POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Showdown Imminent

Malaysian politics is heading for a showdown with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanding that the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi subject itself to a confidence vote in parliament by Sep.23.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Security Law Against Dissent – Protests Rise

Under relentless opposition since losing massively at the March general elections, the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has resorted to invoking a draconian security law to check political dissent.

MALAYSIA: Genetic Fingerprinting Bill Under Flak

A major controversy is brewing over a rushed parliamentary bill that gives enormous powers to Malaysia’s police and the home minister to use a person’s DNA profile as evidence in criminal offences.

MEDIA-MALAYSIA: Crackdown Follows Electoral Setback

Abandoning a decade-old promise to maintain Internet freedom, the government has closed down the popular and controversial ‘Malaysia Today’ web portal, known for consistently exposing the misdeeds of officialdom and the failings of individual leaders.

MALAYSIA: Anwar's Win Spells Leadership Change

Despite a nasty campaign against him, opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has won spectacularly in a landmark by-election in the family stronghold of Permatang Pauh, confirming his stature as possible prime minister with truly national appeal, cutting across race and religion.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Sleaze, Race Dominate Crucial By-Election

Sleaze and race are dominating the by-election for this constituency where opposition leader and self-proclaimed prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim is fighting to return to parliament after a decade-long absence.

MALAYSIA: Crackdown on Civil Rights, Media Feared

A series of tough measures in recent weeks has raised fears of a major crackdown against tolerance and dissent as rival political forces battle for state power in a society made fragile by economic uncertainties and decades of autocratic rule.

MALAYSIA: Proposal to Liberalise Campuses Weak – Students

For nearly four decades undergraduates in this country were banned from owning loud hailers - a powerful symbol of dissent in the 1970s.

MALAYSIA: Immigration Racket Turns Workers Into Commodities

Like thousands of migrant workers Mir Hussein Wahab, 29, from Lahore, Pakistan, is a victim of a new phenomenon called ‘jual-beli’, a local Malay term that describes a human trafficking racket that rakes in millions for international syndicates.

MALAYSIA: Make or Break Election for Ibrahim, Reforms

Undaunted by serious new charges of sodomy, which he says is a frame-up, opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim is making a bid to return to parliament in a by-election that he calls the final battle for a "New Malaysia" sans racial discrimination.

MALAYSIA: Rights Body Faces Downgrade by UN

The Malaysian Human Rights Commission or ‘Suhakam’ risks a downgrade by the United Nations for failing to proactively defend human rights, combat an alarming rise in rights abuse of students, minorities and indigenous people.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Malay-Muslim Call Shakes Opposition Unity

A key constituent of the opposition People’s Alliance coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim has opened secret talks with the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in a move that threatens the stability of the fragile five-month-old opposition alliance.

DEATH PENALTY-MALAYSIA: Delays Put Execution Under Scrutiny

Lawyers and opposition legislators are among a growing number of people expressing concern over the drawn out suffering of those on death row in this conservative country where many have supported execution for non-lethal crimes like drug trafficking, rape and possession of firearms.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Badawi Won’t Quit, Will Pursue Reforms

Malaysia’s beleaguered Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who has been under mounting pressure to resign after his 14-party National Front coalition fared its worst in the Mar. 8 polls, has stunned the nation by saying he will stay on till mid-2010.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Cracks Show Up in Opposition Ranks

That opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim can draw the crowds in spite of fresh allegations of sodomy levelled against him was proved at last week’s massive anti-fuel hike rally. But cracks are showing up in the hurriedly formed three-party opposition People’s Alliance coalition.

MALAYSIA: Sodomy Charge May Sideline Reform Agenda

Politics in Malaysia, which have been choppy since the Mar. 8 general election saw the opposition come within reach of state power, have now plunged into further turmoil after new charges of sodomy were brought against prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.

MALAYSIA: Opposition Pledges Yet Unfulfilled

Even as the Anwar Ibrahim-led opposition Peoples Alliance coalition celebrates 100 days in office this week with huge rallies across the country, the public euphoria that brought them into power is beginning to cool off as people tighten their belts in the face of a slowing economy and escalating cost of living. Demands are rising for the opposition to implement their pledges.

MALAYSIA: Unprecedented No-Confidence Motion Against Abdullah

National politics in Malaysia entered uncharted territory this week after a party in the ruling 14-party National Front coalition said it will move a motion of no- confidence against beleaguered Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. This unprecedented act of rebellion could potentially force Abdullah out of office or call for a snap general election.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Two-Party System Taking Shape

Following its big gains in the Mar. 8 polls, Malaysia's once disparate opposition, led by the charismatic former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, has forged a formal coalition capable of taking on the ruling 14-party National Front (NF) coalition.

MALAYSIA: Poll Setback Finally Prompts Reforms

His political career seriously threatened by the outcome of this month’s general elections, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi seems ready to institute badly needed reforms, going by his inclusion of some of his bitterest critics in the new cabinet.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Anwar Ibrahim – Man of the Match

Anwar Ibrahim, the man credited with radically changing the political landscape of Malaysia, could not contest the Mar. 8 general elections that saw the ruling coalition lose five state governments and its long-held two-thirds majority in parliament.