Will Zaid pull out?

Zaid, Nurul guessing game, pullouts , U-turns expected

Aidila Razak and Hafiz Yatim
Oct 15, 10

Question marks still remain over the candidates for the top PKR posts, with less than 24 hours left for aspirants to accept their nominations - or forfeit their chances.

Despite about a month of campaigning, doubts still surround the candidacy of political bureau member Zaid Ibrahim, with word that last minute negotiations are still taking place.

Zaid announced his ambition for the deputy presidency early in the game, but now speculation is rife that he may step aside for Lembah Pantai MP Nurual Izzah Anwar, who has also qualified to vie for the post.

Zaid (left) had earlier said he would back out if Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim wanted in. However, last week he threw a curve ball by proposing the same "deal" to Nurul Izzah.

The Nurul Izzah variable was put to rest when the latter failed to qualify by the nominations deadline of Oct 10 - but she was back in play, thanks to a surprise decision of the PKR headquarters yesterday.

Yesterday, secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution announced that the party had accepted late nominations from six divisions, including two which nominated Nurul Izzah for deputy president, thus allowing her to enter the race.

Zaid's offer to opt out in favour of Nurul Izzah is being read by some as a way for him to vie for the top post, a move with the potential of severely damaging his reputation.

Those in his inner circle, too, could not confirm his candidacy as of this evening, while Zaid has yet to release the official statement that he told Malaysiakini he would do today.

Candidates have until 5pm tomorrow to confirm acceptance of their candidacy, with Oct 24 scheduled for the annoucement of the names all contestants for central leadership posts.

Horse-trading still going on

It is believed that last minute horse-trading is going on in a bid to restrict the battle for No 2 to Azmin Ali and Khalid Ibrahim, with Nurul Izzah going for vice-president and Zaid bowing out to be appointed to a key party post later.

Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, the Perak PKR chief and another deputy president hopeful, was widely believed to be pulling out of the race - but he confirmed late yesterday that he is in the race till the end.

Met today, Nurul Izzah (right) appeared exasperated by the former de-facto law minister's statements, saying she was both shocked and unsure why her name was dragged in.

She had earlier expressed her intention to contest only the division chief's post, but later threw her hat into the vice-presidential race as the nominations came through.

"I have decided, but will make my official announcement tomorrow morning as it's a bit busy this afternoon with the budget announcement," she said.

Those close to the parliamentarian, who is the daughter of PKR presdient Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and party de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, believe she will not take up Zaid's offer.

If that is so, there are those close to Zaid who see him vying for the deputy presidency, making it a four-way fight, with Nurul Izzah focusing on the vice-presidency.

Adding further to the mystery was Nurul, who was spotted close together with Azmin as they headed for the tabling of the budget in Parliament today.

Some reporters observed the two engaged in serious discussion as they came out of the tower block, with speculation rife that they could be continuing with their earlier discussion - which may have been about tomorrow's PKR nominations.

This could be the reason why incumbent PKR Youth (known by its Malay acronym AMK) leader Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin is having second thoughts about contesting for vice-president.

Despite announcing his intention weeks ago, it is understood that Shamsul will only decide tonight and that he might make a U-turn, citing reasons like not wanting to leave AMK in a lurch.

This decision may ruffle those running for AMK chief, including Badrul Hisham Shahrin, better known as Chegubard, who had apparently helped campaign for Shamsul to garner ample nominations for vice-presidency.

"Badrul told me that he has to fulfill his promise to Shamsul, that is to get him nominated for vice-president and we did that," said Badrul's campaign manager and incumbent AMK exco Zulkifli Ibrahim.

While an about turn by Shamsul (right) may put off the AMK delegates, it is unlikely to unnerve them because of his lacklustre track record.

While he has managed the remarkable feat of boosting the number of AMK divisions, only about one-fourth were eligible to participate in the nomination process.

"Only one-fourth of the AMK divisions were eligible to send in nominations for this election. What does this say about Shamsul's leadership since he took over from (former AMK chief) Ezam Mohd Nor?" Zulkifli asked.

Word on the ground is that negotiations between Shamsul and AMK chief hopeful Rafizi Ramli are ongoing, with the latter said to be making way for the former to go for deputy instead.

Lee Boon Chye not contesting

Not all of the 25 people who qualified for vice-president will be in the fight, with only four candidates confirmed as of today.

They include Kapar MP S Manickavasagam, former PKR communications director Jonson Chong, Padang Serai parliamentarian N Gobalakrishnan and former Federal Territory PKR deputy chairperson R Sureshkumar.

Current vice-president Dr Lee Boon Chye, also Gopeng MP, had already indicated he was not interested in vying for any post in the central leadership in the upcoming party elections.

"This will allow me to focus on my work in my consituency as Gopeng MP, as well as divisional head of Keadilan Gopeng," he said, thanking central leaders Anwar Ibrahim, Wan Azizah and deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali for their support.

Over 200 members have also qualified to run for a spot in the supreme council.

Scalding feud in PKR

Boiling feud may scald PKR

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:32

By FMT Staff
PETALING JAYA: The sizzling battle between deputy presidential hopefuls Azmin Ali and Zaid Ibrahim could plunge the party into political oblivion.
Monash University's Prof James Chin warned that if the competition turned uglier, there would be little chance of reconciliation between the two camps after the election and that would spell a dark future for PKR.

He also noted that both leaders were crucial to rope in the votes.

“Azmin has stronger Malay support while Zaid is appealing to the non-Malays. PKR needs them and their supporters to make real impact in the next election,” he told FMT.

Azmin's latest campaign tactic of warning party members, during his speech at the Gombak division meeting last weekend, about a “new leader conspiring with the Umno media to destroy PKR” did not go down well with another observer.

Azmin had also slammed this “new leader” for openly questioning and mocking the party leadership.

While he did not mention names, it was obvious that he was referring to Zaid.

Centre of Policy Studies director Lim Teck Ghee defined the attack as an “escalation on Azmin's part to kill off Zaid.”

“I'm astonished that Azmin has descended to this level of personal and unnecessary attacks. This hitting-below-the-belt tactic may be indicative of a contender being driven to desperation.

“Unfortunately, it is also indicative of a party leadership in disarray and unable to rise above personal egos and individual considerations to close ranks on the more important battle,” he added.

While Lim was convinced that Azmin's attack would be dismissed as baseless by party members, Chin, however, felt otherwise.

He said many party members were still hesitant to trust Zaid.

“They see him as a free agent. So if Zaid doesn't counter attack or provide an explanation for these accusations, many members will believe what is being said by Azmin's team,” he added.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng disagreed that Azmin's speech was a low blow.

“This is a political contest and such incidents are bound to happen. It wasn't a personal attack like during the Hulu Selangor by-election where Zaid was accused of consuming alcohol and gambling. So I wouldn't call this hitting below the belt.

“Zaid should continue with his campaign and show that he is someone who can avoid the noise. He should focus on the issues that he has been talking about. That is more interesting and relevant,” he said.

'The fight is unproductive'

To political observer Wong Chin Huat, the real concern lied with the issue that were being fought over and not the fighting itself.

He called the direct elections “disappointing” due to the absence of real debates on policies, ideas and visions.

“Politicians will always fight. The problem is their fight is not productive. We have two contestants at the deputy level who haven't told us what they stand for and where they plan to take the party. All they are focusing on are their personalities,” he told FMT.

Universiti College Sedaya International's Ong Kian Ming said Azmin had managed to dent Zaid's reputation and credbility in PKR and Pakatan Rakyat.

He added that Zaid might have “shot himself in the foot” by conceding that he would lose to Azmin because of the “hidden hands” pulling the strings behind the latter.

As for Azmin, Ong said the PKR vice-president should have shared his visions for the party and country.

“He could have accepted the public debate challenge by Zaid on issues of substance, an area where Zaid holds the moral high ground given his speeches and books to the right crowd,” he added.

Anwar and RPK on collision course?

Anwar and RPK clash over pace of reform

UPDATED @ 11:34:56 AM 03-10-2010

By Shannon Teoh

October 03, 2010

LONDON, Oct 3 — Which comes first? Change or popular support? Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was forced to state his case for the support of civil society after maverick blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, who is a figurehead for various grassroots movements in Malaysia, challenged Pakatan Rakyat (PR) over their commitment to reform.
In a dialogue with Malaysians here yesterday, Raja Petra (picture, second from left), commonly known as RPK on his controversial Malaysia Today website, threatened to pull out from suppporting PR in the upcoming Galas by-election as PR had failed to deliver on promises agreed before the March 2008 elections.
In that historic elections saw the fledgling opposition pact sweep into power in five states and gain 82 seats in Parliament, denying Barisan Nasional (BN) their customary two-thirds majority in the legislative house.
But Anwar pleaded for understanding as many of the reforms could not be implemented without control of federal government and insisted that civil society should help PR come into power so that these reforms could come to past.
Raja Petra said that “prior to March 2008, we sat down for months and formulated the People’s Declaration which was an improved version of an earlier document, Agenda for Change whose author was Anwar himself when he was in prison,” the blogger who is in self-imposed exile in the UK said, referring to the former deputy prime minister’s time in prison after being sacked and then charged with sodomy and abuse of power.
The maverick blogger described how the declaration, which encompasses a wide range of issues from the economy, education, healthcare and politics, was presented to the three parties that make up PR and other opposition parties and claimed that “it was accepted more or less as an election manifesto. Because of that we went to the ground, we campaigned and criss-crossed Malaysia.”
However, he expressed his unhappiness that PR had yet to deliver on the promises in the manifesto despite being in power in several states for over two-and-a-half years. He cited examples such as the lack of newspapers, especially in Malay, by the state governments controlled by PR as it was necessary to fight the media battle leading up to the next general elections.
He compared the pace of reforms to the UK, where the Liberal Democrats only agreed to a coalition government with the Conservatives after being promised wide-ranging reforms would be implemented within two years.
“We have given PR two-and-a-half years but not a single reform has been implemented. Some can be done immediately, some two years, some 20 years. At least let us see some, then we will be quite happy and we will continue to support PR in every by and general election including Galas,” he said.
He said that PR’s huge gains in the elections was due to the support from civil society who were a genuine “third force” and cited examples such as the Bersih and Hindraf rallies in 2007 which championed free and fair elections and lobbied for Indian rights respectively.
Raja Petra reminded PR that “we the people are the boss” and the coalition needed to thrash out issues with civil society if it wanted to form federal government.
But Anwar responded by stating that PR recognised the clamour for change from the electorate and that “our friends in civil society must continue to work with us as a team. We need civil society as we cannot rely on Umno-controlled media.”
However, the PKR de facto leader insisted that the alliance’s hands were tied as much of the power to implement reform were centralised in the federal government.
Nonetheless, the Permatang Pauh MP listed several changes that have been implemented including the replacement of direct tenders with open tenders, a policy he said, had allowed Kedah to reduce quit rent to an amount totalling RM15 million but maintain revenue as it was getting better prices for timber in the state.
He also cited the Freedom of Information bill that was being enacted in Selangor, although it was still subject to the federal-level Official Secrets Act.
Anwar also added that Selangor was in the process of preparing Selangor Kini, a daily newspaper that had a targetted print run in the hundreds of thousands to be distributed to households in Selangor to combat Umno-controlled media especially among the Malay electorate.
Raja Petra also expressed his frustration at the calibre of candidates that PR had run in the last general election and offered “credible and reliable” candidates to run under PR.
He cited the fact that many PR leaders had to run for Parliament and state assembly seats as well as the fact that several legislators had defected or left PR since March 2008, most notably resulting in the BN take over of Perak in early 2009.
"When my wife saw some of the candidates she said 'I wouldn't even trust him to walk my dog let alone be my representative,'" he quipped.
MI

Anwar's European PR efforts

Anwar waves his magic and thrills European audiences — Tunku Abdul Aziz

October 04, 2010

OCT 4 — I have had to come all the way to Brussels and Berlin to discover a side of Anwar Ibrahim that I was wrong about.
Reading the Barisan Nasional-owned newspapers that consistently portrayed him as a “traitor to Malaysia” who exaggerated the situation obtaining in the country given half a chance, I have, I must admit, tended to view him as a self-serving political demagogue who could not care less about the fate of his country as long as he achieved his ambition of becoming prime minister.
Anwar spoke last Monday evening (September 28, 2010) on “Liberal Values in the Muslim World — Why Islam and Democracy are Destined to Coincide” to a packed hall of some of Europe’s powerful decision-makers. These were men and women with wide international experience and could not be easily hoodwinked even if he had tried.
It was vintage Anwar, perfect smooth-as-silk delivery of a complex, serious subject to a critical audience. He knew his stuff. His was more than a speech; it was an intellectual journey mapped out by someone who knew the area traversed like the back of his hand.
There he stood, under the spotlight, his charming and quietly confident self as always, speaking without a note for a full hour. Earlier in the day, when he said to me he had to go back to his hotel room to give his speech the once over, I told him half in jest that he could make his speech standing on his head. He did just that and more. He successfully won the audience over with his argument, supported by historical antecedents and more recent examples that completely demolished the conventional wisdom in non-Muslim circles that Islam and democracy were somehow incompatible bedfellows. He challenge the unfounded belief that it was against the order of nature for Islam to embrace democracy as seriously flawed because of the underlying assumption that Muslims, unlike others, were not born free to exercise their democratic rights.
As I sat listening to the prime minister Malaysia never had, thanks to Mahathir the Maverick, and who might yet take the country by storm, Anwar, I mean, not Mahathir, I could not help thinking how utterly sad and absurd for Najib, whose articulation of his 1 Malaysia slogan invariably finishes in a cul-de-sac, offering his services to Obama to help bring about greater understanding of Islam, the religion of peace, among the majority American non-Muslims. My dear fellow, charity begins at home.
The only Malaysian politician, who can, without making a fool of himself, stride the world stage with the right combination of strong intellectual credentials and honesty, is not to be found within the serried ranks of the BN, but in the person of Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s iconic liberal democrat.
As I saw here in Brussels, he had the European parliamentary leadership, figuratively speaking, eating out of his hands. Many have already put the champagne on ice; they clearly see this victim of a rotten political system as the next man to lead the country.
For all our sakes, I hope they are right. Malaysia needs a thorough overhaul and Najib whom we need like we do a great big hole in our head is unlikely to understand the dynamics of change for the great leap forward. Even if he understands the urgent necessity for change, would he be allowed to by the reactionary forces with the party ever so gingerly as the prospect of a palace coup remains a distinct possibility? He is not only busy watching oversized baggage, but also his back with the sort of loyal friends he has had foisted on him. There simply isn’t much time for anything else while the ship of state springs more leaks by the day.
I was asked by a senior European Parliament bureaucrat over coffee what the Pakatan Rakyat coalition’s priorities would be on taking over the federal government? In brief, I said revamp institutions of state that have been virtually destroyed and have, in many cases, been rendered dysfunctional, overhaul policies, systems and procedures that have tended to divide rather than unite Malaysians, pay special attention to economic policies centred on orderly growth and sustainable development, and generally to put things right and undo the excesses and abuses of that began under Mahathir so that democratic principles and practices may have a real chance of taking root. A tall order but with fairness, and integrity grounded in the rule of law, God willing, we will get there. — mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Mrs Lee has died

The wife of Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, has died at age 89, the Prime Minister's Office said on Saturday.

Kwa Geok Choo, who had been bedridden for over two years, unable to speak or move, passed away this afternoon in her home.

"Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, age 89, passed away peacefully at home today at 5.40pm," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement, adding that her funeral will take place on Oct 6.

Her husband, Lee Kuan Yew, 87, the architect of modern Singapore, has been in hospital since Wednesday for a chest infection. But he was shown in good spirits on Friday, talking to International Air Transport Association President Giovanni Bisignani in his hospital room.

Lee is credited with transforming Singapore from a swampy Third World sea port into a First World financial dynamo. He was Singapore's prime minister for 31 years, until 1990.

In an unusually frank interview last month, Lee said his wife's illness was one of the hardest things for him to face.

"What to do? What else can I do?" he told the New York Times. "I can't break down. Life has got to go on. I try to busy myself, but from time to time in idle moments, my mind goes back to the happy days we were up and about together."

"She understands when I talk to her, which I do every night," he added. "She keeps awake for me; I tell her about my day's work, read her favorite poems."

"I told her, 'I would try and keep you company for as long as I can.' That's life. She understood."

But he also said: "I'm not sure who's going first, whether she or me."

Son is now PM
Both attended the same school in Singapore, Raffles College, and then attended Cambridge University to study law. They married in 1950.

Kwa founded Lee & Lee, one of Singapore's largest law firms, in 1955 with her husband and her brother-in-law Lee Kim Yew. She is listed as a consultant on the firm's website www.leenlee.com.sg.

"I wanted someone my equal, not someone who was not really grown up and needed looking after. And I was not likely to find another girl who was my equal and shared my interests," Lee wrote in the first volume of his memoirs, "The Singapore Story."

He remains deeply involved in Singapore politics, where his party has been dominant for 50 years, at home and abroad. He still holds the advisory post of "minister mentor" in the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The couple's younger son, Lee Hsien Yang, ran Singapore Telecommunications, the country's biggest company, for 12 years before becoming chairman of property and beverages conglomerate Fraser & Neave.

Their daughter, Lee Wei Ling, is a director at the country's National Neuroscience Institute.

- Reuters