Wives of BN officials caught up in scandal

Wives of BN officials caught up in scandal


Wednesday, 30 April 2008
They took title deeds and funds from welfare group after election loss

The murky goings-on at Balkis, which are being replicated in other states such as Penang and Perak which also fell to the opposition in the elections, have since turned into a major scandal over the alleged abuse of public funds by organisations associated with the BN.
By Leslie Lopez, THE STRAITS TIMES

BY THE BOOK: Datin Seri Zahrah holding a two-page statement which says that the transfer of funds out of the Balkis accounts was done in line with the organisation's Constitution. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

SOON after winning the Selangor state legislature last month, the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) ordered that the state administration buildings and the offices of key state agencies be sealed and nothing be removed.

But they overlooked the premises of a state-funded welfare organisation, Balkis, operated by the wives of the Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians who lost in last month's general election.

Two days after the March 8 polls, key Balkis officials arrived at its office in the Selangor capital of Shah Alam and carted away documents and title deeds of properties it owned.

Another RM9.9 million (S$4 million) in cash deposits were transferred out of the organisation's bank accounts by Balkis officials led by Datin Seri Zahrah Kecik, the wife of former Selangor chief minister Khir Toyo.

The murky goings-on at Balkis, which are being replicated in other states such as Penang and Perak which also fell to the opposition in the elections, have since turned into a major scandal over the alleged abuse of public funds by organisations associated with the BN.

'The whole situation is very disturbing, and there is certainly the possibility of criminal breach of trust in the entire affair,' said Bar Council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan.

The following account is based on interviews with key Selangor state government officials and documents made available to The Straits Times.

Balkis was set up in May 1985 as a non-political welfare organisation which opened its membership to the wives of the elected representatives of the state.

It was primarily a BN vehicle, although its charter did not discriminate between government and opposition elected representatives.

But opposition politicians saw Balkis as one of many similar groupings that made up a nationwide political patronage network built on public funds to finance the political activities of the ruling coalition led by Umno.

Balkis, as the main welfare organisation in Selangor, received strong financial support.

According to state government documents, Balkis was awarded a choice piece of property from the Selangor State Development Corp at a concessionary price of RM250,000 in 2000.

The documents also showed that between early 2006 and September last year, Balkis received donations amounting to RM600,000 from the Selangor State Development Corp to finance various activities, including its annual dinner, the opening ceremony of its administrative office and political activities of the wives of elected representatives.

The welfare organisation often turned to other state agencies to fund other activities, including overseas trips for its key office bearers, state government officials say.

The halcyon days enjoyed by Balkis came to an abrupt halt in the late hours of March 8, when Selangor, together with four other states, fell into the control of Malaysia's opposition headed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

As the Balkis charter stipulated that the organisation must be headed by the wife of the sitting chief minister, Datin Seri Zahrah faced the immediate prospect of having to relinquish her position as head of the organisation in favour of the wife of the incoming chief minister from the PKR-led opposition.

To sidestep any handover, Datin Seri Zahrah and her committee members comprising the wives of other BN candidates moved to dissolve Balkis.

According to state government officials, Datin Seri Zahrah and her colleagues turned up at the Balkis administrative office on March 10 and told employees that they intended to alter the welfare organisation's charter to avoid relinquishing control.

They carted away documents, including title deeds and bank statements, officials say.

A day later, the Balkis committee led by Datin Seri Zahrah held an emergency meeting to dissolve the organisation and withdrew RM9.9 million in cash deposits held by the organisation.

They planned to establish a new organisation that would limit membership to wives of BN leaders.

In the interim, Datin Seri Zahrah and her colleagues sought refuge with Bakti, a welfare organisation headed by the wife of the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet ministers.

According to the minutes of a Bakti meeting obtained by The Straits Times, Balkis and another BN-sponsored welfare society from Penang, called Bunga Tanjung, approached the national-level organisation to help them to 'receive and manage their funds for their welfare activities in the interim period'.

Bunga Tanjung transferred RM350,000 to Bakti, while Balkis placed RM9.9 million for safekeeping, the minutes showed.

The Bakti minutes showed that Datuk Heliliah Yusof, its legal adviser who is also a judge in Malaysia's Court of Appeal, endorsed the plan.

In the meantime, the PKR-led Selangor state government has asked the National Registration Department to reject the dissolution of Balkis and is demanding that the transferred funds be returned to the organisation.

But Balkis and its former patron, Datuk Seri Khir, maintained that they did nothing wrong, and that all actions by the committee led by his wife were legal.

'Don't talk rubbish and refer to our lawyer,' the former chief minister told reporters this week.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE BALKIS SAGA

March 8: Selangor and four other states fall into the hands of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-led opposition alliance in last month's general election.

March 10: Datin Seri Zahrah Kecik, wife of the former Selangor menteri besar, Datuk Seri Khir Toyo, goes to the Balkis office with her lawyers, and important documents are taken away.

March 11: The Balkis committee holds a special meeting to dissolve the organisation. Bank accounts with deposits amounting to RM9.9 million (S$4.3 million) are closed, and the funds transferred to Bakti.

March 13: Balkis applies to dissolve the organisation with the Registrar of Societies.

April 23: The new Selangor menteri besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim of the PKR, writes to the Registrar of Societies demanding that the application to dissolve Balkis be rejected and all funds transferred back.

Evolve or perish

Evolve or perish

Monday, 28 April 2008

The mainstream media editors and journalists are once again demanding that the oppressive Printing Presses and Publications Act be reviewed, if not repealed.

By ZAINAH ANWAR, THE STAR

This is the last chance for this government to get it right or else the usual 10-year electoral cycle of ‘rise and fall’ in the performance of the ruling party will be broken. It will be the fall and fall.
JUST Do It. This should have been the motto in 2004 when the Prime Minister received an overwhelming mandate for his change agenda.

But it took the verdict of March 8 to finally move Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take substantive steps to deal with the long-standing demands from civil society and the opposition parties to redress past wrongs and strengthen Malaysia’s democratic structures and values.

First, his announcement to set up a Judicial Appointments Commission on April 17.

Then on April 21, the announcement to revamp the Anti Corruption Agency into an independent commission with accompanying new laws, enforcement powers and public procurement procedure. Over the past weeks, several ministers, new, and old ones with new portfolios, have talked about the urgent need for reform.

Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik and Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar have both promised more press freedom, with the latter undertaking a “re-look” at the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 to move with the times.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has promised to table amendments by the end of the year to the unpopular Universities and University Colleges Act1971.

The Minister in charge of Law, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, has brought within one month more substantive change in the administration of justice in this country than what any other law minister has done in years.

He successfully pushed for the setting up of the Judicial Commission, first proposed by the Bar Council in 2003 and by Suhakam in 2005.

He remains committed to restoring Article 121(1) to its original wording as the 1988 amendment had diluted the doctrine of separation of powers between the Executive and the Judiciary.

And he has promised to review all the ouster clauses introduced in several laws in the mid to late 1980s which made the decision of the minister final and not subject to any judicial review.

The mainstream media editors and journalists are once again demanding that the oppressive Printing Presses and Publications Act be reviewed, if not repealed.

Stung and rejected by the public, the mainstream newspapers are now making up with a daily dose of often incisive and critical writing on Malaysian politics.

Reading the morning papers over breakfast could become a habit again. It takes March 8 for those in authority to realise that it is better to unleash mainstream journalism – once built on a tradition of fair, balanced, accurate, fact-checked reporting – to rebuild its reputation as a credible source of information or face the onslaught of unsubstantiated, unverified gossip and rumours turned into facts that pervade the new media.

The rakyat has spoken. They want change. The Prime Minister is beginning to institute change. The mainstream media is fast changing to rebuild its influence. And yet, many voices within Umno are pushing for the party’s self-destruction. I am amazed. For they seem to think that March 8 was just a blip in Umno’s inherent hegemonic powers. The only change they can think of is the need to replace the President and, hey presto, everything will be back to normal.

They think the only reason they lost those seats was because the Umno President and his family and coterie of advisers chose the wrong candidates and therefore the Umno machinery failed to deliver the votes.

If only the right candidates were chosen, they would not have lost the four additional states, the Federal Territory, and their two-thirds majority in Parliament. Yes, the party President must take the biggest responsibility for the damning results.

But the massive public repudiation of Barisan Nasional was not just a repudiation of the Prime Minister’s rule, but of all the corrupt, immoral, authoritarianism in BN politics and governance in its 50 years of domination.

The public has had enough. But these Umno politicians do not have it in them to see the writing on the wall.

Nor do they have the confidence, and certainly not the conviction, to deliver on the palpable demand for change – change in how they understood, used and abused power.

They seem to think that a return to sledgehammer rule under a strong leader, an appeal to Malay racialist sentiment, and spreading the patronage goodies from bigtime cronies to the divisional level cronies, would just do the trick to win them support again.

Basically, they want it to be business as usual.

That Pakatan Rakyat won votes on a platform of change from “ketuanan Melayu” to “ketuanan rakyat” and a smorgasbord of promises to make democracy and good governance work for all citizens seems to have escaped these Umno recalcitrants.

While this new alliance is fast capturing the shifting mood of Malaysian voters to a new political centre of equitable and fairer terms of engagement among the citizens, and between the citizen and the state, and generating excitement among young voters and community groups that their voices can indeed bring change, Umno members are more preoccupied with power grabbing in the run-up to party elections in December.

They forget the goodies the winners want to lay their grubby hands on might just be in someone else’s clutches by the next general election.

But what makes Umno politics even more wretched for us looking on from the outside is the fact that so many calling for leadership change in Umno are themselves so tainted and discredited.

They might win party elections whooping their “ketuanan Melayu” battle cry, but they will cause the party to lose the next general election. The ground has shifted and they still think the old tricks will deliver them victory.

What is there then for its key Barisan partners to remain in the coalition? They are already blaming Umno and its arrogant, intemperate and relentless stomping and condoning of ethno-religious supremacy for driving away Chinese and Indian voters into the waiting arms of PKR, DAP and PAS.

To now claim that Malay political power is under threat is hubris. It is Umno that has lost its dominance. As Karim Raslan in his column on April 22 said, what the Umno leaders don’t want to acknowledge is that their monopoly over the Malay vote is gone forever.

No, the Malays are not disunited. The Malay community has evolved into a more complex, sophisticated, diverse community with diverse interests.

There are those who want a democratic and secular Malaysia with justice and equality as core values; those who want an end to affirmative action that damaged Malay competitiveness; those who want an Islamic state and syariah rule; those who want Islam as a source of social values, but not an instrument of state power; those who want good governance and forget ideology; those who want an end to racebased politics and political parties; those who want to restore our rich tradition of embracing and celebrating our cultural and religious diversity ...

Malaysian politics is taking off into an epochal transformation from race-based to issue-based.
Increasingly, Malaysians are building new solidarities based on issues, not race or religion.

Be it human rights, women’s rights, democracy, good governance, freedom of the press, detention without trial, local government, environment, land rights, anti-corruption, reviving Malay culture killed by Islamisation … it is the issue that will bring Malaysians of all ethnic backgrounds together.

The modernity that development brings can only mean more and more diverse and differentiated interests. Umno and its Barisan Nasional partners have two choices before them: evolve or perish.

For the Prime Minister, the priority now is to fulfil the Barisan Nasional promises of 2004 to bring about a more transparent and accountable government.

He needs to steam ahead to transform Malaysia’s democratic institutions and structures and begin to undo the damage of Umno and Barisan’s hegemonic rule over the past decades.

This is the last chance for this government to get it right or else the usual 10-year electoral cycle of “rise and fall” in the performance of the ruling party will be broken. It will be the fall and fall.

Pakatan MPs want review of OSA

Pakatan MPs want review of OSA

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 24 (ES) - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi who had indicated initiatives for reforms following the severe loss suffered by the coalition he headed now has one more longstanding issue that needs review namely the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

A People's Alliance front (PAKATAN) parliamentary member Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the OSA is a hindrance to the concept of transparency and accountability, - two concepts propounded by the front.

"(Without the OSA) we could have a concept of transparency (in place) and the society could evaluate how we (the government) are implementing efforts to reduce mismanagement," he said.

Abdul Khalid who is also Selangor Menteri Besar told this to journalists when asked to comment on the "integrity programme" by Abdullah for the ruling coalition parliamentary members April 23.

The ruling coalition has 140 seats in the 222 parliamentary house after the general election last month. The house is expected to convene next week.

Rustam: Voice of the downtrodden

Earlier, Abdul Khalid took part in the prayer for the late author, blogger and social activist Rustam A. Sani who passed away early this yesterday. Abdul Khalid said he met Rustam last after the recent general election.

"We were colleagues at the Institute of Strategic Studies and he always gave his views on how the downtrodden should be helped," Abdul Khalid said of Rustam.

Others present at residence of the late Rustam included Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) secretary general Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, women's chief Nuridah Salleh and Youth chief Salahudin Ayub.

The son of celebrated Malay nationalist leader Ahmad Boestamam, the Tanjung Malim-born Rustam was formerly the deputy president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which have since merged with the Parti Keadilan Nasional to form the KeADILan. – Saadon Aksah/ES

Kenyataan media Dewan Muslimat PAS mengenai kes Altantuya

Kenyataan media Dewan Muslimat PAS mengenai kes Altantuya
Aiman Athirah Al Jundi
Sat Apr 26, 08 2:23:27 pm MYT
DMPP mengutuk sekeras-kerasnya pembunuhan kejam ke atas seorang pelancong asing yang juga boleh disifatkan sebagai "tetamu negara" dari Mongolia, Altantuya Shaariibuu. DMPP berpendapat bahawa perbicaraan bagi kes ini sewajarnya disegerakan, berbanding sekarang yang ditangguh-tangguh oleh pihak mahkamah atas alasan terlalu banyak kes lain, seperti yang didakwa oleh bapa mangsa, Dr Shaariibuu Setev baru-baru ini.

DMPP memandang serius dan sangat tersentuh dengan kenyataan daripada bapa Altantuya yang telah datang ke Malaysia baru-baru ini bahawa beliau datang demi kemanusiaan dan bukannya kerana wang atau menuntut sebarang ganti rugi.

DMPP juga menginsafi bahawa ia jelas menampakkan kehampaan dan hilangnya kepercayaan seorang ayah yang selama ini telah berusaha untuk mendapatkan keadilan terhadap satu-satunya zuriat keturunan beliau yang dibunuh secara kejam dalam Negara Malaysia yang dilabel sebagai Selamat, Aman & Makmur oleh PM dalam PRU-12 yang lepas.

Kes ini boleh disifatkan sebagai berprofail tinggi, punya kepentingan ramai serta kes pembunuhan paling berat kerana menguji bahkan mencabar integriti Malaysia di mata dunia khususnya terhadap sistem dan proses perjalanan keadilan dalam negara yang kita semua cintai ini.

Seluruh rakyat dari dua negara yang terlibat sedang memberi tumpuan terhadap perjalanan dan kesudahannya. Kes ini bukanlah kes biasa. Ketua Hakim Negara, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Polis Negara wajar memberikan prioriti tertinggi bagi menyelesaikan polemik ini secara telus, amanah, beretika, bijaksana dan professional.

DMPP menggesa agar ketiga-tiga entiti keadilan yang penting ini tidak membiarkan apa jua unsur mahupun ruang yang akan menghalang mereka daripada menjalankan tugas sejujur yang boleh kerana natijah bagi kejujuran dan kebijaksanaan merekalah yang akan membawa kesudahan paling memuaskan hati semua pihak khususnya yang menjadi mangsa tindakan kejam "pembunuh berkuasa" dalam negara ini. Iaitu bila semua yang terlibat dalam konspirasi pembunuhan ini dijatuhi hukuman paling berat dan pihak yang menjadi mangsa diberikan keadilan paling wajar.

Jika sebelum ini atau sekarang ini kerajaan Malaysia di bawah kepimpinan Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berani untuk membuat permohonan maaf secara terbuka kepada keluarga Altantuya dan Kerajaan Mongolia di atas apa yang berlaku yakni pembunuhan dan segala bentuk tuduhan memalukan ke atas Altantuya dan keluarganya, dan Jika sekiranya kerajaan Malaysia dapat berjanji untuk memberi tumpuan utama terhadap penyelesaian kes ini; saya yakin dan percaya bahawa ia suatu yang sangat positif dan dapat mengurangkan beban perasaan yang ditanggung oleh keluarga mangsa, rakyat dan kerajaan Mongolia selama ini. Malangnya, tindakan diplomatik sebegitu dilihat gagal dibuat secara bijaksana oleh pihak kerajaan khususnya Perdana Menteri sendiri.

DMPP menginsafi bahawa tindakan diplomatik itu wajar disegerakan. Pendekatan negara yang melayan mangsa dan keluarga mangsa sebagai pihak yang seolah-olah tidak bermaruah, rendah moral, dan bersalah dengan membiarkan beberapa pihak seperti media massa yang mengaitkan Altantuya sebagai Pelacur dan seumpamanya harus dihentikan dan diambil tindakan.

Sudah sampai masanya keluarga mangsa diberikan sambutan dan layanan sebagai "tetamu negara" dan bukannya sebagai musuh kepada mana-mana pihak atau individu yang berkuasa dalam negara ini. Kerajaan Malaysia wajib menerima mereka dengan akhlaq dan adab Islam.

Jelas, terdapat banyak keraguan bagi kes ini kerana seperti yang umum telah tahu bahawa kaedah pembunuhan mangsa adalah melibatkan penggunaan senjata api yang terkawal di bawah Kementerian Pertahanan Malaysia. Hatta, kehilangan rekod kemasukan yakni maklumat imegresen mangsa ke dalam Negara ini meskipun saudara beliau mengesahkan bahawa mereka telah memasuki Malaysia dengan cara yang sah, jelas menimbulkan keraguan bersebab munasabah yang sangat kuat bahawa di sana terdapatnya unsur-unsur konspirasi dan komplot terancang.

DMPP juga mencabar Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat yang baru iaitu YB Dato' Ng Yen Yen agar menyatakan pendirian kemanusiaan terhadap kes ini kerana ia melibatkan seorang wanita yang menjadi mangsa pembunuhan paling zalim. Bukan setakat itu, maruah mangsa dan keluarga mangsa juga telah dikoyak-rabakkan dengan melabelkan mangsa sebagai pelacur, agen CIA dan seumpamanya. Bahkan, dalam kes ini Menteri Wanita mesti memberikan penegasan bahawa: Adakah jika kerana seorang wanita itu pelacur maka apa jua bentuk tindakan ke atas mereka wajar termasuklah jika mereka dibunuh dengan senjata api terkawal di bawah Kementerian Pertahanan?

DMPP sangat berdukacita kerana sehingga kini kementerian yang menjaga hal ehwal wanita, keluarga dan masyarakat terus sahaja membisu daripada membuat pendirian rasmi terhadap kes yang membabitkan maruah dan keadilan serta kemanusiaan seorang wanita yang bernama Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Akhirnya, DMPP berharap agar rakyat negara ini dan rakyat negara Mongolia tetap tidak jemu untuk terus mengikuti perbicaraan bagi kes ini secara kritis untuk kita sama-sama memastikan keadilan dapat ditegakkan. Sebelum ini, tidak pernah terlintas di benak kita betapa jenayah yang begitu kejam ini akan berlaku di dalam negara Malaysia. Lebih memalukan bila senjata pembunuhan yang digunakan pula merupakan senjata api TERKAWAL di bawah Kementerian Pertahanan Malaysia. Atas realiti fakta senjata pembunuhan itu, DMPP mendesak agar Menteri yang bertanggungjawab terhadap Kementerian ini SEGERA MELETAKKAN JAWATAN! Demikian juga desakan yang sama ditujukan kepada pihak/individu yang sewajarnya berperanan dalam memastikan pengawalan senjata tersebut tetapi telah GAGAL dalam menjalankan tanggung jawabnya.

Hormat Daripada,
DEWAN MUSLIMAT PAS PUSAT
AIMAN ATHIRAH AL JUNDI
Setiausaha

Media Alternatif Malaysia

Media perdana Malaysia, samaada media cetak atau media letronik adalah media UMNO. Oleh yang demikian adalah membuang wang membelinya atau membuang masa menontonnya kerana seperti UMNO, media-media ini dikendalikan oleh pembohong yang cekap menipu rakyat.