Costs of the Perak Coup – the Orang Asli

“Since independence, we have never felt like Malaysians. In the 10 months of the Pakatan Rakyat state government, we felt the promise of citizenship begin to be fulfilled.”

Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Perak (JKOAP) secretary Tijah Yok Chopil

One of the worries that crossed my mind in following the recent BN coup in Perak was the likely reversal of fortune for the Orang Asli of Perak.

Sure enough, as The Nut Graph reports, a few days after the February 6 takeover trees near Kampung Chang were being marked for logging. Within a week sand mining had restarted on Orang Asli land.

The Pakatan Rakyat government had initiated a series of reforms to bolster and affirm the rights of Orang Asli. Their Orang Asli Taskforce Committee had begun the process of ensuring the issuance of as many permanent land titles as possible. Land rights are the key issue for Orang Asli as this is the main source of their wealth and livelihood.

The Orang Asli worry that the BN government (if it stays) will revert to their old policy of treating Orang Asli like second-class bumiputeras.

It seems likely that BN will pursue popular disenfranchisement and give free reign to predatory capital in any state that they seize back.

Convoying for Eli, all around the Klang Valley

Spent most of yesterday in a long trek up and down the Klang Valley in the Convoy for Eli organised by the dedicated residents’ associations of her Bukit Lanjan constituency.

Bandar Utama residents and others show their support for Eli

In an amazing and touching show of support the RAs banded together and raised funds for banners and petition sheets and launched a drive to collect signatures to hand in to MB Khalid Ibrahim before he meets with the Sultan of Selangor on Wednesday.

Eli’s Parting Words

Picture courtesy of Sin Chiew (via MalaysiaToday).

Eli’s departing statement:

I have departed today.

Despite having tendered my resignation from all posts, the media and websites continue to intrude into my private life and privacy. I have been informed by several media that they will continue to publish even more lewd graphical, sensational stories of my private life.

I have also been told there will be a fresh assault, with more photographs and videos released and circulated in order to completely degrade and bury me.

This is the darkest episode in my life. I have never felt so alone, vulnerable and humiliated. I need to rest and to search for peace of mind to get away from the stormy events surrounding me.

I appreciate the overwhelming support from all quarters, especially my voters, women in particular and party comrades. Words cannot express my gratitude for your gentle kindness.

I have informed my party leaders that I am determined to relinquish all my positions, as a Selangor state exco member as well as the state assemblywoman for Bukit Lanjan. I am thankful for the party leadership’s concern and encouragement. I seek their understanding for my predicament.

My commitment to the ideals of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat remains unwavering. I shall retain my party membership and continue to struggle for a just society with the party.

The nation is at a crisis facing a serious economic recession. Unemployment is rising, while corruption remains rampant. I wish public discussions would concentrate on these important issues rather than analysing my private life.

My principle remains the same – I will not answer any questions pertaining to my private life. My private life is not for public scrutiny as I have not broken any law or caused harm to anyone.

I plead to the media as well as my supporters to allow me some peace of mind, and to give me space. I urge the media to leave my family, friends and I alone. Please do not continue to shame my family and I, so that we have a chance to lead a normal life as ordinary citizens.

Lastly, I wish to thank the support from the public that has been pouring in ceaselessly. I am very moved and eternally grateful to my friends and colleagues who stand by me. There is nothing in this world that can repay your kindness. ”

by Elizabeth Wong 19 Feb 2009
Selangor State Exco Member
PKR Bukit Lanjan Assemblyperson

“Elizabeth Wong Nude Photo Pic Gambar Bogel”

Came looking for gambar bogel? Nude pics? So, sorry lah…

I’m shamelessly repeating the social experiment from this blog posting:

Elizabeth Wong Nude Pic Gambar Bogel

His search engine-snatching title (which I have replicated here) has allowed him to collect some suggestive data.

Poster by Chris Chew

Poll suggests little legitimacy for BN in Perak

Malaysian Insider posted a pretty striking poll by the Merdeka Centre on a limited sample of Perak voters’ attitudes towards the BN takeover, see below.

If they had taken more time and effort and gotten a sample of above 1,000 they could have produced more statistically robust findings, although even with the present margin of error the responses are overwhelmingly negative towards BN.

The original Merdeka Centre poll can be downloaded here.

In case you weren’t sure… hear it from the people of Perak

IPOH, FEB 12 — If the Barisan Nasional and the Perak royal household had any lingering doubts about negative public sentiment towards the change of the state government, here is a message: doubt no more.

A survey of registered voters in Perak on Feb 8 showed that:

• 74 per cent of the respondents feel that the state assembly should have been dissolved after the defection of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers

• 76 per cent of the respondents felt that the “people, through elections, should decide on who forms the government”

• 62 per cent of the respondents felt that the “role of the palace in this decision” means it does not recognise the will of the people

• 66 per cent of the respondents do not accept state governments formed through the defection of state assemblymen

• 59 per cent of the respondents feel that the political crisis in Perak would decrease support for Barisan Nasional.

Taken together, the poll by the Merdeka Centre suggests that Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and the BN may occupy the seat of government but a significant number of Perakians may not accept their legitimacy to hold power.

The political crisis unfolded in Perak when three Pakatan Rakyat legislators became independents and said that they would back the BN.

This wiped away the three-seat majority which enabled Pakatan Rakyat to rule the state since March last year.

After interviewing the three and the 28 BN representatives, Sultan Azlan Shah decided that BN had the majority in the state assembly. This was a controversial decision given that Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin and Pakatan Rakyat felt that the correct decision should have been for the Ruler to allow for the state assembly to be dissolved for fresh elections.

There is a roiling debate even among lawyers on the Sultan’s decision, with the majority saying that he should have either agreed to the dissolution of the House or held off making any decision until a vote of no confidence against Nizar was taken in the assembly.

The survey findings indicate that many Perak voters also feel that the Ruler may have erred.

Some 507 registered voters were interviewed by telephone and the sampling was done randomly. The margin of error was about 4.5 per cent.

Jousting over Perak

UMNO Youth protest in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (pic by Minaq_Jinggo).

Confrontation between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional continues over the Perak coup, whilst on Monday the loss of two PR politicians – V. Arumugam of Kedah to resignation and BN harassment, and Roslan Shaharum of Bukit Gantang, Perak to a heart attack – has opened up two by-elections which will be used as a popularity contest between PR and BN.

If PR wins both back it will be seen as a public repudiation of the BN. If the BN wins either it will suggest that public outrage over the Perak coup is less than significant.

UMNO Youth has been holding street demonstrations in Perak and Kuala Lumpur to protest against the “treasonous” conduct of PR politicians such as Nizar Jamaluddin, PR MB of Perak who refused to resign, and DAP elder Karpal Singh, who intends to sue the Sultan of Perak over his decision to demand Nizar’s resignation.

Perspectives on Perak, Pt 2

More people are bending their minds to the Perak crisis, whilst political fighting continues between PR and BN as well as within PR with Karpal Singh’s call for Anwar Ibrahim to step down as PR leader. This just after he called for a law suit against the Sultan, which led to the Perak Youth Council demanding that he be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The Sultan also continues to take flak. He cancelled his Silver Jubilee celebrations out of concern for “public safety.” His reticence to appear in public may be similar to Najib’s decision to avoid Perakians and their shoes.

Malaysian Insider reports on feelings from people in the street, and they are all supportive of the PR government.

Bar Council Human Rights Committee lawyer Amer Hamzah offers a lefty perspective on the crisis which sees the old alliance of interests reforming between UMNO, the Sultans, and capitalists.

The president of the Bar, Ambiga Sreenavasan defends Karpal’s and PR’s right to seek redress in the courts.

More legal opinion on the prerogative, or absence thereof, of the Sultan to dismiss the chief minister can be found here.

Rumours continue to circulate that Kedah could be next, given that only five defections are needed to bring it down. An analysis of the prospects for remaining PR states is here.

Najib ‘ducks the shoe’ in Perak

Before Najib ducks the shoe by steering clear of Perak, angry protestors make do with a poster instead.

Since the lightning overthrow of the Perak state government a recurrent theme in online and offline comments has been the issue of physical and metaphorical shoes to be lobbed at the wrongful parties.

So, with that in mind, and in light of Najib’s decision to stay out of Perak due to the upset and protests he has caused, allow me to introduce a contemporary neologism – “ducking the shoe”, coined by Daniel Fienberg:

New Phrase: Ducking the Shoe (or Duck the Shoe)

Part of Speech: Either a verb or a gerundive of some sort

Definition: Escaping even the most minor of punishments for extended errors or catastrophic misdeeds.

Used in a Sentence: [Despite orchestrating the usurpation of the Perak government, Najib Razak ducked the shoe by avoiding visits to the state in the aftermath.]

Origin and Linguistic Evolution: [In December 2008], a certain president of a Western Superpower with rather dramatically low approval ratings in his native land had a shoe whipped at him by a reporter from a country he supposedly liberated. Said lame duck president successfully evaded said shoe, just as he also evaded an electoral challenge four years earlier, an ill-ingested preztel and any sort of censure from the legal bodies in his home nation.

Perspectives on Perak crisis

A statement by Elizabeth Wong, of the Selangor State EXCO on Perak is below.

A gloat by Johor UMNO MP Nur Jazlan is here.

Coup d’etat in Perak

As of this morning, PR is still the legitimate government in Perak.

However since yesterday, in what was shocking to many, the State Secretary, without any legal basis, usurped power and barred PR from entering the state building. The Federal Police joined in to cordon the building.

The Sultan has unfortunately chosen to act ultra-vires to the Perak Constitution. In any ordinary circumstance, HRH should have followed the letter of the law and either agree to dissolve the state assembly, or allow for a special session of the assembly.

HRH does not have the power to dismiss the Menteri Besar or the Executive Council. As a former Lord President, HRH surely would know the limits of his power.

Even if BN has the numbers (and this is contestable), surely they would have some semblance of following what is clearly outlined in the Constitution? Or are they that uncertain themselves too once everyone is brought to the floor of the state assembly? Haste somehow has illegitimacy smeared all over this.

MB Nizar got this point loud and clear during his thunderous speech last night, that the new BN state government will be a Kerajaan ‘Haram‘ [illicit government].

Dire Straits in Perak: the Sultan didn’t swing

Protestors stepping on an image of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak. (Photo: Choo Choy May, MalaysianInsider)

Yesterday, Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak decided to favour the case presented to him by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak of the Barisan Nasional (BN), that BN held the confidence of the majority of the Perak state assembly and therefore deserved to take government. The BN had the support of 28 of its assemblypeople and three independents who had defected from Pakatan Rakyat (PR), granting them a majority of three against PR.

Citing provisions in the Perak constitution the Sultan, a former Lord President of the Malaysian High Court, ordered Nizar Jamaluddin, at that time Chief Minister of the Pakatan Rakyat government, to step down so a BN government could be sworn in.

Nizar refused to step down. He argued the case that the three independents did not have valid claim to their seats having signed pledges after election last March to the effect that they would lose any office if they left their party. From PR’s perspective it was a case of their 28 seats against 28 BN seats with 3 vacancies. PR has already launched a law suit to have their interpretation recognised. Nizar’s request for the Sultan to dissolve the state assembly and call for fresh state-wide elections was turned down.