“Thank you for sucking away our dirt,” Rafizi tells Najib

Yes, Rafizi, that was my exact point. The opposition has a lot of dirt. The only thing is I called them dirt when they were still with you and before they crossed over. You call them dirt only after they leave you and cross over to the other side.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER  

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Over the last two years or so (pre- as well as post-GE13) there has been quite a bit of infighting in PKR, PAS and DAP. Earlier to that (around 2010), I had already said that this was going to happen when I gave that talk in London and pointed out why I was criticising the opposition.

If you can remember, I explained that we should have about 30 or so independent Wakil Rakyat (Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons) to ‘balance’ the 800 or so Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat representatives in Parliament and the various State Assemblies. And I also said that the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) volunteers to help find these 30 independent candidates if Pakatan Rakyat can agree to that.

After all, 30 would come to only about 3.5% or so of the total so it is not like the MCLM is going to be in control of the government (or the opposition).

Pakatan Rakyat not only did not agree with the idea but also accused the MCLM of trying to become the Kingmaker or the Third Force a la Lib Dem of Britain.

That was not what we had in mind at all. The MCLM was not intending to contest the general election. The MCLM is not a political party. The MCLM was not going to field any candidates in the election. The MCLM just wanted to help source candidates on behalf of the parties that would be contesting the general election.

In other words, these candidates would be contesting the general election under the banners or flags of one or more of the three Pakatan Rakyat parties and not under the banner of the MCLM.

Somehow this point was misunderstood — or they pretended to misunderstand this point so that they could reject our offer and make it seem like they did so because the offer was made with malice and with evil intent.

Anyhow, because of this very vocal opposition to our idea, we had no choice but to back off and drop the whole plan. To add insult to injury, the MCLM was even accused of being a Barisan Nasional mole meant to deny Pakatan Rakyat victory in the 13th General Election. 

If you think the idea of independent candidates is a bad idea then well and fine. We were quite prepared to abandon the whole thing and leave Pakatan Rakyat to manage its own affairs without any interference or suggestions from what they viewed as outsiders. However, why the need to declare war on the MCLM just because you do not like what we are saying?

Does Pakatan Rakyat not realise that it is doing exactly what it is accusing Barisan Nasional of doing — not respecting the right of the people to speak freely and not allowing the people to criticise the politicians when they do wrong?

The decision we made was that the MCLM would stay out and not get involved in matters involving politics. We would just focus on matters involving civil liberties such as those involving religion, sexual preferences and so on. Nevertheless, that does not exclude our right to comment on matters regarding politics or the way that political parties conduct themselves since what they do also affects our civil liberties.

“Thank you for sucking away our dirt,” said Rafizi Ramli to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. This was Rafizi’s response to the many members and leaders from PKR, PAS and DAP that over the last two or three years have abandoned the opposition and some have even crossed over to Barisan Nasional.

Rafizi admits that the opposition has a lot of dirt, as we too have said back in 2010. And Rafizi has thanked the Prime Minister for taking all this dirt (meaning those who left the opposition), as we said would happen back in 2010.

In 2010, we said that the opposition has a lot of dirt. And, in 2010, we also said that this dirt is going to become a problem to the opposition in time to come. But when we said all this back in 2010 they said a lot of nasty things about us and accused us of all sorts of things.

It is quite funny that Rafizi now says the same thing as what we said three years ago. But when we said it back then, before this matter became a problem, they were not very happy about it and responded in a most abrasive manner.

We said that Pakatan Rakyat has a lot of dirt and that this dirt should be cleaned up. But when we said that we were treated as pariahs. Now Rafizi, too, is calling all these people dirt while he thanks the Prime Minister for taking the opposition’s dirt.

Am I just too early for my time and can see things before they happen or are these other people just too slow and can only see things after they happen?

Well, I suppose I can have the satisfaction of being able to say that I was right and scream, “I told you so!”

Yes, Rafizi, that was my exact point. The opposition has a lot of dirt. The only thing is I called them dirt when they were still with you and before they crossed over. You call them dirt only after they leave you and cross over to the other side.

Everyone can be an expert with the advantage of hindsight. I had the foresight to see that this was going to happen and had the guts to tell you so even though what I said was not received well.

If I were Rafizi I would keep my mouth shut and not talk so much lest I prove that what Raja Petra Kamarudin said in 2010 was true after all.