UMNO dimakan sumpah...

Segalanya berlaku dengan sangat pantas. Tidak pernah kita terbayang bagaimana sebuah ‘rejim tua’ yang digeruni, mewah dan sombong hilang kuasa sekelip mata – secara aman – tanpa huru-hara– hanya dalam tempoh kurang 24 jam selepas Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 (PRU14).

Keadaan ini mungkin tidak pernah kita jangka. Ya. Rakyat Malaysia sudah pasti menanam harapan agar negara ini ditadbir oleh sebuah kerajaan yang adil, demokratik dan berintegriti. Tetapi untuk melihat regim tertua itu tersungkur sedemikian rupa amatlah diluar jangkauan.

Mungkin ramai menjangkakan Barisan Nasional (BN) akan terus menang walaupun dengan majoriti mudah namun jarang-jarang orang menduga BN tumbang penuh memalukan apabila ramai ayam-ayam sabung mereka bertaraf menteri dan pimpinan tertinggi terkorban.

Keramat suara rakyat – mungkin ini paling sesuai menggambarkan betapa berkuasanya setiap pangkah rakyat Malaysia pada kertas undi sehingga terkuburnya sang pemerintah sejak berdekad-dekad lalu sejak negara mencapai merdeka pada 1957.

Ini adalah referendum rakyat. Ini adalah bukti bahawa rakyat telah jenuh dan muak dengan segala propaganda UMNO-BN yang menjaja ketakutan yang berselindung disebalik slogan agama, bangsa dan tanah, pada masa yang sama tangan-tangan itu yang galak mencuri harta negara. UMNO akhirnya dimakan sumpah!

Soalnya sekarang, apa selepas ini? Apa yang perlu dilakukan oleh kerajaan Pakatan Harapan untuk mengemudi Malaysia baru pasca PRU14? Sudah tentu, rakyat menunggu dengan penuh keterujaan dan harapan menggunung pelaksanaan segala janji dalam manifesto – demi sebuah Malaysia yang lebih adil, demokratik dan bermaruah.

Tidak sampai tujuh hari memegang tampuk kuasa, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan tidak berlengah dibuai kemenangan. Satu demi satu langkah diambil untuk menstabilkan kerajaan sekaligus melaksanakan beberapa tindakan drastik mengukuhkan kembali ekonomi negara yang tempang dikemudi kerajaan lalu – termasuk menamatkan ‘drama’ lompat-melompat pembentukan beberapa kerajaan negeri sebelum ini.

Sebaik mengangkat sumpah selaku Perdana Menteri ke tujuh, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah melaksanakan langkah drastik memulihkan semula kedudukan politik dan ekonomi negara.

Ini termasuk meneruskan usaha menyelamatkan puluhan billion ringgit akibat ‘disonglap’ pasukan Najib Razak sehingga nama negara turut tercemar di seluruh deunia dengan panggilan ‘kerajaan kleptokrasi’.

Demi memastikan wujudnya ketulusan awam siasatan penyelewengan 1MDB, kerajaan juga telah menggugurkan status sulit laporan pengauditan 1MDB yang digunakan oleh Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Awam Negara (PAC) dan sudah boleh diakses oleh rakyat.

Usaha ini tidak terhenti disitu, kerajaan turut menjalankan ‘serbuan’ di kediaman peribadi bekas Presiden UMNO Najib Razak untuk mencari sebarang dokumen dan barang bukti melibatkan penyelewengan.

Bagai kiambang kembali bertaut, itu dapat kita lihat apabila Tun Mahathir mempercepatkan usaha pembebasan bagi Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang telah merengkok tiga tahun dalam penjara akibat fitnah – pembebasan beliau pada 16 Mei 2018 seharis sebelum umat Islam negara ini menunaikan ibadah puasa Ramadan mengembalikan segala ingatan kita kepada era kegemilangan Malaysia sebagai harimau asia.

Mesti tidak diberi sebarang jawatan rasmi kerajaan, gandingan Mahathir-Anwar dilihat akan memberi kesan yang lebih positif dalam pembinaan semula negara.

Satu demi satu pelaksanaan dasar merakyatkan ekonomi diumumkan. Hari pembebasan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim juga diwarnai dengan pengumuman Tun Mahathir yang mahu supaya cukai Barangan dan Perkhidmatan (GST) tidak dikutip.

Sejajar pengumuman tersebut, kementerian kewangan pada hari yang sama telah mengeluarkan kenyataan rasmi bahawa berkuatkuasa 1 Jun 2018, cukai GST yang dikenakan pada kadar 6% akan dikurangkan pada kadar 0%.

Walau apa pun ‘drama’ atau ‘kekecohan’ yang mungkin atau telah berlaku sepanjang minggu-minggu awal pentadbiran kerajaan baru Pakatan Harapan. Rakyat tetap menaruh kepercayaan bahawa segala langkah yang diambil haruslah memberi tumpuan untuk meringankan beban kos sara hidup dan pemulihan poket mereka.

Yang penting, rakyat menuntut keadilan agar setiap sen duit yang disonglap pemimpin UMNO-BN dapat dipulangkan kepada kantung negara.

Kepada pemimpin kaki songlap, kemana lagi anda boleh lari? – Roketkini.com

The Dawn Of A New Era...

For many Malaysians it is a vindication of sorts for the sufferings they have endured from a ruling coalition that had been in power for over six decades. The 14 th General Elections (GE 14), held nationwide on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, was a watershed in the nation’s history. It marked the end of Barisan Nasional (BN) and the beginning of the hastily-forged Pakatan Harapan (PH) made up of four parties under the stewardship of an ageing but energetic former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Upon being sworn in as the country’s seventh Prime Minister on Thursday, May 10, Dr Mahathir now holds the unenviable distinction as the world’s oldest head of government. The 92-year old’s stamina, as he canvassed for support in a gruelling campaign trail around the country in the run-up to the keenly contested GE14, put his much younger contenders, including his nemesis, Najib Razak, to shame.

And the grand old man was handsomely rewarded when he and his Pakatan Harapan political partners handed the Umno-dominated Barisan Nasional a crushing defeat at the polls dubbed the “Father of all Elections”. What prompted Mahathir to come out of a 13-year political hiatus was mismanagement by his one-time protégé Najib Razak that had raised the hackles of the man who helmed Malaysia for 22 years (1981 to 2003).

The joy surrounding the victory was felt by all of those who partook in the elections and I was no exception. There was much excitement in the days leading to the long-awaited polls. Rumours were abound that a state of emergency would be declared should BN be defeated. Assurances by the police and the armed forces did little to assuage people’s fears but when the day came Malaysians of voting age came out in droves to determine who would administer their battered country for the next five years. And they did it in style.

When the dust settled Najib and his cohorts were roundly beaten. The party that was once the darling of the populace managed to garner only 79 parliamentary seats to Pakatan Harapan’s 135. Umno’s stronghold, Johor fell for the first time ever. The party’s long-time partners MCA, MIC and Gerakan were routed, their presidents biting the dust in their own backyards. This is the extent of the rakyat’s rejection of a party that was long on promises but short on actions. Years of abuse, a string of financial scandals plus arrogance and a sense of entitlement among its leaders were the primary reasons for its downfall.

Voters that thronged my polling station at the school in Bercham were mainly Chinese with a sprinkling of Indians and Malays. My wife and son were in our respective poling streams by 8.30am on Wednesday, May 9. The queue was long but orderly.

I chanced upon many youngsters who had journeyed home from their workplaces outside of Ipoh to vote. It was phenomenal. The one thing on their mind was to perform their citizenry responsibility of picking the right political party to lead the country out of its misery.

And picked they did for the betterment of the nation. I am mighty proud to be a party to this change in spite of the many discomforts I had to endure. Topping the list was the long waiting time in a queue that inched its way round a block. Fortunately, we were under cover and thus were spared the searing heat of the morning sun.

My brief conversation with a fellow voter while taking a breather in the shade summed up the mood that fateful day in May.

“People’s feelings were not respected, the rule of law is long gone. Every institution in the country has been messed up with. Simply put, the country is going down the road of no-return. The rakyat are getting poorer by the days. I want BN out for good,” he exclaimed.

I shared his sentiments. Malaysians are being hook winked by a leader who is so disconnected with the rakyat. His promise not to tax young working Malaysians under the age of 26 should BN be returned to power was the last straw. Didn’t he know that working youths of that age never pay income tax, as they don’t earn enough?

All said and done, Malaysians had made their wishes known and now look forward to a new future. They bid farewell to 61 years of one-party rule and welcome the dawn of a new era filled with hopes and expectations.

And by all reckoning it was neither a Chinese nor an Indian nor a Malay tsunami. It was a Malaysian tsunami. Period.

The indelible ink on my left index finger remains although it is fast fading. It is history and I am proud of it. Wednesday, May 9 2018 will remain etched in our memories as the day Malaysians united for a common cause. This old coot has experienced the racial riots of May 13, 1969 and now, the euphoria of GE 14, almost 49 years apart. - Fathol Zaman Bukhari,Ipoh Echo

First PM To Be Arrested And Charged....

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak is toast; in case there’s anyone out there who still think he can rise again. In fact, his situation is worse than initially thought. Newly sworn in 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia – Mahathir Mohamad – is not only going to roast him, but will publicly humiliate him to send a message to potential enemies trying to conspire to bring him down before his time is up.

The 93-year-old Mahathir, the world’s oldest prime minister, said he plans to remain in power for one of two years. Interestingly, Daim Zainuddin, one of 5 members of Mahathir’s “council of the elders”, has fired a warning shot at Anwar Ibrahim – don’t foolishly try to become prime minister immediately after his released, scheduled today. We’ll reserve this topic for another article for another day.

Since he took office 6 days ago, Mahathir has done so many things that it’s hard to keep up with the latest development. Between GST (goods service tax) and 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), two primary issues which contributed directly to the downfall of Mr. Najib, the new prime minister’s priority is clearly 1MDB scandal.

Since morning yesterday, people who were summoned to Perdana Leadership Foundation (Mahathir’s office post-retirement) have raised eyebrows as it included judiciary top guns such as Chief Justice Raus Sharif, Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Pattail and former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram.

The prime minister also met Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, former Bukit Aman Special Branch deputy director Abdul Hamid Bador (who criticised Najib’s 1MDB and was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Department in 2015), Bukit Aman Commercial CID director Amar Singh Ishar Singh and Bukit Aman Special Branch director Mokhtar Mohd Shariff.

In his first formal interview via video conference with The Wall Street Journal, Mahathir revealed that he would not offer Najib freedom in exchange for reclaiming the missing funds plundered by him. And he said criminal charges will be filed against his protégé-turned-rival. And if our source is correct, Najib will be arrested and charged – as soon as this week.

Image result for Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor - Raining Money

There’s a reason why Mahathir personally handles 1MDB scandal. The people are hungry for blood. They are willing to wait more than 100 days for GST to be cancelled. But they cannot wait for more than 10 days to see tyrant Najib being arrested and charged in court. After suppressed, oppressed, bullied and intimidated by the former premier for nearly a decade, people need to release their steam.

As a master strategist, Mahathir understands how to leverage on the sentiment of the people to boost his rating. Like the ancient Indian epic Ramayana – the divine prince Rama against demon king Ravana – Mahathir is set to play the role of the hero against the villain Najib. His popularity is expected to hit the roof when the bad guy Najib is finally paraded in court to be charged.

Yes, it’s a popularity contest between Mahathir and Anwar to see who will make it to the history books as the hero who defeated and imprisoned the country’s and world’s biggest crook. For that reason alone, Mahathir is not going to let prime minister-in-waiting Anwar steals the thunder. An extremely popular Mahathir will make it harder for Anwar to grab power, if the latter wishes to.

1MDB, which has been classified as a “Ponzi Scheme” by the Swiss Attorney General is not any common thievery. 1MDB is the world’s biggest financial scandal. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledges the 1MDB represents the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, involving stolen money of more than US$4.5 billion.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was the Chairman of 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), has denied any involvement in the scandal although he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar – a whopping US$681 million in his private banking accounts. Instead, Mr. Najib has claimed that the money was donations from Saudi royal family, a claim that could not be substantiated.

Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also exposed to have had purchased a 22-carat pink diamond necklace – worth a stunning US$27.3 million – using money siphoned from 1MDB. According to U.S.-DOJ investigations, Jho Low had arranged for jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz (also known as “Jewish Queen of Oscar Bling”) for the pink diamond on June 2, 2013.

Prime Minister Mahathir had personally ordered travel restrictions on Mr. Najib last Saturday after news spread that the latter was about to fly off to Jakarta for a short break. It appears that former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram will most likely play a major role in the 1MDB case involving Najib Razak’s corruption and money laundering.

With the declassification of 1MDB audit report by Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad yesterday, which corroborates with U.S.-DOJ findings, sending Najib to prison looks like a walk in the park. Mahathir administration also receives a boost when the Office of the Attorney-General of Switzerland (OAG) has expressed interest to exchange investigation papers between both countries in the 1MDB scandal.

It’s a matter of time before the U.S. Department of Justice and other countries investigating the same scandal approach the Prime Minister Office for cooperation. Without his diplomatic immunity as head of state, Najib Razak is a sitting duck. It’s up to Mahathir how he wishes to skin him. There will be very few who would have sympathy toward Mr. Najib.

While Mahathir and Lim Kit Siang read the “Sun Tzu Art Of War”, Najib read “Blue Ocean Strategy”. Obviously, Najib’s cash is king didn’t work anymore, and his ship is sinking into the blue ocean faster than he could pack his ill-gotten treasure. Poor Najib, if only he had taken Mahathir’s deal to resign and refused to listen to his toxic wife about fighting the old man. - fft