The palace power play

By MT Webmaster Last updated Feb 27, 2014

So what do these politicians really want? Do they want the Palace to get involved in politics or do they not? When it favours Barisan Nasional, they want the Palace to stay out. When it favours Pakatan Rakyat, they want the Palace involved. The signals are getting very confusing.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar Ibrahim is going to win 80% of the votes in Kajang, says the Pekida veteran, a hardcore Datuk Harun Idris man since way back before 1969.

Considering that almost 50% of the Kajang voters are Malays, 40% Chinese and 10% Indians, this prediction may be true after all. With the Chinese mobilised behind the Dong Zong and the Indians recharged by Waytha Moorthy’s recent resignation from the government and his condemnation of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, it appears that Anwar may be able to sail in with a much larger majority than what CC Lee won in May 2013.

And we must not forget the Christian vote, either, after Anwar’s appearance in a church last Sunday. Even in the United States the Christian vote is a very big factor in any election — as are the Jewish vote, the Catholic vote, the Muslim vote, the Southern vote, the ‘Coloured’ vote, the Latino vote, the Irish vote, the Italian vote, and so on.

Hence, in America too, race and religion determines victory from defeat, as it does in Malaysia as well. That is the nature of politics. And the man who sees victory would be the man who can be many things to many people, a game that Anwar is an expert at.

When it was first announced that CC Lee was resigning and that Anwar would be contesting the by-election, the greatest worry for the opposition was that they would not be able to get the Malay vote if Umno fields a candidate because then it would be Malay versus Malay. However, if MCA fields a Chinese candidate instead, then it would be Chinese versus Malay and that would sway more Malays to vote for Anwar.

Now, with the Pekida veteran endorsing Anwar, the Malay vote is more or less secure and this is worrying Umno. Pekida was formed soon after the May 1969 race riot (read Pekida: Shadowy defenders of race, religion and royalty) for purposes I need not go into detail. You can also read what Malaysiakini said about Pekida in its article below (More to Pekida than meets the eye, researcher finds).

And this is why Umno is worried, for very obvious reasons.

But that is just the first step for Anwar — to win Kajang. Whether Anwar can win the next step — oust Khalid Ibrahim and take over as Menteri Besar — is yet to be known because Anwar has to get the support of the Selangor Palace.

And His Highness the Sultan of Selangor has made it very clear that the Palace must be above politics. His Highness would leave it to the people to decide what type of government they want (Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat). And what the people decide the Palace will honour.

However, when it comes to the State CEO or Menteri Besar, the Palace can have a say in the matter, as allowed under the State Constitution. And normally the Palace would request a few names to choose from. It could be three or it could even be five. There are no rules regarding this issue and it is entirely the discretion of the Palace.

And this is what worries Anwar because Anwar knows that he has previously committed certain ‘sins’ against the Sultan, which he has not apologised for up to now.

So Anwar is trying to work through the back door by using the Sultan’s family members to sway the Palace. And this has upset His Highness the Sultan who has issued the letter below. His Highness has now officially forbidden members of the Selangor Royal Family from getting involved in the tussle between Anwar and MB Khalid.

In fact, this is the same ‘shelling’ I received back in 2001 when I first got involved in the Reformasi Movement. And, in 2009, when I issued that ‘open letter’ to Nizar Jamaluddin, the PAS Menteri Besar of Perak, asking him to defy His Highness the Sultan of Perak, my aunt and uncle were summoned to the Selangor Palace and were told that they should demand an apology from me.

It appears that Anwar has rubbed the Palace the wrong way after all. And Anwar has courted the displeasure of His Highness the Sultan. It is ironical that the very man who whacked the Palace for ‘taking sides’ in the Perak Constitutional Crisis back in 2009 is now himself trying to drag the Selangor Palace into what threatens to explode into the Selangor Constitutional Crisis.

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More to Pekida than meets the eye, researcher finds

(Malaysiakini) – Based on her five -year research in Malaysia, French PhD holder Sophie Lemiere said that the NGO Pekida or Tiga Line alludes its allegiance and loyalty to the Malay community, royalty and Islam.

This can be seen in its symbol of red (for blood), yellow (royalty) and green (Islam), she said.

Lemiere added that based on her extensive interviews with its members and Internet search, groups like Pekida are a complex network of discreet NGOs created by gangs for which political militancy is a business.

“Pekida is a generic name used to describe an intricate network of gangs and NGOs.

“In reality, the name Pekida is the name of one of those numerous NGOs created by this network to offer political support, legalise part of their activity, and ease the reception of funds from the ruling party,” she noted.

Lemiere said there may be other groups that call themselves Pekida but go under another name as well or may not be linked with Pekida.

She added that the two main notions to be highlighted are the common challenge for any gang for survival and the best way to secure survival is through power and money.

‘Power and money driving force’

“The main objectives of the group is power, profit and money, which imply that members are involved in illegal activities, and may use different degrees of violence,” she said.

“Its basic ambition is often reshaped into ideological terms in order to facilitate recruitment, group coalition and justifying the use of violence,” she added.

“Sustainability of the group is ensured by adaptation to political and social changes. A gang’s identity may change according to opportunity,” she stressed.

Sophie Lemiere said political situations which are in transition are favourable to the development of gangs and open opportunities for relationships with political parties.

In this context, gangs may become entrepreneur of politics, or connivance militant, to whom political actions are subcontracted in order to maintain political power, she added.

“It’s like an angry chameleon, which can change colour and shape anytime, but always remain with a violent potential,” she said.

Lemiere, who just received her PhD from Sciences-Po (L’Institut d’études politiques) Paris on Ethno-nationalist and Islamic movements in Malaysia, was in Penang to present her paper in Universiti Sains Malaysia yesterday.

Her paper, ‘Gangsters and Masters: Connivance Militancy in Contemporary Malaysia‘ was based on research from 2008 to April this year.

Lemiere is currently an associate researcher at Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast-French National Centre for Scientific Research (IRASEC-CNRS), Paris.