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Blackburn
PM: Passage
of bills affirms
govt’s strength
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: The passage of
the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com-
mission (MACC) and the Judicial
Appointments Commission (JAC) bills
over the past two days shows that
such important legislation can be
done without amending the Federal
Constitution, Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
“These are very important laws for
the country, people and government
in curbing corruption and in appoint-
ing judges. I am very happy because
many thought that the government
would not be able to pass the laws
as the BN does not have the two-third
majority (in the Dewan Rakyat), the
government was weak and that such
laws required amendments to the
Federal Constitution to be passed.
“However, we managed to do it
without amending the Constitution.
The success (of passing the Bills) is an
example to show the strength of the
government,” he told RTM in an inter-
view shortly after the JAC was approved
last night (see report on page 4).
Abdullah said the passage of the
MACC Bill on Tuesday showed the
government’s determination to curb
corruption and it will empower the
Anti-Corruption Agency (which will
be renamed the MACC) with greater
power.
On the appointment of judges, he
said the JAC will boost public confi-
dence in the judiciary.
“(With the law) the selection of
judges can be done properly and it
will certainly prove to the people the
authorisation of the judges.
“When we succeed in curbing cor-
ruption and improving the authority of
the judiciary, it will place the country
in a good position in terms of com-
petitiveness as well as to attract more
foreign investors,” he said.
Abdullah said the negative percep-
tions of the ACA and judiciary were
strong and “we worked hard to get rid
of such perceptions and this is how
we do it (by passing the two bills)”.
» Three strike RM40.9m Toto jackpots pg6
Pirate attacks!
MALAYSIAN TUGBOAT WITH 11 CREWMEN SEIZED; THREE OTHER VESSELS RAIDED
UALA LUMPUR: Pirates
K
seized a Malaysian tug boat
with a crew of 11, a Turkish
cargo ship, a yacht crewed
by just two people and a Chinese
fishing boat yesterday. Three other
vessels were attacked in the Gulf
of Aden in the past week, a global
maritime watchdog said yesterday.
The incidents came as a
European Union naval task force
Golden leap ...
National pole vaulter Mohd
Hafizuddin Shahadan leaps
to victory to win gold at the
Asean University Games at
the National Stadium in Bukit
Jalil yesterday. Hafizuddin
cleared 4.6m. The silver went
to his compatriot Rafiuddin
Che Omar (4.3m) and bronze
to Filipino Raymond G. Gener
(3.7m). The 14th edition of
the games ends on
Sunday. Athletes from
10 countries are vying
for 222 gold medals.
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took over from a Nato operation
patrolling the pirate-infested seas
near the Horn of Africa with six
warships and three surveillance
planes.
And in New York, the United
Nations Security Council
unanimously adopted a resolution
for the first time authorising
international land operations
against audacious, armed pirates
BERNAMAPIX
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for public service reporting
and opinion writing.
No. 4662 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)
Thursday
December 18, 2008
www.sun2surf.com
» A talented tale pg23
sheltering in Somalia.
In the first of the latest hijackings,
pirates armed with rocket-propelled
grenades and automatic weapons
boarded the Malaysian tug, Noel
Choong, head of the International
Maritime Bureau piracy reporting
centre told AFP.
The tug was heading to Malaysia
from the Middle East.
Choong said a Turkish cargo
ship was hijacked, also in the
Gulf of Aden yesterday, by a gang
of pirates who fired automatic
weapons from two speed boats.
Chinese media reported
yesterday a “multilateral” force
rescued a Chinese fishing boat
seized by pirates off the Yemen coast.
A band of pirates boarded
the Zhenhua 4, but the sailors
prevented them from invading their
crew accommodation for several
hours – enough time to seek help
from the coalition forces.
“I’m actually very surprised that
the crew managed to hold back the
pirates. I don’t know how they did
it, but they did it. Because of this
action, the military helicopters
came and they managed to chase
the pirates away. The pirates on
board eventually left the ship.
“Despite the European Union
armada to patrol the Gulf of Aden,
the pirates manage to attack and
hijack ships because the number
of warships is insufficient to
secure the vast sea,” Choong said.
But the force kept pirates from
hijacking a Singapore tanker, an
Italian cargo ship and a Greek
ship last week, he said.
“Coalition forces deployed a
helicopter to ward off the attacks.
The three ships managed to escape.”
Choong also said that the Indian
navy last Saturday captured a
suspected pirate’s “mother ship”
and detained 24 pirates – 12
Yemeni and 12 Somali – and seized
weapons, including RPGs and AK47
automatic rifles.
He said 108 ships had been
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attacked by pirates off Somalia so
far this year and 42 ships hijacked.
Fourteen foreign merchant vessels
and their crew of 240 are being
held by gunmen in the area where
the northeast tip of the Somali coast
juts into the Indian Ocean.
The pirates, heavily armed and
using high-powered speedboats,
prey on a key maritime route
leading to the Suez Canal, through
which an estimated 30% of the
world’s oil transits.
The pirates are believed to
number around 1,200 former and
seasonal fishermen and coast
guards, many of them from lawless
Somalia, which has been ravaged
by years of conflict and starvation.
US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice hailed the
Security Council’s adoption of the
US resolution on the use of force,
saying it sent a “strong signal to
combat the scourge of piracy” .
The text, co-sponsored by
Belgium, France, Greece, Liberia
and South Korea, gives those
nations already involved in battling
pirates off Somalia a one-year
mandate to act against the brigands
inside the country.
UN Resolution 1851 authorises
the states to “take all necessary
measures that are appropriate in
Somalia” to suppress “acts of piracy
and armed robbery at sea”.
UN Secretary-General Ban
Kim-Moon welcomed the council’s
actions to combat piracy and said
he would submit recommendations
“on ways to ensure the long-term
security of international navigation
off the coast of Somalia”.
But he stressed the need to
address the country’s broader
security challenge, saying the
most appropriate response was “a
multinational force, rather than a
typical peacekeeping operation”.
Ban said that he had approached
50 countries and three international
organisations for contributions to
such a force. – Agencies