Perak was merely an Umno show of force

In chess you need to sacrifice some pieces, maybe even your queen, for the sake of the end game. And what is the end game here? If you need to ask, then you are not of the level of Raja Petra Kamarudin and you should go read a low intellectual site like Sarawak Report run by a reporter instead of coming to Malaysia Today.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Once in a while China needs to send its warships to the South China Sea just as a show of force. Once in a while North Korea needs to test its nuclear missiles just as a show of force. And once in a while Umno needs to cause chaos just as a show of force.

When the USSR sent its missiles to Cuba (a.k.a. the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis) — which was a bit too close to the US for comfort as far as Kennedy was concerned — it was also a show of force. And it was in response to the US sending its missiles to Turkey — which was also too close to the USSR for comfort as far as Khrushchev was concerned.

Kennedy and Khrushchev taught the world how to play the politics of MAD and show of force

Hence the US had to reconsider its move of sending missiles to Turkey so that the USSR would also reconsider its move of sending missiles to Cuba. And until today, 58 years on, Russia and America have not blown up the world to create a Mad Max scenario.

So, since time immemorial, humans have been demonstrating shows of force — or what is sometimes called “sabre-rattling” (goncang pedang in Bahasa Malaysia) — to force the adversary to back down or to gain certain concessions.

There is a saying, to maintain peace, one must be prepared for war. When you create a MAD or “mutual assured destruction” situation (like during the Cuban Missiles Crisis), no one advances, and status quo is maintained.

The Perak Crisis was Umno’s “Cuban Missile Crisis”. It was meant to push PPBM to take a step back or else suffer collapse. If the Perikatan Nasional Perak state government collapses, then the Perikatan Nasional federal government is going to collapse as well.

What was the endgame in the Perak Crisis and what were the concessions?

Does Umno really want to collapse the federal government like what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did in February 2020? Of course not, but they had to pretend they were prepared to collapse the Perikatan Nasional federal government on grounds of principles.

Principles? Since when do politics and principles go together? That’s like saying virgin prostitutes exist. If politicians did things based on principles, then they would become imams and priests and not politicians.

Let’s get one thing clear once and for all. Politics is about power, and if you still do not get this by now then get out of politics. I know Lim Kit Siang always talks about principles and about serving the rakyat. But then Kit Siang is a snake-oil merchant, a conman, and if you believe Kit Siang then you will believe pigs can fly.

PPBM knows that Umno will not collapse the federal government the way Mahathir did in February this year. If they did, DAP would come back to power and it may take years before Umno can bounce back. In fact, GE15 would be as good as lost.

DAP would have gone to bed with the devil just to come back to power

The fact that DAP has offered to work with Umno to form the new Perak state government reveals DAP’s intention. DAP just wants to come back to power by hook or by crook, even if they need to make a deal with the devil. And a DAP that is prepared to go to bed with Umno is a very desperate DAP — and desperate people are dangerous.

But then Umno must be seen to have won, just the US needs to be seen like it won the Cuban Missile Crisis and that the USSR backed down. Of course, the USSR did back down when they pulled out their missiles from Cuba. But what they did not tell the world is the US also had to make concessions regarding Turkey. It was a trade-off.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a MAD situation, so both the US and USSR had to back down. The Perak Crisis is the same. PPBM gave way to Umno in the appointment of the Perak MB and Umno, in turn, has to make certain concessions. But what was that trade-off?

Hmm…why spoil the fun by revealing everything now? Let’s see if you so-called expert political analysts and observers who talk so much and make long postings can see the big picture regarding the Perak crisis.

DAP had to come out with this statement to save face after the Perak coup failure

In chess you need to sacrifice some pieces, maybe even your queen, for the sake of the end game. And what is the end game here? If you need to ask, then you are not of the level of Raja Petra Kamarudin and you should go read a low intellectual site like Sarawak Report run by a reporter instead of coming to Malaysia Today.

By the way, this reminds me of the story regarding Moses and the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh said he was God and Moses disagreed. Moses said God has the power to give life and to take life.

The Pharaoh then imposed the death sentence on Moses and then immediately commuted that death sentence. See, said the Pharaoh, I just took your life and then I gave you life. So that makes me God.

Yes, sometimes humans need to play God to feel powerful.