IS EZAM AN ASSET TO UMNO?

PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s former political secretary Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor rejoined UMNO shocked party members and it should be a blow to PKR.

Hence the questions arise: Can UMNO or UMNO president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi uses this as a leverage to strengthen UMNO and if so, to what extent? Is Ezam an asset to the party or otherwise?

Ezam Mohd Nor said his focus now was merely to help UMNO leadership in reforming the party and the government. He doesn’t want to be involved in any power struggle in the party.

He was previously sacked from UMNO in 1998 for criticizing the then president Dr Mahathir Mohamad for terminating Anwar from both the party and government.

He had been a vocal critic of Mahathir and then Abdullah. He played a vital role in the setting up of PKR in 1999 with Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. In the intervening years, he had been charged and jailed under the Official Secrets Act and the Internal Security Act for siding with Anwar. In PKR, he helmed the Youth wing from 1999 until 2005.

Last year he had a bitter fall out with Anwar and vice-president Azmin Ali. This followed an internal power struggle, which resulted in Ezam quitting the party.

Since then he had been critical of Anwar's style of leadership and Azmin's role as a dominant schemer in the party. After that he had concentrated on his anti-corruption NGO, Gerak, of which he was the head. He has now quit that post as well after joining UMNO.

WILL ANWAR REJOIN UMNO?

UMNO President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's leadership that promises reforms for the good of all had convinced Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor to rejoint UMNO.

Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth leader and one-time confidant of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on Wednesday rejoined Umno.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, no conditions are attached to Exam's readmission into UMNO. He does not get any special treatment or privileges. He has also not sought any position. He just wants to serve and struggle for the party.

Hence the interesting question arises: Will Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim rejoint UMNO too?

Six Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth leaders announced yesterday they were quitting the party to follow Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor in rejoining Umno. The six are Annuar Shaari, S.D. Johari Mohd Yasin, Mohd Nazmi Rosli, Ahmad Daud Che Ghani, Azwanddin Hamzah and Khairul Annuar Ramli.

Annuar was the PKR Youth chief for Permatang Pauh and private secretary to party de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Johari was Selangor PKR Youth chief, Mohd Nazmi was Selangor PKR Youth secretary and Ahmad Daud the Perlis PKR Youth chief.

Azwanddin and Abdul Ghani are former PKR Youth executive council members, while Khairul Annuar was the Kedah PKR Youth chief.

Mohamad Ezam submitted his application to rejoin Umno on Wednesday to party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

IMPROMPTU MOVE AGAINST PARLIMENTARY ETIQUETTE

As the ultimate legislative body in Malaysia, Parliament is responsible for passing, amending and repealing acts of law. There are rules about what can and cannot be said and done. Members of Parliament are not free to talk on anything that breaches the Act and neither act against the Standing Orders. They must act upon things as they are.

Apparently, MP N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR - Padang Serai) walk up to the Speaker to explain a Tamil word to the latter by whispering to him during a shouting match who took place during Question Time in Dewan was an unparliamentary act. It was rude and against parliamentary etiquette. Such unparliamentary behavior exhibited was disgraceful and uncalled for. It had never happened in the house before.

The disrespect and irreverence for decency in parliament is not a laughing matter as such political act sent out a terrible message to the public, and was absolutely opportunistic and disgraceful. Those who cross the line of acceptability should rightly be condemned in the highest degree. MPs from all sides should contribute sensibly and sensitively to this important subject.

I’m disappointed that the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia did not take a stronger stand on this. Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek had said before, "Laws must be used" against those who break the law.” Keeping this in mind, then, the most serious question arises: Should the Parliament use the laws against those who break the law?

N. Gobalakrishnan created “havoc” in the Dewan Rakyat Tuesday when he walked up to the Speaker to explain a Tamil word to the latter by whispering to him during a shouting match which took place during Question Time. He made the impromptu move when Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia told the House that he could not understand the meaning of a Tamil word and would have to ask someone outside before making a ruling.

Gobalakrisnan and M. Kulasegaran (DAP - Ipoh Barat) had asked Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron to retract a Tamil word he said, where the two claimed it was unparliamentary. This prompted Gobalakrishan to leave his seat and walked to Pandikar Amin amidst shouts of: “Ooi, what are you trying to do? Biadap. Biadap” while Opposition Leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was waving at Gobalakrishnan in an attempt to stop him.

Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN - Kinabatangan) then stood up to cite the Standing Orders to refer Gobalakrishnan to committee of privileges for being rude and not in accordance with the Standing Order. Azmin then stood up to ask Gobalakrishnan to apologize to the house and ensure it that such an incident would not happen again.

“I apologise for my act for not realizing it. Thank you,” he said.

At the lobby, Gobalakrishnan maintained that he heard Idris saying a foul word but Idris said he meant "sit down" in Tamil, which he learned from an Indian friend. Both words were close in their pronunciation.

EZAM IS WAITING TO HOP IN UMNO

The political games of “hop out” and “hop in” are on.

Ex-president and premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Barisan Nasional MPs should follow him to hop out of the coalition and now former PKR Youth leader Ezam Mohd Nor is waiting to hop in UMNO after receiving the green light from the top UMNO leadership.

The incidents illustrated how a holiness contest between politicians is doomed to backfire when it comes to conflict of interest. Are they just artifacts of an individualistic post-materialist political society with no real political substance?

Undoubtedly, in this two complex political incidents, to a certain extent, it appeared the normative core conspiracy theory that consists of two schools of thought, which are intended to balance out the relation between the goal of maximum personal political benefits and economic justice or otherwise?

One important question remains: Are we going to protect the Malaysian political frogs or otherwise? Anyhow, lets improve our knowledge on this unique amphibian by answering the quiz below:

The Frog Quiz

1. Political hopping frogs are found only in opposition parties. True or False?

2. We human need them. True or false?

3: All political hopping frogs make only croaking noise. True or false?

4: Political hopping frogs are more dangerous than poisonous wild frogs? True or false?

Look Here For Answers:

1. False: They can be found almost in all parties.

2. False: They only serve their own vested interests.

3. False: They can make all sort of noises.....some roar like tigers, some neigh like horses and a few sound like Orang Utan.

4. True: They can cause chaos to the society and even may led to civil war.

ABDULLAH WOULD NOT STEP DOWN

UMNO President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi vowed that he would not step down as demanded by former UMNO president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, instead continue leading the party.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Prime Minister of Malaysia, was nevertheless confident that there would not be a mass exodus of party members following former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's lead.

"I was surprised that he resigned and does not want to be in UMNO anymore, I had never thought that he would actually take the step to leave the party."

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi conceded that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's decision would "weaken the party to an extent" but he did not expect any of the ruling party's lawmakers to quit.

“Mahathir is a popular leader and there will be some impact from him quitting the party. But I don’t foresee many party leaders following his footsteps."

"If the members love UMNO, they won’t leave the party. I didn’t quit the party despite all the difficulties I went through.” Asked whether he would step down to take responsibility for disastrous results in March 8 elections, he replied: "Why should I? I still have a lot of work to do."

"The important thing is that UMNO has to remain calm and understand that its members have to be loyal to the party and be strong and continue to carry out the struggle."

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also ruled out meeting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask him to reconsider his decision. “He has clearly thought this through and there is no need to meet him on this.” However, he expects the matter to be discussed at the party’s next supreme council meeting.

FORMER UMNO PRESIDENT DR MAHATHIR QUITS UMNO

The resignation of former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad caught everyone by surprise.

To this point and in spite of the shock resignation, the most serious political questions most Malaysian wants answered remain unanswered now but it needs to be answered are whether the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would compel many Umno members, especially MPs to quit Umno and a snap election to be called? Does the quitting have serious political effects on UMNO, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Barisan Nasional?

It is truly unbelievable that former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today announced that he was temporarily resign from Umno as a sign of no confidence in his successor's leadership with immediate effect and urged other members to follow him.

He indicated that he would only rejoin the party when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi steps down as Umno president.

"I will only come back to the party when there is a change in leadership," the ex-premier told a 1,200-strong crowd at a forum in his home state of Kedah this morning.

He also called on all Umno ministers, deputy ministers and all levels of party leaders to join him in leaving the party.

However, he asked these members not to join other political parties.

One notable Umno leader who has apparently took on Dr Mahathir's call to resign is Sanusi, who said he would release an official statement later.

Abudullah, in an immediate reaction, expressed shock at Tun Dr Mahathir's resignation, saying, "I didn't expect him to leave but I will continue to fight for the party."

ABDULLAH:RELIGION CONTINUES TO BE A SENSITIVE ISSUE

Wesak is the holiest day in Buddhism. Buddhists celebrate Wesak Day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death and his passing into nirvana of Gautama Buddha. The significance of Wesak lies with the Buddha and his universal peace message to mankind.

Wishing Malaysian Buddhists a Happy Wesak Day, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hoped that the mutual understanding and solidarity between the various races would be further enhanced so that the country would continue to progress in peace.

"The constitution guarantees the freedom to practice any faith although Islam remains as the official religion." He admitted that religion continues to be a sensitive issue in this multicultural nation but said he hoped that conflicts could continue to be resolved peacefully.

The determination and solidarity of the Malaysian people in rejecting extremist elements as well as their desire to uphold peace and harmony had enabled the country to ensure that the people of various races and religious background live in peace.

"Malaysia is most fortunate as the people of various races and religions in the country can live in peace and harmony all this while.”

Realizing the sensitivity attached to religion which calls for tolerance among the people of various races and religions, he said the government, through the Ministry of Unity, Arts, Culture and Heritage, had held discussions with associations representing the various faiths in the country.

The discussions aimed to find the needs of the various religions besides enhancing relations and understanding between the people of various races and religions.

"I hope that such an approach will enable us to resolve whatever issues or problems amicably and in the spirit of comradeship,” Abdullah said.

PKR-PROJEK KHINZIR RAKSAKSA VS PBN-PROJEK BABI NEGARA

A new definition to the acronym PKR and PBN caught the Dewan Rakyat and public attention. This definition appears rarely and is evolutionarily distinct that showed the dilution of the extremely high sensitivity of the pig issue. It showed the openness and the first class mentality of the Malaysian politicians in handling of the highly sensitive issues.

Regardless the diffused sensitivity of the pig issues, pig-farming projects took cent restage in the Dewan Rakyat as MPs from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat got into a got into a bit of mudslinging fight on Monday.

Khairy riled the Opposition MPs when he gave a new definition to the acronym PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat). He called it Projek Khinzir Raksasa (Gigantic Pig-farming project) -- an apparent reference to the Selangor government's approval of the pig-farming project in Sepang.

"A state government had put its priority in approving the Projek Khinzir Raksasa (Gigantic Pig-farming Project) or its short form PKR," said Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) when highlighting the issue of self-sufficient commodities - rice, beef, vegetables and mutton.

This riled the Opposition, especially members of PKR, who stood up and defended their party.

But none of them was given a chance to interject as Khairy had been refusing to allow anyone to seek explanation since the beginning of his speech.

Not to be outdone, Mahfuz Omar (PAS - Pokok Sena) then took a pot shot back at Barisan Nasional by saying that PBN was meant for “Projek Babi Negara” (National Pig Farming Project) – a reference to BN.

KARPAL SINGH: PM SEEKS TO DIVERT ATTENTION

DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh claimed that the prime minister’s comments yesterday were an attempt to divert attention from the crisis within Umno pertaining to his leadership.

"Obviously, the prime minister is turning what is purely a legal issue into a political one with racial undertones. I would have expected the prime minister to be politically mature instead of joining others who are baying for my blood."

"It is equally obvious that the prime minister is trying to divert attention from his own shaky position after calls from numerous Umno divisions that he should step down and the challenge by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to take him on as Umno president in the coming Umno general assembly."

Last week Sultan Azlan Shah gave instructions for Jamry to be reinstated after he was transferred to another department following what was alleged to be his refusal to cooperate with the new state government.

In response to the sultan’s orders, Karpal said early this month that Azlan Shah had acted beyond his powers as under the country's law, the new state government had every right to transfer Jamry as he is a government servant.

Commenting on this yesterday, Abdullah claimed that what Karpal said was seditious, insulting to the sultan and tantamount to questioning his prerogative and knowledge of his scope of duties as the state’s head of religion.

Najib, on the other hand, described Karpal’s statement as incorrect as the federal and state constitutions legally allow the sultan to act as he did.

Barisan Nasional MPs and a Malay NGOs coalition, who accused Karpal of being seditious, rude and having insulted the institution of Malay rulers, also made several police reports yesterday.

However, Karpal said he would not be intimidated by anyone, including Abdullah, and would sue for defamation over the allegation that he questioned the prerogative of the sultan as head of the religion in Perak.

MAHATHIR WARNS BN GOVERNMENT ANWAR COULD SEIZE POWER

While most of the political analysts and leaders of ruling party dismissed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s dramatic claim that he had enough defectors to seize power in forming next federal government, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad ostracizing thinks otherwise and questioning the loyalty of the Sabahan and Sarawakian politicians to Abdullah's government.

Ironically, the current Malaysian political scenario arises created two political schools of thought. It has allowed partisan politicians to think more clearly about the real issues that matter and not get caught up in the absurd rhetoric political assumption. The political absurdity and political irrationality does not help to reach a very clear picture and enhance the political analysis.

Regardless the diffused political situation, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned Wednesday that the opposition led by his former deputy and now Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could seize power from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's to form the next federal government in the near future as it had convinced more than 30 BN Members of Parliament to cross over.

“If we take Umno, MCA and MIC, they have their roots here but not in Sabah and Sarawak. Although you have Umno in Sabah, it is transplanted from here to there. They are used to smaller parties, so can we be sure that they will remain strongly loyal to Umno? I don’t think so.”

“I feel very strong, it can really happen. I first wanted to dismiss this possibility but on studying the situation I feel that there is great danger.”

“Well, I think it is a possibility that you can’t dismiss lightly. Now, these politicians are interested in how much they get, they are not interested really in serving the nation.”

“People who feel that they did not get what they wanted presently and they are offered positions, the urge to cross over especially when there is no inherent loyalty to the party.”

RAJA PETRA CHARGED UNDER SEDITION ACT

It is reported that Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said, "Laws must be used" against those who break the law.”

He said, “I believe they have considered what should or should not be put out. Those who break the law like indulging in sedition or libel, I believe the laws must be used against them.”

The question remains: Is Raja Petra’s case a test case for other bloggers in Malaysia?

Blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, 58, was charged and pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to publishing a seditious article in his blog. He was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 and carries a maximum fine of RM5, 000 or up to three years’ jail or both upon conviction.

The nine paragraphs in his article titled "Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell" were published in www.malaysia-today.net on April 25 and were found to be seditious. Raja Petra did not post bail.

His wife Marina Lee Abdullah said he is hoping to raise the money through his news portal.

CALL OFF RTM LIVE TELECAST OR OTHERWISE?

Should beaming live proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat without any censorship by RTM 1 be abolished or otherwise?

After the 30-minute live telecast of the question and answer session of the Dewan Rakyat sitting captured the unparliamentary behavior of its members, should the live telecast be continued remains the serious question being asked by the tax payers.

The answer from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is positive as he described the incident happened as disgraceful and said he would support a decision to call off the live telecast.

On the other hand, Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who was cheesed off over what happened and had publicly said he wanted to stop the telecast, told a post-cabinet news conference today that RTM will continue with it, but would be reviewed if what happened on Wednesday recurred.

Beaming live proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat without any censorship by RTM 1 can be interpreted as the new approach of the new Information Minister to bear the testimony of the government’s openness and transparency of the mainstream media.

There now exist two schools of though, should RTM continue with it or otherwise.

Ironically, the precedent of British Parliament and Australian Parliament too telecast its proceedings, but interestingly, in USA Al Gore against it. Al Gore suggests that we cannot have both television and democracy. To him, democracy depends on reason and a well-informed citizenry whereas television on the sub-rational manipulation of wants. TV not only treats citizens as consumers; it corrupts politics. Politicians sell out to organized money to pay for TV ads.

Theodore White said television is American politics.

How about Malaysia? What now? Call off the live telecast or otherwise?

The answer is : RTM will continue with it, but would be reviewed if what happened on Wednesday recurred.

MICROSOFT ABANDONS YAHOO BID

What is the implication for Microsoft Corp. withdrawal its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc? Is it Microsoft is giving way and a proof that Google's dominance of the booming Internet ad market?

Microsoft Corp. has withdrawn its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google Inc. The decision to walk away from the deal came Saturday after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable sale price proved unsuccessful.

Microsoft was willing to pay $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, up from the bid's current value of $29.40 per share, according to a letter from Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang. But Yahoo demanded at least $53 billion, or $37 per share, according to Ballmer. That would have been nearly double Yahoo's stock price of $19.18 at the time Microsoft first made its bid a little over three months ago.

The decision to walk away came as a surprise, given that many analysts believed Microsoft wanted to close the deal badly enough to either sweeten the offer or pursue a hostile takeover — a risky maneuver that would have required an attempt to replace the Yahoo board that spurned the bid.