The Star reports that the Cabinet has agreed that the Royal Commission of Inquiry to the V. K. Lingam video to be made public. Copies of the report will also be available for sale!
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Zaid Ibrahim, who is in charge of law affairs, said that the Attorney-General Chambers will probe allegations in the report against individuals mentioned such as Datuk V.K. Lingam, business tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, former Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, retired Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
It is reported that express bus company, Konsortium Bas Ekspres Semananjung, has its licenses for all 232 express buses grounded for a month, effective yesterday.
The suspension is a result of an inquiry conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board revealed that many of the company’s buses frequently involved in road accidents, some of them, fatal. It is learnt that JPJ enforcement officers would be stationed at all 36 bus terminals in the country to ensure the suspension order was complied by the company.
Read the following posts on some of the road mishaps involving Konsortium express buses:
- 25 January 2008 Slim River bus tragedy
- 8 April 2008 Seremban bus tragedy
“It is almost fait accompli. A clutch of Sabah MPs will leave the Barisan Nasional, resurrect a defunct Sabah political party and then join Pakatan Rakyat,” says the first paragraph of this news item in The Malaysian Insider.
Initial rumors right after the general elections point to an exodus of BN MPs from Sabah, Sarawak and even Peninsula Malaysia joining any of the three Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties - PKR, DAP and PAS. The speculation is fueled when it was reported that PKR’s de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, met a number of BN leaders from the East Malaysian states on the prospects of crossing over.
However, in recent days, it seems, any exodus of BN MPs in Sabah, at least, to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat will be done via a state level political party rather than joining any of the peninsula-based parties. A defunct party, the United Sabah National Organization (Usno), which was once headed by the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun, is speculated to be revived. Usno was disbanded in the early 1990s after the entry of UMNO into Sabah with most of their members joining UMNO en bloc.
Kalabakan MP, Ghapur Salleh said, “We have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide where we want to sit… here or there,” when debating the royal address in Parliament earlier this week.
Since the general election, Sabah has been requesting for higher representation in the Federal Cabinet, but, the request was not met. Besides, local leaders want to Federal Government to pay 20% oil royalty instead of the current 5% to the state. They also urge the government to solve the long standing problem of illegal immigrants in the state.
It is believed that if Pakatan Rakyat can form the Federal Government soon, the matter will be looked into. For a start, a higher representation in the Federal Cabinet can be met, including offering a Deputy Prime Minister post to each of the 2 East Malaysian states.
Well, only time will tell, if the Land Below the Wind rumbles again, for the first time since 1994.
Gerakan’s former Vice President and former Wanita National Chairman, Rhina Bhar, quits the party she joined for the last 30 years, according to a report in The Star.
Rhina claims that the party is a multiracial party but of late has been making many racist remarks. She hit out at former President Lim Keng Yaik for practicing double standards and Acting President Dr. Koh Tsu Koon for not fielding any Indian candidates in the recent general elections.
For the record, Gerakan did not field any Indian candidate in both the 2004 and 2008 general elections.
At the moment, she wants to take a break from active politics.
“But I am keeping my options open to consider joining other political parties or non-governmental organisations, which can provide me an opportunity to serve the people,” she said.
