The BN attacks on PAS’s hudud agenda involve scaremongering of the worst kind. BN’s alarmist politics aside, can hudud law actually become a reality for Malaysians? And how likely is it that it will be implemented in the near future?
Shad Saleem Faruqi
MPs and separation of powers
By Deborah Loh
While most of the MPs who were voted in in 2008 believe in the separation of powers between the three pillars of government, up to 40% of those who replied to MP Watch say the concept is not fully practised in Malaysia. This is especially because the executive is too powerful.
Amending the UUCA — what’s needed?
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
THE quest for greater academic freedom for Malaysian university students has seen an eventful past six months. In October 2011, a landmark Court of Appeal decision declared section 15(5)(a) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) unconstitutional. The section prohibits students from expressing support for, or opposition against, any political party. In November […]
Siapa Melayu?
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
IF it is true that Malay-rights group Perkasa was able to sabotage the government’s New Economic Model, hence obstructing much-needed reforms for the nation, what is this telling us? It tells us that if the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is so easily held ransom by right-wing race-based groups, it is not fit to govern multiracial […]
Remembering the Perak crisis
By Ding Jo-Ann
IT’S been almost two years since Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the Perak government from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but does anyone still care to remember? And how would we choose to remember it? If, as the saying goes, “History is written by the victors”, then the history of the Perak takeover would probably go like this: […]
Dilemma over Batu
By Gan Pei Ling
Confusion reigns over the status of Batu MP Tian Chua because of a lack of understanding about what the constitution says. Found in Quotation says it all.
Anwar, Israel and the King
By Shanon ShahOPPOSITION Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must have a lot on his mind: his ongoing sodomy trial, the upcoming Hulu Selangor by-election, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s loss of four parliamentarians earlier in 2010. But one other thing is surely preoccupying his thoughts: Israel. In fact, he is clearly bothered by two things Israeli: How […]
Don’t drag King into politics
PETALING JAYA, 22March 2009: A constitutional expert disagrees with an appeal to the King to appoint someone other than Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister. Professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi says the call, made by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to appoint someone else whom Malaysians can “trust and respect”, would […]
Will Perak snap?
By Shanon Shah and Zedeck SiewTarnished silver (© Chris Deraud / sxc.hu) THE silver state is in crisis, with the Pakatan Raykat-led state government having lost its majority in the legislative assembly with four assemblypersons leaving its fold. Now, with the Perak government in limbo, experts tell The Nut Graph that the best option for the formation of a state […]
Lawyers divided over EC’s decision
PETALING JAYA, 4 Feb 2009: Lawyers are divided over the Election Commission’s right to prevent by-elections on the basis of doubtful vacancies for the Behrang and Changkat Jering seats in Perak. Constitutional lawyer Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi argued that the EC has the power to make the decision it made. Additionally, Dr Shad questioned […]
