PETALING JAYA, July 4 - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah said a crime must have caused private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to retract the statutory statement he made public yesterday.
"I am very troubled that last night, one way or another, and true to Mr Bala's concerns, another crime was committed. The crime was something which caused Mr Bala this morning to retract the statements he made on Tuesday 1st July, 2008," said Sivarasa at a press conference in the PKR headquarters here late this afternoon.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 -Malaysia's top military intelligence officer, Lt Gen Dato' Mohd Salleh Ismail, made a rare appearance at a press conference before he proceeded to dismiss the existence of any intelligence report originating from his agency with regards to the Altantuya murder or threats to Anwar's safety.
In light of the past week's escalating allegations and counter-allegations between the Datuk Seris Najib Razak and Anwar Ibrahim, seen as the two PMs-in-waiting, the public presence of the military intelligence chief is surely a sign that things are reaching some kind of breaking point.
Salleh went so far as to claim that the military had no intelligence with regards to these matters even though they involved not just top political figures in our country but the government's top executives as these were "criminal cases. The military looks at things related to security, e.g., militants and terrorists. Like you (the press), we are simply monitoring events."
The ghost of 1998 is haunting the police probe into the fresh sodomy accusation against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Specifically, the circumstantial nature of the evidence brought before the court in 1998 - the elastic dates of the alleged offences; the less than performance of the main prosecution witness Azizan abu Bakar; the absence of conclusive DNA evidence and breaks in the chain of evidence - is haunting the fresh sodomy investigation.
And unless police investigators have conclusive proof that the Opposition leader sexually assaulted his aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, this case is not going to see the inside of a court room. Indeed, in all likelihood, the police are going to close the case and say no further action.
JULY 4 — Malaysians are facing a quandary: just who or what should they believe in anymore?
Should they believe P. Balasubramaniam of July 3, who tossed a confetti of allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a statutory declaration.
Or should they believe P. Balasubramaniam of July 4, who retracted the explosive allegations and said that he had been acting under duress when he told the whole world that Abdul Razak Baginda told him that Najib had a sexual relationship with Altantuya Shaariibuu.
He betrayed little sign of duress yesterday at the news conference. Initially he allowed Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his lawyer to hold court and spill out salacious details of the statutory declaration.
After warming up, he took questions from reporters, enjoyed some refreshments later.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The Najib-Altantuya Shaariibuu case took a dramatic turn today when the private investigator who made startling allegations about the Deputy Prime Minister’s relations with the Mongolian model retracted his statutory declaration.
P. Balasubramaniam told reporters that all of what he alleged was wrong. He then rushed off without taking any questions. The manner in which he retracted the statutory declaration will raise more questions about this whole affair.
He told friends yesterday that he had come under severe pressure after releasing the statutory declaration.
At first blush, his sudden retraction does not appear to aid Datuk Seri Najib Razak or Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition leader who flaunted the statutory declaration at a press conference yesterday.
Yesterday, Anwar showed a sworn statement by Balasubramaniam, who was murder accused Abdul Razak Baginda's private investigator, that claimed police suppressed evidence to protect some personalities, including proof that Altantuya knew Najib.
IPOH, July 4 — The High Court here today rejected two petitions to nullify the election results for the Kuala Kangsar parliamentary and Kubu Gajah state seats, both of which were won by Barisan Nasional candidates, in the March 8 general election.
The Kuala Kangsar seat was won by Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and the Kubu Gajah seat by Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar.
Justice Datuk Zakaria Sam rejected the Kuala Kangsar petition without costs and the Kubu Gajah petition with costs.
Zakaria, in his judgment, said Rafidah had signed the original nomination form while the other two nomination papers which were not signed were copies and it was sufficient to prove that she really intended to contest for the seat.
JULY 4 — If this were a boxing match, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be on the ropes and his opponent, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, would be ahead on points, poised to deliver the knockout punch.
But this is Malaysia and Najib could deliver his surprise counter attack before this bout is over. He is due to meet the press today and so is the military intelligence chief, presumably with enough ammunition to demolish Anwar’s assertion that the Deputy Prime Minister knew Altantuya Shariibuu, the Mongolian woman who was murdered in October 2006.
For the sake of his political career, Najib has to provide more than just flat denials. He knows that you need more than just support from Umno delegates to govern Malaysia — you need to inspire trust and confidence of Malaysians and foreigners. Otherwise, his stay in the top office, if and when it happens, could be short-lived, pockmarked by constant references to the past.
JULY 4 ─ A national drama involving leading government figures, conspiracy claims, personal smears, sodomy allegations and a grisly murder appears to be driving Malaysia inexorably towards its biggest political upheaval since independence in 1957.
Act One of this unfolding epic was played out in March's general election when the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition suffered heavy losses at the hands of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party and its allies. Although it held on to power, the government's parliamentary majority was slashed to 58 seats.
The results seriously wounded the prime minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, already criticised as a weak, uninspiring leader, and triggered a power struggle within his Umno.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia, which resumed trading today after a one-day suspension yesterday, opened lower on foreign selling activities, dealers said.
The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) opened 25.81 points or 2.24 per cent lower at 1,127.89. The downtrend was mainly due to losses in selected plantation and banking and financial-related stocks.
After 10 minutes of trading, the KLCI fell 25.10 points to 1,128.60. — Bernama
JULY 4 — Malaysians are exceptionalists. We don’t often realise it, but we are. We are fond of the belief that we are special, that things which apply to other people do not apply to us here in Malaysia. I don’t expect that a whole people will disabuse themselves of this belief overnight, but I hope we can start thinking about whether this belief is really justified as frequently as we seem to think it is.
There is, of course, no denying that we are a unique country. Our geographic location at the crossroads of Asia, between South Asia and East Asia, combined with our rich cultural heritage rooted in both South, East and Southeast Asia ensures we can draw on synergies which more homogeneous countries like Indonesia or Singapore lack.
Policies which would work in countries of different climates, be they political or meteorological, may be hardly as successful here, while policy failures elsewhere might prove remarkably effective implemented in Malaysia.
JULY 4 — Bersimpang siur politik Malaysia kini. Sejak 8 Mac lalu hingga kini, ia tidak reda-reda. Ada sahaja yang berlaku ekoran keputusan pilihan raya yang dianggap tsunami politik itu. Sebagaimana tidak selesaian mangsa tsunami selepas 100 hari berlaku, begitu juga mangsa tsunami politik Malaysia kini.
Ia bermula dengan penubuhan kerajaan. Sebagaimana kecoh dalam media apa yang berlaku di Perlis dan Terengganu, ia tidak kurang hangatnya apa yang berlaku dalam PAS sendiri. Namun, kehangatan yang berlaku dalam PAS hanya di rasai oleh para pemimpin PAS sahaja. Hatta ahli bawahannya pun tidak tahu apa sebenarnya yang berlaku di pucuk pimpinan parti itu.
Namun itulah kehebatan PAS. Ketika parti-parti lain bergolak bagaikan nak rak, orang awam melihat PAS rileks sahaja. Seorang rakan wartawan yang bertugas di sebuah akhbar Singapura SMS kepada saya, "Hamba kat KL sekarang, sedang bercuti. Hamba tengah letih tengok Umno bergaduh."
KOTA KINABALU, July 4 ─ Sabahans are against the proposal to give Filipinos who have stayed in Malaysia for some time permanent resident (PR) status.
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the Philippine government should not make such a proposal, but instead cooperate in resolving the problem by taking them back.
"Both countries should discuss and finds ways to resolve the problem," he said in response to a statement by Philippine Migrant Affairs Assistant Secretary Esteban Conejos that Filipinos in Sabah be given PR status.
PARLIAMENT, July 3 – Datuk Seri Najib Razak repeated his denials of knowing murdered Altantuya Shaariibuu, despite claims made to that effect in a sworn statement revealed at a press conference today by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But he did say that he had met the opposition leader's "traumatised" sodomy accuser recently.
"I have never met the Mongolian woman mentioned in the statutory declaration. That is why it is a terrible lie, a malicious fabrication and fitnah," the deputy prime minister replied to a constant barrage of questions at a packed news conference in Parliament. Najib tried to look composed but one could sense he was rather worried.
Anwar dropped the bombshell allegation and other claims contained in a sworn statement by P. Balasubramaniam, a private investigator hired by murder accused Abdul Razak Baginda to keep Shaariibuu away from him. The opposition leader had earlier linked the volunteer, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who claimed sexual assault, to Najib's office.
KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 – The longest shutdown of Bursa Malaysia today could cost Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff his job.
Sources told the Malaysian Insider that the Ministry of Finance officials had been leaning against renewing his contract as the chief executive officer of the bourse even before today's embarrassing technical glitch.
PARLIAMENT, July 3 – The Prime Minister assured all Malaysians that there were no security issues in the country and that the current police and army exercise was nothing to worry about.
"Malaysia is safe and stable. Please don't get overexcited about what is happening. There are a lot of rumours. Please don't believe them. Don't panic, " said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after chairing the Northern Corridor Economic Region board's first meeting today.
"Rumours here. There are rumours there. It is as if, rumours have the run of the place (bermaharajalela). I am not so far wrong to say that Malaysians are very gullible," he said.
PETALING JAYA, July 4 - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah said a crime must have caused private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to retract the statutory statement he made public yesterday.
JULY 4 — If this were a boxing match, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be on the ropes and his opponent, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, would be ahead on points, poised to deliver the knockout punch.
JULY 4 — Malaysians are exceptionalists. We don’t often realise it, but we are. We are fond of the belief that we are special, that things which apply to other people do not apply to us here in Malaysia. I don’t expect that a whole people will disabuse themselves of this belief overnight, but I hope we can start thinking about whether this belief is really justified as frequently as we seem to think it is. 
JULY 4 — Bersimpang siur politik Malaysia kini. Sejak 8 Mac lalu hingga kini, ia tidak reda-reda. Ada sahaja yang berlaku ekoran keputusan pilihan raya yang dianggap tsunami politik itu. Sebagaimana tidak selesaian mangsa tsunami selepas 100 hari berlaku, begitu juga mangsa tsunami politik Malaysia kini.