Play ball or save credibility, ex-law minister Zaid tells Nancy

Published: 11 October 2014

De facto Law Minister Nancy Shukri was given the task of making unpopular statements on behalf of the government, and she did so in order to remain a minister, former cabinet member Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who resigned from government on principle, said in his latest blog post.

Nancy, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was not entirely to blame for her statement explaining why Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali was not charged for threatening to burn Malay Bibles, but she was also "playing ball", said Zaid, a former de facto law minister in the Barisan Nasional government.

"She wants to remain a minister and she is prepared to play ball, and to do what is asked of her.

"Compromising her credibility as a lawyer is not too high a price to pay. To each his own," Zaid said in his blog.

Zaid was in the cabinet under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration but quit in September 2008 over disagreements with the administration on the use of the now-repealed Internal Security Act.

Drawing from his experience, Zaid said it was likely that the police and Attorney-General (A-G) had used Nancy to issue the statement as they were unwilling to face public ire over the case.

"Her explanation for why the government would not act against Ibrahim Ali for his call to the burn Bibles was probably not her own idea.

"Knowing a little bit about how our Cabinet works, I suspect Nancy did not prepare the statement, but was told to use it since she is the person in charge of matters of law in the Prime Minister’s Department," said Zaid.

He said police must have been aware the public expected Ibrahim to be charged with sedition or under other provisions of the Penal Code.

"The police, realising the potential public outcry over the decision not to prosecute (Ibrahim), passed the buck to the A-G. After all, under our system of government, the final decision rests with the A-G.

"But the AG is also a smart cookie. He is not a cabinet member, nor does he occupy a seat in Parliament. He doesn’t need to explain the decisions he makes. He is not accountable to anyone, other than the prime minister."

Zaid said "the smart cookies" in the government then did what they have always done: ask the de facto law minister to take the rap.

He said he had faced a similar situation when he held the same position in 2008.

"They tried the same tactic with me on the ISA arrests, the Lingam tape case and other issues in 2008, and expected me to defend the decisions made and issue their statements.

"But I stood by what I believed in; naturally, I was not able to stand for long in the post!" said Zahid, who had resigned from the Cabinet that year and was later sacked from Umno.

But, Zaid said, Nancy would never "say no" as long as she was a minister, and that she believed it was her duty to make statements that her colleagues in the ruling government told her to.

On Tuesday, Nancy had said in a written parliamentary reply that police decided not to act against Ibrahim over his call last year to burn copies of the Bible containing the word “Allah” because he was merely defending Islam.

Nancy said police concluded that his words were only directed at specific individuals, and were not a threat to the larger society.

She said this in a written parliamentary reply to Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who had asked if Ibrahim would be charged over remarks made in 2013 and if not, why.

The use of Islam as the reason not to prosecute Ibrahim has angered Christians, civil society and other Muslims.

Global Movement of Moderates CEO Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said the government could not use Islam as an excuse not to charge Ibrahim, as his threat was not in line with the religion.

“Based on the verses of the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet, it is clear that the Minister’s argumentation does not reflect the true teachings of Islam and cannot be used to justify such statement from Datuk Ibrahim," said the former deputy higher education minister in a statement on Thursday. – October 11, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/play-ball-or-save-credibility-ex-law-minister-zaid-tells-nancy

When pigs walked upright, wore clothes and...flew

Created On Friday, 10 October 2014 07:00

Published Date

Written By Super User

Category: Columnist

Haris Ibrahim

No criminal action against Ibrahim Ali for calling on Muslims to seize and burn copies of the Holy Bible.

No action against Federal Territories Umno Youth chief, Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii, for threatening to burn down the DAP headquarters

No action against Petaling Jaya Utara Umno deputy division chief, Mohamad Azli Mohemed Saad, for demanding that all vernacular schools be closed.

All this no-action business takes me back some 37 years to my English Literature class.

George Orwell’s 'Animal Farm' was compulsory reading and would be examinable in our then Malaysian Certificate of Examination (MCE).

The other compulsory reading text for which we would be examined was  'Cry, the Beloved Country' by Alan Paton.

Obviously, Dr Mahathir had not yet the influence then to remove these wonderfully-inspiring and instructive books from the syllabus for young Malaysian minds.

For those unfamiliar with 'Animal Farm', let me say it is a wonderful story of how the animals on a farm revolted, drove out the human owner and took over the farm, renaming it 'Animal Farm'.

The animals adopted the Seven Commandments of Animalism as their constitution of sorts, the most important of which was, "All animals are equal."

Yes, the pigs and the horses and the donkeys, the dogs and the chickens were all equal.

Oh, and contact and dealings with human beings, known as parasites, was forbidden.

For a while, things went well.

Food was aplenty, enough for all.

Then the pigs decided to elevate themselves to a position of pre-eminence.

More and better food for themselves, whilst the other animals were urged to work harder so that they could look forward to better days ahead.

Yes, all animals were equal, but then "Some are more equal than others." became the new mantra.

And, in time, even a hierarchy amongst the pigs began to emerge, with some more equal than others.

In time, the pigs came to take on the ways of the parasite humans, walking upright and clothed.

They had become the new subjugators.

I have looked up the speeches of our beloved Tunku Abdul Rahman, both on the Independence Day of Malaya on 31st August, 1957 and, later, on Malaysia Day on 16th September, 1963.

Nothing in either suggests that we are ever intended to be anything other than a nation of equals.

I have searched through the Federal Constitution.

Again, there is nothing there to sustain any contention that whilst we are all equal, some might be more equal than others.

Article 153?

No.

It does not create rights, but places a duty on the Yang DiPertuan Agung to strike a balance in working out a policy of affirmative action to safeguard the ‘special position’ of the Malays and of the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak, and the "legitimate interests" of the other communities.

So from where do we now discern the much-spoken-of  ‘hak istimewa orang Melayu’ ?

And is this ‘hak istimewa orang Melayu’ why Ibrahim Ali, Mohd Razlan and Mohamad Azli can say what they will, with total impunity?

Wait a minute!

Adam Adli is Malay.

Safwan Anang is Malay.

Azmi Sharom is Malay.

So what gives?

Or…has life imitated art?

Could it be that, like the pigs in Animal Farm, emerging from the fictional and totally baseless ‘hak istimewa orang Melayu' is a more elitist class, the ‘hak istimewa Melayu Umno’ ?

Source: http://rakyattimes.com/index.php/columnist/1376-when-pigs-walked-upright-wore-clothes-and-flew-haris-ibrahim

Islamist extremists now above the law, says Sarawak minister

BY DESMOND DAVIDSON

Published: 9 October 2014

Putrajaya’s contention that police did not take action against Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali over his call to burn copies of the Bible containing the word "Allah" because he was merely defending Islam has placed Islamist extremists above the law, a senior Sarawak Barisan Nasional minister said today.

“So now it is acceptable to burn the Bibles, insult believers of other faiths and do disrespectful acts in defence of the sanctity of Islam,” Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing (pic, right) said in reaction to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri’s written parliamentary reply on Monday to a question by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng on why Ibrahim had not been charged with sedition.

“Never mind the sanctity of other religions?

“How did Malaysia arrive at this socio-religious situation?” he asked.

Masing said Malaysia's “founding fathers would turn in their graves if they found out what is happening to Malaysia today”.

“Let us all bring Malaysia to the time when people of different faiths were free to practise their faiths in peace and religious bigots were non-existent.”

A Malaysian Insider reader, who goes by the name samng2, in his reaction posted this message for Nancy: “Hello Nancy. Threaten(ing) to burn other religion's holy books to defend (one’s) own religion does not make any sense.

“Logically, for one to make such a threat means that the physical holy book itself or the content in it posed a serious threat to Islam.

“In short, this holy book cannot exist. Now, if it is that serious, why haven't other Muslims in the world burned such holy books a thousand years ago?

“Clearly, he (Ibrahim Ali) is not defending Islam. He made a threat against Christianity on his own accord. So please Nancy. It's people like you from the ruling government that keep insulting the intelligence of the public. (A) bad excuse is better than none?”

Nancy said police decided not to take action against Ibrahim because they concluded that his words were only directed at specific individuals, and were not a threat to the larger society.

She also told Lim that Ibrahim's action "was not intended to cause religious chaos but only to defend the sanctity of Islam".

Ibrahim's call in January last year prompted outrage from politicians and Christian groups, with critics accusing Putrajaya of double-standards in using the Sedition Act against critics while sparing Ibrahim over his remarks. – October 9, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/police-inaction-over-bible-burning-threat-places-islamic-extremists-above-t