Report # 104
Business and Politics in Muslim World
Tatheer Zahra Sherazi
23 January to 29 January
Summary
At Political Front
INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, facing falling domestic popularity despite winning plaudits from investors, has found time to release his third album of pop songs in
The president's album, entitled "I'm Certain I'll Make It," comes as his government's popularity has declined over the expensive bailout of a local bank in 2008.
"In my struggle to serve the country, sometimes during my leisure time, I express my feelings in the form of arts," yesterday's edition of an English-language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, quoted Yudhoyono as saying. "This came as a surprise for us, that he had a chance to sing while the people are crying," Rijalul Imam, the head of the Indonesian United Students Action group, was quoted as saying by Detik.com.
The popularity of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has dropped, partly owing to controversy over a bank bail-out and perceived back-pedalling in fighting corruption, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
A nationwide survey of 2,900 people conducted this month found that Yudhoyono still enjoyed good ratings from a substantial majority of Indonesians but his approval ratings had fallen to 70 per cent from 85 per cent in July, the Indonesian Survey Institute said.
The pollster attributed the drop to respondents' unhappiness with the president's performance in areas such as law enforcement and the economy.
An ongoing tussle over the government's decision to bail out a failing small bank in 2008 and Yudhoyono's perceived waning commitment to fighting corruption has contributed to the decline, it said.
Thousands of Indonesians have taken to the streets to express dissatisfaction with the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has completed the first 100 days of his second term.
They say the president has failed to crack down on corruption and they reject his economic policies which give free rein to the market.
Demonstrations were held near the presidential palace in the capital
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied claims that he is trying to stir up anti-Christian by saying that the
"Many people may think that I am trying to stir up the matter by publicly commenting that the attack on the United States was staged but I am firm with my
point of view," he told reporters after attending a dinner organised by the Penang Medical Practitioners' Society here on Saturday.
The former prime minister said there were groups of people who thought that he was trying to stir anti-Christian sentiments by commenting on the attack at
this point of time.
The outcome of the asset seizure trial next month is expected to affect the intensity of red shirt protests in the future, former premier Somchai Wongsawat
says.He said the verdict would have a direct impact on the political situation.
The case is filed in the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Somchai's
brother-in-law. The court will deliver its verdict on Feb 26.
Mr Somchai, a former judge, said political stability depended on how the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship supporters react to the
Verdict. Many red shirts are loyal supporters of Thaksin.
- Philippine
The Justice secretary who served under the administration of former President Joseph Estrada said that President Gloria Arroyo could pick the next chief justice before her term ends this year.
In a two-page opinion, former Artemio Tuquero wrote that President Arroyo was not precluded by law from appointing the replacement for Chief Justice Reynato
Puno, who retires on May 17. Tuquero, a former dean of the University of the East College of Law and of the Manuel L. Quezon University College of Law, added that he strongly believes that once President Arroyo appoints the next chief justice, it should remain valid unless declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
The Liberal Party leaders have said that President Arroyo’s successor should pick the next chief justice, arguing against so-called
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday said restructuring of the economy, dealing with population shortfall and updating the political system were the three priorities for the city-state.
Speaking at the annual conference of the
most difficult one to achieve.
Geo-Strategic Front
A Cambodian cargo ship, MV Layla S, was hijacked off the Somalian
The crew members are said to be a mix of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Somalian and possibly Syrian nationals.
At Economic Front
Brunei Darussalam will be embarking on a new project that will highlight the Islamic side in this region by offering tourism packages, which will also impart knowledge on the spread of Islam and its significance.
Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, said, "We should promote the Islamic theme" considering that we are an Islamic nation.
According to Sheikh Jamaluddin, CEO of Brunei Tourism, it is hoped that the project will be ready by next year to be presented to other tourism ministers who will be in
The Malaysia Tourism Board and Brunei Tourism have verbally agreed to discuss the framework of the project and hope to follow the footsteps of the Buddhism Trail that started in
Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei could be on its way to becoming a data/information storage hub for countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, said Graeme Kemlo from Senatas, an internationally recognised and accredited company for its high-speed network encryption technology.
The general manager of marketing communications said that this information was disclosed to him by a government agency which could not be disclosed during press time.
"I am only telling you what we were told but there is apparently a plan afoot to establish a series of data centres which will effectively allow organisations, governments and businesses, among others to send their data to
- Philippine
The Philippine economy grew at its slowest pace in 11 years in 2009 as the global economic crunch hit exports and investment, officials said Thursday.
Growth in gross domestic product faded to 0.9 percent in 2009 from 3.8 percent in 2008 -- the weakest since the economy shrank 0.6 percent in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.
Last year's growth was still within the government's 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent target and shows the Philippine economy's resilience, said acting National Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, on Saturday, slammed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions’ asserting that
there were no universal recipe to financial crises.
He said “IMF has been proven wrong” in
peg the exchange rate of Malaysian ringgit to that of US dollar was received with “horror” by the IMF. However,
turned out to be the “most judicious” given the circumstances, Razak said, adding, the IMF’s diagnosis and prognosis was proved wrong.
affected to a “much lesser extent” by the Asian financial crisis than other countries which accepted IMF’s prescription, he said. Though globalisation was
about change, countries differed in their ability to respond to this change, he pointed out.
Hence, “we have to recognise that nations differ in their capacity to change and they must be given the space to arrive at their own solution, whether on
issues related to subsidies, the removal of trade barriers or financial deregulation,” he said.
The Arab Health 2010 exhibition ended here Thursday with Malaysian companies racking up US$4.19 million in sales and another US$30.35 million in potential business deals.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) brought in 15 healthcare-related companies from
The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (Mier) has maintained its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of 3.7% for
It also sees a 5% GDP growth for 2011 after estimating that the domestic economy contracted 3.3% in 2009.
“The technical recession is likely to end in the fourth quarter 2009,” the research institute said in its report on the Malaysian economic outlook released yesterday.
Peter Costello’s first major private sector venture is a $US600m investment fund aiming to bring agricultural technology to
Last year, Costello retired from federal politics and became managing director and partner at corporate advisory outfit BKK Partners, founded and run by ex-
Goldman Sachs and NAB execs and chaired by Alistair Walton, a long-time Costello mate from his days in student politics.
At Social Front
The Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) lambasted the government for failing to protect Indonesian workers overseas, saying more than 1,000 of them had died while doing their jobs last year.
SBMI chairman M. Miftah Farid said more than 6 million Indonesians were now making a living abroad due to the government's failure to provide enough jobs. "Ironically, the government has also failed to protect workers who are forced to find jobs overseas," he said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.
Indonesian authorities are considering a petition to tear down a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy, only a month after the bronze was unveiled in
The statue of “Little Barry,” as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s, stands in central
“The statue is of Obama as a child, not as the
Members of the “Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in
Malaysian prosecutors charged three Muslim men Friday in the firebombing of a church-the first suspects in a string of assaults on places of worship amid a dispute over whether no Muslims can refer to God as "Allah."
Arson attacks, vandalism and other incidents at 11 churches, a Sikh temple, three mosques and two Muslim prayer halls in recent weeks have been a blow to
decades of multiracial harmony in this Muslim-majority country.
PM's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey yesterday slammed Human Rights Watch's (HRW) annual report as a distortion, and questioned its sources of
information.Mr Sathit claimed that the report, released last week, contained inaccuracies, especially concerning the government's handling of street protests in Pattaya
and
He said allegations that the government's handling of the situation was responsible for fatalities was absolutely untrue."It contradicts the facts. The
- Philippine
The Philippine military on Monday commissioned six upgraded Armed Personnel Carriers which it said will boost its capability in fighting threat groups,
particularly the leftist New People's Army.
"The launching marks a step towards the military's efforts to upgrade its fleet of APCs. The new armored vehicles will play a key role in supporting the
nation's Security Operations," said the military public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner.
The Philippine government and Muslim separatists held two days of talks in Malaysia as they work towards a peace deal to end decades of
conflict, officials said Thursday.Malaysian facilitator Othman Razak said negotiators from the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of the country's Muslim rebel groups, met in
After a 16-month impasse, the two sides last month resumed negotiations towards ending a separatist rebellion in the southern
left more than 150,000 people dead.In the latest talks they reviewed each other's draft positions, Othman said, adding they would meet again on February 18-19 when they will "identify next steps towards achieving a comprehensive, compact and a negotiated solution".He also said that international monitors would return to Mindanao "in the coming weeks."The
The
Data from the department showed that the government is set to borrow P4.83 trillion, or 58 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from an earlier goal of P4.723 trillion, or 56.7 percent of GDP.An indicator of economic performance, GDP is the amount of final goods and services produced in the country.
Sam Rainsy, the leader of
posts used to demarcate the border between
A court found Sam Rainsy guilty of pulling up posts used to demarcate the border between Cambodia and VietnamMr Rainsy, currently in Paris, said the conviction was politically motivated. He had led a protest last October to highlight what he said was land
encroachment by
At environmental front
Last year,
Central to the initiative will be the new Indonesia Green Investment Fund, which will initially backed by $100m from the Government Investment Unit, a sovereign wealth fund which will also manage the new fund.
City administration officials said Friday they had made sufficient preparations to face possible flooding in the city.
"We have prepared medicine, ambulances and medical staff which will be needed in the event of a flood," said head of the Jakarta Health Agency Dien Emawati.
Floods occur every rainy season in
while analyzing it appeared that political disturbance in one way or in other way persist in this region. Is this True?
ReplyDeleteIf so, has this unrest its negative implications for thier economies too?
first of all thanx for having interest in region.your comments really valued for me.yup,you are absolutely right as this region is facing alot of political disturbances approximately more or less in all the countries.
ReplyDeleteit also has negative implications for eco but besides,this region has also a reputation of growing economies due to flow of eco in the region.