13 Mei 2012 (Ahad)
Masa: 8.30 – 12.00 malam
Lokasi : Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam
Penceramah:
i. YB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim
ii. YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim
iii. YB Dato’ Seri Abdul Hadi Awang
iv. YB Lim Kit Siang
v. YBhg Muhammad Sabu
13 Mei 2012 (Ahad)
Masa: 8.30 – 12.00 malam
Lokasi : Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam
Penceramah:
i. YB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim
ii. YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim
iii. YB Dato’ Seri Abdul Hadi Awang
iv. YB Lim Kit Siang
v. YBhg Muhammad Sabu
Pakatan Rakyat berikrar, sebaik menubuhkan kerajaan persekutuan kelak, kami akan menyelesaikan permasalahan yang telah sekian lama diabaikan, iaitu masalah sebilangan besar rakyat Malaysia yang tidak punya dokumen pengenalan diri, terutamanya sijil kelahiran dan kad pengenalan.
Saya nyatakan disini bahawa isu ini akan menjadi keutamaan Pakatan Rakyat dan kami akan berusaha sesegera mungkin dalam menyelesaikan permasalahan ini.
Terdapat ratusan ribu masyarakat India, Dayak dan lain-lain yang lahir di Malaysia hidup tanpa dokumentasi pengenalan diri yang sah kerana prosedur kerajaan itu sendiri yang menggagalkan mereka. Tanpa dokumen tersebut, mereka dinafikan hak untuk bersekolah, bekerja, mendapat perkhidmatan kesihatan, keselamatan, bantuan kerajaan dan juga hak mengundi.
Kebanyakan dari mereka adalah daripada latarbelakang yang sangat miskin dari segi ekonomi. Tanpa dokumen tersebut, mereka akan terus dipinggirkan dan dipandang hina oleh masyarakat setempat. Mereka juga disisihkan secara total dari menyumbang kepada peningkatan ekonomi negara.
Jumlahnya sangat besar dalam komuniti India dan sebilangan kecil dalam masyarakat Dayak; pelbagai janji telah ditabur oleh Barisan Nasional dan pemimpin-pemimpin mereka, namun ternyata ianya hanya retorik politik yang memualkan.
Hak kerakyatan adalah hak yang paling fundamental dalam sebuah negara yang demokratik.
Bahagian 3 dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan dengan jelas memperuntukkan bahawa, tiada seorang pun boleh dinafikan kerakyatannya di Malaysia. Namun, masih ramai yang dinafikan hak tersebut kerana sejak sekian lama mereka telah diabaikan kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN).
Tambahan pula, kebanyakan mangsa adalah warganegara, melalui kuatkuasa undang-undang di bawah Perkara 14 Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan mereka dilahir dan dibesarkan di Malaysia. Mereka ini, samada tanpa dokumentasi atau dipaksa untuk menerima MyKad yang ditetapkan untuk bukan warganegara.
Satu kes telah mencetuskan kebimbangan rakyat Malaysia dua minggu lalu. Reshina Batumanathan, seorang pelajar Tingkatan 5, lahir dan dibesarkan disini telah berulangkali dinafikan MyKad. Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara telah mengeluarkan permit bukan warganegara kepadanya supaya beliau boleh menyambung persekolahannya. Masa depannya kabur dan tidak menentu tanpa MyKad yang sepatutnya dimiliki beliau. Reshina adalah contoh rakyat Malaysia yang dinafikan kerakyatannya.
Isu ini adalah isu moral, yang paling utama dalam keadilan sosial. Reshina dan ratusan ribu yang lain yang tidak punya dokumentasi pengenalan diri dipinggir di negara sendiri. Pakatan Rakyat akan menjuarai permasalahan ini dan akan mengembalikan hak mereka yang dijamin Perlembagaan Persekutuan apabila menubuhkan kerajaan persekutuan kelak.
DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
KETUA PEMBANGKANG
From Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
By Vikram Nehru
There has been growing speculation that the thirteenth Malaysian general elections will be held in June this year. But massive demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur on April 28 organized by Bersih (a civil society coalition for clean and fair elections) that ended in tear gas and pitched street battles, may have thrown a spanner in the government’s plans. The inevitable finger pointing between Bersih and the police that followed (some 380 people were arrested, significantly less than a similar rally last year) masks the more important point that there is popular belief that the election system is rigged in favor of the ruling Barisan Nasional.
The Election Commission has been at pains to announce that it has implemented many of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, which conducted a genuine and nationwide consultative process. One recommendation being implemented is the use of indelible ink to prevent voter fraud, a recommendation put forward by Bersih itself. The Election Commission also scrutinized the electoral rolls and found few irregularities, but so deep is the distrust in the country that this result appears to have carried little credibility. The accuracy of the electoral poll in Malaysia is indeed a critical matter that must be beyond reproach. There are several swing states where small margins can change the national result significantly.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Najib has embarked on a charm offensive. He fulfilled an earlier promise by repealing the Internal Security Act, which allowed for preventive detention without trial. The government also passed a law that allows students to join political parties (although political events on campuses are still banned).
These actions no doubt will positively impact the prime minister’s popularity, which was already high following a populist budget and a recent report complimenting the government on the implementation of its economic reform package. But while the prime minister enjoys very favorable ratings in the polls, his party, Barisan Nasional, does not. This has given the opposition parties some hope, although they have yet to coalesce and offer a clear alternative. The scenes over the weekend of street protests and tear gas, together with allegations of police brutality, will likely help the opposition and hurt the government. This could further narrow the difference between the incumbent Barisan Nasional and the main opposition coalition.
All the tea leaves suggest a close race, perhaps closer than the one in 2008 when the opposition took five of thirteen state legislatures and over a third of the seats in parliament, denying the Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority.
Umno-controlled New Straits Times (NST) has been accused of fabricating words in a three-year-old speech by Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, a known associate of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to portray the former as anti-Islam, Australian newspapers reported today.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) today, the independent senator is fuming from the “extraordinary attack” against his impartiality and is contemplating legal action against NST.
Xenophon (picture)told the Australian newspaper that NST’s alleged use of the word “Islam” to replace the actual term “Scientology”, which he had criticised in his 2009 speech, was “an example of the kind of dirty tricks the ruling party employs and had used against the Opposition Leader Anwar”.
The NST has since removed the article from its website, but cached copies can still be found of the offending story.
In the NST article, Xenophon was not only accused of insulting Islam during his 2009 adjournment speech in Australia’s Parliament, but was also said to have expressed strong support for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
The NST’s extract of the speech quoted the senator as saying: “What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Islam is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs.”
But in the excerpt from the Australian Parliament’s Hansard, cited in the SMH, Xenophon had actually said: “What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs.”According to theNST, Xenophon had also appeared to express support for same-sex marriages in the same adjournment speech, purportedly claiming that other lawmakers agreed with him and such unions would eventually be allowed by law.
The paper quoted PKR-turned-independent MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim as criticising Xenophon for his words, saying that the latter was not only outspoken against Islam but also supportive of the LGBTs.
“Should we let someone like Xenophon influence our culture and moral values through politics? By confiding in Xenophon, is Anwar also supporting the LGBT movement?” he asked, according to the NST.
“I also challenge PAS’s ulama to question Anwar on why he sought Xenophon as a confidante, as clearly Xenophon stands against Islamic values.”
SMH, however, did not dispute the NST’s report over Xenophon’s alleged support for homosexuality.
But the paper claimed that the NST had refused to comment on the issue last night.
Xenophon was among the team of international observers or the “pre-election assessment team” invited into Kuala Lumpur by Anwar to look into the country’s electoral reform attempts.
The team was on a six-day mission from April 25 and was tasked to interview local government and political leaders, before compiling its recommendations on how Malaysia could have a clean and fair polls process, which the country’s opposition leaders have insisted does not exist here.
They has also observed last Saturday’s rally for free and fair elections by Bersih and in an immediate response to the event, Xenophon had insisted that the rally-goers were well-behaved and even festive, instead of unruly as claimed by government leaders.
As a result, Xenophon has come under fire for his allegedly blinkered support for Anwar, with questions raised over his independence and impartiality.
Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet, and was later convicted and jailed for both offences.
But 18 months later, the leader of the federal opposition and prime minister-designate was again slapped with sodomy charges but in January this year found himself acquitted.
Xenophon, who has admitted to have been concerned over the purportedly trumped-up charges against Anwar, was present at the KL Duta court complex during the latter’s acquittal.
Malaysiakini
Dr Aziz Bari
Saya ditahan sekitar jam 350 petang semalam dekat OCBC ketika hendak pergi basuh muka di paip di situ. |
Penguatkuasa DBKL dan polis ramai-ramai keroyok saya dan menjerit: “Ini baju kuning tangkap!”.
Saya tak kenal atau ingat identiti mereka tetapi saya terus diseret dan dimaki hamun.
Mereka kelihatan hendak mengejar orang lain tetapi bila mereka gagal mereka terus cekup saya hanya kerana saya pakai baju kuning BERSIH! Aneh. Sejak bila pakai baju kuning satu jenayah di Malaysia?
Itu sudah cukup jelas untuk memberi kita isyarat tentang integriti polis dan agensi lain termasuk DBKL.
“Tua tak sedar diri, dah tua duduk rumah sajalah.”
Itulah antara ejekan yang saya dengar sewaktu diheret oleh anggota polis untuk dikumpul di depan DBKL. Kemudian saya ada mendengar rungutan yang polis turut mengejek kami: “Ini semua anjing Anwar Ibrahim’”
Sewaktu diheret polis mengugut seorang petugas media yang cuba mengambil gambar saya ditangkap. Begitu juga ketika kami semua dikumpul dekat Kelab Diraja Selangor.
Macam samseng
Pelik, adakah undang-undang menyekat orang ambil gambar di negara ini? Seorang pelajar fotografi mengadu kameranya yang berharga ribuan ringgit dimusnahkan oleh seorang anggota polis.
Umumnya saya lihat polis bertindak ganas dan memihak kepada Umno-BN. Pada saya hari itu polis kelihatan macam samseng PERKASA. Mereka nampak jelas marah dengan Pakatan Rakyat.
Tetapi yang lucunya bila saya tinggikan suara dan tanya undang-undang apa yang mereka gunakan anggota polis tersipu-sipu dan cepat-cepat beredar. Ini berlaku ketika kami dihimpun macam pendatang asing dekat Kelab Diraja Selangor.
Itulah gelagat anggota polis berpangkat rendah yang mulanya cuba tunjuk garang dan samseng. Para pegawai mereka duduk jauh-jauh.
Pada satu peringkat saya jerit seorang pegawai supaya segera beri rawatan kepada seorang Orang Kena Tahan (OKT) yang terbaring kesakitan. Pegawai ini panik dan tak tahu buat apa-apa. Saya kata, “awak ada budi bicara dan kalau orang ini mati awak akan disoal.”
Pegawai ini pucat tak terkata apa-apa.
Itu semua menunjukkan pasukan polis ini jahil dan keliru dan takut dengan kerajaan Umno-BN. Mereka hanya berani bila mereka bergerak dalam gerombolan. Mereka mungkin tak ada akses kepada Internet dan hanya dengar arahan bos mereka saja.
Sikap samseng dan mentaliti gerombolan pasukan polis ini kelihatan apabila ada tahanan baru sampai.
Tahanan ini akan dibawa melalui kumpulan anggota polis pangkat rendah dan ketika inilah anggota polis ini akan mengambil kesempatan mengejek dan memaki hamun tahanan yang sudah lemah longlai diheret itu.
Ada juga yang akan mengambil kesempatan menumbuk, menyepak dan menampar tahanan itu.
Pada satu tahap seorang anggota Unit Amal PAS yang sedia ditahan bersama kami diseret ke dalam gerombolan anggota polis itu. Riuh rendah kedengaran di sebalik van dan trak itu.
Apa yang kelihatan apabila anggota Unit Amal itu diseret kembali ke dalam kumpulan, beliau lembik; mungkin telah dipukul oleh anggota-anggota polis yang menyeringai macam singa dalam kandang menunggu mangsa itu.
Dalam garang dan samseng itu polis ini tidak tahu apa-apa. Ketika di Kelab Diraja Selangor, saya lihat pihak polis panik bila kami ramai-ramai tanya sama ada kami ini ditahan atau ditangkap. Maklumlah konstabel dan koperal apa tahu.
Pegawai pun tidak berani duduk dekat sebab ada OKT yang tanya soalan dalam bahasa orang putih. Lucu. Masa di DBKL seorang sarjan yang tadinya kasar dan sombong mula berlembut apabila makin ramai di kalangan tahanan yang panggil saya “profesor”.
Gambaran kebodohan dan ketakutan
Sewaktu di Pulapol, Ketua CID Bukit Aman Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin ada datang. Bukan main lagilah Cawangan Khas (SB) dan komando polis mengiringi dia. Begitu juga pegawai-pegawai lain yang datang bersama. Berdesup-desup mereka tabik dan hentak kaki.
Itulah agaknya gambaran kebodohan dan ketakutan mereka. Ikut perintah orang atas tak kira apa.
Di Pulapol peguam tak dibenarkan masuk langsung. Dan suasana dalam khemah kelam, di situ tak teratur. Pihak polis macam tak pasti apa yang perlu dibuat sedangkan ini bukan kali pertama mereka menangani demonstrasi BERSIH.
Ini jauh berbeza dengan imej tenteram yang cuba ditunjukkan oleh media milik Umno-BN termasuk RTM.
Satu lagi yang saya nampak ialah majoriti anggota polis yang bertugas ialah Melayu. Ada segelintir India dan Cina. Tapi yang bongkak, sombong dan ganas ialah Melayu dan India. Mereka inilah yang bongkak dan ganas. Anggota Cina amat tertib dan beradab.
Para pegawai meskipun ramai Melayu tidaklah sombong sangat. Mungkin kerana mereka mudah dikenali melalui uniform mereka.
Sewaktu di Pulapol saya dibawa ke meja Cawangan Khas (SB). Meskipun saya ditanya soalan-soalan yang saya kira aneh, ia tidak lama. Saya tidak tahu kenapa. Mungkin kerana mereka tidak mahu berdebat dengan saya.
Pesta pukul orang
Atau mungkin mereka simpati. Mereka ada bertanya sama ada saya disakiti. Saya kata saya cuma sakit hati. Saya sempat sebut pada mereka: “Wah hari ni polis berpesta pukul orang.”
Saya sakit hati kerana polis tidak peduli hak asasi rakyat. Buktinya cukup banyak. Ada yang mengadu dicekup sewaktu sedang makan dalam dalam restoran. Ada yang ditangkap ketika di lobi hotel. Dan ada juga yang ditahan ketika dia hendak membeli tiket di stesen LRT.
Mereka berada jauh dari Dataran Merdeka yang diisytihar kawasan larangan. Mereka juga sudah bersurai. Mereka dipukul dan diheret oleh polis hanya kerana mereka pakai baju kuning. Malah ada yang tidak pakai baju kuning pun dicekup sama.
Ertinya hari itu polis geram dengan orang ramai. Polis sudah menjadi seolah-olah kaki pukul Umno-BN dan gerombolan anti-Bersih. Ini salah di sisi undang-undang. Apa lagi perlembagaan sebagai undang-undang tertinggi dan utama negara.
Pasuka polis, sebagaimana cabang-cabang perkhidmatan awam yang lain termasuk angkatan tentera, perlu bersikap berkecuali dan menjaga undang-undang.
Tanggapan saya terhadap polis, khususnya selepas BERSIH 3.0, mereka jahil, keliru dan tertekan. Akhlak mereka juga rendah. Ini ternyata bila Suruhanjaya Dzaidin sendiri merakamkan bahawa pasukan polis antara agensi kerajaan yang paling korup di negara ini.
Sebab itu saya tidak hairan apabila polis gagal membezakan antara menjunjung undang-undang dengan mengampu atau mempertahankan Umno-BN.
Apa pun jika lihat gambar besar kita itu semua tidak memeranjatkan. Kalau para hakim dan anggota Suruhanjaya Pencegahan SPR yang dilindungi oleh perlembagaan secara jelas pun takut dengan Umno-BN siapalah anggota-anggota polis ini.
Bersempena dengan pasca perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 minggu lalu dan Hari Kebebasan Akhbar pada 5 Mei ini, Akademi Pak Sako dengan kerjasama laman portal JalanTelawi.com akan menganjurkan forum khas yang bertemakan Bersih 3.0: Keganasan Polis dan Media ‘Blackout’. Butiran program adalah seperti berikut:
Tarikh : 3 Mei 2012
Masa : 8.30 malam – 10.30 malam
Tempat : Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Kuala Lumpur – Selangor (KLSCAH)
Ahli panel :
1. Hishamuddin Rais (Aktivis BERSIH / blogger TukarTiub)
2. Fathi Aris Omar (Editor laman berita Malaysiakini.com)
3. Dr. Aziz Bari (Pakar Perlembagaan)
4. Latheefa Koya (Peguam hak asasi manusia, Lawyers for Liberty)
5. Haziq Abdul Aziz (Aktivis mahasiswa, KAMI)
6. Haijan Omar (peguam yang dibelasah sewaktu himpunan Bersih 3.0)
Sehubungan dengan itu, pihak kami menjemput dan mengalu-alukan kehadiran saudara/saudari ke majlis ini serta memohon kerjasama saudara/saudari untuk memajukan jemputan ini seluasnya.
Pakatan Rakyat welcomes the long overdue announcement of a minimum wage rate at RM900 for Peninsula Malaysia and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak yesterday.
However, Pakatan Rakyat is of the view that it is long overdue, the effective rate amounts to no change in reality and the policy is implemented in a piecemeal manner.
First, the announcement is long overdue.
The now discarded New Economic Model, which was prepared by the now defunct National Economic Advisory Council, stated that “Malaysia is stuck in a middle income trap. Malaysia briskly climbed the ladder to attain upper middle status by 1992, but its economy has become sluggish since then.”
The lack of a minimum wage policy, the dependence on foreign unskilled labour, and the resulting inability to automate and move up the technological ladder were the key contributing factors of a stagnated Malaysian economy since the 1990s.
With the passing of Minimum Wage Act by Parliament in June 2011, the Federal Government was scheduled to announce a minimum wage rate by December 2011. PM Najib’s statement yesterday came half a year late, and seems to be just another pre-election announcement.
Second, the announcement yesterday amounts to very little in reality.
The most important finding that eventually convinced the Najib administration to implement the minimum wage policy was a Human Resources Ministry study that found a third of the workers were living with a wage of about RM700, below the poverty line.
The announced minimum wage rate of RM900 for the Peninsula and RM800 for Sabah and Sarawak is actually inclusive of allowances, which effectively means the basic wage is still between RM700 and RM800.
This means, the purported changes were almost no change at all. Pakatan Rakyat on the other hand proposed a minimum wage of RM1100 (total compensation).
Third, to be effective, minimum wage policy must not be implemented in isolation and in a piecemeal manner.
Pakatan Rakyat recognises that a minimum wage policy that is effective must be implemented in a package holistically.
Thus, already in October 2011, Pakatan Rakyat in our alternative national budget proposed that:
a) a clear and determined policy to stop dependence on foreign unskilled labour which results in a “race to the bottom” in terms of wage;
b) a Facilitation Fund to be set up to help employers including those in the manufacturing and services industry to automate and to improve on technologies, provide tax breaks as well as other financial assistance, shall also be considered;
c) to provide for child care and other facilities to facilitate female participation in the workforce to tap into the total strength of Malaysian workforce.
Pakatan Rakyat also acknowledges the reality that minimum wage is not the silver bullet to improve the wellbeing of the workers, otherwise the government is merely outsourcing its welfare role to the private sectors which eventually translates into additional cost for doing business.
The government has a role to improve public transport, public health care, public education and public housing. Failure in those areas resulted in the erosion of disposable income of the workers.
Finally, the government needs to remove the various monopolies that benefit only the cronies at the expense of the low-wage earners’ disposable income.
A holistic policy framework, as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat, will mean more income and more disposable income for Malaysian workers, which will in turn boost domestic consumption and drive the growth prospect of the economy.
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad – PAS – MP for Kuala Selangor
Rafizi Ramli – PKR’s Strategic Director
Liew Chin Tong – DAP – MP for Bukit Bendera
on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto/Policy Committee
28 April 2012 shall go down in the nation’s history as Merdeka Rakyat when 300,000 rakyat spoke in one voice to demand a free and fair election. The women, youth and men of all races and ages who came down in full force were encouraged by a sense of justice to demand liberation from usurpers. Their message cannot be mistaken – a free country cannot be enslaved anymore.
BERSIH3.0 represents the hopes and dreams of all Malaysians that the political legitimacy of any government in the future can only be attained through a genuine democratic process.
The authority’s response to BERSIH3.0 participants who represent million others across the country is thus an utter disappointment. It is a classic statecraft of authoritarian regimes using the state controlled media to turn the masses who are victims of oppression and brutalities into criminals.
I bear witness to the political awakening of the rakyat as I marched with them from Masjid Negara. The atmosphere was one of enlightenment, rejuvenation and hope. It was an exemplary conduct of a peaceful assembly; a celebration of freedom and unity in the truest sense.
This is the achievement of BERSIH3.0 that will stand the test of time. The rakyat will commemorate 28 April 2012 as the day Malaysia woke up and marched for liberation in one voice.
We shall not be intimidated by continuous lies spawned by the state media. We have a much potent and effective media in our hands as the 300,000 rakyat carry the messages of BERSIH3.0 and liberation to every corner of the nation.
Let the rakyat speak and justice prevail.
ANWAR IBRAHIM
KETUA UMUM KEADILAN
LEADER OF OPPOSITION
30 April 2012