Will 'Senator Rosmah' emerge to help Najib put the economy 'right'?

Recent attempts by Prime Minister Najib Razak's family to make a mark in the Malaysian corporate world have been widely criticized - as usual on the quiet by market practitioners and professionals fearful of losing their own cushy jobs and deals.
But even the most die-hard BN loyalists can no longer doubt that First Lady Rosmah Mansor has not lost her thirst to play a bigger and perhaps even official role in the Malaysian economy. This is bound to upset her critics, who are already grousing that her role is mere perfunctory and cannot be executive because she is not elected.
"Unless Najib appoints her to the Senate, she has no say in the affairs of the state except for sharing her opinions and advising Najib on a personal basis. Other than that she should not meddle," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Penang CM and exco members declare assets

GEORGE TOWN- The Penang government on Thursday declared the assets of all 11 state executive councillors, including Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, to the public.
The declaration included assets as at March 8, 2008, and Dec 31 2011.
Copies of the forms were distributed to the media at Komtar Thursday morning.
Lim said that with the declaration, the personal obligation and political commitment of the Pakatan Rakyat government had been fulfilled.
"We have proven that we are more transparent in administration.
"We have shown that we are serious about national integrity by publicly declaring the personal assets of our topmost officials,” he said.

-TheStar

KITA members dissolve Malacca branch, join PKR

MALACCA- The state Parti Kita branch has been dissolved, with 60 members quitting the party, its chief Hashim Puteh said Wednesday.
He claimed the members of the branch, which was established on June 12 last year, had lost confidence in the leadership of party president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. He added that the party's central leadership did not have an action plan or programme to resolve the people's problems, which formed the basis of the party's struggle.
All of those who quit the party have joined the Tangga Batu PKR division.

-TheStar

Misleading the people again with Utusan lies: When will Umno ever learn?

Repeating the lunacy that grips the mainstream media each time UMNO tries to get itself out of trouble, its newspaper Utusan Malaysia has insisted that it was the participants of the 901 Free Anwar Rally who brought in explosives and set them off.
Quoting unnamed police sources, Utusan featured this bit of news as its headliner two days after the acquital of Anwar Ibrahim, so as to suggest the explosions were the fault of the opposition and not the police or the Najib administration.
It seems Utusan has a better investigative team than even the police. After all, the police investigation is still on-going and any statement by any party including Utusan should be suspect since they seem to know far more than the police.

Curtains for Shahrizat: Forced to take leave after damning email against her husband?

It looks like the curtains for Umno minister Shahrizat Jaili. A three-week emergency leave she requested from Prime Minister Najib Razak is likely to turn permanent as news emerge that a top official at the National Feedlot Corporation run by her husband had paid money to a 'Datuk Fixit' to influence a police probe into corruption at the cattle breeding company.
Already speculation is swirling that the official may be her husband, the NFC executive chairman Salleh Ismail. A harried Shahrizat had declined to comment when chased by reporters this afternoon.
“No, no, no, excuse me,” Shahrizat, who is also the Wanita Umno chief, had said when asked about claims made by PKR leaders that they had proof - in the form of an email - that there had indeed been 'hanky-panky' at the NFC.

Privatising KTMB and Syed Mokhtar Albukhary

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar really wants to be the land transport King of Malaysia. He already owns the DRB-Hicom conglomerate controlling Proton, he has PTP in Johore, various bus companies, haulage truck companies, some port terminals and inland integrated terminals. He also manages the Senai Airport in Johore and now he wants to buy the near bankrupt KTMB, which has been affected by corrupt dealings in purchasing expensive but poor quality electric coaches.
KTMB is in bad shape because of bad management and corrupt practices. The late deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba at one time even offered to sell to anybody KTMB for RM1 only.

PKR shows ‘proof’ NFC official tried to bribe cops

PETALING JAYA— PKR disclosed today an email which it claims proves a National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) official had tried to bribe CCID officers probing the cattle scheme for alleged abuse of funds.
The email was allegedly sent by a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory board member to a large private group on December 31, 2011, following a dinner with the NFC’s lawyer.
According to the email, the lawyer told the advisory board member how the NFC official had been tricked into paying money to a “conman” — understood to be Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail (picture) — to allegedly influence the ongoing police probe into the publicly funded project.