Politics 101 Malaysia

The Speaker, four BN and one Opposition MPs were to fly off to Auckland today to attend the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, from Jan 20-24.

At 11th hour today, PM decided the five MPs cannot go and only Tuan Speaker can go.

Why the powerplay by The Executive over Parliament?

Is PM wanting to dissolve parliament this weekend or what?

Daily Press Briefing

Sean McCormack, Spokesman Washington, DC

QUESTION: The Indians, the (inaudible) this morning?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes, yes, I did ask about that and my understanding is that there was an arrest and that our expectation as a government is that they — these individuals would be provided the full protections under Malaysian law, that they would be given due process, that they would be — they would be accorded all the rights accorded to any other citizen and that this be done in a speedy and transparent manner. I would also reiterate that it is our firm position that those individuals who want to peacefully express themselves in a political forum or any other forum should be allowed to do so.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. MCCORMACK: Thank you.

The Electoral Finance Bill will soon become law in New Zealand.

According to the introduction to the bill, “The bill is a stand-alone bill that proposes amendments to the electoral finance regime in the areas of political donations, election expenses, third party advertising, and compliance and enforcement. It also proposes changes to the broadcasting regime for election- related broadcasting.”

In short, the Bill’s aim is to put a cap on political spending on advertising, disclosure of identity of those who make major financial donations, prohibition of advertising on polling day.

Full copy of the Bill can be downloaded here and here.

Can we learn something from this?

By Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters.

From solemn Buddhist prayers and “black magic” rituals to stiffer fines and longer jail terms, Thailand is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure a clean election this month.

Few analysts believe it will make any difference in the Southeast Asia nation with a long history of patronage and rampant vote buying.

But Kasem Wattanatham, election chief in the northeast province of Buriram, hopes supernatural forces will prevail where more worldly efforts to fight vote fraud do not.

Kasem called in a 90-year-old faith healer to lead 200 officials and police in a “black magic” ceremony where they swore not to breach election laws.

“We are all Buddhist. We all believe in supernatural powers,” he said before the faith healer led the group in prayers inviting spirits and gods to hear their oath. ”Continued”

Reuters, Dec 1.

Malaysia has told India not to meddle in its internal affairs after New Delhi expressed concerns over the treatment of ethnic Indians in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government would deal with citizens according to its own laws and no other country should interfere, the Star newspaper reported on Saturday.

Last Sunday, more than 10,000 Malaysian Indians staged the community’s biggest anti-government protest, sparked by anger over policies they say prevent them from getting decent jobs or a good education for their children.

Police used tear gas and water canons to disperse the protesters, many of them Tamils with their roots in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, sparking outrage and demands from Tamil politicians that New Delhi intervene. ”Continued”

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters, Nov 23.

Syrian users of Facebook said on Friday the authorities had blocked access to the social network Web site as part of a crackdown on political activism on the Internet.

“Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned,” women’s rights advocate Dania al-Sharif told Reuters.

“They cut off communications between us and the outside world. We are used to this behavior from our government,” said Mais al-Sharbaji, who set up a Facebook group for amateur Syrian photographers.

There was no comment form the government, which has intensified a campaign against bloggers, virtual opinion forums and independent media sites in recent months. ”Continued”

Human rights groups in Saudi Arabia want charges dropped against a woman who was gang-raped and then jailed for speaking publicly about her case.

The woman, 19, was sentenced to 200 lashes of a whip and six months in prison, while the license of her lawyer, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, was revoked last week for speaking to the media, CNN reported Monday.

Barring the woman’s lawyer from representing her in court nearly is equivalent to rape itself, said Fawzeyah al-Oyouni, a founder of the newly formed Saudi Association for the Defense of Women’s Rights. ”Continued”

by Asher Moses, smh.com.au, October 31.

Federal politicians are bending over backwards to expand their networks on Facebook and MySpace, but how strong are their newfound friendships?

The gang from The Chaser’s War on Everything sought to test how much politicians value their social networking buddies by arriving at Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd’s house with 50 of his Facebook “friends”.

It comes as social commentators are now questioning whether “friend” is the right term to use for our online pals.

Many amass social network connections as though they’re collecting stamps, but the relationships are often only skin deep. Typically, real-world friends form just a small fraction of our total MySpace or Facebook pals. ”Continued”

New Zealand’s Sky channel 94 and Freeview channel 22 will broadcast live Parliament in session from today.

The channels will show Parliament in session, including during question time, general debate and the debating of bills.

How now, Tuan Speaker?