The pot calling the kettle black

Tay Tian Yan, My Sin Chew

The political situation in this country comes close to the haze condition. With fewer hot spots around in recent days, things are brightening up quite a lot nowadays.

But, political moves that operate from behind the scene will not come to an end as yet. Indeed, it is a very much on-going activity, like the forest burning in neighboring Indonesia.

G25’s Tawfik Tun Dr Ismail revealed that many thought Mahathir would have washed his hands clean of politics, but this was not he case, as both Mahathir and Muhyiddin had met members of the Malay moderate group.

The meeting was not just a leisurely talk over a cup of coffee or tea, nor an exchange of ideas, but with a very powerful objective of seeking G25’s help to bring down Najib.

It looks like one doesn’t need to do things secretively to topple a government these days. You can always do it openly.We are indeed enjoying too much freedom now than during Mahathir’s time!

But, G25 did not accept Mahathir’s proposal as it insists on its moderation advocacy to arrest any unhealthy trend of religionization, and is least willing to put a hand in political squabble.

Mahathir and Muhyiddin were not particularly interested in this G25 group prior to this, and had ignored it when it needed moral support most.

The fact that lies before our eyes is that only Umno, and the next general elections, can bring down Najib. With their declining clout within the party, it is hard for the 2M to ever make some waves these days. GE14 is still quite far away, and the duo lack the patience to wait until then.

Without real force to move the core of power, they can only plan some moves outside of it, but this is not going to promise much.

The indifference raining on Mahathir does not mean majority of people are happy with Najib, but because most of Mahathir’s criticisms against his hand-picked successor, from money politics to power abuse, were all the more familiar stuff during his own rule, some thinking they were even more serious then than now.

So, the Mahathir-led onslaught against Najib is both incoherent and unconvincing. People tend to believe that Mahathir has done all this for his own personal reasons than for the country and rakyat.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin was never known as a reformist nor a liberal in his party. In fact he was seen as more conservative than Najib. It is hard for people to believe in his leadership and sincerity to bring about reform.

According to Tawfik, if Najib were to be toppled, a Council of Elders would be set up to assist the new prime minister in running the government although he fell short of mentioning its members.

It looks like Mahathir has not changed the least. He still wanted the world to know that he was still the one to take charge.

But, he seems to have forgotten one thing that in a democratic country, the government is elected by the people through the ballot papers, and that the prime minister is chosen by the ruling party. Whether you like it or not, it is a decision of the people.

Our Constitution does not provide for a “Council of Elders” and there is no way for ordinary citizens to participate in the decision-making process. This thing will only maim the rule of law, crush the democracy and deny the people of their right to choose while creating yet another excuse for political intervention.