PETALING JAYA, July 6 - Thousands garbed in red t-shirts are crowding the Kelana Jaya Stadium today for a pump price rise protest and a pro-Anwar rally despite police calling it illegal.
At its peak, some 10,000 people were at the stands listening to speakers such as PAS treasurer and chief protest organiser Dr Hatta Ramli and Hindraf coordinator S. Jayathas while others patronised stalls selling food and party merchandise.
There were no untoward incidents reported at the carnival-like rally as Pakatan Rakyat has mobilised 2,500 marshalls to keep the peace. Police presence was minimal save for two mobile police stations.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 - Malaysian police today urged P Balasubramaniam's to come forward and help them in their probe into his conflicting statutory declarations, saying they have sought Interpol help to find the missing private investigator.Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Bakri Zinin said police suspect that Balasubramaniam was either in hiding or being hidden by someone.
They have also not ruled out the possibility that he may have left the country, and have asked for the help of Interpol and authorities in neighbouring countries.
"I give a guarantee of his safety if he comes to meet us and he is free to bring his lawyer," said Bakri at a press conference.
JULY 6 – After a week of high political drama, all eyes are now focused, once again on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Many feel he has been a passive bystander during the explosive exchange of fire between his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and opposition icon Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Both men have traded bloody blows – some way below the belt – in a fight reminiscent of Anwar taking on former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.
While in the court of public opinion Najib has come out worse off, Anwar is also not without his detractors. The latest about turn made by private eye, P Balasubramaniam, in retracting his earlier statutorydeclaration has set Anwar's charge against Najib back somewhat.
PEKAN, July 6 – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is still standing despite the flurry of body blows he took from the Opposition last week, and yesterday in the midst of his most ardent supporters, he sounded defiant and ready for a challenge.
Even finding the voice to tick off party members who sat around criticising leader rather than working to restore Umno's position in the country.
Speaking to the his constituents of Pekan, the same people who gave him the highest majority among Umno leaders in Election 2008, Najib said that the allegations tossed towards him had done little to shake his confidence.
JULY 6 – Two powerful political rivals are battling to become Malaysia's next prime minister. And the incumbent, a weakened Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, appears more amused than alarmed. As his rivals slug it out, Mr Abdullah, who was under mounting pressure to take the blame for the March 8 election losses and resign, has won some breathing space.
The rivals are not even in direct political combat but attacking each other by exploiting personal scandals.
JULY 6 – Anwar Ibrahim, the country's former deputy prime minister and now de facto opposition leader, stands accused of sodomy for the second time in a decade. Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy carries a 20-year prison term. Anwar has argued that the case is politically-motivated, fabricated by the government in an attempt to derail the growing threat posed by the opposition.
He has pledged to fight, and has called on his supporters to rise up against the United Malays National Organisation (Umno)-led coalition government. Government denials of having initiated the accusations are unconvincing, but in any case the affair is unlikely to yield much political benefit to the administration.
BUTTERWORTH, July 6 - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim declined to respond to questions by the media about the call for him to swear his innocence on the Quran over the sodomy allegation.
Anwar was met by reporters after delivering a ceramah last night but did not stop to answer questions on the matter. On Thursday, Perlis Mufti Perlis Dr Mohd Asri had asked Anwar and MohdSaiful Bukhari Azlan to swear to prove their innocence pertaining to the alleged sodomy by Anwar as the matter was becoming more complicated and the people were confused and arguing among themselves.
Mohd Saiful, 23, lodged a police report on June 28 that he had been allegedly sodomised by Anwar at a condominium in Damansara on June 26.
Earlier in his speech, Anwar said he had repeatedly commented on the allegation of sodomy.
"A week ago, we were jolted with the allegation and I'm fed up and nauseated by the story."
"I had once been accused of the offence in the past. This were accusations by those who had been disappointed in politics," he said. - Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claims that the high-stake political drama now playing before the eyes of the public is a plot by Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"I am not seeking sympathy from anyone. But it is a little bit too much to expect me to forget and forgive something that is happening now as a result of Anwar's plotting.
"Anwar has succeeded in blackening my name in the United States and Europe, of course, but also in Muslim countries. They all think I simply threw him in prison for political reasons.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ P. Balasubramaniam ─ the man behind the now infamous statutory declaration ─ and his family have gone missing.
A family member, R. Kumaresan, lodged a report at the Brickfields police station this afternoon, saying that the private investigator, his wife and their three children have disappeared from their home in Rawang.
This is the latest twist to a case that has all the hallmarks of a spy novel ─ intrigue, political players, murder and salacious details.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ Datuk Seri Najib Razak today acknowledged that attempts to link him to the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu had dented his public image, but he was confident that Umno members would stand by him.
He said that he would not hide behind a court injunction, but would face the accusations and his accusers head on.
He said that he had nothing to do with P. Balasubramaniam’s decision to retract a damaging statutory declaration linking him with Altantuya. He even suggested that the private investigator could have been offered an inducement to produce the declaration which, among other things, alleged that the deputy prime minister had been intimate with the Mongolian model who was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin today had his statement recorded at the Sentul police station in connection with his statutory declaration he made on the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Raja Petra only came out about 7.40pm, about 2½ hours after going in to have the statement taken.
The police wanted his statement in relation to a police report lodged against him by the Attorney-General’s Chambers on June 20 <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->in their investigation into a possible offence under section 203 of the Penal Code.
PEKAN, July 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysian politics was degenerating to the gutter level, with the opposition using slander and statutory declarations to achieve its political objectives.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the opposition was making fools of the rule of law and politicising cases currently being tried in court to change people's perception towards government leaders.
"I mention this as a principle, meaning if we love our country we must realise that to build a country like Malaysia is not something easy. Don't we do something that can destroy what we have done.
PENANG, July 5 — Give him a small group, a microphone and he can charm the room with his genial demeanour, a few jokes and some straight talk.
Over the weekend, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will attempt to use those gifts to try and win the support from all 13 Umno divisions in Penang. His officials have already sent word to the divisions in his home state that he is shooting for nominations from all of them to defend the party president’s position in December. This message will be sent to other states over the next few weeks.
A Cabinet minister told The Malaysian Insider: “Pak Lah is not taking any chances. He is sending out signals that he wants as many nominations as possible. He does not want to scrape through with the minimum number of nominations.’’
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The authorities are striking back.
A day after the country’s top military intelligence official denied the existence of a report allegedly detailing Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s link with the murder of a Mongolian model, the police have summoned a prominent blogger for questioning.
Raja Petra Kamarudin has been asked to show up at the Sentul police station this evening to have his statement recorded.
In late June, he swore a statutory declaration alleging that the deputy prime minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, was among three individuals who were present when Altantuya Shariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006.
He also alleged that the military intelligence prepared a report on the matter and handed it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who subsequently handed it over to his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ The high-stakes political poker waged by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has bought embattled Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi some wiggle room.
But the temporary reprieve for Abdullah in his struggle to cling to power is not doing any good to this multiracial Southeast Asian nation now staring at one of its worst political and economic crises in decades.
The tensions, which have pushed Malaysia into unknown political terrain, are hurting the country's image as a global model of a functioning Islamic democracy, analysts say.
It is also shaking the country's economic fundamentals, which are being rocked by the knock-on effects of higher fuel prices and sharp spikes in the cost of living.
Private economists fear that unless Abdullah displays decisive leadership soon, the country's economy, which relies heavily on foreign investment, could suffer irreparable damage.
<!--[endif]-->in their investigation into a possible offence under section 203 of the Penal Code.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The authorities are striking back.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ─ The high-stakes political poker waged by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has bought embattled Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi some wiggle room.