Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman (left) and Mohd Salleh Man of PAS greet each other behind face masks (All pix courtesy of theSun) THE Permatang Pasir by-election on 25 Aug 2009 is a chance for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to test what the public thinks of their cobbled partnership, post-March 2008 general election and following […]
Features
The problem with the MACC
By Deborah LohRUSHED through Parliament in haste, it was only a matter of time before weaknesses in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act would emerge. Tragically, it took a death to re-open the debate on an institution formed only six months ago. Back when the MACC Bill was being debated, there appeared to be little fuss about […]
Indiscipline within PKR
By Zedeck Siew(Silhouette image by deeisforda / sxc.hu) ON 9 Aug 2008, the Malaysian Bar Council held a forum titled Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini and Shamala Revisited. Today, a year on, we remember the forum not for what was discussed. A 300-person demonstration gathered to protest the Bar Council’s apparent “anti-Islam […]
How losing might help the BN
By Shanon ShahBARELY 48 hours after the Barisan Nasional (BN) was nearly brought to its knees in the March 2008 elections, Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the coalition would “learn its lesson” and “improve”. Nearly 16 months after that fateful general election, Malaysians can be forgiven for being confused. Political temperatures have been rising, not […]
Rethinking Malaysia’s sodomy laws
By Claire BrownellTHEY’RE colonial relics, they’re rarely invoked, and other Asian countries have effectively taken them off the books. But because Malaysia’s sodomy laws are tangled up in politics and religion, they’re probably not going anywhere for a while. In 2007, Singapore modified their sodomy laws, expressed in Section 377a of the island-state’s Penal Code, to exclude […]
Tough questions for Pakatan Rakyat
By Deborah LohCALLOUS as it sounds, Teoh Beng Hock‘s death is just what Pakatan Rakyat (PR) needs at the moment to re-galvanise public support at a time when the alliance has been experiencing interparty fighting. Teoh’s death at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters on 16 July 2009, after being interrogated in investigations of PR assemblypersons, […]
Do quotas for women work?
By Claire Brownell(Silhouettes by Ervin Bachik and Faakhir Rizvi / sxc.hu) PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s 30% quota for women in leadership positions is the first of its kind in any Malaysian political party. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s also 14 years late. Malaysia signed the Beijing Declaration and the Convention for the Elimination of […]
PKR’s plan for women
By Claire Brownell(Silhouettes by Ervin Bachik and Faakhir Rizvi / sxc.hu) IN early June 2009, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) announced it would be amending its constitution to include, among others, a 30% quota for women leaders at all levels. PKR’s move likely made it the first party from either the Pakatan Rakyat or the Barisan Nasional to […]
PAS’s slim victory in Manik Urai
By Zedeck SiewMohd Fauzi Abdullah (with pink tag) and other PAS leaders celebrating their narrow win TALKING to reporters after PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah was officially announced as the victor in the Manik Urai by-election, PAS treasurer and Kuala Krai Member of Parliament Dr Hatta Ramli quoted former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. “As Mahathir […]
Status quo in Manik Urai
By Zedeck SiewThe bridge connecting Manik Urai Lama with Manik Urai Baru. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would promise on 12 July to build a new bridge — on the condition that the Barisan Nasional was voted in ON 12 July 2009, after a final rally for the Manik Urai by-election campaign, PAS spiritual leader […]
