Razaleigh to run for top UMNO posts<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Former finance minister Razaleigh
\nHamzah was nominated on Friday to run against Prime Minister
\nMahathir Mohamad and his deputy for the top two leadership posts
\nin Malaysia's dominant party.<\/p>\n
Razaleigh received support from the Tanah Merah division in
\nhis home state of Kelantan, the official Bernama news agency
\nsaid. It was the first division in the United Malays National
\nOrganization (UMNO) to nominate Razaleigh for the top posts.<\/p>\n
The division defied UMNO's Supreme Council which had
\nrecommended that Mahathir and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah
\nAhmad Badawi be nominated without opposition to the party's
\npresidency and vice presidency.<\/p>\n
Before Tanah Merah nominated Razaleigh, Mahathir and Abdullah
\nhad won the support of the 17 UMNO divisions which had met this
\nmonth. A total of 165 divisions will nominate their candidates by
\nApril 2. The UMNO leadership elections are set for May 11.<\/p>\n
Razaleigh narrowly lost to Mahathir in the vote for UMNO
\npresident in 1987 when the party split in two. The 62-year-old
\nprince from Kelantan returned to UMNO in 1996.<\/p>\n
Mahathir's sacking of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim has
\nalienated some UMNO members and given an opening to Razaleigh,
\nwho indicated on Thursday that he would run against Mahathir or
\nAbdullah if nominated.<\/p>\n
Candidates need the support of 50 divisions to run for
\npresident and 33 for deputy president.<\/p>\n
Mahathir has cautioned his former arch-rival against running
\nfor one of the top two leadership posts in the country's main
\nparty.<\/p>\n
Mahathir was quoted in the Star newspaper as saying Razaleigh
\nwas free to contest any post in their United Malays National
\nOrganization (UMNO) party, but he hoped the prince would put the
\nparty's interests first.<\/p>\n
\"If someone takes into account only his self-interest and does
\nnot care if the party is destroyed in the process, then it means
\nthat his loyalty towards the struggles of the party is not deep,\"
\nMahathir was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that Razaleigh is loyal to the party and he will
\nnot contest certain posts,\" Mahathir told Malaysian nationals on
\nThursday during a two-day trip to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Lawyer<\/p>\n
In another development, more than 100 lawyers urged Malaysian
\nlegal authorities on Friday to drop a sedition charge against
\nadvocate Karpal Singh over comments he made in court while
\ndefending ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
The prosecution of a lawyer for comments in court is
\nunprecedented in the Commonwealth of former British colonies and
\nwill cause \"irreparable injury to justice,\" the 109 lawyers say
\nin a resolution to the Bar Council.<\/p>\n
The council, representing all 8,000 lawyers in Malaysia, is
\nmeeting March 18 to debate the charge against Karpal, who is also
\ndeputy chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party.<\/p>\n
He was one of five opposition figures charged in January and
\nbailed pending trial, in an operation widely criticized overseas.
\nSedition is punishable by up to three years' jail.<\/p>\n
The resolution, dated on Friday and obtained by AFP, says it
\nis \"an established and entrenched principle and rule of law\" in
\nthe Commonwealth and in Common Law that lawyers enjoy absolute
\nprivilege for all statements during legal proceedings.<\/p>\n
\"It is not merely a right but the duty of advocates to speak
\nout fearlessly in a court of law,\" it says.<\/p>\n
The resolution urges the attorney-general to drop the charge
\nagainst Karpal, saying he would be setting \"a dangerous and
\nunfair precedent\" if he goes ahead.<\/p>\n
It calls on him and the government to respect \"the rights of
\nan independent bar and an independent legal profession.\"<\/p>\n
The Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee has submitted a similar
\nresolution. Lawyers say the Bar Council is expected
\noverwhelmingly to support the calls.<\/p>",
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