Response to Khairy Jamaluddin
KJ should know that Malaysians have never protested against one defecting per se; they are protesting against abducting elected legislators and entrapping them and later forcing them to switch sides.
By Ibrahim Ahmad
I refer to KJ's piece (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/22037/84/) which was published in The Malaysian Insider and also in Malaysia-Today concerning the editorial of The Malaysian Insider on the on-going Perak crisis. (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/breaking-views/26657-najib-and-khairys-unconvincing-perak-script–the-malaysian-insider)
KJ started his warped piece with the revelation that he “opposes” defection but that it is legal; an oxymoronic claim indeed. To drive the point home, he mentions a number of Western politicians who have left their original parties recently. Good!
Only that he fails to tell his readers why the said politicians left their own parties. He fails to compare Senator Arlen Specter with Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, Osman Jailu and Hee. Making comparison for the sake of it unearths the buffoonery of its owner.
KJ should know that Malaysians have never protested against one defecting per se; they are protesting against abducting elected legislators and entrapping them and later forcing them to switch sides. This is not Colombia where elected leaders are haggled over by the drug barons who routinely abduct them.
KJ then went to say that though defection is immoral, both BN and PR don't want “the rules of the game changed with anti-hopping legislation” adding that “once you play with those rules you can't suddenly turn around and say that they are not fair simply because things have not gone your way.”
Sir, PR leaders are on record saying that they want an anti-hopping legislation. Karpal Singh opposed defection in its entirety with PAS, PKR and Lim Guan Eng arguing that a clause that gives the defector the right to seek a new mandate should be inserted in such a legislation. That was morally right and I personally support this position.
One may be elected on any platform but if the party fails the nation, changes its electoral platform or suffocates its elected leaders for petty partisan ends, then one can't stick with that party in the guise of democracy. That's neither democracy not patriotism, it is betrayal of the nation at its height.
On the other hand, BN opposed both and never proposed anything. When Anwar was asked about this after Mohd Nizar was ousted, he repeated his stand that an anti-hopping legislation that denies someone the right to seek a new mandate in the case of the party failing the nation or deserting from its ideals is itself undemocratic.
To buttress his ludicrous claims, KJ mentions Bota assembly man Dato's Nasaruddin Hashim and says the PR alliance gleefully accepted him. Granted, but in what way does that solve Osman Jailu, Hee and Mat Radzi's cases?
Nasaruddin wasn't a vulnerable person unlike the three. PR didn't need Nasa to survive but BN needed the three vulnerables to survive. PR didn't abduct Nasa unlike its own ADUNs who were abducted and hidden even from their own families for days. Nasaruddin was open about what he wanted and called for a press conference, went back to his people and after the ceremah admitted that it was his “biggest ceremah” since he entered politics and that “Botans have accepted his position.” He has detailed why he has left his party and promptly informed the Bota people.
On the other hand, BN abducted PKR legislators and hid them from their leaders for days plunging Perak into crisis. They issued contradictory statements (like they were sick, ROTFL) and later refused to face the press people.
Till today, none of them has come out to face his/her people. All that's known about them is that they acquired new Mercedes Benzs.
Remember they were Excos who were in charge of Perak. Therefore, Nasa's defection couldn't in any way be compared to the abduction and forceful switching sides of the three most vulnerable PR legislators that led to the current quagmire because PR was the ruling party and neither did it feel politically right to seek his hands.
Nasa too was a credible person and one of the few BN legislators who have increased their majorities in the 2008 General Elections in a time where almost every BN politician lost ground. On the other hand, PKR's two were “tainted” in your own words.
Remember the frivolous attack you unleashed on them while campaigning in Permatang Pauh against DSAI? That you could turn around and tell us why the “rules shouldn't be changed” and celebrate their “comradeship” Is a testimony of your hypocritical and immoral politics that's devoid of higher ideals. It is an indictment on you and your puerile politics.
In order to distance himself from the disgraced Jailu and Mat Radzi, KJ says they are not BN assemblymen and they are “independents” adding that they are not part of the Excos. What a warped mentality!
KJ, BN is insisting on Perak simply because of those tainted elements, so your pathetic attempt to exonerate yourself and BN from them is a feeble attempt at its best. The Exco, the whole BN Perak script, the whole argument of Zambry and Najib is based on those tainted characters.
Anyway, they are as tainted as you. Remember, Umno Disciplinary Board found you engaging in corruption. Melaca Chief Minister Ali Rustam too was found guilty. Khir Toyo is there too. Many other BN leaders have cases and even the PM has cases to answer. When will you distance yourself from them? Waiting with bated breath.
KJ then says the State Assembly should decide who should be the MB after the Court of Appeals decides. The conduct of the courts concerning this issue leaves a lot to be desired. The cocksure mentality of the BN leaders points to something. That said, does that mean KJ's comical call for Mohd Nizar to be banished from Perak was made while his brains weren't functioning?
KJ, in your desperate attempt to please Najib and get a cabinet position, don't put your feet (yes, plural) in your mouth. Secondly, that's what Mohd Nizar has been saying from day one. And the masquerader Zambry Abdul Kadir remains suspended and his six excos too since that was the state assembly resolution. Now are you happy to face the state assembly?
Finally, KJ tears into the Malaysian Insider and tells them to learn about a “higher standard of journalism” before they preach to the PM. Ka ka ka ka ka! I think this sums up what motivated KJ to write this piece in the 1st place. It was a desperate, non-sustainable argument propped up with comical, mostly unrelated examples that was meant to please someone (Najib) who seems too distant to notice the desperate beggar (KJ) and in the process KJ did an Anifah Aman on Najib. This is my advice to you KJ, don't expose your anus as you over dance in your desperate attempts to appease Najib.
