Dr M and Najib shadow-box over GE-13: Who is fighting smart, who is not?

Former premier Mahathir Mohamad seems to be working feverishly hard to get Prime Minister Najib Razak to delay the 13th general election, a rather odd thing to do when you consider that Mahathir is supposed to be retired.

At 85, he should be counting his blessing and allowing the current establishment a free hand in running the country. Yet, the still wily and sharper-than-a-knife statesman is obviously concerned that under Najib, Barisan Nasional may finally see its demise and this would spell disaster for all that he has built during the 22 years he was prime minister and sole arbiter of the fate of 28 Malaysians.

Najib's unfulfilled promises and Tsu Koon's "cockiness" and "self-denial"

When Najib became Prime Minister in 2009, he ambitiously appointed 6 Ministers to lead the  6 National Key Result Areas (NKRA): widening access to quality and affordable education, crime prevention, fighting corruption, raising the living standard of the low-income people, upgrading infrastructure in the rural and interior regions, and improving public transportation in a moderate period of time. The targets and details of these NKRAs were announced on 27 July 2009.

Although electricity supply coverage for West Malaysia is about 99%, the coverage in Sabah and Sarawak remains low at 80%. Consequently, Najib placed special emphasis on improving basic amenities in rural and remote areas of East Malaysia with special allocations of RM4 billion to construct 1,500 km of tarred roads in Sabah and Sarawak, RM2 billion to improve the water supply in East Malaysia to enable 90% of the population to have access to clean tap water, and RM3.9 billion to improve power-generation facilities to ensure that 95% of households have access to electricity supply.

According to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 27 July 2009, these projects were projected to be completed by the end of 2012 to benefit 2 million rural folks in Sabah and Sarawak. After more than 2 years, with the projected completion date just a little more than a year away, how much of the above ambitious projects have been implemented?

After what he did to the Rulers, Dr M has the least right to rebuke Aziz Bari

In what many political pundits termed as one of the greatest ironies and an act of great hypocrisy, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has condemed law lecturer Aziz Bari as being 'kurang ajar' or rude for questioning the recent decision by the Selangor Sultan over an alleged apostasy and church raid incident.

"It is hypocritical of Mahathir to now defend the Sultans. Who could have been ruder than him and Umno," opposition MP for Batu Tian Chua toldMalaysia Chronicle.

Aziz, an outspoken and well-respectecd professor at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, had reportedly said that Sultans could be questioned. There had been much unhappiness over the Selangor Ruler's decision which was deemed unfair by Christian groups.

Three women charged with sexually assaulting men

Three Zimbabwe women have appeared in court charged with indecent assault for a spree of sex attacks on male hitchhikers and using their victims' semen for undisclosed rituals, police said on Saturday.

"We can confirm that three female and one male suspect were arrested," national police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka told AFP.

"But we cannot speculate or comment further as the case is now before the courts."

Sisters Sophie, 26, and Netsai Nhokwara, 24, and Rosemary Chakwizira, 28, were the first suspects to be charged in connection with a string of sex attacks on men first reported two years ago.