Pemecatan Datuk Hamidah Oleh MKT UMNO 'Separuh Masak'?

Alhamdulillah, tuduhan terhadap penulisan jurublog kononnya pertukaran masa serta tempat mesyuarat Majlis Kerja Tertinggi (MKT) UMNO adalah 'mengarut' terbukti tidak. Mesyuarat MKT berlangsung di Parlimen semalam, dan apa yang disyaki berlaku dilaksanakan, ada yang 'separuh masak', ada seperti dirisaukan. Risau sangat MKT pimpinan Najib akan tanggapan orang tentang pertukaran masa dan tempat, siap menjadi bahan hebahan media lagi penjelasan kenapa dilaksanakan di parlimen... tapi itu alasan sahaja...

Apa yang MKT putuskan seperti dijangkakan?

1 - TS Muhyiddin Yassin (TSMY) dihalang merasmikan 3 Sayap serentak seperti tradisinya, kononnya atas permintaan ketiga-tiga Ketua Sayap. Alasan ia permintaan dari Ketua Sayap hanya munasabah jika dari Ketua Wanita, DS Shahrizat Jalil yang nyawa politiknya serta keselamatan suaminya dari dipenjarakan hasil skandal NFC bergantung juga kepada ihsan DS Najib. Tetapi YB-YB Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ) dan Mas Ermiyati pasti tiada halangan mendengar ucapan perasmian TSMY, terutama Pemuda yang ramai simpati terhadap beliau.

Sebenarnya keputusan ini akan memberi cabaran baru yang juga peluang kepada KJ khususnya - beliau seringkali digambarkan sebagai 'lalang' tempohari kerana kelihatan mendampingi TSMY tetapi pada masa sama sedia terus berkhidmat dan akur kepada Presiden, terutama di dalam Kabinet 1MDB....

2 - Setiausaha Agung UMNO, YB Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, telah mengumumkan garis-panduan baru sewaktu Perhimpunan Agung UMNO tahun ini (PAU2015), di mana persidang dilangsungkan secara tertutup, tanpa media mahupun tayangan langsung ke TV-TV sekitar PWTC seperti lazimnya, kecuali untuk ucapan Presiden. Sebaliknya, 2 Naib Presiden, DS Zahid Hamidi dan DS Hishamuddin akan membuat sidang media di hujung setiap hari persidangan... DS Shafie Apdal dikecualikan! Ini kita komen lagi kemudian...

Kemudian ada juga keputusan separuh masak...

3 - Datuk Hamidah, Ketua Wanita Gopeng dan mantan Ketua Penerangan Wanita Kebangsaan serta mantan Exco Perak dipecat! Dipaparkan imej menunjukkan beliau pernah diberi surat tunjuk sebab menjemput Tun Dr M berucap di Ipoh, mungkin sekala untuk mengkritik DS tentang skandal 1MDB. Kenapa 'Separuh Masak'? Melihat surat tunjuk-sebab tersebut, kelihatan lama, bulan Mei dikeluarkan?! Kalau betul salah, kenapa harus menunggu sehingga bulan November untuk dipecat?

Surat Tunjuk Sebab Ke Datuk Hamidah Pada Bulan Mei 2015

Jurublog mengesyaki Datuk Hamidah bukanlah tokoh parti yang dirancang pemecatannya pada Mesyuarat MKT Misteri ini. Peluang terlalu keemasan telah terbuka dengan ketidak-hadiran TSMY dan DS Shafie Apdal, mahupun beberapa orang Menteri Besar yang bersimpati terhadap TSMY, DS Mukhriz Mahathir, DS Zambry Kadir serta DS Khaled Noordin. Sebuah perbincangan tergesa-gesa di antara DS Najib dan orang-orang kanannya seperti di imej bawah sejurus sebelum mesyuarat MKT memberi gambaran ada perubahan rancangan...

Perbincangan Sulit Sebelum Mesyuarat MKT

Maka, jurublog mengesyaki pemecatan Datuk Hamidah hanyalah menggantikan rencana awal memecat seorang tokoh lebih tinggi jawatannya dalam parti. Siapa? Wallahualam... pembaca sendiri boleh membuat andaian. Walaupun kita simpati dan hormat Datuk Hamidah yang juga bukan calang-calang orangnya, beliau wirawati UMNO yang diiktiraf mantan MB Perak, TS Tajol Rosli sebagai penggerak usaha yang berjaya menjatuhkan kerajaan PR Perak dan mengembalikan kerajaan BN di sana. 

Tetapi... rasanya beliau mangsa perubahan sasaran ketagihan rejim DS Najib menunjukkan kuasa dengan memecat!

Ada kawan-kawan yanb setia mempertahankan parti tertanya-tanya apa yang patut di'spin' sebagai sebab Datuk Hamidah dipecat. Jawapan jurublog:

"Tak payah spin, ikhlas sahaja cakap Datuk Hamidah dipecat sebab menjemput Tun Dr M berucap di mana beliau mengkritik DS Najib tentang isu 1MDB. Mengkritik DS Najib tentang hal 1MDB sekarang sudah menjadi dosa besar parti di mana sesiapa pun boleh dipecat kerananya. TSMY pun dah dibuang dari jawatan TPM sebab mengkritik tentang skandal 1MDB dan kini tak dibenarkan merasmikan 3 Sayap sebab risau beliau mengkritik lagi DS Najib ttg 1MDB. Tapi kalau nak pecat TSMY tak berani, kalau Datuk Hamidah takat Ketua Wanita Bahagian sahaja, beranilah nak pecat."

Pesanan peribadi jurublog ke Datuk Hamidah: "Datuk Midah syahid (politik) hari ni... tak perlu siksa macam kami yg masih belum syahid dan terkial-kial nak jawab kenapa masih dalam UMNO yg sudah bukan UMNO lagi. Semoga kita selamatkan UMNO dan menyambut kembalinya Datuk Midah ke UMNO nanti atau kita syahid bersama, insya Allah..."

#UndurNajib

Ikhlas, @AMUbaidahS

From Jho Low To Low Yatt, A Nation In Leadership Crisis Well Before #1MDB

The Tragic Irony Of 2 Lows

 

Even before the 27 July 'pogrom' which saw the sacking of our Deputy Prime Minister, a senior Minister critical of the #1MDB scandal and the Attorney General actually investigating the same said scandal, our country was already at a low. This was exemplified by the 2 Lows that has had a hand in showcasing this, the first being Jho Low, the man who led the #1MDB experiment down a path of destruction, the second being Low Yatt, the iconic shopping centre that is the site where the illusion of our racial harmony under 1Malaysia has been laid bare over the space of 1 evening in Ramadhan!

 

Leadership is about many things, among them, moral courage, the realisation of ideas, and for a leader to be seen as successful, it is the results of his actions that is judged. And so we see 2 great ideas that have been the cornerstone of the Najib government in judgement in the week Ramadhan came to a close. The first, 1Malaysia, is deserving of its prominence, the second, #1MDB, has the distinction of being elevated now as a tragedy of an unwanted child from the 1Malaysia concept.

 

The basics of 1Malaysia are pretty straightforward, and with racial disharmony being felt in the undercurrents leading towards the fall of the previous Prime Minister, Pak Lah, one would be forgiven that with it, DS Najib had brilliantly chosen an easy aim of reuniting the nation as the cornerstone of his first years in power. However, in the great excitement of pursuing 1Malaysia, its notion as a spirit or guiding principle for the next stage of nation-building somehow got lost in the 'branding' of it. It was almost as if 1Malaysia got away from DS Najib such that it was...

 

And so when the results of the 13th General Election or PRU13 rolled in as one of the most polarised since 1969, one would be forgiven for thinking that was the death of 1Malaysia even as a concept. Unfortunately, 1Malaysia and its many 'acronyms' had been so synonimous to DS Najib's administration, more so than the economic transformation program which continued to prove unpopular with UMNO's core Malay support base, the loss was explained away as due to a 'betrayal' of Chinese voters or a 'failure' of BN Chinese component parties.

 

And so DS Najib persisted with 1Malaysia post-PRU13, only the slogan or brand now rang hollow as a cry for unity, and its 'acronyms' marched into greater prominence. Regretfully, it is not BR1M or PR1MA that has since grown to such prominence as to likely now be the one that define's DS Najib's legacy, but 1MDB... readers will not however that this posting is not about the great scandal being the potential demise of the Najibite regime, but that it was already doomed even before...

 

Weaknesses Post-PRU13 Not Addressed

 

Months have passed since the 1MDB scandal gained prominence in the minds of Malaysians. It is interesting to note that issues of 1MDB was first raised by Malaysia's opposition, but failed to gain traction. To many observers, including this blogger, the lack of response by the Rakyat to PR's attacks on 1MDB was just confirming our view that the PR opposition's strong performance was not due to its strength but as a result of BN's continued weakness under DS Najib's leadership. In the end, it took the attentions of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to spark concern.

 

It would be worth noting here that whilst PRU13 showcased the failure of the 1Malaysia concept as DS Najib's cornerstone agenda, DS Najib's subsequent reaction to its results strengthened the hand of none other than Tun Dr M! BN and UMNO was saved in that elections by a firm return swing of the Malay vote to a majority of its MPs. This was exemplified in the state of Kedah in particular where Tun Dr M showed his enduring love for the party, campaigning harder that leaders half his age to return BN to the state capital. Was it not UMNO though that drove Malay voters back to BN?

 

It was not! If anything, the 'Asal Bukan UMNO' or ABU campaign had taken root among many  younger middle-class urban Malays. This was at the root of surprise losses by leaders like Dato' Raja Nong Chik at Pantai as well as many parts of Selangor that did not seem to benefit as greatly from the Malay swing. The swing though was much stronger in the rural Malay heartland where pro-Malay and Muslim NGOs such as Perkasa and ISMA were highly influential. There UMNO benefitted as the NGOs decided to support BN in order to reject Anwar Ibrahim's bid for Prime Ministership.

 

And so the one part of the UMNO strategy that worked was the demonisation of Anwar Ibrahim, where at long last, even many of his old friends from his younger ABIM began denouncing him for his loose morals and inconsistent as well as compromising political stands. However, it was the Malay NGOs that held the greatest sway in convincing Malays that BN was still worth voting for if anything to protect Malay rights from the risks of Anwar's immorality and political ambition, despite many Najibite policies prior to PRU13 being decidedly no longer pro-Malay.

 

A political strategy based on demonising your greatest enemy of course is not sustainable and became outright defunct the moment Anwar was convicted for another substantial jail term that effectively marks the end of his political career. Rather bizzarely, despite the support of Malays and their NGOs as well as the rejection of Chinese voters, DS Najib's government continued to pursue policies that moved away from the 'Malay Agenda', with only token almost rhetorical crumbs thrown their way. UMNO's mainstream was also then encouraged to alienate Perkasa, Isma and co as potential rivals!

 

It is this persistence of a failed strategy that has continued to weaken UMNO and BN's position under DS Najib's leadership post-PRU13, added to it the botched implementation of the GST, PRU14 was a sure-lose proposition! In desparation, many BN strategists talk of a major win during PRU14 due to the apparent disunity in and among the opposition Pakatan Rakyat parties. However, this is a false hope as firstly, as mentioned above, BN's losses over the last 2 elections have been more about its weaknesses rather than PR's strength and secondly, one this unites the opposition always, hate of BN!

 

The False Hope Of Peace At Ramadhan

 

Of course, DS Najib now continues to contend with the #1MDB scandal. There was much hope in his camp, apparently partly fueled by premonitions by bomohs and gurujis believed by those by his side, that his #1MDB problems would be over by the end of June or come mid-Ramadhan. Even as this was being predicted, DS Najib himself did not believe it, and so the plan to quash any internal opposition or any risk of conviction of him or his close allies on #1MDB was hatched.

 

Ironically, despite Tun Dr Mahathir honouring his word to his close associates to be less provocative and be more reflective in Ramadhan, other parties stepped into the breach. The attack by WSJ for instance, despite the belief of pro-Najibite social media activists, have noting to do with Tun Dr M, but has more to do with certain parties in the United States wanting to keep the pressure up on DS Najib in order to compell him to sign the Tran Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)... or at least that is what this blogger believes.

 

And so no peace has settled in the Najib camp, but this should not surprise anyone. DS Najib's government was well on the way to losing PRU14 anyway before #1MDB. His 27 July progrom will at best help him to survive UMNO's efforts to topple him till the general elections - and even that is not a sure thing as calls to reject the posponement of UMNO elections gain voice at UMNO Division meetings. And one then wonders, why bother at all with all these political shenanigans if in the end he will lose his Prime Ministership with little to no dignity left to his name?

 

And will Malaysians ever forgive a Prime Minister that has showcased such selfishness to retain power even as we continue to suffer his leadership? ...

MRT Co Continues Dire Record Of Empty Promises Towards Klang Valley Voters

On 3 September 2012, under challenge from members of a community needing special attention according to the DEIA, the residents of Pinggir Za'aba, MRT Co's Director of Strategic Communications and Public Relations, Amir Mahmood, assured residents that the working hours for MRT construction will be from 7am to 7pm. This was ment to minimise disturbance to the community.

Setting aside the community's view that this was insufficient as a mitigating action against noise and vibration disturbances and the broken promise to come back to the community with new proposals 2 weeks from then, MRT Co it seems cannot even deliver their own original pledge of having no disturbances after 7pm. The video link below was captured at approximately 7.45pm on Monday, 5 November 2012:

The noise we experienced would be louder than what can be heard via this recording of course. In addition, this was from behind the sound barrier and we expect further piling works to be even more noisy! This went on till 9.30 pm! Good luck putting your babies to bed during that time! To think that some of us will have these machines IN FRONT OF OUR HOMES in time!

One of the residents of Pinggir Za'aba most affected by this noise reported the case to DBKL. Here is her report to us her neighbours:

reported the case to DBKL re the noise and vibration disturbance and the contractor's long operating hours till 930pm yesterday and over the weekends (Sat & Sun). The officer in-charge recorded my complain and gave me a Complain Ref No. to report the complaint again if the contractor still works after 6pm today, then DBKL will send their officers to visit the site immediately and issue stop work order on the spot. Somehow, few hours later (ard 1130am), the officer in-charge called me again and said that when he brought my complain to the relevant department in MRTCo, they were advised by MRTCo that all MRT related complains have to be reported and handled by MRTCo directly, DBKL is not in the position to take up such complain (!!!). So, the DBKL officer advised me to report our complain to MRTCO instead. Meantime, he further advised that we can write to DBKL for necessary action if MRTCo fail to attend to our complain and address the issue accordingly

Wah, so powerful MRT Co man! Can say to DBKL, the responsible municipal body, that they cannot take in complaints! Actually, such arrogance from MRT Co is quite familiar to us residents of Pinggir Za'aba. It setms from the MRT Co CEO's belief that he is responsible to the PM, DS Najib Tun Razak alone! In doing so, he forgets his place and he allows his people to treat DS Najib's bosses, THE VOTERS, to be treated poorly and in arrogance! Camana nak menang PRU13 ni!

By the way, yesterday night, the noise was still going on till 8.30pm. MRT Co's arrogance and empty promises continue...