Email: info@bersih.org

Aliran is concerned about the arrests of leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) - P Uthayakumar, P Waythamoorthy and V Ganapathy Rao – ahead of a planned gathering on Sunday, 25 November at the British embassy.

Many Malaysians are likely to view the police action as being politically motivated.

The restraining order from a magistrate’s court obtained on a Friday is unprecedented and does not give the affected party time to challenge it or set it aside. It is obvious that these actions are aimed at blocking Sunday’s assembly.

It is also ironical that the people put in charge of law and order should be creating chaos and making the lives of Malaysians miserable. This is what the police are doing in KL and the surrounding districts with their road blocks and blockades.

Through their actions, many perceive the police as being partisan and playing a political role to protect the interests of the Barisan Nasional. They are bent on denying any opportunity that could reveal to Malaysians that the number of those with grievances is far larger than what we have been led to believe.

The police should have given the organisers the permit they had requested and then  played a low-key role in helping to control traffic and maintain law and order.

The Big 10/11 demonstration, in spite of the mammoth crowd involved, was an example of  an orderly, peaceful gathering that was carried out responsibly. After the petition was handed over to the palace, the organisers’ team even cleared the debris and made sure that the roads were free from any rubbish.

This Sunday’s gathering is not a demonstration but a peaceful gathering in front of the British Embassy to hand in a petition addressed to the Queen bearing 100,000 signatures. The people who are proposing to assemble are not rabble-rousers. On the contrary, they appear to be marginalised  people who have lost faith in the political process.

The BN government should respect the democratic rights to freedom of assembly and of expression. It must not suppress these rights through the use of oppressive, undemocratic and violent  tactics.

Aliran Executive Committee
23 November 2007

Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:32pm IST

By Mark Bendeich

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia is living under an effective state of emergency, an EU envoy said on Tuesday, after police used tear gas and water cannon at the weekend to break up the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.

“Today, this country still lives under emergency,” the European Commission’s envoy to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel, told Reuters by telephone on the last day of his mission to Malaysia.

Rommel’s remarks, extraordinarily blunt for a diplomat, chime with a chorus of criticism from opposition parties and some non-government groups about the way the government handled the protest, which it called an illegal assembly of troublemakers.

Police had set up road blocks around the capital to prevent protesters converging on Kuala Lumpur for Saturday’s rally, but despite these measures and heavy rain, around 10,000 people thronged the city centre to call for electoral reform.

Police later moved in with tear gas and water cannons, which fired jets of water laced with a chemical irritant, to break up the crowd. There were no reports of any serious violence.

Rommel, who has spent four and a half years in Malaysia, said many Malaysians felt that their voices were not being heard and agreed that the electoral system should be reformed.

“It’s not a secret that elections are not fair,” he said, noting complaints from electoral reform group Bersih, organiser of Saturday’s protest, that election campaigns were too short and that the media was biased toward government campaigning.

“There’s a significant part of the population that feels their voice is not really heard because of the way elections are managed,” he added. “They feel locked out.”

The Belgian noted that several emergency-style laws were still in use, such as the Emergency Ordinance, born in 1969 to deal with race riots, and the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA). Both allow detention for years without trial.

None of these powers were used to quell Saturday’s protest, and the ISA has not been used against opposition politicians and activists for several years. But the chief minister of central Pahang state, a member of the main ruling party, has said the ISA should be used if necessary to deal with future protests.

“They (emergency laws) all very clearly establish the legal framework for the executive to take measures in cases of unrest — as the executive defines them,” Rommel said.

PAINTING AN UGLY PORTRAIT

Rommel, a career diplomat, is not new to controversy in Malaysia. He created a storm in June when he gave a speech likening Malaysia’s affirmative- action policy to a trade barrier.

That remark brought a swift backlash and formal protest from the government. The trade minister even complained publicly that Rommel had an attitude problem, and his name started to disappear from the government’s invitation lists.

But Rommel, who spoke to Reuters on condition that his comments be published after his departure later on Tuesday, said he was unrepentant about his criticisms and denied he was trying to superimpose Western values onto Malaysia.

He said Malaysia’s “Bumiputra” policy of affirmative action, which favours majority ethnic Malays, distorted trade because it allowed the government to award state contracts to Malay businesses without clear, competitive tender procedures.

It also fostered corruption, he added.

“The extension of Bumiputra-based discrimination and preference in public procurement — which is massive in the Malaysian economy — has worked to the disadvantage of foreign players in particular and has become a vehicle for officially acknowledged corruption.. .,” Rommel said.

“It is public knowledge that local Malay vested interests, with powerful political or administration connections, want to see this mechanism maintained.”