[interesting article to digest] ... ALAMAK !! AG CANNOT ADVISE ON SYARIAH MATTERS, NATIVE COURT AND MILITARY COURT MARTIALS !! ABSOLUTELY MUST READ 1. DOES THE AG NEED TO BE A MALAY OR A MUSLIM? 2. DOES THE AG HAVE TO ADVISE ON SYARIAH LAW?

[interesting article to digest] ... ALAMAK !! AG CANNOT ADVISE ON SYARIAH MATTERS, NATIVE COURT AND MILITARY COURT MARTIALS !! ABSOLUTELY MUST READ 1. DOES THE AG NEED TO BE A MALAY OR A MUSLIM? 2. DOES THE AG HAVE TO ADVISE ON SYARIAH LAW?

"That is explained by Art 145(3). It  states: -

‘145(3): The [AG] shall have power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.’ 

Clause 3 prohibits the AG from dealing with proceedings before Syariah Courts and  Military Courts. As far as Syariah matters are concerned the AG has no role. "

I received this via WhatsApp. 

Taking it at face value.  

Written by Ganesan Kasinathan, Advocate and Solicitor, Kuala Lumpur.

DOES THE AG NEED TO BE A MALAY OR A MUSLIM? 

DOES HE HAVE TO ADVISE ON SYARIAH LAW?

[GK Ganesan Kasinathan, Advocate and Solicitor, Kuala Lumpur]]

[03 June 2018]

The nation is trundling towards a calamitous constitutional misunderstanding. Someone has to do something about it and set matters straight.

Let us identify what is happening.

A debate has begun to rage. It concerns the identity of the person who should be the

next Attorney General. 

It is about constitutional provisions regarding what  characteristics the Attorney General should have—and whether the current nominee,  Mr. Tommy Thomas has them.

Two conflicting ideas

At the heart of the debate are two conflicting statements: 

the first is the altruistic proposition that certain quarters ‘have no objection at all to a non-Malay being nominated as AG.’ 

The second is an opposite argument. It is that the AG should be ‘in a position to advise the palace on Syariah matters.’ 

And the third proposition, being a conclusionary one, is the argument ‘… that therefore a judge, or a retired judge of the  Court of Appeal or the Federal Court ought to be appointed as AG.’

These arguments are deeply flawed. 

Here are the reasons:

These arguments have no constitutional basis at all. In fact, the Federal Constitution 

says the opposite. Why is that?

The rakyat should be allowed to interpret the Constitution

The rakyat should take part in this debate. They should look at the Constitution and 

inform themselves of the important aspects of this confusion. They should be taught to interpret the Constitution. It is their right. Lawyers should not be the only ones telling  people what the law is.

So let us look at the Constitution.

The starting point is Article 145.  Answer to the claim AG ‘must advise on Syariah law.’

The first and most important opposition to the Administration — and Mahathir — comes  from the argument that the ‘AG must be able to advise the King on Syariah matters’. 

This demand contradicts Constitutional provisions. 

This is because the Constitution exempts the AG from such a requirement. 

You will  understand this readily, because the relevant part of Article 145(2), states: -

‘145(2): It shall be the duty of the [AG] to advise the [King] or the Cabinet or  any Minister upon… legal matters, and to perform… duties of a legal  character,… and to discharge the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other written law. 

So what it says here is that the AG must discharge the duties that the Constitution asks  him to. What power does the Constitution give him? 

That is explained by Art 145(3). It  states: -

‘145(3): The [AG] shall have power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence,other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court or a court-martial.’ 

Clause 3 prohibits the AG from dealing with proceedings before Syariah Courts and 

Military Courts. As far as Syariah matters are concerned the AG has no role. 

No one would disagree that the King must have the very best Syariah advisor—an expert.   Were previous AGs experts on Syariah Law? Was Gani Patail an expert on Syariah law?  Was Apandi? How come no one objected then?

• So how can the AG be now compelled to perform a duty — or exercise a power — that  the Constitution has taken away from him? 
• 
  
• Why is the AG now being asked to advise  on something that the Constitution tells him is none of his business? 

The person to advise the King on Syariah law cannot be a retired judge.

The fifth argument is that the nominee for the AG ‘must be either an existing or a retired  Federal Court judge or a Court of Appeal judge; for, that way he can render legal advise  on Syariah matters’.

This argument is a non-starter.

Again there is a clear instruction from the Constitution on this.

Apart from informing the AG what matters over which the AG has powers to act on, the  Constitution goes one step further. 

Secular courts are non-Syariah courts: i.e. the  Magistrate Courts, Sessions Courts, High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Courts:

[Article 121 defines the secular courts]. 

The Constitution expressly removes from all secular courts any power that is only a Syariah Court can exercise. 

Clause (1A) says:-     ‘The courts referred to in Clause (1) [read, ‘secular courts’] shall have no  jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah 

courts.’

The Syariah judicial system works under a different set of laws. They have their own 

courts, their own judges, and their own lawyers. They are independent of the Judiciary. 

Therefore if Syariah law advice is needed, their Highnesses have ample Syariah resources available at their disposal.

If so, how can candidates be chosen from the retired or existing list of the secular Federal  Court or the Court of Appeal judges? From them have been removed the power to deal  with Syariah matters. 

It stands to reason that they, no matter what race or religion they profess, would have had no formal legal training on Syariah law at all. So why ask to choose from a group who possess no Syariah knowledge at all?

So the argument that the AG ‘must be able to advise on Syariah matters’ argument is a  red fish!  It is simply not true.

What qualities must a candidate for an AG have?

The next question to ask oneself is, who can be appointed as the AG? Article 145(1) 

answers the question in this way: -

‘145(1): The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint a person who is qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court  to be the Attorney General for the Federation.’

Note the phrase, ‘a person qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court’.   Who is that? 

That is explained in Article 123. It prescribes that a nominee for an AG  must be (a) a citizen and (b) for the last 10 years before his appointment he shall have  been ‘an advocate’; or ‘a member of the Judicial and Legal service’ (this differs from   judges in the Courts - do not confuse them as one), or a mixture of both. It does not  mean he must be a Federal Court or Court of Appeal Judge. He must only be one who   is ‘qualified to be’ one. 

From which pool would you choose your AG, given the choice?

As a matter of choice where would you choose the AG to come from? Let us examine  the pool of resources available to the Prime Minister.

Suppose there are about 1,800 lawyers in the AG’s Chambers [AGC]: that is about right.   Suppose we assume that at least 500 AGC lawyers in AGC have crossed the ‘10 year  practice’ mark (the numbers could be far lower]. Then at least 500 persons qualify to be  the AG. 

Now, the Malaysian Bar has ten times more lawyers than the AGC. It had, at the latest 

count, over 18,000 members. Of that number [I extrapolate] there are over 9,000  lawyers who qualify under this Art 123 — they have crossed the ‘10 years of continued   practice’ requirement. They are all citizens.

Go now to the judiciary as a source. If you add the total number of judges in the Federal  Court and the Court of Appeal that does not cross 45. A great proportion of those judges  are from the AG’s Chambers: some say as high as 90%. 

As a matter of choice, where would you choose the AG from? From the largest pool of  9,00 members, or a lesser pool of 500 lawyers from AG’s chambers, or from a smaller  pool of 45 judges from the Judiciary— the latter of which is already under attack?

Equality of all candidates not matter of race

The sixth point is, the Constitution, which upholds equality as its central core (read 

Article 8 of the Constitution), does not prevent a non-Malay from being appointed an 

AG. 

If our forefathers thought it necessary, they would have inserted that proscription  into the Constitution. 

Had they done it, that would have been against all known  conventions of human rights. They have not. Our forebears were reasonable people. 

They saw this issue and catered for it. The framers of the Constitution were men of great  foresight. So why manipulate that intent by specious arguments of non-existent  ‘conventions,’ conventions which are against human rights?

So there is no racial restriction in the Constitution.   So that argument too goes out of the window.

The King ‘shall appoint’

Clause (1) of Article 145 states that His Majesty the King ‘shall’ on the advice of the 

Prime Minister, appoint as AG a person proposed by the Prime Minister. This is what it   says: -

‘145(1): The yang di-Pertuan Agong shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister,  appoint a person who is qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court to be the  Attorney General for the Federation.’

Note the word, ‘shall’. It is mandatory. 

The binding nature of the Prime Minister’s  proposal is buttressed by an explanatory clause in Art. 40(1A): It says:-  

‘In in the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or federal law, where  the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is to act in accordance with advice, on advice, or  after considering advice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall accept and act in  accordance with such advice.’

The phrase ‘shall accept and act in accordance with such advice’ points to a mandatory  requirement. There is a reason for this. The functioning of a valid government cannot  be stultified by delay.

The Manifesto Point

The seventh argument is: ‘In appointing a non-Parliamentarian, Mahathir has departed  from the Harapan manifesto that the AG shall be an MP.’

Many points answer this vacuous argument. The manifesto point is readily overcome.   

Second, I have said elsewhere, the AG ought to be an MP answerable to the people,  through parliament. I have suggested that the Constitution ought to be changed to effect  that. 

The Committee for Institutional Reform is engaged in just that. Like the Council of Eminent Persons, they have had no rest. 

They are burning the candle at both ends. 
They  are inundated with all manner of papers. They will suggest amendments—in good time.

But until that change is done, the law, as it stands, must be complied with. There is no   countervailing argument against that. There is, fortunately, a Half-Way House solution. 

It is embedded into the Constitution. Art. 61 of the Constitution, which states, ‘(2) Either  house of parliament may appoint as a member of any of its committees the [AG]… notwithstanding that he is not a member of that house.’ 

So, through this side-door,  Parliament may, after it convenes, ask the AG to be appointed into its committees. The  Committees may ask him to answer questions. In this way the current AG can be brought  into Parliament’s deliberations. 

So these concerns are easily alleviated. So any  allegation that ‘Harapan has breached its Manifesto’ is really no issue at all.

Parliament has a right to override the King on executive matters

The King has executive authority over the Federation. That authority is, however, not 

absolute. It is subject to the dictates of Parliament: this is because Art 39 states:

‘The executive authority of the Federation shall be vested in the yang di Pertuan Agong and exercisable… by him or by the Cabinet or any Minister authorised by the Cabinet, … but parliament may by law confer executive  functions on other persons.’

The AG's appointment, under the current law, is an exercise of executive authority. If the King does not act on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Constitution grants another  route to Parliament. In matters of governance the primacy of  Parliament isconstitutionally  entrenched. 

But Parliament has not been convened. That time is not yet come. It  will. But can we wait till then? 

The power of the Conference of Rulers

The final argument in the opposition’s quiver is that the Conference of Rulers have an  absolute power to object to any suggestion of the Prime Minister. This is incorrect. 

True   it is that the Conference of Rulers have certain ‘discretionary’ powers. Article 38 lays it out in great detail. They have a right to be consulted on certain matters. 

These are listed  with some care: 

these deal with matters relating the appointment of the King, e.g.,  include any matter relating to the special position of the Malay rulers, the Islamic religion  or the rights of Malays under Article 153 (Reservation of quotas in the services, permits etc. for Malays).

True also it is that that Art. 38(2)(c) states that the Conference of Rulers shall exercise its  functions of consultation by —

‘… consenting or withholding consent to any law and making or giving advice  on any appointment which under this Constitution requires the consent of the  Conference or is to be made by or after consultation with the Conference’.

Some argue that Clause (6) gives the Conference of Rulers the right of carte blanche—  blank cheque; that that it is ‘an absolute right’. This is what the relevant part of Clause  (6)  says —

‘… the members of the Conference of Rulers may act in their discretion in any proceedings relating to the following functions, that is to say… (c) consenting

or withholding consent to any law and making or giving advice on any  appointment which under this Constitution requires the consent of the  Conference or is to be made by or after consultation with the Conference;  In constitutional theory, the personal prerogative of the monarch is said to contradict  democracy.

On a proper reading of Clause 6, this personal power is not absolute. 

First, much of the   strength of these prerogative power are diluted by constitutional principles. 

Second,   other clauses in the Constitution severely limit that power. 

Third, the ‘right to  consultation’ cannot mean an ‘absolute right to refuse.’ That is why the Constitution,  with great care, has said, their Highnesses ‘may act in their discretion.’ 

This discretion is  called ‘royal prerogative.’ Blackstone described it as the powers that ‘the king enjoys  alone, in contradistinction to others, and not to those he enjoys in common with any of  his subjects.’ 

So they are are ‘personal prerogatives.’ But the principles underlying the exercise of prerogatives have been uniformly accepted without contradiction across the  world. 

It is for that reason such prerogatives are carefully circumscribed. The way the  words in clause 6 are crafted is a call to exercise, in their Highnesses discretion, one of  the most fundamental provisions of the Rule of Law: when a constitutional discretion is  granted, it cannot be exercised arbitrarily. 

So the exercise of the ‘personal prerogative’  must seek to achieve the equality principle rooted as the basic fabric of the Constitution. 

It must be subject to transparency and good governance. It cannot be exercised  arbitrarily. It cannot be exploited capriciously. Such a discretion must be exercised in a  way that will aid democracy and uphold the Rule of Law. 

The words must be construed  to comply with the spirit of the Constitution and the Will of the People.  

Conclusion

Parliament is not in session. Not yet. Yet someone has to carry the burden of the AG. 

Charges have to be filed. People have to be hauled up before the courts. 

The Cabinet  is busy answering a hundred, perhaps a thousand urgent calls upon its time. This amidst  the urgent concern that economic matters should be dealt with alacrity. 

Manifesto or no, Mahathir has to stop the haemorrhage. 

The Cabinet cannot hang about. 

Time is of the essence. Mahathir has to act now.

Those who delay the appointment of the AG are doing a great disservice to the toils of  an elderly patriot trying to right a wayward ship. 

These detractors are playing into the hands of the pilferers who have purloined billons  from our coffers. 

They sit pretty, smiling from their strongholds. They think nothing will  come upon them so long as they keep raising one constitutional crises after another, and  trigger as much unease and delay as possible. 

That is why they are delaying the  appointment of the AG. They wish to feel safe. They think the GE 14 is a pyrrhic victory. 

They feel they are untouchable. 

They must be stopped.

As a nation we cannot sit idly by, while these detractors stultify the rakyat’s hard-won   victory

The Political Situation On The Peninsula And Anwar Ibrahim's Narrowing Options.

OutSyed The Box

Saturday, June 2, 2018

The Political Situation On The Peninsula And Anwar Ibrahim's Narrowing Options.

As a political movement the Barisan Nasional is effectively dead. 

But the components MCA, MIC, Gerakan and UMNO are not yet finished.  

Besides being political parties they are also huge business and property owners. 

MIC is believed to be worth about a billion in property and corporate assets and is also believed to have close to a billion Ringgit in cash.

MCA is believed to have much more, especially their cash holdings. At least two or three billion cash, (so I heard lah).  

Gerakan is not too far off.  Both MCA and Gerakan have property holdings overseas as well. These are political parties worth billions of Ringgit.  

So although (for the first time in history)  MIC has 100% more Parliamentary seats than MCA (2 to 1),  MCA is not dead as a business and money entity.  

Taking care of their assets alone will be enough to keep the party presidents of MIC, MCA and Gerakan busy for a long time. 

I think there is no need to talk about UMNO's assets. 
The PWTC alone should be worth over a billion Ringgit.

Talk is right now inside UMNO there are three factions.  

Two are extremely weak and they have been betting on the wrong horse.  

The first of the two factions is Zahid Hamidi and Hishamuddin Hussein. 

The second one is Khairy Jamaluddin plus one or two more.

Both these weak factions are pro Anwar Ibrahim or have no qualms working with Anwar Ibrahim.  Here Zahid Hamidi seems to be front runner ahead of Khairy Jamaluddin.

They are said to be the weakest factions because the majority of UMNO does not want them.  

The vast majority in UMNO do not want Zahid Hamidi, Hisham Onn or Khairy Jamaluddin to be their leaders. 

Both these factions are aware of this. 

Hence the order has gone out that there shall be no contests for the top posts in UMNO.  Again.

But rumour is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may take a shot at UMNO's presidency again. Meaning he will be gunning for Zahid Hamidi. 

Also that Mohamed Hassan (ex MB Negeri Sembilan) wants a crack at Timbalan Presiden, to unseat Hisham Onn.

So there should be some fireworks in UMNO by end June 2018.

Anyway the third and the most powerful group inside UMNO is the group that really matters for now.  
This group is now leaderless but they share  very strong common motivations. 

This most powerful group (it is also the largest) does not like Najib,  they do not like Anwar Ibrahim, Zahid Hamidi and Khairy Jamaluddin. 

They support Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed and as more time passes their support is turning into genuine adoration for Tun Dr Mahathir.

So the BN and UMNO are politically quite dead. They are of little effect in their present condition. 

If Zahid Hamidi becomes party president  UMNO will be in the tong sampah and forgotten by the time of the next elections.

If Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wins the presidency of UMNO, the equation will change completely. For everyone. Do read on.


Then we come to the Pakatan Harapan. The DAP, Amanah and Pribumi Bersatu are strong. United. The three parties are also very comfortable with each other.  The membership for PPBM is increasing. More people are signing up as PPBM members. 

PKR is facing some serious internal stresses. Just like UMNO, there are at least three factions inside PKR.  

The Anwar Ibrahim family plus Rafizi Ramli is one faction.  

But I believe cracks are developing even inside this faction.  

Secondly there is the Azmin Ali faction. This is a very powerful faction on account of Azmin's good track record in managing Selangor so well over two terms.  

Here is some inside news folks. I heard that  Azmin Ali was actually offered the opportunity of being Pakatan Harapan's candidate for Prime Minister. Not Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.  However, quite predictably the Brader objected strongly to this suggestion.  Hence the lot fell on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed again.

Azmin Ali has now been made Minister of Economic Affairs in the Federal Cabinet.  He is also still holding the Menteri Besar Selangor portfolio.  

This is a very special situation enjoyed by Azmin - Federal Minister as well as Menteri Besar of Selangor.  (Lim Guan Eng - do take note). 

Azmin's deal is that he gets to appoint his own candidate to replace him as Menteri Besar of Selangor. 

This is a major slap for the Anwar Ibrahim camp who have their own candidate lined up as well.  (You can have tea with the Sultan of Selangor or you can have tea at home too.)

The other point to note about Azmin is that for the first time TWO of PKR's Cabinet Ministers ie Azmin Ali and Zuraida something come from Azmin's  Gombak division of PKR.   In short, Azmin Ali carries some real heavy  weight in PKR and Pakatan Harapan.  

There is a third faction in PKR but I forget who they are. Not very significant.  So there are serious stresses inside PKR which can crack up the party anytime.

And above all this is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.  Although Tun Dr Mahathir's PPBM won only 12 seats in Parliament, Tun Dr Mahathir himself is worth 100 Parliamentary seats (12 + 100 = 112 which is the simple majority needed to form the government). Because without Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, the Pakatan Harapan will just unwind.

There is no written  agreement that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed will step down after TWO years. Tun has said that he will stay as long as necessary to put things right.

Tun Dr Mahathir said that it would take at least two years for him to make things right again.  

My view is this.  The economy is already responding positively to the change in government. The Stock Market is active again. Never measure the government's economic management by the performance of the Stock Market.  But n'theless the Stock Market is a barometer of how the economy is performing or is expected to perform. 

If Dr Mahathir can put things back together again, the GDP growth improves, unemployment goes down, the economy moves forward and the country as a whole is happy then why should the country be handed over to a lacklustre performer like Anwar Ibrahim? Surely that will be a very careless and reckless thing to do.  So I really dont know about this HAND OVER POWER IN TWO YEARS thing. 

If Anwar Ibrahim wants to be PM he also has to overcome a few prerequisites. 

First he has to win a Parliamentary seat. This means he will have to make another Kajang Move, which turned out to be a huge bungle anyway.  Also this time around there is no guarantee that Anwar can win a Parliamentary seat  in a By Election.  There are forces inside PKR who may not fully support him.  So there is no guarantee yet.

Secondly, there is no written agreement among the Pakatan Harapan that Anwar shall become the PM.  The PKR only won 49  Parliamentary seats - obviously because of Tun Dr Mahathir.  

There is no written agreement that PPBM, DAP or Amanah will support Anwar for PM.  Plus it is no great big secret that Warisan in Sabah (with eight Parliamentary seats and an entire State government)  also support Pakatan Harapan. But they do not exactly 'support'  Anwar Ibrahim.  Which is why Anwar has not been invited for tea in Sabah yet. 

The Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari was recently spotted visiting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.  Sarawak too will support the Pakatan Harapan. That is easily another 19 Parliamentary seats.  And they do not support Anwar either.

To form the government and be the Prime Minister, you need 112 seats minimum.  This is where Anwar Ibrahim may not have the numbers to support him.

Should Anwar then do a joint venture with UMNO / BN and PAS? There is a WhatsApp message going viral since Friday that says exactly this. Part of the message says:


*Kerajaan Baru Selepas Julai 2018*

Semakin kuat desas desus pembentukan Kerajaan Perpaduan PKR + BN + PAS. 

UMNO mengadakan pemilihan 30 Jun ini dan selepas itu akan berwajah baru.

Persetujuan dgn 'kuasa yg lebih besar' telah menetapkan jawatan spt berikut :

*PERDANA MENTERI*  : DS ANWAR IBRAHIM

*TIMBALAN PERDANA MENTERI 1 & 2* :  TG HADI AWANG dan DS ZAHID HAMIDI

Gabungan tiga parti akan bentuk 143 kerusi iaitu 47 PKR + 78 BN + 18 PAS = 143 

Untuk btk kerajaan hanya perlu 112 kerusi.

Maka jatuhlah Mahatder, Daeim dan kroni-kroninya 

Agenda licik DAP terhadap Malaysia pun akan tersungkur.

Akan ada ahli parlimen BN/PKR/PAS yg tak setuju tp diyakini cukup utk 112 kerusi.

DS Anwar, DS Zahid dan TG Haji Hadi akan bertemu di Makkah menunaikan umrah

Jelajah DS Anwar mengadap sultan melayu  hampir selesai

Gabungan tiga parti ini lebih mewakili komposisi kaum Malaysia. 

Tidak seperti PH yg diwakili 66 org YB bukan islam dan hanya 58 YB muslim.

So the thing that was predicted by that Chinese girl blogger some years ago is a possibility.  It will be UMNO + PKR + PAS. 

Well, maybe not.  It is possible that any 'gabungan' with UMNO and PAS may split Anwar's own PKR party.  

Here is another piece of trivia. 

Of PKR's 49 MPs, only 13 are Malay.  
33 of PKR's MPs are non Malay, majority of them being Chinese.  

They may not agree to Anwar teaming up with UMNO / BN / PAS.

Even the Azmin camp will not agree to teaming up with UMNO / BN / PAS.

So it is the PKR party which may split.  

There are many obstacles or challenges before Anwar Ibrahim can make it to Prime Minister.

Ok now here is the real story.  

Before that,   to all the Anwar Ibrahim supporters, dont get too upset ok. 

Please grow up.  You must become more mature.  

If anyone wants to be PM, then everyone else, including me, has the right to scrutinise them closely. We should. 

In fact you should be thankful that there are people out there who can see, observe, understand and analyse the situation for you.  

This is about the Prime Minister and the future of our country. 
This is not about the  tingling feelings inside  your ass. 

I criticise anything or anyone who I think ought to be criticised.  

For example Ayahanda Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed has appointed Maszlee Malik as Education Minister.  But I have criticised Dr Maszlee's jihadi credentials for Education Minister.  This is despite me being perhaps the strongest supporter of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed (except for Proton).  

Ayahanda is a great man.

  
His stature is far far above any one particular critic.  
And he does not shy away from criticism.   

Of course I never call Dr Mahathir  a 'Liwat fellow'  because he did not liwat any guy.  

So do chill ok.  

You have the freedom to criticise Dr Mahathir, me or whoever. 

I really do not care. 

Please extend the same courtesy to others. 

Can or cannot?

Can support freedom of the media or cannot?

Back to Anwar,  he is extremely disadvantaged in his education and his knowledge.  Tahu bunyi, tau warna, klin tong,  klen tong - sudah graduate kut. 

Despite almost 20 years in UMNO and the government, Anwar never achieved anything of substance for Malaysia. 

He messed up the education system and imported the failed and disastrous Muslim Brotherhood's ideas (Ikhwan Muslimeen) into the country. Too many people in this country have become "unintelligent" because of that really stupid influence. 

Now, predictably Anwar has gone back to being a name dropper. 

In his interviews and speeches he keeps dropping names like Sun Tzu, Yusuf Qardawi, Ben Nabi, Adam Smith, etc etc.  

Anwar Ibrahim supporters,  you should tell him that this childish behaviour of name dropping is more relevant for a high school student writing essays to earn marks.  Not for a Prime Minister.  

In a recent interview on Awani (a few days ago) they asked Anwar a question about the economy.  He mentioned Adam Smith pula  !!  Apa kena mengena brader?  

Kalau nak jadi Prime Minister,  you must provide your own answers, give us your own ideas, tell us your own solutions.

For example,  how is Anwar Ibrahim going to handle the issue of the SST, which will replace the GST?  Give us some solutions, give us some suggestions, give us some new thinking.  Do you know what SST stands for?  Why should you give some solutions?  Because you are the one who wants to be Prime Minister doh!  Not me.

Anwar Ibrahim supporters, maybe you can ask your hero to provide some answers.

Sun Tzu tak tahu pasal SST. 
Adam Smith pun tak tahu pasal SST. 
Yusuf Qardawi tahu pasal unta kut.  
Malik Ben Nabi pula saya pun tak tahu apa dia tahu.

So stop dropping these useless names and give us real solutions.  

But Anwar will not be able to provide any solutions.  
This is his biggest problem. 

His  knowledge base  is very limited.

  
To cover up,  he simply pretends to know.  

The only reason Anwar can fool so many people is because indeed so many people are fools. Thats you folks. Yes you. You are the fools.

Before, when Anwar was in governemnt, he could say anything he wanted. That was the time when he controlled the media. The newspapers, TV, radio projected his image to the sky.  He fell upon race and religion.  He became the Muslim Brotherhood's man in Malaysia (the Ikhwan Muslimin).  

The Ikhwan provided him with all the academic and intellectual back up for him to feel sufficient. Little did he know that the Ikhwan itself was a bankrupt ideology that was headed for disaster. (This has since come true with the Arab Spring of 2011, now becoming the Arab Hell.)

Then Anwar got kicked out in 1998,  went to jail and became the permanent victim. The victim of conspiracy, victim of a black eye, victim of Najib, just a victim of everyone and every thing.  His punch like was simple :  "Justice for me. I am a victim."  Hence his party was named 'Keadilan'.  Justice.  

There was no need for Anwar to formulate any policies or any vision for the nation. He did not have to provide any real solutions.

But now he is on the inside loop. His good wife is the Deputy PM.  (May I state my admiration for Dr Wan Azizah's stirling example of the dutiful wife who endured so much so patiently  in her life). Now Anwar is no more the victim. He has to provide the solutions - for a nation of 32 million people.  

This is where the brader has the foggiest idea.  So  we are going to hear more Adam Smith, Sun Tzu, Yusuf Qardawi, Ben Nabi, Hassan Banna and such.  He must appear to sound intelligent. 

Repeat this to your friends folks, because this is a true statement : Anwar Ibrahim does not say anything profound.  

Monday comes after Sunday. 
Then Tuesday comes after Monday.   
Adam Smith went to work on a Monday morning. 
Sunday was his day off.  
Thats about it.

This is where time is NOT on Anwar's side.  Not only is Tun Dr Mahathir in charge but there is the steady hand of Tun Daim Zainuddin at the Council of Elders. The country is already in good hands.

Lim Guan Eng as Chief Minister of Penang knows a thing or two about managing an economy.  So does Azmin Ali who is now the Economic Affairs Minister. Azmin too would have built up his expertise in managing the country's economic affairs.

As time passes, these younger leaders will begin to consolidate their positions and even begin to shine.  Let us hope so.  Because we really need dynamic leadership. 

In such an event Anwar Ibrahim will just fade away into the background.  With his Adam Smith quotes, Sun Tzu, Malik Ben Nabi, Yusuf Qardawi and other really not relevant  sound bytes.

Anwar Ibrahim knows this very well.  That is why he cannot afford to wait for TWO years.  They say that one week is too long in politics.  TWO YEARS  will be fatal for his chances at becoming PM.

Anwar Ibrahim has no choice but to move now to become PM.  

If he does not make his move now,  there will never be another chance for him.

There is also another HUGE unknown. 

What if Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah runs for the UMNO presidency and wins it? 

That will change the equation entirely.  Completely. 

PPBM + PKR + DAP + Amanah + Hindraaf + Tengku Razaleigh's UMNO Terbaru = ?? 

I think I will hear the phone ringing soon.