Some people just don’t understand dialogue… SO now the government wants a formalised interfaith dialogue mechanism? Going by the history of the state’s response to attempts by civil society to initiate interfaith dialogue, I am not holding my breath. In 2005, various members of civil society had a conference proposing a statutory Interfaith Commission (IFC) […]
coalition
Keeping PR together
By Deborah LohDatuk Zaid Ibrahim DESPITE flare-ups in PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is on track to becoming a formal coalition, says Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who was tasked with developing a common manifesto for the opposition coalition. PR’s application to be registered with the Registrar of Societies was submitted last week, and the […]
The problem of Hasan Ali (Updated 7.05pm)
By Deborah LohUpdated at 7.05pm on 25 Sept 2009 PETALING JAYA, 25 Sept 2009: Will the PAS leadership take action against the party’s Selangor commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali for undermining Pakatan Rakyat (PR)? Senior party leaders are unhappy with Hasan and Selangor PAS secretary Mohd Khairuddin Othman who backed his boss, Hasan, by saying that the […]
Wooing the Indian Malaysian vote
By Deborah LohHindraf vigil on 27 Sept 2008 ON 25 Nov 2007, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) burst into public consciousness through a mammoth street rally. Few doubt that Hindraf was pivotal in swinging Indian Malaysian votes away from the Barisan Nasional (BN) three months later in the March 2008 general election. On 2 July 2009, […]
DAP upset with PAS leadership in Kedah
ALOR STAR, 1 July 2009: After the conflict between the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Penang, the Pakatan Rakyat government may be facing yet another challenge in Kedah. Kedah DAP chairperson Thomas Su Keong Siong has threatened that the party no longer found it necessary to be in the Pakatan Rakyat government in […]
“PR needs to formalise its coalition”
By Shanon ShahPETALING JAYA, 25 June 2009: Pakatan Rakyat needs to, among others, form a shadow cabinet in order for Malaysia to start having a two-party system, a political scientist said. Monash University Sunway Campus’s Prof Dr James Chin said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had to first formalise itself as a coalition before talk about Malaysia having a […]
BN’s new approach for Manik Urai
MUAR, 4 June 2009: The Barisan Nasional (BN) will have only one command centre to coordinate its component parties’ campaigns in the Manik Urai state by-election in Kelantan on 14 July, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today. The deputy prime minister said this was part of the BN’s new approach in facing any by-election. “This […]
Hadi must clarify statement: Guan Eng
PENANG, 13 March 2009: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng wants the PAS president to explain his suggestion on forming a coalition government to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) supreme council. Lim said the matter required a detailed explanation by Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. “DAP hopes that he (Abdul Hadi) can clarify his statement to the […]
PR will give up official residence and cars
By Deborah LohIPOH, 12 Feb 2009: Pakatan Rakyat is going to give up the Perak Menteri Besar’s official residence and the official cars used by executive councillors — two symbols they have clung on to as evidence of the Pakatan state government’s legitimacy. However, embattled Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said doing so did […]
BN’s power play
By Ng Boon HooiIN George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, there’s a line about how all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. The same could be said about the component parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN). The BN is made up of 13 disparate parties — five based in the peninsula, and the rest […]