Zaid has a strong case, says Karpal

By S Rutra
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP stalwart Karpal Singh has welcomed PKR supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim's decision to file an election petition to declare the Hulu Selangor by-election result null and void.
The renowned lawyer also pointed out that Zaid should not be seen as a “sore loser” for taking the matter to court.
Karpal claimed that the former law minister had strong grounds for the petition, given the “rampant bribery” by Barisan Nasional, led by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak himself.

"His (Zaid's) action is necessary and whatever happened in Hulu Selangor should not be allowed to recur in any other election,” he told FMT.

'IGP gives Najib a slap in the face'

KUALA LUMPR: Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang today continued his verbal tirade against Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan over the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy.

Apart from calling for a royal commission of inquiry, the DAP veteran also urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to act against Musa over the latter's “threat”.

“This is a test whether Hishammuddin can be a strong home minister. If he is weak, then Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must step in.

“There can be no place in the Najib administration for an IGP who publicly slaps the prime minister in the face by rubbishing the Najib slogan of 'People First, Performance Now',” he said.

In response to a question yesterday, Musa said: “Let the politicians say what they want but I want to know whether you want us to enforce the law or not? If not, I will ask my men not to stop dangerous drivers or act against illegal racers.”

Round 2 in Sibu: DAP expects tougher fight

PENANG: DAP said today it expected a tougher contest in the upcoming Sibu parliamentary by-election in Sarawak than that in the just-concluded parliamentary by-election in Hulu Selangor where its coalition partner PKR was defeated.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Sibu as well as the three state seats within it were Barisan Nasional seats. The state seats are Nangka, Pelawan and Bawang Assan.

"We are expecting a tougher fight in Sibu but we will not give up and will continue to fight towards achieving justice for all Malaysians," he told reporters, here.

The Sibu seat fell vacant following the death of five-term MP and federal deputy transport minister Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9.

Nothing to gloat about, says Kit Siang

By FMT Staff

PETALING JAYA: The Barisan Nasional may have won the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election but there is nothing to gloat, says DAP leader Lim Kit Siang.

He said the BN's 1,725-vote majority is a pyrrhic victory for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. “It is so devastatingly costly both in political and monetary terms that the (win) has laid the seeds for the forthcoming defeat of the BN,” he said in his blogsite.

In yesterday's election, BN managed to reclaim the seat when its candidate P Kamalanathan defeated PKR's Zaid Ibrahim.
Kamalanathan garnered 24,997 votes while Zaid polled 23,272.

Lim claimed that the BN had spent about RM60 million for various infrastructure projects and easily more than RM40 million for its campaigners.

DAP kepada MCA: Tarik diri dari kempen!

Naib Setiausaha Penerangan DAP, Teo Nie Ching meminta agar MCA memberi penjelasan - Mengapa menyokong Zaid Ibrahim untuk memansuhkan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) pada seketika dahulu, tetapi kini pula berhempas pulas untuk menyingkirkan suara hati dalam arena politik ini?

Pada 12 September 2008, ketika Teresa Kok (EXCO Senior Selangor), Raja Petra Kamaruddin (blogger) dan Tan Hoon Cheng (wartawan Sin Chew Daily) ditangkap di bawah ISA, pimpinan MCA ketika itu seperti Chua Soi Lek (kini Presiden), Donald Lim Siang Chai (kini Naib Presiden), Gan Peng Sieu (kini Naib Presiden) telah tampil ke depan, dan dengan lantangnya bersuara untuk keadilan, menyatakan sokongan kepada pendirian Zaid Ibrahim untuk memansuhkan ISA.

Menurut laporan media, tiga orang pemimpin ini menyatakan pendirian untuk berganding bahu bersama Zaid Ibrahim pada 16 September 2008:

"Keadilan itu melewati kepartian, penahanan tanpa bicara adalah tidak adil, BN harus mengarahkan agar ISA dimansuhkan." (Blog peribadi Chua Soi Lek pada 16 September 2008)

"Saya menggesa agar kerajaan mengkaji dan memansuhkan ISA dengan segera, malah saya menyokong dan memuji pendirian Menteri Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Zaid Ibrahim, iaitu menggesa agar kerajaan membebaskan Teresa Kok dan Raja Petra Kamaruddin, dan menggunakan saluran perundangan yang lain untuk menyelesaikan kes ini.  (Donald Lim, laporan Malaysiakini, 16 September 2008)

"Pemuda MCA akan menyokong sepenuhnya pendirian Zaid Ibrahim dalam isu ISA, malah menyeru agar pihak berkenaan mengkaji semua undang-undang preemption." (Gan Peng Sieu, laporan Sinchew Daily, 16 September 2008)

Teo Nie Ching (ganbar kiri) menggesa agar pemimpin MCA memberi penjelasan dalam tempoh 48 jam - Mengapa mereka menyokong sepenuhnya Zaid Ibrahim pada ketika itu, namun kini pula mengerah tenaga ahli MCA di Hulu Selangor, untuk menyokong calon MIC yang mengangguk kepada ISA, dan bermusuhan dengan Zaid Ibrahim?

Teo Nie Ching menegaskan, seandainya Chua Soi Lek, Donald Lim dan Gan Ping Sieu gagal memberi penjelasan dalam masa 48 jam, maka MCA seharusnya menarik diri tanpa syarat dari kempen untuk BN, keluar dari Hulu Selangor, untuk membuktikan bahawa pendirian MCA dalam pemansuhan ISA dan sokongan terhadap Zaid Ibrahim berkekalan!

*Teo Nie Ching ialah Naib Setiausaha Penerangan DAP merangkap ahli parlimen Serdang.  Diterjemah dari kenyataan asal dalam bahasa Cina.

DAP wants EC to explain ‘phantom voters’

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — The DAP wants the Election Commission (EC) to explain the existence of “phantom voters” in several states in Malaysia, based on alleged inaccuracies in a report released by the commission.

DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng (left), told reporters in Parliament that a report released by the EC on Feb 25, 2010 showed strong evidence to support DAP’s claims.

“In Terengganu, for example, the number of Indian voters under the National Registration Department are 1,441. But the number of Indian voters registered under the EC are 1,600.

“This means that there are 159 more Indian voters than recorded by the EC... these are phantom voters,” said Lim, who was flanked by fellow DAP colleagues Tony Pua, Anthony Loke and Charles Santiago.

He asserted that there was an urgent need for the introduction of an automatic voter registration process as a solution, in order to eliminate such incidents.

“Where did the extra voters come from? When records in the National Registration department do not even show that they exist.”

“There is a need for automatic registration, so we need to go through proses pendaftaran,” said Lim.

Other examples of discrepancies were also pointed out. One instance was in Sabah, where the number of Malay voters registered under the National Registry department was 115,349. The said amount failed to tally with the EC’s figure— 177,864.

“The figures show that the people registered as voters exceed the people who live there. Why is there no action taken? The EC is not independent, not fulfilling its duty,” added Lim.

The matter was raised in Parliament last week by Rasa MP, Anthony Loke, but no answer has yet been given.

“The issue of updating the numbers because of deaths does not arise because there is an update done every three months. This is not an excuse,” said Loke, in criticising the inconsistencies.

Sidang DUN Perak adalah Sidang Polis – V. Sivakumar

- Umno/BN Perak Membisukan ADUN Pakatan, Memekakkan Telinga Sendiri dan Membutakan Mata Seluruh Rakyat.

Chukai, KEMAMAN – Speaker Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak yang sah, V Sivakumar menyifatkan siding DUN yang berlangsung dinegeri Perak baru-baru ini bukan sidang ahli-ahli yang berhormat, tetapi adalah suatu sidang polis.

(Gambar - Sivakumar yang juga ADUN DAP bagi kerusi DUN Tronoh, menunjukkan buku 'perintah tetap' yang dibawa bersamanya, kepada semua hadirin)

Beliau berkata demikian kerana katanya, kerajaan Umno/BN Perak sekali lagi telah membawa masuk beratus-ratus orang polis ke dalam dewan yang mulia itu.

Selain itu, beliau mendedahkan, bagaimana kerajaan Umno/BN Perak telah membisukan ADUN-ADUN Pakatan Rakyat, memekakkan telinga mereka sendiri dan membutakan seluruh rakyat dalam Negara ini.

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