Four interesting events took place yesterday, just four days to Chinese New Year.
1. PM Najib Tun Razak said he will bring Anwar Ibrahim's '
national consensus' dialogue to the Cabinet. Home Minister Zahid Hamidi was first to voice support for the talk, aimed at finding solutions to various issues that jolts national peace, unity and stability.
2. PKR state assemblyman for Kajang
Lee Chin Cheh resigned amid speculations that it would pave the way to either Anwar or Rafizi Ramli to contest the seat, and should PKR wins, Anwar or Rafizi will replace Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor mentri besar.
3. DPM Muhyiddin Yassin
barred Malaysiakini reporters from covering a press conference on price hike issues, saying the online news portal was 'not on the approved media list'.
4. The Home Ministry finally
lifted the suspension on weekly publication The Heat, more than a month after it was suspended for allegedly not informing the home ministry of changes in its ownership and refusal to respond to two show cause letters.
The 'national consensus' is not new. Najib himself had suggested it weeks after the 13th general election in May 2013 but due to the intense Opposition attacks on Barisan Nasional, it was shelved. However,
Anwar Ibrahim - amid rising mercury over the issue of Allah, the
molotov cocktails attack on a Penang church and the shaky Khalid Ibrahim's position as Selangor mentri besar, re-hatched it. With the intention of personal gain or not, it got a quick response from Zahid Hamidi, and PM a few hours later. I believe many Malaysians - irrespective of race, religion and politics - are in support of the idea. As national security is becoming more chronic, netizens are feeling the heat from latest development that took place over the past one or two months. Agitation between Muslims and Christians over the
'Allah' issue tops the list, and has the tendency to explode should the authorities, notably the police do not take extra measures to assure that the peoples are well-protected, at home and in the streets. The Cabinet under Najib must make a decision fast to settle the issue once and for all whether the Muslims and Christians like it or not. However, both must respect the decision in the spirit of Malaysia. Life must go on...
The resignation of Lee Chin Cheh (pic) will of course pave the way for
a by-election, expected to be held within 60 days after the seat is declared vacant. It will another challenging moment for the Election Commission - still accused by the Opposition as playing dirty in organising any election - to proof that the system is flaw-free. But the focus remains in Selangor where mentri besar Khalid Ibrahim is
facing dissension from his own PKR camp. Call it
a 'revolt' if you may but the removal of his 'political nemesis' Azmin Ali from PKNS is gushing levity towards his, especially from
Pemuda PKR. Speculations are high that Anwar himself will contest the Kajang state seat, or PKR's rising star Rafizi and whoever wins will probably
replace Khalid as MB. Although Khalid has denied rumors about the cahoot to remove him and that his seat will remain his, the writings are already on the wall - that he must go. Only time will tell...
When DPM Muhyiddin officers barred Malaysiakini reporters from his press conference, many described it as a childish act and was purely uncalled for. It was against the 'Press freedom', according to many. But the fact that Mkini had never reported anything good and positive about him is a factor to weigh. It is not wrong to carry the Opposition's agenda but reporting must carry actual fact and figure. I can understand Muhyiddin's sentiment (not only him) for Mkini when the news portal belittled him as DPM and raking his past as Johor MB not long ago. Just take a look at the Star. As a pro-government daily, it provides space for Opposition news, without spinning it. However, I don't quite agree with the 'barring' and at the same time do not agree with the way Mkini prodding at the Cabinet members only to find fault in them. While the media must exercise good relation with all parties and the right to spin is theirs, both sides must learn to tolerate each other. Of course I will not open my door to those who badmouth and treat me like an enemy but there are times when we can share something light over a cup of tea or coffee...
It has been a month since the government imposed a ban on the new kid on the block The Heat. The Opposition accused the Home Ministry of being unfair. Many believed it had a lot to do with The Heat's reports about Najib and wife Rosmah which 'tarnished their image'. Personally, I agree with the action taken. It was a good precedent for the media not to exaggerate things and blow issues out of proportion. The media has
a common objective to help nation-building and foster unity among our multiracial society. Let it be a lesson for all. The action was unprecedented, yes, but it signals the government's full commitment to work with any media player as long as they report the truth and not spewing lies and slanders. The Heat will be back after Chinese New Year and I am hoping to read some good reports in it...
What else?
A-ah! Malaysia Chronicle produced a
political prognostication about who should replace Najib if he goes. Hmm... a good reading but a bosh.
Mahathir and his allies want to set a date for Malaysia's prime minister to move out.
Forces aligned with former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appear to be attempting push embattled Malaysian Premier Najib Tun Razak into giving a time frame for his eventual departure from office and naming a successor, sources in Kuala Lumpur say.
The sources say that successor could be hard-line Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, 61, who was once an ally of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim when Anwar was still in Mahathir's government. Zahid is third in line for succession and his rise would bypass Muhyiddin Yassin, the current deputy president of UMNO and deputy prime minister, who is 66. Muhyiddin has said he will retire soon.
It should be noted that Najib operates from a position of relative invulnerability, given that both national and intraparty elections are out of the way, leaving him secure at least until the next UMNO general assembly late this year. However, the scenario, the sources say, is similar to that forced upon Najib's immediate predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was pushed come up with a timeline in 2008 after the Barisan's disastrous political showing in general elections. At that time, the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time in history. The campaign to push out Badawi lasted from the May 2008 election until April 2009, when Najib took office.
The motive? To pit Umno top leaders into a 'war'!
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