Pak Lah, it’s not too late till you give up!
Last night, when I was zealously waiting for an update on the meeting of Perak MB from Pakatan Rakyat with the Sultan of Perak, my attention was caught by another breaking news on Malaysiakini – “Pak Lah has lunch with Anwar”.
What a surprise! The feeling of reading that headline was like watching Hillary Clinton yelling at Barack Obama during a campaign trial towards becoming the US presidential nominee from the Democratic Party. Undeniably, it was a breath-taking headline that Malaysiakini put up. What’s the meeting about? Could that meeting change the political dilemma in Perak? Without further ado, I clicked into the news.
Well, it was about the top two political duo of the nation running into each other while attending a Muslim function and somehow got arranged by the third party to join a lunch together.
During the historical 20 minutes meeting, which perhaps would change the political life of the incoming PM, the conversation was actually surrounding the taking over of the executive power by Najib in this coming April.
According to a source close to Anwar, Abdullah responded “it was too late to do anything now” after being asked by Anwar on the PM’s entrusting the country to Najib. Then the PM hinted, possibly trying to lessen the concern of Anwar, that he had a core of loyal supporters within the party who would keep Najib in check.
What I want to tell Pak Lah is “it’s not too late till you give up”. Yes, the hotspot now is “do it or never”. It will only be too late when Najib takes over the spot.
Of course, we know it’s now less than 3 weeks away from the UMNO party election. But considering the citizens’ intense efforts to stop Najib from taking over the position as the 6th PM of Malaysia, Pak Lah should realize there is no way that Malaysia can afford a PM who upholds Mahathirism to rule the country for only God knows how long.
Thousands and thousands of Malaysians have been protesting against what the ruling party has done to the country. From 2007’s Bersih rally for a cleaner and fairer election, to 2008’s anti-ISA vigils and Jerit’s cycling for change campaign, till 2009’s protest against BN taking over of Perak state government, and the rally for an immediate medical treatment for the Hindraf leader and the very recent protest against the use of English for teaching Math and Science, we have seen how Malaysians have expressed their requests for changes to come upon Malaysia.
Not only so, there have been several petitions circulating on the internet to urge the actions from both the Sultan and the Members of Parliament. The first petition was to plead for the termination of Khalid Abu Bakar from the position of Chief Police Officer of Selangor for his arrestments of the peaceful gatherers and his lying to the public regarding his various actions. The second petition was to express the citizens’ no confidence in Najib being the PM of Malaysia.
It was gratifying to see Pak Lah’s “honesty” to Anwar, but Pak Lah should look at what Malaysians have been calling for all these years. Though we have the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) sitting somewhere under the administration, nothing done by both commissions has led the public to acknowledge the independence, professionalism and impartiality of both commissions. That being said, Pak Lah’s policy has failed to restore the integrity of the two commissions.
Since the first grade, we were taught to obey the laws, and we were even required to memorize the Rukun Negara. I am sure we were not taught only to talk the talk, but more importantly walk the talk. However what we are seeing today in Malaysia is that some top leader of the nation could actually escape from the judicial investigation despite of the numerous allegations of that leader in money politics and corruption accusations. It was utterly surprising to see how nonreactive the incumbent PM was when asked to set up an independent team to investigate all allegations that involve the incoming PM.
Think about this. Can someone refuse to pay the tax by simply telling the government that he has no money? Would the government be so kind to let him walk away with his simple plea of “no money”? Could Anwar refuse to be called in for the interrogation of his sodomy allegations despite having the testimonies from the “victims”? Could his denial in all allegations or his swearing in the mosque justify his innocence? The point I want to make is that everyone is under the law. However Najib, being the nation’s leader, has set the worst ever example in the Malaysian history by walking away freely despite of the various allegations that link him to the murder of a young lady. Since there is no law that immunes the DPM from the judicial investigation, then why is everyone, including the police and Pak Lah, so afraid of calling Najib in for questions?
Pak Lah, with his goals to bring back confidence of the public in the judiciary and to increase the competitiveness of the nation and to attract more foreign investors into the country, should be proactive in his actions so to justify his words during the electoral campaign in 2004. Instead of being “pessimistic” that “it’s too late to do anything now”, there is this number one thing which is also the most obvious one that he can do immediately, which is to terminate the appointment of Najib as the PM till Najib is indeed innocent, I mean proven innocent, of the various allegations.
I am not sure what Quran says in terms of the responsibility of an authority in a society. But what I can tell from my belief is that “For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.” (Romans 13:4-5).
It’s undeniable that Malaysians today can hardly obey to this servant of God, BN, both with conscience and with reasons. Pak Lah has failed to bear his sword. He has failed to be a good servant of God for bringing punishment to the wrongdoers. Why are we seeing the protests from the citizens almost every day? The answer cannot be more apparent – a total injustice that has been brought upon the country simply because of the government’s refusal to be a good servant of God.
I really wish that Pak Lah can once again stand up. I am not sure what obstacle he is facing from his own party. Till he resigns the post, he is still the Number One person in his party. He should not forsake the wills of thousands of his citizens just because of some deniable internal pressure if compared to the pressure from God.
Really, if Pak Lah does not want to see the central governing power falling into the hand of Pakatan Rakyat, he should realize that majority of the opposition party’s supporters would rather have him than Najib being the PM of the nation.
So, Pak Lah, show the people that you are not a sleeping PM. Amidst this hard economy and political downturn of the country, handling your position to Najib is not an option. We want you to carry on your responsibility as the PM even after March 31. Believe in Pakatan Rakyat, with the help and the momentum of her supporters, you can put this totally upside down country back on track again. Never forget, God is always with a good servant!
