Putting it in perspective

I repeat: politicians can never be trusted. They never serve the Rakyat’s interest. We, the Rakyat, have to take matters into our own hands. We need electoral reforms. So we need BERSIH to be able to bring about those electoral reforms. It is about seeing clean, fair and free elections.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Stay away from illegal rally, says Sultan

(The Star) - The Sultan of Pahang has urged the people to not get involved, either directly or indirectly, in the July 9 illegal assembly.

Sultan Ahmad Shah said the assembly would only bring trouble and won't benefit the people.

'I appeal to the people not to get themselves involved in this. Whether it is bersih (clean) or dirty, as long as it is a demonstration, it is not clean,' he said after opening the new Mardi office in Muadzam Shah near here.

The Sultan added that such an assembly should not take place in Malaysia. 'I'm personally against this,' Bernama quoted him as saying. The country's 1.2 million civil servants have also been told to stay away from the rallies.

This is to safeguard the principle of 'neutrality and impartiality' of public sector employees, Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah said. He said in a June 30 directive that the General Orders clearly stated that civil servants were not allowed to put their personal interests before the Government's.

Mr Abu Bakar said civil servants were not allowed to participate in any illegal activity, even after office hours. 'In fact, they cannot leave their work stations to even watch such activities being held,' he said, adding that action could also be taken against any civil servant who used government facilities for such activities.

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Muhyiddin: Opposition wants to seize power through street protest

(The Star) - The Pakatan Rakyat does not respect the mandate of the majority and chooses to use street protest to wrest power from the government said Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said that it is crucial in any democracy for political parties to respect the mandate of the majority.

“The mandate of the majority must be accepted by the parties. This is a rule of democracy,” he said officiating the Federal Territories Barisan Nasional Convention Sunday.

Instead of recognising this fact, he said the opposition has disregarded the will of the majority that had voted for Barisan.

“They (opposition) does not respect the mandate of the majority but chooses to use street democracy as a means to wrest power,” he said.

He said the Barisan would oppose the opposition's dirty tactics of attempting to wrest power via street protest.

He said the opposition was using the Bersih rally as a front to cause chaos.

“We know they (opposition) are behind several non-governmental organisation to hide their dirty intentions.

“They claim the gathering is peaceful which is guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said.

However, the deputy Prime Minister said opposition claims of the country not having a free and fair democratic system is unfounded.

The opposition, he said, denied the reality of their victory in the previous general election.

“If they claim that elections in our country is not fair and dirty, it is impossible for the opposition to win in so many seats and control several states,” he said.

He said it was a farce for the opposition to talk about democracy when there are top leaders within Pakatan Rakyat who were appointed' to power.

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It is times like these that make me proud to be a member of the royal family. When I read what His Highness the Sultan of Pahang said it brought a tear to my eyes. Malaysia’s ten Monarchs -- the seven Sultans, the Raja of Perlis, the Yam Tuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan and the Agong -- are Islam’s Fidei Defensor.

For the uninitiated, ‘Fidei Defensor’ is Latin for ‘Defender of the Faith’ -- just as ‘Petra’ is Latin for ‘rock’ (now you know why I am stubborn and hard-headed like a rock).

It is good that sometimes the Rulers advice the Rakyat about what is the right thing to do and remind us to not do the wrong thing, especially if that particular action violates the laws or religious edicts. If it is not the Rulers who speak out then who else can speak out, especially when it concerns wrongdoings perpetuated by the Rulers themselves?

Is it not correct to say that one must be judged by one’s peers? That is how the legal system works (although Malaysia has already ended the jury system and you are now no longer judged by your peers).

My peers are fellow-bloggers so let fellow-bloggers judge me. The Rulers, on the other hand, must be judged by fellow-Rulers. You and I can’t pass judgement on the Rulers.

In the past, only God could judge Rulers as Rulers took instructions directly from God (thank God that system has since been abolished or else God will not have time for any other work with so many cases or Rulers’ misconduct to manage).

So we need the Rulers to speak out when necessary. There are many wrongdoings being committed not just by the Rakyat but also by the Rulers.

Take gambling, as an example. Never mind whether you are Muslim or Christian, gambling is haram in all religions. But many Malaysians gamble and this cause a lot of social problems. It is an even bigger problem when the Rulers themselves gamble because they are not gambling with their own money, like the Rakyat. They are gambling with our money.

Some Rulers go to the US, UK, Australia, etc., and waste millions of Ringgit in a single day at the casinos. And the government has to foot the bill for these gambling loses.

Ask the two cousins -- Hishammuddin Hussein and Najib Razak. Both their fathers were once-upon-a-time Prime Ministers of Malaysia and they know how much problems their fathers faced in trying to keep the Rulers in line. They both know how much money the government had to fork out to pay off the gambling debts of the Rulers.

So it is good that His Highness the Sultan of Pahang has spoken out and has advised us not to do anything unlawful, illegal or sinful. We need those kinds of reminders. If not many Malaysians would misbehave. And this would cost the nation millions and billions in taxpayers’ money.

What the Deputy Prime Minister said is also very true. There are attempts to use the BERSIH march of 9th July 2011 to grab power through street demonstrations. But maybe the intelligence agencies have not correctly advised Muhyiddin on what is really happening.

He said that the opposition is using BERSIH to grab power. Actually that is not quite correct. The opposition is not using BERSIH. The Rakyat is using BERSIH.

The truth is, to us Rakyat, both the ruling party and the opposition are all the same. They are all politicians. And politicians are self-centred and serve only themselves, not the Rakyat.

Politicians can’t be trusted. History has shown us that. Look at what the Bolsheviks did in Russia. They kicked out the Tsar but became worse than the Tsar. The Tsar’s secret police murdered 6,000 dissident Russians. When the Bolsheviks took over they killed 200,000 Russians. That shows we can’t trust the politicians.

The same happened when they ousted King Louis XVI of France. More people died at the hands of the Revolutionaries than at the hands of the King.

So, no, I as the Rakyat do not trust politicians. If we have not learned from history then we must be plain dumb. And that is why I criticise the opposition as much as I criticise the ruling party. And that is why I criticise Anwar Ibrahim as much as I criticise Najib Razak. Both are politicians and we should be careful with both. 2,000 years of recorded history has shown us that.

If you are Christian, which means you probably went to church today, you would believe that Jesus Christ was crucified. And who crucified Jesus or went before the government and demanded that he be crucified? Was it not politicians who were worried that Jesus was becoming too popular and was undermining the power of the politicians?

If you are of the Muslim faith you would believe in Prophet Muhammad. And who were the ones who persecuted the Prophet and his followers? Was it not the politicians, those heading the government of Mekah, who feared that they might lose power if they did not act against the Prophet?

Yes, all through history, politicians have betrayed us and have put to death those viewed as dangerous to them, prophets included. So, no, the politicians are not behind BERSIH. We do not trust them enough to allow them to be behind BERSIH. It is the Rakyat who are behind BERSIH. And both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat better know this and had better remember this.

So Muhyiddin is wrong if he things that BERSIH is about making Anwar Ibrahim the next Prime Minister. I would never agree to that. I would oppose that even if every single Malaysian condemns me and alleges that I have been bought, have done a U-turn, am a turncoat, am a Trojan horse, or whatever.

I repeat: politicians can never be trusted. They never serve the Rakyat’s interest. We the Rakyat have to take matters into our own hands. We need electoral reforms. So we need BERSIH to be able to bring about those electoral reforms. It is about seeing clean, fair and free elections.

Who eventually wins that election -- Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat -- is secondary. The important thing is that whosoever it is that may win must win fairly. And if the majority of the Rakyat chooses Barisan Nasional then Barisan Nasional it will be. And if instead they choose Pakatan Rakyat then so be it. But it must be on the basis of a clean, fair and free election.

Of course, if you were to ask me whom I would vote for I will make no secret about it. I will vote for Pakatan Rakyat. But this is not about whom I support or will vote for. It is about ensuring that the election process is clean, fair and free.

Oh, and one more thing, Muhyiddin said, “If they claim that elections in our country is not fair and dirty, it is impossible for the opposition to win in so many seats and control several states.” Actually, if the elections had been clean, fair and free, the opposition would not have just won so many seats and five states, Barisan Nasional would have been kicked out totally.

So the Deputy Prime Minister’s argument is terribly flawed. The fact that the opposition won so many seats and a few states is not the yardstick to declare that Malaysia’s elections are clean, fair and free. That fact that Barisan Nasional is still in power is proof that the elections are not clean, fair and free.