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Friday, January 2, 2015

POLITICAL 2014: A year of by-elections, 'anyhow' Sedition charges & 'sneaky' new laws

POLITICAL 2014: A year of by-elections, 'anyhow' Sedition charges & 'sneaky' new laws
2014 saw five by-elections. Three of them – Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat, Teluk Intan parliamentary seat and Pengkalan Kubur state seat – were triggered by the deaths of their elected representatives, while the other two – Kajang and Balingan state seats – happened due to them being vacated.
In the five by-elections, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat retained two seats each (BN – Balingian and Pengkalan Kubor; PR – Bukit Gelugor and Kajang), while BN managed to wrest Teluk Intan from DAP, a PR component party.
Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong's victory in Teluk Intan, albeit a razor-thin one, over Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, the young DAP candidate who became popular overnight on being nominated to defend the Pakatan seat, was crucial both for him and the party's position in BN.
Mah, who was contesting as party chief for the first time, had vied for the seat in both the 2008 and 2013 general elections but lost.
Wan Azizah
The Teluk Intan triumph put Mah back in the Cabinet as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
The Balingian state by-election on March 29 was prompted by the resignation of incumbent Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud following his decision to step down from his position as chief minister of Sarawak on Feb 28. Taib was later appointed the Yang di-Pertua Negri of Sarawak.
BN candidate Yussibnosh Balo retained the seat by beating PKR's Abdul Jalil Bujang in a straight fight.
Meanwhile, the Kajang by-election took place when its incumbent, Lee Chin Cheh, resigned on Jan 27 to kick-start the "Kajang Move" meant to replace then embattled Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim with PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, the plan fell through following Anwar's subsequent conviction for sodomy in the Court of Appeal. His wife and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was fielded instead in a straight fight with BN's Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, an MCA vice-president.
Wan Azizah retained the seat for PR but with a reduced majority.
BN did not contest in the Bukit Gelugor by-election, which saw Ramkarpal Singh of DAP retaining the seat left vacant by his father Karpal Singh, the party chief who was killed in a highway accident on April 17.
Ramkarpal beat three independent candidates, including Parti Cinta Malaysia vice-president Huan Cheng Guan.
Bukit Assek assemblyman Wong Ho Leng's death on June 20 did not see a state by-election as he died a day after the Sarawak state assembly had reached its maturity date since its first sitting on June 20, 2011.
While the government spoke continually of reforms and developing the nation, it has been subjected to strong criticisms and international scrutiny for its chain of sedition charges against outspoken individuals.
Besides targeting mostly Pakatan politicians, human rights and political and social activists who are pro-Pakatan, the authorities also hauled up a religious scholar, student leaders, an academician and even a journalist under the Sedition Act 1948.
the late DAP national chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh was charged in March for questioning Sultan of Perak's decision in removing Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak mentri besar in 2009.
Mohammad Nizar, who is PAS's Changkat Jering assemblyman, also faced a defamation charge later in August for saying, at a ceremah on April 23, 2012, that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak would do something should BN lose the 13th general election.
DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was charged on May 6 for her political satire Onederful Malaysia Chinese New Year video, which became viral in the social media, and was deemed to have made fun of the Lahad Datu intrusion last year.
Malaysian Muslim Solidarity president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman was charged on June 19 for questioning the citizenship and wealth of the Chinese, saying that they were brought to Malaya by the British and were "trespassers".
PKR's Padang Serai MP and human rights lawyer N. Surendran was charged twice in August for criticising the "Sodomy II" judgment, saying that it was a political conspiracy against Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
PAS's Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad was charged on Aug 26 for questioning the executive powers of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS).
DAP's Seri Delima assemblyman R S N Rayer was charged the next day for uttering a derogatory remark against Umno at the Penang state assembly.
PKR vice-president and Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli was charged on Aug 28 for accusing Umno of instigating religious problems.
Universiti Malaya law professor Prof Azmi Sharom faced sedition charged in September for writing on the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009.
Malaysiakini journalist Susan Loone was arrested two days later for reporting on Penang state exco Phee Boon Poh's arrest regarding the PPS issue.
Social activist Ali Abdul Jalil was charged in September for calling for the abolition of the Johor monarch.
Muslim scholar Wan Ji Wan Hussin was also arrested in September for questioning the role of the monarchy as the head of religion in the country.
civilian Wong Hoi Cheng was charged for his tweet calling the IGP as the "Heinrich Himmler of Malaysia".
All these have led to a march by the Bar Council on Oct 16, where hundreds of lawyers and activists gathered and marched to Parliament to submit a memorandum calling on the government to keep its promise to repeal the colonial-era law, which it deemed irrelevant to today's constitutional guarantee.
The government amended several laws in Parliament in 2014, with the most contentious one being the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) Amendments Bill.
The bill seeks to introduce an entirely new Section 27A and amending Section 28 (1) in the IRB Act, that will establish an investment panel chaired by the finance minister, who is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
Other members of the panel include the Bank Negara governor, a representative from the Finance Ministry, the IRB chief executive officer, its secretary, and three other persons with financial backgrounds that will be appointed by the finance minister.
Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen sounded the alarm after reading the bill during a parliamentary sitting on June 12, in which the bill was also scheduled to be tabled, and said it would give the finance minister unfettered powers and access to tax-payers' money to venture into high-risk investments.
Wong said the panel now has the power to venture beyond safe investments such as fixed deposits and use the money for initial public offerings (IPO), bonds, and stocks.
He said any decision to invest by the finance minister will likely be approved since five members of the panel will be either from the Finance Ministry or is affiliated to the minister.
The bill was withdrawn a week later and tabled again on Oct 7, but the controversial amendments to include the investment panel had been removed.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act had also been amended in June to expand its powers for the government to better combat terrorism activities due to the rise of the Islamic State (IS) on the global stage.
Originally for stemming illicit financial outflow in the country, the act can now be applied to those who have financial connections to terrorist organisations.
However, critics has pointed out that the law is having too many requirements and is saddling businesses with too many criteria to meet. - Sundaily

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