Terence Netto gets it wrong regarding Anwar and PKR

I write this in response to Terence Netto's comment in Mkini on Saturday 10th May titled "Anwar under attack in PKR".  

Terence,quite oddly, did not speak to any of us named in the meeting as present in Anwar's house ( myself, Nurul Izzah, Tian Chua, Dr Syed Husin) despite his 40 years of experience as a journalist, before he wrote his article.

Clearly he preferred to rely solely on secondhand and possible third-hand accounts of what allegedly took place to base his account rather than to also talk directly to those he had named.

As a consequence of swallowing wholesale the version of his sources, he got some very basic facts wrong.

Terence stated that Saifuddin and Elisabeth Wong were there - that is false.

He also stated incorrectly that subsequently Dr Syed met Saifuddin to discuss whether he would withdraw. This is also not true. 

After reading Terence's article, Dr Syed Husin sent him an sms saying he had never met Saifuddin to discuss such a matter.

Terence, very oddly again, continues to leave in his article the statement saying Dr Syed had never denied meeting Saifuddin, or even publish Dr Syed's response to him.

He also does not publish Dr Syed's statement in his sms saying that Terence's allegation that Tan Sri Khalid had left in a "huff" was not true.

Dr Syed had told Terence that Tan Sri had simply left at the time he had said he would leave for another engagement.  In fact, Tan Sri Khalid shook everyone's hand, including mine, cordially in his customary style before leaving.

However the key sting of his story was that this was a meeting orchestrated by Anwar since it took place at his home, and it was Anwar's agenda to get Tan Sri Khalid to withdraw.

Terence ought to understand a simple matter - Anwar is not responsible for the agenda and content of discussion of every meeting of groups of party leaders at his home or office or anywhere else for that matter. Many of these meetings happen at the behest of some or all of those who are present. To assert otherwise is simply being disingenous.

Finally the suggestion made by Terence that the meeting discussed the continuation of Tan Sri Khalid as MB of Selangor as a quid pro quo of his withdrawal is false. It was improper and unfair to assert this as a fact when none of those said to have been present at the discussion were even asked by Terence for a response. 

Finally I need to place on record that Anwar said in that discussion he will not be asking anyone to withdraw. This is the only part of a private discussion amongst individuals which I will disclose because it relates directly to the spin in Terence's article that this is an Anwar orchestrated agenda.

Sivarasa Rasiah

Political Bureau member

Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Fund Raising Dinner PRU 13: Parliament Subang

On behalf of PKR Subang, we would like you to join us in the Fund Raising Dinner on 13/4/2013 from 6.30pm at Padang Kota, Kota Damansara. 

The tickets are sold at RM500 and RM1000 per table 10px. Halal/non halal tables available.  

The confirmed speakers are Sdr Dr Dzulkifli (PAS), YB Tian Chua,  YB Sivarasa,  YB Elizabeth Wong and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan. 

Please call Mr Lam 0162281133,
Chew  0122072211, 
Jack 0166268566. 

Thank you.

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Jangan Guna SOSMA Untuk Kempen Pilihanraya

PETALING JAYA  11 APRIL: Kenyataan Penolong Pengarah Undang-undang dan Pendakwaan PDRM, Datuk Razali Basri bahawa polis akan menggnakan Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah khas) 2012 (Sosma) bercanggah dengan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR)

Setiausaha Agung KEADILAN, Datuk Saifuddin menjelaskan, pertemuannya dengan SPR sebelum ini menyatakan Akta Kesalahan Pilihan Raya 1994 yang akan digunakan.

“Merujuk nota ikhtisar SPR dengan parti politik, jawapan SPR kepada soalan sama ada Akta Perhimpunan Aman (akan digunakan) SPR menegaskan semua bentuk kempen (tertakluk) dibawah menyatakan Akta Kesalahan Pilihan Raya 1994

“Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah khas) 2012 (Sosma) tak terpakai. Itu pengasingan yang sangat jelas. SPR patut beri kenyataan kerana pandangan yang berbeza,” katanya kepada pemberita pada sidang media di ibu pejabat KEADILAN, hari ini.

Terdahulu, Naib Presiden KEADILAN, Sivarasa Rasiah merujuk kenyataan Razali versi The Star semalam bahawa polis akan menggunakanAkta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah khas) 2012 (Sosma) sepanjang tempoh kempen pilihan raya.

Razali dalam laporan itu menyebut, individu yang didapati menimbulkan kekecohan atau ancaman keselamatan sepanjang tempoh berkempen akan disiasat di bawah Sosma dan didakwa mengikut Kanun Keseksaan.

” Ada undang-undang biasa seperti Kanun Keseksaan (Penal Code) boleh digunakan. Kita desak polis hentikan kenyataan seperti ini.

“Kita nak ingatkan polis badan atau institusi yang ada kuasa (dalam urusan pilihan raya) bukan polis. Pihak utama adalah SPR.

“Jangan guna Sosma untuk kempen pilihan raya Undang-undang ini cukup teruk, digubak untuk menggantikan ISA. Tak ada kaitan dengan perjalanan dan aktiviti dalam tempoh kempen,” kata Sivarasa.

   

keadilandaily.com

 

 

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Kejohanan Bowling anjuran DUN Bukit Lanjan

Sivarasa bersama Elizabeth Wong telah merasmikan Kejohanan Bowling anjuran DUN Bukit Lanjan di CURVE. Seramai 48 pasukan (3 orang setiap pasukan) telah mengambil bahagian dalam program yang ulung kalinya dianjurkan.

Pemilihan PKR Cabang Subang

YB Sivarasa telah dilantik sebagai Ketua Cabang untuk PKR Cabang Subang dalam satu pemilihan dalam suasana yang penuh semangat dan keriangan. Syabas dan tahniah kepada semua ahli-ahli and penyokong PKR Cabang Subang.

30% of PKR posts set aside for women

PKR will amend its constitution at a special congress to be held in Kajang on Saturday to enshrine democratic populism, presidential term limits, greater gender parity, and faster maturation of young leaders.
MCPX“All in all,” said vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, chairman of the constitutional amendments committee, in an interview with Malaysiakini, “the thrust of the amendments is to facilitate members’ direct participation in the process of electing the leadership of the party.” This democratic populism will begin with a change in semantics: no longer will quasi-feudal terms be used to denote party structures so that a branch (formerly ‘cawangan’) will be called ‘ranting’, a division (previously ‘bahagian’) will be termed ‘cabang’, and the supreme council (‘majlis tertinggi’) will replaced by central executive council.
“In other words, we are opting for coinages that reflect our egalitarian ethos,” explained lawyer Sivarasa, a prominent member of the PKR and, by extension, the Pakatan Rakyat legal team tasked with litigating the many cases involving the opposition in the courts.
Egalitarian terminology paves the way for direct participation of each branch member in the election by secret ballot of leaders at the divisional level and the election by every divisional leader of the national leadership. “Thus we become the only party in the country that will elect its divisional leadership directly by branch members and will elect the national leadership by every member of the divisional leadership,” said Sivarasa. The current practice in most political parties in the country is for branches to elect delegates who will then elect the leadership of the divisions. The latter will nominate delegates to the general assembly of the party which will elect the national leadership of the party and its supreme council.
“The changes to the process of electing the divisional leadership, and from that point the national leadership, allow for more democratic participation in choosing leaders to helm PKR,” explained Sivarasa.
30 percent of post reserved for women
Term limits are meant only for the president who can hold the post for three consecutive three-year terms. The MCA are the only political party in the country with a similar limit on the presidential term of office.
Also, to reflect the growth in the size of the party’s membership and its spread over almost the entire Malaysian nation, the present five vice-presidential slots – three elected and two appointed – will be increased to seven – four elected and three appointed.
Presently, PKR has a membership of nearly half of million. To recognise the contributions of women and to boost gender parity, 30 percent of all posts in the party, from branch to national leadership, are reserved for women. This will not affect the women’s wing of the party which will continue to be operated and helmed by women.
“One must see the party which was set up a decade ago as a work in progress such that the allocation of thirty percent of the posts to women as a measure to encourage women’s participation and boost the growth of women leaders,” Sivarasa asserted.
To boost the youth wing, the party will reduce the upper limit of eligibility to 35 years of age from the present 40, to “conform to the international convention on the definition on youth”, said Sivarasa.
He said the changes overall were to help streamline the administrative and disciplinary procedures of the party so that it can function as an effective and transparent political entity.