Dear fellow Friends of Justice:

Justice for Anwar Ibrahim

Over the last 2 years, my colleagues and I have been on a concerted campaign to highlight the political persecution of Malaysia’s champion and advocate of freedom, democracy and justice, Mr Anwar Ibrahim, who is also Leader of the Opposition in our Parliament on charges of sodomy for the second time since the first charge (in 1998) was overturned by the courts in 2004. As a result of our efforts, there is increasing support from the Malaysian people that this humiliation and violation of a fellow citizen’s fundamental rights should be cease forthwith. It is a blemish on Malaysia’s international image.

The present case against Mr. Anwar which is before the courts should be dropped forthwith. This is because there is foundation in fact for this case to proceed at the expense of taxpayers’ money and the conscience of the peace loving and decent Malaysians. Four accredited doctors including a panel of three doctors from a Malaysian government hospital concluded there was no sign of sexual assault on the accuser, Mr. Saiful Bukhari. The Malaysian government has persistently refused to heed the voices of its citizenry and, therefore, we have little choice but to take this tragic episode in our history before the international community.

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Saturday February 20, 2010

Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff said senior leaders should address this issue during the coalition’s inaugural national convention in Shah Alam tomorrow.

“Pakatan leaders should present themselves as pro-active, progressive and prepared to give young talents a chance to join in the political decision-making process, he said.

“Tomorrow’s convention is the ideal platform for the coalition to portray this.”

For instance, Yusmadi said Pakatan could show how it is be able to provide opportunities for youth to become top politicians, activists, businessmen or whichever field they desire to excel in and contribute to nation-building .

He said that young voters were the instruments of change in last year’s general election and it was only natural to embrace more young talent into Pakatan’s fold.

“Without young talents, Pakatan cannot possibly put up a youthful front. It is imperative to attract dynamic, talented and progressive minded leaders.

“Pakatan needs to show publicly that it is proactive in moving away from current conventional youth policy of Barisan Nasional, designed by Umno,” said Yusmadi.

He said the BN/Umno youth policy is only used to fish for votes and make them yes-men for senior leaders.

“Umno and BN patronage politics is more about the money men making decisions on the behalf of everybody.

“Pakatan shall not emulate it,” insisted Yusmadi, the PKR national youth exco in charge of international affairs.

Old school thinking must be discarded

Pakatan must show that the coalition is prepared to depart from old school thinking and bring in fresh young talent to effect changes in the political landscape.

He said today’s youth were no longer keen to be bystanders and just be part of patronage politics espoused by Umno and BN.

He said they wanted to be part of the political decision-making process to decide the present and future direction of the country.

“Pakatan should also address decisively the grouses among minorities such as Indians, Sabah and Sarawak ethnic groups against the coalition,” said Yusmadi.

“They should unveil the coalition’s strategy to forge close ties with minority groups such as Hindraf and civil rights movements in Sabah and Sarawak, and labour organisations.”

“Addressing issues pertaining minority and workers’ interests and rights is vital if Pakatan wants to be a hybrid organisation,” said Yusmadi, the former Penang youth chief.

Penang PKR Youth chief Yusmadi Yusoff said Pakatan cannot rely on mere political ideology and identity if it wanted to remain relevant in the rapidly changing political landscape.

He suggests a Pakatan mainstream setup that would include non-political grassroots leaders from NGOs and civil society groups.

“Pakatan should become a hybrid coalition; quasi-political and (also) non-political (members) to share political power and decision-making power with non-politicians as well.”

Such a concept, says the young Balik Pulau parliamentarian, would expand Pakatan’s agenda and make it relevant to the people’s sentiments and aspirations.

“All politicians must comprehend the fact that political power was given by the people. The people are the real stake holders in political power. Therefore, it’s not wrong to include them into our political sphere,” he said.

‘Choose members wisely’

However, he cautioned that Pakatan could not simply include just any non-political organisation into its fold without obtaining a consensus on a common agenda and political destiny.

He said the NGOs and civil rights groups should first agree with Pakatan’s struggle, reform drive and a common agenda to bring about political change for the betterment of the people.

The groups, said Yusmadi, should also agree to work hand-in-hand with Pakatan political allies to go to the ground, disseminate information and effect the desired change.

“Only then the objective of a hybrid coalition can yield the desired results,” he said.

According to Yusmadi, the current political scenario was not about political membership and one-upmanship games.

“People now demand results. They are not interested in politicking. They want the politicians to perform and deliver,” he said, adding that politicians would benefit enormously by having non-political grassroots leaders by their side.

He said NGO and civil rights leaders would represent the interests and aspirations of grassroots, providing valuable input for Pakatan to draw up plans and strategies to carry out people-orientated programmes.

In this aspect, he said a close cooperation with the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and civil rights movements in Sabah and Sarawak was crucial and vital for Pakatan.

He said minority interests and rights should form part of Pakatan’s hybrid agenda.

A hybrid political and non-political coalition would be incomplete, Yusmadi explained, without direct and effective participation of these civil society groups.

He said it was time for politicians to shred their old way of thinking that political governance was only for politicians.

People, he said, now wanted to be part of the political governance and decision-making process. They were no longer interested in being just bystanders, to be guided by politicians.

He believes the people now want to self-determine their common destiny and that his idea, if realised, would help them do so.

“It would encourage the desired bottom-to-top political development, unlike the Barisan Nasional’s top-to-bottom political style,” he said.

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