What were you saying again, YB Datuk Zulkifli Noordin?

I read the Malaysian Insider report that YB Datuk Zul Noordin had called to prevent the planned BERSIH rally on July the 9th.

By the way, I did not know that the YB had been bestowed a Datukship. I am sure he deserves it. Congratulations YB Datuk.

YBDZN (short for Yang Berhormat Datuk Zulkifli Noordin – I learn to shorten things from PEMANDU), for the uninitiated, stood in the 2008 GE in Kulim under the PKR banner. His political tagline was, “it was time to change, new hope.”

During the campaign, he repeatedly reminded the voters to use their vote wisely. He implored them to use their “sacred hands” to choose a candidate who was commanding and not to chose a devil masked as an angel. This was what he wrote on his blog on 27th Februuary 2008:

“Undilah calon yang berwibawa, bukan jerangkung bertopeng dewa.”

I admire his tenacity and conviction, I must say.

He asked the people to vote someone who was clean, someone who was not corrupted or corruptible. He wanted a stronger opposition to fight abuse of power; to fight against corruption and to fight for a better Malaysia. He asked the people to vote for a responsible representative who would fight for the people’s rights and whatever things which are closed to the people’s heart. Love this!

However, unfortunately, perhaps while suffering a momentary lapse of refinement, he was also prone to a bit of theatrical indulgence such as displayed by this, which appeared on his blog on 5th March 2008 titled “Orang kata KJ macam beruk…”:

That was most unfortunate. But hey, the man has his opinion.

As he was feeling the heat of the election campaign – which was understandable, as he was a rookie of sorts – he developed a dislike against the then Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR). It looked like the “macam beruk” blog post was not the last showing of his penchant for name calling.

This was evident in his post, titled, almost inevitably, "SPR Barua BN." Wow. For a person who describes himself as the “servant of Allah” and who always fight for Islam, he was very Islam in his language. But hey, the man has an opinion, right?

In that post, YBDZN berated SPR for cancelling the usage of the indelible ink in the 2008 GE. He wrote:

“Memang kita sedia maklum mengharapkan ketelusan daripada SPR samalah seperti mengharap gajah dapat melepasi mata jarum.”

Then in April 2008, he advocated freedom of expression by speaking, not once, but three times, about a planned gathering called “Black 14” as a show of support for Anwar Ibrahim. His three posts on that subject appeared here, here andhere.

Then, on 21st August 2008, he reproduced a letter from Dato’ Salehuddin Hashim, the then Secretary General of PKR to the SPR, which, among others say:

“Saya sangat mempersoalkan kredibiliti dan kerja SPR kerana apa yang timbul bukanlah perkara baru malahan ianya adalah perkara sama yang berbangkit pada setiap kali pilihanraya walaupun berbagai-bagai aduan, kritikan, dan cadangan telah dikemukakan kepada pihak SPR.

Sehubungan dengan itu saya meminta dan berharap agar SPR dapat meneliti untuk bertindak dengan serius dan bersungguh-sungguh terhadap aduan yang saya kemukakan seperti berikut;

i. Nama Pengundi Hilang

ii. Pemilihan Hari Bekerja Sebagai Hari Membuang Undi

iii. Menggunakan Agensi Kerajaan Untuk Tujuan Kempen Umno/BN

iv. Laporan Media Yang Berat Sebelah

v. Penggunaan Pasukan Anggota Keselamatan

vi. Mengambil Kad Pengenalan Pengundi

vii. Sogokan Wang kepada Pengundi

Dilaporkan bahawa kempen Umno/BN telah menggunakan sogokan wang untuk meraih undi. Petugas Umno/Bn bertemu pengundi menawarkan wang supaya pengundi diminta mengundi calon Umno/BN atau pun pengundi menyerahkan kad pengenalan mereka. Tindakan ini selain menyalahi etika pilihanraya dan mempunyai unsur amalan rasuah.

Kerjasama dan tindakan dari pihak Tan Sri saya hargai dengan ucapan terima kasih. Semoga usaha bersama kita memartabatkan demokrasi Malaysia akan mencapai kejayaan.”

It thus came as a complete surprised, and not to mention, puzzlement, that YBDZN was quoted by the Malaysian Insider report saying as follows:

“Datuk Zulkifli Noordin said today that Malays will weaken themselves if they are used by anti-Islamic leaders organising next month’s Bersih rally to call for free and fair elections.”

I suppose YBDZN now does not think that the SPR is “barua” BN anymore. And I suppose YBDZN now feels that all his concerns listed above have been adequately addressed by the SPR.

Hey, the man has a right to form an opinion okay. And obviously, that is hiscurrent opinion.