BERITA DAILY:(15/11/2015) - Council of Elders

15/11/2015 10:29 AM

'Council of Elders does not violate democracy and constitution'

Veteran Umno politician Sanusi Junid says there are more undemocratic events taking place under Prime Minister Najib Razak's watch

Syauqi Jamil

KUALA LUMPUR : The establishment of a council of elders, as proposed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will not be running foul of the constitution.

Former Kedah menter besar and veteran Umno politician Sanusi Junid, in defending the idea, said more undemocratic events had taken place under the watch of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has since rejected the proposal.

"It does not contravene democracy or the constitution. After all what is so constitutional about 1MDB? What is so democratic about sacking the deputy prime minister and a Minister for asking questions on 1MDB?

"If there was a council of elders, would they not advice against the idea of putting loyalty above ability when both qualities are actually required for a person to be minister?" he asked.

Sanusi said this in response to fourth Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's idea of having a council of elders, which had been criticised as unconstitutional and undemocratic.

He said the council, if set up, could eliminate other 'councils' that were damaging the country.

"The council of elders is probably meant to replace 'the council of liars', council of foreign conspirators, the council of shoppers, the council of carpet dealers', the council of spin doctors' and the council of hypocrites' who are damaging the country," he told Berita Daily.

He added that at the end of the day, it's merely just an idea that is subject to agreement by all parties.

Mahathir had proposed a concept where the Prime Minister, who took over from Najib, have a council of elders as advisers.

This council will consist of veteran leaders in giving a second opinion should the premier planned to make a decision that will not benefit the country.

The idea has received mixed reactions from various parties. Analyst Abdul Aziz Bari said the idea does not have place in the federal constitution.

Former Selangor MB Muhammad Muhammad Taib however approved the idea, saying that the elders can act as statesman giving pointers to their 'alma matters'.

DAP leader Lim Kit Siang dismissed Mahathir's proposal, saying that what was urgently needed was a restoration of the institutional checks and balances which had been first destroyed by Mahathir during his long 22-year tenure.

Najib last Friday, through a statement slammed the idea saying that not only was it unconstitutional but went against Malaysia's democratic nature.

Sanusi, the former rural and regional development minister, said personal animosity towards Mahathir should not be the measuring stick to consider the idea of elders acting as advisers.

"One should not dismiss the council of elders just because one hates Mahathir.

"We should instead ask why such a council is thought of and who should be members of the Council?

"Certainly it will not include Jho Low, Deepak Jaikishan, Arul Kanda or any appointee of Tony Blair or any Arab representative of a non existing oil and gas concession," he said.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER: SELIDIKILAH PUNCA MASALAH

Pencetus 1MDB punca masalah bukan yang bercakap, kata veteran parti

OLEH KC NAZARI DAN NABIHAH HAMID

Published: 4 November 2015 6:50 AM 

Bekas menteri besar Kedah Tan Sri Sanusi Junid percaya kesal kerana Umno melihat beliau dan beberapa individu sebagai punca masalah terhadap isu 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sedangkan mereka cuma menyuarakannya. – Gambar fail The Malaysian Insider, 4 November, 2015.

Mereka yang memulakan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) dan mencetuskan semua masalah berkaitan dengannya sebenarnya lebih teruk berbanding yang hanya membincangkan skandal tersebut, kata bekas menteri besar Kedah Tan Sri Sanusi Junid.

Beliau yang dipercayai termasuk dalam senarai 7 pemimpin Umno yang bakal dikenakan tindakan disiplin berkata orang sepertinya, berani lantang bersuara tidak sepatutnya dijadikan sasaran.

"Jika anda kata mereka yang bercakap tentang isu itu menyebabkan perpecahan, maka orang yang menyebabkan masalah itu timbul adalah lebih teruk berbanding  yang bercakap tentangnya.

"Bukan kami penyebab masalah, kami hanya bercakap tentangnya. Pastinya bercakap tentang masalah itu lebih baik berbanding menjadi pencetus masalah," veteran Umno itu berkata kepada The Malaysian Insider ketika diminta mengulas laporan mengatakan beliau antara 7 yang sedang berada dalam pemerhatian parti.

Kenyataan itu dipercayai merujuk kepada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang mengasaskan 1MDB sebagai firma pelaburan strategik negara dan turut berfungsi sebagai pengerusi lembaga penasihatnya.

Sanusi dikatakan tersenarai sebagai 7 individu yang bakal dikenakan tindakan kerana mengeluarkan "kenyataan tidak masuk akal" terhadap parti. 

Beliau hadir pada satu sidang media bersama 5 bekas pemimpin termasuk bekas perdana menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, bekas timbalan perdana menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin dan Naib Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal bagi menuntut kerajaan agar tidak menggunakan Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah Khas) 2012 (Sosma) terhadap pengkritik parti.

Selain Sanusi, turut dikatakan berada dalam senarai pemerhatian ialah Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin, Shafie Apdal dan bekas menteri Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, yang semuanya secara terbuka mengkritik Najib berhubung 1MDB.

Dua lagi dikatakan sedang diperhatikan ialah Ketua Umno Bahagian Sungai Besar Datuk Jamal Mohd Yunus dan Ketua Umno Bahagian Cheras Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee, kedua-duanya penyokong kepimpinan Najib.

Jamal dikenali sebagai jurucakap utama "perhimpunan baju merah" atau Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu, yang diadakan pada 16 September sebagai tindak balas terhadap perhimpunan anjuran badan reformasi pilihan raya Bersih 2.0.

Bercakap kepada The Malaysian Insider, beliau berkata beliau tidak percaya dirinya antara yang tersenarai dalam 7 pemimpin dalam pemerhatian Umno dan berkemungkinan digantung daripada parti terbesar Melayu itu.

Bagaimanapun, beliau menerima keputusan itu sekiranya ia dibuat Majlis Tertinggi Umno.

"Saya memang tidak percaya (berita senarai 7 pemimpin Umno) berita daripada sumber itu.

"Saya tidak pernah tidak sehaluan (dengan parti) dan (kenyataan saya) selari dengan apa yang diperkatakan dalam parti, kerana saya percaya apa yang diperjuangkan presiden parti berada pada landasannya," kata Jamal.

Beliau yang berjanji akan menghormati dan akur keputusan parti turut menegaskan tidak akan berganjak daripada memperjuangkan Umno.

"Saya tidak ada masalah, perjuangan perlu diteruskan. Saya masih tetap dalam perjuangan Umno. Dalam prinsip saya, pemimpin umno perlu dipertahankan terutamanya presiden parti," katanya.

Sebaliknya, menurut Sanusi, beliau yakin sebenarnya lebih ramai orang sudah hilang kepercayaan terhadap pentadbiran negara dan parti.

Justeru, beliau percaya senarai mereka yang bakal dikenakan tindakan daripada Umno perlu "diperluaskan" lagi.

"Saya teruja dengan perkara ini. Saya rasa kita perlu perluaskan lagi senarai itu dan ada jawatankuasa warga bagi menilai skandal-skandal ini, aktiviti penipuan yang sedang berlangsung," kata bekas ketua penerangan Umno sewaktu Dr Mahathir menjadi presiden parti itu.

Ini kerana, "psike" nasional kini berupa kebencian terhadap pentadbiran negara katanya, sambil menambah orang ramai dahulu takut dengan kerajaan namun skandal demi skandal yang terbongkar merubah ketakutan itu kepada kebencian.

"Melangkaui ketakutan adalah kebencian dan orang kini mula membenci dan belajar membenci. Maka semua elemen ini, personaliti yang berasaskan dengan mencipta ketakutan.

"Mereka boleh mengugut orang, tetapi mereka perlu ingat, dengan mencetuskan ketakutan, mereka memberikan orang keberanian," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Sementara itu, bekas menteri penerangan Zainuddin berkata, beliau tidak sedih atau tersinggung kerana dikatakan sedang dipantau untuk tindakan disiplin.

"Saya tidak ada isu. Saya tidak ada masalah jika mereka mahu menggantung saya atau putuskan saya.

"Saya tidak mempunyai kepentingan dalam Umno. Saya tidak rugi apa-apa walaupun sekiranya saya keluar," beliau dipetik sebagai berkata oleh portal berita Malaysiakini. – 4 November, 2015.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER: THOSE WHO SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED

Those who started 1MDB problem, not critics, should be on watch list, says Umno veteran

 

BY KC NAZARI AND NABIHAH HAMID

Published: 4 November 2015 6:59 AM 

Former Kedah menteri besar and Umno veteran Tan Sri Sanusi Junid says people are no longer afraid to speak against the government because of the number of scandals, especially 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 4, 2015.Those who started 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and all its problems are worse than those who discussed the alleged scandals involving the debt-ridden government-owned investment firm, says former Kedah menteri besar Tan Sri Sanusi Junid.

Sanusi, one of seven Umno leaders the party was monitoring for possible disciplinary action, said people like him who have spoken up should not be targeted.

“If you say the people talking about the issue are causing the rift, then those who caused the problem are worse than those talking about it.

“We did not cause the problem, we merely talked about it. Certainly, talking about the problem is better those who created it,” the Umno veteran told The Malaysian Insider when asked to respond to being on the watch list. 

Sanusi and a few of the seven leaders on the list have been openly critical of party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who started 1MDB as a strategic development firm and chairman of its advisory board.

He was also present at a joint press conference on October 12 by several veteran Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders, led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who condemned Putrajaya’s use of a security law to charge two 1MDB critics.

Besides Sanusi, others targeted are Dr Mahathir, former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and former minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, all of whom have openly criticised Najib over 1MDB.

The criticism by Umno stalwarts and the government’s prolonged investigations into 1MDB have caused a rift in the lead ruling Malay party, as well as talk of attempts by opposition lawmakers to woo the support of ruling coalition MPs for a no-confidence vote against Najib in the Dewan Rakyat.

Two more on the list are Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Jamal Mohd Yunus and Cheras division chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee, both Najib supporters.

Jamal is now better known as a spokesman for the “red shirt” rally movement, which demonstrated on September 16 against the Bersih 4 rally for supposedly insulting the Malays after photos of a few Bersih rally goers stomping on photos of Najib and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang went viral.

The “red shirt” rally at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur saw racial slurs used against the ethnic Chinese minority, and an attempt to break through police barricades around the Chinatown or Petaling Street shopping area.

Najib and Umno have tried to distance themselves from the “red shirt” rally, but the party president fell short of condemning it as seditious or racist, and even said Malays had to defend their dignity when their leaders were insulted.

Jamal said he “could not believe” that he was on the watch list.

“I really cannot believe it. I have never strayed from the path or objective of the party as I believe in what the president is striving for,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

He said he accepted any decision if it was the will of the Supreme Council, but adding that it would not deter him from “pursuing Umno’s struggles”.

“I have no issues, the fight must go on. I am still part of the party’s fight. My principle is that the party leaders must be defended, especially the party president.”

In contrast, Sanusi said many people have lost confidence in the country’s administration and Umno as the lead ruling Malay party.

Since this loss of faith in the leadership was so widespread, he said the watch list should be even longer.

“I’m quite excited about it. The seven includes me, I presume. These seven should not be limited to seven. We should prepare a national list of those who have dissenting opinions.

“Yes, I think we should have a longer list and I think we should also have committees, citizen committees all over the country to assess the scandals, the fraudulent activities.

“So I would expand the numbers to be investigated to more than seven,” said Sanusi who was Umno information chief while Dr Mahathir led the party.

People were no longer afraid to speak against the government, he added, because one scandal after another had turned people’s fear into hatred.

“(Those) who think that by creating fear, (then) they can threaten people, they must remember, by creating hatred they give people a lot of courage.”

Former information minister Zainuddin said he was neither sad nor offended at being monitored for disciplinary action.

“I have no issues. I have no problem if they want to suspend me or break me. I have no interests in Umno. I won’t lose anything even if I quit,” he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini. – November 4, 2015. 

RAKYAT POST - 15/10/15 - ON QUITTING UMNO

LEAVING UMNO NOT THE RIGHT MOVE IF ONE IS 'IRRITATED' BY THE POLICIES, SAYS SANUSI

 

By:
Rajina Dhillon 

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/10/15/leaving-umno-not-the-right-move-if-one-is-irritated-by-the-policies-says-sanusi/

Speaking on the jump made by Umno member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah to PKR, Umno veteran Tan Sri Sanusi Junid says there were weird characters in the party every now and then, but these personalities, although damaging to Umno, did not represent Umno.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15, 2015:

Leaving the party was not the right move by someone who was “irritated” by the policies or acts of certain personalities in Umno, said party veteran Tan Sri Sanusi Junid.

Speaking on the jump made by Umno member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah to PKR, Sanusi said there were “weird characters” in the party every now and then, but these personalities, although damaging to Umno, did not represent Umno.

“A genuine Umno member, like me, will try to correct the mistakes done by so-called Umno members instead of joining the opposition parties whose aim is to topple Umno and BN.

“I don’t personally know who Saifuddin is except for what little I read in the media.

“He must have joined Umno rather late and has never really gone through the mill, as I had, and fail to understand what Umno stands for,” he said in a text message to The Rakyat Post when contacted.

Former Umno and PKR member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, on the other hand, said any Umno member who “left” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was making the right move.

“He (Saifuddin) has years of experience in politics and so should be able to deal with opposition politics, which can be tough,” said the former Law Minister when contacted.

Rumours of Saifuddin’s jump from Umno became reality when PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail announced the move at a press conference today.

Speaking at the announcement, Saifuddin said his differences with Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) prompted his move to jump ship to PKR.

He explained that he had clear objectives in politics that were to fight for political change and institutional reforms, two aspects that he “failed” to see achievable within Umno.