Consistently inconsistent

So what is it that you really want? Can we just focus on putting Pakatan in power? Why all these threats of not voting for Pakatan or PAS? We can always discuss the Hudud issue later once Pakatan is in power. And, as you said, if Pakatan does something we don’t like (such as they go and implement Hudud) then we can always kick them out and vote Barisan Nasional back in again, say, in 2016 or 2017.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Last year, we launched the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) in London. Immediately after that, the opposition political parties made a decision not to work with the MCLM. Many Pakatan Rakyat supporters said some very nasty things about us. They even accused us of being Trojan horses, agents/plants of Barisan Nasional, and worse.

We then went on a road show to explain our mission and vision. Those whom we spoke to agreed that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. In other words, the knife cuts both ways. The knife that we use to cut Barisan Nasional’s throat can and should cut Pakatan Rakyat’s throat as well, if they become just like Barisan Nasional.

So why do we want to cut Barisan Nasional’s throat? Simple! Because Barisan Nasional practices racism, persecution, selective prosecution, abuse of power, corruption, etc. Barisan Nasional manipulates the state agencies (such as the judiciary, police, MACC, AG Chambers, mainstream media, etc.) for political purposes. With Barisan Nasional in power, there is blatant wastage and misuse of taxpayer’s money. And the list goes on.

Barisan Nasional makes a lot of promises during every election. They even come out with a most impressive Election Manifesto election after election. But they never deliver their election promises. In fact, they do the reverse of what they promise.

Barisan Nasional also has very low quality lawmakers, both at parliament as well as state levels. We complain that with the indiscriminate logging in East Malaysia, the Orang Utan is becoming extinct. What we are seeing instead is the Orang Utan being sent to parliament and the state assemblies and these people act even worse than Orang Utan (just view the videos on Youtube to see what I mean).

In short, we want change. And we know what changes we want. We are very clear in our minds what is wrong with Malaysia and what needs to be done to put all this right.

So the key word is CHANGE. That is what we seek. We are not interested in ‘repackaging’. We are not fooled by expensive PR exercises about so-called (how siow) reforms. We do not wish to see old wine in a new bottle. It must be genuine change and change for the better. And that is why we want Barisan Nasional out.

The MCLM tried to argue that in many countries they changed the government to seek change but did not really see change. Sometimes it was even a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. What they got was worse. Our job is to make sure that when we kick out Barisan Nasional and replace it with Pakatan Rakyat we do actually see change and not end up with old wine in a new bottle. This is the mission and vision of the MCLM.

And the way to ensure this is to first of all make sure that they do not send Orang Utans to parliament or to any of the state assemblies. They must be people of calibre/quality and the aftermath of the 2008 general election has proven that this is very important. If this has been observed then, today, the state of Perak would still be under Pakatan Rakyat rule.

Anwar Ibrahim’s excuse was that it is not that easy to find candidates of calibre/quality to field in the general elections. So we offered to help find these candidates. We were aware that some people had been approached back in 1999, 2004 and 2008. But they refused to contest the elections even though they were promised that they need not join any of the parties and could contest as independent candidates, but under any one of the party banners.

We approached all these people again and still they refused to contest the elections. Finally, after pleading with them to sacrifice for their country and to do ‘national service’, they reluctantly agreed.

Then, suddenly, all hell broke loose. We were accused of an attempt to trigger three-corner fights to sabotage Pakatan Rakyat so that Barisan Nasional could win the election. After failing to convince the people that this is not so, I told Haris Ibrahim to just forget about the ‘Independent Candidates Initiative’. Let Pakatan Rakyat sort out their own candidates. Let’s not get involved in this exercise any longer. And if they fail to get good candidates then that is their problem. It is not any concern of the MCLM.

What we would focus on instead is to give talks, do training, etc., and more importantly, to push our Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA) and The People’s Declaration (Deklarasi Rakyat). This is basically to tell the political parties how we want the country to be run and what we expect from the government -- whomsoever it may be that will be forming the government, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat.

But the noise from the ground was still ABU (anything but Umno/asal bukan Umno). They don’t care a damn about RARA or The People’s Declaration or whatever. They just want BN out and Pakatan in. The rest we can talk AFTER we change the government.

We tried to explain that what we want to see are changes. We are not in the business of changing the government. We are in the business of seeing reforms. So we must focus on changes, not on changing the government.

Nevertheless, if we need to change the government to be able to see changes then that is what we shall have to do. But we shall be changing the government to ensure that we see changes and not change the government for the sake of changing the government. Changing the government is the means. Reform is the objective.

But no! We shall change the government, period! Changes can come later, AFTER we change the government. No use to talk about all that now. Change the government first.

Okay, if that is what you insist we do then that is what we shall do. So we launched ABU (anything but Umno/asal bukan Umno). We shall change the government and then cross our fingers and pray for the best. We shall take a chance and hope that by changing the government we do actually see changes. If this is what you want then this is what we shall do. So it will be ABU then.

After agreeing with all of you that this is what we shall do, now many of you are talking that you will not be voting Pakatan or will not vote for PAS because of this Hudud issue. Why is this such as issue? I thought we are going for ABU. I thought we are going to change the government first and ‘talk later’.

The MCLM did say we should talk first and then decide if Pakatan can deliver what we want -- in the event they come to power with our votes. But you said, ‘No!” We first put Pakatan in power and then discuss later, once they are in power, what we want (or don’t want). But now you are doing a U-turn (like what you accused me of doing). Now you are threatening not to vote for Pakatan or PAS.

So what is it that you really want? Can we just focus on putting Pakatan in power? Why all these threats of not voting for Pakatan or PAS? We can always discuss the Hudud issue later once Pakatan is in power. And, as you said, if Pakatan does something we don’t like (such as they go and implement Hudud) then we can always kick them out and vote Barisan Nasional back in again, say, in 2016 or 2017.

Cruzeiro is one of those who oppose the MCLM and would like to see ABU. I hope, therefore, he will focus on ABU and not write articles such as this: http://cruzinthots.blogspot.com/2011/10/arrogant-holy-pas-ready-to-abandon-and.html. Articles like these may turn the people against ABU.