Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Kit Siang accuses Najib of using Budget 2011 to keep BN in power
The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today that Budget 2011 clearly showed the Najib administration had no appetite for reform and was using public funds to keep the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in power. “The Budget for 2011 has all of the attributes of a blunt tool for distributing public funds to UMNOputras, BN cronies, and vested groups that constitute the vote bank of the Barisan,” the influential opposition party’s adviser said in a media statement.
The Ipoh-Timur MP pointed out that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had failed to incorporate the economic reform measures recommended by its hired think tank.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Kit Siang walks out of Dewan in 'disgust'
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang left the Dewan Rakyat in “disgust” this morning when Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee refused to entertain his attempt to pose a supplementary question on the New Economic Model.
The original question regarding the effectiveness of the NEM in achieving its objectives was raised by Ismail Abdul Muttalib (BN-Maran) and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department K Devamany responded.
In a statement issued later, Lim said he wanted to raise several points, including the absence of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the many ministers in his department to answer the question.
“This shows that the Barisan Nasional government is neither really seriously nor fully committed whether to Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, NEM or Parliament,” he added.
Apart from this, the DAP leader also wanted to know “why for more than six months not a single minister dared to state that the NEM was not against Article 153 of the Federal Constitution to check the rise of racism because of the rhetoric of communal extremists, although the prime minister has gone to the United Nations general assembly and Asia-Europe dialogue to call for a global movement of moderates against extremists.”
Lim also wanted to know if Najib's administration had taken full ownership of the proposals in the NEM for Malaysia to escape the two-decade long middle-income trap to achieve sustainable and inclusive high-income developed nation status by 2020 and not regard the NEM proposals as mere “trial balloons” of a group of experts from the global market perspective as said by Najib in June.
The veteran politician also wanted to quiz the government's stand in particular on the NEM Strategic Reform Initiative (SRI) 5 for “transparent and market-friendly affirmative action” which would “consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of households… taking into consideration the needs and merits of the applicants.”
The original question regarding the effectiveness of the NEM in achieving its objectives was raised by Ismail Abdul Muttalib (BN-Maran) and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department K Devamany responded.
In a statement issued later, Lim said he wanted to raise several points, including the absence of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the many ministers in his department to answer the question.
“This shows that the Barisan Nasional government is neither really seriously nor fully committed whether to Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, NEM or Parliament,” he added.
Apart from this, the DAP leader also wanted to know “why for more than six months not a single minister dared to state that the NEM was not against Article 153 of the Federal Constitution to check the rise of racism because of the rhetoric of communal extremists, although the prime minister has gone to the United Nations general assembly and Asia-Europe dialogue to call for a global movement of moderates against extremists.”
Lim also wanted to know if Najib's administration had taken full ownership of the proposals in the NEM for Malaysia to escape the two-decade long middle-income trap to achieve sustainable and inclusive high-income developed nation status by 2020 and not regard the NEM proposals as mere “trial balloons” of a group of experts from the global market perspective as said by Najib in June.
The veteran politician also wanted to quiz the government's stand in particular on the NEM Strategic Reform Initiative (SRI) 5 for “transparent and market-friendly affirmative action” which would “consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of households… taking into consideration the needs and merits of the applicants.”
Monday, October 11, 2010
Parliament rejects Kit Siang's motion on headmasters
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11, 2010): The Dewan Rakyat has rejected a motion from Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) for the House to discuss the issue of two school heads alleged to have made racist remarks against non-Malays in August.
Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said although the matter was of public interest and specific, it was not urgent as it has been addressed by the government.
"I was informed that the government, through the Education Ministry and Public Services Department, has initiated disciplinary action against both of them. So, this matter is not urgent and I reject the motion,” he said.
In his motion, Lim said the display of such racist attitude by school heads from Kulai, Johor and Bukit Selayang, Kedah shows lack of credibility .
He said the government’s failure to act against them proves that there was no political will or correct administration philosophy in the country to curb racial bigotry.
"All these are direct insinuations towards the theme of the National Day celebration this year which is '1Malaysia Generates Transformation' and is in conflict with the prime minister’s declaration for zero-tolerance against racism,” he added.
Lim urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to repeat his call in the country for all religions to be moderate which he made during the United Nations General Assembly in New York recently.
Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said although the matter was of public interest and specific, it was not urgent as it has been addressed by the government.
"I was informed that the government, through the Education Ministry and Public Services Department, has initiated disciplinary action against both of them. So, this matter is not urgent and I reject the motion,” he said.
In his motion, Lim said the display of such racist attitude by school heads from Kulai, Johor and Bukit Selayang, Kedah shows lack of credibility .
He said the government’s failure to act against them proves that there was no political will or correct administration philosophy in the country to curb racial bigotry.
"All these are direct insinuations towards the theme of the National Day celebration this year which is '1Malaysia Generates Transformation' and is in conflict with the prime minister’s declaration for zero-tolerance against racism,” he added.
Lim urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to repeat his call in the country for all religions to be moderate which he made during the United Nations General Assembly in New York recently.
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