TV PAKATAN RAKYAT

Suspended Petaling Jaya Selatan Umno chief, Datuk Zahar Hashim today joined the Islamist party, Pas with a promise that more leaders from the division situated in the Chinese dominated constituency would leave Umno. His membership application form was handed over to Pas deputy president Nasharuddin Isa at a ceremony here.

The defence contractor, who wrote an open letter in October alleging discrepancies in the purchase of Eurocopter helicopters was suspended from the party on Dec 4 for criticising Umno’s leadership. Zahar had also written a letter in August claiming that Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak had violated the party’s rules by campaigning for the party polls.

At a press conference later Zahar denied that his decision to join Pas was motivated by the Eurocopter deal. “I am not disappointed. I think the majority or almost half of the voters no longer supports BN,” said Zahar. He added that he was not betraying Umno by joining Pas adding that he was already financially stable when he joined the Malay nationalist party in 1981, saying that it was Umno that had betrayed him. “I have more information than I can reveal but I have to check whether it will violate the Official Secrets Act,” said Zahar. Earlier in his speech, Selangor Pas chief Datuk Dr Hassan Ali, said the decision by Zahar would boost the party’s position in the state. He added that Selangor Pas would continue to invite Umno members in the state to defect to the party.

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KOTA BARU: PAS has stood firm that hudud and qisas laws will be implemented should Pakatan Rakyat take over the government. The latest call for the implementation of Islamic criminal laws came from its spiritual leader, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

The push has not only resulted in criticism from Barisan Nasional parties, which say that it is a PAS tactic for the Kuala Terengganu by-election, but also from its Pakatan Rakyat partner DAP. The DAP has come out strongly against PAS’ statement and pointed out that it was never part of the Pakatan Rakyat manifesto. It has called on PAS to explain.

Parliament tonight passed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Bill, which are one of three pieces of legislation the Abdullah Badawi administration hopes to push through before he steps down as prime minister in March. By a voice vote, the majority of lawmakers gave their support to set up a commission which will have more autonomy and power to tackle corruption.

This follows two days of robust debate which saw lawmakers from both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) put the proposed MACC through some rigorous examination. The new law to fight corruption was passed practically unchanged tonight in the Dewan Rakyat despite the best efforts of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs.

The biggest argument from the PR lawmakers concerned putting the power of prosecution in the hands of one man, the Attorney General (AG). The Opposition Leader told Parliament the AG is not compelled by any law to report to a higher authority. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim added it could lead to all sorts of abuses.

However, the de facto Law Minister defended the government’s move, saying that the term referred not only to the individual holding the post but also the entire office of the public prosecutor. Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz added that a deputy public prosecutor from the AG’s office would also be moved to help the MACC. But the PR MPs continued to challenge Nazri’s view at every step of the way, despite the rare presence of both the Prime Minister and his deputy inside the House.

Each time a section of the law to do with the powers of the AG or limiting the authority of the MACC chief and its members was raised for debate, several MPs from the DAP, PKR and Pas would be on their feet ready to battle, even before the parliamentary official finished reading it aloud.