Rafizi questions buyback of TRX project, first touted as 'foreign investment'

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has called into question the Finance Ministry's decision to quietly buy a 51 percent stake in Exchange 106, a tower project located within the Tun Razak Exchange development.

Rafizi (photo) pointed out that in 2015, the Finance Ministry-owned 1MDB sold the land on which the Exchange 106 sits on to Indonesia's Mulia Group for RM665 million.

"The drama is sickening. All evidence suggests that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's administration sold government land to the Indonesian company, only to buy it back with taxpayers funds, at a price that is many folds higher," he said.

Last month, The Edge Weekly reported that the Minister of Finance Inc (MOF Inc) was believed to have acquired a 51 percent stake in Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd, the company which is developing a 1.38ha parcel of land in TRX, which includes Exchange 106.

The report said it was unclear how much the MOF paid for the controlling stake, but that it had taken out a loan from HSBC Bank for the purchase.

“All indications are that MOF Inc or some government-linked entities have bought a controlling stake in Mulia Property. It was done two to three months ago," it quoted an executive as saying.

The 51 percent stake is now held in the name of MKD Signature Sdn Bhd, which is in turn owned by Sentuhan Budiman Sdn Bhd.- Mkini

Tawfik: Sub judice to include Hadi's bill in next Parliament sitting

Former Umno MP Mohamed Tawfik Ismail said it would be sub judice to include PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's private member's bill in the upcoming Parliament sitting.

Tawfik (photo), the son of the country's second deputy prime minister Ismail Abdul Rahman, said this was because the Kuala Lumpur High Court has decided to hear his suit challenging the constitutionality of Hadi's motion to amend Act 355.

The private member's bill seeks to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 to increase the maximum punishment for syariah offences from three years imprisonment, RM5,000 fine and six strokes of the rotan, to 10 years imprisonment, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the rotan.

"As the court has decided that the originating summons will go for the full hearing, it will be sub judice and a contempt of court for Act 355 (private member's bill) to be listed in the Order Paper for tabling in the next Parliament session, scheduled to be held from March 5," he said in a statement today.

His statement comes as Hadi's private member's bill appeared as the fourth item in the Order Paper.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and secretary Rosmee Hamzah had sought to strike out Tawfik’s suit, but the court dismissed the bid last week.

"As such, the defendants are expected to respect the court’s decision and the ongoing court proceedings, and the MPs should be refrained from debating or discussing Act 355 during the session," he said.

The High Court will decide whether the private member's bill violates the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.- Mkini

EC to finish Selangor hearing tomorrow

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to complete its last redelineation public hearing by tomorrow and submit its final report to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for parliamentary approval.

The EC has continued the hearing in Shah Alam Concorde Hotel today with the morning session covering voters' objections and the afternoon session allocated for listening to objections from local councils.

By tomorrow, the Selangor government will also present its objections to the hearing which is the last to be held nationwide.

The seven-member panel was led by EC chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah.

The EC displayed its second round of the Selangor redelineation proposal on Jan 15. Unlike the first proposal which involved 18 parliamentary seats, the second was reduced to Tanjong Karang, Kuala Selangor, Gombak, Ampang and Pandan, which is 13 lesser than the first.

As other peninsular states have concluded the hearing, should the Selangor hearing finish by tomorrow, the EC would be able to submit the redelineation report to Najib during the March parliament session.

Thereafter, Najib would put the matter to a vote in the session beginning from March 5 to April 5. As the report did not increase or decrease the number of parliamentary seats, there is no need to amend the constitution.

Thus, the report only needs a simple majority to pass instead of a two-thirds majority. As BN holds the majority in the house, it is expected to be passed easily.

It is speculated that after the parliament session end, Najib will dissolve the house and hold the election between April 5 and May, after which Ramadan would begin.

The 13th parliament will automatically expire on June 24. As the constitution requires the election to be held within 60 days after the dissolution, the poll must be done by August 24.- Mkini

Kelantan wants negotiation with federal gov’t on Orang Asli issues

Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah has stated that the state government is willing to negotiate with the federal government on issues affecting Orang Asli communities.

According to Bernama, this is due to the concerns of these communities going beyond logging in the state, and encompassing the purported failures of the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa).

"Based on our last meeting with the representatives of the Orang Asli community, it was not just about logging, but also their dissatisfaction over the administration of their welfare by the federal government through Jakoa,” he was quoted as saying.

In a statement issued today, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang (photo) said that he supports the abolishment of Jakoa, which he classed as a symbol of BN’s failure to uplift Orang Asli communities in Malaysia.

Pointing to the dearth of ethnic Orang Asli in Jakoa, as well as in the entire civil service, Lim contended that the agency should be replaced by an endowment board – headed by an Orang Asli – to spearhead community development.

Lim noted that this was requested by Orang Asli communities, following a DAP visit to Pos Menson, Cameron Highlands.

“…DAP will go one step further, and we will propose to the Pakatan Harapan, if we can capture Putrajaya in the 14th general election, to appoint an Orang Asli as deputy minister who, with the Orang Asli head of the new board which will replace Jakoa, be jointly responsible to spearhead the mainstream development of the Orang Asli communities,” he said.

Logging concerns

In his statement, Lim also called for the federal and the Kelantan governments to set up a joint commission of inquiry to ensure that there are just and equitable solutions to the anti-logging grievances of the Orang Asli Temiars in Gua Musang.

“The Orang Asli Temiar community must not be regarded or treated as criminals or bad people when they are only peacefully protecting their legitimate rights as Malaysian citizens,” the statement read.

The Gua Musang blockades were set up to protect virgin forests from loggers and plantations, whose activities the Temiar claim are encroaching on their ancestral lands and harming the environment.

According to Bernama, however, Mohd Amar said not all from the Temiar community agreed with the blockade, which was organised by Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (Jaringan) Kelantan.

“I’m made to understand that 50 Orang Asli had lodged a police report on the blockades by Jaringan, claiming that they are causing them inconvenience.

“We cannot negotiate with Jaringan as it is not a registered body,” he said.

Last week, community activist Nasir Nash told Malaysiakini that dialogue between the Gua Musang Orang Asli and the federal and state governments on deforestation concerns were not “comprehensive.”

"They (the government) only invited the village chiefs and village committee members, who don't know the problems of the Orang Asli grassroots," Nasir had said.- Mkini

Report: The mauling of Kuok - a form of anti-Chinese dog-whistle

A report by the South China Morning Post has suggested that the attacks by Umno leaders on Malaysia's richest man Robert Kuok were designed to fuel "anti-Chinese" whispers.

"Many observers say the claims against Kuok are a form of racial dog-whistling by elements within the ruling BN coalition, suggesting they are part of an effort to whip up anti-Chinese sentiment in the Malay-majority country ahead of the vote," read the report.

Dog-whistle politics is an often-used term in US politics to describe coded languages which are discernable only by a select group of audiences and often not the majority.

Scholar Rashaad Ali told the SCMP that by attacking Kuok, the main target was actually the Chinese-dominated DAP and Malay fears.

"It was mostly a piece of political opportunism to hit out at the DAP and stoke Malay fears of a Chinese takeover," said Rashaad, a researcher at Singapore's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Kuok, who was born in Johor in 1923, has been Malaysia's richest man for decades.

Top Umno leaders began attacking Kuok's credibility and accusing him of being ungrateful following an article by Malaysia Today which alleged that the tycoon was funding DAP.

Kuok's office has denied the allegations and expressed gratitude for the opportunities afforded to him by the Malaysian government.

He once owned SCMP between 1993 and 2016, before the news organisation was acquired by China's Alibaba Group.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had expressed similar concerns that the Chinese community was the ultimate target behind Umno's calculated attacks on Kuok.- Mkini

Fuel prices to see hike of 3 to 5 sen at midnight

Fuel prices will increase by three to five sen effective midnight.

RON95 petrol will go up by three sen to RM2.20 per litre, while RON97 petrol will increase by four sen to RM2.47 per litre.

Meanwhile, diesel will see the steepest hike, at five sen, to RM2.18 per litre.

The announcement was made by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.

The hikes come after two consecutive declines in previous weeks.

The weekly fuel price system was implemented on March 30 last year.

It is determined by global oil prices based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) and the ringgit's strength against the US dollar.

The retail prices are announced every Wednesday evening and take effect the following day.

Weekly Fuel Price in Malaysia

RON 95

RON 97

Diesel

- Mkini

'LTAT not set up specifically for ex-soldiers social welfare'

A senior officer of the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) today disagreed with lawyers representing Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli that the board was specifically formed to look after the social and economic welfare of former army personnel.

Zakaria Sharif (above) who is the deputy chief executive officer of LTAT told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that it was actually set-up for the training and re-training of former army personnel.

"There is no socio-economic requirement," said the 59-year-old witness.

When Rafizi's lawyer Azhar Arman Ali showed the witness a copy of the LTAT Act 1973 and read the preamble of the Act which states that the LTAT was to provide socio-economic benefits to its members, Zakaria disagreed with it.

This led to Justice Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim to say that there was no need to question the witness further on this issue.

LTAT is suing Rafizi for defamation for his alleged statement that the fund was late in paying former soldiers their dues for six months.

[More to follow]

-Mkini