Political snippets (6)

Based on news report from Malaysiakini and Star Online.

A sweetie told me my ‘political snippets’ are like the equivalent of Tolstoy’s ‘War & Peace’. She’s right ;-)

Though I had planned the ‘snippets’ one lazy blogging day, I got carried away once I started. I thought of changing it to ‘political commentaries’ but that sounds too pompous and undeserving, so I am afraid I have to keep using ‘snippets’.


Case I

Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, the Only one 'regime' is capable of running the country bloke running the Election Commission has made an 11th-hr poll rules changes.

According to Malaysiakini, Mr I’ll sue those who tore up my photo has announced the EC will be enforcing a long disused and forgotten rule that election candidates must pay stamp duty on their applications to contest.

Apart from the fact that the rule has never been enforced, Mr Shameless announced it just on Thursday, the last working day for northern states (where Friday and Saturday are holidays) just before registration of candidates tomorrow, Sunday.

This will fix up those opposition candidates, particularly PAS, who could be disqualified by the 11th hour change.

The dictionary defines ‘eleventh hour’ as:

(i) the last possible moment for doing something
(ii) the latest possible moment

We may assume in this disgraceful shameless atrocious case it’s the second meaning.

Abdul Rashid reminds me of a female neighbour that I dislike immensely. When my mum played mahjong with her, the auntie would make the rules as the game progressed. While mahjong is a complex game with differing rules in different countries (like the silly ‘heavenly twins’ the Americans are fond of), locality or clubs there are some unchangeable universal rules. But trust the neighbour auntie to re-create new ones in place of those – of course ‘twas only a coincidence, she would have claimed, that those new rules favoured her.

Both Abdul Rashid and that auntie are despicably shameless or shamelessly despicable (I like the 2nd one) – but at least one of them didn't claim to be a Tan Sri (if this title means any damn thing at all anymore).


Case II

I blogged in my other site BolehTalk about a Malaysiakini revelation of the bloke responsible for recording the controversial phone conversation of VK Lingam.

Yes, Loh Gwo Burne will be contesting in the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat, and on a PKR ticket too. I congratulated Loh for his most handsome reward of a parliamentary seat from the de facto leader of that party. Eat your heart out, poor dear Elizabeth Wong.

Ironically the MCA incumbent of Kelana Jaya, dumped from the MCA list for this election because he had the blooming temerity to criticize a ketuanan Melayu edited version of Malaysian history, is also another Loh, MCA MP Loh Seng Kok.

When MCA Loh exposed both the bull history textbook which had eliminated the role of the ‘nons’ and a proselytising directive by the Islamic Development Board (Jakim) to the private sector to conduct Muslim prayers during meetings he was threatened by both UMNO and PAS!

Which Loh has been more heroic and selfless, MCA Loh or PKR Loh?

But the far more interesting issue to arise out of this relates to what a judge in the Royal Commission (investigating into the Lingam videotape) had said of Anwar Ibrahim.

I can’t remember whether it was Haidar or Shankar who criticized Anwar Ibrahim for surrendering the videotape section by section instead of presenting the entire video to the authorities. Anwar Ibrahim responded (words to the effect) that he could only surrender to the authorities what he was given by the person who owned the tape.

Hmmm, I now wonder? As one sweetie commented to me, someone had been ‘selling tickets’ to a series of ‘shows’!


Case III

As we all know, Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, will be contesting in the federal seat of Lembah Pantai. Personally I had hope for hardworking PKR member Elizabeth Wong to be given a high profile role, namely a hot seat like Lembah Pantai to challenge the BN candidate there, hottie Minister Shahrizat. For Elizabeth's duty, devotion and dedication to PKR I believe she deserves all that but alas, I am not even a de facto member of PKR so who wants to listen to me ;-)

Many believe that Nurul will surrender her seat after April, to enable her dad to stand as a candidate in the subsequent by-election after the legal period barring Anwar from politics has expired, but we have all been very wrong.

When asked whether Nurul, if she wins, would make way for Anwar, PKR’s Deputy President Dr Syed Husin declared that was not necessary. He pronounced that someone would definitely make way. He said the decision would depend on which seats they won.

As I had posted a comment over at the website of notable blogger Susan Loone, I was disgusted by Anwar Ibrahim’s boasting he could get a number of PKR MPs (I think the figure mentioned was 20 - hahaha) to step down for him to contest come post-April.

A sweetie lamented in equal disgust that he could even say such a thing without a tinge of consideration for the feelings of any of those PKR MPs (if they win) – yes, what the hell did Anwar think they are? Toilet paper to be used and cast aside by His Almightiness?

Such has been, and probably still is his sense of self-centred interest that dismisses any consideration for other poeple, even his own party members!

But obviously his daughter cannot be treated in that casual callous cavalier fashion, as Dr Syed Husin has indicated. No sirree, not any of his 'Chosen Ones'. It's hardly likely to be HRH the Princess but just one of those ‘toilet paper’ MPs who ‘would definitely make way’.