TV PAKATAN RAKYAT

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Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, the man chosen by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leadership to contest in the upcoming Hulu Selangor by-election, is a political animal who cuts an interesting figure. Speaking from the smoking room of his plush home in Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, light-years removed from the Felda settlements and Indian estates he hopes to one day speak for, the former lawyer seems an unlikely choice for a constituency described by many as “cowboy country.”

But speak for the people he will. In fact, that is the only thing he will talk about. His idealism, tempered by our cynical national politics, is circumspect yet present. The sheen has since worn off PR. It is now seen as a fractious cluster of parties, bound by not much else than a common enemy, that has been rocked by defections, infighting and allegations of misgoverning and excessive politicking. His rhetoric seems pre-”tsunami” Malaysia.

But that is not to say Zaid does not have his heart in the right place. One outward sign on his self-professed love for the people is his tireless charity work — particularly for Foundation for the Disabled in Kelantan, a charity he set up — for which he gained a spot on Forbes Asia’s list of generous and interesting philanthropists.

He is also a strong supporter of an independent judiciary, despite the fact that his attempts to bring closure to the 1988 constitutional crisis were inconclusive. In fact, it was the arrest of three individuals in 2008 under the ISA which caused him to resign from his Cabinet post in protest, leading to his sacking from Umno and paving the way for him to join PKR.

Zaid has come full circle and is now one step closer to returning to the upper echelons of power, sent by Anwar Ibrahim to defend the Hulu Selangor seat and hopefully maintain the number of opposition seats in Parliament. Perhaps, like many of his would-be constituents who venture into cowboy country to make their fortunes, this is where Zaid will forge a new future for himself and the rakyat he feels so strongly about.

By Anwar Ibrahim
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Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim finally hit the ground last night ahead of the April 25 by-election here, but seemed to have come up against a wall in pushing his brand of colour-blind socio-economic justice and Islamic agenda among village voters. The Selangor economic advisor was the last speaker of the night at Kampung Sekolah, a tiny village bordering Perak with about 1,700 voters, according to PKR’s count, where he spoke lengthily and expansively on the state’s welfare programmes, rolled out since Election 2008. His comparison between the PKR-led state administration’s promise to award 100,000 land titles to poor home owners in the constituency and the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s priority to award vast tracts of national land to “tauke besar” — like the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong who developed Genting Highlands; property magnate Tan Sri Vincent Tan; Astro’s Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan and sugar tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary listed by Forbes as among Malaysia’s richest men — appeared to pull the interest of the 300 villagers who turned up to listen to him.

“Even if we lose this by-election, we promise you will get it,” said the Opposition Leader, making the front-row listeners straighten up and those standing at the back of the humid, dusty school hall draw nearer the stage. “If we win, we will push it. If we lose, we will still push the programme,” he stressed, and added that he had spoken to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim about it. They applauded rather heartily when Anwar raised the issue of the federal government’s increased gambling licences and how his fellow Pakatan Rakyat colleague from the Chinese-dominated DAP, Anthony Loke, vocally criticised the move in Parliament. But the former deputy prime minister’s attempt to stir the reticent audience on national and international issues failed to excite them.

He spoke of the Najib administration’s controversial engagement of global communications firm APCO which he linked to Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence body he claimed “had killed Palestinians”, bringing up his possible suspension from Parliament as a result as well. “I broke Israel’s espionage in Southeast Asia,” Anwar boasted, to blank stares from the floor, more than half sporting skullcaps, songkoks and headscarves. Anwar’s digs against former Selangor mentri besar Datuk Seri Khir Toyo’s uninhabited mansion in Shah Alam and his family holidays to Disneyland allegedly on state taxpayers’ funds drew a few smothered titters in this Umno stronghold. But the normally charismatic speaker’s calls to back Pakatan Rakyat’s campaign for fair treatment for all races at the end of his 50 minutes saw the audience making a quick getaway before he had quite finished his sentence. -malaysianinsider.com

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Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) asked the government to answer all questions he had raised against communications consultancy APCO Worldwide and its links to Israel instead of attacking him. “Why defend APCO? The prime minister must explain all the issues raised in Parliament,” the opposition leader said today. He said the Najib administration had chosen to remain silent on his allegations that APCO was connected to the Israel government, its internal security agency Shin Bet and Zionism. Anwar added these unanswered questions relate to Malaysia’s security.

Anwar is facing the possibility of suspension over his claim during parliamentary debate last week that the international communications consultancy, engaged by the Malaysian government, was involved in Ehud Barak’s One Israel campaign. Earlier today, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the government has decided that Anwar will be referred to the parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said Anwar had so far not been able to provide concrete evidence to support his allegation that 1 Malaysia was taken from One Israel. APCO has released a statement denying the allegations made by Anwar. -malaysianinsider.com