Fallacies are not truths

However, I have monitored the news reports from both the mainstream media and alternative media over the last week since Nomination Day and what are the issues they are talking about? We are focused on discussing the symptoms of the disease. We are ignoring the causes of the disease. So how can the fence-sitters be sure about who is going to make a better government?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I would like to refer to the very convincing letter by Robert Leong below, which was published in The Malaysian Insider. It is a good letter, I must admit, but we must be very careful that we do not regard fallacies as historical facts and then end up doing wishful thinking rather than political strategising.

Robert Leong said, “For the first time in recent memory we, the rakyat, have the option to vote to either maintain the status quo, or to radically change the government of this nation by handing the baton to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.”

That is a fallacy. We have always had the option to vote for another party other than the ruling party (‘ruling party’ meaning the Alliance Party in 1955 and Barisan Nasional in 1974).

PAS was founded in 1948 as the Parti Orang Muslimin Malaya (Hizbul Muslimin) and re-registered as the Pan-Islamic Malayan Party (PIMP) in 1955. The name was later changed to Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) during the Asri Muda era in the 1970s.

The Labour Party (LPM) was founded in 1952, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in 1953, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 1965, and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) in 1968.

PAS, LPM, PPP, DAP and Gerakan all contested the 1969 General Election as opposition parties and gave the ruling Alliance Party a whacking of its life.

In between that were many other opposition parties, mainly ‘splinter’ parties of PAS, Umno and/or Barisan Nasional. We had Parti Bersatu Rakyat Jelata Sabah (BERJAYA) in 1976. Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (BERJASA) in 1977. Parti Hizbul Muslimin Malaysia (HAMIM) in 1983. Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 1985. Semangat 46 in 1988. Parti Keadilan Nasional in 1999. And many more (especially in East Malaysia).

In terms of coalitions, we had Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah and Gagasan Rakyat in 1990 and 1995, Barisan Alternatif in 1999 and 2004, and Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 and now, 2013.

Hence for 12 general elections and one municipal election since 1955, two years before Merdeka, we always had choices of parties and coalitions. It is just that we never accepted these choices (and everyone will offer all sorts of reasons and excuses as to why we did not accept these choices). Hence, also, Robert Leong’s statement that “For the first time in recent memory we, the rakyat, have the option to vote to either maintain the status quo, or to radically change the government of this nation….” is not correct.

That is what I mean by fallacy. We always had choices. It is just that we did not care. Now, apparently we do. But that does not mean this is the first time we have a choice. This is the first time we care. In the past we did not care.

Robert Leong then said, “Many of us have already made our minds up as to which political party we shall vote for. However, there is still a large segment of the voting population that has not. These voters constitute the ‘fence-sitters’.”

This is true. I have always said that there are between 20-40% fence-sitters, depending on which election we are talking about and which segment of the population plus region that we look at.

For the Chinese voters, the fence-sitters could be as low as 10% in some areas and 20-25% in some. There are about 20% Malay fence-sitters and as high as 40% in some areas. The Indian and natives of East Malaysia fence-sitters are about the same as the Malays depending on which constituency you look at.

On average, a 25% fence-sitter voter population would be a safe estimate.

Now, the rest of Robert Leong’s letter explains the reasons why we need a change of government but I do not need to dissect his arguments. Mostly are correct. What I do wish to talk about, however, is that all these reasons cited by Robert Leong have basically remained unchanged for a long time.

In others words, the reasons Robert Leong gave as to why we need a change of government are the same reasons we gave for more than 40 years since the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Nothing has changed. We are still facing the same problems now as we did over the last 40 years. These are, as what many Malaysia Todayreaders are fond of saying, ‘nothing new’.

However, I have monitored the news reports from both the mainstream media and alternative media over the last week since Nomination Day and what are the issues they are talking about? We are focused on discussing the symptoms of the disease. We are ignoring the causes of the disease. So how can the fence-sitters be sure about who is going to make a better government?

They are telling us about everything that is wrong with the country. We know what is wrong with the country. We have been telling you ourselves what is wrong with the country but you would not listen. What we need to know is how are you going to fix all these problems?

That is what is missing in this election campaign.

Okay, let us agree that the country has gone to the dogs. But what do we need to do to save this country? Well, we need to change the government, you will say. Okay, let us also agree that the solution is we need to change the government. Now, can you tell us how this new government is going to address all the issues that make Malaysia a poorly governed nation?

Number one problem: corruption, mismanagement of the country’s resources, and wastage of public funds.

Number two problem: racism, discrimination, persecution and religious intolerance.

Number three problem: no respect for fundamental rights, no civil liberties, and no freedom of thought, freedom of association and freedom of religious beliefs.

In a corporate turnaround exercise, we normally tackle the top three problems and once the top three problems are solved we would normally solve about 90% of the problems. So let us talk about the top three problems and ask: have all the politicians who are campaigning in the general election addressed all these issues in theirceramah?

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An appeal to fence-sitters

Robert Leong, The Malaysian Insider

Dear fellow Malaysians,

After almost 56 years of uninterrupted, one-coalition rule by the Alliance and its successor, Barisan Nasional (BN), we have reached a critical juncture in the history of Malaysia. Despite misgivings about the handling of the forthcoming 2013 general election by the Election Commission, this election provides ordinary Malaysian citizens with the best opportunity to stake a decisive claim to the future governance of their nation.

For the first time in recent memory we, the rakyat, have the option to vote to either maintain the status quo, or to radically change the government of this nation by handing the baton to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Your vote will be crucial because at this time the likelihood of which coalition will win is too close to call.

Many of us have already made our minds up as to which political party we shall vote for. However, there is still a large segment of the voting population that has not. These voters constitute the “fence-sitters,” for want of a better term, and it is to them that I am directing this appeal.

I appeal to you to ensure that your vote will be a serious reflection of what you dearly wish for your country and for your children’s future. Please do your due diligence to assess the political parties that are contesting this election. Specifically, consider the track record of BN as a barometer of its ability, or inability, to properly govern Malaysia.

We Malaysians are now a people that are divided in race and socio-economic class more than ever before. Racial and religious slurs from bigots such as Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin go unchecked. Corruption has reached dizzying heights, contributing to a massive illicit capital outflow of RM870 billion over the past 10 years. We are faced with a rising national debt equivalent to 53 per cent of our gross domestic product in 2012 that is forecasted to approach RM1 trillion by 2020.

Despite decades of pro-Bumiputera policies that seem to benefit mainly the cronies of the ruling BN class, some of whom have disproportionately made billions, poverty continues unabated, affecting particularly rural Malays, Indians and indigenous people. Illegal drug addiction continues to plague the poor, and crime is prevalent despite rosy official statistics. Disclosures of significant scandals, such as the Port Klang Free Zone, National Feedlot Corporation (“Cowgate”) and Scorpene submarine scandals committed by members and relatives of the ruling BN parties are still awaiting resolution.

Pillar institutions such as the judiciary and the legislative have been so severely compromised since Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time in office that they can no longer provide the necessary checks and balances that a true democracy demands and expects. Prosecutory decisions by the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General are now viewed with suspicion and scorn by the general public.

Partisan coverage of political events in the mainstream media, almost wholly owned by the ruling parties, which denigrates the federal opposition and even falsifies news are considered the norm. Deaths in police custody are hushed up and police brutality goes unpunished. Justice for the deaths of Altantuya Shaariibuu, Aminurasyid Amzah, Ahmad Sarbani, Kugan Ananthan and Teoh Beng Hock, among many others, remains but an elusive hope for their grieving families.

Shenanigans such as manufactured sex videos to smear prominent federal opposition figures, miscarriage of justice such as in the sodomy case against Anwar Ibrahim and in the murder case of Altantuya, and persecution and demonisation of non-governmental organisations such as the coalition for clean and fair elections Bersih and the human rights group Suaram are rampant. In fact, the only sex video that has been validated was that exposing an extra-marital affair of Dr Chua Soi Lek, who is now president of the MCA, a BN coalition partner.

Substantial numbers of phantom voters continue to exist that the pliant Election Commission refuses to clean up, and a citizenship-for-votes scandal in Sabah is now being unearthed. Voting constituencies have been gerrymandered to provide an unfair advantage to the ruling BN coalition such that in the last general election BN won a disproportionate 112 of the 139 smallest seats with a simple majority to form the federal government with just 19 per cent of the total voter population. Last but not least, the hostility shown by the BN coalition towards clean and fair elections as advocated by Bersih is telling, for why would a legitimate government be opposed to this basic tenet of democracy?

In contrast, in a short span of five years, Pakatan Rakyat has shown itself capable of ruling the states under its control with competency and transparency. The states of Penang and Selangor have received commendations from the Auditor-General for their fiscal rectitude by achieving surpluses that put the BN-controlled states to shame.

Please take all of the above into consideration when you make your final decision on which party to vote for, come Election Day. I hope that you will vote decisively according to your morals and conscience for the good of the rakyat and for the betterment of your country. Every vote counts, so please vote wisely as the stakes are high. The results of this election could decide the fate of our beloved country.