Malaysia State Constitutional Crisis

Hantu Laut

This article is flawed.At the time Sultan Azlan Shah decided to give the state to the BN there were 31 state assemblymen present and indicated their support of the BN and Zambri as MB in the presence of the Sultan.It was not 28-28 as mentioned.Nizar ceased to be MB the moment he lost majority support of members of the house.

Asia Sentinel

Written by Our Correspondent

Tuesday, 09 February 2010

Any indication that Malaysia's courts were becoming independent of the government disappeared from view again Tuesday when the five-member Federal Court ruled that United Malays National Organization stalwart Zambry Abdul Kadir is the rightful chief minister of the state of Perak, the country's second biggest and one of its richest. The state has been caught a constitutional crisis since May of 2009, with the government paralyzed by the controversy over who was actually in charge. Perak had been controlled by the national opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat as a result of the March 2008 national election, with Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as chief minister. However, then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak engineered the defection of three lawmakers, bringing the government to a halt in a 28-28 tie. Upon their defection, Sultan Raja Azlan Shah immediately ordered Nizar to vacate his position and installed Zambry in his place. That kicked off a melee in which 65 people were arrested. Ahead of Tuesday's decision, Rais yatim, the the Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, was quoted by the state-owned national wire service Bernama as calling on the people to be calm. "We should respect the decision irrespective of whether it favors A or B. We are confident in our judicial system and in the way the law is administered," Bernama quoted him as saying. "The mood is somber," said a Malay woman in Ipoh, the state capital. "I think people are going to just have to wait for the general election," which is probably three years away. "The feeling is that the verdict about Nizar and Zambry was decided a long time ago." Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Abdul Aziz Rahim ruled on May 11 that the sultan lacked the authority to remove Nizar without a vote of confidence in the statehouse, only to have the appellate court put his decision in abeyance a few hours later. The case – and the Perak state government – have been stalled as the Federal Court, the country's highest, took up the decision in November and has chewed on it ever since. The ruling, led by Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, was built on the premise that the Barisan Nasional, or ruling national coalition, controls 31 votes in the Perak statehouse although no vote has ever been taken, and while the three defectors are said to be leaning towards the Barisan, they have given no official indication that they would cross the aisle. The Election Commission refused a letter proclaiming the realignment of their loyalty, setting the stage for the constitutional crisis. When Nizar refused to go, instead of waiting for Judge Abdul Aziz's original ruling, elite federal Field Reserve Unit police invaded the statehouse on May 7 to drag opposition Speaker V. Sivakumar out of the chambers amid flying furniture and protests that resulted in the arrest of 65 people. As far as can be determined, it is the first time in Malaysian history that federal police had ever entered a legislature. The ruling appears unlikely to end the continuing political uncertainty in either Perak or the government. Political analysts in Kuala Lumpur say the logical solution to the stalemate – a state popular by-election to determine the makeup of the statehouse – is unlikely because Najib and the Barisan do not believe they could win it. The state, long a tin mining center, has an extremely large Chinese and Indian population and the Chinese have largely abandoned the Barisan because of the collapse into scandal of the Malaysian Chinese Association, which is embroiled in infighting over the disappearance of billions of dollars in the attempt to turn Port Klang, 60 km. west of Kuala Lumpur, into a multimodal port. The Barisan instead appears to be counting on time to bring the voters, particularly disaffected ethnic Malays who have abandoned UMNO for the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia and Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat, or People's Justice Party, because of a long series of scandals and outright crimes. However, Anwar is on trial in Kuala Lumpur in what has been widely billed as Sodomy 2, on charges of sodomizing a former aide in a trial that to everybody but the government itself appears to be built on dubious allegations that were laid to derail the first realistic challenge to the ruling national coalition since the country was formed. In the meantime, his party is beset by infighting in several state assemblies, particularly Penang and Selangor, with a growing number of restive lawmakers threatening to leave the opposition coalition and return to the Barisan. Three have been brought before a disciplinary committee of the opposition coalition seeking answers to questions over their use of personal expense accounts. The coalition that Anwar cobbled together has been an unlikely one from the start, with the Islamic, largely rural and fundamentalist PAS on one side and the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party on the other, with Anwar's moderate, urban Malays in the middle. Zulkifli Nordin, a member of Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat, was quoted publicly earlier this week as predicting mass resignations over the next two to three weeks over tensions with the DAP and PKR's difficulty in dealing with them. "The problem was that Anwar rounded up a bunch of incompetents to run in 2008, and disillusionment was so great with UMNO that a lot of people got voted into office who should never have been voted into office," said a businessman in Kuala Lumpur. The opposition coalition, he said, has thus never been able to capitalize on its gains by actually paying attention to governing. At the same time, the opposition has been harried by Najib's use of law enforcement powers including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and others to bring opposition lawmakers in on charges that many observers believe are superfluous. Nonetheless, the court's decision appears certain to reinforce popular opinion that Malaysia's judiciary is thoroughly in the pockets of UMNO. That isn't helped by the case against Anwar, who is charged with having consensual sex with the former aide, a charge that is extremely rare in Malaysia and especially Kuala Lumpur, where gay bars abound and homosexuality isn't particularly condemned despite the fact that it is nominally against the law. An examination of the evidence against him in similar charges in 1998 leads to the overwhelming conclusion that it was concocted to derail his political career. The case has been put on temporary hold as Anwar's lead counsel, Karpal Singh, seeks to disqualify the presiding judge, Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah.

Blimey! Who's The Blimp?

Hantu Laut

I am not a lawyer, nor a judge, but I could be a juror, if the jury system exists in this country.Unfortunately, it doesn't.

However, as a businessman, I deal a lot with lawyers.There are good lawyers, bad lawyers and obviously there are also stupid lawyers.Not all lawyers are clever and coming from the same fraternity not all judges are clever either.

No matter how smart you are or how smart you looked, no one is infallible, making mistakes is as in the proverbial "to err is human" could happen to anyone. That's why we are different from the animal kingdom where an innate, typically fixed pattern of behaviour exists.....triggering instinct rather than intelligence.

I read this with much consternation.The unanimous decision of 8 judges (5 Federal Court and 3 Court of Appeal) questioned and belittled by one retired judge who probably is on the verge of senility.

He says the judgement is riddled with contradictions without actually naming what they are.“On the face of it, it sounds like they are contradicting themselves, isn’t it?” he said.“And if it’s really contradicting, then the whole judgment is rubbish,” he added.

'It sounds like?' Good of you Mr Chan.Malaysians are convinced?

Malaysian Insider reports that Chan refrained from commenting further until he had read through the full written judgment.

That kind of sums up the natural instinct of Mr Chan putting " the cart before the horse", commenting before reading the full judgement.

How could 8 judges be wrong compared to this geriatric?

I am puzzled?

Ciao Nizar

Hantu Laut

Only the dreamers in Pakatan Rakyat including the incorrigible ex menteri besar think they could manipulate the state constitution to their benefits.

My stand have all along been that the Sultan and former Lord President knows more about the constitution than those greedy 'no class' politicians and half-past-six lawyers that gave them false hope that the sultan have erred.

Their dirty campaign against the judiciary have tarnished the reputation and good standing of our judges and brought the nation into disrepute.This bunch of hooligans will never get to see Putrajaya because Malaysians are slowly waking up to seeing their incompetence, greed and amateurism.

What happening in PKR is a reflection of Anwar style of leadership.The Malays are slowly but surely abandoning him and leave him to his own device.

Now, that the highest court in the country has made its final judgment, will the detractors in Pakatan Rakyat continue to disparage the judiciary?Those who did should face the music.

The court should not take anymore nonsense and should slap contempt of court on anyone, bloggers included, who questioned and belittled the court's decision.

Ciao Nizar.Find another job.

Homosexuality:East And West

Hantu Laut

Might is right?

No! Might is not always right but it can impose its rights on you.It can bully,intimidate,coerce or bomb you into submission.

The West have perfected the art of 'might is right' into a new form of colonialism, deploy either by the might of the pen or the barrel of a gun.

In the case of Iraq, Afghanistan now Pakistan and soon Yemen and very soon Iran the gun speaks louder than the pen.Where literacy is low and the pen has no effect the gun would be the weapon of choice.

The Talibans respect only two things, Islam and Pastunwali, no guns and bombs are going to scare them off.The Brits have seen it,the Russians got their balls fried and the Amercian offering themselves a journey to hell.It's going to be a long and senseless war.

In Afghanistan, keeping young boy as company is not uncommon.Sodomy not only exists in Genesis 19.24 and God's retribution for impenitent sins.Today, divine retributions come still in its familiar forms, the acts of God.

In Malaysia, the axiomatic " pen is mightier than the sword" has proven its might and stabbed Malaysians right in the hearts.

In the hearts and minds, Malaysians are bought.It's no more the court of justice that be the judge of Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy case, it's the court of public opinion that have decided his innocent.

Washington Post (in my previous post here.) in its hard hitting editorial warned Malaysia that the Obama administration and other Western governments interested in stability in Asia should make clear that the imprisonment of Mr. Anwar would be a blatant human rights violation -- and not in Malaysia's interest.

A kind of threat?

Isn't Malaysia a sovereign nation and has its own rule of law?

The might of Western powers have made them into believing theirs are the only righteous path and the rest of the world is nescient and, therefore, must be taught a lesson, whatever it might be, from human rights to doesn't matter how contorted morality is in the eyes of the Easterners, the way of the West is superciliously prettier.Submit or be damned.

Homosexuality, as we all know, exists all over the world and in every culture. Most religion, particularly the Abrahamic religions do not look kindly upon it.In the Bible, the story of Lot and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was about divine anger against sodomy.

In some Middle Eastern countries you are dead meat if you are caught or known to be gay. It's viewed as a sickness and sexual perversion.In Eastern Asia they are mostly tolerated but kept under the lid.In the West they have gained celebrity status, excepted and viewed as the right of an individual and where the burqas and minarets are seen as bigger evil than sodomy.

In most part of Asia including the very modern and squeaky clean Singapore sodomy with same sex partners is a crime.Old Mr Lee wanted the whole sodomy law to be repelled but, somehow, his government was not in favour of such drastic change.As in the words of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong "it could send the wrong signal and encourage LGBT activists to ask for more concessions, such as same-sex marriage and parenting."

In 2007, Singapore amended its Sodomy Law and decriminalised sodomy among heterosexual partners but still makes it an offence among same sex partners.Maximum imprisonment for sodomy in Singapore is 2 years.However, no one had been charged in recent times.

In Malaysia sodomy is much more serious offence,if convicted a maximum of 20 years is allowed under the law.

In some Middle Eastern countries you could get killed for being gay, not necessarily by the law but by maniacal homophobic.

With the exception of Anwar Ibrahim there have been no other sodomy case in Malaysia. As long as there was no police report against a person the government have no business charging him.In the case of Anwar, a police report was lodged by an aggrieved party.The right place to decide the case is the Malaysian court of justice,not the Western press,not the court of public opinion and not Anwar's court of courtiers.

In many truly Asian countries, I don't consider the Middle East as truly Asian, most people have no problem with gays, we, somehow tolerated them and ignored whatever their sexual orientation.Some are open about it, most are closet case.

Here are some of gory tales of violence against gays in Muslim countries from Der Spiegel

Wave of Homophobia Sweeps the Muslim World

By Juliane von Mittelstaedt and Daniel Steinvorth

In most Islamic countries, gay men and women are ostracized, persecuted and in some cases even murdered. Repressive regimes are often fanning the flames of hatred in a bid to outdo Islamists when it comes to spreading "moral panic."

Bearded men kidnapped him in the center of Baghdad, threw him into a dark hole, chained him down, urinated on him, and beat him with an iron pipe. But the worst moment for Hisham, 40, came on the fourth day of his ordeal when the kidnappers called his family. He was terrified they would tell his mother that he is gay and that this was the reason they had kidnapped him. If they did he would never be able to see his family again. The shame would be unbearable for them.

"Do what you want to me, but don't tell them," he screamed.

• 
• 
• 

Instead of humiliating him in the eyes of his family, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $50,000 (€33,000), a huge sum for the average Iraqi family. His parents had to go into debt and sell off all of their son's possessions in order to raise the money required to secure his freedom. Shortly after they received the ransom the kidnappers threw Hisham out of their car somewhere in the northern part of Baghdad. They decided not to shoot him and let him go. But they sent him on his way with a warning: "This is your last chance. If we ever see you again, we'll kill you."

That was four months ago. Hisham has since moved to Lebanon. He told his family that he had decided to flee the violence and terror in Baghdad and that he had found work in Beirut. Needless to say he didn't disclose the fact that he is unable to live in Iraq because of the death squads who are out hunting for "effeminate-looking" men.

In Baghdad a new series of murders began early this year, perpetrated against men suspected of being gay. Often they are raped, their genitals cut off, and their anuses sealed with glue. Their bodies are left at landfills or dumped in the streets. The non-profit organization Human Rights Watch, which has documented many of these crimes, has spoken of a systematic campaign of violence involving hundreds of murders.

Restoring 'Religious Morals'

A video clip showing men dancing with each other at a party in Baghdad in the summer of 2008 is thought to have triggered this string of kidnappings, rapes, and murders. Thousands of people have seen it on the Internet and on their cell phones. Islamic religious leaders began ranting about the growing presence of a "third sex" which American soldiers were said to have brought in with them. The followers of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, in particular, felt the need to take action aimed at restoring "religious morals."

In their stronghold, the part of Baghdad known as Sadr City, black-clad militiamen patrol the streets, on the lookout for anyone whose "unmanly appearance" or behavior would make it possible to identify them as being homosexual. Often enough long hair, tight-fitting t-shirts and trousers, or a certain way of walking were a death sentence for the persons in question. But it's not just the Mahdi army who has been hunting down and killing gay men. Other groups such as Sunni militias close to al-Qaida and the Iraqi security services are also known to be involved.

Homosexuals in Iraq may be faced with an exceptionally dangerous situation but they are ostracized almost everywhere in the Muslim world. Gay rights organizations estimate that more than 100,000 gay men and women are currently being discriminated against and threatened in Muslim countries. Thousands of them commit suicide, end up in prison, or go into hiding.

Egypts Starts to Clamp Down

More than 30 Islamic countries have laws on the books that prohibit homosexuality and make it a criminal offense. In most cases punishment ranges from floggings to life imprisonment. In Mauritania, Bangladesh, Yemen, parts of Nigeria and Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran convicted homosexuals can also be sentenced to death.

In those Muslim countries where homosexuality is not against the law gay men and women are nonetheless persecuted, arrested, and in some cases murdered. Although long known for its open gay scene, Egypt has recently started to clamp down hard. The lives of homosexuals are monitored by a kind of vice squad who tap telephones and recruit informants. As soon as the police have accumulated the kind of evidence they need they charge their victims with "debauchery."

In Malaysia homosexuality has been used as a political weapon. In 2000 opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly committing "sodomy" with his wife's chauffeur as well as with a former speechwriter. In 2004 the conviction was overturned on appeal and he was acquitted. In the summer of 2008 charges were filed against him in a similar case when a male aide accused him of sodomy. The case is still ongoing.

For a while Anwar was the favorite of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and was being groomed to succeed him in that office until they had a falling out in 1998. Ten years and some prison time later, on August 28, 2008, Anwar managed to be sworn in again as a member of the Malaysian parliament. But that's as far as he has got with his political comeback.

Even in liberal Lebanon homosexuals run the risk of being sentenced to a year in prison. On the other hand, Beirut has the only gay and lesbian organization in the Arab world (Helem, which means 'dream' in Arabic). There are posters on the walls of the Helem office in downtown Beirut providing information on AIDS and tips on how to deal with homophobia. The existence of Helem is being tolerated for the time being but the Interior Ministry has yet to grant it an official permit. "And it's hard to imagine that we ever will be given one," says Georges Azzi, the organization's managing director.

Islamists Are the Dominant Cultural Force

In Istanbul there is a free gay scene, a Christopher Street Day, and even religious Muslims are among the fans of transsexual pop diva Bülent Ersoy and the late gay singer Zeki Müren. But outside the world of show business it is considered both a disgrace and an illness to be a götveren or "queen." In the Turkish army homosexuality is cause for failing a medical test. To identify anyone trying to use homosexuality as an excuse to get out of military service, army doctors ask to see photos or videos showing the recruits engaging in sex with a man. And they have to be in the "passive" role. In Turkey being in the active role is considered manly enough not to be proof of homosexuality.

It looks as if a wave of homophobia has swept over the Islamic world, a place that was once widely known for its openmindedness, where homoerotic literature was written and widely read, where gender roles were not so narrowly defined, and, as in the days of ancient Greece, where men often sought the companionship of youths.

Islamists are now a dominant cultural force in many of these countries. They include figures such as popular Egyptian television preacher Yussuf al-Qaradawi who demonizes gays as perverse. Four years ago Shiite grand ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa saying that gays are to be murdered in the most brutal way possible. These religious opinion leaders base their hatred for gays on the story of Lot in the Koran: "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds." Lot's people suffered the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins. The Prophet Muhammad has a number of dicta in which he condemns these acts by Lot's people and in one of them he even goes as far as to call for punishment by death.

European Prudery Exported to the Colonies

The story of Lot and related verses in the Koran were not interpreted as unambiguous references to homosexual sex until the 20^th century, says Everett Rowson, professor of Islamic Studies at New York University. This reinterpretation was the result of Western influences -- its source was the prudery of European colonialists who introduced their conception of sexual morality to the newly conquered countries.

The fact of the matter is that half of the laws across the world that prohibit homosexuality today are derived from a single law that the British enacted in India in 1860. "Many attitudes with regard to sexual morality that are thought to be identical to Islam owe a lot more to Queen Victoria than to the Koran," Rowson says.

More than anything, it is the politicization of Islam that has led to the persecution of gays today. Sexual morals are no longer a private matter. They are regulated and instrumentalized by governments.Read more.