Has Pakatan bought Ku Li?

And one of my many criticisms against Pakatan was its policy of agreeing to disagree and of not resolving the matter of Hudud, which, I said, would one day come back to haunt Pakatan and may even cause a split in the opposition coalition.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a.k.a. Ku Li, made a most interesting speech in Parliament today (read The Malaysian Insider news item below).

And, no, I do not think Pakatan Rakyat or Anwar Ibrahim has bought Ku Li. After all, Ku Li is wealthier than Pakatan by far. However, if someone from Pakatan had said what Ku Li said then he or she would have been accused of being bought. And I really do not know why Pakatoons can only think along these lines.

While the Pakatoons will clap and cheer if someone from Umno criticises his or her own party, heaven forbid that someone from Pakatan does the same about his or her own party. That person will be vilified to kingdom come.

But Ku Li did not specifically refer to Umno. In fact, he was generalising. So he could have been talking about the opposition as well. But everyone knows he meant the way the Umno people show more loyalty to their party and to their supreme leader instead of loyalty to the voters who put them in office.

I am not sure whether what Ku Li said will have the desired affect. I tried saying the same thing five years ago when I explained why we need a third force. However, the Pakatoons were in an uproar and would hear nothing of the idea. They felt that the Pakatan culture should be one of unquestionable loyalty to the party and to its leaders.

So I am extremely surprised that PKR and DAP (plus some in PAS) now talk bad about the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang. In fact, they not only talk bad about him but they are also trying to bring him down.

If we talk bad about Anwar Ibrahim or try to bring him down we would be accused of being a turncoat, traitor, sell-out, and whatnot. But then it is okay to do to Hadi what is not okay to do to Anwar.

People ask me as to why I criticise the opposition and not the government. Actually I do criticise the government. I even criticised KIDEX way before anyone even knew about it and even before the contract was signed. But no one really listens so I no longer bother.

I suppose we can ask Ku Li that same question: why does he criticise Umno’s President and his own party? Why does he not criticise the opposition instead?

The answer is actually quite simple even though most Pakatoons are not smart enough to know it.

In Malay culture, you scold your own children. You never scold your neighbours’ children. If someone were to scold your children you would stand up for them even if they were in the wrong.

So I scold Pakatan because I consider Pakatan as my child, the party I campaigned very hard for during so many elections since the late 1970s even before there was a Pakatan in existence. I also went to jail and got detained without trial for supporting Pakatan.

Hence I have earned my right — my stripes, as they say — to criticise Pakatan. And one of my many criticisms against Pakatan was its policy of agreeing to disagree and of not resolving the matter of Hudud, which, I said, would one day come back to haunt Pakatan and may even cause a split in the opposition coalition.

So, what do I say now, ‘did I not tell you so’? No, I don’t think I am going to say that. That would be just rubbing salt into the wound.

So now you condemn Hadi and PAS because of the Hudud issue. But when I said years ago that unless you resolve this matter it is going to hurt Pakatan you condemn me.

Apa lagi Cina, oops, I meant Pakatoon mahu?

************************************************

Whom do you serve, Ku Li asks MPs

(The Malaysian Insider) – Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah urged his fellow MPs today to decide whether they were willing to give up their powers to “forces” outside Parliament by putting party interests first in their decisions, or remember their pledge to serve the people.

Malaysia’s longest-serving federal lawmaker said this was because the power of Parliament had shifted to the leadership of political parties, a development that he termed as “outside the Constitution”.

He said it was also against the provisions of the Constitution and did not reflect a constitutional democracy.

“All elected reps have to make a decision if they want to fulfil the pledge they made when they were first elected as a member of this Dewan or if they are willing to relinquish their right to powers outside the Dewan Rakyat.

“The decision has to be a fundamental decision for the people. It is a historic decision if they want to serve and bow to the needs of the people or if they want to be with the party leadership,” he said when debating the royal address in Parliament today.

The Umno Gua Musang MP said parliamentarians should make their decisions based on their conscience.

He said this meant being brave to accept or reject suggestions in the interest of Malaysians the MPs represented, although it might mean going against the wishes of their respective parties.

“In the meantime, we also need to act as a group and as a team to offer ourselves to uphold the sovereignty of the people as well as voters,” said the lawmaker who is also known as Ku Li.

He added that the Parliament is the institution responsible for the wellbeing of the country and its citizens.

As members of Parliament, federal lawmakers have taken an oath to serve the country as well as uphold the Federal Constitution in the interest of the people.

“Let me remind you the pledge is not for any parties or their leaders,” he added.

Ku Li said the country is now faced with an unprecedented situation where its economy and institutions responsible to uphold the rule of law and parliamentary democracy had eroded, while national unity was on the decline.

He said this had caused a crisis which has seeped into the grassroots, causing economic and political gridlock.

“This situation presents an opportunity to the Dewan Rakyat to play an important role in the nation’s development. No other institution, be it political or non-political, can overcome this gridlock apart from  the members of the House,” he added.