Khusrin does not deserve state secretary post, says Khalid Samad

PETALING JAYA, Jan 23 — Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad derided Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi’s capability as Selangor’s top civil post, saying the govenment officer was not qualified to be state secretary.

The PAS central political bureau member claimed that the former Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director was only capable of antagonising the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government.

“Khusrin does not deserve to hold his post,” Khalid (picture) told a 250-strong crowd at a public rally organised by the Respect the Voice of the People of Selangor (HSRS) movement today.

“Khusrin’s expertise is to catch ustaz (religious teachers), close down suraus, close down mosques, block ceramahs, and make press statements about Pakatan Rakyat allegedly committing treason. That is Khusrin’s only expertise,” he added.

The PAS MP’s attacks against Khusrin come as the Selangor government plans to amend the state constitution tomorrow to break the impasse over Khusrin’s appointment.

Khusrin is known to have clashed with the PR state government during his tenure as the Jais director.

In 2009, Khusrin had barred Khalid from preaching, claiming that the latter’s sermons were centred on politics instead of religious issues.

On Wednesday, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the amendment to the state constitution would restore the powers of appointment of the state’s senior civil servants to the state and the Sultan, who will then act on the advice of the mentri besar.

Selangor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Noh Omar has said the state opposition will reject the amendments.

But Khalid Ibrahim said tomorrow’s emergency state assembly sitting was aimed at heightening awareness over the federal government’s alleged robbing of the Selangor Sultan’s and the mentri besar’s powers to appoint the state secretary.

Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin (pic) branded Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi an Umno agent. – Pic by Jack Ooi
The Selangor government claimed that Khusrin’s appointment was invalid as the mentri besar had not been informed of the appointment.

Today, Khalid Samad accused Umno of attempting to sabotage the state through Khusrin’s appointment.

“I call on the people of Selangor to reject Khusrin and to amend the state constitution so that the rakyat’s powers are respected,” said Khalid to rousing applause.

He also claimed that Khusrin’s name was the last on a list of names recommended by the federal Public Service Commission.

“But this is the type of person that Umno wants to force onto the Selangor government,” said the PAS MP.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan has said the Selangor constitution did not require him to consult the state government when appointing the state secretary.

Former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin also fired salvos at Khusrin today.

“He is an Umno agent sent to wrest Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat,” Nizar told the crowd as the rain pelted down.

“The state secretary in Selangor and Perak are obedient to Putrajaya even though their allowances are paid by the state government,” he added.

The ousted Perak mentri besar called on the people at the rally to defend Selangor from falling to Barisan Nasional (BN).

“We will tell (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Najib Razak that you can do what you want in Perak, but you cannot take Selangor,” said the fiery PAS leader to loud cheers and claps.

“To destroy Umno’s villainy, I call on the people of Selangor to defend your rights,” he added.

Nizar was ousted from his post when three PR lawmakers turned independent and threw their support behind a BN government in February 2009, just 11 months after PR captured the state in Election 2008.

Kalau nak debat soal peribadi saya sedia, Anwar cabar Najib

Anwar berceramah di Taman Gunung Emas, Labis malam tadi. — Foto Choo Choy May
LABIS, 23 Jan — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim turun membantu kempen PAS-Pakatan Rakyat di Tenang malam tadi dengan mencabar Datuk Seri Najib Razak berdebat mengenai soal peribadi jika perdana menteri terus menyerang soal peribadinya dan tidak sanggup sentuh dasar ekonomi kedua-dua perikatan.

Dua minggu lalu Anwar mencabar Najib agar berdebat berhubung dasar ekonomi kedua-dua Barisan Nasional (BN) dan Pakatan Rakyat termasuk mengenai Buku Jingga.

“Saya cabar debat soal ekonomi tapi beliau (Najib) cakap peribadi, tapi kalau nak debat peribadi saya terima.

“Saya beri ingatan kepada beliau, kalau sebut lagi soal peribadi, saya cabar beliau debat soal peribadi.

“Tapi sekarang adalah soal ekonomi sebab itu saya cabar debat soal ekonomi,” kata Anwar ketika memberikan ceramah di Taman Gunung Emas di sini malam tadi.

Ketika berada di sini awal minggu lalu, Najib berkata Anwar sewajarnya jangan terlalu mendesak untuk berdebat kerana beliau mempunyai pelbagai maklumat yang boleh menyebabkan ketua pembangkang itu “demam” kelak jika dibongkarkan ketika berdebat.

Perdana Menteri menegaskan bahawa beliau sebenarnya tidak gentar untuk berdebat dengan Anwar tetapi menyifatkan tindakan berdebat itu hanya akan membuang masa kerana pembohongan ketua pembangkang itu dan kegagalannya menunaikan janji.

“Dah cukuplah pembohongan, janji banyak tak boleh buat, ini nak debat dengan saya pula, buang masa. Saya boleh debat dengan dia, saya tak takut, saya dengan menteri saya tahu segala maklumat.

“Jangan cuba nak cabar saya, kalau saya dedahkan segala-galanya, ada orang yang demam nanti,” katanya.

Gelanggang kempen kerusi DUN Tenang dibuka secara rasmi semalam dengan menyaksikan persaingan satu lawan satu antara calon BN dan Pakatan Rakyat.

BN menurunkan Mohd Azahar Ibrahim, 39, iaitu bekas Penolong Pentadbir Tanah Daerah Kecil Rengit manakala PAS yang mewakili Pakatan Rakyat mencalonkan Ketua Dewan Muslimat Labis Normala Sudirman, 38.

Pilihan raya kecil DUN Tenang diadakan berikutan kematian penyandangnya dari BN, Allahyarham Datuk Sulaiman Taha pada 17 Disember lalu.

Sulaiman menewaskan calon PAS, Mohd Saim Siran dengan majoriti 2,492 undi pada pilihan raya umum 2008.

Anwar, yang juga Ketua Umum Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) mencabar Najib berdebat soal ekonomi mengenai Program 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat, namun ditolak pengerusi BN itu.

Najib berkata Anwar tidak perlu bersusah payah memikirkan soal debat kononnya demi kebajikan rakyat kerana BN akan bertanggungjawab dalam memastikan soal kebajikan rakyat dipelihara.

Selasa lalu, Anwar sekali lagi mencabar Najib agar berdebat dengan beliau berhubung kedudukan ekonomi negara dan juga mengenai Buku Jingga Pakatan Rakyat dengan menulis surat secara formal.

Pada 19 Disember lalu, Pakatan Rakyat menawarkan Program 100 Hari yang terdiri daripada 10 inisiatif jika pihaknya mengambil alih Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13.

Dalam ceramahnya malam tadi, Anwar mempertahankan Program 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat sambil menyifatkan gabungan tiga parti komponen termasuk PAS dan DAP mampu memberikan masa depan yang lebih baik kepada rakyat sekiranya berjaya merampas Putrajaya daripada BN.

“Ini program (100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat) kita buat bukan untuk lima tahun, tapi 100 hari kalau kita perintah (Putrajaya) kita akan laksanakan.

“Perdana Menteri kata kalau Pakatan Rakyat perintah Malaysia akan bankrap, saya tak cabar beliau debat tapi beliau kata kita tidak bertanggungjawab.

“Kalau kita perintah ini yang akan kita lakukan, mana negara akan bankrap... negara bankrap kerana pemimpin curi duit rakyat dan rasuah,” katanya.

Tambah Anwar, sekiranya Pakatan Rakyat memerintah Putrajaya barisan kepimpinan parti itu akan memastikan pentadbiran negara akan berjalan dengan baik tanpa amalan-amalan yang tidak baik.

“Jadi pemimpin bagi wang kepada kroni, bila tanya kata jaga rakyat... sebab itu saya ajak Perdana Menteri berdebat tapi beliau mengelak.

“Saya tahu beliau tidak boleh jawab... maknanya kalau kita memerintah kita tidak akan bertolak ansur, kita akan hukum siapa yang terlibat baik orang Melayu, Cina atau India.

“Sebab itu kita yakin kalau boleh perintah kita akan bersihkan dan kembalikan wang rakyat,” katanya.

Suffers a stroke and partial paralisys after amorous partner gives her a love bite

The 44-year-old was taken to the Auckland Middlemore Hospital after she lost the use of her arm

By Richard Shears

it's well-known to anyone in a relationship that love can hurt - but one woman was left partially paralysed after a romantic encounter went wrong.
In the first reported case of its kind, the 44-year-old from New Zealand suffered a stroke after her amorous partner gave her a love bite.
She was driven to hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, after she experienced loss of movement in her left arm after an amorous encounter.
Doctors suspected she had had a small stroke - but could not find any obvious cause.
Then they noticed a fading bruise on the right side of her neck - a love bite, also known as a hickey.
Underneath the bruise they found the cause of the stroke - damage to a major artery, where a blood clot had formed after the suction of the love bite.
The clot had then travelled to the woman's heart, causing the stroke. She then noticed the problem while she was sitting watching television.

'Because it was a love bite, there would be a lot of suction,' said Dr Teddy Wu, who treated the Maori woman at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.
'To my knowledge, it's the first time someone has been hospitalised by a "hickey",' he said.
'Because of the physical trauma of the sucking,  it had made a bit of bruising inside the vessel (the artery).
'The clot had gone into the woman's heart and caused a minor stroke that led to the loss of movement.
'We looked around the medical literature and that example of having a lovebite causing something like that hasn't been described before,'
The unnamed woman was treated with warfarin, an anti-coagulant, which resulted in the clot disappearing almost entirely within a week.
Dr Wu reported the case in the current edition of the New Zealand Medical Journal.
He told The Press newspaper in Christchurch that if the problem had not been treated quickly the woman could have suffered further strokes.
'Strokes have different levels of severity,' he said, 'but possibly patients can become paralysed.'

Rosmah’s visits according to the rules, says Rais

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — Critics of the overseas visits of the prime minister’s wife do not understand government regulations, Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said today. He said that visits of the kind Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor undertook recently to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bangladesh were provided for by the Members of the Administration Ethics 1988/1999 decided by the Cabinet.
Rais cited Article 1180A of the ethics, which said that the wife of a member of the administration may represent her husband or make an overseas visit on official business as long as it does not contradict the function and service of the minister or his ministry.
He told reporters here that the criticism from certain quarters over the visits of Rosmah, accompanied by the wives of ministers, “stems from political ill-will” with the opposition belittling whatever the government did and slandering the people involved.
Rais said that Rosmah had visited Oman at the invitation of its government to discharge her duties as a woman who cared about the education of children, for the disabled and the welfare of women.
“She should play a part to help the nation and the prime minister in carrying out supplementary work in the nation’s interest,” he added.
Rais said it was the responsibility of his ministry to explain to the people the importance of the visits in helping the nation.
He said the visits had indirectly helped to foster closer ties with the three countries.
Rosmah was reported to have said yesterday that she was not affected by the negative comments on her visits because they were arranged after she received the invitation of the government or a woman minister of the country concerned.
-Bernama

Bernama Berbohong Lagi

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 Jan — Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menegaskan beliau tidak berganjak daripada hasratnya mahu berdebat dengan Datuk Seri Najib Razak mengenai Program 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat dan kedudukan ekonomi negara. “Saya memandang serius laporan Bernama bahawa saya tidak mahu berbahas secara terbuka dengan Datuk Seri Najib.
“Laporan tersebut kononnya memetik kenyataan saya di Alor Setar ketika Majlis Wacana Maqasid Syariah di Kolej Insaniah Alor Setar petang tadi (semalam).
“Saya tegaskan di sini, saya sedikitpun tidak berganjak dari kenyataan sebelumnya serta hasrat yang terkandung dalam surat rasmi berniat mempelawa Perdana Menteri untuk berdebat secara terbuka demi kepentingan rakyat Malaysia seluruhnya,” kata beliau dalam kenyataan dikeluarkan lewat malam tadi.
Sehubungan itu, Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat berharap Bernama akan menarik balik dan membetulkan laporannya semalam di bawah tajuk “Saya tidak ajak Perdana Menteri berdebat, hanya berbincang — Anwar”.
Laporan itu antara lain menyebut, Anwar tidak pernah mengajak Najib untuk berdebat mengenai Program 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat, sebaliknya hanya mahu berbincang.
Katanya, ia adalah perbincangan terbuka secara baik melibatkan pihak Perdana Menteri dan pihaknya yang mewakili Pakatan Rakyat.
“Ia perbincangan secara baik... kita tengahkan pandangan kita, mereka jawab dan kemukakan pandangan mereka. Tapi mereka tak setuju. Sebelum ini kita ajak menerusi media. Semalam surat menyusul. Respons tak begitu baik,” katanya di Alor Setar.
Anwar (gambar) juga dipetik berkata, menerusi perbincangan itu pihak beliau dan pihak Najib akan mengemukakan alasan masing-masing untuk rakyat menilainya.
Katanya, beliau memilih untuk berbincang dengan Najib kerana Perdana Menteri yang bertanggungjawab kepada ekonomi.
“Sewaktu perbincangan dia boleh kemukakan program ekonominya seperti ETP (Program Transformasi Ekonomi) dan yang lain-lain,” katanya.
Beliau berkata ia bukanlah sesuatu yang membuang masa kerana ia bertujuan memberi penjelasan kepada rakyat tentang program ekonomi.
Dalam kenyataan dikeluarkan kelmarin, Anwar membuat pelawaan kedua kepada Najib agar berdebat dengan beliau berhubung kedudukan ekonomi negara dan juga mengenai Buku Jingga Pakatan Rakyat.
Ketua Umum PKR membuat pelawaan kedua itu menerusi surat rasmi kelmarin susulan yang pertama 11 Januari lalu.
Anwar berkata beliau membuat pelawaan kedua itu selepas tiadanya respons daripada Najib.
Salinan surat itu juga diedarkan kepada media ketika secara kebetulan Najib membuat kenyataan di Tenang, Labis agar Anwar jangan membuat cabaran berdebat supaya tidak “demam”.
Najib berkata, Anwar sewajarnya jangan terlalu mendesak untuk berdebat kerana beliau mempunyai pelbagai maklumat yang boleh menyebabkan ketua pembangkang itu “demam” kelak jika dibongkarkan ketika berdebat.
Perdana Menteri menegaskan bahawa beliau sebenarnya tidak gentar untuk berdebat dengan Anwar tetapi menyifatkan tindakan berdebat itu hanya akan membuang masa kerana pembohongan ketua pembangkang itu dan kegagalannya menunaikan janji.
Sementara itu dalam kenyataanya, Naib Ketua Pemuda PAS Wilayah Persekutuan Mohamad Suhaimi Abdul Aziz berkata pihaknya mahu Najib menerima pelawaan Anwar untuk berdebat.
Katanya, debat ini penting bagi melihat hujah dan fakta yang dilontarkan antara Perdana Menteri mewakili kerajaan Malaysia dengan Anwar selaku ketua pembangkang di Parlimen.
“Dewan Pemuda PAS Wilayah merasakan rakyat berhak mengetahui apakah kandungan yang dijanjikan oleh Pakatan Rakyat dalam Buku Jingga benar-benar realistik ataupun retorik semata-mata.
“Perdana Menteri pula boleh mengemukakan hujah balas dengan mengemukakan apakah sumbangan dan peranan yang dimainkan oleh kerajaan selama ini terhadap rakyat,” kata beliau.
Malah kata beliau, debat antara kedua-dua tokoh negara ini bakal menjadi mercu tanda negara yang mengamalkan demokrasi sihat.
“Ia bakal memahat sejarah tersendiri apabila seorang Perdana Menteri mampu berhadapan dengan sesiapa sahaja demi kepentingan rakyat dan negaranya.
“Rakyat pula akan mengenang dan menghormati Perdana Menteri Malaysia sebagai PM yang paling ‘gentleman’, berjiwa rakyat, tidak beretorik, dan berjiwa besar sekiranya penerima pelawaan debat ini,” katanya lagi.