Is this Anwar & Azmin's Promised "Autonomy" For Sarawak?

Membership has its privileges, Azmin tells SNAP

By Clara Chooi

March 05, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

Comments by Sarawak Headhunter in red.

 

SNAP should not consort with PR’s rivals if it intends to remain part of the pact, said Azmin. — file pic 

Who SNAP consorts with is entirely up to SNAP and none of Azmin's or any other Malayan's business. SNAP will do what is best for Sarawak and Sarawakians, not for Malaya and Malayans.

If the cost of "privileged" membership is having to be dictated to by Anwar and Azmin, who know or care absolutely nothing about Sarawak and Sarawakians, SNAP should forgo it.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — PKR deputy president Azmin Ali has told Sarawak National Party (SNAP) to subscribe to Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) policies if it wanted its demands accommodated in seat negotiations for the coming state polls. 

What are PR's policies, poll manipulation like seen in the recent PKR polls? What does PKR or PR know or care about Sarawak, other than as a stepping stone to Putrajaya? Why should a pure Sarawakian party like SNAP have to subscribe to PKR or PR's Malayo-centric policies which are totally irrelevant to Sarawak?

 

The leader also warned the local party against rubbing shoulders with PR’s rivals in the state, claiming that the pact was growing “uncomfortable” with reports of such occurrences.

This is exactly what Malayans don't understand about Sarawak and why PKR/PR is so short-sighted. Sarawakians, no matter what the rhetoric of their politics, don't regard fellow Sarawakians as enemies in the manner that Malayans do their fellow Malayans who may be of differing political opinions or parties. 

To a large measure, this kind of polarisation of Sarawak politics was fostered by the Malayans and taken full advantage of by Taib and his cronies in a completely non-Sarawakian way totally alien to Sarawakians.

All Sarawakians know this and do not wish to see a repeat, whether by BN or PKR/PR. Is this so difficult for Malayans to understand?

Does Azmin think that everyone in the Sarawak BN supports Taib?

 
“They (SNAP) have to decide the future of the party. If they want to be a member of PR, then subscribe to our policies.

SNAP must and will remain independent, even if pro-opposition. In the face of the colonial mindset of Malayans like Anwar and Azmin, this is imperative. Who else will remain to protect the interests of Sarawak and Sarawakians if all opposition parties were to subscribe to policies of PKR/PR that are not beneficial to Sarawak and Sarawakians?

“They should not discuss matters with rivals. They have done it quite in the open, too, and we are sending a strong message to them that if you want to be a part of PR, then certainly you have to adhere to our policies,” he told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

Sarawakians do not hide things like the Malayans do. Those who are our rivals today may not be our rivals tomorrow. Which Sarawakian (let alone those in SNAP) gives a flying pig's arse about Azmin's "strong message"? He can shove it where the sun doesn't shine! (With Sarawak Headhunter's unrepentant apologies for the "strong" language).

Azmin added that once SNAP was willing to establish its commitment to PR, the pact would be willing to “accommodate” the party’s demands in seat negotiations for the impending state polls.

All Azmin's talk of "accomodation" is mere hypocrisy and a sheer lie. What happened to the promises of "autonomy" for Sarawak and Sabah? Begin NOW! There should be no comment or interference from Anwar or Azmin. Let the State leadership of PKR/PR decide. 

Rumours have placed Sarawak’s next state elections as early as the first week of April with talk that Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud will likely dissolve the state assembly by March 19.

The Sarawak government’s mandate expires in July this year.

“But they have to decide... then, we can accommodate. Then, we are open to discussions,” he said.

Actually, it's the other way around. Show some sincerity and less hypocrisy and maybe SNAP will be more open to discussions and more amenable to cooperate.

The Sarawak-based SNAP, PR’s newest ally in the east Malaysian state, and the coalition’s three core parties of PKR, DAP and PAS, are believed to have reached a deadlock in negotiations over how to divide the 71 state seats up for grabs among themselves in the looming contest.

This is only because of interference from the Malayans. Does anyone think that even Najib/UMNO or the Federal BN will dare to interfere with Sarawak BN's (Taib's) choice of candidates? Why should the Sarawak PR opposition have to listen to any Malayan then? Are Malayans the masters of Sarawakians and are Sarawakians their slaves? 

The Malaysian Insider understands that PKR hopes to take the lion’s share by fielding 52 candidates while SNAP is now demanding to contest in at least 30 constituencies, up two seats from the previous 28 it had contested during the 2006 polls.

DAP is seeking to field 20 candidates while PAS is content with about four or five seats.

Even accommodating the bulk of SNAP's requests (not demands as mischievously put by The Malaysian Insider) say up to 26 seats, PKR will have at least 22 seats, DAP 20 seats and PAS should not have more than 3 to contest, if winnability is to be the main factor.

Of these seats, Sarawak Headhunter predicts the outcome to be 37:34, whether in favour of PR or BN, with up to 8 seats which can go either way. DAP may win up to 12 seats, PAS 1 or 2, PKR 11 and SNAP 12, (total 36 or 37) giving a very bare majority for PR to govern.

In such circumstances, PR will need not only to hang on to all its ADUNs but also to attract a significant number from BN to be able to govern comfortably. In other words, PR will need all the friends it can get and so does not need Azmin's "advice" about not discussing matters with rivals.

Tedwin Ngumbang's independent faction must also be taken into account. This group could be the one to tip the balance either way. 

But Azmin also stressed that negotiations would be based on consensus among all four PR parties and focus would be on the “winnability” of the candidates.

This "consensus" must not be forced upon Sarawak by Malaya.

“We have to look at the seats and at the candidates. There must be a formula for winnability because this is of paramount importance to us in the elections,” he reasoned.

Azmin revealed that he would be flying to Sarawak today to meet with local PR leaders on the issue.

“There are presently some overlapping seats and we need to discuss this. This will be the main agenda of my meeting with the state leadership and hopefully, I will be able to bring back some good news to the PR leadership.

“What is important is that we are able to conclude this whole exercise quickly and amicably,” he said.

Hopefully more amicably than the PKR polls.
 

Azmin, however, claimed that his presence in Sarawak was not to dictate terms to the state leadership but to obtain feedback to update PR’s national leadership.

Ya lah tu!

“We always try as much as we can not to intervene in their process, but of course, certainly we will have a role to play if there is an overlap in any seat.

You don't have any role to play, period!

“Then, we will provide assistance and advice,” he said.

Who believes this guy?

However, Azmin expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved in time for the pact to ready itself for the crucial polls.

“I believe in the wisdom of the Sarawak leadership. I am sure we will be able to strike a balance,” he said.

Only without interference from Anwar or Azmin and other Malayans.

In an interview with The Malaysian Insider earlier, Azmin had said that SNAP should contest in fewer seats.

PKR has many more unwinnable candidates, unlike SNAP. Why should SNAP give way on this? It is PKR and PAS who should contest in fewer seats.

He also said that negotiations with the local party would begin with “nothing more than three seats”.

What an insult! If this represents PR's "accomodation" and sincerity, then SNAP will be justified to reject it outright.

 

It is likely that SNAP will clash with PKR as both are eyeing constituencies with Dayak and Iban majorities, while DAP will move in on Chinese-majority urban centres.

There will be no clash if PKR acknowledges the reality on the ground, that SNAP has a better chance in many of the constituencies with Dayak and Iban majorities (especially against PRS and SPDP) that PKR is under the mistaken impression it can win.

Sarawak Barisan Nasional presently holds 63 of the 71 seats in the Sarawak legislative assembly.

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) holds 12 seats while its BN partners Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) hold eight seats each.

Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), helmed by Taib, holds the majority with 35 seats.

An English-language daily reported earlier this week that speculations have now indicated that the state assembly may be dissolved as early as March 19 while nominations would likely be set for April 2 and polling day on April 9.

Taib has four months until the assembly is automatically dissolved on July 23.

Taib's political life and that of BN Sarawak is at an end, provided the State PR does the right thing without any interference from Malaya.

Let The Baram Be Dammed?

BARAM DAM A GIFT FROM GOD TO THE PEOPLE OF TELANG USAN?

My dear brothers, sisters, anak-anak, cucu-cucu from the Orang Ulu communities and the Dayak Iban and Bidayuh.

My name is LAKE’ JARO’. Nice meeting you all again to listen to this old Penan rumbling from deep in the jungle.

BARAM DAM A GIFT FROM GOD TO THE PEOPLE OF TELANG USAN:

According to our Yang Bohong Lihan Jok, ADUN Telang Usan.

The location of the dam across the Baram River will be between the inflows of the Sungai Patah and Sungai Kahah from the left and Sungai Hit from the right, as going upstream.The height of the main Baram dam would be 162 m (520 FEET) above foundation level. The closest longhouse to the dam will be 520 feet under water. The dam structure across the Baram River has a crest length of 685 m and the crest level is 180 m above sea level. The construction would be designed as a roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam. Due to the topographical conditions in the project area, a 70m high Saddle dam will be constructed approximately 5 Km south-west of the project site.

Who are affected by the Baram dam?

At least 20,000 indigenous peoples will be affected and displaced by the dam. These peoples are the Kayans, Kenyahs and Penans whose longhouses and villages are situated along the course of Baram River valley, locally known as Telang Usan. Their settlements are well located on below, above and around of the project site.The downstream longhouses/villages are Long Laput, Sungai Dua, Sri Kenawan, Uma Bawang, Long Miri (Daleh Pelutan), Long Pilah and Long Kesseh.

In the upstream and within the dam reservoir area are Long Na’ah, Long Liam, Long San, Patah, Long Selatong (Kiri & Kanan), Long Apu, Long Julan Asal, Long Julan Pelutan, Long Anap, Long Palai, Long Je’eh, Long Moh, Long Sela’an and Long Semiyang as well as some villages in Akah River that are Long Beku, Ba Abang, Long Tap and Long Tebangan.

The Baram dam would submerge an area of 38,900 hectares (389 sq km) (note by Sarawak Headhunter: more than half the size of Singapore) of land and forest. The area is 90%  native customary land, and consists of pulau galau, pemakai menoa, temuda, cultivated lands, gardens, villages, churches, graveyards, community forests and sites of historical significant. The people are going to lose their longhouses, villages, properties, way of life, their pride their very soul.

This mean that more than 50% of the Kenyah Longhouses and people, 45% of the Kelabit longhouses and people and 80% of the Penans in the Telang Usan area are going to be relocated like animals to a holding area like Sungai Asap. Imagine the chaos, the destruction of their life and the misery the displaced people will suffer. The Dam will be built very soon and YET THERE IS NO PLAN FOR THE AFFECTED PEOPLE PUT FORWARD BY THE GOVERNMENT UP TO THIS DATE.

The construction of Baram dam will create a catchment area of 896,600 hectares (8,966 sq.km) (note by Sarawak Headhunter: more than 10 times the size of Singapore) for an installed capacity of 830 MW. Within the catchment area are some major settlements of indigenous communities: the Kayans, Kenyahs, Kelabits, Sabens and Penans.

The dam will submerge the existing government schools, Medical clinics, airstrip and other building facilities.

Who will benefit from the Dam?:

The chief minister and family and cronies. Their company will team up with the Chinese company to construct the dam. Taib Mahmud's company will supply all the materials for the dam while collecting and selling all the timbers within the 896,600 hectare catchment area. Selling the timber will give Taib Mahmud and family hundreds of million of ringgits. Taib will also use our money to construct the access road to the dam. OUR YBs Lihan Jok and Jacob Dungau Sagan will get the crumbs and the right to stand as BN candidates during the coming elections, for their roles in helping Taib to ROB and “KILL” the Kayans, Kenyahs, Kelabit and Penan of Telang Usan. Sadly for US we chose  to lose everything for helping to Vote YB Lihan Jok and YB Jacob Dungau Sagan. So I think the Orang Ulu and the Dayaks deserve to be poor by their own choice.

To construct the dam the government will borrow money to the tunes of Billions of ringgit. People like us will pay for the loan through increased taxes, cut in subsidies etc. Taib Mahmud and family has grabbed all and put their monies overseas as exposed by Sarawak Report.

YB LIHAN JOK's area will not be affected physically by the DAM. His Longhouse at Long Bedian will not be flooded even though the PATAH area will be flooded. However he will be very happy because all the wild animals such as the Babi, Kijang, Rusa etc..etc will move to the Apoh area as the animals escape from the 38900 hectares of flooded area in Baram. So he can organize hunting trips with Jabu, James Masing and William Mawan.

So to conclude, the Baram Dam is a gift from God to YB LIHAN JOK and cronies BUT A DEATH PENALTY FOR THE PEOPLE OF TELANG USAN. OUR ONLY WAY OUT IS TO VOTE THE BN OUT IN THE NEXT ELECTION. HIDUP PAKATAN RAKYAT!......

I am,  yours sincerely 
Lake’ Jaro’
Penan Lung Late’

Please listen to www.radiofreesarawak.org

Open Letter From "Pemancha Lun Dayeh"

BE STRONG, BE COURAGEOUS!!!

To all my anak-anak Lun Dayeh,

After more than half a century of so called independence, finally I see some glimmer of hope for my people. Finally my people are beginning to wake up albeit only a handful. May I encourage those who had contributed to these email loops, people like Buraksem, Bujang Tugun, Penghulutg, Lake Jaro, Tua Kampung Long Kavuk, Bavui Uve, Dick Bala, Bit, Ding and the others to continue to give inputs into these loops. As the Sarawak General Election draws ever closer, let us intensify our efforts.

Do not be discouraged, be strong and be courageous. After the prophet Elijah had that dramatic confrontation with the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel was after his head, he fled to the wilderness. While totally exhausted and lonely, he cried out to God to take his life as he thought he alone was left to make a stand for God, and God told him "there are 7000 people, which He reserved, people who had never bent their knees to Baal. Thus in this struggle one can often feel lonely - remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

For the majority in these email loops allow me to gently remind you, STOP being so passive, STOP being so comfortable in your little corner, in the comfort of your home, STOP that indifferent attitude. START becoming more active and proactive. When we all do our little part, it will make it much easier to achieve our target - positive change, justice and fairness, progress and prosperity for our people. Martin Luther King said "the thing that hurts the most is not the laughter of our enemies, it is the silence of our friends".

Over the last few days the papers have been full of strange statements from the powers that be, specifically the Sarawak state leaders. Maklumlah TOK Uban baru kahwin, he even equates politics to men courting beautiful girls. In his version BN is the honest, sincere man while PR is the manipulative, insincere man who only wants to take advantage of the beautiful girl. However in many people's mind, the fact that all the top leaders are having mistresses and girlfriends every where is not because they are honest, sincere, or attractive - it is mainly because of money, glamour and power.

Tok Uban also talks about his "shock" at the deprived state of the people of Pulau Bruit. And he "pleaded" with the relevant authorities to do something to ease their suffering as many of them were and are malnourished - is he not "the King" of Sarawak? Is it not that his word is law? Besides that he and Jabu have been telling the whole world that Sarawak is the top three most developed and richest state in Malaysia.

When he says "yes" who in the government would dare to say "no"? He also said he could not resign because he could not find a suitable qualified successor. My goodness, what  is wrong with this guy? Nobody in this world is indispensable. One thing is certain, he is too "shok" with his new bride, that he is still in dreamland. There are many more things under my observation, due to time constraints, I will share with you all another time.

In the mean time let us be aware, and consciously remind ourselves that this is the season where wickedness and lies will spread like wild fire and be uttered by the very people that our poor people trust and look up to. This is the season where the powers that be will promise  the sky, the moon, and the stars. And this is the season where people with itchy ears will again choose to believe those empty promises. To all anak-anak Lun Dayeh I urge you all to think clearly, rationally, and wisely. Your future and the future of our people is in your hands. So vote wisely!!! God bless us all.

Pemancha.

Will The FBI Investigate Taib?

February 26, 2011

FBI’s Seattle office to see embarrassing anti-corruption protest

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL / SWITZERLAND

Anti-Taib protests are spreading to the United States – US government asked to investigate allegations of the late former Taib aide and whistleblower Ross Boyert

SEATTLE / SAN FRANCISCO (US) The global campaign against Sarawak’s billionaire Chief Minister-cum-illegal logging tycoon, Abdul Taib Mahmud (“Taib”), is gaining further momentum. Yesterday, human rights groups and environmental campaigners in the US announced a picketing campaign outside Taib properties in Seattle and San Francisco. Similar protests will be held next week in the UK and Canada. 

The Seattle protest (on Thursday 3 March) will be particularly embarrassing for the US authorities. It is being held outside the Taib-owned Abraham Lincoln building in downtown Seattle, a property held through Wallysons Inc, which hosts no less than the FBI’s Northwestern Regional Headquarters! What a shame that the FBI, an institution set up to uphold the fight for justice and against corruption and money-laundering, is renting its premises from a well-known Malaysian criminal kleptocrat!

Wallysons’ chairman is Taib’s son, Sulaiman (Rahman) Taib, while Taib’s Canadian son-in-law, Sean Murray, is its president. Taib is one of South East Asia’s most corrupt politicians and the chief culprit for the destructive logging of several hundred thousand hectares of Borneo rainforest. Last week, the Swiss Bruno Manser Fund published a blacklist of 49 Taib companies in eight countries which are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of US dollars.

The San Francisco protest (on Wednesday 9 March) is being held outside the Citibank branch at 260 California Street in the city’s historical centre. The building is the seat of Taib’s Sakti International Corporation, which used to be headed by the late Ross Boyert. After having been dismissed by the Taibs, Boyert filed legal action against Sakti at a San Francisco court in early 2007. In September 2010, Boyert was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel. In an interview with Sarawak Report given weeks before his death, Boyert said he and his family had been harassed and terrorized by Taib agents ever since he had filed the case.

The Bruno Manser Fund, together with an international NGO coalition against Taib timber corruption, is asking the US authorities to freeze all Taib assets in the United States and to investigate the former Taib aide and whistleblower Ross Boyert’s allegations against the Taibs and the circumstances of his death.

- Ends -

Details of planned anti-Taib street campaigns in the United States:

Seattle: Thursday, 3 March 2011, 12:00 p.m. outside the FBI Northwestern Regional Headquarters at 1110 3rd Avenue (corner Spring St)

San Francisco: Wednesday, 9 March 2011, 10:00 a.m. outside Citibank at 260 California Street

Phone contact for the United States:

Brihannala Morgan, The Borneo Project, Berkeley, California Tel. +1 415 341 7051

www.borneoproject.org

International campaign coordination: Bruno Manser Fund, Basel, Switzerland +41 61 261 94 74

www.stop-timber-corruption.org, timber-corruption@bmf.ch

Sources used for this release:  www.sarawakreport.org; research by the Bruno Manser Fund.

Follow our campaign on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmfonds 

High Noon For Taib In Ottawa 28th February 2011

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL / SWITZERLAND

24 February 2011

For immediate release

Canadian government under fire over Taib ties

Human rights and environmental campaigners criticize the Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government for renting office space from the kleptocratic Malaysian Taib family. –

International campaigners call for a probe into the rental contracts worth millions of dollars

OTTAWA (CANADA) Days ahead of announced street protests against Taib family properties in downtown Ottawa and central London, the Canadian government is coming under fire over its close business ties with the Taibs. A number of ministries of the Canadian federal government and the Ontario provincial government are renting their office space from Sakto corporation which is being controlled by the powerful and extremely corrupt Malaysian Taib family.

Sakto corporation, an Ottawa property developer, was founded in 1983 by Onn Mahmud, the brother of the then newly-elected Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud (“Taib”). Its rapid development has allegedly been funded with illegal timber trade kickbacks channelled through two Hong Kong businesses funded by Onn Mahmud and an accomplice in the same year. Today, Sakto and its subsidiaries in the UK and the US are estimated to be worth several hundred million Canadian dollars. They are being directed by Taib’s daughter Jamilah Taib and her Canadian husband Sean (Hisham) Murray.

No less than eleven Ontario Government Ministries are occupying offices at Sakto’s Preston Square site in downtown Ottawa. These include the Ministry of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Ministry of Health Promotion, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the Ministry of Transportation. Another Sakto building at 2745 Iris Street is occupied by federal government of Canada offices.

Mutang Urud, an indigenous leader from Sarawak who has been living in exile in Canada since the 1990s said: "It is disgusting to think that the Canadian government would be renting office space from the Taibs who are running such an oppressive government in Sarawak. This is a shame and I hope it is being done out of ignorance. There should have been due diligence. A probe should be launched into the Canadian and Ontario government rental contracts with Sakto and there must be consequences."

Mutang was arrested and placed in solitary confinement by the Taib government in February 1992 for running the Sarawak Indigenous Peoples' Association (SIPA). He will be leading a street campaign protest in front of Sakto’s 333 Preston Street premises in Ottawa on coming Monday, 28 February, at noon.

- Ends -

Please contact us for further information:

Mutang Urud, Montreal, +1 514 746-4811
International campaign coordination, Basel (Switzerland) +41 61 261 94 74

Sources used for this release: www.sarawakreport.org; research by BMF.

Bruno Manser Fonds, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel / Switzerland, +41 61 261 94 74
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-timber-corruption.org
Follow our campaign on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmfonds

Winds Of Change - A Better Sarawak

Further Confirmation That Anwar & PKR Do Not Know Or Care About Sarawak & Sabah

PKR risks irrelevance in Sabah and Sarawak

Joe Fernandez | February 13, 2011 Free Malaysia Today

Anwar Ibrahim has made far too many mistakes in the two states.

COMMENT

PETALING JAYA: No matter how one looks at the political situation in Sabah and Sarawak, PKR risks irrelevance there. Its continuing spin on Pakatan Rakyat’s agenda for change and reform will never work in the two states because it excludes the Borneo Agenda.

Sabah and Sarawak do not fit into the “Malay, Chinese, Indian” mould of Peninsular Malaysia. (Read “natives” for “Indians” for the two states.) Neither are the Sabah and Sarawak natives like the unfortunate Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia. They cannot be wished away from the political mainstream.

Newly appointed Sabah PKR chief Pajudin Nordin’s departure from the party to sign up with Umno tells it all.

Pajudin, in a harsh statement, expressed disappointment in de facto party chief Anwar Ibrahim and the latter’s wife and party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. He accused Anwar, in particular, of “making fools of Sabahans” and “not serious” about handling issues in the state.

Ironically, Pajudin was picked for the post by Anwar himself over the strenuous objections of the overwhelming majority of the 26 division chiefs in Sabah and Labuan. They felt that Pajudin’s appointment would be against the seniority ranking in the Sabah chapter. Besides, it raised issues of breach of protocol.

Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew tried to reason with Anwar during the party’s pre-Chinese New Year supreme council meet in Kuala Lumpur. She suggested that Wan Azizah take over as the Sabah chief until the general election.

Anwar, reportedly, was adamantly against his wife taking over. He pointed out that there were many factions in Sabah PKR, a point which Liew conceded. Still, that did not explain why the state chief could not be elected by peers or, failing that, why the party president could not hold the post temporarily.

Anwar himself was Sabah PKR chief for two months in 2009 before handing the job over to then vice-president Azmin Ali who had to leave, also after two months, under somewhat unhappy circumstances. To add insult to injury, Azmin was accused of flogging Ketuanan Melayu in Sabah, where only the illegal immigrants with MyKads are classified as Malays.

Peace plan

Again, as in late 2010, Anwar could have defused the crisis in Sabah in late 2009 by allowing the divisions chiefs to elect their own leader. Instead, Jeffrey Kitingan’s election was rejected by Anwar – “no way in hell will I have Jeffrey Kitingan, a Christian, as the party chief in Sabah” – and Libaran division chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini was appointed instead as the state chief.

The so-called Sabah peace plan that was drawn up by four party stalwarts – Tian  Chua, Chua Jui Meng, David Yeoh and Michael Bong – managed to buy some time for the party by getting Jeffrey to accept the rejection of his quit letter and winning Thamrin an uneasy peace.

Save for Liew’s appointment as state deputy chief, the rest of the Sabah peace plan was never honoured by Anwar himself. This was one reason why Jeffrey recently quit the party for the second time.

Pajudin was the same mistake that Anwar made with Thamrin. The difference is that Anwar can no longer flog another peace plan in the state after having reneged on the one in late 2009.

There was no alternative, late last month, but for the party headquarters to ask Pajudin to relinquish his post. Anyone in the newly appointed state chief’s position would have felt utterly small and humiliated. So, he struck back in the only way that he could – defect to Umno and, in the process, dredge up PKR’s unsavoury past in Sabah.

PKR is living on borrowed time in Sabah and Sarawak. This issue must be considered seriously by DAP and PAS, PKR’s allies in the opposition alliance, along with SNAP.

Already, former Pakatan co-ordinator Zaid Ibrahim’s Kita is poised to open local chapters in the two Borneo states. Zaid himself is reportedly not in favour of the move but he has apparently confessed to members of his inner circle that he cannot stop those who want the party to have a presence in Sabah and Sarawak.

Nevertheless, he has since pledged that Kita in Sabah and Sarawak will be completely independent of the party in Peninsular Malaysia. All three chapters of the party will make common cause in a Barisan Kita, which will work with other Third Force components on both sides of the South China Sea.

Fighting chance

Kita’s presence in Sabah and Sarawak is likely to cost PKR the Muslim votes. In Sarawak, SNAP has broken ranks with Pakatan and is bent on fielding candidates in all 28 Dayak state seats. The party sees no reason why any of these seats should go to PKR, DAP or PAS.

Jeffrey, who has parked himself meanwhile at the United Borneo Front (UBF), an NGO, is torn between taking over Setia in Sabah or the Borneo Alliance Party (BAP) in Sarawak. An answer should come soon enough after Chap Goh Meh.

The launch of a political wing for UBF will signal an exodus of the Dusuns and Chinese, in particular, from PKR. If Jeffrey’s new political vehicle is Borneo-based, he may attract his supporters in Sarawak as well at the expense of PKR.

If PKR wants to have a fighting chance in Sabah and Sarawak, the party headquarters and Anwar, in particular, must stop micro-managing the affairs of the local chapters.

Most of PKR’s troubles in Sabah and Sarawak are the result of Anwar making decisions on the basis of reports from his known proxies in the two states. He sees no need to keep the doors open, give a hearing to all and keep the lines of communication open.

If the state chapters in Sabah and Sarawak can be hived off as independent entities, so much the better. Alternatively, Anwar must not hinder the division chiefs from electing their own state chiefs.

Above all, Pakatan’s agenda for change and reform in Malaysia must embrace the Borneo Agenda. Otherwise, it risks being a fish out of water in Sabah and Sarawak.

Is Anwar & The So-Called "Top Leadership" of PKR Stupid?

Sarawak is facing a state election which many feel will be held by May this year. Is the opposition really ready? More precisely, is PKR really in the position to assume leadership of the opposition?

By most accounts, it is going to be a mother of all elections. For one thing, there is little doubt that the ruling coalition is facing its toughest test as the present Chief Minister is probably at the tail end of his long and controversial political life. For another, there is the question of a successor administration: who, or which group will wear the mantle of state leadership after the current one is eased out?

It is an open secret that there are a few possible centres of power on both sides of the political divide that are beginning to emerge and they are all working to carve out their own political lebensraum in post-election Sarawak. Speculations about the state BN involve, among others, on who will take the plum post of Chief Minister? Will it go, no matter how briefly, to a long servile, subservient and suffering Dayak leader? Or will a more upstanding and capable one be brought back from KL to Sarawak to take over the reins? But that is not our concern today. Our focus here is the state opposition, particularly PKR and its state of affairs.

For a while now the party presumes that it is the lead organization in the opposition. There is ample evidence for this presumption. For instance, in the allocation of seats, PKR makes the argument that it should take the lion share of seats to be contested in Sarawak.

Does PKR Sarawak deserve this role of lead organization which it feels entitles it to take a big chunk of seats available for contest in the coming election? Let us look at the facts.

First, let us look at the structural design of the party as a whole. PKR is a national party which is led by the President and the Central Leadership Council in Kuala Lumpur. There are a lot of advantages to being a national party, just as there are a number of disadvantages as well. Of the latter, lets look at the request for some form of autonomy, for instance. Some in PKR Sarawak have been clamouring for some form of local autonomy so that local leaders could decide on matters at their own level. Admittedly, there have been promises of some form of local decision-making but that is as far as it has gone. Promises were believed to have been made, but not delivered. In the ill-fated adventure of the Batang Ai by-election for instance, the eventual selection of the candidate was believed to have been against local and formal recommendations. In other words, the Centre (Kuala Lumpur) has tended to be deaf and blind to local conditions and opinions.

Second, there is the matter of state PKR leadership. In the last five years there have been at least five state leaders. First there was Dato’ Hafsah Harun*, an elder statesperson, then there was YB Dominic Ng who was succeeded by Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Mustaffa Kamal Ayub and finally by Baru Bian himself. Five state heads in five years do not bode well for organizational stability, no matter how good the heads are. Indeed, it makes Sarawak PKR very much like the Italy of the post-war years, where governments rise and fall with unnerving frequency.

Why were there such frequent changes in Sarawak state heads by the Central leadership under Anwar Ibrahim? One explanation is that PKR Sarawak is wrecked by factionalism. There are simply too many groups that seemed to be able to reach the top of the decision-making structure in Kuala Lumpur. Changes were made seemingly without too much consideration for stability and long term impact. Thus very often people who should have stayed much longer to effect more changes and strength for the party in Sarawak found their services terminated because the central leadership was listening more to their rivals’ arguments.

Third, the present PKR Sarawak is divided into a number of informal spheres of influence. As a multiracial party, this is not supposed to happen. But the reality is that the Bidayuhs have one informal paramount leader; the Orangs Ulu another, the Ibans yet another. Likewise, the Malay-Melanau also have one paramount leader, although his hold on this position appears to remain tenuous.

The bulk of PKR apparent strength, such as it has been, is found in the Dayak areas (Iban, Orang Ulu, and Bidayuh). As for the Malay-Melanau areas, the party has not been making much inroads, except for constituencies in the Betong Division. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the party could find really suitable candidates for most of the coastal constituencies (Malay and Melanau). How is this possible? What are the missing ingredients here? Why focus on inland constituencies and be basically non-existent in coastal ones? What is at play here? The Central leadership of PKR in Kuala Lumpur has a lot to answer for this.

Fourth, a number of observers are convinced that PKR is not serious about the state party politics. The argument goes something like this: so long as a particular seat goes to the opposition, it matters little which party it belongs to because it is in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and PKR is the head organization in PR. This being the case although the Centre would prefer that people identify themselves with PKR, it is not absolutely necessary that this should happen.

Fifth, there is the matter of current developments in the party. To many observers, that PKR Sarawak is in turmoil is the product of constant manoeuvres by different and differing factions. There was, it was said, a very recent move to remove the current head, Baru Bian which led to the man losing his post in the Central level. Then there is another unresolved problem: who is supposed to run in which constituency? Different lists are said to be proffered to the Central leadership for consideration. There are other goings on as well, but these are perhaps best left unstated.

Sixth, there is the curious role of the party’s apparent “courtiers” who have evidently attached themselves to the party’s state leadership. They have been making outrageous statements in which they tried to ridicule fellow opposition parties and their leaders. These publicists and “courtiers” ought to exhibit statesmanship and bold plans for collective actions. Instead, they have tried to seek sympathy by their outbursts. Are they trying to push political parties out of Pakatan in Sarawak?

For a party which is of very recent vintage, the impact of these internal struggles has been debilitating for PKR Sarawak, to say the least. Many potential supporters feel that this is a party that “cannot shoot straight”. PKR Sarawak would want to lead the coalition against the state government in the coming election but clearly it is in no position to do so. Structurally, it is organized in such a way that the top leadership under Anwar Ibrahim has continued to tinker with the state party machinery with unsettling frequency.

Further, powerful figures in PKR Sarawak seemed unable to stop undermining one another. Why, the latest spate of changes in the leadership musical chair happened only a few weeks ago. Furthermore, despite its multiracial stance and past efforts, the party is largely limited to Dayak support. Then there is this problem of terminal factionalism: it has stymied the party’s efforts in strengthening itself and election preparations, one or two exceptions notwithstanding.

Sarawak PKR appears to be wallowing in a morass of its own making. And for this it has to thank its many local factions and their allegedly multiple candidates’ lists and the interventionism of its Central leadership in Kuala Lumpur.

Is PKR therefore ready for the coming election? Time will tell. For the moment, PKR Sarawak certainly appears to be preoccupied with what observers have euphemistically refer to as “internal matters.”

TOMAS MADANG ANAK IJAU
PKR Member, Kota Samarahan

*Note: The first PKR Liaison Head for Sarawak was Yusuf Abdul Rahman, whom Anwar, Azizah & certain other PKR leaders tried to sideline under instigation of the Kuching PKR Mafia led by Hapsah Harun. Yusuf left in disgust after the 1999 Parliamentary Elections when his position continued to be undermined by the PKR leadership themselves and no action was taken by PKR against Hapsah Harun for supporting Dominique Ng who stood as an independent candidate against BN and DAP.

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2011

 

A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR 2011

Anwar's Annus Horribilis

Anwar Ibrahim’s Annus Horribilis
 


The Decline of a False Martyr
 By Roy Thinnes

WikiLeaks has shown us many interesting things, though perhaps nothing as epochal as the silver-maned Julian Assange would have us think. The conduct of American foreign policy in private turns out to be remarkably like its conduct in public: the State Department is motivated by concepts of naked self-interest just like any national bureaucracy, but revelations of American hypocrisy are remarkably absent.

Revelations of foreign-power hypocrisy, by contrast, are rampant in the WikiLeaks cables, and none more stark than that of Malaysia’s own Anwar Ibrahim.

The perennial opposition leader and putative Islamic democrat is in an awkward position, as WikiLeaks has revealed a remarkably chatty Singaporean intelligence source opining on the nature of his present trial for sodomy. The trial, alert readers will recall, is Anwar’s second in about a decade. The first was widely seen as a nakedly political move by the authoritarian regime of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad; and the second is frequently condemned as such despite the present Prime Minister Najib Razak’s considerably more liberal record. All this may have to reassessed if what WikiLeaks’s Singaporean asserts is true.

The basics of the contention are these: the sodomy charge was indeed a “setup,” in the Singaporean’s words, but Anwar is also guilty. Worse, Anwar knew it was likely a “setup,” and walked into it anyway. This raises some interesting questions, if true:

Is Anwar Ibrahim simply a prisoner of his passions, to the extent that they override his sense of self-preservation?

Or, more intriguingly, did Anwar Ibrahim calculate that a second trial would redound to his long-term political benefit, as the first one assuredly did?

Anwar’s reaction to all this has been interesting to watch. Initially, he derided the revelations on his Twitter account as merely the products of Malaysian Special Branch speculation — hardly an unbiased source, especially in Anwar’s mental universe, wherein they are penetrated by Israeli agents. But then the opposition leader appeared to think better of this, and began threatening legal actions against Malaysian press that reported on the allegations. This last action is, of course, inconsistent with the liberal, democratizing image he wishes to present to the West — and it is also suggestive of a bit of desperation, as if a well-laid plan has gone terribly awry.

This concluding drama of 2010 closes Anwar Ibrahim’s own annus horribilis, which he began in a position of considerable political strength, and which ends now in mounting questions about his political viability and personal integrity.

At the turn of the previous New Year, Anwar had come off some disappointing elections that did not, as he had predicted, result in his assumption of the Prime Ministerial office. He was therefore busy demagoguing, with some success, the Prime Minister’s engagement of a public-relations firm with past business in Israel. This led directly into his first major misstep, as he slid into outright anti-Semitic rhetoric in the early spring. As this attracted notice in an incredulous Western press — long used to the narrative of Anwar as a benevolent figure of tolerance — he compounded it by publicly blaming the United States for the Gaza-flotilla incident, and leading a crowd of thousands shouting anti-American slogans at the American Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. As a consequence, by mid-June there was substantive US press noting, with some shock, that Anwar Ibrahim appeared to be less of an appealing Islamic democrat, and more of an anti-American Jew-baiter.

The direct result of this? A public letter from B’nai B’rith to the US Secretary of State and Congressional leaders, urging American policymakers to wholly shun Anwar — a stunning turnabout for an erstwhile darling of the US foreign-policy establishment.

Stung by these admittedly rather justified charges, Anwar was forced to spend much of the summer touring Europe and North America, apologizing to his liberal (and Jewish) friends in both, and exhorting audiences to remember that he was himself a victim of persecution. This worked to some extent, but it’s fair to say that he returned to Malaysia with a battered image in the one constituency he counted on most: Western liberal sentiment.

Incredible as it may seem, things got worse when Anwar returned to the United States in September, apparently in the wake of Prime Minister Najib’s trip to the UN General Assembly. Incautious as ever with social media, he Twittered that while in America, he visited the International Institute for Islamic Thought, prompting some curious observers to make inquiries into the nature of the IIIT. The past ninety days have therefore seen a series of articles in American media outlets, revealing much of Anwar Ibrahim’s past to the US audience. Key points include:

Anwar co-founded the IIIT nearly three decades ago as a Muslim-Brotherhood front organization in the United States.

Anwar’s IIIT has been named in Muslim Brotherhood documents seized by the FBI as a key Islamic-radical front organization in the United States.

Anwar’s IIIT is directly responsible for coining and promulgating the word “Islamophobia” as a tactic to discredit critics of radical Islam.

Anwar apparently remains on the board of the IIIT.

Anwar may have benefitted from Muslim-Brotherhood funding, possibly routed via Turkish sources. (This may, if confirmed, explain Anwar’s decision to flee to the Turkish Embassy in Kuala Lumpus when his most recent indictment was announced.)

Anwar may have benefitted from funding sources within Saudi Arabia, by way of his Muslim Brotherhood connections.

Note that there are many questions awaiting confirmation in this list. What Anwar has done, with his eager demagoguery, his Jew-baiting, and his general incaution, is make these questions rational and plausible. We may rest assured that intrepid journalists are even now seeking their answers.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia itself, Anwar’s errors of 2010 haunt him on several fronts. His campaign against Jewish influence, which seemed so tactically promising at its inception, will now likely result in a punitive suspension from the Malaysian parliament at the hands of its Rules Committee. Within his own party, cracks are beginning to show: noted Malaysian liberal and reformer Zaid Ibrahim recently stormed out of Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat party, charging corruption and a cult of personality about its leader. This is a loss of credibility the embattled leader can ill afford.

As this year drew to a close, nearly every advantage that Anwar Ibrahim held at its beginning has been frittered away — except, perhaps, his rectitude vis a vis his sodomy trial.

Now, with WikiLeaks, that may be gone too. If it is, all that will be left of the Anwar Ibrahim that once traveled the world as a champion of democracy, transparency, and liberalism will be a discredited husk of a decidely amoral political opportunist. And it all happened in just one year.

Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

 

SEASON'S GREETINGS, MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 

How To Defeat BN In Next Sarawak State Elections In 2011

PRACTICAL THINGS TO DO TO DEFEAT THE BN IN THE NEXT SARAWAK STATE ELECTIONS IN 2011.

1.              Register as a voter.

2.             Ensure that all your friends and family members who are eligible register as voters. Every vote counts.

3.              Identify your polling area and state election boundaries.

4.              Identify how and where you and as many of your friends as you can gather and work together with want to be active. The opposition needs all the activists and supporters they can get to change the government. Change will not take place without effort. Each and every effort counts.

5.              Do not leave everything only to the political parties or their candidates – they may be overstretched and have insufficient resources. Volunteer your effort where necessary.

6.           These are a few areas you can be active in without having to be a member of any political party:

a.   Information – disseminate information through the various media available to you: the internet, newspapers, tv & radio, leaflets, pamphlets, newsletters, email, weblogs, etc. Translate where necessary.

b.   Get organized. Organize small groups of activists and supporters in each voting area or district with defined objectives. Every effort counts.

c.   Train as polling agents and counting agents – these are absolutely necessary and needed during the actual voting -and make yourselves known to the potential opposition candidates and parties who will be contesting in the areas where you can be active. Coordinate efforts.

d.   Get hold of the electoral roll (list of voters) for particular areas so that you know where and on whom to concentrate your efforts. Get to know and influence as many other voters as you can.

e.   Pool together resources and money for your own and your group’s activities or donate to the opposition candidates. They need all the resources and money they can get. Every sen counts.

7.              Ensure you have all the necessary permits for various activities during the election campaign, whether to campaign, speak, put up posters and banners or become polling or counting agents. Each candidate will be able to assist you in this.

8.              Do not be intimidated by BN’s machinery and propaganda. They depend on the voters to win. The opposition depends on the voters to win. Educate the voters.

9.               Do not be intimidated by BN’s use of money and projects to bribe the voters. Drum the message into the voters’ heads and hearts to take the money and vote against BN.

10.         Get together and form defences in each voting area, kampong and longhouse. Intimidate BN instead. Do not allow them any room to manouever and spread their propaganda or money. Put up prominent warning signs that action according to the law will be taken against any attempt by BN to intimidate voters or use money to bribe voters.

11.          If you are daring enough and have the numbers on your side, keep an eye on their agents, ambush them and take this money away from them. Use it for your own campaign activities. They will not dare to lodge any police reports because they will have to explain what they are doing with so much money during election time.

12.          Keep an eye on those who will be distributing money on behalf of BN and conducting activities which constitute electoral offences. Photograph, record and videotape them in action. This will not only intimidate them, but can also be used in court in the event of an election petition.

13.   Keep a sharp eye on all government officials and Election Commission staff, who will normally be up to no good during the whole of the election period. They will use government staff, machinery, equipment, vehicles, even helicopters to campaign for BN. Catch them in action on camera and video camera. This time make sure they cannot do so as freely as they have done in the past.

14.   Organize and mobilize transport of all forms, motorbikes, cars, vans, buses, not just for campaign purposes but also on the crucial voting days, to transport voters to and from the voting centres. Make sure that the voters turn out to cast their vote for the right candidates.

15.    Voters sympathetic to the opposition may not like it, but  in the event the opposition cannot supply enough transport, make sure that they use transport supplied by BN and still vote for the opposition.

16.   All these things need to be ORGANIZED. Do not take anything for granted or leave it to chance or think that someone else, especially the candidates and their party machinery, is doing it. YOU and your friends have to do it.  

17.    Add to these points. All ideas are welcome.

18.         Every victory against evil has a tipping point, and that tipping point could be you. Do not under-estimate your own strength.

19.   Do not expect any rewards or compensation from the political parties and their candidates. Victory against Taib and BN is reward in itself.

20.         Good luck! Allah does not change the fate of people unless they themselves make an effort to change for the better. May your efforts bear fruit and result in the overthrow of the evil Taib and BN regime for your own sake and that of your future generations.

Taib, Family & Cronies' Ownership of Mulu Resort