Cowards, Clowns, Politics and the Law

“Freedom of Men under Government is, to have a standing Rule to live by, common to every one of that Society, and made by the Legislative Power erected in it; a Liberty to follow my own Will in all things, where the Rule prescribes not; and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, Arbitrary Will of another Man: as Freedom of Nature is, to be under no other restraint but the Law of Nature.”

Now it has surfaced. Is it not true when we have said all along that for all we have achieved, even after 51 years of independence, we have achieved nothing?

“We have brought progress”.

“Only we can maintain the unity and peace of multiracial Malaysia”.

“Our fundamentals are strong; there is no cause for worry”.

Aren’t these all familiar taglines? If all these were true then my hamster would have become a pilot in AirAsia and elephants would be flying business class. The sad reality is this: we suck. But of course some people continue to live in self denial and arrogance.

Look at Perak. What started off as a political crisis for Barisan Nasional has now become a constitutional crisis for the whole of Malaysia. This is all too familiar. In the economic sector we have the privatisation of profits among the elites and the powerful but the nationalisation of losses. In the political sphere we have the privatisation of power but the nationalisation of responsibility. When Barisan Nasional gains power, it is their right, and their right only. But when problems occur, it is the responsibility and burden of the whole of Malaysia. Even better is this; when problems do occur it is everyone’s fault except them. The blame then is shifted on Pakatan Rakyat, the rakyat etc. All, everyone else, except them.

If we have made so much progress, if we have achieved so much, why is this so called crisis taking place? It should not have happened in the first place.

Let’s move back to Perak. The blame game has already taken place. The instability now in Perak is blamed on the Pakatan Rakyat. It is because PR refuses to accept that they are no longer the majority in the state assembly. Again everyone else is blamed except of course Barisan Nasional themselves. While the BN puts the cause of the present predicament due to the actions of the PR, they conveniently hide behind the monarchy, using the monarchy as a shield. The practice of BN is simple; when there are problems anywhere it is everyone’s fault except them, they put the blame on the PR and the rakyat while they cowardly hide behind the slogans of ketuanan melayu and the monarchy. Whenever problems occur, automatically the PR is blamed, and the slogan ketuanan melayu is raised. In Perak the circumstances are no different. All blame is fix on the PR, raising issues like derhaka and respect the monarchy, while at the same time they conveniently use the monarchy as a shield. BN creates the problem and escalates it, PR is blamed, while the monarchy is criticised, the people suffer, and the leaders of BN laugh all the way to Putrajaya. Welcome to the business of privatisation of political power but the nationalisation of liability, injury and responsibility, all at the expense of the rakyat.

Then we have the clown who jumped from UMNO to PKR then back to UMNO. While BN and the mainstream media works overtime to portray the PR as derhaka to the monarchy, they forgot to mention that the BN have with them a disgraceful politician who is not ashamed of the fact that he had actually went from one party to another and then back. Imagine the fanfare that the mainstream media would have created if the politician was from PR? And then we have the MB who goes around shaking hands for two days with the Indians and Chinese and says that he is a MB for all Malaysians. What he is actually is a MB from UMNO, a party that is made up of members of a particular race.

Contrary to what many have said, this is actually not a constitutional crisis, at least yet. It is actually a political crisis for BN that has been turned into a constitutional crisis for the whole of Malaysia. The actors are the monarchy and the PR while BN is the director and producer. There are solutions to this so called crisis just that these remedies are not made accessible or are refused to the relevant parties.

The law is there. If only the issue was not politicised and made into an issue of derhaka and of disrespect to the monarchy, the courts would be one of the avenues for recourse. And one must not forget that the law is not to be interpreted strictly, or only as what is law per se. It must embody the values of democracy, freedom and justice. Values which form the spirit and philosophy of law.

“That which is not just, is not Law; and that which is not Law, ought not to be obeyed.”