Who speaks for us Malaysans who love law and order and not Mahathir’s mob rule?

Umar Mukhtar

Yes, I am one of them, to a fault. I have a family and kids who have been brought up to trust that people will stop their cars when the lights turn red and stuff which make certain things predictable for life to be orderly otherwise at the pain of breaking the law.

So I am not terribly excited about this Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s push with his declaration. Most of his objectives contained in the declaration are mine too. That has been the case since during the time Mahathir was prime minister and that’s why I always voted for the opposition. It never spoke of how he intended to pursue them. It’s just a wish list. He doesn’t even belong to any political party.

If he intends to create havoc in our daily lives — economically, racially, politically and socially — until the sitting MPs couldn’t stand it any more and so they voted no-confidence in Parliament and kicks Prime Minister Najib Razak out, well and good. Let’s get on with our lives and leave Mahathir with the problem of how to wean off the enemies of Mahathirism.

You see, Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy and the only way to remove Najib is by Parliament. At present, he does not seem to make much headway. If he pushes the envelope with increasing civil disorder, I am more than concerned, because this is not a case of 90-10. More like 50-50. For every action there is a reaction. If Mahathir opts for forcing a change through mob rule and not the ballot box that is paramount in a parliamentary democracy, there is a good chance of anarchy.

It’s not like we do not have a way out. PRU is about two years away. Why the hurry? We don’t even know fully why Mahathir is dead-set on removing Najib that way and at that risk? Since when do we believe what he says? Auta keling!

If Najib is bad, we will vote Barisan Nasional out. But Mahathir does not want BN/UMNO to lose because his Mahathirism is nestled in there. Somebody is being taken for a ride. I had thought after his Operasi Lalang that that’s the end of democratic Malaysia. But apparently Malaysians are more resilient than that. So why are we panicking?

So Najib and his band of goons are holding us to ransom? Maybe that is one thing we will have against him at the polls. Some say that there won’t be any elections because a few flimsy bombs will be exploded for that purpose. Come on, he’s not that powerful! We will fight that in any way that we can. But not now that way, only at the instigation of these anarchists.

Another thing we should resolve when we win is how to prosecute a sitting prime minister. It is awkward that a subordinate individual not elected to be able to threaten his boss, an elected head of government, with the indignity of a trial. That’s administratively chaotic. That’s why most erring heads of government are charged only when they are out of office. And the next month the attorney-general can prosecute another one too and so on and so on. Professional discretion? His or yours? It’s not a tenable situation. In the final analysis it’s Parliament that can sack him. Like it or not.

One way, which can be done even now, is for those MPs who are fair-minded and not sure of his guilt to pass an act which would enable parliament to appoint a special prosecutor so that they can be satisfied or not satisfied of the evidence at a special trial. If even that is not possibly done, how could a no-confidence vote pass?

It is sad if we have lost billions of Ringgit. But it is much, much worse if we become like those countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Lebanon. We have a choice. I repeat: we have a choice of law and order. Don’t play with fire. Let’s not listen to that aging senile megalomaniac who wants to satisfy his personal vendetta at our expense. His time has come and gone.

I definitely do not side with Najib in the present controversy but I will rise to defend the democracy of this country, even it means over my dead body. Just because you are sure of a crime having been committed doesn’t mean you can ransack the suspect’s house without a search warrant issued by law. I will stand up for Lim Guan Eng too for due process to occur.

That’s the least I can leave for my children than to see them drowned crossing the seas, without having lifted a finger, just because Mahathir is up to his mischief again and the Mat Salleh think that’s it’s really cool to adopt their god-given values at any cost in situations they don’t live in, like what happened to the poor Egyptians, Tunisians and Libyans.