DAP expels ‘rouge councillor’ Tee

Klang municipal councillor Tee Boon Hock, who was alleged to have misused a Selangor exco member’s letterhead to secure contracts for his cronies and family, has been expelled from DAP.

National DAP disciplinary committee chairperson Tan Kok Wai made the announcement today following a meeting of the party’s powerful committee with Tee this afternoon.

Tan also announced that the party would be writing to the Selangor government to request that he be immediately removed as Klang municipal councillor.

Tee was reported to have misused Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu’s letter head and seal to obtain contracts worth a total of RM1 million for 20 companies, at least one of which belonged to a ‘family member’.

Tee had brought with him three witnesses – the business partner of his son Tee Chin Chin, a contractor from another company, and a DAP member – to the disciplinary committee hearing this afternoon.

In the press conference held at the DAP headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Tan said the disciplinary committee had studied all the documents relating to the allegations against Tee and verified that there was a basis to the allegations.

The committee was also informed by the party’s Selangor committee that at least one of the companies to which he had issued a letter of support was related to his son, said Tan, and this was done without Liu’s authority.

Tee’s explanation, that he did not know his son was a partner in the said company, was not sufficient to convince the committee that the acts done by him were justified, Tan added.

The committee therefore found that Tee had acted in serious breach of the party’s principles and in violation of the party’s constitution, said Tan.

“It has been the party’s firm and unyielding principle that all party leaders, particularly for those who hold public offices, must exercise their powers with integrity to uphold the general interest of the public as well as the good name of the party,” said Tan reading from the comittee’s letter to Tee.

“This (case) has no doubt seriously tarnished the reputation and image of the party. Such action could even constitute a criminal offence to be charged in court,” he added.

Police report to be lodged, council position uncertain

According to the party constitution, Tee has 14 days to appeal the disciplinary committee’s decision. Another hearing by the committee will be held to hear the contractors’ side of the story.

At least 15 companies have been identified as being involved in the scandal. The date for the hearing has yet to be determined, said Tan.

Liu, meanwhile, will be directed to lodge a police report on the matter to allow a full investigation by the police of any probable criminal wrongdoing, said Tan.

Tan also read out the committee’s press statement to the media and expressed the party’s objections in general to the practice of issuing “support letters for business or commercial purposes.”

While letters of support for welfare assistance, appeals of reductions of compound summons, application of hawkers’ licenses, education loans and scholarships are allowed as these are in the public interests, Tan said all elected and non-elected party officials are directed to henceforth refrain from issuing business support letters for commercial purposes.

“As a matter of best practice, this directive should apply across the board to all Pakatan Rakyat elected and non-elected officials as well. This is in line with Pakatan’s position of upholding the principle of good governance in state administration.

“At the same time, all Pakatan officials including state agencies should disregard all bussiness support letters that are issued to them in order to ensure that all commercial dealings are above-board and to avoid any negative public perception of malpractice or favourtism,” said Tan.

He also warned that the party would not hesitate to take action against any party official found to have breached the directive against issuing such letters.

“All party officials must maintain the highest standard of ethical conduct in all dealigs whether of a public or private nature. Only then can Pakatan continue to inspire the confidence of the public.”

Tee could not be contacted despite repeated attempts to reach him on his mobile phone.

Mkini

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One Israel

One Israel atau ’1Israel’ atau ‘Satu Israel’ adalah dibentuk oleh pemimpin Parti Buruh Israel Ehud Barak semasa Pilihan Raya Israel 1999 dengan tujuan untuk membuat Parti Buruh tampak lebih sederhana dan untuk mengurangkan reputasi imej sekular dan elitis di kalangan penyokong Mizrahi (Gesher dipimpin oleh ahli politik Mizrahi David Levy sementara Meimad ialah parti agama). Ia berasaskan tranformasi Tony Blair di Britain yang juga membentuk Parti Buruh Baru.

Perjanjian persefahaman itu meletakkan Gesher di belakang Ehud Barak dan Shimon Peres dan David Levy akan mendapat jawatan menteri. Meimad dijanjikan kedudukan menteri di parlimen Knesset.

Dalam pilihan raya itu, bancian menganggarkan parti buruh akan memenangi 33 kerusi. Malangnya, Satu Israel tidak muncul sebagai fraksi terbesar di Dewan Knesset kerana hanya memenangi 26 kerusi . Jumlah ini lebih rendah, sedangkan 34 kerusi dalam pilihan raya 1996. Dari 26 kerusi, Parti Buruh mendapat 22 kerusi, Parti Gesher 3 dan Meimad 1. Untuk memenuhi perjanjian pra-pilihan raya, Levy dilantik sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Luar Negeri . Meimad Michael Melchior dilantik Menteri Sosial dan Hal Diaspora Israel.

Barak, yang telah menewaskan Binyamin Netanyahu dalam pemilihan Perdana Menteri Israel, telah membentuk kerajaan campuran yang tidak stabil. Enam parti kecil iaitu Shas, Meretz, Yisrael BaAliyah, Parti Tengah, Parti Agama Kebangsaan dan Kesatuan Taurah Yahudi.

Ehud Barak menyertai Perjanjian Kem David dengan Yasser Arafat pada musim panas 2000 menyebabkan Gesher menarik diri daripada perikatan pada 7 Mac 2001. Pada 7 Mei perikatan bergabung dengan Paksi Haluan Baru. Pada 15 Mei tahun 2001 ia dinamakan Parti Buruh-Meimad.

Setelah parti runtuh, Barak disiasat atas tuduhan berhubung Satu Israel yang telah melanggar undang-undang dana parti dengan membenarkan wang asing di bawa masuk sebagai dana kempen . Eliezer Goldberg didenda 13 juta Shekel kerana melanggar undang-undang dana.

http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Israel

Barak’s ‘One Israel’

By Tzvi Fleischer

Israeli Opposition Leader Ehud Barak has had a good couple of weeks. First, on March 4, he managed to put together the “One Israel” bloc, the linchpin of his plans to re-position his Labor party to gain more swing votes and deliver him government in the Israeli elections scheduled for May 17. Then, the results of an inquiry by the Israeli State Comptroller, released on March 15, cleared Barak of any improper conduct during the 1992 Tzeelim training accident, hopefully clearing him of allegations which have dogged his political career since he retired as IDF Chief of Staff to eventually become Foreign Minister under Shimon Peres in 1996. And finally, opinion polls have taken a turn for the better for Barak, moving him from a position where he was at best neck and neck with Prime Minister Netanyahu to a position where he seems to have opened up a lead over Netanyahu of at least five percentage points (although Israeli opinion polling is notoriously inaccurate).

Israeli political analysts have begun to rethink their political wisdom. A few weeks ago, the majority view was that, barring a major scandal or political shake-up, Netanyahu was more likely than not to retain government. Today, the majority view is that election results are at this point too close to call. However, so far Barak is doing everything right.

One Israel is a new electoral coalition of Labor, the Gesher party associated with former Likud Foreign Minister David Levy, and Meimad, a party that marries a religiously observant supporter base and dovish views on the peace process. Under agreements signed between the three, the combined One Israel list will see the Labor party list of candidates, established in party primaries last month, modified to include a number of candidates from the two other parties. Gesher is to get three safe positions for its candidates, including the Number 3 spot (behind Barak and former party leader Shimon Peres) for Levy, and a promise that Levy can have a senior ministerial position in any Barak government. Meimad receives one safe slot, one doubtful slot, and a promise that a Meimad leader who is not a Knesset member will be a cabinet minister. (Changes to Israeli electoral laws in 1992 make it permissible for up to half the Cabinet to non-elected.)

The One Israel concept has been pursued by Barak since last year as a way to make his candidacy more acceptable to the large number of Israelis who would never vote for Labor. For many Israelis, Labor has been seen as elitist, leftist, snobbish and dominated by European secular Jews (Ashkenazi) to the exclusion of both the large number of Israelis who hail from the Middle East and North Africa (Sephardi) and the religiously observant. One Israel has been Barak’s attempt to cure that stigma. It is an idea that is modelled on several forebears; one is Tony Blair’s transformation of the British Labour Party into “New Labour,” another is the “One Jerusalem” coalition developed by the long-serving Labor-aligned Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kolleck, which kept him in power for more than 20 years despite the unpopularity of the Labor party in the city generally.

The specific parties that One Israel brings into the Labor fold theoretically represent precisely those political sectors which have been most suspicious of Labor, and which Labor most needs to reach out to if it is to have any chance of securing government.

Levy and his Gesher movement offer Labor the opportunity to obtain greater support among Jews hailing from the Middle East and North Africa. Sephardim are generally poorer on average than Ashkenazim, often live in outlying areas with high unemployment, and generally resent what they see as the condescending attitude of the Ashkenazim who largely dominate the country’s elites. They also frequently blame Labor, in power from 1948 to 1977, for the poor economic conditions and social discrimination they experienced during the early years of the state.

Levy is of Moroccan origin, and himself the product of one of the poorer Sephardi neighbourhoods. He was originally a protege of Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, but after Begin’s departure from the political scene, came into conflict with his successors, Shamir and Netanyahu, over social welfare for his constituents and his own ambitions within the Likud party. This eventually led to the formation of his Gesher party, first as a faction within the Likud and later as an independent party. Conflicts over Netanyahu’s failure to implement promised social spending led Levy to leave the governing coalition last year. Barak has been reaching out to Sephardi voters since his selection as Labor leader, for instance, by offering a public apology for Labor’s past policies, and clearly hopes that the addition of Levy and Gesher can win him some votes in the Sephardi sector.

One Israel faces significant competition for Sephardi votes from the Centre Party leader Yitzhak Mordechai, a Kurdish Sephardi, and the religious Shas party, which is able to garner almost all the religious Sephardi vote.

Meimad, it is also hoped, can attract some religious voters to Labor. Religious voters, who are about 20% of the Israeli population, are even less likely to vote for Labor than Sephardi voters. In many religious neighbourhoods in 1996, votes were 98% for Netanyahu, and only 2% for Labor leader Peres.

For its future political survival Labor must increase its vote among religious and Sephardi Israelis because demographics are against the Labor party. Political analysts say that changes in Israeli population demographics have made the right-left divide in the Israel population approximately 55%-45% since the late 1970s. And since this period, the Likud has come out ahead in most of the elections. Furthermore, the faster population growth in the religious and Sephardi communities, as well as the influx of immigrants from the Soviet Union, is making matters worse for Labor as time passes. Unless Labor can re-position itself to capture larger segments of these three communities, it may gradually drift into perpetual opposition and political irrelevance.

This is one reason that, unusually for Israel and despite being Israel’s most decorated General, Barak has chosen to focus on social issues as the centrepiece of his campaign. While Netanyahu hammers his ability to protect Israel’s security in radio and television interviews, Barak has used many election appearances as opportunities to tell stories about elderly women unable to get hospital treatment, and about the effects of unemployment on families, and to promise remedies. His hope is to gain a “hip-pocket vote” from some segments of the Sephardi community, and as part of this process he needs to overcome the stigma against voting Labor to do it.

Levy, in part, gives Barak this opportunity and he was quick to exploit it. Within days of the signing of the One Israel agreement, Levy and Barak were out campaigning together in several poor towns with a heavily Sephardi population, normally Likud heartland.

However, there are some positive signs. Barak’s success in getting his One Israel project off the ground seems to be reflected in improved poll numbers. Polls in late February had placed Barak barely neck and neck in a one-on-one contest with Netanyahu. A poll on March 13 showed Barak ahead on two party preferred by 5%. And Barak also continues to increase his lead over the third major candidate, former Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai of the new Centre Party.

On top of the One Israel success and the positive polls, Barak seemed particularly pleased with the results of report by Israel’s State Comptroller, an independent auditing and investigation body, into the 1992 Tzeelim II training accident. Barak was accused by some of the families of the 5 soldiers killed at Tzeelim of having fled the scene in his helicopter without seeing to wounded soldiers or taking one severely wound man, who later died, with him, and in newspapers reports of possibly having orchestrated an army cover-up of the circumstances behind the incident. When the report was released on March 15, Barak told the media “The blood libel to which I fell victim for several years, as a man and as chief of staff, comes to an end today.” The report exonerates him of both charges: it found that he did not leave until after all the wounded had been evacuated, and that there had been no cover-up.

Still, despite the gains of the past two weeks, there are almost two months until polling day, and likely, a further run-off poll to decide the Prime Ministership will be required two weeks after that. Despite his current poll lead, Israeli political experts do not rate Barak’s chances as more than even because there is still a large undecided segment, and the majority of undecided voters are aligned with the Israeli right and most likely to vote as they have in previous elections. Both these facts indicate that most of these votes will go to Netanyahu.

It is also the case that Prime Minister Netanyahu has been a much better media performer than Barak. It remains unclear whether Barak can overcome this clear disadvantage in the long run, especially as the fight for undecided voters heats up.

Furthermore, other parties have been moving to form alliances to counter Barak’s One Israel. The small right-wing Herut party of Benny Begin, the son of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, has set up a joint electoral list with two other small right-wing parties, Moledet and Tkuma. Likud is talking to the right-wing Tsomet party, led by another former IDF Chief-of-Staff Raful Eitan, which is also likely to include some defectors from Gesher who did not follow Levy into the One Israel combination.

Barak has had a couple of good weeks, and the truth is, he badly needed them. Whether he can sustain his current momentum into an election victory on May 17 is still very much an open question.

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Country in the red as 2009 FDI nosedives 81%

A nosedive in foreign direct investments in Malaysia in 2009 follows a continued downward trend in FDI, increasingly overshadowed by regional players, noted a United Nations report.

According to the World Investment Report 2010 unveiled today, FDI plunged 81 percent from US$7.32 billion (RM23.47 billion*) in 2008 to just US$1.38 billion (RM4.43 billion) last year.

(*Calculated based on exchange rate of US$1 = RM3.20650)

The 2009 FDI is less than half of the annual average FDI inflow between 1995 to 2005, which encompasses the long recovery period following the 1997 economic crisis.

Malaysia’s performance also pales in comparison with neighbouring economies like Thailand and Indonesia whose FDI figures did not contract as severely, despite the global financial crisis.

Thailand suffered a decline of US$4.44 billion (RM14.24 billion) while Indonesia saw a more modest drop of US$2.60 billion (RM8.32 billion) in foreign investments in 2009.

The severe dip also places Malaysia in the red for the first time in the last 15 years, with figures for cumulative FDI (see chart right) surpassing incoming investments by about US$1 billion (RM3.21 billion).

Doubts over high income target

Speaking at the UN Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, Universiti Malaya economist Rajah Rasiah  said that Malaysia’s poor performance casts doubts over whether it can achieve the targets set to achieve high income status.

“Malaysia is fortunate to be in a good neighbourhood, located among growing countries. The three largest recipients of FDI are located in Asia (but) Malaysia does not even make the top 10 list of recipients,” he said.

He added that this is remarkable for a country with a specific FDI policy, unlike Taiwan which is placed 10th in the list.

Conversely, Malaysia is “doing well in FDI outflows”, ranking fifth in the list of South, East and Southeast Asian countries investing abroad.

“Speaking to fund managers, I get the impression that we have the resources to invest locally but not many viable options to do so. Even local investors find us less attractive,” he said.

Human capital a barrier

The main stumbling block, he said, remains our narrow human capital pool which leaves industries stagnating in low-end production.

He added that while foreign investor laud the ease of doing business in Malaysia, a lack of skilled labour, research and development and technological capabilities is placing the country on the losing end of the increasingly competitive FDI battle.

Malaysia has 300 to 400 science and technology workers for every 100,000 persons, as opposed to 3,000 in countries which made the transition from middle to high income status, he said.

Similarly, the country is under-investing in research and development at only 0.64 percent of GDP, while others like Taiwan and South Korea are investing about 3 percent of theirs.

It should also look at mirroring such nations in developing a “vetting mechanism” for FDI to ensure that the investments can be a catalyst for human capital and technology development.

This will include screening FDI by choosing those with technologies that could be upgraded along the value chain and monitoring to ensure a transfer of expertise takes place.

“We allow foreign firms in by giving grants and tax incentives, so we must ensure that spillovers (in terms of technology transfers) occur,” he said.

The bottom 40 percent of the population should also be assisted insofar as developing their skills to meet the shortage in industry.

“In assisting the lower income population, we should look at developing skills like precision engineering and die casting, which are sought after by foreign investors,” he said.

Aidila Razak/Mkini

Ghost of Altantuya & Bala return’s: Private eye Bala’s reply handed to MACC

Private investigator P Balasubramaniam’s reply to a list of questions to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has been submitted today, in the form of a statutory declaration.

Americk Singh Sidhu , who arrived at the commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya this afternoon, said they will also be consulting the MACC on whether the information can be divulged to the public.

This was necessary as the questions, that were sent to Balasubramaniam in London two weeks ago, were marked as secrets.

“As you can see, it (answers) has been all notarised in London by a notary public, but let’s see what happens first,” he said, showing a thick volume of documents.

‘Pleasantly surprised’ by cooperation

After the meeting, Americk said they were “pleasantly surprised” by the MACC’s cooperation in the case.

He said the investigating officers, led by Abdul Rahman Bachok, had given an assurance that the commission is working towards completing their investigations as soon as possible.

“We had a very pleasant meeting inside, we gave them all the documents and they acknowledged receipt, and they seem quite keen to ensure that the investigations are completed as fast as possible.

“All of us were quite pleasantly surprised with the cooperation that appears to be forthcoming from the MACC, so let’s hope something is done,” said Americk.

The SD contained answers to a total of 52 questions from the MACC, plus additional information on the various alleged payments made to Bala.

Americk however did not specify what alleged payments his client was referring to.

He said it took Bala three days in London to finish answering all 52 questions.

“We were told that they were done with the other witnesses and Bala was the last witness… So hopefully something will come out of it now.”

Americk noted however that while there is no obvious restriction to release Bala’s answers publicly, they see no reason to reveal the contents of his SD “at this moment”.

“I think it is best to let the MACC conclude the investigations.”

He said they do not expect to be recalled, though he did not discount the possibility that the MACC may want to seek further clarification after going through Bala’s answers.

Answers ‘not intended to be admissible’

Americk stressed that Bala’s latest SD is not intended to be admissible in court, but to help in the commission’s investigations.

He added that they will not jump the gun by assuming that this case will be taken to court.

“We are assuming too much at the moment. First of all they have to make a decision, whether or not there will be a prosecution.

“And if so, who to prosecute? Unless we get to that stage first, it is a secondary issue, who they call as witnesses,” said Americk.

When asked if Bala would come back to Malaysia, Americk said he is more than willing, provided his safety is guaranteed.

“Basically his family and he are protected, so that he doesn’t receive future threats,” he said when asked to elaborate.

“That’s understandable. He’s very apprehensive about being here at the moment and that’s why he’s in India.”

Break-in ‘unusual’

Meanwhile, senior counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon said police made a sweep of his house and recovered fingerprints while investigating the recent break-in at his house.

He commended the job by the police forensics team who also found a cigarette and DNA evidence.

Manjeet, who returned from London where he was advising Bala on the MACC’s initial plan to interview him there, said he would not make any assumptions that the break-in was linked to his involvement in Bala’s case.

He however, noted that the timing was ‘unusual’.

“When I went to Singapore, they threw a Molotov cocktail. When I went to London, my house was broken into.

“So when you put all these things together, it’s unusual,” he said.

Joseph Sipalan/Mkini

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Bayan Baru a hot seat

The Bayan Baru seat is up for grabs as MP Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, who quit PKR to become a BN-friendly Independent in February, will no longer contest on a party ticket.

Several hopefuls are already making a beeline for the division leadership position.

Bayan Baru PKR division acting chief Tan Seng Keat said Bayan Baru is deemed “a hot seat” because those who control the division have a say on who will contest in the next polls, highly speculated to be called early next year.

“It’s true that many are aiming for the seat. As Zahrain has left, that seat is now empty and anyone has a chance to grab it,” he told Malaysiakini.

“Lobbying has already started, and since this is also the party’s election year, a lot of leaders are hoping for the chance to grab this seat.”

Tan, however, declined to comment or speculate on who could be vying for the position, adding that he himself had “a long way to go” before thinking of occupying the parliamentary seat.

Candidates are expected to face an uphill task when lobbying, as the Bayan Baru division alone has about 5,000 registered members.

There are other reasons why Bayan Baru is popular – it is located next to Bayan Lepas, where the Penang airport is, and the town is part of the Penang Cybercity Phase 1 launched in 2005.

The parliamentary constituency includes Batu Uban, Pantai Jerejak and Batu Maung.

Division leaders remain cautious, though, because former supporters of Zahrain (right) may cause an upset and encourage defection from the party before elections.

The other hot seats are Nibong Tebal and Kulim-Bandar Bahru, respectively held by PKR-turned-Independent MPs Tan Tee Beng and Zulkifli Noordin.

This offers an opportunity for members to take advantage of the party’s new direct voting system, to put in the kinds of leaders they want in their divisions and the central committee, where previously the decision rested with only a handful of delegates.

PKR is the first political party in Malaysia to introduce direct voting, following amendments to its constitution last year.

From this month up to the party’s annual congress in November, “a few hundred thousand” members nationwide will be involved in direct voting.

The 200 divisions are expected to vote for central leaders in November.

It is learnt that leaders vying for central committee posts are already campaigning among division members.

For example, central committee member Zaid Ibrahim is scheduled to be in Penang next month for a huge fund-raising dinner, which will see the presence of PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim lending his support.

Division polls starting Sept

Penang PKR has started gearing up for its 20,000 members to vote directly for division exco members.

PKR state secretary Abdul Halim Hussain said elections will be conducted in all divisions from Sept 17 – 26.

He said all division leaders have been briefed on the voting process and are in the process of selecting election officers (EOs) for the exercise.

They are tasked with preventing money politics and election fraud within the party’s voting system.

“EOs are selected based on their background. They must be professional and credible, plus they must not be contesting in the said divisions as they are the ones to monitor the election process, just like the Election Commission,” he said.

“We are currently conducting training for election officers, and each division will nominate two persons for the job.”

However, due to manpower shortage election officers may be required to work in divisions other than their own.

“This is allowed as long as they are not vying for any positions in that particular division,” said Abdul Halim.

To prevent election fraud or the presence of ‘phantom’ voters, the party will be displaying their membership list or ‘electoral roll’ in the division offices soon.

“We have 20,000 registered members, and we are going to publicise our ‘electoral roll’ so that any protest can be done now, until the 26th of this month, ” said Abdul Halim.

“If anyone wants to challenge the electoral roll, please do so now as the list will be finalised on Aug 2.

This will ensure transparency as members are given a chance to protest, complain and confirm their membership in a particular branch.”

Susan Loone/Mkini

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Hadiah terbaru jibby Altantuya kepada rakyat: 5-in-1 price hike: Fuel, sugar and gas up

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration has taken a politically risky manoeuvre by raising prices of three types of fossil fuels, sugar and cooking gas.

Both RON95 grade petrol and diesel prices will be raised by RM0.05 per litre, while liquified petroluem gas (LPG) will be raised by RM0.10 per kilogramme.

In a major departure from current policy, RON97 has been cut loose and will now be based on market price.

“RON97 petrol will no longer be subsidised. It will be subjected to a managed loat under which the price will be determined by the automatic pricing mechanism,” said a statement from the PM’s Department.

Prices would adjusted monthly according to international oil prices. It is unclear how much the increase will be but it could be substantial.

However, it is learnt that the price for RON97 will increase by 5 sen, and this will be further re-adjusted later.

Sugar prices will be raised by RM0.25 per kg.

All price increases will take effect from midnight tonight.

The breakdown of the new prices are:

• RON 95 grade petrol – from RM1.80 to RM1.85 per litre

• RON 97 grade petrol - no more subsidies (managed float)

• Diesel – from RM1.70 to RM1.75 per litre

• White refined coarse granulated sugar – from RM1.65 to RM1.90 per kg

• Liquified petroluem gas – from RM1.75 to RM1.85 per kg

For cooking gas: (each cylinder)

• 10kg – from RM17.50 to RM18.50, RM1 hike

• 12kg – from RM21.00 to RM22.20, RM1.20 hike

• 14kg – from RM24.50 to RM25.90, RM1.40 hike

Meticulously well timed?

The announcement was made just hours after the adjournment of Parliament, effectively avoiding a major backlash in the Dewan Rakyat.

The subsidy cuts are believed to be the first stage of the government’s plans to reduce subsidies for essential goods as proposed by the Performance and Delivery Unit (Pemandu).

Pemandu, a unit established under the Prime Minister’s Department, had warned that the Malaysia may face bankruptcy by 2019 should subsidies not be reduced.

Idris Jala, Pemandu’s chief executive officer, said that Malaysia risk becoming like Greece, which is now debt-ridden.

The Najib administration had been working hard on its charm offensive to sell the necessity for subsidy reductions.

However, critics said forcing consumers to tighten their belts without the government undergoing an austerity drive was meaningless.

It must also be noted that this is the second time the federal government had increased sugar prices. On Jan 1, prices were increased by RM0.20 per kg.

At the height of massive public outcry over sharp increase in fuel, water and electricity prices in March 2006, Najib, then deputy premier, infamously urged the public to “change your lifestyle“.

In an apparent reference to this, Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today that he hoped this remark would not be uttered again.

“I pray that no Pak Menteri (senior minister) urge the public to change their lifestyle. Such statements are akin to scoring an own goal with a bicycle kick,” said Khairy on his Twitter page late this evening. Mkini

Bala reveals what he told the French

Controversial private eye P Balasubramaniam said that he was quizzed for three hours on Monday by French prosecutor M Ryckewaert at the Centrale de la Police Judiciare in Paris.

This was followed by a two-hour meeting the day after with a team of French lawyers led by Joseph Breham, who were hired by human rights group Suaram to bring up the case in the French courts.

According to Balasubramaniam, he told the French what he knew regarding the alleged Paris meeting between Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda – who had hired the private investigator to keep an eye on Altantuya before she was murdered in 2006.

He was also asked on the payments made by Razak Baginda to Altantuya and the purchase of an apartment in Mongolia by the political analyst for his ex-lover.

Balasubramaniam also explained the role played by Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, his brother, Nazim Abdul Razak and businessman Deepak Jaikishan in getting him to change his statutory declaration, which led to his self-imposed exile in India.

The private investigator also gave information on the two Special Action Forces personnel – chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar – who last year were convicted of killing Altantuya.

Balasubramian was also questioned on the alleged French individuals involved in the multi-billion ringgit submarine deal and the details given by Altantuya of payments made by the French to Perimekar Sdn Bhd, the company owned by Abdul Razak’s wife Mazlinda Mahmood.

Two Malaysian names cropped up during the questioning – Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad. However, no details were revealed on who they were and what role they played in the scandal.

The Parisians are investigation whether commissions have been paid in the RM3.7 billion deal between the Malaysian government and French-based defence company DCNS, which is illegal under the French law.

Bala’s press statement

Below is the statement released by Balasubramaniam on what he told the French investigators.

He was quizzed by them alone as the private eye’s lawyer, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, was not allowed to accompany him.

Place of interview: Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciare DNIF, Nanterre, Paris. Interviewed by M Ryckewaert assisted by an English interpreter and another officer. Interview conducted in French through the English interpreter.

Observation: The French investigator appeared to be very familiar with the events in
Malaysia relating to the Altantuya murder. The interview however centred on the Scorpene submarine deal and the alleged commission paid in connection with that.

The following were the areas covered in the interview.

1) My background [including date and place of birth] and my occupation from the time I was with the Malaysian police to time when I became a private investigator in 1998.

2) The validity of my PI (private investigator) licence.

3) The whole story as to how I was recruited to do a job for Razak Baginda and my interview before the job done by Dhirren Norendra, a lawyer practicing in Kuala Lumpur. I was questioned about the scope of my assignment, the target and objectives of my assignment.

4) The background to the Altantuya murder. I briefed them on the events leading up to and after the murder and also told them to read my first SD (statutory declaration) and the Singapore interview. Also the identity of the two police officers convicted of the murder, who they worked for as well as the identity of the various other people identified as being about when Altantunya disappeared and their link to Razak Baginda and/or the PM (prime minister).

5) Razak Baginda’s relationship with our present PM, the information and events narrated to me by Razak Baginda including the SMS sent by the PM to Razak Baginda at the point of his arrest for the murder of Altantuya.

6) The Malaysian company, Perimekar, its ownership, and link to Razak Baginda and his wife. Also nature of business undertaken by Perimeker. I told them of the presence of army equipment in Razak Baginda’s office. Information concerning Razak Baginda and his present whereabouts.

7) Financial payments by Razak Baginda to Altantuya, including the three US$5,000 payments by Baginda to Altantuya, which included a penalty of US$1,000 because of late banking in. Also the purchase by Razak Baginda of an apartment in Mongolia for Altantuya. Also the background to US$500,000 payment demanded by Altantuya, how it arose, its link to the Scorpene submarine deal, Altanunya’s involvement in the negotiations, and admission and confirmation by Razak Baginda that he should have paid Altantuya the money.

8) How Rosmah Mansor teamed up with Deepak to exile me from Malaysia, the threats to my family after I signed the first SD as well as the involvement of the PM’s brother in the events that led to the second SD and my being smuggled out of Malaysia and asked to stay away till Najib Razak became PM.

9) I was asked to retrace the events in Rawang coffee house where Deepak, Dinesh and ASP Suresh were present.

10) The length and time I have in exile.

11) Details concerning Altantuya’s cousin, Ammy, who had knowledge of the Paris dinner where the PM and Razak Baginda were present with Altantuya.

12) The identity of the French individuals involved in the Scorpene deal.

13) My knowledge of any payments by the French to Perimekar and information given to me by Altantuya that her US$500,000 was because of the successful deal concerning the Scorpene submarine transaction.

14) The identity, background and involvement of two Malaysians identified as Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim Saad.

15) Altantuya’s family background.

16) My links with Suaram, if any.

17) The need for justice to be served for the Altantuya murder and the truth to be told concerning the Scorpene deal.

I signed the statement that the French officer recorded.

Balasubramaniam also said that he met with Breham, the French lawyer acting for Suaram, on July 13 at 10 am at his office at Cabinet Bourdon-Voituriez-Burget, 156 Rue e Rivoli, Paris.

Hafiz Yatim/Mkini

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Ghost of Mongolian model continues to haunt Malaysian government: Shaariibuu’s ghost will get justice in Paris rather than Kuala Lumpur

By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun

The ghost of murdered Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu refuses to lie quiet.

For the Malaysian government of prime minister Najib Tun Razak a line appeared to have been drawn under the sordid and politically explosive affair when two of his bodyguards from his days as defence minister were convicted last year of the young woman’s murder in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October 2006.

But in the last few weeks two events have revived simmering questions about the connection of the murder to a $1.2 billion contract to buy two French Scorpene-class diesel submarines ordered while Najib was defence minister.

Najib’s friend and adviser on defence matters, Abdul Razak Baginda, whose wife’s company was paid a questionable $150 million over the submarine contract, had recently brought a love affair with Shaariibuu to an acrimonious end when she was abducted and murdered.

During the months’ long trial of the two police bodyguards every effort was made to ensure prime minister Najib’s name didn’t figure in evidence.

And in a move that astonished legal experts, the judge early on in the trial exonerated Baginda of any responsibility. He promptly fled to Britain where he remains.

The stage management of the trial convinced Malaysian human rights groups that it would be pointless to try to resolve the Shaariibuu case in the senior courts in Kuala Lumpur.

One of those Malaysian human rights groups, Suaram, has therefore pressed for a judicial inquiry in France, where there are a number of investigations underway of the notorious willingness of state-owned defence companies to pay bribes or other inducements in order to gain arms contracts.

In this case Parisian prosecutors started inquiries in March focusing on the $150 million paid to a Malaysian company called Perimekar, which was set up just before Najib signed in 2002 the deal to buy the two Scorpene submarines from the French state-owned shipbuilder DCN.

Perimekar was ostensibly hired to provide “coordination and support services” for the contract, but no evidence has been produced to show the company had the skills for such tasks or ever attempted to perform them.

Perimekar is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a company called KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd., whose principal shareholder is lawyer Mazalinda Baginda, the wife of prime minister Najib’s friend and adviser Razak Baginda.

Shaariibuu, 28 at the time of her death, had learned French when she was a model in Paris and there is evidence she acted as translator for her paramour Baginda during his negotiations with DCN over the submarines on behalf of Najib and the Malaysian government.

Malaysian authorities have responded to the move by French prosecutors to investigate DCN and particularly its submarine-manufacturing subsidiary Armaris, for possible corruption and paying kickbacks by insisting nothing is wrong.

A spokesman for prime minister Najib said recently the French prosecutors have the right to investigate, “but for us, there is no case to answer.” He added that the deal was entirely free of corruption.

Exactly why Shaariibuu was murdered by Najib’s bodyguards has never been entirely resolved, despite the long trial and 45 witnesses.

By some accounts, after Baginda jilted her, the young woman and a friend launched several noisy demonstrations outside Baginda’s house.

Baginda reportedly went to Najib’s chief of staff, Musa Safri, and asked for help in keeping the young woman away from his home.

As a result, the two police bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, abducted Shaariibuu during one of her demonstrations, took her to the jungle outside the capital and shot her.

But they then used military C4 explosives to blow up the body in an apparent attempt to foil identification, though this act has, of course, led to speculation that Shaariibuu was pregnant.

But in a letter written by Shaariibuu and discovered after her death -a letter never produced in evidence -she indicated she was trying to blackmail Baginda for $500,000 to keep quiet about the details of the $150 million paid to his wife’s company, Perimekar.

There have also been suggestions that Shaariibuu knew details of the many other arms purchases made in the military equipment buildup overseen by Najib while he was defence minister from 2002 to 2008.

These deals include the purchase of Sukhoi supersonic fighter jet aircraft from Russia and of a small fleet of coastal defence vessels.

As well as Malaysian human rights organizations, Shaariibuu’s parents have been adamant that there has been no real justice for their murdered daughter.

With the stage-managed criminal trial now done, Shaariibuu’s father and mother have tried to bring a civil suit seeking compensation for her death against Baginda and the two convicted policemen.

In a strange move, Malaysia’s High Court in March ordered the family to make a security deposit of the equivalent of $20,000 for the case to be heard by the Court of Appeal and potentially to continue to the Federal Court.

The family was distraught, saying it could not raise such a sum.

But last week The Mongolian government announced it will put up the security bond demanded by the Malaysian court so the case can be heard, though at this point it seems more likely that Shaariibuu’s ghost will get justice in Paris rather than Kuala Lumpur.

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Deepak, Rosmah ‘sponsored’ my London trip, quips Bala: U are trapped!, Are u happy now, zahrain gemuk? Nak buat boss besar happy, tapi kena penumbuk kat muka sendiri

Private investigator P Balasubramaniam said the money used to pay for his trip to London for the aborted meeting with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) came from carpet businessman Deepak Jaikishan and the premier’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Balasubramaniam’s lawyer, Americk Singh Sidhu, said he had been instructed by his client to respond to independent Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohamed Hashim’s press conference in Parliament yesterday.

Zahrain had yesterday demanded MACC to investigate the individual involved in sponsoring Balasubramaniam’s flight and stay in London.

In a cheeky response, Americk said that Balasubramaniam fully supports Zahrain’s suggestion.

“This is for the simple reason the money he is using to pay for his trip to London and his hotel accommodation there is derived from the funds he has received from Deepak at the behest of Rosmah, who ultimately and unwittingly is the sponsor,” said the lawyer in a statement.

As such, MACC should investigate the duo.

Bala went missing after retracting his first statutory declaration (SD) in July 2008.

Then he alleged the involvement of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s younger brother, Nazim, and Deepak in enticing him to retract the SD.

MACC’s sudden reversal

Balasubramaniam’s first SD states that it was Najib who had introduced Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu to his confidante and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

Balasubramaniam, who was due to leave for London today from an undisclosed location, was to be interviewed by MACC on Monday to facilitate its investigations on Nazim and Deepak’s role.

However, MACC deputy commissioner Mohd Sukri Abdull, in a dramatic about-turn, announced yesterday it would abort the trip but would instead send a set of questions to Balasubramaniam’s lawyer for the answers to be replied in an affidavit.

Americk has since lambasted the MACC for its contradictory stand and for not being serious in conducting the interview.

Mkini

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