Thesun 2009-02-04 Page01 Speaker Duo No More Reps

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No. 4690 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Wednesday February 4, 2009

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Speaker: Duo no more reps PERAK GOVT TO CHALLENGE EC’S DECISION THAT SEATS ARE NOT VACANT POH: The Perak government no longer recognises Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu as the Behrang and Changkat Jering assemblymen respectively. “Therefore, the two assemblymen will not be allowed to attend the coming assembly sittings,” Perak Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar told reporters at the residence of the mentri besar last night, Bernama reports. He said the two assemblymen would also automatically cease to be state executive councillors and their duties would be taken over by others to be decided at the coming state executive council meeting. Sivakumar said the decision on Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman was made as he did not recognise the Election Commission’s (EC) decision yesterday that the seats were not vacant but still held by the two assemblymen. He said he still stood by his earlier statement the two assemblymen had submitted their resignation letters. At the same press conference, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the state gov-

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ernment would challenge the EC’s decision in court after 48 hours. In PUTRAJAYA, the EC yesterday decided that there will not be by-elections for the two state seats despite receiving resignation letters signed by two assemblymen, report Maria J. Dass and Tan Yi Liang. “The resignation letters submitted by the two assemblymen are doubtful. Although they did not deny signing the letters, they do not agree with the date of enforcement on the letter (Jan 31),” said EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof. Speaking at a media conference at the EC headquarters after chairing a meeting to decide on the validity of the letters and the status of the seats, Abdul Aziz said: “We decided after much deliberation and scrutiny that there are some doubts on the resignation letters submitted to the EC by the Perak Speaker. This is taking into consideration the fact that the two assemblymen have themselves consciously denied that the resignation letters are in force. “Thus the EC has decided that it cannot use its powers under Section 36 (5) of the Perak Constitution to establish a casual vacancy for

There is doubt because both the resignation letters and the letters denying the validity of the submission of the resignation letters are both from the same assemblymen. Because of the doubt, we have decided to maintain status quo.” – EC chairman Abdul Aziz

the two seats. We have, therefore, decided that the two seats are still with Osman and Jamaluddin who were elected in the 12th general election (on March 8).” Asked if the EC had the final say on the matter, Abdul Aziz said: “When the situation of a casual vacancy arises, the EC has to first establish if the vacancy exists or not. “But here (in this case) there is doubt because both the resignation letters and the letters denying the validity of the submission of the resignation letters are from the same assemblymen. Because of the doubt, we’ve decided to maintain status quo.” On whether the EC was concerned about the matter being challenged in court, he said: “This is a democratic

» EC ruling unconstitutional, says Kit Siang – page 4 » Rulers must be neutral and non-partisan – page 4 »

theSun says: Let’s come to our country’s aid – page 13

country, so if anyone is not satisfied, he has the right to go to the courts. The EC will not probe into this issue any further.” Constitutional law expert Shad Saleem Faruqi told theSun pre-signed resignation letters are “against public policy”. “Such letters are also a problem with the Law of Contract, involving undue influence,” said Shad, a professor of law with Universiti Teknologi Mara. Referring to the Federal Court ruling that such letters are invalid, he said: “In the 1982 case of Datuk Ong Kee Hui vs Sim Yium anak Mudit, involving the Sarawak United People’s Party, the Federal Court ruled that a pre-signed resignation letter of an assemblyman is invalid, and that any resignation should be made by the assemblyman. “In my view, this (Perak dispute) is a case of undue influence, and what the two assemblymen must do, if the EC goes along with the notice from the Speaker, is go to the High Court and get a declaration, based on the Sarawak case,” he said.

Nazir: We need bold strategies to face new world order KUALA LUMPUR: The government must display economic leadership beyond just orthodox fiscal stimulus and monetary measures, says Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd group CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak. He said major global economic dislocations and enforced reconstruction, presented not only severe challenges but also tremendous opportunities. “The current global economic crisis is having a brutal impact on the world’s real economy. It is not just another economic slowdown. This crisis is shaking the core of the established world economic order,” he said

after Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings’s extraordinary general meeting. “While fiscal and monetary stimulus provide a temporary boost to the economy, we also need strategic and proactive leadership to advance Malaysia’s relative economic position in the new world order that will emerge from this crisis,” he said when asked how to go about tackling the economic slowdown. “When I talk about strategic leadership, I mean the government should be looking at more than just signing a big cheque (stimulus packages) and reducing interest rates.

“We really need to take the lead in terms of making key strategic moves in this environment to advance Malaysia’s economic position,” he said. Nazir, the younger brother of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, also said the government needed a longterm, key, proactive, comprehensive and strategic moves. He laid down five strategies for the government to consider, with the first being the need to re-examine the New Economic Policy. “There should be a review as to how it retards national unity, investments and economic

efficiency and develop a new, more relevant framework for economic policy-making,” he said. Malaysia also needed to leverage on the Middle East, China and India, whereby there would be an accelerated shift in economic power to these areas as a result of the global economic crisis, he said. “Malaysia should further exploit its unique comparative advantage in terms of social and geographical connectivity with these economies,” explained Nazir. In the current environment, he said, there was a need to encourage

the spirit of cooperation among the academia, business and the civil service to develop and execute national development plans. The government should develop a clear framework of incentives and co-investment to take advantage of acquisition opportunities abroad to fill traditional gaps in branding and distribution for Malaysian products and services, he said. He also said the government should tap foreign talent in the education sector to improve the teaching of key subjects, especially English and Mandarin. – Bernama