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.

Read more »

Pindaan had umur Angkatan Muda KeADILan (AMK) daripada keahlian di bawah 40 tahun kepada 35 tahun ke bawah menunjukkan kepimpinan AMK di bawah pimpinan Shamsul Iskandar @ Sam mempunyai pemikiran yang ‘reformed’ dan berjiwa besar. Sebagai teman sekelas beliau, saya tahu pindaan tersebut tidak memihak kepada beliau yang akan genap 35 tahun menjelang hujung bulan Disember tahun ini. Saya yakin pemimpin yang hebat akan sentiasa meletakkan kepentingan umat melebihi kepentingan diri. Riaksi yang bercampur dapat dilihat dikalangan pimpinan AMK apabila usul tersebut diluluskan. Yang penting AMK di bawah kepimpinan Shamsul telah mencipta sejarah anak muda negara yang lebih kehadapan dibandingkan dengan Dasar Belia negara sendiri! Peristiwa semalam telah membuka lembaran sejarah baru anak muda Malaysia. Tahniah AMK! Tahniah sahabatku Shamsul! We are creating a new Malaysia!

Krisis di Perak telah mengerah tenaga dan pemikiran saya untuk memahami apakah latar sejarah di sebalik kejadian tersebut. Saya telah mengambil buku karya Joseph M. Fernando ahli sejarah dari Universiti Melaya bertajuk The Making of the Malayan Constitution yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2002 oleh The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS).

Di muka surat 12 saya mnejumpai perenggan yang amat menarik perhatian yang boleh kita jadikan asas bagi memahami latar sejarah Demokrasi Pilihanraya di Malaysia. “The High Commisisoner had to overcome the reluctance of the Malay Rulers to the introduction of elections. [nota kaki] “Minutes of 10th Conference of Rulers, 22-23 February 1950. The Sultan of Kedah, for example, expalained his reservations on the introduction of elections: “The most important prerequisite for democracy is education … Without enlightened public opinion a democratic system of Government will be liable to unsteadiness or even confusion and chaos. One danger is that it may be transformed into a single party government through a few skilled electioneers working among the apathetic population and this will work towards dictatorship“.

Walaubagaimanapun Sir Gurney tidak bersetuju dengan hujah tersebut malah masih mahu meneruskan agenda pilihanraya Perbandaran pada tahun 1951. Yang menarik perhatian saya ialah alasan yang beliau gunakan, iaitu:

“Minutes of Conference of Rulers, 22-23 February 1950. Gurney told the Rulers: “I do not wish to pursue this matter further this morning, but I would like to see Municipal elections soon. If we were to go round the schools in this country, we should find that the views of the young people [emphasis added] are that they want elections“.   

Berdasarkan fakta di atas saya yakin bahawa kerisauan 50 tahun dulu oleh YM Sultan Kedah bahawa tidak terdapat “englightened public opinion“ mungkin terjawab dengan perkembangan pendidikan dan kecanggihan teknologi maklumat kini yang dapat kita lihat melalui blog, facebook dan sebagainya.

Saya yakin Anak Muda “the young people” istilah yang digunakan kira-kira lima puluh tahun lalu akan sekali mampu menyelesaikan krisis Demokrasi negara kita. Generasi Y yang wujud selepas Generasi X kini telah mendapat ‘pencerahan’ ataupun ‘enlightenment’ selepas 8 Mac 2008 akan mampu memastikan demokrasi di Malaysia subur dan kerisauan ”dictatorship” seperti yang digambarkan itu akan berlkau sekiranya krisis di Perak dibiarkan sebegitu sahaja.

Ayuh Anak Muda cipta sejarah demokrasi seperti yang pernah anda lakukan lebih 50 tahun dulu! You are the maker of Malaysian Democracy!

KENYATAAN AKHBAR

PECEROBOHAN DAN PENGABAIAN BANGUNAN KERAJAAN NEGERI PULAU PINANG OLEH KEMAS DAN UMNO, BALIK PULAU

Saya berasa amat kesal di atas tindakan oleh pimpinan UMNO Balik Pulau yang memutarbelitkan fakta kejadian yang kononnya pihak Pakatan Rakyat telah tidak membenarkan penggunaan bangunan kerajaan negeri di Kuala Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau untuk kegunaan pendidikan Tabika Kemas seperti yang dilaporkan di media utama tempatan pada 3.2.2009.

Sebagai penjelasan terhadap kekeliruan fakta saya sertakan dibawah kronologi peristiwa sebelum berlakunya seperti yang dilaporkan. Read more »

PRESS STATEMENT

12 January 2009

Democracy-the Missing Piece in the Search for Common Ground

The recent U.N. Resolution called for an immediate ceasefire of the Gaza-Palestine conflict and unimpeded provision and distribution of aid to Gaza, as well as measures to halt arms smuggling and open the borders. Yet, the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza-Palestine continue to escalate at an unprecedented rate, raising alarm of a greater regional conflict and threat to world peace.

The cruelty inflicted by the Zionists of Israel on civilians must be stopped immediately. However, ending the violence seems a near-impossible task when a compromise can hardly be reached by the warring parties. This is a conflict that bears a historical baggage which dates back centuries and although it is a land and territorial dispute, what matters are issues which remain to be a complex hybrid of religion and human rights. To say that it must be resolved “with care” is an understatement.
In response, almost all nations in the world have taken the position that this war must end and the conflict resolved. In mounting pressure, we have witnessed a surge of protest, anti-war vigils, press reports in the electronic and print media and even trade boycotts of U.S. and Israel products globally, particularly in the Muslim world. Malaysians have admirably answered the call for help by sending our own medical relief team and the public has been tremendously generous in the effort to despatch aid.

Restoration of Democracy

However, I am deeply concerned that we have also neglected other means of resolving this conflict which has time and time again threatened world peace. It is not the first time that we have despatched aid or exerted international pressure through the U.N. What we have done thus far, is timely and must be applauded. Yet, let us not dismiss the need to also embark on other equally meaningful of resolving this conflict and that is calling for the restoration of democracy in the Middle East.

It is clear that Israel and the U.S. have not recognized Hamas, despite it being democratically elected by the Palestinians. It is not helpful either that democracy as a principle has not thrived nor gained any strong footing in the Middle-East. We must recognize that this conflict affects the Middle East deeply and its relations with the other countries. The rejection of democracy and legitimate democratic practices only fuels disrespect and distrust on the political and legal systems of the region, when in fact these systems and their leaders must be depended on in order to facilitate genuine efforts to chart a road map to peace in the region. Albeit difficult, we must be honest and make no apologies in advocating democracy not just in Palestine but in the Middle East as a whole, in order to properly uphold the rule of law in the region.

What we have witnessed thus far, are reactive measures being taken once the conflict had began. We must learn our lesson as this conflict is hardly new, the efforts taken, clearly expected. In the face of such predictability, it is only proper that proactive measures be equally devised and not be marginalized in favour of reactive and temporal measures. Press reports evoking emotions do not result in proper understanding of the conflict. The media have an equally compelling role to play by educating the public of the long history of the conflict, how it began and the divergent views that exist on the issue. The average Malaysian in the kampong must be educated to know what the issue is truly about and how it affects us in particular. This issue in fact reflects what Malaysians have generally clamoured for, that is a genuine understanding of differences in order to facilitate a peaceful resolution to a conflict.

Respecting differences, upholding democratic principles

It is probably the Southeast Asian experience of handling multi-culturalism, religious diversity and the adoption of the principle of unity in diversity (bhinneka tungga ika), which ought to be shown as an example to resolve a conflict fraught with sensitive issues. As an important member of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), Malaysia must play and exemplary role to other Islamic nations who have equally stated their stand in condemning the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza-Palestine.

Yet, the Malaysian government disregarded democracy by practicing double standards and not honouring the freedom of speech and assembly enshrined in the Federal Constitution, which further erodes our credibility to play an effective role in the issue. As evidenced recently, we have witnessed a clear case of hypocrisy in the manner in which this issue has been handled and highlighted. Opposition Members of Parliament are condemned and arrested, whilst Government Parliamentarians are praised and put on the pedestal when in fact both sides share a common intention and shout a common slogan. Time is running short. We must rise above our differences and not let political interest stand in the way- of searching for a common ground and of advocating world peace.

Yours sincerely,

Yusmadi Yusoff, MP
Member of Parliament, Balik Pulau
Chairman of Strategy and International Affairs
Youth Wing of Parti KeAdilan Rakyat
Youth Chief of AMK PKR Penang

PEJABAT YB YUSMADI

I was recently shortlisted together with a few American University Washington College of Law Alumni who are active in politics globally.