Ramasamy, stop bitching in public

The Third Force

Malaysia is in crisis – Ramasamy has begun bitching in public. Someone, please, send in the clowns.

Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) of Penang and the guy who sits next to you in an otherwise empty theatre, Ramasamy Palanisamy, has been spitting fire of late, his latest target being the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. Yesterday, the professor planted doubt in the minds of Malaysians when he implied this – the IGP’s clarification of a recent claim by the Crown Prince of Johor was cockamamie babble.

“The public would like to hear what Tunku Ismail has to say on this matter. The allegations of police spying are not only illegal but something serious,” said Ramasamy.

The DCM was referring to a surprise allegation by Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim last Wednesday that his movements were being monitored and that his phone had been tapped by the Special Branch. A claim to that effect was found uploaded onto the JOHOR Southern Tigers’ Facebook page and rolled into media circulation almost instantly thereafter.

Ramasamy accused the IGP of glossing over the issue right after the top cop had put the whole episode down to a misunderstanding. Khalid had deliberated on the matter with the Tunku Mahkota at Istana Pelangi yesterday and doused the sizzle on the issue thereafter by assuring that the matter had been resolved.

“I have explained the matter to him and there was no problem,” added Khalid.

But that didn’t seem at all plausible to Ramasamy – the DCM refused to take the IGP at his words and dropped hints that the police had engaged in a partisan with hunt to silence those who criticised the government.

“Are the police concerned with the outspoken members of the Johor royalty so much, that they felt there was a need to monitor their activities?”

Ramasamy gave the impression that the police had transgressed bounds of propriety by infringing on the Crown Prince’s privacy. Under the circumstances, let me first state the following for those who may have been misled by the DCM into believing that the tapping of conversations by authorities is against the law – it isn’t.

Eavesdropping on phone conversations by the police may be approbated, the provision being that the police first obtain a wiretap order, which is quite similar to a warrant. Under the circumstances, the police would have to submit to a judge a probable cause to believe that tapping into a given line would help them solve a serious crime, such as drug trafficking, money laundering or terrorism.

That is not to say that the Crown Prince is in any way a police suspect – I’m neither suggesting this nor that – and neither does a discussion on that matter serve or fit into the crux of this article. But the point remains – Ramasamy landed himself in hot soup yesterday by implying that the IGP had lied, which is another way of saying that Tunku Ismail was in fact being profiled by the cops. Now that is a serious allegation.

But that’s the whole problem with Ramasamy – ever since the bungalow-for-land scam broke the internet, he just can’t seem to keep his mouth shut. His latest remarks against the top cop may finally have landed him in a conundrum of sorts.

Let me to put it to you in perspective:

First, under the circumstances that the police did in fact tap into the conversations of the Crown Prince, did Ramasamy believe it to be obligatory for the IGP to inform the rakyat? I mean, wouldn’t the act of informing the rakyat be counterproductive and further invade into the Crown Prince’s privacy?

Next, it seems that Ramasamy has triggered a conspiracy alert. The DCM fuelled speculation that Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak was attempting to twist the Tunku’s arm for having been critical of his administration. But isn’t that stoking chaos and distrust against government, and doesn’t that constitute a violation of National Security laws?

Finally, Ramasamy insinuated that the IGP had staged a massive cover up – but how would he know? Assuming that an investigation was underway, did Ramasamy expect Khalid to expose details of the discovery to the detriment of its outcome and the reputation of the Palace?

It seems that Ramasamy is somewhat aware of PDRM’s methods and dealings, enough to issue bold statements against the broader interest of national security. Under the circumstances, I implore the IGP to hold Ramasamy accountable for his actions by investigating him and his office on suspicion of harbouring an illicit agenda against the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), the Yang Di-pertuan Agong, the Prime Minister and the government of Malaysia.

And to Ramasamy – please, stop your public bitching. We’re sick of it.