The Angles from rulingState Governments wants to DEcolonise Sarawak the man born to change Baru Brian be the clean Chief Minister go for it

Defeat is the distance between a bedtime story and a wake-up call. The former starts with ‘Once upon a time...’ and lulls the voter to sleep. The second is an energiser that addresses a fresh dawn.UMNO BARISAN parties have become victims of their own success: their narrative has run its course, and they have not been able to find a further chapter to their saga.Tthe Angles from rulingState Governments  wants to DEcolonise Sarawak the man born to change Baru Brian be the clean Chief Minister go for it Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, has said in a press release that corruption also has its caste. “The way the former Chief Justice of India, K. G. Balakrishnan and former Chief Justice of Karnataka, P.D. Dinakaran, are being treated, there is no doubt that corruption knows the caste,” he said and added that the argument is not to absolve these people but to expose hypocrisy and double speak. “The Supreme Court hastened to admit petition against K.G. Balakrishnan but why not in other cases?” he queried.

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  “We will win, because we are right,  and because reason is on our side.”

Dr. Udit Raj said, “When Dr. A. S. Anand was Chief Justice of India in 2000, an affidavit through his wife was manipulated in Madhya Pradesh to claim the compensation of about Rs. 1 crore. Not only this, he tampered with date of birth. The lawyers, who helped in getting the compensation, were rewarded and inducted into High Courts. A senior journalist, Vineet Narayan, wanted to bring impeachment against him but politicians got afraid and did not cooperate with him. Then he appealed to the President of India, K. R. Narayanan, and, in turn, he sent to the Law Minister, Ram Jethmalani. This law minister acted and asked for comments from Dr. A. S. Anand. Then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee and BJP leader, Arun Jaitley came to his rescue and Jethmalani had to go. Such a huge difference is obvious while treating dalit vis-a-vis so called upper castes. The poor Vineet Narayan was made a scapegoat and Mr. Anand got instituted defamation case in Jammu and Kashmir High Court. It was deliberately to teach a lesson to Vineet Narayan as he was already the target of terrorists.Jammu and Kashmir was not safe for him. His house and office were raided and as a result, he fled away to foreign country. Till date, all corruption matters against Dr. A. S. Anand are pending and no one is there to rake them up. Thus there is huge benefit to be so called upper caste and specifically in Higher Judiciary. Dr. Anand not only successfully superannuated but was rewarded with Chairmanship of NHRC.”

“Another so called upper caste Chief Justice of India, Y. K. Sabbarwal’s case will illustrate that corruption is not an issue. In collaboration with builders and realtors in Delhi, he passed such judgments that hundreds of colonies and lakhs of houses and shops were sealed. Innumerable people were pushed to poverty and hunger and articles and expensive wares were rotten, destroyed and rusted in the sealed houses. His sons operated corporate activities from his house. Later on, they purchased a property on Sikandar Road, Connaught Place, N.Delhi worth about 100 crores. So far, corruption has not been established against K. G. Balakrishnan and even if there is something, then why Sabharwal was not meted out the same treatment?” said Dr. Udit Raj.

“Who doesn’t know the famous scandal of provident fund in Ghaziabad. The main witness of this case died in the jail and after that there was no hue and cry and so far his death is a mystery. The case is being tried in CBI court, the so called honourable judges don’t even bother to attend the hearings. The name of Tarun Chaterjee surfaced in the scandal when he was judge in the Supreme Court. Other judges’ names are also involved in this scandal. What happened to the media in these matters? P. D. Dinakaran cried that he was open for enquiry, the Bar Association, Media and Judges did not wait till the outcome of proper enquiry and he was punished. Not only he was deprived of his work, he was transferred to an insignificant place. Had he not been a dalit, he would have not have been meted out such treatment. What happened to that judge in Rajasthan when he remarked in the case of rape of dalit lady, Bhawari Devi that how can an upper caste commit rape? Yet another case of Dalit judge, Sushila Nagar in Rajasthan is landmark as to how how she was harassed and humiliated? Her progressive husband who was in the same position in the judiciary, had to resign and take up social mantle. There are thousands of such cases against so called upper caste judges but why there is no haste and activism on the part of media, judiciary, govts., bar associations? Why there are two standards for corruption?” asked Dr. Udit Raj in his press release.

Dr. Udit Raj further pointed out that so far, hundreds of judges have been appointed in the Supreme Court and till today only three have been from dalit background. Thousands of judges have been appointed in the High Courts and only few were from dalits and backward community. “Proportionately higher caste judges are more and if objectivity was observed in corruption matters, large number of heads would have rolled by now. There is no examination and set standard to make a lawyer a judge. This goes without saying that their appointments are quite subjective. The appointments are mainly done on the basis of nepotism, favouritism, casteism. Can we expect speedy and fair judgments in these circumstances?” the press release stated.

Baru has been given DAP’s nod to lead a PR-ruled Sarawak. — file pic

 Sarawak DAP announced today that it will endorse state PKR chief Baru Bian for the post of  should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) win the April 16 state election — even if the pact’s lynchpin fails to get the lion’s share of seats.

“We in the DAP have already stated our stand clear a while back, when the Sarawak PR council was first established, that Baru will be our next CM,” state DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said firmly during a press conference after PR launched its manifesto for Sarawak this afternoon.

When met later, Chong told The Malaysian Insider that this was because DAP leaders held Baru, a well-known church elder here, in high respect. Baru, who is a lawyer, is contesting the Ba’Kelalan state constituency.

“We have confidence in his leadership.

“It does not necessarily mean that PKR must win the majority number of seats for us to endorse a PKR representative for the post. Even if DAP secures the top number of seats, we will choose him,” he said.

When asked if the PKR central leadership was aware that Baru had already been selected to lead the state, party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that it was by convention that the party with the most number of seats would appoint a chief minister from among its representatives.

“In any state, the party with the most number of seats will lead the state government.

“Baru was chosen because he is the state PKR leader.

“But, we will still need to sit down and discuss.

“But for now, of course since Baru is the state leader, DAP has selected his name,” he said.

PKR is contesting a total of 49 seats in the current state polls. The DAP is contesting in 15 and PAS in five.

PKR will clash head-on with SNAP in 26 seats.

Chong said that only if Baru failed to wrest the Ba’Kelalan seat from Barisan Nasional would the DAP consider an alternative candidate for the highly-coveted post.

“We are not short of candidates,” he pointed out.

When met at the PKR city headquarters here, PAS central working committee member Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin claimed that the Islamist party was aware that Baru had already been selected as PR’s choice for the next Sarawak chief minister.

“In any case, it will not be a problem for us. This is not the main question that we are concerned about at the moment.

“We have with us three years of experience in our rule in Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan.

“And look at what happened in Perak when we won in Election 2008, someone had to rise from among us to be appointed the mentri besar,” he said.

Nizar was PR’s former Perak mentri besar until the state fell back to Barisan Nasional during the infamous 2009 power grab.

Just yesterday, PR leaders had admitted that the pact was yet to formulate a succession plan for Sarawak, should it come into power this April 16.

Its top leaders had said that they were yet to determine who among its leaders should sit in the state Cabinet and, most significantly, who would replace Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud as the Sarawak chief minister.

Taib, the country’s longest serving chief minister, has administered resource-rich Sarawak for a record 30 years and has been described as Malaysia’s most powerful state leader with a business empire that spans across at least eight nations.

In the state’s 2006 polls, BN won in 63 seats while DAP secured six and PKR and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) won one seat each.

“We never discussed this in 2008. But we sorted it out overnight. There will not be a scramble,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had said when asked if the pact had decided on a candidate to replace Taib.

The PR electoral pact had denied BN its customary two-thirds of Dewan Rakyat and five state governments in Election 2008, and Lim’s DAP is now the largest opposition party in Parliament following several defections from PKR’s fold. Despite having lesser seat than DAP, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim remains the parliamentary opposition leader.

Due to the electoral losses, then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was forced to announce a two-year transition plan in mid-2008 but even this was cut short when he handed over power to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in April 2009.

 Pakatan Rakyat (PR) promised Sarawakians today that it will hunt down and punish all corrupt leaders from the Abdul Taib Mahmud regime if it comes into power following the April 16 polls.

In a 10-point manifesto unveiled today, the pact pledged to establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate all allegations made against Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the country’s longest-serving chief minister, and all his leaders in the Sarawak government.

“We promise to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations of ill-gotten wealth of Barisan Nasional politicians and their cronies, to ensure the due process of law and prosecution and to return the wealth to the people of Sarawak,” its manifesto reads.

PKR’s Batu Lintang candidate See Chee How told reporters during the launch of the manifesto this afternoon that Taib had only succeeded in bankrupting the state in his lengthy 30-year rule since 1981.

He denounced the BN’s manifesto, unveiled in Sibu yesterday, scoffing at the ruling pact’s pledge to turn Sarawak into the richest state in Malaysia.

“Look, the CM (Taib) is still in the list of candidates for BN in the polls. So he will definitely continue on as the CM if BN wins the state election.

“But what has he achieved for Sarawak in his last 30 years as CM? He has inherited one of the richest states in Malaysia but turned it into the poorest state.

“Is this the transformation that BN wants for Sarawak? Can we trust Taib?” he thundered to the packed press conference room at PKR’s Kuching operations centre in Satok here.

PR’s manifesto concentrates on 10 major points — freedom of belief (in religion), good governance, land reform and native land commission, eradication of poverty, federal-state relations, greener Sarawak, a fair deal for all Sarawakians, culture and education, rights of women and those with special needs and investment into the future.

In its pledge for land reform, PR said it would establish a native land commission, which will be tasked to investigate all Native Customary Rights (NCR) land claims and to survey and issue leases to such land in accordance with native customs.

PR also announced that it would automatically renew all expiring land leases for 99 years, unconditionally.

“All in perpetuity and 999-year leases will remain when land is approved for development, and land alienation will be carried out through open tenders,” said the manifesto.

It plans to restore local government elections for all local authorities including the adatruai and/or custom of choosing village leaders.

Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said the main selling point in PR’s manifesto lies in BN’s failure to deliver most of its promises to the state.

“BN has a track record of failing in Sarawak. We are the new, dynamic team,” he said.

He said that many BN leaders were themselves unhappy with Taib and his policies, adding that they were languishing in the “tyranny of the administration”.

See said PR was gaining confidence in its contest for Sarawak due to the positive feedback received from the local folk during the first three days of campaign.

“There are a lot of signs showing that we have a chance to be the next government in Sarawak,” he said.

Asked if the high number of independents in the polls would spoil PR’s chances, Chong shook his head and said: “The contest is between BN and PR.”