Wan Azizah's letter to The Agong

DATIN SERI DR WAN AZIZAH WAN ISMAIL
Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat
Merangkap Ahli Parlimen Permatang Pauh
No 17, Jalan 16/2, Sekyen 16,
Petaling Jaya 46350 Selangor.

Telefon: 03-79566444
Faks: 03-79565444
Website: http://www.keadilanrakyat.org/
Email: wawi9@yahoo.com

Duli Yang Maha Mulia Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah ShahSeri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong
Istana Negara
Kuala Lumpur
28 September 2007

PENUBUHAN SURUHANJAYA DIRAJA BAGI MEMBERSIHKAN IMEJ SISTEM KEHAKIMAN

Ampun Tuanku,

Didoakan semoga DYMM Tuanku bersama DYMM Tuanku Permaisuri sentiasa di dalam lindungan dan rahmat Allah s.w.t.

Merujuk perkara diatas, sayugia dirafa’kan sembah bahawa pada minggu lepas Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim telah pun mendedahkan sebuah video rakaman perbualan telefon antara peguam VK Lingam dengan Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim. Video yang dirakam sekitar tahun 2002 ini mendedahkan wujud konspirasi dari pihak-pihak tertentu untuk melantik hakim-hakim yang dapat menjamin keputusan penghakiman yang selari dengan keinginan politik. Antara lain, nama-nama seperti Tan Sri Vincent Tan dan Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor disebut telah menaja usaha ini.

Maklumat ini mengesahkan kebimbangan sejak pemecatan Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Salleh Abbas pada tahun 1988 dan kenyataan bekas Ketua Hakim Negara Allahyarham Tun Mohammed Suffian pada tahun 2000 apabila beliau menyatakan bahawa beliau tidak bersedia berdepan dengan hakim sekarang apatah sekiranya beliau tidak bersalah.

Hujah ini diperkuat oleh tulisan Ke Bawah Duli Tuanku Raja Azlan Shah pada 2004 yang melahirkan kebimbangan terhadap terhakisnya keyakinan rakyat terhadap institusi kehakiman. Baginda juga menyesali bahawa mahkamah telah diperalatkan untuk memutuskan dengan sewenang-wenangnya bahawa “peranan oleh DYMM Raja-Raja Melayu” merupakan satu prosedur ringan semata-mata. Imej institusi kehakiman negara kita yang sudah pun tercalar begitu lama sudah tentulah binasa sama sekali. Kes ini berkaitan dengan begitu banyak isu-isu membabitkan institusi kehakiman selama ini, termasuklah:

a) Insiden pemecatan Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Salleh Abas dan Hakim-Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan Tan Sri Wan Suleman dan Datuk George Seah

b) Semua keputusan membabitkan kes Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

c) Kes Wee Chee Keong

d) Kes Lim Guan Eng

Daulat Tuanku,

Berdasarkan keterangan tersebut, patik memohon agar DYMM Tuanku memperkenan membentuk sebuah Suruhanjaya DiRaja dibawah Akta Suruhanjaya Siasatan 1950. Suruhanjaya tersebut seharusnya diberi kuasa meneliti bukan sahaja kesahihan video tersebut, tetapi juga dakwaan yang dibuat di dalam video tersebut mengenai perlantikan hakim dan amalan rasuah di dalam institusi kehakiman. Hanya sebuah Suruhanjaya DiRaja yang melapor terus ke DYMM Tuanku dan mempunyai kuasa memanggil dan melindungi saksi dapat memulihkan keyakinan rakyat Malaysia terhadap institusi kehakiman negara.

Pihak patik bersedia sekiranya DYMM Tuanku berkenan bertemu dengan pihak patik untuk membincangkan perkara ini dengan lebih mendalam. Di dalam keadaan di mana maruah institusi kehakiman dan kerajaan kini sudah berada di dalam keadaan yang amat dasyat, DYMM Tuankulah yang dapat memainkan peranan yang adil dan saksama untuk mencari penyelesaian terhadap perkara ini bagi kebaikan seluruh rakyat Malaysia. Kuasa untuk menyelamatkan maruah negara kini berada di tangan DYMM Tuanku.

Patik mohon ampun dan maaf di atas segala kekurangan, dan menjunjung kasih di atas kesudian DYMM Tuanku menerima warkah ini.

Ampun Tuanku,

t.t.

Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Ahli Parlimen Permatang Pauh
Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat

ACA questions PKR's Sivarasa on damning video clip

R. Manirajan and Llew-Ann Phang
The Sun

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah was questioned for two hours by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) today on the video recording of a telephone conversation between a senior lawyer and another person believed to be a senior ranking judge.

During the questioning, Sivarasa handed over a copy of the eight minute video clip and a transcript of the entire telephone conversation, including comments, to ACA investigating officer Thilagawathy Tambu.

After watching the recording together, Sivarasa was asked when PKR got hold of the DVD and who the source was.

"I told her whatever I knew, including the details of the entire 14-minute recording," Sivarasa said when met outside the ACA office here.

He said the full 14-minute recording could not be given to the ACA because the source believed that by doing so, his identity would be compromised.

"I told the ACA I can’t reveal my source and that is the same answer I will give you reporters. We can’t publicly disclose who the source is," Sivarasa said, adding that he himself knows and has met the source.

Sivarasa said the ACA had been informed that he and PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim have viewed the full video recording.

"The other part of the recording clearly shows Datuk V.K. Lingam (the senior lawyer in the video) telling the people in the room, after the telephone conversation, that he was speaking to (Chief Justice) Tun Ahmad Fairuz (Sheikh Abdul Halim)."

Sivarasa had last week lodged a report with the ACA over the revelations in the recording after it was made public in a press conference by Anwar.

Sivarasa also took to task Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail for stating that the video recording did not show any criminal offence being committed.

"The ACA said they have a different view of the case."

Sivarasa said he suggested the ACA seek technical experts to verify the recording’s authenticity, and to check Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz’s handphone records in 2002 which was when the recording was made.

In a press conference at PKR’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur earlier, Sivarasa said the party was willing to assist the Special Independent Investigation Panel, led by former Chief Justice of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor, in its investigations into the video’s authenticity.

However, he said the full 14-minute video clip could only be screened with the source’s permission.

He also pointed out that the panel faced the challenge of not being able to summon witnesses or to provide protection for witnesses, adding that these were important for an effective investigation.

He said the panel’s terms of reference were also too limited because "the problem is bigger than that".

For example, Sivarasa said the current appointment of judges was problematic because the prime minister only had to consult with the Chief Justice and the Conference of Rulers before appointing a judge.

"With the video, we have exposed that the process is clearly tainted, with people like lawyers (meddling in these matters)," he added.

PKR secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim called on the Bar Council to press for investigation panel members to be selected through peer group selection to ensure check and balance.

"The selection of the panel was not done through a clear and transparent process," he said, noting that Haidar, for example, may have a conflict of interest because he was a trustee of the Perdana Leadership Foundation helmed by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

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Related Articles:

• 2,000 back Bar Council's memo to PM
• Govt sets up panel to probe damning video clip featuring senior lawyer
• PM: I'm disappointed
• PKR lodges ACA report over video clip on judiciary appointments

No ‘merdeka’ for S’wak’s indigenous

By Wang Ik Ping
Malaysiakini2007-09-04

LETTERS TO EDITOR: Jobs, income, roads, clinics, schools, development and similar goodies have been used for decades by the pro logging federal and state governments (in collusion with corporations) as justification for the rampant logging in Sarawak.

When talking of Sarawak forests, we must see it from the indigenous people’s context. More specifically Native Customary Rights (NCR) land which they base their livelihood on. Of course, the income derived from timber exports bring much-needed income to the country and state.

But they also bring much income to big businesses, politicians and, of course, those in between who have much to gain from this multi billion ringgit industry. There are also some from ethnic based associations who are roped in whenever their ‘help’ is needed.

I forgot that the industries create jobs for Malaysians. Yes, but how many openings for Sarawakians? How much are they being paid? No takers? Great excuse to employ cheap Indonesian labour.

Malaysia has lost any credibility to still say that logging, deforestation and most critically, land-grabbing of NCR land in Sarawak are ‘benefitting’ the indigenous peoples.

Aside from non Muslim indigenous people, those whose land are divisively classified as Malay Reserve Land have also had to make way for development. Malays staying at Kuching’s waterfront had to sacrifice their land for the new state legislative assembly building (DUN) and for the beautification of the waterfront area.
These people were given compensation and they got low cost houses. It’s amazing how the ones offering these houses, though never ever having to stay in them, can ‘advise’ the people not to be choosy when ‘sacrificing’ for the country’s development.

Yes, there are indigenous peoples who have benefitted from the exploitation of Sarawak’s natural resources and other supposed development. But they are the local elites who happen to be indigenous peoples with key political patronage. So the saying ‘If we can’t beat them, let’s join them’ is alive and well indeed. In other words, let’s join in the exploitation of resources and people to enrich ourselves so that our own dear will be ensured of a good life (whatever that is).

Lacking a coherent and cohesive alternative in terms of government, some become ‘pragmatists’, understandably easy way out. What is troubling, however, is their exertion onto their communities who continue to hold onto their basic principle of protecting one's rights at all cost.
Some NGO personnel, together with some pseudo academians too have combined forces to pressure indigenous communities to negotiate and accept whatever that is given by the exploiters of the natural resources and the land grabbers. But these pragmatists forget that without being on an equal footing, how any negotiation be fair?
Are prisoners in any position to negotiate with their captors? Can hostages negotiate with their captors? Can one ‘negotiate’ when all the big guns and machinery are pointed at you?

Some specifics: Indigenous communities in Sungai Asap in the Belaga District are being pressured to accept three hectares of land per household in return for the thousands of hectares of native customary rights land claimed by the state government for the infamous Bakun Dam project. The Penan community, meanwhile is being pressured to accept the Malaysian Timber Certification scheme a market driven mechanism to try to redress the timber trade imbalance.

The development of their native customary rights land has yet to be proven. On the contrary, it can be argued that the opposite is happening, whereby instead of enriching the poor, their status remains the same at best while the corporate and other elites continue to enrich themselves.

But then again, it is better to get something than to lose all, so say the pragmatists. How nicely for such people to justify their own corrupt ideas.

One lesson to take from such scenario can be argued as when one only looks to the outside for one's ideological stance, the collapse of that outside pillar will throw everything into disarray. But when one's stance is base on protecting one's rights (legal, moral, political and or others) in communities, the struggle continues and there is no need to turn pragmatists or whatever terms many are using.

So at the end of it all, are the pragmatists genuine in their believe that the people will benefit or are their partying with the corporation in another way to ease their own conscience in a unipolar era?

The Barisan Nasional of Semenanjung Malaysia may consider 50 years old to be still young as a country but surely Malaysians are mature enough to see a corrupt exploiter and a human rights abuser. A principle base Malaysia of justice, equality and democracy awaits all as Malaysians rise against injustice, inequality, inhumanity and anti democratic ‘elders’ of all races of the two geographical regions that are the united Malaysia.

Together, the ghost of race bias created by the British and perfected by the ruling and corporate Malaysians elite shall be exorcised by the united Malaysians.

Education in classrooms, not at blockades: Jabu

Posted By rajlira On 24th September 2007 @ 00:02 In Local

LONG BANGA: The government wants to see the Penans attain high education comparable to that achieved by the other members of the Orang Ulu community, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said.

In stating this recently, Jabu hoped the five Penan students who were now in Form Four and Form Five at SMK Marudi would work hard and enter university one day.

Jabu said education was the key for a better future and success as underscored by the Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud during his recent visit to Marudi.

The five Penan students, according to Jabu, had told him during the Chief Minister’s visit that they were aiming for 7As in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

And he said the Chief Minister had responded that he would make sure that they were accepted into universities if they attained their goals.

Showing photographs of the forwardlooking Penan students when opening the dining hall of SK Long Banga, here, Jabu said: ‘Education of the Penan children is in the classrooms and not at blockades instigated by NGOs who exploit them.”

Long Banga is about eight hours drive through logging road from Miri. The deputy chief minister said the government was determined to see the Penans in the mainstream of development and progress.

Jabu said the small group of Penans manning blockades at Long Benalih would cause them to lose out while creating hardship to others whose accessibility was cut off by their blockades.

Jabu urged the Penan students at SK Long Banga to study hard and be obedient to the teachers and headmasters who were helping them.

“Study hard and go all the way to university as the five Penan girls in SMK Marudi are trying to do,” he said.

Acknowledging that Long Banga, a Kenyah-Sabah settlement, which lies in the interior of the Baram near the border with Indonesia had its drawbacks which need to be improved, he said efforts were made to address the problem.

Jabu, who is Rural Development Minister, said both the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister saw the need to focus on rural development and this was underlined in the huge allocations under the Ninth Malaysia Plan to bridge the gap between the urban and rural areas.

Earlier in his speech, the headmaster of the school, Liang Bang said the school which had 128 students needed improvements, and these included infrastructure like teachers’ quarters.

He said the school faced a shortage of academic staff as two of the nine teachers posted to the school failed to report themselves.

“There is also a teacher who is on leave to pursue higher education,” he said. At the function, Jabu approved three computers for the school apart from a grant of RM20,000 from his Minor Rural Project (MRP) fund.

The computers and money are to be channelled through Baram Member of Parliament Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan and Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok.

Another RM 200,000 has also been approved by Jabu for a bailey bridge across the river linking the village and school in place of the suspension bridge.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the National Registration Department, Jabu also handed over birth certificates to a Penan family of five at the function.

Also present at the function were Jacob, Lihan, Kemena assemblyman Dr Stephen Rundi, Ba Kelalan assemblyman Nelson Balang Rining, political secretaries Robert Laing, Watson Bangau and Isik Anak Utau, Miri Resident Ose Murang, Temengong Pahing Ding, successful Penan businessman Datuk Hasan Sui and other community leaders.

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Penan blockades to save the 'last frontier'
By Tony Thien

2007-08-28 Malaysiakini

Penans in two areas in Baram in Sarawak’s northern region are still manning timber blockades to stop logging from moving into communal forest reserves.

One area is in Long Belok and Long Sayan in the Apoh region of middle Baram where a road blockade was re-erected on June 2 by some 50 Penans.

This was done to prevent Rimbunan Hijau, a Sarawak-based timber giant, from entering and extracting timber within communal forest reserves in the upper reaches of the Belok River.

The police visited the blockade site in mid-June and early July but have not taken any action against the protestors, according to Marudi-based Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) field officer Jok Jau in a statement.

The natives in the Apoh and Tutuh areas have conveyed their ‘grave concern’ to SAM through their representatives in that native rights to the land have been ignored.

Another new blockade was erected by the Penans in Long Nen, Sungai Layun, together with the nomadic Penans from Sungai Marong in upper Tutoh on Aug 1 to stop logging activities on their land by Samling, a Miri-based timber conglomerate, and their sub-contractor Jumbo Green.

Raja Jemali, head of the nomadic Penan group, said the two groups decided to join forces because they cannot handle the pressure from the company on their own.

Last frontier
A protest is still on-going against what SAM described as controversial road-building by Samling in upper Baram.

Blockades by Penans in the upper reaches of Baram have been set up at different sites in the area for the last 14 years.

“This area is regarded to be one of the last remaining primary forests in Sarawak and the last frontier to be exploited by the logging companies since the 1960s,” Jok Jau said.

The upper Baram blockades, often associated with the Long Benalih villagers, had been dismantled by the authorities on numerous occasions.

SAM learned that on July 4, the authorities destroyed the barricades again but the villagers re-erected it shortly after.

“The continuous dismantling and rebuilding of the blockades have received much attention in recent years, particularly after the concession’s inclusion into the controversial Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) scheme whose legal and sustainable claims have been questioned by national and international civil society groups,” SAM said.

In the past, SAM added, the Long Benalih village had to bear to the brunt of being insinuated as the sole village protesting against logging in the area, at the expense of other villages.

Environmental impacts
The natives have been carrying out what is described as the longest-serving non-violent protest against logging in Malaysian history.

They are also concerned with road construction which is getting deeper inland and is now only 2km from Benalih.

“However its adverse environmental impacts, in particular water pollution, are currently being impacted upon other neighbouring Penan villages as well, including Long Pengaran Iman and Long Pengaran Kerian,” said Jok Jau.

To ensure that the road construction is not impeded in any way, SAM said, it is being guarded by General Operations Force (GOF) personnel.

In mid July, the Benalih blockade was reportedly dismantled again by timber company workers, together with the GOF personnel. The people were warned that they would be arrested if they continued with the blockade.

SAM called on the government to respect the rights of the Penans, calling for cessation of their operations in the native territories.

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Marginalised Penans fighting for survival
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

Malaysiakini 2007-08-13

The Penan community of Ulu Belaga, Sarawak, no longer has any legal avenue to claim their rights over ancestral land.

The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) unearthed this disturbing fact following investigations into complaints from the community.

First, findings showed that when the Sarawak Land Code was enacted, the voice and “historic custom (of the Penan community) of ownership and stewardship of land” were completely ignored.

Second, in the presence of Shin Yang Forestry Sdn Bhd, a logging company currently operating on land claimed by the indigenous as ancestrally theirs, the chances of fighting for it is further diminished as the amendments made on the Sarawak Land Code puts a full stop to the notion.

“Our investigation found that despite being an indigenous group of Sarawak, the Penan’s historic custom of ownership and stewardship of land is not considered in the 1958 Sarawak Land Code,” said Dr Mohammad Hirman Ritom, a member of the team of commissioners probing into this matter.

As a consequence, he said, logging licences were issued and plantation activities were carried out with little consideration to the Penan’s claim to land.

“Research found that through the Sarawak Land Code (amendment) Bill 2000 which was passed by the state assembly on May 9, 2007, Section 5(2) of which provided ‘any other lawful method’ of establishing claim to land had been deleted,” added Mohammad Hirman.

This provision was previously used constantly to argue the Penan’s claim to land.

“Despite practicing settled agriculture and slowly abandoning their nomadic lifestyle, a majority of them (Penan) heavily depends on the forest for their survival. If the forest is cleared, how then will they survive?” he asked

The plight of the Penan community does not stop here.

The community will “witness further destruction of their natural environment and livelihood following the company’s move to clear forest areas in September and October 2007 on land claimed by the Penan community”, said Suhakam in a report which was launched today.

The report - titled Penan in Ulu Belaga: Right to land and socio-economic development - was a result of complaints lodged by the community who feared logging and oil palm plantation in Ulu Belaga would threaten their livelihood.

Suhakam had responded to these complaints by conducting fact-finding field visits to the affected areas and holding dialogues withe the Penan community, government agencies as well as the Shin Yang Forestry.

EIA report questionable
The Suhakam report also found that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report which was conducted before the logging company was granted license was not accurate.

In the process of granting licenses to private companies for foresting operations, the state’s Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB) will be the authority approving the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA), a prerequisite for attaining a license.

A consultant or consultancy firm will be assigned to produce the EIA report.

The EIA report must include information on impacts and repercussions the affected communities will face when foresting activities are to take place.

In the case of the Penan community in Ulu Belaga, Sarawak, the findings of the EIA report produced by the consultant on the proposed Shin Yang forest plantation states that there was no evidence of human settlement within the proposed forest plantation.

However, Suhakam came to a different conclusion. Their investigation, through literature review, local and internationally, have led them to believe that there were “Penan settlements in Ulu Belaga at the time when the EIA report was prepared” corroborating with claims made by the Penans.

Data from the Ulu Belaga district office also confirmed this.

“This is a drawback to the EIA assessment. We urge the government to necessitate an urgent intervention on this matter before everything is lost,” said Dr Denison Jayasooria, another commissioner working on the case.

“We are concerned with the accuracy of the EIA report,” he added.

In the light of this contradictions of results coming from both sides, Suhakam recommended in their report that “the government takes necessary measures to ensure that only independent consultants are appointed to assess and prepare the EIA report.”

“This is to ensure greater objectivity and transparency and to negate all allegations of bias. It is also recommended that the government review the procedures of the preparation and verification of the EIA report”.

Abject poverty
Land issue was not the only matter raised by Suhakam. Poverty was a ghost constantly haunting the Penans there.

The Suhakam report indicated that the “Penans in Long Singu and Long Jaik are among the poorest groups in the country and live below poverty level.”

It also indicated that “they have inadequate access to nutritious food, healthcare, education, housing and clean potable water.”

“The prime minister said that he wants poverty to be eradicated by 2010. The Penans should be included in this,” said the Suhakam report.

The rights commission stressed the “government to ensure the availability of basic necessities for the Penans to ensure that they do not live in abject poverty.

“We strongly recommend that poverty eradication and income generations be implemented.”

“The continuous disregard of the Penan community will push them further into marginalisation,” concluded the 270-page report.

Suhakam said that the government was chiefly responsible to ensure the Penans’ right to life and an adequate standard of living

One-sided response of the Prime Minister

Media Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP MP for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang

Lingam Tape – Why Abdullah threatening one-sided dire consequences if video clip not authentic but said nothing about action to be taken if it is proven true?

The initial one-sided response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the Lingam Tape, which has plunged the country into a new crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary – both national and international – is a great disappointment compromising the neutrality and impartiality of his high office.

Abdullah said yesterday that he had directed the police to immediately start investigations into the Lingam Tape as it was important to act quickly because the content of the clip could tarnish the image of the country’s judiciary.

He said: “We cannot treat this lightly. We will act fast to determine the truth.”

He said that if investigations revealed that the claims were false, action would be taken against those who were trying to undermine the judiciary as the video recording would invoke public anger and hatred towards the judiciary.

He said at this juncture, the question of setting up a Commission of Inquiry did not arise as the allegations in the video clip had yet to be proven as authentic.

All right-thinking Malaysians are mystified and upset by the Prime Minister’s response and have one question – why is Abdullah threatening dire consequences if the Lingam Tape is not authentic but said nothing about action to be taken if it is proven true?

Abdullah’s initial considered response 48 hours after the public surfacing of the Lingam Tape does not inspire public confidence that the Prime Minister would rise above the fray and be absolutely neutral and impartial in handling the latest scandal of the Malaysian judiciary.

He is right when he said that the Lingam Tape has yet to be proven as authentic, but on the other hand, 48 hours and now 72 hours have passed since its public disclosure had elapsed and its authenticity has not been challenged – neither by Lingam nor Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, purportedly the other party in the telephone conversation recorded in the Lingam Tape.

The Prime Minister’s reaction is only valid and justifiable if he had received intimation from Fairuz denying the authenticity of the Lingam Tape as without such a denial from either Lingam or Ahmad Fairuz, Abdullah risks compromising his high office in staking a position which gave full status quo backing to the Chief Justice.

Two weeks ago, the Chief Justice announced that he had written to the Prime Minister about the Federal Court judge who has not written his grounds of judgment in 35 cases when he was High Court Judge.

Isn’t it even more important that Ahmad Fairuz should make clear to the Prime Minister and the country any denial about the authenticity of the Lingam Tape instead of a terse “No comment” response to Malaysianini, which raises even more questions than providing an answer?

When the Chief Justice cannot give an outright denial when specifically asked about his response to the Lingam Tape, Abdullah’s response is most inexplicable, indefensible, imprudent and goes against every principle of integrity and good governance.

Abdullah parried off the question of setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry on the ground that the Lingam Tape has yet to be proven to be authentic.

Why is Abdullah fighting shy from making a specific public commitment that a Royal Commission of Inquiry or a Judicial Tribunal would be established if there is no denial from Ahmad Fairuz and if there is nothing to prove that the Lingam Tape is not authentic, as the implications of the Lingam Tape about national and international confidence in the system of justice in Malaysia are far-reaching and horrendous?

Every day that Ahmad Fairuz continues as Chief Justice with the Lingam Tape swirling and snowballing into a bigger international scandal, more and more foreign investors would be frightened off from choosing Malaysia as an investment destination because of gnawing doubts about the independence, impartiality, integrity accountability and professionalism of the judiciary in Malaysia.

Can Ahmad Fairuz go into hiding or public exclusion until the expiry of his term as Chief Justice at the end of October, provided he is not granted a six-month extension? Is he going to step down from every Federal Court case he is fixed to be a member for the rest of his tenure as Chief Justice?

Or will Ahmad Fairuz put the higher interests of the judiciary and the nation above his personal interests and go on leave until disposal of the Lingam Tape scandal or end of his term as Chief Justice, whichever comes earlier?

Is Prime Minister, Abdullah must not shirk from his responsibility to handle with responsibility and resolve the new crisis of confidence in the judiciary and he owes it to the nation which has just celebrated 50th Merdeka anniversary to act decisively to invoke Article 125 of the Constitution to empanel a Judicial Tribunal and suspend Ahmad Fairuz as Chief Justice to restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability and professionalism of the judiciary.

In the Lingam Tape scandal, Abdullah is not a target. However, he should be fully mindful that his reputation as Prime Minister is at stake as any mishandling or failure of leadership to resolve the new crisis of confidence in the Malaysian judiciary in a decisive and impartial manner would go down in Malaysian history as a major indictment of his premiership and a blot on the 50th Merdeka anniversary.

Lim Kit Siang

Who’s running the asylum anyway?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

A massive day and night, house-to-house, state-wide manhunt is currently ongoing to track down 37 of the 41 demonstrators who failed to surrender by the time the ‘amnesty’ period ended yesterday. Only four took advantage of the generosity offered by the Royal Malaysian Police and surrendered as urged. The state-wide manhunt is in the wake of the rally organised by BERSIH -- a coalition of NGOs and political parties calling for a reform of Malaysia’s electoral system that is rife with fraud and gerrymandering -- which resulted in two people getting shot and who are still in hospital fighting for their lives.

BERSIH claims they had a police permit for the rally. The site of the rally has been the venue of numerous rallies over the last decade and which was built especially for such purposes. The police, however, claim that the police permit had been withdrawn because the rally is too near the palace of the Raja Muda of Terengganu. It is not only NOT too near, but in the past this has never been an issue. Today, it appears to be a problem -- and therefore the eleventh-hour withdrawal of the police permit.

Article 20(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948 says that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam signed by the 45 foreign ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on 5 August 1990 grants individuals the right to express their opinion freely. It also encourages them to propagate that which is right and good and concludes that all rights and freedoms mentioned are subject to the Islamic Shariah, which is the declaration’s sole source. Therefore, the propagation of amar maaruf, nahi munkar is the responsibility of each and every individual and must be upheld to the last drop of blood.

The denial of assembly for the participants of the BERSIH rally that day in Batu Burok, Kuala Terengganu, therefore violates both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam.

But why is the massive day and night, house-to-house, state-wide manhunt for 37 Malays whom the government classifies as ‘rioters’ so important? Why is no stone being left unturned in bringing these ‘criminals’ to justice when they were merely fulfilling their God-given right in expressing their opposition to a fraudulent electoral system? In the meantime, the police are talking about taking action against the distraught parents of a murdered eight year old child who was brutally tortured and raped when they should instead be launching a manhunt to look for those who have thus far raped and killed eight children. The Star says that 17 children are still missing while The Straits Times of Singapore says that 130 children have thus far disappeared since the beginning of this year.

It is most perplexing that the priority of the police is in seeking 37 demonstrators and charging the parents of a murdered child when there are clearly more pressing matters in hand. And as if this is not enough, we are now told that two very senior police officers are being investigated for owning property totalling RM33 million with one of them having RM27 million to his name.

According to the law, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is not supposed to reveal any information of a corruption investigation until the investigation is complete and it has been proven that the person being investigated is actually corrupt. This is to ensure that the person being investigated is not a victim of malicious rumours or false accusations. Sometimes, corruption allegations are made by enemies of that person being accused merely to get him into trouble. If the investigation proves the allegation unfounded, then no harm is done to that person being accused. If he is guilty, then he would of course be brought to book. But if he is innocent and his name has been bandied about in the media, then even if he is later found innocent the stigma would still remain forever.

That is why reports to the ACA come under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). This is to protect those who are being investigated in the event all allegations are unfounded and the alleged is later cleared of the allegation. But in the case of Commissioner of Police Dato’ Pahlawan Ramli Bin Yusof, the Director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Division, they made the unprecedented move of announcing that he is being investigated for having assets amounting to RM27 million even before the investigation was launched.

Is there more than meets the eye here? It this a simple and genuine corruption investigation or is this a case of trying to bring down a senior police officer who has proven to be the thorn in the side of the underworld? Let us review the Ramli episode and see whether we are able to make sense out of it.

Ramli is the man who launched an investigation into the Chinese organised crime syndicate that controls all the prostitution, drugs, illegal gambling and loan sharking business all over Malaysia. What used to be small, private enterprises has now been organised into a nation-wide network. Small, private enterprises that refuse to come under the networking are forced out of business and the nation-wide syndicate has taken over their territories.

What Ramli uncovered was not only the fact that the underworld has been organised into a pan-Malaysian network, but also that it has links with the top echelons of the police force and is powerful enough to determine the transfers and promotions of police personnel. Those police officers who refuse to cooperate and play ball are quickly sent into cold storage and transferred into positions where they can no longer be an obstacle to the crime syndicate.

A few of the underworld bosses were detained under the Emergency Ordinance and some sent into detention or restricted residence. But before you can say “you are free to go”, the detainees were immediately released and investigations were launched against the arresting officers for what the police allege was ‘abuse of power’. Some of these arresting officers were even detained overnight in the police lockup. While the criminals walk free, those police officers who arrested them are locked up. Which police officer would now dare arrest an underworld boss?

The police depend on informers just like the Customs Department, Income Tax Department, and the Anti-Corruption Agency. More than 90% of the cases are solved through information that informers offer. And the law requires that informers receive protection. This was what Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi meant when he said whistle-blowers should be protected. In fact, there is an international agreement that whistle-blowers must receive government protection.

In Ramli’s case though, as much as he tried to protect his informers as required by the law and by international convention, they exposed all his informers and now everyone knows who they are. The informers are now scared shit and they are worried that they may be executed by those whom they snitched on. All the other informers now know that it is dangerous to talk to the police and all have gone underground and disappeared. The Royal Malaysian Police may now be hard-pressed in getting any more information that they greatly need to help solve the epidemic of crimes that is currently plaguing Malaysia. Ever wonder why 130 children have disappeared since the beginning of this year and thus far eight have turned up murdered and the police appear at a loss as to how to solve these crimes? Who would dare come forward to help the police when their names would probably be revealed whereby they will face retaliation?

Ramli is said to have RM27 million to his name. How does the ACA know when they have not even finalised the investigation yet? Does he have RM50 million in assets and RM23 million in debts whereby he would have a net worth of RM27 million? Or does he have RM27 million in assets and no debts at all? The figure of RM27 million is highly suspect and there is no way this can be quantified unless that RM27 million figure was plucked from the air and merely meant to sensationalise the issue.

Ramli has since filed his full statement of accounts stretching over the last 37 years since 1970 and there are no RM27 million in assets. But, until today, information is still being leaked to the media that he is worth RM27 million. Who is behind this leak and why is this RM27 million figure being leaked? Is this a message to Ramli to back off and leave the underworld alone lest he get charged and jailed for owning RM27 million in assets? When a Deputy Prime Minister can be sent to jail for 15 years on trumped-up charges, certainly a mere Commissioner of Police can be sent to jail for RM27 million assets he does not own.

Now, we must be clear about one thing. Ramli is not being investigated for owning RM27 million in assets. There is no harm in owning RM27 million in assets if you procured it legally and not through foul means. If your father was a Felda settler, and after he dies the government acquires his land, you would be worth at least RM3 million or so overnight. You need not go to jail for this. And if you invested the money in land in Langkawi many years ago, that RM3 million land would now be worth RM30 million today. You need not go to jail for that as well. You will only need to go to jail if the RM3 million or RM30 million was procured through bribes.

But Ramli is not being called to explain why he is worth RM27 million. He is being asked why he did not declare that he is worth RM27 million. Now, Ramli was not only able to prove that he is not worth RM27 million, but he has proven that he in fact had declared all this assets as required by law; which is the real issue they are raising against him.

Ramli used to serve as the Commissioner of Police for Sabah. As is customary, after you serve the state and before you retire or get transferred out from the state, the state can sell you a piece of land at nominal value as gratuity for your service. But the land cannot be registered in your personal name. It must be registered in the name of your company. Ramli, therefore, had to register a company to be able to buy that piece of land.

On 31 May 2006, Ramli wrote to the IGP asking for permission to act as a director/shareholder of a company called Kinsajaya Sdn Bhd which was incorporated on 20 April 2006 and which is jointly-owned together with General (Rtd) Datuk Muhamad Yasin bin Yahya. The purpose of the company is to hold the 950-acre piece of land that the Sabah State Government was giving him under the gratuity (kurnia) scheme.

On 29 June 2006, the police headquarters wrote to the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking permission for Ramli to become a director/shareholder of the company. On 7 July 2006, permission was granted.

Ramli’s offence is supposed to be a technical one. His offence is supposedly for not making this declaration. He not only did declare his involvement in the company, he also declared that the company would be a beneficiary to the land. And he did obtain approval from the Ministry.

But why is this issue now being raised? And why are they distorting the issue and quoting a figure of RM27 million, which has now been proven to be a figment of someone’s imagination? Is it a mere coincidence that the timing coincides with the move to clean up the Chinese organised crime syndicate?

There is certainly more to this story but we shall stop here for now and allow you to digest what we have laid out thus far. If you think the above is dynamite, wait until you read part 2 of this story. And if the above and the disappearance and murder of so many children plus the recent shooting in Batu Burok are not enough to erode your confidence in the Malaysian Police Force, then for sure part 2 of this report will convince you once and for all that a major reformation in the police force is not only grossly required but long overdue.

It is not enough we point to the IGP as the cause of this rut and rot. We need to also point to the Deputy Ministers of Internal Security and Home Affairs plus their Minister who is none other than the Prime Minister of Malaysia. All this would not happen and would not be possible unless there is something seriously wrong right at the top. So it is not enough we clean up the police force. We also need to clean out those who walk in the corridors of power who are the managers of the police force and trustees of the people. The trustees have misplaced our trust and they need to pay for this crime. We put them there to safeguard the peoples’ interest. They have violated that trust we placed in them and the lunatics are now running the asylum.

ADDENDUMS

Rahsia Najib di Las Vegas

Parti KeAdilan political ceramah

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Malaysia's Currupt Legal System: CJ to step down?

MalaysiaKini.com Video footage

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Remove judge: Calls escalate for probe into Malaysian judicial fixing claims

(AFP) - Malaysia's opposition, rights groups and two prominent anti-corruption campaigners on Friday joined calls for a probe into allegations a lawyer "fixed" judicial appointments with a senior judge.

Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim unleashed a furore Wednesday by releasing a video clip that purportedly showed a well-connected lawyer telling a judge over the telephone that he would push his name forward for a senior appointment.

Param Cumaraswamy, a former United Nations special rapporteur on judicial independence and one-time head of Transparency International Malaysia, called on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to remove the judge for gross misconduct.

The video clip's contents "confirm the concerns expressed by many in the past on how our justice system has been manipulated by certain personalities," Param told reporters.

"It also confirms that there must be a sizeable number of litigants who must have been subjected to judicial injustice before Malaysian courts as a result of such manipulations."

Together with Abdul Aziz, also a former Transparency International president and a special advisor on ethics to former UN chief Kofi Annan, Param urged the prime minister to reform the judiciary.

Anwar said he believed the conversation, allegedly conducted in 2002, had affected the outcome of his treatment in the courts.

The ex-deputy was heir apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad until his sacking in 1998, when he was hit with sodomy and corruption charges that landed him in jail for six years.

The sodomy conviction was later overturned but the corruption verdict stands, barring Anwar from standing for public office until April 2008.

Human rights group Aliran called for an investigation into several legal cases where it said the presiding judges had leap-frogged more senior judges.

"All these cases only confirmed that the ugly hands of politics were pervasive in our system of justice which was manipulated as a political tool," Aliran president P. Ramakrishnan said in a statement.

Opposition Democratic Action Party leader Lim Kit Siang also pressed for the judge's suspension and a probe into the affair, saying it had triggered "a crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary".

"Forty-eight hours have passed and neither ... had denied that there was such a telephone conversation between them, which would be the first reaction of anyone to a doctored video tape," Lim said.

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Param Cumaraswamy and Tunku Abdul Aziz Press Conference

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Surat dakwa skandal kehakiman ke BPR

21-09-2007 10:32:21 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Laporan dibuat kepada Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) terhadap Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim berhubung dakwaan yang terkandung dalam surat tanpa nama yang diterima melalui pos, antara lain, membabitkan Ahmad Fairuz.

Laporan itu dibuat oleh Tunku Abdul Aziz, bekas penasihat khas kepada Setiausaha Agung PBB bagi etika dan bekas presiden Transparency International Malaysia.

Seorang lagi pengadu ialah Datuk Param Cumaraswamy, bekas pelapor khas PBB bagi Kebebasan Hakim dan bekas presiden Transparency International Malaysia.

Mereka bertemu timbalan ketua pengarah (I) BPR Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed.

Bercakap pada sidang akhbar bersama-sama dengan Tunku Abdul Aziz, Param berkata beliau menulis surat kepada Ahmad Fairuz pada 20 Julai, memanjangkan salinan surat yang beliau terima dan menggesa Ketua Hakim Negara menyiasatnya tetapi oleh kerana tiada respons, memutuskan untuk melaporkannya kepada BPR.

Param juga berkata kandungan perbualan telefon yang dikatakan antara seorang peguam dan seorang hakim kanan dalam satu klip video yang didakwa cuba mempengaruhi pelantikan seorang hakim "mengesahkan kebimbangan yang dilahirkan banyak pihak di masa lalu mengenai bagaimana sistem kehakiman negara kita telah dimanipulasi oleh orang tertentu".

"Kami dengan itu menggesa Perdana Menteri (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) mempersembahkan kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong supaya ditubuhkan satu tribunal untuk memecat Tun Ahmad Fairuz sebagai hakim bagi salah laku dan salah guna kuasa dan buat sementara waktu menggantungnya daripada tugas sebagai Ketua Hakim Negara," katanya.

Sementara itu, Jawatankuasa Peguam Kuala Lumpur berkata ia terkejut dan kesal dengan laporan bertajuk "CJ's appointment fixing caught on tape" dan video klip yang disiarkan media internet Malaysiakini.com dua hari lepas.

"Oleh itu, siasatan segera dan menyeluruh oleh polis dan BPR, terhadap protagonis dalam video itu dan semua orang yang dinamakan atau disebut serta semua perkara yang dibangkitkan dalamnya, diadakan," kata pengerusinya R. Ravindra Kumar dalam satu kenyataan.

Presiden Majlis Peguam Ambiga Sreenevasan berkata klip video kontroversi itu mungkin menjadi satu-satunya agenda dalam mesyuarat tergempar majlis itu esok.

"Mesyuarat itu diadakan khusus untuk membincangkan klip video itu dan apakah tindakan yang bakal diambil oleh majlis itu dalam isu berkenaan," katanya.

Mesyuarat itu, pada awalnya dijadual diadakan hari ini, ditangguhkan ke esok bagi memastikan semua 36 anggota jawatankuasa dapat menghadirinya, katanya. BERNAMA

BN Leaders: All They Know is Bribes

A video footage showing how Barisan National leaders desperate for votes. They will do anything just to win a vote. This video testify to that BN government 'CORRUPTION'. All they know is bribes, just to hold on onto power.

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TRAFFIC POLICE: CORRUPTION (RASUAH)

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NCER is a PR exercise: Khalid

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CJ's 'judgment fixing' caught on tape

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ANWAR IBRAHIM PRESS CONFERENCE
REGARDING THE VIDEO FOOTAGE

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Probe into Vote-buying in Sarawak

(New Straits Times Online)

KUCHING: The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is investigating alleged corrupt practices and vote-buying in the Layar and Krian constituencies in last May's state elections.

The probe is understood to have started in July, almost a year after defeated candidates Dayrell Walter Entrie and his father, Stanley Jugol, lodged reports with the ACA.

Besides the reports lodged on Oct 12 last year, they also handed over video and tape recordings of the alleged corrupt practices and vote buying to the ACA office here and its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

ACA officials from Kuala Lumpur are conducting the probe.

Entrie and Jugol lodged the reports after the Election Court struck off their applications to nullify the election of Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang in Layar and Assistant Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture Datuk Peter Nyarok in Krian on grounds of corrupt practices and vote-buying.

The applications were struck off on technical grounds at the preliminary stage of the hearing of the petitions.

Entrie, the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) Youth chief, lost to Jabu in Layar, while Jugol, the party secretary-general, was defeated by Nyarok in Krian.

It is believed that ACA officials had gone to the constituencies to interview witnesses and collect evidence.

Entrie, when contacted yesterday, said he knew that ACA investigations into the matter were underway.

"My polling agent and the people from Semomok and Nanga Padih longhouses have had their statements recorded by the ACA," he said.

In his report, Entrie alleged that government grants were distributed to people in Semomok and Nanga Padih through their Village Security and Development Committees during campaigning or elections.

In the three-way fight for the Layar seat, Entrie polled 1,090 votes while Jabu, Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) deputy president, garnered 3,767 votes. The third candidate, businessman Peter John Jaban, who stood as an independent, polled 105 votes. Meanwhile, Jugol, in his report, alleged that 153 longhouses and two schools in Krian were given money for government projects worth about RM450,000 during the campaign period in the state elections.

He alleged headmen of longhouses received letters informing them of the government grants and urging them to vote for Barisan Nasional.

Apart from lodging a report with the ACA, he also lodged reports with the police on June 13 and 18 last year, claiming that offences had been committed under the Election Offences Act 1954.Nyarok obtained 4,784 votes compared with 2,689 secured by Jugol.

It is learnt that a number of headmen had their statements recorded by the ACA in connection with the report lodged by Jugol.

Nyarok, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) deputy president, when contacted, denied that he had been approached by the ACA to have his statement recorded.

"I do not know anything about the ACA investigations."

SNAP To Continue With Struggle To Uphold Dayaks' Special Rights

September 17, 2007 13:44 PM

KUCHING, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak National Party (SNAP) will continue championing the special privileges and rights of the people, especially the Dayaks, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution despite faring badly in the last state election.

SNAP president Edwin Dundang today said the feeling that such rights, particularly related to native customary rights (NCR) land, must be safeguarded was prevalent among the rural Dayaks, the largest ethnic group in Sarawak.

The party supported the Barisan Nasional government but felt the state government had failed to meet the expectations of the rural communities, said Dundang, who was re-elected to helm the party for a three-year term at its triennial general assembly (TGA) here on Sunday.

In last year's May 21 state election, SNAP won one seat in Engkilili when Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) deputy protem chief Dr Jonical Rayong contested under the opposition SNAP ticket after the MDC was not registered in time for the polls.

Dr Jonical defeated BN candidate Jonathan Krai Pilo from the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).

Dundang said the party would also welcome the entry of Umno into Sarawak if it would change and improve the lot of the Dayak community, who felt they had been marginalised by the current state government.

On the party's appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision in September last year, to uphold the Registrar of Societies (ROS)'s decision to deregister SNAP on Nov 5, 2002, he said no date had been fixed for the hearing.

SNAP, one of the state's oldest political parties, was deregistered following a leadership crisis but was given a reprieve after the Court of Appeal granted a stay of execution, pending hearing of the appeal, the second time.

"We continue to operate as usual," said Dundang.At the TGA attended by about 100 delegates from 44 branches, former Bintulu Member of Parliament Ting Ling Kiew was elected the new deputy president, succeeding Datuk Justine Jinggut, the former MP for Hulu Rajang, while Kebing Wan, a former political secretary to the Chief Minister, was elected senior vice-president, replacing former senator Datuk Michael Bong, who has retired from politics.

The seven elected vice-presidents are Johnny Wong Sie Lee, Frankie Nyombui, Datuk Seri Dennis Chang Foh Onn, Dr Razali Bolhi, Dr John Bampa, Dr John Brian Anthony Guang and Augustine Sating Jemut. The appointed vice- presidents are Entalai Anak Munan and Roland Teo.

Ibi Uding and Dayrell Walter Entrie became vice-presidents by virtue of their positions as the Wanita chief and Youth chief respectively.

Businessman Edmund Stanley Jugol was re-elected Secretary-general and Engkamat Jelani the new Treasure-general. BERNAMA

SNAP: THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S REPORT

First of all I would like to welcome and at the same time thank all the delegates and observers who are present at our party's 16th. Triennial general Assembly (TGA) today. Your presence is most appreciable and encouraging. At a time when when we are going through tough challenges as it now, yet there are many members who remain loyal and believe in our struggle and objectives.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) at its meeting on 16th. December 2006 had formed and sanctioned a Credential Committee to be headed by the Secretary-General and comprised four other members. The task of the Credential Committee was to study and evaluate the eligibility of delegates to represent their respective divisions to the 16th Triennial General Assembly scheduled to be held on 16th. September, 2007.

The study undertaken by the Credential Committee showed that almost all of the Divisional Executive Committee (Exco) were not functioning. Many Exco members are either have resigned or lost interest in running the division. With this being the situation throughout the state, the Credential Committee made recommendation to the CEC at its meeting held on 14th July, 2007 to invite only one delegate to represent each division at this 16th TGA. The CEC accepted this recommendation as it has the power to do so under Article X, 22(iv) of the Party's Constitution.

THE LEGAL STATUS OF SNAP

I am duty bound to explain and clarify the legal position of our party as many members are not quite clear with the situation. As you all may recall SNAP was de-registered by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on 5th November 2002. Following this decision by ROS the party applied for a Judical Review in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur. At this hearing the Judge is of the opinion that the ROS is justifiable in his decision to de-register SNAP.

Unhappy with the judgement, SNAP appealed to the Court of Appeal. The decision of the Court of Appeal was in SNAP's favour as the 3 judges were of the opinion that the ROS was wrong in his decision to de-register SNAP. The Court of Appeal advised SNAP to file an application in the High Court to quash the ROS decision to de-register the party.

The hearing on our application to quash the ROS decision to de-register SNAP was held on 15th September 2006 at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur. At this hearing the judge upheld the ROS decision. In other words we lost the case. However, the judge gave SNAP an order of "stay of execution" pending our appeal to the Court of Appeal. Our lawyers have filed the appeal but the date of hearing has not been fixed.

So this the situation that our party is in now. Despite all these legal battles to revive the party's legal status, we are allowed to operate and carry out our party's activities as usual. We are also allowed to contest in any election using our party's symbol. Therefore, my advice is for members not to worry about the legal process but to focus on ways and means for our party to win seats during the coming parliamentary election which may be held anytime from now.

11th PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION 2004

Our party participated in the 11th Parliamentary election held on 21st March 2004. We nominated seven candidates to contest in seven constituencies.
The candidates were:

1. Abg. Zulkipli Bin Abg. Engkeh - P.204 Betong
2. Edmund Stanley Jugol - P.205 Saratok
3. Dr. patau Rubis - P.192 Mas Gading
4. Frankie Bedindang - P.216 Hulu Rajang
5. Dr. Lau Hieng Kee - P.217 Bintulu
6. Kebing Wan - P.220 Baram
7. Anthony Liman - P.214 Selangau

Although we were not successful in this election we managed to garner 30% - 40% of popular votes in the constituencies we contested.

12th. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

A favourite guesswork of the public now is to predict the date and month of the next parliamentary election. Although the current term of parliament is not due to expire until April 2009, many people like to believe that a much earlier election will be held. Numerous reasons and factors were given, and amongst the most popular is the notion to preclude Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim from standing for election. Dato Seri Anwar will only qualify to stand for election after April 2008. On our part we are equally ready to embark on the ground preparations to face the election. We will continue to synergize both our strategies and resources with PKR and DAP. However, our main aim is to win three or four seats which will make a lot of difference for the survival and future of our party.

STATE ELECTION 2006

At the last State Election we formulated a strategy to face the Barisan Nasional by forming an electoral pact with the other opposition parties namely: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and the yet-to-be registered Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC). The main focus of this understanding was to ensure that we did not pit any candidate against each other. This will result in a one to one against the Barisan Nasional in every constituency. SNAP, however, went further to form an opposition front with PKR and MDC. This opposition front was named Barisan Bersatu Sarawak (BBS). It must be acknowledged that we did benefit tremendously through the leadership and support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who campaigned in many of the constituencies during the election. As MDC could not get their registration approved by the ROS their candidates were permitted to use SNAP's symbol at the election. We put up a total of 29 candidates to contest in a Dayak majority constituencies. However, only one candidate won. He is Johnical Rayong who stood in N.28 Engkilili. Unfortunately after the election Johnical Rayong announced that he wished to join Barisan Nasional either through SPDP or SUPP. His current status is still unclear.

EASTERN PARK SDN. BHD. Vs. TV3 (SISTEM TELEVYSEN MALAYSIA BHD) - DEFENDANT

SARWAK NATIONAL PARTY - 1st Third party Defendant

DATO SERI TIONG KING SING - 2nd Third Party Defendant

I regret to report here that SNAP is saddled with another on-going legal wrangling. This problem was actually created during the tenure of our past President and our past Treasurer-General. This problem is now being inherited by the present leaders. Nevertheless the case is now being handled by our lawyer.

SNAP HEADQUARTERS

Our party's headquarters is now being looked by a staff, Bobby Teo. However, other office-bearers like the Deputy Secretary-General, the Youth Leader and many CEC members and myself do come to the headquarters regularly to oversee matters that need attention. We will increase the number of staff as and when necessary.

CONCLUSION

The party leaders wish to express their appreciation to all the delegates and observers for their presence at this 16th. Triennial General Assembly. We try our best to ensure that the Assembly is successful and fruitful. We hope that your short stay in Kuching is both comfortable and enjoyable. Please be ready to offer sacrifice and understanding to any shortcoming which you may experience. Everyone must work together to put this party on the road to success and attain its former status and glory. We have much to fight and struggle for. We want to ensure that our beloved country, Sarawak in particular and Malaysia in general, put in place a system void of social injustices and all forms of corruption and discrimination. We aim to rapidly narrow the economic divide between the privileged few and the marginalized majority especially those living in the rural area. We believe that as long as there exists social injustices there can never be a true peace and racial harmony.

SNAP: The Presidential Address

Opening address by Ybhg. En Edwin Dundang Bugak, President of Sarawak National Party (SNAP) on the occassion of the 16th. Triennial General Assembly held on the 16th. September 2007.

1. SALUTATIONS AND WELCOME

Selamat pagi dan selamat sajehtera saya ucapkan kepada fellow delegates, members, and observers who are here this morning, on the occassion of the Triennial General Assembly.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this 16th. Triennaial General Assembly (TGA). SNAP is a party of grassroots and you are the representatives delegates from many Divisions throughout Sarawak. I bid you welcome as partners and freedom fighters committed to the politics of multi-racialism for a democratic fair and just Malaysia, Sarawak in particular.

I believe we are all encouraged by each other's presence. Your loyalty and support strengthen us. Your presence and smiles inspire and unite us as a force that has important political role in democratic Malaysia. And I am very thankful for your attendance.

2. POLITICAL BETRAYER CONDEMNED, SHAMEFUL, UNPRINCIPLED

SNAP has no YB. Otherwise, today we can be very proud to have one, had he, YB of Engkilili, in the person of Dr. Johnical Rayong Nyipa, not chosen to be a BETRAYER of voters in Engkilili and SNAP, a party who sponsored him. Rayong sold the struggle and principles of SNAP to get elected because he dosen't know what struggles and principles are all about in the making of good leaders that have integrity and trust. For Rayong, politics is for personal survival and enhancement. Tempted by his self-interest he sold the voters of Engkilili and SNAP for wealth, position and non-harassment from his enenmies. All of us will die one day and your action will be recorded in history. Will your sons and daughters, and wives be proud of you? Ask yourself. What is your mission, the cause you are fighting for? True and sincere leader does not betray his supporters, colleagues and party.

3. TRUE LEADERS AND FREEDOM FIGHTERS

You people are the true leaders and freedom fighters. Despite the big personal sacrifices that you have made and will continue to make, despite of the many setbacks that the party have suffered and its future uncertain, despite of the most challenging and suppressive environment around us as the opposition; and despite of many other options available that continue to tempt you, you are still here today. How wonderful, I am very happy to have friends and colleagues like each and everyone of you. Let us today pool our minds and resources together to re-creat SNAP as a party that we all should be proud of again.

Please remember that when we believe in doing something good and worthy, though we may not be able to get it now, it does not mean that something is no longer good and worthy, and that we should abandon it. We should continue to do what is right and just and re-strategize until it is achieved either during our lifetime or in the future. SNAP as a party is not the end by itself. It is simply a political tool that must be made to work as required by a parliamentary democracy as provided for by the malaysian constitution and be relevant to the ever changing environments. As an opposition party we will discharge our role professionally and loyally to the King and Country. Thus today SNAP is not the same as it used to be years ago. It will have to be different tomorrow and must be made to be different in approach and methodology, in order to be different in a capacity. If this means working with other political parties we will do so sincerely as this has been our policy since independent. Sarawak and Malaysia are multi-ethnic. No single race can ever dream to take the reign of the government successfully without the active participation of the other races. So don't be in despair, stay united, work hard, be positive and be brave for changes. But I can assure you that whatever changes and big move we will make that will affect the philosophy of SNAP, you will be consulted.

4. TRIENNIAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY - IT'S SIGNIFICANCE

TGA must be held once in every three years. The lst time it was held was on 17th - 18th May, 2003. Besides fulfilling the party constitutional requirements the holding of this TGA will give us this opportunity:

1. To review and elect party leadership at the National Council and the CEC level;
2. To receieve feedback from the grassroot regarding growth and development of the party;
3. To receive views on how SNAP is to prepare for the forthcoming Parliamentary General Elections; and
4. Other important issues that may be brought up during this TGA.

Our gathering today, therefore, is more than to re-affirm our faith in SNAP and a show of our concern for its well being. Our gathering is to get our focus and commitment together for a vibrant SNAP; and I am thankful for your presence. Please maintain this spirit to serve the party, the people and the Nation. As delegates representing your respective Divisions, I urge that on your return you are to manage your Division and to prepare for the Parliamentary general Elections. We have to work even harder this time to achieve success that has so far eluded us. In 2003, we took over this party without any elected seat. We completely lost parliamentary election in 2004. But we should be proud to have won one seat during the last State Elections in 2006. And this strengthens our hope for a new SNAP.

5. POLITICAL STRUGGLES

SNAP is a multi-racial party but is Dayak based; and our political struggles is to ensure every Malaysia has a place in Malaysia as enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution. Thus our struggle is based on the Malaysian Constitution which among other things promotes democratic freedom including of religion, Rule of Law, Supremacy of Parliament. Islam is the official religion but Malaysia is not Negara Islam.

SNAP is also a party that fights for good and transparent government devoid of power abuse, corruption, nepotism and cronyism. Power abuses and corruption are rampant in Malaysia. The PM who pledged to rid Malaysia of corruption in 2003 has failed the people. SNAP is also committed to struggle for an equitable distribution of wealth among the signatories States to the Malaysian Agreement; and also among all citizens. Sarawak is rich but the people in majority remain poor. Where does the wealth go to? Sarawak no longer belongs to the people. It has become the 'preserve of a few powerful and wealthy. This cannot go on forever. Sarawak belongs to the people and has to be governed for the people according to what have been agreed in the Malaysia Constitution.

6. MALAYSIAN CONSTITUTION A BASIS FOR PARTNERSHIP AND NATIONAL UNITY

Malaysia is a partnership of many partners based on the social contract embodied in the Malaysian Federal Constitution, inter-Governmental Commission Report, and other related documents.

This social contract was agreed and signed by all partners as a basis to form a new nation - Malaysia. We want every Malaysian to remember that Sarawak and Sabah agreed only to sign when the late Tunku assured us of the inclusion of our special rights and priviliges including the protection of our NCR Lands.

Thus when we talk about national development, unity and stability, we must never forget that Malaaysian Constitution is the most important document in the formation of Malaysia. Malaysian Constitution was and is the basis of our solidarity and unity in the past, present and future. SNAP today wants to reaffirm our pledge to the upholding of the Malaysian Constitution as the basis of our struggle.

Without this document there is no Malaysia. Terms and conditions especially on State rights and privileges cannot be disputed but must be honoured by all signatory races until they have fulfilled the original purposes of closing the gap between the indigenous people of Sarawak and Sabah with Semenajung economically and socially, making them, along with other races, the master of their destiny, without the feelings of marginalization and deprivation. In Sarawak, among the Dayak community these feelings are prevalent, strong and sadly, impacting on the very foundation of national unity.

After 44 years of independence in Malaysia, where are we Dayaks in particular in regard to the implementation of social and economic activities within the ambit of Special Rights and Privileges, including the safeguarding to our NCR Land?

7. SAFEGUARDS TO OUR NCR LAND IGNORED

We must bear in mind that for the Dayaks the greatest concern about formingMalaysia then was the fear that we Dayaks would lose our NCR Lands.

Now, despite the safeguards, most of the NCR lands are gone, not taken and sold by outsiders as we would fear but by our own Sarawak people who abused their political power and positions.

Sarawak BN always claims that there are 1.5 million acres of NCR land in Sarawak. If the government is sincere, transparent and has no hidden agenda, we call on them where are these NCR lands are. We, also; today call on the government to have these lands perimeter surveyed without delay, by invoking the power provided by the Federal and State Constitutions.

As things now stand, the State BN Government has completely failed to honour and uphold the State Constitutions providing safeguards to NCR lands. There is no permanent safeguard to NCR land ownership but to have them surveyed accordingly.

We Dayaks must wake up and change this metality of NASIB PAK KADOH, which in Malay proverb means Menang Tiap kali Pilihanraya Tetapi NCR Tergadai.

8. EDUCATION AND LEARNING IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS

Has Special Rights and Privileges in the field of education and learning in Higher Institution been used fully or even used at all to promote Dayak community that is educated, skillful and professional?

We know NEP has succeeded to produce for certain race many professionals - doctors, pilots, engineers and enable thousands of their children to further their studies locally and abroad to become professionals and change their identity spectrum. We are jealous but patiently waiting our rights for similar opportunities under the NEP to be accorded us. What we got all this while is NOT granted to us as our constitutional rights per se BUT on PILIH KASIH BASIS. This situation has to be corrected. We also want to enjoy our constitutional rights and have the assurance made by the late Tunku being fulfilled. Can the state government assure us that we have 2 PhDs graduates nunder NEP for every year of our independence during the last 44 years? Give us a lsit of 88 Dayak PhD holders under the NEP and we will shut up.

9. PARTICIPATION IN THE ECONOMY

Sometimes in November 2005, we were told through Malaysian papers that during Question and Answers session, the Parliament was told by YB Joseph Entulu that Economic Equity holding of the Dayaks was ZERO percent at that material time.

This is shocking, despite the fact that we had been 42 years independent in Malaysia, meaning we have missed NEP (1970 - 1990) and also have missed 15 years of DEB under WAWASAN 2020. When we have missed 35 years of NEP, we do not foresee getting substantial, economic equity holding something must have gone wrong with the Dayaks who form the biggest ethnic grouping in Sarawak and also provide about half of the 72 of the elected state legislators. The question is - why powers under Special Rights and Privileges not invoked and used to make Dayaks rich like what is done to other Bumis?

Sad to say, all that what NEP has done to the Dayaks in this economic field is to create in us as a KULI community in Malaysia. This certainly will not hold great promise for Malaysian Solidarity and Unity.

10. SERVING THE CIVIL SERVICE HALLMARK OF INDEPENDENCE

We Dayaks are Bumiputra jati of Sarawak together with other Bumis. Sarawak is a land of many ethnics but for the Dayaks, Sarawak is the only country we have. We say we are independent within Malaysia. We say we are the majority ethnic grouping in Sarawak. but we have been sidelined in serving the Civil Service in the State as what happens now. We will not take others rights if we are to shout here that SNAP urges fair allocation to all races based on the number that reflects the racial breakdown of Sarawak for the sake of National Unity. Again, why is it that special Rights and privileges are not invoked to ensure Dayaks a fair and just representation in the Civil Services?

11. SNAP FULLY SUBSCRIBES TO BN-TYPE GOVERNMENT

SNAP who led the first sarawak BN type government in 1963 pledges to uphold and defend BN concept of governing, which right now, we have been denied through the Politics of Development. However, as SNAP feels that State BN has marginalized the Dayaks and also the other rural Bumis, the State BN must be overhauled because it operates only to promote an Agenda that benefits a very small group of people. It certainly has different Agenda than UMNO-led BN in the rest of Malaysia. State BN has diverted in many ways from the original. It is obsessed with personal enrichment and economic plundering through power abuse and corruption. We must remember that the people of Sarawak signed the Malaysian Agreement only when UMNO through the late Tunku assured us about the benefits of Special Rights and Privileges and the protection to our NCR lands. Thus only UMNO who gave us this assurance will understand our sensitivity and expectations and should therefore come over to fulfill its promises to protect and develop the Bumiputera of Sarawak including the marginalized non-Bumis.

UMNO should not make itself be viewed as a foreign power, as it is now, when it governs Sarawak through proxy or an agent.

12. SPECIAL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES CONSISTENT TO SNAP POLITICAL STRUGGLE

I want to make it clear here that our call for the implementation of Special Rights and Privileges in Sarawak is on the basiis that SNAP political struggle is based on the existing framework of the Malaysian Constitution. Such a call is consistent with our struggle for multi-racial Malaysia that upholds Malaysian Constitution as the basis of Malaysian formation, unity and solidarity. These Special Rights and Privileges are constitutional guarantees agreed by all races forming Malaysian Federation to serve special purposes, and must not be disputed. The failure to full implement these special Rights and Privileges means renege and breach the Malaysian Constitutions which is the social contract that binds all signatory parties of the Malaysian Agreement. The implementation therefore does not make us supporting racialism but the failure may be interpreted as rejection of the social contract.

13. CONCLUSION

Ladies and gentlemen, I have made quite a lengthly speech. Thank you for your indulgence in giving me your attention. I believe I have made clear the way forward in re-starting our political struggles and in bringing up some issues and challenges which may help you all, in turn, to serve the party better.

However, before I sit down I would like to invite you all to stand and together observe a one minute in silence in remembrance of SNAP members who have departed, particularly:

1. En. Alex Lai - former Treasure General and Vice President


2. En. Jamblee bin Tanggoi - Vice president and member of Board of Trustees.

Let us stand in silence for one minute to pay respect to all members for their contribution, loyalty and sacrifices to SNAP and the country.

Thank you. May therefore we have a successful and meaningful TGA.

Thank you.

SNAP: 16 th. TRIENNIAL GENERAL ASSMBLY

CONGRATULATIONS to all SNAP members for the highly successful convened of their 16th. Triennial General Assembly cioncidentally on the 44th. Anniversary of the 'FORMATION OF MALAYSIA', with members in 'UNISON AND WITH GREAT SOLIDARITY' gave their undivided support and loyalty to the Party and its elected leadership to chart and continued with the party struggles to the future 'FOR A MULTI-RACIALISM AND EQUITABLE MALAYSIAN SOCIETY'.

SNAP IS PROUD TO BE THE FIRST PARTY TO FORM THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF SARAWAK ON 16 th SEPTEMBER 1963, THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA AND PRODUCED HER FIRST CHIEF MINISTER OF SARAWAK IN THE PERSON OF HIS HONOURABLE TAN SRI STEPHEN KALONG NINGKAN THE FOUNDER OF SNAP. HE PASSED AWAY IN 1997.

LONG-LIVE SNAP! Hidup SNAP! - Longlive the spirit of 'Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban'

GROUP PHOTOGRAPH SESSION AT THE JUST SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED SNAP 16th. TRIENNIAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD AT SNAP HEADQUARTERS
KUCHING ON THE 16th. SEPTEMBER, 2007.

SNAP: Triennial General Assembly (15 -16 Sept. 2007)

Sarawak National Party (SNAP) will be having its Triennial General Assembly (TGA) this coming Sunday 16 September 2007 at it Headquarters at Rubber Road, Kuching. The TGA will start at 0800hrs - 1700hrs, thereafter a Presidential Dinner at 1930hrs (07:30 pm).

On Saturday 15 September 2007, will be registration of attendance of all delegates from 0800hrs-1700hrs and, Youth and Wanita TGA followed by a welcoming dinner in the evening.

Turbulent times in Sarawak: The end of Expatriate Influence and the Struggle for Power over and within the State

Author: Porritt, Vernon L.

Expatriate influence in the Sarawak State Government came to an abrupt end on 30 July 1966. This was some three years after Sarawak became part of the Federation of Malaysia. Prior to becoming part of Malaysia, Sarawak had been a British colony (1946-1963), an independent state under the Brookes (1841-1946) although occupied by the Japanese (1942-1945) during the Second World War, and before 1841 part of the Brunei Sultanate. The end of expatriate influence in 1966 was the outcome of an ongoing struggle for power over and within the state played out with all the inevitability of a pre-scripted Wayang Kulit from the moment Sarawak became a state in the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

The first elected Chief Minister was Stephen Kalong Ningkan, a forty-three year old Iban from Betong who was selected by the Sarawak Alliance which was comprised at the time of four political parties. (1) Although the Sarawak Alliance only received thirty-four percent in the first round of voting in the mid-1963 three-tier elections, very adroit political maneuvering secured over two-thirds of the seats in the Council Negri (Legislature), which enabled the Alliance to form the Supreme Council (Cabinet/Government). The Sarawak Alliance was made up of the pro-Malaysia Barisan Ra'ayat Jati Sarawak (Berjasa) headed by Tuanku Bujang, a high ranking Sibu Malay; Party Pesaka Anak Sarawak (Pesaka) headed by a Third Division Iban leader, Temenggong Jugah; the Sarawak Chinese Association (SCA) headed by a Sibu Chinese businessman, Ling Being Siew; and the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) headed by Ningkan. Collectively the socialist and predominantly Chinese Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) with Stephen Yong Kuet Yze as secretary general and Party Negara Sarawak (PANAS) with Abang Haji Mustapha as chairman secured 1.5 percent more primary votes in the elections than the Sarawak Alliance, but were consigned to the opposition.

Prior to the formation of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman had shown his willingness to intervene in Sarawak politics by announcing that he only supported the pro-Malaysia Sarawak Alliance. (2) Also the Sarawak Alliance had sought and was given help by the ruling Malayan Alliance in conducting its campaign during the 1963 elections. During this period the ruling Malayan Alliance leaders established strong links with the prominent Berjasa member Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, a pro-Malaysia, thirty-five year old Muslim Melanau from Mukah. A UK trained lawyer, Ya'kub was the Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Sarawak Legal Department from 1959 to 1963. He had ethnic, political, and religious empathy with the Malayan Alliance leaders, who supported an unsuccessful attempt to secure his nomination as Sarawak's first Chief Minister (Leigh 1974: 83). Showing the high regard in which United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) leaders held Ya'kub, he was appointed an executive member of UMNO Malaya on 16 May 1965 in the midst of the Land Bill crisis in Sarawak. He became a key player in molding the politics of Sarawak in the UMNO image.

The first dramatic scene in this epic was set just prior to the formation of Malaysia, when a controversy erupted between the Malayan and Sarawak governments over who would be the first governor of Sarawak as a state within the Federation of Malaysia. The Sarawak Alliance, in which the Dayaks were predominant, nominated an Iban, Pesaka leader Temenggong Jugah, for governor. (3) However, the Tunku rejected this nomination and, supported by PANAS, insisted on the appointment of a Malay. (4) But Party Pesaka represented over thirty percent of the Sarawak Alliance's strength in terms of elected district councillors and had forfeited any representation on the Supreme Council in exchange for nomination of the party's leader as governor. Rejection of their leader aroused strong resentment among Party Pesaka members, compounded by their lack of representation in the Supreme Council (Leigh 1974: 78-79). To appease Jugah and Pesaka members, mainly the Third Division Ibans, the Federal Government created for Jugah the post of Federal Minister for Sarawak Affairs (Porritt 1997: 104). Abang Haji Openg, a prominent Malay aristocrat and civil servant, was duly appointed Governor. With the appointment of a Malay head of state paralleling the Malay Sultans in Peninsular Malaysia, the molding of Sarawak in the UMNO-led Malayan Alliance image had begun.

Another key player pertinent to this saga was introduced on 22 July 1963 when Ningkan formed Sarawak's first elected government. This was Abdul Taib bin Mahmud, a 27-year old Australian-trained lawyer who was the nephew of Ya'kub. Taib had joined the Sarawak Government's Legal Department in early 1962. He was not a contestant in the 1963 elections nor had he been involved in any political activity prior to the formation of Sarawak's first elected government. (5) However, under an agreement between the member parties of the Sarawak Alliance, Berjasa was entitled to nominate two members as State Ministers. On the recommendation of his uncle, Taib was nominated and duly appointed as a State Minister in the Ningkan government. Like his uncle, Taib had ethnic, political, and religious empathy with ruling Malayan politicians and is said to have envisaged Sarawak politics as re-structured on the Malayan pattern of "a dominant Islamic-led native party, with a more or less subservient Chinese partner" (Leigh 1974: 87). "Islamic-led" in this context translated into the Malay and the majority of the Melanau people as they were the only significant Muslim native ethnic groups in Sarawak.

Thus, all the elements to mold Sarawak in the UMNO-led Malayan Alliance image were already in place when Malaysia was formed. Ya'kub had not been successful in the local council elections, the first stage in the three-tier election system to the Council Negri, but as a Berjasa leader was nominated to the Federal Parliament. (6) He was then made the Assistant Minister for Justice and Rural Development in the Federal Government, providing a strong link between the top federal government leaders and the Sarawak body politic through his nephew Taib, who was appointed State Minister for Works and Communications. Ya'kub, Taib, the Tunku, and UMNO shared a common vision for the future of Sarawak's politics. A setback occurred in the latter part of 1965 when UMNO leaders decided to open a branch in Sarawak to unite the Sarawak Malays, who were then divided between Berjasa and PANAS. However this was not successful, serving only to annoy Chief Minister Ningkan as one more sign of federal interference.