Speech by Anwar Ibrahim at “Business Opportunities in the Muslim World” Conference in Washington DC, June 26 2009.

Ladies and Gentleman, respected guests, friends and colleagues from the United States and throughout the Muslim world.
I must apologize to the organizers, US Chamber of Commerce, CIPE, US Muslim World Engagement Project and to the guests attending today that I cannot be with you in person.
I have fond memories of the time I spent in Washington DC. This visit would have offered a much anticipated opportunity to visit friends and colleagues. However, as you may know, I have a rather difficult time dealing with the Malaysian Courts. No matter how we demonstrate their inadequacies in trying to prosecute against me they remain relentless in their resolve to inconvenience me. Consequently, I must make a series of previously unscheduled appearances in Court this week.
The stakes are high, so high indeed that we are once again witnessing the emasculation of the judiciary at the hands of the Executive. It is clear that the strategy is to have me incarcerated in order to stem the tide for greater freedom and democracy but I can say for sure that they are mistaken.
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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

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 26^th.

The conference takes place following US President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo on June 4^th 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.

(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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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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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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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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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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From The Malaysian Insider
By Lee Wee Lian

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — National oil company Petronas’s net profit declined by 13.9 per cent due to low oil prices and high production costs.

The group reported RM52.5 billion in net profit compared with RM61 billion the previous year.

Petronas CEO and president Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican does not expect oil prices, currently around US$50 a barrel compared with a high of over US$140 last year, to improve any time soon.

“Fundamentals do not justify the prospect of high prices,” he told the media during a briefing on the group’s financial results.

“Demand is down and spare capacity has increased. My own opinion is that the current prices are due to speculative trading and the depreciation of the US dollar. We are still in a low price and high-cost environment till the global economy improves.”

The Petronas group’s revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the previous year.

From The Malaysian Insider
By Neil Khor

Politicians often speak from both sides of their mouths. The PM recently said that it was the religious duty of Muslims to be united.

No doubt this is true and there is nothing wrong with Muslims in Malaysia sitting down and discussing important issues that affect that community.

Similarly, there is nothing wrong if those who believe in non-racialism to sit down to find ways to unite all Malaysians regardless of race.

The problem is timing. If it is a religious duty, why now and not before?

umno 63 anniversary dinner 110509 03Previously, when Umno controlled a huge majority in parliament, they did not offer to share power with PAS.

They even sneered at PKR’s sole representative in the 2004 parliament, thinking that party was a bleep and headed for political oblivion.

Now, much weakened, Umno is throwing the olive branch at PAS, hoping to snare some sort of positive response.

Similarly, the MCA is also extending a friendly hand to the DAP, which it insists is a Chinese party. But what has been sustaining the DAP throughout the years is its non-sectarian framework.

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From The Malaysian Insider

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — The former Bar Council president wants Barisan Nasional (BN) to let the people and not the courts decide on Perak’s mentri besar.

“The answer is to go back to the people because the people will not be satisfied until they get their result and ultimately the power does belong to the people because once the people decides, everyone will accept it,” she said.

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was speaking at a public lecture here last night organised by the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia.

Ambiga added that BN would be able to get back much need credibility if the ruling coalition would go to the polls and drop all charges against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“Do the right thing, just do the right thing and immediately people will say that they are quite reasonable but when you force these issues which people can read… we are not stupid, you cannot insult the intelligence of the people to understand what is really happening,” she said.

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KENYATAAN MEDIA

KERAJAAN NEGERI SELANGOR

23 JUN 2009

SHAHRIZAT MENGAKUI SUKAR, TAPI KERAJAAN SELANGOR TELAH MELAKSANAKANNYA

Shahrizat Abdul Jalil di dalam ucapan beliau dalam laman web The Nut Graph yang mendabik dada sebagai pencetus idea dasar kuota minimum 30% wanita dalam kedudukan pimpinan itu sewajarnya telah lama menerajui kejayaan menempatkan pembangunan wanita dalam proses membuat keputusan di berbagai peringkat, khususnya di peringkat jamaah Menteri, kepada tahap yang lebih tinggi.

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