PH parties should take responsibility for the action of their leaders

(A Kadir Jasin) – If I were to listen (or read) and believe what some segments of the mainstream media was saying about the Pakatan Harapan (PH), the only conclusion that I could sanely draw is that it had broken up a long time ago.

As an example, only a few days ago, a columnist of the MCA-controlled The Star newspaper, had speculated that yesterday’s meeting of the coalition’s Presidential Council (Majlis Presiden) would see its Chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, torn to shreds for inviting all Malays to join his party – Bersatu – in the name of Malay unity.

Again, listening to the mainstream media and reading from it, I didn’t get the sense that Dr Mahathir, who is also the Prime Minister, was pressured by fellow council members.

I could be wrong because I didn’t have firsthand information and the media today are free to report as they like – no more “wahyu” to guide or spook them.

Instead, also picking from the media, I got the sense that the meeting was pretty normal in spite of the continuing homosexual video scandal and the more recent alleged plot by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Bersatu) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Umno) to topple Dr Mahathir and install Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister with immediate effect.

Both men denied that they were involved in the so-called statutory declarations demanding immediate resignation of Dr Mahathir and the appointment of the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his replacement.

Instead the news that came out of the meeting was of a more sedentary nature, but no less exciting, i.e. the agreement on the lowering of the voting age and the election candidacy to 18 and the automatic registration of voters. I hope nothing significant was swept under the carpet.

As for the homosexual video, the latest from the Home Ministry and the police is that investigation is progressing. My feeling is, it should not take too long because the longer it takes the less believable it becomes.

Shared Burden

Some two weeks ago, in a chance meeting at the Prime Minister’s office, I told Anwar that he should not leave the homosexual video thing entirely to the Prime Minster.

When I said that he was about to knock at the Prime Minister’s door while Datuk Seri Mohd Azmin Ali had just existed the room after accompanying Dr Mahathir in a meeting with the International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Christine Lagarde.

Incidentally, it was also the day – June 23 – that I published in this blog my first and only comment so far about the Sandakan homosexual video under the title “The Litmus Test of the ‘Sandakan Video’”.

No matter how long you have been a journalist and writing about follies and foolishness of politicians, it was still awkward riding in the same lift and sitting in the same meeting with the subject of your commentary.

Although I published that article many days after the Sandakan video was distributed in the social media (and was picked up by the mainstream media), the response was swift, brutal and unforgiving. Truth hurts.

I told Anwar that this is an affair of his party – Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) – and it concerns a very senior person in its leadership. The party has to take responsibility and advise the Prime Minister accordingly.

PH is a coalition of equals. So member parties must play equal role and take equal responsibility, more so in a matter as sensational as this.

It was different when Dr Mahathir was leading the Barisan Nasional (BN) of which Anwar was once a key member. In the BN, Umno is supreme. In the PH everybody is equal. In the BN, the Umno Supreme Council decides and the rest merely “angguk” (agrees).

It was that Umno hegemony that saw Anwar himself being sacked in 1998 and Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik removed as the Chief Minister of Malacca before that.

I think it’s better for member parties of the PH to act on their recalcitrant, wayward or non-performing ministers, menteris besar, chief ministers and deputy ministers instead of leaving everything to the Prime Minister.

This should be the case because they were the ones who recommended to him the candidates from their respective parties for him to consider.

Hell-Bent on Acting

On the lighter note but no less relevant was the question by a fellow journalist last night on the proliferation of sex videos involving politicians.

The best answer I could think of is this: Most Malaysians, irrespective of race, RELIGION and creed were born with crave to become film stars.

But in the past, unless you were cast for a role in a film or TV drama, the chances of having yourself filmed were rare. Film making was costly and cumbersome.

Today all that you need is a smart phone, a partner (or partners) and a steady hand. You can film yourself with one hand while freeing another for acting.

And thanks to social media platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube – you can globally “syndicate” your blue movies or your enemies will gladly do for you, more so if you are a politician.

With that thought, I rest my case but not before urging you to be responsible for your lust, foolishness and madness.

If you think you are a better lover and blue movie actor, I urge you to migrate to Hollywood and get yourself cast by Red Granite for the sequel of “The Wolf of Wall Street” based on the real life stories of fugitive Jho Low and the money-laundering accused Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz.

Leave politics to those who are serious and sincere about serving the people.