Archive for June 26th, 2009

26 June 2009

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June 26, 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ANWAR IBRAHIM’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON DC FOR KEYNOTE ADDRESS ON US MUSLIM WORLD BUSINESS COOPERATION HAMPERED BY MALAYSIAN COURTS

The unprecedented actions taken by the Malaysian courts to expedite the beginning of Anwar Ibrahim’s trial have forced him to abandon his plans to travel to Washington DC this month. He will deliver his already scheduled keynote address at the “Business Opportunities in the Muslim World” conference in Washington DC on June 26th at 12:00 PM EST via live video teleconference from Kuala Lumpur.

The non-cooperation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has impeded the preparation of the best defense that Mr. Ibrahim is lawfully entitled to, and the insistence of the Malaysian courts to begin his trial in early July despite the repeated requests by his lawyers for access to basic discovery items, requires Mr. Ibrahim be present in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to attend to his various applications including to quash the charges leveled against him. This reprehensible conduct by the Prosecutors has been affirmed by Anwar’s lawyer S N Nair in his statement issued by his office on 10th June 2009 which amongst others, has affirmed that Anwar will not get a fair trial in the Malaysian courts.

The actions of the Courts to expedite the hearing of Mr. Ibrahim’s various preliminary motions, including the pending appeal to the Court of Appeal, appear unprecedented. These applications, including a request for documents in possession of the Public prosecutor that are favorable to Mr. Ibrahim as well as an application to quash the charges altogether, under normal circumstances will take some time for the Courts to consider.

We reiterate that the Court’s insistence on preferring a charge of sodomy that contravenes medical records indicates malicious intent, that the charges are politically motivated and that this trial would be a travesty of justice akin to what Anwar Ibrahim faced in 1998-1999.

OFFICE OF ANWAR IBRAHIM

26 June 2009

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Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim will deliver a keynote address at the conference entitled “Business Opportunities in the Muslim World” scheduled to take place in Washington DC on June 26th.

The conference takes place following US President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo on June 4th in which President Obama stated an intention to promote entrepreneurship and deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. Representatives from Turkey, Jordan and Egypt are among those scheduled to speak at the conference on a variety of topics including competitive labour practices and high-growth sectors in Muslim countries.

The conference is co-hosted by the US-Muslim World Engagement Project, the Center for International Private Enterprise and the US Chamber of Commerce.

26 June 2009

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(A public lecture delivered on 23.6.2009 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Chevening Scholarship Programme by Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan)

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Aung San Suu Kyi said in 1991 that it is not power that corrupts but fear. She said that fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it while the fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

2. Fundamental liberties are the people’s “armour” against such fear. They are the great equalisers between rich and poor, strong and weak. They are universal values that preserve the dignity of every human being. They are found in many religious beliefs and philosophies and in the Constitutions and declarations of nations. The ideas are not new.

3. In the aftermath of the Second World War the United Nations General Assembly saw fit to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on the 10th of December 1948 recognising in their preamble the “disregard and contempt for human rights” which had taken place during the war that resulted in “barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind”

4. That was 61 years ago. When the world was reeling from the atrocities of war and the infliction of the worst abuses by man upon man. In a world gone mad the UDHR sought to set minimum standards upon which human beings were to interact with each other. We must now examine if we have all indeed met this minimum standard.

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26 June 2009

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Dari JohorDaily

Johor Bahru – Setelah perbicaraan kes liwat Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ditunda kepada 8 Julai 2009, kini pelbagai pihak mempertikaikan kesahihan kes tersebut. Kini pelbagai dakwaan berlakunya konpirasi untuk menjatuhkan imej Ketua Pembangkang itu.

Mohd Saiful Bukhari mendakwa didalam blognya bahawa apa yang disumpahnya adalah benar. Manakala Majlis Pegum telah mengeluarkan kenyataannya mendakwa kes tersebut perlu digugurkan kerana tiada bukti jelas berlaku liwat pada laporan perubatan Mohd. Saiful.

Blog Gerakan Anti-PKR pula mendakwa tujuan Anwar pergi ke Amerika Syarikat pada minggu hadapan bertujuan melarikan diri dari kes tersebut dan meminta simpati kepada presiden Berek Obama. Blog itu meminta pihak berkuasa menahan pasport Anwar.

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26 June 2009

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KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 – Board members of Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) stood their ground this week and have politely turned down a bid by Prime Minister Najib Razak to admit a key political aide as a director of the national oil corporation.

Government officials close to the situation told The Straits Times that the board in a meeting on Wednesday had reaffirmed its decision a month previous not to admit Omar Mustapha as a director because he had defaulted on his scholarship loan agreement with Petronas two decades earlier.

The board, which was directed by Datuk Seri Najib to reconsider its decision last month over Omar’s proposed appointment, also decided it would send a delegation to brief the Prime Minister on the matter in the coming days.

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26 June 2009

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Saya sedih tatkala menerima berita kembalinya Mian Tufail Muahmamd, mantan Ameer Jama’at Islami Pakistan, ke sisi Allah S.W.T. Beliau merupakan tokoh gerakan Islam yang disegani dan terkenal gigih memperjuangkan Islam.

Almarhum Mian Tufail menerima didikan langsung dari Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi dalam bidang ilmu hadith serta Quran. Beliau menggantikan Sayyid Abul A’ala Maududi, guru yang banyak memberi tunjuk ajar kepada beliau, pada tahun 1972 sebagai Ameer Jama’at Islami.

Masih segar dalam ingatan sewaktu lawatan ke Iran dengan menaiki pesawat khas yang disediakan Allahyarham Presiden Zia-ul-Haq bagi membawa lima tokoh gerakan Islam untuk menemui Imam Khomenei seusai ledakan revolusi.

Antara tokoh-tokoh tersebut ialah Almarhum Mian Tufail dan saya sendiri, selaku Presiden ABIM ketika itu. Kami merupakan delegasi kedua menemui pemimpin Iran tersebut selepas Yasser Arafat. Jelas tertera ruh perjuangan serta ilmu almarhum dalam lawatan tersebut, yang mengharapkan kejayaan hasil pertemuan dengan Imam Khomenei, Perdana Menteri Iran Mehdi Bazargan dan Menteri Lua Ibrahim Yazdi .

Saya dan Azizah mendoakan ruh almarhum ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang soleh.

Al-Fatihah.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ucapan Takziah Dato’ Seri Anwar bagi pihak keluarga dan parti kepada para pimpinan dan pendukung Jama’at Islami Pakistan:

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26 June 2009

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PERBAHASAN USUL PENGUNTUKAN SEMULA PERUNTUKAN PERBELANJAAN TAHUN 2009

OLEH DATO’SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

KETUA PEMBANGKANG

PADA 24 JUN 2009

VERSI HANSARD

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim [Permatang Pauh]: Terima kasih Tuan Yang di-Pertua.

Saya bangun untuk menyatakan pada prinsipnya sokongan terhadap usaha Kementerian Kewangan untuk mengalihkan dan memindahkan peruntukan berdasarkan perubahan jabatan dan kementerian yang diumumkan oleh Perdana Menteri. Walau bagaimanapun, ada beberapa pertimbangan serius yang harus kita berikan.

Kita semua akui dan negara hadapi kemelut ekonomi dan walaupun ada beberapa pengakuan seperti yang dibuat oleh Yang Berhormat Pasir Salak, bahawa keadaan lebih baik setelah pakej rangsangan diumumkan, kenyataan itu tidak begitu. Ini diakui oleh Yang Amat Berhormat Menteri Kewangan bahawa penguncupan lebih parah daripada sebelum pengumuman Pakej Rangsangan. Baik yang pertama atau yang kedua. Mungkin bukan semuanya berpunca dari faktor domestik, tetapi kenyataannya dengan pengaruh permintaan yang sangat berkurangan, ia amat membimbangkan.

Ada beberapa perkara yang harus diberikan perhatian oleh Kementerian Kewangan dalam keadaan kita menghadapi kemelut sekarang. Pertama, peruntukan yang diberi kepada negeri-negeri jelas menunjukkan sikap dendam kesumat masih berterusan. Walaupun Perdana Menteri menyebut Satu Malaysia, dan rakan-rakan daripada Ahli Yang Berhormat Barisan Nasional minta kita supaya memberi sambutan yang positif, saya hendak beritahu bahawa laungan slogan ini, slogan murahan yang tidak dituruti dengan amal.

Saya beri contoh, mengikut peruntukan per kapita mengikut negeri-negeri, negeri-negeri yang terbawah peruntukan, paling rendah ialah Pulau Pinang, kedua rendahnya Kedah, ketiga rendahnya Kelantan, keempat Selangor, kelima Perak. Negeri-negeri Pakatan Rakyat duduk di tahap paling rendah dari segi peruntukan Kerajaan Persekutuan. Apa alasan boleh diberikan? Terutama bagi negeri yang miskin seperti Kelantan dan Kedah, diparas yang begitu rendah peruntukan walaupun yang diuar-uarkan itu Satu Malaysia. Perak kerana semasa mereka merangka, mereka fikir mereka masih belum

berjaya menawan, maka Perak daripada segi peruntukan per kapita – 230, Selangor – 221, Kelantan – 179, Kedah – 172 dan Pulau Pinang – 119.

Mengapa harus dihukum rakyat begitu rupa? Saya tidak menafikan keperluan kita menambah peruntukan negeri-negeri terutama negeri-negeri yang miskin. Terengganu, mahupun kawasan Pahang, Sabah dan Sarawak. Akan tetapi dasar yang jelas tidak telus dan menunjukkan dasar yang discriminative, gunalah KPI apa pun yang telah diumumkan oleh Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, KPI apa? Kalau kerangka dasar itu sendiri tidak menunjukkan kita mengambil sikap yang telus dan adil.

Jadi, ketika kita bicarakan soal pemindahan penguntukan semula peruntukan perbelanjaan, kita harus mengambil kira beberapa salah laku, tindakan discriminative yang dilakukan terus menerus. Kalau kita bandingkan dengan sebelumnya, ini tidak pernah berlaku begini. Corak perubahan peruntukan ini hanya berlaku setelah rakyat memilih Pakatan Rakyat di negeri-negeri berkenaan.

Saya harap Kementerian Kewangan dapat meneliti dan memperbaiki kerana zalim kita untuk menghukum rakyat semata-mata kerana mengambil keputusan dan kebijaksanaan memilih parti atau calon yang mereka dukung. Semua yang memilih Pakatan Rakyat atau UMNO Barisan Nasional dikenakan dengan sistem percukaian yang sama. Maka peruntukan itu harus lebih telus dan adil.

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