Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

Kini telah genap lebih sebulan kerajaan pemberontak yang dianggotai oleh Perikatan Nasional (PN) memerintah negara kita berikutan kejayaan rampasan kuasa mereka pada hujung February 2020 lalu, di mana kerajaan Pakatan Harapan (PH) ditumbangkan oleh suatu siri pemberontakan yang dipelopori Bersatu dan 11 ahli parlimen yang menyokong Azmin Ali di dalam gabungan kerajaan terdahulu. Masa telah tiba bagi pucuk pimpinan PH untuk menyusun semula strategi mereka dan adalah perlu bagi mereka meneruskan perlaksanaan pembersihan dalaman parti-parti kompenen PH setelah melihat ramai di antara pemimpin dan wakil-wakil rakyat mereka memberontak dan berpaling tadah setelah bersetuju menerima tawaran-tawaran yang agak lumayan daripada kepimpinan kerajaan pemberontak PN. Perkara utama yang PH perlu berikan tumpuan adalah memastikan beberapa siri pembaharuan yang telah dirancang oleh kepimpinan mereka sewaktu berkerajaan sebelum ini diteruskan melalui kerajaan pemberontak PN dengan pemantauan dan pe...

Prior to the 14th general elections last year, the then opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) laid out its manifesto for the people to decide which coalition of political parties did they want to run the federal and state governments. And the people had made their choice on 9 May 2018 to kick out the then corrupt Barisan Nasional (BN) government and installed PH in place to reform and govern our nation with new policies, institutional reforms, combat corruption and to correct the wrongs in the judiciary system as well as civil service which has been killing our nation’s reputation for years. In aftermath of PH’s takeover of the federal seat, what has been discovered were our nation’s coffers had lost billions of ringgit as the result of swindling, mismanagement and corruptions by the leaders of the previous ruling coalition. Much has gone missing, unrecoverable and as the result of the nation’s debts which is at the highest ever, trillions of ringgit, our nation’s currency deval...

Sejak Pakatan Harapan (PH) mengambil-alih tampuk pemerintahan daripada Barisan Nasional (BN) pada 9 Mei 2018 yang lalu, ramai di kalangan rakyat jelata yang mula merungut mengenai ketidakadilan dan ketidakberkesanan dasar-dasar yang dilaksanakan oleh kerajaan baru sekarang kerana bebanan yang terpaksa ditanggung atau dikongsi oleh orang ramai. Mungkin kerana rakyat jelata telah lupa. Kemusnahan dan keadaan yang tidak menentu yang ditinggalkan oleh BN berikutan kekalahan mereka pada pilihanraya umum yang lalu, rasuah, salahguna kuasa dan pengurusan kerajaan yang penuh dengan ketidakcekapan sewaktu era pemerintahan BN yang lalu. Siapakah yang kini terpaksa mewarisi elemen-elemen negatif yang kini berleluasa di kementerian-kementerian, jabatan-jabatan, agensi-agensi kerajaan dan GLC-GLC yang ada? Adakah kita menyedari hakikat yang sebenarnya pada hari ini? Ya, ramai di antara kita telah lupa ataupun mudah lupa dengan apa yang telah dilakukan di masa yang lalu kini telah membuahkan akib...

Ramai di antara kita pada hari ini yang tidak pernah melihat, membaca ataupun mengkaji tentang apakah itu pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan. Kerajaan tempatan tidaklah merujuk kepada hanya dewan bandaraya, majlis perbandaran, majlis daerah semata-mata. Kerajaan tempatan juga meliputi pentadbiran di peringkat kampung dan taman perumahan seperti rukun tetangga, majlis pengurusan komuniti kampung (dahulunya dikenali sebagai jawatankuasa kemajuan dan keselamatan kampung) dan institusi penghulu. Ini bermakna, institusi kerajaan tempatan ini merangkumi suatu aspek pengurusan kawasan yang luas dan bukan hanya terhad kepada dewan bandaraya ataupun majlis perbandaran. Inilah satu-satunya salahfaham di kalangan pemimpin yang harus diperbetulkan. Persoalan yang seterusnya adalah, kenapa ada di kalangan pemimpin, setelah berkuasa menyatakan kepada umum bahawa pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan ini akan mengakibatkan perbezaan antara kaum menjadi semakin ketara kerana terdapat perbezaan purata penduduk d...

Akhirnya, rakyat Malaysia telah memilih perubhahan dengan mengundi memastikan kekalahan Barisan Nasional (BN) di dalam pilihanraya umum ke-14 (PRU14) yang lalu yang turut dikenali dengan singkatannya 905. BN telah memerintah negara ini lebih daripada 60 tahun lamanya dan kini terpaksa akur kepada kehendak rakyat yang inginkan mereka menduduki barisan pembangkang pada penggal ini. Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan (PH) yang baru di Putrajaya, tanpa membuang masa terus melaksanakan beberapa siri perubahan seperti yang telah dijanjikan di dalam kempen PRU14 yang lalu. Sehinggalah pada PRU14 ini, rakyat Malaysia hanya keluar mengundi untuk memilih wakil-wakil merek bagi peringkat parlimen dan dewan-dewan undangan negeri (DUN). Di negara lain, bukan sahaja pilihanraya umum diadakan untuk parlimen dan DUN, bahkan ianya juga diadakan bagi memilih kerajaan-kerajaan tempatan. Ahli-ahli Dewan-dewan Bandaraya, Majlis-majlis Perbandaran dan Majlis-majlis Daerah, semuanya adalah dipilih secara langsung o...

Baru-baru ini timbul pula suatu kempen yang menggalakkan rakyat jelata agar merosakkan undi mereka di dalam pilihanraya umum yang akan datang dengan tidak mengundi mana-mana pihak, yakni merosakkan kertas-kertas undi mereka. Kempen undi rosak tersebut dipimpin oleh Maryam Lee, seorang ahli jawatankuasa Gabungan Kiri Malaysia (Left Coalition Malaysia) yang turut disertai oleh beberapa orang ahli gabungan tersebut yang bertujuan untuk menyampaikan mesej kepada rakyat jelata bertapa tidak tentu arahnya halatuju politik di dalam negara kita pada hari ini. Negara kita sudah pun lama “dibinasakan” oleh Barisan Nasional dan para pemimpinnya pada hari ini. Dan kita juga telah menyedari bahawa gabungan parti-parti pembangkang Pakatan Harapan juga telahpun mengumumkan barisan kepimpinannya yang bakal membawa gabungan parti-parti pembangkang itu menghadapi BN pada pilihanraya umum yang akan datang. Sewaktu kepimpinan PH diketengahkan di kalangan umum, ramai yang terkejut, gembira dan malah ada...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 9/1/2017 The issue of an opposition shadow cabinet has suddenly surfaced again following a poser by an Umno cabinet minister on the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan’s readiness to govern the country should they win the next general election. In response to the challenge, a leader from Pakatan Harapan component Parti Amanah Negara gave an assurance that the opposition coalition’s shadow cabinet will be announced this year. So, what is so important about the opposition shadow cabinet today and why did Umno so often remind us that DAP’s own shadow spokespersons on ministerial portfolios are a sign that the party would dump its Pakatan Harapan partners in order to rule on its own should the opposition coalition win the next general election? Is it logical for DAP to rule on its own when it will only contest 50 parliamentary seats out of the total 222 seats? Even if DAP makes a clean sweep of the 50 seats, can it rule o...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 21/7/2016 Are you all surprised or shocked when we say a hung parliament will be good for our nation today? Yes, we suppose so. Some politicians will also condemn such an idea as crazy because it would not benefit them, their political parties, or help in their quest for power. They would reason that such a situation would only bring chaos to our nation. Correctly said, because these politicians have been in power for decades and yet they are yet to show any maturity in matters of governing this nation. A hung parliament is a situation where no political party or coalition of political parties from both ruling and opposition blocs obtain any absolute majority in number of seats in the parliament after a general election. The ruling party or coalition may gain just a sufficient number of seats, or it may be called simple or narrow majority, while the opposition party or coalition may have increased its parliamentary ...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 6/7/2016 The results of the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections clearly indicated the people’s choice and dissatisfaction. In disarray, Pakatan Harapan has taken the people’s views for granted. Have Pakatan leaders learned from the outcome? Yes, blame BN over some cash inflows and vote buying, but what about themselves? As the two by-elections had given confidence to the once-bitten Umno-led BN coalition, the prospects of a snap general election being called either at the end of this year or in early of 2017 seems to be coming into reality as BN leaders have been doing the ground work and dispatching their goodies since. The major problem here is that the people are very disappointed with the way BN is running this nation because of its corrupt and swindling nature which cause billions of ringgit loss from our nation’s coffers almost every year. Asides, afraid of its unpopularity and increasing criticism a...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 30/5/2016 The recent Sarawak state election on May 7 has exposed the true colours of the opposition. They can only expect worse come the 14th General Election if the bickering parties do not buck up and patch things up. The Sarawak Barisan Nasional won handsomely, getting 72 out of 82 seats in the enlarged state legislative assembly. The opposition Pakatan Harapan suffered a major setback, winning only 10 seats with DAP getting seven, down from 12 in 2011, PKR retaining its three seats, and Amanah finishing empty-handed. Opposition parties outside of Pakatan such as PAS were also wiped out. So, was it because of the Adenan factor? Some say it worked, but it certainly was not the only reason for the swing back to BN. The fact is that BN won with a landslide because the field was gravely uneven, where the ruling state coalition enjoyed all the advantages in terms of finance, logistics, mainstream media, communication channels a...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 26/3/2016 Our nation is now in terrible darkness, both socially and economically. A lot of things happening in Putrajaya have undermined the confidence of the people and the international community. The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and its dominant party Umno are becoming like a tumour growing in the heart of our nation. Why? It is all because of the alleged RM2.6 billion scandal of Prime Minister Najib Razak and the RM42 billion debt chalked up by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), where Najib chairs its advisory board. The Najib government has given a new twist to the definition of “donation” based on the RM2.6 billion channelled into Najib’s personal account. Amid this brouhaha and political acrimony, here comes the Citizens’ Declaration initiated by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. On March 4, Mahathir, who is Najib’s chief critic, joined hands with political leaders from both sides of the divide and civil society...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 18/3/2016 The Pakatan Harapan government in Penang was recently embroiled in a controversy over the sacking of two PKR assemblymen from the boards of state government-linked-companies, InvestPenang and Penang Hill Corporation (PHC). The termination of the services of Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah) and Cheah Kah Peng (Kebun Bunga) was announced by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in retaliation for their decision not to vote against an Umno motion to halt land reclamation projects in Penang. PKR, however, defended its two state assemblymen, saying its elected representatives are allowed to vote according to their conscience and the people’s interests. To add salt to the wound, the DAP-led state government appointed Seremban MP Anthony Loke to the board of PHC to replace Cheah. The state government has reasoned that Loke’s appointment was based on his capacity as the party’s shadow minister for tourism and culture at the federal level whi...

Daripada keadaan politik dalam negara ini, kita telahpun dan sedang memerhati beberapa buah gabungan parti-parti politik yang terkini, iaitu Barisan Nasional (BN) yang kekal begitu lama dengan parti komponen utama Umno memonopoli semua aspek keputusan di dalam gabungan dan kerajaan yang diterajui oleh mereka. Di pihak Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pula ianya merupakan sebuah gabungan parti-parti pembangkang utama, PKR, DAP dan PAS yang bekerjasama secara longgar dan masing-masing mempunyai kedudukan yang setaraf di antara satu sama lain. Di tengah-tengah kancah cabar mencabar di antara BN dan PR, terdapat satu lagi alternatif yang kini sedang menonjol, Gabungan Kiri Malaysia (GKM) yang merangkumi gabungan parti politik bercampur dengan pertubuhan-pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang kini dianggotai oleh Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), sebagai peneraju utama GKM, diikuti dengan Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), Pusat Sejarah Rakyat dan Collective Intelligence serta beberapa individu yang te...