Mitt Romney:A Looming Spectre Of New World Order

Hantu Laut

At a fund raising organised by his friend Marc Leder, presidential candidate Mitt Romney shared his thought about the 47% Americans likely to vote for Obama. 

This is what he said "All right -- there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing." 

Mitt Romney, as I have said in my tweet earlier is not a truthful person, he is what he is, playing the devil's advocate.

He is cut from the same cloth as George Bush...... rich and not care a hoot about the less fortunate American people. 

Romney said he has written off that group of voters as he would never be able to convince them to take personal responsibility and care of their lives, not depend on the government too much. 

Mitt Romney mindset is no different from that of Bush. He'll take the same hawkish policy and will widen the budget deficit by increasing military spending and bring back a pugnacious foreign policy that could bring the US into possible arm conflicts with Iran, directly or indirectly, North Korea and high diplomatic tension with China.

He has accused Obama of China coddling and failure to take retaliatory action against China, accusing China of unfair trade practices, theft of intellectual properties and currency manipulator.

Romney's tit-for-tat foreign policy will return the US back to the Bush era of global geopolitical instability. 

China's naval expedition in the East and South China Seas and her overlaying claims over islands and waters of the Spratly, which have similar claims by five other nations is cause for concern.

China's PLA Navy, which used to play second fiddle to the PLA Ground Force has undergone rapid modernization and is now the second largest navy in the world after the US and is moving fast towards becoming a blue-water naval force causing rising fear in Washington.

As a non-American citizen my big concern is not the US domestic policy but its foreign policy that can change global peace and effect countries in non-aligned pacifist region, particularly, Southeast Asian countries. 

The dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands was one that came nearest to blow.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries has soured to such extent that two top Chinese officials.....Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiochuan and Finance Minister Xie Xuren failed to show up at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Tokyo last Friday.The crisis has exacerbated to more than the eyes can see....a diplomatic snub and rising tension.

As Republican president, Mitt Romney may  return to the Bush's years of belligerency, and high probability of new hotspots in the Asia Pacific region , particularly, in the East and South China Sea. The Chinese have been adamant to exert its sovereignty over islands and waters of the Spratly.

At Tuesday debate, Romney was asked by a voter, who said she was undecided, because she is disappointed with the lack of progress in the last four years.She said she attributed much of America's economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration.She also said, Romney being a Republican, she fears a return to the policies of the Bush's years, should Romney win the election.

I was not wrong when I first raised the issue in my post "The US Kickass Foreign Policy And China"  before others expressed the same fear of this new kid coming on the block and a looming spectre of a new world order.

Phnom Penh

Malaysia's Opposition Leader Stepping Down ?

By Luke Hunt

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has warned Malaysia’s middle classes to support his bid for the top job in the next election or risk losing him altogether. Anwar, an astute and hardened politician, realizes that if he can’t defeat the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition this time around then it will be time to pass the baton.

“If we don’t get the mandate, then we should give space for the second-liners in leadership,” he said during an online forum broadcast on YouTube.

Anwar served as United Malays National Organization (UMNO) – the lead party in the current governing coalition – deputy prime minister until 1998 when he had a falling out with the then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and was imprisoned for corruption and sodomy. He was released from jail in 2004, however, after the sodomy conviction was overturned and quickly returned to Parliament.

Despite retiring in 2003 after 22 years-in-power, Mahathir has remained Anwar’s nemesis. This rivalry is partly fueled by Mahathir’s son, Murhkriz, entering politics as a Member of Parliament. Mahathir is widely believed to be steering his son towards the prime minister’s job.

Anwar was again acquitted of sodomy charges in January amid claims that UMNO’s old guard, who have ruled the country since independence in 1957, were using the legal system to carry out a campaign to smear and silence the country’s loudest and most popular opposition voice. Sodomy is illegal in the country and if convicted Anwar could have faced up to 20 years in prison.

After being acquitted on that charge, Anwar was again arrested in May for taking part in an illegal rally that was attended by tens of thousands of people who demanded electoral reforms. Read more.

Was Bangkok Just the Start?

By Luke Hunt

The nature of terrorism is shifting. As a strategy favored by Islamic militants and separatists this nasty and virulent type of civilian-focused warfare had dominated the security landscape across Southeast Asia for much of the last decade. But as jihad groups likes Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) are routed, and the likes of the Abu Sayyaf are contained, other outfits with foreign agendas are stepping into the breach.

Their differences were highlighted in two capitals over the last fortnight; in Jakarta where the last of the Bali Bombers has gone on trial, and in Bangkok where a trail of tragic errors had unwittingly led Thai police to an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli diplomats on Thai territory.

Speculation has firmed that the motive behind the botched plot – dubbed the Valentine’s Day Bombings – is linked to Israel’s well-publicized alleged assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Two people have been held in Bangkok in connection with the Bangkok blasts, a third is expected to be extradited from Malaysia and a fourth, a woman who rented the house, is believed to be in Tehran and is also wanted. Two more – one spotted leaving the house shortly before the blast – are also wanted.

All are linked to Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Shiite paramilitary group whose benefactors include Iran and Syria, and are largely regarded as a terrorist outfit by the West.

Israel was quick to blame Iran for targeting its diplomatic staff in Thailand, as well as India and Georgia, after a series of bombs was detonated in the three countries over a 24 hour period.

The Bangkok plot was initially uncovered after a bomb was mistakenly detonated – blowing up part of the roof of a house the bombers had rented. According to some accounts, the pair fled, one attempting to hail a taxi that refused to stop. A grenade was tossed amid terrified onlookers.They fled and were eventually cornered by police. A bag of grenades was thrown, but it missed and bounced off a tree, exploded and blew the leg off one of the bombers. In all, five people, including the Iranian, were injured in three explosions.

Their fate was dictated solely because Thailand remains an open country and prides itself on ease of access for foreigners of all backgrounds – the Iranians simply found this an easy place to operate.

That style of planning contrasts sharply with the ideology and methods deployed by the likes of JI acolyte Omar Patek, who appeared before a Jakarta court amid claims he was a key strategist behind the Bali Bombings of 2002 that left more than 200 dead, and a string of church bombings in Indonesia on Christmas Eve nearly two years earlier.

However, Patek can’t be charged under terrorism laws introduced in 2003 because they aren’t retrospective. Instead, he has been charged with harboring terrorists and possessing ammunition for the purposes of launching a training camp in Aceh in 2010.

He has also been charged in connection with the church bombings in Jakarta, but his lawyers are arguing Patek isn’t the strategic mastermind behind JI that the prosecution alleges.

A verdict isn’t expected until June.Read more.

Also read:Malaysia’s Militant Headache

Year of ASEAN Opposition?

By Mong Palatino

Since last year, opposition parties across Southeast Asia have achieved varying degrees of electoral and political success.

The opposition Liberal Party dominated the 2010 Philippine elections and defeated the ruling party, which had been in power since 2001. The opposition victory reflected the unpopularity of former President Gloria Arroyo, who was accused of electoral fraud, human rights violations, corruption and plundering state coffers.

Recently, the opposition Pheu Thai Party defeated the ruling Democrat Party in Thailand, which led to the election of Yingluck Shinawatra – the country’s first female prime minister. Yingluck is the younger sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced into exile after he was overthrown in a military coup in 2006. During the campaign, the opposition highlighted the culpability of the Democrat Party in the violent crackdown of anti-government protests last year, the worsening insurgency in the southern part of the country, the hostile relationship with Cambodia over a border dispute and the rising economic difficulties experienced by ordinary Thais.

Meanwhile, the People's Action Party (PAP) is still Singapore’s dominant political coalition after it won the most seats in the general election last May. Also, the candidate the party endorsed won last week’s presidential election. But the opposition scored some significant victories this year after it managed to win a few but strategic parliamentary seats. The PAP, which has dominated Singaporean politics since the late 1950s, also suffered its worst electoral performance this year, which according to analysts has permanently altered Singapore’s political landscape.

As in Singapore, the ruling coalition in Malaysia still has more than enough numbers in parliament, but the opposition is gaining ground. The disenchantment of the public with the country’s political leadership is also rising as seen in the massive participation of ordinary Malaysians in the Bersih democracy march in July. Organized in support of electoral reforms, the Bersih has since then evolved into an opposition political movement following the overreaction of the government, which violently dispersed the peaceful march. Bersih is expected to bring more votes to the opposition.

Moving on to Burma, many analysts were surprised to learn that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed to meet President Thein Sein of the military-controlled government. They are now asking if the global democracy icon has decided to work with the people who imprisoned her for more than two decades. But it could simply be an opposition tactic for outmanoeuvring the generals. Just a few weeks ago, Suu Kyi was allowed to travel to the north of the country for the first time since she regained her freedom, and she was warmly greeted by the people in the streets. The opposition hasn’t yet ditched the prospect of revolution, but it seems to be quietly maximizing the limited democratic space afforded to it by the Junta. Read more.

Malaysia Gets Press Club

By Luke Hunt

It's been in the planning for decades. And despite being cleverly knocked on the head once by the Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Kuala Lumpur finally has its own Foreign Correspondents Club (FCCM).

The club's first president, Romen Bose of Agence France-Presse, said after the inaugural meeting was held at the Equatorial Hotel that Malaysia was experiencing something of a media renaissance.

‘The idea of a foreign correspondents club in Malaysia isn’t new in that several groups had tried over the years to get one set up, and many had gone as far as having initial meetings and an executive committee drawn up, but were unable to get permission from the authorities.

‘The last time a group of journalists tried to set one up was in 1992 when then AFP bureau chief Mervin Nambiar and a group of very senior correspondents had banded together to push for the club to be set up, but the powers that be refused to allow its formation,’ he said.

Online media is flourishing in this country and challenging a repressed mainstream press. Prime Minister Najib Razak more recently has bowed to media reports and announced an inquiry into alleged electoral irregularities, the source of violent rallies in the capital in early July.

In doing this, he conceded the government’s censorship of an article in The Economist on the Bersih protest rally was ineffective and promised to review his country’s censorship methods.

‘If the international media wants to criticise us, let them. If we need to, we engage them. We give our side of story, and if they have crossed the line, then we have to resort to legal means,’ he said.

Foreign correspondents have traditionally found this country difficult territory in which to operate and are often widely disliked by local journalists who are coerced into toeing a management line while the outsiders are free to report as they see fit. This is largely because newspaper owners require a license to publish that must be renewed each year, resulting in coverage that’s heavily self-censored and primarily used to support government policies.

‘For too long, it was an easy out to say that the foreign media were not reporting the “real story” or were “twisting facts” or were “pro-opposition” when the reality of the matter was that the government newsmakers were unwilling or unable to engage foreign correspondents to provide their side of the story,’ Bose said.

As the paperwork from previous FCC bids languished on the mahogany desks of bureaucrats, one senior journalist was once pulled aside by Mahathir. Dismayed, the then prime minister asked: ‘Why do you want to establish a Foreign Correspondents Club here when if you have any problems you can always come and talk to me personally?’

It possibly never dawned on the leader that such cosy relations between the media and the executive arm of government was considered anathema to foreign journalists, who were also disturbed by the sycophantic relations encouraged by the government and state-linked press.Read more.

Malaysia's Winter Of Discontent

By Luke Hunt

Malaysians of all walks of political life were conducting a cost/benefit analysis in the aftermath of last weekend’s rally, which turned ugly amid baton charges, tear gassing and the arrests of almost 1,700 people.

Prime Minister Najib Razak had initially attempted to play down the protest by Bersih, which means ‘clean’ in Malay, calling for free and fair elections. But he changed his tune after Amnesty described the crackdown as the worst case of suppression seen in this country in years.

Speaking at a government function Sunday, Najib — widely expected to call an early election later this year or early next — lashed out at opposition-backed protesters, complaining they were trying to paint a picture of Malaysia as a repressive state.

‘They said they wanted to hold a peaceful rally. If the police had not monitored it, it would not have been peaceful,’ the prime minister said.

New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, also denounced the arrests, saying, ‘this is a maelstrom of the Malaysian authorities own making.’

Police were deployed under what they called ‘Operation Erase Bersih.’ They sealed off key roads, dispatched water cannons and then opened fire with tear gas as crowds formed and attempted to march towards the iconic Merdeka Stadium. Stampedes followed, and the crowds dispersed into smaller groups and taunted riot police armed with batons, guns and shields. Baton chargers followed.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was injured after police fired tear gas canisters into a tunnel. Another politician, Khalid Samad of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, was injured when police also fired a tear gas canister, at his neck.

The protesters, however, remained defiant.

Some wore yellow shirts. Most, fearing arrest, decided not to wear the colour synonymous with the movement. One man was dragged and kicked from outside the Chinese Maternity Hospital. Tear gas was then fired into the neighbouring grounds of Tung Shing Hospital where protesters had sought shelter.

Malaysia’s sometimes less than friendly neighbour Indonesia said it had warned its citizens to stay away from protest points, but that there was no need to evacuate its citizens and that it was confident that Malaysian authorities would handle the situation wisely.

It was almost a diplomatic faux pas.

Speaking on Sunday, Anwar said: ‘We will have to pursue – in parliament and outside of parliament – free and fair elections, even by rallying unless they change the electoral vote.’ He added that there was no confidence left in the government.

Crowd estimates vary widely, but tens of thousands certainly marched, the culmination of weeks of intense pressure on Najib's coalition to make election laws fairer and more transparent.

Opposition leaders have long accused Najib’s ruling United Malays National Organization of relying on fraud to maintain its 54-year hold on power. The government, however, insists the current electoral policies are fair.

Marimuthu Manogaran, an opposition politician for the Democratic Action Party, said protesters wanted curbs that would make electoral fraud more difficult, including closer monitoring of postal votes, and increased access to media outlets during campaigning. He also said the ruling party shouldn’t be entitled to the use of government assets like helicopters and other services when contesting elections.

‘Despite the police presence and oppression, I see there’s a large presence of people on the ground in the streets of Kuala Lumpur and what is very interesting is I see a large number of them are comprised of youths. Young people coming out there to demand their rights for electoral reform and I think that is a good sign for Malaysia.

‘We are used to this tear gas and this chemically laced water from before, but I think a lot of young people have not been exposed to it before and they are getting it for the first time now,’ he said.

This was the second such rally organised by Bersih. The first, in 2007, resulted in an estimated 50,000 people taking to the streets of the capital before they were also dispersed by riot police armed with water cannons and tear gas. That rally was partly credited for record gains by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 elections when the opposition pact was swept to power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats at the national level.

As a result, UMNO lost its cherished two-thirds majority and Prime Minster Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was forced out of office by a party coup, making way for Najib, who has promised the party faithful to win back UMNO’s pre-eminent status with the electorate.

Speculation of an early election, which Najib has declined to quash, has persisted ever since, with observers arguing Najib is particularly keen on his own electoral mandate. If he can win back the two-thirds majority this would also allow him to repeal archaic laws that favour native Malays in business.Read more.