S Thayaparan
“And how easy it is to recognise the revenant shapes that the old unchanging enemies — racism, leader worship, superstition — assume when they reappear amongst us (often bodyguarded by their new apologists).”
COMMENT | Before I begin, to answer Andrew Sia’s question: “…why do some leaders declare that it's a ‘scandal’ to hasten those trials?”.
Well, any right-thinking Malaysian should be disgusted but not surprised that a certain section of the political apparatus would want to hasten the trials of their political enemies to maintain hegemony.
All the PAS memo did was confirm that the political apparatus in some way is attempting to interfere with the judicial process.
Keep in mind that former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that certain individuals wanted him to interfere in the courts. He said he refused.
Now other interested parties are attempting to interfere in the courts. Does everyone understand the problem here or does this just go past the heads of right-thinking Malaysians?
P Gunasegaram is right when he reminds Pakatan Harapan that small is beautiful.
However, what is missing from most commentaries is the acknowledgement that the big tent is in reality a racial strategy perpetrated by elements in the mainstream political establishment to resolve a political crisis brought upon by decades of corrupt policies, racial and religious imperatives that are destroying this country but which they have no real political will to change.
Forget about the trust issues when it comes to the big tent, what the big tent really is, is a plea for the racists, bigots and religious extremists to join hands with Harapan in the hopes of scuttling the ambitions of the court cluster.
There are no common ground policies beyond policies that favour the majority community.
There are no grand Malaysian new deals which would get this country out of the rut it is in, beyond platitudes that corruption needs to be eradicated and jailing Najib Abdul Razak and Co would do that.
The fact that Anwar Ibrahim claims that his principles were the reasons why the strong and formidable gambit failed does not explain who exactly was going to give him his strong and formidable numbers and why he was in talks with them in the first place.
“And how easy it is to recognise the revenant shapes that the old unchanging enemies — racism, leader worship, superstition — assume when they reappear amongst us (often bodyguarded by their new apologists).”
- Christopher Hitchens
COMMENT | Before I begin, to answer Andrew Sia’s question: “…why do some leaders declare that it's a ‘scandal’ to hasten those trials?”.
Well, any right-thinking Malaysian should be disgusted but not surprised that a certain section of the political apparatus would want to hasten the trials of their political enemies to maintain hegemony.
All the PAS memo did was confirm that the political apparatus in some way is attempting to interfere with the judicial process.
Keep in mind that former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that certain individuals wanted him to interfere in the courts. He said he refused.
Now other interested parties are attempting to interfere in the courts. Does everyone understand the problem here or does this just go past the heads of right-thinking Malaysians?
P Gunasegaram is right when he reminds Pakatan Harapan that small is beautiful.
However, what is missing from most commentaries is the acknowledgement that the big tent is in reality a racial strategy perpetrated by elements in the mainstream political establishment to resolve a political crisis brought upon by decades of corrupt policies, racial and religious imperatives that are destroying this country but which they have no real political will to change.
Forget about the trust issues when it comes to the big tent, what the big tent really is, is a plea for the racists, bigots and religious extremists to join hands with Harapan in the hopes of scuttling the ambitions of the court cluster.
There are no common ground policies beyond policies that favour the majority community.
There are no grand Malaysian new deals which would get this country out of the rut it is in, beyond platitudes that corruption needs to be eradicated and jailing Najib Abdul Razak and Co would do that.
The fact that Anwar Ibrahim claims that his principles were the reasons why the strong and formidable gambit failed does not explain who exactly was going to give him his strong and formidable numbers and why he was in talks with them in the first place.
Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim
If principles are important, why deal with any corrupt leader?
And it would not be so bad if the other Malay uber alles parties are receptive to the sordid political gyrations of PKR.
The reality is that PKR is bending over backwards to court anyone, no matter how compromised they are in the hopes of gaining political power in the guise of fighting for a better Malaysia.
And I would just like to add one major point in the fall of the Harapan regime.
Political middle ground
Yes, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Sheraton Move traitors are to blame, but what really destabilised the Harapan government is that it failed to define the political middle ground that Umno/BN did for decades.
This failure was fuelled by overblown expectations, especially in the non-Malay polity of the kind of change that was possible and the Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid, which is a toxic influence on racial and religious discourse.
If Harapan manages to scrape a victory from this unholy big tent and Anwar is installed as the prime minister, what kind of government do you think we will have?
If principles are important, why deal with any corrupt leader?
And it would not be so bad if the other Malay uber alles parties are receptive to the sordid political gyrations of PKR.
The reality is that PKR is bending over backwards to court anyone, no matter how compromised they are in the hopes of gaining political power in the guise of fighting for a better Malaysia.
And I would just like to add one major point in the fall of the Harapan regime.
Political middle ground
Yes, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Sheraton Move traitors are to blame, but what really destabilised the Harapan government is that it failed to define the political middle ground that Umno/BN did for decades.
This failure was fuelled by overblown expectations, especially in the non-Malay polity of the kind of change that was possible and the Bangsa Malaysia kool-aid, which is a toxic influence on racial and religious discourse.
If Harapan manages to scrape a victory from this unholy big tent and Anwar is installed as the prime minister, what kind of government do you think we will have?
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
As it is, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the current grand poobah, is nothing more than a figurehead or punching bag for the disparate elements which make up this Malay uber alles government.
How do you think Anwar would be with the DAP continuing to be vilified - but this time from within the government?
After his failed attempts at securing an alliance with elements from the court cluster and plunging Harapan into a political miasma of hypocrisy and electoral failure, Anwar seems to think that any deal hammered out by his acolytes would result in a reversal of political fortune.
Anwar cannot have it both ways. He cannot claim that Harapan’s strength is its core parties but still allow his minions to negotiate deals with racists, bigots and political extremists merely to gain political power.
In fact, all these backroom deals are just destabilising Harapan.
Did it ever occur to those people who want a big tent that all these political operatives they are talking to are merely attempting to destabilise Harapan with these talks and dragging it out for as long as possible, so Harapan would be a disunified group when the next GE comes round the corner?
As it is, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the current grand poobah, is nothing more than a figurehead or punching bag for the disparate elements which make up this Malay uber alles government.
How do you think Anwar would be with the DAP continuing to be vilified - but this time from within the government?
After his failed attempts at securing an alliance with elements from the court cluster and plunging Harapan into a political miasma of hypocrisy and electoral failure, Anwar seems to think that any deal hammered out by his acolytes would result in a reversal of political fortune.
Anwar cannot have it both ways. He cannot claim that Harapan’s strength is its core parties but still allow his minions to negotiate deals with racists, bigots and political extremists merely to gain political power.
In fact, all these backroom deals are just destabilising Harapan.
Did it ever occur to those people who want a big tent that all these political operatives they are talking to are merely attempting to destabilise Harapan with these talks and dragging it out for as long as possible, so Harapan would be a disunified group when the next GE comes round the corner?
How does this look to the demographic you are wooing? Weak, insecure political operatives hoping anyone will be their friend in their quest for power.
PKR, DAP and Amanah do not need anyone else to attain federal power and the propaganda that it does merely sustains the system.
Meanwhile, those from the DAP to PAS are drawing boundaries as to who they would work with as if bipartisanship and country above party were something that Malaysians are used to.
Rafizi Ramli and Nurul Izzah Anwar are attempting to redefine Harapan’s political narrative but the problem is that the party they belong to has neither the electoral clout nor the moral standing to set the political agenda for Harapan.
However, Rafizi and Nurul Izzah are pointing PKR in the right direction in terms of how they can build goodwill by committing to an economic and social agenda which helps all Malaysians especially the disenfranchised members of the Malay polity.
But this takes hard work and a political will that understands that the long game is more beneficial than dubious short term gains.
Harapan could have formulated policies and funded entitlement programmes which actually would have helped the dominant Malay polity - but it instead attempted to take over existing Umno programmes to maintain political hegemony and the result is that Umno still managed to make a comeback, with convicted political operatives leading the charge while embroiled in internal party feuds.
Like any other failed or failing Malay uber alles strategy, the big tent will be the final nail in Harapan’s coffin.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
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