The hot news Yesterday -- when all our troubles, including Dr M and DSAI's and Desi'3, seem'd so far away" -- appears below, hence demo of my beesy schedile because many Furongknights consult me on Opposition affairs, BUMmer's2!
Mahathir meets Anwar in Malaysia's High Court for first time in 18 years
1 of 2
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Former Prime Minister
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad turned up at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on
Monday (Sept 5) to attend the hearing of an application filed by
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to challenge the National Security
Council (NSC) Act 2016.
It was the first time that the two men met face-to-face in 18 years.
Dr Mahathir was seen shaking hands with Datuk Seri Anwar, his former Deputy Prime Minister whom he sacked in 1998 and later accused him of sodomy.
Anwar’s wife, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said
in a tweet that the meeting between the two was their first since Sept
2, 1998.
Not confirming if he was making peace with his arch nemesis, Dr Mahathir said he was at the High Court as he was interested in the court case initiated by Anwar.
“This is about the NSC Act. As you know, I have written about the Act
in my blog and he is doing the same thing - trying to stop the Act.
“So I met him and had a long chat with him about what he’s doing,” Dr Mahathir told reporters outside the courtroom.
He declined to say if he and Anwar were now friends or opposition partners.
“I don’t know about friends. I talked to him, that’s it. I endorse his actions against the NSC Act,” said Dr Mahathir.
Also in the court were PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan.
Anwar had filed the suit on Aug 2 to stop the operation of the National Security Council Act on the grounds that the Act is unconstitutional.
He named the Government and the National Security Council as respondents in his originating summons filed at the High Court civil registry.
The Act has been criticised by the opposition and human rights organisations on the grounds that it would give the Prime Minister absolute powers.
It allows for the establishment of a National Security Council consisting of the Prime Minister as chairman, Deputy Prime Minister as deputy chairman, the Defence, Home and Communications and Multimedia ministers, Chief Secretary to the Government, Chief of Defence Forces, and Inspector-General of Police.
Under the new law:
- the Prime Minister is empowered to declare an area a security area for six months at a time;
- the NSC may then direct the deployment of any security forces or any other government entities to the area;
- the Director of Operations may order the exclusion/evacuation/resettlement of persons and failure to obey may result in, if convicted, a fine not exceeding RM5,000 (S$1,681) or jail for a term not exceeding three years or both; and
- without a warrant, security forces can stop and search any individual, vehicle, vessel, aircraft in the security area if they suspect there is any article of being evidence of the commission of an offence; and enter and search any premise or place if they suspect that any evidence of the commission of an offence is likely to be found on the premises, and may seize any article so found.
It was the first time that the two men met face-to-face in 18 years.
Dr Mahathir was seen shaking hands with Datuk Seri Anwar, his former Deputy Prime Minister whom he sacked in 1998 and later accused him of sodomy.
Not confirming if he was making peace with his arch nemesis, Dr Mahathir said he was at the High Court as he was interested in the court case initiated by Anwar.
“So I met him and had a long chat with him about what he’s doing,” Dr Mahathir told reporters outside the courtroom.
He declined to say if he and Anwar were now friends or opposition partners.
“I don’t know about friends. I talked to him, that’s it. I endorse his actions against the NSC Act,” said Dr Mahathir.
Also in the court were PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan.
Anwar had filed the suit on Aug 2 to stop the operation of the National Security Council Act on the grounds that the Act is unconstitutional.
He named the Government and the National Security Council as respondents in his originating summons filed at the High Court civil registry.
The Act has been criticised by the opposition and human rights organisations on the grounds that it would give the Prime Minister absolute powers.
It allows for the establishment of a National Security Council consisting of the Prime Minister as chairman, Deputy Prime Minister as deputy chairman, the Defence, Home and Communications and Multimedia ministers, Chief Secretary to the Government, Chief of Defence Forces, and Inspector-General of Police.
Under the new law:
- the Prime Minister is empowered to declare an area a security area for six months at a time;
- the NSC may then direct the deployment of any security forces or any other government entities to the area;
- the Director of Operations may order the exclusion/evacuation/resettlement of persons and failure to obey may result in, if convicted, a fine not exceeding RM5,000 (S$1,681) or jail for a term not exceeding three years or both; and
- without a warrant, security forces can stop and search any individual, vehicle, vessel, aircraft in the security area if they suspect there is any article of being evidence of the commission of an offence; and enter and search any premise or place if they suspect that any evidence of the commission of an offence is likely to be found on the premises, and may seize any article so found.
DESIDERATA: This epicsode demonstrates again the truth of the adage: In politics there are no permanent friends or foes -- only permanent interests.Desi hopes this "reconciliation" between former friends-turned deadly foes will see DS Anwar's release from prison, there courtsey of the CluelessWan aka MO1; This second imprisonment on trumped up Sodomy charges could see Dr M playing a CRUCIAL ROLE in obtaining DSAI's freedom from an act which has been described as a humongous travesty of justice!
Wanna See the video? Go from here to hear themalaymailonline.com:---
via LINK: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/dr-m-meets-anwar-after-18-years (Sorry I couldn't Cut&pastry; so Desi can't gift thee free Pampers unless thou art into 2nd childhood; Desi has knot!
Desi wil pen a long Rumination piece/peace this coming wickedEND. -- YL, Desi
******************************************
From a foreign perspective, read from nytimes.com:---
An improbable reunion took place at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur this week, offering a snapshot of Malaysia’s fractious yet incestuous politics.
Anwar Ibrahim,
the imprisoned opposition leader, was briefly allowed out of his cell
to challenge a new security law. In court on Monday, in a show of
support, was the man who had him put away: Mahathir Mohamad, the former
prime minister.
Mr.
Mahathir, Mr. Anwar’s mentor turned nemesis, now wants Mr. Anwar to
join forces with him against another ex-protégé: the current prime
minister, Najib Razak.
Mr.
Anwar has been trying to block the implementation of the National
Security Council Act, a new law that gives the prime minister the
authority to declare something like a state of emergency.
“I endorse his actions,” Mr. Mahathir said Monday, referring to Mr. Anwar’s efforts.
Mr.
Mahathir and Mr. Anwar had not appeared together since 1998, when Mr.
Mahathir, then the prime minister, fired Mr. Anwar from his post as
deputy prime minister and later accused him of sodomy, which is a crime
in Malaysia. Mr. Anwar was sentenced to prison on that first charge,
which was later overturned. He was then convicted on a new sodomy
charge, for which he is now serving time.
Mr. Mahathir, 91, has fiercely criticized Mr. Najib and the scandals in the current administration, notably concerning a state investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.
Mr. Mahathir has called for the prime minister’s resignation. He also
tried to stage a mutiny at their political alma mater, United Malays
National Organization, or UMNO. This summer, he announced that he was
creating a new party.
The next general election is expected to take place before mid-2018.
Nurul Izzah Anwar,
a daughter of Mr. Anwar’s and a member of Parliament, called Mr.
Mahathir’s conciliatory gesture a “good start,” adding, “but we have to
follow up.”
“Institutional
reform, the strengthening of the democratic space, revoking the
National Security Council Act and other arbitrary laws — these are
prerequisites for any agreement or cooperation,” she said.
But
Shahril Hamdan, a member of the UMNO Youth Executive Committee, said
that Mr. Mahathir’s sudden readiness to renounce longstanding misgivings
about Mr. Anwar is evidence of his “visceral vendetta against the Najib
administration.”
Others
said Mr. Mahathir’s concern about the prime minister goes beyond the
man. “Najib is bad news for Malay political supremacy,” said Jahabar
Sadiq, the last editor of Malaysia Insider, an online news portal that
closed a few months ago after being blocked by the government. And Malay
supremacy is Mr. Mahathir’s cause.
Malaysian
politics toes ethnic and religious lines, with most parties roughly
catering to either Malay, which is mostly Muslim, and Chinese or Indian
groups. This has led to uneasy marriages of fortune, especially on the
opposition side.
The
most successful opposition bloc was Pakatan Rakyat, which won 51
percent of the popular vote in the last general election, in 2013. But
seat allocation rules nonetheless gave the UMNO-led coalition a majority
in Parliament. Pakatan Rakyat comprised Mr. Anwar’s party of social
democrats popular with the Chinese middle-class and the main Islamist
party, known as Pas.
But
without the pull of Mr. Anwar’s charisma, the coalition was vulnerable
to ideological differences, notably over the so-called hudud bill, Pas’s
contentious proposal to intensify some Shariah
punishments in the two states it controls. UMNO played on those
tensions, and last year managed to break the opposition coalition apart.
Could
this change? Mr. Anwar’s base is urban, while Mr. Mahathir is popular
among traditional UMNO voters in rural areas, said Ibrahim Suffian, an
analyst at Merdeka Center, an independent polling group. “Partnering
with Mahathir could enable the existing opposition to get more votes
from Malay voters than they have been able to in the past 60 years,” he
said.
Mr.
Hamdan, of UMNO Youth, does not see that happening. “The opposition
remains a haphazard, dysfunctional coalition of parties with
diametrically opposed ideologies that cannot agree on basic policy
platforms,” he said. “A couple of photos in a courtroom do not change
that fact.”
In
addition to preying on the opposition’s weaknesses, the government has
consolidated its power in recent years through a spate of repressive
measures. Mr. Najib has fired critics within his party. His
administration has stepped up enforcement of the Sedition Act, which
punishes anyone deemed to “excite disaffection” against the state.
Recent changes to the penal code penalize “activities detrimental to
parliamentary democracy.”
The
National Security Council Act that Mr. Anwar is challenging gives the
prime minister — not the government — vast powers to declare special
security zones if determining that national security is threatened.
Mr.
Anwar is challenging the National Security Council Act because it was
passed without the king’s approval. He claims that royal assent is
required under the Constitution, despite a subsequent amendment allowing
laws passed by Parliament to automatically take effect after 30 days,
with or without the consent. The amendment was passed at Mr. Mahathir’s
instigation.
“It
goes without saying,” Ms. Nurul Izzah said, “that most of the
institutions of governance and democracy in this country were eroded by
Mahathir, under his rule.”
Continue reading the main story
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DESIDERATA: Updated wit' a GOoD read that follows:~~~~
From drdzul.com:---
Dzul: Mahathir-Anwar pact may unleash Malaysian Tsunami
September 8, 2016Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad says many Malaysians want to see them put the past behind and move forward together to save the country from the present administration.
PETALING
JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former protege
Anwar Ibrahim could unleash a ‘Malaysian Tsunami’, bringing much needed
change to Malaysia, Amanah Strategy Director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said.
Speaking to FMT on the meeting between the two former Umno stalwarts earlier this week, Dzulkefly said the meeting could be a catalyst for change which many Malaysians, especially the pro-change Malay voters, longed for.
“The last time this country saw a Malay Tsunami was when Mahathir, as prime minister sacked his deputy, Anwar, and the rest is history,
“It is not impossible that this time, the two could join forces to save Malaysia and the people through a Malaysian Tsunami cutting across race, religion and political affiliation.”
He said people wanted change as the executive branch of the government had reached the height of arrogance.
He said change was not impossible in the next general election.
Dzulkefly said he was confident that many Malaysians wanted to see the two statesmen put the past behind them and move forward together to save the country from the current leadership which had caused much hardship to the people.
On Monday, Mahathir made an unscheduled visit to a High Court hearing in Kuala Lumpur on the urgent application by his former nemesis Anwar, to suspend the coming into force of the controversial National Security Council Act.
Mahathir, who left Umno earlier this year, shook hands and briefly exchanged pleasantries with Anwar in the witness room.
It is believed that it was the first time both Mahathir and Anwar had met after a lapse of 18 years.
Monday September 5, 2016
03:41 PM GMT+8
03:41 PM GMT+8
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Tun
Dr Mahathir Mohamad meets Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the first time
after 18 years in Kuala Lumpur September 5, 2016. — Picture courtesy of
Lawyers for LibertyKUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad turned up in court today for a case involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and met his former political nemesis for the first time after 18 years.
The PKR de facto leader and Dr Mahathir’s former deputy, who is currently serving a five year prison sentence for sodomy, is filing an interim injunction at the High Court here to stop the National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016 from being enforced.
“Pertemuan pertama selepas 18 tahun 2 hari..sejak 2 September 1998..,” Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwar’s wife and PKR president, tweeted as she posted a picture of Anwar and Dr Mahathir shaking hands in a crowded courtroom.
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